Method and system for beamform management in vehicular communications

The method of claim 8, wherein directing the primary lobe of the antenna beam toward each of the candidate cellular towers in turn according to the communication plan includes:

• when the vehicle transitions from one of the plurality of portions to a second of the plurality of portions,
• determining a current location of the vehicle,
• determining a current orientation of the vehicle,
• determining an azimuth relative to the vehicle and an elevation relative to the vehicle for the candidate cellular tower assigned to communicate with the vehicle for the second of the plurality of portions based upon the geographic location of the candidate cellular tower assigned to communicate with the vehicle for the second of the plurality of portions, the current location of the vehicle, and the current orientation of the vehicle, and
• directing the primary lobe of the antenna beam toward the candidate cellular tower assigned to communicate with the vehicle for the second of the plurality of portions based on the azimuth relative to the vehicle and the elevation relative to the vehicle for the candidate cellular tower assigned to communicate with the vehicle for the second of the plurality of portions.

The method of claim 8, further comprising:

• monitoring a detour event that changes the planned route;
• determining a new planned route based upon the detour event;
• and
• updating the communication plan based upon the new planned route.

A method for beamform management in vehicular communications, comprising:

• within a computerized processor,
• determining a planned route for a vehicle;
• identifying a plurality of candidate cellular towers with which the vehicle may communicate along the planned route;
• determining signal strengths of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers at locations along the planned route;
• determining a communication plan including identifying geographic locations of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and segmenting the planned route into a plurality of portions based upon the determined signal strengths, wherein one of the plurality of candidate cellular towers is assigned to communicate with the vehicle for each of the plurality of portions based upon the signal strengths, wherein determining the communication plan includes utilizing a remote server device to create a beam matrix for each of the plurality of portions, the beam matrix including a list of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and the signal strengths of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and transmitting the beam matrix to the vehicle;
• monitoring a change to the planned route;
• utilizing the remote server device to create a new beam matrix based upon the change to the planned route;
• and
• transmitting the new beam matrix to the vehicle;
• and
• utilizing the communication plan to change a communication between the vehicle and the plurality of candidate cellular towers as the vehicle traverses the planned route, the utilizing including directing a primary lobe of an antenna beam toward each of the candidate cellular towers in turn according to the communication plan.

A method for beamform management in vehicular communications, comprising:

• within a computerized processor,
• determining a planned route for a vehicle;
• identifying a plurality of candidate cellular towers with which the vehicle may communicate along the planned route;
• determining signal strengths of each of the candidate cellular towers at locations along the planned route;
• determining a communication plan identifying geographic locations of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers including segmenting the planned route into a plurality of portions based upon the determined signal strengths, wherein the communication plan includes a list of the candidate cellular towers ranked according to the determined signal strengths for each of the plurality of portions, wherein determining the communication plan includes utilizing a remote server device to create a beam matrix for each of the plurality of portions, the beam matrix including a list of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and the signal strengths of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and transmitting the beam matrix to the vehicle;
• monitoring a change to the planned route;
• utilizing the remote server device to create a new beam matrix based upon the change to the planned route;
• transmitting the new beam matrix to the vehicle;
• and
• utilizing the communication plan to change a communication between the vehicle and the plurality of candidate cellular towers as the vehicle traverses the planned route, the utilizing including directing a primary lobe of an antenna beam toward each of the candidate cellular towers in turn according to the communication plan.

A system for beamform management in vehicular communications, comprising:

• a vehicle;
• and
• a computerized processor, operable to:
• determine a planned route for the vehicle;
• identify a plurality of candidate cellular towers with which the vehicle may communicate along the planned route;
• determine signal strengths of each of the candidate cellular towers at locations along the planned route;
• determine a communication plan including identifying geographic locations of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers segmenting the planned route into a plurality of portions based upon the determined signal strengths, wherein one of the candidate cellular towers is assigned to communicate with the vehicle for each of the plurality of portions, the determining the communication plan including utilizing a remote server device to create a beam matrix for each of the plurality of portions, the beam matrix including a list of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and the signal strengths of each of the plurality of candidate cellular towers and transmitting the beam matrix to the vehicle;
• monitor a change to the planned route;
• utilize the remote server device to create a new beam matrix based upon the change to the planned route;
• transmit the new beam matrix to the vehicle;
• and
• utilize the communication plan to change communication between the vehicle and the plurality of candidate cellular towers as the vehicle traverses the planned route, wherein utilizing the communication plan includes operability to:
• determine a current location of the vehicle,
• determine a current orientation of the vehicle,
• determine an azimuth relative to the vehicle and an elevation relative to the vehicle for one of the candidate cellular towers along the planned route based upon the current location of the vehicle, the current orientation of the vehicle, and the geographic location of the one of the candidate cellular towers, and
• direct a primary lobe of an antenna beam toward the one of the candidate cellular towers based on the azimuth and the elevation for the one of the candidate cellular towers.