Method and system for allowing vehicles to negotiate roles and permission sets in a hierarchical traffic control system

A method for controlling a vehicle by a traffic control system;

• the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) assigning one of a plurality of roles to a vehicle;
• (b) granting a changeable set of permissions to the vehicle based upon the role assigned by the traffic control system relative to roles assigned to other vehicles and based on traffic conditions;
• and
• (c) routing the vehicle based upon the role and the permissions.

A traffic control system comprising:

• a primary controller, the primary controller for receiving information about traffic in an area, the primary controller including a first plurality of participant objects, wherein the primary controller is capable of determining efficient routing information for at least one vehicle based upon traffic conditions in the area;
• and
• a plurality of subsidiary controllers for providing information to and receiving information from the primary controller, each of the plurality of subsidiary controllers including a second plurality of participant objects, each of the plurality of subsidiary controllers being associated with a cell within the area, each cell being represented as a plurality of segment objects;
• each of the subsidiary controllers receiving and providing information to the at least one vehicle concerning traffic conditions within its associated cell and capable of determining efficient routing information for the at least one vehicle based upon traffic conditions in its associated cell and providing the efficient routing information to the at least one vehicle, and wherein the primary controller and each of the subsidiary controllers are capable of negotiating a change in the flow of traffic based upon traffic conditions.

A method for controlling a vehicle by a traffic control system;

• the method comprising the steps of:
• (a) assigning one of a plurality of roles to a vehicle;
• (b) granting a changeable set of permissions to the vehicle based upon the role assigned by a participant object of the traffic control system;
• (c) routing the vehicle based upon the role and the permissions;
• and
• (d) providing a corrective action if one or more of the permissions is violated by the vehicle.

A computer readable medium containing program instructions for controlling a vehicle by a traffic control system;

• the program instructions for:
• (a) assigning one of a plurality of roles to a vehicle;
• (b) granting a changeable set of permissions to the vehicle based upon the role assigned by the traffic control system relative to roles assigned to other vehicles and based on traffic conditions;
• and
• (c) routing the vehicle based upon the role and the permissions.