US 7,065,576 B2 · Dynamic multicast grouping for vehicles and other mobile objects

Abstract

An area is divided into regions or cells each having an associated multicast group address. The cells are organized using a quad-tree data structure that is dynamically updated. Mobile entities within a given cell elect one of their members as coordinator for assessing cost data associated with subdividing or merging the cell with other sibling cells. The coordinators communicate this cost data to a partitioning entity, which may be a central server, that computes a new partition scheme using a greedy algorithm. The new partition scheme is then broadcast to the mobile entities for use in subsequent communication. Mobile entities join multicast groups that intersect with their individual vision domains. In this way, mobile entities can acquire information from other mobile entities without the need to monitor all multicast group transmissions.

Claims12

Dependent claims

A method for grouping mobile entities, comprising:

defining a partitioning entity;
constructing an initial data structure that defines a plurality of cells occupied by said mobile entities;
for each cell, electing a coordinator from a set of mobile entities occupying that cell;
said coordinators cooperatively computing costs associated with selectively subdividing and merging said cells and communicating said costs to said partitioning entity;
and
said partitioning entity using said costs to generate a new partition scheme and communicating said new partition scheme to said mobile entities;
wherein said mobile entities use their respective vision domains and a most current partitioning scheme to effect a state disseminating protocol designed to ensure that state messages originating from each mobile entity reach all other interested mobile entities, each vision domain corresponding to a predefined area of interest.

4 more elements

A system for grouping mobile entities comprising:

a partitioning server;
said partitioning server defining a data structure having nodes corresponding to cells occupied by said mobile entities;
a plurality of client applications each associated with one of said mobile entities;
said client applications each having communication mechanism capable of communicating with the communication mechanism of other client applications and with said partitioning server;
and
said client applications and said partitioning server being configured to establish a dynamic partition protocol whereby said data structure is reconfigured based on the number of communicating entities within each of said cells;
wherein said mobile entities use their respective vision domains and a most current partitioning scheme to effect a state disseminating protocol designed to ensure that state messages originating from each mobile entity reach all other interested mobile entities, each vision domain corresponding to a predefined area of interest.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Dynamic multicast grouping for vehicles and other mobile objects

Life of this patent

Dynamic multicast grouping for vehicles and other mobile objects

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims12