Ad-hoc mobile IP network for intelligent transportation system

A method comprising:

• dynamically establishing a mobile Internet Protocol (IP) network between a roadside apparatus and a plurality of vehicle nodes provided by respective road vehicles traveling on a road network, the roadside apparatus forming part of a roadside infrastructure comprising multiple roadside apparatuses installed along the road network, the vehicle nodes being in a range of control of the roadside apparatus;
• receiving, at a network device separate from the vehicle nodes, location and direction information about a particular vehicle corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of vehicle nodes;
• based at least in part on the location and direction information, predictively identifying a specific neighboring roadside apparatus whose range of control is next to be entered by the particular vehicle node;
• and
• communicating to the specific neighboring roadside apparatus, from the network device, predicted entry of the particular vehicle into a range of control of the specific neighboring roadside apparatus, to facilitate communicative connection of the particular vehicle node with the specific neighboring roadside apparatus before disconnection thereof from the roadside apparatus.

A system comprising multiple roadside apparatuses installed along a road network, each respective roadside apparatus being configured to:

• dynamically establish a mobile Internet Protocol (IP) network with a plurality of vehicle nodes provided by respective road vehicles traveling on the road network within a range of control of the respective roadside apparatus;
• receive location and direction information about a particular vehicle corresponding to a particular one of the plurality of vehicle nodes;
• based at least in part on the location and direction information, predictively identifying a specific neighboring roadside apparatus whose range of control is next to be entered by the particular vehicle node;
• communicate to the specific neighboring roadside apparatus handover information that indicate predicted entry of the particular vehicle into a range of control of the specific neighboring roadside apparatus,
• the specific neighboring roadside apparatus being configured to connect communicatively with the particular vehicle node, based on the handover information, before disconnection of the particular vehicle node from the roadside apparatus from which the handover information is received.