Driver Initiated Vehicle-to-Vehicle Anonymous Warning Device

Abstract

A driver-initiated warning device is described for communicating descriptive vehicle-to-vehicle warning messages. The device can be deployed within an automobile and can include an interface that receives input from a driver or passenger of a vehicle. The device also includes a vehicle-to-vehicle communications component that generates anonymous messages upon having received the input and broadcasts the anonymous messages to other vehicles within range. The anonymous messages have embedded electronic data regarding an event observed by the driver or passenger, such as location information of a road hazard. Based on receiving the messages, the device can make decisions as to whether to alert the driver of any upcoming dangers or other events. The location information contained in the messages can be used to filter the messages based on relevance. The messages can also be relayed to other vehicles in order to optimize information diffusion between moving automobiles.

1 . An apparatus for providing driver initiated vehicle-to-vehicle warnings, said apparatus comprising:
 a driver input interface that receives input from a user in a first vehicle; and   a vehicle-to-vehicle communications component that generates a message upon having received the input from the driver input interface and transmits said message from the first vehicle to at least one second vehicle, said message having embedded electronic data regarding an event observed by said user.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said message is anonymous with respect to any identity information of said first vehicle and said second vehicle. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a global positioning system deployed in said first vehicle, the global positioning system tracking a location of said first vehicle, wherein information provided by the global positioning system is embedded into said message in order to specify the location of the event.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a map database that stores location information regarding said event, wherein the location information is transmitted with said message by the vehicle-to-vehicle communications component.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a risk filter component that receives one or more incoming messages from other vehicles by way of the vehicle-to-vehicle communications component, wherein said risk filter component determines whether the incoming messages received from other vehicles are applicable to said first vehicle based on location information embedded in said incoming messages.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5 , further comprising:
 a warning component that issues a warning to the user in said first vehicle upon having received one or more messages from other vehicles if said one or more messages are determined to be applicable to said first vehicle by the risk filter component.   
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle communications component receives an incoming message and relays said incoming message to one or more other vehicles. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 7 , wherein relaying said incoming message to one or more other vehicles causes information diffusion such that information is carried over a distance that exceeds a range of said vehicle-to-vehicle communications component. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said second vehicle further includes:
 a second vehicle-to-vehicle communications component that receives said message transmitted from the vehicle-to-vehicle communications component of the first vehicle.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein the driver input interface further includes:
 a description input means for receiving information regarding the description of said event.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 1 , wherein said event is a moving event that changes location or heading over time such that subsequent messages transmitted by the vehicle-to-vehicle communications component update the location or heading associated with said event. 
     
     
         12 . A method for providing driver initiated vehicle-to-vehicle warnings, said method comprising:
 receiving input from a user in a first vehicle;   generating a message that is anonymous with respect to identity of any sender or recipient, said message containing embedded electronic data associated with an event occurring within a localized vicinity of said first vehicle;   transmitting the message from the first vehicle to at least one second vehicle;   receiving said message at the second vehicle; and   automatically filtering said message at the second vehicle based on the electronic data embedded in said message.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 determining whether to relay said message based on the electronic data embedded in said message; and   relaying said message to one or more additional vehicles from said second vehicle.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein relaying said message causes the effective range of communication of said message to be increased. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether to relay said message further includes:
 determining that the message specifies an end of said event; and   discontinuing relaying of said message to other vehicles.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein determining whether to relay said message further is based on one or more of the following:
 lifetime of said message;   priority of said message; and   distance between the event and the second vehicle.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein relaying said message to one or more additional vehicles further includes:
 waiting for a period of time prior to relaying the message, said period of time being based on one or more of the following: traffic density, vehicle speed and distance between the event and the second vehicle.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 obtaining location information of said event by way of at least one of the following:
 a global positioning system (GPS); 
 user input; 
 a digital map; and 
 a map referencing system; and 
   embedding said location information into the message prior to transmitting the message to the second vehicle.   
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 automatically determining, based on the embedded location information, whether the message is applicable to the second vehicle; and   generating a warning in the second vehicle if said message is determined to be applicable, otherwise ignoring said warning.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein receiving said input from the user in the first vehicle further includes:
 providing a selection mechanism for sensed events according to a preset classification system on an in-vehicle interface.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 receiving a set of parameters that govern one or more of the following:
 transmission of the message from the first vehicle to the second vehicle; 
 reception of the message at the second vehicle; and 
 automatic filtering of the message. 
   
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein automatically filtering the message at the second vehicle further includes:
 determining whether the message has been previously received from at least one third vehicle; and   ignoring the message if said message is determined to have been previously received.   
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein determining whether the message has been previously received is based on a unique identifier associated with said message. 
     
     
         24 . A computer readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for providing driver-initiated vehicle-to-vehicle warnings, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:
 receiving input from a user in a first vehicle;   generating a message that is anonymous with respect to identity of any sender or recipient, said message containing embedded electronic data associated with an event occurring within a localized vicinity of said first vehicle;   transmitting the message from the first vehicle to at least one second vehicle;   receiving said message at the second vehicle; and   automatically filtering said message at the second vehicle based on the electronic data embedded in said message.