Multimodal communication system

Abstract

A multimodal communication system includes a vehicle controller that controls one or more systems or subsystems of an unmanned vehicle. The communication controller manages communication and logical access to the unmanned vehicle. One or more sensors in communication with the communication controller detects and measures physical properties in proximity to the unmanned vehicle. Transceivers receive the unmanned vehicle commands that are transmitted simultaneously or concurrently and a monotonic generator generates a monotonic object each time the unmanned vehicle's operating state changes. The communication controller executes the first unmanned vehicle command received that has the correct cryptographic hash validating knowledge of the unmanned vehicle's current operating state.

The claims are as follows: 
     
         1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A multimodal communication system comprising:
 a communication controller that manages communication to an unmanned vehicle;   a sensor coupled to the communication controller that detects or measures a physical property of an object remote from the unmanned vehicle;   a monotonic circuit that generates a monotonic object on the unmanned vehicle whenever a state change occurs in the unmanned vehicle; and   a plurality of transceivers in communication with the communication controller, the plurality of transceivers transmit the generated monotonic object and receive and process unmanned vehicle commands; and   where the communication controller executes a first unmanned vehicle command received from the plurality of transceivers that has a verified cryptographic hash object assigned to a current operating state of the unmanned vehicle.   
     
     
         22 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the monotonic circuit comprises an increment engine, a check operation engine, and a validation engine. 
     
     
         23 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 22  where a monotonic logic suspends the generation of the monotonic object or a modification of the monotonic object until the unmanned vehicle changes an operating state. 
     
     
         24 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 23  where the monotonic logic verifies monotonic objects by comparing persistent monotonic objects assigned to the unmanned vehicle's current operating state to those received in a new unmanned vehicle state. 
     
     
         25 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the communication controller discards a plurality of unmanned vehicle commands not associated with a cryptographic hash object, where the cryptographic hash object comprises a cryptographic hash value of an incoming command and a current operating command sequence. 
     
     
         26 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  further comprising a memory coupled to and local to the communication controller and a goal state engine stored in the memory that comprises a plurality of operations coded in a decision tree. 
     
     
         27 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where an unmanned vehicle command comprises an encoded mutation of data representing the current operating state of the unmanned vehicle and a new expected state of the unmanned vehicle. 
     
     
         28 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the communication controller is authenticated with security tokens that are a unitary part of a hardware of the unmanned vehicle. 
     
     
         29 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the unmanned vehicle is programmed to authenticate itself at a cluster and register itself at the cluster before messages are routed to control nodes. 
     
     
         30 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the unmanned vehicle communicates through a publish and subscribe messaging. 
     
     
         31 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where an architecture includes a processor configured to participate in a publish and subscribe messaging to distribute system state and commands. 
     
     
         32 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 31  where the processor is configured to participate in the publish and subscribe messaging by establishing a subscriber responsive to an operating command changing state. 
     
     
         33 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 32  where the processor pushes ancillary commands through the publish and subscribe messaging. 
     
     
         34 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 21  where the communication controller executes a received unmanned vehicle command that has a first verified cryptographic hash object assigned to a current operating state of the unmanned vehicle while rejecting later received unmanned vehicle commands. 
     
     
         35 . A multimodal communication system comprising:
 a central processing unit processing executable code accessed from random access memory, in which the executable code functions as:
 a communication controller that manages communication access to an unmanned vehicle; 
 a sensor coupled to the communication controller that detects a physical property of an object remote from the unmanned vehicle; 
 a plurality of transceivers in communication with the communication controller programmed to receive unmanned vehicle commands simultaneously; and 
 a monotonic circuit that generates a monotonic object on the unmanned vehicle each time an unmanned vehicle state changes; 
 where the communication controller executes a first unmanned vehicle command received from the plurality of transceivers when the first unmanned vehicle command matches a cryptographic hash that comprises a mutation of a current operating state of the unmanned vehicle and an executed unmanned vehicle command that controls the unmanned vehicle. 
   
     
     
         36 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 35  further comprising a monotonic logic that atomically generates the monotonic object or modifies the monotonic object when the unmanned vehicle changes operating state. 
     
     
         37 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 36  where the monotonic logic suspends the atomically generation or modification of the monotonic object until the unmanned vehicle changes operating state. 
     
     
         38 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 37  where the monotonic logic authenticates monotonic objects by comparing persistent monotonic objects assigned to an operating state of the unmanned vehicle to those received in a new unmanned vehicle state message. 
     
     
         39 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 35  where the communication controller discards an unmanned vehicle commands received after the first unmanned vehicle command that do not match cryptographic hashes which are mutations of the current operating state of the unmanned vehicle and an executed command. 
     
     
         40 . The multimodal communication system of  claim 35  where at least one of plurality of transceivers transmits a goal state and telemetry data to the vehicle controller in a single message.