AUDIO DATA SHARING METHOD FOR RADIO BROADCASTING

Abstract

An audio data sharing method for radio broadcast systems includes sharing audio data using vehicle-to-vehicle communication and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication between vehicles and infrastructure units in low reception areas for radio broadcasting. The audio data sharing occurs by means of tuner leasing. The method also includes forming a framework for message sharing between the different units. The method enables uninterrupted audio data availability in low reception areas for enhancing the customer experience.

Claims

1. An audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems that comprises: sharing audio data using vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication (104) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) unit communication (103) between units in a plurality of vehicles (101) and an infrastructure unit (100) in a low reception area for radio broadcasting, by means of tuner leasing; and forming a framework for message sharing between the units in the plurality of vehicles.

2. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a structure of a V2V/V2I radio information frame used between the units of the plurality of vehicles and the infrastructure unit consists of a device identification (200), a tuned station (201), a broadcast standard (202), and an extra tuner availability (203).

3. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein when a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles requests to lease out a tuner to play a particular station (603), tuning a vehicle unit of the vehicle or the infrastructure unit to the requested particular station and sending an audio signal having the audio data of the same to the network (604).

4. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a structure of a V2V/V2I request frame sent between two or more of the units of the plurality of vehicles consists of a receiver device identification (300), a transmitter device identification (301), a request type (302), and station information (303).

5. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a structure of a V2V/V2I data frame sent between two or more of the units of the plurality of vehicles consists of a transmitter device identification (400), a station information (401), an audio codec (402), the audio data (403), an audio data length (404), and a packet identification (405).

6. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein a structure of a V2VV2I error message sent between two or more of the units of the plurality of vehicles from consists of a transmitter device identification (500), a receiver device identification (501), and an error response (502).

7. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein the V2V and V2I communication in valid signal areas sends information of extra tuners that can be used by other vehicles; at least two vehicles of the plurality of vehicles receiving this information can either request for a current tuned frequency (601) if they were also listening to a same channel or can request to lease out an available tuner to tune to a required channel (608).

8. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 1, wherein: a. a transmitting vehicle unit of the units of the plurality of vehicles or the infrastructure unit will have a list of how many vehicles receive its data with a vehicle identification of each of the respective receiving vehicles; and b. the transmitting vehicle unit of the units of the plurality of vehicles or infrastructure unit will continue to send the audio data until a last receiving vehicle of the receiving vehicles requests to stop, wherein a stop request will be a request message.

9. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 3, further comprising receiving a tuner request at the vehicle unit from at least two vehicles of the plurality of vehicles.

10. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 9, further comprising determining a first requested vehicle of the at least two vehicles that sent the tuner request; assigning the first requested vehicle to the tuner; and sending an error message to the other of the at least two vehicles.

11. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 7, further comprising sending an audio signal with the audio data of a currently tuned channel from a sending vehicle unit to a network if a request for the currently tuned channel is received at a vehicle of the plurality of vehicles.

12. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 7, further comprising tuning a first requested vehicle of the plurality of vehicles to a requested station and sending an audio signal with the audio data of the same to a network if the first requested vehicle requests to lease out a tuner to play the requested station.

13. The audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting systems, as claimed in claim 12, further comprising receiving an error message at other vehicles of the plurality of vehicles aside from the first requested vehicle if the unit receives a tuner request from more than one vehicle.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] The manner in which the present invention is formulated is given a more particular description below, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to the components, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawing It is to be noted; however, that the appended drawing illustrates only typical embodiments of this invention and are therefore should not be considered limiting of its scope, for the system may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

[0018] Throughout the drawings, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements and features.

[0019] The features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description along with the accompanying figures, which form a part of this application and in which:

[0020] FIG. 1: Block Diagram describing the components of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention;

[0021] FIG. 2: Block Diagram describing the structure of V2V/V2I radio information frame of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention;

[0022] FIG. 3: Block Diagram describing the structure of V2V/V2I request frame of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention;

[0023] FIG. 4: Block Diagram describing the structure of V2V/V2I data frame of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention;

[0024] FIG. 5: Block Diagram describing the structure of V2V/V2I error message frame of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention;

[0025] FIG. 6: Flow chart describing the process of our audio data sharing method for radio broadcasting system in accordance with our present invention.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0026] 100Road side Unit [0027] 101Vehicle [0028] 102Signal blocking entities [0029] 103V2I Communication [0030] 104V2V Communication [0031] 200Device ID [0032] 201Tuned station [0033] 202Broadcast standard [0034] 203Extra Tuner availability [0035] 300Receiver device ID [0036] 301Transmitter device ID [0037] 302Request type [0038] 303Station information [0039] 400Transmitter device ID [0040] 401Station information [0041] 402Audio codec [0042] 403Audio data [0043] 404Audio Data length [0044] 405Packet ID [0045] 500Transmitter device ID [0046] 501Receiver device ID [0047] 502Error Response [0048] 601Vehicle/Infrastructure unit sends current tuned frequency, band and tuner availability [0049] 602If the receiving vehicle needs the current tuned channel [0050] 603Receiving vehicle requests for current tuned frequency [0051] 604Transmitting vehicle/infrastructure unit sends the audio data of the current tuned frequency [0052] 605Receiving device decodes audio data and playback the audio [0053] 606Receiving vehicle requests stop [0054] 607Sending units stop sending data [0055] 608Receiving vehicle requests for tuner leasing [0056] 609If more than one tuner leasing for different channels received [0057] 610Accept the first request and sends error response to the rest [0058] 611Tunes to the requested channel and sends the audio data of the same [0059] 612Stop

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0060] The principles of operation, design configurations and evaluation values in these non-limiting examples can be varied and are merely cited to illustrate at least one embodiment of the invention, without limiting the scope thereof.

[0061] The embodiments disclosed herein can be expressed in different forms and should not be considered as limited to the listed embodiments in the disclosed invention. The various embodiments outlined in the subsequent sections are constructed such that it provides a complete and thorough understanding of the disclosed invention, by clearly describing the scope of the invention, for those skilled in the art.

[0062] Throughout this specification, various indications have been given as to preferred and alternative embodiments of the invention. It should be understood that it is the appended claims, including all equivalents, which are intended to define the spirit and scope of this invention.

[0063] The current embodiment of the present invention aims at providing a method for sharing audio data between vehicles and between vehicles and roadside units to facilitate better reception in low reception areas. V2V and V2I communication can be used by automobiles and infrastructure units in valid signal areas to send information like the current tuned frequency and band to the network. It can also send data like the availability of extra tuners that can be used by other vehicles.

[0064] The vehicles receiving this information can either request for the currently tuned frequency if they were also listening to the same channel or can request to lease out an available tuner to tune to their required channel. If a request for the current tuned channel is received the sending unit will send the audio signal of that particular channel to the network. If a vehicle requests to lease out a tuner to play a particular station, the vehicle/Infrastructure unit tunes to the requested station and sends the audio signal of the same to the network. If a unit receives a tuner request from more than one vehicle the first requested vehicle will get the tuner and other vehicles will receive an error message.

[0065] The transmitting vehicle/infrastructure unit will have a list of how many vehicles receiving its data with the vehicle ID of the receiving vehicle. It will continue to send the audio until the last receiving vehicle requests to stop. The stop request will be a request message with the request type stop.

[0066] The V2V and V2I communication of audio data sharing in radio broadcasting systems in accordance with our present invention as shown in FIG. 1 is explained as follows: A vehicle (101) will be unable to receive radio signals when it is passing through a tunnel (102) or other areas with low signal strength. This situation creates inconvenience for users. A solution to this problem is directed to sharing audio data between vehicles (104) and between vehicles and road side units (100) (103) to facilitate better reception in low reception areas.

[0067] The structure of V2V/V2I radio information frame in accordance with one embodiment of our present invention is shown in FIG. 2. V2V (104) and V2I (103) communication can be used by cars in valid signal areas and by infrastructure units (100) to send information like the current tuned frequency, service identifier (201) and band (202) to the network. It can also send data like the availability of extra tuners (203) that can be used by other vehicles. The sending vehicle also adds an identification number of itself (200) along with the other information so that the receiving vehicle can identify which vehicle or RSU has a particular channel or tuner available.

[0068] The structure of V2V/V2I request frame in accordance with one embodiment of our present invention is shown in FIG. 3. The vehicles receiving this information can either request for the current tuned frequency if they were also listening to the same channel or can request to lease out an available tuner to tune to their required channel. The receiving vehicle will place the request based on the sending vehicle/infrastructure unit ID (300) and it will also send an ID of itself (301) along with the request type (302) and the required station information (303) so that it can be identified by the vehicle/infrastructure unit sending the audio. The request type can be type 1which is a request for the current tuned frequency, type 2which requests tuner leasing or type 3which is a stop request if the requesting vehicle is already receiving audio data. The station information will be null for request types 1 and 3, it will contain the required frequency and band for request type 2. If a request for the current tuned channel is received the sending unit will send the audio signal of that particular channel to the network. If a vehicle requests to lease out a tuner to play a particular station, the vehicle/Infrastructure unit tunes to the requested station and sends the audio signal of the same to the network. If a unit receives a tuner request from more than one vehicle the first requested vehicle will get the tuner and other vehicles will receive an error message.

[0069] The structure of V2V/V2I data frame in accordance with one embodiment of our present invention is shown in FIG. 4. The sending vehicle/infrastructure unit sends the audio data of the tuned channel to the receiving vehicle through V2V/V2I and will also send its own ID (400) in the frame so that the receiving vehicle can identify the required content. This frame also contains the audio codec (402) used for encoding the audio data (403) and the number of bytes of audio data (404) contained in the frame. A Packet identifier (405) will be present in the data frame which can be used by the receiver to confirm whether all the packets are received.

[0070] V2V and V2I communication can be used by cars and infrastructure units in valid signal areas to send information like the current tuned frequency and band to the network. It can also send data like availability of extra tuners that can be used by other vehicles. The vehicles receiving this information can either request for the current tuned frequency if they were also listening to the same channel or can request to lease out an available tuner to tune to their required channel. If a request for the current tuned channel is received the sending unit will send the audio signal of that particular channel to the network. If a vehicle requests to lease out a tuner to play a particular station, the vehicle/Infrastructure unit tunes to the requested station and sends the audio signal of the same to the network. If a unit receives a tuner request from more than one vehicle the first requested vehicle will get the tuner and other vehicles will receive an error message.

[0071] The structure of V2V/V2I error message frame in accordance with one embodiment of our present invention is shown in FIG. 5. This message is sent if the tuner request received is more than the number of available tuners. In this case the tuner will be provided for the first requesting vehicle and all the other requesting vehicles will receive the error message. This message frame contains the transmitting device ID (500), receiver device ID (501) and an error response (502) to show the tuner unavailability. The transmitting vehicle/infrastructure unit will have a list of how many vehicles receiving its data with the vehicle ID of the receiving vehicle. It will continue to send the audio until the last receiving vehicle requests to stop. The stop request will be a request message with the request type stop.

[0072] The flow chart on the process as illustrated in FIG. 6 the vehicle/infrastructure unit of the present invention sends current tuned frequency, band and tuner availability (601); if the receiving vehicle needs the current tuned channel (602) then the receiving vehicle requests for current tuned frequency (603); then the transmitting vehicle/infrastructure unit sends the audio data of the current tuned frequency (604); receiving device decodes audio data and playback the audio (605); receiving vehicle requests stop (606) and sending units to stop sending the data (607); and it will stop (612).

[0073] If the receiving vehicle requires a different channel (602), then the receiving vehicle requests for tuner leasing (608) and if more than one tuner leasing request for different channels is received (609) it needs to accept the first request and sends an error response to the rest (610); and tunes to the requested channel and sends the audio data of the same (611) then receiving device decodes audio data and playback the audio (605); receiving vehicle requests stop (606) and sending units to stop sending the data (607); and it will stop (612).

[0074] If the number of tuner leasing request matches the number of available tuners (609) then it tunes to the requested channel and sends the audio data of the same (611) then receiving device decodes audio data and playback the audio (605); receiving vehicle requests stop (606) and sending units to stop sending the data (607); and it will stop (612).

[0075] While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope of the invention as claimed.