Apparatus and method for community-based communication

Abstract

An Apparatus and a method are for community-based communication between a first mobile node and at least one second mobile node. The apparatus and method for community-based communication allow to easily build a community, to recognize community members in communication range, to display symbols representing recognized community members on an on-board screen, and to interact with the community members.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates the basic principal of MANETs and VANETs,

FIG. 2 shows the sequence of screens that a user will see that uses the apparatus for community-based communication according to the invention,

FIG. 3 shows the sequence of screens that a user may see during manual registration,

FIG. 4 shows the navigation screen,

FIG. 5 shows the partner mode screen,

FIG. 6 shows the main registration screen,

FIG. 7 shows the automatic registration main screen,

FIG. 8 shows the automatic registration success screen,

FIG. 9 depicts the automatic registration cancelled screen,

FIG. 10 illustrates the manual registration main screen,

FIG. 11 shows the invitation screen,

FIG. 12 illustrates the first embodiment of the user identification screen,

FIG. 13 shows the input screen,

FIG. 14 depicts the manual community registration success screen,

FIG. 15 shows the application selection screen,

FIG. 16 shows the second embodiment of the user identification screen,

FIG. 17 depicts the validity screen,

FIG. 18 illustrates the potential partners screen,

FIG. 19 shows the potential peer-to-peer partner screen,

FIG. 20 illustrates the manual P2P registration success screen,

FIG. 21 shows the deregistration main screen,

FIG. 22 illustrates the deregistration confirmation screen,

FIG. 23 illustrates one embodiments of the show partners screen,

FIG. 24 shows the potential partners application screen,

FIG. 25 shows one example for the execution of an application,

FIG. 26 illustrates one flow of instructions for receiving messages,

FIG. 27 shows one embodiment of a protocol for automatic registration as a sequence diagram,

FIG. 28 shows one embodiment of the protocol for manual peer-to-peer-registration as a sequence diagram,

FIG. 29 illustrates one embodiment of the protocol for a manual community registration as a sequence diagram,

FIG. 30 shows one embodiment of a list of registered community members,

FIG. 31 shows one scenario of a registration,

FIG. 32 shows the flow of instructions that are executed to perform garbage collection,

FIG. 33 shows one embodiment of the flow of instructions that are needed for displaying partners,

FIG. 34 shows one embodiment of the flow of instructions for filtering, and

FIG. 35 shows one embodiment of an apparatus for community-based communication.

Claims

1. Apparatus for community-based communication between at least two mobile nodes comprising: a control unit comprising a data processing means;an inputting means;a displaying means;a memory unit; andmeans for communicating between a first mobile node and at least a second mobile node, whereinthe control unit allows to register at least one community member,the memory unit comprises a list of registered community members,the control unit recognizes reachable community members using the means for communicating,the displaying means displays symbols representing recognized community members,the inputting means allows to interact with the displayed symbols, andthe control unit performs actions based on the interaction with the displayed symbols.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit recognizes reachable community members using a filtering mechanism comprising the steps of: receiving at least one message from at least a second mobile node comprising an identification of the mobile node;comparing the identification with the identifications of the community members that are registered in the list of registered community members;determining whether the received message was sent by a registered community member based on the comparison; and/orfurther processing the received message if it was sent by a registered community member.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further allows to deregister community members.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the inputting means further allows to input an identification of a user of the apparatus, a time of validity of the identification of the user, and/or a time of validity of an identification of at least one mobile node.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores an identification of the first mobile node, an identification of the user, a time of validity of the identification of the user, and/or a time of validity of the identification of the first mobile node.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for communicating broadcasts an identification of the first mobile node, an identification of the user, a time of validity of the identification of the user, a time of validity of the identification of the first mobile node and/or options.

7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for communicating receives an identification of the second mobile node, an identification of the user of the second apparatus, a time of validity of the identification of the user using the second apparatus, a time of validity of the identification of the second mobile node and/or options.

8. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit establishes a communication with the community member that is represented by the symbol with which the user interacted using the inputting means.

9. Method for community-based communication between a first mobile node and at least one second mobile node comprising the steps of: registering at least one community member;storing a list of registered community members;recognizing reachable community members;displaying symbols representing recognized community members;interacting with the displayed symbols; andperforming actions based on the interaction with the displayed symbols.

10. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the step of recognizing reachable community members uses a filtering mechanism comprising the steps of: receiving at least one message from at least one second mobile node comprising an identification of the mobile node;comparing the identification with the identifications of the community members that are registered in the list of registered community members;determining whether the received message was sent by a registered community member based on the comparison; and/orfurther processing the received message if it was sent by a registered community member.

11. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the step of registering at least one community member comprises in the automatic registration mode the steps of: searching reachable mobile nodes;receiving at least one message from at least one found mobile node;exchanging at least one identification and/or at least one option with the-at least one found mobile node;displaying the at least one identification and/or the at least one option to the user; and/oraccepting to register the at least one found mobile node as a community member by the user.

12. Method for community-based communication according to claim 11, wherein the control unit discards received messages that are received before the starting of searching reachable mobile nodes and/or that are received later than a predetermined period of time after the starting of searching reachable mobile nodes.

13. Method for community-based communication according to claim 11, wherein the step of accepting to register the at least one found mobile node as a community member by the user in the manual registration mode further comprises the steps of selecting one of the at least one found mobile node and/or sending a user identification and a time of validity of the user identification.

14. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the step of registering at least one community member comprises the steps of: receiving an invitation to be a member of a community comprising at least one identification and/or a time of validity of the identification and/or at least one option of the inviting node;displaying the at least one identification and/or the time of validity of the identification and/or the at least one option to the user;accepting to register the inviting node as a community member by the user; and/orsending at least one identification and/or the time of validity of the identification and/or at least one option to the inviting node.

15. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the control unit deletes community members from the list of registered community members when the time of validity of the identification of the community members has expired.

16. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the user is enabled to delete community members from the list of registered community members using the inputting means employing the steps of: displaying the community members that are registered in the list;selecting at least one community member from the list by the user; and/ortriggering a deletion of the at least one selected community member from the list of registered community members.

17. Method for community-based communication according to claim 9, wherein the step of displaying symbols representing recognized community members comprises the steps of: receiving a position of at least one recognized community member;calculating a position on the display that corresponds to the position of the at least one recognized community member; and/ordisplaying at least one symbol representing the at least one recognized community member at the calculated position.

18. Computer software product for community-based communication between a first mobile node and at least one second mobile node, the computer software product being adapted, when loaded into a memory and processed by a data processing means to perform a method comprising the steps of: registering at least one community member;storing a list of registered community members;recognizing reachable community members;displaying symbols representing recognized community members;interacting with the displayed symbols; andperforming actions based on the interaction with the displayed symbols.