Intelligent traffic management for vehicle platoons

Abstract

Various systems and methods for implementing intelligent traffic management for vehicle platoons are described herein. A road controller system includes A road controller system comprising: a data store to store an active traffic policy; a processor subsystem to: determine a speed or platoon size of a vehicle platoon traveling on an area controlled by the road controller system; and determine a change to the speed or platoon size of the vehicle platoon, the change based on the active traffic policy; and a transceiver to transmit a control message to the vehicle platoon to implement the change to the speed or platoon size of the vehicle platoon.

1 . (canceled) 
     
     
         2 . At least one non-transitory machine-readable storage medium comprising instructions, which when executed by processor circuitry of a road controller unit, cause the processor circuitry to perform operations to:
 obtain a status message, the status message received from at least one vehicle of a vehicle platoon, the status message including a state of the vehicle platoon, and the status message transmitted to the road controller unit before the vehicle platoon enters an area of a roadway controlled by the road controller unit;   obtain data indicating conditions for navigation of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway;   determine a change to a speed of the vehicle platoon based on the conditions for navigation and a policy applicable to the area of the roadway; and   cause transmission of a control message to the vehicle platoon, to cause the vehicle platoon to implement the determined speed of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway.   
     
     
         3 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to:
 determine a change to a following distance used between vehicles within the vehicle platoon, the change to the following distance based on the conditions for navigation in the area and the policy applicable to the area;   wherein the transmission of the control message to the vehicle platoon further causes the vehicle platoon to implement the change to the following distance between the vehicles within the vehicle platoon.   
     
     
         4 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the transmission of the control message to the vehicle platoon further causes one or more vehicles to split or join from the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         5 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the conditions include environmental conditions related to at least one of weather, an accident, or an emergency incident, in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         6 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the conditions include traffic flow conditions in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         7 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the policy is defined for a geographic area, the geographic area including the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         8 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the road controller unit is a road side unit. 
     
     
         9 . The machine-readable storage medium of  claim 2 , wherein the control message is communicated to the vehicle platoon using infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication network. 
     
     
         10 . A road controller unit, comprising:
 communications circuitry configured to communicate with at least one vehicle of a vehicle platoon; and   processor circuitry configured to:
 obtain a status message, the status message received via the communications circuitry from at least one vehicle of a vehicle platoon, the status message including a state of the vehicle platoon, and the status message transmitted to the road controller unit before the vehicle platoon enters an area of a roadway controlled by the road controller unit; 
 obtain data indicating conditions for navigation of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway; 
 determine a change to a speed of the vehicle platoon based on the conditions for navigation and a policy applicable to the area of the roadway; and 
 cause transmission of a control message to the vehicle platoon, via the communications circuitry, to cause the vehicle platoon to implement the determined speed of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway. 
   
     
     
         11 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , the processor circuitry further configured to:
 determine a change to a following distance used between vehicles within the vehicle platoon, the change to the following distance based on the conditions for navigation in the area, and the policy applicable to the area;   wherein the transmission of the control message to the vehicle platoon further causes the vehicle platoon to implement the change to the following distance between the vehicles within the vehicle platoon.   
     
     
         12 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the transmission of the control message to the vehicle platoon further causes one or more vehicles to split or join from the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         13 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the conditions include environmental conditions related to at least one of weather, an accident, or an emergency incident, in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         14 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the conditions include traffic flow conditions in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         15 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the policy is defined for a geographic area, the geographic area including the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         16 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the road controller unit is a road side unit. 
     
     
         17 . The road controller unit of  claim 10 , wherein the control message is communicated to the vehicle platoon using infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) communication network. 
     
     
         18 . An apparatus, comprising:
 means for communicating with at least one vehicle of a vehicle platoon, to receive a status message from the vehicle platoon, the vehicle platoon to travel in an area of a roadway controlled by the apparatus;   means for processing the status message, the status message including a state of the vehicle platoon, wherein the status message is processed before the vehicle platoon enters the area of the roadway controlled by the apparatus;   means for obtaining data indicating conditions for navigation of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway;   means for determining a change to a speed of the vehicle platoon based on the conditions for navigation and a policy applicable to the area of the roadway; and   means for communicating with the at least one vehicle of the vehicle platoon, to transmit a control message that causes the vehicle platoon to implement the determined speed of the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway.   
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , further comprising:
 means for determining a change to a following distance used between vehicles within the vehicle platoon, the change to the following distance based on the conditions for navigation in the area and the policy applicable to the area;   wherein the control message includes a command to cause the vehicle platoon to implement the change to the following distance between the vehicles within the vehicle platoon.   
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the control message includes a command to cause one or more vehicles to split or join from the vehicle platoon in the area of the roadway. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the conditions include:
 environmental conditions related to at least one of weather, an accident, or an emergency incident, in the area of the roadway; or   traffic flow conditions in the area of the roadway.   
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , wherein the policy is defined for a geographic area, the geographic area including the area of the roadway.