EP3977760A1

EP3977760A1 - Vehicle mounted communication node metering and accounting

Info

Publication number: EP3977760A1
Application number: EP20729997.5A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Andreas Schmidt; Achim Luft
Original assignee: Ipcom GmbH and Co KG
Current assignee: Ipcom GmbH and Co KG
Priority date: 2019-05-28
Filing date: 2020-05-28
Publication date: 2022-04-06
Also published as: WO2020239912A1

Abstract

The invention provides a method of operating a vehicle mounted mobile communication node, wherein the method comprises storing data relating to an operation of the vehicle as a mobile communication node, wherein the data comprises at least one of energy consumption data, distance travelled by the vehicle data and costs incurred by the vehicle data as well as a corresponding vehicle.

Description

Vehicle Mounted Communication Node Metering and Accounting

The present invention relates to the introduction of vehicle-mounted communication nodes and means to monitor the operation of said“combined systems”, primarily for charging and billing purposes.

In 2018 the“Small Cell Forum” (a carrier-led organization established with the objectives to drive the deployment of small cells) and“5G of Americas” (a trade organization with the mission to foster the advancement and full capabilities of LTE wireless technologies and their evolution to 5G in the Americas) published the following document: http://www.5gamericas.org/files/9815/3547/3006/195_SC_siting_challenges_final.pdf

From this study, a conclusion may be drawn that a new scale of network densification is needed to prepare mobile networks for upcoming 5G NR technology. However, for every new cell, a mobile network operator (MNO) needs to gain site and equipment approvals. In detail, before a new base station or relay node (in general: communication node) can be set-up and operated, the MNO has to negotiate fees with the city or landlords, deploy the base station taking site-specific regulations into account, and maintain the communication node during operation. Additionally, the MNO is required to ensure the communication node has an appropriate backhaul connection and supply of power.

The more cells that need to be rolled out, the more it will be economically non-viable to negotiate a different set of approvals, certifications, fees, and processes for every site. Ideally, MNOs would like to have standardized rules and fees that apply in their entire network.

For these reasons it can be anticipated that in future MNOs will strive for massive deployment of communication node (i.e. base stations and/or relay nodes) that are mounted to vehicles. New backhauling technologies currently under discussion in 3GPP (cf. Study Item“Integrated Access and Backhaul for NR” for 3GPP Rel-16 in document RP- 181349) are likely to expedite this development. While current discussions during 3GPP Rel-15 timeframe focus on fixed integrated access backhaul, IAB, nodes, it is the next logical step to also investigate mobile IAB nodes. US 2002/0186144 A1 describes an automated vehicle rental system such as a car-sharing system. A system has central reservation, management and location capabilities. US 2003/0221118 A1 describes a vehicle recording and reporting system.

US 2015/0141032 A1 describes a mobile communication system comprising a fixed base station, or eNB, and a mobile unit, or user equipment, UE. The base station may have a remote radio head, RRH. An entity within the base station assigns a radio resource from a plurality of radio resources and billing information for different operators may be obtained based on channel loading. EP 2 477 427 A1 describes the use of operation and

maintenance, O&M, counters for RAN sharing and inter-operator billing, the counters relating to usage of the radio interface including transmitted energy. US 2017/0311216 A1 describes handover with moving cells, an example of a moving cell being a base station installed on a public transportation vehicle.

In the context of this invention the term‘communication node’ shall be interpreted in its broadest possible meaning. It may include various types of communication nodes such as base stations (in particular, gNBs in case of 5G NR and eNBs in case of 4G LTE), relay nodes and/or IAB nodes. The terms‘communication node’ and‘base station’ are therefore used interchangeably throughout the present document. Said communication nodes are able to span cells of various sizes for various use cases.

The expected larger bandwidth available for 5G NR (e.g. in the mm Wave spectrum) compared to 4G LTE along with the native deployment of massive MIMO or multi-beam systems in 5G NR creates an opportunity to develop and deploy integrated access and backhaul links. This may allow easier deployment of a dense network of self-backhauled 5G NR cells in a more integrated manner by building upon many of the control and data channels/procedures defined for providing access to UEs. An example illustration of a network with such integrated access and backhaul links is shown in Figure 1 of 3GPP document RP-181349, where nodes A, B, and C can multiplex access and backhaul links in time, frequency, or space (e.g. beam-based operation).

With new backhauling technologies in place (such as IAB), massive deployment of vehicle- mounted communication nodes becomes feasible and is likely the MNO’s preferred choice to improve network coverage for 5G NR.

After all, lengthy negotiations with the city or landlords, complicated approval and/or certification processes, and site acquisition costs could be mitigated by shifting a certain amount of base stations from fixed locations (e.g., towers or roof tops) to vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, busses, or even to vehicles that are not land-based). This shifting may be a long-term process. It is expected that first only new 5G NR base stations will be deployed in vehicles, then (maybe in the course of re-farming of the frequency spectrum) also some existing base station deployments can be moved from fixed locations to vehicle

deployments.

It has to be noted that future cellular communication networks will be much more heterogeneous than today’s networks, i.e. macro cells (span by fixed macro base stations for instance installed on towers and roof tops) offering a basic coverage layer will be accompanied by small cells (span by fixed small cell base stations for instance installed on lamp posts and street furniture) offering a high throughput layer (which is sometimes also referred to as“data shower”). These cell types are likely to be accompanied by moving (i.e. vehicle-mounted) communication nodes. As one can see, a certain amount of base stations will therefore remain installed at fixed locations (e.g., towers or roof tops), as these are required to serve mobile communication nodes (e.g., IAB nodes) mounted on vehicles.

In the scope of the present invention vehicle-mounted communication nodes form a combined system made up of a vehicle (e.g., an autonomous driving car, sub system A) and at least one communication node (e.g., a base station or relay nodes, sub system B).

A vehicle mounted base station may be equipped with more than one antenna system, for example one installed inside the vehicle (internal antenna system) to serve a driver or passengers, and one installed outside the vehicle’s Faraday cage (external antenna system) to serve the MNO’s customer on the street or (those sitting in) neighbouring vehicles. At least one of the antenna systems may be a transmission and reception point (TRP) in form of a phased antenna array capable of generating multiple radio beams at the same time.

In context of this invention the term vehicle should be understood in its broadest possible meaning covering all types of vehicles, such as airborne vehicles (e.g., planes, drones, helicopters, etc.), swimming vehicles (e.g., boats, ships, ferries, vessels, etc.) and land- based vehicles (e.g., cars, motorcycles, trucks, busses, etc.).

At the same time, with the advent of autonomous driving the automotive industry and the mobility/transportation sector as a whole are undergoing fundamental changes. It is projected that in a few years from today only very few people will still own a car. The individually owned car in everyone’s driveway will soon be an anachronism. Instead, people’s mobility requests will be fulfilled by fleets of self-driving vehicles used for on- demand transportation services or ride sharing. And these fleets of cars will be owned, maintained and allotted by companies instead of individuals. This makes roll-out of vehicle mounted communication nodes for MNOs much easier.

For example, the passenger car registration records for the year 2017 in Germany indicate that around 230.000 new VW Golf models were newly registered. If an MNO had chosen this popular VW model for small cell roll-out he could have added (in Germany alone) 230.000 new mobile base stations or relay nodes to his wireless communication network within only twelve months, without having to go through the complicated processes of negotiating fees or rent with a big number of cities or an even bigger number of landlords.

Unfortunately, charging and billing related terminology found in literature and standards is not harmonized. For the benefit of the reader and to facilitate understanding of the various terms to newcomers in the field, we briefly state the terms and definitions adopted for use in this paper and note the differences between terms. Reference is given to“An Overview of Online Charging in 3GPP Networks” by Tomislav Grgic and Maja Matijasevic (University of Zagreb, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing) that can be found on the internet at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/3de6/57c63e9c9716e30ac63e9b003ecc84d499b0.pdf

There are four terms that refer to the most important charging-related processes. Metering refers to a process that collects information about resource usage at a particular network element. Accounting uses metering logs to aggregate information about resource usage from different network elements. Charging refers to a process of calculating a cost, expressed in units acceptable for network management processing, of a given service consumption, by using the accounting information. Within the billing process, the charges are collected, and the service payment procedures are managed towards the party that consumed the service(s). In mobile communication networks two methods of billing, namely prepaid billing and postpaid billing, are equally used depending on the payment type agreed between the MNO and the customer (or, subscriber).

In prepaid billing, a certain amount of money must be deposited in advance to an account, which will then be spent in accordance with a service usage. In postpaid billing, an account is debited as the services are being used, but the payment is performed only after a certain time interval has expired (e.g., a month) by issuing a bill that aggregates costs of all services that have been used in the given interval.

The literature differentiates between charging models and charging mechanisms. A charging model defines a list of criteria that will be applied in order to calculate a monetary cost of a used service, as well as a (list of) price(s), also known as tariffs, of a defined service unit that will be used in cost calculation, by applying the given criteria. Volume- based charging model uses the amount of data transferred as a criterion, for example, defines a price of€1.00 for every 100 MB of transferred data. Other commonly used charging models are, the time-based model, which uses the time spent for service usage as a criterion, and the content-based model, which uses the service content of the provided service as a criterion. A charging mechanism, which may be marked as offline or online, identifies whether the service is charged while it is being provisioned or thereafter. Offline charging mechanism separates charging and service provisioning in time: charging is requested for the particular service as the service is started, but only accounting and metering processes are initiated. After the service is terminated, charging processes the accounting data, calculates the final service cost, and forwards it to the billing domain. Online charging mechanism is performed in real-time in accordance with service

provisioning, requiring accounting and metering to be performed in real-time as well. The main advantage of this approach is the ability to control the service cost at each point of the service session. Additionally, this enables introduction of service authorization mechanisms, that means granting or denying particular service components. Finally, online charging process can make decisions regarding service termination if certain conditions are met.

There exist some differences in how metering, accounting, charging, and billing are defined by the two relevant standardization bodies IETF and 3GPP. For instance, for what is in 3GPP and in this paper termed charging, IETF uses the term rating. 3GPP defines billing mainly as explained here, but also refers to accounting as the process of“apportioning charges between the parties involved in service delivery” (cf. 3GPP TS 21.905).

Furthermore, in 3GPP charging is used in a broader sense, as an umbrella term for all involved sub-processes. The difference in terminology is explained in more detail in the document“An Overview of Online Charging in 3GPP Networks” referred to above.

Some of the operations may require a secure processing environment (SPE) for

implementation. For example, an SPE may include a cryptographic circuit configured to provide one or more cryptographic services to ensure trustworthiness of the operations being performed. Cryptographic services may for instance include: an access control service, an identification service, an attestation service, an authentication service, an encryption service, a decryption service, and/or a digital signature service. The

cryptographic circuit may include a memory to store cryptographic material such as cryptographic keys (for example, a certified public key and/or a secret key and/or various other encryption keys).

The SPE may be or may include a trusted platform module (TPM) and/or a smart card (such as a subscriber identity module (SIM) or a universal subscriber identity module (USIM)).

The trusted platform module (TPM) may be understood as an integrated circuit module that has been developed as part of the TCG specification (TCG— trusted computing group, formerly known as TCPA) in order to provide a secure environment for personal computers (PCs). It resembles a smart card inseparably mounted on a computation platform. A difference to a smart card is that it is coupled to a system (the computation platform) rather than to a user. Other deployment scenarios - apart from personal computers (PCs) - are PDA (personal digital assistants), cellular phones, and also consumer electronics. In the setting of the methods disclosed in the various embodiments of this invention, the‘base station domain’ and/or the‘vehicle domain’ may be equipped with a TPM or TPM chip.

A TPM chip is a passive element. It cannot actively influence neither the bootstrapping process of the system nor any ongoing operation, but it holds a unique identification tag that can be used to identify a system (the computation platform) unambiguously. Furthermore, a TPM can generate, use and store a number of different (e.g. cryptographic) keys (e.g., for encryption algorithms or digital signatures). These keys do not need to be used outside the TPM; all computations may be carried out within the trusted domain of the TPM instead. Software attacks are therefore deemed impossible. Also, protection from hardware attacks is relatively good (similar to secure smart cards). TPMs are manufactured in a way that physical attacks result inevitably in the destruction of all data. Some functionalities of a TPM in the context of various embodiments include the capabilities of attestation, certification, and authentication. With the attestation function a remote entity can be convinced about the support of certain functionalities by the system in question, and about the fact that the system itself is in a well-defined state. To put it another way: a computing platform with integrated TPM can proof its trustworthiness towards a remote entity. In many cases, the operational state of a system (computation platform) successfully verified by a TPM's supervision function is a precondition to execute software or to run certain applications. Mobile phones operating according to the GSM standard require a SIM Card for usage in the mobile network, whereas mobile phones operating according to the UMTS standard require a UICC (UICC - universal integrated circuit card) with at least one USIM. Both type of cards (SIM card and UICC) offer storage capability for applications and application data in their application memory. Most of these applications are mobile communication specific and thus are issued, maintained, and updated by the MNO. Trustworthy applications, that are relevant for this invention report, may also be stored in the application memory of a smart card. A smart card may comprise different architecture elements, such as:

application memory, for example implemented as a programmable read only memory (PROM), as an erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), as an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The application memory may be used to store application programs (computer programs in general), USIM application toolkit (USAT) applets and/or data (e.g. short message service (SMS) data, multimedia message service (MMS) data, phone book data, etc.;

read only memory (ROM). The ROM may be provided to store the USIM application toolkit (USAT), smart card application programs (e.g. USIM, ISIM, etc.), a file system, various algorithms, a Java virtual machine, one or more operating systems:

random access memory (RAM). The RAM may be provided as a working memory to store e.g. results from calculations or input/output communication;

a microprocessor unit (MPU) which may be provided for the execution of instructions, in other words, of the respective computer programs mentioned above;

an input/output controller (I/O controller) which may be provided for the

management of data flow between e.g. the terminal communication device such as e.g. the mobile equipment (ME) and the MPU.

Every communication node (such as a base station and/or a relay node) requires electric power to operate. The shift from fixed base station locations (e.g., towers or roof tops) to vehicle-mounted base stations (e.g., cars, trucks, busses) raises questions as to who pays for the energy needed for operating the bases stations at the desired locations. And in future (with the advent of autonomous driving cars or self-driving cars) it also raises questions as to who pays for the energy needed and road toll (if applicable) for relocating vehicles to desired locations as per MNO order.

Today, the driver of a vehicle (or the owner of the vehicle, or its manufacturer, or a fleet operating company) has to pay for filling up the tank at a gas station (if the vehicle in question is a conventional vehicle equipped with a combustion engine) or charge the battery (if the vehicle in question is equipped with an electric engine) or both (if the vehicle in question is a hybrid vehicle). According to state-of-the-art a vehicle would simply consume gas or drain the battery (while being ordered by the MNO to relocate to another location). Likewise, according to state-of-the-art a vehicle-mounted base station would simply drain the battery of the vehicle (while offering a base station functionality as instructed by the MNO). In both cases, the party who paid for the energy (fuel or electric power) has no means to find out details about the energy consumption in a trustworthy manner. Furthermore, according to state-of-the-art road tolls would also have to be paid by the owner of the vehicle. The present invention mitigates these deficiencies and provides a potential for new business models at the same time.

The present invention provides a method of operating a vehicle mounted mobile

communication node, wherein the method comprises storing data relating to an operation of the vehicle as a mobile communication node providing a radio access network for a mobile network operator, wherein the data comprises at least one of energy consumption data, distance travelled by the vehicle data and costs incurred by the vehicle data.

The energy consumption data preferably relate to electric power consumed in operating the radio access network for the mobile network operator and energy consumption data relating to a movement of the vehicle.

The invention also provides a vehicle having a communication node mounted thereon, the communication node being adapted to provide a communications system base station for a mobile network operator, wherein the communication node is adapted to store data relating to an operation of the vehicle as the communication node, wherein the data comprises at least one of energy consumption data, distance travelled by the vehicle data and costs incurred by the vehicle data.

According to a first aspect of the present invention base stations are deployed (for example as mobile IAB nodes) in vehicles. These communication nodes are part of the MNO’s infrastructure and may be connected to other infrastructure components of the MNO (e.g., fixed base stations or relay nodes or further IAB nodes, some of which may also be vehicle- mounted) over a wireless back haul connection (e.g., in the mm wave frequency range).

The driver of the vehicle and/or the owner of the vehicle and/or the vehicle manufacturer and/or a fleet operating company (generally speaking, the party who paid for the energy) can be compensated by the MNO for the usage of the vehicles and/or the consumption of energy. According to a second aspect of the present invention the vehicle-mounted base stations are equipped with means to collect data pertaining to the operation of the base station, such as data about energy consumption, idle and active time periods, number of customers served, amount of data transmitted/received, and alike.

According to a third aspect of the present invention the vehicles are equipped with means to collect data pertaining to the operation of the base station to inform the driver and/or the owner of the vehicle and/or the vehicle manufacturer and/or the fleet operator about operational characteristics of the vehicle-mounted base station, in particular to verify the energy consumption of the base station deployed inside a vehicle (e.g., within a defined time period).

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention the MNO may control (for example, turn on/off, radio access technology selection, carrier frequency selection, bandwidth selection, etc.) vehicle-mounted base stations over the backhaul link at a given location.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention (for example, in case of self-driving cars) the MNO may order vehicles to relocate to certain locations where network coverage and/or capacity requires some improvement. The MNO may be required to request consent from the owner (or the vehicle manufacturer or the fleet operator) in this use case. In this scenario, it is proposed to collect data pertaining to the relocation process of the vehicle, such as driving time, distance, road fees (toll charges), and energy consumption (incl. fuel and/or electric power) of the respective vehicle.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention the data collected by the vehicle is stored inside the vehicle (e.g., in a data repository (DR)) and can be retrieved (read out) or accessed by the owner of the vehicle, (service personal of) the vehicle manufacturer and/or (service personal of) the fleet operator via a wired or wireless interface (for example, a cellular radio interface, such as 4G LTE or 5G NR, or a short-range radio interface operating according to the Bluetooth standard).

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention the data collected by the vehicle is transferred to a server that may be located inside the MNO domain, inside the vehicle manufacturer domain, or inside the fleet operator domain, or on the internet.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention the data collected by the vehicle is encrypted and/or digitally signed. It is proposed to encrypt and/or sign the data after collection in a secure processing environment (SPE), for instance inside a dedicated sub system of the vehicle, according to the third aspect and fifth aspect of the present invention (e.g., using cryptographic keys assigned to at least one of the vehicle owner, the vehicle manufacturer and/or the fleet operator).

Massive deployment of 5G NR cells is required for MNOs in order to build future-proof cellular communication networks. However, installation of more and more cells is a bothersome process. Rolling out vehicle-mounted base station and enabling MNO control of these type of base stations would be a big ease.

As the above example with the 230.000 newly registered VW Golf models in one year (in Germany alone) shows: Instead of talking to 230.000 landlords in lengthy site acquisition processes, a MNO would only be required to negotiate one deal with a single car manufacturer (or fleet operator) to roll-out a new generation of base stations (e.g., offering 5G NR“data showers”) thereby improving network coverage and/or capacity in a very fast and dynamic manner.

It is also financially interesting for both parties, as the MNO saves on site acquisition costs (i.e. rental fees) and the car owner, the car manufacturer, or the fleet operator can make money from providing their vehicles for this service and can get compensated for the electric power or fuel consumed for relocating and operating vehicle-mounted

communication nodes.

Within the scope of the present invention vehicle-mounted communication nodes form a combined system made up of a vehicle (e.g., a car) and at least one communication node (e.g., a base station). The combined system may be equipped with means to collect data pertaining to the operation of vehicle-mounted communication nodes, such as data about energy consumed by the antenna amplifiers, idle and active time periods, number of customers served, amount of data transmitted/received, and alike. Furthermore, for example, in case of self-driving cars, a combined system may be equipped with means to collect data pertaining to relocation procedures of vehicles, such as driving time, distance, toll charges, and energy consumption (incl. fuel and/or electric power) of the respective vehicle.

An architecture for a combined system containing several meters and a secure processing environment plus several message sequence charts is disclosed. Various measurement samples are collected by meters dispersed throughout the combined system and then processed for accounting purposes aiming at enabling for the vehicle owner and/or fleet operator at least one of the following: better transparency (what parts of the combined system have been used for what purpose) and monetary reimbursement (how much fuel, electric power, road tolls etc. need to be reimbursed).

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 shows a schematic architecture of a combined vehicle and communication node;

Fig. 2 is a message flow chart for messages according to a first example;

Fig. 3 is a message flow chart for messages according to a second example; and

Fig. 4 is a message flow chart showing a possible reconfiguration procedure.

Two different embodiments for an exemplary realization of the invention will be described.

In all embodiments, a vehicle is represented by sub system A and a vehicle-mounted communication node (such as a base station or a relay node) is depicted as sub system B. The former is equipped with means to move/drive the vehicle. The latter may be equipped with one or more antenna system, for example an internal antenna system to span a cell for the driver and/or passengers residing inside the vehicle, and an external antenna system to span a cell for subscribers nearby (e.g., for pedestrians on the sidewalk, or for passengers in neighbouring vehicles, or for neighbouring vehicles themselves). The at least one vehicle-mounted base station may be deployed as a mobile IAB node and served wirelessly by other fixed or mobile infrastructure nodes (e.g., base stations or relay nodes or other IAB nodes, some of which may also be vehicle-mounted). The wireless back haul connection may for example use the mm wave frequency range of 3GPP’s upcoming 5G NR radio access technology (RAT) or operate on frequencies of 5G NR predecessors like 4G LTE and/or 3G UMTS.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the vehicle-mounted communication node may offer at least one small cells (for example, by means of an external antenna system), that may be designed to serve traffic hotspots on frequency layers that are able to provide high data throughput (sometimes also referred to as“data shower”), for example in a cellular communication system operating according to 3GPP’s set of 5G NR specifications.

Fig.1 shows the most general constellation of a combined system according to this invention. In this example, sub system A is a car. It may comprise legacy car components, such as fuel tank, combustion engine, electric generator (alternator), battery (primarily used to feed the engine’s starter), drive-chain, gearbox, axles, steering wheel, speedometer, odometer, and wheels. It may also comprise modern car components, that are required for electric/hybrid cars, such as high-capacity battery pack(s) (e.g., instead of or in addition to a fuel tank), electric engine (e.g., instead of or in addition to a combustion engine), and so on. Furthermore, it may be equipped with additional components required for autonomous driving, such as communication modules (e.g., in form of a UE functionality) to exchange data with a remotely located control entity, a multitude of sensors and/or cameras, various systems for driver assistance techniques, and so on. Sub system B represents a vehicle- mounted communication node that may comprise a base station or relay node functionality (e.g., an IAB node) and/or an antenna system and/or one or more antenna amplifier unit(s). As described above different types of antenna systems (namely internal and external antenna systems) may be coupled to the base station; these are not shown in Fig. 1 for sake of simplicity. Either sub system may be equipped with at least one meter to perform measurements of various kinds. Fig.1 shows three meters on either side (in case of sub system A these are: MAI , MA2 and MA_X). This is not meant to be a restriction; the index‘x’ is used to indicate that there may be more than just three meters on either side. In case of sub system B, there may for instance be additional meters associated with the various antenna systems (not shown) that may for instance be designed to measure the electric power consumed by the respective transmit antenna amplifiers, and so on. The various entities within a sub system may be under control of one or more trusted platform module (TPM) providing a secure processing environment (SPE), so that various types of data (e.g., details about the energy consumption and/or energy transfer and/or details about vehicle’s relocation procedure) can be collected/calculated/processed in a trustworthy manner. Fig. 1 shows an embodiment where the various meters are controlled by a single TPM on each side. The hatched area represents the SPE provided by said TPM. A data repository (DR) is also shown. It may be configured to serve as a memory for storing measurement samples or calculation results, in particular for metering and accounting purposes as described further below, within a given sub system.

According to the present invention, Flow #1 in Fig.1 may represent:

transfer of information, for example derived from one or more data source(s) in sub system B, such as a communication node (e.g., a base station or relay node) and/or an antenna system and/or an antenna amplifier unit, to an information sink in sub system A.

Flow #2 in Fig.1 may represent at least one of the following: transfer of information, for example derived from one or more data source(s) in sub system A, such as an odometer and/or speedometer and/or GNSS module and/or an On- Board Unit used to determine road toll, to an information sink in sub system B.

transfer of energy, for example taken from an energy source in sub system A, such as a regular starter battery and/or a high-capacity battery pack as used for electric vehicles and/or a special purpose battery especially deployed for operating vehicle-mounted communication nodes (or anything in between for example, as used for hybrid cars) to an energy sink in sub system B, such as a communication node (e.g., a base station or relay node) and/or an antenna system and/or one or more antenna amplifier unit(s).

Consequently, the various measurements performed in the meters dispersed in each sub system may relate to:

electric power consumed by at least one of the following energy sinks:

(vehicle-mounted) communication node

antenna system

antenna amplifier unit

electric power taken from at least one of the following energy sources:

a regular starter battery (as used for legacy vehicles)

a high-capacity battery pack (as used for electric vehicles)

a special-purpose battery, for example especially deployed for operating vehicle-mounted communication nodes

or any other type of battery (e.g., as used for hybrid cars)

energy transferred between the sub systems over the respective interface (cf.

interfaces IFi and IF2 shown in Fig.1 ).

energy taken up by sub system A due to an MNO triggered relocation process of the vehicle. For this, the following characteristics could be measured:

how much battery power and/or fuel was consumed

how far a distance the vehicle was ordered to travel

start time and end time of the respective relocation procedure toll roads used (or fees payed) during a respective relocation procedure way points (what route did the vehicle take). This may for instance comprise a series of GNSS data (if available) or“RF fingerprints”, i.e. fingerprints of the radio landscape the vehicle-mounted communication node has been travelling in.

the operation characteristics of the vehicle-mounted communication node, such as: radio access technology (RAT)

carrier frequency

system bandwidth configured bandwidth parts (BWPs)

MNO being served

cell type (e.g., small cell vs. macro cell)

link type (e.g., uplink, downlink, sidelink, backhaul)

start time and end time of base station operation

idle and active time periods

number of customers served

amount of data transmitted/received

The various measurement samples collected by the meters dispersed throughout the combined system are processed for accounting purposes aiming at enabling for the vehicle owner and/or fleet operator at least one of the following:

Transparency

what parts of the system have been used for what purpose

where did the MNO order the vehicle to navigate to

how long was the vehicle in service for the MNO

Compensation from the MNO

for the usage of various system components;

for consumption of electric power and/or fuel

for reimbursement of road toll charges.

Two exemplary implementations are now described.

Example A - determining the energy consumption for base station operation

It is assumed that sub system B (e.g., a base station) is fully under control of the MNO. This means the MNO has means to collect information about energy consumption of his device. However, the energy for operating the communication node is supplied by batteries deployed in sub system A (e.g., a car). In order to achieve transparency about energy consumption within the entire system (i.e. in the combined system) and to enable sharing of energy costs in a fair manner, it is required to enable sub system A to detect how much energy is being transferred to sub system B. Thus, the following enhancements are proposed herewith:

Interface IF_å is designed to supply electric power from (a battery deployed in) sub system A to (a base station or relay node deployed in) sub system B (Flow #2). M_A2 is configured to measure the flow of energy from sub system A to sub system B. A secure processing environment (SPE) is established in sub system A (e.g., by means of a trusted platform module (TPM)). The SPE in sub system A comprises an accounting entity and optionally the meter M_A2. The accounting entity is configured to generate sets of accounting data using the measurement samples provided by meter M_A2.

Such data records may be generated:

in the form of charging data records (CDRs);

to enable generation of CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time); and

for inclusion in CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time).

Such data records may be generated either continuously (periodically) or event based (e.g., when the transfer of energy is started or comes to an end, or when a pre-defined energy level (threshold) was exceeded/underrun).

The SPE in sub system A may be configured to encrypt and/or digitally sign the data records generated by the accounting entity (e.g., using an encryption key associated with the owner of the vehicle and/or the car manufacturer and/or the fleet operator).

The data records may be:

promptly brought to the driver’s attention (e.g., via a display);

stored in a data repository (DR) within sub system A (for later retrieval by the owner and/or car manufacturer and/or fleet operator); and

transmitted to a server deployed in the car manufacturer’s and/or fleet operator’s and/or MNO’s domain and/or to an application server on the internet, where they can serve as input for various charging and billing procedures (e.g., in one scenario, this happens under control of the MNO).

The SPE in sub system A may further be configured to assign a reference to said data records allowing easy access to the data set in case of storage (e.g., at a later point in time).

Fig. 2 shows an exemplary message sequence chart for one embodiment according to Example A of the present invention, the focus being on configuring an operation period in the combined system. The initiator, which may be a logical entity inside the mobile network operator’s (MNO’s) core network, triggers activation of a vehicle-mounted communication node via an Activation message. In this step some basic configuration parameters pertaining to operation characteristics may be part of the Activation message, such as the radio access technology (RAT) to be used (for example, 2G GSM, 3G UMTS, 4G LTE or 5G NR). The Activation message may then be enhanced/modified to contain more detailed information elements (for example, Radio Access Network (RAN) specific configuration parameters, such as carrier frequency, system bandwidth, bandwidth parts (BWPs), PLMN- ID, and Cell-ID). These RAN specific parameters may at least in part be adapted to the communication node’s envisaged new location and/or route of interest. The activation message may then be transmitted via the MNO’s cellular network to the target vehicle carrying the communication node (i.e. to the combined system).

Upon its reception in the combined system the flow of electric power from a source (battery) in sub system A to a sink (communication node) in sub system B may be arranged (cf. Flow #2 in Fig. 1). Furthermore, meter M_A2 may be initialized and configured to measure the flow of energy from sub system A to sub system B over the IF2 interface. Additionally, an accounting entity may be initialized and configured to generate various sets of accounting data using the measurement samples provided by meter M_A2. Preferably, all this takes place in a SPE that may be provided by a TPM. Said data records may be generated either in form of charging data records (CDRs) or in order to assist in the generation of CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time /e.g., in the MNO’s core network). CDRs may then be used to determine a form of compensation for the usage of (parts of) the combined system. Suitable forms of compensation are, for example, direct monetary reimbursement or virtual credits that may be earned and spent and converted into monetary reimbursement at a later point in time.

In Fig. 2 the start of the operation period is marked with“Activation”, and the end of the operation period is marked with“De-Activation”. The end of the operation period may be determined implicitly by a timer or counter, whose start value may be part of the activation message. Alternatively, the combined system may be informed about the end of the operation period explicitly. For this, a de-activation message can be used. It may be received via the MNO’s cellular network at the point in time when the initiator intends to deactivate the operation of the communication node deployed in the target vehicle.

During the operation period the combined system may receive at least one further message for instance aiming at reconfiguring the operation of the vehicle-mounted communication node. This reconfiguration process is shown as a dashed line marked with“F6” in Fig. 2. Details of this process are discussed below in connection with Fig. 4.

Example B - Determining the Energy Consumption for Vehicle Relocation In this example of the present invention sub system A (i.e. the vehicle) is equipped with means to drive autonomously. It is also equipped with communication means to receive relocation request, for example directly from an MNO and/or from the owner of the vehicle and/or the car manufacturer and/or the fleet operator. Alternatively, such relocation requests are (although still being initiated by the MNO) centrally coordinated relocation requests received via dedicated infrastructure components provided by the owner of the vehicle and/or the car manufacturer and/or the fleet operator. The latter alternative may help allotting/dispatching vehicles based on various orders received from one or more MNO(s). For example, if different types of vehicle-mounted communication nodes are deployed in a fleet of vehicles, a fleet operator may select and send the right vehicle (i.e. the one that is offering the best matching capabilities) to the location of interest. In another example, a fleet operator is enabled to lent/leased vehicles from his pool of vehicles to different MNOs. In yet another example, a fleet operator is enabled to dispatch vehicles based on their individual battery charging levels and/or fill levels of the gas tank.

If a relocation request is received by the vehicle in question, various parameters (e.g., required to calculate the route, or to determine the start and end time of the journey, or to measure the amount of energy consumed in course of the relocation procedure, and so on) may be initialized (e.g., set to zero) in respective meters that may be dispersed throughout sub system A.

The following enhancements may be made.

MAX is configured in sub system A to measure the energy taken up for steering the vehicle or letting the vehicle drive (autonomously) to the place of interest (as ordered by the MNO). Data such as how much battery power was consumed and how much fuel was consumed may be obtained.

Further meters M_AI can be configured, for example in order to measure at least one of the following parameters in the course of the relocation procedure:

distance travelled (mileage)

maximum/minimum speed

travel time (or start time and end time of the relocation procedure = the“lease”) toll roads used (or fees payed) during a respective relocation procedure

waypoints / RF fingerprints (used to find out about the vehicle’s route) A secure processing environment (SPE) is established in sub system A (e.g., by means of a trusted platform module (TPM)). The SPE in sub system A comprises an accounting entity and optionally the meters MAX and MAI.

The accounting entity is configured to generate sets of accounting data using the measurement samples provided by meter MAX and various other meters MAI (if applicable). Such data records may be generated in form of charging data records (CDRs). The data records may be generated to enable generation of CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time) or for inclusion in CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time). Such data records may be generated either continuously (periodically) or event based (e.g., when the vehicle’s journey starts or when the MNO defined target location is reached, or when a pre-defined geo-fence (threshold) was met or crossed).

The data records may be:

stored in a data repository (DR) within sub system A (for later retrieval by the owner and/or car manufacturer and/or fleet operator);

transmitted to a server deployed in the vehicle owner’s and/or car manufacturer’s and/or fleet operator’s and/or MNO’s domain and/or to an application server on the internet, where they can serve as input for various charging and billing procedures (e.g., in one scenario, this happens under control of the MNO).

Fig. 3 shows an exemplary message sequence chart for one embodiment according to example B of the present invention, the focus being on configuring a relocation of the combined system. The initiator, which may be a logical entity inside the mobile network operator’s (MNO’s) domain or outside (e.g., in a domain of the vehicle owner and/or car manufacturer and/or fleet operator), triggers activation of a vehicle-mounted communication node via a Relocation Start message. In this step some basic relocation parameters pertaining to the envisaged new place or route of interest may be part of the Relocation Start message, such as the start point, way points, and end point (e.g., in form of GNSS coordinates). Similar to the Activation message described above, the Relocation Start message may in some scenarios be enriched with further MNO specific parameters. The Relocation Start message may then be transmitted via the MNO’s cellular network to the target vehicle carrying the communication node (i.e. to the combined system to be relocated).

Upon its reception in the combined system the relocation of the vehicle is arranged: meter MAX (and potentially further meters MAI) may be initialized and configured to measure the energy consumption (e.g., fuel and/or electric power) in sub system A during the relocation procedure (and potentially also mileage, speed, toll charges, travel time, waypoints, RF fingerprints, and whatever is required to compensate for the lease or usage of the combined system). Additionally, an accounting entity may be initialized and configured to generate various sets of accounting data using the measurement samples provided by the meters MA2 (and meters MAI, if configured). Preferably, all this takes place in a SPE that may be provided by a TPM. The data records may be generated either in form of charging data records (CDRs) or in order to assist in the generation of CDRs (e.g., at a later point in time /e.g., in the MNO’s core network). CDRs may then be used to determine a form of compensation for the lease or usage of the combined system. Suitable forms of compensation are, for example, direct monetary reimbursement or virtual credits that may be earned and spent and converted into monetary reimbursement at a later point in time.

In Fig. 3 the start of the relocation period is marked with“Start”, and the end of the relocation period is marked with“End”. The end of the relocation period may be determined implicitly by a timer or counter, whose starting value may be part of the Relocation Start message. Alternatively, the combined system may be informed about the end of the relocation period explicitly. For this, a Relocation End message can be used. It may be received via the MNO’s cellular network at the point in time when the initiator intends to terminate the relocation of the vehicle-mounted communication node.

During the relocation period the combined system may receive at least one further message for instance aiming at reconfiguring the relocation of the vehicle-mounted communication node. This reconfiguration process is shown as a dashed line marked with “F6” in Fig. 3. Details of this process are discussed below in context with Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 shows an exemplary message sequence chart for a reconfiguration process according to one embodiment of the present invention. In this context, reconfiguration primarily relates to the inventive metering and accounting functions for operating (Example A) and relocating (Example B) a vehicle-mounted communication node. Furthermore, reconfiguration may relate to various operation characteristics of sub system A (vehicle), such as

place of interest

route of interest

start point

waypoints

end points

operating times.

Reconfiguration may also relate to characteristics of sub system B (communication node), such as

radio access technology (RAT)

carrier frequency

system bandwidth

configured bandwidth parts (BWPs)

PLMN-ID and/or cell-ID

cell type (e.g., small cell vs. macro cell)

link type (e.g., uplink, downlink, sidelink, backhaul)

start time and end time of base station operation

idle and active time periods

number of customers served

amount of data transmitted/received.

Also, the characteristics of interfaces IF1 and IF2 connecting the two sub systems may be reconfigured, such as:

amount of energy transfer between the sub systems

direction of energy transfer between the sub systems

exchange of sets of accounting data and/or CDR(s) between the sub systems storage of accounting data generated in one sub system in another sub system storage of CDR(s) generated in one sub system in another sub system.

The initiator, which may be a logical entity inside the mobile network operator’s (MNO) domain or outside of it (e.g., in a domain associated with the owner of the vehicle and/or the car manufacturer and/or a fleet operator), may trigger a reconfiguration of the inventive processes in a vehicle-mounted communication node via a Reconfiguration message.

Some basic reconfiguration parameters may be part of the initial Reconfiguration message. However, the Reconfiguration message may in some scenarios be enriched with further MNO specific parameters. It is then transmitted via the MNO’s cellular network to the combined system. Depending on the content of the Reconfiguration message, various meters and/or at least one accounting function can be reconfigured or newly initialized in the combined system. For example, the amount and scope of metering (i.e. taking measurement samples) can be changes, the encryption and/or integrity protection functions can be controlled, the storage location (data repository, DR) for various sets of accounting data and/or CDRs can be updated, and so on. Also, the operation of the communication node can be altered (e.g., a new PLMN-ID or bandwidth part can be assigned, etc.) or details of the vehicle’s relocation procedure can be updated (e.g., way points can be deleted/added, or an outdated end point can be replaced by a new end point, etc.).

The two examples given above show the metering and accounting principles used in the scope of this invention that are needed to realize the concept of vehicle-mounted communication nodes. They can be easily enhanced and/or adapted by those skilled in the art to cover more advanced use cases without leaving the scope of this invention.

For instance, example A can be modified to log for the owner of the vehicle (or, the car manufacturer or the fleet operator) in a trustworthy manner the operating hours of the communication node, if corresponding meters in sub system B and the interface IFi are configured/adapted accordingly.

Likewise, example A can be modified to log in a trustworthy manner the number of users served by a communication node (e.g., within a certain period of time), if corresponding meters sub system B and the interface IFi are configured/adapted accordingly.

Example A can also be modified to log in a trustworthy manner the amount of data (e.g., in GByte) or the average data rate (e.g., in Gbit per second) that was relayed via or transmitted from or received by a communication node (within a certain period of time), if corresponding meters in sub system B and the interface IFi are configured/adapted accordingly. This information can also be gathered per transmission channel (e.g., in uplink direction, in downlink direction, over a sidelink channel (in case of direct UE-to-UE communication), or over a backhaul link).

The data records (containing various sets of accounting data) may then be used in the process of generating charging data records (CDRs) or any other type of input to a billing system, for instance at a later point in time. Thanks to the digital encryption and/or integrity protection mechanisms proposed to be used, any of the vehicle owner and/or car manufacturer and/or fleet operator and/or MNO has full transparency about the usage of (certain parts of) the combined system, in particular in terms of amount of energy consumed for operating the communication node; operation characteristics (type of service, radio access technology being used, number of customers served, amount of data transmitted, etc.) of the communication node; amount of energy consumed during a relocation procedure of the vehicle; amount of road toll accumulated during a relocation procedure of the vehicle; time / duration of lease of the combined system; place(s) of operation of the combined system; and route travelled during operation of the combined system so that a compensational payment can be arranged between the involved parties (e.g., from the MNO to the vehicle owner) in a fair and effective manner.

Claims

1. A method of operating a vehicle mounted mobile communication node, wherein the method comprises storing data relating to an operation of the vehicle as a mobile communication node providing a radio access network for a mobile network operator, wherein the data comprises at least one of energy consumption data, distance travelled by the vehicle data and costs incurred by the vehicle data.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the stored data are stored as at least one of sets of accounting data and charging data records.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the at least one of sets of accounting data and charging data records are created within a secure processing environment.

4. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein additional data are stored relating to at least one of a radio access technology employed, a carrier frequency of radio transmissions, a system bandwidth, configured bandwidth parts, the mobile network operator served, a cell type, a link type, a start time and an end time of node operation, idle and active time periods, a number of customers served and amounts of data transmitted and received.

5. The method according to any preceding claim, wherein the data are transmitted to at least one of the mobile network operator, a fleet operating company and a ride sharing company.

6. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the vehicle responds to commands to relocate the vehicle to a location determined by the mobile network operator.

7. A vehicle having a communication node mounted thereon, the communication node being adapted to provide a communications system base station for a mobile network operator, wherein one of the communication node and the vehicle is adapted to store data relating to an operation of the vehicle with the communication node, wherein the data comprises at least one of energy consumption data, distance travelled by the vehicle data and costs incurred by the vehicle data.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the the stored data are stored as charging data records.

9. The vehicle according to claim 8, wherein the communication node is adapted to create the charging data records within a secure processing environment.

10. The vehicle according to any one of claims 7 to 9, wherein the communication node is adapted to store additional data relating to at least one of a radio access technology employed, a carrier frequency of radio transmissions, a system bandwidth, configured bandwidth parts, the mobile network operator served, a cell type, a link type, a start time and an end time of node operation, idle and active time periods, a number of customers served and amounts of data transmitted and received.

11. The vehicle according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein the communication node is adapted to transmit the data to the mobile network operator.

12. The vehicle according to any one of claims 7 to 11 , wherein the vehicle is adapted to respond to commands to relocate the vehicle to a location determined by the mobile network operator.