{
  "patent_number": "US 10050760",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How Uber Manages Data Connections for Self-Driving Car Fleets",
  "original_title": "Backend communications system for a fleet of autonomous vehicles",
  "summary": "A system that splits network traffic for autonomous vehicles by sending heavy data over cheap channels while reserving a highly reliable channel specifically for delivery confirmations.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a way to manage the constant stream of data between a central server and a fleet of self-driving cars. Instead of sending everything over one connection, the system identifies multiple available communication channels. It designates one channel as the 'reliable' lane specifically for transmission acknowledgments (ACKs), which are the digital receipts confirming data was received. Meanwhile, it sends the bulk data packets over other, potentially cheaper or faster channels. This ensures that even if a data-heavy channel drops, the server knows exactly which packets arrived because the confirmation receipts are traveling on a more stable, dedicated path.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover general load balancing that does not specifically separate ACKs from data packets.",
    "Does not cover communication systems that rely on a single network interface or a single communication channel.",
    "Does not cover protocols that do not use TCP or similar acknowledgment-based verification systems.",
    "Does not cover the internal mechanical or sensor-based navigation systems of the autonomous vehicles themselves."
  ],
  "filed": "2015-12-08",
  "granted": "2018-08-14",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": "Uber Technologies Inc",
  "holder_url": "https://patentbrief.org/company/uber-technologies-inc",
  "inventors": [
    {
      "name": "Michael Aitken",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/michael-aitken"
    },
    {
      "name": "William Ross",
      "url": "https://patentbrief.org/inventor/william-ross"
    }
  ],
  "times_cited": 36,
  "tags": [
    "consumer_electronics",
    "telecommunications",
    "ai_ml"
  ],
  "abstract": "A backend communications system can manage communications, using transmission control protocol (TCP), between a fleet of AVs in a given region and a backend system that manages transportation for the fleet of AVs. For each of the fleet of AVs, the backend communications system can select a designated one of a plurality of communication channels to transmit and receive transmission acknowledgments (ACKs). The backend communications system can transmit data packets to the fleet of AVs using any number of communication channels and receive ACKs from each of the fleet of AVs over the designated communication channel.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10050760/uber-eats",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/10050760/uber-eats/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US10050760",
  "relatedPatents": []
}