GB2517795A

GB2517795A - Improvements related to cellular communications networks

Info

Publication number: GB2517795A
Application number: GB1315623.7A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sean Heaney
Original assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Ltd
Current assignee: Jaguar Land Rover Ltd
Priority date: 2013-09-03
Filing date: 2013-09-03
Publication date: 2015-03-04
Anticipated expiration: 2033-09-03
Also published as: GB201315623D0; GB2517795B

Abstract

A system and method for performing data communication in a cellular communications network including a mobile device and a master device such as a base station is described. The method comprises: determining a route 100 of the mobile device; communicating the determined route to the master device 102; receiving one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and using the sets of parameters to perform data communication. The route of the mobile device may be determined using a navigation system, or by using historic information. The system may change between selected sets of parameters as the mobile device moves along its route. Each set of received parameters is preferably associated with a respective zone of the network which the route passes through 104. The parameters may include a time validity associated with a predicted time at which the mobile device will be at a point along the route. The master device preferably receives the determined route from the mobile device, determines zones of the network that the mobile device may occupy, reserves a set of parameters for each zone 106, and communicates the reserved sets for use by the mobile device 108. The mobile device is preferably a vehicle.

Description

IMPROVEMENTS RELATED TO CELLULAR COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to cellular communications networks, and in particular to the allocation of specific operational parameters for use by a mobile slave device in the cellular communications network. Aspects of the invention relate to a method, a processing system, a vehicle and a data communication system.

BACKGROUND

A cellular communications network is a radio network that comprises a core network connected to a plurality of master devices (i.e. base stations). The cellular communications network further comprises a plurality of mobile slave devices that communicate wirelessly with the base stations.

The base stations are arranged to supply geographic zones with radio service. The geographic zones form cells which may be further divided into sub-zones such as pixels or a geo-fence around an initial location of a mobile slave device. The geographic zones and sub-zones (or just zones") typically form regular shapes, for example, hexagons, rectangles or circles. Each zone may use a different set of frequencies from neighbouring zones, to avoid interference and regulate bandwidth within each zone.

The master devices communicate with the mobile slave devices using specific operational parameters that are allocated by the core network to each mobile slave device for operation in a particular zone. In other words, a mobile slave device may be allocated ditferent sets of specific operation parameters to operate in adjacent zones.

The specific operational parameters include at least: lower and upper frequency boundaries (i.e. channels), maximum power (i.e. equivalent isotropically radiated power), maximum total number of channels and maximum number of contiguous channels that may be used at any given time by the mobile slave device and time validity of the set of specific operation parameters.

If the mobile slave device is moving during continuous communication with the master device, it may pass through several zones. As the set of specific operational parameters may be different for each zone, the continuous communication must be transferred to the new set of specific operational parameters without causing an interruption to the continuous communication. This can be done by hard or soft handovers as are known in the art.

Typically, the available radio spectrum for the cellular communications network is finite and channels and bandwidth are not optimized for each mobile slave device. If the specific operational parameters are not allocated efficiently, this may lead to less than optimal performance for the mobile slave device and the cellular communications network. For example, if specific operational parameters are reserved for one day for a mobile slave device when it only requires the specific operational parameters for a short duration. This could be the case if the speed that the mobile slave device is moving is high and the size of the zone is small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Aspects of the invention relate to a system, to a method and to a vehicle as claimed in the appended claims.

According to an aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for performing data communication in a cellular communications network including a mobile slave device and a master device, the method comprising: determining a route of the mobile slave device; communicating the determined route to the master device; receiving one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and using the one of more sets of specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route.

In this way, the or each set of specific operational parameters are allocated in advance of the required use by the mobile slave device to perform data communication in the cellular communications network. As the availability of specific operational parameters may vary for different zones, allocating specific operational parameters in advance may allow them to be allocated efficiently to the mobile slave device as well as other mobile slave devices in the cellular communications network.

The specific operational parameters may be selected from at least one of: lower frequency boundary; upper frequency boundary; maximum radiated power (e.g. maximum equivalent isotropically radiated power or effective radiated power); and maximum total number of channels that may be used at any given time by the mobile slave device and time validity of the set of specific operation parameters.

Determining a route of the mobile slave device may comprise using a navigation system to determine the location of the mobile slave device and suggest or give directions using predetermined maps. The navigation system may determine the location using satellite navigation (e.g. GE'S, GLONASS, Compass or Galileo systems), radio navigation or multilateration of radio signals from existing cellular communications networks (e.g. ¶3 or LTE).

Optionally, determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises predicting a route from routes regularly undertaken by the mobile slave device. Alternatively or additionally, determining a route of the mobile slave device may comprise predicting a route from at least one historic route undertaken by the mobile slave device. Predicting the route reduces the set-up time required by the user as the user may not be required to specify at least the desired destination.

Using the sets of specific operational parameters may comprise changing between selected sets as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route when a plurality of sets of specific operational parameters are received.

Additionally, each set of specific operational parameters may be associated with a respective zone of the cellular communications network that the determined route passes through. In this way, the handover 01 any data communications may be carried out efficiently as the sets of specific operational parameters are allocated in advance of the mobile slave device entering a zone.

Optionally, determining a route of the mobile slave device includes predicting the time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route. Additionally, the specific operational parameters may include time validity associated with the predicted time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route.

Optionally, the mobile slave device is any one of: a mobile phone; a mobile computer; or a vehicle. The vehicle may be any one of: an automobile; a train; or an aeroplane, for

example.

The method described above may be implemented on a processing system suitable for a mobile slave device or a vehicle. Optionally, a mobile slave device or a vehicle includes this processing system.

Optionally, the master device: receives the determined route from the mobile slave device; determines zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserves a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicates the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.

Reserving a set of specific operational parameters may comprise obtaining the specific operational parameters from available specific operational parameters in a database. The specific operational parameters in the database may be associated with an order of preference. For example, where a particular frequency or channel is known to function well for data communications given factors such as the topography, terrain or interference in a particular zone, the particular frequency or channel is defined as preferred and is identified as such in the database. During selection of specific operational parameters from the database, available specific operational parameters may be selected preferentially based on the associated order of preference. This may enable the optimum available channel in a zone to be selected, reserved and allocated for use by the mobile slave device.

Optionally, the database is updated to identify that the or each reserved set of specific operational parameters are no longer available for reservation. Additionally, the updated database may be communicated to further master devices in the cellular communications network when the database is updated, for example, immediately after the database is updated or periodically.

The set of specific operational parameters are optionally allocated for use exclusively by the mobile slave device, in order to reduce the likelihood of interference.

The cellular communications network may operate over the television white space frequency spectrum, typically in the range of between 50 MHz and 800 MHz. Transmissions using frequencies within the television white space frequency spectrum can travel relatively long distances before being absorbed by the atmosphere. Therefore, using frequencies within the television white space frequency spectrum may lower the infrastructure costs to supply radio signal in a cellular communications network over large geographic areas.

According to an aspect 01 the invention, there is provided a data communication system for performing data communication in a cellular communication network including a mobile slave device and a master device, wherein the mobile slave device is configured to: determine a route of the mobile slave device; communicate the determined route to the master device; receive one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and use the one of more sets 01 specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route, and wherein the master device is configured to: receive the determined route from the mobile slave device; determine zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserve a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicate the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.

Within the scope of this application it is expressly intended that the various aspects, embodiments, examples and alternatives set out in the preceding paragraphs, in the claims and/or in the following description and drawings, and in particular the individual features thereof, may be taken independently or in any combination. Features described in connection with one emdiment are applicable to all embodiments, unless such features are incompatible.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is an overview of a cellular communications network according an embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic 01 components of the cellular communications network of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic of a mobile slave device of the cellular communications network of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a flowchart of a process for allocating specific operational parameters according to an embodiment of the present invention; and Figure 5 is a diagram of data flow within the cellular communications network of Figure 1 when carrying out the process of Figure 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Base stations of existing cellular communications networks (e.g. 30 or LTE) are generally arranged to maximise the population supplied with radio signal. A cellular communications network using TV whitespaces (TVWS) would be suitable for supplying large geographic areas with radio signal as the distance between base stations may be greater than existing cellular communications networks. This is due to the relatively long distance that the transmissions using frequencies within the TVWS spectrum can travel before being absorbed by the atmosphere and therefore lowers the infrastructure costs to supply radio signal to large geographic areas. In other words, TVWS is suitable for a cellular communications network where the base stations are arranged to maximise the geographical area supplied with radio signal, particularly in rural areas.

TVWS may exist between channels used for television broadcasts, typically in the range of between 50 MHz and 800 MHz, since assigning transmissions to immediately adjacent channels may cause destructive interference to both, particularly in analogue broadcasts. In addition to TVWS assigned for technical reasons, there is also unused radio spectrum which has either never been used, or is becoming available as a result of technical changes such as the switchover from analogue to digital television. Therefore data communications using the TVWS frequency spectrum are within the band used for television broadcasts.

Vehicles such as automobiles typically operate in rural areas of low population, such as on highways between cities, where existing cellular communications networks may not supply radio signal. Modern automobiles include facilities for connecting to cellular communications networks to allow users to access their data whilst undertaking a journey.

Figure 1 shows a cellular communications network 10 comprising six master devices 12 which define six zones 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, 14f respectively. Note that the zones are represented here as hexagonal for illustrative purposes only. In this embodiment, the cellular communications network 10 operates using frequencies in TV whitespaces (TVWS) in order to provide data communications.

Each of the six master devices 12 are connected to a core network coordinator 16 and each comprise a processor (not shown in the figure) and a white space database 18. The master devices 12 are base stations configured to transmit and receive data to/from mobile slave devices in their respective zones. The white space databases 18 store details of available channels and their other associated specific operational parameters and are synchronised periodically by the core network coordinator 16. The core network coordinator 16 exchanges data between different networks 20, for example, the Internet or a Wide Area Network.

Figure 1 also shows the progress of a mobile slave device 22 as it travels through the communications network 10. In this embodiment, the mobile slave device 22 is represented by a sports utility vehicle that passes through the cellular communications network 10 from a start location 24 to an end location 26 along the path 28 indicated by the dashed arrow. The mobile slave device 22 comprises a communications processing system for data communications with master devices 12 of the cellular communications network 10. In each zone that the path passes through 1 4a, 1 4b, 1 4c, the mobile slave device 22 uses a different set of specific operational parameters that are allocated for its use.

Figure 2 shows the core network coordinator 16 in more detail. The core network coordinator 16 comprises a list of qualifying white space databases 50, a Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) coverage database 52 and a Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) usage database 54. The list of qualifying white space databases 50 is generated by a regulator of the cellular communications network 10 and defines white space databases that meet the requirements set by the regulator. For example, the regulator may be the Office of Communications (Ofcom) in the United Kingdom or the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States of America. In this embodiment, the white space database 18 meets the requirements of the regulator and is in the list of qualifying white space databases 50.

The DU coverage database 52 and the PMSE usage database 54 contain information including the specific operational parameters that have been allocated for use by other devices that share the frequency band with TVWS. The DTT coverage database 52 defines the different specific operational parameters used in different zones for television broadcasts. The PMSE usage database 54 similarly defines the different specific operational parameters used in different zones for equipment that is used temporarily such as for news gathering, theatrical productions and/or music concerts. This equipment may include wireless microphones, wireless cameras and/or point-to-point microwave communication data links. The DTT coverage database 52 and the PMSE usage database 54 transfer data regarding the availability of channels to the white space database 18.

Figure 3 shows the communications processing system 70 of the mobile slave device 22 in more detail. The communications processing system 70 includes an antenna 72 for sending and receiving radio waves in the TVWS frequency band. In other embodiments, the antenna 72 is also configured to communicate using other frequencies such as those in the 3G cr [TE spectrum. The radio waves are communicated to a TVWS module 74 which interprets the data in the radio waves. The TVWS module 74 may also receive other types of cellular communication signals such as 3G and/or LTE. The TVWS module 74 can also interpret and send data to the TVWS antenna 72 for transmission, allowing two-way data communication.

The TVWS module 74 is connected to a specific operational parameters database 76 that comprises the sets of specific operational parameters that have been allocated for use by the mobile slave device 22. The TVWS module 74 uses the sets of specific operational parameters to determine configurations required to interpret radio waves received by the antenna 72, for example, by adjusting the channel and/or varying the power output of the antenna 72.

The TVWS module 74 communicates the data to a data connectivity module 78 which hosts incoming data. In this example, the sports utility vehicle comprises a controller area network (CAN) bus that allows devices in the vehicle to communicate with each other as is known in the art. The data connectivity module 78 communicates the data to an infotainment system and/or an internal Wi-Fi hotspot module 80 via the CAN bus system. The infotainment system and the internal Wi-Fi hotspot module 80 are used by user of the mobile slave device 22 to access and request data 82.

The data connectivity module 78 is also connected to a navigation system 84 that obtains location data associated with the mobile slave device 22, for example, by using satellite navigation, and comprises a maps database. The navigation system 84 stores the location data and gives directions to other locations along paths in the maps database, as the user places requests with the navigation system to be directed to selected locations.

In this way, the communications processing system 70 includes several modules which manage the user information requests and handles external communications and data display to the user.

By way of example, consider the scenario in which the sports utility vehicle, as the mobile slave device 22, moves along the path 28 and a passenger desires to play a video on the infotainment system 80, where the source of the video is the Internet 20. The passenger selects the video for playback causing the inlotainment system 80 to request the video data 82. The infotainment system 80 communicates with the data connectivity module 78 via the CAN bus. Once the data connectivity module 78 receives the request for video data, it communicates the request to the TVWS module 74. The TVWS module 74 sends the request via the antenna 72 using the appropriate frequency and power level retrieved from the specific operational parameters database 76. The request is received by the master device 12 which communicates with the core network coordinator 16 to retrieve the requested video from the Internet 20. The video data 82 is then transferred from the Internet 20, via the core network coordinator 16, the master device 12, the antenna 72, the TVWS module 74 and the data connectivity module 78 to the infctainment system 80 for display to the passenger.

As the mobile slave device 22 moves through the zones 14a, 14b, 14c, the handover of a continuous data communication (such as the video stream discussed above) between the master devices 12 may be seamless if the sets 01 specilic operational parameters are allocated in advance of the mobile slave device 22 entering a zone.

Figure 4 shows a process by which the sets of specific operational parameters are allocated to the mobile slave device 22 in advance of it entering a zone 14a, 14b, 14c, 14d, 14e, 141.

In Step 100, a route or path that the mobile slave device will undertake is determined by the navigation system 84. For example, the driver of the sports utility vehicle may define a desired destination with the navigation system 84 which then determines an efficient route to the destination. A further example is where the navigation system 84 stores routes that are regularly undertaken by the sports utility vehicle and uses the regularly undertaken routes to predict a route. In this case, the navigation system 84 could determine multiple possible routes that the mobile slave device 22 may undertake, based on at least one historic route previously undertaken by the vehicle, and may select one or more of those determined routes to communicate to the master device 12. Following determination of a route or routes, the route information is communicated to the master device 12 associated with the zone 14a containing the mobile slave device 22 start location 24 in Step 102.

Once the master device 12 receives the route information, in Step 104, the processor of the master device 12 determines the zones that the route passes through 14a, 14b, 14c. In Step 106, the processor queries the white space database 18 and reserves available sets of specific operational parameters comprising at least frequencies and power requirements for each zone in the determined route 14a, 14b, 140. The sets of specific operational parameters are reserved for the exclusive use of the mobile slave device 22 in each zone in the route 14a, 14b, 14c.

The available specific operational parameters are ranked in order of preference, and the most preferred available specific operational parameters are reserved. For example, where a particular channel is known to function well for data communications given factors such as the topography, terrain or interference in a particular zone, the particular channel is defined as preferred and is identified as such in the database 18.

Additionally, the navigation system 84 may predict the time at which the mobile slave device 22 will be at any point along the determined route 28. The predicted time may be used to assign time validity to the sets of specific operational parameters associated with the predicted time at which the mobile slave device 22 will be at any point along the determined route.

The processor then updates the white space database 18 with the reserved specific operational parameters, defining them as no longer available. The master device 12 sends the updated white space database 18 to the core network coordinator 16 which then synchronises the white space database 18 of all master devices 12. This may either be done periodically at predetermined times or, alternatively, immediately after the white space database 18 is updated.

In Step 108, the reserved specific operational parameters for all the zones in the route 14a, 14b, 14c are communicated by the master device 12 to the mobile slave device 22 and are stored in the specific operational parameters database 76. The mobile slave device 22 can then send and receive data via the master devices 12 using the specific operational parameters it has been allocated as it travels along the route 28 through the cellular communications network 10.

Figure 5 shows the data flow in the cellular communications network 10 when carrying out the process described in respect to Figure 4. In Step 130, the route information is sent from the mobile slave device 22 to the master device 12. The processor of the master device 12 reserves the specific operational parameters, accessing and updating the white space database 18.

In Step 132, the updated white space database 18 is communicated to the core network coordinator 16.

In Step 134, the core network coordinator 16 communicates with all the master devices 12 to synchronise the white space databases 18.

In Step 136, the reserved specific operational parameters are communicated to the mobile slave device 22 and stored in its specific operation parameters database 76 for later use.

Many modifications may be made to the above examples without departing from the scope of the present invention as defined in the accompanying claims.

For example, the core network coordinator 16 may perform the process of allocating the sets of specific operational parameters (as opposed to the master devices). In this example, the core network coordinator 16 comprises the white space database 18 in order to perform the reservation and allocation to the mobile slave device 22.

Although the invention has been described in terms of communicating data within the vehicle using a controller area network (CAN) bus, some vehicles use Ethernet instead of CAN to allow devices to communicate with each other. In such a case, the data connectivity module 78 optionally communicates with the infotainment system and I or the internal Wi-Fi hotspot module 80 via the Ethernet bus system within the vehicle. Further examples of systems that allow devices in the vehicle to communicate with each other include Local Interconnect Network (LIN) and FlexRay.

Although the invention has been described in the context of an automobile, more specifically a sports utility or cross-over' vehicle, the invention may, in principle, be applicable to any vehicle type. For example, the mobile slave device 22 may be a train, in which context the invention may find particular use. The route of the train may be determined by the navigation system 84 once it is configured with the destination and the railway tracks. This may allow a continuous Wi-Fi hotspot to be generated by the Wi-Fi hotspot module 80, for use by the passengers along the entire route of the train. ii

Further aspects of the present invention are set cut in the following numbered paragraphs: 1. A method for performing data communication in a cellular communications network including a mobile slave device and a master device, the method comprising: determining a route of the mobile slave device; communicating the determined route to the master device; receiving one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and using the one of more sets of specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route.

2. The method of paragraph 1, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises using a navigation system.

3. The method of paragraph 1, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises predicting a route from routes regularly undertaken by the mobile slave device.

4. The method of paragraph 1, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises predicting a route from at least one historic route undertaken by the mobile slave device.

5. The method of paragraph 1, including receiving a plurality of sets of specific operational parameters, wherein using the sets of specific operational parameters comprises changing between selected sets as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route.

6. The method of paragraph 5, wherein each set of specific operational parameters is associated with a respective zone of the cellular communications network that the determined route passes through.

7. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the specific operational parameters are selected from at least one of: lower frequency boundary; upper frequency boundary; maximum radiated power; and maximum total number of channels that may be used at any given time.

8. The method of paragraph 1, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device includes predicting the time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route.

9. The method of paragraph 8, wherein the specific operational parameters includes time validity associated with the predicted time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route.

10. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the master device: receives the determined route from the mobile slave device; determines zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserves a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicates the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.

11. The method of paragraph 10, wherein reserving a set of specific operational parameters comprises obtaining the specific operational parameters from available specific operational parameters in a database.

12. The method of paragraph 11, wherein reserving a set of specific operational parameters includes selecting from preferred available specific operation parameters in the database.

13. The method of paragraph 12, wherein the database is updated to identify that the or each reserved set of specific operational parameters are no longer available for reservation.

14. The method of paragraph 13, wherein the updated database is communicated to further master devices in the cellular communications network when the database is updated.

15. The method of paragraph 14, wherein the updated database is communicated to further master devices in the cellular communications network immediately after the database is updated.

16. The method of paragraph 10, wherein the set of specific operational parameters are allocated for use exclusively by the mobile slave device.

17. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the cellular communications network operates over the television white space frequency spectrum.

18. The method of paragraph 1, wherein the mobile slave device is a vehicle.

19. The method of paragraph 18, wherein the vehicle is an automobile.

20. A processing system for a vehicle being configured to implement the method of paragraph 1.

21. A vehicle including the processing system of paragraph 20.

22. A data communication system for performing data communication in a cellular communication network including a mobile slave device and a master device, wherein the mobile slave device is configured to: determine a route of the mobile slave device; communicate the determined route to the master device; receive one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and use the one of more sets of specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route, and wherein the master device is configured to: receive the determined route from the mobile slave device; determine zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserve a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicate the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for performing data communication in a cellular communications network including a mobile slave device and a master device, the method comprising: determining a route of the mobile slave device; communicating the determined route to the master device; receiving one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and using the one of more sets of specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises using a navigation system.
3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises predicting a route from routes regularly undertaken by the mobile slave device.
4. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device comprises predicting a route from at least one historic route undertaken by the mobile slave device.
5. The method of any of the preceding claims, including receiving a plurality of sets of specific operational parameters, wherein using the sets of specific operational parameters comprises changing between selected sets as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein each set of specific operational parameters is associated with a respective zone of the cellular communications network that the determined route passes through.
7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the specific operational parameters are selected from at least one of: lower frequency boundary; upper frequency boundary; maximum radiated power; and maximum total number of channels that may be used at any given time.
8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein determining a route of the mobile slave device includes predicting the time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the specific operational parameters includes time validity associated with the predicted time at which the mobile slave device will be at any point along the determined route.
10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the master device: receives the determined route trom the mobile slave device; determines zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserves a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicates the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein reserving a set of specific operational parameters comprises obtaining the specific operational parameters from available specific operational parameters in a database.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein reserving a set of specific operational parameters includes selecting from preferred available specific operation parameters in the database.
13. The method of claim 12, wherein the database is updated to identify that the or each reserved set of specific operational parameters are no longer available for reservation.
14. The method 01 claim 13, wherein the updated database is communicated to further master devices in the cellular communications network when the database is updated.
15. The method 01 claim 14, wherein the updated database is communicated to further master devices in the cellular communications network immediately after the database is updated.
16. The method of claims 10 to 15, wherein the set of specific operational parameters are allocated for use exclusively by the mobile slave device.
17. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the cellular communications network operates over the television white space frequency spectrum.
18. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the mobile slave device is a vehicle.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the vehicle is an automobile.
20. A processing system for a vehicle being configured to implement the method of any ofclaimsl to9.
21. A vehicle including the processing system of claim 20.
22. A data communication system for performing data communication in a cellular communication network including a mobile slave device and a master device, wherein the mobile slave device is configured to: determine a route of the mobile slave device; communicate the determined route to the master device; receive one or more sets of specific operational parameters from the master device; and use the one of more sets of specific operational parameters to perform data communication as the mobile slave device moves along the determined route, and wherein the master device is configured to: receive the determined route from the mobile slave device; determine zones of the cellular communications network that the mobile slave device will occupy based on the determined route; reserve a set of specific operational parameters for each determined zone; and communicate the reserved one or more sets of specific operational parameters for use by the mobile slave device.
23. A method, processing system, vehicle, or data communications system as hereinbefore described with reference to or as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.