SE539923C2 - Methods and communicators for transferring a soft identity reference from a first vehicle to a second vehicle in a platoon - Google Patents

Abstract

Methods (400, 600) and communicators (210, 220) in a first vehicle (110-1) and a second vehicle (110-2) respectively, in a platoon (100), for transferring a soft identity reference, associated with the first vehicle (110-1) when acting as a gateway in the platoon (100), to the second vehicle (110-2), enabling the second vehicle (110-2) to start acting as gateway in the platoon (100). The method (400) comprises: determining (402) to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2); transmitting (403) a message to a communication network node (130) that the first vehicle (110-1) is going to discontinue acting as gateway; transmitting (404) a message to a connectivity node (120) for inactivating the soft identity reference associated with the first vehicle (110-1); and transferring (405) the soft identity reference to the determined (402) second vehicle (110-2).

Description

METHODS AND COMMUNICATORS FOR TRANSFERRING A SOFT IDENTITY REFER-ENCE FROM A FIRST VEHICLE TO A SECOND VEHICLE IN A PLATOON TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses methods and communicators. More particularly, methods and com-municators are disclosed, for transferring a soft identity reference from a first vehicle to asecond vehicle in a platoon.

BACKGROUND Grouping vehicles into platoons is an emerging technology, leading to reduced fuel con-sumption and increased capacity of the roads. A number of vehicles, e.g. 2-25 or more, maybe organised in a platoon or vehicle convoy, wherein the vehicles are driving in coordinationafter each other with only a small distance between the vehicles, such as some decimetresor some meters, e.g. up to about 20 meters (the inter-vehicular distance may be dependente.g. on vehicle velocity, vehicle weight, road topography, road condition, etc.). Thereby airresistance is reduced, which is important for reducing energy consumption, in particular forheavy duty vehicles such as trucks, busses and goods vehicles or other vehicles having alarge frontal area. Such platoons may be organised and planned already long before theinvolved vehicles start driving. However, platoons may also be formed ad-hoc, when an ap-propriate in-front vehicle is spotted.

Further, vehicles, whether driving in platoon or not, are sometimes connected via a wirelessconnection to a network service such as e.g. a back-end office which may keep track ofcurrent geographical position of the vehicle, fuel consumption of the vehicle etc. This com-munication may be made via a communicator, which may have a physical sim card or a softsim card, which sometimes may be referred to as a Machine to machine CommunicationIdentity Module (MCIM).

Thus the communicator in a vehicle, or any other Machine to Machine (M2M) device, caninitially attach to the communication network based on wireless communication, such as e.g.3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) technologies as the one described in 3GPP TR33.812. The communicator may download a MClM in order to use a limited set of operations,such as reporting different measured data to the network and to end users as well as receiv-ing instructions from the network, e.g. a back-end office. lt is also known that a M2M device located in a personal network may act as a gateway forother users in the personal network. ln such scenario, only the M2M device acting as a gate-way needs an MClM in order to communicate with the communication network. The M2M device acting as a gateway can then communicate with the network to send reports for thewhole group as well as receiving instructions intended for the whole group. The other I\/|2|\/|devices/ communicators in the group only need to report their measurements to the gatewayover another wireless network based on e.g. WiFi, Bluetooth or similar. With this type ofsetup, the load towards the network is reduced since there is no need to download a l\/lCll\/lfor every M2M device in a personal network. Also all reports and instructions goes throughone node in the personal network, i.e. the gateway.

The scenario described above is applicable to vehicle platooning where the platoon can forma personal network and one of the vehicles in the platoon is responsible for reporting to thecommunication network as well as reporting to the other vehicles in the platoon. This meansthat it is possible for the vehicles in the platoon (in addition to the one vehicle acting asgateway) to communicate with the global communication network without having any activesubscriptions since only local communication means are needed such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or any other near field communication means.

The problem with the above mentioned setup is that the vehicle acting as a gateway mightwant to leave the platoon for several reasons. ln such case the only way to report to thenetwork and to receive data from the network is by letting a new vehicle within the platoongroup to assume the role of gateway. This means that the newly chosen gateway/ vehiclemust connect to the communication network in order to download a new l\/lCll\/l. The draw-back/ problem being that a new subscription is activated every time a vehicle leaves theplatoon. This creates an added cost, since a fleet that operates in a platoon will have to haveseveral (costly) subscriptions for this to work. ln particular, in an ad-hoc created platoon, itmay be expected that vehicles rather frequently leave its platoon and join or forms anotherplatoon, as the vehicles may not be coordinated in terms of destination, fuel fillings, compul-sory stops due to legal driving time regulations for professional drivers, etc.

Document US 20070115868 illustrates an ad-hoc network created for communication be-tween vehicles in a group of vehicles. A group header node is selected among the involvedvehicles to lead the group and function as a gateway for communication between any vehiclein the group and the network. When the group header node leaves the group, a new groupheader node is selected. However, this vehicle has to download a new MCIM in order to communicate with the network.

Document US 20110013510 describes a plurality of vehicles communicating over a commonlocal network. One or several communication nodes are described as gateways and are ableto communicate with a network. By assigning several gateways in the group, one vehicle acting as a gateway may leave the group without interruption in the network communication,as the other gateway/s may continue the communication. This is a robust solution, however,several subscriptions are required. Also, several subscriptions running in parallel means more network traffic, putting increasing demands on the network infrastructure.

Document EP 1065128 concerns a train set having a plurality of wagons where the wagonsmay inter-communicate via a local network. Each wagon has its own gateway, meaning thata separate MCIM and subscription is required for each wagon in the train set, bringing theabove mentioned disadvantages. lt appears that further development is required for enabling and facilitating network commu- nication for vehicles driving in a platoon.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems and provide improved network communication in a vehicle platoon formation.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a firstvehicle associated with a soft identity reference. The first vehicle is acting as a gateway in aplatoon, comprising a plurality of vehicles, for transferring the soft identity reference to asecond vehicle in the platoon. The method comprises determining to transfer the soft identityreference to the second vehicle. Further, the method also comprises transmitting a messageto a communication network node that the first vehicle is going to discontinue acting as gate-way. ln addition, the method comprises transmitting a message to a connectivity node forinactivating the soft identity reference associated with the first vehicle. The method also com-prises transferring the soft identity reference to the determined second vehicle.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a first communi-cator in a first vehicle, associated with a soft identity reference. The first vehicle is acting asa gateway in a platoon, comprising a plurality of vehicles, for transferring the soft identityreference to a second vehicle in the platoon. The communicator is configured to determineto transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle. Further, the communicator isconfigured to transmit a message to a communication network node that the first vehicle isgoing to discontinue acting as gateway. ln addition, the communicator is further configuredto transmit a message to a connectivity node for inactivating the soft identity reference as-sociated with the first vehicle. Also, the communicator is configured to transfer the soft iden-tity reference to the determined second vehicle.

According to a third aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method in a sec-ond vehicle in a platoon comprising a plurality of vehicles, for starting to act as gateway inthe platoon. The method comprises receiving a soft identity reference from the first vehicle.Further the method also comprises transmitting a message to a connectivity node for asso-ciating the soft identity reference with the second vehicle. The method in addition comprisescommunicating messages related to vehicles in the platoon with a network node over a firstwireless communication interface. Also, the method furthermore comprises communicatinginformation related to vehicles in the platoon, with the respective vehicles over a second wireless communication interface.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a second commu-nicator in a second vehicle in a platoon comprising a pluraiity of vehicles, for starting to actas gateway in the platoon. The communicator is configured to receive a soft identity refer-ence from the first vehicle. Further, the communicator is also configured to transmit a mes-sage to a connectivity node for associating the soft identity reference with the second vehicle.ln addition, the communicator is configured to communicate messages related to vehicles in the platoon with a network node over a first wireless communication interface.

By transferring the soft identity reference from the first vehicle to the second vehicle, andthereby enabling the second vehicle to continue to act as gateway for the platoon, it is notrequired for each vehicle in the platoon to download its own unique soft identity referenceand start its own network service subscription. Thanks to the disclosed methods, it is evenpossible to reuse the soft identity reference of a gateway vehicle in a first platoon, whenforming a second platoon, after the first platoon is dissolved. Thereby, less load is put on thewireless network. Also, the total subscription costs for the vehicles in the platoon is reducedby the provided methods.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to theaccompanying figures, in which:Figure 1A illustrates a side view of vehicles driving in a platoon according to an embod- iment; Figure 1B illustrates a platoon according to an embodiment, as seen from above; Figure 2A schematically illustrates a vehicle interior of a vehicle, according to an embod-iment;Figure 2B schematically illustrates a vehicle interior of a vehicle driving behind anothervehicle, according to an embodiment;Figure 3 schematically illustrates a combined flow chart and signalling scheme;Figure 4 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method in a first vehicle;Figure 5 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment;Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a method in a second vehicle;Figure 7 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as communicators and methods,which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodimentsmay, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limitedto the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are pro-vided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description,considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood, however,that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition ofthe limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to theappended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth-en/vise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro-cedures described herein.

Figure 1A illustrates a platoon 100, comprising a first vehicle 110-1, a second vehicle 110-2 and a third vehicle 110-3, driving in a driving direction 105 on a road.

The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 are coordinated via an inter-communi-cation travelling at given inter-vehicular distances ti, t2 and velocity.

The inter-vehicular distances ti, t2 may be fixed or variable in different embodiments. Thusthe distances ti, t2 may be e.g. some centimetres, some decimetres, some meters or sometenths of meters in different embodiments. Alternatively, each vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 inthe platoon 100 may have different distances ti, t2 to the vehicle following, or leading, vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, than to other vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the coordinated group100.

The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 may comprise e.g. a truck, a car, a multi-passenger vehiclesuch as a bus, a coach or any similar vehicle or other means of conveyance. The vehicles110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 may comprise vehicles of the same, or different typesin different embodiments.

The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 may be driver controlled or driverless autonomously con-trolled vehicles in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicles 110-1,110-2, 110-3 are subsequently described as having a driver.

One of the vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, such as e.g. the first vehicle 110-1, comprises a communicator and may function as a gateway between the vehicles 110-1,110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 and an exterior wireless communication netvvork. The com-munication between the first vehicle 110-1/ gateway and the network may be made over afirst communication interface such as e.g. 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) tech-nologies as the one described in 3GPP TR 33.812.

The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 may be coordinated via a wireless signalover an inter-vehicular communication interface. Such second wireless communication in-terface may comprise, or at least be inspired by wireless communication technology such asWi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (Ul\/IB), Bluetooth (BT),Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), Z-wave, ZigBee,lPv6 over Low power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPAN), Wireless Highway Ad-dressable Remote Transducer (HART) Protocol, Wireless Universal Serial Bus (USB), opti-cal communication such as Infrared Data Association (lrDA) or infrared transmission to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications in some embodiments. ln some embodiments, the involved vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 may beconfigured for wireless inter-communication between each other, e.g. via Vehicle-to-Vehicle(V2V) communication, e.g. based on Dedicated Short-Range Communications (DSRC) de-vices. DSRC works in 5.9 GHz band with bandwidth of 75 l\/lHz and approximate range of1000 m in some embodiments. By such wireless communication, the vehicles 110-1, 110-2,110-3 may coordinate their movements, which will enable a more informed and advancedcontrol that in turn will facilitate a smaller inter-vehicle spacing ti, t2 with maintained safety.Thereby the fuel gain will be increased as the air resistance will be further reduced.

All communication to/ from the 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 and the external net-work passes the gateway/ the first vehicle 110-1, using the downloaded soft identity such asMCIM. However, the vehicle 110-1 acting as a gateway may have to leave the platoon 100for various reasons, either planned (arriving at its destination, has to take a break accordingto tachograph data, etc.) or unplanned (flat tyre, the driver having sudden nausea, the cargo is moving, etc.).

Prior to leaving the platoon 100, the first vehicle 110-1 acting as a gateway transfers the softidentity reference to another vehicle 110-2, 110-3 within the platoon 100, such as e.g. asecond vehicle 110-2. Thus, the second vehicle 110-2, acting as the new gateway does nothave to download a new soft identity reference from the network, but can use the transferredsoft identity reference to authenticate itself and to announce its self as active, both for thecommunication network and for the other vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100.The same procedure may be repeated whenever a current vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 1 10-3 actingas gateway decides to leave the platoon 100.

The first vehicle 110-1 may in some embodiments transfer the soft identity reference to an-other vehicle 110-2, 110-3 within the platoon 100 for other reasons than leaving, such ase.g. low capacity of the first vehicle communicator, distribution of work load among the vehi-cle communicators of vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, dysfunctional com- municator, etc. ln order to secure the soft identity reference transfer operation, the first vehicle 110-1 actingas the gateway holding the soft identity reference may firstly announce to the network that itintends to transfer its soft identity reference to another vehicle 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100. The network then inactivates any active session for the first vehicle 110-1 acting as agateway and buffers all data until the second vehicle 110-2 is designated in a suitable man-ner (or wants) to act as a gateway attaches and authenticates itself. When the soft identityreference transfer between the first vehicle 1 10-1 and the second vehicle 1 10-2 is completed,all buffered data may be sent to the second vehicle 110-2 that will act as the new gateway.

Once the first vehicle 110-1 acting as a gateway decides to do a transfer of the soft identityreference, it will check within the platoon 100 for available vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 thatcan act as a gateway, e.g. via a broadcast. ln case e.g. the second vehicle 110-2 is able toact as new gateway, a response is sent in return to the first vehicle 110-1, possibly togetherwith a device Identity (ID) of the communicator of the second vehicle 110-2.

The first vehicle 110-1 will then send the device Identity (ID) of the Communicator of thesecond vehicle 110-2 that will act as a gateway to the network together with a transfer re-quest. When the network receives the transfer request from the first vehicle 110-1, currentlyacting as a gateway it will inactivate the soft identity reference. The second vehicle 110-2that wants to act as a gateway needs to activate the soft identity reference by attaching tothe network and by sending the same device ID to the network sent earlier, in some embod- iments.

When a vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 is acting as a gateway, a special symbol may be dis-played in the instrument cluster to show that it is the gateway in some embodiments. lf thegateway vehicle 110-1 is planning to leave the platoon 100, the driver can manually inputthat it wants to leave the platoon 100 in advance or it may be automatically detected sincethe route put in the navigation system deviates from the route of the platoon 100. Thereby,the symbol in the instrument cluster may start to blink in the host vehicle 110-1 and possiblyin the other vehicles 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 in some embodiments. The other vehi-cles 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 will then know that the vehicle 110-1 acting as a gatewayis leaving the platoon 100 and, similarly as before, the driver can select manually to act asthe new gateway or it can be done automatically based on suitable criteria in different em-bodiments. After the new gateway vehicle 110-2 has been established, the gateway symbolmay be shown constantly in that vehicle 110-2, in some embodiments. Other similar or cor-responding means of indication may alternatively be provided, such as indication by diodesin different colours, audio signals, tactile signals etc.

Alternatively, the string of platooning vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 can be shown in someembodiments, in the instrument cluster for all vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100. The gateway vehicle 110-1 can then be denoted by a special symbol or colour at itsposition in the string of vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100.

Note that a blinking symbol or a suitable colour can also be shown for the current and newgateway vehicles 110-1, 110-2, when data is being buffered and the transfer of gatewayvehicles 110-1, 110-2 is being done in some embodiments.

Hence, in a platoon 100 of plural vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 only one mobile subscriptionassociated with one soft identity reference/ l\/lCll\/l needs to be active which reduces sub-scription costs and also reduces load against the communication network. ln some embodiments, temporary platoons 100 may be created, e.g. when a first platoonstops due to traffic jam, and another platoon catches up with the first platoon. Each platoon may then have their own gateway, i.e. one vehicle of each platoon is acting as gateway forthe vehicles in the respective platoon. A temporary platoon may then be created by mergingthe two platoons and disabling one of the gateways, establishing one of the gateways asgateway for all vehicles of the temporary platoon. Thereby network traffic costs and networkload are further reduced in some embodiments.

At a later moment, when the traffic starts rolling and the platoon is separated into the twooriginal platoons, the above merging process may be reversed.

Figure 1B also illustrates a platoon 100, such as e.g., the platoon 100 in Figure 1A, as seenfrom above. The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 are enabled to communi- cate wirelessly over the inter-vehicular communication interface, exemplified above.

As previously stated, one of the vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, such ase.g. the first vehicle 110-1, acts as a gateway for all vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in theplatoon 100. Thus the first vehicle 110-1 communicates over a first communication interfacewith a connectivity node 120 and a communication network node 130.

The first communication interface may comprise, or at least be inspired by e.g., 3rd Gener-ation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 3GPP TR33.812, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS), Global System for Mobile Communications (originally:Groupe Spécial Mobile) (GSM)/ Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM/EDGE), Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) net-works, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) networks, Orthogonal FDMA (OFDMA)networks, Single-Carrier FDMA (SC-FDMA) networks, Worldwide lnteroperability for Micro-wave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), High Speed Packet Access(HSPA) Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA), High-Speed Uplink PacketAccess (HSUPA), High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Universal Terrestrial Ra-dio Access (UTRA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), 3GPP2 CDMA technol-ogies, e.g., CDMA2000 1x RTT and High Rate Packet Data (HRPD), or similar, just to men- tion some few options.Figure 2A illustrates the scenario in Figure 1A and/ or Figure 1B, as it may be perceivedfrom the driver of the first vehicle 110-1 (if any), driving first in the platoon 100 while driving in the driving direction 105.

The vehicle 110-1 comprises a communicator 210. The communicator 210 is associated with a soft identity reference, such as e.g. a MCIM. The first vehicle 110-1 acts as a gateway forthe platoon 100, via the Communicator 210.

Figure 2B illustrates the scenario in Figure 1A, Figure 1B and/ or Figure 2A, as it may beperceived from the driver of the second vehicle 110-2 (if there is any driver present), drivingbehind the first vehicle 110-1 in the platoon 100 while driving in the driving direction 105.

The first vehicle 110-1 has communicated that it will leave the platoon 100 and has transmit-ted the soft identity reference to the second vehicle 110-2. The second vehicle 110-2 fromthis moment in time starts functioning as gateway for the platoon 100, and the first vehicle110-1 may leave the platoon 100.

Figure 3 schematically illustrates how a soft identity reference may be downloaded to a firstvehicle 110-1, which then starts operating as a gateway for the platoon 100, and then trans-ferred to a second vehicle 110-2 in the platoon 100.

Firstly, it is determined that the first vehicle 110-1 in the platoon 100 is going to act as gate-way and download a soft identity reference to the communicator of the first vehicle 110-1.This may be determined according to an algorithm, like “select the vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 having the highest computing capacity”, “always select the first vehicle110-1 in the platoon 100", “select the vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 alreadyhaving downloaded soft identity reference which may be reused for the newly formed platoon100", “select the vehicle 110-1 that will be the last one to leave the platoon 100”, etc. ln step S1, the selected first vehicle 110-1 downloads a soft identity reference from the net-work, i.e. from the connectivity node 120. An attached request is also sent to the connectivitynode 120 in a subsequent step S2. The connectivity node 120 then register, in step S3, theInternet Protocol (IP) address and a Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Num-ber (MSISDN) at the communication network node 130. The MSISDN is a number uniquelyidentifying a subscription in the wireless network. The MSISDN is the telephone numberassociated with the soft identity reference, e.g. the l\/lCll\/l of the communicator 210 in thefirst vehicle 110-1.

When the registration is ready, the first vehicle 1 10-1 may send a broadcast over the secondwireless communication interface to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 of the platoon 100 that the first vehicle 110-1 from now in is the gateway of the platoon 100, in step S4.

The vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 may then start to send measured data 11 in step S5 to the first vehicle 1 10-1/ gateway, over the second wireless communication gate-way. The first vehicle 110-1/ gateway, upon receiving the measured data from the othervehicles 110-2, 110-3 starts to send the measured data to the communication network node130 in step S6. The measured data may be sent to a fleet management portal or a database,where various measured parameters such as fuel consumption, vehicle, position, etc., may be continuously stored.

The fleet management portal, or an owner of the respective vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 maysend instructions to the vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, such as e.g. changed driving ordersetc., in step S7.

The first vehicle 110-1 in this example then determines to leave the platoon 100. The firstvehicle 110-1 may then in step S8, send a broadcast to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in theplatoon 100, informing that the first vehicle 110-1 will leave the platoon 100, or alternativelystop acting as gateway. The broadcast may comprise a request to transfer the soft identityreference from the first vehicle 100-1 to another vehicle 110-2, 100-3 in the platoon 100.

The reason may not necessarily be that the first vehicle 100-1 is to leave the platoon 100,the shift of gateway may be made in order to distribute the calculation efforts equally amongthe vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100. ln step S9, the first vehicle 100-1 send a message to the communication network node 130to leave the platoon 100, or at least stop acting as gateway. The communication networknode 130 then inactivate any ongoing session and starts buffer data in step S10.

The first vehicle 100-1 then sends a message to the second vehicle 110-2, selected to startacting as gateway of the platoon 100 in step S11.

The second vehicle 110-2 may be selected to become the new gateway based on e.g. com-puting capacity of the communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2, or any other algorithm. ln step S12, the second vehicle 110-2 provides a response comprising a unique identificationof the communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2, such as e.g. the MSISDN and/ or the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (ll\/lSl) or other similar unique ID.

Having thereby confirmed that the second vehicle 110-2 is prepared to become the newgateway and to inherit the soft identity reference of the first vehicle 100-1, the first vehicle100-1 then may send a request to inactivate the soft identity reference of the first vehicle 12 100-1 to the connectivity node 120 in step S13.

Thereafter, the first vehicle 100-1 may send the soft identity reference of the first vehicle 100-1, to the second vehicle 110-2 in step S14. Upon having received and stored the soft identityreference at the communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2, a message comprising aunique identity of the second vehicle communicator 220 is sent to the connectivity node 120in step S15.

The connectivity node 120 may then send a confirmation to the second vehicle 110-2 thatthe soft identity reference is activated. ln some embodiments, it is desired to reduce the time period between the moment when thefirst vehicle 100-1 determines to leave the platoon 100 and the moment in time when thesecond vehicle 110-2 takes over the gateway responsibility and the soft identity reference/l\/lCll\/l. This is because if the first vehicle 100-1 suddenly have to stop and urgently leave theplatoon 100, the second vehicle 110-2 has to take over the gateway responsibility before thedistance between the first vehicle 100-1 and the other vehicles 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100 becomes too large for the inter vehicular communication. lt may thus be an advantagein some embodiments, to appoint the second vehicle 110-2 to become the future gateway,or to be a backup gateway in different embodiments. ln case the second vehicle 110-2 actsas a backup gateway, the soft identity reference may be shared between the first vehicle110-1 and the second vehicle 110-2, in some embodiments.

Figure 4 illustrates an example of a method 400 according to an embodiment. The flow chartin Figure 4 shows the method 400 in a first vehicle 110-1 associated with a soft identityreference such as a MCIM. The first vehicle 110-1 is acting as a gateway in a platoon 100,comprising a plurality of vehicles 110-1, 100-2, 100-3. The method 400 aims at transferringthe soft identity reference to a second vehicle 110-2 in the platoon 100.

The reason for transferring the soft identity reference may be that the first vehicle 110-1 hasto leave the platoon 100 in some embodiments. The reason may also be to distribute thecommunication efforts made when acting as gateway between the vehicles 110-1, 100-2,100-3 in the platoon 100. Another reason may be that the communicator 210 of the first vehicle 110-1 has too low capacity, or is malfunctioning.

The communication between the first vehicle 110-1 and the communication network node130 and the connectivity node 120 is made over a first wireless communication interfacewhile the communication between the first vehicle 110-1 and the other vehicles 110-2, 110- 13 3 in the platoon 100 is made over a second wireless communication interface. ln order to be able to transfer the soft identity reference, the method 400 may comprise anumber of steps 401-406. However, some of these steps 401-406 may be performed solelyin some alternative embodiments, like e.g. steps 401 and/ or step 406. Further, the describedsteps 401-406 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the num-bering suggests. The method 400 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 401, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises receiving a re-sponse from at least one vehicle 110-2, 100-3 in the platoon 100, as a response to a trans-mitted request to transfer the soft identity reference from the first vehicle 100-1 to anothervehicle 110-2, 100-3 in the platoon 100.

The transmitted request relates to computing capacity of a respective communicator 220 ofthe other vehicles 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100.

The transmitted request may be broadcasted to all other vehicles 110-2, 100-3 in the platoon100, informing about the change of gateway in the platoon 100 in some embodiments. Thetransmitted request may alternatively be sent to a subset of the other vehicles 110-2, 100-3in the platoon 100, such as e.g. only one particular vehicle 110-2, 100-3, that may have beenpredetermined to inherit the gateway assignment.

The received response may comprise a device specific identity such as e.g. MSISDN and/or the IMSI, of the respective communicator 220 of the at least one vehicle 110-2, 100-3 inthe platoon 100.

Step 402 comprises determining to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle110-2. ln some embodiments, it may be determined to transfer the soft identity reference to thesecond vehicle 110-2, based on the received 401 response. ln some further embodiments, the request may relate to a signalling capacity check, or acomputing capacity check. Thus it may be determined to transfer the soft identity referenceto the second vehicle 110-2, based on the signalling capacity of the communicator 220 ofthe second vehicle 110-2.

According to some embodiments, it may be determined to transfer the soft identity reference 14 to the second vehicle 110-2 when the second vehicle 110-2 is the last vehicle 110-1, 110-2,110-3 in the platoon 100, to leave the platoon 100. ln some embodiments, it may be determined to transfer the soft identity reference to thesecond vehicle 110-2, based on a predetermined time scheme and/ or a predeterminedranked list of other vehicles 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, to inherit the gateway assign- ment.

Step 403 comprises transmitting a message to a communication network node 130 that thefirst vehicle 110-1 is going to discontinue acting as gateway.

This message may trigger an inactivation of any active session between the communicationnetwork node 130 and the first vehicle 110-1, and starts to buffer data which is to be distrib-uted to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, when a new gateway vehicle isassigned.

Step 404 comprises transmitting a message to a connectivity node 120 for inactivating thesoft identity reference associated with the first vehicle 110-1.

This message may comprise the device identity of the communicator of the second vehicle110-2 in some embodiments. Thereby, the connectivity node 120 is enabled to dissociatethe soft identity reference from the first vehicle 110-1 (or rather the device identity of thecommunicator 210 of the first vehicle 110-1), and instead associate this soft identity refer-ence with the second vehicle 110-2, or rather the device identity of the second communicator220 of the second vehicle 110-2.

Step 405 comprises transferring the soft identity reference to the determined 402 secondvehicle 110-2.

This information may be sent in a dedicated message over the second communication inter- face to the second vehicle 110-2.

When the second communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2 has installed the soft iden-tity reference, a message may be sent to the connectivity node 120 with the device identityof the second communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2.

The connectivity node 120 is thereby enabled to compare the device identity of the secondcommunicator 220 previously received from the first communicator 210 of the first vehicle 110-1, with the currently received device identity of the second Communicator 220. ln casethey coincide, the communication between the network and the vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 may be continued with the second vehicle 110-2 acting as gateway. ln some embodiments, a downlink confirmation may be sent to the second vehicle 110-2 bythe connectivity node 120, to confirm that the gateway transfer is completed.

Step 406, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises displaying infor-mation in the first vehicle 110-1, concerning which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100, that for the moment is acting as gateway in the platoon 100. ln some embodiments, it may be displayed in all vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100, which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 that is the gateway for the moment. Thereby thedriver becomes aware that the own vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 is the current gateway andthat he/ she has to pass over the soft identity reference and ascertain that another vehicle110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 is going to take over the responsibility of the gateway.

Figure 5 presents a system 500. The system 500 aims at transferring a soft identity refer-ence from a first vehicle 110-1 to a second vehicle 110-2 in a platoon 100, wherein the firstvehicle 110-1 is acting as a gateway for vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100.

The system 500 comprises a connectivity node 120, for associating soft identity referenceswith a particular vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3.

Further, the system 500 also comprises a communication network node 130 for communi-cating information related to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100.

The system 500 additionally comprises a first communicator 210 in the first vehicle 110-1,wherein the first vehicle 110-1 is acting as a gateway in the platoon 100. The first communi-cator 210 is associated with a soft identity reference. The platoon 100 comprises a pluralityof vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3. The first communicator 210 is configured to transfer the softidentity reference to a second vehicle 110-2 in the platoon 100. Further the first communica-tor 210 is configured to determine to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle110-2. The first communicator 210 is in addition configured to transmit a message to a com-munication network node 130 that the first vehicle 110-1 is going to discontinue acting asgateway within the platoon 100. Furthermore, the first communicator 210 is also configuredto transmit a message to a connectivity node 120 for inactivating the soft identity referenceassociated with the first vehicle 1 10-1 . The first communicator 210 is additionally furthermore 16 configured to transfer the soft identity reference to the determined second vehicle 110-2. ln some embodiments, the first Communicator 210 may in some embodiments be configuredto receive a response from at least one vehicle 110-2, 100-3 in the platoon 100, as a re-sponse to a transmitted request to transfer the soft identity reference from the first vehicle100-1 to another vehicle 1 10-2, 100-3 in the platoon 100. Further, in some embodiments, thefirst communicator 210 may be configured to display information in the first vehicle 110-1,concerning which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 that for the moment is actingas gateway in the platoon 100.

The first communicator 210 may comprise a communication unit 510 configured for receiving and transmitting information over an inter-vehicular wireless communication interface.

The first communicator 210 may further comprise a processor 520 configured for performingvarious calculations for conducting the method 400 according to at least some of the previ-ously described method steps 401-406 for transferring the soft identity reference from thefirst vehicle 110-1 to a second vehicle 110-2 in the platoon 100.

Such processor 520 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Cen-tral Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instruc-tions. The herein utilised expression "processor" may thus represent a processing circuitrycomprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enu- merated above.

Furthermore, the first communicator 210 may comprise a memory 525 in some embodi-ments. The optional memory 525 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data orprograms, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According tosome embodiments, the memory 525 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transistors. The memory 525 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, aUSB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storingdata such as e.g. ROIVI (Read-Only Memory), PROIVI (Programmable Read-Only l\/lemory),EPROIVI (Erasable PROIVI), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROIVI), etc. in different embod- iments.

Further, the first communicator 210 may comprise yet a communication unit 530, configuredfor receiving and transmitting information over a first wireless communication interface with the network nodes such as the connectivity node 120 and the communication network node 17 130.

The previously described method steps 401-406 to be performed in the first Communicator210 in the first vehicle 110-1 may be implemented through the one or more processors 520within the first communicator 210, together with a computer program product for performingat least some of the functions of the steps 401 -406. Thus a computer program product, com-prising instructions for performing the steps 401-406 in the first communicator 210 may per-form the method 400 comprising at least some of the steps 401-406 for transferring the softidentity reference to a second vehicle 110-2 in the platoon 100, when the computer programis loaded into the one or more processors 520 of the first communicator 210.

The described steps 401-406 thus may be performed by a computer algorithm, a machineexecutable code, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a software instructions pro-grammed into a suitable programmable logic such as the one or more processors 520 in the first communicator 210 in various embodiments.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the formof a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step401-406 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more proces-sors 520 of the first communicator 210. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CDROIVI disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any otherappropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computerprogram code on a server and downloaded to the first communicator 21 0 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

Figure 6 illustrates an example of a method 600 according to an embodiment. The flow chartin Figure 6 shows the method 600 in a second vehicle 110-2 in a platoon 100 comprising aplurality of vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3, for starting to act as gateway in the platoon 100 andreceiving a soft identity reference such as a l\/lCll\/l, from a first vehicle 110-1. ln order to be able to start acting as gateway in the platoon 100, the method 600 may com-prise a number of steps 601-606. However, some of these steps 601-606 may be performedsolely in some alternative embodiments, like e.g. steps 601 and/ or step 606. Further, thedescribed steps 601-606 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order thanthe numbering suggests. The method 600 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 601, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises transmitting a 18 response to the first vehicle 110-1, in response to a request received from the first vehicle110-1, to transfer the soft identity reference from the first vehicle 1 10-1 to the second vehicle110-2 in the platoon 100, in order to enable the first vehicle 110-1 to determine to transferthe soft identity reference to the second vehicle 110-2.

The request may be received in a broadcast from the first vehicle 110-1, requesting e.g.communicator capacity, computing capacity, etc., of the second communicator 220 in thesecond vehicle 110-2. ln the transmitted response, a device identity of the communicator 220 may be provided insome embodiments. However, in other embodiments, the first vehicle 110-1, may alreadyhave been provided with the device identity of the second vehicle communicator 220.

Step 602 comprises receiving a soft identity reference from the first vehicle 110-1.

Upon receiving the soft identity reference, it is installed in the second communicator 220.

Step 603 comprises transmitting a message to a connectivity node 120 for associating the soft identity reference with the second vehicle 110-2.

The message may comprise the device identity of the second vehicle communicator 220. ltis thereby enabled for the connectivity node 120 to compare the device identity of the secondvehicle communicator 220 with a previously received device identity of the second vehiclecommunicator 220, received from the first vehicle 110-1. lf these coincide, the connectivitynode 120 is enabled to dissociate the soft identity reference from the first vehicle 110-1 (orrather the device identity of the communicator 210 of the first vehicle 110-1), and insteadassociate this soft identity reference with the second vehicle 110-2, or rather the device iden-tity of the second communicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2. Thus the second commu-nicator 220 of the second vehicle 110-2 becomes the new gateway for the platoon 100.

Step 604 comprises communicating messages related to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in theplatoon 100 with a netvvork node 130 over a first wireless communication interface.

Step 605 comprises communicating information related to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 inthe platoon 100, with the respective vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 over a second wireless communication interface. 19 Step 606, which only may be performed in some embodiments, comprises displaying infor-mation in the second vehicle 110-2, concerning which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in theplatoon 100, that for the moment is acting as gateway in the platoon 100. ln some embodiments, it may be displayed in all vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100, which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 that is the gateway for the moment. Thereby thedriver becomes aware that the own vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 is the current gateway andthat he/ she has to pass over the soft identity reference and ascertain that another vehicle110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100 is going to take over the responsibility of the gateway.

Figure 7 presents a second communicator 220 in a second vehicle 110-2 in a platoon 100comprising a plurality of vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3. The second communicator 220 aimsat starting to act as gateway in the platoon 100. The second communicator 220 is configuredto receive a soft identity reference from the first vehicle 110-1. Further, the second commu-nicator 220 is configured to transmit a message to a connectivity node 120 for associatingthe soft identity reference with the second vehicle 110-2. Additionally, the second communi-cator 220 is configured to communicate messages related to vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 inthe platoon 100 with a network node 130 over a first wireless communication interface. Fur-ther, the second communicator 220 is also configured to communicate information related tovehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon 100, with the respective vehicles 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 over a second wireless communication interface. ln some embodiments, the second communicator 220 may also be configured to transmit aresponse to the first vehicle 110-1, in response to a request received from the first vehicle110-1, to transfer the soft identity reference from the first vehicle 1 10-1 to the second vehicle110-2 in the platoon 100, in order to enable the first vehicle 110-1 to determine to transferthe soft identity reference to the second vehicle 110-2.

Furthermore, the second communicator 220 may also be configured to display informationin the second vehicle 110-2, concerning which vehicle 110-1, 110-2, 110-3 in the platoon100, that for the moment is acting as gateway in the platoon 100. Such display of informationmay be made e.g. on an output unit or presentational device such as e.g. a display, a loud-speaker, a projector, a head-up display, a display integrated in the windshield of the vehicle110-2, a display integrated in the dashboard of the vehicle 110-2, a tactile device, a portabledevice of the vehicle driver/ owner, intelligent glasses of the vehicle driver/ owner, etc.; or acombination thereof.

The second Communicator 220 may comprise a communication unit 710 configured for re-ceiving and transmitting information over an inter-vehicular wireless communication inter- face.

The second communicator 220 may further comprise a processor 720 configured for per-forming various calculations for conducting the method 600 according to at least some of thepreviously described method steps 601-606 for the second vehicle 110-2 to start acting asgateway in the platoon 100.

Such processor 720 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit, i.e. a Cen-tral Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit(ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logic that may interpret and execute instruc-tions. The herein utilised expression ”processor” may thus represent a processing circuitrycomprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as, e.g., any, some or all of the ones enu-merated above.

Furthermore, the second communicator 220 may comprise a memory 725 in some embodi-ments. The optional memory 725 may comprise a physical device utilised to store data orprograms, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According tosome embodiments, the memory 725 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transistors. The memory 725 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, aUSB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storingdata such as e.g. ROIVI (Read-Only Memory), PROIVI (Programmable Read-Only l\/lemory),EPROIVI (Erasable PROIVI), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROIVI), etc. in different embod- iments.

Further, the second communicator 220 may comprise yet a communication unit 730, config-ured for receiving and transmitting information over a first wireless communication interfacewith the network nodes such as the connectivity node 120 and the communication networknode 130.

The previously described method steps 601 -606 to be performed in the second communica-tor 220 in the first vehicle 110-1 may be implemented through the one or more processors720 within the second communicator 220, together with a computer program product forperforming at least some of the functions of the steps 601-606. Thus a computer programproduct, comprising instructions for performing the steps 601-606 in the second communi-cator 220 may perform the method 600 comprising at least some of the steps 601-606 for 21 the second Communicator 220 to start acting as gateway in the platoon 100, when the com-puter program is loaded into the one or more processors 720 of the second Communicator220.

The described steps 601-606 thus may be performed by a computer algorithm, a machineexecutable code, a non-transitory computer-readable medium, or a software instructions pro-grammed into a suitable programmable logic such as the one or more processors 720 in the second communicator 220 in various embodiments.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the formof a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some of the step601-606 according to some embodiments when being loaded into the one or more proces-sors 720 of the second communicator 220. The data carrier may be, e.g., a hard disk, a CDROIVI disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device or any otherappropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold machine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may furthermore be provided as computerprogram code on a server and downloaded to the second communicator 220 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa-nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described methods 400, 600; communi-cators 210, 220 computer programs, and/ or system 500. Various changes, substitutionsand/ or alterations may be made, without departing from invention embodiments as definedby the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. The term ”or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematicalOR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex-pressly stated otherwise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be inter-preted as “at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind,unless expressly stated othen/vise. lt will be further understood that the terms "includes","comprises", "including" and/ or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, ac-tions, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/ or components, but do not preclude thepresence or addition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, ele-ments, components, and/ or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor 520, 720may fulfil the functions of several items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certainmeasures are recited in mutually different dependent claims does not indicate that a combi-nation of these measures cannot be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ 22 distributed on a suitable medium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state mediumsupplied together with or as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other Wired or wireless communication system.

Claims (14)

1. A method (400) in a first vehicle (110-1) associated with a soft identity reference,wherein the first vehicle (110-1) is acting as a gateway in a platoon (100), comprising a plu-rality of vehicles (1 10-1 , 1 10-2, 110-3), for transferring the soft identity reference to a secondvehicle (110-2) in the platoon (100), which method (400) comprises: determining (402) to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2); transmitting (403) a message to a communication network node (130) that the firstvehicle (110-1) is going to discontinue acting as gateway; transmitting (404) a message to a connectivity node (120) for inactivating the softidentity reference associated with the first vehicle (110-1); and transferring (405) the soft identity reference to the determined (402) second vehicle(110-2).

2. The method (400) according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving (401) a response from at least one vehicle (110-2, 110-3) in the platoon(100), as a response to a transmitted request to transfer the soft identity reference from thefirst vehicle (100-1) to another vehicle (110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100); and wherein it isdetermined (402) to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2), basedon the received (401) response.

3. The method (400) according to claim 2, wherein the transmitted request relates tocomputing capacity of a communicator (220) of the other vehicles (110-2, 110-3) in the pla-toon (100).

4. The method (400) according to any of claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the transmittedrequest is broadcasted to all other vehicles (110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100), informingabout the change of gateway in the platoon (100).

5. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-4, further comprising: displaying (406) information in the first vehicle (110-1), concerning which vehicle(110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100) that for the moment is acting as gateway in theplatoon (100).

6. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-5, wherein it is determined (402) totransfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2) when the second vehicle(110-2) is the last vehicle (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100), to leave the platoon(100). 24

7. The method (400) according to any of claims 1-6, wherein communication betweenthe first vehicle (110-1) and the communication network node (130) and the connectivitynode (120) is made over a first wireless communication interface; and communication be-tween the first vehicle (110-1) and the other vehicles (110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100) is made over a second wireless communication interface.

8. A first communicator (210) in a first vehicle (110-1), associated with a soft identityreference, wherein the first vehicle (110-1) is acting as a gateway in a platoon (100), com-prising a plurality of vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3), for transferring the soft identity referenceto a second vehicle (110-2) in the platoon (100), which communicator (210) is configured to: determine to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2); transmit a message to a communication network node (130) that the first vehicle(110-1) is going to discontinue acting as gateway; transmit a message to a connectivity node (120) for inactivating the soft identityreference associated with the first vehicle (1 10-1); and transfer the soft identity reference to the determined second vehicle (110-2).

9. A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (400) ac-cording to any of claims 1-7 when the computer program is executed in a first communicator (210), according to claim 8.

10.of vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3), for starting to act as gateway in the platoon (100), which A method (600) in a second vehicle (110-2) in a platoon (100) comprising a plurality method (600) comprises: receiving (602) a soft identity reference from the first vehicle (110-1); transmitting (603) a message to a connectivity node (120) for associating the softidentity reference with the second vehicle (110-2); communicating (604) messages related to vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the pla-toon (100) with a network node (130) over a first wireless communication interface; and communicating (605) information related to vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in theplatoon (100), with the respective vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) over a second wireless communication interface.

11. The method (600) according to claim 10, further comprising: transmitting (601) a response to the first vehicle (110-1), in response to a requestreceived from the first vehicle (110-1), to transfer the soft identity reference from the firstvehicle (110-1) to the second vehicle (110-2) in the platoon (100), in order to enable the first vehicle (1 10-1) to determine to transfer the soft identity reference to the second vehicle (110-2).

12.prising a plurality of vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3), for starting to act as gateway in the pla- A second communicator (220) in a second vehicle (110-2) in a platoon (100) com- toon (100), which communicator (220) is configured to: receive a soft identity reference from the first vehicle (110-1); transmit a message to a connectivity node (120) for associating the soft identityreference with the second vehicle (110-2); communicate messages related to vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon(100) with a network node (130) over a first wireless communication interface; and communicate information related to vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon(100), with the respective vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) over a second wireless communi- cation interface.

13.cording to any of claims 10-11 when the computer program is executed in a communicator A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (400) ac- (220), according to claim 12.

14.to a second vehicle (110-2) in a platoon (100), wherein the first vehicle (110-1) is acting as A system (500) for transferring a soft identity reference from a first vehicle (110-1) a gateway for vehicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100), which system (500) com-pnses: a connectivity node (120), for associating soft identity references with a particularvehicle (110-1, 110-2, 110-3); a communication network node (130) for communicating information related to ve-hicles (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) in the platoon (100); a first communicator (210) according to claim 8 in the first vehicle (1 10-1); and a second communicator (220) according to claim 12 in the second vehicle (110-2).