Classifications

• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04B—TRANSMISSION
  • H04B7/00—Radio transmission systems, i.e. using radiation field
  • H04B7/14—Relay systems
  • H04B7/15—Active relay systems
  • H04B7/185—Space-based or airborne stations; Stations for satellite systems
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
  • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
  • H04L47/22—Traffic shaping
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L65/00—Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication
  • H04L65/40—Support for services or applications
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/01—Protocols
  • H04L67/12—Protocols specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L67/00—Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications
  • H04L67/50—Network services
  • H04L67/56—Provisioning of proxy services
  • H04L67/563—Data redirection of data network streams
• • H—ELECTRICITY
  • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
  • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
  • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
  • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
  • H04L47/24—Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS
  • H04L47/2425—Traffic characterised by specific attributes, e.g. priority or QoS for supporting services specification, e.g. SLA
  • H04L47/2433—Allocation of priorities to traffic types

Definitions

• the field of the disclosure relates generally to communication between a computer system onboard a vehicle and a remote computer system and more specifically, to methods and systems for communicating application messages from a vehicle computer system to a remote application server.
• At least some known vehicles, such as aircraft, include computer systems that use application messages to communicate data to a remote computer system.
• most if not all of known vehicle computer systems connect to a local network using a predetermined communication standard, such as a wireless networking standard, to perform such communication.
• a vehicle computer system may be incapable of connecting to a local network.
• known vehicle computer systems may be unable to communicate with remote computer systems. In such instances, communication must be deferred until a local network connection can be established, thus delaying the delivery of application messages.
• a high volume of application messages at the vehicle computer system may require an excessive amount of memory and may be at risk of loss in the event of a vehicle computer system malfunction.
• a method for communicating between a vehicle and a remote application server includes receiving at a computer system an application message transmitted from a vehicle and determining whether the application message should be forwarded to a remote application server that provides a remote software application associated with the application message.
• the application message is redirected to a local software application executed by the computer system when the application message should not be forwarded.
• a gateway device for use in communicating between a vehicle and a remote application server.
• the gateway device includes a vehicle communications unit configured to receive an application message from a computer system onboard a vehicle, wherein the application message is associated with a destination corresponding to a remote application server that provides a remote software application.
• the gateway device also includes a processor unit that is coupled to the vehicle communications unit and programmed to execute a local software application corresponding to the remote software application.
• the processor unit is also programmed to determine whether the application message should be forwarded to the remote application server and to redirect the application message to the local software application when the application message should not be forwarded to the remote application server.
• the local software application interacts with the computer system in a manner that is indistinguishable from the manner in which the remote software application interacts with the computer system.
• the vehicle communications unit may be configured to receive the application message at least in part by receiving vehicle sensor data.
• one or more computer readable media having computer-executable components are provided.
• the components include a local software application component, a vehicle communication interface component, and a routing component.
• the local software application component causes the at least one processor unit to execute a local software application.
• the vehicle communication interface component causes the at least one processor unit to receive an application message transmitted by a computer system onboard a vehicle.
• the routing component When executed by the at least one processor unit, the routing component causes the at least one processor unit to determine whether the application message should be forwarded to a remote application server that provides a remote software application associated with the application message, and to redirect the application message to the local software application when the application message should not be forwarded to the remote application server.
• the application message is a first application message
• the local software application creates a second application message based on the first application message
• said components further comprise a wide area network (WAN) interface component that when executed by at least one processor unit causes the at least one processor unit to forward the second application message to the remote application server.
• WAN wide area network
• the routing component further causes the at least one processor unit to redirect the application message to the local software application at least in part by receiving from the computer system onboard the vehicle a request for a network address corresponding to a name associated with the remote application server; and in response to receiving the request, transmitting a network address corresponding to the local software application to the computer system.
• FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system.
• FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system that may be used to communicate between one or more vehicles and one or more remote application servers.
• Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating software components in an exemplary gateway device that may be used with the system shown in Fig. 2.
• FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for use in communicating between a vehicle and a remote application server.
• Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method for use in transmitting data to a remote application server.
• Fig. 6 is an exemplary user interface for use in configuring the gateway device shown in Fig. 3. DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• a gateway device operates as a wireless access point for computer systems onboard a vehicle.
• Application messages transmitted by the computer systems and addressed to remote application servers are received by the gateway device.
• the gateway device For each application message, if the gateway device can establish an uplink connection to the corresponding remote application server, the application message is forwarded to that remote application server. If no uplink connection can be established, the application message is redirected to a local software application that may be subsequently synchronized with the remote application server when an uplink connection can be established.
• an application message is defined as a communication (e.g., information, a request, or a command) provided by a software application executed by a computer system.
• An application message may be intended for receipt by another software application that is executed by the same computer system or that is executed by a different computer system.
• Application messages may describe, for example, vehicle sensor data (e.g., sensor readings), events associated with a vehicle (e.g., vehicle control events), telemetry data, financial transactions (e.g., purchases made onboard a vehicle), and/or any other information relevant to operation of a vehicle.
• Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 100.
• computer system 100 includes communications fabric 102 that provides communications between a processor unit 104, a memory 106, persistent storage 108, a communications unit 1 10, an input/output (I/O) unit 1 12, and a presentation interface, such as a display 1 14.
• the presentation interface may include an audio device (not shown) and/or any device capable of conveying information to a user.
• Processor unit 104 executes instructions for software that may be loaded into memory 106.
• Processor unit 104 may be a set of one or more processors or may include multiple processor cores, depending on the particular implementation.
• processor unit 104 may be implemented using one or more heterogeneous processor systems in which a main processor is present with secondary processors on a single chip. In another embodiment, processor unit 104 may be a homogeneous processor system containing multiple processors of the same type.
• Memory 106 and persistent storage 108 are examples of storage devices.
• a storage device is any piece of hardware that is capable of storing information either on a temporary basis and/or a permanent basis.
• Memory 106 may be, for example, without limitation, a random access memory and/or any other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device.
• Persistent storage 108 may take various forms depending on the particular implementation, and persistent storage 108 may contain one or more components or devices.
• persistent storage 108 may be a hard drive, a flash memory, a rewritable optical disk, a rewritable magnetic tape, and/or some combination of the above.
• the media used by persistent storage 108 also may be removable.
• a removable hard drive may be used for persistent storage 108.
• a storage device such as memory 106 and/or persistent storage 108, may be configured to store data for use with the processes described herein.
• a storage device may store executable instructions associated with a virtual machine and/or a local software application, application messages, data associated with a local software application, routing configuration data (e.g., a mapping of remote application servers to local software applications), virtual machine configuration data, local software application configuration data, and/or traffic shaping configuration data (e.g., priorities associated with remote software applications).
• Communications unit 1 10 in these examples, provides for communications with other computer systems or devices.
• communications unit 1 10 is a network interface card.
• Communications unit 1 10 may provide communications through the use of either or both physical and wireless communication links.
• Input/output unit 1 12 enables input and output of data with other devices that may be connected to computer system 100.
• input/output unit 1 12 may provide a connection for user input through a user input device, such as a keyboard and/or a mouse. Further, input/output unit 1 12 may send output to a printer.
• Display 1 14 provides a mechanism to display information to a user.
• a presentation interface such as display 1 14 may display a graphical user interface, such as those described herein.
• Instructions for the operating system and applications or programs are located on persistent storage 108. These instructions may be loaded into memory 106 for execution by processor unit 104. The processes of the different embodiments may be performed by processor unit 104 using computer implemented instructions and/or computer-executable instructions, which may be located in a memory, such as memory 106. These instructions are referred to herein as program code (e.g., object code and/or source code) that may be read and executed by a processor in processor unit 104.
• the program code in the different embodiments may be embodied on different physical or tangible computer readable media, such as memory 106 or persistent storage 108.
• Program code 1 16 is located in a functional form on computer readable media 1 18 that is selectively removable and may be loaded onto or transferred to computer system 100 for execution by processor unit 104.
• Program code 1 16 and computer readable media 1 18 form computer program product 120 in these examples.
• computer readable media 1 18 may be in a tangible form, such as, for example, an optical or magnetic disc that is inserted or placed into a drive or other device that is part of persistent storage 108 for transfer onto a storage device, such as a hard drive that is part of persistent storage 108.
• computer readable media 1 18 also may take the form of a persistent storage, such as a hard drive, a thumb drive, or a flash memory that is connected to computer system 100.
• the tangible form of computer readable media 1 18 is also referred to as computer recordable storage media. In some instances, computer readable media 1 18 may not be removable.
• program code 1 16 may be transferred to computer system 100 from computer readable media 1 18 through a communications link to communications unit 1 10 and/or through a connection to input/output unit 1 12.
• the communications link and/or the connection may be physical or wireless in the illustrative examples.
• the computer readable media also may take the form of non-tangible media, such as communications links or wireless transmissions containing the program code.
• program code 1 16 may be downloaded over a network to persistent storage 108 from another device or computer system for use within computer system 100.
• program code stored in a computer readable storage medium in a server computer system may be downloaded over a network from the server to computer system 100.
• the computer system providing program code 1 16 may be a server computer, a workstation, a client computer, or some other device capable of storing and transmitting program code 1 16.
• Program code 1 16 may be organized into computer-executable components that are functionally related.
• program code 1 16 may include a vehicle communication component, a WAN interface component, a local application component, a routing component, an access control component, a traffic shaper component, a control user interface component, and/or any component suitable for the methods described herein.
• Each component may include computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processor unit 104, cause processor unit 104 to perform one or more of the operations described herein.
• FIG. 100 are not meant to provide architectural limitations to the manner in which different embodiments may be implemented.
• the different illustrative embodiments may be implemented in a computer system including components in addition to or in place of those illustrated for computer system 100.
• other components shown in Fig. 1 can be varied from the illustrative examples shown.
• a storage device in computer system 100 is any hardware apparatus that may store data.
• Memory 106, persistent storage 108 and computer readable media 1 18 are examples of storage devices in a tangible form.
• a bus system may be used to implement communications fabric 102 and may include one or more buses, such as a system bus or an input/output bus.
• the bus system may be implemented using any suitable type of architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the bus system.
• a communications unit may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter.
• a memory may be, for example, without limitation, memory 106 or a cache such as that found in an interface and memory controller hub that may be present in communications fabric 102.
• Fig. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary system 200 for use in communicating between one or more vehicles 205 and one or more remote application servers 210 that are part of a wide area network (WAN) 215.
• a vehicle computer system 220 onboard a vehicle 205 executes one or more software applications (not shown) that transmit application messages to one or more remote software applications 225 executed by remote application servers 210.
• Remote application servers 210 and vehicle computer system 220 are separate examples of computer system 100 (shown in Fig. 1 ).
• Vehicle computer system 220 may be configured to transmit application messages to remote application servers 210 via a network 230.
• vehicle computer system 220 may establish a direct connection to network 230 using communications unit 1 10 (shown in Fig. 1 ) in accordance with a communication standard (e.g., ARINC Specification 822 and/or an IEEE 802.1 1 standard).
• ARINC is a trademark of ARINC, Annapolis, Maryland. IEEE is a trademark of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., New York, New York.
• network 230 may be inaccessible to vehicle computer system 220.
• vehicle computer system 220 may be configured to communicate with remote application servers 210 via a wireless access point (not shown) that is connected to network 230, and such a wireless access point may be unavailable, such as at an airport that does not have a wireless network infrastructure, or that is inoperable.
• system 200 includes a gateway device 235, another example of computer system 100, that is used for communicating with vehicle computer system 220.
• gateway device 235 communicates with vehicle computer system 220 via a vehicle communications unit 240 and communicates with network 230 via a WAN communications unit 245.
• Vehicle communications unit 240 and WAN communications unit 245 are a single example or separate examples of a communications unit 1 10 (shown in Fig. 1 ).
• vehicle communications unit 240 communicates with vehicle computer system 220 using a first communication standard (e.g., ARINC Specification 822 and/or an IEEE 802.1 1 standard) and communicates with network 230 using a second communication standard (e.g., Ethernet, a cellular communication standard such as GSM, and/or an IEEE 802.1 1 standard).
• a first communication standard e.g., ARINC Specification 822 and/or an IEEE 802.1 1 standard
• second communication standard e.g., Ethernet, a cellular communication standard such as GSM, and/or an IEEE 802.1 1 standard.
• GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
• vehicle communications unit 240 and WAN communications unit 245 may use the same communication standard.
• gateway device 235 communicates with one or more vehicle computer systems 220 wirelessly while gateway device 235 is proximate to (e.g., within wireless communication range of) one or more vehicles 205.
• Remote application servers 210 may be remote to vehicle 205, gateway device 235, and/or each other.
• Gateway device 235 enables application messages from vehicle computer systems 220 to be communicated to remote software applications 225 via network 230 even when vehicle computer systems 220 are incapable of directly connecting to network 230. Such communication is described below with reference to Figs. 3-5.
• gateway device 235 is a computer system 100 that provides one or more vehicle-related services in addition to facilitating communication with remote software applications 225.
• gateway device 235 may be a maintenance laptop that schedules and records maintenance tasks associated with vehicle 205.
• Gateway device 235 may be positioned onboard vehicle 205.
• gateway device 235 may be positioned at a service facility, such as at an airport, and may be configured to communicate with vehicle computer systems 220 of a plurality of vehicles 205.
• gateway device 235 may be positioned at a gate of an airport, such that gateway device 235 is within communication range of vehicles 205 at that gate and one or more adjacent gates.
• FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating software components in an exemplary gateway device 235 that may be used with system 200.
• Fig. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 400 that may be used to communicate between a vehicle 205 and a remote application server 210 (shown in Fig. 2).
• Fig. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary method 450 for use in transmitting data to remote application server 210.
• gateway device 235 includes a vehicle communication interface component 305 for communicating with vehicle computer system 220 via vehicle communications unit 240.
• Gateway device 235 also includes a WAN interface component 310 for communicating with network 230 via WAN communications unit 245.
• gateway device 235 executes 405 one or more local software applications 315 that correspond to remote software applications 225 (shown in Fig. 2).
• gateway device 235 includes a local application component 320 that executes one or more virtual machines 325.
• Virtual machine 325 executes 405 one or more local software applications 315.
• Local software application 315 may be operable to interact with vehicle computer system 220 (shown in Fig. 2) in a manner indistinguishable from the manner in which remote software application 225 interacts with vehicle computer system 220.
• vehicle communication interface component 305 receives 410 an application message from vehicle computer system 220.
• the application message is associated with a remote software application 225 provided by a remote application server 210 (shown in Fig. 2).
• the application message may be directed to a name (e.g., a host name), a network address, and/or a message queue that is associated with remote application server 210.
• a routing component 330 determines 415 whether the application message should be forwarded to remote application server 210. In an exemplary embodiment, routing component 330 determines 415 whether immediate forwarding is appropriate based at least in part on a destination address associated with the application message. For example, if the destination address is associated with a remote software application 225 that does not correspond to a local software application 315, routing component 330 may determine that immediate forwarding is appropriate. Such an embodiment facilitates immediately forwarding application messages that cannot be cached at gateway device 235. In one embodiment, routing component 330 determines 415 that immediate forwarding is not appropriate if the destination address is associated with a remote software application 225 that does correspond to a local software application 315.
• routing component 330 determines 315 that the application message should be forwarded, routing component 330 forwards 420 the application message to remote application server 210. For example, routing component 330 may forward 420 the application message via WAN interface component 310. In some embodiments, forwarding 420 the application message to remote application server 210 includes receiving a response to the application message from remote application server 210 and forwarding the response to vehicle computer system 220 via vehicle communication interface component 305.
• routing component 330 determines 415 that the application message should not be forwarded, routing component 330 redirects 425 the application message to local software application 315 via an internal network 335.
• local software application 315 is executed in a virtual machine 325 associated with a network address corresponding to internal network 335.
• internal network 335 may be implemented as a software component, and each virtual machine 325 may be associated with one or more "virtual" addresses within internal network 335.
• redirecting 425 the application message to local software application 315 includes receiving a response to the application message from local software application 315 and forwarding the response to vehicle computer system 220 via vehicle communication interface component 305.
• routing component 330 determines 415 whether the application message should be forwarded at least in part based on an uplink connection status. For example, WAN interface component 310 may determine whether an uplink connection can be established with remote application server 210. In one embodiment, WAN interface component 310 repeatedly (e.g., periodically, continuously, or upon an attempt to transmit a message) determines whether an uplink connection can be established by determining whether a connection can be established with network 230 (shown in Fig. 2). In such an embodiment, when an uplink connection can be established with remote application server 210, routing component 330 may forward 420 the application message to remote application server 210. When an uplink connection cannot be established with remote application server 210, routing component 330 redirects 425 the application message to local software application 315.
• WAN interface component 310 may determine whether an uplink connection can be established with remote application server 210. In one embodiment, WAN interface component 310 repeatedly (e.g., periodically, continuously, or upon an attempt to transmit a message) determines whether an uplink connection can
• routing component 330 includes a routing Domain Name System (DNS) component 340 and a pre-routing component 345.
• DNS routing Domain Name System
• Routing DNS component 340 and pre-routing component 345 enable redirection 425 of application messages to a network address associated with virtual machine 325 and/or local software application 315 when an uplink connection cannot be established.
• a network address may include, but is not limited to only including, a numerical address, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) version 4 (IPv4) or IP version 6 (IPv6) address.
• IP Internet Protocol
• IPv6 IP version 6
• Routing DNS component 340 enables a name corresponding to remote application server 210 and/or remote application 225 to be translated to a network address.
• vehicle communication interface component 305 receives a request for a network address corresponding to remote application server 210 from vehicle computer system 220.
• routing DNS component 340 transmits to vehicle computer system 220, in response to the network address request, a network address associated with remote application server 210.
• routing DNS component 340 redirects 425 the application message by transmitting to vehicle computer system 220, in response to the network address request, a network address corresponding to virtual machine 325 and/or local software application 315.
• Vehicle computer system 220 may subsequently transmit an application message directed to the network address, and routing DNS component 340 routes the application message to virtual machine 325 and/or local software application 315 via internal network 335.
• vehicle communication interface component 305 receives, from vehicle computer system 220, an application message that is directed to a name (e.g., a host name and/or a message queue name) corresponding to remote application server 210 and/or remote software application 225.
• a name e.g., a host name and/or a message queue name
• routing DNS component 340 forwards 420 the application message to a network address corresponding to remote application server 210.
• routing DNS component 340 redirects 425 the application message by routing the application message to a network address corresponding to virtual machine 325 and/or local software application 315.
• Pre-routing component 345 enables a network address corresponding to remote application server 210 to be translated to a network address corresponding to virtual machine 325 and/or to local software application 315.
• vehicle communication interface 305 receives an application message that is associated with a destination network address corresponding to remote application server 210.
• pre-routing component 345 enables the application message to be forwarded 420 to remote application server 210.
• pre-routing component 345 may take no action and/or may simply forward the application message to routing DNS component 340 or WAN interface 310 when an uplink connection can be established.
• pre-routing component 345 redirects 425 the application message to the local software application at least in part by routing the application message to a network address corresponding to virtual machine 325 and/or local software application 315.
• local software application 315 receives the application message and stores 430 or "caches" data included in the application message.
• data may be stored 430 in memory 106 and/or in persistent storage 108 (shown in Fig. 1 ).
• the application message is also stored 430.
• data included in the application message is stored 430 by executing a data transaction (e.g., an addition, an update, and/or a deletion) based on the application message.
• a data transaction e.g., an addition, an update, and/or a deletion
• an application message indicative of a new sensor reading may be stored 430 by adding the sensor reading to a database in memory 106 or in persistent storage 108.
• WAN interface component 310 establishes an uplink connection to remote application server 210, and local software application 315 and/or local application component 320 synchronizes 435 the stored data with remote software application 225.
• Method 400 may be performed repeatedly to forward and/or to cache a plurality of application messages from one or more vehicle computer systems 220.
• gateway device 235 includes an access control component 350 for providing authentication, authorization, and/or accounting of vehicle computer systems 220.
• access control component 350 may restrict vehicle communication interface 305 to only communicating with vehicle computer systems 220 that supply predetermined credentials, such as a cryptographic key or certificate. Further, access control component 350 may limit the access of vehicle computer system 220 based on such credentials. For example, access control component 350 may prohibit gateway device 235 from forwarding 420 application messages to remote application servers 210 and/or remote software applications 225 that are not authorized by the credentials provided by vehicle computer system 220.
• access control component 350 includes a Remote Authentication Dial In User Service (RADIUS) component.
• RADIUS Remote Authentication Dial In User Service
• gateway device includes a traffic shaper component 355. Before forwarding 420 an application message to remote application server 210, traffic shaper component 355 assigns 417 a priority to the application message and adds 418 the application message to an outbound queue.
• priorities are expressed numerically (e.g., directly or inversely proportional to the magnitude of a specified number) and/or textually (e.g., "low", "normal", and "high”).
• method 400 and method 450 are executed by gateway device 235 concurrently.
• methods 400 and/or 450 may be executed by separate processes and/or threads.
• WAN interface component 310 determines 452 that an uplink connection can be established, as described above.
• Traffic shaper component 355 forwards 420 application messages by determining 455 whether any application messages exist in the outbound queue and, if so, forwarding 460 the application message that has been assigned 417 the highest priority to the remote application server 210 associated with the application message.
• local software application 315 and/or local application component 320 synchronizes 435 the stored data with remote software application 225 by determining 465 whether any stored data exists to be synchronized 435 and, if so, creating and queuing 470 one or more application messages including the stored data.
• the application messages may be assigned 417 a priority by traffic shaper component 355, as described above with reference to Fig. 4.
• gateway device 235 includes a control user interface component 360 that enables a user to configure the operation of the components executed by gateway device 235.
• Fig. 6 is an exemplary user interface 500 for use in configuring gateway device 235.
• User interface 500 may be provided by control user interface component 360 (shown in Fig. 3) via display 1 14 (shown in Fig.
• user interface 500 includes routing information for a first remote software application 505, a second remote software application 510, and a third remote software application 515. For each remote software application, user interface 500 displays a name 520, a network address 525 of the application server executing the remote software application, a network address 530 of a corresponding local software application, if any, and a priority 535.
• network addresses 525 and 530 are a combination of a host address 540 that may be either a host name or a numeric address (e.g., an IPv4 or IPv6 address), and a port number 545.
• Priorities 535 are expressed textually, as either "Normal” or "High”.
• a user may select and modify one or more of the values displayed in user interface 500 to configure the behavior of gateway device 235 (shown in Figs. 2 and 3).
• user interface 500 may automatically populate one or more values.
• third remote software application 515 is not associated with a network address 530 for a local software application.
• user interface 500 may associate third remote software application 515 with a high priority 535.
• Such an embodiment facilitates prioritizing delivery of application messages associated with a remote software application for which no corresponding local software application exists.
• a first application message is received 410 by vehicle communication interface 305, and WAN interface 310 determines 415 that the first application message should be forwarded.
• Traffic shaper component 355 assigns 417 a priority to the first application message based on a destination (e.g., a remote application server 210 and/or remote software application 225) associated with the application message.
• traffic shaper component 355 assigns 417 a normal priority to the first application message based on the configuration shown in user interface 500. Traffic shaper component 355 adds 418 the first application message to an outbound queue.
• a second application message that is directed to third software application 515 is received 410 before the first application message is forwarded 420 to first remote software application 505. Because the second application message is directed to third remote software application 515, traffic shaper component 355 assigns 417 a high priority to the second application message based on the configuration shown in user interface 500 and adds 418 the second application message to the outbound queue. Traffic shaper component 355 determines 455 that the first and second application messages are in the outbound queue.
• traffic shaper component 355 forwards 460 the second application message to the network address 525 associated with third remote software application 515. Subsequently, traffic shaper component 355 determines 455 that only the first application message is in the outbound queue and forwards 460 the first application message to the network address 525 associated with first remote software application 505.
• a similar approach may be practiced with application messages created and queued 470 as part of synchronizing 435 stored data with a remote software application 225.
• Embodiments described herein enable a vehicle computer system to upload vehicle-related data for eventual delivery to appropriate remote software applications even when the vehicle computer system is incapable of establishing an uplink connection to remote application servers providing such remote software applications.
• Embodiments provided further facilitate prioritizing the forwarding of vehicle-related data based on a user-defined configuration and/or whether a corresponding local software application exists for a remote software application associated with an application message.

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