Architecture for distributing transit data

• US 10,101,169 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2016
• Issued: 10/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Khoe, May-Li, Hagedorn, Joseph A.
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Louie, Wae L
• Application Number:
  US15/213,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20170016741A1
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 701117, 701533, 701454, 701430, 903903, 345441, 345428, 345629
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3423 Multimodal routing, i.e. combining two or more modes of transportation, where the modes can be any of, e.g. driving, walking, cycling, public transport
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3661 Guidance output on an external device, e.g. car radio
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3694 Output thereof on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/13 the indicator being in the form of a map

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a program that receives from several data providers route data and graphical representation of route data (e.g., transit systems, schedules, stops, etc.) for different localities. The program also stores this data on a set of servers for later retrieval and transmission to commute applications operating in different localities. The program further retrieves from external vendors location data of transit vehicles that traverse routes based on the route data and schedule data. The location data is for transmitting to commute applications.

Claims

1. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit processes schedule and route data requests for commute applications, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

retrieving, for a first commute application at a first locality of a plurality of different localities, a first set of schedule and route data for transit vehicles in the first locality and a first set of UI graphical representations from a plurality of sets of UI graphical representations;

providing, the first set of retrieved schedule and route data and the first set of UI graphical representations to the first commute application to display the retrieved schedule and route data according to the first set of UI graphical representations for the first locality;

retrieving, for a second commute application at a second locality of the plurality of different localities, a second set of schedule and route data for transit vehicles in the first locality and a different second set of UI graphical representations from the plurality of sets of UI graphical representations that specifies the manner in which transit system data is presented in the second locality; and

providing, the second set of schedule and route data and the second set of UI graphical representations to the second commute application to display the retrieved schedule and route data according to the second set of UI graphical representations for the second locality, wherein each set of UI graphical representations is depicted in a form in which transit system data is presented in a locality of the plurality of different localities.

2. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first commute application displays the first set of schedule and route data in a display area of a device.

3. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for receiving a first request for the schedule and route data from the first commute application and a second request for the schedule and route data from the second commute application, wherein the first and second requests comprise metadata regarding the first and second localities respectively.

4. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for retrieving the schedule and route data from a plurality of data providers.

5. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 4, wherein the plurality of data providers comprises a plurality of transit systems.

6. A non-transitory machine-readable medium storing a commute application which when executed by at least one processing unit displays schedule and route data for a set of routes, the commute application comprising sets of instructions for:

upon determining that the commute application is operating in a first locality, retrieving a first set of schedule and route data with a first set of UI graphical display data that specifies the manner in which transit system data is presented in the first locality;

displaying the first set of schedule and route data according to the first set of UI graphical display data for the first locality;

upon determining that the commute application is operating in a second locality, retrieving a second set of schedule and route data with a second set of UI graphical display data that specifies the manner in which transit system data is presented in the second locality;

displaying the second set of schedule and route data according to the second set of UI graphical display data for the second locality.

7. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the commute application displays the first set of schedule and route data in a display area of a device.

8. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the first set of UI graphical display data comprises a first set of shapes for identifying routes in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical display data comprises a different second set of shapes for identifying routes in the second locality.

9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the first set of UI graphical display data comprises a first color scheme for displaying the first set of schedule and route data in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical display data comprises a different second color scheme for displaying the second set of schedule and route data in the second locality.

10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 6, wherein the first set of UI graphical display data comprises a first set of fonts for displaying the first set of schedule and route data in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical display data comprises a different second set of fonts for displaying the second set of schedule and route data in the second locality.

11. A method for processing schedule and route data requests for commute applications, the method comprising:

retrieving, for a first commute application at a first locality of a plurality of different localities, a first set of schedule and route data for transit vehicles in the first locality and a first set of UI graphical representations from a plurality of sets of UI graphical representations;

providing, the first set of retrieved schedule and route data and the first set of UI graphical representations to the first commute application to display the retrieved schedule and route data according to the first set of UI graphical representations for the first locality;

retrieving, for a second commute application at a second locality of the plurality of different localities, a second set of schedule and route data for transit vehicles in the first locality and a different second set of UI graphical representations from the plurality of sets of UI graphical representations that specifies the manner in which transit system data is presented in the second locality; and

providing, the second set of schedule and route data and the second set of UI graphical representations to the second commute application to display the retrieved schedule and route data according to the second set of UI graphical representations for the second locality, wherein each set of UI graphical representations is depicted in a form in which transit system data is presented in a locality of the plurality of different localities.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first commute application displays the first set of schedule and route data in a display area of a device.

13. The method of claim 11 further comprising receiving a first request for the schedule and route data from the first commute application and a second request for the schedule and route data from the second commute application, wherein the first and second requests comprise metadata regarding the first and second localities respectively.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising retrieving the schedule and route data from a plurality of data providers.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of data providers comprises a plurality of transit systems.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the first set of UI graphical representations comprises a first set of shapes for identifying routes in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical representations comprises a different second set of shapes for identifying routes in the second locality.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the first set of UI graphical representations uses a first color scheme for displaying the first set of schedule and route data in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical representations uses a different second color scheme for displaying the second set of schedule and route data in the second locality.

18. The method of claim 11, wherein the first set of UI graphical display representations comprises a first set of fonts for displaying the first set of schedule and route data in the first locality and the second set of UI graphical representations comprises a different second set of fonts for displaying the second set of schedule and route data in the second locality.