Method and apparatus for traffic monitoring based on traffic images

• US 10,109,185 B1
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 10/23/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: 360ai Solutions LLC
• Original Assignee: 360Fly, Inc.
• Inventors: Dubois, Jr., Raymond G., Ghomeshi, Mansour
• Primary Examiner(s): Zimmerman, Brian
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Thang
• Application Number:
  US15/218,890
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 340937
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0175 by photographing vehicles, e.g. when violating traffic rules

Abstract

A method and apparatus for monitoring traffic based on traffic images includes a server that receives traffic image data from applications running on mobile devices. The traffic image data includes location data together with image data corresponding to images of traffic on passageways traveled by the mobile devices as captured by cameras associated with the mobile devices. The server stores the traffic image data in a data store and makes the traffic images available to other computing devices (e.g., mobile devices) in response to receipt of requests that indicate locations for which the images are desired. The server may also be programmed to perform image recognition processes on the traffic images to recognize the presence and proximities of vehicles in the traffic images, and based thereon, determine traffic congestion at the locations where the traffic images were produced. The traffic congestion data may also be shared with other mobile devices.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a server, the method comprising:

receiving, via one or more communication networks, traffic image data from a plurality of mobile devices, the traffic image data including location data together with image data corresponding to images of traffic on passageways over which the plurality of mobile devices are traveling as captured by cameras associated with the plurality of mobile devices, the location data indicating locations for the images of traffic;

storing the traffic image data in a data store to produce stored traffic image data;

processing the traffic image data to identify vehicles viewable in the images of traffic for one or more particular locations;

determining traffic congestion data for the one or more particular locations by processing a subset of the images of traffic corresponding to the one or more particular locations and within a particular date-time window to identify a number of vehicles in the images of traffic, an average distance between the identified vehicles, or both, wherein the subset of the images of traffic are received from multiple mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices;

storing the traffic congestion data in the data store on a location-by-location basis;

receiving, via the one or more communication networks, a request for at least one of traffic images and traffic congestion data, wherein the request indicates a location and identifies a requesting device;

when the received request includes a request for traffic images, retrieving, responsive to the request, image data from the stored traffic image data and making the retrieved image data available to the requesting device, wherein the retrieved image data pertains to the location; and

when the received request includes a request for traffic congestion data, retrieving, responsive to the request, traffic congestion data from the stored traffic congestion data and making the retrieved traffic congestion data available to the requesting device, wherein the retrieved traffic congestion data is correlated with the location.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the location data is based on satellite location information acquired by the plurality of mobile devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the retrieved image data includes image data for at least one of still images and video.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein making the retrieved image data available to the requesting device comprises:

communicating the retrieved image data to the requesting device in a format capable of being processed for presentation on a display.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

prior to receiving traffic image data from a particular mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices, authenticating the particular mobile device with a corresponding account controlled by the server.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein storing the traffic image data includes storing the traffic image data in association with date and time data, and wherein making the retrieved image data available to the requesting device includes making the date and time data together with the retrieved image data available to the requesting device.

7. A method implemented by a server, the method comprising:

receiving, via one or more communication networks, traffic image data from a plurality of mobile devices, the traffic image data including location data together with image data corresponding to images of traffic on passageways over which the plurality of mobile devices are traveling as captured by cameras associated with the plurality of mobile devices, the location data indicating locations for the images of traffic;

processing the traffic image data to identify vehicles viewable in the images of traffic for one or more particular locations;

determining traffic congestion data for the one or more particular locations based on a number of vehicles identified in the images of traffic for the one or more particular locations, an average distance between the vehicles identified in the images of traffic for the one or more particular locations, or both;

storing one or more of the traffic image data and the traffic congestion data in a data store on a location-by-location basis to produce stored traffic data;

receiving, via the one or more communication networks, a request for at least one of traffic images and traffic congestion information, wherein the request indicates a location and a requesting mobile device;

retrieving, responsive to the request and based on the location, at least one of image data and traffic congestion data from the stored traffic data to produce retrieved traffic data, wherein the retrieved traffic data pertains to the location; and

communicating the retrieved traffic data to the requesting mobile device.

8. A server system, comprising:

at least one communication interface coupled to one or more communication networks;

a data store; and

a server operably coupled to the data store and the at least one communication interface, the server operable in accordance with executed programmatic instructions to;

receive, via the at least one communication interface, traffic image data communicated over the one or more communication networks from a plurality of mobile devices, the traffic image data including location data together with image data corresponding to images of traffic on passageways over which the plurality of mobile devices are traveling as captured by cameras associated with the plurality of mobile devices, the location data indicating locations for the images of traffic;

store the traffic image data in the data store to produce stored traffic image data;

process the traffic image data to identify vehicles viewable in the images of traffic for one or more particular locations;

determine traffic congestion data for the one or more particular locations by processing a subset of the images of traffic corresponding to the one or more particular locations and within a particular date-time window to identify a number of vehicles in the images of traffic, an average distance between the identified vehicles, or both, wherein the subset of the images of traffic are received from multiple mobile devices of the plurality of mobile devices;

store the traffic congestion data in the data store on a location-by-location basis;

receive, via the at least one communication interface, a request for at least one of traffic images and traffic congestion data, wherein the request indicates a location and identifies a requesting device;

when the received request includes a request for traffic images, retrieve, responsive to the request, image data from the stored traffic image data and make the retrieved image data available to the requesting device, wherein the retrieved image data pertains to the location; and

when the received request includes a request for traffic congestion data, retrieve, responsive to the request, traffic congestion data from the stored traffic congestion data and make the retrieved traffic congestion data available to the requesting device, wherein the retrieved traffic congestion data is correlated with the location.

9. The server system of claim 8, wherein the location data is based on satellite location information acquired by the plurality of mobile devices.

10. The server system of claim 8, wherein the retrieved image data includes image data for at least one of still images and video.

11. The server system of claim 8, wherein the server is operable to make the retrieved image data available to the requesting device by:

communicating the retrieved image data to the requesting device in a format capable of being processed for presentation on a display.

12. The server system of claim 8, wherein the server is further operable in accordance with the executed programmatic instructions to:

authenticate a particular mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices with a corresponding account controlled by the server prior to receiving traffic image data from the particular mobile device.

13. The server system of claim 8, wherein the server stores the traffic image data in association with date and time data, and wherein the server is operable to make the retrieved image data available to the requesting device by making the date and time data together with the retrieved image data available to the requesting device.