Point of interest database maintenance system

• US 10,346,372 B2
• Filed: 11/22/2017
• Issued: 07/09/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TomTom Traffic B.V. (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: TomTom Traffic B.V. (TomTom NV)
• Inventors: van der Laan, Antoine Carl, Jonkman, Richard Hendrik Josephus
• Primary Examiner(s): Alam, Hosain T
• Assistant Examiner(s): Allen, Nicholas E
• Application Number:
  US15/820,984
• Publication Number:
  US 20180095999A1
• Time in Patent Office: 594 Days
• Field of Search: 707609
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3811 Point data, e.g. Point of Interest [POI]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/022 Road traffic radar detectors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/21 Design, administration or maintenance of databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/012 from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0141 for traffic information dissemination
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information

Abstract

A method of processing data at a server 302 for maintenance of a database 516 of points of interest, such as speed limit enforcement devices. Each of the devices represented in the database has at least one attribute and a confidence value indicative of the accuracy of the at least one attribute associated therewith. The confidence value is time dependent and varies according to a predefined decay function. A report 500 relating to an attribute of a speed limit enforcement device is received at the server 302 from a mobile device 200. The confidence value associated with the speed limit enforcement device is adjusted in accordance with the received report, and information relating to the speed limit enforcement device 520, 522 is selectively transmitted to the or another mobile device 200 based on the confidence value.

Claims

1. A method of processing data for maintenance of a database of points of interest (POI), each point of interest represented in the database having at least one attribute and a confidence value indicative of the accuracy of the at least one attribute associated therewith, wherein the at least one attribute includes a status of the point of interest, wherein the status of the point of interest changes from a first state to a second state when the confidence value associated with the point of interest is above or below a predetermined threshold level, and wherein the confidence value is time dependent and varies according to a predefined function, the method comprising:

receiving a report relating to an attribute of a point of interest;

adjusting the confidence value associated with the point of interest in accordance with the received report, wherein the confidence value is increased or decreased based on the received report;

selecting, based on a device type of the point of interest, the predefined function from among two or more predefined functions, each of the two or more predefined functions having a different decay profile for adjusting the confidence value associated with the point of interest with time;

determining a time when the confidence value associated with the point of interest will cross the threshold level based on the adjusted confidence value and the predefined function; and

transmitting information relating to the point of interest to a remote device, wherein the information comprises the determined time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the points of interest are speed limit enforcement devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one attribute associated with a speed limit enforcement device comprises one or more of:

an active status of the device;

a device type;

a location of the device;

a speed limit;

a driving direction indicating with which direction of vehicular travel the device operates; and

a time period during which the device is operational.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the at least one attribute associated with a speed limit enforcement device comprises a speed limit, wherein the speed limit is one of:

(i) the actual speed limit for the road on which the speed limit enforcement device is located; and

(ii) derived from position data received from vehicles travelling along the road on which the speed limit enforcement device is located.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein speed limit enforcement devices are added to and/or modified in the database based on identifying a change in speed indicative of the presence of a speed limit enforcement device from position data relating to the position of at least one vehicle at a plurality of times when travelling along a route.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the points of interest comprise one or more of:

parking locations;

electric vehicle charging stations;

fuel stations;

dynamic advertising locations; and

areas of construction or road works.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein an initial confidence value associated with a point of interest is based on the source of the point of interest.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each point of interest represented in the database has a plurality of attributes associated therewith, and the confidence value associated with a device is a combined confidence value indicative of the accuracy of each of the attributes.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the confidence value for a point of interest is calculated using one or more of:

the number of positive reports received from the remote devices;

the number of negative reports received from the remote devices;

the ratio of positive reports received to negative reports; and

the age of each report.

10. A system arranged to process data for maintenance of a database of points of interest (POI), each point of interest represented in the database having at least one attribute and a confidence value indicative of the accuracy of the at least one attribute associated therewith, wherein the at least one attribute includes a status of the point of interest, wherein the status of the point of interest changes from a first state to a second state when the confidence value associated with the point of interest is above or below a predetermined threshold level, and wherein the confidence value is time dependent and varies according to a predefined function, the system comprising one or more processors configured to:

receive a report relating to an attribute of a point of interest;

adjust the confidence value associated with the point of interest in accordance with the received report, wherein the confidence value is increased or decreased based on the received report;

select, based on a device type of the point of interest, the predefined function from among two or more predefined functions, each of the two or more predefined functions having a different decay profile for adjusting the confidence value associated with the point of interest with time;

determine a time when the confidence value associated with the point of interest will cross the threshold level based on the adjusted confidence value and the predefined function; and

transmit information relating to the point of interest to a remote device, wherein the information comprises the determined time.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the points of interest comprise one or more of:

parking locations;

electric vehicle charging stations;

fuel stations;

dynamic advertising locations; and

areas of construction or road works.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein an initial confidence value associated with a point of interest is based on the source of the point of interest.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein each point of interest represented in the database has a plurality of attributes associated therewith, and the confidence value associated with a device is a combined confidence value indicative of the accuracy of each of the attributes.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the confidence value for a point of interest is calculated using one or more of:

the number of positive reports received from the remote devices;

the number of negative reports received from the remote devices;

the ratio of positive reports received to negative reports; and

the age of each report.

11. A non-transitory computer readable medium including program segments for, when executed by a processor, causing a device to implement a method of processing data for maintenance of a database of points of interest (POI), each point of interest represented in the database having at least one attribute and a confidence value indicative of the accuracy of the at least one attribute associated therewith, wherein the at least one attribute includes a status of the point of interest, wherein the status of the point of interest changes from a first state to a second state when the confidence value associated with the point of interest is above or below a predetermined threshold level, and wherein the confidence value is time dependent and varies according to a predefined function, the method comprising:

receiving a report relating to an attribute of a point of interest;

adjusting the confidence value associated with the point of interest in accordance with the received report, wherein the confidence value is increased or decreased based on the received report;

selecting, based on a device type of the point of interest, the predefined function from among two or more predefined functions, each of the two or more predefined functions having a different decay profile for adjusting the confidence value associated with the point of interest with time;

determining a time when the confidence value associated with the point of interest will cross the threshold level based on the adjusted confidence value and the predefined function; and

transmitting information relating to the point of interest to a remote device, wherein the information comprises the determined time.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the points of interest comprise one or more of:

parking locations;

electric vehicle charging stations;

fuel stations;

dynamic advertising locations; and

areas of construction or road works.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein an initial confidence value associated with a point of interest is based on the source of the point of interest.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein each point of interest represented in the database has a plurality of attributes associated therewith, and the confidence value associated with a device is a combined confidence value indicative of the accuracy of each of the attributes.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the confidence value for a point of interest is calculated using one or more of:

the number of positive reports received from the remote devices;

the number of negative reports received from the remote devices;

the ratio of positive reports received to negative reports; and

the age of each report.