Geohash-related location predictions

• US 10,547,975 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2019
• Issued: 01/28/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/04/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LYFT Incorporated
• Original Assignee: LYFT Incorporated
• Inventors: Pao, Yuanyuan, Kodesh, Snir, Chopra, Jatin, Fan, Kevin, Lin, Charlie, Shen, Limin, Levi, Dor, Haque, Asif, Baz, Zeynep Erkin
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Mahendra R
• Application Number:
  US16/369,998
• Publication Number:
  US 20190306657A1
• Time in Patent Office: 305 Days
• Field of Search: 4554563, 455457, 4554141, 705338, 705 13
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

Embodiments provide techniques, including systems and methods, for determining an estimated target pickup location for a corresponding transport request at a particular location, such as associated with a particular geohash. A requestor may send a request that is associated with a location that does not reflect the requestor'"'"'s intent regarding where they would like to be met by the provider (i.e., “picked up”). GPS inaccuracies may cause the request location to inaccurately indicate where the requestor will be; for example, the request location may be inside a building while the requestor is waiting on a curb around a far side of the building. The target pickup location allows for a requestor and a provider to meet more efficiently, reducing delay for the provider and improving the efficiency of the system by preventing provider system resources from being taken from other service areas and decreasing provider downtime upon matching.

Claims

1. A method of managing transportation services comprising:

receiving, by a dynamic transportation matching system from a requestor device, a transportation request indicating a request location;

determining instances of prior transport data within a geographical area corresponding to the request location;

determining a boundary for a sub-cluster of the prior transport data within the geographical area to include a road segment that is adjacent to the request location, wherein the sub-cluster comprises a subset of the instances of prior transport data;

utilizing the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify a suggested location for the transportation request, wherein the suggested location is within the boundary; and

providing the suggested location to the requestor device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining a traffic direction for the road segment that is adjacent to the request location; and

wherein utilizing the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location comprises determining the suggested location based on the traffic direction for the road segment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request comprises utilizing a center of multiple sub-clusters as the suggested location.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein utilizing the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request comprises weighting the instances of prior transport data by:

determining that a first instance of prior transport data is outside the boundary of the sub-cluster;

determining that a second instance of prior transport data is inside the boundary of the sub-cluster; and

weighting the first instance of prior transport data less heavily than the second instance of prior transport data.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the boundary for the sub-cluster of the prior transport data by:

determining one or more radii from the request location, each radius defining a separate boundary; and

modifying the one or more radii based on the instances of prior transport data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the instances of prior transport data comprise a prior request location, a prior pickup location, a prior transport origin, a prior destination, or a prior drop-off location.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the suggested location for the transportation request further comprises:

determining, for the instances of prior transport data, one or more distances between prior requested pickup locations and corresponding actual pickup locations; and

updating the suggested location for the transportation request based on the one or more distances.

8. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause a computer device to:

receive, by a dynamic transportation matching system from a requestor device, a transportation request indicating a request location;

determine instances of prior transport data within a geographical area corresponding to the request location;

determine a boundary for a sub-cluster of the prior transport data within the geographical area based to include a road segment that is adjacent to the request location, wherein the sub-cluster comprises a subset of the instances of prior transport data;

utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify a suggested location for the transportation request, wherein the suggested location is within the boundary; and

provide the suggested location to the requestor device.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer device to:

determine a traffic direction for the road segment that is adjacent to the request location; and

utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location by determining the suggested location based on the traffic direction for the road segment.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions cause the computer device to utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request by utilizing a center of multiple sub-clusters as the suggested location.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions cause the computer device to utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request comprises weighting the instances of prior transport data by:

determining that a first instance of prior transport data is outside the boundary of the sub-cluster;

determining that a second instance of prior transport data is inside the boundary of the sub-cluster; and

weighting the first instance of prior transport data less heavily than the second instance of prior transport data.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer device to determine the boundary for the sub-cluster of the prior transport data by:

determining one or more radii from the request location, each radius defining a separate boundary; and

modifying the one or more radii based on the instances of prior transport data.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein the instances of prior transport data comprise a prior request location, a prior pickup location, a prior transport origin, a prior destination, or a prior drop-off location.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the computer device to:

determine, for the instances of prior transport data, one or more distances between prior requested pickup locations and corresponding actual pickup locations; and

update the suggested location for the transportation request based on the one or more distances.

15. A system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to;

receive, by a dynamic transportation matching system from a requestor device, a transportation request indicating a request location;

determine instances of prior transport data within a geographical area corresponding to the request location;

determine a boundary for a sub-cluster of the prior transport data within the geographical area to include a road segment that is adjacent to the request location, wherein the sub-cluster comprises a subset of the instances of prior transport data;

utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify a suggested location for the transportation request, wherein the suggested location is within the boundary; and

provide the suggested location to the requestor device.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to:

determine a traffic direction for the road segment that is adjacent to the request location; and

utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location by determining the suggested location based on the traffic direction for the road segment.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the system to utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request by utilizing a center of multiple sub-clusters as the suggested location.

18. The system of claim 15, wherein the instructions cause the system to utilize the sub-cluster of the prior transport data to identify the suggested location for the transportation request comprises weighting the instances of prior transport data by:

determining that a first instance of prior transport data is outside the boundary of the sub-cluster;

determining that a second instance of prior transport data is inside the boundary of the sub-cluster; and

weighting the first instance of prior transport data less heavily than the second instance of prior transport data.

19. The system of claim 15, further comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the system to determine the boundary for the sub-cluster of the prior transport data by:

determining one or more radii from the request location, each radius defining a separate boundary; and

modifying the one or more radii based on the instances of prior transport data.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the instances of prior transport data comprise a prior request location, a prior pickup location, a prior transport origin, a prior destination, or a prior drop-off location.