Using cellular network to estimate traffic flow
First Claim
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1. An apparatus comprising:
- a cellular map of cellular communication cells in a geographic area;
a road map of vehicular roads in substantially the same geographic area; and
a traffic flow analyzer coupled to the cellular map and the road map to determine vehicular traffic in at least one part of the geographic area.
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Abstract
Use of a delta in cellular device occupancy in cells of a cellular communication system to estimate vehicular traffic flow on roadways connecting the cells.
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Citations
57 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a cellular map of cellular communication cells in a geographic area;
a road map of vehicular roads in substantially the same geographic area; and
a traffic flow analyzer coupled to the cellular map and the road map to determine vehicular traffic in at least one part of the geographic area. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A cellular communication device for communicating with a cellular system, the cellular communication device comprising:
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a receiver to receive communications from the cellular system;
a transmitter to transmit communications to the cellular system;
map storage to store a map; and
an analyzer coupled to the receiver to receive cell occupancy data from the cellular system and to the storage to access the map to determine traffic in at least one cell of the cellular system according to the occupancy data and the map. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20)
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17. A cellular communication system providing cellular communication to an area including a plurality of cells, the cellular communication system comprising:
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first storage to store a cell map;
second storage to store cell occupancy data;
means for detecting and analyzing a change in the occupancy data of a first cell; and
means for changing a functionality of the cellular system'"'"'s communications in at least one cell of the plurality of cells.
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21. A method comprising:
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determining a delta in occupancy data of at least one cell of a cellular communication system; and
determining, according to the delta in occupancy data, spatial movement of cellular devices in communication with the cellular communication system. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 52, 53)
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39. A method of operation of a traffic estimation system connected to a cellular communication system which is in communication with a plurality of cellular devices, the method comprising:
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receiving cell occupancy data from the cellular communication system;
determining which of the cellular devices represented by the cell occupancy data are moving between cells of the cellular communication system;
determining which cells the moving cellular devices are moving between; and
converting the moved-between cell determination into a vehicular roadway representation indicating which roads the moving vehicles are likely to be driving on. - View Dependent Claims (40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 54, 55)
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49. A method comprising:
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receiving a request for an area traffic analysis in a specified area;
categorizing cellular devices in the specified area;
filtering out cellular devices not recently in other areas;
capturing cellular devices recently arrived from other areas;
eliminating cellular devices departing to other areas;
reconciling a result with results from nearby areas to produce a result;
providing the result to an entity from which the request was received. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 56, 57)
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Specification