Personal traffic congestion avoidance system

• US 20040073356A1
• Filed: 12/11/2002
• Published: 04/15/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cufer Asset Ltd LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Dean A. Craine
• Inventors: Craine, Dean A.
• Granted Patent: US 7,027,915 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• 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

Abstract

A personal traffic congestion avoidance system for drivers of motor vehicles traveling on roadways in motor vehicles with GPS-based navigational systems. The system includes a GPS-based navigational system that includes a GPS receiver connected to a visual display, a map database and a wireless communication device for communicating with a remote computer over a wireless communication network. The GPS-based navigation system continuously determines the motor vehicle'"'"'s exact physical location in a region that is intermittently or continuously uploaded to a remote computer via the wireless communication network. The remote computer is connected to a traffic monitoring database or service that provides current traffic affecting events in the region thereto. When a traffic affecting event is located in the designated vicinity of the current location of the motor vehicle, or on the current roadway used by the motor vehicle or on a roadway that may affect the traffic on the current roadway, an alert warning is generated and delivered to the GPS-based navigational system and displayed on the visual display. The driver may ignore the warning or take an alternative route to avoid the traffic congestion.

Claims

1. A personal traffic congestion avoidance system, comprising;

a. a motor vehicle;

b. A GPS-based navigational system mounted inside said motor vehicle, said GPS-based navigational system including a GPS receiver with a visual display and map database;

c. means for a wireless communication coupled to said GPS-receiver;

d. a remote computer used to communicate with said wireless communication system;

e. means for monitoring traffic on roadways in a region for a traffic affecting event connected to said remote computer, and;

f. said remote computer used to compare the current location of said motor vehicle with the location of said traffic affecting events, said remote computer being used to transmit to said GPS receiver a traffic alert warning when said motor vehicle is in the vicinity or is traveling on a roadway affected by a traffic affecting event.

2. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 1, wherein said means for wireless communication is a wireless telephone coupled to said GPS receiver and a wireless telephone network used by said wireless telephone.

3. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 2, further including a landline telephone network located between said wireless telephone network and said remote computer.

4. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 1, including means to select the monitoring distances for monitoring traffic affecting events from the current location of said motor vehicle.

5. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system, as recited in claim 1, wherein said GPS-based navigational system includes a route guidance system that directs said motor vehicle to a selected destination.

6. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system, as recited in claim 1, wherein said means for monitoring traffic on roadways in a region is a traffic monitoring service that monitors roadways in a selected region for traffic affecting events.

7. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 1, including means for selecting distances for monitoring traffic affecting events from the current location of said motor vehicle.

8. A personal traffic congestion avoidance system, comprising;

a. a motor vehicle;

b. a GPS-based navigational system mounted inside said motor vehicle, said GPS-based navigational system including a GPS receiver with a visual display, map database, and a route guidance system;

c. means for a wireless communication coupled to said navigational system;

d. a remote computer able to communicate with said means for wireless communication;

e. means for monitoring traffic on roadways in a region for a traffic affecting event connected to said remote computer, and;

f. a traffic selecting software program loaded into said remote computer to compare the current location of said motor vehicle with the location of said traffic affecting events, said remote computer being used to transmit to said GPS receiver a traffic alert warning when said motor vehicle is in the vicinity or is traveling on a roadway affected by a traffic affecting event.

9. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 8, wherein said means for wireless communication is a wireless telephone coupled to said GPS receiver and a wireless telephone network.

10. The personal traffic congestion avoidance system as recited in claim 8, including means to select the monitoring distances for monitoring traffic affecting events from the current location of said motor vehicle.

11. A method for avoiding traffic congestion, comprising the following steps.

a. selecting a motor vehicle with a GPS-based navigational system with a GPS receiver, coupled to a map database and a wireless communication means capable of communicating with a wireless communication network, and a remote computer capable of connecting to a wireless communication network;

f. activating said GPS receiver;

g. transmitting physical location information of said motor vehicle to said remote computer via a wireless communication network;

d. monitoring the traffic in the region where said motor vehicle is driven for traffic affecting events;

e. comparing the physical location of said motor vehicle with the location of traffic affecting events detected; and

,

h. transmitting a traffic alert signal from said remote computer to said GPS receiver in said motor vehicle when said traffic affecting event is within a pre-selected distance from said motor vehicle or affects a roadway that is currently used by said motor vehicle or a roadway that connects to the current roadway.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said traffic congestion information is collected by a traffic monitoring service that monitors traffic in a plurality of regions.

13. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said traffic monitoring service selectively identifies traffic affecting events in a region where said motor vehicle is located and delivers information of said traffic affecting events to said remote computer.

14. The method as recited in claim 12, wherein said traffic monitoring service transmits all of the traffic affecting events in a plurality of regions and then delivers the location of all traffic affecting events to said remote computer.

15. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein said remote coupler determines whether said traffic safety events delivered by said remote computer is within the vicinity of said motor vehicle or on a roadway currently or anticipated to be traveled.

16. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein said remote coupler determines whether said traffic safety events delivered from said remote computer is within the vicinity of said motor vehicle or on a roadway traveled.

17. The method as recited in claim 13, wherein said remote computer determines whether said traffic affecting event delivered from said remote coupler is on a roadway currently traveled by said motor vehicle.

18. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein said remote computer determines whether said traffic affecting event delivered from said remote coupler is on a roadway currently traveled by said motor vehicle.

19. A method for monitoring traffic when traveling in a motor vehicle, comprising the following steps:

a. selecting a personal traffic congestion system that includes a navigational system mounted inside the motor vehicle that includes a visual display, a map database and a route guidance system, means for wireless communication coupled to said navigational system, a remote computer able to communicate with said means for wireless communication, means for monitoring traffic on selected roadways in a region, and traffic selecting software program loaded into said remote computer used to identify and transmit traffic affecting events to said navigational system based on the current location of said motor vehicle;

b. activating said personal traffic congestion system;

c. logging onto said remote computer;

d. transmitting the current location information of said motor vehicle to said remote computer;

e. transmitting traffic information from said means for monitoring traffic to said remote computer;

f. selecting traffic congestion information that may affect the movement of said motor vehicle based on the current location of said motor vehicle;

g. transmitting said selected traffic congestion information using said means for wireless communication from said remote computer to said navigational system; and

,

h. displaying said traffic congestion information on said navigational system.

20. The method of monitoring traffic, as recited in claim 19, further including step (1) selecting said route guidance feature to find an alternative route to avoid traffic congestion.