System for providing traffic information
First Claim
1. A system for providing traffic information to of mobile use connected to a network, comprising:
- (a) a plurality of mobile user stations, each mobile user station being associated with a display, and a communicating device to allow each of said mobile user stations to send and receive signals;
(b) a computer system interconnected with another communicating device and a network, said computer system being capable of sending and receiving signals to and from said mobile user stations;
(c) said computer system including a traffic information database, said traffic information database containing data representative of traffic at a plurality of locations;
(d) at least one of said mobile user stations providing a request to said computer system for traffic information together with a signal associated with a respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations, and in response thereto, said computer system updating said traffic information database based on said geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations and providing to said one of said mobile user stations information representative of selected portions of said traffic information database based on said respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations; and
(e) said one of said mobile user stations displaying graphically on said display information representative of selected portions of said traffic information database.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system for providing traffic information to a plurality of mobile users connected to a network. The system comprises a plurality of traffic monitors, each comprising at least a traffic detector and a transmitter, the traffic detector generating a signal in response to vehicular traffic and the transmitter transmitting the signal. A receiver receives the signals from the traffic monitors. A computer system is connected to the receiver and is further connected to the network. The computer system in response to a request signal received from one of the users transmits in response thereto information representative of the signals transmitted by the traffic monitoring units. Alternative systems for gathering traffic information are disclosed.
117 Citations
43 Claims
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1. A system for providing traffic information to of mobile use connected to a network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of mobile user stations, each mobile user station being associated with a display, and a communicating device to allow each of said mobile user stations to send and receive signals;
(b) a computer system interconnected with another communicating device and a network, said computer system being capable of sending and receiving signals to and from said mobile user stations;
(c) said computer system including a traffic information database, said traffic information database containing data representative of traffic at a plurality of locations;
(d) at least one of said mobile user stations providing a request to said computer system for traffic information together with a signal associated with a respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations, and in response thereto, said computer system updating said traffic information database based on said geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations and providing to said one of said mobile user stations information representative of selected portions of said traffic information database based on said respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations; and
(e) said one of said mobile user stations displaying graphically on said display information representative of selected portions of said traffic information database. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 32)
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9. Wherein said data representative of traffic is computed based upon processing video.
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11. A system for providing traffic information to a mobile user connected to a network, comprising:
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(a) a plurality of mobile user stations, each mobile user station being associated with a display, and a communicating device to allow each of said mobile user stations to send and receive signals;
(b) a computer system interconnected with another communicating device and a network, said computer system being capable of sending and receiving signals to and from said mobile user stations;
(c) said computer system including a map database and a traffic information database, said traffic information database containing data representative of traffic at a plurality of locations;
(d) at least one of said mobile user stations providing a signal associated with a respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations, and in response thereto, said computer system updating said traffic information database based on said geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations; and
(e) said computer system comparing said signal associated with said respective geographic location of said one of said mobile user stations with said map database before updating said traffic information database. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of determining current traffic conditions, said method comprising:
- receiving a location of a mobile unit over a data network;
computing an actual velocity of said mobile unit using said location; and
calculating a parameter using said actual velocity and location, said parameter indicating traffic conditions surrounding said mobile unit, wherein said calculating comprises;
receiving a geographic specification from a user;
retrieving speed limit of a road segment located within the boundaries of said geographic specification;
calculating the difference between said speed limit and said actual velocity; and
selecting a traffic level indicator representative of said difference. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 33)
- receiving a location of a mobile unit over a data network;
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34. A device for determining current traffic condition, said device comprising:
- a processing unit;
a database coupled to said processing unit, said database storing results of calculation performed by said processing unit; and
a memory for storing maps, traffic level indicators, and road data coupled to said processing unit, each of said traffic level indicators being calculated based on a difference between a speed limit at a road segment, obtained from said road data, and an average velocity of vehicles at said road segment. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38)
- a processing unit;
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39. A method of estimating a travel time between a first geographic location and a second geographic location, said method comprising:
- determining a route between said first and second geographic locations;
receiving locations of a plurality of mobile units along said route over a data network;
computing an average velocity of said plurality of mobile units on said route;
providing a traffic level indicator for said route based on said average velocity and a speed limit along said route; and
deriving said travel time using the distances of said route, and said traffic level indicator.
- determining a route between said first and second geographic locations;
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40. A system for providing current traffic conditions, said system comprising:
- a plurality of mobile units each adapted to provide a current location;
a wireless communication network accessible by said mobile units to report the current locations;
a data network linked to said wireless communication network; and
a processing unit linked to said data network to receive said current locations, said processing unit being adapted to compute a traffic level indicator based on an average velocity derived from said current locations of said mobile units. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43)
- a plurality of mobile units each adapted to provide a current location;
Specification