Assessing road traffic speed using data obtained from mobile data sources
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for determining estimated average speed information for vehicle travel on roads based on data samples that are reported by vehicles traveling on the roads and that include information regarding the travel of the vehicles, the method comprising:
- receiving indications of multiple road segments of one or more roads; and
for each of multiple periods of time, receiving information related to current traffic conditions of the multiple road segments during the period of time, the received information including a plurality of data samples for the period of time that each are reported from one of multiple vehicles and reflect a reported speed of the one vehicle at a reported location on one of the road segments at a reported time during the period of time, the multiple vehicles being a subset of all vehicles traveling on the road segments during the period of time, the received information further including a plurality of additional data samples for the period of time that each are reported from one of multiple traffic sensors monitoring the multiple road segments and reflect a reported speed based on one or more speed readings for one or more vehicles at a location on one of the road segments for one or more reported times during the period of time;
for each of the multiple road segments, estimating an average traffic speed of all vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time by, identifying a group of multiple data samples for the road segment for the period of time, the multiple data samples being from at least one of the plurality of data samples and the plurality of additional data samples;
determining a weight for each of the data samples of the group based at least in part on recency of the reported time of the data sample and based at least in part on a source of the data sample, such that data samples whose reported times are less recent are given less weight than data samples whose reported times are more recent, and such that data samples reported from vehicles on the one or more roads are given differing weights than data samples reported from traffic sensors;
determining a weighted average of the reported speeds of the data samples of the group based on the determined weights for the data samples of the group; and
generating the estimated average traffic speed of all vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time based at least in part on the determined weighted average; and
using at least some of the estimated average traffic speeds for the period of time to facilitate future travel on the one or more roads, so that average traffic speeds are determined for road segments based on data samples reflecting actual vehicle travel on the road segments that are weighted to reflect recency of the data samples and source of the data samples.
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Abstract
Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads, as well as in some situations data from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The assessment of road traffic conditions based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences based on the data samples includes repeatedly determining average speeds for road segments of interest during periods of time in such a manner as to weight various data samples for those road segments in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
178 Citations
41 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for determining estimated average speed information for vehicle travel on roads based on data samples that are reported by vehicles traveling on the roads and that include information regarding the travel of the vehicles, the method comprising:
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receiving indications of multiple road segments of one or more roads; and
for each of multiple periods of time, receiving information related to current traffic conditions of the multiple road segments during the period of time, the received information including a plurality of data samples for the period of time that each are reported from one of multiple vehicles and reflect a reported speed of the one vehicle at a reported location on one of the road segments at a reported time during the period of time, the multiple vehicles being a subset of all vehicles traveling on the road segments during the period of time, the received information further including a plurality of additional data samples for the period of time that each are reported from one of multiple traffic sensors monitoring the multiple road segments and reflect a reported speed based on one or more speed readings for one or more vehicles at a location on one of the road segments for one or more reported times during the period of time;
for each of the multiple road segments, estimating an average traffic speed of all vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time by, identifying a group of multiple data samples for the road segment for the period of time, the multiple data samples being from at least one of the plurality of data samples and the plurality of additional data samples;
determining a weight for each of the data samples of the group based at least in part on recency of the reported time of the data sample and based at least in part on a source of the data sample, such that data samples whose reported times are less recent are given less weight than data samples whose reported times are more recent, and such that data samples reported from vehicles on the one or more roads are given differing weights than data samples reported from traffic sensors;
determining a weighted average of the reported speeds of the data samples of the group based on the determined weights for the data samples of the group; and
generating the estimated average traffic speed of all vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time based at least in part on the determined weighted average; and
using at least some of the estimated average traffic speeds for the period of time to facilitate future travel on the one or more roads, so that average traffic speeds are determined for road segments based on data samples reflecting actual vehicle travel on the road segments that are weighted to reflect recency of the data samples and source of the data samples. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-implemented method for determining estimated average speed information for vehicles traveling on roads based on data samples that reflect travel on those roads, the method comprising:
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receiving indications of one or more segments of one or more roads, each road segment having multiple associated data samples that each reflect a reported speed of a vehicle on the road segment at a reported time;
for each of at least one of the road segments, automatically estimating an average traffic speed of vehicles traveling on the road segment during a period of time by, identifying a group of the multiple data samples associated with the road segment whose reported times occur during the period of time;
determining weights for the data samples of the group based on one or more attributes of those data samples that affect accuracy of the reported speeds of those data samples; and
determining the estimated average traffic speed of vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time based at least in part on a weighted average of the reported speeds of the data samples of the group, the weighted average calculated using the determined weights; and
using one or more of the estimated average traffic speeds to facilitate travel on the one or more roads. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to estimate average speed information for traveling vehicles, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples that each reflect a reported speed of one of multiple vehicles traveling on a road;
estimating an average traffic speed of vehicles traveling on the road based at least in part on combining the reported speeds of the data samples in a weighted manner using weights associated with the data samples, the associated weights including multiple distinct weights; and
providing an indication of the estimated average traffic speed for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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38. A computing system configured to estimate average speed information for traveling vehicles, comprising:
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a first component that is configured to, for each of multiple roads, receive an indication of multiple data samples associated with the road that each reflect a reported speed of a vehicle traveling on the road; and
a data sample speed assessor component that is configured to, for each of the multiple roads, determine weights for the data samples associated with the road based on one or more attributes of those data samples;
estimate a traffic speed of vehicles traveling on the road at one or more times based at least in part on a weighted average of the reported speeds of the data samples associated with the road, the weighted average calculated using the determined weights; and
provide an indication of the estimated traffic speed for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (39, 40, 41)
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Specification