Determining billboard refresh rate based on traffic flow

• US 20070257816A1
• Filed: 04/06/2006
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Lyle, Ruthie, Yao, Xiaohu
• Granted Patent: US 7,466,241 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0251 Targeted advertisements
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0265 Vehicular advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 15/00 Boards, hoardings, pillars, or like structures for notices, placards, posters, or the like
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/22 Advertising or display means on roads, walls or similar surfaces, e.g. illuminated

Abstract

The present invention provides a method, system, and computer program product for determining a refresh rate of a dynamic billboard. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention includes: obtaining traffic flow information; and determining the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on the traffic flow information.

Claims

1. A method for determining a refresh rate of a dynamic billboard, comprising:

obtaining traffic flow information; and

determining the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on the traffic flow information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamic billboard is selected from the group consisting of a mechanical billboard and a digital billboard.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

changing a display provided by the dynamic bill board in accordance with the refresh rate.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the display comprises an advertisement.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

updating the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on current traffic flow information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

increasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic slows down in a vicinity of the dynamic billboard.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

decreasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic speeds up in a vicinity of the dynamic billboard.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining traffic flow information and determining the refresh rate are performed periodically.

9. A system for determining a refresh rate of a dynamic billboard, comprising:

a system for obtaining traffic flow information; and

a system for determining the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on the traffic flow information.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the dynamic billboard is selected from the group consisting of a mechanical billboard and a digital billboard.

11. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a system for changing a display provided by the dynamic bill board in accordance with the refresh rate.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the display comprises an advertisement.

13. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a system for updating the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on current traffic flow information.

14. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a system for increasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic slows down in a vicinity of the dynamic billboard.

15. The system of claim 9, further comprising:

a system for decreasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic speeds up in a vicinity of the dynamic billboard.

16. A program product stored on a computer readable medium for determining a refresh rate of a dynamic billboard, the computer readable medium comprising program code for performing the steps of:

obtaining traffic flow information; and

determining the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on the traffic flow information.

17. The program product of claim 16, wherein the dynamic billboard is selected from the group consisting of a mechanical billboard and a digital billboard.

18. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the step of:

changing a display provided by the dynamic bill board in accordance with the refresh rate.

19. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the step of:

periodically updating the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard based on current traffic flow information.

20. The program product of claim 16, further comprising program code for performing the steps of:

increasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic slows down in a vicinity of the dynamic billboard; and

decreasing the refresh rate of the dynamic billboard when traffic speeds up in the vicinity of the dynamic billboard.