Control of traffic flow by sensing traffic states

• US 20070273552A1
• Filed: 05/24/2006
• Published: 11/29/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/24/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Bellsouth Intellectual Property Corporation (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Tischer, Steven
• Application Number:
  US11/440,659
• Publication Number:
  US 20070273552A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/910
• 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 1/081 Plural intersections under common control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle

Abstract

Traffic is controlled by sensing a current state of traffic and comparing it to a common state of traffic to determine deviations. A control scheme is determined based on the deviations, and control signals representative of the control scheme are generated to optimize the flow of traffic. The current state of traffic for an intersection or other advantageous monitoring location may be considered relative to a common state at the intersection or other location as well as relative to a current state of traffic at nearby locations, adjacent intersections, and locations where sensor equipped vehicles are traveling. Sensing occurs over time so the control scheme may be optimized based on consideration of historical data. Intersections or other locations may employ sensor devices to sense traffic state information, to communicate with other sensor devices of other intersections and/or a central controller, and to implement the control schemes to create a network of sensor devices each attempting to optimize traffic based on local and nearby traffic states.

Claims

1. A device for controlling traffic, comprising:

at least one sensor that produces at least one sensor signal representative of a current traffic state; and

an analysis module that analyzes the sensor signal to determine the current traffic state, to compare the current traffic state to a common traffic state, to determine deviations of the current traffic state from the common traffic state, to determine a control scheme based on the deviations, wherein the control scheme controls the activation of traffic signaling lights to optimize traffic flow, and to produce the control signals representative of the control scheme.

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the analysis module communicates the control signals to switches for activating traffic signaling lights according to the control signals.

3. The device of claim 1, further comprising a communications module that receives messages, wherein the messages received include data specifying a current traffic state occurring at a location other than the location of the sensor and wherein the analysis module determines the control scheme by analyzing the current traffic state as specified by the data received through the communications module in addition to the current traffic state represented by the sensor signal.

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the communications module sends messages, wherein the messages sent by the communication module include data specifying the current traffic state as determined by the analysis module.

5. The device of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor includes a camera and wherein the at least one sensor signal represents a number of vehicles being sensed per unit of time.

6. The device of claim 5, wherein the at least one sensor signal further represents a speed of vehicles being sensed.

7. The device of claim 1, further comprising a weather sensor that produces a sensor signal representative of the current state of the weather.

8. The device of claim 1, wherein the control scheme includes an amount of time for a traffic light to be red and an amount of time for the traffic light to be green.

9. A method of controlling traffic of an intersection or other advantageous location, comprising:

sensing a current state of traffic at a current location;

comparing the current state of traffic for the current location to a common state of traffic for the current location to find deviations from the common state and to determine a control scheme to optimize traffic flow based on the deviations; and

producing control signals representative of the control scheme to control the activation of traffic signaling lights so as to optimize traffic flow.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

sending messages to a central controller for analysis of the current traffic state relative to the common state and relative to a current state of traffic at nearby locations; and

receiving instructions from the central controller.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving messages comprises receiving messages from traveling nodes.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising communicating the control signals to control switches so as to activate traffic signaling lights to optimize traffic flow.

13. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing each detected current state, analyzing the stored current states, and altering the common state based on the analysis.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein sensing comprises utilizing at least one of a camera, a sound pressure sensor, and a smoke detector.

15. A computer readable medium containing instructions for performing acts to control traffic, the acts comprising:

sensing a current state of traffic;

comparing the current state of traffic to a common state of traffic to find deviations from the common state and to determine a control scheme to optimize traffic flow based on the deviations; and

producing control signals representative of the control scheme to control the activation of traffic signaling lights to optimize traffic flow.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, the acts further comprising comparing the current state of traffic at one location to a current state of traffic at a nearby location when determining the control scheme.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the current state of traffic at the nearby location is provided from a sensor of a nearby vehicle.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein sensing the current state of traffic comprises detecting whether high priority vehicles that are not of the common state are present.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein sensing the current state of traffic comprises detecting whether a volume of vehicles that are present is different than a range of volume of vehicles of the common state and detecting whether a vehicle of a first type is present where vehicles of the first type are not present in the common state.

20. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the common state is based on the location, day of the week, and a time of day and wherein the acts further comprise adapting the common state by finding trends from historical current states.