METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING AND USING PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION INFORMATION CONTAINING BUS STOP-CONNECTED INFORMATION

• US 20080030379A1
• Filed: 07/31/2007
• Published: 02/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: PARK, Jun Hyung
• Granted Patent: US 7,880,645 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/994
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/092 Coding or decoding of the information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing public transportation information and using the provided information, are discussed. When creating information on each bus stop such as the bus stop ID and a distance between bus stops, a method for encoding transportation information in accordance with an embodiment creates information on nearby subway stations accessible on foot and/or nearby bus stops located on bus routes (or bus lines) that do not pass the bus stop as well, and constructs status information containing the created information. One or more messages containing the status information can be transmitted wirelessly.

Claims

1. A method for providing transportation information, comprising:

creating information on each of bus stops pertaining to a bus route and information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stops;

creating information on a current position of at least one bus in service on the bus route; and

creating status information containing the created information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information on the nearby station available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby station and a distance between the nearby station and one of the bus stops.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the information on the nearby bus stop available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby bus stop, a distance between the nearby bus stop and one of the bus stops, and information for identifying bus routes passing the nearby bus stop.

4. A method for providing transportation information, comprising:

creating information on a bus stop and information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stop;

creating information on an arrival time of buses pertaining to at least one bus route passing the bus stop; and

creating status information containing the created information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information on the nearby station available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby station and a distance between the nearby station and the bus stop.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the information on the nearby bus stop available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby bus stop, a distance between the nearby bus stop and the bus stop, and information for identifying a bus route passing the nearby bus stop.

7. A method for decoding transportation information, comprising:

extracting status information from a received signal; and

extracting, from the extracted status information, information on each of bus stops pertaining to a bus route, information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stops, and information on a current position of at least one bus in service on the bus route.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the information on the nearby station available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby station and a distance between the nearby station and one of the bus stops.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the information on the nearby bus stop available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby bus stop, a distance between the nearby bus stop and one of the bus stops, and information for identifying bus routes passing the nearby bus stop.

10. A method for providing transportation information, comprising:

extracting status information from a received signal; and

extracting, from the extracted status information, information on a bus stop, information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stop, and information on an arrival time of buses pertaining to at least one bus route passing the bus stop.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the information on the nearby station available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby station and a distance between the nearby station and the bus stop.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the information on the nearby bus stop available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby bus stop, a distance between the nearby bus stop and the bus stop, and information for identifying a bus route passing the nearby bus stop.

13. An apparatus for providing transportation information, comprising:

a demodulator to demodulate a received signal to output a sequence of messages containing public transportation information;

a decoder to extract status information from each of the messages, and either (i) to extract, from the extracted status information, public transportation information that contains information on each of bus stops pertaining to a bus route, information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stops, and information on a current position of at least one bus in service on the bus route, or (ii) to extract, from the extracted status information, public transportation information containing information on a bus stop, information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stop, and information on an arrival time of buses pertaining to at least one bus route passing the bus stop; and

a controller to store the extracted information in a storage unit and to output the stored information or a part of the stored information via an output unit depending on a condition.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the information on the nearby station available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby station and a distance between the nearby station and the bus stop.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the information on the nearby bus stop available for transfer comprises information for identifying the nearby bus stop, a distance between the nearby bus stop and the bus stop, and information for identifying a bus route passing the nearby bus stop.

16. An apparatus for providing transportation information, comprising:

a decoder to extract, from a received signal, information on a bus stop and information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stop;

a controller to output the extracted information via an output unit in response to a user'"'"'s request; and

an interface unit to request information on a nearby station and/or a nearby bus stop available for transfer from a bus stop.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the controller outputs via the output unit information on a nearby station and/or a nearby bus stop available for transfer from a bus stop selected by the user, according to a selection of a button in the interface unit.

18. An apparatus for providing transportation information, comprising:

a decoder to extract, from a received signal, information on a bus stop and information on a nearby station and/or bus stop available for transfer from the bus stop; and

a controller to output the extracted information via an output unit in response to a user'"'"'s request,

wherein the controller provides an interface unit with a button having a function of requesting information on a nearby station and/or a nearby bus stop available for transfer from a bus stop when providing information on a bus stop via the output unit.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the button comprises a physically fixed key and a text string indicating the function of the key.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the button comprises a touch area on the output unit and a text string indicating the function to be conducted when the touch area is touched, the text string being displayed on the touch area.