System And Method For Information Supplying Service

• US 20080140305A1
• Filed: 12/23/2005
• Published: 06/12/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: POSDATA Co., Ltd (Posco)
• Original Assignee: Posdata Company Limited
• Inventors: Kim, Kyung-Woo, Bae, Ik-Soo, Ban, Hyung-Min, Kim, Kyu-Woong
• Granted Patent: US 8,000,888 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

Disclosed is a system and a method for collecting various road traffic information, road image information, and position information of a position information generation device carried by an object, the position of which is to be tracked, by interworking with an information provision means and using the collected information to provide service subscribers with real-time traffic information, traffic prediction, or position information of the object via wireless Internet, satellite broadcasting, DMB, or cable data broadcasting. The system and method can provide detailed traffic information service regarding a specific region or location on a nationwide scale, predict traffic to properly deal with it, and easily provide position information of an object to be tracked.

Claims

1. An information provision service system comprising:

an information provision means for collecting and managing at least one of road traffic information, road image information, and position information;

an information transmission means for providing a subscriber terminal using a communication service with the communication service; and

an information processing means for collecting at least one of the road traffic information,

the road image information, the position information, and road traffic influence information while interworking with the information provision means, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, managing stored information,

wherein the information processing means perform function of processing the road traffic information and the road image information stored on the DBs to be conformed to a transmission type of the communication service in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal, and transmitting processed information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means, function of predicting traffic of requested location and time based on the road traffic information and the road traffic influence information stored on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, processing the predicted traffic into the transmission type of the communication service, processing the traffic prediction information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service, and transmitting the traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means, or function of processing the position information stored on the DB and map information corresponding to the position information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service in response to a position tracking request of the subscriber terminal, and transmitting processed position information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information processing means comprises:

a traffic information collection module for collecting the road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected road traffic information based on region or location, storing classified road traffic information in a traffic information DB, and managing stored road traffic information;

an image information collection module for collecting the road image information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected road image information and managing stored road image information;

a traffic influence factor collection module for collecting the traffic influence information at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information or at a predetermined cycle, storing collected information in a traffic influence factor DB, and managing stored information; and

an information provision module for extracting information from at least one of the traffic information DB, the image information DB and the traffic influence factor DB, processing the extracted information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service in response to a request of the subscriber terminal, and transmitting the processed information to the subscriber terminal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the information transmission means is a broadcasting station, the subscriber terminal is a broadcast receiver, and the information processing means comprises:

a broadcasting information provision module for performing function of processing the road traffic information, the road image information, and the traffic influence information transmitted from the information provision module for broadcasting, performing at least one information verification of data, update cycle, vehicle speed and time, transmitting verified information to a broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station, and providing the subscriber terminal with real-time traffic information and traffic prediction information, and function of processing broadcasting position information using map information corresponding to the position information of the position information generation device, verifying format and displacement of the broadcasting position information, transmitting verified information to the broadcast transmitter, and providing the subscriber terminal with broadcasting-based position information; and

a broadcasting application module for transmitting an application for screen display to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station when providing the subscriber terminal with the broadcasting-based real-time traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the information processing means further comprises a return response module for analyzing a request of the traffic information and the traffic prediction made by the subscriber terminal via a return channel connected to the information transmission means, extracting necessary information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB, processing extracted information into broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction, performing a series of information verification, and transmitting the broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction to the information transmission means.

5. An information provision service method for providing information in an information provision service system including an information provision means for collecting and managing road traffic information, road image information, and position information for tracking, a subscriber terminal using a communication service, an information transmission means for providing the subscriber terminal with the communication service, and an information processing means for providing the subscriber terminal with information collected by the information provision means via the information transmission means, the method comprising the steps of:

a) collecting the road traffic information, the road image information, the position information, and traffic influence information while interworking with the information provision means and storing collected information on corresponding DBs;

b) processing the road traffic information and the road image information stored on the DBs to be conformed to a transmission type of the communication service in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal and transmitting processed information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means;

c) predicting traffic of requested place and time based on the road traffic information and the traffic influence information stored on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, processing predicted traffic into traffic prediction information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service, and transmitting the traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means; and

d) processing position information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service using the position information stored on the DB and map information corresponding to the position information in response to a position tracking request of the subscriber terminal and transmitting processed position information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission means.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the step a) further comprises the steps of:

a-1) collecting the road traffic information, the road image information, the position information, and the road traffic influence information by the information processing means while interworking with the information provision means according to a predetermined information collection schedule; and

a-2) classifying collected information based on region or location, storing classified information on corresponding DBs according to information type, and managing stored information.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the step b) further comprises the steps of:

b-1) referring to subscriber authentication information by the information processing means, when the subscriber terminal requests the traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information via the information transmission means, and performing client authentication for the subscriber terminal;

b-2) identifying communication environment, terminal type, and terminal browser information of the subscriber terminal after the subscriber terminal is confirmed to be a valid subscriber terminal;

b-3) analyzing the traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information requested from the subscriber terminal, identifying a request type of the subscriber terminal, and extracting corresponding information from the DBs; and

b-4) analyzing extracted information, processing analyzed information to be conformed to the communication environment, the terminal type, and terminal browser information of the subscriber terminal, and composing an information request result page.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the information transmission means is a broadcasting station, the subscriber terminal is realized as a broadcast receiver, and the method further comprises the steps of:

checking whether or not there is a request of the traffic information and the traffic prediction from the subscriber terminal via a return channel connected to the information transmission means;

analyzing the request, when there is the request, and extracting road traffic information, road image information, and road traffic influence information from corresponding DBs according to the request;

processing extracted road traffic information and road image information into broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction and performing a series of information verification; and

transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction to the subscriber terminal via the return channel.

9. An information provision service system comprising:

an information provision means for collecting and managing a series of text-type road traffic information and road image information;

a subscriber terminal provided with a wireless Internet function;

a wireless Internet interworking means for providing the subscriber terminal with

a wireless Internet interwork function; and

a wireless Internet traffic information server for collecting road traffic information and road image information while interworking with the information provision means, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, managing stored information, collecting road traffic influence information, accumulating collected information, storing accumulated information, managing stored information, processing traffic information of a wireless Internet transmission type based on text-type road traffic information and road image information stored on the DBs in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal, transmitting processed traffic information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means, predicting traffic of requested place and time based on road traffic information and road traffic influence information accumulated on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, processing predicted traffic into traffic prediction information of the wireless Internet transmission type, and transmitting processed traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the wireless Internet traffic information server comprises:

a traffic information collection module for collecting a series of road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected road traffic information based on region or location, and storing classified road traffic information on a traffic information DB according to information type;

an image information collection module for collecting a series of road image information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected road image information based on region or location, and storing classified road image information on an image information DB according to information type;

a traffic influence factor collection module for collecting road traffic influence information of each region of location at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information and at a predetermined cycle, storing collected information on a traffic influence factor DB, and managing stored information; and

a traffic information provision module for extracting necessary road traffic information and road image information from the traffic information DB and the image information DB in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means, processing wireless Internet traffic information regarding a requested region or location based on extracted information, transmitting processed information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means, extracting road traffic information of the requested region or location and traffic influence information from the traffic information DB and the traffic influence factor DB in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means, collecting traffic influence information at date and time of requested traffic prediction by controlling the traffic influence information collection module, predicting road traffic of the region or location at date and time of requested traffic prediction based on extracted and collected information, processing corresponding wireless Internet traffic prediction information, and transmitting processed information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking means.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the wireless Internet traffic information server includes a client information DB for storing at least one of authentication information on subscriber terminals, traffic information service particulars, subscriber communication environment, subscriber terminal type, and terminal browser version information.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the traffic information provision module provides a wireless Internet-based traffic information service by identifying communication environment of the subscriber terminal, subscriber terminal type, and terminal browser version information, analyzing a traffic information and traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, extracting road traffic information and road image information of a specific region or location and road traffic influence information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB, respectively, to process wireless Internet traffic information as requested, processing wireless Internet traffic information as a traffic information and traffic prediction request result for the subscriber terminal, and transmitting the wireless Internet traffic information to the wireless Internet interworking means.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the traffic influence factor collection module is adapted to collect traffic influence information corresponding to road traffic information collected by the traffic information collection module at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information and at a predetermined cycle, to store collected information on the traffic influence factor DB, to collect road traffic influence information at date and time of requested traffic prediction under control of the traffic information provision module, and transmit collected information to the traffic information provision module.

14. An information provision service method comprising the steps of:

a) collecting text-type road traffic information and road image information by means of interwork between a wireless Internet traffic information server and an information provision means, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, and managing stored information;

b) identifying communication environment and terminal environment of a subscriber terminal in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal via wireless Internet, analyzing the traffic information request, and checking an information request region or location;

c) extracting text-type traffic information and/or road image information of a specific region or location from the DBs according to a type of traffic information requested by the subscriber terminal and composing a traffic information request result page for wireless Internet;

d) transmitting the traffic information request result page to a wireless Internet interworking means to provide traffic information based on wireless Internet as requested by the subscriber terminal;

e) collecting various road traffic information and road traffic influence information by a wireless Internet traffic prediction server, accumulating collected information, storing accumulated information on DBs, and managing stored information;

f) analyzing a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal via wireless Internet and identifying a region or location of requested traffic prediction and requested date and time;

g) accessing the DBs, extracting road traffic information and road traffic influence information corresponding to the region or location of requested traffic prediction and collecting road traffic influence information at the date and time of requested traffic prediction; and

h) composing a traffic prediction request result page for wireless Internet based on extracted and collected information and providing the subscriber terminal with a traffic prediction service via the wireless Internet interworking means.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the step a) comprises the steps of:

a-1) causing the wireless Internet traffic information server and a traffic information server, an image information server, and various content servers acting as information provision means to interwork with each other according to a pre-determined information collection schedule to collect road traffic information collected and managed by the traffic information server;

a-2) classifying collected road traffic information based on region or location and information type, storing classified information on a traffic information DB in a text type, and managing stored information;

a-3) classifying collected road image information based on region or location and information type, storing classified information on an image information DB, and managing stored information; and

a-4) storing collected traffic influence information on a traffic influence factor DB so that the information corresponds to the road traffic information, accumulating stored information, and managing accumulated information.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the step b) comprises the steps of:

b-1) performing client authentication for the subscriber terminal based on subscriber authentication information of a client information DB by the Internet traffic information server, when a subscriber terminal using a mobile communication terminal requests traffic information and traffic prediction service via the wireless Internet interworking means;

b-2) identifying communication environment, terminal type, and terminal browser version information of the subscriber terminal, the terminal type and the terminal browser version information being terminal environment, based on the client information DB, when the subscriber terminal is confirmed to be a valid subscriber terminal; and

b-3) analyzing traffic information and traffic prediction requested by the subscriber terminal and identifying a region or location and date and time.

17. An information provision service system for providing traffic information and a traffic prediction service, the system comprising:

an information provision means for collecting a series of road traffic information and road image information and managing collected information;

a broadcasting station for broadcasting to a broadcast receiver; and

a broadcasting traffic information server for collecting road traffic information and road image information while interworking with the information provision means, storing collected information on a traffic information DB and an image information DB, managing stored information, collecting road traffic influence information of a region or location, accumulating collected information, storing accumulated information on a traffic influence factor DB, managing stored information, processing the road traffic information and road image information for broadcasting, performing information verification, broadcasting traffic information to the broadcasting station, providing broadcast receivers with a broadcasting-based traffic information service via the broadcasting station and a broadcasting network, predicting road traffic corresponding to a predetermined prediction period based on the road traffic information and the road traffic influence information, composing broadcasting traffic prediction information accordingly, performing information verification, transmitting verified information to the broadcasting station, and providing the broadcast receivers with a broadcasting-based traffic prediction service corresponding to the prediction period via the broadcasting station and the broadcasting network.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the broadcasting traffic information server is adapted to access various information stored on the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB in response to a traffic information and traffic prediction request of the broadcast receiver via a return channel and the broadcasting station and transmit broadcasting traffic information of a requested region or location and predicted broadcasting traffic prediction information to the broadcasting station so that broadcasting traffic information and a traffic prediction of the requested region or location are transmitted to the broadcast receiver via the broadcasting station and the return channel.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the broadcasting traffic information server comprises:

a traffic information collection module for collecting a series of road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected information based on information type, storing classified information on the traffic information DB according to information type, and managing stored information;

an image information collection module for collecting a series of road image information collected and managed by the information provision means while interworking with the information provision means, classifying collected information based on information type, storing classified information on the image information DB according to information type, and managing stored information;

a traffic influence information collection module for collecting road traffic influence information at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information and at a predetermined cycle, storing collected information on the traffic influence factor DB, and managing stored information;

a traffic information provision module for extracting necessary information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB at an information request of the broadcast receiver via the broadcasting station, processing extracted information to be conformed to a transmission type of the information provision service, and transmitting the processed information to the broadcast receiver;

a broadcasting information provision module for processing the road traffic information, the road image information, and the road traffic influence information transmitted from the traffic information provision module for broadcasting, performing at least one of information verification including data verification, update cycle verification, and vehicle speed and time verification, transmitting verified information to a broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station, to provide the broadcasting receiver with broadcasting-based real-time traffic information and traffic prediction, processing broadcasting position information using map information corresponding to position information, performing verification of format and displacement of the broadcasting position information, transmitting verified information to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast receiver with broadcasting-based position information; and

a broadcasting application module for transmitting an application for screen display to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast subscriber with the broadcasting-based real-time traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information.

20. An information provision service method comprising the steps of:

a) collecting road traffic information, road image information, and road traffic influence information by means of interworking between a broadcasting traffic information server and an information provision means, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, and managing stored information;

b) periodically extracting road traffic information and road image information stored on the corresponding DBs, processing extracted information into satellite broadcasting traffic information and performing at least one type of information verification of data, update cycle, and vehicle speed and time;

c) extracting various road traffic information and road traffic influence information accumulated and stored on the corresponding DBs, predicting road traffic corresponding to a predetermined prediction period, composing broadcasting traffic prediction information for broadcasting, and performing at least one type of information verification of data, update cycle, and vehicle speed and time; and

d) transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information or traffic prediction information to a broadcast transmitter of a broadcasting station to provide broadcasting receivers with a broadcasting-based traffic information service via the broadcast transmitter and a broadcasting network.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

checking whether or not there is a traffic information and traffic prediction request from a broadcast receiver via a return channel of the broadcasting station while providing the broadcast receivers with the broadcasting-based traffic information service;

analyzing a traffic information request, when there is the traffic information request from the broadcast receiver, and extracting road traffic information and road image information of an information request region or location by accessing to corresponding DBs;

processing extracted road traffic information and road image information into broadcasting traffic information for broadcasting and performing information verification of the broadcasting traffic information;

analyzing a traffic prediction request, when there is the traffic prediction request from the broadcast receiver, and identifying a traffic prediction request region or location and a prediction request period;

extracting road traffic information and traffic influence factor information on corresponding to identified traffic prediction request region or location and prediction request period by accessing to corresponding DBs;

composing broadcasting traffic prediction information corresponding to the prediction request period based on extracted road traffic information and road traffic influence factor information and performing information verification; and

transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information to the corresponding broadcast receiver via the return channel of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast receiver with traffic information of the requested region or location.

22. An information provision service system for providing position information, the system comprising:

a position information server for collecting position information of a position information generation device to be tracked, and managing collected information;

a broadcasting station for broadcasting to a broadcast receiver;

a broadcasting position information server for collecting position information from a corresponding position information server, combining collected information with map information, and processing broadcasting position information; and

a return response server for analyzing a position tracking request of the broadcast receiver via a return channel, extracting proper information of the position information generation device and proper information of a subscriber to request position tracking, providing a broadcasting position information provision module with the information, receiving broadcasting position information, and transmitting position information of the position information generation device to the broadcast receiver via the return channel according to the proper information of the subscriber to provide a broadcasting-based position information service.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the broadcasting position information server has a position information server DB for storing position information server information corresponding to the proper information of the position information generation device.

24. The system of claim 22, wherein the broadcasting position information server has a map information DB for storing map information for processing position information.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the broadcasting position information server has a broadcasting position information provision module for searching map information from the map information DB, the map information corresponding to the position information provided from the position information server, and processing broadcasting position information by combining the broadcasting position information with searched map information.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the broadcasting position information provision module is adapted to verify format and displacement of the broadcasting position information.

27. The system of claim 22, wherein the return response server is adapted to transmit the broadcasting position information via a return channel of a corresponding subscriber according to identification information of the broadcast receiver.

28. An information provision service method comprising the steps of:

a) receiving a position tracking request of a position information generation device to be tracked, by a broadcast receiver via a return channel of a return response server;

b) analyzing the position tracking request, extracting proper information of the position information generation device, to provide to a broadcasting position information server;

c) searching a position information server managing position information of the position information generation device by the broadcasting position information server according to the proper information;

d) receiving the position information from searched position information server;

e) combining the position information with map information, processing broadcasting position information, and transmitting the broadcasting position information to the return response server; and

f) providing the broadcast receiver having requested position information with the broadcasting position information by the return response server via the return channel.

29. The method of claim 28, comprising a step of processing the position information combined with the map information into broadcasting position information.

30. The method of claim 29, comprising the steps of:

verifying data format of the broadcasting position information;

verifying displacement of the broadcasting position information to check whether or not there is error; and

transmitting verified broadcasting position information to the return response server.

31. The method of claim 28, comprising a step of transmitting the broadcasting position information via a return channel of a corresponding subscriber according to identification information of the broadcast receiver.