Method and system for automatically and directly establishing contact between a driver and at least one person to be transported

• US 20100057350A1
• Filed: 08/28/2009
• Published: 03/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/29/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Bataille, Fabien, Joly, Adrien
• Application Number:
  US12/583,995
• Publication Number:
  US 20100057350A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/202 Dispatching vehicles on the basis of a location, e.g. taxi dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 50/10 Energy trading, including energy flowing from end-user application to grid

Abstract

A system is devoted to automatically establishing contact between an automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) driver (D) and at least one person (P) who wishes to be transported. This system comprises i) analysis means (ANM) tasked with determining, firstly, whether at least one driver (D) is disposed to transport at least one person (P) over at least part of a first usual known route in progress, based on background information pertaining to said driver, and secondly, if at least one person (P) wishes to be transported over at least part of a second usual known route in progress based on background information pertaining to said person, ii) calculation means (CLM) tasked with determining a first route in progress which includes a significant part of a second route in progress, and iii) communication means (CNM) tasked with establishing contact between the corresponding driver (D) and person (P) respectively taking said first and second routes determined by said calculation means (CLM), via first (T1) and second (T2) communication devices, which they carry respectively.

Claims

1. A method for automatically establishing contact between an automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) driver (D) and at least one person (P) who wishes to be transported, characterized in that consists of i) determining whether at least one driver (D) is disposed to transport at least one person (P) over at least part of a first usual known route in progress, based on background information pertaining to said driver, ii) determining whether at least one person (P) wishes to be transported over at least part of a second usual known route in progress based on background information pertaining to said person, and iii) determining a first route in progress which includes a significant part of a second route in progress in order to establish contact between the corresponding driver (D) and person (P) via first (T1) and second (T2) communication devices, which they carry respectively.

2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that during step i) it is determined whether a driver (D) has begun a first known route which he or she usually takes, based on background information pertaining to him or her, and if so, asking that driver (D), via his or her first communication device (T1), whether he or she is disposed to transport at least one person (P) over at least part of said first determined route in progress.

3. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that during step i) background information is used, selected from (at least) a change in the network used for access by a first communication device (T1), a current time, presence detection in the automobile vehicle (V), detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, the automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) current determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data.

4. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that in during step ii) it is determined whether a person (P) has begun a second known route that he or she usually takes based on background information pertaining to him or her, and if so, asking that person (P), via his or her second communication device (T2), whether he or she wishes to be transported over at least part of said second determined route in progress.

5. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that in during step ii) during step ii) background information may be used, selected from (at least) a change in a second communication device'"'"'s (T2) access network, a current time, detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, presence detection at a determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data.

6. A method according to claim 5, characterized in that a person'"'"'s (P) presence is detected by means of at least one technique chosen from a group comprising at least the acquisition of an identifier associated with a known geographic position, geographic positioning by means of a satellite navigation device, geographic positioning by triangulation within a wireless communication network, and geographic positioning by identifying an access point on a wireless communication network to which a second communication device (T2) is connected.

7. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that during step i) background information pertaining to said driver is used, selected from (at least) a change in the network used for access by a first communication device (T1), a current time, presence detection in the automobile vehicle (V), detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, the automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) current determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data;

characterized in that in during step ii) during step ii) background information pertaining to said person may be used, selected from (at least) a change in a second communication device'"'"'s (T2) access network, a current time, detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, presence detection at a determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data; and

characterized in that selected weighting is assigned to the various types of background information depending on the level of confidence that is respectively granted to them, and each first or second route in progress is determined based on said background information and their respective weighting.

8. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that comprises for each driver (D) and each person (P) a phase of learning each of their usual first and second routes.

9. A system for automatically establishing contact between an automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) driver (D) and at least one person (P) who wishes to be transported, characterized in that it comprises i) analysis means (ANM) configured to determine, firstly, whether at least one driver (D) is disposed to transport at least one person (P) over at least part of a first usual known route in progress, based on background information pertaining to said driver, and secondly, if at least one person (P) wishes to be transported over at least part of a second usual known route in progress based on background information pertaining to said person, ii) calculation means (CLM) configured to determine a first route in progress which includes a significant part of a second route in progress, and iii) communication means (CNM) configured to establish contact between the corresponding driver (D) and person (P) respectively taking said first and second routes determined by said calculation means (CLM), via first (T1) and second (T2) communication devices, which they carry respectively.

10. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that said analysis means (ANM) are configured to determine whether a driver (D) has begun a first known route which he or she usually takes, based on background information pertaining to him or her, and if so, asking that driver (D), via his or her first communication device (T1), whether he or she is disposed to transport at least one person (P) over at least part of said first determined route in progress.

11. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises acquisition means (AQM) configured to acquire said background information pertaining to a driver (D) from (at least) a group comprising at least one change in the network used for access by a first communication device (T1), a current time, presence detection in the automobile vehicle (V), detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, the automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) current determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data.

12. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that said analysis means (ANM) configured to determine whether a person (P) has begun a second known route that he or she usually takes based on background information pertaining to him or her, and if so, asking that person (P), via his or her second communication device (T2), whether he or she wishes to be transported over at least part of said second determined route in progress.

13. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises acquisition means (AQM) configured to acquire background information pertaining to a person (P) from a group comprising at least a change in a second communication device'"'"'s (T2) access network, a current time, a usual time when a second route begins, a location having a known geographic position being passed, presence detection at a determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data.

14. A system according to claim 13, characterized in that said acquisition means (AQM) are configured to detect a person'"'"'s (P) presence by means of at least one technique chosen from a group comprising at least the acquisition of an identifier associated with a known geographic position, geographic positioning by means of a satellite navigation device, geographic positioning by triangulation within a wireless communication network, and geographic positioning by identifying an access point on a wireless communication network to which a second communication device (T2) is connected.

15. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises acquisition means (AQM) configured to acquire said background information pertaining to a driver (D) from (at least) a group comprising at least one change in the network used for access by a first communication device (T1), a current time, presence detection in the automobile vehicle (V), detecting that a location having a known geographic position is being passed, the automobile vehicle'"'"'s (V) current determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data;

characterized in that it comprises acquisition means (AQM) configured to acquire background information pertaining to a person (P) from a group comprising at least a change in a second communication device'"'"'s (T2) access network, a current time, a usual time when a second route begins, a location having a known geographic position being passed, presence detection at a determined geographic position, and data from a source of appointment data; and

characterized in that said analysis means (ANM) are configured to determine each first or second route in progress based on said background information and weighting assigned to that information based on the levels of confidence respectively accorded to each piece of information.

16. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises learning means (LEM) configured to acquire said first and/or second usual routes from at least one driver (D) and/or at least one person (P).

17. A system according to claim 9, characterized in that it comprises learning means (LEM) configured to acquire said first and/or second usual routes from at least one driver (D) and/or at least one person (P);

and

characterized in that it comprises a server (S) connected to at least one communication network and comprising said calculation means (CLM) and a part of at least said analysis means (ANM) and/or part of said learning means (LEM).