PREDICTING EXPECTED ROAD TRAFFIC CONDITIONS BASED ON HISTORICAL AND CURRENT DATA
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving historical traffic data that reflects prior travel of a plurality of vehicles at a plurality of prior times on an indicated segment of a road having a series of multiple defined road links, the historical traffic data including a plurality of readings from multiple road traffic sensors that each has a location associated with one of the road links, each of the readings from a road traffic sensor reporting an average speed of traffic on the associated road link for the road traffic sensor at one of the prior times, the indicated segment of the road having one or more structural traffic flow obstructions that reduce traffic speeds on at least one of the road links during at least some of the prior times;
automatically generating a historical travel profile of the indicated segment of the road based on an aggregation of the received historical traffic data, the automatically generated historical travel profile indicating average traffic speeds for each of the road links and for each of multiple time periods that represent distinct time-of-day ranges of time, the indicated average traffic speeds having differing values based at least in part on the structural traffic flow obstructions, the automatic generating being performed by one or more programmed computing systems of an estimated traffic information provider system; and
automatically estimating travel information for multiple vehicles that travel along the indicated segment of the road by performing a best fit of partial actual travel information for the multiple vehicles to the generated historical travel profile, the automatic estimating being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems and including, for each of the multiple vehicles,obtaining information about a plurality of data samples that each reports an actual traffic speed of the vehicle at an indicated time and at an indicated associated road location, the data samples reflecting an actual travel path of the vehicle along the indicated segment of the road and being periodically generated by a device associated with the vehicle;
automatically determining a first subset of the indicated segment of the road that includes one or more of the multiple road links to which the plurality of data samples correspond, each of the one or more road links of the first subset being associated with one or more of the plurality of data samples based on the indicated associated road locations of the one or more data samples being part of the road link, and automatically determining a second subset of the indicated segment of the road that includes one or more other of the multiple road links to which the plurality of data samples do not correspond, the one or more other road links of the second subset being distinct from the one or more road links of the first subset, and each of the one or more other road links of the second subset not being associated with any of the plurality of data samples;
automatically determining actual traffic speeds for a first portion of the actual travel path of the vehicle that corresponds to the one or more road links of the first subset, the automatically determined actual traffic speeds being based on the actual traffic speeds reported by the data samples associated with the one or more road links of the first subset;
using the generated historical travel profile of the indicated segment of the road to automatically calculate expected traffic speeds of the vehicle for a second portion of the actual travel path of the vehicle that corresponds to the one or more other road links of the second subset, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic speeds including identifying differences between the determined actual traffic speeds for the one or more road links of the first subset and the indicated average traffic speeds from the generated historical travel profile for the one or more road links of the first subset, and adjusting information from the generated historical travel profile for the one or more other road links of the second subset to reflect the identified differences for the first subset; and
providing one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic speeds of the vehicle to facilitate vehicle navigation over the road.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for determining and using information regarding expected road traffic flow conditions information for vehicles traveling on roads. The expected road traffic flow conditions for a particular portion of a road may be generated by combining historical representative information about road traffic flow conditions for that road portion with current information about actual traffic flow on or near that road portion. The combination may, for example, provide benefits for estimating expected traffic flow conditions information for roads with structural flow obstructions that cause reduced traffic flow at certain road locations and times—for example, the expected traffic flow conditions information may be based at least in part on fitting or otherwise adapting partial actual traffic flow information about a vehicle'"'"'s actual travel path to a historical travel profile for a road that includes representative traffic flow information for various combinations of road locations and time periods.
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Citations
37 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving historical traffic data that reflects prior travel of a plurality of vehicles at a plurality of prior times on an indicated segment of a road having a series of multiple defined road links, the historical traffic data including a plurality of readings from multiple road traffic sensors that each has a location associated with one of the road links, each of the readings from a road traffic sensor reporting an average speed of traffic on the associated road link for the road traffic sensor at one of the prior times, the indicated segment of the road having one or more structural traffic flow obstructions that reduce traffic speeds on at least one of the road links during at least some of the prior times; automatically generating a historical travel profile of the indicated segment of the road based on an aggregation of the received historical traffic data, the automatically generated historical travel profile indicating average traffic speeds for each of the road links and for each of multiple time periods that represent distinct time-of-day ranges of time, the indicated average traffic speeds having differing values based at least in part on the structural traffic flow obstructions, the automatic generating being performed by one or more programmed computing systems of an estimated traffic information provider system; and automatically estimating travel information for multiple vehicles that travel along the indicated segment of the road by performing a best fit of partial actual travel information for the multiple vehicles to the generated historical travel profile, the automatic estimating being performed by the one or more programmed computing systems and including, for each of the multiple vehicles, obtaining information about a plurality of data samples that each reports an actual traffic speed of the vehicle at an indicated time and at an indicated associated road location, the data samples reflecting an actual travel path of the vehicle along the indicated segment of the road and being periodically generated by a device associated with the vehicle; automatically determining a first subset of the indicated segment of the road that includes one or more of the multiple road links to which the plurality of data samples correspond, each of the one or more road links of the first subset being associated with one or more of the plurality of data samples based on the indicated associated road locations of the one or more data samples being part of the road link, and automatically determining a second subset of the indicated segment of the road that includes one or more other of the multiple road links to which the plurality of data samples do not correspond, the one or more other road links of the second subset being distinct from the one or more road links of the first subset, and each of the one or more other road links of the second subset not being associated with any of the plurality of data samples; automatically determining actual traffic speeds for a first portion of the actual travel path of the vehicle that corresponds to the one or more road links of the first subset, the automatically determined actual traffic speeds being based on the actual traffic speeds reported by the data samples associated with the one or more road links of the first subset; using the generated historical travel profile of the indicated segment of the road to automatically calculate expected traffic speeds of the vehicle for a second portion of the actual travel path of the vehicle that corresponds to the one or more other road links of the second subset, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic speeds including identifying differences between the determined actual traffic speeds for the one or more road links of the first subset and the indicated average traffic speeds from the generated historical travel profile for the one or more road links of the first subset, and adjusting information from the generated historical travel profile for the one or more other road links of the second subset to reflect the identified differences for the first subset; and providing one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic speeds of the vehicle to facilitate vehicle navigation over the road. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving information about prior road traffic flow conditions at multiple prior times for an indicated portion of a road having a plurality of locations, the indicated portion of the road having one or more traffic flow obstructions at one or more of the plurality of locations that reduce traffic flow at those one or more locations; automatically generating a historical travel profile of the indicated portion of the road based at least in part on the received information about the prior road traffic flow conditions, the generated historical travel profile indicating differing representative traffic flow conditions for a plurality of distinct combinations of the plurality of locations and of multiple time periods, the automatic generating being performed by one or more programmed computing systems; obtaining information about an actual travel path of a vehicle that passes through the indicated portion of the road, the obtained information indicating actual traffic flow conditions of the vehicle at a subset of two or more of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road; automatically calculating expected traffic flow conditions of the vehicle for at least some of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road that are not part of the subset for which the obtained information indicates the actual traffic flow conditions, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic flow conditions being performed by at least one of the programmed computing systems and including fitting the actual travel path of the vehicle to the representative traffic flow conditions indicated by the generated historical travel profile; and providing one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic flow conditions of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium whose stored contents configure a computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:
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obtaining a generated travel profile of an indicated portion of a road that indicates differing representative traffic flow conditions for a plurality of locations on the indicated portion of the road, the generated travel profile being based on information about prior road traffic flow conditions for the indicated portion of the road and reflecting one or more flow obstructions that reduce traffic flow at one or more of the plurality of locations; obtaining information about an actual travel path of a vehicle that includes at least some of the indicated portion of the road, the obtained information indicating actual traffic flow conditions for the vehicle at a subset of two or more of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road; automatically calculating expected traffic flow conditions for the vehicle for at least some of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road that are not part of the subset for which the obtained information indicates the actual traffic flow conditions, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic flow conditions being performed by the configured computing device and including adapting at least some of the obtained information for the actual travel path of the vehicle to the representative traffic flow conditions from the generated travel profile; and providing one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic flow conditions of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computing system, comprising:
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one or more processors; and one or more modules that are configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, generate expected traffic flow information for travel paths of multiple vehicles over one or more roads by, for each of the multiple vehicles; obtaining a generated travel profile of an indicated portion of one of the one or more roads that indicates differing representative traffic flow conditions for a plurality of locations on the indicated portion of the road, the generated travel profile being based on information about prior road traffic flow conditions for the indicated portion of the road and reflecting one or more flow obstructions that reduce traffic flow at one or more of the plurality of locations; obtaining information about an actual travel path of a vehicle that includes at least some of the indicated portion of the road, the obtained information indicating actual traffic flow conditions for the vehicle at a subset of two or more of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road; automatically calculating expected traffic flow conditions for the vehicle for at least some of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road that are not part of the subset for which the obtained information indicates the actual traffic flow conditions, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic flow conditions including fitting at least some of the obtained information for the actual travel path of the vehicle to the representative traffic flow conditions from the generated travel profile; and providing one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic flow conditions of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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obtaining a generated travel profile of an indicated portion of a road that indicates differing representative traffic flow conditions for a plurality of locations on the indicated portion of the road, the generated travel profile being based on information about prior road traffic flow conditions for the indicated portion of the road and reflecting one or more flow obstructions that reduce traffic flow at one or more of the plurality of locations; automatically generating multiple data samples that reflect actual traffic flow conditions for a vehicle at a subset of multiple of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road, the vehicle having an actual travel path that includes at least some of the indicated portion of the road and that corresponds to at least some of the multiple data samples, the multiple data samples being generated periodically by a configured computing device traveling with the vehicle; automatically calculating expected traffic flow conditions for the vehicle for at least some of the plurality of locations of the indicated portion of the road that are not part of the multiple locations of the subset, the automatic calculating of the expected traffic flow conditions being performed by the configured computing device and including fitting the actual travel path of the vehicle to the representative traffic flow conditions from the generated travel profile; and providing by the configured computing device one or more indications of the automatically calculated expected traffic flow conditions of the vehicle to one or more users in the vehicle to facilitate further travel of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37)
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Specification