SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXCHANGING POSITIONING INFORMATION BETWEEN VEHICLES IN ORDER TO ESTIMATE ROAD TRAFFIC

• US 20110112748A1
• Filed: 01/20/2011
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Marmigere, Gerard, Clement, Jean-Yves, Bauchot, Frederic, Secondo, Pierre
• Granted Patent: US 8,239,123 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/119
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/163 involving continuous checking

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method, system and computer program embarked in a vehicle, for estimating traffic conditions based on positioning information exchanged with other vehicles using wireless communication. A method in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: receiving positioning information repeatedly broadcast by at least one vehicle, the positioning information for each vehicle including: information related to a current location of the vehicle; and information identifying the vehicle; calculating based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the vehicle; and estimating current traffic conditions based on current location, speed and direction of identified vehicles.

Claims

1. A method for estimating a current traffic condition based on positioning information exchanged between vehicles using wireless communication, the method comprising:

calculating, using a computer system, based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the same identified vehicle; and

estimating, using the computer system, the current traffic condition based on locations of a plurality of identified vehicles and the two successive locations of the same identified vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles:

receiving, using a wireless communication system, positioning information repeatedly broadcast by each of the plurality of vehicles, the positioning information for each vehicle comprising;

information related to a current location of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

information identifying each of the plurality of vehicles.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information related to the current location of each of the plurality of vehicles further comprises:

a current latitude of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

a current longitude of the each of the plurality of vehicles.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles:

storing, using a cartographic information repository, the positioning information for each of the plurality of vehicles.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles:

adjusting a sensitivity for the receiving when a quantity of the plurality of vehicles exceeds a threshold.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles:

repeatedly determining the current location of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

broadcasting to other vehicles the positioning information comprising;

the information related to the determined current location; and

the identifying information.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the position information broadcast to other vehicles comprises a time associated with the current location of each of the plurality of vehicles.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving positioning information repeatedly broadcast by other vehicles further comprises:

associating a respective current time with each received positioning information.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the calculating further comprises, for each received positioning information:

identifying at least one previously recorded positioning information for the same identified vehicle;

calculating the current speed and the current direction of each of the plurality of vehicles based on the current location and at least one previous location of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

recording the current positioning information with the current speed and current direction of each of the plurality of vehicles.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein estimating the current traffic condition further comprises:

representing each of the plurality of vehicles on a geographical map with an indication of its respective speed and direction.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein estimating the current traffic condition further comprises:

aggregating the positioning information of each of the plurality of vehicles within geographical zones; and

representing the aggregated positioning information on a map.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein estimating current traffic information further comprises:

generating navigation information based on the estimated current traffic condition.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein estimating the current traffic condition further comprises:

alerting a driver of an occurrence of predefined abnormal traffic conditions.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein estimating the current traffic condition further comprises:

recording successive traffic conditions to determine an evolution of the traffic conditions over time.

15. A system for use in a vehicle for estimating a current traffic condition based on positioning information exchanged between vehicles using wireless communication, comprising:

at least one traffic manager device for implementing a method including;

calculating, based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the same identified vehicle;

estimating the current traffic condition based on the current traffic condition based on locations of a plurality of identified vehicles and the two successive locations of the same identified vehicle.

16. The system according to claim 15, further comprising, for each of the vehicles:

a system for adjusting a sensitivity for a receiving system when a quantity of the plurality of vehicles exceeds a threshold.

17. The system according to claim 15, further comprising, for each of the plurality of vehicles:

a system for repeatedly determining the current location of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

a system for broadcasting to other vehicles the positioning information, the positioning information comprising;

information related to the determined current location; and

the identifying information.

18. The system according to claim 15, wherein the calculating includes, for a received positioning information:

identifying at least one previously recorded positioning information for the same identified vehicle;

calculating the current speed and the current direction of each of the plurality of vehicles based on the current location and at least one previous location of each of the plurality of vehicles; and

recording the current positioning information with the current speed and current direction of each of the plurality of vehicles.

19. A program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium, which when executed, estimates a current traffic condition based on positioning information exchanged between vehicles using wireless communication, the computer readable medium comprising program code for:

Calculating, based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the same identified vehicle; and

estimating the current traffic condition based on locations of a plurality of identified vehicles and the two successive locations of the same identified vehicle.

20. A method for deploying an application for estimating a current traffic condition based on positioning information exchanged between vehicles using wireless communication, comprising:

providing a computer system for;

calculating, based on at least two successive locations of a same identified vehicle, a current speed and a current direction for the same identified vehicle; and

estimating the current traffic condition based on locations of a plurality of identified vehicles and the two successive locations of the same identified vehicle.