REAL TIME MAP RENDERING WITH DATA CLUSTERING AND EXPANSION AND OVERLAY

• US 20120017168A1
• Filed: 09/26/2011
• Published: 01/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/14/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Telogis Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Mason, Ralph, Koch, Jason
• Granted Patent: US 8,146,009 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/781
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04806 Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04817 using icons graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0833 Tracking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/087 Inventory or stock management, e.g. order filling, procurement or balancing against orders
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/007 using computer methods
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for the organization, management, and graphical display of multiple logically related entities. In some embodiments, the systems and methods provide the real-time display of status and location information for a fleet of tracked vehicles. In some embodiments, the systems and methods permit the automatic clustering of assets based on a user'"'"'s view of an underlying map. In some embodiments, the assets are vehicles that are a part of a managed fleet. In some embodiments, the assets are logically arranged into clusters of like assets. In some embodiments, the clusters provide graphical indications of status or class information of their underlying assets.

Claims

1. A method of displaying information pertaining to a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving status information pertaining to a plurality of vehicles in a vehicle fleet;

selecting first vehicles, from the plurality of vehicles, that are geographically related, wherein the first vehicles are fewer in number than the plurality of vehicles, and wherein the first vehicles are geographically related if the physical locations of the first vehicles are within a geographic area defined by a virtual bounding area;

defining a cluster comprising the first vehicles;

electronically generating, with a computer system comprising computer hardware, a graphical user interface for presentation to a user, the graphical user interface comprising a geographic map and the cluster, wherein the cluster is overlaid on the geographic map in the geographic area defined by the bounding area; and

wherein the cluster is configured to display on the graphical user interface at least one item of the status information pertaining to the first vehicles.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising adding the cluster to a new cluster in response to a user of the graphical user interface zooms out from the geographic map.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising splitting the cluster into a plurality of icons, each icon representing one of the first vehicles, in response to a user of the graphical user interface zooming further in on the geographic map.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising splitting the cluster into a plurality of clusters in response to a user of the graphical user interface zooming in on the geographic map.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein said splitting comprises:

identifying the coordinates of each of the first vehicles;

dividing the virtual bounding area into slots;

grouping the first vehicles into the slots based on each of the first vehicles'"'"' pixel coordinates; and

generating new clusters to replace the cluster, wherein each of the new clusters comprises at least one of the first vehicles and comprises every one of the first vehicles that was grouped into a given one of the slots.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said splitting is performed substantially evenly across the virtual bounding area.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said splitting is performed in response to the cluster being greater than a maximum cluster size.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said defining the cluster comprising the first vehicles comprises:

generating pixel coordinates for each of the first vehicles based on the first vehicles'"'"' geospatial location and in reference to the virtual bounding area;

determining an icon shape with specific pixel dimensions for use in connection with each of the first vehicles;

querying a data structure with the icon shape for each vehicle;

adding a first one of the first vehicles to the cluster in the data structure if the area defined by the pixel dimensions of the vehicle'"'"'s icon shape, when centered over the vehicle'"'"'s pixel coordinates, does not overlap with the area covered by another cluster in the data structure; and

adding a second one of the plurality of vehicles to an existing second cluster in the data structure if the area defined by the pixel dimensions of the vehicle'"'"'s icon shape, when centered over the vehicle'"'"'s pixel coordinates, overlaps with the area covered by the existing cluster.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises a plurality of computing devices.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said method is entirely implemented by the computer system.

11. A system for displaying information pertaining to a fleet of vehicles, the system comprising:

a server system comprising computer hardware, the server system configured to;

receive status information pertaining to a plurality of vehicles in a vehicle fleet;

select first vehicles, from the plurality of vehicles, that are geographically related, wherein the first vehicles are fewer in number than the plurality of vehicles, and wherein the first vehicles are geographically related if the physical locations of the first vehicles are within a geographic area defined by a virtual bounding area;

define a cluster comprising the first vehicles;

electronically generate, with a computer system comprising computer hardware, a graphical user interface for presentation to a user, the graphical user interface comprising a geographic map and the cluster, wherein the cluster is overlaid on the geographic map in the geographic area defined by the bounding area; and

wherein the cluster is configured to display on the graphical user interface at least one item of the status information pertaining to the first vehicles.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the status information pertaining to the plurality of vehicles is updated in real time.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one item of status information is a chart displaying the status information for the first vehicles.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the at least one item of status information comprises a numerical indication of the number of first vehicles.

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the cluster comprises an inner chart.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the cluster comprises an outer chart.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the cluster comprises a pie chart.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the pie chart is color coded.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein color codings of the pie chart represent a percentage of vehicles within the cluster having a given item of the status information.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein the status information comprises information regarding whether one of the first vehicles is stopped or moving.

21. The system of claim 11, wherein the status information comprises information regarding whether an engine of one of the first vehicles is idling.

22. Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed in one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement a method of displaying information pertaining to a fleet of vehicles, the method comprising:

receiving status information pertaining to a plurality of vehicles in a vehicle fleet;

selecting first vehicles, from the plurality of vehicles, that are geographically related, wherein the first vehicles are fewer in number than the plurality of vehicles, and wherein the first vehicles are geographically related if the physical locations of the first vehicles are within a geographic area defined by a virtual bounding area;

defining a cluster comprising the first vehicles;

electronically generating a graphical user interface for presentation to a user, the graphical user interface comprising a geographic map and the cluster, wherein the cluster is overlaid on the geographic map in the geographic area defined by the bounding area; and

wherein the cluster is configured to display on the graphical user interface at least one item of the status information pertaining to the first vehicles.

23. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, wherein the graphical user interface displays the virtual bounding area.

24. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, wherein the virtual bounding area is at least partially transparent.

25. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, wherein the graphical user interface updates the cluster in response to one of the plurality of vehicles leaving or entering the virtual bounding area.

26. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 25, wherein said updating of the cluster comprises updating a number of the vehicles represented by the cluster.

27. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises outputting a list of the first vehicles in the cluster in response to user selection of the cluster.

28. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, wherein the method further comprises outputting options for a user to select vehicle history information about the first vehicles in the cluster in response to user selection of the cluster.

29. The non-transitory physical computer storage of claim 22, in combination with a computer system comprising computer hardware.