ROADSIDE PORTION TRAFFIC AMOUNT CALCULATION DEVICE AND ROADSIDE PORTION TRAFFIC AMOUNT CALCULATION METHOD

• US 20120172057A1
• Filed: 08/10/2010
• Published: 07/05/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Original Assignee: NTT Docomo Incorporated (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation)
• Inventors: Murase, Atsushi, Kobayashi, Motonari, Okajima, Ichiro, Nagata, Tomohiro
• Application Number:
  US13/394,587
• Publication Number:
  US 20120172057A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/012 from other sources than vehicle or roadside beacons, e.g. mobile networks
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation

Abstract

A roadside portion traffic amount calculation device includes an acquisition unit that acquires positional information, a distribution determination unit that refers to road information stored in a road information storage unit and, based on a positional relationship between locations of users indicated by the positional information and a road, determines a passage roadside portion that is a roadside portion in which the locations of the users are distributed for each piece of the positional information, a summarizing unit that counts the number of pieces of the positional information for which the passage roadside portion has been determined by the distribution determination unit for each of the roadside portions and summarizes a roadside portion traffic amount that is an amount of user traffic on each of the roadside portions, and a processing result output unit that outputs the roadside portion traffic amount summarized by the summarizing unit.

Claims

1-10. -10. (canceled)

11. A roadside portion traffic amount calculation device that, based on positional information indicating locations of users, calculates a number of users of mobile terminals moving on each roadside portion positioned on both ends in a width direction of a road, the roadside portion traffic amount calculation device comprising:

a positional information acquisition section configured to acquire one or more pieces of the positional information;

a positional information distribution determination section configured to refer to road information that is information regarding the road and, based on a positional relationship between the locations of the users indicated by the positional information and the road, determine a passage roadside portion that is a roadside portion in which the locations of the users are distributed for each piece of the positional information;

a positional information summarizing section configured to count a number of pieces of the positional information for which the passage roadside portion has been determined by the positional information distribution determination section for each of the roadside portions, and summarize a roadside portion traffic amount that is an amount of user traffic on each of the roadside portions;

a processing result output section configured to output the roadside portion traffic amount summarized by the positional information summarizing section; and

a map matching processing section, wherein

the road information includes information regarding location of the road;

the map matching processing section, based on the information regarding the location of the road included in the road information, performs a map matching process on the positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition section, and extracts the positional information that is associated with a road the roadside portion traffic amount of which is to be summarized; and

the positional information distribution determination section determines the passage roadside portion of the positional information extracted by the map matching processing section.

12. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 11, wherein

the positional information includes error information regarding the locations of the users;

the road information includes information regarding an area of a sidewalk that lies at each of the roadside portions of the road;

the positional information distribution determination section, based on the locations and the error information of the positional information, generates probability density distribution regarding the locations of the users; and

the positional information summarizing section, out of a plurality of probability density distributions generated by the positional information distribution determination section, adds up the probability density distributed in the area of the sidewalk of the road for each roadside portion to summarize the roadside portion traffic amount.

13. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 11, wherein

the positional information includes traffic mode information that is information to determine whether the users whose locations are indicated by the positional information are walking or riding on vehicles;

and

the roadside portion traffic amount calculation device further comprises;

a dividing line calculation section configured to, by referring to the traffic mode information of the positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition section, extract the positional information indicating locations of users riding on vehicles and, based on a moving direction of users whose locations are indicated by the positional information extracted, calculate a dividing line that divides the road into areas in each of which vehicles traveling in a same direction are distributed and that contain the respective roadside portions; and

a positional information extracting section configured to, by referring to the traffic mode information of the positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition section, extract the positional information indicating locations of users who are walking, wherein

the positional information distribution determination section, by determining in which area divided by the dividing line pieces of the positional information indicating locations of users who are walking extracted by the positional information extracting section are distributed, determines passage roadside portions of users whose locations are indicated by the positional information.

14. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 13, wherein

the positional information includes error information regarding the locations of the users;

the positional information distribution determination section, based on the locations of the positional information and the error information, generates probability density distribution regarding the locations of the users; and

the positional information summarizing section, out of a plurality of probability density distributions generated by the positional information distribution determination section, adds up the probability density distributed in each area divided by the dividing line in the road to summarize the roadside portion traffic amount.

15. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 13, wherein the dividing line calculation section, based on transition of positional information of a same user that is continuous on a time-series basis, determines a moving direction of users whose locations are indicated by positional information.

16. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 11, wherein the positional information distribution determination unit determines one of both roadside portions which is closer to the location of the user to be the passage roadside portion regarding the positional information.

17. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 11, wherein

the positional information includes, together with the information indicating the locations of the users of the mobile terminals, date and time information that is information on date and time when the users exist in the locations;

the positional information distribution determination section extracts past positional information that is positional information, in a period before being specified by the date and time information included in summarizing target positional information that is positional information for which the roadside portion traffic amount is to be summarized, indicating locations of users of the summarizing target positional information for each of the summarizing target positional information, determines the roadside portion where the locations of the users indicated in the past positional information extracted are distributed with respect to all of the past positional information corresponding to the summarizing target positional information, counts a number of pieces of the past positional information for which distribution of the locations has been determined for each of the roadside portions, and determines the roadside portion where the number of the pieces of the past positional information counted is larger to be the passage roadside portion regarding the summarizing target positional information; and

the positional information summarizing section counts a number of pieces of the summarizing target positional information of which the passage roadside portion is determined by the positional information distribution determination section for each of the roadside portions, and summarizes a roadside portion traffic amount that is an amount of user traffic for each of the roadside portions.

18. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 17, wherein the positional information acquisition section acquires the past positional information in which, within a predetermined time frame including time indicated in the date and time information of the summarizing target positional information, the time indicated in the date and time information falls.

19. The roadside portion traffic amount calculation device according to claim 11, further comprising:

a positional information extracting section, wherein

the positional information includes traffic mode information that is information to determine whether the users whose locations are indicated by the positional information are walking or riding on vehicles;

the positional information extracting section refers to the traffic mode information of the positional information acquired by the positional information acquisition section, and extracts the positional information indicating locations of users who are walking; and

the positional information distribution determination section determines the passage roadside portions of the positional information extracted by the positional information extracting section.

20. A roadside portion traffic amount calculation method for, based on positional information indicating locations of users, calculating a number of users moving on each roadside portion positioned on both ends in a width direction of a road, the roadside portion traffic amount calculation method comprising:

a positional information acquiring step of acquiring one or more pieces of the positional information;

a positional information distribution determination step of referring to road information that is information regarding the road and, based on a positional relationship between the locations of the users indicated by the positional information and the road, determining a passage roadside portion that is a roadside portion in which the locations of the users are distributed for each piece of the positional information;

a positional information summarizing step of counting a number of pieces of the positional information for which the passage roadside portion has been determined at the positional information distribution determination step for each of the roadside portions and summarizing a roadside portion traffic amount that is an amount of user traffic on each of the roadside portions;

a processing result output step of outputting the roadside portion traffic amount summarized at the positional information summarizing step, the road information including information regarding location of the road; and

a map matching processing step of, based on the information regarding the location of the road included in the road information, performing a map matching process on the positional information acquired at the positional information acquisition step and extracting the positional information that is associated with a road the roadside portion traffic amount of which is to be summarized, wherein

at the positional information distribution determination step, the passage roadside portion of the positional information extracted at the map matching processing step is determined.