TRAFFIC SIGNAL BROADCASTING, REPRODUCING

• US 20130002451A1
• Filed: 09/06/2012
• Published: 01/03/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Ying, Fu, Rong Yao, Ma, Qian, Wang, Hao, Xiong, Yue Da, Yuan, Yuan
• Granted Patent: US 8,854,230 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/907
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

Reducing traffic signal obstruction, through reproducing the contents of traffic signals, so the driver of a small vehicle blocked by a big vehicle also can be aware of the contents of traffic signals indicated by an obstructed traffic signal indicator. The system of reproducing traffic signals on a vehicle includes: a signal receiver, configured to receive the contents of traffic signals, wherein the contents of traffic signals is indicated by at least one traffic signal indicator; a signal processer, configured to determine whether to reproduce the received contents of traffic signals; and a reproducer, configured to reproduce the contents of traffic signals if it is determined to do so by the signal processor.

Claims

1. A method of broadcasting traffic signals, comprising the steps of:

identifying at least one traffic signal indicator;

acquiring the contents of traffic signals indicated by the at least one traffic signal indicator; and

transmitting the contents of traffic signals.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

acquiring position information of traffic positions associated with the at least one traffic signal indicator; and

wherein the step of transmitting the contents of traffic signals further comprises transmitting the position information of the traffic positions.

3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

determining a trigger time for transmitting the contents of traffic signals by the signal transmitter, wherein the trigger time is a period of time before the occurrence of content changes in traffic signals.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the step of identifying at least one traffic signal indicator further comprises identifying at least one traffic signal indicator according to a vehicle driving direction represented by the traffic signal indicator.

5. A method of reproducing traffic signals on a vehicle, comprising:

receiving the contents of traffic signals, wherein the contents of traffic signals is indicated by at least one traffic signal indicator;

determining whether to reproduce the received contents of traffic signals; and

reproducing the contents of traffic signals in response to a determination to reproduce the contents of traffic signals.

6. The method according to claim 5, further comprising:

acquiring the vehicle position information.

7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the step of determining whether to reproduce the received contents of traffic signals further comprises:

determining whether to reproduce the received contents of traffic signals according to whether the vehicle driving direction is identical to the direction represented by the at least one traffic signal indicator.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein:

the step of receiving traffic signals further comprises receiving position information of traffic positions associated with the at least one traffic signal indicator; and

the step of determining whether to reproduce the received traffic signals further comprises determining whether to reproduce the traffic signals according to the relationship between the vehicle position information and the position information of the traffic positions.