Method and Apparatus for Intelligent Street Light Advertisement Delivery

• US 20140266799A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Liu, Yimin, MacNeille, Perry Robinson, Gusikhin, Oleg Yurievitch, Kowalski, David Allen
• Granted Patent: US 9,165,310 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/928
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0259 based on store location
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0267 Wireless devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0269 based on user profile or attribute
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0272 Period of advertisement exposure
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/08 according to detected number or speed of vehicles

Abstract

A system includes a vehicle processor configured to communicate with an intelligent street light to receive advertisements pertaining to local businesses. The processor is also configured to store a plurality of received advertisements. The processor is further configured to sort the advertisements based on one or more user factors. Also, the processor is configured to determine an appropriate time for advertisement delivery and deliver the advertisements at the appropriate time.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a vehicle processor configured to;

communicate with an intelligent street light to receive advertisements pertaining to local businesses;

store a plurality of received advertisements;

sort the advertisements based on one or more user factors;

determine an appropriate time for advertisement delivery; and

deliver the advertisements at the appropriate time.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are sorted based on observed user preferences.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are sorted based on time of day.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are sorted based on proximity to vehicle.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein only advertisements for businesses located in a direction which a vehicle is traveling are sorted and delivered.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the advertisements are sorted based on an observed traffic volume, such that advertisements are given increased preference based on proximity to a vehicle as traffic volume increases.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the proximity includes a physical proximity.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the proximity includes a temporal proximity.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein, if a vehicle passes a business for which an advertisement is stored, but has not been delivered, the processor is configured to ignore the advertisement.

10. A system comprising:

an intelligent street light associated processor configured to;

communicate with a vehicle to receive vehicle travel information, wherein the travel information includes at least a vehicle heading;

select one or more advertisements for businesses ahead of a vehicle on a route in the direction of the heading; and

deliver the advertisements to the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a vehicle speed.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to aggregate travel information from a plurality of vehicles traveling in a same direction to determine traffic density.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein advertisements for businesses proximate to a street light including the processor are given increasing selection preference as traffic density increases within a predetermine area around the street light.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein proximity is measured in distance.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein proximity is measured in estimated time.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the processor is configured to recognize a high traffic condition and instruct adjustment of at least one street light cycle to reduce traffic congestion if a high traffic condition is detected.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to receive information relating to the delivery of a specific advertisement from a vehicle, and to provide the information to a merchant to which the advertisement corresponds.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the information includes a notification that a driver downloaded a coupon included with the specific advertisement.

19. A computer-implemented method, executed by a street light associated processor, comprising:

communicating with a vehicle to receive vehicle travel information, wherein the travel information includes at least a vehicle heading;

selecting one or more advertisements for businesses ahead of a vehicle on a route in the direction of the heading; and

delivering the advertisements to the vehicle.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein advertisements for businesses proximate to a street light associated with the processor are given increasing selection preference as traffic density increases within a predetermine area around the street light.