SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT USING LIGHTING NETWORKS

• US 20150046074A1
• Filed: 03/26/2013
• Published: 02/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Signify Holding B.V. (Signify N.V.)
• Original Assignee: Koninklijke Philips N.V.
• Inventors: Challapali, Kiran Srinivas, Cavalcanti, Dave Alberto Tavares, Wang, Jian Feng
• Granted Patent: US 9,741,248 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: F21S 8/08 with a standard F21S6/00 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/081 Plural intersections under common control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09 Arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions railroad crossing signals B61L; reflectors E01F, G08B; indicating arrangements for variable information by selection or combination of individual elements G09F9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/13 the indicator being in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/14 indicating individual free spaces in parking areas

Abstract

A lighting network (100) and methods therefore are disclosed. The lighting network (100) includes a plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) each including a wireless receiver (12) arranged to obtain a wireless signal from an object (30) to be tracked and a communication interface (14). The lighting network (100) also includes a control unit (20) including a communication unit (22) that is arranged to communicate with at least one of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) to obtain tracking data based upon the wireless signal. The tracking data is processed by the control unit (20) using a topology table (FIG. 1 b). The topology table (FIG. 1 b) is based upon the geographic locations of the plurality of lighting units and mapping data.

Claims

1. A lighting network (100) comprising:

a plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) each including a wireless receiver (12) arranged to obtain a beacon signal from an object to be tracked within an area and a communication interface (14); and

a control unit (20) including a communication unit (22) that is arranged to communicate with at least one of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10), determine tracking data related to the object using only the beacon signal received by two or more lighting units and a topology table, wherein the topology table is based upon geographic locations of the plurality of lighting units and mapping data of the area including street data information.

2. The lighting network (100) according to claim 1, wherein the control unit further uses signal strength of two or more received beacon signals to determine the tracking data and the topology table to determine a street that the object is located.

6. The lighting network (100) according to claim 2, wherein the beacon signal further at least one of an object ID, time-stamp information, a signal-level.

7. The lighting network (100) according to claim 2, wherein the wireless receiver (12) is a DSRC signal receiver (12).

8. The lighting network (100) according to claim 7, wherein the object (30) to be tracked is a vehicle (30) and the tracking data is processed to determine traffic information that is provided back to the vehicle (30) via the DSRC signal receiver (12).

9. The lighting network (100) according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) further includes a sensor (15) that gathers data to be used to determine availability of parking for the vehicle.

10. The lighting network (100) according to claim 9, wherein the control unit (20) is further arranged to process the data from the sensor 15 to provide a parking availability message to the vehicle 30 via one or more of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10).

11. The lighting network (100) according to claim 10, wherein the control unit (20) is further arranged to process a request from the vehicle 30 to pay and/or register for a parking space via the one or more of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10).

12. The lighting network (100) according to claim 11, wherein the control unit (20) is further arranged to track occupancy of the parking space for a parking violation via the one or more of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10).

3. (canceled)

4. (canceled)

5. (canceled)

13. A controller (20) to be used in a lighting network (100) including a plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10), comprising:

a communication unit (22) arranged to receive a beacon signal, related to a vehicle (30), from at least one of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10);

a processor arranged to determine tracking data related to the vehicle (30) within an area using only the beacon signal received by two or more lighting units and a topology table, wherein the topology table is based upon geographic locations of the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) and mapping data of the area including street data information.

14. The controller (20) according to claim 13, wherein the traffic data includes at least one of the following a projected path for the vehicle, a traffic flow for a predetermined location, an average speed of the vehicle, tracking of a particular vehicle, information necessary for law enforcement, information to be used for congestion pricing or information for dynamic traffic light sequencing.

15. (canceled)

16. (canceled)

17. A method to determine the traffic information, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a plurality of beacon signals from a plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) related to a vehicle (30);

removing one or more of the plurality of beacon signals if a particular beacon signal is below a predetermined threshold;

determining a street the particular vehicle (30) is located on using a topology table and the plurality of beacon signals, where the topology table is based upon the geographic locations of the lighting units (LU0-LU10) and street data for a region the plurality of lighting units (LU0-LU10) are located in; and

estimating a location of the particular vehicle (30) along the street based upon the plurality of beacon signals.

18. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of computing a tracking path for the particular vehicle based on a plurality of the locations from the estimation step and associated time stamp information for each of the plurality of locations.

19. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of computing an average speed of the particular vehicle based on a plurality of the locations from the estimation step and associated time stamp information for each of the plurality of locations.

20. The method according to claim 17, further comprising the step of computing a traffic flow in an area based upon an average number of vehicles passing through the area in a fixed interval.