DYNAMIC PRICING BASED ON SLIDING MODE CONTROL AND ESTIMATION FOR HIGH OCCUPANCY TOLL LANES
First Claim
1. A sliding mode based dynamic pricing method for a high occupancy toll lane, said method comprising:
- determining an optimal target traffic flow density with respect to at least one high occupancy toll lane to achieve one or more desired performance objectives;
designing a pricing controller that includes a feed-forward path and a feedback path, wherein said feed-forward path is configured with a sliding mode controller in association with a sliding mode control module to update in real-time an estimated value of time of drivers;
configuring said sliding mode controller to update said estimated value of time to reduce a difference between an actual traffic flow density and the said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane, such that said estimated value of time is updated at each time interval when said difference in said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density is larger than a particular threshold;
generating a base toll price from said feed-forward path based on said estimated value of time, a driver decision model and an estimated potential traffic demand so that an estimated number of vehicles entering said at least one high occupancy toll lane in a next time interval will match said target traffic flow density;
generating an adjustment toll price from said feedback path based on said difference between said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane to reduce said difference, wherein said base toll price and said adjustment toll price are combined to produce a final toll price.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Methods and systems for dynamic pricing based on sliding mode control with respect to a HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lane. The controller consists of a feed-forward path and a feedback path. In the feed-forward path, a sliding mode controller in association with a sliding mode control module can be configured to achieve desired performance objectives under time-varying system parameters in real-time. An estimated VOT (Value of Time) distribution can be derived in association with the controller to reduce the difference between an actual and target traffic flow density on the HOT lane. The estimation of the VOT distribution can be updated by the controller at each time interval when the difference in densities is larger than a certain threshold. A low pass filter can also be employed to substantially improve prediction and the calculation of tolls to reduce fluctuations in traffic.
6 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A sliding mode based dynamic pricing method for a high occupancy toll lane, said method comprising:
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determining an optimal target traffic flow density with respect to at least one high occupancy toll lane to achieve one or more desired performance objectives; designing a pricing controller that includes a feed-forward path and a feedback path, wherein said feed-forward path is configured with a sliding mode controller in association with a sliding mode control module to update in real-time an estimated value of time of drivers; configuring said sliding mode controller to update said estimated value of time to reduce a difference between an actual traffic flow density and the said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane, such that said estimated value of time is updated at each time interval when said difference in said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density is larger than a particular threshold; generating a base toll price from said feed-forward path based on said estimated value of time, a driver decision model and an estimated potential traffic demand so that an estimated number of vehicles entering said at least one high occupancy toll lane in a next time interval will match said target traffic flow density; generating an adjustment toll price from said feedback path based on said difference between said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane to reduce said difference, wherein said base toll price and said adjustment toll price are combined to produce a final toll price. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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4. The method of claim 4 further comprising permitting said discontinuous input to increase or decrease said estimated value of time upon a deviation from said sliding surface.
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9. A sliding mode based dynamic pricing system for a high occupancy toll lane, said system comprising:
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a processor; and a computer-usable medium embodying computer program code, said computer-usable medium capable of communicating with the processor, said computer program code comprising instructions executable by said processor and configured for; determining an optimal target traffic flow density with respect to at least one high occupancy toll lane to achieve one or more desired performance objectives; designing a pricing controller that includes a feed-forward path and a feedback path, wherein said feed-forward path is configured with a sliding mode controller in association with a sliding mode control module to update in real-time an estimated value of time of drivers; configuring said sliding mode controller to update said estimated value of time to reduce a difference between an actual traffic flow density and the said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane, such that said estimated value of time is updated at each time interval when said difference in said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density is larger than a particular threshold; generating a base toll price from said feed-forward path based on said estimated value of time, a driver decision model and an estimated potential traffic demand so that an estimated number of vehicles entering said at least one high occupancy toll lane in a next time interval will match said target traffic flow density; generating an adjustment toll price from said feedback path based on said difference between said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane to reduce said difference, wherein said base toll price and said adjustment toll price are combined to produce a final toll price. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A processor-readable medium storing code representing instructions to cause a process for sliding mode based dynamic pricing for a high occupancy toll lane, said code comprising code to:
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determine an optimal target traffic flow density with respect to at least one high occupancy toll lane to achieve one or more desired performance objectives; design a pricing controller that includes a feed-forward path and a feedback path, wherein said feed-forward path is configured with a sliding mode controller in association with a sliding mode control module to update in real-time an estimated value of time of drivers; configure said sliding mode controller to update said estimated value of time to reduce a difference between an actual traffic flow density and a target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane, such that said estimated value of time is updated at each time interval when said difference in said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density is larger than a particular threshold; generate a base toll price from said feed-forward path based on said estimated value of time, a driver decision model and an estimated potential traffic demand so that an estimated number of vehicles entering said at least one high occupancy toll lane in a next time interval will match said target traffic flow density; and generate an adjustment toll price from said feedback path based on said difference between said actual traffic flow density and said target traffic flow density with respect to said at least one high occupancy toll lane to reduce said difference, wherein said base toll price and said adjustment toll price are combined to produce a final toll price. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification