SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MEASURING THE REAL TRAFFIC FLOW OF AN AREA
First Claim
1. A system for measuring the real traffic flow of an area, the system comprising:
- images taken from the sky in time intervals of an area;
continuous tracking data of a probe that is collected and provided by navigator manufacturers, map providers, route applications or by phone carriers that record the cell towers, traffic counts, router connections, near-field-communication devices and beacons that are able to geolocate the probe;
said continuous tracking data comprises at least the longitude, latitude for each time unit for which said probe is tracked;
a database of universe of elements that comprises said images;
a continuous database that comprises said continuous tracking data;
a computer processor configured to;
apply an image pattern recognition software to the images taken from the sky so that each element comprised in the images is recognized, labeled and at least latitude, longitude, time, speed and type of vehicle or number of pedestrian is calculated;
allocate to said each probe the continuous tracking data for which the longitude, latitude and time match;
calculate a ratio between the number of elements recognized in the images and the number of probes for which the longitude, latitude and time match;
estimate the flow and the total number of elements within an area by applying the calculated ratio to the continuous tracking data for a particular time for which an image from the sky is not available.
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Abstract
A system and method for measuring the real traffic flow of an area is provided. The system uses images of vehicles and pedestrians taken from the sky in time intervals of an area. It also uses continuous tracking data for vehicles and pedestrians, provided by navigator manufacturers, map providers, route applications or by phone carriers. Both, images and continuous tracking data, are combined and processed by a processor that applies an image pattern recognition software to the images so that each vehicle and pedestrian comprised in the images is recognized and labeled for which a tracking data is available. The system identifies those vehicles and pedestrians contained in both databases and apply a weight to them. Then, the system is able to estimate the flow and the total number of vehicles and pedestrians for a particular time and area. Additionally, the system is able to calculate a pattern and a profile for each vehicle or pedestrian based on the continuous tracking data.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A system for measuring the real traffic flow of an area, the system comprising:
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images taken from the sky in time intervals of an area; continuous tracking data of a probe that is collected and provided by navigator manufacturers, map providers, route applications or by phone carriers that record the cell towers, traffic counts, router connections, near-field-communication devices and beacons that are able to geolocate the probe;
said continuous tracking data comprises at least the longitude, latitude for each time unit for which said probe is tracked;a database of universe of elements that comprises said images; a continuous database that comprises said continuous tracking data; a computer processor configured to; apply an image pattern recognition software to the images taken from the sky so that each element comprised in the images is recognized, labeled and at least latitude, longitude, time, speed and type of vehicle or number of pedestrian is calculated; allocate to said each probe the continuous tracking data for which the longitude, latitude and time match; calculate a ratio between the number of elements recognized in the images and the number of probes for which the longitude, latitude and time match; estimate the flow and the total number of elements within an area by applying the calculated ratio to the continuous tracking data for a particular time for which an image from the sky is not available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9)
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8. A method for measuring the real traffic flow of an area, the method comprising:
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i) generating a database of universes which stores images taken from the sky in time intervals of an area; ii) recognizing, by means of a processor, each individual element comprised in each stored image and calculating at least the following data of each individual element;
latitude, longitude, time, speed and type of vehicle or number of pedestrian;iii) generating a continuous database which stores continuous tracking data of each individual probe, the continuous tracking data comprises at least the estimated position by longitude and latitude, map cell and vector position, for each time unit;
the continuous tracking data is obtained from each tracking device carried by each individual probe;iv) allocating to each individual element recognized in step ii) the continuous tracking data of step iii) for which the longitude, latitude and time match; v) calculating a ratio between the number of elements recognized in the images and the number of probes for which the longitude, latitude and time match; vi) estimating the flow and the total number of elements within an area by applying the calculated ratio to the continuous tracking data for a particular time for which an image from the sky is not available. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method for measuring the real traffic flow of an area, the method comprising:
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looking for elements of a continuous database which were in movement at the time of the image of a database of universes; assigning a weight to each probe of the continuous database in terms of elements with matching; repeating this process for each photo and combine the weights obtained; the above combination of weights takes into account at least whether is weekend or working day, summer or winter; the weights are distributed among those continuous database probes that never match with the database of universes elements by matching with other continuous database probes already weighted.
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15. A method for measuring the audience of an advertisement item comprising the step of applying the method for measuring the real traffic flow of an area.
Specification