TRAFFIC LIGHT CONTROL DEVICE, METHOD, AND SYSTEM

• US 20190096242A1
• Filed: 05/05/2017
• Published: 03/28/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/12/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: GAO, Jian
• Granted Patent: US 10,643,468 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/08 according to detected number or speed of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/087 Override of traffic control, e.g. by signal transmitted by an emergency vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

A traffic light control method includes: receiving a crossing request from a vehicle approaching an intersection on a first road; determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition; and controlling the traffic light based on a determination result of the traffic status. A traffic light control device is configured to control a traffic light at an intersection, and includes a first receiving circuit, a processing circuit, and a control circuit. The first receiving circuit is configured to receive a crossing request from a vehicle approaching the intersection on a first road. The processing circuit is configured, upon the crossing request, to determine whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition, and to generate a control instruction based on a determination result of the traffic status. The control circuit is configured to control the traffic light based on the control instruction.

Claims

1. A method for controlling a traffic light at an intersection, comprising:

receiving a crossing request from a vehicle approaching the intersection on a first road;

determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition; and

controlling the traffic light based on a determination result of the traffic status.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the controlling the traffic light based on a determination result of the traffic status comprises:

controlling the traffic light to allow the vehicle to pass through the intersection on the first road if the traffic status at the intersection satisfies the crossing condition.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the traffic light to allow the vehicle to pass through the intersection on the first road if the traffic status at the intersection satisfies the crossing condition comprises:

maintaining the traffic light as green if the traffic light is green;

or altering the traffic light to become green if the traffic light is red.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the controlling the traffic light based on a determination result of the traffic status further comprises:

alerting the traffic light to flash if the traffic status at the intersection fails to satisfy the crossing condition.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the crossing request is transmitted from the vehicle via optical communication, and the receiving a crossing request from a vehicle approaching the intersection on a first road comprises:

detecting an optical signal transmitted from the vehicle; and

determining the crossing request based on the optical signal.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein:

the detecting an optical signal transmitted from the vehicle comprises;

detecting a light emitted from at least one headlamp of the vehicle; and

the determining the crossing request based on the optical signal comprises;

determining the crossing request based on the light, wherein a twinkle frequency of the light corresponds to the crossing request.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the crossing request comprises a modulated signal, and the method further comprises, between the receiving a crossing request from a vehicle approaching the intersection on a first road and the determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition:

demodulating the crossing request.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the traffic status comprises at least one of:

traffic flow data on a second road crossing the first road at the intersection;

traffic block data on the first road passing the intersection;

or

instant time.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the traffic status comprises traffic flow data on a second road crossing the first road at the intersection, and the determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition comprises:

determining whether the traffic flow data is lower than, or equal to, a flow threshold.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the traffic status comprises traffic block data on the first road passing the intersection, and the determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition comprises:

determining whether there is a traffic block on the first road passing the intersection.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the traffic status comprises instant time, and the determining whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition comprises:

determining whether the instant time is within a time window.

12. A traffic light control device, configured to control a traffic light at an intersection, comprising a first receiving circuit, a processing circuit, and a control circuit, wherein:

the first receiving circuit is configured to receive a crossing request from a vehicle approaching the intersection on a first road;

the processing circuit is configured, upon the crossing request, to determine whether traffic status at the intersection satisfies a crossing condition, and to generate a control instruction based on a determination result of the traffic status; and

the control circuit is configured to control the traffic light based on the control instruction.

13. The traffic light control device according to claim 12, wherein the control instruction generated by processing circuit comprises a crossing instruction configured to allow the vehicle to pass through the intersection if the traffic status at the intersection satisfies the crossing condition.

14. The traffic light control device according to claim 13, wherein the control circuit is configured, based on the crossing instruction:

to maintain the traffic light as green if the traffic light is green; and

to alter the traffic light to become green if the traffic light is red.

15. The traffic light control device according to claim 12, wherein the control instruction generated by processing circuit comprises an alerting instruction configured to alert if the traffic status at the intersection fails to satisfy the crossing condition.

16. The traffic light control device according to claim 15, wherein the control circuit is configured to alert the traffic light to flash based on the alerting instruction.

17. The traffic light control device according to claim 12, wherein the first receiving circuit comprises an optical sensing sub-circuit, configured to detect an optical signal transmitted from the vehicle to thereby obtain the crossing request.

18. The traffic light control device according to claim 17, wherein the optical signal transmitted from the vehicle comprises a light emitted from at least one headlamp of the vehicle, wherein a twinkle frequency of the light corresponds to the crossing request.

19. The traffic light control device according to claim 17, further comprising a signal demodulating circuit, configured to demodulate the crossing request to thereby generate a demodulated crossing request after detecting the optical signal and before processing by the processing circuit.

20. The traffic light control device according to claim 12, further comprising a data retrieving circuit, configured to retrieve data of the traffic status at the intersection from a server.

21. A traffic light control system, comprising a traffic light control device according to claim 12.

22. The traffic light control system according to claim 21, further comprising a signal processing device, mounted on the vehicle and configured to receive the crossing request from a user and to transmit the crossing request to the traffic light control device.

23. The traffic light control system according to claim 22, wherein the signal processing device comprises:

a second receiving circuit, configured to receive the crossing request from the user; and

a transmitting circuit, configured to transmit the crossing request to the traffic light control device.

24. The traffic light control system according to claim 22, further comprising a user terminal, configured for the user to send the crossing request to the signal processing device.

25. The traffic light control system according to claim 23, wherein the signal processing device further comprises a signal modulating circuit, configured to modulate the crossing request to thereby generate a modulated crossing request before transmission by the transmitting circuit.

26. The traffic light control system according to claim 23, wherein the transmitting circuit comprises an optical signal controller, configured to control an optical signal transmitted from the vehicle, wherein the optical signal encodes the crossing request.

27. The traffic light control system according to claim 26, wherein the optical signal controller comprises a headlamp controller, configured to control a light emitted from at least one headlamp of the vehicle to twinkle at a twinkle frequency, wherein the twinkle frequency corresponds to the crossing request.

28. The traffic light control system according to claim 21, further comprising a server, configured to store the traffic status.

29. The traffic light control system according to claim 28, further comprising a data collector, each configured to collect data of the traffic status at the intersection and to transmit the traffic status to the server.

30. The traffic light control system according to claim 28, wherein the server is in a cloud.