Traffic information estimation and reporting system
First Claim
1. A method of determining road traffic conditions in thoroughfares located in radio coverage areas served by a wireless communications network including a plurality of base stations, each serving a cell in the radio coverage areas and a wireless switch coupled to the plurality of base stations, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving from each of a plurality of cells, via said wireless switch coupled to a base station associated with the cell, real-time registration and cell activity data from active mobile end-user devices currently located in each of said plurality of cells served by the wireless communications network; and
estimating road traffic conditions in at least one thoroughfare located in said at least one of said radio coverage areas based on a comparison of said real-time registration and cells'"'"' activity data to past analog equivalent information previously collected by said wireless communications network for said at least one of said radio coverage areas.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An estimation of traffic conditions on roads located in the radio coverage areas of a wireless communications network is provided based on an analysis of real-time and past wireless traffic data carried on the wireless communications network. Data analyzed may include, for example, actual (current) and expected (past average) number of a) active-busy wireless end-user devices in one or more cells at a particular period of time, b) active-idle wireless end-user devices registered in a location area of the wireless communications network, c) amount of time spent by mobile end-user devices in one or more cells at a particular period of time.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of determining road traffic conditions in thoroughfares located in radio coverage areas served by a wireless communications network including a plurality of base stations, each serving a cell in the radio coverage areas and a wireless switch coupled to the plurality of base stations, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving from each of a plurality of cells, via said wireless switch coupled to a base station associated with the cell, real-time registration and cell activity data from active mobile end-user devices currently located in each of said plurality of cells served by the wireless communications network; and estimating road traffic conditions in at least one thoroughfare located in said at least one of said radio coverage areas based on a comparison of said real-time registration and cells'"'"' activity data to past analog equivalent information previously collected by said wireless communications network for said at least one of said radio coverage areas. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for determining road traffic conditions in a geographic area corresponding to a plurality of radio coverage areas served by a wireless communications system including a plurality of base stations and a wireless switch coupled to the base stations, the system comprising:
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a wireless traffic monitor, coupled to said wireless switch and which tracks a current flow of active mobile end-user devices entering and exiting at least one of a plurality of radio coverage areas which are served by the wireless communications system, and in which a plurality of roads are located; a processor which compares said current flow for said at least one radio coverage area to a past average flow previously collected by said wireless communications system for said at least one radio coverage area under substantially similar time conditions; and means responsive to said comparison for assessing road traffic conditions in said at least one radio coverage area. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A system for estimating road conditions in a geographical area corresponding to a plurality of radio coverage areas served by a wireless communications network including a plurality of base stations and a wireless switch coupled to the base stations, said system comprising:
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a wireless traffic monitor, coupled to said wireless switch, that keeps track of at least one of the following wireless activity data;
a) currently active mobile end-user devices in at least one of a plurality of radio coverage areas of a wireless communications network, and b) amount of time spent by each currently active mobile end user-device in at least one of said coverage areas;a processor that performs at least one of a plurality of functions which include a) comparing an expected average number of active mobile end-user devices in at least one of said radio coverage areas to a total tracked number of said currently active mobile end-user devices in said at least one of said radio coverage areas, and b) determining a total count of active mobile end-user devices in at least one of said radio coverage areas that spend a higher than expected amount of time in said at least one of said radio coverage areas; and means responsive to at least one of said functions for estimating traffic road conditions in thoroughfares located in said least one of said radio coverage areas. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of estimating traffic conditions in thoroughfares located in the radio coverage areas of a wireless communications network that includes a plurality of base stations and a wireless switch coupled to said base stations, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving, via at least one of the base stations and the wireless switch, communications signals from a plurality of wireless devices that are active in at least one of a plurality of radio coverage areas; and determining that a bottleneck traffic condition is present in at least one section of said thoroughfares when a count of said active devices located in said at least one of said radio coverage areas associated with said at least one section of said thoroughfares exceeds a selected threshold. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification