Method of controlling at least one transit stop display

• US 6,177,889 B1
• Filed: 11/12/1998
• Issued: 01/23/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Alcatel SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Grande, Wolfgang
• Primary Examiner(s): SWARTHOUT, BRENT
• Application Number:
  US09/191,863
• Time in Patent Office: 803 Days
• Field of Search: 340/994, 340/991, 340/992, 340/993, 340/989, 340/988, 701/117
• US Class Current: 340/994
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

The invention concerns a method of controlling at least one transit stop display (1), whereby a vehicle (6) transmits its identification signal and its current location data to a control center (3), which calculates the estimated waiting time (5) until the vehicle (6) arrives at least at one stop (2), and controls the stop display (1) associated with to the respective stop (2) for the visual display of this waiting time (5). To ensure that a switch-over or switch-off of the waiting time display takes place in the vicinity of the stop (2), it is provided that the vehicle (6) transmits a blanking message (9) with a small range x₁, for example 100 meters, which triggers a switch-over of the stop display (1) to blanking (5a), when the vehicle (6) approaches the stop (2) within a distance of x₂≦x₁.

Claims

1. A method of controlling at least one transit stop display (1), whereby a vehicle (6) transmits an identification signal and current location data to a control center (3), which calculates an estimated waiting time (5) until the vehicle (6) arrives at least at one stop (2), and controls the display (1) associated with the respective stop (2) in regard to the visual display of this waiting time (5), characterized in that the vehicle (6) transmits without receipt of a sense identification signal from the respective stop a blanking message (9) having a selected range x₁ which triggers a switch-over of the stop display (1) to blanking (5a) when the vehicle (6) approaches the stop (2) within a distance of x₂≦

x₁.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the control center (3) generates radio datagrams (4) having a structure and length for controlling display panels of the stop display (1) where a window (13) is provided between the radio datagrams (4) during which the vehicle (6) sends the blanking message (9).

3. A method as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that a window message (12) generated by the control center (3) is transmitted to the vehicle (6) from the control center (3) during the window (13) at the end of each radio datagram (4).

4. A method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the blanking message (9) is only sent if the vehicle is less than a distance x₃ from the stop (2) where x₃>

x₁.

5. A control system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a transmission device having both low power and high power transmission modes located in the vehicle (6) for transmitting the identification signal and the current location data of the vehicle (6) to the control center (3) with high power, is also able to transmit the blanking message (9) with low power.