Traffic information analyzer system

• US 6,498,569 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2001
• Issued: 12/24/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 01/12/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Stichting Noble House
• Original Assignee: Patrick Dijkstra
• Inventors: Dijkstra, Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): LA, ANH V
• Application Number:
  US09/759,482
• Publication Number:
  US 20020093432A1
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 340/901, 340/902, 340/906, 340/904, 340/995, 340/439, 701/210, 342/20
• US Class Current: 340/901
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A traffic information analyzing system comprising (a) a receiver adapted to receive signals from police and other sources; (b) a location tracking receiver adapted to convert locations into coordinate and directional information so it may be tracked and stored and analyzed; (c) a user interface allowing a user to input information into the system corresponding to locations where a user considers that a received signal is undesired, the user interface also adapted to output information including an alarm or warning message to a user; and (d) a processing unit adapted to receive inputs from the receiver and location tracking system, the processing unit also adapted to receive and relay data with respect to the user interface, the processing unit also being able to determine and register the location of undesired signals whereby the processing unit informs the system when an undesirable signal is detected.

Claims

1. A traffic information analyzer system adapted to discriminate between signals from police sources and signals from other sources comprising, in combination;

a microwave receiver adapted to receive and analyze microwave signals from sources including means to demodulate the received signals, the signals adapted to be demodulated including amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, phase modulation and other analog and digital modulation schemes, the microwave receiver also including output means to relay the detected signals;

an optical receiver adapted to receive and analyze optical signals from optical sources including means to demodulate the detected signals, the signals adapted to be demodulated including amplitude modulation, frequency modulation, phase modulation and other analog and digital modulation schemes, the optical receiver also including an output means to relay the detected signals;

a location and direction tracking receiver selected from the class of location and direction tracking receivers including G.P.S. and LORAN, the location and direction tracking receiver adapted to convert locations into coordinate and directional information so it may be tracked and stored and analyzed, the location and direction tracking receiver also including an output means to relay the coordinate and directional information;

a load data base interface allowing the system to input and update stored data and information from external sources including data and information including maps and data of the locations where predetermined extraneous signals are located as well as a predetermined maximum speed from mapped areas and also including output means to relay the data information;

a speed determining input means adapted to determine the speed at which a vehicle equipped with the system is traveling, the speed determining input means being of the class of speed determining input means including speedometers and G.P.S. tracker and also including an output to relay speed information;

a user interface including an output means adapted to allow a user to input information into the system corresponding to locations where a user considers that a received reading is extraneous and also adapted to allow a user to input information into the system corresponding to locations where a user considers that special driving care is required, the user interface also including a visual display and speaker adapted to generate information to a user in response to a received signal and an alarm to inform a user that a signal from a police source has been detected or that a location requiring special driving care is being approached, the user interface also having means to display an alarm signal and means to signify the perception of an extraneous signal; and

a processing and storage unit adapted to receive inputs from the microwave receiver, optical receiver, location tracking receiver, load data base interface and speed determining input means, the processing and storage unit also adapted to receive and relay data with the user interface, the processing and storage unit also adapted to analyze received signals to determine which received signals are within and not within the allocated band widths of governmental guidelines, the processing and storage unit also adapted to determine and register data relating to the location and frequency and number and strength of extraneous signals with the extraneous signal data adapted to be collected when a user activates the user interface to record the extraneous signal data after a user interprets the received signal to be an undesired signal from one or more of the receivers with the processor and storage unit recalling loaded extraneous signal data from the processor and storage unit, the processing and storage unit also adapted to delete registered data relating to extraneous signals when a user activates the user interface to delete such previously registered data, the processor and storage unit also adapted to disable the alarm from notifying a user that an extraneous signal at a prerecorded frequency is detected at its associated location where such a signal was decided to be extraneous either by a user or preloaded data, the processing unit also adapted to determine the number of signals at a specific location and the frequencies of the detected signals and the frequency and strength thereof, the processor and storage unit further adapted to disable the alarm when a user is traveling at a speed under the predetermined maximum speed.

2. A traffic information analyzing system comprising;

a receiver adapted to receive signals from the class of signals which includes radio frequency signals, infrared signals and microwave signals, the signals being from police sources and other sources;

a location tracking receiver adapted to convert locations into coordinated information so it may be tracked and stored and analyzed;

a user interface allowing a user to input information regarding locations which are known by the user to have a large number of output sources which combine to generate a signal which causes an alarm condition within the system, with the user interface also allowing the user to determine and set parameters within which an alarm would be generated by the system; and

a processing unit adapted to receive inputs from the receiver and location tracking system, the processing unit also adapted to receive and relay data with respect to the user interface, the processing unit also being able to determine and register and store the location of extraneous signals, the stored location being based on information which is inputted by the user, with the processing unit disabling or bypassing the alarm or warning message when such an extraneous signal is detected.

3. The system as set forth in claim 2 including a user interface allowing a user to input information, wherein the receiver is a microwave receiver.

4. The system as set forth in claim 2 a including a user interface allowing a user to input information, wherein the receiver is an optical receiver.

5. The system as set forth in claim 2 including a user interface allowing a user to input information, and further including a speed determining input means adapted to determine the speed at which a vehicle equipped with the system is traveling and to inactivate the alarm if the vehicle is not exceeding the predetermined maximum speed.

6. The system as set forth in claim 2 including a user interface allowing a user to input information, and further including a load data interface allowing the system to input and update stored data from the class of external sources which includes maps and data of locations where predetermined undesired signals are located.

7. The system as set forth in claim 2 including a user interface allowing a user to input information, including means to allow a user to input information into the system corresponding to locations where a user considers that special driving care is required.

8. A method of receiving signals from desired sources and generating alarms or warning messages in response thereto while suppressing undesired signals generated by other than desired sources comprising, in combination:

providing an incoming signal detection and message system and starting the system;

providing a message determining component;

providing a known undesired signal determining component;

providing a speed determining component;

providing a message generator component;

providing a determining component for storing locations of undesired signals;

providing a component for storing locations of undesired signals in the database;

determining at the message determining component when incoming signals are received and creating first signals to the known undesired message determining component when an incoming signals are received;

comparing the first signals to the stored locations of undesired signals in the known undesired signal determining component and generating second signals if the incoming signals do not match stored locations of the undesired signals;

generating a message at the message generator component in response to the second signal and generating a third signal in response thereto;

determining whether the vehicle is exceeding a predetermined maximum speed by the speed determining component and generating fourth signals in response thereto for informing the message generating component if the vehicle is not exceeding the predetermined maximum speed;

determining the location of undesired signals from signals generated by other than police sources at the determining component for storing locations of undesired signals and generate fifth signals in response thereto;

storing such locations of known undesired signals from the fifth signals in the component for storing the location of undesired signals in the database; and

generating sixth signals from the component for storing the location of undesired messages in the database and feeding such signals back to thereby suppress undesired alarms or warning messages from signals generated by other than police sources.