Method and system for providing traffic information

• US 7,373,243 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2004
• Issued: 05/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Technical Center North America Incorporated (Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Bai, Sue, Tengler, Steve
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu; Yonel
• Application Number:
  US10/813,445
• Publication Number:
  US 20050222755A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,504 Days
• Field of Search: 701200-202, 701/208, 701/211, 701213-214, 701/117, 701/24, 340/988, 342/357.06, 342/357.09, 342/357.1
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096883 where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA

Abstract

A method, system, and software for automatically providing traffic information to a user, includes tracking and storing travel pattern data of the user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs. The travel pattern data is analyzed to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs, and traffic information along the particular travel path is automatically determined at or before the particular time at which travel is predicted.

Claims

1. A method of automatically providing traffic information to a user'"'"'s vehicle, comprising:

tracking and storing travel pattern data of the user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs,

analyzing the travel pattern data to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs; and

automatically determining traffic information along the particular travel path at or before the particular time at which travel is predicted by communicating with a second vehicle to receive the traffic information, wherein at least part of the traffic information originates from a source other than the second vehicle.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tracking and storing step comprises tracking and storing a start time, a day of the week, a start location, and an end location for each travel of the user.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the travel pattern data relates to travel by the user using a vehicle.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tracking and storing step comprises receiving data from a position determining system.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the position determining system is a satellite based GPS system.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the start time is determined at a time of switching on an ignition, and an end time is determined at a time of switching off the ignition.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the switching on the ignition and the switching off the ignition is determined based on a key-on or key-off position of an ignition key.

8. The method according to claim 2, wherein the analyzing step comprises correlating pairs of start locations and end locations with a range of start times and/or a day of the week.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the analyzing step further comprises calculating a frequency of the correlated pairs of start locations and end locations with a range of start times and/or a day of the week.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining traffic information comprises communicating with the second vehicle along the particular travel path to receive traffic incident information from the second vehicle.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of determining traffic information comprises communicating with the second vehicle along the travel path to receive travel speed information from the second vehicle.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the user'"'"'s vehicle communicates with the second vehicle along the travel path to receive traffic incident information from the second vehicle.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second vehicle transmits traffic information only if the traffic information satisfies a predetermined criteria.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the traffic information includes traffic incident information and the predetermined criteria includes whether or not the traffic incident information is recent.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the traffic incident information is determined to be recent based in part on the type of road on which the traffic incident is detected or on the number of vehicles involved in the traffic incident.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein communicating with the vehicle is accomplished using short range communication.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the short range communication is Dedicated Shortwave Radio Communications (DSRC).

18. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatically determined traffic information is displayed to the user on a display within a vehicle at or before the particular time or whenever an ignition switch is switched on.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein the automatically determined traffic information is displayed to a user at a user accessible display at or before the particular time.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the user accessible display comprises one or more of a home computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, or a handheld device.

40. The method according to claim 1,

wherein the tracking and storing step comprises tracking and storing a start time, a day of the week, a start location, and an end location for each travel of the user;

wherein the start time is determined at a time of switching on an ignition, and an end time is determined at a time of switching off the ignition.

46. The method according to claim 1, wherein the travel pattern data is analyzed to determine whether the travel path is traveled at a frequency greater than a threshold value.

48. The method according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle communicates directly with the second vehicle.

56. The method according to claim 1, wherein the source is another vehicle.

21. A system for automatically providing traffic information to a user'"'"'s vehicle, comprising:

a position determining system configured to track travel pattern data of the user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs;

a storage unit configured to store the tracked travel pattern data;

a processing unit configured to analyze the travel pattern data to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs; and

a short range communication unit configured to automatically determine traffic information along the particular travel path at or before the particular time at which the travel is predicted, wherein the short range communication unit is configured to automatically determine the traffic information by communicating with a second vehicle to receive the traffic information, wherein at least part of the traffic information originates from a source other than the second vehicle.

22. The system according to claim 21, wherein the tracked travel pattern data comprises a start time, a day of the week, a start location, and an end location for travel of the user.

23. The system according to claim 22, wherein the tracked travel pattern data relates to travel by the user using a vehicle.

24. The system according to claim 21, wherein the position determining system comprises a GPS receiver that communicates with a satellite based GPS system.

25. The system according to claim 22, wherein the start time is determined at a time of switching on an ignition, and an end time is determined at a time of switching off the ignition.

26. The system according to claim 22, wherein the processing unit analyzes the travel pattern data by correlating pairs of start locations and end locations with a range of start times and/or a day of the week.

27. The system according to claim 26, wherein the processing unit further calculates a frequency of the correlated pairs of start locations and end locations with a range of start times and/or a day of the week.

28. The system according to claim 21, wherein the short range communication unit determines traffic information by communicating with the second vehicle along the particular travel path to receive traffic incident information from the second vehicle.

29. The system according to claim 21, wherein the short range communication unit determines traffic information by communicating with the second vehicle along the particular travel path to receive speed information from the second vehicle.

30. The system according to claim 28, wherein the user'"'"'s vehicle communicates with the second vehicle along the travel path to receive traffic incident information from the second vehicle.

31. The system according to claim 21, wherein the second vehicle only transmits traffic information that satisfies a predetermined criteria.

32. The system according to claim 31, wherein the traffic information includes traffic incident information and the predetermined criteria includes whether or not the traffic incident information is recent.

33. The system according to claim 32, wherein the traffic incident information is determined to be recent based in part on the type of the road on which a traffic incident is detected or the number of vehicles involved in the traffic incident.

34. The system according to claim 21, wherein the short range communication unit comprises a Dedicated Shortwave Radio Communications (DSRC) unit.

35. The system according to claim 21, further comprising a display unit in the user'"'"'s vehicle for displaying the automatically determined traffic information at or before the particular time or when an ignition switch is switched on proximate to the particular time.

36. The system according to claim 21, further comprising a display unit for displaying the automatically determined traffic information at or before the particular time at a user accessible device.

37. The system according to claim 36, wherein the user accessible device comprises one or more of a home computer, a mobile phone, a PDA, or other handheld device.

41. The system according to claim 21,

wherein the short range communication unit is configured to communicate with short range communication, wherein the short range communication is Dedicated Shortwave Radio Communications (DSRC).

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the system is configured to activate at a predetermined time before the particular time when the travel occurs, wherein the short range communication unit is configured to determine the traffic information along the particular travel path when the system activates.

43. The system of claim 41, wherein the system is configured to analyze and compare the travel path with traffic information and without traffic information.

47. The system according to claim 21, wherein the processing unit is configured to analyze the travel pattern data to determine whether the travel path is traveled at a frequency greater than a threshold value.

49. The system according to claim 21, wherein the short range communication unit is configured to communicate directly with the second vehicle.

52. The system according to claim 21, wherein the system is configured so that all components of the system are configured to be disposed in the user'"'"'s vehicle.

54. A network of systems for automatically providing traffic information to users of multiple vehicles, comprising:

a first vehicle with the system of claim 21, and

at least a second vehicle with the system of claim 21,

wherein the system of the first vehicle and the system of the second are configured to communicate traffic information with at least one another.

57. The system according to claim 21, wherein the source is another vehicle.

38. A system for automatically providing traffic information to a user'"'"'s vehicle, comprising:

position determining means for tracking travel pattern data of the user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs;

storage means for storing the tracked travel pattern data;

means for analyzing the travel pattern data to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs; and

communication means that automatically determines traffic information along the particular travel path at or before the particular time at which the travel is predicted, wherein the communication means is configured to automatically determine the traffic information by communicating with a second vehicle to receive the traffic information, wherein at least part of the traffic information originates from a source other than the second vehicle.

50. The system according to claim 38, wherein the means for analyzing is configured to analyze the travel pattern data to determine whether the travel path is traveled at a frequency greater than a threshold value.

53. The system according to claim 38, wherein the system is configured so that all components of the system are configured to be disposed in the user'"'"'s vehicle.

55. A network of systems for automatically providing traffic information to users of multiple vehicles, comprising:

a first vehicle with the system of claim 38, and

at least a second vehicle with the system of claim 38,

wherein the system of the first vehicle and the system of the second are configured to communicate traffic information with at least one another.

58. The system according to claim 38, wherein the source is another vehicle.

39. A computer readable medium having program code recorded thereon that, when executed, causes a processor to perform steps comprising:

tracking and storing travel pattern data of a user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs;

analyzing the travel pattern data to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs; and

automatically determining traffic information along the particular travel path at or before the particular time at which travel is predicted by communicating with a second vehicle to receive the traffic information, wherein at least part of the traffic information originates from a source other than the second vehicle.

51. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the analyzing step comprises analyzing the travel pattern data to determine whether the travel path is traveled at a frequency greater than a threshold value.

59. The computer readable medium of claim 39, wherein the source is another vehicle.

44. A system for automatically providing traffic information to a user, comprising:

a position determining system configured to track vehicle travel pattern data of the user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs;

a storage unit configured to store the tracked travel pattern data;

a processing unit configured to analyze the travel pattern data to predict a particular vehicle travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs; and

a short range communication unit in a vehicle configured to automatically determine traffic information along the particular vehicle travel path at or before the particular time at which the travel is predicted;

wherein the short range communication unit is configured to communicate with a second vehicle along the travel path to receive traffic information from the second vehicle, wherein the traffic information from the second vehicle comprises rebroadcasted travel information that originated from a vehicle other than the second vehicle.

45. A method of automatically providing traffic information to a user of a vehicle, comprising:

tracking and storing travel pattern data of a user, the travel pattern data including a time at which a travel occurs;

analyzing the travel pattern data to predict a particular travel path traveled by the user at a particular time when the travel occurs, and

automatically determining traffic information along the particular travel path at or before the particular time at which travel is predicted by communicating with a second vehicle to receive the traffic information, wherein at least part of the traffic information from the second vehicle comprises rebroadcasted traffic information that originated from a source other than the second vehicle.

60. The method according to claim 45, wherein the source is another vehicle.