Vehicle information systems and methods

• US 7,469,827 B2
• Filed: 11/17/2005
• Issued: 12/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Jain, Sanjay, Katragadda, Lalitesh
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, THIEN MINH
• Application Number:
  US11/281,843
• Publication Number:
  US 20080054072A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,139 Days
• Field of Search: 235/380, 235/384, 235/381, 235/375, 235/492, 235/493, 235/486, 235/487, 705/1, 701/209, 701/201, 701/213, 701/204, 340/3.52, 340/573.4
• US Class Current: 235/384
• 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

In some of the embodiments described herein, a vehicle information system may be used to generate route map information, schedule information, estimated time of arrival information, or the like based upon location information received from passenger-carried or cargo-carried wireless devices, such as passengers'"'"' cellular phones. In such circumstances, a remote device (e.g., a display device at a vehicle station, a network-connected personal computer, or a cellular phone of a person who might board a mass transit vehicle) may access the route map information, schedule information, and other information related to one or more mass transit vehicles.

Claims

1. A method of providing transportation-related information, comprising:

receiving location information indicative of a group of passenger-carried wireless telephone devices on board a mass transit vehicle selected from a group consisting of a bus, a train, and an airplane;

generating mass transit vehicle schedule information based at least in part on the location information indicative of the passenger-carried wireless telephone devices on board the mass transit vehicle; and

transmitting data relating to the mass transit vehicle schedule information to a remote device in response to a user request.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the group of passenger-carried wireless telephone devices comprise cellular telephones carried onto the mass transit vehicle by passengers or cargo of the mass transit vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising aggregating at least some of the location information received over time from the passenger-carried wireless telephone devices, wherein the passenger-carried wireless telephone devices are not registered to the mass transit vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the data relating to the schedule information comprises an estimated time of arrival by the mass transit vehicle at a predetermined location.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising determining the estimated time of arrival using historical schedule information for the mass transit vehicle and calculated speed information based upon the location information associated with the plurality of wireless devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote device comprises a remote wireless device and the data relating to the schedule information is transmitted in response to a request from the remote wireless device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data relating to the schedule information is transmitted as a text message to the remote wireless device.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the data relating to the schedule information depends on a location of the remote wireless device, and the location of the remote wireless device is automatically sent by the remote wireless device with the request.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote device comprises an informational display at a mass transit terminal.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote device comprises a wireless telephone carried by a passenger or prospective passenger of the mass transit vehicle and the data relating to the schedule information is transmitted in response to a request from the wireless telephone.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising transmitting a location-based advertisement along with the data relating to the schedule information.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, from at least one of the passenger-carried wireless telephones, information generated by a short-range wireless device located near the wireless telephone.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the short-range wireless device is selected from the group comprising an RFID device, a Bluetooth device, and an IEEE 802.11-compliant device.

14. A method of tracking the travel of a mass transit vehicle, comprising:

receiving location information associated with a plurality of wireless devices carried by passengers or cargo of a mass transit vehicle;

aggregating the location information over a period of time so that the location information represents a plurality of locations of the mass transit vehicle; and

generating vehicle path data that substantially includes the plurality of locations.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of wireless devices comprise wireless telephones carried by passengers or cargo of the mass transit vehicle.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the location information associated with the plurality of wireless telephones is automatically transmitted by the wireless telephones.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of locations comprises a stop location for the mass transmit vehicle.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the vehicle path data comprises route map data for the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 14, further comprising transmitting at least a portion of the vehicle path data to a remote device.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the remote device comprises a wireless device and the at least a portion of the vehicle path data is transmitted in response to a request from the wireless device.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the at least a portion of the vehicle path data is transmitted as a text message to the wireless device.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the remote device comprises a wireless device carried by a passenger of the mass transit vehicle.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising transmitting a location-based advertisement along with the vehicle path data, the location-based advertisement being associated with a stop location of the mass transit vehicle.

24. A system for providing transportation-related information, comprising:

an interface to receive location information indicative of a plurality of wireless devices carried by passengers or cargo on board a mass transit vehicle selected from a group consisting of a bus, a train, and an airplane; and

means for generating schedule information associated with the mass transit vehicle based at least in part on the location information indicative of the plurality of wireless devices carried by passengers or cargo on board the mass transit vehicle,

wherein, in response to a request from a remote device, the interface transmits data relating to the schedule information to the remote device.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the means for generating schedule information includes a means for aggregating location information received over time and associated with a plurality of wireless devices not registered to the mass transit vehicle.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the plurality of wireless devices comprise wireless telephones carried by passengers or cargo of the mass transit vehicle.

27. A system for providing transportation-related information, comprising:

an interface to receive location information indicative of a plurality of wireless devices carried by passengers or cargo on board a mass transit vehicle selected from a group consisting of a bus, a train, and an airplane;

a schedule generator in communication with the interface to determine schedule information related to a future location of the mass transit vehicle; and

a report generator to receive information from the schedule generator and to provide schedule information to a remote device.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the schedule generator includes a database that aggregates location information received over time and associated with a plurality of wireless devices not registered to the mass transit vehicle.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the plurality of wireless devices comprise wireless telephones carried by passengers or cargo of the mass transit vehicle.

30. The system of claim 27, wherein the report generator transmits a text message to the remote device.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the schedule information comprises an estimated time of arrival by the mass transit vehicle at a predetermined location.

32. The system of claim 27, wherein the remote device comprises an informational display at a mass transit terminal.

33. The system of claim 27, wherein the remote device comprises a wireless telephone carried by a current or future passenger of the mass transit vehicle and the schedule information is transmitted in response to a request from the wireless telephone.

34. The system of claim 33, wherein the report generator transmits a location-based advertisement along with the schedule information.