Personal traffic congestion avoidance system
First Claim
1. An apparatus for monitoring traffic, comprising:
- a vehicle position determination device configured to determine a position of a vehicle in substantially real time;
a wireless transceiver coupled to the vehicle position determination device and configured to transmit a first signal to a remote computer and to receive a second signal from the remote computer, the first signal representing the position of the vehicle, the second signal representing an indication that a position of a traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the vehicle; and
an indication device coupled to the wireless transceiver and configured to indicate the indication in response to the wireless transceiver receiving the second signal;
wherein the remote computer is configured to receive the first signal from the wireless transceiver and a third signal from a traffic monitoring system, to determine if the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the vehicle, and to transmit the second signal to the wireless transceiver, the third signal representing the position of the traffic affecting event.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A personal traffic congestion avoidance system for drivers of motor vehicles traveling on roadways in motor vehicles with GPS-based navigational systems. The system includes a GPS-based navigational system that includes a GPS receiver connected to a visual display, a map database and a wireless communication device for communicating with a remote computer over a wireless communication network. The GPS-based navigation system continuously determines the motor vehicle exact physical location in a region that is intermittently or continuously uploaded to a remote computer via the wireless communication network. The remote computer is connected to a traffic monitoring service that provides current traffic congestion information thereto. When a traffic congestion event is in the designated vicinity of the current location of the motor vehicle or on a roadway that may affect the traffic on the roadway on which the motor vehicle is traveling, a warning is generated and delivered to the GPS-based navigational system. The driver may ignore the warning or take an alternative route to avoid the traffic congestion.
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Citations
25 Claims
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1. An apparatus for monitoring traffic, comprising:
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a vehicle position determination device configured to determine a position of a vehicle in substantially real time; a wireless transceiver coupled to the vehicle position determination device and configured to transmit a first signal to a remote computer and to receive a second signal from the remote computer, the first signal representing the position of the vehicle, the second signal representing an indication that a position of a traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the vehicle; and an indication device coupled to the wireless transceiver and configured to indicate the indication in response to the wireless transceiver receiving the second signal; wherein the remote computer is configured to receive the first signal from the wireless transceiver and a third signal from a traffic monitoring system, to determine if the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the vehicle, and to transmit the second signal to the wireless transceiver, the third signal representing the position of the traffic affecting event. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. An apparatus for monitoring traffic, comprising:
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a wireless transceiver configured to receive a first signal from a remote vehicle and to transmit a second signal to the remote vehicle, the first signal representing a position of the remote vehicle, the second signal representing an indication that a position of a traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the remote vehicle; and a computer coupled to the wireless transceiver and configured to receive the first signal from the wireless transceiver and a third signal from a traffic monitoring system, to determine if the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the remote vehicle, and to produce the second signal, the third signal representing the position of the traffic affecting event; wherein the traffic monitoring system is configured to determine the position of the traffic affecting event and to produce the third signal. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for monitoring traffic by a method comprising:
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determining a position of a vehicle in substantially real time; transmitting a first signal to a remote computer, the first signal representing the position of the vehicle; receiving a second signal from the remote computer, the second signal representing an indication that a position of a traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the vehicle; and indicating, in response to the received second signal, the indication; wherein the computer-readable medium is configured to be coupled to the vehicle; and wherein the remote computer is configured to receive the first signal from the computer-readable medium and a third signal from a traffic monitoring system, to determine if the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the vehicle, and to transmit the second signal to the computer-readable medium, the third signal representing the position of the traffic affecting event. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions for monitoring traffic by a method comprising:
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receiving a first signal from a remote computer, the first signal representing a position of a remote vehicle; receiving a second signal from a traffic monitoring system, the second signal representing a position of a traffic affecting event; determining if the position of the traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the remote vehicle; and transmitting a third signal to the remote computer, the third signal representing an indication that the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the remote vehicle; wherein the remote computer is configured to be coupled to the remote vehicle, to determine the position of the remote vehicle, to transmit the first signal to the computer-readable medium, to receive the third signal from the computer-readable medium, and to indicate the indication; and wherein the traffic monitoring system is configured to determine the position of the traffic affecting event and to produce the third signal. - View Dependent Claims (23)
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24. A method for monitoring traffic, comprising:
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determining, at a vehicle, a position of the vehicle in substantially real time; transmitting, from the vehicle to a remote computer, a first signal, the first signal representing the position of the vehicle; receiving, at the remote computer, the first signal; receiving, at the remote computer, a second signal from a traffic monitoring system, the second signal representing a position of a traffic affecting event; determining, at the remote computer, if the position of the traffic affecting event is within a vicinity of the position of the vehicle; transmitting, from the remote computer to the vehicle, a third signal, the third signal representing an indication that the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the vehicle; receiving, at the vehicle, the third signal; and indicating, at the vehicle, in response to the received third signal, the indication that the position of the traffic affecting event is within the vicinity of the position of the vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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Specification