Method and system for selectively processing traffic incident information

• US 7,526,268 B2
• Filed: 09/22/2004
• Issued: 04/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 09/22/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: ValueStreet Consulting Group
• Original Assignee: Delphi Technologies, Inc. (BorgWarner Incorporated)
• Inventors: Boyer, Bradley E, Robarge, Wilbur A., Dockemeyer, J. Robert Jr., Fruit, Larry J., Farrow, Daniel W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen; Alexander
• Assistant Examiner(s): Genack; Matthew W
• Application Number:
  US10/946,837
• Publication Number:
  US 20060063559A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,679 Days
• Field of Search: 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 340/991, 340/992, 340/993, 340/994, 455/404.1, 455/404.2, 455/404.3, 455/404.4, 455/414.1, 455/427, 701/200, 701/201, 701/202, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 701/213
• US Class Current: 455/404.2
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• 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 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages

Abstract

A method includes receiving current location and heading information, receiving threshold range, and bearing values, receiving an incident report corresponding to a traffic incident at a location of interest, and selectively retaining the incident report if the point of interest is within the threshold range and bearing values.

Claims

1. A method for operating a traffic management system on-board a vehicle, said system comprising a controlling program, a traffic incident filter in communication with the controlling program, and a retained memory associated with the controlling program, comprising:

receiving at least current location information from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite;

receiving at least a selectable threshold range value;

relating said selectable threshold range value to said current location information to determine a dynamically variable zone of interest selectable by the user;

receiving, on-board the vehicle from a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) satellite, a broadcast comprising a plurality of incident reports, each said incident report comprising pertinent information and a point of interest based upon a bearing value and a range value;

correlating data from said broadcast to data stored in a local database using a virtual language;

processing, by the traffic incident filter on-board the vehicle, each said incident report by comparison to at least one bearing threshold value and at least one range threshold value for determining if the point of interest is within the zone of interest;

selectively retaining, in the retained memory on-board the vehicle, an incident report for only those points of interest within the zone of interest; and

purging from the retained memory any incident report that exceeds a staleness parameter selectable by the user.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said pertinent information corresponds to a traffic incident.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein said method further includes the steps of receiving current heading information and relating said threshold range value to said heading information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said method further includes the steps of receiving a threshold bearing value and using the threshold bearing value to determine the zone of interest.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the broadcast of the plurality of incident reports is received by a satellite radio receiver.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said current location and heading information comprises information received from a global positioning system.

7. The method of claim 4, wherein said step of receiving current location and heading information and said step of receiving threshold range and bearing values threshold comprises receiving said information and values from a controlling program.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein said traffic incident information contains information from one or more traffic incidents across a broad geographical region.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein said broad geographical region comprises the continental United States.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of incident reports are broadcast over a traffic management channel.

11. The method of claim 4, further comprising initially selecting said threshold range and bearing values.

12. A method of managing traffic information by a traffic management system on-board a vehicle, said system comprising a controlling program, a traffic incident filter in communication with the controlling program, and a retained memory associated with the controlling program, comprising:

establishing selectable threshold range and bearing values;

receiving current location and heading values from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite;

dynamically establishing a user selectable zone of interest based on said threshold range and bearing values and said current location and heading values;

receiving a broadcast on-board the vehicle from a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) satellite, said broadcast comprising traffic information having a plurality of incident reports, each incident report having a corresponding point of interest based on a bearing value and range value;

correlating information from said broadcast to information stored in a local database using a virtual language;

determining, by said traffic incident filter on-board the vehicle by comparison to at least one threshold range value and threshold bearing value, whether each said incident report is within the zone of interest based upon the point of interest of the incident report;

retaining said incident report in said retained memory on-board the vehicle only if said corresponding point of interest is within said zone of interest; and

discarding said incident report when said corresponding point of interest is outside said zone of interest or exceeds a user selectable staleness parameter.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein establishing said threshold range and bearing values comprises receiving input from a user.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein establishing said threshold range and bearing values comprises establishing said range and bearing values as preset values in a processor.

15. A traffic management system located on-board a vehicle, comprising:

means for receiving a broadcast on-board the vehicle from a satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) satellite, said broadcast comprising a plurality of incident reports, each said incident report comprising pertinent information and a point of interest calculated from both range and bearing information;

a traffic incident filter on-board the vehicle configured to receive current location information from a global positioning system (GPS) satellite and a user variable threshold range value, to determine a user selectable dynamically variable zone of interest based upon the current location information, and the threshold range value to determine for each incident report whether the point of interest is within the zone of interest;

a means for correlating information from said broadcast to information stored in a local database using a virtual language;

a retained memory on-board the vehicle; and

a processor or controlling program on-board the vehicle in communication with said traffic incident filter and said retained memory and configured to retain the incident report in said retained memory if the point of interest of the incident report in within the zone of interest, and to discard the incident report if the point of interest is outside the zone of interest or if an incident report exceeds a user selectable staleness parameter.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a global positioning module configured to provide current location and heading values for use by said traffic incident filter.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein said traffic incident filter is configured to receive heading information and bearing values and to use said heading information and bearing values to determine the zone of interest.

18. The system of claim 15, and further comprising a database coupled to said processor, wherein said database includes lists of weather and traffic situations, advice, and duration stored thereon.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said database further includes lists of locations, including intersections, road numbers, and place names stored thereon.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein the means for receiving the broadcast comprises a satellite radio receiver.