Beacon-based traffic control system

• US 7,596,438 B2
• Filed: 01/23/2006
• Issued: 09/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: SIN ETKE Technology Company Limited
• Original Assignee: SIN ETKE Technology Company Limited
• Inventors: Chen, Kuo-Rong, Lee, Chun-Chung, Huang, Cheng-Hung
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Cuong H
• Application Number:
  US11/336,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20060178794A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,345 Days
• Field of Search: 701/36, 455/435.2, 455/448, 244/189, 370/443
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096725 where the received information generates an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

Disclosed is a beacon-based traffic control system installed in a motor vehicle for receiving a wireless signal from one of a plurality of beacons that arranged in multiple geographic locations, each beacon being defined to have a respective identification code, each beacon having a short-distance wireless transmitter for transmitting a wireless signal for receiving by the beacon-based traffic control system so that when the motor vehicle is moving to a different geographic location, the beacon-based traffic control system fetches the identification code from the wireless signal of the local beacon and searches the memory thereof to find a corresponding action command and then to execute the action command, controlling the operation of the electronic component of the motor vehicle subject to the action command.

Claims

1. A beacon-based traffic control system installed in a motor vehicle for receiving a wireless signal from one of a plurality of beacons, said beacons being respectively arranged at a plurality of geographic locations, each said beacon being defined to have a respective identification code correspondingly, each said beacon comprising a short-distance wireless transmitter for transmitting the wireless signal reaching to a predetermined distance, said wireless signal containing the corresponding identification code of the respective beacon, the beacon-based traffic control system comprising:

an on-board short-distance wireless receiver adapted to receive the wireless signal from one of said beacons to obtain the corresponding identification code of the respective beacon;

a memory device, said memory device having stored therein a comparison table, said comparison table comprising the identification codes of said beacons and a plurality of action commands, each said identification code corresponding to at least one of said action commands; and

a microprocessor electrically connected to said on-board short-distance wireless receiver and said memory device, said microprocessor adapted to fetch the corresponding identification code of the wireless signal received by said on-board short-distance wireless receiver, to search the corresponding at least one action command from said memory device subject to the fetched identification code, and execute the searched corresponding at least one action command.

2. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beacons are classified into a plurality of geographic groups;

said comparison table contains at least one of said geographic groups which corresponding to at least one of the identification codes of said beacons.

3. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 2, wherein said geographic groups being selected from one group of a street group, a parking lot group, a tunnel group, a landscape group, and a shop group.

4. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said geographic locations of said beacons are in a sheltered geographic zone.

5. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one action command comprising an instruction to control at least one vehicle component to execute at least one operating action correspondingly.

6. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein each said identification code in said comparison table corresponds to a control condition;

said microprocessor is adapted to search the control condition corresponding to the fetched identification code and to execute the corresponding at least one action command after the searched control condition has been matched.

7. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one action command comprising an instruction to modify the content of said comparison table of said memory device.

8. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an input device for inputting data into said comparison table of said memory device and editing the data in said comparison table of said memory device.

9. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising an on-board short-distance wireless transmitter adapted to transmit a personal signal;

at least one of said beacons has a short-distance wireless receiver adapted to receive the personal signal from said on-board short-distance wireless transmitter.

10. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 9, wherein said personal signal contains a personal data.

11. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said beacons each further comprise a short-distance wireless receiver for short-distance wireless mutual data transmission with other beacons.

12. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a control center for data transmission with at least one of said beacons.

13. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said control center is capable of modifying the identification code of at least one of said beacons by wire/wirelessly.

14. The beacon-based traffic control system as claimed in claim 12, wherein said motor vehicle further comprises a wireless transceiver for data transmission with said control center wirelessly.