Method and system for presenting traffic-related information

• US 7,711,699 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2005
• Issued: 05/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: HNTB Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: HNTB Holdings Limited
• Inventors: Koromyslov, Aleksandr Mikhailovych, Sohl, Shawn Dewayne, Claudon, Timm J., Stehle, Tommy Allen, Simon, Christopher James
• Primary Examiner(s): Ali, Mohammad
• Assistant Examiner(s): HASAN, SYED HAROON
• Application Number:
  US11/314,607
• Publication Number:
  US 20060136090A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,595 Days
• Field of Search: 707/100
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09 Arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions railroad crossing signals B61L; reflectors E01F, G08B; indicating arrangements for variable information by selection or combination of individual elements G09F9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/13 the indicator being in the form of a map

Abstract

Presenting of real-world situational data on a dynamically updateable user interface is provided for by providing a dynamically updateable user interface that includes dynamic objects having variable characteristics and that correspond to real-world objects, receiving situational data that corresponds to a status of the one or more real-world objects, and conforming the one or more variable characteristics to be consistent with the situational data such that an observer of the one or more dynamic objects is informed of a current status of a corresponding real-world situation.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of presenting real-world situational data on a system-independent, dynamically updateable user interface, the method comprising:

receiving information from a vector based computer aided drafting graphics file that depicts a drawing comprising display objects which correspond to real-world objects that have variable display characteristics, wherein the display objects describe roadway geometry;

rendering a set of definable objects that are situated to resemble the roadway geometry using coordinate geometry information from the graphics file without user intervention;

associating one or more attributes with the set of definable objects to obtain object rendering data;

providing a dynamically updateable user interface that includes one or more dynamic objects that are useable to reflect real-world events, wherein the dynamic objects are associated with one or more variable characteristics, and wherein the dynamic objects are depicted on a map that is generated from the object-rendering data that, if updated, automatically results in said dynamic object being updated consistent therewith;

receiving situational data that corresponds to a status of the real-world events, said situational data derived from one or more components, said components comprising law enforcement agencies, weather information systems, dynamic message signs, and publicly displayed sensors and cameras;

conforming the one or more variable characteristics to be consistent with the situational data such that an observer of the one or more dynamic objects is informed of a current status corresponding to a real-world situation; and

utilizing a route manager with the dynamically updateable user interface to perform a segment assembly process that includes,

(1) providing at least one route, said at least one route comprising a plurality of segments, wherein each of said plurality of segments comprises a plurality of polygons;

(2) receiving at least one designated real world characteristic pertinent to said at least one route;

(3) selecting a region within an area encompassing said at least one route, wherein said region comprises some of said plurality of segments and some of said plurality of polygons, and wherein said selecting a region is based upon said at least one designated real world characteristic; and

(4) notifying participating users of any changes to said region, based upon said at least one designated real world characteristic;

(5) wherein each of said plurality of segments share a common map-related trait, and each of said plurality of polygons within a respective segment share a common map-related trait.

2. The media of claim 1, wherein the object-rendering data is used to draw the map based on drawing information in the graphics file that correspond to real-world objects and wherein the situational data includes traffic data.

3. The media of claim 2, wherein the traffic data includes roadway data comprising one or more of:

traffic speed;

performance data gathered from one or more roadway sensors;

video from one or more traffic cameras;

incident data;

road closures;

construction information;

detour information;

traffic operations data from databases;

dispatch data including computer-assisted dispatch data from one or more law enforcement agencies;

audio information including audio information from highway advisory radio(s);

road-condition information;

weather data;

location-specific data;

text from one or more dynamic message signs; and

roadway geometry.

4. The media of claim 1, wherein the dynamically updateable user interface includes a system-independent interface that includes one or more information-depiction components.

5. The media of claim 4, wherein the one or more dynamic objects includes groupings of one or more constituent objects.

6. The media of claim 5, wherein the one or more variable characteristics includes variable visual characteristics and/or audio characteristics.

7. The media of claim 6, wherein the visual characteristics include one or more of a color, a fill pattern, a blinking status, and a texture.

8. The media of claim 6, wherein conforming includes updating the dynamically updateable user interface to reflect a change in the situational data and/or to reflect a change in the coordinate geometry information associated with the dynamic objects presented on the dynamically updateable user interface.

9. The media of claim 8, further comprising generating one or more alerts associated with the situational data.

10. The media of claim 9, further comprising communicating the one or more alerts to one or more remote devices.

11. The media of claim 10, wherein the one or more remote devices includes a mobile phone, an e-mail-receiving device, a television, a radio, and/or a personal data assistant.

12. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method for presenting real-world situational data on a dynamically updateable user interface, the method comprising:

receiving information from a vector based computer aided drafting graphics file that depicts a drawing comprising display objects which correspond to real-world objects that have variable display characteristics, wherein the display objects describe roadway geometry;

providing a redrawn map comprising one or more definable objects that are situated to resemble the roadway geometry using coordinate geometry information from the graphics file without user intervention;

associating one or more attributes with the definable objects to obtain object rendering data;

storing in a repository, the object-rendering data that describes how to render the redrawn map that includes the one or more definable objects into a dynamically updateable user interface containing one or more dynamic objects associated with one or more variable characteristics, wherein said object-rendering data is generated from drawing information that describes real-world objects that are ultimately depicted on said dynamically updateable user interface, and wherein a change in said object rendering data gives rise to an automatic change in said dynamically updateable user interface;

receiving from one or more traffic-data gathering components traffic data that describes a status of a real-world, traffic-related situation, said traffic-data gathering components comprising roadway sensors, video traffic cameras, dispatch data from law enforcement agencies, weather information systems, and dynamic message signs;

communicating the traffic data to the graphics file;

causing the one or more variable characteristics respectively associated with the one or more dynamic objects to graphically indicate the status of the current traffic-related situation;

without user interaction, periodically determining whether the object-rendering data in the repository has changed from a previous state to subsequent state, and if so, automatically re-depicting the dynamic objects consistent with the subsequent state;

utilizing the dynamically updateable user interface to provide at least one route, said at least one route comprising a plurality of segments, wherein each of said plurality of segments comprises a plurality of polygons;

receiving at least one designated real world characteristic pertinent to said at least one route;

selecting a region within an area encompassing said at least one route, wherein said region comprises some of said plurality of segments and some of said plurality of polygons, and wherein said selecting a region is based upon said at least one designated real world characteristic; and

displaying said real world events for said selected region and said designated real world characteristic to said user interface.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the repository stores coordinate-geometry information and traffic-status information.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the object-rendering data that describes how to render the dynamic objects includes information relating to how to draw a representation of objects associated with the real-world situational data.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein communicating the traffic data includes one or more of the following:

communicating the traffic data directly to the one or more dynamic objects;

or

communicating the traffic data indirectly through a repository.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein communicating the traffic data includes communicating the traffic data according to a push or pull model.

17. The method of claim 12, wherein periodically determining includes determining on an irregular schedule and based upon an occurrence of one or more events.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the re-depicting includes automatically redrawing the dynamic objects according to one or more changes associated with the subsequent state.

19. One or more computer-storage media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method for presenting real-world situational data on a dynamically updateable user interface, the method comprising:

creating a dynamically updateable user interface (UI) that includes a map being presented by way of a web browser, wherein said map includes mapping information from a vector based computer aided drafting graphics file that includes static objects representing roadway geometry as well as depictions of dynamic objects that correspond to the attribute-receivable objects and that are associated with one or more variable characteristics;

receiving situational data;

conforming the one or more variable characteristics incident to receiving situational data;

receiving an indication that object-rendering data has changed, the object rendering data being useable to draw said map including said static objects, and the object-rendering data stemming from drawing information that describes real-world objects;

automatically updating said map incident to receiving said indication that said object-rendering data has changed;

utilizing the dynamically updateable UI to provide at least one route, said at least one route divided into a plurality of segments, and each of said plurality of segments further divided into a plurality of polygons, wherein each of said plurality of segments share a common map-related trait, and each of said plurality of polygons within a respective segment share a common map-related trait, wherein the map-related trait of the plurality of segments differs from the map-related trait of the plurality of polygons; and

selecting a region within an area encompassing said at least one route, wherein said region comprises some of said plurality of segments and some of said plurality of polygons, and wherein said selecting a region is based upon at least one designated real world characteristic.

20. The media of claim 19, wherein creating the dynamically updateable UI includes:

providing one or more drawing files that include drawing data that describes stagnant-drawing objects of the stagnant drawing;

using the drawing data, presenting a redrawn map with a set of attribute-receivable objects that are consistent with the drawing data;

exposing a set of options to associate attributes with the attribute-receivable objects; and

associating the attributes with the attribute-receivable objects.

21. One or more computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon that, when executed, cause a computing device to perform a method for presenting traffic-related information, the method comprising:

gathering a plurality of informational attributes associated with traffic conditions of a geographic area;

receiving an indication that object-rendering data has changed, the object rendering data being usable to draw a map including static objects representing roadway geometry, and the object-rendering data stemming from drawing information from a vector based computer aided drafting graphics file that describes real-world objects;

representing the informational attributes on a graphical user interface of an e-mail or messaging device;

utilizing a dynamically updateable user interface to provide at least one route, said at least one route divided into a plurality of segments, and each of said plurality of segments further divided into a plurality of polygons, wherein each of said plurality of segments share a common map-related trait, and each of said plurality of polygons share a common map-related trait;

selecting a region within an area encompassing said at least one route, wherein said region comprises some of said plurality of segments and some of said plurality of polygons, and wherein said selecting a region is based upon at least one designated real world characteristic; and

displaying real world events for said selected region and said at least one designated real world characteristic to said graphical user interface.

22. The media of claim 21, wherein the plurality of informational attributes includes one or more selections from the following:

traffic volume;

traffic occupancy,

traffic speed ranges;

actual speeds of vehicles including averages of groups of vehicles;

location-specific data;

traffic-status images;

text from variable-message signs;

construction phasing;

closure schedules;

indications of events;

alerts; and

combinations thereof.