Determining road traffic conditions using data from multiple data sources
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating vehicle travel on roads by generating and providing information related to traffic congestion on the roads, the method comprising:
- receiving information describing a network of roads in a geographic area;
for each of the roads in the network, identifying multiple segments of the road for which road traffic information will be distinctly tracked and provided, each road segment having one or more associated road traffic sensors that provide data regarding vehicles traveling by the road traffic sensors;
for each of one or more of the road segments, and for each of multiple distinct periods of time, generating information related to vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, by,obtaining multiple data samples of multiple types that each reflect one or more travel characteristics of one or more vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple data samples of a first type that are each a road traffic sensor reading generated by one of the one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road segment, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple data samples of a second type that are each a mobile data source data sample reported by one of multiple vehicles on the road segment;
automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types that represent actual vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, the assessing including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road segment based at least in part on comparison of the travel characteristics reflected by the excluded data samples to the travel characteristics reflected by the other data samples;
automatically analyzing the travel characteristics reflected by the identified group of multiple data samples in order to generate one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time, the estimated measurements being generated in a weighted manner such that each data sample of the identified group is weighted based at least in part on a type of the data sample and on recency of the data sample;
automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on the road segment for one or more future periods of times based in part on the estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and based in part on, other current conditions in the geographic area that affect future traffic on the road segment; and
providing the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and the predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the road segment for use in facilitating travel on one or more of the roads,so that users can navigate vehicles over the network of roads based on estimated current and predicted future traffic congestion of the roads.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
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Citations
96 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating vehicle travel on roads by generating and providing information related to traffic congestion on the roads, the method comprising:
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receiving information describing a network of roads in a geographic area; for each of the roads in the network, identifying multiple segments of the road for which road traffic information will be distinctly tracked and provided, each road segment having one or more associated road traffic sensors that provide data regarding vehicles traveling by the road traffic sensors; for each of one or more of the road segments, and for each of multiple distinct periods of time, generating information related to vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, by, obtaining multiple data samples of multiple types that each reflect one or more travel characteristics of one or more vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple data samples of a first type that are each a road traffic sensor reading generated by one of the one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road segment, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple data samples of a second type that are each a mobile data source data sample reported by one of multiple vehicles on the road segment; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types that represent actual vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, the assessing including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road segment based at least in part on comparison of the travel characteristics reflected by the excluded data samples to the travel characteristics reflected by the other data samples; automatically analyzing the travel characteristics reflected by the identified group of multiple data samples in order to generate one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time, the estimated measurements being generated in a weighted manner such that each data sample of the identified group is weighted based at least in part on a type of the data sample and on recency of the data sample; automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on the road segment for one or more future periods of times based in part on the estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and based in part on, other current conditions in the geographic area that affect future traffic on the road segment; and providing the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and the predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the road segment for use in facilitating travel on one or more of the roads, so that users can navigate vehicles over the network of roads based on estimated current and predicted future traffic congestion of the roads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road, and wherein the obtaining of the multiple data samples that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road includes identifying an associated geographic location for each of a plurality of mobile data source data samples and includes selecting a subset of the plurality of mobile data source data samples for use as part of the obtained multiple data samples for the road based at least in part on the mobile data source data samples of the selected subset having associated geographic locations that correspond to geographic locations associated with the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples so as to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 32, 33, 34, 35, 51, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 96)
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25. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of the one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein at least one of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for each of the one or more roads is based on speeds of vehicles traveling on the road, and wherein the analyzing of mobile data source data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of one or more mobile devices moving along a road includes, for each of the mobile data source data samples, automatically determining an associated speed for the mobile data source data sample based on information from multiple of the mobile data source data samples; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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26. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, at least one of the one or more roads including vehicles traveling on the road in two opposite directions, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple, types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes analyzing the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of the one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the analyzing of mobile data source data samples to determine information about speed and/or direction of movement of one or more mobile devices moving along a road includes, for each of the mobile data source data samples, automatically determining an associated direction for the mobile data source data sample based on information from multiple of the mobile data source data samples; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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27. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of the obtained data samples for a road during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes identifying an associated time during the period of time for each of the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples and includes determining a temporal distribution of those mobile data source data samples over the period of time based on the associated times, the determined temporal distribution being for use as part of at least one of the identifying of the group of multiple data samples to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time and of the automatic analyzing of the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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28. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or More data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the automatic assessing of obtained data samples for the one or more roads during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes identifying an associated geographic location for each of the mobile data source data samples of the obtained data samples, and includes determining a geographic distribution of those mobile data source data samples based on the associated geographic locations, the determined geographical distribution being for use as part of at least one of the identifying of the group of multiple data samples to represent actual vehicle travel on at least one of the one or more roads during the period of time and of the automatic analyzing of the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on at least one of the one or more roads; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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29. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being outliers with respect to the multiple data samples of the identified group; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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30. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being road traffic sensor readings that are automatically identified as being likely to have been generated by one or more malfunctioning road traffic sensors; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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31. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road, wherein the mobile devices moving along the one or more roads are devices within vehicles; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road, wherein the excluding of the one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes automatically identifying the one or more excluded data samples based at least in part on the one or more excluded data samples being mobile data source data samples that correspond to one or more vehicles whose travel patterns are automatically identified as not corresponding to typical vehicle travel patterns for the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road.
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36. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group being performed by one or more configured computing systems and including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and automatically analyzing road traffic sensor readings of the obtained data samples that are generated by road traffic sensors to identify road traffic sensors that are likely to be malfunctioning and providing indications of the identified road traffic sensors, the analyzing of the road traffic sensor readings including comparing those road traffic sensor readings to other related road traffic sensor readings.
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37. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified ;
group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the automatic analyzing of an identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on a road is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes performing the analyzing by weighting at least some of the multiple data samples to reflect one or more attributes of those data samples; andproviding one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41)
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42. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the determining of the one or more estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time is performed by one or more configured computing systems and includes generating comparative traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time, and wherein the provided indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements are indications of the generated comparative traffic flow measurements; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (43)
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44. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
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for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; receiving an indication of one or more additional data samples that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on at least one of the roads during the period of time; automatically assessing an value of the additional data samples based at least in part on an incremental benefit that the additional data samples convey with respect to the obtained multiple data samples for the at least one roads and the period of time; and providing an indication of the assessed value of the additional data samples. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
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for each of one or more roads, the one or more roads including multiple roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road, traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; receiving an indication of one or more routes that include travel along the multiple roads; for each of at least some of the multiple roads, automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic flow during each of one or more future periods of times on the road, for each of the one or more routes, determining a predicted travel time for the route based on at least one determined estimated actual traffic flow measurement for a road on the route and based on at least one predicted future traffic flow measurement for a road on the route; and providing information about one or more of the determined predicted travel times for the one or more routes.
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50. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and automatically determining that at least one of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for a road during the period of time differs from at least one expected traffic flow measurement for the road during the period of time by at least a minimum amount, and notifying one or more users of the differing of the at least one estimated and expected actual traffic flow measurements.
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52. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group being performed by one or more configured computing systems and including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, wherein the one or more determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for one of the roads include multiple determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for multiple distinct portions of the one road; providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and automatically determining to treat at least one of the multiple distinct portions of the one road as distinct road segment for which road traffic flow measurement information will be distinctly tracked and provided, the determining of the at least one distinct road segments being based at least in part on analysis of the multiple determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements.
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53. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
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for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that, are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the automatic assessing being performed by one or more configured computing systems, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; automatically determining to replace the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements from the automatic analyzing with other determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the road during the period of time that are based at least in part on historical information about traffic flow for the road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road, wherein the provided one or more indications are of the other determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56)
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57. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
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for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the automatic assessing being performed by one or more configured computing systems, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by the one or more configured computing systems; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and for one of the one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel on the one road during a second period of time after the period of time, by; automatically determining estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the second period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior actual traffic flow for the other road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (58)
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59. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
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for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple, types and that reflect travel, characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road; automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road; automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road, the automatic analyzing being performed by one or more configured computing systems; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road; and for each of one or more other roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during the period of time on the other road by; automatically determining estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior actual traffic flow related to the other road; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for the other road during the period of time. - View Dependent Claims (60)
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69. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times, wherein the multiple data samples of the multiple types include multiple data samples that are each based on one or more data readings each generated by one or more traffic sensors associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time, and include multiple other data samples that are each based on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road, at one or more times; automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 80, 81, 82, 84, 85, 86, 88, 89)
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76. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times; automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time, the automatic analyzing of the multiple data samples being performed by the configured computing device and including automatically assessing the multiple data samples to identify data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road and including determining the one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time based on a group of the multiple data samples that excludes the identified data samples; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements. - View Dependent Claims (77, 78, 79, 93)
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83. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times; automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time; automatically determining to replace the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing with other determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the period of time that are based at least in part on historical information about traffic conditions related to the road, the automatic determining to replace the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing being performed by the configured computing device and being based on the multiple data samples failing to satisfy one or more criteria and/or on the determined estimated traffic condition measurements from the automatic analyzing failing to satisfy one or more criteria; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements wherein the provided one or more indications are of the other determined estimated traffic condition measurements. - View Dependent Claims (94)
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87. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times; automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time; providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements; attempting to obtain data samples for the road that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during a second period of time, so that one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions during the second period of time on the road may be determined from those obtained data samples; automatically determining estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the second period of time based at least in part on historical information about prior traffic conditions for the road, the automatic determining of the estimated traffic condition measurements being performed by the configured computing device and being based at least in part on the historical information after failing to obtain data samples for the road that enable determination based on those obtained data samples of estimated traffic condition measurements for the second period of time on the road that satisfy one or more criteria; and providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic condition measurements for the road during the second period of time. - View Dependent Claims (95)
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90. A computing device configured to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, comprising:
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one or more processors; a first module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, and for each of multiple roads and multiple periods of time, automatically analyze multiple data samples that reflect vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time, the multiple data samples including at least one data sample based on one or more data readings generated by one or more traffic sensors associated with the road and including at least one other data sample based on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road during the period of time, and wherein the automatic analyzing of the multiple data samples for a road and a period of time includes automatically assessing the multiple data samples to identify data samples that are unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, and includes determining the one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time based on a group of the multiple data samples that excludes the identified data samples; and a second module configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, provide one or more indications of at least some of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements. - View Dependent Claims (91, 92)
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Specification