System and method for information supplying service

• US 8,000,888 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2005
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: POSDATA Co., Ltd (Posco)
• Original Assignee: POSDATA Co., Ltd (Posco)
• Inventors: Kim, Kyung-woo, Ban, Hyung-min, Kim, Kyu-woong, Bae, Ik-soo
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US11/722,679
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140305A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,062 Days
• Field of Search: 701/117, 455/422.1, 455/453, 340/995.13
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 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 system and a method for collecting various road traffic information, road image information, and position information of a position information generation device carried by an object, the position of which is to be tracked, by interworking with an information provision means and using the collected information to provide service subscribers with real-time traffic information, traffic prediction, or position information of the object via wireless Internet, satellite broadcasting, DMB, or cable data broadcasting. The system and method can provide detailed traffic information service regarding a specific region or location on a nationwide scale, predict traffic to properly deal with it, and easily provide position information of an object to be tracked.

Claims

1. An information provision service system comprising:

an information provision unit configured to collect and manage road traffic information or road image information, or both;

an information transmission unit configured to provide a communication service to a subscriber terminal; and

an information processing unit configured to collect at least one of the road traffic information, the road image information, and road traffic influence information while interworking with the information provision unit, store collected information on corresponding DBs, manage stored Information, process the road traffic information and the road image information stored on the DBs to be conformed to a transmission type of the communication service in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal, and transmit processed information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission unit, the information processing unit configured to predict future traffic at a requested region or location and at a requested time based on the road traffic information and the road traffic influence information stored on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, process predicted traffic into traffic prediction information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service, and transmit the traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission unit,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the information processing unit comprises:

a traffic information collection module configured to collect the road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected road traffic information based on region or location, store classified road traffic information in a traffic information DB, and manage stored road traffic information;

an image information collection module configured to collect the road image information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected road image information, store classified road image information in an image information DB, and manage stored road image information;

a traffic influence factor collection module configured to collect the traffic influence information at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information or at a predetermined cycle, store collected information in a traffic influence factor DB, and manage stored information; and

an information provision module configured to extract information from at least one of the traffic information DB, the image information DB and the traffic influence factor DB, process the extracted information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service in response to a request of the subscriber terminal, and transmit the processed information to the subscriber terminal.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the information transmission unit is a broadcasting station, the subscriber terminal is a broadcast receiver, and the information processing unit comprises:

a broadcasting information provision module configured to process the road traffic information, the road image information, and the traffic influence information transmitted from the information provision module for broadcasting, perform information verification for one or more of data, update cycle, vehicle speed and time, transmit verified information to a broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station, and providing provide the subscriber terminal with real-time traffic information and traffic prediction information, the broadcasting information provision module configured to process broadcasting position information using map information corresponding to position information of a position information generation device, verify format and displacement of the broadcasting position information, transmit verified information to the broadcast transmitter, and provide the subscriber terminal with broadcasting-based position information; and

a broadcasting application module configured to transmit an application for screen display to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station when providing the subscriber terminal with the broadcasting-based real-time traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the information processing unit further comprises a return response module configured to analyze a request of the traffic information and the traffic prediction made by the subscriber terminal via a return channel connected to the information transmission unit, extract necessary information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB, process extracted information into broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction, perform a series of information verification, and transmit the broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction to the information transmission unit.

5. An information provision service method for providing information in an information provision service system including an information provision unit configured to collect and manage road traffic information or road image information, or both, a subscriber terminal using a communication service, an information transmission unit configured to provide the subscriber terminal with the communication service, and an information processing unit configured to provide the subscriber terminal with information collected by the information provision unit via the information transmission unit, the method comprising:

collecting one or more of the road traffic information, the road image information, and traffic influence information while interworking with the information provision unit and storing collected information on corresponding DBs;

processing the road traffic information and the road image information stored on the DBs to be conformed to a transmission type of the communication service in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal and transmitting processed information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission unit; and

predicting future traffic at a requested region or location and at a requested time based on the road traffic information and the traffic influence information stored on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, processing predicted traffic into traffic prediction information to be conformed to the transmission type of the communication service, and transmitting the traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the information transmission unit,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the collecting of one or more of the road traffic information, the road image information, and traffic influence information comprises:

collecting one or more of the road traffic information, the road image information, and the position information, and the road traffic influence information by the information processing unit while interworking with the information provision unit according to a predetermined information collection schedule; and

classifying collected information based on region or location, storing classified information on corresponding DBs according to information type, and managing stored information.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the processing of the road traffic information and the road image information comprises:

referring to subscriber authentication information by the information processing unit, when the subscriber terminal requests the traffic information and the traffic prediction via the information transmission unit, and performing client authentication for the subscriber terminal;

identifying communication environment, terminal type, and terminal browser information of the subscriber terminal after the subscriber terminal is confirmed to be a valid subscriber terminal;

analyzing the traffic information and the traffic prediction requested from the subscriber terminal, identifying a request type of the subscriber terminal, and extracting corresponding information from the DBs; and

analyzing extracted information, processing analyzed information to be conformed to the communication environment, the terminal type, and terminal browser information of the subscriber terminal, and composing an information request result page.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the information transmission unit is a broadcasting station, the subscriber terminal is realized as a broadcast receiver, and the method further comprises:

checking whether or not there is a request of the traffic information and the traffic prediction from the subscriber terminal via a return channel connected to the information transmission unit;

analyzing the request, when there is the request, and extracting road traffic information, road image information, and road traffic influence information from corresponding DBs according to the request;

processing extracted road traffic information and road image information into broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction and performing a series of information verification; and

transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information and traffic prediction to the subscriber terminal via the return channel.

9. An information provision service system comprising:

an information provision unit configured to collect and manage text-type road traffic information and road image information;

a subscriber terminal provided with a wireless Internet function;

a wireless Internet interworking unit configured to perform a wireless Internet interwork function for the subscriber terminal; and

a wireless Internet traffic information server configured to collect road traffic information and road image information while interworking with the information provision unit, store collected information on corresponding DBs, manage stored information, collect road traffic influence information, accumulate collected information, store accumulated information, manage stored information, process traffic information of a wireless Internet transmission type based on the text-type road traffic information and road image information stored on the DBs when the subscriber terminal requests traffic information at a certain region or location and at a certain time, transmit processed traffic information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking unit, predict future traffic at the certain region or location and at the certain time based on the road traffic information and road traffic influence information accumulated on the DBs in response to a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, process predicted traffic into traffic prediction information of the wireless Internet transmission type, and transmit the traffic prediction information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking unit,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the wireless Internet traffic information server comprises:

a traffic information collection module configured to collect the road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected road traffic information based on region or location, and store classified road traffic information on a traffic information DB;

an image information collection module configured to collect the road image information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected road image information based on region or location, and store classified road image information on an image information DB;

a traffic influence factor collection module configured to collect the road traffic influence information of each region or location at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information or the road image information and at a predetermined cycle, store collected information on a traffic influence factor DB, and manage stored information; and

a traffic information provision module configured to extract necessary road traffic information and road image information from the traffic information DB and the image information DB when the subscriber terminal requests traffic information via the wireless Internet interworking unit, process wireless Internet traffic information regarding a requested region or location based on extracted information, transmit processed information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking unit, extracting road traffic information and traffic influence information at the requested region or location and at a requested time from the traffic information DB and the traffic influence factor DB when the subscriber terminal requests traffic prediction at the request region or location and at the requested time via the wireless Internet interworking unit, collect the traffic influence information by controlling the traffic influence information collection module, predict road traffic at the requested region or location and at the requested time based on extracted and collected information, process corresponding wireless Internet future traffic prediction information, and transmit processed information to the subscriber terminal via the wireless Internet interworking unit.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the wireless Internet traffic information server further includes a client information DB for storing at least one of authentication information on subscriber terminals, traffic information service particulars, subscriber communication environment, subscriber terminal type, and terminal browser version information.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the traffic information provision module provides a wireless Internet-based traffic information service by identifying communication environment of the subscriber terminal, subscriber terminal type, and terminal browser version information, analyzing a traffic information and traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, extracting road traffic information and road image information at a certain region or location and at a certain time and road traffic influence information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB, respectively, to process wireless Internet traffic information as requested, processing wireless Internet traffic information as a traffic information and traffic prediction request result for the subscriber terminal, and transmitting the wireless Internet traffic information to the wireless Internet interworking unit.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the traffic influence factor collection module is adapted to collect traffic influence information corresponding to road traffic information collected by the traffic information collection module at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information and at a predetermined cycle, to store collected information on the traffic influence factor DB, to collect road traffic influence information at date and time of requested traffic prediction under control of the traffic information provision module, and transmit collected information to the traffic information provision module.

14. An information provision service method comprising:

collecting text-type road traffic information and road image information by means of interwork between a wireless Internet traffic information server and an information provision unit, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, and managing stored information;

identifying communication environment and terminal environment of a subscriber terminal in response to a traffic information request of the subscriber terminal via wireless Internet, analyzing the traffic information request, and checking an information request region or location;

extracting text-type traffic information and/or road image information of a certain region or location from the DBs according to a type of traffic information requested by the subscriber terminal and composing a traffic information request result page for wireless Internet;

transmitting the traffic information request result page to a wireless Internet interworking unit to provide traffic information based on wireless Internet as requested by the subscriber terminal;

collecting the road traffic information and road traffic influence information by a wireless Internet traffic prediction server, accumulating collected information, storing accumulated information on DBs, and managing stored information;

analyzing a traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal via wireless Internet and identifying a region or location of requested traffic prediction and requested date and time;

accessing the DBs, extracting road traffic information and road traffic influence information corresponding to the region or location of requested traffic prediction and collecting road traffic influence information at the date and time of requested traffic prediction; and

composing a traffic prediction request result page for wireless Internet based on extracted and collected information and providing the subscriber terminal with a traffic prediction service via the wireless Internet interworking unit,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the collecting of the text-type road traffic information and road image information comprises:

causing the wireless Internet traffic information server and a traffic information server, an image information server, and various content servers acting as information provision unit to interwork with each other according to a predetermined information collection schedule to collect road traffic information collected and managed by the traffic information server;

classifying collected road traffic information based on region or location and information type, storing classified information on a traffic information DB in a text type, and managing stored information;

classifying collected road image information based on region or location and information type, storing classified information on an image information DB, and managing stored information; and

storing collected traffic influence information on a traffic influence factor DB so that the information corresponds to the road traffic information, accumulating stored information, and managing accumulated information.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the identifying of the communication environment and terminal environment of the subscriber terminal comprises:

performing client authentication for the subscriber terminal based on subscriber authentication information of a client information DB by the Internet traffic information server, when a subscriber terminal using a mobile communication terminal requests traffic information and traffic prediction service via the wireless Internet interworking unit;

identifying communication environment, terminal type, and terminal browser version information of the subscriber terminal, the terminal type and the terminal browser version information being terminal environment, based on the client information DB, when the subscriber terminal is confirmed to be a valid subscriber terminal; and

analyzing traffic information and traffic prediction requested by the subscriber terminal and identifying a region or location and date and time.

17. The information provision service method of claim 14, wherein the collecting of the text-type road traffic information and road image information by means of interwork between the wireless Internet traffic information server and the information provision unit, the identifying of the communication environment and terminal environment of the subscriber terminal, the extracting of the text-type traffic information and/or road image information, and the transmitting of the traffic information request result page are performed to provide the subscriber terminal with the traffic information, and the collecting of the road traffic information and road traffic influence information by the wireless Internet traffic prediction server, the analyzing of the traffic prediction request of the subscriber terminal, the accessing of the DBs, and the composing of the traffic prediction request result page are performed to provide the subscriber terminal with the traffic prediction information.

18. The information provision service method of claim 17, wherein the collecting of the text-type road traffic information and road image information by means of interwork between the wireless Internet traffic information server and the information provision unit and the collecting of the road traffic information and road traffic influence information by the wireless Internet traffic prediction server are simultaneously performed.

19. The information provision service method of claim 17, wherein the collecting of the text-type road traffic information and road image information by means of interwork between the wireless Internet traffic information server and the information provision unit and the collecting of the road traffic information and road traffic influence information by the wireless Internet traffic prediction server are performed at different times.

20. An information provision service system for providing traffic information and a traffic prediction service, the system comprising:

an information provision unit configured to collect road traffic information and road image information and manage collected information;

a broadcasting station configured to broadcast to a broadcast receiver; and

a broadcasting traffic information server configured to collect road traffic information and road image information while interworking with the information provision unit, store collected information on a traffic information DB and a traffic image information DB, manage stored information, collect road traffic influence information of a region or location, accumulate collected information, store accumulated information on a traffic influence factor DB, manage stored information, process the road traffic information and road image information for broadcasting, perform information verification, broadcast traffic information to the broadcasting station, provide broadcast receivers with a broadcasting-based traffic information service via the broadcasting station and a broadcasting network, predict future road traffic corresponding to a predetermined prediction period based on the road traffic information and the road traffic influence information, compose broadcasting traffic prediction information accordingly, perform information verification, transmit verified information to the broadcasting station, and provide the broadcast receivers with a traffic prediction service corresponding to the predetermined prediction period via the broadcasting station and the broadcasting network,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the broadcasting traffic information server is adapted to access various information stored on the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB in response to a traffic information and traffic prediction request of the broadcast receiver via a return channel and transmit broadcasting traffic information of a requested region or location and predicted broadcasting traffic prediction information to the broadcasting station so that broadcasting traffic information and a traffic prediction of the requested region or location are transmitted to the broadcast receiver via the broadcasting station and the return channel.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein the broadcasting traffic information server comprises:

a traffic information collection module configured to collect a series of road traffic information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected information based on information type, store classified information on the traffic information DB according to information type, and manage stored information;

an image information collection module configured to collect a series of road image information collected and managed by the information provision unit while interworking with the information provision unit, classify collected information based on information type, store classified information on the image information DB according to information type, and manage stored information;

a traffic influence information collection module configured to collect road traffic influence information at a point of time of collection of the road traffic information and at a predetermined cycle, store collected information on the traffic influence factor DB, and manage stored information;

a traffic information provision module configured to extract necessary information from the traffic information DB, the image information DB, and the traffic influence factor DB at an information request of the broadcast receiver via the broadcasting station, process extracted information to be conformed to a transmission type of the information provision service, and transmit the processed information to the broadcast receiver;

a broadcasting information provision module configured to process the road traffic information, the road image information, and the road traffic influence information transmitted from the traffic information provision module for broadcasting, perform at least one of information verification including data verification, update cycle verification, and vehicle speed and time verification, transmit verified information to a broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station, to provide the broadcasting receiver with broadcasting-based real-time traffic information and traffic prediction, process broadcasting position information using map information corresponding to position information, perform verification of format and displacement of the broadcasting position information, transmit verified information to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast receiver with broadcasting-based position information; and

a broadcasting application module configured to transmit an application for screen display to the broadcast transmitter of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast subscriber with the broadcasting-based real-time traffic information, the traffic prediction, and the position information.

23. An information provision service method comprising:

collecting road traffic information, road image information, and road traffic influence information by means of interworking between a broadcasting traffic information server and an information provision unit, storing collected information on corresponding DBs, and managing stored information;

periodically extracting road traffic information and road image information stored on the corresponding DBs, processing extracted information into satellite broadcasting traffic information and performing at least one type of information verification of data, update cycle, and vehicle speed and time;

extracting various road traffic information and road traffic influence information accumulated and stored on the corresponding DBs, predicting road traffic corresponding to a predetermined prediction period, composing broadcasting traffic prediction information for broadcasting, and performing at least one type of information verification of data, update cycle , and vehicle speed and time; and

transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information or traffic prediction information to a broadcast transmitter of a broadcasting station to provide broadcasting receivers with a broadcasting-based traffic information service via the broadcast transmitter and a broadcasting network,

wherein the road traffic information comprises one or more of vehicle speed information, passage time information, traffic condition information, and detour information, and

wherein the road traffic influence information comprises one or more of weather, date, day, time, holidays, consecutive holidays, events, gatherings, construction, and roadside facilities.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising:

checking whether or not there is a traffic information and traffic prediction request from a broadcast receiver via a return channel of the broadcasting station while providing the broadcast receivers with the broadcasting-based traffic information service;

analyzing a traffic information request, when there is the traffic information request from the broadcast receiver, and extracting road traffic information and road image information of an information request region or location by accessing to corresponding DBs;

processing extracted road traffic information and road image information into broadcasting traffic information for broadcasting and performing information verification of the broadcasting traffic information;

analyzing a traffic prediction request, when there is the traffic prediction request from the broadcast receiver, and identifying a traffic prediction request region or location and a prediction request period;

extracting road traffic information and traffic influence factor information on corresponding to identified traffic prediction request region or location and prediction request period by accessing to corresponding DBs;

composing broadcasting traffic prediction information corresponding to the prediction request period based on extracted road traffic information and road traffic influence factor information and performing information verification; and

transmitting verified broadcasting traffic information to the corresponding broadcast receiver via the return channel of the broadcasting station to provide the broadcast receiver with traffic information of the requested region or location.