Traffic information processing apparatus and method, traffic information integrating device and method

• US 8,296,045 B2
• Filed: 06/26/2008
• Issued: 10/23/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Company Limited
• Original Assignee: NEC Company Limited
• Inventors: Qi, Hongwei, Feng, Qiangze, Liu, Yuguang, Fukushima, Toshikazu, Liang, Bangyong, Meng, Xin
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran, Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): FIGUEROA, JAIME
• Application Number:
  US12/146,991
• Publication Number:
  US 20090037087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,580 Days
• Field of Search: 701/117, 701/118, 340/905, 340/907, 340/995.12, 340/995.13
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/092 Coding or decoding of the information

Abstract

The present invention provides a traffic information processing apparatus and method, the apparatus comprises a format unifying device which unifies input traffic information with different formats to traffic information with unified format; and a traffic information integrating device which corrects and/or complements the traffic information with unified format based on a knowledge base to obtain traffic information which is consistent with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information, wherein the knowledge base is external to the apparatus or internal to the apparatus. The traffic information processing apparatus and method according to the present invention can process traffic information with spatial inconsistence, temporal inconsistence and semantic inconsistence so as to integrate effectively the traffic information from a variety of heterogeneous information sources and ensure the accuracy, completeness and reliability of traffic data.

Claims

1. A traffic information processing apparatus, comprising:

a format unifying device which unifies input traffic information with different formats to traffic information with unified format; and

a traffic information integrating device which corrects or complements the traffic information with unified format based on a knowledge base to obtain traffic information which is consistent with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information, wherein the knowledge base is external to the apparatus or internal to the apparatus,

wherein the traffic information integrating device receives a plurality of pieces of the traffic information with the unified format relating to a location, compares traffic status for the location included in a first piece among the plurality of pieces of traffic information with traffic status included in other pieces of the traffic information relating to the location, determines whether there is a conflict between the first piece of the traffic information and the other pieces of the traffic information, and corrects or complements the first piece of the traffic information to be consistent with the other pieces of the traffic information.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a knowledge base mapping device connected to the format unifying device which maps the traffic information with unified format to the traffic information defined in the knowledge base by using the knowledge base, and transmits the mapped traffic information to the traffic information integrating device.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a synonymous information processing device connected to the format unifying device which transforms synonymous descriptions in the traffic information with unified format to identical description information, and transmits the transformed traffic information to the traffic information integrating device.

4. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising:

a checking device connected to the format unifying device which performs on the transformed traffic information at least one of the checking processes;

existence checking, completeness checking, semantic error checking, time expiration checking, and redundancy checking, and then transmits the checked traffic information to the traffic information integrating device.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a synonymous information processing device connected to the format unifying device which transforms the synonymous descriptions in the traffic information with unified format to identical description information, and transmits the transformed traffic information to the checking device; and

a checking device which performs on the transformed traffic information at least one of the checking processes;

existence checking, completeness checking, semantic error checking, time expiration checking, and redundancy checking, and then transmits the checked traffic information to the traffic information integrating device.

6. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the knowledge base mapping device comprises:

a decomposing unit which decomposes the traffic information containing combined information into the traffic information of the geographic points defined in the knowledge base according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations.

7. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the knowledge base mapping device comprises:

a transforming unit which transforms the traffic information containing indirect information to the traffic information of the traffic point defined in the knowledge base according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations.

8. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the knowledge base mapping device comprises:

a decomposing unit which decomposes the traffic information containing combined information into the traffic information of the geographic points defined in the knowledge base according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations; and

a transforming unit which transforms the traffic information containing indirect information to the traffic information of the traffic point defined in the knowledge base according to the relation table in the knowledge base.

9. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the knowledge base

mapping device further comprises:

a mapping unit which maps the decomposed or transformed traffic information to an electronic map by using the longitude and latitude information defined by attribute information in the knowledge base.

10. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a spatial conflict processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial locations are adjoined but the traffic description are contradict with each other according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and corrects the contradict traffic information so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a spatial complementary processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are not complete according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and then generates complementary traffic information so as to form the integrated traffic information;

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

12. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a spatial conflict processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are contradict with each other according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and corrects the contradict traffic information so as to integrate the traffic information;

a spatial complementary processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are not complete according to the relation table in the knowledge base, and generates complementary traffic information so as to form the integrated traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

13. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a time conflict processing unit which corrects the traffic information that has time conflict with each other by comparing the traffic status about the same location on different time according to concept information in the knowledge base, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

14. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a time complementary processing unit which adds new traffic information or complements the traffic information that lacks traffic status on a certain time by comparing the traffic information on adjacent time, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

15. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a time conflict processing unit which corrects the traffic information that has time conflict with each other by comparing the traffic status about the same location on different time according to concept information in the knowledge base, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a time complementary processing unit which complements the traffic

information that lacks traffic description on a certain time by comparing the traffic information on adjacent time, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a semantic conflict processing unit which searches the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other based on a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and selects the traffic information having high reliability from the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other, according to at least one of the determination conditions including the reliability of an information source, the majority having priority, comparison with the current time and comparison with the history traffic data, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

17. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a semantic complementary processing unit which searches the traffic information that semantically complements with each other according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and combines the traffic information that semantically implements with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

18. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a semantic conflict processing unit which searches the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other based on a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and selects the traffic information having high reliability from the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other, according to at least one of the determination conditions including the reliability of an information source, the majority having priority, comparison with the current time and comparison with the history traffic data, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a semantic complementary processing unit which searches the traffic information that semantically complements with each other according to the relation table in the knowledge base, and combines the traffic information that semantically implements with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

19. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information integrating device comprises:

an input unit which receives the traffic information with unified format;

a spatial conflict processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are contradict with each other according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and corrects the contradict traffic information so as to integrate the traffic information;

a spatial complementary processing unit which detects the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are not complete according to the relation table in the knowledge base, and then generates complementary traffic information so as to form the integrated traffic information;

a time conflict processing unit which corrects the traffic information that has time conflict with each other by comparing the traffic status about the same location on different time according to concept information in the knowledge base, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a time complementary processing unit which complements the traffic

information that lacks traffic description on a certain time by comparing the traffic information on adjacent time, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a semantic conflict processing unit which searches the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other based on the relation table in the knowledge base, and selects the traffic information having high reliability from the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other, according to at least one of the determination conditions including the reliability of an information source, the majority having priority, comparison with the current time and comparison with the history traffic data, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a semantic complementary processing unit which searches the traffic information that semantically complements with each other according to the relation table in the knowledge base, and combines the traffic information that semantically implements with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information.

20. A traffic information processing method, comprising:

unifying input traffic information with different formats to traffic information with unified format; and

integrating the traffic information with the unified format by a processor,

wherein the integrating the traffic information comprises;

receiving a plurality of pieces of the traffic information with the unified format relating to a location,

comparing traffic status for the location included in a first piece among the plurality of pieces of traffic information with traffic status included in other pieces of the traffic information relating to the location,

determining whether there is a conflict between the first piece of the traffic information and the other pieces of the traffic information, and

correcting or complementing the first piece of the traffic information to be consistent with the other pieces of the traffic information.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein the knowledge base is generated by the following steps:

a concept section extracting step of extracting geographic categories, geographic entities, geographic direction and traffic situation from an electronic map and extracting synonymous word of each concept, as a concept section;

an attribute section extracting step of extracting the data fields associated with the location description from the electronic map as an attribute and obtaining value type corresponding to each attribute, as the attribute section;

a relation section extracting step of extracting the geospatial relationship between the geographic entities and the semantic relationship between concepts, as a relation section; and

a combining step of combining the extracted concept section, attribute section, relation section and an axiom part, which are rules based on the concept section and relation section, to further deduce the relation section so as to generate the location knowledge base.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising at least one of the following steps:

a synonymous information processing step of transforming the synonymous descriptions in the traffic information with unified format to identical description information, and transmitting the transformed traffic information to the traffic information integrating step;

a checking step of performing on the transformed traffic information at least one of the checking processes;

existence checking, completeness checking, semantic error checking, time expiration checking, and redundancy checking, and then transmits the checked traffic information to the traffic information integrating step; and

a knowledge base mapping step of mapping the checked traffic information with unified format to the traffic information defined in the knowledge base by using the knowledge base.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein the knowledge base mapping step comprises at least one of the steps:

a decomposing step of decomposing the traffic information containing combined information into the traffic information of the geographic points defined in the knowledge base according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations; and

a transforming step of transforming the traffic information containing indirect information to the traffic information of the traffic point defined in the knowledge base according to the relation table in the knowledge base.

24. The method according to claim 23, wherein the knowledge base mapping step further comprises:

a mapping step of mapping the decomposed or transformed traffic information to an electronic map by using the longitude and latitude information defined by attribute information in the knowledge base.

25. The method according to claim 20, wherein the traffic information integrating steps comprises at least one of the following steps:

a spatial conflict processing step of detecting the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are contradict with each other according to a relation table in the knowledge base, which describes relationship between concepts associated with traffic situations, and correcting the contradict traffic information so as to integrate the traffic information;

a spatial complementary processing step of detecting the traffic information of which described spatial location are adjoined but the traffic description are not complete according to the relation table in the knowledge base, and then generating complementary traffic information so as to form the integrated traffic information;

a time conflict processing step of correcting the traffic information that has time conflict with each other by comparing the traffic status about the same location on different time according to concept information in the knowledge base, so as to integrate the traffic information; and

;

a time complementary processing step of complementing the traffic information that lacks traffic description on a certain time by comparing the traffic information on adjacent time, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a semantic conflict processing step of searching the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other based on the relation section in the knowledge base, and selecting the traffic information having high reliability from the traffic information that has semantic conflict with each other, according to at least one of the determination conditions including the reliability

of an information source, the majority having priority, comparison with the current time and comparison with the history traffic data, so as to integrate the traffic information;

a semantic complementary processing step of searching the traffic information that semantically complements with each other according to the relation section in the knowledge base, combining the traffic information that semantically implements with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information.

26. A traffic information processing apparatus, comprising:

an inputting device, which receives traffic information with unified format;

a traffic information integrating device which corrects or complements the traffic information with unified format based on knowledge base to obtain traffic information which is consistent with each other, so as to integrate the traffic information, wherein the knowledge base is external to the apparatus or internal to the apparatus; and

an outputting unit which outputs the integrated traffic information, wherein the traffic information integrating device receives a plurality of pieces of the traffic information with the unified format relating to a location, compares traffic status for the location included in a first piece among the plurality of pieces of traffic information with traffic status included in other pieces of the traffic information relating to the location, determines whether there is a conflict between the first piece of the traffic information and the other pieces of the traffic information, and corrects or complements the first piece of the traffic information to be consistent with the other pieces of the traffic information.

27. A traffic information processing method, comprising:

receiving traffic information with unified format; and

integrating the traffic information with the unified format by a processor,

wherein the integrating the traffic information comprises;

receiving a plurality of pieces of the traffic information with the unified format relating to a location,

comparing traffic status for the location included in a first piece among the plurality of pieces of traffic information with traffic status included in other pieces of the traffic information relating to the location,

determining whether there is a conflict between the first piece of the traffic information and the other pieces of the traffic information, and

correcting or complementing the first piece of the traffic information to be consistent with the other pieces of the traffic information.