Method and apparatus for providng and using public transportation information

• US 8,446,296 B2
• Filed: 06/07/2007
• Issued: 05/21/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: Kim, Young In, Seo, Chu Hyun, Park, Sang O, Kim, Seung Won
• Primary Examiner(s): HUNNINGS, TRAVIS R
• Application Number:
  US12/303,777
• Publication Number:
  US 20100253549A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,175 Days
• Field of Search: 340/994
• US Class Current: 340/994
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968

Abstract

Disclosed herein is a method and apparatus for providing traffic information of public transportation means, such as a bus, and utilizing the provided information. A method of encoding public traffic information according to the present invention creates, for an arbitrary bus stop, a first component including the number of buses to arrive at the bus stop and as many pieces of bus information as the created number of buses, and incorporates the first component along with an identifier allocated to the bus stop into a second component. The second component is then incorporated into a transfer message. A sequence of messages, each being constructed as described above, is wirelessly transmitted.

Claims

1. A method for processing traffic information at a server including an encoder and a transmitter, comprising:

encoding, at the encoder, the traffic information; and

transmitting, at the transmitter, the encoded traffic information,

wherein the traffic information includes a plurality of message segments,

wherein the message segments include a message management container, an event container, and a location container that are defined by the TPEG (Transport Protocol Expert Group) standard,

wherein the message management container includes a message identifier, a message generation time, and a version number,

wherein the event container includes information corresponding to a number of buses to arrive at a bus stop, bus information of buses to arrive, an identifier for the bus stop, bus operation interval information which includes information corresponding to a day of week and information corresponding to an interval of bus operation for the day of the week, and

wherein the traffic information further includes a country code and a language code.

2. The method of claim 1,

wherein the event container further comprises first time information corresponding to a first bus, second time information corresponding to a last bus, and information corresponding to a turning point of the buses.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the event container further comprises information indicative of used bus information system.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the event container further includes at least one type of information among predicted arrival time of the bus, and information on current location of the bus.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the information on the current location of the bus is information for identifying a bus stop or a section between two bus stops where the bus is currently located.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the information for identifying a bus stop is either a number sequentially assigned to bus stops pertaining to a bus route or an identifier uniquely assigned to each bus stop located within an area in which the traffic information is serviced.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the information for identifying a section is one type of information among an identifier uniquely assigned to each section located within an area in which the traffic information is serviced, a pair of numbers each of which is sequentially assigned to bus stops pertaining to a bus route, and a pair of identifiers each of which is uniquely assigned to each bus stop located within an area in which the traffic information is serviced.

8. An apparatus for processing traffic information, comprising:

an encoder configured to encode the traffic information;

transmitter configured to transmit the encoded traffic information,

wherein the traffic information includes a plurality of message segments,

wherein the message segments include a message management container, an event container, and a location container that are defined by the TPEG (Transport Protocol Expert Group) standard,

wherein the message management container includes a message identifier, a message generation time, and a version number,

wherein the event container includes information corresponding to a number of buses to arrive at a bus stop, bus information of buses to arrive, an identifier for the bus stop, bus operation interval information which includes information corresponding to a day of week and information corresponding to an interval of bus operation for the day of the week, and

wherein the traffic information further includes a country code and a language code.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the event container further comprises at least one type of information among predicted arrival time of the bus, and information on current location of the bus.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the information on the current location of the bus is information for identifying a bus stop or a section between two bus stops where the bus is currently located.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the event container further comprises first time information corresponding to a first bus, second time information corresponding to a last bus, and information corresponding to a turning point of the buses.

12. A method for processing traffic information at a terminal including a receiver and a decoder, comprising:

receiving, at the receiver, the traffic information; and

decoding, at the decoder, the received traffic information,

wherein the traffic information includes a plurality of message segments,

wherein the message segments include a message management container, an event container, and a location container that are defined by the TPEG (Transport Protocol Expert Group) standard,

wherein the message management container includes a message identifier, a message generation time, and a version number,

wherein the event container includes information corresponding to a number of buses to arrive at a bus stop, bus information of buses to arrive, an identifier for the bus stop, bus operation interval information which includes information corresponding to a day of week and information corresponding to an interval of bus operation for the day of the week, and

wherein the traffic information further includes a country code and a language code.

13. The method of claim 12,

wherein the event container further comprises first time information corresponding to a first bus, second time information corresponding to a last bus, and information corresponding to a turning point of the buses.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the event container further comprises information indicative of used bus information system.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the event container further includes at least one type of information among predicted arrival time of the bus, and information on current location of the bus.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the information on the current location of the bus is information for identifying a bus stop or a section between two bus stops where the bus is currently located.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the information for identifying a bus stop is either a number sequentially assigned to bus stops pertaining to a bus route or an identifier uniquely assigned to each bus stop located within an area in which the public transportation information is serviced.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the information for identifying a section is one type of information among an identifier uniquely assigned to each section located within an area in which the public transportation information is serviced, a pair of numbers each of which is sequentially assigned to bus stops pertaining to a bus route, and a pair of identifiers each of which is uniquely assigned to each bus stop located within an area in which the public transportation information is serviced.

19. An apparatus for processing traffic information, comprising:

a demodulator for demodulating a received signal to output the traffic information including a sequence of messages; and

a decoder for decoding the outputted traffic information by the demodulator,

wherein the traffic information includes a plurality of message segments,

wherein the message segments include a message management container, an event container, and a location container that are defined by the TPEG (Transport Protocol Expert Group) standard,

wherein the message management container includes a message identifier, a message generation time, and a version number,

wherein the event container includes information corresponding to a number of buses to arrive at a bus stop, bus information of buses to arrive, an identifier for the bus stop, bus operation interval information which includes information corresponding to a day of week and information corresponding to an interval of bus operation for the day of the week, and

wherein the traffic information further includes a country code and a language code.

20. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising a location detector for detecting information on current location.

21. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the event container further includes at least one type of information among predicted arrival time of the bus, and information on current location of the bus.

22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the information on the current location of the bus is information for identifying a bus stop or a section between two bus stops where the bus is currently located.

23. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the event container further comprises first time information corresponding to a first bus, second time information corresponding to a last bus, and information corresponding to a turning point of the buses.

24. The apparatus of claim 19, wherein the event container further comprises information indicative of used bus information system.

25. The apparatus of claim 19, further comprising an output unit presents the decoded traffic information visually or audibly.