System and method for providing traffic information

• US 9,165,465 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2013
• Issued: 10/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sagittarius Spolka Z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnoscia
• Original Assignee: Aleksandra Kosatka-pioro
• Inventors: Kosatka-Pioro, Aleksandra, Pioro, Krzysztof
• Primary Examiner(s): Mehmood, Jennifer
• Assistant Examiner(s): POINT, RUFUS C
• Application Number:
  US14/142,851
• Publication Number:
  US 20150054658A1
• Time in Patent Office: 660 Days
• Field of Search: 701/119, 701/117, 340/905
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096 provided with indicators in which a mark progresses showing the time elapsed, e.g. of green phase
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0967 Systems involving transmission of highway information, e.g. weather, speed limits transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• 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 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for providing traffic information via a navigation module onboard a moving vehicle, comprising the steps of: obtaining geolocalization data of the vehicle; identifying the closest traffic light ahead the vehicle; retrieving, from a remote traffic light server, operational information on the identified closest traffic light; processing the operational information to determine an optimal speed at which the vehicle should move to arrive at the closest traffic light when it is at green phase; and outputting the optimal speed via a user interface of the navigation module.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for providing traffic information via a navigation module onboard a moving vehicle, comprising the steps of:

obtaining geolocalization data of the vehicle from a geolocalization module;

identifying the closest traffic light ahead the vehicle;

retrieving, from a remote traffic light server, by means of a data interface, operational information on the identified closest traffic light;

processing, by a data processor, the operational information to determine an optimal speed at which the vehicle should move to arrive at the closest traffic light when it is at green phase; and

outputting the optimal speed via a user interface of the navigation module;

wherein the step of identifying the closest traffic light ahead the vehicle is executed using local information provided by an onboard mapping system configured to identify the closest traffic light whereas the mapping system further comprises a database of traffic lights, defining the coordinates of the traffic lights and their identifiers facilitating said identification.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the optimal speed is determined by:

determining the speed range necessary to arrive at the closest traffic light at a current cycle if the traffic light is currently green or the next green cycle;

comparing the speed range with a speed limit;

in case the speed range includes a range lower than the speed limit, determining the optimal speed as not greater than the speed limit; and

otherwise, determining the speed range necessary to arrive at the next green cycle of the closest traffic light.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the optimal speed is further determined by:

determining a second speed range necessary to arrive at the first green cycle of the next traffic light;

comparing the second speed range with a speed limit;

in case the second speed range includes a range lower than the speed limit, determining the second optimal speed as not greater than the speed limit and outputting an optimal speed which is in the range of intersection of the first speed range and the second speed range; and

otherwise, determining the speed range necessary to arrive at the next green cycle of the closest traffic light.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the speed limit is selected depending on the type of the vehicle.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein the speed limit is determined as the maximum allowed speed limit determined by a mapping system for the particular road region between the vehicle and the closest traffic light.

6. The method according to claim 2, wherein the speed limit is determined as an average speed stored in a history database for travel between the particular road region between the vehicle and the traffic light.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the optimal speed is determined by determining the optimal speed as a speed within a range necessary to arrive at the green cycle of the closest traffic light and the next traffic light.

8. The method according to claim 1, further comprising outputting, via a user interface of the navigation module, an indicator specifying whether the current speed is within the calculated speed range, lower than the determined speed range or higher than the determined speed range.

9. The method according to claim 1 being operated cyclically.

10. A computer readable medium storing computer-executable instructions performing all the steps of the computer-implemented method according to claim 1 when executed on a computer.

11. A navigation module for providing traffic information for a moving vehicle, the module comprising:

a geolocalization module configured to provide geolocalization data of the vehicle;

a data interface communicatively connected to a remote traffic light server, and configured to retrieve operational information on the identified closest traffic light;

a data processor configured to process the operational information to determine an optimal speed at which the vehicle should move to arrive at the closest traffic light when it is at green phase;

a user interface configured to output the optimal speed;

a mapping system configured to identify the closest traffic light ahead the vehicle wherein the mapping system further comprises a database of traffic lights, defining the coordinates of the traffic lights and their identifiers facilitating said identification.