Providing transit information

• US 9,285,231 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2014
• Issued: 03/15/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/07/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Jouaux, Franois M., Chitta, Rama Krishna, Marti, Lukas M., Dal Santo, Michael P., Huang, Ronald Keryuan
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Luke
• Application Number:
  US14/502,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20150073703A1
• Time in Patent Office: 532 Days
• Field of Search: 701/465, 701/408, 701/521, 455/456.3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0278 involving statistical or probabilistic considerations G01S5/0252, G01S5/0294 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/023 using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/00 Locating users or terminals or network equipment for network management purposes, e.g. mobility management
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/005 Data network PoA devices

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer program products for determining transit routes through crowd-sourcing, for determining an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a vehicle of the transit route at a given location, and for providing predictive reminders to a user for catching a vehicle of the transit route. A server receives signal source information about wireless signal sources detected by user devices, including information about a first wireless signal source detected by some devices. The server determines that the first wireless signal source is moving. The server determines that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route upon determining that the signal source information satisfies one or more selection criteria. The server stores information associating the first wireless signal source with the public transit route as transit movement data corresponding to the public transit route.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

detecting, by a user device, a plurality of first indications associating a first wireless signal source with a first location;

receiving, by the user device and from a location server, a plurality of second indications that the first wireless signal source is moving;

determining, by the user device, that each of a number of the first indications and a number of the second indications satisfies a respective significance threshold;

in response to the determining, designating the first location as a location that is significant to a user of the user device and the first wireless signal source as associated with a transit route that is significant to the user; and

adding the first location and the transit route to a state model that includes one or more states each representing a stationary location designated as significant to the user and one or more transitions between states each representing a movement of the user between locations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the plurality of first indications comprises:

sending, by the user device, a request to the location server for a location of the first wireless signal source, the request including identifying information of the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, at the user device and from the location server, a response that includes the location of the first wireless signal source.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving plurality of second indications comprises:

receiving, at the location server and from a plurality of user devices, signal source information about wireless signal sources detected by the user devices, including locations of the first wireless signal source detected by a subset of the user devices;

determining, by the location server and based on the signal source information received from the plurality of user devices, that the first wireless signal source is moving each time the first wireless signal source is detected by each user device; and

sending, by the location server and to the user device, information indicating that the first wireless signal source is moving.

4. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the user device, that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route that is significant to the user.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein determining that the first wireless signal source is associated with the public transit route comprises:

determining, by the location server, that the first wireless signal source is a public signal source upon determining that the first signal source satisfies one or more selection criteria, including that a number of user devices observing the first wireless signal source satisfies a threshold number; and

receiving, by the user device and from the location server, information indicating that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein determining that the first wireless signal source is associated with the public transit route comprises:

observing, by the user device, behavioral patterns of the user when the first wireless signal source is detected;

based on the observing, inferring that the user is a passenger in a transit vehicle when the first wireless signal source is detected; and

in response to the inferring, determining that the first wireless signal source is associated with the public transit route.

7. The method of claim 1, comprising:

providing the state model to a forecasting subsystem of the user device for determining an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a transit vehicle associated with the transit route at the first location based on a current time and an instant location of the transit vehicle; and

sending a message to the user based on the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location, a current location of the user device, the current time and a probability density determined based on states and transitions of the state model.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

sending, by the user device and to the location server, a message requesting ETA at the first location, the message including information associated with the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, from the location server, the ETA of the transit vehicle associated with the first wireless signal source at the first location.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

predicting that the user will board the vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the ETA of the vehicle at the first location comprises:

determining that the user is travelling aboard the transit vehicle based on the current time and the current location of the user device; and

predicting that the user will disembark the transit vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.

11. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining, by the user device, that the user device is moving along the transit route associated with the first wireless signal source; and

in response to the determining, sending, by the user device and to the location server, messages indicating displacements of the user device along the transit route, the messages including information associated with the first wireless signal source.

12. A non-transitory storage device storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

detecting, by a user device, a plurality of first indications associating a first wireless signal source with a first location;

receiving, by the user device and from a location server, a plurality of second indications that the first wireless signal source is moving;

determining, by the user device, that each of a number of the first indications and a number of the second indications satisfies a respective significance threshold;

in response to the determining, designating the first location as a location that is significant to a user of the user device and the first wireless signal source as associated with a transit route that is significant to the user; and

adding the first location and the transit route to a state model that includes one or more states each representing a stationary location designated as significant to the user and one or more transitions between states each representing a movement of the user between locations.

13. The non-transitory storage device of claim 12, wherein detecting the plurality of first indications comprises:

sending, by the user device, a request to the location server for a location of the first wireless signal source, the request including identifying information of the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, at the user device and from the location server, a response that includes the location of the first wireless signal source.

14. The non-transitory storage device of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

determining, by the user device, that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route that is significant to the user.

15. The non-transitory storage device of claim 14, wherein determining that the first wireless signal source is associated with the public transit route comprises:

receiving, by the user device and from the location server, information indicating that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route,

wherein the location server is configured to determine that the first wireless signal source is a public signal source upon determining that the first signal source satisfies one or more selection criteria, including that a number of user devices observing the first wireless signal source satisfies a threshold number.

16. The non-transitory storage device of claim 12, wherein the instructions cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

providing the state model to a forecasting subsystem of the user device for determining an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a transit vehicle associated with the transit route at the first location based on a current time and an instant location of the transit vehicle; and

sending a message to the user based on the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location, a current location of the user device, the current time and a probability density determined based on states and transitions of the state model.

17. The non-transitory storage device of claim 16, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

sending, by the user device and to the location server, a message requesting ETA at the first location, the message including information associated with the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, from the location server, the ETA of the transit vehicle associated with the first wireless signal source at the first location.

18. The non-transitory storage device of claim 16, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

predicting that the user will board the vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.

19. The non-transitory storage device of claim 16, wherein determining the ETA of the vehicle at the first location comprises:

determining that the user is travelling aboard the transit vehicle based on the current time and the current location of the user device; and

predicting that the user will disembark the transit vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.

20. A system comprising:

one or more first processors; and

a first storage device storing first instructions that, when executed by the one or more first processors, cause the one or more first processors to perform operations comprising;

detecting, by a user device, a plurality of first indications associating a first wireless signal source with a first location;

receiving, by the user device and from a location server, a plurality of second indications that the first wireless signal source is moving;

determining, by the user device, that each of a number of the first indications and a number of the second indications satisfies a respective significance threshold;

in response to the determining, designating the first location as a location that is significant to a user of the user device and the first wireless signal source as associated with a transit route that is significant to the user; and

adding the first location and the transit route to a state model that includes one or more states each representing a stationary location designated as significant to the user and one or more transitions between states each representing a movement of the user between locations.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein detecting the plurality of first indications comprises:

sending, by the user device, a request to the location server for a location of the first wireless signal source, the request including identifying information of the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, at the user device and from the location server, a response that includes the location of the first wireless signal source.

22. The system of claim 20, further comprising:

one or more second processors; and

a second storage device storing second instructions that, when executed by the one or more second processors, cause the one or more second processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, at the location server and from a plurality of user devices, signal source information about wireless signal sources detected by the user devices, including locations of the first wireless signal source detected by a subset of the user devices;

determining, by the location server and based on the signal source information received from the plurality of user devices, that the first wireless signal source is moving each time the first wireless signal source is detected by each user device; and

sending, by the location server and to the user device, information indicating that the first wireless signal source is moving.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to perform operations comprising:

determining, by the user device, that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route that is significant to the user.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein determining that the first wireless signal source is associated with the public transit route comprises:

receiving, by the user device and from the location server, information indicating that the first wireless signal source is associated with a public transit route,

wherein the location server is configured to determined that the first wireless signal source is a public signal source upon determining that the first signal source satisfies one or more selection criteria, including that a number of user devices observing the first wireless signal source satisfies a threshold number.

25. The system of claim 20, wherein the first instructions cause the one or more first processors to perform operations comprising:

providing the state model to a forecasting subsystem of the user device for determining an estimated time of arrival (ETA) of a transit vehicle associated with the transit route at the first location based on a current time and an instant location of the transit vehicle; and

sending a message to the user based on the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location, a current location of the user device, the current time and a probability density determined based on states and transitions of the state model.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

sending, by the user device and to the location server, a message requesting ETA at the first location, the message including information associated with the first wireless signal source; and

receiving, from the location server, the ETA of the transit vehicle associated with the first wireless signal source at the first location.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein determining the ETA of the transit vehicle at the first location comprises:

predicting that the user will board the vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.

28. The system of claim 25, wherein determining the ETA of the vehicle at the first location comprises:

determining that the user is travelling aboard the transit vehicle based on the current time and the current location of the user device; and

predicting that the user will disembark the transit vehicle at the first location based on the current time and the current location of the user device.