Measuring traffic condition based on mobile devices connection information
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- at a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors;
communicating with a mobile communications device of a user;
identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area;
selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area;
determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period;
estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings;
estimating a traffic speed factor including an average speed for the first geographical area in accordance with a speed of movement of the mobile communications device based on the first total number of cellular signal pings; and
providing a traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to the user in accordance with the traffic volume factor and the traffic speed factor,wherein the traffic condition is provided when a global positioning component of the mobile communications device is turned off or unavailable.
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Abstract
Systems and methods for measuring traffic condition based on mobile device connection information are provided. An example method includes, at a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors: identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to a user, in accordance with the traffic volume factor.
10 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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at a computer system having one or more processors and memory storing one or more programs for execution by the one or more processors; communicating with a mobile communications device of a user; identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; estimating a traffic speed factor including an average speed for the first geographical area in accordance with a speed of movement of the mobile communications device based on the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing a traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to the user in accordance with the traffic volume factor and the traffic speed factor, wherein the traffic condition is provided when a global positioning component of the mobile communications device is turned off or unavailable. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing one or more programs, the one or more programs comprising instructions, which when executed by a computing system with one or more processors, cause the computing system to execute a method of:
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communicating with a mobile communications device of a user; identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; estimating a traffic speed factor including an average speed for the first geographical area in accordance with a speed of movement of the mobile communications device based on the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing a traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to the user in accordance with the traffic volume factor and the traffic speed factor, wherein the traffic condition is provided to the user when a global positioning component of the mobile communications device is turned off or unavailable. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A system, comprising:
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a mobile communications device; a server in communication with the mobile communications device, the server comprising; one or more processors; memory; and one or more programs, wherein the one or more programs are stored in the memory and configured to be executed by the one or more processors, the one or more programs including instructions for; identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; estimating a traffic speed factor including an average speed for the first geographical area in accordance with a speed of movement of the mobile communications device based on the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing a traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to the user in accordance with the traffic volume factor and the traffic speed factor, wherein the traffic condition is provided to the user when a global positioning component of the mobile communications device is turned off or unavailable. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18)
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19. A method in a computer system comprising:
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identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to a user in accordance with the traffic volume factor, wherein estimating the traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings includes identifying two or more cellular signal pings in the first total number of cellular signal pings as sent by a same user and adjusting the traffic volume factor in accordance with the two or more cellular signal pings.
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20. A system comprising:
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a processor; a system memory; and one or more computer programs stored in the system memory and configured to be executed by the processor, the one or more computer programs having instructions for performing operations comprising; identifying, in a plurality of geographical areas, a first geographical area; selecting, in a plurality of cellular towers, a first cellular tower providing cellular coverage to the first geographical area; determining a first total number of cellular signal pings received by the first cellular tower over a first predefined time period; estimating a traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings; and providing traffic condition associated with the first geographical area to a user in accordance with the traffic volume factor, wherein estimating the traffic volume factor for the first geographical area in accordance with the first total number of cellular signal pings includes identifying two or more cellular signal pings in the first total number of cellular signal pings as sent by a same user and adjusting the traffic volume factor in accordance with the two or more cellular signal pings.
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Specification