Lane level road views

• US 9,609,046 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2014
• Issued: 03/28/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Original Assignee: HERE Global B.V. (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Fowe, James Adeyemi, Stenneth, Leon Oliver, Giurgiu, Gavril Adrian
• Primary Examiner(s): Badii, Behrang
• Application Number:
  US14/264,578
• Publication Number:
  US 20150312327A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/167 Vehicle dynamics information
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/172 Driving mode indication
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/566 Mobile devices displaying vehicle information
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/80 Arrangements for controlling instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 37/00 Dashboards as road-vehicle superstructure sub-units B62D25/14
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 1/00 Optical viewing arrangements; Real-time viewing arrangements for drivers or passengers using optical image capturing systems, e.g. cameras or video systems specially adapted for use in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/301 combining image information with other obstacle sensor information, e.g. using RADAR/LIDAR/SONAR sensors for estimating risk of collision
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2300/804 for lane monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 30/146 Speed limiting
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/86 Combinations of lidar systems with systems other than lidar, radar or sonar, e.g. with direction finders
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/89 for mapping or imaging
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 17/931 of land vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/071 DGPS corrections
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 : Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 7/51 : Display arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 20/54 : of traffic, e.g. cars on the road, trains or boats
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 : Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0104 : Measuring and analyzing of parameters relative to traffic conditions
• 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 1/096775 : where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Methods for providing a lane-level road view include: (a) accessing lane-specific data comprising information characterizing a first segment of a first lane of a road in a direction of travel; and (b) communicating at least a portion of the lane-specific data to a client. Apparatuses for providing lane-level road views are described.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

accessing, by a computer processor, lane-specific data comprising information characterizing a current observed real-time traffic speed and a distance associated with a first segment of a first lane of a road in a direction of travel;

communicating, by the computer processor, at least a portion of the lane-specific data to a client including lane-specific traffic speed, the lane-specific traffic speed including a current maximum possible speed and a current minimum possible speed and the current real-time speed;

providing a visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data indicating the current real-time traffic speed, the current maximum possible speed and the current minimum possible speed, and the distance of the first segment for display on the client;

changing the visual indication for display based on dynamically updated lane-specific data;

wherein providing the visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data includes the lane-specific data communicated to the client comprise color-coded speed-related information indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed; and

wherein the color is based on a range of speed of a mean speed of the current observed real-time traffic speed of a plurality of vehicles traversing the first segment.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing one or a plurality of additional segments of the first lane of the road in the direction of travel.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the first segment and the one or the plurality of additional segments together characterize a contiguous stretch of the first lane.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing a first segment of an adjacent second lane of the road in the direction of travel.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing one or a plurality of additional segments of the adjacent second lane of the road in the direction of travel.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing a first segment of an adjacent third lane of the road in the direction of travel.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing one or a plurality of additional segments of the adjacent third lane of the road in the direction of travel.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the communicating comprises displaying the lane-specific data via a navigation system, a mobile phone, a tablet, a projection, or a combination thereof.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting a desired display format and/or content for the lane-specific data.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the lane-specific data are derived from positioning data, sensor data, or a combination thereof.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the positioning data comprises differential global positioning system (DGPS) data.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the sensor data comprises LIDAR data.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the lane-specific data comprise map-based speed information, real-time speed information, distance information, miscellaneous information, or a combination thereof.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the map-based speed information comprises a maximum speed limit, a minimum speed limit, or a combination thereof;

wherein the distance information comprises a distance of the segment; and

wherein the miscellaneous information comprises turn-by-turn directions for reaching a pre-defined destination from a current location, map-based location information, point-of-interest information, or a combination thereof.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the lane-specific data communicated to the client are based on a current geographical location of the client.

16. The method of claim 1

wherein the client comprises an autonomously operated vehicle,

wherein the visual indication of at least the portion of the lane-specific data indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed is provided for display to a passenger of the autonomously operated vehicle,

wherein the communicating comprises transmitting to a computer processor aboard the autonomously operated vehicle a driving instruction that is derived from analysis of at least a portion of the lane-specific data, and

wherein the driving instruction is further derived from a lane selection of the passenger received via an input of the autonomously operated vehicle.

17. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor; and

at least one memory including computer program code for one or more programs, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following;

access lane-specific data comprising information characterizing a current observed real-time traffic speed, a current maximum possible speed and the current minimum possible speed, and a distance associated with one or a plurality of segments of a first lane of a road in a direction of travel;

communicate at least a portion of the lane-specific data to a client including lane-specific current observed real-time traffic speed and the current maximum possible speed and the current minimum possible speed;

provide a visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed and the distance of the first segment for display on the client;

change the visual indication for display based on dynamically updated lane-specific data;

wherein providing the visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data includes the lane-specific data communicated to the client comprise color-coded speed-related information indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed; and

wherein the color is based on a range of speed of a mean speed of the current observed real-time traffic speed of a plurality of vehicles traversing the first segment.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein:

the lane-specific data further comprise information characterizing one or a plurality of segments of an adjacent second lane of the road in the direction of travel and information characterizing one or a plurality of segments of an adjacent third lane of the road in the direction of travel; and

wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to select a desired display format and/or content for information communicated to the client.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored therein data representing instructions executable by a programmed processor, the storage medium comprising instructions for:

accessing lane-specific data comprising information characterizing a current observed real-time traffic speed, a current maximum possible speed and a current minimum possible speed, and a distance associated with one or a plurality of segments of a plurality of lanes of a road in a same direction of travel;

communicating at least a portion of the lane-specific data to a client including lane-specific traffic speed, the lane-specific traffic speed including a current maximum possible speed and a current minimum possible speed and the current real-time speed;

providing a visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed and the distance of the first segment for display on the client;

changing the visual indication for display via the client based on dynamically updated lane-specific data;

wherein providing the visual indication of at least a portion of the lane-specific data includes the lane-specific data communicated to the client comprise color-coded speed-related information indicating the current observed real-time traffic speed; and

wherein the color is based on a range of speed of a mean speed of the current observed real-time traffic speed of a plurality of vehicles traversing the first segment.