DETERMINING ROAD TRAFFIC CONDITIONS USING DATA FROM MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating vehicle travel on roads by generating and providing information related to traffic congestion on the roads, the method comprising:
- receiving information describing a network of roads in a geographic area;
for each of the roads in the network, identifying multiple segments of the road for which road traffic information will be distinctly tracked and provided, each road segment having one or more associated road traffic sensors that provide data regarding vehicles traveling by the road traffic sensors;
for each of one or more of the road segments, and for each of multiple distinct periods of time, generating information related to vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, by, obtaining multiple data samples of multiple types that each reflect one or more travel characteristics of one or more vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple data samples of a first type that are each a road traffic sensor reading generated by one of the one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road segment, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple data samples of a second type that are each a mobile data source data sample reported by one of multiple vehicles on the road segment;
automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types that represent actual vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, the assessing including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road segment based at least in part on comparison of the travel characteristics reflected by the excluded data samples to the travel characteristics reflected by the other data samples;
automatically analyzing the travel characteristics reflected by the identified group of multiple data samples in order to generate one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time, the estimated measurements being generated in a weighted manner such that each data sample of the identified group is weighted based at least in part on a type of the data sample and on recency of the data sample;
automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on the road segment for one or more future periods of times based in part on the estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and based in part on other current conditions in the geographic area that affect future traffic on the road segment; and
providing the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and the predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the road segment for use in facilitating travel on one or more of the roads, so that users can navigate vehicles over the network of roads based on estimated current and predicted future traffic congestion of the roads.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
532 Citations
96 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for facilitating vehicle travel on roads by generating and providing information related to traffic congestion on the roads, the method comprising:
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receiving information describing a network of roads in a geographic area;
for each of the roads in the network, identifying multiple segments of the road for which road traffic information will be distinctly tracked and provided, each road segment having one or more associated road traffic sensors that provide data regarding vehicles traveling by the road traffic sensors;
for each of one or more of the road segments, and for each of multiple distinct periods of time, generating information related to vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, by, obtaining multiple data samples of multiple types that each reflect one or more travel characteristics of one or more vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple data samples of a first type that are each a road traffic sensor reading generated by one of the one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road segment, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple data samples of a second type that are each a mobile data source data sample reported by one of multiple vehicles on the road segment;
automatically assessing the obtained data samples to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types that represent actual vehicle travel on the road segment during the period of time, the assessing including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road segment based at least in part on comparison of the travel characteristics reflected by the excluded data samples to the travel characteristics reflected by the other data samples;
automatically analyzing the travel characteristics reflected by the identified group of multiple data samples in order to generate one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time, the estimated measurements being generated in a weighted manner such that each data sample of the identified group is weighted based at least in part on a type of the data sample and on recency of the data sample;
automatically generating one or more predicted measurements of future traffic congestion on the road segment for one or more future periods of times based in part on the estimated measurements of actual traffic congestion on the road segment during the period of time and based in part on other current conditions in the geographic area that affect future traffic on the road segment; and
providing the generated estimated actual traffic congestion measurements and the predicted future traffic congestion measurements for the road segment for use in facilitating travel on one or more of the roads, so that users can navigate vehicles over the network of roads based on estimated current and predicted future traffic congestion of the roads. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer-implemented method for providing information related to vehicle travel on roads, the method comprising:
for each of one or more roads, providing information related to vehicle travel during a period of time on the road, by obtaining multiple data samples that are each of one of multiple types and that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time, the obtained multiple data samples including multiple road traffic sensor readings that are each generated by one of one or more road traffic sensors associated with the road, the obtained multiple data samples further including multiple mobile data source data samples that are each reported by one of one or more mobile devices moving along the road;
automatically assessing the obtained data samples so as to identify a group of multiple data samples of multiple types to represent actual vehicle travel on the road during the period of time, the identifying of the group including excluding one or more data samples that are identified as being unrepresentative of actual vehicle travel on the road;
automatically analyzing the identified group of multiple data samples in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of actual traffic flow during the period of time on the road; and
providing one or more indications of the determined estimated actual traffic flow measurements for use in facilitating travel on the road. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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70. A computer-readable medium whose contents enable a computing device to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, by performing a method comprising:
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receiving an indication of multiple data samples of multiple types that reflect travel characteristics of vehicles traveling on a road, the multiple data samples being based on at least one of data readings that are each generated by a traffic sensor associated with the road to indicate one or more measurements of traffic conditions on the road at an associated time and of information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road at one or more times;
automatically analyzing the multiple data samples of the multiple types in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during a period of time; and
providing one or more indications of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements. - View Dependent Claims (71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91)
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92. A computing device configured to provide information related to vehicle travel on a road, comprising:
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a memory;
a first module configured to, for each of multiple roads and multiple periods of time, automatically analyze multiple data samples that reflect vehicles traveling on the road during the period of time in order to determine one or more estimated measurements of traffic conditions on the road during the period of time, the multiple data samples including at least one data sample based on one or more data readings generated by one or more traffic sensors associated with the road and including at least one other data sample based on information reported by one or more mobile devices moving along the road during the period of time; and
a second module configured to provide one or more indications of at least some of the determined estimated traffic conditions measurements. - View Dependent Claims (93, 94, 95, 96)
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Specification