DETERMINING MICROENVIRONMENT CONDITIONS

• US 20090259360A1
• Filed: 04/15/2008
• Published: 10/15/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bosch Security Systems Incorporated (Robert Bosch GmbH), Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Petricoin, Dennis M. JR.
• Granted Patent: US 8,180,518 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• 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

Abstract

Systems and methods for generating a microenvironment condition report. The microenvironment condition report is generated from information related to a plurality of vehicle conditions. The vehicle condition information is gathered from a plurality of in-vehicle technologies such as a stability control system, ABS, and navigation system. The vehicle condition information is sent to a remote terminal that organizes the information with respect to a set of microareas. The information for each microarea is analyzed and used to generate the microenvironment condition report.

Claims

1. A system for determining a microenvironment, comprising:

a first plurality of monitoring devices located in a first vehicle, each of the first plurality of monitoring devices configured to monitor at least one condition among a plurality of vehicle conditions, the conditions including a vehicle location and a vehicle speed;

a first terminal coupled to the first vehicle and configured to collect a first set of condition information related to the plurality conditions of the first vehicle;

a first communication device, the first communication device connected to the first terminal and configured to transmit the first set of condition information through a wide area network;

a second plurality of monitoring devices located in a second vehicle, each of the second plurality of monitoring devices configured to monitor at least one condition among the plurality of vehicle conditions;

a second terminal coupled to the wide area network and configured to receive the first set of condition information and a second set of condition information, the second terminal further configured to

arrange the first set of condition information and the second set of condition information based on a set of microareas to create a set of microarea condition information,

evaluate a correlation function related to each respective condition in the set of microarea condition information to determine a first set of microenvironment conditions for a respective microarea based on at least the first and second sets of condition information, and

analyze the first set of microenvironment conditions for the respective microarea, at least a second set of microenvironment conditions from a microarea adjacent to the first microarea, and a previous set of microenvironment conditions of the respective microarea to generate a first microenvironment condition report; and

a second communication device coupled to the second terminal and configured to pass the first microenvironment condition report to a plurality of users.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a temperature outside a vehicle.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a skid control system.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a vehicle stability control system.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a vehicle anti-lock brake system.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a vehicle'"'"'s lights.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a vehicle'"'"'s wipers.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of vehicle conditions includes a status of a vehicle'"'"'s airbag system.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report includes a plurality of weather condition conclusions.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report includes a plurality of traffic condition conclusions.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report includes a plurality of road condition conclusions.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report includes a plurality of traffic pattern conclusions.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the microareas are of different sizes.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the microareas are dynamically variable in size.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report is customizable for each respective user.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the wide area network is a cellular network.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the size of the microareas dynamically varies based on the number of vehicles in a respective microarea and the microareas adjacent to the respective microarea.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the second terminal is further configured to predict a future microenvironment condition report based on the first set of microenvironment conditions for the respective microarea, at least a second set of microenvironment conditions from a microarea adjacent to the first microarea, and a previous set of microenvironment conditions of the respective microarea.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein the first microenvironment condition report and at least a second microenvironment condition report are combined to generate a macroenvironment condition report.

20. A method for determining a microenvironment, comprising:

monitoring a first set of conditions of a first vehicle, the first set of conditions including a vehicle location and a vehicle speed;

coupling a first terminal to the first vehicle, the first terminal configured to collect a first set of condition information related to the first set of conditions;

connecting a first communication device to the first terminal;

transmitting the first set of condition information through a wide area network;

monitoring a second set of conditions from a second vehicle, the second set of conditions including a second vehicle location and a second vehicle speed;

connecting a second terminal to the wide area network;

configuring the second terminal to receive the first set of condition information and a second set of condition information;

arranging the first set of condition information and the second set of condition information based on a set of microareas to create a first set of microarea condition information;

evaluating a correlation function related to each respective condition in the first set of microarea condition information;

determining a first set of microenvironment conditions for a respective microarea based on at least the first and second sets of condition information;

analyzing the first set of microenvironment conditions for the respective microarea, at least a second set of microenvironment conditions from a microarea adjacent to the first microarea, and a previous set of microenvironment conditions of the respective microarea to generate a first microenvironment condition report;

coupling a second communication device to the second terminal; and

configuring the second communication device to pass the first microenvironment condition report to a plurality of users.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein generating the first microenvironment condition report includes generating a plurality of weather condition conclusions.

22. The system of claim 20, wherein generating the first microenvironment condition report includes generating a plurality of traffic condition conclusions.

23. The system of claim 20, wherein generating the first microenvironment condition report includes generating a plurality of road condition conclusions.

24. The system of claim 20, wherein generating the first microenvironment condition report includes generating a plurality of traffic pattern conclusions.