Obtaining road traffic condition data from mobile data sources

• US 8,160,805 B2
• Filed: 02/11/2011
• Issued: 04/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Inrix Incorporated
• Inventors: Downs, Oliver B., Chapman, Craig H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, John
• Assistant Examiner(s): King, Rodney P
• Application Number:
  US13/026,106
• Publication Number:
  US 20110137545A1
• Time in Patent Office: 431 Days
• Field of Search: 701/117
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0116 from roadside infrastructure, e.g. beacons
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation

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, as well as in some situations data from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The assessment of road traffic conditions 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, at least some of the mobile data sources are configured to frequently acquire and store data samples, and to occasionally make multiple such data samples available together for use in the road traffic condition assessment (e.g., by acquiring a data sample every minute and by transmitting a group of stored data samples every 15 minutes).

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for automatically providing data samples from vehicles traveling on roads for use in assessing traffic conditions on those roads, the method comprising:

for each of multiple vehicles traveling on one or more roads, providing information regarding travel of the vehicle by, for each of multiple successive periods of time of pre-determined length,

acquiring multiple data samples during the period of time from a geo-location device traveling with the vehicle, each data sample being acquired at a distinct acquisition time during the period of time and including a reported geographic location and speed of the vehicle at that acquisition time, and wherein for each of at least some of the multiple vehicles, the data samples are acquired at intervals of a first time period, and the pre-determined length of each of the multiple successive periods of time is based on a predefined multiple of the first time;

temporarily storing the multiple data samples during the period of time in a storage device; and

at the end of the period of time,

sending the multiple stored data samples together in a single data transmission via a wireless data transmitter to a remote traffic information system that is configured to use at least some of the data samples for facilitating travel of other vehicles on the one or more roads; and

removing the multiple stored data samples from the storage device so that data samples acquired during a next period of time can be temporarily stored.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein, for each of the multiple vehicles, the providing of the information regarding the travel of the vehicle is performed by one or more computing systems on the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein all of the multiple vehicles send data samples to a single remote traffic information system, and wherein the method further comprises, under control of the single remote traffic information system:

repeatedly receiving data transmissions from the multiple vehicles, each of the received data transmissions including multiple data samples for a vehicle that are acquired at distinct acquisition times and that report geographic locations and speeds of that vehicle at those acquisition times; and

for each of multiple road segments of the one or more roads and each of multiple time periods,

retrieving the data samples received from the multiple vehicles whose acquisition times are during the time period and whose reported geographic locations correspond to the road segment;

assessing average road travel conditions for all vehicles traveling on the road segment during the period of time based at least in part on the reported speeds for the retrieved data samples; and

using the assessed average road travel conditions to assist travel of other vehicles on or near the road segment at times during or near the period of time.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the using of assessed average road travel conditions to assist the travel of the other vehicles includes at least one of sending information about the assessed average road travel conditions to the other vehicles in a substantially realtime manner and of making information available about future road travel conditions that are predicted based at least in part on the assessed average road travel conditions.

5. The method of claim 2 wherein, for each of at least some of the multiple vehicles, the geo-location device traveling with the vehicle is a global positioning system (“

GPS”

) receiver installed in the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 2 wherein, for each of at least some of the multiple vehicles, the geo-location device traveling with the vehicle is a cellphone carried by a passenger in the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 2 wherein, for each of at least some of the multiple vehicles, the acquired data samples for the vehicle each further include a reported heading of the vehicle at the acquisition time for the data sample, an indication of a device status of the geo-location device traveling with the vehicle at the acquisition time for the data sample, an indication of a vehicle status of the vehicle at the acquisition time for the data sample, and a unique identifier associated with the geo-location device and/or the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein, for each of the at least some multiple vehicles, the wireless data transmitter used for the sending of multiple data samples is a satellite transmitter that transmits only limited amounts of data, and wherein, for each of the at least some multiple vehicles, the sending of multiple data samples together in a single data transmission via the wireless data transmitter includes processing the multiple data samples prior to the single data transmission in order to reduce an amount of data to be included in the single data transmission.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein, for one of the at least some multiple vehicles, the providing of the information regarding the travel of the one vehicle during one of the periods of time includes acquiring one or more additional data samples for the one vehicle during the one period of time such that the one or more additional data samples are distinct from the multiple data samples acquired during the one period of time for the one vehicle, and wherein the processing of the multiple data samples prior to the single data transmission for the one vehicle and the one period of time includes determining to exclude from that single data transmission the additional data samples based on the additional data samples being determined to not reflect travel of interest.

10. A method for a device in a vehicle that is configured to automatically provide information regarding travel of the vehicle on one or more roads, the method comprising:

under control of the configured device,

obtaining multiple data samples that are each acquired at a distinct acquisition time to report a geographic location and travel characteristics of the vehicle at that acquisition time;

storing the multiple data samples until one or more predefined conditions are satisfied, the one or more predefined conditions being based at least in part on a specified length of time during which the obtaining of the multiple data samples is performed; and

after the one or more predefined conditions are satisfied, automatically providing the multiple data samples in a single data transmission to a traffic information system configured to use data samples provided from multiple vehicles for facilitating travel on roads.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the obtaining of multiple data samples, the storing of those multiple data samples, and the providing of those multiple data samples in a single data transmission are each performed repeatedly to provide information about travel of the vehicle for an extended period of time that includes numerous time periods of the specified length.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include an indicated time at which the providing of the multiple data samples in a single data transmission is to be performed.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include an indicated number of multiple data samples to be obtained.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include an indicated quantity of data to be obtained from the multiple data samples.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include an indicated distance that the vehicle has traveled.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the multiple data samples are each acquired after an indicated length of time has passed since a prior data sample has been acquired, and wherein the specified length of time is based at least in part on the indicated length of time.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the multiple data samples are each acquired after the vehicle has traveled an indicated distance since a prior data sample has been acquired.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the multiple data samples are acquired after the vehicle has reached one or more indicated geographic locations.

19. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each report the geographic location of the vehicle using latitude and longitude coordinates.

20. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each report the geographic location of the vehicle using a location based on a road on which the vehicle is traveling.

21. The method of claim 10 wherein the reported travel characteristics of the vehicle for each of at least some of the data samples include a speed of the vehicle.

22. The method of claim 10 wherein the reported travel characteristics of the vehicle for each of at least some of the data samples include a heading of the vehicle.

23. The method of claim 10 wherein the reported travel characteristics of the vehicle for each of at least some of the data samples include a distance traveled by the vehicle.

24. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each further include an identifier associated with at least one of the geo-location device and the vehicle.

25. The method of claim 10 wherein the device in the vehicle includes a global positioning system (“

GPS”

) receiver that provides geographic location information.

26. The method of claim 10 wherein the device in the vehicle is a cellphone carried by a passenger in the vehicle.

27. The method of claim 26 wherein the geographic location for each of at least some of the data samples is based on one or more cellphone network transmitters with which the cellphone is able to communicate.

28. The method of claim 26 wherein the providing of the multiple data samples in the single data transmission includes sending the single data transmission via a cellphone network of the cellphone.

29. The method of claim 10 wherein the device in the vehicle is a computing device that is installed in the vehicle and/or is part of the vehicle.

30. The method of claim 29 wherein the computing device is part of a wireless network, wherein the geographic location for each of at least some of the data samples is based at least in part on one or more wireless network access points with which the computing device is in communication, and wherein the providing of the multiple data samples in the single data transmission includes sending the single data transmission via the wireless network.

31. The method of claim 10 wherein the device in the vehicle includes a satellite transmitter, and wherein the providing of the multiple data samples in the single data transmission includes sending the single data transmission via the satellite transmitter.

32. The method of claim 10 further comprising, before the providing of the multiple data samples in the single data transmission, modifying information associated with the multiple data samples so as to reduce an amount of data to be included in the single data transmission.

33. The method of claim 10 further comprising, before the providing of the multiple data samples in the single data transmission, obtaining one or more additional data samples that each include information regarding travel of the vehicle, and determining to exclude the additional samples from the multiple data samples that are provided in the single data transmission.

34. The method of claim 33 wherein the determining to exclude the additional data samples is based at least in part on the additional data samples being determined to not reflect travel of interest.

35. The method of claim 10 wherein use of the data samples provided from the multiple vehicles includes assessing road travel conditions for vehicles traveling on at least portions of one or more roads based at least in part on reported geographic locations and travel characteristics from provided data samples, and using the assessed road travel conditions to assist potential travel of other vehicles on or near the at least portions of the one or more roads.

36. The method of claim 35 wherein the assessed road travel conditions include an average speed of all vehicles traveling on the at least portions of the one or more roads.

37. The method of claim 35 wherein the using of the assessed road travel conditions to assist the other traveling vehicles includes at least one of making information about the assessed road travel conditions available to the other traveling vehicles in a substantially realtime manner after the assessing and of making information available about future road travel conditions that are predicted based at least in part on the assessed road travel conditions.

38. The method of claim 35 wherein the assessing of the road travel conditions and the using of the assessed road travel conditions is performed automatically under control of a traffic information system remote from the vehicle.

39. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include a current ability to perform wireless data transmissions, wherein a temporary inability to perform wireless data transmissions occurs during the obtaining of the multiple data samples, and wherein the method further comprises obtaining other data samples when wireless data transmissions are available and providing each of the other data samples to the traffic information system without storing of the other data samples.

40. The method of claim 10 wherein the one or more predefined conditions include arrival of the vehicle at a location at which the single data transmission is able to be performed.

41. The method of claim 10 wherein an ability to determine a geographic location of the vehicle is temporarily unavailable, and wherein the geographic location for each of at least one of the data samples that is acquired while the ability to determine the geographic location of the vehicle is temporarily unavailable is based at least in part on an extrapolation and/or interpolation of geographic locations from one or more other data samples acquired while the ability to determine the geographic location of the vehicle is available.

42. The method of claim 10 wherein the vehicle is one of multiple vehicles that are each configured to provide data samples to a single traffic information system to reflect travel of the multiple vehicles.

43. The method of claim 42 wherein the multiple vehicles are part of a fleet of vehicles operating in conjunction with each other.

44. The method of claim 42 wherein the multiple vehicles are directed to operate in distinct manners in order to produce variation in provided information regarding the travel of the multiple vehicles.

45. The method of claim 10 wherein the vehicle is directed by the traffic information system to travel on an indicated route in order to obtain information about travel of vehicles along the route.

46. The method of claim 10 wherein the reported travel characteristics of the vehicle for each of at least some of the data samples include a status of the vehicle.

47. The method of claim 46 wherein the status of the vehicle included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication that the vehicle is moving.

48. The method of claim 46 wherein the status of the vehicle included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication that the vehicle is stopped.

49. The method of claim 46 wherein the status of the vehicle included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication that an engine of the vehicle is running.

50. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each further include an indication of a status of a geo-location device that is used to obtain the geographic location for the data sample.

51. The method of claim 50 wherein the status of the geo-location device included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication of at least one of signal strength and battery charge.

52. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each further include an indication of a status of a recording device on which the multiple data samples are stored before the automatic providing of the multiple data samples.

53. The method of claim 52 wherein the status of the recording device included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication of battery charge.

54. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each further include an indication of a status of a transmitting device that is used to perform the automatic providing of the multiple data samples.

55. The method of claim 54 wherein the status of the transmitting device included in one or more of the at least some data samples includes an indication of signal strength.

56. The method of claim 10 wherein at least some of the data samples each further include information from one or more physical sensors that are near or embedded in the one or more roads.

57. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents a computing device to provide information regarding movement of a mobile device, by performing a method comprising:

obtaining multiple data samples at multiple times, each data sample indicating a geographic location of the mobile device at a time associated with that data sample, wherein at least some of the data samples each indicates travel characteristics of a vehicle traveling on one or more roads at the time associated with the data sample;

storing the multiple data samples until at least one predefined condition is determined to be satisfied; and

after the at least predefined condition is determined to be satisfied, automatically providing information from the multiple stored data samples for use in facilitating movement of other mobile devices, wherein the providing of the information from the multiple stored data samples includes transmitting the information from the multiple data samples in a single data transmission for use by a traffic information system with information from data samples from multiple other vehicles in facilitating travel of other vehicles on the one or more roads.

58. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the mobile device is associated with the vehicle, and wherein the one or more travel characteristics of the vehicle indicated by each of the at least some data samples include the indicated geographic location of the mobile device at the time associated with that data sample.

59. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 58 wherein the travel characteristics of each of the at least some data samples further include a reported heading of travel of the vehicle and a reported speed of the vehicle.

60. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the method is performed by one or more devices located along the one or more roads that are able to detect passage of at least one of the mobile device and of the vehicle, and wherein the at least one predefined condition is a predetermined period of time.

61. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the method further comprises, before the providing of the information from the multiple stored data samples, aggregating information from the multiple stored data samples so as to reduce an amount of data to be included in the single data transmission, and wherein the provided information includes the aggregated information.

62. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the mobile device is at least part of the computing device, wherein the mobile device has an ability to access geo-location determination capabilities, and wherein the geographic location for each of at least some of the data samples is based on information obtained from the mobile device.

63. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the computer-readable medium is a memory of the configured computing device.

64. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 57 wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the configured computing device to perform the method.

65. A computing device configured to provide information regarding travel of a vehicle on one or more roads, comprising:

one or more processors;

one or more storage components;

a receiver configured to obtain global positioning system (“

GPS”

) signals, wherein the GPS signals include information about travel characteristics of a vehicle in which the computing device is located, and wherein the travel characteristics include at least one of a geographic location, a speed, and a heading of the vehicle; and

a data source information provision component that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, provide information regarding travel of the vehicle on one or more roads by obtaining multiple data samples at multiple distinct acquisition times such that each data sample reflects one or more of the travel characteristics of the vehicle at the acquisition time for the data sample, by temporarily storing the multiple obtained data samples in the one or more storage components until at least one predefined condition is determined to be satisfied, and by sending the multiple stored data samples as a group for use by a remote traffic information system in facilitating travel on one or more roads; and

wherein the computing device is part of a system that includes a wireless transmitter configured to send data transmissions, and wherein the sending of the multiple stored data samples as a group includes, after the at least one predefined condition is determined to be satisfied, using the wireless transmitter to send the multiple stored data samples in a single data transmission for use by the remote traffic information system with data samples from multiple other vehicles in facilitating travel of other vehicles on the one or more roads.

66. The computing device of claim 65 wherein the data source information provision component is further configured to, after the sending of the multiple stored data samples as a group, remove the stored data samples from the one or more storage components so that other obtained data samples may be temporarily stored, and wherein the data source information provision component is further configured to repeatedly perform the providing of the information regarding the travel of the vehicle by repeatedly obtaining and storing data samples and periodically sending the stored data samples.

67. The computing device of claim 65 wherein the at least one predefined condition is a predetermined period of time.

68. The computing device of claim 65 wherein the data source information provision component includes software instructions for execution by the one or more processors while stored in memory of the computing device.

69. The computing device of claim 65 wherein the data source information provision component consists of a means for providing information regarding travel of a vehicle on one or more roads by obtaining multiple data samples at multiple distinct acquisition times such that each data sample reflects one or more travel characteristics of the vehicle at the acquisition time for the data sample, by temporarily storing the multiple obtained data samples in the one or more storage components, and by sending the multiple stored data samples as a group for use by a remote traffic information system in facilitating travel on one or more roads.