Method and apparatus to utilize sensor, monitor, device (SMD) data based on location

• US 8,359,288 B1
• Filed: 12/30/2005
• Issued: 01/22/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DP Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: DP Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Kahn, Philippe, Kinsolving, Arthur
• Primary Examiner(s): Leroux, Etienne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Witzenburg, Bruce A
• Application Number:
  US11/323,058
• Time in Patent Office: 2,580 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/5, 707/110, 707/202, 707/204, 707/600, 707/602, 707/800, 707/899
• US Class Current: 707/602
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/29 Geographical information databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0635 Risk analysis of enterprise or organisation activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Abstract

A method of using location-dependent sensor information comprising receiving information from one or more sensor/monitor/device (SMD) and determining a location associated with the SMD. The method further comprising integrating the SMD data into a comprehensive location-based database, and enabling a user to search for local conditions in the location-based database.

Claims

1. A method of using location-dependent sensor information comprising:

maintaining health data pertaining to a plurality of users, the health data including sensitivity information related to the health of the plurality of users;

receiving pseudo-real-time information from at least two different types of remote sensor/monitor/devices (SMDs);

determining a location associated with an SMD and integrating the pseudo-real-time information received from the SMD into a location-based database; and

classifying the information received from the SMD into a plurality of risk types and a plurality of risk tiers;

receiving a routing request for a vehicle, the routing request including identity information of a plurality of travelers in the vehicle including tier data for each traveler indicating a tier level likely to affect the traveler based on data type;

generating a route avoiding locations which have any triggers that would impact any of the plurality of travelers, the triggers indicating local conditions having a risk tier above a certain level, and likely having an effect on one or more of the travelers based on the risk type and the health data of the travelers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying deficient sensor data in the pseudo-real-time information; and

integrating available data to generate a best approximation for the deficient sensor data.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein deficient sensor data comprises one or more sensors that did not provide data.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein deficient sensor data comprises low data density/resolution in available sensor data.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein deficient sensor data comprises lack of a certain type of sensor.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein available data comprises data selected from among the following:

older data from a missing sensor, data from similar nearby sensors, data from linked nearby sensors, historical data from the missing sensor.

7. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

retrieving news information to verify that the available data has not been superseded.

8. The method of claim 2, wherein a calculation is performed when data is not received from a missing sensor.

9. The method of claim 2, wherein a calculation is performed on the fly when data is requested from an area covering a missing sensor.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating the route shown in the travel map for a user upon request.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one trigger indicates a severity and a type.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving information that the traveler comprises multiple users; and

generating the route shown in the travel map based on the triggers of the multiple users.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the triggers includes a trigger level, indicating a severity of potential response.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

enabling a user to adjust routing by selecting the trigger level for avoidance.

15. A computing device comprising:

a sensor data receiving logic to receive pseudo-real-time information from at least two different types of remote sensor/monitor/devices (SMDs) and determine a location associated with the SMDs;

a processor to classify the sensor data into a tier, denoting severity, and a type of data;

a database of sensor data including the pseudo-real-time information received from the SMDs, the database providing a location-based database including the tier and the type; and

a database of health data pertaining to users, the health data including sensitivity information which indicates a tier likely to affect each user based on data type;

a mapping logic to generate a route avoiding a location which shows any relevant triggers, the relevant triggers comprising a trigger above a certain tier, and of a type relating to the health data of the user, the route shown in a travel map comprising an overlay of the relevant triggers for the user, the overlay indicating a tier, and a type for each trigger on the map.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

a sensor audit and ping logic to identify deficient sensor data; and

a projected data calculator to integrate available data to generate a best approximation for the deficient sensor data.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the deficient sensor data is a result of one or more of the following:

one or more sensors that did not provide data;

lack of sufficient resolution in available sensor data;

or lack of a certain type of sensor.

18. The apparatus claim 16, wherein available data comprises data selected from among the following:

older data from a missing sensor, data from similar nearby sensors, data from linked nearby sensors, historical data from the missing sensor.

19. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising:

a news fetching logic to obtain news information to verify that the available data has not been superseded.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the projected data calculator generates the best approximation for the deficient sensor data when lacking sensor data is detected.

21. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein the projected data calculator generates the best approximation for the deficient sensor data on the fly when data is requested from an area affected by lacking sensor data.

22. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

the mapping logic to generate the route shown in the travel map for a user upon request.

23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein at least one trigger indicates a severity and a type.

24. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising:

the mapping logic receiving information that the traveler comprises multiple users and generating the route shown in the travel map based on the triggers of the multiple users.

25. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein at least one of the triggers includes a trigger level, indicating a severity of potential response.

26. The apparatus of claim 25, further comprising:

a user interface enabling a user to adjust the route by selecting the trigger level for avoidance.

27. A method of using location-dependent sensor information comprising:

maintaining health data pertaining to users of a routing device, the health data including sensitivity information which indicates a tier likely to affect each user based on data type;

receiving pseudo-real-time information from one or more remote sensor/monitor/devices (SMD);

classifying the pseudo-real-time information based on a tier and a type of the information;

determining a location associated with the SMD and integrating the pseudo-real-time information received from the SMD into a location-based database; and

displaying a travel map including a subset of the triggers, selected based on the type information, the tier, and the sensitivity information of the user, the map displaying information about the trigger including the tier and the type information, at least one trigger having a plurality of tiers.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising:

generating a single travel map based on user sensitivity information of multiple users.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the triggers include a trigger level, indicating a severity of potential response.