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Cell messaging process for an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system    

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United States Patent5182555   
Link to this pagehttp://www.wikipatents.com/5182555.html
Inventor(s)Sumner; Roy L. (Vienna, VA)
AbstractThe In-Vehicle Traffic Congestion Information System (ICI system) consists of a technique to provide real-time traffic congestion data to drivers of suitably equipped vehicles. The ICI system includes apparatus for gathering and formatting data at a central location, transmitting the data to vehicles, processing data in the vehicles and presenting it to the drivers. The ICI system design provides inputs for a wide range of data sources at a central location where, through a data fusion process, information from a range of sources may be accumulated and aggregated into a single congestion level data value for each section of road. In the vehicles, a range of options may be available for presenting relevant congestion data to the driver including text, voice and map displays.
   














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Drawing from US Patent 5182555
Cell messaging process for an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system - US Patent 5182555 Drawing
Cell messaging process for an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system
Inventor     Sumner; Roy L. (Vienna, VA)
Owner/Assignee     Farradyne Systems, Inc. (Rockville, MD)
Patent assignment
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Publication Date     January 26, 1993
Application Number     07/557,742
PAIR File History     Application Data   Transaction History
Image File Wrapper   Patent Term   Fees
Litigation
Filing Date     July 26, 1990
US Classification     340/905 340/934 340/995.13 701/117 701/118
Int'l Classification     G08G 001/09
Examiner     Crosland; Donnie L.
Assistant Examiner    
Attorney/Law Firm     Banner, Birch, McKie & Beckett
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Priority Data    
USPTO Field of Search     340/905 340/910 340/934 340/990 340/995 364/424.01 364/436 364/437 364/438
Patent Tags     cell messaging in-vehicle traffic congestion information
   
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I claim:

1. In an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system, a method for cell messaging comprising the steps of:

inputting raw traffic congestion data from at least one source of traffic congestion data,

processing said raw traffic congestion data to produce a at least one traffic congestion data message indicative of a level of traffic congestion for a predetermined section of roadway and direction of travel,

transmitting said at least one traffic congestion data message if the level of traffic congestion for said predetermined section of roadway and direction of travel exceeds a predetermined congestion level,

receiving said at least one traffic congestion data message in a vehicle,

determining the location and heading of the vehicle, and

reporting said at least one traffic congestion data message if said section of roadway and direction of travel are within a predetermined area defined by the location and heading of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said inputting step comprises the step of inputting raw traffic congestion data from a freeway traffic computer.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said inputting step comprises the step of inputting raw traffic congestion data from an arterial and street traffic computer.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said inputting step comprises the step of inputting raw traffic congestion data from a navigation computer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said inputting step comprises the step of manually entering raw traffic congestion data.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said processing step further comprises the step of analyzing said raw traffic congestion data to produce a congestion value for a particular direction of travel on a section of roadway.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said predetermined section of roadway comprises a section of freeway in one direction of travel encompassing one interchange and the section of freeway in said one direction of travel between said one interchange and a next adjacent interchange.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said predetermined section of roadway comprises an artery or street in one direction of travel encompassing one intersection and the section of said artery or street in said one direction of travel between said one intersection and a next adjacent intersection.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said aging factor is equal to the number of minutes said at least one traffic congestion data source is considered to be reliable.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein said decrementing step comprises the step of multiplying a score by an aging quotient, said aging quotient defined by the following equation:

aging quotient=[1-n/(aging factor)]

where n equals the number of minutes which have elapsed since data from said at least one traffic congestion data source has been input.

11. In an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system, a method of processing traffic congestion data comprising the steps of:

inputting raw traffic congestion data from at least one traffic congestion data source;

processing said raw traffic congestion data from at least one traffic congestion data source to produce at least one traffic congestion value indicative of a level of traffic congestion for a predetermined section of roadway;

assigning a score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source to said at least one traffic congestion value;

assigning a weighting factor to a score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source, said weighting factor being a function of the traffic congestion value represented by each score;

multiplying said score by said weighting factor to produce a weighted score; and

selecting a traffic congestion value for a predetermined section of roadway from said at least one traffic congestion data source determined to have a highest weighted score.

12. In an in-vehicle traffic congestion information system, a method of processing traffic congestion data comprising the steps of:

inputting raw traffic congestion data from at least one traffic congestion data source;

processing said raw traffic congestion data from at least one traffic congestion data source to produce at least one traffic congestion value indicative of a level of traffic congestion for a predetermined section of roadway;

assigning a score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source to said at least one traffic congestion value;

assigning a weighting factor to a score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source, said weighting factor being a function of the traffic congestion value represented by each score;

multiplying said score by said weighting factor to produce a weighted score;

assigning an aging factor to said at least one traffic congestion data source, said aging factor indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source over a period of time;

decrementing over a period of time as a function of said aging factor the weighted score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source to produce a decremented weighted score; and

selecting the traffic congestion value for a predetermined section of roadway from said at least one traffic congestion data source determined to have a highest decremented weighted score.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said decrementing step comprises the step of linearly decrementing over a period of time as a function of said aging factor the weighted score indicative of the reliability of said at least one traffic congestion data source to produce a decremented weighted score.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said aging factor is equal to the number of minutes said at least one traffic congestion data source is considered to be reliable.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said decrementing step comprises the step of multiplying a weighted score by an aging quotient, said aging quotient defined by the following equation:

aging quotient=[1-n/(aging factor)]

where n equals the number of minutes which have elapsed since data from said at least one traffic congestion data source has been input.
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This application is related by subject matter to commonly assigned, copending applications Ser. Nos. 557743 and 557741, filed concurrently herewith.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field Of The Invention

The present invention generally relates to systems for monitoring motor vehicle traffic conditions on highways and, more particularly, to an improved traffic congestion information system for use by drivers in avoiding areas of traffic congestion.

2. Description Of The Prior Art

A number of systems now exist that monitor traffic conditions and transmit traffic information to individual motor vehicles. A typical system of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,792,803 to Madnick et al. In the Madnick system, an information receiving and analyzing computer accepts a variety of inputs from different traffic condition monitors, such as vehicle counting devices (i.e., proximity sensors buried in the pavement), video cameras mounted along the highways, and human inputs such as verbal traffic reports from the ground and aircraft, or accident reports. Since the reliability of such "anecdotal" data can vary from source to source, these human inputs must be evaluated by human beings and inserted into the the system. The system then synthesizes and transmits over the airwaves a verbal traffic message for each of sixteen geographical "zones" designated within the overall traffic monitoring area. In a motor vehicle equipped with a suitable receiver, a driver presses one of sixteen pushbuttons at the receiver to activate the verbal traffic message corresponding to a specific zone of interest.

Although the traffic information provided by such conventional traffic monitoring and reporting systems as described in Madnick can be of some use to motor vehicle operators, it appears that the usefulness of the information is limited by certain operational drawbacks and inefficiencies of the conventional systems. For example, the narrowness of the broadcast bandwidths allocated for transmitting conventional traffic messages or reports limits the number of messages that can be transmitted at one time. Consequently, only a limited number of geographical zones may be designated or available within a given broadcast bandwidth. Moreover, traffic patterns within some zones typically are not uniform. As a consequence, there can be many different forms of congestion within a zone, which suggests the need to broadcast more than one message for that zone. Conversely, there may be no congestion in a number of zones, in which case no traffic messages or information would have to be broadcast with respect to those zones. In other words, individual drivers can select messages from among the zones, but cannot discriminate with messages from particular areas within the zones. Consequently, from one viewpoint, drivers utilizing the present traffic monitoring systems are subject to "information overload," wherein a plurality of zone-wide messages are received but only a few of the messages are of interest to particular drivers. From another viewpoint, however, there is a need to provide drivers with more useful information regarding traffic conditions within the zones.

As another example of information overload, conventional traffic monitoring and reporting systems do not take into account the direction of travel of the motor vehicle. For example, if a motor vehicle is traveling Westbound, the driver has no particular interest in receiving Eastbound traffic information. However, the Eastbound information is provided anyway. Consequently, the drivers using such a system are provided with more information than they require.

On the other hand, in order to assist a driver with avoiding traffic congested areas ahead, it is critical to provide information so that the driver may devise an alternative routing. For example, if a message is received that describes congestion ahead, a driver should be able to act on that message and formulate an alternative route around the congestion. However, as illustrated by the Madnick patent, no provision for formulating alternative routing information is provided by the conventional traffic monitoring and reporting systems.

Moreover, in order to use congestion or alternative routing information effectively, if such information were to be made available