Related subject matter is disclosed in co-pending U.S. patents application with an Attorney Docket Number US46648 and a title of BUS STOP AND SYSTEM CAPABLE OF PROVIDING TRAVELLING INFORMATION OF BUSES, which have the same assignees as the current application and were concurrently filed.
1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to bus travelling monitoring systems and, particularly, to a bus stop and a system capable of providing travel information relating to buses.
2. Description of the Related Art
Traditional bus stops show names of bus lines and names of individual stop platforms. However, the passengers can only guess at the arriving time of buses they wish to take, or traffic conditions in which the buses are travelling, which results in the passengers waiting in hope, often with no useful end result.
The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views.
Referring to the figure, a system 1 capable of providing travelling information regarding buses includes a plurality of bus stops 10, a server 20, and a plurality of bus terminals 30. Each of the plurality of bus terminals 30 communicates with the plurality of bus stops 10 and the server 20 via a network, such as PLC (Power Line Communication), OPLC (Optical Power Line Communication), 3G, 4G, GPRS, CDMA, GSM, WiFi, Zigbee, Zwave, IR, NFC, and the like. Each of the plurality of bus terminals 30 is installed in a bus (not shown). In the embodiment, the server 20 is a computer.
Each bus terminal 30 includes a communicating unit 31, a location determining unit 32, and a control unit 33. The location determining unit 32 obtains one or more items of platform information of the bus stops 40 within a predetermined range, and further determines a current location of the bus terminal 30 according to the obtained platform information. The platform information includes a name of the bus stop and a location thereof. The control unit 33 controls the communicating unit 31 to transmit the current location of the bus terminal 30 as determined by the location determining unit 32, and an identification of the bus terminal 30, to the server 20. In the embodiment, the identification of the bus terminal 30 includes a bus line, and further includes a number of the bus terminals 30 if several of the plurality of bus terminals 30 belong to a same bus line. In an alternative embodiment, the location determining unit 32 determines the current location of the bus terminal 30 after predetermined time intervals, and the control unit 33 controls the communicating unit 31 to transmit the current location of the bus terminal 30 to the server 20 as each current location determination is made.
The server 20 includes a storage unit 21, a communicating unit 22, a processing unit 23, and a control unit 24. The storage unit 21 pre-stores a table recording a plurality of identifications of the bus terminals 30, a plurality of items of platform information relating to the bus stops which the bus terminals 30 (and therefore the bus) will pass by, and the current locations of the bus terminals 30. The communicating unit 22 communicates with each of the plurality of bus terminals 30. When the server 20 receives a current location and an identification of a bus terminal 30 via the communicating unit 20, the control unit 24 establishes a predetermined projected or expected current location as recorded in the table, and further determines whether the current location according to the communicating unit 20 is the same as that recorded in the table. When the current location from the unit 20 is not the same as that recorded in the table, the control unit 24 updates the current location recorded in the table by the current location actually received.
Each bus stop 10 includes a control unit 11, a display unit 12, a communicating unit 13, an input unit 14, and a storage unit 15. The communicating unit 13 communicates with the server 20. The storage unit 15 pre-stores the platform information relevant to the bus stop 10, and the platform information can correspond to and communicate with several different bus lines.
Referring to
The control unit 11 obtains the location of the bus stop 10, generating a request signal which carries information as to the location of the bus stop 10, and controls the communicating unit 13 to transmit the request signal to the server 20.
When the server 20 receives a request signal transmitted by the bus stop 10, the control unit 23 determines one or more identifications of the bus terminals 30 recorded in the table corresponding to the location of the bus stop 10 carried by the request signal, and further determines one or more current locations of the bus terminals 30 travelling toward the bus stop 40 which transmitted the request signal, according to the determined identifications of the bus terminals 30. The control unit 23 further compares the current locations with the platform location of the bus stop 10 to determine the current location of the nearest bus terminal 30 (that is to say, the bus) travelling towards the bus stop 10, and controls the communicating unit 22 to transmit such current location to the bus stop 10. When the bus stop 10 receives the current bus location from the server 20, the control unit 11 controls the display unit 12 to display the determined current location. In an exemplary embodiment, the control unit 11 marks both the bus stop immediately before the nearest bus terminal 30 and the bus stop immediately after the nearest bus terminal 30 on the bus route. In another exemplary embodiment, the control unit 11 marks the line segment before the instant bus stop and the line after the nearest bus terminal 30.
The system 1 further includes a plurality of streetlights 40. Each of the plurality of streetlights 40 pre-stores a location thereof. The location determining unit 32 further obtains the locations of streetlights 40 within a predetermined range to update the current location of the bus terminal 30, according to the locations of the streetlights 40.
The bus stop 10 further includes a camera unit 16, mounted outside the bus stop 10 for taking images of the surroundings of the bus stop 10, which are stored in the storage unit 15. The control unit 11 controls the communicating unit 13 to transmit the images taken by the camera unit 16 to the server 20, being stored in the storage unit 21. The control unit 24 can determine the existence of abnormal traffic conditions by analyzing the images transmitted by the plurality of bus stops 10, and further determines the identifications of the bus terminals 30 travelling within or near to the determined location according to the table. The control unit 23 controls the communicating unit 22 to transmit the identifications of the bus terminals 30 and the traffic conditions being presently experienced by the bus terminals 30 which are moving towards the instant bus stop 10. The control unit 11 controls the display unit 12 to highlight a line segment corresponding to the determined locations of any abnormal traffic conditions, by means such as coloring the line segment(s).
In the embodiment, when an accident or emergency occurs, the input unit 14 can be operated by an user to generate an alarm. The control unit 11 obtains the image and the location information of the bus stop 10 from the storage unit 15, and controls the communicating unit 13 to transmit the image and the location information to the server 20. When the image and the location information are received from the bus stop 10 via the communication unit 22, the control unit 24 stores the image and the location information in the storage unit 21. Meanwhile, the control unit 24 automatically displays the image and the location information on a bus stop display unit (not shown). That is, upon receiving information from the bus stop 10, the server 20 automatically displays the information without any human intervention, this helps people who can view the display unit to know in a timely manner that an accident or emergency has occurred around the bus stop 10 and give help to those involved in the accident/emergency immediately.
It is understood that the present disclosure may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the disclosure is not to be limited to the details given herein.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012102959733 | Aug 2012 | CN | national |