Patent Grant
8165773
Cross reference is made to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/911,090, filed Aug. 3, 2004, entitled “INTEGRATED REAL-TIME AUTOMATED LOCATION POSITIONING ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM” and 10/932,507, filed Sep. 1, 2004, entitled “COMMUNICATION DEVICE LOCATING SYSTEM”, each of which is incorporated herein by this reference.
The invention relates generally to object tracking and particularly to object tracking using a communications network.
In many situations, it is desirable for a driver of an automobile to determine an Estimated Time of Arrival or ETA at a given location. For example, the driver may need to pick up an item, meet a person, or arrive at a location at or by a specified time. In some situations, the destination is a service provider desiring an accurate ETA to allow sufficient time to prepare an item, such as food, for the driver to pick up without having to wait. Currently, the driver must provide a best guess as to his ETA, which more often than not ultimately proves to be inaccurate. Factors such as unknown or unpredictable traffic patterns, road closures and detours, accidents, and other obstacles can cause the ETA to be grossly inaccurate.
Many types of ETA estimation systems are currently available to assist drivers. One system uses a series of traffic volume sensors or indicators positioned at selected locations on highly traveled roadways to provide drivers with estimates of traffic flow. Other systems use cameras and aircraft to provide visual estimates of traffic volume. These systems, however, commonly provide traffic information only for selected roadways and still require the driver to estimate the ETA. The traffic information can also be stale due to the delays in reporting the information to the driver coupled with the high variability of traffic volume, particularly at specific times of the day. Moreover, the ETA estimation systems commonly fail to provide continual updates to the driver as to the ETA as traffic conditions or the route traveled varies.
These and other needs are addressed by the various embodiments and configurations of the present invention. The present invention is generally directed to a system and method for providing travel information, such as a velocity over a selected travel route, a traffic volume over the selected travel route, and an estimated time of travel over the selected travel route, to a requestor or another party at selected time(s).
In one embodiment, the present invention is directed to a method for determining vehicular speeds over various travel routes that includes the steps of:
In another embodiment, a system for providing an estimated time of arrival to a party is provided that includes an Estimated Time of Arrival or ETA notification agent operable to:
By monitoring the movement of a number of mobile communication devices of different users, this embodiment can provide a relatively inexpensive and accurate database of travel times over selected roadways for use in predicting traffic volume(s)/speed(s) and providing Estimated Time of Arrival or ETA estimates. Because of the widespread use of cellular phones, the database can include not only historical but also current travel information. The present invention can be readily integrated with GIS-based ETA systems to provide a highly efficient architecture.
Due to privacy concerns, mobile users can be motivated to agree to being monitored by communication service discounts and/or payment(s) to participate in the system, thereby increasing the number of monitored mobile communication devices and therefore the efficiency of the system. The random movement of the owners of the mobile devices can provide an almost effortless large area scanning process. In this manner, a wide area, regional area, metropolitan area, or local area traffic monitoring network can be provided.
These and other advantages will be apparent from the disclosure of the invention(s) contained herein.
As used herein, “at least one . . . and”, “at least one . . . or”, “one or more of . . . and”, “one or more of . . . or”, and “and/or” are open-ended expressions that are both conjunctive and disjunctive in operation. For example, each of the expressions “at least one of A, B and C”, “at least one of A, B, or C”, “one or more of A, B, and C”, “one or more of A, B, or C” and “A, B, and/or C” means A alone, B alone, C alone, A and B together, A and C together, B and C together, and A, B and C together.
The above-described embodiments and configurations are neither complete nor exhaustive. As will be appreciated, other embodiments of the invention are possible utilizing, alone or in combination, one or more of the features set forth above or described in detail below.
The mobile communication device or mobile device 104 can be one or more types of mobile communication devices. Examples include cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants or PDA's, laptops, radios, walkie-talkies, pagers, transmitter-equipped vehicles, such as police cars, fire engines, ambulances, and aircraft and the like.
An exemplary mobile communication device 104 is shown in
As will be appreciated, the mobile communication device's physical location information can be generated not only by GPS locator 256 on board the mobile communication device but also by a base station 108 and/or ETA notification service 116 using any conventional technique such as radiophysical location techniques (e.g., triangulation, angle of arrival, signal strength, and time-based techniques).
The reported information can be provided to the base station in a variety of different ways. The information may be transmitted as part of normal or routine signals exchanged between the mobile communication device and base station. For example, the information may be conveyed on a control channel in a system id code signal, a registration request, a call setup signal, a hand off signal, and/or another type of signal exchanged between the mobile communication device and the base station over the control channel and/or on the bearer channel during a call or when the mobile communication device is in the idle state (i.e., when the device is not receiving or making calls). For example, in CDMA 2000 when the mobile communication device is in the idle state, the base station sends the configuration system and overhead information on the PAGING channel and the communication device responds on the ACCESS channel. These messages are generally called paging and access channel messages, respectively. Typically, the message includes the current location of the mobile communication device, the ETA notification request configuration information, identification of the destination, and a time stamp. As will be appreciated, the messages will vary depending on the standard(s) in use.
Returning to
The network 112 can be one or more wireless or wireline and circuit- or packet-switched networks, depending on the application. Typically, the network 112 comprises the Public Switched Telephone Network and/or the Internet.
Although the mobile communication device 104 is shown as being in wireless communication with the base stations, it is to be understood that the intermediate network connectivity can be any of a number of other configurations. For example, the mobile communication device can be a laptop or PDA wirelessly connected to an Ethernet port and/or including a location device such as a GPS receiver, which is in turn connected to the Internet and/or a web service (available over the Internet). The mobile communication device can be a laptop or PDA wirelessly in communication (such as via the Bluetooth™, 802.11, HiperLAN, and Digital Enhanced Cordless Telephone standards) with a wireless access point.
The ETA notification service 116 is a private or governmental service that acts not only as an ETA reporting service but also as the data repository and database updating agent for ETA information. ETA notification service 116 includes an ETA notification agent 124 (that receives ETA notification requests and configures and initiates the ETA notifications), a mobile device locator 128 (that provides the physical location of the mobile device) and an ETA determination agent 132 (that determines the current physical position of the destination and, based on the current physical positions of the mobile device and destination and other factors discussed below, the ETA).
The ETA notification service 116 further includes an electronic address database 136 and an ETA historical database 140. The electronic address database 136 includes a listing of electronic addresses (commonly telephone numbers or email addresses) with a corresponding physical location or street address associated with the electronic address. An example of the electronic address data structures is an electronic telephone directory or telephone book. The ETA historical database can include a variety of historical information such as traffic volumes and/or speeds at specific points or along certain routes at specific times of day, day of the week, and/or day of year, travel times between specific starting and ending points at specific times of day, day of the week, and/or day of year, road closures and detours, accidents, speed limits, weather conditions, and other obstacles that historically and/or currently can adversely or positively impact travel times/speeds.
The ETA notification service 116 is typically assigned a specific geographic area, such as a part of a city, county, state, province, or country.
The operation of the system will now be described with reference to
Referring to
In step 300 the operator of the mobile device 104, or subscriber to the ETA notification service, inputs a set of characters that notifies the ETA service requestor 260 of an ETA service request. The set of characters can be an alphabetical, numerical or alphanumerical character string and can be inputted by entering DTMF digits or some other character representation.
In response, the ETA service requestor 260 in step 304 requests the operator to provide predetermined types of information, such as the destination location (which may be provided by providing the electronic address of the communication device 120 at the destination), whether or not he or she is to receive the ETA notification and, if so, at what electronic address, whether or not a third party is to receive the ETA notification and, if so, at what electronic address, at what time(s) and/or frequency the ETA notification(s) is to be transmitted, and the planned course of travel or route from the operator's current location to the destination location. In one configuration, the ETA notification is provided when the ETA has an operator-specified value (e.g., 15 minutes). In another configuration, a series of ETA notifications are provided at selected time intervals until the ETA is less than a selected value (e.g., 5 minutes). In yet another configuration, the ETA notification request is made by an operator at the conclusion of a telephone call, chat session, or other live communication session with the communication device 120 at the destination. In this manner, the electronic address or telephone number of the destination can be captured and provided seamlessly to the ETA notification service 116.
In step 308, the ETA service requestor 260 requests and receives from the GPS locator 256 the current physical location of the mobile device 104 and generates and sends the ETA notification request to the ETA notification service 116 via the base station 108 and the network 112.
Referring to
In step 400, the ETA notification request is received by the ETA notification agent 124.
In response, the ETA notification agent 124, in step 404, requests the mobile device locator 128 for a current position of the mobile device 104. The mobile device locator 128 determines, from the GPS coordinates, a description of the corresponding location that is understandable by the agent 124. In one configuration, the locator 128 is unnecessary as the ETA notification agent 124 uses the GPS set of coordinates. In another configuration, the GPS locator 256 is absent from the mobile device 104 and the mobile device locator 128 determines the mobile device location from information received from base stations 108a-m by known techniques, such as triangulation, angle of arrival, signal strength, and time-based techniques. In yet another configuration, the GPS coordinates are converted into another set of coordinates corresponding to an electronic map in the memory of the ETA determination agent.
In step 408, the ETA determination agent 132 determines the position of the destination. To make this possible, the operator, in one configuration, enters a destination telephone number, electronic network address, or the some other form of electronic address. The destination location can then be determined by accessing the information in the electronic address database and mapping the electronic address received from the operator of the mobile device 104 to determine the location. The destination position is typically expressed with reference to the same points of reference as the current location of the mobile device.
In step 412, the ETA determination agent 132 determines by known techniques the operator's ETA at the destination using the current position of the mobile device 104, current position of the destination, distance along the shortest driveable route between the two locations, and estimated or actual current traffic volume and/or speed along the driveable route. In one configuration, the ETA is cumulative of a number of estimated times to travel a number of roadway segments between the two locations. The roadway segments can be provided by the requestor and/or predicted based upon the most likely route to be traveled by the requestor between the two locations. As will be appreciated, the travel time along any roadway segment is based on the estimated velocity of the requestor along that segment and the length of the segment traveled. This may be based upon the velocities of other drivers of that segment. The velocities can be determined by determining, for each driver, first and second geographic positions along the segment at first and second times, respectively, and dividing the distance between the first and second geographic positions over the time interval between the first and second times.
The ETA is provided to the ETA notification agent 124.
The ETA notification agent 124, in step 416, configures the ETA notification(s) in accordance with the requirements of the operator.
In step 420, the ETA notification(s) are initiated at the required time(s) and/or frequency. If repeated ETA notification(s) are requested, steps 404-412 and 416 are repeated at periodic intervals to provide a series of revised ETA notifications to the operator of the mobile device 104.
The ETA notification can be any form of communication, whether wired or wireless. It may be by live voice call, short message service message, instant messaging, electronic mail, and the like.
Examples will now be provided to illustrate the use of the ETA notification.
In a first example, the mobile device operator is driving an emergency vehicle, such as a police car, fire engine, ambulance, or aircraft, and the destination corresponds to a crime victim or scene, fire, accident scene, patient, or hospital, as appropriate. The operator requests an ETA notification to be provided to a specified communication device address at the destination. As the emergency travels to the destination, the ETA notification service 116 at periodic intervals revises the ETA based on current information and provides the revised ETA to the specified communication device. In this manner, the ETA is changed as the distance to the destination, traveled route, traffic conditions, and the like change. Personnel at the destination can take appropriate actions based on the ETA notifications, such as administering first aid, commencing an operation on a transplant patient awaiting delivery of an organ, entering a building at the scene of a crime in view of the imminent arrival of police backup, and the like.
In another example, the mobile device operator is driving to a restaurant for take out. The restaurant can schedule completion of the order so that the order is fresh out of the oven when the customer arrives.
In yet another example, the requestor is not the operator of the mobile device but a person at the destination. In this example, the person contacts the ETA notification service 116 and provides the necessary information to configure and generate the ETA notifications, which may be sent only to the operator of the mobile device, the person at the destination or both. The ETA notification service 116 will contact the base stations 108a-m positioned along the traveled route and/or mobile device 104 at periodic intervals to determine the current location of the mobile device 104.
In yet another example, the requestor calls from a wired telephone to request and configure the ETA notification. The requestor provides his mobile device address or number and the number of the destination. The requestor then drives his car towards the destination.
In yet a further example, the requestor calls from a wired telephone to request an ETA notification using the address associated with the number of the wired telephone as the starting point and an address associated with an inputted number associated with the destination as the ending point. This example is particularly useful where an employee is determining the commuting time to arrive at work. In one configuration, the employee can provide the ETA notification service 116 with differing travel routes to determine which has the shortest ETA.
In yet a further example, the requestor logs onto a computer and is presented with a number of differing travel routes with associated average traffic speeds depicted at differing locations along the routes. The requestor can select a route between a starting point and a given destination, such as using his mouse, and request the computer to provide an ETA. These steps can be repeated route by route until the route having the current shortest ETA is determined. Alternatively, the requestor can ask for the current shortest ETA between the two points, and the service will automatically respond with the correct answer.
A number of variations and modifications of the invention can be used. It would be possible to provide for some features of the invention without providing others.
For example in one alternative embodiment, the ETA service requestor 260, ETA notification agent 124, mobile device locator 128, and/or ETA determination agent 132 are implemented in software, hardware (e.g., a logic circuit), or a combination thereof.
In another embodiment, the base stations 108a-m along the operator's route of travel monitor the speed not only of the mobile unit 108 but also other mobile units in the area to determine average speeds along specified routes. For example, the average speed can be calculated by determining the time between hand-offs, with the time starting when a mobile device 104 is handed off by an adjacent base station to a selected base station and ended when the mobile device 104 is handed off by the selected base station to the next adjacent base station. The distance along the route traveled can then be used to determine the speed. This information can be used to determine speeds at locations between the operator's current location and the destination location and/or to build the historical database information correlating roadway location, day of week, time of day, with average monitored speed of mobile device's over a specified time interval. This historical information can be weighted, with more recent speeds being weighed more heavily than less recent speeds, in determining a single average speed for the monitored time interval to be used in ETA determinations.
In yet another embodiment, mobile devices are at both the beginning and ending points of the travel route. In other words, both the ETA requestor and the destination party are moving, typically towards one another. In that event, the ETA notification service 116 determines the locations of each party at one or more times and provides appropriate ETA notifications.
In yet another embodiment, the distance between the mobile device and a given destination location is determined by comparing the known location of the destination communication device's switch (taken from the communication device's phone number) to the mobile cell currently servicing the mobile device. Each local telephone number has two parts, namely the switch number and the extension number. The switch number is associated with a switch covering a geographical area. As will be appreciated, a cell also covers a defined geographical area.
In yet a further embodiment, the ETA notification causes a device to be activated or deactivated. For example, when the ETA is at a predetermined time, the ETA notification can turn on an air conditioner at the destination, turn-off a security system, turn-on a furnace, and the like.
The present invention, in various embodiments, includes components, methods, processes, systems and/or apparatus substantially as depicted and described herein, including various embodiments, subcombinations, and subsets thereof. Those of skill in the art will understand how to make and use the present invention after understanding the present disclosure. The present invention, in various embodiments, includes providing devices and processes in the absence of items not depicted and/or described herein or in various embodiments hereof, including in the absence of such items as may have been used in previous devices or processes, e.g., for improving performance, achieving ease and\or reducing cost of implementation.
The foregoing discussion of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. The foregoing is not intended to limit the invention to the form or forms disclosed herein. In the foregoing Detailed Description for example, various features of the invention are grouped together in one or more embodiments for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into this Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate preferred embodiment of the invention.
Moreover, though the description of the invention has included description of one or more embodiments and certain variations and modifications, other variations and modifications are within the scope of the invention, e.g., as may be within the skill and knowledge of those in the art, after understanding the present disclosure. It is intended to obtain rights which include alternative embodiments to the extent permitted, including alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps to those claimed, whether or not such alternate, interchangeable and/or equivalent structures, functions, ranges or steps are disclosed herein, and without intending to publicly dedicate any patentable subject matter.
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