US6490519B1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Traffic monitoring system and methods for traffic monitoring and route guidance useful therewith
Assignee: Decell Inc
•
Filing: 2000-09-25
•
Granted: 2002-12-03
•
Expires: 2020-09-25
Abstract
Abstract A traffic monitoring system for monitoring traffic including a population of users bearing a multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and methods useful for monitoring traffic, the system including a mobile communication network interface receiving, from at least one communication network serving the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and storing, location information characterizing at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and a traffic monitor operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter on the basis of the location information.
Inventors
- 👤 Dror Lapidot
- 👤 Jonathan Silverberg
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 05:05
CPC Classifications
G; G08; G08G; G08G1/00; G08G1/09; G08G1/0962; G08G1/0967; G08G1/096708; G08G1/096716; G01; G01C; G01C21/00; G01C21/26; G01C21/34; G08G1/01; G08G1/0104; G08G1/096725; G08G1/096733; G08G1/096741; G08G1/096766; G08G1/096775; G08G1/0968; G08G1/096805; G08G1/096811; G08G1/096827; G08G1/096833; G08G1/096844; G08G1/096855; G08G1/096872; G08G1/096877; G08G1/096883; G08G1/096888
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 54
Claim 1
Independent Claim
50 words
A traffic monitoring system comprising: traffic data collection apparatus operative to collect location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and a traffic data filter operative to analyze said location data arriving from the plurality of users and to reject location data which is not traffic data.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
50 words
A traffic monitoring system comprising: traffic data collection apparatus operative to collect location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and a traffic data filter operative to analyze said location data arriving from the plurality of users and to reject location data which is not traffic data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system according to claim 1 wherein said traffic data filter comprises a traffic element identifier operative to identify traffic elements within the plurality of users by analyzing the location data arriving from the plurality of users.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
19 words
A system according to claim 1 wherein said location data comprises a sequence of at least one time-stamped locations.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system according to claim 1 and wherein the traffic data filter is operative to accept, as traffic data, the location data arriving from users who have identified themselves as traffic elements.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
41 words
A system according to claim 1 and also comprising a user location database storing, for each mobile communication device from which readings have been received, the ID of that device and each of the readings received, each with its own timestamp.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
33 words
A system according to claim 1 and also comprising a road traffic database storing, for at least one road, velocity profiles computed for that road, each profile being stored with its own time-stamp.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
74 words
A traffic monitoring system comprising: location collection apparatus operative to collect location data from at least a traffic population including a multiplicity of traffic elements, the multiplicity of traffic elements comprising a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; a location data analyzer operative to analyze said location data and to derive traffic information therefrom; and a traffic information disseminator operative to provide at least some of the traffic population with said traffic information.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
74 words
A traffic monitoring system comprising: location collection apparatus operative to collect location data from at least a traffic population including a multiplicity of traffic elements, the multiplicity of traffic elements comprising a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; a location data analyzer operative to analyze said location data and to derive traffic information therefrom; and a traffic information disseminator operative to provide at least some of the traffic population with said traffic information.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
34 words
A system according to claim 7 wherein said location data analyzer is operative to derive, for at least one traffic element, at least a portion of a road route followed by the traffic element.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system according to claim 7 wherein the location data defining the location of a mobile communication device at time t is based only on an identification of a mobile communication cell serving the mobile communication device at time t.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
39 words
A system according to claim 7 wherein the location data defining the location of a mobile communication device at time t is based on an identification of a mobile communication cell serving the mobile communication device at time t.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
49 words
A system according to claim 10 wherein said identification of a mobile communication cell comprises at least one of the following identification information elements: an ID of the cell; a cell sector; and a time advance parameter characterizing communication between the mobile communication device and the cell's base station.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
37 words
A traffic monitoring method comprising: collecting location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and analyzing said location data arriving from the plurality of users and rejecting location data which is not traffic data.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
A traffic monitoring method comprising: collecting location data from a plurality of users of mobile communication devices; and analyzing said location data arriving from the plurality of users and rejecting location data which is not traffic data.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method according to claim 12 , and also comprising rejecting location data indicating a too-large discrepancy between a current location of a vehicle and its stored previous locations.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
75 words
A traffic monitoring system for monitoring traffic comprising a population of users bearing a multiplicity of mobile communication devices, the system comprising: a mobile communication network interface receiving, from at least one communication network serving the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and storing, location information characterizing at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices; and a traffic monitor operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter on the basis of the location information.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
75 words
A traffic monitoring system for monitoring traffic comprising a population of users bearing a multiplicity of mobile communication devices, the system comprising: a mobile communication network interface receiving, from at least one communication network serving the multiplicity of mobile communication devices, and storing, location information characterizing at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices; and a traffic monitor operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter on the basis of the location information.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
22 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the traffic monitor is also operative to display the at least one traffic characterizing parameter.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication devices comprise cellular communication devices served by at least one cellular communication network comprising a plurality of base stations each serving a cell comprising a portion of a geographical area.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 16 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives and stores location information from cellular communication devices served by more than one cellular communication network.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein said location information comprises indications of cells serving at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
58 words
A system according to claim 18 wherein the traffic monitor is operative to identify a set of mobile communication devices suspected of be served by a cell other than the cell in which they are actually located and to verify at least some location information arriving from at least some of the mobile communication devices in said set.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
57 words
A system according to claim 18 and also comprising a road database storing locations of roads in a geographical area, wherein the traffic monitor is operative to deduce, based on at least one indication of a cell in which a mobile communication device is located, a road which the mobile communication device is believed to be taking.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
68 words
A system according to claim 20 wherein the traffic monitor is operative, based on an indication that an individual mobile communication device is travelling through a cell sequence including at least one cell, to differentiate a first road portion along which the individual mobile communication device is travelling, from a second road portion falling along the same cell sequence, along which the mobile communication device is not travelling.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
46 words
A system according to claim 21 wherein the traffic monitor is operative to differentiate the first and second road portions by estimating at least one traffic parameter for the first and second road portions which parameter has different values for the first and second road portions.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
28 words
A system according to claim 18 wherein at least some traffic characterizing information is generated using communication cell ID-based location information which is at communication cell ID accuracy.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
49 words
A system according to claim 23 and also comprising a mobile user pinpointing function operative to deduce, from information at communication cell ID accuracy, location information which is at an accuracy higher than communication cell ID accuracy, by combining the communication cell ID accuracy information with additional stored information.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
19 words
A system according to claim 24 wherein said additional stored information comprises information regarding intersections between cells and roads.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
24 words
A system according to claim 24 wherein said additional stored information comprises information regarding a sequence of cells through which a user has passed.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
30 words
A system according to claim 26 wherein said information regarding a sequence comprises a time-stamped identification of at least one pair of adjacent cells between which the user has passed.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
20 words
A system according to claim 14 and also comprising a road database storing locations of roads in a geographical area.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
40 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein said at least one traffic-characterizing parameter comprises at least one of the following group of parameters: a travel time parameter; a traffic speed parameter; a traffic density parameter; and a traffic flow parameter.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
59 words
A system according to claim 14 and also including at least one historical database storing historical location information characterizing past distributions of users over a geographical area of interest, and wherein the traffic monitor is, at least on occasion, operative to compute the at least one traffic-characterizing parameter at least partly on the basis of the historical location information.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system according to claim 30 wherein said historical location information comprises historical traffic information comprising at least one traffic parameter characterizing at least one road segment for at least one point of time in the past.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
47 words
A system according to claim 30 wherein the traffic monitor is operative to evaluate the quality of location information on the basis of which the traffic-characterizing parameter is to be computed and to employ the historical location information if said quality is found to be relatively low.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 32 wherein the quality of location information is evaluated at least partly as a function of the number of users providing current location information.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
27 words
A system according to claim 30 and also comprising a congestion detector operative to detect at least one of generation and dissipation of mobile communication device congestion.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
31 words
A system according to claim 34 and also comprising a congestion-anticipation based cellular network resource allocator operative to receive a congestion-indicative output from the congestion detector and to allocate resources accordingly.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
23 words
A system according to claim 34 wherein said congestion detector employs said historical location information to anticipate future locations of mobile communication devices.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a base station.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a CDR database.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a location server.
Claim 44
Dependent Claim
37 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, directly from at least some of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.
Claim 45
Dependent Claim
25 words
A system according to claim 40 wherein at least some of the location information provided by the mobile communication devices is provided in SMS format.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
21 words
A system according to claim 40 wherein at least some of the location information is provided responsive to a cell broadcast.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
32 words
A system according to claim 40 wherein at least some of the location information is provided responsive to a data transmission directed to individual ones of the multiplicity of mobile communication devices.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system according to claim 43 wherein the data transmission comprises an SMS message.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
42 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface also receives and stores travel time information and said traffic monitor is operative to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameters on the basis of at least the travel time information.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
23 words
A system according to claim 13 wherein the location information does not violate the privacy of the users of the mobile communication devices.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
29 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein the mobile communication network interface receives at least some of the location information used by the traffic monitor, from a cellular switch.
Claim 52
Dependent Claim
57 words
A system according to claim 14 wherein said traffic monitor is also operative to receive speed data derived from a change in at least one parameter characterizing communication between at least one mobile communication device and a base station serving it and to compute at least one traffic-characterizing parameter at least partly based on said speed data.
Claim 53
Dependent Claim
12 words
A system according to claim 48 wherein said parameter comprises communication frequency.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
14 words
A system according to claim 48 wherein said parameter comprises rate of data transfer.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US6341255B1
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2005-12-02 | 2006-06-03 | 2006-12-03 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2009-12-02 | 2010-06-03 | 2010-12-03 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2013-12-02 | 2014-06-03 | 2014-12-03 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |