5075results about "Arrangements for variable traffic instructions" patented technology

An on-board intelligent vehicle system includes a sensor assembly to collect data and a processor to process the data to determine the occurrence of at least one event. The data may be collected from existing standard equipment such as the vehicle communication bus or add-on sensors. The data may be indicative of conditions relating to the vehicle, roadway infrastructure, and roadway utilization, such as vehicle performance, roadway design, roadway conditions, and traffic levels. The detection of an event may signify abnormal, substandard, or unacceptable conditions prevailing in the roadway, vehicle, or traffic. The vehicle transmits an event indicator and correlated vehicle location data to a central facility for further management of the information. The central facility sends communications reflecting event occurrence to various relevant or interested users. The user population can include other vehicle subscribers (e.g., to provide rerouting data based on location-relevant roadway or traffic events), roadway maintenance crews, vehicle manufacturers, and governmental agencies (e.g., transportation authorities, law enforcement, and legislative bodies).

A system of mobile units are installed in multiple vehicles in traffic. These mobile units include both wireless communications devices and apparatus that determines the location of each vehicle. Monitoring a vehicle's position as a function of time also reveals the velocity of the vehicle. Position and speed information is periodically broadcast by the vehicles to a central monitoring station and to neighboring vehicles. At the central monitoring station, the collective input of a set of vehicles is processed to provide an instant chart of traffic conditions in the area. Warnings of delays or updates on traffic conditions on the road ahead are then automatically returned to subscribers of the information or are used as part of an Intelligent Vehicle Highway System (IVHS). Neighboring vehicles within a region communicating with one another form a network in which the broadcast information is processed locally on the respective vehicles to estimate possible problems ahead and consider computing an alternate road and/or checking with the central monitoring station for more information. If out of range of the central monitoring station, the vehicles in the network form a local area network for the exchange and update of information, and when any vehicle in the network is within range of the central monitoring station, the local area network data is uploaded to help update the overall traffic information.

A system for instantaneously monitoring traffic congestion including a plurality of monitoring electronic devices located in motor vehicles traveling on roadways in a selected region. Each monitoring electronic device is coupled to a GPS receiver that provides physical location to a wireless modem capable of connecting to a wireless communication network. The system also includes a central computer connected to a wide area network that is able of continuously downloading physical location information from a plurality of monitoring electronic devices also connected to the wide area network. The central computer uses a traffic monitoring software program and a mapping database containing roadway information for a region and the movement information from the monitoring electronic devices to create a continuously updated traffic congestion database. Authorized users of the system are able to log onto the central computer to a portion of the database that contains specific traffic flow and congestion information. Using the system, users are also able to obtain estimated times of arrival for a specific trip, and recommendations on alternative route information. The system can also take into consideration current or anticipated events that may affect traffic congestion.

Device, system and method, in a vehicle communication system, to transmit wirelessly a message comprising the position, heading and speed of a vehicle or other moving object, wherein the transmission is repeated at regular intervals in a temporarily fixed time slot within a predetermined basic time interval. In a key embodiment the message duration is equal to or less than a predetermined time slot duration. Embodiments use generally the same time slot in a contiguous sequence of basic time intervals. Algorithms are described to resolve wireless interference within a time slot. Embodiments divide the basic time interval in multiple durations, “class regions,” for different message classes. Embodiments use different wireless bandwidth allocation algorithms for the class regions.

An interactive navigation system includes a navigation processing unit, a current position sensor, a speaker, a microphone and a display. When it is preliminary inferred, based on receipt of a detection signal from the sensor, that a vehicle has probably been diverted from a drive route determined by the navigation processing unit, a machine voice question is produced through the speaker for confirmation of the inferred probability of diversion. A driver or user in the vehicle answers the question, which is input through the microphone and analyzed to be affirmative or negative, from which a final decision is made as to the vehicle diversion. In a preferred embodiment the question is spoken by a personified agent who appears on the display. The agent's activities are controlled by an agent processing unit. Communication between the agent and the user improves reliability and accuracy of inference of any vehicle condition which could not be determined perfectly by a sensor only.

A vehicle awareness system for monitoring remote vehicles relative to a host vehicle. The vehicle awareness system includes at least one object sensing device and a vehicle-to-vehicle communication device. A data collection module is provided for obtaining a sensor object data map and vehicle-to-vehicle object data map. A fusion module merges the sensor object data map and vehicle-to-vehicle object data map for generating a cumulative object data map. A tracking module estimates the relative position of the remote vehicles to the host vehicle.

Unpossessed road data is added to possessed road data stored in a road contour database of an information center. An on-vehicle terminal apparatus first compares a current position of a vehicle detected by a D-GPS unit against the road data stored in a storage section for storing road contour data of possessed roads. If the current position deviates from a known existing road, it is determined that the vehicle travels on an unpossessed road. Road data of the unpossessed road is then obtained based on a travel locus of the vehicle and sent to the information center together with a reliability index of the road data. The information center collects unpossessed road data from a plurality of sources, evaluates the reliability index for each data, and adds sufficiently reliable road data to the possessed road data. Thus, the information center can quickly obtain and utilize new and reliable road data.

System and method for identifying speeding violations, comprising determining a current speed and a current location of a vehicle, determining a posted speed limit for the current location from a speed-by-street database, comparing the current speed of the vehicle to the posted speed limit, and evaluating whether the current speed exceeds the posted speed limit. Errors are identified in the speed-by-street database by storing a plurality of speeding violation records, wherein the speeding violation records each include a speeding event location; analyzing the speeding violation records to identify one or more speeding event locations having multiple speeding violations; comparing a posted speed limit at the one or more speeding event locations having multiple speeding violations to corresponding speed limit data in the speed-by-street database; and identifying one or more speed limit entries in the speed-by-street database that do not match the posted speed limit.

In the present invention, advertisements are transmitted electronically at designated locations, as a substitute for stationary billboards. A network navigation center outputs guide access information GAI to a personal computer of an ad sponsor over the Internet and receives registration of advertisement information ADI for the designated location(s) from the personal computer of the ad sponsor according to the guide access information GAI. In addition, the network navigation center receives current position information API from mobile communication device(s) carried by automobile, via a mobile telephone base station and a public telephone network. Likewise, the network navigation center transmits the advertisement information ADI, based on current position information API, to the mobile communication instrument via the public telephone network and mobile telephone base station.

The present invention includes a number of embodiments for improving vehicle situational awareness at intersections. A first embodiment may comprise a lens fitted at the top of the windshield or outside the vehicle, for refracting the light to the driver, so the driver may more easily see signals, signage and other features of an intersection, as well as other traffic. A second embodiment of the invention is used as an aid to prompt the driver that a light has changed. In a third embodiment, the light change sensor may be combined with other vehicle status information. As the car comes to a stop, the route guidance system may determine if the vehicle is at or in the vicinity of an intersection. Depending on the route guidance database, the system may also know whether or not there are traffic lights at the intersection. Using the vehicle's on board forward-looking radar sensor, the system may then determine if it is first in line at the intersection. In a fourth embodiment the system may be part of a portable after-market routing device. In a fifth embodiment the system, either portable or fixed, may be used to detect changes in the intensity of the brake lights of the vehicle ahead.

The present invention provides a situation awareness system of a driver of a vehicle in a multi-vehicle environment, said system comprising: a. a remote central server communicatively connected to a vehicle, comprising: i. a server computer comprising a CPU, a memory, and an operating system; ii. a wireless server transceiver; iii. databases within said server computer; iv. server applications within said server computer; b. a vehicle subsystem installed in a vehicle with a driver, comprising: i. an vehicle computer having a CPU, a memory, and an operating system; ii. sensors; iii. vehicle databases; iv. a vehicle transducer to interrogate external environmental responders about the state of the environment; v. a wireless vehicle transceiver; vi. vehicle applications within said vehicle computer; vii. a situation assessment application,

A radio communication system between a mobile terminal station of a vehicle and a plurality of roadside fixed base stations is so constructed that communication areas of the base stations do not overlap with each other and satisfy the following two conditions. Condition (i): each communication area is defined so that there cannot be a plurality of terminal stations simultaneously. Condition (ii): it is needless to perform multiple access such as time division in the communication area and capable of affording the whole band and all the communication time allocated to one communication area to one terminal station and broad band communication becomes possible. Thus, each mobile terminal station can utilize all the frequency band allocated for service.

Disclosed herein is a traveler information monitoring and dissemination system. The system disclosed herein provides real time information to a traveler, wherein the real time information may be pre-selected by the traveler. The system ensures consistent and quality data are produced and issued to the traveler.

The present invention solves the serial nature of today's Interactive Voice Response (IVR) telephony menu systems, by means of visually “looking ahead” and in any direction in the nested audio IVR menus. Computer software in the telephone, or associated hardware, provides a graphical user interface that enables the user to navigate related IVR text menus that are displayed on the telephone. The present invention provides a variety of means to store, display, select and update associated text menus and other data with an IVR system. The various communication means include analog modems, broadband modems, and VoIP connectivity. The present invention provides the means to convert the audio IVR menus to text menus, as well as the means to download the associated IVR text menus from the Internet.

The information available to a driver of a vehicle is greatly expanded using wireless communications (e.g., using Bluetooth wireless communication devices). In one embodiment, information regarding an adjacent vehicle such as a brake light, a turn light, speed, distance, direction, etc., is transmitted from one vehicle to a nearby or adjacent other vehicle. The received information is used in any appropriate manner, such as causing the receiving vehicle to change vehicle speed or brake, to turn to avoid a collision, etc. In a second embodiment, roadside wireless transceivers collect information regarding passing vehicles, and central database is compiled relating to a traffic conditions. The traffic condition information can be passed back to the passing vehicles for appropriate use, e.g., causing the driver to slow down, or even causing a navigation device in the receiving vehicle to manually prompt for or automatically recalculate a best route to an intended destination. In yet another embodiment, broadcast transmitters can be established at signs and other significant locations transmitting information to passing vehicles. The broadcast information may be as simple as indicating the existence of the sign, or depending upon the range of the particular wireless transmitter, the existence of a particular sign, bump in road, curve, etc., can be forewarned far in advance of when the driver will actually see the relevant object. Alternatively, the broadcast information may be quite detailed, e.g., containing a detailed itemization and directions to a large number of gas stations, restaurants, etc., reachable from a particular exit from a highway.

A lane-changing support system includes a processing unit sets an assumed traffic-merging end, predicts a driving behavior of each peripheral vehicle, and generates at least one host vehicle's manipulated-variable time series to be executed until the host vehicle reaches the assumed traffic-merging end. The processing unit determines whether the host vehicle's lane change is appropriately achievable when executing the manipulated-variable time series, and additionally determines which of gaps defined between the peripheral-vehicles traveling on a traffic lane of destination of lane-changing should be suited for an entry of the host vehicle in case of a decision result that the appropriate lane change is achievable by execution of the manipulated-variable time series. The processing unit transmits information regarding a correspondence between a current host vehicle's manipulated variable on the manipulated-variable time series and at least one lane-changing enabling gap to the driver.

Methods and systems for communicating between autonomous vehicles are described herein. Such communication may be performed for signaling, collision avoidance, path coordination, and/or autonomous control. A computing device may receive communications from autonomous vehicles, where the communications include data for the same road segment, including an indication of a condition of the road segment. The computing device may combine the data for the same road segment to generate an overall indication of the condition of the road segment, which may include a recommendation to vehicles approaching the road segment. Additionally, the computing device may receive a request from a mobile device within a vehicle approaching the road segment to display vehicle data. The overall indication for the road segment may then be displayed on a user interface of the mobile device.