Public Transport Scheduling via Mobile Handover Bursts
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Integration of public transport systems with live scheduling information is hindered by high costs and technical challenges, particularly in underground areas where GPS signals are unavailable, leading to exclusion of certain lines from modernization efforts.
Innovation Solution
Utilizing existing cellular infrastructure, the method identifies handover bursts from mobile phones of passengers to correlate vehicle movement and generate schedule information, leveraging handover events to interpolate stop times and locations along public transport lines without the need for costly vehicle tracking systems.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If GPS modules are installed in vehicles to provide live scheduling information, then positioning accuracy is improved, but system integration cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses mobile network handover data as an intermediary to infer vehicle position. Instead of directly tracking vehicles with GPS, the system uses handover bursts from passenger mobile phones as a mediator to determine vehicle location, thereby avoiding direct installation of tracking devices in vehicles
Solution Approach 2:
The system leverages the existing mobile phones of passengers as self-service positioning devices. The passengers' own mobile devices perform the positioning function without requiring additional equipment to be installed in the vehicle, turning passengers into unwitting participants in the tracking system
2Loss of information
If special vehicle tracking technology is installed for underground metro lines, then live scheduling information availability is improved, but integration cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a universal solution using mobile network infrastructure that works for both above-ground and underground lines. The same handover-based tracking method used for surface vehicles is also applied to underground metro lines, eliminating the need for separate specialized tracking systems
Solution Approach 2:
The system replicates the positioning approach by using the same mobile network handover methodology for underground lines that is used for above-ground lines. Instead of creating a new specialized system, it copies and adapts the existing handover-based tracking approach to work in tunnel environments
3Loss of information
If system integration is performed with on-board electronics systems, then live scheduling information is achieved, but integration difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the positioning function from the vehicle's on-board electronics system and relocates it to the mobile network infrastructure. By taking out the positioning requirement from the vehicle system and handling it externally through mobile phone handover data, the complex integration with on-board electronics is avoided
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Handover bursts are identified for source and target cell pairs along a given public transport line, and each of the handover bursts are tagged with anonymized identifiers of participating users. By searching for handover bursts with a significant share of common user identifiers, it is possible to recursively connect bursts corresponding to a particular public transport vehicle trip. Further, by projecting the estimated location of all connected handover bursts to the path of the given public transport line, it is possible to interpolate stop times and locations for the given vehicle along the entire trip.