Real-Time Place Busyness Using Privacy-Qualified Location Aggregation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing map information systems require significant resources to aggregate location data over long periods, leading to inefficiencies and potential privacy concerns due to the handling of large amounts of real-time location information.

Innovation Solution

A system and method for determining real-time busyness information by measuring aggregate location data, applying a hash function to anonymize identifiers, and using bit vectors to qualify locations based on privacy and accuracy thresholds, ensuring efficient data storage and privacy protection.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Measurement precision

If location data is aggregated over long periods to generate occupancy distribution histograms, then measurement precision is improved, but resource consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveoccupancy distribution accuracyVSAvoidcomputational resource consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

The patent segments the aggregation process into two distinct phases: (1) a long-term historical aggregation phase that runs periodically to build occupancy distribution histograms with high precision, and (2) a short-term real-time phase that uses the pre-computed histograms to determine current busyness levels. This segmentation allows the system to achieve accurate occupancy measurements without continuously consuming high computational resources.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs preliminary aggregation of location data over long periods to pre-compute occupancy distribution histograms before they are needed for real-time busyness determination. By pre-computing these histograms and storing them, the system avoids the need to perform resource-intensive aggregation operations continuously, thereby reducing ongoing computational resource consumption while maintaining measurement precision.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Measurement precision

If real-time location information is collected and processed, then busyness information accuracy is improved, but privacy protection is compromised

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvebusyness information accuracyVSAvoidprivacy risk

Core Design Contradiction:

Measurement precisionVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts only the essential aggregated occupancy information from the raw location data, discarding individual user identifiers and specific location trajectories. By taking out only the necessary busyness metrics while leaving behind personal information, the system achieves accurate busyness measurement without retaining privacy-sensitive data.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent introduces occupancy distribution histograms as an intermediary representation between raw location data and final busyness information. These histograms serve as a mediator that aggregates location patterns without preserving individual user identities, thereby enabling accurate busyness measurement while protecting user privacy through intermediate aggregation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Loss of information

If aggregated data is stored and processed continuously, then data availability is improved, but network bandwidth consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvedata availabilityVSAvoidnetwork bandwidth consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSLoss of energy

Solution Approach 1:

The patent merges multiple individual location data streams into a single aggregated occupancy distribution histogram for each place. By combining data from numerous users into unified histograms, the system maintains comprehensive data availability while significantly reducing the volume of data that needs to be transmitted and processed, thereby lowering network bandwidth consumption.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent creates compact copies of location information in the form of occupancy distribution histograms that capture essential patterns without storing complete raw data sets. These histogram copies retain the necessary information for determining busyness levels while occupying minimal storage space and requiring minimal network bandwidth for transmission and updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #26Copying

Data Source

PatentUS12548038B2Realtime busyness for places

Publication Date: 2026.02.10 GOOGLE LLC

AI summary

Real-time busyness information is for a public place is computed in a privacy-sensitive way, and provided for display in relation to historical busyness information. An aggregate amount of real-time location information available for a particular public place is measured (410), and used to determine (420) whether the public place is privacy-qualified. If the public place is privacy-qualified, real-time busyness information is computed (440) for the public place based on the real-time location information. Further, it is determined (450) whether the computed real-time busyness information is accuracy-qualified, based on a comparison of the real-time busyness information to historical busyness information. If both qualifications are met, the real-time busyness information is output (470) for display or to another application.