Route Searching System Using Reference Time Table
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing route-searching systems face challenges in handling routes that span different time zones, as they require complex data management and increased processing loads due to the need to determine and convert time zones for nodes and links, and cannot easily handle points outside the transportation network as departure or destination points.
Innovation Solution
A route-searching system that uses transportation network data with reference-time time table data, allowing for the determination of time zones for departure and destination points and converting time data based on their respective zones, without the need to divide links by time zones or create new nodes, thereby simplifying the search process and reducing data complexity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If time zone information is added to nodes and links are divided by time zones, then route searching across different time zones becomes possible, but data complexity and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a reference time table that serves as an intermediary between transportation systems operating in different time zones. Instead of modifying the existing time zone-specific data structures, the reference time table acts as a mediation layer that enables route searching across time zones without increasing the complexity of the underlying transportation network data. The reference time table contains departure and arrival times converted to a common reference time zone, allowing the route searching system to handle cross-time-zone routes while maintaining the original time zone structures intact.
2Measurement precision
If time zone determination and conversion processes are implemented, then accurate route guidance across time zones can be provided, but processing load increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs time zone conversion in advance by creating a reference time table that contains all necessary departure and arrival times converted to the reference time zone before route searching begins. This preliminary action eliminates the need for real-time time zone determination and conversion during the route searching process, thereby reducing the processing load while maintaining accurate time zone handling. The reference time table pre-computes all time zone adjustments, so the actual route searching only needs to query pre-converted times.
3Ease of operation
If the system handles points outside the transportation network as departure or destination points, then user convenience improves, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the reference time table as an intermediary to handle points outside the transportation network. When a user specifies a departure or destination point that is not a transportation node, the system can still perform route searching by using the reference time table to find the appropriate transportation connections. This approach allows the system to accommodate arbitrary user-specified points without requiring complex modifications to the transportation network data structure or adding sophisticated point-to-network matching algorithms.
Data Source
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AI summary
It is an object to provide a route searching system that can easily carry out the search processing of a route covering different time zones. A route searching system is provided with a time zone data memory means that stores information of a time zone which is associated with each node composing a traffic network and to which a node belongs, a reference time table data memory means that stores reference time table data made out by using a predetermined reference time irrelevant to the time zone to which the node belongs, a time zone determination means that determines the time zone to which the starting point or destination point belongs and a time conversion means, wherein a route searching means searches for a route from the starting point to the destination point based on the traffic network data and the reference time table data, the time conversion means converts the time data of the searched route into guiding data based on the time zone to which the starting point or the destination point belongs.