Track Reconciliation via Space-Time Region Signatures
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional tracking systems struggle to reconcile tracks generated by different data sources that correspond to the same entity, as they often assign unique identifiers independently without coordinating, leading to inability to recognize entities across multiple tracking mechanisms.
Innovation Solution
A tracking reconciliation system that processes location-time data from multiple sources, categorizes data into space-time regions, generates track signatures, and compares these signatures to reconcile entity identifiers, thereby identifying matching tracks as belonging to the same entity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple tracking systems independently assign entity identifiers, then each system can track entities using its own mechanism, but the systems cannot recognize that different identifiers correspond to the same entity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces track signatures as an intermediary element that mediates between multiple independent tracking systems. Each tracking system generates track signatures from its location-time data, and these signatures serve as a common language for comparing tracks across different systems. The signature generation module creates standardized representations that enable the reconciliation module to match tracks from different sources, thus resolving the entity identity recognition problem without requiring the tracking systems to directly communicate or coordinate their identifier assignment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms raw location-time data into track signatures by applying parameter changes. The reconciliation process compares signatures based on spatial and temporal parameters, allowing the system to determine whether different entity identifiers correspond to the same physical entity. This parameter transformation enables cross-system entity recognition by converting heterogeneous tracking data into comparable signature formats.
2Loss of information
If conventional systems analyze tracking data to extract useful information, then meaningful insights can be obtained, but the computational cost becomes excessively high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential features needed for entity identification and reconciliation, rather than analyzing complete tracking datasets. By generating compact track signatures from location-time data and comparing only these signatures, the system extracts the minimum necessary information for reconciliation purposes. This selective extraction dramatically reduces computational energy consumption while still enabling effective entity matching across tracking systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the tracking data processing into distinct modules: data reception, signature generation, and reconciliation comparison. Each module handles a specific aspect of the data, processing only what is necessary for its function. This segmentation allows the system to avoid comprehensive analysis of all tracking data while still achieving effective entity reconciliation through targeted signature comparison.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments relate to reconciling different entity identifiers. A method of reconciling different entity identifiers of a same entity is provided. The method receives a plurality of series of location-time data items from a plurality of tracking systems that each track one or more entities. Each series of location-time data items is associated with an entity identifier. The method categorizes each location-data item into a space-time region. The method generates a track for each of the plurality of series of location-time data items based on the space-time regions into which the location-data items are categorized, and generates a track signature for each of the generated tracks based on a segment of the generated track. The method compares the track signatures to find matching track signatures. Based on a plurality of matching signatures, the method reconciles the plurality of entity identifiers associated with the plurality of matching signatures to a particular entity.