Traffic Status Estimation Using Time-Space Topology
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing traffic status estimation methods face challenges in accurately estimating traffic amounts in sections with multiple branch roads and insufficient GPS information, leading to increased observation errors and limited coverage.
Innovation Solution
A traffic status estimation device and method that utilize similarity in traffic status between sections with and without sensors, employing time-space topology and similarity calculations to estimate traffic status in unsensorized sections based on sensor data and GPS information.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If installation type sensors are arranged in all road sections, then traffic status measurement accuracy is improved, but system cost and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses GPS-equipped vehicles as mobile intermediaries to collect traffic status data in road sections without fixed sensors. These vehicles act as moving measurement points, transmitting their position, speed, and timestamp information to the server, which then estimates traffic conditions in unsensorized areas based on the aggregated GPS trajectory data.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual representation of physical traffic conditions by constructing a time-space topology model that copies and simulates actual traffic status. The system builds a mathematical model representing traffic flow patterns in both sensor-equipped and sensor-less sections, allowing accurate estimation without physical sensors in every location.
2Device complexity
If GPS-only observation is used without installation type sensors, then system cost is reduced, but observation accuracy and coverage deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two different observation approaches: installation type sensor data from road sections and GPS trajectory data from mobile vehicles. The server integrates both data sources, using sensor data where available and GPS data where sensors are absent, creating a unified traffic status estimation system that leverages the strengths of both methods.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from traditional spatial-only sensor deployment to a four-dimensional approach by incorporating time as an explicit dimension. The time-space topology model tracks vehicle positions across both space and time, allowing the system to infer traffic conditions in unsensorized sections by analyzing temporal patterns in GPS trajectory data.
3Device complexity
If sensors are installed only in important road sections, then system cost is reduced, but traffic status coverage and safety monitoring capability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the GPS-based observation system universal by designing it to work in both sensor-equipped and sensor-less road sections. The same GPS trajectory data can serve multiple purposes: validating sensor data where sensors exist, estimating traffic status where sensors are absent, and providing backup observation capability across the entire road network.
Data Source
AI summary
Provided are a traffic status estimation device and the like with which it is possible to estimate the traffic status with high precision even in a situation in which there are few sections with sensors installed therein and the vehicle travel history is inadequate. This traffic status estimation device includes: a traffic status estimation unit that estimates the traffic status in sections in which sensors are not installed on the basis of the similarity of the traffic status among sets comprising a plurality of time bands and a plurality of sections that include sections in which sensors are installed and sections in which sensors are not installed, and on the basis of the traffic status in the sections in which sensors are installed; and an output unit that outputs the traffic status estimated by the traffic status estimation unit.