Method and apparatus for providing transportation status information and using it

Abstract

A method and apparatus for providing road status information and using the same are disclosed. A method for encoding traffic information includes the steps of: generating message management information including message identification (ID) information indicating that the traffic information is status information; generating status information including traffic status information; generating location information corresponding to the traffic status information; and generating a traffic information message including the message management information, the status information, and the location information. Therefore, the method provides a vehicle driver who travels along a traffic-jam road or congested road with road traffic status information in real time, such that the vehicle driver can arrive a desired destination within the shortest time using predicted road traffic information.

Description

vertex component(“vertex_component(00)”) coordinates component (“coordinates_component (10)”).

Referring to FIG. 10I, a specific ID “00 hex” is allocated to the link component(“link_component(00)”) equipped with link ID data, such that the link component(“link_component(00)”) includes predetermined link ID data defined in either the traffic information receiving terminal or the traffic information server.

Referring to FIG. 10J, a specific ID “03 hex” is allocated to a coordinates component(“co-ordinates_component(03)”) equipped with link descriptor information. The coordinates component(“co-ordinates_component(03)”) includes link descriptor information written in either a descriptor format or text data using codes defined in the table loc03 (not shown) indicating a location reference descriptor format. Also, the coordinates component(“co-ordinates_component(0)”) includes at least one descriptor component (“descriptor_component”).

A specific ID “00 hex” is allocated to the descriptor component(“descriptor_component (00)”) equipped with direction type information, such that the descriptor component (“descriptor_component(00)”) indicates a direction type using codes defined in the table (loc02). For example, the descriptor component (“descriptor_component(00)”) may indicate whether a current direction is the east, the west, or the opposite direction.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a terminal capable of receiving traffic information from a server according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, a terminal for employing the received traffic information includes a Radio Frequency (RF) transmission/reception unit 1200, a demodulator 1210, a TPEG decoder 1220, a GPS module 1230, a controller 1240, an input unit 1250, an LCD drive 1260, an LCD display 1270, and a storage unit 1280, etc. The above-mentioned components shown in FIG. 12 will hereinafter be described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 12, the RF transmission/reception unit 1200 performs tuning of a signal band for providing traffic information, and outputs a modulated traffic information signal to the demodulator 1210.

If the demodulator 1210 demodulates the modulated traffic information signal and outputs the demodulated traffic information signal to the TPEG decoder 1220, the TPEG decoder 1220 decodes the demodulated traffic information signal such that it acquires various traffic information from the decoded signal.

The GPS module 1230 receives satellite signals from a plurality of low-orbit satellites, such that it recognizes current location information (e.g., a longitude, a latitude, or an altitude). The storage unit 1280 includes both an electronic map equipped with information of links or nodes and various graphic information. The input unit 1250 receives data entered by a user (i.e., user input data).

The controller 1240 receives user input information entered by the input unit 1250, current location information recognized by the GPS module 1230, and traffic information acquired by the RF transmission/reception unit 1220, such that it controls the screen display operation using the received information.

The LCD display 1270 receives a drive signal based on graphic data received from the controller 1240 from the LCD drive 1260, such that it visually displays the received signal on the screen. The input unit 1250 may be implemented with a touch-screen contained in the LCD display 1270, or may be a keypad, a jog-dial, or a point-stick.

The RF transmission/reception unit 1200 performs tuning of a signal transmitted from the TPEG provision server 104. The demodulator 1210 demodulates the tuned signal according to a predetermined scheme, and outputs the demodulated signal. Therefore, the TPEG decoder 1210 decodes the received demodulated signal into the TPEG message sequence of FIG. 2, analyzes each TPEG message of the above-mentioned sequence, and outputs necessary information and/or control signals required for the message content to the controller 1240.

Various information and/or control signals are transmitted from the TPEG decoder 1220 to the controller 1240.

It should be noted that the present invention mainly describes the traffic congestion information shown in FIGS. 5A˜10K for the convenience of description. However, as well known to those skilled in the art, the above-mentioned explanation of the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned examples, and the scope of the present invention can also be applied to other examples as necessary.

The TPEG decoder 1220 extracts a message ID (i.e., a message component), a message generation time, a message transmission time from the message management container 202 of each TPEG message, such that it determines whether the following container is equal to a CTT-status container 204 on the basis of information of the message component.

In this case, the message component information includes a message ID and a version number, is requisite for all messages, and is adapted to manage the TPEG decoder 706's messages.

If the following container is determined to be the CTT-status container 204, the TPEG decoder 1220 transmits information acquired from the CTT status component of the CTT status container 204 to the controller 1240, such that the controller 1240 performs display operations according to traffic-flow status information and traffic-flow prediction information.

Also, the TPEG decoder acquires location information corresponding to the currently-transmitted traffic-flow information from the following TPEG location container 206.

In this case, the location information may be location coordinates (latitude and longitude) of start and end points or a link of the start and end points according to type information of the TPEG location container. In other words, the location information may be a link ID allocated to a road section (i.e., a link).

If the storage unit 1280 is contained in the terminal, the controller 1240 specifies a link corresponding to the received information by referring to link- or node-information stored in the storage unit 1280. The controller 1240 converts location information of a received link into a link ID, or converts the link ID into the location information of the received link.

In the meantime, the controller 1240 reads data of an electronic map from the storage unit 1280 on the basis of current location coordinates received from the GPS module 1230, and displays the read electronic map data on the LCD display 1270 via the LCD drive 1260. In this case, a specific graphic sign is displayed at a specific point corresponding to the current location.

Under the above-mentioned situation, the controller 1240 receives link average speed information from the TPEG decoder 1220, such that the received information is displayed at specific location coordinates of a location container following the container equipped with the link average speed information or at a link corresponding to a link ID. For the above-mentioned operation, different colors are allocated to individual link average speeds as shown in FIGS. 13A to 13B.

FIGS. 13A to 13C exemplarily show methods for displaying an average speed of each link on a screen according to the present invention.

For example, if a current road is determined to a current road, the red color is indicative of 0˜10 km per hour, the orange color is indicative of 10˜20 km per hour, the green color is indicative of 20˜40 km per hour, and the blue color is indicative of at least 40 km per hour. For another example, the link average speed may be represented by numerals as shown in FIG. 13C.

If the link speed change information received from the TPEG decoder 1220 has a specific value “1” or “2”, a character string (“Increase” or “Reduction”) or icon allocated to the specific value “1” or “2” may also be displayed on a corresponding link along with the link speed change information.

If the link speed change information received from the TPEG decoder 1220 has a specific value “0” or “3”, a displayed status is not updated to a new status, such that a current displayed status remains.

If the link speed change information is determined to be average speed change rate information, it is displayed on the screen according to the user's request, such that it can reduce the degree of visual confusion of a vehicle driver.

For example, paths of possible routes (e.g., a predetermined traveling path and a predetermined forwarding path) may be simultaneously displayed on the screen as necessary.

If the terminal does not include the storage unit 1280 equipped with the electronic map, a link average speed associated with only a forward link of a current traveling path may be displayed in different colors (See FIG. 13B), or may be displayed in different numerals (See FIG. 13C).

If a traveling path of the vehicle equipped with the TPEG terminal is predetermined, link average speed information of links contained in the traveling path, instead of the forwarding links, may be displayed.

If the additional information received from the TPEG decoder 1220 is indicative of a famous restaurant or movie theater contained in the link, the controller 1240 indicates corresponding points at the link displayed on the LCD display 1270, such that the point corresponding to the restaurant is visually distinguished from the other point corresponding to the movie theater.

And, the controller 1240 may convert the corresponding information into text information, such that it may display the text information on the screen.

Upon receiving the user's request, the controller 1240 receives a link-travel time, a link delay time, and the degree of traffic delay associated with individual links from the TPEG decoder 1220, such that it may display the received information, instead of the link average speed, on the LCD display 1270.

If the user specifies a prediction time using the input unit 1250 and requests prediction information associated with the traffic-flow status, the controller 1240 receives a prediction average speed of each link from the TPEG decoder 1220, such that it indicates the received link prediction average speed in the form of color- or numeral-data, instead of a current average speed.

Needless to say, if the user requests a display mode of a prediction passing-time mode, instead of the prediction average speed, the controller 1240 displays the received prediction passing-time information of each link on an electronic map or graphic screen of the LCD display 1270 according to the above-mentioned user's request.

In the meantime, if a function for automatically searching for a path of a destination is pre-established in the controller 1240, the controller 1240 may search for or may re-search for a desirable path on the basis of the received link prediction average speed or the received link prediction travel time.

For example, in association with individual links leading to a node at which a user's vehicle will arrive after the lapse of 30 minutes from a current time at a current traveling speed, the controller 1240 selects a specific link having the shortest time to the destination as a traveling path using a prediction average speed or link prediction travel time acquired over the past 30 minutes, and displays the selected link on the screen.

If the terminal of FIG. 12 includes an audio output unit (or a voice output unit), traffic-flow status information or traffic-flow status prediction information received from a designated link may be outputted in the form of voice or audio signals.

As described above, the information and/or control signals received from the TPEG decoder 1220 are temporarily stored in the recordable storage unit 1280, and are then used in the controller 1240.

The controller 1240 employs the information of the storage unit 1280, does not discard the employed information, and stores information created within a predetermined time (e.g., within the last 1 hour).

In this case, the controller 1240 stores the last 1-hour information as an average speed or link travel time at intervals of 20 minutes (i.e., 0 minutes, 20 minutes, and 40 minutes).

The last time may be set to other time longer or shorter than the aforementioned 1 hour according to the available memory capacity.

In this way, if the user selects a specific link via the input unit 1250 on the condition that an average speed of each link is stored in the storage unit 1280, the controller 1240 operates the LCD drive 1260, such that the LCD display 1270 displays not only an average speed history and link travel time history of the selected link, but also a prediction link average speed and prediction link travel time of the selected link in the form of a graph.

As a result, the graph indicating the average speed history, the link travel time history, the prediction link average speed, and the prediction link travel time of the selected link is displayed on the LCD display 1270.

In this case, if a number marked on the graph is speed information, the controller 1240 converts the stored information into data of units of km/h, and displays the data of km/h units on the LCD display 1270.

And, current link name (e.g., a road name) is displayed at an upper part of the graph. The road name of the link is contained in the location coordinates of the TPEG location container 206 or a rear part of a link ID, and is then received.

Otherwise, the above-mentioned link road name is contained in the electronic map of the storage unit 1280.

Besides, current traffic information, previous traffic information, and future traffic information may be displayed in various ways.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention covers the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

A method and apparatus for providing traffic information according to the present invention provides a vehicle driver who travels along a traffic-jam road or congested road with road traffic status information in real time, such that the vehicle driver can arrive a desired destination within the shortest time using predicted road traffic information.

Also, the method and apparatus for providing traffic information according to the present invention pre-informs users or drivers of the congested traffic status, and properly dissipates the volume of traffic, resulting in the effective implementation of road status information.

Claims

1. An apparatus for decoding a transport Protocol Expert Group (TPEG) traffic information message comprising:

a decoder for extracting traffic information from the TPEG traffic information message, the extracted traffic information including

message management information including (1) message identification (ID) information indicating that the traffic information is status information and (2) a generation time of the traffic information message,

status information including traffic-flow status information of a link, and

location information including latitude and longitude information of the link corresponding to the traffic-flow status information; and

a controller for outputting the traffic-flow status information by referring to the location information,

wherein the status information further includes additional information in the form of text data and a language code identifying a language of the text data, the location information further includes vertex information of a vertex within the link, wherein the vertex information includes longitude and latitude information of the vertex, the latitude and longitude information of the link being different from the latitude and longitude information of the vertex.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls to extract average speed data of the link from the traffic-flow status information, and display the extracted average speed data.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller controls to extract travel time data of the link from the traffic-flow status information, and display the extracted travel time data.

4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller extracts delay time data of the link from the traffic-flow status information, and displays the extracted delay time data.

5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller extracts traffic congestion type data of the link from the traffic-flow status information.

6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the decoder is configured to use the message generation time to manage received messages.

7. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the status information further includes additional information in the form of image data or video data.

8. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the additional information describes a point of interest associated with the link and the decoder is configured to extract the information describing the point of interest associated with the link.

9. An apparatus for decoding a transport Protocol Expert Group (TPEG) traffic information message, comprising:

a reception unit configured to receive the TPEG traffic information message, the TPEG traffic information message including a congestion and travel time message segment, the congestion and travel time message segment relating to a link and including:

a message management container including message management information, the message management information including a message generation time of the congestion and travel time message segment and a message identifier identifying the congestion and travel time message segment;

a status container including a plurality of congestion and travel time status components, the plurality of congestion and travel time status components including:

a traffic flow status information component including traffic flow status information and a traffic flow status identifier identifying that the traffic flow status information component relates to traffic flow status information; and

an additional information component including additional information, an additional information component identifier identifying that the additional information component relates to additional information, and a language code indicating the language of the additional information; and

a location container including at least one TPEG location component, the TPEG location component including

location information identifying the link and a location information identifier identifying the type of the location information, the location information including latitude and longitude information of the link, and vertex information of a vertex within the link, the vertex information including latitude and longitude information of the vertex, the latitude and longitude information of the link being different from the latitude and longitude information of the vertex;

a decoder configured to extract the message management information, the traffic flow status information, the additional information, and the location information in the congestion and travel time message segment.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein:

the traffic flow status information component is a traffic flow prediction status information component;

the traffic flow status information is traffic flow status prediction information; and

the traffic flow status information identifier is a traffic flow prediction status identifier identifying that the traffic flow prediction status information component relates to traffic flow prediction status information.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the message management information further comprises a transmission time of the congestion and travel time message segment.

12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the plurality of congestion and travel time status components includes a traffic flow status information component and a traffic flow status information prediction component.

13. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the traffic flow status information includes average speed data of the link; and

wherein the decoder is further configured to extract the average speed data of the link.

14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the traffic flow status information includes travel time data for the link; and

wherein the decoder is further configured to extract the travel time data for the link.

15. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the traffic flow status information includes a congestion type; and

wherein the decoder is further configured to extract the congestion type.

16. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the message management information further includes a version number indicating a sequential number for identifying successive TPEG traffic information messages having a single message identifier.

17. An apparatus for decoding a transport Protocol Expert Group (TPEG) traffic information message comprising:

a decoder for extracting traffic information from the TPEG traffic information message, the extracted traffic information including

message management information including (1) message identification (ID) information and (2) a generation time of the traffic information message,

status information including traffic-flow status information of a link, and

location information including latitude and longitude information of the link corresponding to the traffic-flow status information; and

a controller for outputting the traffic-flow status information,

wherein the status information further includes additional information in the form of text data and a language code identifying a language of the text data, the location information further includes vertex information of a vertex within the link, wherein the vertex information includes longitude and latitude information of the vertex, the latitude and longitude information of the link being different from the latitude and longitude information of the vertex.