ROAD TRAFFIC OPTIMIZATION SYSTEM
The present invention relates to a road traffic optimization system.
Currently, the road traffic in metropolitan areas is becoming increasingly
congested. There is therefore a need to assist users in choosing the right itinerary
and right moment to leave, taking into account their constraints and their
preferences.
Current itinerary recommendation tools only look at the state of road
traffic, and recommend itineraries that avoid congested road portions.
To remedy the aforementioned drawbacks, a method for optimizing road
traffic within an application server providing recommended itineraries to users
connected to said application server from communication terminals, each
recommended itinerary being provided to a user based on a user profile containing
the departure or arrival date, and the departure and arrival location, comprises the
following steps within the application server:
comparing the itineraries recommended to users whose starting date
belongs to a given interval of time,
producing a set of users whose compared recommended itineraries have
at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
modifying an itinerary recommended to at least one user belonging to said
set of users.
Advantageously, the invention makes it possible to make road traffic more
fluid by suggesting different itineraries or different departure dates to the users,
while fulfilling their preferences and constraints. For example, in an exceptional
situation in which heavy snow is falling, users who want to know whether they
should go home or stay at work can be assisted regarding the right itinerary to take
or the right moment to leave, in order to avoid bottlenecks that are often created
when many people are on the same roads at the same time.
According to another feature of the invention, said itinerary segment may
additionally have the feature of comprising portions of roads that have a risk of
being congested with road traffic. Furthermore, potential congestions of road
segments may be identified after the users are grouped.
According to another feature of the invention, said itinerary segment may
be determined based on information retrieved by the application server regarding
the state of road traffic and the state of the roads.
According to another feature of the invention, said set of users may
contain a minimum number of users whose compared recommended itineraries
have an itineraries segment with minimum length in common.
According to another feature of the invention, the recommended itinerary
may be modified by changing the starting date or by changing at least one
segment of the itinerary.
According to another feature of the invention, the recommended itinerary
may be modified based on preferences and restrictions related to the user's profile.
According to another feature of the invention, the itineraries recommended
to the users may be updated by the application server based on at least one actual
departure date indicated by a user.
The invention also pertains to an application server for optimizing road
traffic providing recommended itineraries to users connected to said application
server from communication terminals, each recommended itinerary being provided
to a user based on a profile of the user containing the departure date or arrival
date, the departure location or arrival location, the application server comprising:
means for comparing the itineraries recommended to the users whose
departure date belongs to a given interval of time,
means for producing a set of users whose compared recommended
itineraries have at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
means for modifying an itinerary recommended to at least one user
belonging to said set of users.
The invention additionally pertains to a computer program capable of
being implemented within a server or within a network of servers within a cloud
computing environment, said program comprising instructions which, when the
program is executed within said server, carry out the steps of the inventive method.
The present invention and the benefits thereof shall be better understood
upon examining the description below, which makes reference to the attached
figures, in which:
- Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a communication system
according to one embodiment of the invention,
- Figure 2 is an algorithm of a method for optimizing road traffic according
to one embodiment of the invention.
With reference to figure 1, a communication system according to the invention
comprises an application server SA and at least one communication terminal TC,
capable of communicating with one another through a telecommunication network
RT.
The telecommunication network RT may be a wired or wireless network, or
a combination of wired and wireless networks.
In one example, the telecommunications network RT is a high-speed IP
("Internet Protocol") packet network, such as the Internet or an intranet.
In another example, the telecommunications network RT is an ATM
("Asynchronous Transfer Mode") or TDM ("Time Division Multiplexing") network or a
private network specific to a company supporting a proprietary protocol.
A communication terminal TC of a user is connected to the application
server SA over the telecommunications network RT.
In one example, a communication terminal is a personal computer directly
linked by modem to an xDSL ("Digital Subscriber Line") or ISDN ("Integrated
Services Digital Network") link connected to the telecommunication network RT.
In another example, a communication terminal is a mobile cellular
radiocommunication terminal, linked by a radiocommunication channel to the
telecommunication network, for example of the GSM ("Global System for Mobile
communications") or UMTS ("Universal Mobile Telecommunications System") type,
potentially using the protocol HSDPA ("High Speed Downlink Packet Access").
In another example, a communication terminal comprises an electronic
telecommunication device or object that may be a personal digital assistant (PDA)
or a smartphone, capable of being connected to an antenna on a public wireless
local area network WLAN, a network using the 802. 1x standard, or a wide area
network using the WIMAX ("World wide Interoperability Microwave Access")
protocol, connected to the telecommunication network.
The application server SA is a server providing a road itinerary
recommendation service to users connected to said application server from
communication terminals TC.
The application server SA comprises a recommendation module REC and
an optimization module OPT. In the remainder of the description, the term module
may designate a device, a software program, or a combination of computer
hardware and software, configured to execute at least one particular task.
The recommendation module REC retrieves information about various
users, and particularly a profile for each user.
In his or her profile, the user indicates, for example, the starting or arrival
date, and the starting or arrival location. The user may further impose constraints
such as an itinerary without tolls, or without major highways, or the shortest or
fastest itinerary. The user may further impose constraints on the type of vehicle
used, which may, for example, be a motor vehicle or non-motor vehicle, with two,
three, or four wheels. It is assumed that the departure or arrival date may be
specified in days, hours, and minutes.
The recommendation module REC further retrieves information about the
state of road traffic, such as the current road congestion situation and road
congestion forecasts assisted by statistics and historical data.
The recommendation module REC may further retrieve information about
the weather, such as the current weather and weather forecasts, and information
about the state of the roads, which may be dry, wet, or slippery, for example.
The recommendation module REC provides an itinerary recommended to
the user based on the user's profile, particularly containing the departure or arrival
date, the departure location or arrival location, and additionally, based on
information retrieval regarding the state of road traffic or the state of the roads.
The optimization module OPT compares the itineraries recommended to
users whose indicated departure date belongs to a given interval time. The
optimization module OPT produces a set of users whose corresponding
recommended itineraries have at least one itinerary segment of given length in
common. Said itinerary segment is determined based on information retrieved by
the recommendation module REC, such as information about the state of road
traffic and the state of the roads. It is a further feature of said segment to comprise
road portions that have a risk of being congested with road traffic, particularly after
the users are grouped together. The grouping of users makes it possible to tell how
many users might be included together on an itinerary segment, in order to verify
whether the segment might be congested or not. The risk that an itinerary segment
might be congested may therefore be defined based on the number of users plan
on that segment and based on the road congestion forecasts assisted by statistics
and historical data. It is assumed that said set of users contains a minimum number
of users whose compared recommended itineraries have an itinerary segment with
a minimum length in common.
The optimization module OPT modifies, if warranted, an itinerary
recommended to at least one user belonging to said set of users. The
recommended itinerary may therefore be modified by changing the departure date
or by changing at least one segment of the itinerary, i.e. a road portion. The
recommended itinerary may further be modified based on the user's preferences
and constraints.
Optionally, users may indicate their actual departure date, for example by
sending a message to the application server SA from their communication terminal
TC. According to one embodiment, an application may be installed in the
communication terminal TC which is, for example, a "smartphone" mobile
telephone that automatically communicates the departure date to the application
server, using a means of geolocation and which further communicates the user's
current geographic position. The application server SA may then take this
information into account in order to update the recommended itineraries and said
sets of users. The optimization module OPT may also take into account a user who
did not follow the recommended itinerary with the departure date.
The optimization module OPT can also identify any bottlenecks following
the grouping of the users on an itinerary segment and based on additional
information on the state of road traffic.
The optimization module OPT thereby dynamically produces sets of users
whose corresponding recommended itineraries have at least one itinerary segment
of given length in common, and that take into account in real time the information
provided by users and retrieved about the users.
With reference to Figure 2, a method for optimizing road traffic according
to one embodiment of the invention comprises steps E 1 to E5 executed
automatically within the communication system.
In step E 1, a user connects to the application server SA from a
communication terminal TC. The user is invited to fill out a profile, indicating the
desired departure or arrival date, the departure location and arrival location, and
additionally indicating constraints such as an itinerary without tolls, or without major
highways, or the shortest or fastest itinerary.
In step E2, the recommendation module REC of the application server SA
provides an itinerary recommended to the user based on the user's profile.
Steps E 1 and E2 are thereby followed for each of the users who connect
to the application server SA.
In step E3, the optimization module OPT of the application server SA
compares itineraries recommended to various users whose indicated departure
date belongs to a given interval of time.
In step E4, the optimization module OPT produces a set of users whose
corresponding recommended itineraries have at least one itinerary segment of
given length in common. Said itinerary segment has the feature of comprising road
portions that have a risk of being congested with road traffic, and is additionally
determined based on information retrieved by the application server regarding the
state of road traffic and/or the state of the roads.
The optimization module OPT thereby seeks to find at least one road
portion that has a minimum length which is subject to bottlenecks and thereby
determines said set of uses so that it contains a minimum number of users who
planned to take that road portion.
In step E5, the optimization module OPT modifies an itinerary
recommended to at least one user who belongs to said set of users, the
recommended itinerary being modified by changing the departure date or by
changing at least one itinerary segment. Thus, by modifying several recommended
itineraries, the application server SA reduces the risks of road traffic congestion for
the itineraries recommended to users. The user may be selected for an itinerary
modified based on his or her preferences and constraints.
The invention described here pertains to a method and server for
optimizing road traffic. According to one embodiment of the invention, the steps of
the inventive method are determined by the instructions of a computer program
incorporated into a server, such as the application server SA. The program
comprises program instructions that, when said program is loaded and executed
within the server, carry out the steps of the inventive method. According to another
implementation of the invention, the steps of the inventive method are determined
by the instructions of a computer program partially incorporated into a server of a
server network. The program comprises program instructions, which when said
program is loaded and executed at least partially in at least one server of the
server network, carry out the steps of the inventive method. In this embodiment,
each server of the server network has features similar to those of the application
server SA.
Consequently, the invention also applies to a computer program,
particularly a computer program on or within an information medium, suitable to
implement the invention. This program may use any programming language, and
be in the form of source code, object code, or intermediate code between source
code and object code, such as in a partially compiled form, or in any other form
desirable for implementing the inventive method.

CLAIMS
1. A method for optimizing road traffic within an application server (SA)
providing recommended itineraries to users connected to said application server
from communication terminals (TC), each recommended itinerary being provided to
a user based on a user profile containing the departure or arrival date, and the
departure and arrival location, comprises the following steps within the application
server (SA):
comparing (E3) the itineraries recommended to users whose starting date
belongs to a given interval of time,
producing (E4) a set of users whose compared recommended itineraries
have at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
modifying (E5) an itinerary recommended to at least one user belonging to
said set of users.
2. A method according to claim 1, whereby said itinerary segment also has
the feature of comprising road portions that have a risk of being congested with
road traffic.
3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, whereby said itinerary segment is
determined based on information retrieved by the application server regarding the
state of road traffic and the state of the roads.
4. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 3, whereby said set of users
contains a minimum number of users whose compared recommended itineraries
have an itinerary segment with a minimum length in common.
5. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 4, whereby the
recommended itinerary is modified by changing the departure date or by changing
at least one segment of the itinerary.
6. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 5, whereby the
recommended itinerary is modified based on preferences and constraints related to
the user's profile.
7. A method according to one of the claims 1 to 6, whereby the itineraries
recommended to users are updated by the application server (SA) based on at
least one actual departure date indicated by a user.
8. An application server (SA) to optimize road traffic providing recommended
itineraries to users connected to said application server from communication
terminals (TC), each recommended itinerary being provided to a user based on a
profile of the user containing the departure date or arrival date, the departure
location or arrival location, the application server (SA) comprising:
means (OPT) for comparing the itineraries recommended to the users
whose departure date belongs to a given interval of time,
means (OPT) for producing a set of users whose compared recommended
itineraries have at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
means (OPT) for modifying an itinerary recommended to at least one user
belonging to said set of users.
9. A computer program capable of being implemented within an application
server (SA) to optimize road traffic, said application server (SA) providing itineraries
recommended to users connected to said application server from communication
terminals (TC), each recommended itinerary being provided to a user based on a
profile of the user containing the departure date or arrival date, the departure
location and the arrival location, said program comprising instructions which, when
the program is loaded and executed within said application server (SA), carry out
the following steps:
comparing (E3) the itineraries recommended to users whose starting date
belongs to a given interval of time,
producing (E4) a set of users whose compared recommended itineraries
have at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
modifying (E5) an itinerary recommended to at least one user belonging to
said set of users.
10. A computer program for optimizing road traffic via a server network
providing itineraries recommended to users connected at least to a server of the
server network from communication terminals (TC), each recommended itinerary
being provided to a user based on a profile of the user containing the departure or
arrival date, the departure location and arrival location, said program comprising
instructions that, when the program is loaded and executed at least partially in at
least one server of the server network, carry out the following steps:
comparing (E3) the itineraries recommended to users whose starting date
belongs to a given interval of time,
producing (E4) a set of users whose compared recommended itineraries
have at least one itinerary segment of given length in common, and
modifying (E5) an itinerary recommended to at least one user belonging to
said set of users.