Methods and systems for generating parking related data

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12112633-B2
Application number	US-201716337906-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 29, 2017
Priority date	Sep 29, 2016
Publication date	Oct 8, 2024
Grant date	Oct 8, 2024

Abstract

A method is disclosed for generating parking related data in respect of one or more navigable elements of a navigable network within a geographic area, each navigable element being represented by a segment of an electronic map, the electronic map comprising a plurality of segments representative of the navigable network. The method comprises obtaining positional data relating to trips made by vehicles in the navigable network, each trip being a journey between stationary periods indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state. The method comprises, for each one of the plurality of trips, analysing the positional data to identify a parking space search portion of the trip; and analysing the positional data corresponding to the parking space search portions of the trips to obtain, for each one of a plurality of segments of the electronic map, a parking related parameter associated with the segment.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for generating parking related data in respect of one or more navigable elements of a navigable network within a geographic area, each navigable element being represented by a segment of an electronic map, the electronic map comprising a plurality of segments representative of the navigable network, said method comprising:
obtaining positional data relating to a plurality of trips made by vehicles in the navigable network, each trip being a journey between stationary periods indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state;
analysing, for each one of the plurality of trips, the positional data to identify a parking space search portion of the trip, the analyzing including analysing the respective positional data to identify a start of a parking space search during the trip that defines the start of the parking space search portion of the trip;
analysing the positional data corresponding to the parking search portions of the trips to obtain, for each one of at least one set of a plurality of different time periods, a relative value of the parking related parameter associated with each one of a plurality of segments of the electronic map in respect of the time period, the parking related parameter being a time dependent parameter;
clustering, for the or each set of time periods, the segments into groups of segments based on the relative values of the parking related parameter obtained for the segments in each time period of the set, wherein, for each of the time periods of the set of time periods, the segments in each group of segments are considered to have similar relative values of the parking related parameter;
using, for each group, relative parking related parameter data associated with each of the segments of the group to generate an aggregate profile that represents a time dependence of the relative value of the parking related parameter for that group, wherein the aggregate profile is used as a representation of the time dependence of the parking related parameter for all of the segments of that group;
generating a parking search route based on one or more of the aggregate profiles; and
displaying, on a display, a representation of the parking search route, the displaying including superposing the representation of the parking search route on an electronic map displayed on the display.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parking space search portion is detected based on one or more criteria using the positional data in respect of the trip, the criteria including the positional data being indicative of one or more of; the vehicle performing one or more turns, the vehicle performing one or more loops, and the vehicle travelling at a speed below a predetermined threshold.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined threshold is set with respect to a free flow speed for the segment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said identified point is considered to be a candidate point for the start of a parking space search, the method comprising considering one or more further criteria to determine whether the candidate point may be confirmed as the start of a parking space search, wherein the criteria include one or more of; the point being within a predetermined distance of the end of the trip, the point being within a predetermined distance of a turn performed by the vehicle and/or being within a loop performed by the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of determining whether the candidate point may be confirmed as the start of a parking space search further takes into account a distance travelled at the speed below the predetermined threshold.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the parking parameter is a parking probability; and
the parking probability obtained for a segment is based on a ratio of the number of times the segment is traversed without finding a parking space according to the parking space search portion data to the number of times a parking space is successfully found on the segment according to the parking space search portion data.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parking related parameter is an expected parking search time.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the expected parking space search time is based on the average remaining time spent searching for a parking space after traversing the segment according to the parking space search portion data.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the parking related parameter is a time dependent parameter, and a plurality of values of the parameter are determined for each segment, each value of the parking related parameter being in respect of a different time period.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising associating data indicative of the parking probability for the segment with each segment in the electronic map for which such data is determined.

11. The method of claim 1 , comprising associating data indicative of the aggregate profile in association with each segment of the group.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising using the parking related parameter data obtained for determining an estimated time to find a parking space.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the aggregate profile is generated for a given group by:
computing, for each time period of a specified set of time periods, an average or mean value of the parking related parameter for each of the segments of the given group; and
combining the average or mean values of the parking related parameter into the aggregate profile.

14. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating a set of instructions indicative of the parking search route; and
outputting instructions from the set of instructions for guiding a user on the parking search route as the user travels the parking search route.

15. A system constructed and arranged to generate parking related data in respect of one or more navigable elements of a navigable network within a geographic area, each navigable element being represented by a segment of an electronic map, the electronic map comprising a plurality of segments representative of the navigable network, said system comprising:
processing circuitry configured to:
obtain positional data relating to a plurality of trips made by vehicles in the navigable network, each trip being a journey between stationary periods indicative of the vehicle being in a parked state;
analyse, for each one of the plurality of trips, the positional data in respect of the trip to identify a parking space search portion of the trip, the analyzing including analysing the respective positional data to identify a start of a parking space search during the trip that defines the start of the parking space search portion of the trip;
analyze the positional data corresponding to the parking search portions of the trips to obtain, for each one of at least one set of a plurality of different time periods, a relative value of the parking related parameter associated with each one of a plurality of segments of the electronic map in respect of the time period, the parking related parameter being a time dependent parameter;
cluster, for the or each set of time periods, the segments into groups of segments based on the relative values of the parking related parameter obtained for the segments in each time period of the set, wherein, for each of the time periods of the set of time periods, the segments in each group of segments are considered to have similar relative values of the parking related parameter;
use, for each group, relative parking related parameter data associated with each of the segments of the group to gener

Assignees

• Tomtom Traffic Bv

Inventors

• Wiesner Steffen Gunther
• Skarding Joakim
• Bösche Konrad
• Schmidt Gunnar

Classifications

• G01C21/3492

  employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical (traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968) · CPC title

• G08G1/0129

  for creating historical data or processing based on historical data · CPC title

• G08G1/0112

  from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD] · CPC title

• G08G1/0141

  for traffic information dissemination · CPC title

• G08G1/0133

  for classifying traffic situation · CPC title