Multi-modal journey planner

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9594772-B2
Application number	US-201214234999-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 25, 2012
Priority date	Jul 27, 2011
Publication date	Mar 14, 2017
Grant date	Mar 14, 2017

Abstract

A method, system, computer program product and computer program for generating a multi-modal journey itinerary comprising: receiving, from a user, a desired destination; determining the user's current location; determining the user's current mode of transport; accessing a multi-modal route graph; determining, in response to determining the user's current location and of determining the user's current mode of transport, a user's position in the multi-modal route graph; and calculating, in response to determining the user's position in the multi-modal route graph, a multi-modal journey itinerary from the user's position in the multi-modal route graph to the desired destination.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of generating a multi-modal journey itinerary, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors, a desired destination from a user;
determining, by one or more processors, a user's current location for the user; determining, by one or more processors, a user's current mode of transport for the user, wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
calculating a probability score for each of a plurality of modes of transport, and
selecting a mode of transport with a highest calculated probability score;

accessing, by one or more processors, a multi-modal route graph;
in response to said determining the user's current location and in response to determining the user's current mode of transport, determining, by one or more processors, a user's position in the multi-modal route graph;
in response to said determining the user's position in the multi-modal route graph and in response to determining the user's current mode of transport, calculating, by one or more processors, a multi-modal journey itinerary from the user's position in the multi-modal route graph to the desired destination based on the user's current location and the user's current mode of transport, wherein the multi-modal journey itinerary includes travel directions that are specific for the user's current mode of transport;
determining, by one or more processors, that the user's current mode of transport is a public vehicle, wherein the public vehicle is a vehicle on a fixed route that is available to public passengers;
receiving, by one or more processors, positioning sensor readings from a user positioning sensor for the user and a public vehicle positioning sensor for the public vehicle;
determining, by one or more processors and based on the positioning sensor readings, that a physical distance between the public vehicle and the user is increasing:
predicting, by one or more processors and based on the physical distance between the public vehicle and the user increasing, that the user has disembarked from the public vehicle and that user's current mode of transport is ambulatory;
updating, by one or more processors, the travel directions on the multi-modal journey itinerary in real time based on the user currently being off the public vehicle and ambulatory; and displaying, by one or more processors, the updated travel directions on a mobile device used by the user.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
accessing information concerning a location of specific transport units; and
matching a user's determined current location to an accessed location of a transport unit.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
generating a speed profile for a user's movement of the user; and
comparing a generated speed profile to reference speed profile data for different modes of transport.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying a user's determined current mode of transport for the user;
receiving a user input indicating that the user's determined current mode of transport is actually a different mode of transport; and
setting the user's current mode of transport to match the received user input.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:
detecting that the user's current mode of transport is unable to satisfy the calculated multi-modal journey itinerary; and
updating the multi-modal journey itinerary with a different mode of transport for the user.

6. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising;
receiving information relating to a failure in a mode of transport to be used in the calculated multi-modal journey itinerary; and
updating the multi-modal journey itinerary accordingly.

7. A computer program product for generating a multi-modal journey itinerary; the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code readable and executable by a processor to perform a method comprising:
receiving a desired destination from a user;
determining a user's current location for the user;
determining a user's current mode of transport for the user, wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
calculating a probability score for each of a plurality of modes of transport, and
selecting a mode of transport with a highest calculated probability score;

accessing a multi-modal route graph;
in response to said determining the user's current location and in response to determining the user's current mode of transport, determining a user's position in the multi-modal route graph;
in response to said determining the user's position in the multi-modal route graph and in response to determining the user's current mode of transport, calculating a multi-modal journey itinerary from the user's position in the multi-modal route graph to the desired destination based on the user's current location and the user's current mode of transport, wherein the multi-modal journey itinerary includes travel directions that are specific for the user's current mode of transport;
determining that the user's current mode of transport is a public vehicle, wherein the public vehicle is a vehicle on a fixed route that is available to public passengers;
receiving positioning sensor readings from a user positioning sensor for the user and a public vehicle positioning sensor for the public vehicle;
determining, based on the positioning sensor readings, that a physical distance between the public vehicle and the user is increasing;
predicting, based on the physical distance between the public vehicle and the user increasing, that the user has disembarked from the public vehicle and that the user's current mode of transport is ambulatory;
updating the travel directions on the multi-modal journey itinerary in real time based on the user currently being off the public vehicle and ambulatory; and
displaying, by one or more processors, the updated travel directions on a mobile device used by the user.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
accessing information concerning a location of specific transport units; and
matching a user's determined current location to an accessed location of a transport unit.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein said determining the user's current mode of transport comprises:
generating a speed profile for a user's movement of the user; and
comparing a generated speed profile to reference speed profile data for different modes of transport.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises:
displaying a user's determined current mode of transport for the user;
receiving a user input indicating a different mode of transport; and
setting the user's current mode of transport to match the received user input.

11. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises:
detecting that the user's current mode of transport is unable to satisfy the calculated multi-modal journey itinerary; and
updating the multi-modal journey itinerary with a different mode of transport for the user.

12. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises:
receiving information relating to a failure in a mode of transport to be used in the calculated multi-modal journey itinerary; and
updating the multi-modal journey itinerary accordingly.

13. A system c

Assignees

• Bridgen Anna
• Flatt Andrew
• Pilot Richard W
• IBM

Inventors

• Bridgen Anna
• Flatt Andrew
• Mace Jonathan C
• Pilot Richard W

Classifications

• G01C21/3423 Primary

  Multimodal routing · CPC title

• G06F17/30241 Primary

  Physics · mapped topic

• G06F16/29 Primary

  Geographical information databases · CPC title