RU2172523C1 - Method for informing vehicle drivers about road situation in megalopolis - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: traffic control in large populated areas to enable drivers to choose optimal routes. SUBSTANCE: coded messages concerning situation on separate roadside objects are shaped at dispatching center and conveyed to drivers over communication channels and visualized by means of vehicle displays or mobile communication facilities receiving alphanumeric messages. For representing road situation megalopolis is arbitrarily divided into regions, roadside objects are assigned abbreviations in the framework of region, road situations and crossing approach directions are assigned codes, and megalopolis road situation is represented as set of messages ordered according to regions and composed of current road situation code directly referred to crossing or to adjacent road sections, crossing code incorporating, in its turn, abbreviations of main roads and cross-roads, as well as crossing approach direction code. Method is characterized in functional flexibility of information support due to using different means for transmitting code messages to drivers. EFFECT: enhanced efficiency of information due to legible high-capacity messages incorporating them. 8 cl

Description

 The invention relates to the field of regulation of the movement of vehicles (TS) in large settlements and is intended to provide drivers of vehicles with the opportunity to choose the optimal driving routes.

 A known method of informing drivers, providing for the transmission via radio channel from the central computer of the control center (DP) to the personal computers of the vehicle visual information about the situation on the roadway, road works, traffic jams, parking opportunities, as well as air temperature, road surface condition, wind rain or snow (PCT 095/24029 A1, G 08 G 1/0967, 09/08/1995).

 However, the technical implementation of the known method is associated with an orientation exclusively on computer communication, which significantly limits the field of practical application of this method.

 Closest to the proposed one is a method of informing vehicle drivers about the traffic situation in the metropolis, according to which specially generated code messages about the situation at individual road objects with recommendations on preferred traffic routes are generated and transmitted through the communication channels to the vehicle drivers and visually reproduce them on the established traffic routes vehicle displays (RU 2125295 C1, G 08 G 1/00, 01/20/99).

 However, due to the low information content of the used code messages, the information provided to drivers in this way is insufficient to obtain a complete and reliable picture of the situation on the roadway and to take appropriate measures.

 The objective of the invention is the implementation of the functional flexibility of information support through the use of various means for remotely transmitting code messages to drivers of vehicles and increasing the efficiency of information by executing capacious and readable messages.

 The problem is solved in that in the method of informing vehicle drivers about the traffic situation in the metropolis, according to which code messages about the situation at individual road objects with recommendations on preferred driving routes are generated and transmitted through the communication channels to the vehicle drivers and visually reproduce them on the established traffic routes vehicles displays, - when encoding messages, the regions of the megalopolis are assigned individual codes by which they separate one message from another or from several In each message code includes sequentially driving situation, the intersection code consisting of codes backbone and intersecting roads, code-out direction from the intersection of the main road leading to said road conditions.

 Partial essential features of the invention also contribute to the solution of the problem.

 Region codes can be selected in the form of serial numbers or aggregates from the serial number and code of the crossing main road.

 Each code message can have eight digits, of which one digit is allocated for the traffic code, six digits for the intersection code, assigned three to three codes for the main and crossing roads, and one digit for the exit code from the intersection.

 Three-character abbreviations of the names of road objects — avenues, squares, streets, bridges — can be used to encode the main and crossing roads, and the encoding is performed using capital letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers, and separate special characters.

 The code of one traffic situation from another and from the region code can be separated by a space.

 Code messages can be transmitted according to a schedule or requests for regional codes by drivers in the SMS short message system for GSM phones with displays, to text pagers, through broadcast FM radio stations using radio displays equipped with RDS, to email addresses via appropriate gateways E-mail-SMS-message and E-mail-pager.

 The essence and practical implementation of the proposed method is convenient to consider the example of the road network of St. Petersburg. It is assumed that vehicle drivers are familiar with this network and city map.

 On the roadside, taking into account the signals from the sensors located in the road network and from the regional monitoring stations, code messages are generated on the situation at individual road objects with recommendations on preferred traffic routes.

The structure of the code message provides for the presence of three parts:
1st category - traffic code;
2,3,4,5,6,7 digits - intersection code (in turn, consists of a trunk road code - 2,3,4 digits and a crossing road code - 5,6,7);
8 category - the code of the direction of exit from the intersection on the main road leading to the specified traffic situation.

 It is important to emphasize that not the intersections that create the traffic situation (traffic jam) are encoded, but the entrances to the problem areas leading to it.

 For coding of highways and intersecting roads, legible three-character abbreviations of the names of objects are used - prospectuses, squares, streets, bridges, etc. The official list of abbreviations and a description of the format of code messages are given to registered users and are easily understood without further help with continued use.

 Encoding is performed using capital letters of the Latin alphabet, numbers and separate special characters.

It is proposed to carry out regionalization of the city by road conditions using five regions of the road situation:
-1- - Central - Admiralty and Central areas north of the Obvodny Canal to the Neva.

 -2- - Islands - Vasilievsky Island, Substation, Kirov Islands.

 -3- - North - North of the Neva, including Piskarevsky Avenue.

-4- - Right-bank - The right bank of the Neva, to Piskarevsky Avenue
-5- - South - The left bank of the Neva from the Obvodny Canal to the south.

 Numbering is made from the Central region clockwise.

 Thus, the boundaries between the regions are determined by Piskarevsky Prospect, p. Neva, bypass and bridges. Having set the code of the corresponding region, users can request, for example, by email the situation selectively.

Region numbers can also be considered as intersections with highways and represented by a three-character abbreviation for ease of perception:
ANM-4- - The intersection of the Alexander Nevsky Bridge and the Right Bank region.

 LIM-1- - The intersection of Liteiny Bridge and the Central Region.

The following characters can be used to encode traffic situations:
# - movement is closed;
* - traffic jam, for the passage requires waiting for 4 or more traffic light cycles;
~ - dense traffic flow;
O - blocked (repair, accident, etc.) all the lanes in this direction; oncoming traffic;
1 - the first lane is blocked;
2 - the second lane is blocked;
3 - the third lane is blocked;
4 - the fourth lane is blocked;
! - other hazards;
+ - faulty traffic light.

When constructing abbreviations, the first two characters of a three-character traffic code are taken unique for an object of this type in their region. The third character indicates the type of road object. The following road objects are displayed:
M - Bridge; P - Prospectus; U - Street; S - area; R is a lane; N - Embankment; L - Line; E - highway; B - Boulevard; A - Alley; Z - travel

When coding the directions of departure from the intersection, it is taken into account that when orienting in the city, the geographical system of directions (north, south, west, east) is rarely used, instead, the wording is most often used with respect to the city center, entry and exit from the city. In this code, “city center” means Nevsky Prospect on a site from pl. Uprising before the Admiralty. An indication of the direction of exit from the intersection is necessary only to clarify one of the two possible directions of movement along the indicated “highway” and does not require precise geographical reference. For encoding directions use 5 characters that have a semantic meaning:
> -in the direction of the "city center"; at the exit of the city; towards pl. Uprising when following Nevsky Prospect;
<- towards the "city center"; at the entrance to the city; in the direction of the Admiralty when following Nevsky Prospect;
) - to the right of the direction to the "city center";
(- to the left of the direction to the "city center";
* - in both directions on the specified highway.

It is proposed to use bridge abbreviations:
LSM - Lieutenant Schmidt;
DVM - Palace;
TRM - Trinity;
LIM - Foundry;
PVM - Peter the Great;
ANM - Alexander Nevsky
VOM - Volodarsky;
USM - Ushakovsky;
KMM - Kantemirovsky;
GRM - Grenadier;
SMM - Sampsonievsky;
TUM - Clouds;
BIM - Exchange;
BKM - Big Krestovsky;
KOM - Kamennoostrovsky;
AMM - American;
area abbreviations:
DVS - Palace;
VOS - Rebellion;
KOS - Constitution;
SES - Hay ...;
abbreviations for prospectuses:
NER - Nevsky;
MOR - Moscow;
BAR - Bakunin ...

The following are some examples of traffic coding:
-1- #SINBAR) ^* NEPPLU <-4- 1ANM-4- <! ZNPENP> + NPNCP ^*
-1 - Heading for the Central region;
#SINBAR) - Closed on Sinopskaya emb. from the intersection with Bakunin Ave. to the right of the direction to the city center;
^* NEPPLU <- Traffic jam on Nevsky pr. From the intersection with Poltava st. towards the Admiralty;
-4- - Title of the Right-Bank Region;
1ANM-4- <- 1 lane blocked on Al. Nevsky from the intersection with the 4th region towards the Center;
! ZNPENP> -Other dangers in the area from the intersection of Zanevsky Ave. and Energetikov Ave. When following Zanevsky Ave. in the direction from the city center;
+ ZNPNCP ^* - At the intersection of Zanevsky Ave and Novocherkassky Ave, a traffic light is faulty.

 The code for one traffic situation is separated from the code for another and from the region header by a space. Text interpretation of the code message can be given in free form, provided that the meaning of the code is preserved.

The transmission of coded human-readable traffic information is made:
in the short message system SMS (Storage Management System) for GSM phones (Global System for Mobile communications);
to text pagers;
through broadcast FM radio stations to display on the 8-bit text display car radios equipped with the RDS (Rational Data System) system.

Transmission is carried out:
by sending traffic message codes to scheduled email addresses through the corresponding E-mail-SMS-message and E-mail-pager gateways using mailing lists for registered users;
through e-mail answering machines to send a response message at the user's request selectively for each road region of the city;
using broadcast broadcast of codes of environment in the RDS system through FM-radio stations.

 The greatest restrictions on the format of data presentation are imposed by the task of presenting codes in the RDS system. Given the limitation of the ability to display text information in the RDS system with an eight-digit indicator of the car radio, the length of an individual message is limited to 8 bits. The use of "running text" is impractical because it requires the constant attention of drivers. When broadcasting codes in the RDS system, they are supposed to be displayed alternately on the radio display for some time (for example, 5-1 sec. For each code) and grouped according to the regions of the road situation. Before broadcasting codes for a new region, as already indicated, a heading with the name of the region should follow. Alternating display of static codes allows the vehicle driver to assimilate information with a quick look at the indicator, without being distracted from monitoring the road.

Claims (8)

 1. A method of informing drivers of vehicles about the traffic situation in a megalopolis, according to which code messages about the situation at individual road objects are generated and transmitted through communication channels to drivers of vehicles and visually reproduce them on displays installed on vehicles, or by mobile means communication, receiving text messages, characterized in that to represent the traffic situation the metropolis is conditionally divided into several regions, up to The objects are assigned abbreviations within the road region, traffic situations and directions of entry to the intersection - codes, and the traffic situation in the metropolis is presented as a set of messages ordered by the regions of the traffic situation and consisting of the code of the current traffic situation, assigned directly to the intersection or adjacent to sections of roads, the intersection code, which, in turn, consists of the abbreviation for the main and intersecting roads, as well as the direction code for the intersection.  2. The method according to p. 1, characterized in that each message about the traffic situation is made up of 8 bits, of which one bit is allocated for the traffic code, for the intersection code - six bits assigned three to the codes of the main and crossing roads, for the code of the direction of entry to the intersection is one bit.  3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that two digits of three-digit abbreviations of the road objects used to represent the intersection code are formed by Latin characters phonetically corresponding to the individual letters in the name of the road, and one digit - by a Latin symbol phonetically corresponding to the naming method roads in a metropolis, such as avenues, streets, squares, bridges, highways, lanes, embankments, lines, malls, roads, boulevards, driveways.  4. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the code messages are transmitted according to a schedule or as the traffic situation changes through broadcast FM radio stations equipped with an RDS system for display on radio displays equipped with an RDS system, as well as according to a schedule , as the traffic situation changes or at the request of drivers selectively for each region for text pagers and in the SMS short message system for GSM phones.  5. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the set of characters used to represent traffic codes is limited by the ability to display them on 8-bit displays of car radios equipped with the RDS system, and include Latin letters, numbers and separate special characters.  6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the directions of entry to the intersection along the specified highway are set relative to the landmark adopted as the conditional center of the city, and suggest the possibility of a code representation of five options: in the direction of traffic towards city center, at the entrance to the city, in the direction of traffic from the city center, at the exit from the city, to the right of the direction to the city center, to the left of the direction to the city center, in both directions along the specified highway.  7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that the sections of roads directly adjacent to the city center are assigned different abbreviations to avoid ambiguity.  8. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, depending on the code of the indicated traffic situation, it is assigned either directly to the indicated intersection or to the section of the main road adjacent to it.