WO2021035577A1

WO2021035577A1 - Systems and methods for identifying island areas in a road network

Info

Publication number: WO2021035577A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/103077
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yu LUO; Fei Gao
Original assignee: Beijing Didi Infinity Technology And Development Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-08-23
Filing date: 2019-08-28
Publication date: 2021-03-04
Also published as: CN110781412A; CN110781412B

Abstract

A method for identifying island areas in a road network may include obtaining raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network. At least a portion of the raw data may be obtained from terminals related to first users. The method may also include extracting original traffic rule information from the raw data. The method may also include determining supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The method may also include identifying one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

Description

SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFYING ISLAND AREAS IN A ROAD NETWORK

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910782215.6 filed on August 23, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to an online to offline service, and more specifically, relates to methods and systems for identifying island areas in a road network.

BACKGROUND

In an online to offline service (e.g., an online to offline taxi-hailing service) , a passenger transmits a request including a departure location and a destination to an online to offline service platform through a terminal (e.g., a smartphone) ; the platform assigns the request to a terminal of a driver; and the driver goes to the departure location to pick up the passenger. However, sometimes the departure location is located in an area that the driver is not able to or not allowed to enter (also referred to as an “island area” ) . For example, the departure location may be located in an area in which roads are closed because of road construction. As another example, the departure location may be located in a residential region that vehicles are not allowed to enter without special permission (e.g., an access card) . Therefore, it is desirable to provide systems and/or methods to identify the island areas in the online to offline service, which helps to avoid service delays and improve user experience.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a system for identifying island areas in a road network may include one or more storage devices and one or more processors configured to communicate with the one or more storage devices. The one or more storage devices may include a set of instructions. When the one or more processors executing the set of instructions, the one or more processors may be directed to perform one or more of the following operations. The one or more processors may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network. At least a portion of the raw data may be obtained from terminals related to first users. The one or more processors may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. The one or more processors may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The one or more processors may identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

In some embodiments, to identify the one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information, the one or more processors may determine road network data based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information. The one or more processors may determine one or more first-level connected components based on the road network data. The one or more processors may determine the one or more island areas based on the one or more first-level connected components.

In some embodiments, the one or more island areas may be associated with a future time period.

In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information may be associated, at least partly, with one or more intermediate links.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may determine a road condition of the road network in the specific region based on the raw data. The one or more processors may identify the one or more island areas based, at least partly, on the road condition.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may receive a service request or a service request indicator related to an online to offline service from a terminal related to a second user via the network. The one or more processors may determine a pick-up location or a drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator. The one or more processors may determine whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas. The one or more processors may transmit the pick-up location or the drop-off location to the terminal related to the second user via the network in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not located in the one or more island areas, directing the terminal to display the pick-up location or the drop-off location in an electronic map. In response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas, the one or more processors may determine a new pick-up location or a new drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may receive a pick-up location or a drop-off location from a terminal related to a second user via the network. The one or more processors may determine whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas. In response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas, the one or more processors may transmit, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, a reminder indicating that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not available, and/or transmit, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, signals directing the terminal to forbid the second user to select the pick-up location or the drop-off location.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may receive a location from a terminal related to a second user via the network. The one or more processors may map the location to a point in the road network based on the one or more island areas. The one or more processors may transmit a mapping point of the location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the mapping point in an electronic map.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may receive a departure location and a destination from a terminal related to a second user via the network. The one or more processors may determine a route from the departure location and the destination based on the one or more island areas. The one or more processors may transmit the route to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the route in an electronic map.

In some embodiments, the one or more processors may transmit, to a terminal related to a second user via the network, signals including the one or more island areas, directing the terminal to display the one or more island areas in an electronic map.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method for identifying island areas in a road network may include one or more of the following operations. One or more processors may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network. At least a portion of the raw data may be obtained from terminals related to first users. The one or more processors may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. The one or more processors may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The one or more processors may identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a system for identifying island areas in a road network may include an obtaining module configured to obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network. At least a portion of the raw data may be obtained from terminals related to first users. The system may also include an original rule extraction module configured to extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. The system may also include a supplement rule determination module configured to determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The system may also include an island area identification module configured to identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory computer readable medium may comprise at least one set of instructions. The at least one set of instructions may be executed by one or more processors of a computer server. The one or more processors may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network. At least a portion of the raw data may be obtained from terminals related to first users. The one or more processors may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. The one or more processors may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The one or more processors may identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is further described in terms of exemplary embodiments. These exemplary embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. These embodiments are non-limiting exemplary embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary online to offline service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of a computing device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of a mobile device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary processing engine according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for identifying one or more island areas in a road network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of supplement traffic rule information according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for identifying one or more island areas in a road network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of first-level connected components according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure, and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a, ” “an, ” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises, ” “comprising, ” “includes, ” and/or “including” when used in this disclosure, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operations and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawing (s) , all of which form part of this specification. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawing (s) are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood that the drawings are not to scale.

The flowcharts used in the present disclosure illustrate operations that systems implement according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be expressly understood, the operations of the flowcharts may be implemented not in order. Conversely, the operations may be implemented in inverted order, or simultaneously. Moreover, one or more other operations may be added to the flowcharts. One or more operations may be removed from the flowcharts.

The systems and methods disclosed in the present disclosure are described regarding one or more scenarios that require an electronic map. For example, the system or method of the present disclosure may be applied to different transportation systems including land, ocean, aerospace, or the like, or any combination thereof. Those transportation systems may provide transportation services transporting a subject from one location to another location using a vehicle. The subject may include passengers and/or goods. The vehicle of the transportation service may include a taxi, a private car, a hitch, a bus, a train, a bullet train, a high speed rail, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft, a spaceship, a hot-air balloon, a driverless vehicle, a bicycle, a tricycle, a motorcycle, or the like, or any combination thereof. The transportation services may include a taxi hailing service, a chauffeur service, a delivery service, a carpooling service, a bus service, a take-out service, a driver hiring service, a shuttle service, a navigation service, a sharing service, a map service, a location service, or the like, or any combination thereof. The application scenarios of the system or method of the present disclosure may include a web page, a plug-in of a browser, a client terminal, a custom system, an internal analysis system, an artificial intelligence robot, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The positioning technology used in the present disclosure may include a global positioning system (GPS) , a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) , a compass navigation system (COMPASS) , a Galileo positioning system, a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS) , a wireless fidelity (WiFi) positioning technology, a BeiDou navigation satellite system, an inertial navigation system (INS) , or the like, or any combination thereof. One or more of the above positioning technologies may be used interchangeably in the present disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary online to offline service system according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The online to offline service system 100 may include a server 110, a network 120, a user terminal 130, a storage device 150, and a positioning system 160. The server 110 may include a processing device 112.

In some embodiments, the server 110 may be a single server or a server group. The server group may be centralized, or distributed (e.g., the server 110 may be a distributed system) . In some embodiments, the server 110 may be local or remote. For example, the server 110 may access information and/or data stored in the user terminal 130 and/or the storage device 150 via the network 120. As another example, the server 110 may be directly connected to the user terminal 130 and/or the storage device 150 to access stored information and/or data. In some embodiments, the server 110 may be implemented on a cloud platform. Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the server 110 may be implemented on a computing device 200 having one or more components illustrated in FIG. 2 in the present disclosure.

In some embodiments, the server 110 may include a processing device 112. The processing device 112 may process information and/or data relating to the online to offline service system 100. For example, the processing device 112 may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region. As another example, the processing engine 112 may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. As still another example, the processing engine 112 may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. As further another example, the processing engine 112 may identifying one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information. The processing engine 112 may transmit information related to the one or more island areas to the user terminal 130.

In some embodiments, the processing device 112 may include one or more processing engines (e.g., single-core processing engine (s) or multi-core processor (s) ) . Merely by way of example, the processing device 112 may include one or more hardware processors, such as a central processing unit (CPU) , an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) , a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a physics processing unit (PPU) , a digital signal processor (DSP) , a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) , a programmable logic device (PLD) , a controller, a microcontroller unit, a reduced instruction-set computer (RISC) , a microprocessor, or the like, or any combination thereof.

The network 120 may facilitate the exchange of information and/or data. In some embodiments, one or more components in the online to offline service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the user terminal 130, the storage device 150, or the positioning system 160) may send information and/or data to other component (s) in the online to offline service system 100 via the network 120. For example, the server 110 may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region from the user terminal 130 via the network 120. As another example, the server 110 may transmit information related to one or more island areas to the user terminal 130 via the network 120. In some embodiments, the network 120 may be any type of wired or wireless network, or a combination thereof. Merely by way of example, the network 120 may include a cable network, a wireline network, an optical fiber network, a telecommunications network, an intranet, the Internet, a local area network (LAN) , a wide area network (WAN) , a wireless local area network (WLAN) , a metropolitan area network (MAN) , a wide area network (WAN) , a public telephone switched network (PSTN) , a Bluetooth ^TM network, a ZigBee ^TM network, a near field communication (NFC) network, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the network 120 may include one or more network access points. For example, the network 120 may include wired or wireless network access points such as base stations and/or internet exchange points 120-1, 120-2, …, through which one or more components of the online to offline service system 100 may be connected to the network 120 to exchange data and/or information.

In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may include a mobile device 130-1, a tablet computer 130-2, a laptop computer 130-3, a built-in device in a motor vehicle 130-4, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mobile device 130-1 may include a smart home device, a wearable device, a mobile device, a virtual reality device, an augmented reality device, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the smart home device may include a smart lighting device, a control device of an intelligent electrical apparatus, a smart monitoring device, a smart television, a smart video camera, an interphone, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the wearable device may include a bracelet, footgear, glasses, a helmet, a watch, clothing, a backpack, a smart accessory, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the mobile device may include a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance (PDA) , a gaming device, a navigation device, a point of sale (POS) device, a laptop, a desktop, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a virtual reality helmet, a virtual reality glass, a virtual reality patch, an augmented reality helmet, augmented reality glasses, an augmented reality patch, or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the virtual reality device and/or the augmented reality device may include a Google Glass ^TM, a RiftCon ^TM, a Fragments ^TM, a Gear VR ^TM, etc. In some embodiments, the built-in device in the motor vehicle 130-4 may include an onboard computer, an onboard television, etc. In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may be a device with positioning technology for locating the position of a user of the user terminal 130 (e.g., a service requester or a service provider) and/or the user terminal 130. In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may communicate with one or more other positioning devices to determine the position of the user terminal 130. In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may send positioning information to the server 110.

In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may receive/transmit information related to the online to offline service system 100 from/to one or more components (e.g., the server 110, the storage device 150, the positioning system 160) of the online to offline service system 100. For example, for a navigation service, a user of the user terminal 130 may input a departure location and a destination through the user terminal 130. The user terminal 130 may transmit the user’s input to the server 110 (e.g., request a navigation service) . The user terminal 130 may receive, from the server 110, signals including a route from the departure location to the destination and display the route.

In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may include a requester terminal and a provider terminal. In some embodiments, a requester may be a user of the requester terminal. The terms “passenger, ” “requester, ” “service requester, ” and “customer” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity or a tool that may request or order a service. In some embodiments, a provider may be a user of the provider terminal. The terms “driver, ” “provider, ” “service provider, ” and “supplier” in the present disclosure are used interchangeably to refer to an individual, an entity, or a tool that may provide a service or facilitate the providing of the service. The term “user” in the present disclosure may refer to an individual, an entity, or a tool that may request a service, order a service, provide a service, or facilitate the providing of the service. For example, the user may be a passenger, a driver, an operator, or the like, or any combination thereof. In the present disclosure, terms “passenger” and “passenger terminal” may be used interchangeably, and terms “driver” and “driver terminal” may be used interchangeably.

The term “request, ” “service request, ” “order, ” in the present disclosure refers to a request that initiated by a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, a supplier, or the like, or any combination thereof. The service request may be accepted by any one of a passenger, a requester, a service requester, a customer, a driver, a provider, a service provider, or a supplier. The service request may be chargeable, or free.

In some embodiments, the user of the user terminal 130 may be someone other than the requester. For example, a user A of the requester terminal may use the requester terminal to send a service request for a user B, or receive service and/or information or instructions from the server 110. In some embodiments, the user of the provider terminal may be someone other than the provider. For example, a user C of the provider terminal may use the provider terminal to receive a service request for a user D, and/or information or instructions from the server 110. In some embodiments, “service requester, ” “requester, ” and “requester terminal” may be used interchangeably, and “service provider, ” “provider, ” and “provider terminal” may be used interchangeably.

The storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data obtained from the user terminal 130. For example, the storage device 150 may store raw data obtained from the user terminal 130. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions that the server 110 may execute or use to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure. For example, the storage device 150 may store data and/or instructions that the server 110 may execute or use to identify one or more island areas described in the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM) , or the like, or any combination thereof. Exemplary mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drive, etc. Exemplary removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc. Exemplary volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM) . Exemplary RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM) , a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM) , a static RAM (SRAM) , a thyrisor RAM (T-RAM) , and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) , etc. Exemplary ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM) , a programmable ROM (PROM) , an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) , an electrically-erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM) , and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be implemented on a cloud platform. Merely by way of example, the cloud platform may include a private cloud, a public cloud, a hybrid cloud, a community cloud, a distributed cloud, an inter-cloud, a multi-cloud, or the like, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be connected to the network 120 to communicate with one or more components in the online to offline service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the user terminal 130, etc. ) . One or more components in the online to offline service system 100 may access the data or instructions stored in the storage device 150 via the network 120. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be directly connected to or communicate with one or more components in the online to offline service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the user terminal 130, etc. ) . In some embodiments, one or more components in the online to offline service system 100 (e.g., the server 110, the user terminal 130, etc. ) may have permission to access the storage device 150. In some embodiments, the storage device 150 may be part of the server 110.

The positioning system 160 may determine information associated with an object, for example, the user terminal 130, etc. For example, the positioning system 160 may determine a current location of the user terminal 130. In some embodiments, the positioning system 160 may be a global positioning system (GPS) , a global navigation satellite system (GLONASS) , a compass navigation system (COMPASS) , a BeiDou navigation satellite system, a Galileo positioning system, a quasi-zenith satellite system (QZSS) , etc. The information may include a location, an elevation, a velocity, or an acceleration of the object, or a current time. The location may be in the form of coordinates, such as, latitude coordinate and longitude coordinate, etc. The positioning system 160 may include one or more satellites, for example, a satellite 160-1, a satellite 160-2, and a satellite 160-3. The satellites 160-1 through 160-3 may determine the information mentioned above independently or jointly. The satellite positioning system 160 may send the information mentioned above to the network 120 or the user terminal 130, via wireless connections.

In some embodiments, information exchanging of one or more components in the online to offline service system 100 may be achieved by way of requesting a service. The object of the service request may be any product. In some embodiments, the product may be a tangible product or an immaterial product. The tangible product may include food, medicine, commodity, chemical product, electrical appliance, clothing, car, housing, luxury, or the like, or any combination thereof. The immaterial product may include a servicing product, a financial product, a knowledge product, an internet product, or the like, or any combination thereof. The internet product may include an individual host product, a web product, a mobile internet product, a commercial host product, an embedded product, or the like, or any combination thereof. The mobile internet product may be used in a software of a mobile terminal, a program, a system, or the like, or any combination thereof. The mobile terminal may include a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistance (PDA) , a smart watch, a point of sale (POS) device, an onboard computer, an onboard television, a wearable device, or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the product may be any software and/or application used in the computer or mobile phone. The software and/or application may relate to socializing, shopping, transporting, entertainment, learning, investment, or the like, or any combination thereof. In some embodiments, the software and/or application relating to transporting may include a traveling software and/or application, a vehicle scheduling software and/or application, a mapping software and/or application, etc. In the vehicle scheduling software and/or application, the vehicle may include a horse, a carriage, a rickshaw (e.g., a wheelbarrow, a bike, a tricycle, etc. ) , a car (e.g., a taxi, a bus, a private car, etc. ) , a train, a subway, a vessel, an aircraft (e.g., an airplane, a helicopter, a space shuttle, a rocket, a hot-air balloon, etc. ) , or the like, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of a computing device on which the processing device 112 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the processing device 112 may be computing device 200, which may include a processor 210, a storage 220, an input/output (I/O) 230, and a communication port 240.

The processor 210 (e.g., logic circuits) may execute computer instructions (e.g., program code) and perform functions of the processing device 112 in accordance with techniques described herein. For example, the processor 210 may include interface circuits 210-a and processing circuits 210-b therein. The interface circuits may be configured to receive electronic signals from a bus (not shown in FIG. 2) , wherein the electronic signals encode structured data and/or instructions for the processing circuits to process. The processing circuits may conduct logic calculations, and then determine a conclusion, a result, and/or an instruction encoded as electronic signals. Then the interface circuits may send out the electronic signals from the processing circuits via the bus.

The computer instructions may include, for example, routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, procedures, modules, and functions, which perform particular functions described herein. For example, the processor 210 may identify one or more island areas. In some embodiments, the processor 210 may include one or more hardware processors, such as a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a reduced instruction set computer (RISC) , an application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) , an application-specific instruction-set processor (ASIP) , a central processing unit (CPU) , a graphics processing unit (GPU) , a physics processing unit (PPU) , a microcontroller unit, a digital signal processor (DSP) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , an advanced RISC machine (ARM) , a programmable logic device (PLD) , any circuit or processor capable of executing one or more functions, or the like, or any combinations thereof.

Merely for illustration, only one processor is described in the computing device 200. However, it should be noted that the computing device 200 in the present disclosure may also include multiple processors, thus operations and/or method steps that are performed by one processor as described in the present disclosure may also be jointly or separately performed by the multiple processors. For example, if in the present disclosure the processor of the computing device 200 executes both step A and step B, it should be understood that step A and step B may also be performed by two or more different processors jointly or separately in the computing device 200 (e.g., a first processor executes step A and a second processor executes step B, or the first and second processors jointly execute steps A and B) .

The storage 220 may store data/information obtained from the user terminal 130, the storage device 150, and/or any other component of the online to offline service system 100. In some embodiments, the storage 220 may include a mass storage, a removable storage, a volatile read-and-write memory, a read-only memory (ROM) , or the like, or any combination thereof. For example, the mass storage may include a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a solid-state drives, etc. The removable storage may include a flash drive, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a memory card, a zip disk, a magnetic tape, etc. The volatile read-and-write memory may include a random access memory (RAM) . The RAM may include a dynamic RAM (DRAM) , a double date rate synchronous dynamic RAM (DDR SDRAM) , a static RAM (SRAM) , a thyristor RAM (T-RAM) , and a zero-capacitor RAM (Z-RAM) , etc. The ROM may include a mask ROM (MROM) , a programmable ROM (PROM) , an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM) , an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) , a compact disk ROM (CD-ROM) , and a digital versatile disk ROM, etc. In some embodiments, the storage 220 may store one or more programs and/or instructions to perform exemplary methods described in the present disclosure. For example, the storage 220 may store a program for the processing device 112 for identifying one or more island areas.

The I/O 230 may input and/or output signals, data, information, etc. In some embodiments, the I/O 230 may enable a user interaction with the processing device 112. In some embodiments, the I/O 230 may include an input device and an output device. Examples of the input device may include a keyboard, a mouse, a touch screen, a microphone, or the like, or a combination thereof. Examples of the output device may include a display device, a loudspeaker, a printer, a projector, or the like, or a combination thereof. Examples of the display device may include a liquid crystal display (LCD) , a light-emitting diode (LED) -based display, a flat panel display, a curved screen, a television device, a cathode ray tube (CRT) , a touch screen, or the like, or a combination thereof.

The communication port 240 may be connected to a network (e.g., the network 120) to facilitate data communications. The communication port 240 may establish connections between the processing device 112 and the user terminal 130, the positioning system 160, or the storage device 150. The connection may be a wired connection, a wireless connection, any other communication connection that can enable data transmission and/or reception, and/or any combination of these connections. The wired connection may include, for example, an electrical cable, an optical cable, a telephone wire, or the like, or any combination thereof. The wireless connection may include, for example, a Bluetooth ^TM link, a Wi-Fi ^TM link, a WiMax ^TM link, a WLAN link, a ZigBee ^TM link, a mobile network link (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. ) , or the like, or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, the communication port 240 may be and/or include a standardized communication port, such as RS232, RS485, etc.

FIG. 3 a schematic diagram illustrating exemplary hardware and/or software components of a mobile device on which the user terminal 130 may be implemented according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the mobile device 300 may include a communication platform 310, a display 320, a graphic processing unit (GPU) 330, a central processing unit (CPU) 340, an I/O 350, a memory 360, and a storage 390. In some embodiments, any other suitable component, including but not limited to a system bus or a controller (not shown) , may also be included in the mobile device 300. In some embodiments, a mobile operating system (OS) 370 (e.g., iOS ^TM, Android ^TM, Windows Phone ^TM, etc. ) and one or more applications 380 may be loaded into the memory 360 from the storage 390 in order to be executed by the CPU 340. The applications 380 may include a browser or any other suitable mobile apps for receiving and rendering information relating to an online to offline carpooling service or other information from the processing device 112, and sending information relating to an online to offline carpooling service or other information to the processing device 112. User interactions with the information stream may be achieved via the I/O 350 and provided to the processing device 112 and/or other components of the online to offline service system 100 via the network 120.

One of ordinary skill in the art would understand that when an element of the online to offline service system 100 performs, the element may perform through electrical signals and/or electromagnetic signals. For example, when the processing device 112 processes a task, such as making a determination, or transmitting information, the processing device 112 may operate logic circuits in its processor to process such task. When the processing device 112 sends out data (e.g., information related to one or more island areas) to the user terminal 130, a processor of the processing device 112 may generate electrical signals encoding the data. The processor of the processing device 112 may then send the electrical signals to an information exchange port (e.g., an output port) of the processing device 112. If the user terminal 130 communicates with the processing device 112 via a wired network, the information exchange port of the processing device 112 may be physically connected to a cable, which may further transmit the electrical signals to an information exchange port (e.g., an input port) of the user terminal 130. If the user terminal 130 communicates with the processing device 112 via a wireless network, the information exchange port of the processing device 112 may be one or more antennas, which may convert the electrical signals to electromagnetic signals. Within an electronic device, such as the user terminal 130 or the server 110, when a processor thereof processes an instruction, sends out an instruction, and/or performs an action, the instruction and/or action is conducted via electrical signals. For example, when the processor retrieves or saves data from a storage medium (e.g., the storage device 150, the storage 220) , it may send out electrical signals to a read/write device of the storage medium, which may read or write structured data in the storage medium. The structured data may be transmitted to the processor in the form of electrical signals via a bus of the electronic device. Here, an electrical signal may refer to one electrical signal, a series of electrical signals, and/or a plurality of discrete electrical signals.

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an exemplary processing engine according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. The processing engine 112 may include an obtaining module 410, an original rule extraction module 420, a supplement rule determination module 430, an island area identification module 440, an application module 450, a transmission module 460.

The obtaining module 410 may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region (e.g., Beijing) . The road network may refer to a road system in which a plurality of roads cross each other and/or are connected to each other. As used herein, the road network may be representation, in digital signals, of the topological structure (e.g., the space structure) and features (e.g., road locations, traffic rules, directions of traffic, road grades, etc. ) of roads in reality.

In some embodiments, the raw data may include traffic rule information, road network information, road condition, or the like, or any combination thereof. The traffic rule information may include traffic signs, traffic markings, traffic lights, temporary traffic control (e.g., road closure, traffic limitation, etc. ) , road grades, or the like, or any combination thereof. The road network information may include the topological structure (e.g., the space structure) of the roads in the road network, coordinates of locations in the road network, names of locations (e.g., names of roads, names of buildings, names of shops, etc. ) in the road network, or the like, or any combination thereof. The road condition may include the road congestion condition.

The original rule extraction module 420 may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information may include formal traffic rules that are officially certified and implemented, such as traffic signs, traffic markings, traffic lights, temporary traffic control (e.g., road closure, traffic limitation, etc. ) , road grades, or the like, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information may correspond to the intersections in the road network. In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information may correspond to the intersections and at least a portion of roads between the intersections in the road network (e.g., intermediate links of the roads) .

The supplemented rule determination module 430 may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The supplement traffic rule information may include one or more traffic rules that are different from the original traffic rule information and are created by the online to offline service system 100. In some embodiments, the determination of the supplement traffic rule information may be based on potential disruption to traffic order (inconvenience to third parties) , inconvenience to the driver, and inconvenience to the service requestor.

The island area identification module 440 may identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

In essence, the term “island area” , which applies to vehicles, refers to an area that, due to various restrictions, does not a two-way (in and out) connection with the road network. For example, in some embodiments, if an area in the whole road network is an island area for a vehicle, the vehicle is either not able to perform two-way travel (not necessarily in different directions) between the island area and the rest of the whole road network in the specific region (e.g., not able to travel from the island area to the rest of the whole road network or from the rest of the whole road network to the island area) due to various restrictions, such as the traffic rule information, the road condition, and/or the road network information.

For example, a section of a road is closed because of road construction; in this case, the section of the road is an island area for vehicles because vehicles are not able to enter the section of the road.

As another example, for a residence area, vehicles that have no permission (e.g., an access card) are not allowed to enter the residence area. In this case, the residence area is an island area for vehicles having no permission because they are not able to enter the residence area.

As still another example, there is a height-limiting facility in a one-way street. In this case, the one-way street is an island area for vehicles having a height higher than the height of the height-limiting facility because these vehicles are not able to enter and get out of the one-way street.

As further another example, at the entrance of a road, there is a traffic sign indicating that motor vehicles are not allowed to enter the road. In this case, the road is an island area for motor vehicles because motor vehicles are not able to enter the road.

In some embodiments, the island area identification module 440 may identify one or more island areas based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information using first-level connected components (e.g., strongly connected components in a directed graph) .

The application module 450 may determine location information (e.g., a pick-up location, a drop-off location, a navigation route, a location on a map, etc. ) related to the online to offline service based on the one or more island areas.

The transmission module 460 may transmit signals including the location information (e.g., a pick-up location, a drop-off location, a navigation route, a location on a map, etc. ) related to the online to offline service and/or information related to one or more island areas to the user terminal 130, directing the user terminal 130 to display the one or more island areas and/or the location information in an electronic map.

The modules in the processing engine 112 may be connected to or communicate with each other via a wired connection or a wireless connection. The wired connection may include a metal cable, an optical cable, a hybrid cable, or the like, or any combination thereof. The wireless connection may include a Local Area Network (LAN) , a Wide Area Network (WAN) , a Bluetooth, a ZigBee, a Near Field Communication (NFC) , or the like, or any combination thereof. Two or more of the modules may be combined as a single module, and any one of the modules may be divided into two or more units. For example, the obtaining module 410 and the transmission module 460 may be combined as a single module configured to both obtain the raw data and transmit information related to one or more island areas to the user terminal 130. As another example, the obtaining module 410 may be divided into two units. One of the two unit may be configured to obtain the raw data, and the other one of the two unit may be configured to obtain service requests from the user terminal 130.

It should be noted that the above description is merely provided for the purposes of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations and modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the processing engine 112 may further include a storage module (not shown in FIG. 4) . The storage module may be configured to store data generated during any process performed by any component of in the processing engine 112. As another example, each of components of the processing engine 112 may include a storage device. Additionally or alternatively, the components of the processing engine 112 may share a common storage device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for identifying one or more island areas in a road network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the process 500 may be implemented in the online to offline service system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the process 500 may be stored in a storage medium (e.g., the storage device 150, or the storage 220 of the processing engine 112) as a form of instructions, and can be invoked and/or executed by the server 110 (e.g., the processing engine 112, the processor 210 of the processing engine 112, or one or more modules in the processing engine 112 illustrated in FIG. 4) . The operations of the illustrated process 500 presented below are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, the process 500 may be accomplished with one or more additional operations not described, and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations of the process 500 as illustrated in FIG. 5 and described below is not intended to be limiting.

In 510, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the obtaining module 410) may obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region (e.g., Beijing) . The road network may refer to a road system in which a plurality of roads cross each other and/or are connected to each other. As used herein, the road network may be representation, in digital signals, of the topological structure (e.g., the space structure) and features (e.g., road locations, traffic rules, directions of traffic, road grades, etc. ) of roads in reality.

In some embodiments, an acquisition vehicle may collect the traffic rule information and/or the road network information. The collected traffic rule information and/or the road network information may be stored in the storage device 150 and/or the storage 220 of the processing engine 112. The obtaining module 410 may obtain the traffic rule information and/or the road network information from the storage device 150 and/or the storage 220 of the processing engine 112.

In some embodiments, the traffic rule information and/or the road network information are not constant, and at least a portion of the traffic rule information and/or the road network information may be changed (e.g., the addition of a new traffic rule, the deletion and/or the modification of an existing traffic rule) periodically or whenever necessary. In some embodiments, the road condition may change in real time. The obtaining module 410 may obtain the updated information of the traffic rule information, the road network information, and/or the road condition from a third-party device (e.g., an official online traffic management platform) and/or the user terminal 130.

In some embodiments, the traffic management platform may post the updated information of the traffic rule information and/or the road condition. The obtaining module 410 may obtain the updated information from the platform. Alternatively or additionally, the platform may automatically transmit the updated information to the system 100.

In some embodiments, users of the user terminals 130 may report, to the server 110, the updated information of the traffic rule information, the road network information, and/or the road condition through the user terminals 130. For example, a user may transmit a message indicating a road closure to the server 110 through the user terminal 130. The message may include at least one of the location, the name, the origin, the end, the picture, and the length of the closed road. As another example, a user may transmit a message indicating road congestion to the server 110 through the user terminal 130. The message may include at least one of the location, the name, the origin, the end, the picture, and the length of the congested road. As still another example, the user terminal 130 may transmit its real-time locations to the server 110 continuously or periodically. The server 110 may determine the vehicle distribution density in the road network at various times of a day and/or the travel speeds of vehicles in the road network based on the real-time locations, and obtain the real-time road congestion condition based on the vehicle distribution density and/or the travel speeds of vehicles in the road network.

In 520, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the original rule extraction module 420) may extract original traffic rule information from the raw data. In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information may include formal traffic rules that are officially certified and implemented, such as traffic signs, traffic markings, traffic lights, temporary traffic control (e.g., road closure, traffic limitation, etc. ) , road grades, or the like, or any combination thereof.

In 530, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the supplemented rule determination module 430) may determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information. The supplement traffic rule information may include one or more traffic rules that are different from the original traffic rule information and are created by the online to offline service system 100.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, roads A-D meet each other at intersection E. Road D is a dead-end road with no way out at one end and with a length shorter than a threshold (e.g., 100m) . In certain embodiments, in the original traffic rule information, from road C to road A, going straight is not allowed at intersection E. In certain other embodiments, with the existence of road D, when a driver arrives at intersection E from road C, the driver may first turn right to road D, then make a U-turn to intersection E, and turn right to road A. In this way, the original traffic rule that going straight is not allowed at intersection E from road C to road A can be avoided, which may affect the traffic order. In this case, the processing engine 112 may determine a supplement traffic rule that turning right is not allowed at intersection E from road C and/or a supplement traffic rule that U-turn is not allowed in road D.

As another example, in the original traffic rule information, from road A to road B, turning right is not allowed at intersection E. However, in certain embodiments, with the existence of road D, when a driver arrives at intersection E from road A, the driver may first turn left to road D, then make a U-turn to intersection E, and go straight to road B. In this way, the original traffic rule that turning right is not allowed at intersection E from road A to road B may be avoided, which may affect the traffic order. In this case, the processing engine 112 may determine a supplement traffic rule that turning left is not allowed at intersection E from road A and/or a supplement traffic rule that U-turn is not allowed in road D.

As a result, the processing engine 112 may determine the supplement traffic rule information so that dead-end roads such as road D in FIG. 6 may be determined to belong to an island area. The dead-end roads may not be considered when the processing engine 112 determines location information (e.g., a pick-up location, a drop-off location, a navigation route, etc. ) for a user, thereby improving the traffic order. Such an approach allows for inclusion of some locations that are not strictly inaccessible but getting to such locations may disrupt traffic order.

In some embodiments, the determination of the supplement traffic rule information may also take into consideration of inconvenience to the driver and/or a comparison of the inconvenience to the driver when supplement traffic rule is applied and inconvenience to the service requestor when supplement traffic rule is not applied. For example, based purely on original traffic rule information, road D as shown in FIG. 6 can be accessible; however, the processing engine 112 may determine supplement traffic rule information based on, for example, a ratio between the time cost to the driver and a time cost to the service requestor. If the supplement traffic rule information is determined to make road D an island area, the processing engine 112 may need to find a new location for pick up or drop off that is close to a location on road D, which is the location for pick up or drop off if no supplement rule is imposed. In certain embodiments, the processing engine 112 may need to determine the extra time for the driver to get to the location on road D (as compared to getting to the new location) , the time for the requestor to get to the new location (as compared to getting to the location on road D) , and the ratio between these times. A preset ratio threshold (e.g., always more than 1, such as 5:1, 10: 1, 20: 1, or 50: 1, etc. ) can be used in the determination of the supplement traffic rule information (e.g., only when the ratio is greater than the ratio threshold can the supplement rule information prevents the access of the original location, such as the location on road D) .

In some embodiments, the determination of the supplement traffic rule information may be based on potential disruption to traffic order (inconvenience to third parties) , inconvenience to the driver, and inconvenience to the service requestor.

In 540, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the island area identification module 440) may identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information using first-level connected components (e.g., strongly connected components in a directed graph) . Details related to identifying the one or more island areas may be found elsewhere in the present disclosure (e.g., the description in connection with FIG. 7) .

In some embodiments, the one or more island areas may be used to determine location information (e.g., a pick-up location, a drop-off location, a navigation route, a location on a map, etc. ) related to the online to offline service.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the obtaining module 410) may receive a service request or a service request indicator related to the online to offline service (e.g., a taxi-hailing service) from the user terminal 130 (e.g., a smartphone) of a service requester via the network 120. The service request and/or the service request indicator may include a departure location and/or a destination.

The user terminal 130 (e.g., the requester terminal and/or the provider terminal) may establish a communication (e.g., wireless communication) with the server 110, through an application (e.g., the application 380 in FIG. 3) installed in the requester terminal and/or the provider terminal via the network 120. The application may associate with the online to offline service system 100. For example, the application may be a taxi-hailing application.

A service request may refer to information of a transportation service that is formally requested and sent out by a service requester to the server 110 via the requester terminal. For example, when the service requester sends out the information of the transportation service to the server 110, the service requester may do so by pressing a button on the interface of the application corresponding to the transportation service and installed in the requester terminal. Upon receiving the information of the transportation service, the server 110 may determine that the information of the transportation service is formally sent out and determine the information of the transportation service as a service request.

A service request indicator may indicate an interest in requesting an online to offline service. In certain embodiments, the service request indicator reflects a likelihood that a service request is made before it is actually being made. For example, the application installed in the requester terminal may direct the requester terminal to monitor, continuously or periodically, input from a service requester and transmit the input to the server 110 via the network 120. Consequently, the requester terminal may inform the server 110 about the service requester’s input in real-time or substantially real-time. As a result, when the service requester starts to input a departure location (e.g., an intended departure location) and/or a destination (e.g., an intended destination) , the server 110 may receive enough information to determine that the service requester may have an interest in requesting an online to offline service. For example, when the service requester inputs all or part of a depature location, and before sending out the depature location to the server 110, the server 110 may have already received a service request indicator including the depature location, and determine that the service requester intends to request an online to offline service.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the application module 450) may determine a pick-up location and/or a drop-off location for the service request or the service request indicator based on the departure location and/or the destination. The service requester may be picked up at the pick-up location and be dropped off at the drop-off location. The pick-up location may be different from or the same as the departure location. The drop-off location may be different from or the same as the destination.

In some embodiments, the determined pick-up location and/or the determined drop-off location may be located in an area (e.g., an island area) that a driver is not able to enter. For example, the pick-up location may be located in an area in which roads are closed because of road construction. As another example, the pick-up location may be located in a residence region that vehicles having no permission (e.g., an access card) are not allowed to enter. As still another example, the pick-up location may be located in an area that motor vehicles are not allowed to enter. Therefore, the processing engine 112 may consider one or more island areas when determining the pick-up location and/or the drop-off location.

For example, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the application module 450) may determine whether the determined pick-up location and/or the determined drop-off location is located in one of the one or more identified island areas. In response to a determination that the determined pick-up location and/or the determined drop-off location is located in one of the one or more identified island areas, the processing engine 112 may determine a new pick-up location and/or a new drop-off location for the service request or the service request indicator. In response to a determination that the pick-up location and/or the drop-off location is not located in the one or more identified island areas, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the transmission module 460) may transmit the pick-up location and/or the drop-off location to the requester terminal via the network 120, directing the requester terminal to display the pick-up location and/or the drop-off location in an electronic map.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may determine the departure location received from the service requester as the pick-up location and determine the destination received from the service requester as the drop-off location. Merely by way of example, when receiving a service request indicator including a departure location and/or a destination from a service requester, the processing engine 112 may determine whether the departure location and/or the destination is located in one of the one or more identified island areas. In response to a determination that the pick-up location and/or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more identified island areas, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the transmission module 460) may transmit, to the requester terminal related to the service requester via the network 120, a reminder indicating that the departure location and/or the destination is not available. Alternatively or additionally, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the transmission module 460) may transmit, to the requester terminal related to the service requester via the network 120, signals directing the requester terminal to forbid the service requester to select the departure location and/or the destination.

In some embodiments, the user terminal 130 may transmit its real-time locations to the processing engine 112 continuously or periodically. The processing engine 112 may map the real-time locations to points in the road network and transmit signals including the mapping result to the user terminal 130, directing the user terminal 130 to display the real-time locations in an electronic map. During the process for mapping the real-time locations to the points in the road network, when a real-time location is in an intersection, it is hard to determine which road the location is mapped to. In some embodiments, during the process for mapping the real-time locations to the points in the road network, the processing engine 112 may also consider the feature related to whether a road is in an island area. For example, when a location is at a three-way intersection, and one of the two roads in front of the location along the travel direction is in an island area, the processing engine 112 may map the location to the other road if other features of the two roads are similar.

In some embodiments, for a navigation service, when receiving a departure location and a destination from the user terminal 130 via the network 120, the processing engine 112 may determine a route from the departure location and the destination based on the one or more island areas. The processing engine 112 may transmit the route to the user terminal 130 via the network 120, directing the user terminal 130 to display the route in an electronic map. The processing engine 112 may determine the route that does not pass through the one or more island areas. For example, the processing engine 112 may determine a route from the departure location to the destination with a shortest length. If the processing engine 112 determines that the route passes through an island area, the processing engine 112 may determine a new route from the departure location to the destination.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas in the specific region at intervals because at least a portion of the raw data (e.g., the traffic rule information and/or the road condition) may be updated over time. For example, in rush hour (e.g., 7: 00 a.m. -9: 00 a.m. and/or 6: 00 p.m. -10: 00 p.m. ) , the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas at relatively short intervals (e.g., every 10 minutes) because the modification of the traffic rule information may become more frequent and numerous to deal with the busier traffic; whereas in other hours (e.g., 10: 00 a.m. -12: 00 a.m. ) , the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas at relatively long intervals (e.g., every 30 minutes) because the traffic is steady and the modification of the traffic rule information may be less. In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas when receiving service requests (e.g., a taxi request or a navigation request) and/or service request indicators.

In some embodiments, the official online traffic management platform may post updated information of the traffic rule information corresponding to a future time period. For example, the official online traffic management platform may post a notification indicating a road closure caused by a traffic accident. The notification may include at least one of the location, the name, the origin, the end, and the length of the closed road, and the start time of the road closure (e.g., 10 minutes later) . The processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas corresponding to the future time period based on the future updated information.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas that apply to all vehicles. In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas for a specific vehicle or a specific type of vehicles. For example, when receiving a navigation request including a departure location and a destination from the user terminal 130 of a user, the processing engine 112 may obtain the vehicle type of the user, the plate number of the user, or the like, or any combination thereof. The processing engine 112 may identify one or more island areas for the user’ vehicle based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, the supplement traffic rule information, the vehicle type, and the plate number. For example, there is a height-limiting facility in a one-way street. If the user’s vehicle have a height higher than the height of the height-limiting facility, the one-way street is an island area for the user’s vehicle, because the vehicle is not able to enter and get out of the one-way street. As another example, only local vehicles are allowed to enter certain sub-regions (e.g., regions within the Fifth Ring Road) in the specific region (e.g., Beijing) in rush hour. If the user’s vehicle does not have a local plate license, the regions within the Fifth Ring Road in rush hour are island areas for the user’s vehicle.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the transmission module 460) may transmit signals including the one or more island areas to the user terminal 130, directing the user terminal 130 to display the one or more island areas in an electronic map.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary process for identifying one or more island areas in a road network according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the process 700 may be implemented in the online to offline service system 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the process 700 may be stored in a storage medium (e.g., the storage device 150, or the storage 220 of the processing engine 112) as a form of instructions, and can be invoked and/or executed by the server 110 (e.g., the processing engine 112, the processor 210 of the processing engine 112, or one or more modules in the processing engine 112 illustrated in FIG. 4) . The operations of the illustrated process 700 presented below are intended to be illustrative. In some embodiments, the process 700 may be accomplished with one or more additional operations not described, and/or without one or more of the operations discussed. Additionally, the order in which the operations of the process 700 as illustrated in FIG. 7 and described below is not intended to be limiting. In some embodiments, operation 540 of the process 500 in FIG. 5 may be performed based on the process 700.

In 710, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the island area identification module 440) may determine road network data based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information. In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may process the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and/or the supplement traffic rule information to obtain data that is suitable for determine first-level connected components (e.g., strongly connected components) . For example, the processing engine 112 may divide the road network into a plurality of links and nodes. The link may refer to a section of a road in the road network. The node may refer to an end of a link. As another example, the processing engine 112 may determine a directed graph including the links, the nodes, the road network information, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.

In 720, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the island area identification module 440) may determine one or more first-level connected components (e.g., strongly connected components) based on the road network data.

In some embodiments, if a path exists from a first vertex in a pair of vertices (e.g., the nodes) of a directed graph to a second vertex in the pair of vertices, and another path exists from the second vertex to the first vertex, the pair of vertices may be connected in a first-level (e.g., strongly connected or biconnected) . A strongly connected component of a directed graph may be a subgraph that is strongly connected (e.g., there is a path in each direction between each pair of vertices of the subgraph, that is, any two vertices of the subgraph are strongly connected) , and is maximal with this property: no additional edges or vertices from the directed graph can be included in the subgraph without breaking its property of being strongly connected.

In some embodiments, the original traffic rule information and the supplement traffic rule information may affect the passage of links connecting nodes in the road network. Therefore, the processing engine 112 may determine one or more first-level connected components by considering the original traffic rule information and the supplement traffic rule information.

In 730, the processing engine 112 (e.g., the island area identification module 440) may determine one or more island areas based on the one or more first-level connected components.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may determine pairs of nodes that are not strongly connected (e.g., there is at most one path between the pair of vertices) . The processing engine 112 may identify the links connecting the pairs of nodes that are not strongly connected. In these links, the processing engine 112 may combine the links that have space relationship (e.g., the links having common nodes) . The processing engine 112 may determine the combination of the links as the one or more island areas.

Merely by way of example, FIG. 8 illustrates a part of a directed graph. The part of the directed graph may include nodes a-f and links connecting the nodes a-f. In the part of the directed graph, the processing engine 112 may determine a strongly connected component 801 based on the original traffic rule information and the supplement traffic rule information. The processing engine 112 may determine that nodes a, f, e, and d are not strongly connected. Link X connects nodes a and f. Link Y connects nodes e and f. Link Z connects nodes e and d. The processing engine 112 may determine 802 as an island area.

In some embodiments, the processing engine 112 may identify the one or more island areas using, for example, the Kosaraju algorithm, the Tarjan algorithm, the Gabow algorithm, or the like, or any combination thereof.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” and/or “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc. ) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “unit, ” “module, ” or “system. ” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB. NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) , or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS) .

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution, e.g., an installation on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, claimed subject matter may lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

Claims

A system for identifying island areas in a road network, comprising:

at least one storage device including a set of instructions; and

at least one processor in communication with the at least one storage device, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform operations including:

obtaining raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network, at least a portion of the raw data being obtained from terminals related to first users;

extracting original traffic rule information from the raw data;

determining supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information; and

identifying one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.
The system of claim 1, wherein to identify the one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

determining road network data based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information;

determining one or more first-level connected components based on the road network data; and

determining the one or more island areas based on the one or more first-level connected components.
The system of claim 1 or 2, wherein the one or more island areas are associated with a future time period.
The system of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the original traffic rule information is associated, at least partly, with one or more intermediate links.
The system of any one of claims 1-4, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

determining a road condition of the road network in the specific region based on the raw data; and

identifying the one or more island areas based, at least partly, on the road condition.
The system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

receiving a service request or a service request indicator related to an online to offline service from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining a pick-up location or a drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator;

determining whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not located in the one or more island areas, transmitting the pick-up location or the drop-off location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the pick-up location or the drop-off location in an electronic map; or

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas, determining a new pick-up location or a new drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator.
The system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform operations including:

receiving a pick-up location or a drop-off location from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas,

transmitting, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, a reminder indicating that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not available; and/or

transmitting, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, signals directing the terminal to forbid the second user to select the pick-up location or the drop-off location.
The system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

receiving a location from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

mapping the location to a point in the road network based on the one or more island areas; and

transmitting a mapping point of the location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the mapping point in an electronic map.
The system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

receiving a departure location and a destination from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining a route from the departure location and the destination based on the one or more island areas; and

transmitting the route to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the route in an electronic map.
The system of any one of claims 1-5, wherein when executing the set of instructions, the at least one processor is directed to perform additional operations including:

transmitting, to a terminal related to a second user via the network, signals including the one or more island areas, directing the terminal to display the one or more island areas in an electronic map.
A method for identifying island areas in a road network implemented on a machine including one or more storage devices and one or more processors, the method comprising:

obtaining raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network, at least a portion of the raw data being obtained from terminals related to first users;

extracting original traffic rule information from the raw data;

determining supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information; and

identifying one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.
The method of claim 11, wherein the identifying the one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information includes:

determining road network data based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information;

determining one or more first-level connected components based on the road network data; and

determining the one or more island areas based on the one or more first-level connected components.
The method of claim 11 or 12, wherein the one or more island areas are associated with a future time period.
The method of any one of claims 11-13, wherein the original traffic rule information is associated, at least partly, with one or more intermediate links.
The method of any one of claims 11-14, further comprising:

determining a road condition of the road network in the specific region based on the raw data; and

identifying the one or more island areas based, at least partly, on the road condition.
The method of any one of claims 11-15, further comprising:

receiving a service request or a service request indicator related to an online to offline service from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining a pick-up location or a drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator;

determining whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not located in the one or more island areas, transmitting the pick-up location or the drop-off location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the pick-up location or the drop-off location in an electronic map; or

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas, determining a new pick-up location or a new drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator.
The method of any one of claims 11-15, further comprising:

receiving a pick-up location or a drop-off location from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas,

transmitting, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, a reminder indicating that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not available; and/or

transmitting, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, signals directing the terminal to forbid the second user to select the pick-up location or the drop-off location.
The method of any one of claims 11-15, further comprising:

receiving a location from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

mapping the location to a point in the road network based on the one or more island areas; and

transmitting a mapping point of the location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the mapping point in an electronic map.
The method of any one of claims 11-15, further comprising:

receiving a departure location and a destination from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determining a route from the departure location and the destination based on the one or more island areas; and

transmitting the route to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the route in an electronic map.
The method of any one of claims 11-15, further comprising:

transmitting, to a terminal related to a second user via the network, signals including the one or more island areas, directing the terminal to display the one or more island areas in an electronic map.
A system for identifying island areas in a road network, comprising:

an obtaining module configured to obtain raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network, at least a portion of the raw data being obtained from terminals related to first users;

an original rule extraction module configured to extract original traffic rule information from the raw data;

a supplement rule determination module configured to determine supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information; and

an island area identification module configured to identify one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.
The system of claim 21, wherein the identifying the one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information includes:

determining road network data based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information;

determining one or more first-level connected components based on the road network data; and

determining the one or more island areas based on the one or more first-level connected components.
The system of claim 21 or 22, wherein the one or more island areas are associated with a future time period.
The system of any one of claims 21-23, wherein the original traffic rule information is associated, at least partly, with one or more intermediate links.
The system of any one of claims 21-24, the island area identification module is further configured to:

determine a road condition of the road network in the specific region based on the raw data; and

identify the one or more island areas based, at least partly, on the road condition.
The system of any one of claims 21-25, further comprising:

an application module configured to:

receive a service request or a service request indicator related to an online to offline service from a terminal related to a second user via the network;

determine a pick-up location or a drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator; and

determine whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

a transmission module configured to:

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not located in the one or more island areas, transmit the pick-up location or the drop-off location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the pick-up location or the drop-off location in an electronic map;

wherein the application module is further configured to determine a new pick-up location or a new drop-off location based on the service request or the service request indicator in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas.
The system of any one of claims 21-25, further comprising:

an application module configured to:

receive a pick-up location or a drop-off location from a terminal related to a second user via the network; and

determine whether the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas; and

a transmission module configured to:

in response to a determination that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is located in one of the one or more island areas,

transmit, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, a reminder indicating that the pick-up location or the drop-off location is not available; and/or

transmit, to the terminal related to the second user via the network, signals directing the terminal to forbid the second user to select the pick-up location or the drop-off location.
The system of any one of claims 21-25, further comprising:

an application module configured to:

receive a location from a terminal related to a second user via the network; and

map the location to a point in the road network based on the one or more island areas; and

a transmission module configured to transmit a mapping point of the location to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the mapping point in an electronic map.
The system of any one of claims 21-25, further comprising:

an application module configured to:

receive a departure location and a destination from a terminal related to a second user via the network; and

determine a route from the departure location and the destination based on the one or more island areas; and

a transmission module configured to transmit the route to the terminal related to the second user via the network, directing the terminal to display the route in an electronic map.
The system of any one of claims 21-25, further comprising a transmission module configured to transmit, to a terminal related to a second user via the network, signals including the one or more island areas, directing the terminal to display the one or more island areas in an electronic map.
A non-transitory computer readable medium, comprising at least one set of instructions for identifying island areas in a road network, wherein when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, the at least one set of instructions causes the computing device to perform a method, the method comprising:

obtaining raw data associated with a road network in a specific region via a network, at least a portion of the raw data being obtained from terminals related to first users;

extracting original traffic rule information from the raw data;

determining supplement traffic rule information based on the raw data and the original traffic rule information; and

identifying one or more island areas in the specific region based on the raw data, the original traffic rule information, and the supplement traffic rule information.