Patent Publication Number: US-2013231851-A1

Title: Electronic device and method for providing traffic information to mobile devices

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     1. Technical Field 
     Embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to traffic information processing devices and methods, and particularly to an electronic device and a method for providing traffic information to mobile devices. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     When driving a car or walking on the road, people may encounter different traffic conditions, for example, road under-construction, landslide, traffic control, traffic jam, bridge closed, etc. In these cases, people may have to make a detour. 
     In order to avoid passing through the locations where particular traffic conditions occurred, people may receive traffic condition on radio stations or dial a service telephone number to receive a voice traffic condition report. However, in order to meet public requirements, regular radio station traffic condition broadcasting or telephone voice traffic condition report provides traffic condition information of a broad geographic zone. This traffic condition broadcasting or telephone voice traffic condition report service cannot provide the traffic condition information of the geographic location of every individual to meet individual&#39;s needs. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an electronic device. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating function modules of a traffic information processing system included in the electronic device of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for subscribing to a service that provides traffic information by a mobile device. 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for processing traffic information by the electronic device. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The application is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean at least one. 
     In general, the word “module” as used hereinafter, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language, such as, for example, Java, C, or Assembly. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware. It will be appreciated that modules may be comprised of connected logic units, such as gates and flip-flops, and may be comprised of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of an electronic device  1 . The electronic device  1  can be a computer, a server, for example. The electronic device  1  includes components, such as a traffic information processing system  10 , a control device  20 , a storage device  30 , and a time module  40 . These components  10 - 40  communicate over one or more communication buses or signal lines. The electronic device  1  may have more or fewer components than shown in  FIG. 1 , or a different configuration of components. The various components shown in  FIG. 1  may be implemented in hardware, software or a combination thereof, including one or more signal processing and/or application specific integrated circuits. 
     The electronic device  1  communicates with a traffic information server  2  and one or more mobile devices  3  through a network, such as a wireless network or the Internet. The traffic information server  2  stores real time traffic information of all roads in a geographic zone. The geographic zone may be a city or a country, for example. The traffic information of a road may include, such as a road name, a starting point and an ending point of the road, direction and speed of traffic on the road. In one embodiment, the traffic information may be in an XML format, such as: 
     
       
         
           
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 &lt;locate&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   &lt;name&gt; XX &lt;/name&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   &lt;point_s&gt; YY &lt;/point_s&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   &lt;point_e&gt; ZZ &lt;/point_e&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   &lt;direction&gt; East &lt;/direction&gt; 
               
               
                   
                   &lt;speed&gt; NN &lt;/speed&gt; 
               
               
                   
                  &lt;/locate&gt;. 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     The traffic information processing system  10  includes a plurality of function modules (see below descriptions that refer to  FIG. 2 ), to obtain traffic information from the traffic information server  2 , analyze the traffic information, and send individual traffic information to mobile devices  3  according to individual&#39;s needs. 
     The function modules of the traffic information processing system  10  may include one or more computerized codes in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage device  30 , and executed by the control device  20 , to provide functions for the function modules of the traffic information processing system  10 . The storage device  30  may include some type(s) of non-transitory computer-readable storage mediums, such as a memory, a hard disk drive, a compact disc, a digital video disc, or a tape drive. The control device  20  may be a processor, a microprocessor, for example. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating the function modules of the traffic information processing system  10 . The function modules of the traffic information processing system  10  may include a user interface module  11  and a data processing module  12 . The user interface module  11  performs a method for subscribing to a service that provides traffic information by one of the mobile devices (hereinafter, the mobile device)  3 , as described in  FIG. 3 . The data processing module  12  performs a method for processing traffic information, as described in  FIG. 4 . The user interface module  11  may include a road selection sub-module  110 , a mode selection sub-module  111 , and an acquiring sub-module  112 . The data processing module  12  may include a gathering sub-module  120 , an analyzing sub-module  121 , and a subscription module  122 . The function modules  110 - 112  and  120 - 122  provide at least the functions needed to execute the steps illustrated in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for subscribing to a service that provides traffic information by the mobile device  3  using the user interface module  11 . Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 10 , the road selection sub-module  110  selects one or more roads. In one embodiment, the roads are selected according to a selection of a user of the mobile device  3 . In one embodiment, the traffic information processing system  10  may provide a road list which provides road names on a display device of the mobile device  3 . The user can select one or more road from the road list by using an input device of the mobile device  3 , or by touching a touch screen of the mobile device  3 . 
     In step S 11 , the mode selection sub-module  111  selects a mode of acquiring traffic information of the selected roads. In one embodiment, the mode is selected a selection made by the user of the mobile device  3 . In one embodiment, the mode may include an active acquiring mode and a passive acquiring mode. The active acquiring mode means that the traffic information is actively acquired according to preset time information, such as a time point, a time interval. The time point may be, for example, 8:00 AM every day, and the time interval may be every 10 minutes for example. The passive acquiring mode means the traffic information is passively acquired according to the user&#39;s command. In one embodiment, the traffic information processing system  10  may provide options on the display device of the mobile device  3  for the user to select the active acquiring mode and the passive acquiring mode. 
     In step S 12 , the mode selection sub-module  111  determines if the selected mode is the active acquiring mode. Step  13  is implemented if the selected mode is the passive acquiring mode. Otherwise, steps S 14  and S 15  are implemented if the selected mode is the active acquiring mode. 
     In step S 13 , the acquiring sub-module  112  determines if a command of acquiring traffic information is generated. In one embodiment, the command of acquiring traffic information is generated according to the user operation. As mentioned above, the traffic information processing system  10  may provide options for the user to select the active acquiring mode or the passive acquiring mode. When the user selects the active acquiring mode or the passive acquiring mode from the options, the command of acquiring traffic information is generated, then, step S 16  is implemented. Otherwise, if the user does not select any one of the options, step S 13  is repeated. 
     In step S 14 , the acquiring sub-module  112  sets time information of acquiring the traffic information. In one embodiment, the time information is set according to the user&#39;s setting. As mentioned, the time information may be a time point or a time interval. The time point may be, such as 8:00 AM every day, and the time interval may be every 10 minutes, for example. 
     In step S 15 , the acquiring sub-module  112  obtains a current time from the time module  50 , and determines if it is time to acquire the traffic information according to the current time and the time information. If it is time to acquire the traffic information, step S 16  is implemented. Otherwise, if is not yet the time to acquire traffic information, step S 15  is repeated. 
     In step S 16 , the acquiring sub-module  112  sends a request of acquiring basic traffic information of the selected one or more roads to the data processing module  12 , and receives the basic traffic information of the selected one or more roads from the data processing module  12 , sends the basic traffic information to the mobile device  3 . 
       FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for processing traffic information using the data processing module  12 . Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be added, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
     In step S 20 , the gathering sub-module  120  acquires real time traffic information of all roads from the traffic information server  2 . As mentioned, the traffic information includes such as a road name, a starting point and an ending point of each road, direction and speed of traffic on each road, the traffic information is stored in an XML format. 
     In step S 21 , the analyzing sub-module  121  analyzes the traffic information to obtain the basic information of each road, and stores the basic traffic information of each road into the storage device  30 . The basic traffic information of a road includes a road name, a stating point and an ending point of the road, a direction and a speed of the road. 
     In one embodiment, the analyzing sub-module  121  obtains the basic information of the road according to XML labels, such as &lt;name&gt;, &lt;point_s&gt;, &lt;point_e&gt;, &lt;direction&gt;, and &lt;speed&gt;. 
     In step S 22 , the subscription sub-module  122  determines if a service that provides traffic information of one or more roads are subscribed to by the mobile device  3 . In one embodiment, when the subscription sub-module  122  receives the request of acquiring basic traffic information of one or more roads, the subscription sub-module  122  determines that a service that provides traffic information of the one or more roads are subscribed to by the mobile device  3 , and step S 23  is implemented. Otherwise, if no service that provides traffic information of roads is subscribed by the mobile device  3 , step S 22  is repeated. 
     In step S 23 , the subscription sub-module  122  picks the basic traffic information of the one or more roads from the storage device  30 , and sends the basic traffic information to the user interface module  11 . 
     Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.