Patent ID: 8594915

Claim:
A system, comprising: a network server configured to communicate with a plurality of mobile devices, each mobile device being associated with a vehicle, the network server configured to receive Global Positioning System (GPS) parameters from the mobile devices and traffic alert requests from a plurality of subscriber devices, wherein the traffic alert request for each of the subscriber devices comprises a selection of at least one zone and a selection of at least one time period, wherein the network server is further configured to use the GPS parameters to detect traffic congestion in a zone independently of the traffic alert requests and to determine an amount of time the zone has been designated as congested, wherein calculations performed by the network server on the GPS parameters received from each of the plurality of mobile devices to detect traffic congestion vary according to processing capabilities of the each mobile device that transmitted the GPS parameters, and wherein the network server is further configured to, after detecting traffic congestion in the zone, identify based on the traffic alert requests a first subscriber device that has requested traffic alerts for the zone at a current time and transmit a traffic alert to the first subscriber device, wherein a rate at which the network server receives the GPS parameters from at least one of the mobile devices and a rate at which the at least one mobile device detects traffic conditions vary according to a power level of the at least one mobile device and a location of the at least one mobile device with respect to a zone.