Patent Document ID: 8160805
Application ID: 13026106
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A computer-implemented method for automatically providing data samples from vehicles traveling on roads for use in assessing traffic conditions on those roads, the method comprising: for each of multiple vehicles traveling on one or more roads, providing information regarding travel of the vehicle by, for each of multiple successive periods of time of pre-determined length, acquiring multiple data samples during the period of time from a geo-location device traveling with the vehicle, each data sample being acquired at a distinct acquisition time during the period of time and including a reported geographic location and speed of the vehicle at that acquisition time, and wherein for each of at least some of the multiple vehicles, the data samples are acquired at intervals of a first time period, and the pre-determined length of each of the multiple successive periods of time is based on a predefined multiple of the first time; temporarily storing the multiple data samples during the period of time in a storage device; and at the end of the period of time, sending the multiple stored data samples together in a single data transmission via a wireless data transmitter to a remote traffic information system that is configured to use at least some of the data samples for facilitating travel of other vehicles on the one or more roads; and removing the multiple stored data samples from the storage device so that data samples acquired during a next period of time can be temporarily stored.