Vehicle speed indication using vehicle-infrastructure wireless communication
AssigneeToyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc.
InventorHideki Hada
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An example traffic control system includes a vehicle unit associated with a vehicle on a highway, one or more roadside units proximate the highway, and a traffic controller. The vehicle unit transmits a vehicle speed to the roadside unit, when in wireless communication range. The roadside unit transmits the vehicle speed to the traffic controller. The traffic controller receives vehicle speed data from a plurality of vehicles, and determines a suggested speed for each vehicle. The suggested speed may be correlated with an average speed of vehicles on a portion of the highway, for example the same highway portion on which vehicle is located, or a highway portion towards which the vehicle is heading.
Claims19
An apparatus for assisting traffic control, the apparatus comprising:
- a vehicle unit, the vehicle unit including a transceiver, and being configured to be supported by a vehicle;
- a roadside unit, located proximate a highway portion, the roadside unit being in communication with the vehicle unit when the vehicle unit is located on the highway portion;
- and
- a traffic controller, in communication with the roadside unit,
- the traffic controller receiving vehicle speed data from the roadside unit, and operable to determining a suggested speed for the vehicle,
- the suggested speed being transmitted from the roadside unit to the vehicle unit,
- the vehicle unit being operable to convey the suggested speed to the driver.
A method of improving traffic flow on a highway, the traffic flow including a vehicle having a driver, the method comprising:
- determining the vehicle speed;
- transmitting the vehicle speed to a traffic controller, using a roadside unit in communication with a vehicle unit associated with the vehicle;
- determining an average speed for a plurality of vehicles within a portion of the highway;
- determining a suggested speed for the vehicle, the suggested speed being a function of the average speed;
- transmitting the suggested speed to the vehicle;
- and
- conveying the suggested speed to the driver, so as to assist the driver achieve a vehicle speed that improves traffic flow.
An apparatus for improving traffic flow on a highway, the apparatus being associated with a road vehicle having a driver, the apparatus comprising:
- an electronic circuit, operable to receive a speed signal from vehicle electronics and determine a vehicle speed;
- a transceiver, operable to transmit the vehicle speed to a traffic controller through a roadside unit proximate the highway portion when the vehicle is located on the highway portion,
- the transceiver being further operable to receive a suggested speed from the traffic controller, the suggested speed being an average speed of a plurality of vehicles on the highway;
- and
- a user interface, operable to convey the suggested speed to the driver.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.