Systems, methods, and processor readable media for traffic flow measurement

A processor-implemented method of collecting and transmitting radio communications network measurements from a mobile terminal for use in a system of estimating a traffic flow speed on road segments, the method comprising:

• a. accumulating a plurality of wireless measurements in a memory of a mobile radio terminal, wherein the wireless measurements include a set of cell identifiers associated with cells that previously served said mobile radio terminal;
• b. detecting a cell reselection to a new cell;
• c. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is not in the set of cell identifiers,
• i. adding a cell identifier associated with the new cell to the set of cell identifiers, and
• ii. communicating the plurality of wireless measurements to a traffic flow measurement server if a number of cell identifiers in the set of cell identifiers exceeds a threshold;
• and
• d. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is in the set of cell identifiers, removing one or more cell identifiers from the set of cell identifiers, wherein the one or more cell identifiers removed include cell identifiers subsequent to a first instance of the cell identifier associated with the new cell, such that reporting of wireless measurements is minimized when the mobile radio terminal is stationary.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions adapted to cause a processing system to execute a method comprising:

• a. providing a road network having a plurality of nodes, each node being connected to one or more road segments, wherein the road network models a physical road topology of a geographic area;
• b. receiving a sequence of wireless measurements, wherein the sequence includes a plurality of cell identifiers;
• c. determining a route through the road network that the mobile radio terminal could have traveled based on the sequence, wherein determining the set of routes includes,
• i. selecting one or more candidate start nodes based on distance from each node in the road network to a first cell identifier in the sequence,
• ii. selecting one or more candidate end nodes based on distance from each node in the road network to a second cell identifier in the sequence,
• iii. determining a set of candidate routes by calculating a path through the road network for each combination of candidate start nodes and candidate end nodes,
• iv. selecting a candidate route having a likelihood of being the route the mobile radio terminal traveled that is above a threshold,
• d. determining a first point on the selected route and a first time corresponding to a first cell reselection event from the sequence;
• e. determining a second point on the selected route and a second time corresponding to a second cell reselection from the sequence;
• and
• estimating a speed of the mobile radio terminal on at least one road segment between the first and second point based on a distance between the first and second point and a difference between the first and second time.

An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer program instructions adapted to cause a processing system to execute a method comprising:

• a. accumulating a plurality of wireless measurements in a memory of a mobile radio terminal, wherein the wireless measurements include a set of cell identifiers associated with cells that previously served said mobile radio terminal;
• b. detecting a cell reselection to a new cell;
• c. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is not in the set of cell identifiers,
• i. adding a cell identifier associated with the new cell to the set of cell identifiers, and
• ii. communicating the plurality of wireless measurements to a traffic flow measurement server if a number of cell identifiers in the set of cell identifiers exceeds a threshold;
• and
• d. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is in the set of cell identifiers, removing one or more cell identifiers from the set of cell identifiers, wherein the one or more cell identifiers removed include cell identifiers subsequent to a first instance of the cell identifier associated with the new cell, such that reporting of wireless measurements is minimized when the mobile radio terminal is stationary.

A traffic server configured to estimate a speed of a mobile radio terminal traveling on at least one road segment comprising a processing system and a memory coupled to the processing system, wherein the processing system is configured to execute steps comprising:

• a. providing a road network having a plurality of nodes, each node being connected to one or more road segments, wherein the road network models a physical road topology of a geographic area;
• b. receiving a sequence of wireless measurements, wherein the sequence includes a plurality of cell identifiers;
• c. determining a route through the road network that the mobile radio terminal could have traveled based on the sequence, wherein determining the set of routes includes,
• i. selecting one or more candidate start nodes based on distance from each node in the road network to a first cell identifier in the sequence,
• ii. selecting one or more candidate end nodes based on distance from each node in the road network to a second cell identifier in the sequence,
• iii. determining a set of candidate routes by calculating a path through the road network for each combination of candidate start nodes and candidate end nodes,
• iv. selecting a candidate route having a likelihood of being the route the mobile radio terminal traveled that is above a threshold,
• d. determining a first point on the selected route and a first time corresponding to a first cell reselection event from the sequence;
• e. determining a second point on the selected route and a second time corresponding to a second cell reselection from the sequence;
• and
• f. estimating a speed of the mobile radio terminal on at least one road segment between the first and second point based on a distance between the first and second point and a difference between the first and second time.

A mobile radio terminal configured to collect and transmit radio communications network measurements for use in a system of estimating a traffic flow speed on road segments comprising a processing system and a memory coupled to the processing system, wherein the processing system is configured to execute steps comprising:

• a. accumulating a plurality of wireless measurements in a memory of a mobile radio terminal, wherein the wireless measurements include a set of cell identifiers associated with cells that previously served said mobile radio terminal;
• b. detecting a cell reselection to a new cell;
• c. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is not in the set of cell identifiers,
• i. adding a cell identifier associated with the new cell to the set of cell identifiers, and
• ii. communicating the plurality of wireless measurements to a traffic flow measurement server if a number of cell identifiers in the set of cell identifiers exceeds a threshold;
• and
• d. if the cell identifier associated with the new cell is in the set of cell identifiers, removing one or more cell identifiers from the set of cell identifiers, wherein the one or more cell identifiers removed include cell identifiers subsequent to a first instance of the cell identifier associated with the new cell, such that reporting of wireless measurements is minimized when the mobile radio terminal is stationary.