# US 2020/0286377 A1 · Systems and methods for virtual traffic lights implemented on a mobile computing device > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2020/0286377 A1 - Document ID: US20200286377A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 16/644,723 - Filed: 2018-10-05 - Published: 2020-09-10 - Earliest claimed: 2017-10-05 - Assignees: Carnegie Mellon University - Applicants: Carnegie Mellon University - Inventors: Ozan K. Tonguz; Luca Kubin - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200286377A1 ## CPC - G08G 1/096708: {where the received information might be used to generate an automatic action on the vehicle control} - G01C 21/30: Map- or contour-matching - G01S 19/423: {by combining or switching between position solutions derived from different satellite radio beacon positioning systems} - G08G 1/09675: {where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle} - G08G 1/096791: {where the origin of the information is another vehicle} - H04W 4/44: for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G01S: RADIO DIRECTION-FINDING; RADIO NAVIGATION; DETERMINING DISTANCE OR VELOCITY BY USE OF RADIO WAVES; LOCATING OR PRESENCE-DETECTING BY USE OF THE REFLECTION OR RERADIATION OF RADIO WAVES; ANALOGOUS ARRANGEMENTS USING OTHER WAVES - H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72) ## Abstract Disclosed herein is an implementation of a Virtual Traffic Lights (VTL) application implemented as an app on a mobile computing device in which online mapping services provide information necessary to determine a lead vehicle among one or more vehicles approaching an intersection. The lead vehicle controls status of virtual traffic lights at the intersection. The information retrieved from in the online mapping service may be used to determine whether vehicles approaching intersection are moving closer or farther apart from each other, the direction of travel of the vehicles, the geographic location of the intersection, and the distance between each vehicle and the geographic location of the intersection. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A software-implemented method in a first vehicle for selecting a lead vehicle at an intersection for controlling a virtual traffic light comprising: receiving one or more data packets from a second vehicle; based on information in the data packet, determining: if the first and second vehicles are moving closer to each other; if the first and second vehicles are travelling on the different streets; if the different streets intersect, and if so, the geographic position of the intersection; determining a first distance of the first vehicle from the intersection and a second distance of the second vehicle from the intersection; determining a lead vehicle for the intersection based on the first and second distances; displaying, within the first vehicle a traffic light indicator indicating the status of the virtual traffic light. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein determining if the first and second vehicles are moving closer to each other comprises: determining a first geographic position for the first vehicle and a second geographic position for the first vehicle; retrieving a first geographic position for the second vehicle and a second geographic position for the second vehicle from the data packet; calculating a first distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the first geographic position for the first vehicle and the first geographic position of the second vehicle; computing a second distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle based on the second geographic position for the first vehicle and the second geographic position of the second vehicle; determining if the distance between the first vehicle and the second vehicle is decreasing, based on the difference between the first distance and the second distance. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein determining if the first and second vehicles are travelling on the different streets comprises: retrieving the street name on which the first vehicle is travelling; retrieving the street name on which the second vehicle is travelling; comparing the street names to determine a non-match between the street names. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 wherein: retrieving the street name on which the first vehicle is travelling comprises querying an online mapping service using the geographic position of the first vehicle or retrieving the street name from a local mapping database; and retrieving the street name on which the second vehicle is travelling comprises querying an online mapping service using the geographic position of the second vehicle or retrieving the street name from one of the received data packets. ### Claim 5 (depends on 3) The method of claim 3 wherein determining if the different streets intersect comprises querying an online mapping service, using the street name on which the first vehicle is travelling and the street name on which the second vehicle is travelling. ### Claim 6 (depends on 2) The method of claim 2 wherein determining a first distance of the first vehicle from the intersection and a second distance of the second vehicle from the intersection comprises: calculating an angular distance between the second geographic position for the first vehicle and the geographic position of the intersection; calculating the angular distance between the second geographic position for the first vehicle and the geographic position of the intersection. wherein the angular distances are based on the radius of the Earth. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein determining a lead vehicle comprises declaring the farthest from the intersection among the first vehicle and the second vehicle as the lead vehicle and the closest to the intersection among the first and second vehicles as a non-lead vehicle. ### Claim 8 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein the determined lead vehicle performs the steps of: building a status packet and broadcasting the status packet one or more times; setting the status of the traffic light indicator within the lead vehicle to show a red light indication; and waiting for an acknowledge packet from the non-lead vehicle. ### Claim 9 (depends on 7) The method of claim 7 wherein the determined non-lead vehicle performs the steps of: receiving a status packet from the lead vehicle; setting the status of the traffic light indicator within the non-lead vehicle to show a green light indication; and sending an acknowledge packet to the lead vehicle. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the geographic position of the first vehicle is retrieved from a GPS unit on board the first vehicle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the method is implemented as software executing as an application on a mobile computing device. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein the one or more data packets are sent and received via a communication interface built into the mobile computing device. ### Claim 13 (depends on 12) The method of claim 12 wherein the communication interface built into the mobile computing device comprises LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 4G, 5G, RFID or Wi-Fi direct. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11 wherein the one or more data packets are sent and received via an interface between the mobile computing device and an external dedicated short range communication radio. ### Claim 15 A traffic control system comprising: a mobile computing device in a first vehicle; a display screen on the mobile computing device; an application installed on the mobile computing device for performing the functions of: receiving one or more data packets from a second vehicle; based on information in the data packet, determining: if the first vehicle and the second vehicle are moving closer to each other; if the first vehicle and the second vehicle are travelling on the different streets; if the different streets intersect, and if so, the geographic position of the intersection; determining a first distance of the first vehicle from the intersection and a second distance of the second vehicle from the intersection; determining a lead vehicle for the intersection based on the first and second distances, the lead vehicle controlling virtual traffic lights at the intersection; and displaying a traffic light indicator on the display screen, the status of the traffic light indicator being determined by the lead vehicle. ### Claim 16 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15 further comprising a GPS unit, wherein the geographic positions of the first vehicle are retrieved from the GPS unit. ### Claim 17 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more data packets are received via a communication interface built into the mobile computing device, the communication interface comprising LTE, Wi-Fi, RFID, 4G, 5G, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi direct. ### Claim 18 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15 wherein the one or more data packets are sent and received via an interface between the mobile computing device and an external dedicated short range communication radio. ### Claim 19 (depends on 15) The system of claim 15 wherein determining a lead vehicle for the intersection comprises declaring the farthest from the intersection among the first vehicle and the second vehicles as the lead vehicle and the closest to the intersection among the first and second vehicles as a non-lead vehicle. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The system of claim 19 wherein the lead vehicle yields leadership to a vehicle travelling in an orthogonal direction based on number of vehicles in a cluster of the lead vehicle and the number of vehicles in a cluster of a vehicle travelling in the orthogonal direction. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The system of claim 19 wherein: the status of the displayed traffic light indicator is red if the first vehicle is determined to be the lead vehicle; and the status of the displayed traffic light indicator is green if the first vehicle is determined to be a non-lead vehicle.