Method and system for monitoring vehicular traffic using a wireless communications network

A motion sensor for monitoring the flow of vehicular traffic along a roadway, comprising:

• a central processing unit;
• a transmitter;
• and
• a motion sensing detector,
• wherein at periodic intervals that vary according to the time of day, the motion sensor transmits speed of traffic information detected by the detector on a wireless network to a central database.

A method for providing vehicular traffic information according to a specified traffic request, comprising the steps of:

• receiving speed of traffic information transmitted by a plurality of motion sensors located along one or more roadways corresponding to the specified traffic request, wherein motion sensors transmit at periodic intervals that vary according to the time of day;
• storing the traffic information in a database;
• determining the traffic information corresponding to the specified traffic request;
• and
• communicating the traffic information.

A method for transmitting vehicular traffic information from a motion sensor located along a roadway to a centralized database over a wireless communications network, wherein the motion sensor includes a memory for storing at least one speed measurement, comprising the steps of:

• detecting an updated speed measurement along the roadway in the motion sensor;
• calculating a difference value between the updated speed measurement and a previous speed measurement stored in the motion sensor memory;
• transmitting the difference value to the centralized database;
• and
• replacing the previous speed measurement with the updated speed measurement,
• wherein updated speed measurements are detected upon periodic intervals.

A method for transmitting vehicular traffic information from a motion sensor located along a roadway to a centralized database over a wireless communications network, wherein the motion sensor includes a memory for storing at least one speed measurement, comprising the steps of:

• detecting an updated speed measurement along the roadway in the motion sensor;
• calculating a difference value between the updated speed measurement and a previous speed measurement stored in the motion sensor memory;
• and
• if an absolute value of the difference value is greater than a threshold value stored in the motion sensor, then
• transmitting the difference value to the centralized database;
• and
• replacing the previous speed measurement with the updated speed measurement,
• wherein updated speed measurements are detected upon periodic intervals.