Patents Assigned to Inrix, Inc.
  • Patent number: 9482550
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for providing linear route progress. For example, a linear route progress interface, comprising a linear route representation of a route from a starting location to a destination location, may be displayed. The linear route representation may linearly represent a progress of the user along the route (e.g., as opposed to directions on a map that may otherwise visually overwhelm a user merely interested in traffic flow and/or incident information that may affect an arrival time of the user). The linear route progress interface may be populated with traffic flow indicators (e.g., traffic flow speed) and/or incident indictors (e.g., indicating accidents, construction, etc.). A user indicator, corresponding to a current position of the user, may be populated within the linear route progress interface. The user indicator and/or the linear route representation may be modified to illustrate user progress along the route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 30, 2014
    Date of Patent: November 1, 2016
    Assignee: INRIX Inc.
    Inventors: Brent Michael Van Wieringen, John Thomas Hurr
  • Patent number: 9449508
    Abstract: Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads, as well as in some situations data from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The assessment of road traffic conditions based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics from the data samples. In some situations, the filtering of the data samples includes identifying data samples that are inaccurate or otherwise unrepresentative of actual traffic condition characteristics, such as data samples that are not of interest based at least in part on roads with which the data samples are associated and/or that otherwise reflect vehicle locations or activities that are not of interest.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 29, 2011
    Date of Patent: September 20, 2016
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Craig H. Chapman, Oliver B. Downs, Alec Barker, Mitchel A. Burns, Jr., Scott R. Love
  • Patent number: 9437107
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for to creating an avoidance zone spatially proximate a venue, where the avoidance zone is created based upon identifying road segments where increased traffic congestion is expected due to an event at the venue. Information pertaining to the avoidance zone, such as a description of road segments to avoid and/or expected travel delays, may be provided to a route planner configured to develop vehicle routes. In this way, the route planner can take into consideration the impact of events on one or more road segments when planning a route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2016
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Mark Daymond
  • Patent number: 9299251
    Abstract: Techniques are described for generating and using information regarding road traffic in various ways, including by obtaining and analyzing road traffic information regarding actual behavior of drivers of vehicles on a network of roads. Obtained actual driver behavior information may in some situations be analyzed to identify decision point locations at which drivers face choices corresponding to possible alternative routes through the network of roads (e.g., intersections, highway exits and/or entrances, etc.), as well as to track the actual use by drivers of particular paths between particular decision points in order to determine preferred compound links between those decision point locations. The identified and determined information from the analysis may then be used in various manners, including in some situations to assist in determining particular recommended or preferred routes of vehicles through the network of roads based at least in part on actual driver behavior information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 29, 2016
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Robert Cahn, Weimin Mark Wang, Alec Barker, Robert Frederick Leidle
  • Patent number: 9285587
    Abstract: Vehicular travel may be facilitated by user interfaces presenting travel information. Such user interfaces often involve visual displays positioned peripherally to a window through which an individual operates the vehicle (e.g., displays mounted in a dash or console) and/or non-visual interfaces (e.g., audio, speech recognition, and manual controls). While presenting visuals on the window obscuring the view of the individual may present safety concerns, peripherally presented visual interfaces that distract the gaze of the individual may raise comparable or greater concerns. Instead, visual user interfaces may be displayed on the window through which the individual operates the vehicle (e.g., a windshield or individual eyewear) to presents visuals representing travel information received from a travel service, such as routing, traffic congestion, highlighting vehicles or routes, and rendering non-visible objects (e.g., obscured traffic control signals).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Date of Patent: March 15, 2016
    Assignee: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventor: Christopher L. Scofield
  • Patent number: 9280894
    Abstract: Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 2014
    Date of Patent: March 8, 2016
    Assignee: INRIX, INC.
    Inventors: Craig H. Chapman, Kush G. Parikh, Oliver B. Downs, Robert C. Cahn, Jesse S. Hersch
  • Patent number: 9257042
    Abstract: Techniques are described for generating and using information regarding road traffic in various ways, including by obtaining and analyzing road traffic information regarding actual behavior of drivers of vehicles on a network of roads. Obtained actual driver behavior information may in some situations be analyzed to determine actual delays for vehicles encountering various particular road features in the network of roads, such as for identified decision points at which drivers face choices corresponding to possible alternative routes through the network of roads (e.g., intersections, highway exits and/or entrances, etc.) and/or for other traffic flow impediments. The identified and determined information from the analysis may then be used in various manners, including in some situations to assist in determining particular recommended or preferred routes of vehicles through the network of roads based at least in part on actual driver behavior information.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 11, 2011
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Robert Cahn, Weimin Mark Wang, Alec Barker, Robert Frederick Leidle
  • Patent number: 9257041
    Abstract: Techniques are described for determining and using information regarding expected road traffic flow conditions information for vehicles traveling on roads. The expected road traffic flow conditions for a particular portion of a road may be generated by combining historical representative information about road traffic flow conditions for that road portion with current information about actual traffic flow on or near that road portion. The combination may, for example, provide benefits for estimating expected traffic flow conditions information for roads with structural flow obstructions that cause reduced traffic flow at certain road locations and times—for example, the expected traffic flow conditions information may be based at least in part on fitting or otherwise adapting partial actual traffic flow information about a vehicle's actual travel path to a historical travel profile for a road that includes representative traffic flow information for various combinations of road locations and time periods.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 22, 2010
    Date of Patent: February 9, 2016
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher Laurence Scofield, Robert C. Cahn, Jesse Hersch, Wayne Stoppler, Valerie Raybold Yakich, Alec Barker
  • Patent number: 9211891
    Abstract: In many vehicular control contexts, a vehicle may monitor the vehicle input control from a driver to detect warning conditions that entail a warning to the user and/or an automatic mitigating action (e.g., detecting hard braking that causes brake lockup, and automatically activating anti-lock braking). Warning and mitigation techniques may address the instant driving conditions, but may not the user driving behavior that caused the condition (e.g., a driving style of the user that resulted in hard braking, such as excessive speed for current driving conditions). Presented herein are techniques for monitoring the user driving behavior of the user in various driving contexts, and presenting driving suggestions of alternative driving behaviors providing advantages over the current user driving behavior of the user. The presentation of the alternative driving behaviors to the user may facilitate changes in user driving behavior that improve the safety, efficiency, and/or comfort of the driving experience.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Date of Patent: December 15, 2015
    Assignee: INRIX Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Scott Marshall Sedlik
  • Publication number: 20150035666
    Abstract: In many vehicular control contexts, a vehicle may monitor the vehicle input control from a driver to detect warning conditions that entail a warning to the user and/or an automatic mitigating action (e.g., detecting hard braking that causes brake lockup, and automatically activating anti-lock braking). Warning and mitigation techniques may address the instant driving conditions, but may not the user driving behavior that caused the condition (e.g., a driving style of the user that resulted in hard braking, such as excessive speed for current driving conditions). Presented herein are techniques for monitoring the user driving behavior of the user in various driving contexts, and presenting driving suggestions of alternative driving behaviors providing advantages over the current user driving behavior of the user. The presentation of the alternative driving behaviors to the user may facilitate changes in user driving behavior that improve the safety, efficiency, and/or comfort of the driving experience.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 2, 2013
    Publication date: February 5, 2015
    Applicant: INRIX Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Scott Marshall Sedlik
  • Patent number: 8912924
    Abstract: Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems are provided for authorizing an action using vehicle identification information (e.g., supplied by a vehicle) and user identification information (e.g., supplied by a mobile device associated with a user of the vehicle). Such an action may relate to, among other things, refueling the vehicle, parking the vehicle, using a fee-based road segment, and/or other vehicle-centric actions, for example. Moreover, in one embodiment, as part of the authorization, a payment transaction may be initiated by an authorization system configured to authorize the action.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 2012
    Date of Patent: December 16, 2014
    Assignee: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Scott Marshall Sedlik, Dominic Jason Jordan, Uri Lavee
  • Patent number: 8909463
    Abstract: Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Date of Patent: December 9, 2014
    Assignee: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Craig H. Chapman, Kush G. Parikh, Oliver B. Downs, Robert C. Cahn
  • Publication number: 20140309914
    Abstract: Techniques are described for generating and using information regarding road traffic in various ways, including by obtaining and analyzing road traffic information regarding actual behavior of drivers of vehicles on a network of roads. Obtained actual driver behavior information may in some situations be analyzed to identify decision point locations at which drivers face choices corresponding to possible alternative routes through the network of roads (e.g., intersections, highway exits and/or entrances, etc.), as well as to track the actual use by drivers of particular paths between particular decision points in order to determine preferred compound links between those decision point locations. The identified and determined information from the analysis may then be used in various manners, including in some situations to assist in determining particular recommended or preferred routes of vehicles through the network of roads based at least in part on actual driver behavior information.
    Type: Application
    Filed: April 9, 2014
    Publication date: October 16, 2014
    Applicant: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Robert Cahn, Weimin Mark Wang, Alec Barker, Robert Frederick Leidle
  • Patent number: 8849555
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for determining whether a vehicle comprises a sufficient amount of fuel to reach a destination. Making such a determination may comprise, among other things, estimating an amount of fuel required to reach the destination and/or estimating a rate of consumption along a travel route. Such estimates may be based upon factors external to the vehicle, including, among other things, topology of the travel route, current and/or predicted traffic patterns along the travel route, and/or driving habits of a user or others whom have navigated a similar route (or at least a portion of the route). When it is determined that the vehicle comprises an insufficient amount of fuel, a refueling notice indicative of the determination may be provided. In one embodiment, such a refueling may also suggest possible refueling stations along the travel route.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 29, 2012
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2014
    Assignee: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, William J. Schwebel, Kevin Foreman, Kush G. Parikh
  • Publication number: 20140278032
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems for providing congestion information for a road segment presently experiencing traffic congestion and/or likely to experience traffic congestion in the future are provided. In some embodiments, traffic models are configured to determine road segments where traffic congestion is likely to occur, to determine a cause of traffic congestion, and/or to determine the effect of such traffic congestion (e.g., the duration of such traffic congestion, the expected time delays due to such traffic congestion, etc.). Congestion information indicative of the cause of congestion and/or the effect(s) of such traffic congestion, for example, may be provided to a user to explain to the user why the congestion is occurring, to describe one or more road segments to avoid, and/or to explain why a particular route was selected as a preferred route to a destination, for example.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventor: Christopher L. Scofield
  • Publication number: 20140278033
    Abstract: Vehicular travel may be facilitated by user interfaces presenting travel information. Such user interfaces often involve visual displays positioned peripherally to a window through which an individual operates the vehicle (e.g., displays mounted in a dash or console) and/or non-visual interfaces (e.g., audio, speech recognition, and manual controls). While presenting visuals on the window obscuring the view of the individual may present safety concerns, peripherally presented visual interfaces that distract the gaze of the individual may raise comparable or greater concerns. Instead, visual user interfaces may be displayed on the window through which the individual operates the vehicle (e.g., a windshield or individual eyewear) to presents visuals representing travel information received from a travel service, such as routing, traffic congestion, highlighting vehicles or routes, and rendering non-visible objects (e.g., obscured traffic control signals).
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventor: Christopher L. Scofield
  • Publication number: 20140278031
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for to creating an avoidance zone spatially proximate a venue, where the avoidance zone is created based upon identifying road segments where increased traffic congestion is expected due to an event at the venue. Information pertaining to the avoidance zone, such as a description of road segments to avoid and/or expected travel delays, may be provided to a route planner configured to develop vehicle routes. In this way, the route planner can take into consideration the impact of events on one or more road segments when planning a route.
    Type: Application
    Filed: March 15, 2013
    Publication date: September 18, 2014
    Applicant: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Mark Daymond
  • Publication number: 20140229255
    Abstract: One or more techniques and/or systems are provided for managing traffic, such as road traffic. When a traffic authority indicates a desire to reduce load on a route or within a particular geographic zone, an offer is provided to a group of one or more users. The offer is indicative of a reward provided to the users in return for avoiding the route during a specified time window. If a user accepts the offer, movement of the user is monitored during the specified time window to verify that the user avoided the route, in which case the reward is provided to the user. If an insufficient number of offers are accepted (e.g., to achieve a desired load reduction), the offer communicated to the users is adjusted (e.g., to increase an incentive for users to accept the offer). Outstanding offers are revoked once a sufficient number of offers are accepted (e.g., to achieve the desired load reduction).
    Type: Application
    Filed: February 8, 2013
    Publication date: August 14, 2014
    Applicant: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Scott Marshall Sedlik
  • Patent number: 8791838
    Abstract: Among other things, one or more techniques and/or systems for parking based route navigation and/or parking resource management are disclosed to facilitate navigation to parking spots associated with a destination and/or management of respective parking spots. Navigation may be provided to a parking spot based upon parking criteria (e.g., such as distance to a destination and/or costs associated with the parking spot). Additionally, navigation (e.g., instructions, alternate transport, such as public transit) from the parking spot to the destination may be provided. Parking spots may be reserved by a parking management system based upon reservations received through a parking based route navigation system. Travelers may be re-routed based upon parking factors (e.g., traffic around a parking location, parking density, etc.). Accordingly, travelers may be routed to a destination in a more efficient manner and/or a management system may price and/or allocate parking spots in a desired manner.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 10, 2012
    Date of Patent: July 29, 2014
    Assignee: INRIX, Inc.
    Inventors: Christopher L. Scofield, Kush G. Parikh
  • Publication number: 20140149028
    Abstract: Techniques are described for assessing road traffic conditions in various ways based on obtained traffic-related data, such as data samples from vehicles and other mobile data sources traveling on the roads and/or from one or more other sources (such as physical sensors near to or embedded in the roads). The road traffic conditions assessment based on obtained data samples may include various filtering and/or conditioning of the data samples, and various inferences and probabilistic determinations of traffic-related characteristics of interest from the data samples. In some situations, the inferences include repeatedly determining current traffic flow characteristics and/or predicted future traffic flow characteristics for road segments of interest during time periods of interest, such as to determine average traffic speed, traffic volume and/or occupancy, and include weighting various data samples in various ways (e.g., based on a latency of the data samples and/or a source of the data samples).
    Type: Application
    Filed: January 31, 2014
    Publication date: May 29, 2014
    Applicant: Inrix, Inc.
    Inventors: Craig H. Chapman, Kush G. Parikh, Oliver B. Downs, Robert C. Cahn, Jesse S. Hersch