Abstract: A method of obtaining data relating to the timing of a transition between phases of a traffic control signal. The method involves obtaining live probe data relating to the travel of vehicles in the region of the traffic control signal, and using the data to determine times at which a given transition of the signal has occurred. This is carried out by consideration of the distance from the traffic signal at which a vehicle waits when stopped at the signal, and a time of passing the signal, as determined using the probe data. Different transition time pairs are analyzed to obtain time differences between the transition times. A cycle time which best fits the time difference data is determined, and used with the transition time data to predict future transition times of the traffic control signal.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention provide a processing device implemented method of estimating journey attributes, comprising selecting a plurality of mobile device journey data according to on one or more criteria associated with end points of the mobile device journey data; determining virtual journey data based upon the plurality of mobile device journey data; determining one or more attributes of the virtual journey data. In some embodiments, the one or more criteria include a distal and/or temporal separation between the journey data.

Abstract: A method and system for identifying a lateral deviation in the course of a road segment is described. Positional data is collected from a plurality of vehicles travelling along a road stretch. A map matching error associated with the position data is used to determine an average map matching error and average absolute map matching error for travel along the road stretch. A lateral deviation in course is identified when the average map matching error measures are both above a given threshold, and where the detected deviation is of a given minimum length. Other indicators of deviation can be considered including a direction of the possible deviation, and impact on travel in the opposite driving direction. Data relating to the determined deviation is generated, including a speed of travel through the deviated region, and used to enhance traffic information.

Abstract: A method of generating routes in an area covered by an electronic map is described. The map comprises a plurality of segments representing navigable segments in the area covered by the electronic map, each segment being associated with jam probability data representative of a likelihood of a jam on the segment. The method involves generating a first route between an origin and a destination in the area, and generating at least one alternative route between the origin and destination using the jam probability data associated with the segments in the area. In embodiments jam and non-jam travel time data is used with the jam probability for a segment to obtain a measure of reliability of the segment under given traffic conditions, which is used to generate the alternate route(s).

Abstract: A method of verifying and/or improving a message indicative of an event affecting traffic flow on at least a portion of one or more navigable segments is described. The method involves obtaining positional data relating to the movement of a plurality of devices along a navigable stretch including a navigable stretch identified by the message as being affected, and using the positional data to verify and/or improve the message. The positional data is live data and is used to obtain data relating to the speed of travel of the devices along the navigable stretch including the stretch identified by the message. The speed data can be used to determine a spatial extent of the affected stretch and/or an expected speed of travel along the stretch.

Abstract: A server system configured to communicate with a device that is installable in a vehicle, such as a portable or in-built navigation device, comprises a communications resource for receiving vehicle data indicative of a parameter of the vehicle; and a processing resource operable to obtain weather data and to process the weather data and the vehicle data to determine at least one weather-related condition in dependence on both the weather data and the vehicle data.

Abstract: A method of estimating the geographical location of an object from location information reported by one or more mobile devices having location determining means comprises collecting location data from the one or more mobile devices, preparing the data by selecting features of the data, training an estimator by inputting selected features of the data, and applying the estimator to a map grid to estimate the location of the object. During training of the estimator a kernel machine operates on histograms of distances that are computed with respect to a considered location and the user reports nearby. During application of the estimator, if the estimator assigns a score above a certain threshold a location is marked as the true location of the object. In case multiple locations are predicted, a subsequent clustering merges multiple predictions into one by using the weighted mean.

Abstract: This invention concerns a method of determining a route using map data comprising a plurality of navigable paths, the map data divided into a plurality of regions. The method comprises using at least one processing apparatus to: receive an origin and a destination on the map data and a selection of one of a plurality of cost functions and determine a route from the origin to the destination using the map data and minimum cost data that identifies minimum cost paths between regions of the map data. The minimum cost data identifies more than one minimum cost path between a pair of the regions if different minimum cost paths exist between the pair of regions for different cost functions and determining a route comprises identifying from the minimum cost paths for the pair of regions comprising the origin and destination, the minimum cost path having a lowest cost for the selected cost function.

Abstract: A method of generating routes in an area covered by an electronic map is described. The map comprises a plurality of segments representing navigable segments in the area covered by the electronic map, each segment being associated with jam probability data representative of a likelihood of a jam on the segment. The method involves generating a first route between an origin and a destination in the area, and generating at least one alternative route between the origin and destination using the jam probability data associated with the segments in the area. In embodiments jam and non-jam travel time data is used with the jam probability for a segment to obtain a measure of reliability of the segment under given traffic conditions, which is used to generate the alternate route(s).

Abstract: A computerised method of generating a route 1000 from an origin position F1 to a destination position 706 across an electronic map 700 comprising a plurality of vectors representing segments of a navigable route in the area covered by the electronic map 700, the method comprising: (1) obtaining delay data indicating delays on vectors within the area covered by the electronic map 700; (2) calculating a first portion 1002 of a route from origin position toward the destination position 706 using a first routing method up to a predetermined threshold 1006 from the origin position F1, such that the first routing method uses the delay data so that the first portion 1002 of the route takes into account delays; and (3) calculating a second portion 1004 of the route beyond the predetermined threshold 1006 to the destination position 706 using a second routing method to further calculate the route to the destination position 1006.