USOO8378849B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Chandra et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 8,378,849 B2
`Feb. 19, 2013
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`(54) ENABLING DRIVER COMMUNICATION
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`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`(75) Inventors: Ankur Chandra, San Jose, CA (US);
`Anca-Andreea Ivan, New Rochelle, NY
`(US)
`
`(73) Assignee: International Business Machines
`Corporation, Armonk, NY (US)
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 440 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 12/510,759
`
`(22) Filed:
`
`Jul. 28, 2009
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2011 FOO25527 A1
`Feb. 3, 2011
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G08G I/09
`(52) U.S. Cl. .................... 340/905; 340/902: 340/995.13
`(58) Field of Classification Search .................. 340/905,
`340/902,995.13,991
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`6,317,682 B1 * 1 1/2001 Ogura et al. .................. 701 117
`7.330, 103 B2 * 2/2008 Boss et al. .................... 340/.435
`7,522,993 B2 * 4/2009 van Oldenborgh et al. ... 701/200
`2002/0072963 A1* 6/2002 Jonge .............................. 705/13
`2007/0282519 A1* 12/2007 Emam et al.
`TO1,117
`2010.0075608 A1
`3/2010 Ji et al. ......................... 455/66.1
`2010/020 1543 A1* 8/2010 Shorey et al. ................. 340,902
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`Lee et al., CarTorrent: A Bit-Torrent System for Vehicular Ad-hoc
`Networks, pp. 1-6, Mar. 2010.
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner — Brent Swarthout
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Ryan, Mason & Lewis, LLP
`(57)
`ABSTRACT
`Techniques for generating driving information based on one
`or more driver inputs are provided. The techniques include
`receiving information about one or more triggering factors
`from at least one of one or more internal entities and one or
`more external entities, using the information to generate a
`message about the one or more triggering factors, and sending
`the message to one or more additional drivers.
`20 Claims, 3 Drawing Sheets
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`RULE ENGINE
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`RULE ENGINE
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`U.S. Patent
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`Feb. 19, 2013
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`Sheet 1 of 3
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`US 8,378,849 B2
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`Yas
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`U.S. Patent
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`Feb. 19, 2013
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`Sheet 2 of 3
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`US 8,378,849 B2
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`FIC. 2
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`GPS RECEIVES LOCATION
`INFORMATION FROM GPS PROWEDERS
`AND SENDS THE INFORMATION TO
`THE P2P CIENT AND RULE-ENGINE
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`GPS RECEIVES LOCATION
`INFORMATION FROM CPS PROVIDERS
`AND SENDS THE INFORMATION TO
`THE P2P CLIENT AND RULE-ENGINE
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`DRIVER ENTERS HIS
`INTENTION USING THE GUI
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`DRIVER INTENTION IS
`SENT TO P2P CLIENT
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`P2P CLIENT BROADCAST
`DRIVER INTENTION
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`P2P CLIENT SENDS INCOMING
`MESSAGES TO RULE-ENGINE
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`RULE-ENGINE COMPUTES A
`HIGH-LEVE MESSAGE AND
`SENDS IT TO DRIVER GUI
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`U.S. Patent
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`Feb. 19, 2013
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`Sheet 3 of 3
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`US 8,378,849 B2
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`FIG. 3
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`RECEIVE INFORMATION ABOUT ONE OR MORE
`TRIGGERING FACTORS FROM AT LEAST ONE
`OF ONE OR MORE INTERNAL ENTITIES AND
`ONE OR MORE EXTERNAL ENTITIES
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`USE THE INFORMATION TO
`GENERATE AMESSAGE ABOUT THE
`ONE OR MORE TRIGGERING FACTORS
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`SEND THE MESSAGE TO ONE
`OR MORE ADDITIONAL DRIVERS
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`FIC. 4
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`TO/FROM
`COMPUTER
`NETWORK
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`1.
`ENABLING DRIVER COMMUNICATION
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`US 8,378,849 B2
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`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
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`Embodiments of the invention generally relate to informa
`tion technology, and, more particularly, to driving informa
`tion.
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`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
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`Driving conditions worsen because of traffic and careless
`drivers. Often, drivers are not aware of the driving conditions,
`specifically when cars are piling up behind them. Also, acci
`dents can occur many times because of angry drivers who
`become exceedingly aggressive.
`There exists no mechanism, however, that allows drivers to
`communicate intention, especially as a group. There exist
`simply well-defined protocols that allow drivers to have lim
`ited communication (for example, flashing lights, honking,
`hand signals, etc.).
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
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`Principles and embodiments of the invention provide tech
`niques for enabling driver communication. An exemplary
`method (which may be computer-implemented) for generat
`ing driving information based on one or more driver inputs,
`according to one aspect of the invention, can include steps of
`receiving information about one or more triggering factors
`from at least one of one or more internal entities and one or
`more external entities, using the information to generate a
`message about the one or more triggering factors, and sending
`the message to one or more additional drivers.
`One or more embodiments of the invention or elements
`thereof can be implemented in the form of a computer product
`including a tangible computer readable storage medium with
`computer usable program code for performing the method
`steps indicated. Furthermore, one or more embodiments of
`the invention or elements thereof can be implemented in the
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`form of an apparatus including a memory and at least one
`processor that is coupled to the memory and operative to
`perform exemplary method steps. Yet further, in another
`aspect, one or more embodiments of the invention or elements
`thereof can be implemented in the form of means for carrying
`out one or more of the method steps described herein; the
`means can include (i) hardware module(s), (ii) software mod
`ule(s), or (iii) a combination of hardware and Software mod
`ules; any of (i)-(iii) implement the specific techniques set
`forth herein, and the software modules are stored in a tangible
`computer-readable storage medium (or multiple such media).
`These and other objects, features and advantages of the
`present invention will become apparent from the following
`detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof,
`which is to be read in connection with the accompanying
`drawings.
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`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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`FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for enabling driver
`communication, according to an embodiment of the present
`invention;
`FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques for
`enabling driver communication;
`FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques for gener
`ating driving information based on one or more driver inputs,
`according to an embodiment of the invention; and
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`FIG. 4 is a system diagram of an exemplary computer
`system on which at least one embodiment of the invention can
`be implemented.
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`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
`
`Principles of the invention include improving driver aware
`ness by enabling peer-to-peer communication. As described
`herein, drivers are enabled to communicate information Such
`as, for example, signal changing lane requests, signal inten
`tions (passing, Switching lane, etc.), and signal defects (light
`out, high beam on, lights off, no gas, etc.). In one or more
`embodiments of the invention, the signals pass the intention
`and the global positioning system (GPS) location of the
`sender, and the results are accumulated and passed along to
`additional drivers. Additionally, a rule engine can be used to
`extract high-level information for a driver.
`One or more embodiments of the invention include mecha
`nisms for Voting based on community information. Also, the
`techniques detailed herein can include informing drivers of
`possible dangerous situations (for example, cars queued up
`behind them), informing drivers of possible defects, as well as
`allowing group communication (for example, Voting off a
`slow driver from the high-speed lane).
`By way of example, in one or more embodiments of the
`invention, cars driving (for example, on the freeway) can send
`messages both from drivers and sensors. Additionally, a Vot
`ing algorithm (as well as, for example, a few rules) can be
`used to decide whether the current driving situation is a pos
`sibly dangerous one.
`As detailed herein, one or more embodiments of the inven
`tion include a system for computing the scores (also referred
`to as reputations) of all messages (for example, to show the
`uncertainty of the sender of the message) both online and
`offline. The online techniques compute the reputation by
`comparing the initial message sent by the driver with the
`decision computed by the Voting algorithm. If they are simi
`lar, the reputation of the message increases. If they differ, the
`reputation decreases. The offline techniques allow the driver
`to connect to a website that contains a set of well-defined
`external events (for example, storm, highway problem, etc.)
`and compare his or her observations with the actual external
`events. If the driver observations are similar to the external
`events, his/her reputation increases. Otherwise, his/her repu
`tation decreases or stays the same.
`Additionally, in one or more embodiments of the invention,
`a voting algorithm can use the sensor data as context data for
`the message sent by the driver. By way of example, one or
`more embodiments of the invention could include an imple
`mentation of a Voting algorithm that uses sensor data as
`context, such as the illustrative implementation below:
`Assume, for example, that the road is icy and one car on the
`road is skidding. Several drivers notice that, including the
`driver of the skidding car. The (sometimes implied) question
`is: “Why is this car skidding?” The car can send its own
`information:
`State
`Information:
`(Model–Corolla),
`(Year=2004), (Sliding true). In addition, other drivers can
`send out their own answers (“road is icy” or “tires look old).
`Together with these answers, drivers send implicit or explicit
`votes with weights (“road is icy”+“yes”--"90%,” “tires look
`old'+'no'+“100%,” “breaks are not working” +“yes” +
`“10%).
`For a given topic (that is, a question that can be voted on:
`for example, road condition, etc.), there can be several
`answers and votes.
`Votes={Vi,..., Vn }
`Answers={Ai. . . . An
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`For a given topic, there will be a set of weights applied to
`the various answers. Weights={Wi. . . . Wn
`In one or more embodiments of the invention, a Voting
`algorithm will take in the votes, along with the state data and
`the weightings for the topic to determine what the vote should
`be. For example, one can have each of the state data normal
`ized (to a value between 0 and 1) and all the weights add up to
`1. With such an approach, the result of the vote will be
`between 0 and 1. This will work, for example, for a Boolean
`variable (two voting choices for the topic, which can be set to
`0 and 1, respectively).
`
`# of votes of V0s XAis Wis # of votes of W1 *XAis Wi.
`i=0
`i=0
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`information about a driver from a driver graphical user inter
`face, a car sensor, etc. Also, information from external entities
`can include, for example, information related to a global
`positioning system (GPS), information related to a state of a
`vehicle, etc.
`Step 304 includes using the information to generate a mes
`sage about the one or more triggering factors. Using the
`information to generate a message about the triggering fac
`tors can include computing a score for the message. Comput
`ing a score for the message can include computing a score
`online, which includes comparing the message with a deci
`sion computed by a voting algorithm. For example, if the two
`are similar, the reputation/score of the message increases. If
`they differ, the reputation/score decreases. Also, computing a
`score for the message can include computing a score off-line,
`which includes enabling the driver to connect to a website that
`contains a set of one or more external events (for example,
`storm, highway problem, etc.), and comparing the message
`with the one or more external events. For example, if the
`driver observations are similar to the external events, his/her
`reputation increases. Otherwise, his/her reputation decreases
`or stays the same.
`Step 306 includes sending the message to one or more
`additional drivers. Sending the message to additional drivers
`can include sending a weighted message based on credibility
`of each driver that provided input. Additionally, sending the
`message to additional drivers can include sending the mes
`sage to additional drivers via a drivergraphical user interface
`of each driver.
`The techniques depicted in FIG. 3 can also include com
`paring the message to one or more driver inputs to dynami
`cally update credibility of each driver. Additionally, one or
`more embodiments of the invention include enabling a voting
`mechanism based on driver community information. The Vot
`ing mechanism can be used to make determinations about one
`or more driving situations, wherein the Voting mechanism
`uses driver votes, state data and one or more weightings to
`make a determination about a driving situation.
`The techniques depicted in FIG. 3 can also, as described
`herein, be run on a system, wherein the system includes
`distinct software modules, each of the distinct software mod
`ules being embodied on a tangible computer-readable record
`able storage medium. The distinct software modules can
`include, for example, a driver graphical user interface mod
`ule, a global positioning system module, a peer-to-peer client
`module and a rule engine module executing on a hardware
`processor.
`Additionally, the techniques depicted in FIG. 3 can be
`implemented via a computer program product that can
`include computer useable program code that is stored in a
`computer readable storage medium in a data processing sys
`tem, and wherein the computer useable program code was
`downloaded over a network from a remote data processing
`system. Also, in one or more embodiments of the invention,
`the computer program product can include computer useable
`program code that is stored in a computer readable storage
`medium in a server data processing system, and wherein the
`computer useable program code are downloaded over a net
`work to a remote data processing system forusein a computer
`readable storage medium with the remote system.
`As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of
`the present invention may be embodied as a system, method
`or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the
`present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware
`embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including
`firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodi
`ment combining Software and hardware aspects that may all
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`FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a system for enabling driver
`communication, according to an embodiment of the present
`invention. By way of illustration, FIG. 1 depicts a system
`component 102 for a first driver that includes a driver graphi
`cal user interface (GUI) module 104, a global positioning
`system (GPS) module 106, a peer-to-peer (P2P) client mod
`ule 110 and a rule engine module 112. FIG. 1 also depicts a
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`system component 114 for a second driver that includes a
`driver GUI module 116, a GPS module 118, a P2P client
`module 122 and a rule engine module 124.
`As depicted in FIG. 1, information from a GPS provider
`(for example, component 108 or 120) can be provided to a
`GPS module (for example, component 106 or 118), which can
`provide input to a P2P client module (for example, compo
`nent 110 or 122) as well as to a rule engine (for example,
`component 112 or 124). Additionally, input from other
`Sources of information (for example, sensors, Internet, iPod,
`etc.) can be provided to a driver GUI module (for example,
`component 104 or 116), which can further provide input to a
`P2P client module. The P2P client module (for example,
`component 110 or 122) can provide input to a rule engine
`module (for example, component 112 or 124). Also, in one or
`more embodiments of the invention, a rule engine module (for
`example, component 124) can provide input to a driver GUI
`module (for example, 116).
`Further, as depicted by FIG. 1, a P2P client module (for
`example, component 110) can interact with one or more other
`P2P client modules (for example, component 122).
`FIG. 2 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques for
`enabling driver communication, according to an embodiment
`of the present invention. Step 202 includes a GPS receiving
`location information from GPS providers, and sending the
`information to a P2P client module and a rule engine module.
`Step 204 includes a driver entering his/her intention via use of
`a GUI. Step 206 includes sending a driver intention to a P2P
`client module. Step 208 includes a P2P client module broad
`casting the driver intention. Step 210 includes the P2P client
`module sending incoming messages to a rule engine module.
`Further, step 212 includes a rule engine module computing a
`high-level message and sending it to a driver GUI.
`FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating techniques for gener
`ating driving information based on one or more driver inputs
`(for example, with varying degrees of certainty), according to
`an embodiment of the present invention. Step 302 includes
`receiving information about one or more triggering factors
`(for example, a question asked by a driver, a pothole, an
`accident, proximity of a gas station, etc.) from at least one of
`one or more internal entities and one or more external entities.
`Information from internal entities can include, for example,
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`generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module' or
`“system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may
`take the form of a computer program product embodied in one
`or more computer readable medium(s) having computer read
`able program code embodied thereon.
`One or more embodiments of the invention, or elements
`thereof, can be implemented in the form of an apparatus
`including a memory and at least one processor that is coupled
`to the memory and operative to perform exemplary method
`steps.
`One or more embodiments can make use of software run
`ning on a general purpose computer or workstation. With
`reference to FIG. 4. Such an implementation might employ,
`for example, a processor 402, a memory 404, and an input/
`output interface formed, for example, by a display 406 and a
`keyboard 408. The term “processor as used herein is
`intended to include any processing device. Such as, for
`example, one that includes a CPU (central processing unit)
`and/or other forms of processing circuitry. Further, the term
`“processor may refer to more than one individual processor.
`The term “memory” is intended to include memory associ
`ated with a processor or CPU, such as, for example, RAM
`(random access memory), ROM (read only memory), a fixed
`memory device (for example, hard drive), a removable
`memory device (for example, diskette), a flash memory and
`the like. In addition, the phrase “input/output interface' as
`used herein, is intended to include, for example, one or more
`mechanisms for inputting data to the processing unit (for
`example, mouse or a touch-screen), and one or more mecha
`nisms for providing results associated with the processing
`unit (for example, printer). The processor 402, memory 404,
`and input/output interface such as display 406 and keyboard
`408 can be interconnected, for example, via bus 410 as part of
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`a data processing unit 412. Suitable interconnections, for
`example via bus 410, can also be provided to a network
`interface 414, such as a network card, which can be provided
`to interface with a computer network, and to a media interface
`416, such as a diskette or CD-ROM drive, which can be
`provided to interface with media 418.
`Accordingly, computer Software including instructions or
`code for performing the methodologies of the invention, as
`described herein, may be stored in one or more of the asso
`ciated memory devices (for example, ROM, fixed or remov
`able memory) and, when ready to be utilized, loaded in part or
`in whole (for example, into RAM) and implemented by a
`CPU. Such software could include, but is not limited to,
`firmware, resident Software, microcode, and the like.
`A data processing system suitable for storing and/or
`executing program code will include at least one processor
`402 coupled directly or indirectly to memory elements 404
`through a system bus 410. The memory elements can include
`local memory employed during actual implementation of the
`program code, bulk storage, and cache memories which pro
`vide temporary storage of at least Some program code in order
`to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from
`bulk storage during implementation.
`Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to
`keyboards 408, displays 406, pointing devices, and the like)
`can be coupled to the system either directly (such as via bus
`410) or through intervening I/O controllers (omitted for clar
`ity).
`Network adapters such as network interface 414 may also
`be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system
`to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote
`printers or storage devices through intervening private or
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`public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards
`are just a few of the currently available types of network
`adapters.
`As used herein, including the claims, a 'server” includes a
`physical data processing system (for example, system 412 as
`shown in FIG. 4) running a server program. It will be under
`stood that such a physical server may or may not include a
`display and keyboard.
`As noted, aspects of the present invention may take the
`form of a computer program product embodied in one or more
`computer readable medium(s) having computer readable pro
`gram code embodied thereon. Any combination of one or
`more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The
`computer readable medium may be a computer readable sig
`nal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A com
`puter readable storage medium may be, for example, but not
`limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
`infrared, or semiconductor System, apparatus, or device, or
`any suitable combination of the foregoing. Media block 418
`is a non-limiting example. More specific examples (a non
`exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium
`would include the following: an electrical connection having
`one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
`a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory
`(ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory
`(EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable com
`pact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage
`device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combina
`tion of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a
`computer readable storage medium may be any tangible
`medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in
`connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus,
`or device.
`A computer readable signal medium may include a propa
`gated data signal with computer readable program code
`embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a
`carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a
`variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electromag
`netic, optical, or any Suitable combination thereof. A com
`puter readable signal medium may be any computer readable
`medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and
`that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for
`use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
`apparatus, or device.
`Program code embodied on a computer readable medium
`may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including
`but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, radio
`frequency (RF), etc., or any suitable combination of the fore
`going.
`Computer program code for carrying out operations for
`aspects of the present invention may be written in any com
`bination of one or more programming languages, including
`an object oriented programming language such as Java,
`Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural pro
`gramming languages, such as the “C” programming language
`or similar programming languages. The program code may
`execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's
`computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the
`user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely
`on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the
`remote computer may be connected to the user's computer
`through any type of network, including a local area network
`(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may
`be made to an external computer (for example, through the
`Internet using an Internet Service Provider).
`Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
`reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
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`methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program prod
`ucts according to embodiments of the invention. It will be
`understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/
`or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flow
`chart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be imple
`mented by computer program instructions. These computer
`program instructions may be provided to a processor of a
`general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other
`programmable data processing apparatus to produce a
`machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the
`processor of the computer or other programmable data pro
`cessing apparatus, create means for implementing the func
`tions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram
`block or blocks.
`These computer program instructions may also be stored in
`a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
`programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
`function in a particular manner, Such that the instructions
`stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of
`manufacture including instructions which implement the
`function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram
`block or blocks.
`The computer program instructions may also be loaded
`onto a computer, other programmable data processing appa
`ratus, or other devices to cause a series of operational steps to
`be performed on the computer, other programmable appara
`tus or other devices to produce a computer implemented
`process Such that the instructions which execute on the com
`puter or other programmable apparatus provide processes for
`implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart
`and/or block diagram block or blocks.
`The flowchart and block diagrams in the figures illustrate
`the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
`implementations of systems, methods and computer program
`products according to various embodiments of the present
`invention. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block
`diagrams may represent a module, component, segment, or
`portion of code, which comprises one or more executable
`instructions for implementing the specified logical function
`(s). It should also be noted that, in some alternative imple
`40
`mentations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of
`the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown
`in Succession may, in fact, be executed Substantially concur
`rently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse
`order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also
`be noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flow
`chart illustration, and combinations of blocks in the block
`diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implemented
`by special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the
`specified functions or acts, or combinations of special pur
`pose hardware and computer instructions.
`It should be noted that any of the methods described herein
`can include an additional step of providing a system compris
`ing distinct software modules embodied on a computer read
`able storage medium; the modules can include, for example,
`any or all of the components shown in FIG. 1. The method
`steps can then be carried out using the distinct software mod
`ules and/or sub-modules of the system, as described above,
`executing on one or more hardware processors 402. Further,
`a computer program product can include a computer-readable
`storage medium with code adapted to be implemented to
`carry out one or more method steps described herein, includ
`ing the provision of the system with the distinct software
`modules.
`In any case, it should be understood that the components
`illustrated herein may be implemented in various forms of
`hardware, software, or combinations thereof; for example,
`
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`8
`application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASICS), functional
`circuitry, one or more appropriately programmed general pur
`pose digital computers with associated memory, and the like.
`Given the teachings of the invention provided herein, one of
`ordinary skill in the related art will be able to contemplate
`other implementations of the components of the invention.
`The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describ
`ing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be
`limiting of the invention. As used herein, the singular forms
`“a,” “an and “the are intended to include the plural forms as
`well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be
`further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “com
`prising, when used in this specification, specify the presence
`of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/
`or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition
`of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations,
`elements, components, and/or groups thereof.
`The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equiva
`lents of all means or step plus function elements in the claims
`below are intended to include any structure, material, or act
`for performing the function in combination with other
`claimed elements as specifically claimed. The description of
`the present invention has been presented for purposes of
`illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaus
`tive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many
`modifications and variations will be apparent to those of
`ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and
`spirit of the invention. The embodiment was chosen and
`described in order to best explain the principles of the inven
`tion and the practical application, and to enable others of
`ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various
`embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the
`particular use contemplated.
`At least one embodiment of the invention may provide one
`or more beneficial effects, such as, for example, computing
`scores (that is, reputations) of all messages both online and
`offline.
`It will be appreciated and should be understood that the
`exemplary embodiments of the invention described above can
`be implemented in a number of different fashions. Given the
`teachings of the invention provided herein, one of ordinary
`skill in the related art will be able to contemplate other imple
`mentations of the invention. Indeed, although illustrative
`embodiments of the present invention have been described
`herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to
`be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise
`embodiments, and that various other changes and modifica
`tions may be made by one skilled in the art.
`
`45
`
`What is claimed is:
`1. A method for generating driving information based on
`one or more driver inputs, wherein the method comprises:
`receiving information about one or more triggering factors
`from at least one of one or more internal entities and one
`or more external entities;
`using the information to generate a message about the one
`or more triggering factors;
`computing a credibility Score by comparing the message
`with one or more of a decision computed by a voting
`algorithm and a set of one or more external events; and
`sending the message to one or more additional drivers,
`wherein one or more steps of said method are performed
`by one or more hardware devices.
`2. The method of claim 1, further comprising dynamically
`updating credibility of each driver.
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