HK1091638B - Method for obtaining traffic information using billing information of mobile terminal - Google Patents

Description

Method for obtaining traffic information using billing information of mobile terminal

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method for obtaining traffic information using charging information of a mobile terminal, and more particularly, to a method for obtaining traffic information using charging information of a mobile terminal, which can obtain a designation number of the mobile terminal from the charging information and track moving time of a corresponding mobile terminal between base stations when the mobile terminal attempts a phone call on a highway, thereby obtaining road traffic in real time.

Background

The car navigation system is a high-technology system for receiving location information by recognizing a current location of a vehicle and providing various services for providing route guidance, traffic guidance, surrounding information, and additional information by combining the location information with geographical information. In addition, there are commercialized car navigation systems combined with Global Positioning System (GPS) technology for vehicles, which can communicate driving directions to drivers through a display screen or a sound signal and a large number of Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The car navigation system is being used for land and water transportation operations, such as in public transportation systems, delivery trucks, and courier services.

The GPS receiver is installed in a mobile device such as a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or the like so that a map and current location information of the mobile device are displayed on a screen of the mobile device. GPS technology for mobile terminals is applied to provide various information elements such as traffic, shopping, and cafe information near the current location.

A device for teleinformatics, i.e. a combination of telecommunications and informatics, is installed in a vehicle and couples wireless communication technology, GPS technology, GIS technology and call centre technology to the vehicle. Also, the telematics device provides drivers with real-time traffic and life information, a method of taking measures for emergency situations, remote vehicle diagnosis, car accident prevention, theft prevention, driving route guidance, and is coupled to an on-board controller of a vehicle, an audio system, a display, etc., thereby developing the telematics device into a mobile office concept.

One problem is that the vehicle must be equipped with expensive telematics equipment to support wireless mobile communication, GPS and GIS so that the above-mentioned services can be provided.

Therefore, when it is required to provide real-time traffic and life information and driving route information using a mobile phone carried by most drivers, the GPS receiver must be provided in a hands-free set, and thus the drivers can receive various information elements by accessing the internet through the mobile phone after the GPS receiver recognizes the location of their vehicles.

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation system using a conventional mobile phone.

As shown in fig. 1, the navigation system includes: a mobile phone 40 for performing wireless communication through a wireless communication network 50; a service center 60 coupled to the wireless communication network 50 for analyzing real-time traffic information and calculating an optimal route; a GPS receiver 10 for identifying current location information from satellites; a direction sensor 22; and an acceleration sensor 24. Further, the navigation system includes: a navigator 20 for storing the position information received from the GPS receiver 10, accessing the service center 60 through the mobile phone 40, controlling a transmission operation of the position information and a reception operation of various information units, and outputting the result through the mobile phone 40; and a mobile phone holder 30 on which a mobile phone 40 is mounted. The mobile phone holder 30 supplies power to the mobile phone 40.

In this case, the GPS receiver 10, the navigator 20 and the mobile phone holder 30 are mounted in the vehicle in a hands-free form and are formed so that they can be separated from the mobile phone 40.

The operation of the navigation system using the conventional mobile phone will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in fig. 2, which illustrates a method of operating the navigation system using the conventional mobile phone.

First, the navigation system downloads an operation program from the service center 60 through the wireless communication network 50 by using the mobile phone 40, recognizes current location information by the GPS receiver 10, and registers the recognized location information in the service center 60 (S10).

Then, the navigation system enables the driver to input information of his/her destination (S12). Thus, the service center 60 generates traffic information and an optimal route analyzed in real time according to the current vehicle position and destination (S14).

The service center 60 then transmits the analyzed data to the mobile phone 40 (S16).

Then, the navigator 20 performs a road guiding operation by the mobile phone 40 according to the data transmitted by the mobile phone 40 and the vehicle traveling state based on the direction sensor 22 and the acceleration sensor 24 (S18).

In order to provide traffic information and road guidance service, road traffic information must be identified and information of the identified road traffic state must be organized in a database of the service center 60. Traffic information services are being provided by using information elements acquired by the following methods: a method of collecting traffic information through a Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) installed on a main Road by a Road & Transportation buildings Association and an information provider, a method of collecting traffic information through a traffic communicator, a method of collecting traffic information through a ring sensor installed on a Road, a method of collecting traffic information using a beacon, and the like.

One problem is that high costs are required to operate vehicles for acquiring or collecting traffic information or to purchase traffic information from information providers. Further, there is another problem in that traffic information is not reflected in real time because the traffic information is difficult to be continuously measured and thus cannot satisfy customer demands.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal, which can obtain a unique number of the mobile terminal from the billing information and track a moving time of a corresponding mobile terminal between base stations when the mobile terminal attempts a phone call on a highway, so that information indicating a road traffic state can be obtained in real time.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a method for obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal, comprising the steps of: receiving call data based on a telephone call attempted by the terminal; extracting unique information of the terminal from the received call data; requesting transmission of location information at unit time intervals for a location tracking operation according to the extracted unique information of the terminal; tracking a moving path and time of the terminal between the base stations according to the transmitted location information; and generating an average speed per hour between the base stations according to the tracked moving path and time.

Preferably, the base station is installed and managed on the highway.

Preferably, the unique information of the terminal is a terminal identification number.

Preferably, the unit time interval for the location tracking operation associated with the location information registration request is maintained at 30-second intervals while considering the car movement time.

Preferably, the location information is transmitted together with a wakeup (wakeup) signal.

Preferably, when the unique information of the terminal is extracted from the received call data, the sampling object is selectively extracted on a section-by-section basis or in each section.

Preferably, the segment is formed of a group of one to seven base stations, and there is at least one sampling object on a segment-by-segment basis.

Preferably, the operation for tracking lower priority sample objects is terminated when the sample objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis.

Preferably, when the sampling objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis and the operation for tracking the sampling objects is terminated a predetermined number of times, the number of sampling objects in the corresponding segment is increased by a predetermined time, the tracking operation for the normally moving sampling object is performed, and the tracking operation for another sampling object is terminated.

Preferably, when the sampling objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis due to a difference between segment distances and a difference between moving speeds of the sampling objects, the operation for tracking the lower priority sampling objects is performed and the operation for tracking the first priority sampling objects is terminated.

Preferably, the average speed per hour between the base stations is generated by dividing a distance between the base stations based on the moving path by the moving time.

Preferably, the average speed per hour is estimated as a maximum speed on the road when the call data is not received at the step of receiving the call data.

Preferably, the step of generating an average speed per hour between base stations comprises the steps of: when there is no movement between base stations, a reference time is added to the unit time interval for the position tracking operation, and the result of the addition is generated.

Preferably, the base time is 2 minutes.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: when a setup operation (setup operation) is performed between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road, the tracking operation is terminated.

Preferably, the tracking operation is terminated when the setup operation is performed two or more times between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a method for obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal, comprising the steps of: receiving call data based on a telephone call attempted by the terminal; extracting unique information of the terminal from the received call data; determining whether handover (handoff) data has been generated according to the extracted unique information of the terminal; if the handover data has been generated, tracking a moving path and time of the terminal between the base stations according to the handover signal; and generating an average rate between the base stations based on the tracked moving path and time.

Preferably, the base station is installed and managed on the highway.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: when the terminal terminates the telephone call, the tracking is terminated.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: if handover data has not been generated, the tracking is terminated.

Preferably, the unique information of the terminal is a terminal identification number.

Preferably, the average velocity between the base stations is generated by dividing a distance between the base stations based on the moving path by the moving time.

Preferably, the method further comprises the steps of: when a set-up operation is performed between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road, tracking is terminated.

Preferably, the tracking is terminated when the setup operation is performed two or more times between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road.

Preferably, the step of generating an average rate between base stations comprises the steps of: two to seven base stations are grouped and an average speed in a predetermined section is generated.

In accordance with still another aspect of the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a method for obtaining traffic information using billing information, comprising the steps of: setting a reference value of a traffic state according to the number of generated phone calls associated with a corresponding base station on a time zone-by-zone (time zone-by-zone) basis; extracting a telephone call associated with a base station at a predetermined time interval; comparing the number of extracted phone calls with the reference value; and setting a traffic class of a corresponding base station area according to an increase or decrease based on the comparison result.

Preferably, the base station installed and managed on the highway has one sector (sector) exclusively allocated for the highway, and the predetermined time interval is an interval of 5 minutes.

According to the present invention, when a terminal attempts a telephone call on a highway, call data necessary for a billing operation is extracted from unique information of the terminal, and then location information is transmitted at predetermined time intervals according to the unique information of the terminal, thereby generating a moving speed of a car and thus recognizing a traffic state of the highway in real time. Alternatively, while telephone communication is being conducted, a moving path and time are calculated from a handover signal between base stations, thereby generating a moving speed of a car, and a traffic level of a corresponding area can be determined in real time according to the number of attempted telephone calls for the corresponding base station on a time zone-by-zone basis.

Drawings

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

fig. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation system using a conventional mobile phone;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method of operating the navigation system using the conventional mobile phone;

fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system to which a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to the present invention is applied;

fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing the setup of installed base stations necessary for explaining a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to the present invention;

fig. 5 is a flowchart of a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention; and is

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Now, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. These preferred embodiments are not meant to limit the scope of the invention. In the drawings, the same or similar elements are denoted by the same reference numerals although they are described in different drawings.

Fig. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a system to which a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to the present invention is applied.

As shown in fig. 3, the system includes: first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 installed on highways and highway tollgates for communicating with at least one terminal 160 moving on the highways through a wireless interface area; a Mobile Switching Center (MSC)140 coupled to the first and fourth base stations 151 to 154 for performing switching functions associated with the terminal 160; a Home Location Register (HLR)120 coupled to the MSC140 for storing a Mobile Identification Number (MIN), subscriber information, and location information of the terminal 160; a management server 130 for making a location information registration request based on MIN through the HLR120 and processing handover; and a traffic information server 110 for tracking a moving path and time of the terminal 160 between base stations or acquiring traffic information according to the attempted call.

All components except the traffic information server 110 are the same as those of the conventional mobile communication network. The system according to the present invention additionally uses the traffic information server 110 to acquire traffic information.

Further, fig. 4 is an explanatory view showing the setting of installed base stations necessary for explaining the method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to the present invention.

As shown in fig. 4, a highway is shown and first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 are installed adjacent to each other on the highway. The following description presents a method of acquiring traffic information in a state where a user holding the mobile terminal 160 drives a car and moves along a road.

Since the car does not need to be monitored in all directions because it moves in one direction, in the case of the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 installed on the highway, the base stations are arranged side by side so that one of the three base station sectors can be allocated to the highway in hardware.

Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, when a car driven by a user holding the mobile terminal 160 enters a highway tollgate, it is determined whether the user has attempted a phone call (S61).

If the user has attempted a telephone call, the terminal 160 transmits a Call Data Record (CDR) including its own Mobile Identification Number (MIN), access time, counterpart phone number, etc. for call access and billing to the MSC140 through the first base station 151. At this point, the MSC140 receives the CDR and registers the location information of the terminal 160 in the HLR120 (S62).

When a phone call is attempted, the system extracts a MIN from the location information of the corresponding terminal 160 registered in the HLR120 (S63).

The system tracks the corresponding mobile terminal 160 by extracting the corresponding MIN through the location information acquired when the phone call is attempted (S65).

Typically, the average moving speed between base stations may be generated from the moving path and time of the terminal 160 between the base stations by the location information of the terminal 160 registered in the HLR 120.

When a telephone call is attempted, the location information of the terminal is registered at predetermined time intervals or the terminal 160 moves to a communication area, the HLR120 registers the location information of the terminal 160.

However, since one MSC manages a plurality of base stations installed within a wide area and location information input from the managed base stations is registered in the HLR, the HLR receives location information of a terminal and registers the received location information at intervals of about one hour in the case where the terminal does not attempt a telephone call. Therefore, there is a problem in that the system cannot correctly recognize how the terminal has moved or a moving path within a wide area because the location information has been registered in the HLR an hour ago.

As in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, in case of attempting a phone call, the system can determine in real time that the car carrying the terminal 160 is entering the highway through the CDR necessary for performing a billing operation and the registered location information of the terminal 160, whereby it can track or identify a moving path and time using the MIN of the terminal 160 on the basis of the result of the determination.

In this regard, in the event that the MSC140 makes the request necessary to register location information elements associated with multiple terminals 160, the switching function may be problematic due to an overload on the MSC 140. A minimum of one base station to a maximum of seven base stations are set as one segment, and the number of terminals 160 as sampling objects to be tracked is constantly set. When the number of sampling objects does not exceed the set number, the load on the MSC140 can be reduced.

The number of sampling objects may be set to '1' so that the load of the MSC140 may be reduced. That is, in the case where the number of sampling objects increases due to traffic congestion in a state where the location tracking operation is performed, the system terminates the location tracking operation on sampling objects having a lower priority than the currently tracked sampling object having the first priority and maintains the location tracking operation on one sampling object, whereby the system can reduce the load of the MSC 140.

Although a car carrying any other terminal 160 enters a highway tollgate and any other terminal 160 attempts a telephone call, in the case where a tracking operation is performed on a corresponding segment, any other terminal 160 is not extracted as a sample object to be tracked.

However, in the case where a plurality of sampling objects enter the same segment due to the difference between the segment distances and the difference between the speeds of the sampling objects, correct data is extracted by the position tracking operation on the sampling object that normally moves, because the position tracking operation on the lower priority sampling object is performed and the position tracking operation on the first priority sampling object is terminated.

On the other hand, in the case where the sampling objects are concentrated on a specific section such as a rest place, the position tracking operation on the lower priority sampling object is terminated two or more times, whereby the position tracking operation on one sampling object can be maintained, and 5 sampling objects are additionally and temporarily extracted for 5 minutes in this embodiment. When more than 50% of the additionally extracted sampling objects normally move to the next section, the position tracking operation for the remaining sampling objects except for one of the sampling objects is terminated, so that an error in the moving time between the base stations can be compensated when the road traffic state is normal but the sampling objects stop at a rest place or the like.

On the other hand, in the case where the sampling object currently being tracked comes out of the toll gate, when location information based on a phone call attempt destined to the base station made by the sampling object entering the toll gate is registered, the system extracts the MIN of the corresponding terminal and performs a location tracking operation on the corresponding terminal.

When the number of the sampling objects in the predetermined section is less than the predetermined number of the sampling objects, the system extracts the MIN of the corresponding terminal attempting to make a phone call to the nearest base station and performs a position tracking operation on the corresponding terminal according to the extraction result.

However, since there is no possibility of traffic delay or congestion and it is difficult to extract a new sampling object in the case where the number of vehicles entering the road is small near dawn, the speed of the vehicle on the road can be easily estimated as the maximum speed at which the moving speed is generated.

In a state where the MIN of the sampling object is extracted, the system commands the terminal 160, which is tracked based on the MIN at constant time intervals, to register the location information (S64).

The unit time interval for the location tracking operation associated with the location information registration request is set so that the load of the MSC140 can be reduced and at the same time the correct speed can be generated when the location tracking operation is performed. In this embodiment, the unit time interval for the position tracking operation is set to 30 seconds, and the system commands the tracked terminal 160 to register position information at intervals of 30 seconds.

Accordingly, the terminal 160, which has received the location information registration command, performs a location information registration operation and registers its current location information in the HLR 120.

When performing the location information registration operation, the terminal 160 transmits a wake-up signal based on a slot cycle index (slot cycle index) together with the location information to register the location information, so that the terminal 160 prevents its battery from being additionally consumed.

According to the location information registered in response to the forced location information registration command based on the MIN transmitted at the interval of 30 seconds, the moving path and time of the terminal 160 moving on the highway may be tracked (S65).

According to the continuously input location information, the moving time of the terminal between the base stations may be recognized in real time, and thus the moving speed of the terminal between the base stations may be generated at the current time (S66).

When the first base station 151 is installed on a highway tollgate and a moving speed is generated, location information registration based on a phone call attempt may occur in the first base station 151 and then location information registration may occur in the second base station 152. At this point, since it cannot be determined whether or not the location information registration has been performed in a certain area of the radio wave area, the system moves to the second base station 152 to perform the first setup operation for a predetermined period of time and generate the moving speed in the section of the second base station 152 until the setup operation is performed in the third base station 153 after the second base station 152.

The moving speed can be calculated by subtracting 50 seconds from the moving time between base stations in consideration of the time loss due to the overlap between radio waves from the base stations.

For example, the time period between the first setup operation of the second base station 152 and the first setup operation of the third base station 153 is 2 minutes. In case that the segment of the second base station 152 corresponds to 4Km, it can be concluded that the vehicle is driven at a speed of 120 Km/h.

Although the speed of a specific sampling object is high due to overspeed, traffic information is compensated by the average value generating operation because the speed information is provided as an average value.

In a specific section, i.e., a section in which the lane-specific highway system is performed, in the case where the moving time of the current sample object is reduced by 30% compared to the moving time of the previous sample object, the current sample object is considered as a sample object passing through the bus lane and is excluded from the speed generation operation, so that the speed generation operation is performed using the previous data.

Further, in the case where the movement of the sampling object due to congestion in a specific segment is almost nonexistent and the sampling object is concentrated in the specific segment, it is determined that when the vehicle is driven at a moving speed of 100Km/h for a distance of 3Km, the moving speed of the vehicle will be reduced due to traffic congestion after a moving time of 2 minutes because the average distance between base stations is 3 Km. After the above-described 2 minutes, the system estimates the movement time of the sampling object by adding a time of 30 seconds corresponding to the unit time interval for the position tracking operation to the reference time of 2 minutes.

The setup operations associated with different base stations other than the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 may be implemented while performing the location tracking operation through the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 installed and managed on the highway. In this regard, in the case where the one-time setup operation is temporarily realized due to the environment of radio waves, the system does not terminate the location tracking operation while taking the temporary state into consideration. The speed generating operation is appropriately established. However, in the case where the set-up operation associated with different base stations other than the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 is implemented two or more times, the system determines that the corresponding terminal 160 leaves the road and terminates the location tracking operation for the terminal 160 (S67).

Of course, in the case where the terminal 160 is in the power-off state, the location tracking operation is also terminated.

In the case where the location tracking operation is terminated as described above, the location tracking operation is resumed on the basis of the MIN of the new sampling object attempting the telephone call for the base station immediately adjacent to the currently terminated base station. Alternatively, in the case where the sampling object comes out of the highway tollgate and the position tracking operation is terminated, a new sampling object is extracted and the position tracking operation for the extracted sampling object is performed when a terminal entering the tollgate attempts a phone call.

Fig. 6 is a flowchart of a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

First, when a car driven by a user holding the mobile terminal 160 enters a highway tollgate, it is determined whether the user has attempted a phone call (S51).

If the user has attempted a telephone call, the terminal 160 transmits a Call Data Record (CDR) including its own Mobile Identification Number (MIN), access time, counterpart phone number, etc. for call access and billing to the MSC140 through the first base station 151. At this point, the MSC140 receives the CDR and registers the location information of the terminal 160 in the HLR120 (S52).

When the location information of the terminal 160 is registered in the HLR120, the system extracts the MIN of the terminal 160 registered in the HLR120 (S53). When the counterpart terminal 160 moves to another base station while communicating with the second base station 152, in the case where the intensity of the radio wave from the second base station 152 is weak, it is determined whether handover data has been generated so that the terminal 160 moves to the next, third base station 153 (S54).

If the handover data has been generated, the moving path and time of the terminal 160 are tracked by the generated handover data until the phone call is terminated when the corresponding terminal 160 is tracked (S55 and S58).

That is, when the terminal 160 moves from the second base station 152 to the third base station 153, the system can recognize an operating time (active time), a stop time (drop time), and the like associated with the second base station 152 through the generated handover data.

With the distances among the first base station 151, the second base station 152, and the third base station 153 known, the system can generate the moving speed of the terminal 160 through a time period between a point of time of entering the area of the second base station 152 and a point of time of coming out of the area of the second base station 152 (S56).

That is, when it is assumed that the distance over which handover in the second base station 152 can occur is 4Km, the period between the on time and the off time in the area of the second base station 152 may be 2 minutes and 24 seconds. At this point, it can be concluded that the vehicle carrying the terminal 160 is driven at a speed of 100 km/h.

However, in the case where the user starts a phone call at the first base station 151 and moves to the second base station 152, the system cannot correctly recognize at which point of the area of the second base station 152 an operation (active operation) has been performed. Therefore, the speed cannot be generated from the handover data associated with the first base station 151. In the case where the user's communication time is long and the terminal 160 passes through the area of the second base station 152, the speed may be generated by handover data associated with the second base station 152.

On the other hand, since no handover data is generated in the case where the communication time of the user is short after the phone call is attempted, the position tracking operation for the terminal 160 corresponding to the extracted MIN is terminated (S54).

As described above, when the system generates a highway driving speed based on the switching data, in the case where the terminal 160 comes out of the highway, the telephone communication of the terminal 160 is realized by the setup operation associated with the different base stations except the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154.

Accordingly, in the case of implementing the set-up operation associated with a different base station other than the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 installed and managed on the road, the system determines that the corresponding terminal 160 comes out of the road, and terminates the operation for tracking the handover data of the corresponding terminal (S57). Further, in the case where the telephone communication is terminated, the tracking operation is also terminated (S58).

The tracking operation is not terminated when the car is driven on a highway and the set-up operation is performed approximately once between the corresponding terminal and a different base station near the highway. However, in the case where the establishing operation is performed two or more times between the corresponding terminal and different base stations other than the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 installed and managed on the road, the tracking operation for the handover data associated with the corresponding terminal 160 is terminated.

Further, when the moving path and time of the correspondent terminal 160 between the base stations are generated on the basis of the handover data, the system groups one to seven base stations and generates an average velocity in the corresponding section according to the handover data generated in the corresponding section. In the case where handover data is not generated from a base station because the communication time is short, the average speed is generated based on the handover data of the next base station.

That is, in the case where the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 are grouped into one segment, the time period between the operation time and the stop time in the area of the second base station 152 is 2 minutes and 24 seconds, and the segment of each of the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 corresponds to 4Km according to the handover data generated from the second base station 152, it is determined that when the total distance between the first base station 151 and the fourth base station 154 is 16Km, the moving time is 9 minutes and 36 seconds and an average speed of 100Km/h is generated.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart of a method of obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal according to still another embodiment of the present invention.

First, a reference value of traffic conditions is set according to the number of attempted calls generated on a time zone-by-zone basis for each of the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 (S71).

That is, since all terminals of vehicles driven on a road do not attempt phone calls, the number of attempted phone calls is extracted on a day-by-day basis and a time-by-zone basis according to traffic conditions, and a reference value associated with the traffic conditions is set.

The number of attempted phone calls associated with the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154 is extracted at predetermined time intervals (S72). In this embodiment, the number of attempted telephone calls is extracted at 5 minute intervals.

After extracting the number of telephone calls, the extracted number is compared with the set reference value. According to the comparison result, the road traffic state is determined for the areas of the first to fourth base stations 151 to 154, and the traffic levels are set (S73 and S74).

For example, a level of 70% of the limit indicates a smooth traffic condition, a range of 50% to 70% indicates a traffic delay condition, a range of 20% to 50% indicates a traffic jam condition, and a level below 20% indicates a severe jam condition. In the case where the percentage increase of the attempted phone calls in the first base station 151 is 20% higher than the reference value, the traffic state indicates a smooth traffic state. In the case where the increased percentage is 20% to 50% higher than the reference value, the traffic state indicates a traffic delay state. In the case where the percentage of increase is 50% to 70% higher than the reference value, the traffic state indicates a traffic jam state. Further, in the case where the increased percentage is 100% greater than the reference value, the traffic state indicates a severe traffic jam state.

That is, in the case where the percentage of increase of the attempted phone calls associated with the first base station 151 is 20% higher than the reference value and the percentage of increase of the attempted phone calls associated with the second base station 152 is 20% higher than the reference value, the traffic level of the section between the first and second base stations is determined as the smooth traffic state.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As apparent from the above description, when a mobile terminal is used on a highway for a telephone call, the present invention obtains a unique number of the mobile terminal according to billing information necessary for performing a billing operation and tracks the moving time of the mobile terminal between base stations so that traffic state information of the highway can be obtained in real time.

In addition, the present invention employs an existing mobile communication network to obtain traffic information, so that costs required to operate special vehicles for collecting traffic information and to obtain traffic information from information providers can be reduced. In addition, the invention can meet the customer demand by continuously carrying out measurement operation and reflecting constantly changing traffic information in real time.

Claims (18)

1. A method for obtaining traffic information using billing information of a mobile terminal, comprising the steps of:

receiving call data based on a telephone call made by a terminal;

extracting unique information of the terminal from the received call data;

requesting transmission of location information at unit time intervals for a location tracking operation according to the extracted unique information of the terminal;

tracking a moving path and moving time of the terminal between the base stations according to the transmitted location information; and

an average speed per hour between base stations is generated based on the tracked movement path and movement time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the base station is installed and managed on a highway.

3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the specification information of the terminal is a terminal identification number.

4. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the unit time interval for the location tracking operation associated with the location information registration request is maintained at an interval of 30 seconds.

5. A method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the location information is transmitted in conjunction with a wake-up signal.

6. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein when the unique information of the terminal is extracted from the received call data, the sampling object is selectively extracted on a segment-by-segment basis or in each segment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the segment is formed from a group of one to seven base stations.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein there is at least one sample object on a segment-by-segment basis.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein operations for tracking lower priority sample objects are terminated when sample objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein when the sampling objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis and the operation for tracking the sampling objects is terminated a predetermined number of times, the number of sampling objects in the corresponding segment is increased for a predetermined time.

11. The method of claim 6, wherein when the sampling objects are concentrated on a segment-by-segment basis due to a difference between segment distances and a difference between moving speeds of the sampling objects, the operation for tracking the lower priority sampling objects is performed and the operation for tracking the first priority sampling objects is terminated.

12. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the average speed per hour between the base stations is generated by dividing a distance between the base stations based on the moving path by the moving time.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the average speed per hour is estimated as a maximum speed on a road when call data is not received while the call data is received.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating an average speed per hour between base stations comprises the steps of:

when there is no movement between base stations, a reference time is added to the unit time interval for the position tracking operation, and the result of the addition is generated.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the reference time is 2 minutes.

16. The method of claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

when a setup operation is performed between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road, the tracking operation is terminated.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the tracking operation is terminated when the setup operation is performed two or more times between the terminal and a different base station other than the base station installed and managed on the road.

18. The method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the base stations installed and managed on the highway respectively have one sector allocated exclusively for the highway.