A method and apparatus for acquiring movement information

Technical field

The present invention relates to the field of traffic information and, in particular, to a technology for acquiring movement information.

Background art

With the widespread use of cellular terminals, various traffic vehicles carrying cellular terminals are spread all over the networks of the streets and roads of cities.

Cellular terminals may include cellular mobile phones, intelligent mobile phones as well as other wireless devices connected with the cellular networks.

Accordingly, a novel theory on using cellular terminals as traffic detectors has attracted more and more attention, and in this theory, the movement information of these

cellular terminals is extracted from the mobility management data of the cellular terminals, so as to generate traffic information therefrom.

The technology which applies this theory is also

referred to as cellular floating vehicle data (CFVD)

technology .

Since this mobility management data already exists in the currently available cellular networks, and is easily available without additional infrastructure or the need to adapt currently available cellular terminals, therefore it is relatively easy for the CFVD technology to be widely adopted, so it has significant advantages.

The movement information required in the traffic

applications generally should include a series of locations of the same vehicle at different time points. By way of a CFVD system, movement information can be extracted from the mobility management data of a cellular terminal .

Mobility management includes two basic types:

dedicated/active status associated with the mobility

management, such as, switching, initiating or ending a call; and standby/idle status associated with the mobility

management, such as, attaching/detaching, location area updating, and routing area updating.

Under the standby/idle status, the mobility management of cellular terminals is at location area/routing area level; and under the dedicated/active status, the mobility

management of cellular terminals is at cell level. Considering that dynamic traffic information service is at the level of street section/routing, it is necessary for the spatial distance between two successive locations in the movement information to match the length of the street section/routing .

In addition, it is necessary for the time interval between the time points of two successive locations to match the updating period of the traffic information.

However, the spatial or temporal distances between successive locations extracted from the mobility management data under the standby/idle status are all far larger than the required scale.

Therefore, it is very hard to carry out dynamic traffic information evaluation merely according to these successive locations themselves.

In the currently available CFVD systems, the movement information is generally extracted from the mobility

management data of the voice service under the dedicated status via an interface of the circuit switch (CS) domain of the GSM/GPRS systems.

However, taking the safety issues into consideration, in the near future, it will be highly possible for the voice services to be prohibited during driving, which would substantially reduce the number of samples extracted from the voice services under the dedicated status.

Likewise, too short voice communication time would also substantially reduce the number of extracted samples.

Consequently, the application of CFVD systems will be seriously affected.

Contents of the invention

In view of the above defects in the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a method for acquiring movement information, so as to provide movement information which is capable of meeting the needs of traffic applications .

The embodiments of the present invention further provide an apparatus for acquiring movement information.

The embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions so as to solve the above technical problems.

The embodiments of the present invention provide a method for acquiring movement information, said method comprising :

monitoring the quality of a traffic sample, with said traffic sample being a sample for a traffic information application; activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of a mobile terminal when the quality of said traffic sample is below a threshold value;

acquiring mobility management data of said mobile terminal; and

extracting movement information from said mobility management data, with said movement information including location information .

The embodiments of the present invention provide an apparatus for acquiring movement information, which apparatus comprises : a monitoring module for monitoring the quality of a traffic sample, with said traffic sample being a sample for a traffic information application;

a control module for activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of a mobile terminal when the quality of said traffic sample monitored by said monitoring module is below a threshold value;

an acquiring module for acquiring mobility management data of said mobile terminal; and

an extracting module for extracting movement information from the mobility management data acquired by said acquiring module, with said movement information including location information . By way of the technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention, by monitoring the quality of traffic samples and affecting the packet data service of mobile terminals when the quality is below the threshold value, traffic samples of sufficiently high quality are thereby acquired, and in turn corresponding movement information is obtained, so as to meet the needs of various traffic applications.

Brief description of the accompanying drawings

The other features, characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by way of the detailed description hereinbelow in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the flow procedure of a method for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the flow procedure of a method for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention; Fig. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention;

Fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of an apparatus for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention; and

Fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a device for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

Exemplary embodiments

The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present invention can be applied, for example, in the field of traffic information, particularly in various

intelligent traffic applications.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the flow procedure of a method for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention.

This method comprises:

Step 101: monitoring the quality of a traffic sample.

In this embodiment, the traffic sample is various samples used for a traffic information application, and it includes movement information or it can also include other location related information and so on.

Particularly, for example, it can be a location pair of two successive locations of the same mobile terminal.

In this case, the movement information is mainly

location information, and can also include other information such as speed information, etc.

In this embodiment, the quality of the traffic sample can be evaluated according to one or more factors.

For example, the quality of traffic samples can be evaluated according to the number of the traffic samples on one or more roads; or it can also be evaluated according to the distance between successive locations. There is no restriction on the traffic samples and the particular evaluation factors for the traffic samples in this embodiment . Step 102: activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of a mobile terminal when the quality of the traffic sample is below a threshold value.

In this embodiment, there are various factors for evaluating traffic samples, and correspondingly there will also be various threshold values.

When the quality of the traffic sample is below a threshold value, it is necessary to activate and/or adjust the packet data service of the mobile terminal, so that more traffic samples can be obtained, to meet the quality

requirements for intelligent traffic evaluation.

There are various implementations for activating the packet data service of the mobile terminal, in which the mobile terminal can be transformed from an idle status into an active status, so as to obtain the mobility management data at the cell level.

In this embodiment, activating the packet data service of the mobile terminal can be achieved, for example, by sending a few pieces of triggering information to the mobile terminal to transform the mobile terminal from the idle status into the active status and to remain in the active status for a period of time.

In this way, a larger number of traffic samples can be obtained .

In this embodiment, the downlink updating frequency of the packet data service can also be increased.

For example, if a user who uses this mobile terminal has subscribed to the traffic service, then the downlink updating frequency of this service can be increased to obtain more traffic samples. Furthermore, in this embodiment, in order to improve the quality of the traffic samples more effectively and

purposively, and at the same time in order to affect the packet data service as little as possible, activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of the mobile terminal can be, for example, activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of a target mobile terminal.

In this embodiment, there are many ways to restrict the affected mobile terminal to the target mobile terminal.

For example, the restriction can be carried out by area; that is, a target area is determined, with target area fully or partially covering an area where the quality of the traffic sample is below the threshold value, and the mobile terminal in this target area is used as the target mobile terminal .

Furthermore, the status of the mobile terminal in this target area can also be judged, that is, if the mobile terminal is under the idle status, then the packet data service of the mobile terminal is activated, and if the mobile terminal is under the active status, then the packet data service status of this mobile terminal is adjusted, for example, by increasing the updating frequency.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, further judgment can also be carried out on the mobile terminal which is already under the active status, that is, if the packet data service capability of this mobile terminal is relatively weak or there are a lot of services, then the packet data service of the mobile terminal will not be affected further even if this mobile terminal is located in the target area, so as to avoid causing excessive effects on the packet data service of these mobile terminals, which may affect users' experience.

In this embodiment, the target mobile terminal can also be determined according to the services subscribed to by the user of the mobile terminal, for example, if a user has subscribed to a traffic condition inquiry service or other specific services, then the mobile terminal used by this user will be taken as the target mobile terminal.

By way of identifying a target mobile terminal according to the services subscribed to by a user, the effects on the packet data service of non-subscribed users can be avoided as much as possible.

During its practical implementation, the subscription data of a user can be acquired from various network devices, for example, acquired from an HLR (Home Location Register) , or acquired from a VLR (Visitor Location Register) .

In this embodiment, the target mobile terminal can also be determined according to the combination of the target area and the user subscription data.

Step 103: acquiring the mobility management data of the above mobile terminal.

In this embodiment, the mobility management data of the mobile terminal can be acquired from a core network.

The access network (i.e. a corresponding mobile network) of this mobile terminal is, for example, a GSM network, or a WCDMA network, or an LTE network, or it can also be a WLAN network, and can also span the above various networks.

During its practical implementation, for different mobile networks, the methods for acquiring mobility

management data may be different.

For example, for a GPRS network, the mobility management data can be acquired via an interface between a base station controller and an SGSN.

For example, for an LTE network, the mobility management data can be acquired by an MME (Mobility Management Entity) .

In this embodiment, particularly, what is acquired is the mobility management data of the packet domain.

Step 104: extracting movement information from the mobility management data. In this embodiment, the method for extracting movement information from the mobility management data is the same as in the currently available methods, which will not be

described redundantly.

By way of the method provided by the embodiments of the present invention, when the quality of the traffic sample is relatively low, the packet data service of a mobile terminal can be affected, therefore improving the quality of the traffic sample, and obtaining movement information which can meet the needs of various applications in an intelligent traffic system.

In addition, this technical solution is capable of making use of the mobility management data in the packet domain of the mobile terminal, avoiding the dependence on the mobility management data in the circuit switch domain of the mobile terminal, therefore even if the voice service is restricted during driving, it will not cause the quality of the traffic sample to be greatly reduced, which ensures the requirements of acquiring a large amount of high quality movement information.

As shown in Fig. 2, the embodiments of the present invention provide a particular method for acquiring movement information.

This method comprises:

Step 201: judging whether the number of traffic samples on a selected road section/area is below a threshold value, and if it is lower, then performing step 202.

In this embodiment, the selected road section/area can be one or more.

After comparison with the threshold value, if not below the threshold value, then it can go on to monitor this selected road section/area, or it can go on to judge the next selected road section/area.

Step 202, determining a target area. In this embodiment, this target area fully covers the selected road section/area in Step 201.

During practical implementation, this target area is, for example, a collection of a plurality of cells or location areas or routing areas.

Step 203, acquiring a user's subscription data.

In this embodiment, for example, the subscription data of a user who has subscribed to a real-time traffic condition service can be acquired.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the volume of data to be transferred and acquired, it can be restricted to acquire merely the subscription data of the users in the target area.

For example, the user's subscription data can be

acquired through an HLR.

Step 204, determining a target mobile terminal.

In this embodiment, for example, the mobile terminal in the target area used by a user who has subscribed to a real ^¬ time traffic condition service can be used as the target mobile terminal.

Step 205: activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of the target mobile terminal.

Referring to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the packet data service of the target mobile terminal can be activated or adjusted according to various situations, so as to obtain more mobility management data of smaller granularity.

Step 206: acquiring the mobility management data of the target mobile terminal in the packet domain.

In this embodiment, for example, the mobility management data in the packet domain is acquired through an SGSN. Step 207: extracting movement information from the mobility management data.

By way of the method for acquiring movement information provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the mobility management data in the packet domain can be used for acquiring movement information, so as to meet the

requirements of the intelligent traffic applications.

In addition, it can provide a large number of traffic samples of relatively high quality, thereby ensuring the stability and reliability of the applications.

At the same time, by way of the method provided by the embodiments of the present invention, the dependence of movement information on the mobility management data in the circuit switch domain can also be reduced, therefore when the mobility management data of the circuit switch domain is reduced substantially, the influence on the acquisition of traffic samples is reduced, so as to ensure the intelligent traffic applications.

In the above various embodiments reference can be made from one to another, and various steps of the methods disclosed in these embodiments can be implemented by way of software, hardware or a combination thereof.

As shown in Fig. 3, the embodiments of the present invention further provide an apparatus 300 for acquiring movement information.

This apparatus 300 comprises:

a monitoring module 301 for monitoring the quality of a traffic sample; a control module 302 for activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of a mobile terminal when the quality of the traffic sample monitored by the monitoring module 301 is below a threshold value; an acquiring module 303 for acquiring the mobility management data of the mobile terminal; and an extracting module for extracting movement information from the mobility management data acquired by the acquiring module 303. In this embodiment, for the traffic sample and the quality evaluation factors thereof reference can be made to the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 and 2, which will be not described redundantly.

The apparatus provided by this embodiment can be used for implementing, for example, the embodiments shown in Figs 1 and 2.

This apparatus can be a standalone device and it can also be integrated into other currently available devices.

Furthermore, as shown in Fig. 4, the apparatus 300 provided by this embodiment can further comprise a first target determining module 401 and/or a second target

determining module 402.

In this case, the first target determining module 401 is used for determining a target mobile terminal, with said target mobile terminal being located in a target area and this target area fully or partially covering an area where the quality of said traffic sample is below a threshold value; and the second target determining module 402 is used for determining a target mobile terminal according to the subscription data of a user, with this target mobile terminal being a terminal used by a user who has subscribed to certain services .

In this embodiment, for the practical implementation of determining a target terminal reference can be made to the embodiments shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, in the case that the target terminal has been determined, the control module 302 is in particular used for activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of the target mobile terminal when the quality of the traffic sample monitored by the monitoring module 301 is below the threshold value, so that the mobility management data of the mobile terminal can be acquired more effectively, and the packet data service of non-target mobil terminals can be less affected.

As shown in Fig. 5, particularly, in this embodiment, the control module 302 can include, for example, a first control sub-module 501 and/or a second control sub-module 502.

The first control sub-module 501 is used for increasing the downlink updating frequency of the packet data service.

The second control sub-module 502 is used for sending information to enable the mobile terminal to remain under th active status.

In this embodiment, the acquiring module 303 is, for example, particularly used for acquiring the mobility management data in the packet domain of the mobile terminal.

By way of the apparatus provided by this embodiment, movement information can be acquired by using the mobility management data in the packet domain of the mobile terminal, and it can ensure that the quality requirements of traffic applications are met.

As shown in Fig. 6, the embodiments of the present invention provide a device 600, which device 600 is used for acquiring movement information.

This device comprises: an acquiring module 601 for acquiring the mobility management data in the packet domain of a mobile terminal and for extracting movement information from the mobility management data; and a control module 602 for identifying a target mobile terminal and for activating and/or adjusting the packet data service of the target mobil terminal .

In this embodiment, the acquiring module 601 can, for example, acquire the mobility management data in the packet domain via an interface of the SGSN or MME . The control module 602 can, for example, identify a mobile terminal in a specific area which has subscribed to a specific service as the target mobile terminal, so that effects on the packet data service of too many mobile

terminals can be avoided.

The device provided by this embodiment identifies target terminals by the control module 602 and affects the packet data service of these mobile terminals, thereby enabling the acquiring module 601 to acquire adequate mobility management data and to extract movement information therefrom.

Therefore, the device provided by this embodiment is able to acquire high quality movement information which meets the requirements of the intelligent traffic applications.

It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that, various variations and modifications can be made to each of the embodiments of the present invention without departing from the essence of the invention, and all these variations and modifications are within the protection scope of the present invention.

Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention is to be defined by the appended claims.