US Patent Office grants TTS' 7th patent "Vehicle Dilemma Zone Warning Using Artificial Detection Patent 10,937,313"
At a roadway intersection controlled by an electronic traffic signal controller system, a potentially dangerous "dilemma zone" problem arises where a driver must quickly decide whether to stop or continue through the intersection. The problem is mitigated by leveraging data provided by an approaching vehicle itself as the source of detection. Based on the vehicle data itself, an "artificial detection" message is sent to the traffic signal controller to attempt to extend the green time, and thus permit a subject vehicle to safely pass through the intersection.

US Patent Office grants TTS' 6th patent "Traffic signal state prediction correction and real-time probe data validation Patent 10,878,693"
Traffic signal state predictions for fixed-time signals are generated based on their scheduled timing plan and the current clock/time, but these predictions are subject variations, for example, due to traffic signal controller clock drift. Real-time actual, not predicted, data is collected and utilized to correct for these variations. Further, real-time probe data is collected and used to validate correctness of the generated predictions in real time.

​TTS announces that its global deployment has reached the milestone of 30,000 signals. Deployment regions represent more than 30 metropolitan areas in the US, Canada and Germany and coverage has reached 15% of signals within the largest 25 US metropolitan areas.

TTS joined Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (VTTI), American Tower, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc, and Audi for this C-V2X trial. TTS provided its patented traffic signal prediction which was fused with low latency near real-time status broadcasted directly from the traffic signals via C-V2X. To find out more about this exciting demonstration project at https://media.audiusa.com/en-us/releases/437.

US Patent Office grants TTS' 5th patent "Configurable Virtual Traffic Detection System Under Predictive Signal States Patent (10,733,883)"

Computer-implemented predictions of upcoming traffic control signal states or state changes can be used to improve convenience, safety, and fuel economy. Such information can be used advantageously by a human operator, or by an autonomous or semi-autonomous vehicle control system. User (for example, driver) requests for a signal change may be implemented in traffic control systems, with all due care. User requests are validated and compared to traffic signal state change predictions. Only when appropriate conditions are met, the user request is used to generate a "synthetic call" to the applicable traffic signal controller (TSC). The new synthetic call substitutes for the usual call signal which arises from a fixed physical hardware detection system such as an inductive loop in the pavement.

​US Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory has announced that the application titled “Energy Optimization of Light and Heavy Duty Vehicle Cohorts of Mixed Connectivity, Automation and Propulsion System Capabilities via Meshed V2V-V2I and Expanded Data Sharing” has been recommended by the Vehicle Technologies Office for negotiation of a financial award. The project team is led by Michigan Technological University and includes TTS and other team members such as AVL Powertrain Engineering Inc.

​TTS announces that its global deployment has passed the milestone of 25,000 signals. Deployment regions represent close to 30 metropolitan areas in the US, Canada and Germany.

​HERE Europe B.V. and Traffic Technology Services, Inc. have signed a Letter of Intent to co-operate in the sales and marketing of each other’s products. TTS’ Personal Signal Assistant® shall become accessible through HERE Navigation On Demand as a ready-to-deploy HNOD Service Package, which OEMs can adopt alongside other HNOD Service Packages offered by HERE directly. The parties expect that their cooperation with provide significant benefits for stakeholders in the broader automotive infotainment ecosystem.

US Patent Office grants TTS’ 4th patent “Using Connected Vehicle Data to Optimize Signal Timing Plans (US 10,559,201)”  

A fleet of vehicles (“connected vehicles”) are equipped to wirelessly transmit data in real time, the data including at least an identifier of the vehicle, a GPS location, and a timestamp. Preferably, messages may be sent from the vehicles approximately once per second. This “probe data” from operating vehicles is analyzed to assemble vehicle operation data over a collection period of say, a few weeks. The data is analyzed for a specific signalized intersection. In an embodiment, a preferred process is to leverage the connected vehicle probe data to figure out the traffic volume for a target time period and location, and then optimize the corresponding timing plan for that time period for the subject signal/lane/phase. Target time periods may be on the order of 15 minutes, 30 minutes or an hour, although the exact time period is not critical.

​The research project titled “KoMoDnext” led by the City of Düsseldorf and funded by the German Ministry of Transportation and Digital Infrastructure has commenced. The project aims at developing various service layers for automotive OEM in support of highly automated driving using the City of Düsseldorf as its testbed. Specifically, the N-HAV service layer developed as part of the project’s precursor KoMoD will be used to provide information support for in-vehicle Operational Design Domain (ODD) which serve for the localized decision of switching to highly automated driving. This layer therefore represents a plausibility check and filter on the OEM side situated on top of any V2I data. Furthermore, the project’s objectives include the development of feedback from the vehicle to the signal control system allowing for virtual detection and thus a more efficient approach to signalized intersections.