System and method to optimize citywide traffic flow by privacy preserving scalable predictive citywide traffic load-balancing supporting, and being supported by, optimal zone to zone demand-control planning and predictive parking management

Abstract

Some demonstrative embodiments include an apparatus, system and/or method related to system and method to optimize citywide traffic flow by privacy preserving scalable predictive citywide traffic load-balancing supporting, and being supported by, optimal zone to zone demand-control planning and predictive parking management

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method to generate conditions enabling to apply predictive traffic load balancing on a road network, the method comprising:
 transmitting from a vehicle its position and destination to get served as a incentivized path-controlled trip by a navigation control system, and receiving a path for a path-controlled trip, wherein transmission of said position and destination and reception of said path use anonymous vehicle IP addressing, and wherein incentivized path controlled-trips are entitled with privileged network usage of free of charge toll or toll discount for obedience to the navigation control system applying, through path controlled trips, predictive traffic-load-balancing on at least a regional part of a city road network;   receiving at the vehicle path updates from the navigation control system and transmitting from the vehicle position updates to the navigation control system, wherein reception of the path updates and transmission of the position updates use anonymous vehicle IP addressing;   determining, under the navigation system control, one or more charging amounts related to the vehicle's network-usage, comprising:
 tracking positions of the vehicle according to said received position updates and determining matches and mismatches of tracked positions with positions that could acceptably be developed by the vehicle according to received path updates; and 
 determining at least one charging amount related to network-usage for one or more matches according to data determining privileged network usage cost, and a charging amount related to network-usage for one or more determined mismatches according to data determining non-privileged network usage cost, wherein privilege in network usage is configured to enable simulation-based traffic predictions, associated with model predictive control supporting planning of paths for said predictive traffic load balancing, to be substantially independent of modeling non path-controlled trips; and 
   transmitting from the navigation system to the vehicle the at least one determined charging amount related to the network usage and receiving at the vehicle the charging amount, using said vehicle anonymous IP addressing and determining accordingly charging related data and; and   determining at the vehicle at least one charging data according to the received charging amount and transmitting charging related data from the vehicle, wherein the transmission is associated with a charging related ID, according to a charging procedure allowed to expose a non-anonymous ID with charging related amount, and wherein the determination of charging related data associated with the transmission of the data are comprising an increase in ambiguity to associate centrally, according to said anonymous determination of charging related amount by a navigation system, the relation between a centrally received charging ID with trip related information constructed by the navigation center—using at least one process of the following processes:   delaying randomly transmission of charging related amount fully or partially;   dividing randomly a determined charging amount per trip into a plurality of smaller charging related values, and transmitting one or more, but not all, said smaller charging related values in randomly transmitted times;   combining charging amount per trip, or said smaller charging related values per trip, with one or more charging amounts or said smaller charging related values of a charging amount associated with one or more trips, and transmitting one or more of the combined values as a charging related value or as divided parts of it in a randomly determined times;   transmitting charging related values from vehicles in one or more predetermined limited time intervals, concentrating the transmissions from different trips that were performed in a wider time interval into a smaller common time interval wherein the transmission in the smaller time interval is associated with random time determination;   randomizing at a limited level a charging related amount or a charging related value with the determination of a charging amount or a charging related value;   quantizing at a limited level a charging related amount or charging related value with the determination of a charging related amount or a charging related value;   using with anonymous navigation wide coverage mobile communication network while using further local short-range communication, having non full overlapping coverage on the road network, with transmission of a charging amount or a charging related value;