IP Library Granted Patent US 9,542,653
Granted Patent B1
US 9,542,653 · App. 14/709,253 · Granted Jan 10, 2017

Vehicle prediction and association tool based on license plate recognition

Inventor: Shawn B. Smith (Portola Valley, CA)
Assignee: VaaS, Inc.
G06N7/005G06F17/30241
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,542,653
App. No.
14/709,253
Granted
Jan 10, 2017
Kind
B1
Abstract

LPR instances around physical locations and license plate numbers associated with a person of interest are analyzed to predict the relative likelihood of locating the person of interest at a particular location. An LPR information query includes an indication of a physical location and a license plate number associated with a person of interest. The relative likelihood of locating a person of interest at a particular location at a future point in time is determined based on the LPR instances received. In one example, the relative likelihood of locating the person of interest is based on the relative value of clusters of LPR instances around physical locations associated with the person of interest. Additional license plate numbers are associated with a person of interest based on their appearance within a search zone and time window of LPR instances of a license plate number already associated with a person of interest.

Claims (47)

1. A method comprising:

receiving an indication of a plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances within a search area of a physical location associated with a person of interest;

determining a plurality of clusters of the plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances associated with the physical location, wherein the determining of each of the clusters of the plurality of LPR instances involves:

determining a time difference between successive LPR instances; and

determining if the time difference between successive LPR instances is less than a predetermined threshold; and

determining at least one attribute of each of the plurality of clusters of LPR instances; and

determining the relative likelihood of locating the person of interest at the physical location based on the at least one attribute.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving a license plate recognition (LPR) information query including an indication of the physical location and a target license plate number associated with the person of interest; and

determining the plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances within the search area of the physical location in response to receiving the LPR information query.

3. The method of claim 2 ,

wherein the determining that least one attribute of each of the plurality of clusters is based on at least one search metric.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein an LPR instance of the plurality of LPR instances includes an indication of a vehicle license plate number, an indication of a physical location, and an indication of a time when the LPR instance was captured by an LPR system.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein a license plate number associated with each of the plurality of LPR instances matches the target license plate number associated with the person of interest.

6. A method comprising:

receiving an indication of a physical location and a license plate number associated with a person of interest;

determining a plurality of clusters of license plate recognition (LPR) instances associated with the physical location and the license plate number, wherein the determining of each of the clusters of LPR instances involves:

determining a time difference between successive LPR instances; and

determining if the time difference between successive LPR instances is less than a predetermined threshold; and

determining a relative likelihood of locating the person of interest at a particular location at a future point in time based on at least one attribute of the clusters of LPR instances associated with the physical location and the license plate number.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining the relative likelihood of locating the person of interest involves:

determining the at least one attribute of each of the clusters based on at least one search metric.

8. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining of the relative likelihood of locating a person of interest at the physical location involves scaling a value of a cluster based on an amount of time since the last LPR site visit to the physical location.

9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the determining of the relative likelihood of locating a person of interest at the physical location involves scaling a value of a cluster based on a number of LPR site visits to the physical location.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory storing an amount of program code that, when executed causes the processor to

receive an indication of a plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances within a search area of a physical location associated with a person of interest;

determine a plurality of clusters of the plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances associated with the physical location, wherein the determining of each of the clusters of the plurality of LPR instances involves:

determining a time difference between successive LPR instances; and

determining if the time difference between successive LPR instances is less than a predetermined threshold; and

determine at least one attribute of each of the plurality of clusters of LPR instances; and

determine the relative likelihood of locating the person of interest at the physical location based on the at least one attribute.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , the memory also storing an amount of program code that, when executed causes the processor to:

receive a license plate recognition (LPR) information query including an indication of the physical location and a target license plate number associated with the person of interest; and

determine the plurality of license plate recognition (LPR) instances within the search area of the physical location in response to receiving the LPR information query.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 ,

wherein the determining the at least one attribute of each of the plurality of clusters is based on at least one search metric.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein an LPR instance of the plurality of LPR instances includes an indication of a vehicle license plate number, an indication of a physical location, and an indication of a time when the LPR instance was captured by an LPR system.

14. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein a license plate number associated with each of the plurality of LPR instances matches the target license plate number associated with the person of interest.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the relative likelihood of locating a person of interest at the physical location involves scaling a value of a cluster based on an amount of time since the last LPR site visit to the physical location.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the determining of the relative likelihood of locating a person of interest at the physical location involves scaling a value of a cluster based on a number of LPR site visits to the physical location.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , the memory also storing an amount of program code that, when executed causes the processor to:

determine a first license plate number within a first search zone and a first time window around a first LPR instance of a target license plate number;

determine a second license plate number within a second search zone and a second time window around a second LPR instance of the target license plate number; and

associate the first license plate number and the target license plate number if the first license plate number matches the second license plate number.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the first LPR instance comprises an indication of a first physical location of the target license plate number and an indication of a first time when an image of the target license plate number was captured, and wherein the second LPR instance comprises an indication of a second physical location of the target license plate number and an indication of a second time when an image of the target license plate number was captured.

Assignments (8)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 5, 2019
From: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
To: MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS SHELF CORP VI, INC.
Reel/Frame 048235/0464 →
MERGER Recorded Feb 5, 2019
From: MOTOROLA SOLUTIONS SHELF CORP. VI, INC.
To: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 048235/0592 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Dec 12, 2018
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
To: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 049126/0791 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded May 8, 2018
From: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.
Reel/Frame 046102/0795 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 3, 2018
From: MUFG UNION BANK, N.A.
To: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 045704/0181 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded May 11, 2017
From: VAAS, INC.
To: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 042447/0385 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 16, 2015
From: VAAS INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS, INC.
To: MUFG UNION BANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 036583/0779 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jun 16, 2015
From: SMITH, SHAWN B.
To: VAAS, INC.
Reel/Frame 035847/0486 →
Continuity (2)
Continuation 13543327 · Jul 6, 2012
Provisional Application 61505033 · Jul 6, 2011