METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR VEHICLE DATA COLLECTION REGARDING TRAFFIC

1 - 20 . (canceled)

21 . A vehicle, comprising:

a microprocessor;

plural on board sensors operable to sense vehicle performance and/or location information, the plural on board sensors comprising a satellite positioning system receiver to acquire a current spatial position of the vehicle; and

a microprocessor executable data collection module operable to collect vehicle performance and/or location information and provide the collected vehicle performance and/or location information to a remote node to update and/or correct an electronic roadway map maintained by a map updating module at the remote node, whereby the updated and/or corrected electronic roadway map is provided to other vehicles for display to vehicle operators; and

a microprocessor executable automotive navigation system operable to provide, by display of the updated and/or corrected electronic roadway map, driving directions to a vehicle operator from a first vehicle location to a second vehicle location, wherein the displayed updated and/or corrected electronic roadway map shows the driving directions as a trace route on the roadway map and, in updating and/or correcting the electronic roadway map, the map updating module analyzes both route deviations of the vehicle from the provided driving directions and of other different vehicles from driving directions provided to operators of the other different vehicles to update and/or correct the electronic roadway map.

22 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the route deviations are analyzed by the map updating module as the vehicle travels from the first vehicle location to the second vehicle location and further comprising a reporting module to provide a vehicle operator with the updated roadway map based on the collected vehicle performance and/or location information, wherein the updated roadway map comprises vehicle performance and/or location information collected from other vehicles having different ownership, and wherein the on board sensors comprise a plurality of: a brake state sensor, a collision sensor, a seat belt sensor, vehicle light state sensor, door setting sensor, window setting sensor, external object sensor, seating system sensor, odometer reading sensor, trip mileage reading sensor, wind speed sensor, radar transmitter/receiver output sensor, brake wear sensor, steering/torque sensor, oxygen sensor, ambient lighting sensor, ranging sensor, parking sensor, heating, venting, and air conditioning sensor, water sensor, air-fuel ratio meter, and blind spot monitor.

23 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the on board sensors comprise a plurality of: wheel state sensor to sense one or more of vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed, and/or wheel slip, energy output sensor to sense a power output of a vehicle power source, switch state sensor, a transmission control unit state sensor, a brake state sensor, a collision sensor, a seat belt sensor, vehicle light state sensor, door setting sensor, window setting sensor, imaging sensor, external object sensor, seating system sensor, odometer reading sensor, trip mileage reading sensor, wind speed sensor, radar transmitter/receiver output sensor, brake wear sensor, steering/torque sensor, oxygen sensor, ambient lighting sensor, vision system sensor, ranging sensor, parking sensor, heating, venting, and air conditioning sensor, water sensor, air-fuel ratio meter, blind spot monitor, hall effect sensor, microphone, radio frequency sensor, infrared sensor, vehicle control system sensor, wireless network sensor, and cellular data sensor and wherein the map updating module compares the route deviations against route deviations of other drivers to determine whether to update and/or correct the roadway map.

24 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the vehicle performance and/or location information comprises trace route followed by the vehicle.

25 . The vehicle of claim 24 , wherein the vehicle performance and/or location information is received from other vehicles in temporal proximity to receipt by the map updating module of collected performance and/or location information from the data collection module and wherein the vehicle performance and/or location information comprises presence of, proximity to, relative spatial location of, trajectory of, heading of, bearing of, and/or a likelihood of collision with a sensed object other than the vehicle.

26 . The vehicle of claim 24 , wherein the updated roadway map comprises information regarding a traffic level along a selected roadway and wherein the map updating module uses the deviations to identify an alternative travel route between the first and second locations.

27 . A tangible, non-transient computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions operable to perform the operations of claim 21 .

28 . A method performed by the vehicle, wherein the method comprises the operations of claim 21 .

29 . A vehicle, comprising:

plural on board sensors operable to collect first vehicle performance and location information of a first vehicle; and

a transceiver operable to receive second vehicle performance and location information from a second vehicle and report the first and second vehicle performance and location information to a real-time traffic system located at a remote node, the real-time traffic system comprising a central database and associated server operable to collect and correlate the first and second vehicle performance and location information to form traffic information and provide the traffic information to other vehicles, wherein the first or second vehicle performance and location information comprises presence of, proximity to, relative spatial location of, trajectory of, heading of, bearing of, and/or a likelihood of collision with a sensed object other than the first and second vehicle and wherein, in response to the real-time traffic system collecting and correlating the first and second vehicle performance and location information, an electronic roadway map displayed to an operator of the first vehicle is updated to depict a relative spatial location of the sensed object to a current spatial location of the first vehicle.

30 . The vehicle of claim 29 , wherein the on board sensors comprise a plurality of: wheel state sensor to sense one or more of vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel rotation, wheel speed, and/or wheel slip, energy output sensor to sense a power output of a vehicle power source, switch state sensor, a transmission control unit state sensor, a brake state sensor, a collision sensor, a seat belt sensor, vehicle light state sensor, door setting sensor, window setting sensor, imaging sensor, external object sensor, seating system sensor, odometer reading sensor, trip mileage reading sensor, wind speed sensor, radar transmitter/receiver output sensor, brake wear sensor, steering/torque sensor, oxygen sensor, ambient lighting sensor, vision system sensor, ranging sensor, parking sensor, heating, venting, and air conditioning sensor, water sensor, air-fuel ratio meter, blind spot monitor, hall effect sensor, microphone, radio frequency sensor, infrared sensor, vehicle control system sensor, wireless network sensor, and cellular data sensor.

31 . The vehicle of claim 29 , wherein the vehicle performance information comprises plural of vehicle speed, acceleration, deceleration, wheel slip, vehicle power output, brake state, transmission control unit state, trace route followed by the vehicle, and brake light state and wherein the remote node uses the performance and location information to determine a traffic level along a roadway being traveled by the vehicle, wherein the performance and location information comprises one or more of a location, travel vector, distance to response device, and response device type, and wherein the object is one or more of pedestrian, cyclist, sign, animal, another vehicle, and beacon.

32 . The vehicle of claim 29 , wherein the first and second vehicle performance and location information is used to at least one of determine a traffic level, locate an accident, and update an on board roadway map.

33 . The vehicle of claim 32 , wherein the real-time traffic system comprises a map updating module, wherein the map updating module uses the first and/or second vehicle performance and location information to update a roadway map in vehicle memory, and wherein the route deviations are analyzed by the map updating module as the first vehicle travels from a first vehicle location to a second vehicle location.

34 . A tangible, non-transient computer readable medium comprising processor executable instructions operable to perform the operations of claim 29 .

35 . A method performed by the vehicle, wherein the method comprises the operations of claim 29 .

36 . A real-time traffic system, comprising:

a microprocessor;

a tangible and non-transient computer readable memory comprising an electronic roadway map and a microprocessor executable map updating module to update and/or correct the electronic roadway map, wherein the map updating module, in updating and/or correcting the electronic roadway map, analyzes, using input from a satellite positioning system, both route deviations of multiple differently owned vehicles from driving directions provided to operators of the multiple differently owned vehicles to update and/or correct the electronic roadway map; and

a server to receive vehicle performance and/or location information collected by data collection modules from sensors on board vehicles, whereby the updated and/or corrected electronic roadway map is provided to other vehicles for display to vehicle operators.

37 . The system of claim 36 , wherein the server provides alternative routes to vehicle operators based on the route deviations.

38 . The system of claim 36 , wherein the selected vehicle performance and/or location information comprises presence of, proximity to, relative spatial location of, trajectory of, heading of, bearing of, and/or a likelihood of collision with a sensed object other than the selected vehicle.

39 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the map updating module provides to the vehicle operator different routes from the first vehicle location to the second vehicle location and wherein at least one of the different routes reflects route deviations of other different vehicles from driving directions provided to operators of the other different vehicles.

40 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the map updating module measures travel times of different vehicles for a plurality of routes and stores the measured travel times against specific days and/or times and/or holidays and wherein, in providing the driving directions to the vehicle operator, the map updating module maps a current day against a measured travel time for the same day of the week and/or time and/or holiday on a different date.

41 . The vehicle of claim 40 , wherein the map updating module provides to the vehicle operator an arrival time based on the mapping of the current day and/or time and/or holiday against measured travel times for the same day of the week on a different date.

42 . The vehicle of claim 21 , wherein the map updating module uses one or more sensors in the vehicle and/or weather information from a source providing data from a weather station and/or sensor remote from the vehicle to determine an estimated traffic time based on a current weather and/or road condition.

43 . The system of claim 36 , wherein the map updating module provides, to a selected vehicle operator, different routes from a first vehicle location to a second vehicle location and wherein at least one of the different routes reflects route deviations of other differently owned vehicles from driving directions provided to operators of the other differently owned vehicles.

44 . The system of claim 36 , wherein the map updating module measures travel times of different vehicles for a plurality of routes and stores the measured travel times against specific days and/or times and/or holidays and wherein, in providing the driving directions to a selected vehicle operator, the map updating module maps a current day against a measured travel time for the same day of the week and/or time and/or holiday on a different date.

45 . The system of claim 44 , wherein the map updating module provides to the selected vehicle operator an arrival time based on the mapping of the current day and/or time and/or holiday against measured travel times for the same day of the week on a different date.

46 . The system of claim 36 , wherein the map updating module uses one or more sensors in the vehicle and/or weather information from a source providing data from a weather station and/or sensor remote from the vehicle to determine an estimated traffic time based on a current weather and/or road condition.