Managing vehicular traffic on a roadway

Abstract

A system for managing vehicular traffic on a roadway includes a sensing unit positioned within a vehicle traveling on the roadway. The sensing unit is configured to determine occupancy data based on the number of passengers within the vehicle. An ambient light sensor is operatively associated with the sensing unit such that upon sensing an intensity of ambient light, an adjustment is made to the system to aid in the determination of occupancy data. The occupancy data is configured to be communicated to one or more receiving units positioned above or proximate the roadway.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system for managing vehicular traffic on a roadway, the system comprising:
 an imaging sensor to sense an image within an interior of a vehicle;   a processor in communication with the imaging sensor to determine from the image an occupancy number representing the number of persons present in the interior of the vehicle;   a communications unit in communication with the processor and configured to communicate with a receiving unit outside of the vehicle, the communications unit configured to deliver the occupancy number to the receiving unit.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an output of the processor is only the occupancy number, and the processor communicates no other data to the communications unit. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein an output of the processor does not include the image or information about an identity or location of detected persons in the image. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein communications unit is configured to deliver only the occupancy number to the receiving unit, and the communication unit is configured to communicate no other data to the receiving unit. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the imaging sensor is a CMOS sensor array. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an ambient temperature sensor operatively associated with the processor such that upon sensing an ambient temperature, an adjustment is made to the system to aid in the determination of the occupancy number. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an ambient light sensor operatively associated with the processor such that upon sensing an intensity of ambient light, an adjustment is made to the system to aid in the determination of the occupancy number. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising an illumination source to illuminate the interior of the vehicle. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a passive infrared sensor configured to determine the occupancy number by sensing a first infrared signature with a first portion of the passive infrared sensor and a second infrared signature with a second portion of the passive infrared sensor; 
 wherein the first infrared signature is compared to the second infrared signature to determine if movement is detected. 
 
     
     
         10 . A system for managing vehicular traffic on a roadway, the system comprising:
 a sensing unit positioned within a vehicle traveling on the roadway, the sensing unit configured to determine occupancy data based on the number of passengers within the vehicle;   an activator unit positioned above or proximate the roadway and configured to activate the sensing unit; and   one or more receiving units positioned above or proximate the roadway to receive occupancy data from the sensing unit;   wherein upon activation by the activator unit, the sensing unit determines the occupancy data, stores the occupancy data, and then ceases further determination of occupancy data until activated by a subsequent activator unit.   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein upon activation by the activator unit, the sensing unit sends stored occupancy data to the one or more receiving units. 
     
     
         12 . A system for managing vehicular traffic on a roadway, the system comprising:
 a sensing unit having an image sensor positioned within a vehicle traveling on the roadway, the sensing unit configured to detect a facial characteristic and thus determine a presence of one or more faces in an interior of the vehicle, the sensing unit configured to determine passenger occupancy data based on the presence of the one or more faces;   wherein the occupancy data is configured to be communicated to one or more receiving units positioned above or proximate the roadway.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the image sensor is part of a camera. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the image sensor is a charge-coupled device or a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the sensing unit includes at least one mirror to reflect an optical image toward the image sensor. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the sensing unit includes at least one lens to focus an optical image on the image sensor. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 12  further comprising an illumination source to illuminate the interior of the vehicle. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the facial characteristic is a nose, eye, or mouth of a face. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein only the occupancy data is communicated to the one or more receiving units.