GB2448672A

GB2448672A - System for identifying the position of a transit vehicle to a passenger using SMS

Info

Publication number: GB2448672A
Application number: GB0708166A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Samuel James Montgomery
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-04-27
Filing date: 2007-04-27
Publication date: 2008-10-29
Also published as: GB0708166D0

Abstract

A system for identifying the position of a vehicle (V1 -V8) to potential passengers at stops on a route (S1-S9) comprises a database 16 containing locations of a plurality of vehicles, a communications module 14 and a server 15. In use the communications module receives requests from a user via SMS messages 11 from which is extracted a location on a route followed by one of the vehicles. The server receives the request and interrogates the database for information pertaining to the vehicle and prepares a response including extrapolated information such as the estimated time of arrival for transmission by SMS via the communications module to the requesting user. The database may contain plural records including a vehicle identifier, a location and a time from which the server can calculate an estimate of arrival at a location. In arriving at the estimate the server may use records of previous journey times over the route. The database is populated by vehicles reporting their positions and may be done by GPS or other position reporting systems.

Description

Positioning Information System

Description

This invention relates to a positioning information system.

Various schemes for allowing potential transport system users to access information about transport timetables are known. Timetables are available for viewing on vebsites operated by transport providers, for instance. It is known also to provide up-to-date information about transport, so that travellers can obtain information about transport even if schedules are deviated from.

A number of schemes exist by which travellers can access timetable and up-to-date transport information on mobile devices. This is advantageous since it provides access to the information of interest even in the absence of an Internet connected mains-powered computer. However, such has typically been limited to access via WAP (Wireless Access Protocol) services, which are obtained through a browser application running on the mobile device. Such services arc not available to users having mobile devices which are absent of browser applications. These services are not available also when Internet connections are not available, such as commonly occurs due to technical faults within the mobile telephone network to which the mobile device is connected. When they are available, the costs to the user involved in accessing the service can be quite high.

Consequently, WAP based services, as well as html (full web) services are implicitly inaccessible by low income users, whether by not having access to WAP services (low-end mobile devices are most likely not to be SO equipped) or by the prohibitive costs of accessing the services.

TFI (Transport for London currently provides a "Journey Planner" service whereby a user can access a route plan using only SMS (Short Message Service messages. Since all modern mobile phones, even low-end devices, are equipped with SMS handling capability, access to this service is less restricted that it is to WAP-based services. 1-lowever, the service is optimised ftr London, where there usually are a great mans' routes, and different combinations of transport, available for use between any two points. As such, the service is not applicable for transfer to environments in which the transport systems in place are less extensive, lurthermorc, a user does not have any choice as to the information service -they simply are provided with information detailing the next (in terms of next departure from the journey starting point) combination of transport which leads to the specified destination.

The invention was made in this context.

The invention is defined by the claims.

The primary advantages of the invention are numerous.

By utilising onh' SMS communications, the invention provides a service which is accessible to all mobile telephone network connected devices which are equipped with SMS capability, and is not dependent on a radio link accommodating an Internet connection.

By allowing the user to specify in the request a transport route of interest, the invention provides a service which gives the user only the information that they want, and does not result in the user being provided with information relating to the routes other than that of interest to the user. Thus, the user is not inconvenienced with irrelevant information. This is of particular advantage where a number of transport options exist and different options have different costs associated with them, in London, for instance, underground trains are more expensive than buses, and DLR trains can be more or less expensive than buses, depending on the route and the start and end locations of the journey. Also, some forms of transport, and thus routes, are more amenable to travellers with mobility restrictions, such as wheelchair users, travellers with children in pushchairs and travellers with luggage.

The reduction in the amount of information transmitted by use of the invention is advantageous in a purely technical sense since it typically utilises less communication resources, thereby reducing impact on other use of the resources. This is particularly important with regard to the radio channel link between the mobile device and the mobile telephone network in which it is connected, but is important also as regards backbone communications within the mobile telephone network and between the network and the relevant equipment of the service provider.

The invention is of particular applicability to bus transport, especially in rural or semi-rural environments. Buses are more susceptible to delay than other forms of transport since they tend to share roads with cars, lorries and other traffic and since they need to adhere to traffic signals and the like. Such does not apply, or applies to a lesser degree, to trains, trams etc. Being susceptible to dela', buses often depart from scheduled timetables.

Where buses are less frequent, such as in rural areas, and thus the time between successive buses on the same route can be greater, the absence of up-to-date information can result in users waiting at bus stops for considerable periods of time. Through use of the invention, however, such can be avoided.

There are three main branches of this invention.

In the first branch, the user includes in the request information constituting a request for information pertaining to the next vehicle expected to arrive at a particular location. The response typically identifies the time remaining, for instance in minutes, until the expected arrival event, or alternatively identifies the absolute time. This is particularly convenient for a user whom is not at the particular location since it can allow them to time their arrival at the location such as to provide a suitably short wait time until the vehicle arrives. Thus, a traveller could time their departure from home or workplace such that their arrival at the bus stop, or similar, is immediately prior to the vehicle's arrival there. It is convenient also for a user already at the location since the time until arrival information is very useful to have (indeed, this information often is displayed at bus stops, train stations etc.) and since it can give them information by which they can judge whether an alternative means of transport might be more expedient.

In the second branch, the user includes in the request information constituting a request for information pertaining to a particular vehicle, and such is included in the response sent to the user. This information is of particular use in situations where the user does not know how to identify to the service provider a particular location on the route, and in situations where the user is able to intercept the vehicle at any of two or more locations on the vehicle's route and the best location for the user depends on information about the vehicle's location elsewhere on its route.

In the third branch, the request identifies a location and the response is sent when a vehicle of interest is known to be at that location. Such tricring can be particularly useful when the user knows the approximate journey time between the specified location and a location at which the user wishes to intercept the vehicle since it can allow the user to time their departure from home or workplace such that their arrival at the bus stop, or similar, is immediately prior to the vehicle's arrival there. The request can be sent at any time. 1or instance, the request could be sent even before the relevant vehicle had commenced its journey, or it could be sent very shortly before the vehicle reached the specified location.

/0 Whatever time the request is sent, the response is sent as a consequence of the triering event.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a system according to the present invention; and Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating operation of a server forming part of the Figure 1 system.

In this specification it will be appreciated that the term "route" is used in a number of ways. In particular, the term is used to denote the particular sequence of roads etc. which a bus or other vehicle takes. Since typicall' vehicles which take the same sequence of streets etc. at different times are denoted commonly by a particular identifier, known as a route number in bus parlance although it max' incorporate alphabetical characters instead of or in addition to numerical digits, it can be said that those vehicles belong to a given route. The term "route number" is used in this specification to denote an alphanumeric string (which may include only one character) which identifies plural vehicles following the same sequence of streets, or route. In relation to trams, trains etc. the term "route number" denotes a sequence of segments of rail etc. which the vehicle takes to complete its journey.

Along a route, a vehicle may stop at a number of locations, known as "stops". A stop on a bus route may be marked by a sign and/or shelter at the road side. A stop on a tram or train route typically comprises a station, with one or more raised platforms. Although buses in some situations can collect and deposit travellers inbet-ween stops, thcse "unofficial" stops arc flot considered for the purposes of this explanation. The terms "stop" and "location on a route" are used interchangeably in this specification.

A route number typically denotes an entire route from a start location to an end location.

However, in some transport networks a number of different routes share a sequence of roads or rails etc. in common. In such cases, the common part can be designated as a route in itself although in practicality the vehicles travelling the length of that route are made up of vehicles grouped under two or more route numbers. Designating a shared section of two or more routes as a route, having its own route number, allows certain advantages for travellers requiring information about vehicles passing between two locations where the travellers are not interested in the particular route number of the vehicle used for travel. \Vhere a route is comprised of a common section of two routes, information identifying the route number may be made available to the public by way of a web service hosted by the transport service provider, for instance.

Referring to Figure 1, a system 100 is illustrated in schematic form. The system relates to a route having route number R25. The route R25 includes nine stops in a sequence. The stops are numbered SI to S9 in the Figure. A number of vehicles VI to V8 are attached to the route. Vehicles VI, \2 and V3 are shown travelling along the route in a direction from SI towards S9. Vehicles V4, V5 and \T6 are shown travelling along the route R25 in the opposite direct-ion, namely from S9 to Si. \ehicles V7 and V8 are shown as being located off the route R25, for instance at a bus depot. As time progresses, the vehicles Vi to \!9 progress between the stops SI to S9 of the R25.

A location monitoring system 10 is provided. The location monitoring system 10 is arranged to obtain location information relating to the vehicles Vi to \8. This may be effected in an' convenient manner. A number of location monitoring systems which could constitute the location monitoring system 10 are known in the prior art. To detect the locations of the vehicles Vi to V8, the vehicles may be equipped with GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers or similar and report their locations periodically to the location monitoring system 10. Alternatively, the vehicles Vito V8 may be fitted with transponders by which the vehicles can be detected at locations along the route R25 by devices which report to the location monitoring system 10 when a vehicle passes. The way in which location monitoring is carried out is not important to the invention.

The system 100 includes a mobile device 11, for instance a mobile telephone, also known as a cellular telephone. The mobile device 11 is in radio communication with a mobile network 12. The mobile telephone 11 and the mobile network 12 may communicate according to any suitable protocol, for instance GSI\l, UMTS, CDMA-2000 etc. The mobile network 12 is connected to a positioning information system 13. This /0 comprises a number of components, namely a communications module 14, a server 15 and a database 16. Operation of the server 15 is described below with reference to Figure 2.

The database 16 is updated with information relating to the locations of the vehicles VI to V8 by the location monitoring system 10. Each entry in the database includes three fields.

A first field identifies the vehicle to which the entry relates. Implicitly, this identifies the route to which the entry relates, although the route can be included as a separate field. The second field identifies the location of the vehicle. The location may be GPS co-ordinates, or the identification of a location of a transponder located on the route, for instance. The third field denotes a time to which the location information relates. The time may be in any convenient format, and preferably has a resolution of one second. Thus, the database contains a number of entries, each of which denotes the location of a vehicle at a particular time.

Briefly, operation of the system 100 is as follows. A user of the mobile telephone II requests information relating to vehicle location information by sending an SMS message to a predetermined telephone number. This SMS message is transferred to the mobile network 12, which forwards the SMS message to the communications module 14 of the positioning information system 13 on the basis of the telephone number to which the SMS message was directed. The communications module 14 derives a request from the received SMS message and sends it to the server 15. The server 15 operates as described below in relation to Figure 2 to generate a response, which it sends to the communications module 14. The generation of the response involves interrogation of the database 16. On receiving the response, the communications module 14 generates a suitable SMS reply message and sends it-to the mobile telephone 11 by way of the mobile network 12. The communications module 14 knows the telephone number to which to address the SMS message from the originating telephone number of the SMS message received from the mobile telephone 11.

Operation of the server 15 will now be described with reference to Figure 2.

In Figure 2, a flow chart 21) commences at step 21, where the server 15 receives the request from the communications module 14. At step 22, the server 15 formulates a database /0 query based on the request. The database query is then sent at step 23. The database query formulated in step 22 includes information and parameters intended to elicit from the database 16 information from which the server 15 can provide the information needed to generate a response including the information requested by the user of the mobile telephone 11. At step 24, the server 15 receives a response to the query from the database 16.

At step 25, the information received as part of the response from the database 16 is extrapolated. This involves the extrapolation of location and time information from database entries relating to a vehicle of interest. From the extrapolated information, the server 15 determines a time at which the relevant vehicle is expected to be at a location of interest. At step 26, a response is generated by the server 15. The response includes the information of interest to the user of the mobile telephone 11, as is explained in more detail below. At step 27, the response is sent from the server 15 to the communications module 14, which in response generates and sends to the mobile telephone 11 a suitable SMS message.

The extrapolation of information carried out in step 25 of Figure 2 depends on the content of the request received from the mobile telephone 11.

In one embodiment the request includes four fields. A first field indicates a route number of interest. A second field indicates a direction of interest, for instance an outbound direction from SI towards S9 or an inbound direction from S9 to SI. A third field indicates a vehicle departure of interest. A fourth field indicates a location of interest on the route. An example of a request formulated in this way follows: R25.( ).2.S7 This request is generated by a user typing the characters shown into a new SMS message using the keypad of the mobile telephone 11. The character. denotes the delimiting of different fields of the request. The characters R25' denotes the route number R25. The character 0' denotes an outbound journey, i.e. in the direction from SI towards S9. The character 2' denotes the second departure of the day from the origin of the journey, in this case stop Si. The fourth field includes the characters S7' and denotes that the user is interested in the arrival of vehicles at the stop S7 on the route R25.

On receiving the SMS message, the communications module 14 generates a request including the relevant information and forwards it to the server 15. On receiving the request, the server is able to determine that information is required about the second outbound departure of the day on route R25, and in particular that information is required as to what time the vehicle which constitutes the second departure is expected to arrive at stop S7 on the route R25. On receiving this request, the server 15 formulates a database query requesting information from the database 16 in respect of the relevant vehicle. The exact format of the query is not of particular relevance to the invention.

The reply from the database 16 includes a number of entries meeting the specified criteria.

If the one of the vehicles VI to V8 which constitutes the second departure of the day has commenced its journey, then the database 16 will return plural entries, each relating to a different location and time. If the vehicle has flot yet commenced its journey, then the database 16 might return a single entry, indicating that the vehicle is at the depot at the beginning of the journey. In the event of there being plural entries included in the response to the query, the server 15 extrapolates the location and time information such as to provide an estimation of the time of arrival of the vehicle at the location S7. The extrapolation typically involves knowledge of the average journey times between various locations along the route. For additional accuracy, the extrapolation may take into account also information concerning current traffic conditions, weather conditions, driver identity and the like which might impact on the time of arrival of the vehicle at the location of interest. To this end, the extrapolation may involve extrapolation from two or more entries from the database, or it max' involve simple extrapolation of the entry of the database which relates to the most recent time. l-Iowever it is calculated, the result of the extrapolation step is the generation of a time of day at which the vehicle is anticipated to arrive at the location of interest.

The server 15 and the communications module 14 cooperate to generate a response incorporating the calculated anticipated time of arrival. In this example, the response takes the following form: R25.S7. 10:25 In this response, R25' denotes the route and S7' denotes the location of interest on the route. The final part of the response 10:25' denotes the anticipated time of arrival at the stop S7. The three fields are delimited by the character.. On receiving the SMS 11, the response can be displayed on a display of the mobile telephone 11, from which the user can obtain the information requested. In this case, the information requested was the time of arrival of the relevant vehicle at the location of interest, and this is given by the final field of the response. The route number and the location of interest are identified in the first two fields of the response, Sc) as to allow the user to distinguish between the response and responses relating to other requests. However, it may be that the inclusion of the route number and the location of interest in the response is not required.

If the anticipated time of arrival at the stop is not imminent, the user max' choose to send another request closer to the anticipated arrival time. On sending such a request, which would have exactly the same content as the original request and thus could be effected simply by forwarding the original message to the same telephone number, the server 15 would be required to interrogate the database 16, and the database 16 would provide to the server 15 a number of additional entries. Since some of these entries would relate to a more recent time than the entries provided in response to the corresponding query relating to the earlier request, the server 15 would calculate the anticipated time of arrival of the vehicle at the location of interest on the basis of more up-to-date information, and thus -10 -more accurately calculate the anticipated time of arrival. The reply subsequently provided to the mobile telephone 11 by the servcr 15 and the communications module 14 includes the more accurate time of arrival information.

The result of the above is the provision to the user of the mobile telephone 11 of the information that they require through a very simple mechanism, in particular the sending of an SMS having a relatively low number of characters, and the receiving of an SMS including the required information and also potentially having a low number of characters.

The above embodiment is particularly applicable to rural bus systems and the like, in which there is a relatively small number of vehicles travelling over a given route on a particular day. In such situations, the user is relatively likely to know the timetable sufficienth' that the' can include the relevant departure indicator in the request. In situations where a greater number of vehicles covering a given route in a given day or when the user is not sufficiently familiar with the timetable for the route, the second embodiment of the invention is particularly useful. The second embodiment will now be described, again with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

In the second embodiment, the request generated by the user of the mobile telephone 11 includes four fields, three of which are the same as the fields of the first embodiment. The difference is that the third field denotes that the user requires information about the next vehicle to arrive at the location of interest. An example request is as follows: R25.( ).N.S8 Here, the request relates to route R25, an outbound journey and stop S8. The N' in the third field denotes that the user is interested in information pertaining to the next vehicle to arrive at the stop S8.

On receiving such a request, the server 15 formulates a database query which is more wide-ranging that the database query formulated in the first embodiment described above. In particular, the query relates not solely to a single vehicle but to plural vehicles operating the route of interest. The response to the query received from the database 16 thus is likely to include a significantly higher number of database entries. The server 15 filters the response so as to remove those fields which are not of interest, particularh' as regards vehicles which have already passed the location of interest. From the remaining fields, the server 15 performs multiple extrapolations and determines therefrom the anticipated times of arrival of the next one or two vehicles at the location specified in the request.

The response generated by the server 15 and the communications module 14 takes the same form as the response generated in the first embodiment. An example response is as follows: R25.S8. 10:25 Advantageously, the server 15 is arranged to provide a response including the times of arrival of the next two vehicles. An example response follows: R25.S8.1 1:13,11:31 This is advantageous to the user since they do not need to send an additional request for information about the next-but-one vehicle, should it not be convenient or possible for them to meet the vehicle which is next to arrive at the location of interest. This has the technical effect of reducing the number of communications sent between the mobile telephone 11 and the positioning information system 13.

In a third embodiment of the invention, the server 15 is not arranged to send a response immediately on determining the information requested by the user. Instead, the server 15 is operable to send a response to the user in response to a triggering event, particularly a vehicle of interest arriving at or passing a location of interest. The request and response may take any suitable form. This embodiment is particularly useful when, for instance, the user desires to know when a vehicle of interest arrives at or passes a stop immediately preceding a stop at which they wish to board the vehicle. Being provided with a response triggered by the arrival of the vehicle at the preceding stop or the passing by of the stop by that vehicle can allow them to time their departure from their home or workplace such as to arrive at the stop of interest at an appropriate time. So as to mitigate any possible -12 -disadvantages resulting from delay in the sending of an SMS by the positioning information system and the delivery of it to the mobile telephone 11, the response may also include the time at which the vehicle was detected to be present at the preceding stop.

Although in this specification reference is made to the arrival of vehicles at Jocations, it will be appreciated that this is intended to cover also the timing of departure of vehicles.

Although usually departure occurs a short time after arrival, there can be instances in which a significant wait is made before departing. In such situations, the departure time would tend to be more of interest to travellers.

The invention is applicable also to delivery systems. It is well known for the tracking of parcels etc. on their journey between a sender address and a recipient address through a website of a delivery service. Once the ehicle carrying the vehicle from the final depot to the recipient address leaves the depot, though, it is not possible to determine the location of the vehicle nor determine the likely time of arrival of the vehicle at the recipient address.

It is well known that this is very inconvenient for those expecting delivery of parcels since they usually need to be available at the recipient address for a number of hours so as to ensure that they are able to receive the parcel when it arrives at the recipient address.

In further embodiments of the invention, the principles of the first and third embodiments described above are applied to a de1iver' system comprising plural delivery vehicles. The delivery service sends the recipient (user) a message, for instance an email or SMS, identifying their delivery. The delivery may be identified by a vehicle identifier and an identifier relating to the position in the sequence of deliveries that the delivery has been allocated. For instance, the delivery may be identified by delivery vehicle number 34 and delivery number 6 (denoting the sixth delivery scheduled for that vehicle. Applying the principles of the first embodiment, the user sends an SMS to a telephone number designated b' the delivers' service and including the delivery identifier, following which the server 15 interrogates the database 15 and extrapolates from the reply an expected delivery (arrival) time, having regard to the vehicle's journey, and sends that time in a response to the user. Applying the principles of the third embodiment, the user sends an SMS to a telephone number designated by the delivers' service and including a delivers' identifier relating to a delivery prior to the delivery of interest, following which the server 15 -13 -monitors the location of the relevant vehicle and sends a response when the vehicle makes the deliver)' prior to the delivery of interest, thereby giving the user an indication that their deiver'' is imminent. In these embodiments,the terms route' and route number' explained above in relation to public transport have equivalents in journey' and delivery vehicle number' respectively.

It will be appreciated that the above-described embodiments are provided solely for the purpose of illustration, and are not intended to be limiting on the scope of protection. The scope of the invention is defined only by the appended claims.

Various other embodiments will be apparent to the skilled person.

Claims

-14 -Claims 1. A positioning information system comprising: a database

containing informath)n identifying contemporary loCationS of plural vehicles; a commurncatlons module operable in response to receiving an St\IS from a mobile communications network to extract from the SMS information identifring ofle of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles and information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and to forward a corresponding request to a server; the server being operable in response to receiving the request to interrogate the database for information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, to extrapolate the information, to generate a response including or derived from the extrapolated information, and to send the response to the communications module; and the communications module being responsive to receiving a response from the server to send an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.
2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the database contains plural records, each including information identifying a vehicle, a location and a time that the vehicle was associated with that location.
3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the server is operable to extrapolate information from two or more records relating to the same vehicle to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.
4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the server is operable to extrapolate information from at least OflC record relating to a given vehicle using pre-existing information concerning journey times over the route to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.
5. A system as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the server is operable to extrapolate information from at least one record relating to a given vehicle and using -15 -contemporary information concerning conditions on the route to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.
6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a specific vehicle to provide a response related ()flj\T to that vehicle.
7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a group of vehicles to provide a response indicating an expected time of arrival at the location of interest of the one of said group of vehicles which is determined to be the next of said group to arrive at said location of interest.
8. A positioning information system comprising: a communications module operable in response to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network to extract from the SMS information identifying a vehicle or a group of vehicles and information identifying a location of interest on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and to forward a corresponding request to a server; the server being operable in response to receiving the request to monitor information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, to detect when the vehicle or one or more of said group of vehides meets a predetermined criterion with regard to the location of interest, to respond to making such a detection by generating a response, and to send the response to the communications module; and the communications module being responsive to receiving a response from the server to send an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.
9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a specific vehicle to provide a response related only to that vehicle.
10. A system substantially as shown in and/or as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

-16 -
11. A method comprising: maintaining a database containing informath)n identifying contemporary locations of plural vehicles; controlling a communications module to respond to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network by extracting from the SMS information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles and information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and by fonvarding a corresponding request to a server; to control the server being operable to respond to receiving the request by interrogating the database for information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, extrapolating the information, generating a response including or derived from the extrapolated information, and sending the response to the communications module; and controlling the communications module to respond to receiving a response from the server by sending an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.
12. A method comprising: controlling a communications module to respond to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network, the SMS including at least three fields each delimited from one another by a delimiting character, a first field including information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles, a second field induding information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and a third field denoting either a particu]ar departure or being an indication that information about a next vehide to arrive is required, by extracting from the SMS the information identifying a vehicle or a group of vehicles and the information identifying a location of interest on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and forwarding a corresponding request to a server; controlling the server to respond to receiving the request by monitoring information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, by detecting when the vehicle or one or more of said group of vehicles meets a predetermined criterion with regard to the location of interest, by responding to making such a detection by generating a response, and by sending the response to the communications module; and controlling the communications module to respond to receiving a response from the server by sending an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS * request. * S.

S a..

S S... S,* S. *

12. A method comprising: controlling a communications module to respond to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network by extracting from the SMS information identifying a vehicle or a group of vehicles and information identifying a location of interest on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and forwarding a corresponding request to a server; controlling the server to respond to receiving the request by monitoring information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, by detecting when the vehicle or one or more of said group of vehicles meets a predetermined criterion with regard to the location of interest, by responding to making such a detection by generating a response, and by sending the response to the communications module; and controlling the communications module to respond to receiving a response from the server by sending an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request. fl-

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A positioning information system comprising: a database containing information identifying contemporary locations of plural vehicles; a communications module operable in response to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network, the SMS including at least three fields each delimited from one another by a delimiting character, a first field including information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles, a second field including information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehides, and a third field denoting either a particular depaxture or being an indication that information about a next vehicle to arrive is required, to extract from the SMS the information ideniifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles and the information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and to forward a corresponding request to a server; the server being operable in response to receiving the request to interrogate the database for infonnation pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, to extrapolate the information, to generate a response including or derived from the extrapolated information, and to send the response to the communications module; and the communications module being responsive to receiving a response from the server to send an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.

2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the database contains plural records, each including information identifying a vehicle, a location and a time that the vehicle was associated with that location.

3. A system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the server is operable to extrapolate information from two or more records relating to the same vehicle to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.

4. A system as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the sewer is operable to extrapolate information from at least one record relating to a given vehicle using pre-existing information concerning journey times over the route to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.

5. A system as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4, wherein the server is operable to extrapolate information from at least one record relating to a given vehicle and using contemporary information concerning conditions on the route to estimate a time at which the vehicle is expected to be at a location.

6. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a specific vehide to provide a response related only to that vehicle.

7. A system as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a group of vehicles to provide a response indicating an expected time of arrival at the location of interest of the one of said group of : vehicles which is determined to be the next of said group to arrive at said location of *... * .

Interest. * .* S. S

*:. 8. A positioning information system comprising: a communications module operable in response to receiving an SMS from a mobile *:::: communications network, the SMS including at least three fields each delimited from one another by a delimiting character, a first field including information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles, a second field including information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and a third field denoting either a particular departure or being an indication that information about a next vehicle to arrive is required, to extract from the SMS the information identifying a vehicle or a group of vehicles and the information identifying a location of interest on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and to forward a corresponding request to a server; the server being operable in response to receiving the request to monitor information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, to detect when the vehicle or one or more of said group of vehicles meets a predetermined criterion with regard to the location of interest, to respond to making such a detection by generating a response, and to send the response to the communications module; and the communications module being responsive to receiving a response from the server to send an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.

9. A system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the server is responsive to receiving a request including an indication of a specific vehide to provide a response related only to that vehicle.

10. A system substantially as shown in and/or as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

11. A method comprising: maintaining a database contining information identifying contemporary locations of plural vehides; controlling a communications module to respond to receiving an SMS from a mobile communications network, the SMS including at least three fields each delimited ::::. from one another by a delimiting character, a first field including information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles, a second field including * ** information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and a S *S third field denoting either a particular departure or being an indication that information about a next vehicle to arrive is required, by extracting from the SMS the information identifying one of the plural vehicles or a group of said plural vehicles and the information identifying a location on a route of said vehicle or group of vehicles, and by forwarding a corresponding request to a server; controlling the server to respond to receiving the request by interrogating the database for information pertaining to the vehicle or to one or more of said group of vehicles, extrapolating the information, generating a response induding or derived from the extrapolated information, and sending the response to the communications module; and controlling the communications module to respond to receiving a response from the server by sending an SMS derived from the response to the originator of the SMS request.