WO2003098556A1

WO2003098556A1 - A system for evaluating a vehicles usage within zones

Info

Publication number: WO2003098556A1
Application number: PCT/GB2003/002048
Authority: WO
Inventors: Duncan Gregg Matheson; Philip Jeanes
Original assignee: Pa Consulting Services Limited
Priority date: 2002-05-15
Filing date: 2003-05-13
Publication date: 2003-11-27
Also published as: GB0211131D0; AU2003230024A1

Abstract

An evaluation system for evaluating at least one of the time and distance travelled by a vehicle in an area comprising at least one zone, the system comprising: vehicle locating means for estimating the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; storage means holding a map of the area, whereby individual zones can be identified; processing means arranged to use the estimated location to determine at least one of the time and distance travelled and to thereby calculate the total vehicle’s usage within the identified zones for said at least one of the time distance.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR EVALUATING A VEHICLES USAGE WITHIN ZONES

The present invention relates to an evaluation system for travel distance and time which is particularly but not exclusively concerned with evaluating road occupancy and usage by road vehicles. It will be appreciated that the system could also be used for other devices and other transport systems.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an evaluation system for evaluating at least one of the time and distance travelled by a vehicle travelling in an area comprising at least one zone, the system comprising: vehicle locating means for estimating the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; storage means holding a map of the area, whereby individual zones can be identified; processing means arranged to use the estimated location to determine at least one of the time and distance travelled and to thereby calculate the total vehicle's usage within the identified zones for said at least one of the time and distance.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of charging for usage of a vehicle network, the method comprising: determining the total time and distance travelled using periodic estimated locations; apportioning differing tariffs to differing zones; assigning charging units to the vehicle according to the determined distance and time travelled in each zone and the corresponding tariffs; transmitting the charging units with identification data of the vehicle to a data collector; and generating an invoice based on the charging units and identification data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a method for evaluating at least one of the time and distance travelled by a vehicle travelling in an area comprising at least one zone, the method comprising: estimating the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; identifying individual zones using a map of the area; determining at least one of the time and distance travelled using the estimated locations; and calculating the total vehicle's usage within the identified zones for said at least one of the time and distance. According to a fourth aspect of the present invention there is provided a system for charging for usage of a vehicle network, the system comprising: means for estimating the location of a vehicle; an on-board processor associated with the vehicle including a memory holding a tariff structure applying differing tariffs to differing zones of the network and means for calculating charges for the vehicle based on it's usage of the network as determined from the estimated locations and the tariff structure; an interface for transmitting charge units with identification of the vehicle to a data collector; and means for generating an invoice based on the charge units and identification data.

The zones can be defined as geographical polygons and/or as narrow network elements (corridors), representing major routes. In the following described embodiment, the evaluation system provides a road occupancy and usage evaluation system which is a self contained system that calculates distance and time spent in a combination of corridors and polygon zones to an accuracy of within 1% over a period of time. It can be implemented using existing low cost GPS technology to estimate the vehicle's time and position. The processing means implements computational processes to identify zones, calculate the vehicle path and log distance and time between each point. Periodically, travel segments are rated according to tariff tables and entered into storage tables, together with appropriate parameters to facilitate subsequent billing operations.

Unlike many GPS-based vehicle location systems that attempt to precisely locate vehicles at all times, the present system works from the limited accuracy of GPS locations to accumulate usage and time information within each zone which is within the overall tolerance for distance evaluation and also preserve personal privacy.

One embodiment of the system omits the need to identify network elements such as major routes or highways and is merely based on the location of the vehicle within certain zones with some zones being defined as "corridors". It will readily be appreciated that a more advanced version of the system is also envisaged in which, in addition to identifying zones, the system also identifies network elements such as major routes or highways. Thus the system could be based on a zone map indicating allotted zones, a network map indicating network elements, or a combination of the two. The system can be used to support a business process for properly charging out road occupancy and usage. For example, it can be used for the following:

- road user charging or taxing for use of roads (including motorways)

- motor insurance premium calculations where these depend on distance and/or location of usage

- information services charging based on location and time of the service event

- business vehicle usage for rental or leasing purposes

- private transportation or public transportation fare evaluation

- other services which may be charged on location and time

For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of components of a route evaluation system;

Figure 1A is a flow chart illustrating evaluation algorithms executed by the route evaluation system;

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of distance within a travel zone;

Figure 3 is a diagram illustrating the organisation of differing tariffs; and

Figures 4a and 4b are differing tariff arrangements for road usage and occupancy respectively.

Figure 1 illustrates schematically components of a so-called route-meter. It comprises a processor unit 2 with on-board RAM 4. There is a GPS chip set 6 with corrected and smoothed outputs providing latitude/longitude points at a frequency of 0.5 to 2 Hz. The GPS chip set 6 has an antenna 8 that is combined with the dedicated short-range communications (DSRC) antenna which forms part of a DSRC interface 10. The DSRC interface 10 can communicate with a data collector 15.

A power supply is directly connected via a power board to the ignition circuit of a vehicle and is shown diagrammatically by way of the arrow at the bottom of Figure 1. Any suitable power supply can be provided.

Components within the dotted rectangle are optional extras and include a smart card reader 12 and a GSM/GPRS interface 14. This can facilitate communications with the billing operations.

The on-board RAM 4 holds encoded tables allowing a network to be defined in the form of polygons identified as zones and/or corridors. In particular, in the described embodiment, the on-board memory 4 holds encoded tables of:

• zoning polygon definition (to 1 meter accuracy), e.g. postcode boundary file;

• network definition (to 1 meter accuracy), e.g. trunk road network, defining corridors; and

• tariff tables held as parameterised zone/time data.

The zoning polygon definition file allows the network to be divided into zones, which can, for convenience, be in the form of contiguous polygons much as, for examples, cells in a wireless communication network. However, the size and shape of the zones may vary according to a likely tariff to be applied to the zones in dependence on their expected traffic usage. For example zones could be classified into three types, for example urban zones, inter-urban zones, and rural areas.

The GPS chip set 6 serves to estimate the vehicle's position in accordance with known low-cost GPS technology. Using the arrangement described herein there is no need to precisely locate vehicles at all times. Instead, an estimate of the location is adequate for reasons which will become clear in the following. The processor unit 2 executes a set of evaluation algorithms which are used to evaluate the time and distance components in various zones (polygons and/or corridors). These algorithms operate as shown in Figure 1 a.

At step SI, the GPS chip set 6 identifies a current time and location (with confidence/error estimate). The evaluation is carried out at intervals of about 1 second with smoothing for statistical errors using, for example, Kalman filters.

At step S2, the time t and the distance d are evaluated since the last point.

At step S3, it is determined whether or not the vehicle is in the same zone. If the vehicle is located in the same zone then step S6 is performed directly. At step S6, appropriate values in units are evaluated from tariff tables held in the on-board memory 4 and accumulated ready for the next location to be processed.

If the zone may have changed, "benefit of doubt proximity" is used to identify the most likely zone, given the vehicle's location. Step S5 and step S3 are repeated until a positive or negative result to step S3 is achieved. Note that this is a recursive algorithm in which points may be re-evaluated when the next point is processed. The system thus accounts for the available accuracy of GPS locations. The position of a vehicle in "benefit of doubt" tolerance areas may be re-evaluated. In one simple embodiment, when the vehicle is located in "benefit of doubt" areas the vehicle may be presumed to be located in the area with the lower tariff. Alternatively, in a more sophisticated embodiment, the path of the vehicle (i.e. previous distance and time measurements) may be used to predict which zone the vehicle is located in. That is, distance and time measurements may be used along with information from a network or zone map in order to predict the vehicle's path and determine if a vehicle has crossed into another zone.

If the zone has changed, at step S4, the location is adjusted to identify the location and time at which the zone boundary was crossed and the time and distance travelled from the last point is recalculated. That is, the location and time at which the vehicle crossed the boundary from a first zone to a second zone is determined. The determination of the crossing point may be made using the simple or more sophisticated methods outlined above. The distance and time travelled in the first zone up until the crossing point is calculated, and using the tariff allocated to the first zone, the charge is evaluated up until the crossing point (step S7). The charging item for the first zone is then stored (step S8). The distance and time travelled in the new zone may then be calculated and the associated charge calculated using the tariff allocated to the new zone (step S9). In step S9 the corresponding tariffs are looked up and added into the appropriate storage record and flagged for future billing transfer at the next data exchange.

Finally, the display is amended and the information is logged.

Figure 2 illustrates how an embodiment of the "benefit of doubt" proximity algorithm works to identify a network element. In Figure 2, the major black line 16 represents a major route, such as a motorway or A road. The dotted circles 17a, 17b ... 17n represent GPS generated way points to an accuracy of around 15 meters. At the point at which these way points 17c,17d,17e appear to trace the route of a major route 16, the algorithm assumes that that is the route that is taken by the vehicle up to the point until the GPS generated way points start to deviate significantly from the route, for example at 17f. The shaded grey line 18 in Figure 2 shows the vehicle track that is charged for the network portion labelled zone A. A similar exercise is then carried out once it is determined that the vehicle has left zone A and entered the adjacent zone, zone B.

Figure 3 shows schematically a typical tariff structure in and around a town / city. Several individual zones can be identified in the zone map covering this particular area, with corresponding tariffs apportioned to the different zones. The zones include a town / city with a corresponding town and city tariff 20; a motorway through an urban area 22; an inter-urban road 24 and areas around the town/city 26 apportioned with other area tariffs. Also shown in Figure 3 are the benefit of doubt tolerance areas 28 bordering the different zones. Within these areas benefit of doubt processing is utilized to determine which zones the vehicle is to be charged for. The benefit of doubt process identifies the zone with the lower tariff unless both the previous and following locations are in the higher tariff zone. Figures 4a and 4b illustrate respective road usage tariffs and occupancy tariffs for differently classified zones. It will be seen from these tariffs that once a vehicle has been identified as being in a certain zone, a certain tariff is applied to the usage of roads within that zone. In addition, if it is determined that the vehicle has used a major route in the form of a corridor, this can be charged at a different rate regardless of the zone within which the route is taken. The tariff may be divided into a range of time-based rates, such as peak time and off-peak rates.

In an embodiment of the invention the system has a dedicated short range communications (DSRC) interface. This can be infrared or microwave at 5.8GHz. The DSRC interface can exchange data with external devices located on the road side, bridges or tunnels for maintenance and usage enforcement purposes. The data may be based on parameters such as location, time and/or type of vehicle. The data may be transmitted to the external device from the on-board system with a vehicle or unit i.d. for invoicing. Alternatively or additionally, information may be sent to the on-board system from the external device. Generally, parameterised data will be in the form of units based on records of time and distance not yet billed. Different functions may also be applied to the tariffs. For example, a business trip function may be implemented which influences the way in which the billing procedure is carried out. The billing record is held in the RAM prior to sending to the data collectors. Preferably, the current charges (and also predicted charges for a prospective route) may be displayed within the vehicle.

The system described hereinabove can be used to support a business process which bases the evaluation and accumulation of units on geographic location, time of event and registered characteristics of a vehicle. A series of business rules can be applied to the evaluation and collection of units and implemented in the algorithms which are executed by the processor unit 2. These rules include:

- number of charged units per entry into a zone based on time of entry or exit;

- number of charged units for duration of time within the zone;

- number of charged units for the distance travelled within a zone and the time that the travel took place; - specific charges as indicated by DSRC event transactions such as may be generated by toll-bridges, tunnels etc

- vehicle type classifications held within the device for each type of unit and vehicle.

Units may be collected and transferred in a periodic basis via the optional interface to a smart card reader or via DSRC, GSM/SMS or GPRS to a data collector and subsequently billed.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An evaluation system for evaluating at least one of the time and distance travelled by a vehicle travelling in an area comprising at least one zone, the system comprising: vehicle locating means for estimating the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; storage means holding a map of the area, whereby individual zones can be identified; processing means arranged to use the estimated location to determine at least one of the time and distance travelled and to thereby calculate the total vehicle's usage within the identified zones for said at least one of the time and distance.

2. An evaluation system according to claim 1 wherein the zones are defined as geographical polygons.

3. An evaluation system according to claim 1 wherein zones are defined as corridors.

4. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim wherein the vehicle locating means comprises a GPS system.

5. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim wherein the zones are associated with different tariff rates.

6. An evaluation system according to claim 5 which comprises a table holding said tariff rates.

7. An evaluation system according to claim 5 or 6 which comprises a record table for holding charge amounts based on the vehicle's usage of identified zones.

8. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim which comprises a transfer interface for transferring information concerning the vehicle's usage to a data collector.

9. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim in which both the time and the distance travelled by the vehicle are evaluated.

10. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim wherein the estimated locations are used to determine the most likely vehicle path.

11. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim further comprising a map defining network elements.

12. An evaluation system according to any preceding claim, wherein when the vehicle travels from a first zone to a second zone, the estimated locations are used to determine a cross-over point from the first zone to the second zone.

13. An evaluation system according to claim 12 wherein at least one of the distance and time travelled in the first zone is evaluated up to the cross-over point and at least one of the distance and time travelled in the second zone is evaluated from the cross-over point.

14. A method of charging for usage of a vehicle network, the method comprising: determining the total time and distance travelled using periodic estimated locations; apportioning differing tariffs to differing zones; assigning charging units to the vehicle according to the determined distance and time travelled in each zone and the corresponding tariffs; transmitting the charging units with identification data of the vehicle to a data collector; and generating an invoice based on the charging units and identification data.

15. A method for evaluating at least one of the time and distance travelled by a vehicle travelling in an area comprising at least one zone, the method comprising: estimating the location of the vehicle at predetermined time intervals; identifying individual zones using a map of the area; determining at least one of the time and distance travelled using the estimated locations; and calculating the total vehicle's usage within the identified zones for said at least one of the time and distance.

16. A system for charging for usage of a vehicle network, the system comprising: means for estimating the location of a vehicle; an on-board processor associated with the vehicle including a memory holding a tariff structure applying differing tariffs to differing zones of the network and means for calculating charges for the vehicle based on it's usage of the network as determined from the estimated locations and the tariff structure; an interface for transmitting charge units with identification of the vehicle to a data collector; and means for generating an invoice based on the charge units and identification data.

17. An evaluation system according to claim 15, wherein the data collector is off-board and said interface operates with wireless transmission.