AU2016201117A1 - A system for generating eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to vehicle tracking systems and in particular, but not necessarily entirely, to a system for generating parking register data and eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices. The system defined in the invention is adapted for generating parking register data and eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices. The system further comprises an in-car tracking device. The in-car tracking device is installed within vehicles for the purposes of capturing, storing and transmitting in-car data including the location of the vehicle and other data. Config 183 Eligible regions R 182 Car Parks ROM Processor 115 110 GPS Receiver I/O interface Inerce 135 Storage 140 medium reader GSM Network 150 145 Storage 180 media ____ ____ ____ ____160 185 165 190 Parking Register Details Config Page 170 195 Eligible Region Trip Details Browser Report/Audit Page 175 Webserver Fuel 197 usage Server interface Figure 1

Description

A SYSTEM FOR GENERATING ELIGIBLE REGION FUEL USAGE REGISTER DATA IN ACCORDANCE WITH IN-CAR DATA RECEIVED FROM A PLURALITY OF LOCATION TRACKING DEVICES

Field of the Invention [1] The present invention relates to vehicle tracking systems and in particular, but not necessarily entirely, to a system for generating parking register data and eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices.

Summary of the Disclosure [2] According to one aspect, there is provided a system for generating eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices, the system comprising a server comprising a database for storing digital data including vehicle identifier data representing a plurality of vehicles; and a plurality of in-car tracking devices installed in the plurality of vehicles, each in car tracking device comprising a location sensor to determine a location of each vehicle, a memory device for storing digital data, including in car data calculated in accordance with the location of each vehicle; and a data interface for transmitting the in car data to the server across a network, wherein, in use, the system may be adapted to receive eligible region data representing an eligible region; receive fuel usage data representing a fuel usage during a reporting period for each vehicle; calculate an eligible distance travelled for each of the plurality of vehicles representing the distance travelled within the eligible region during the reporting period in accordance with the in car data; calculate an eligible fuel usage amount in accordance with the eligible distance and the fuel usage for each vehicle; and generate the eligible region fuel usage register data comprising at least vehicle identifier data representing the plurality of vehicles and the respective eligible fuel usage amount for each of the plurality of vehicles for the reporting period; and generate a report comprising the eligible region fuel usage register data.

[3] The report may comprise the reporting period; the vehicle identifiers uniquely identifying each of the plurality of vehicles; distance travelled in eligible regions by each of the plurality of vehicles; and the total distance travelled by each of the plurality of vehicles.

[4] Receiving eligible region data further may comprise programming a memory device of the in car tracking device with the eligible region data.

[5] The in car device may comprise a processor and wherein the processor may be controlled by computer program code to calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with the in-car data.

[6] The processor may be adapted to calculate when the respective vehicle enters the eligible region in accordance with the location data received from the location sensor and the geo-fence data.

[7] The processor may be adapted to calculate when the respective vehicle exits the eligible region in accordance with the location data received from the location sensor and the geo-fence data.

[8] The processor may be adapted to calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with detecting when the vehicle enters and leaves the eligible region.

[9] The processor may be adapted to transmit the eligible distance travelled to the server, via the data interface.

[10] The system may be further adapted to calculate an ineligible distance travelled for each of the plurality of vehicles representing the distance travelled outside the eligible region during the reporting period in accordance with the in car data; and calculate the eligible fuel usage amount in accordance with the ratio of the eligible distance and the non-eligible distance.

[11] Receiving fuel usage data may comprise receiving the fuel usage data from a fuel usage interface.

[12] The fuel usage interface may be a fuel card financial transaction processing system.

[13] Receiving fuel usage data may comprise using a fuel card identifier to retrieve the fuel usage data from the fuel card financial transaction processing system.

[14] The fuel usage interface may be a vehicle on-board fuel consumption meter.

[15] The in-car tracking devices may comprise the fuel usage interface.

[16] The fuel usage interface may comprise an interface adapted to interface with a diagnostics port of each vehicle to receive the fuel usage data via the diagnostics port.

[17] The server may be adapted to send, via an API, the eligible region fuel usage register data to a tax authority interface.

[18] The system may be further adapted to calculate a fuel tax refund in accordance with a claimable rate.

[19] Other aspects of the invention are also disclosed.

Brief Description of the Drawings [20] Notwithstanding any other forms which may fall within the scope of the present invention, a preferred embodiments of the disclosure will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: [21] Figure 1 shows a system for generating parking register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [22] Figure 2 shows exemplary software modules of the in-car device of the system of Figure 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [23] Figure 3 shows an exemplary map representation to illustrate the functionality of the system of Figure 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [24] Figure 4 shows an exemplary method for calculating parking register data in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [25] Figure 5 shows an exemplary method for calculating fuel tax credit eligible travel in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [26] Figure 6 shows an exemplary graphical user interface showing the parking register details in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [27] Figure 7 shows an exemplary graphical user interface showing an exemplary representation of the parking register in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; [28] Figure 8 shows an exemplary map representation in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure; and [29] Figure 9 shows the exemplary fuel tax credit register generated by the system of Figure 1 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure.

Description of Embodiments [30] For the purposes of promoting an understanding of the principles in accordance with the disclosure, reference will now be made to the embodiments illustrated in the drawings and specific language will be used to describe the same. It will nevertheless be understood that no limitation of the scope of the disclosure is thereby intended. Any alterations and further modifications of the inventive features illustrated herein, and any additional applications of the principles of the disclosure as illustrated herein, which would normally occur to one skilled in the relevant art and having possession of this disclosure, are to be considered within the scope of the disclosure.

[31] Before the structures, systems and associated methods relating to the system are disclosed and described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the particular configurations, and process steps disclosed herein as such may vary somewhat. It is also to be understood that the terminology employed herein is used for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting since the scope of the disclosure will be limited only by the claims and equivalents thereof.

[32] In describing and claiming the subject matter of the disclosure, the following terminology will be used in accordance with the definitions set out below.

[33] It must be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[34] As used herein, the terms "comprising," "including," "containing," "characterised by," and grammatical equivalents thereof are inclusive or open-ended terms that do not exclude additional, unrecited elements or method steps.

[35] It should be noted in the following description that like or the same reference numerals in different embodiments denote the same or similar features.

System 100 [36] Turning now to figure 1, there is shown a system 100. There will be described herein two primary embodiments comprising a first embodiment wherein the system 100 is adapted for generating parking register data a second embodiment wherein the system is adapted for generating eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices.

[37] It should be noted here in that no technical limitation should necessarily be imputed to the term "in-car". Rather, the term is used herein primarily for exemplary illustrative purposes to represent that the data is obtained in or at the car representing various parameters of the car, such as location, speed, mileage and the like and collected by the in-car device 105.

[38] The system 100 comprises an in-car tracking device 105. The in-car tracking device 105 is installed within vehicles for the purposes of capturing, storing and transmitting in-car data including the location of the vehicle and other data.

[39] As such, the device 105 comprises processor 115 for processing digital data. Operably coupled to the processor via a bus 125 is a memory device 102 adapted for storing digital data including computer program code. The processor 115 may be a low-power processor suited for power consumption and thermal dissipation restrictions. Furthermore, the memory device 102 may comprise RAM or ROM memory.

[40] The device 105 further comprises a location sensor shown as the GPS receiver 110. The GPS receiver 110 is adapted to receive GPS signals such that the processor 115 is able to calculate the location of the device 105 usually as represented by latitude and longitude coordinates.

[41] The device 105 may further comprise an I/O interface 130 adapted for interfacing with various peripherals including user interface peripherals. In the embodiment shown, the I/O interface 130 may also be operably coupled to a storage medium reader 140, such as USB flash drive or programming interface for the purposes of receiving computer program code from a computer program code storage media 145.

[42] Furthermore, the device 105 comprises a data interface for transmitting the in-car data. In the embodiment shown, the data interface comprises a GSM interface 135. In this manner, the device 105 may advantageously transmit the in-car data wirelessly from the vehicle using long-range GSM networks. In an alternative embodiment, the device 105 may store the in-car data in the memory device 102 for subsequent retrieval.

[43] In a preferred embodiment, the device 105 is a small modular ruggedised unit such as the size of a match box adapted for electrical coupling to the diagnostics port of a vehicle. In this manner, the device 105 may draw power from the vehicle electrical system. In other embodiments, the device 105 may read data from the diagnostics port of the vehicle, such as the speed of the vehicle, the fuel consumption of the vehicle and the like.

[44] Preferably, the device 105 comprises anti-tamper properties, so as to be able to detect the disconnection from the diagnostics port, for example. In embodiments, the device 105 may comprise battery storage or the like to provide for uninterrupted power such as during inadvertent loss of power through the diagnostics port, or for memory data preservation purposes while the vehicle is not operational.

[45] However, it should be noted that in other embodiments, the device 105 may take on differing embodiments, including a device adapted to draw power from the cigarette lighter of the vehicle. Furthermore, the device 105 may be implemented by a personal computing device such as a mobile communication device such as an Apple™ iPhone™ or the like wherein, for example, the functionality provided herein may be implemented by way of downloading a software application from an application store for execution on the mobile communication device where the mobile communication device comprises the requisite GPS receiver 110, GSM interface 135 and the like.

[46] Operably coupled to the server via a network, such as a GSM network 150 is a server 155. The server 155 is adapted to receive the various in-car data from the device 105. The server 155 comprises a database 180 for storing various data and comprises a web server 165 adapted for serving HTTP requests from a browser 160. The web server 165 may allow for configuration by serving a configuration page 170 where vehicles and the like may be configured, and an auditing and reporting page wherein various data may be reported on, such as the above-mentioned parking register and eligible region fuel usage register data.

Generating parking register data [47] There will now be described the first embodiment of the generation of parking register data alluded to above wherein the system 100 is adapted to generate parking register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of the devices 105.

[48] In this first embodiment, the system 100 is adapted for use in calculating fringe benefit tax implications for a plurality of vehicles. In this regard, fleet owners, companies providing employee parking and the like are liable for fringe benefit tax implications. In Australia, fringe benefit tax implications for car parking is specified by subsection 39a(l) of the Fringe Benefits Tax Assessments Act 1986. This subsection is particularly complex in terms of relevant time periods (i.e. between 7 AM and 7 PM), relevant time thresholds (i.e. for greater than four hours), for eligible carparks (i.e. being carparks subject to fringe benefits taxation), for employee vehicles, for vehicles driven to and from home and the like.

[49] Given the complexity of this subsection, fleet owners, companies and the like are challenged administratively in accurately calculating the number of fringe benefits provided and therefore will often assess their fringe benefits tax in excess of the actual number of car parking benefits provided.

[50] As such, to solve this problem in a technical manner, the system 100 is adapted for tracking the locations of the vehicles utilising a number of techniques including geo-fencing, data capturing and analysis for calculating parking register data for reporting and auditing for fringe benefit tax implication purposes.

[51] As such, and referring to figure 1, the database 191 comprises a table 182 representing a plurality of carparks. During the configuration of the system 100, the locations or boundaries of relevant carparks 182 would be input into the carparks table 182. Accordingly, eligible regions within these site may also be configured 183 such as entry driveways and the like.

[52] Furthermore, the database 180 comprises a plurality of vehicles 185. The plurality of vehicles may be input by fleet owners, companies and the like to uniquely identify the plurality of vehicles. The vehicles table 180 may comprise a unique vehicle identifier, vehicle license plate, vehicle engine size, vehicle type, vehicle owner and the like.

[53] Furthermore, and as will be described in further detail below, in accordance with in-car data received from the devices 105, the system is adapted to calculate parking register data for storage within parking register table 195. The parking register data may be utilised for the purposes of fringe benefit tax compilations wherein, for a particular time period input, the server 105 is adapted to calculate the number of days falling within the time period which are subject to and give rise to a fringe benefits tax liability.

[54] Furthermore, and for auditing purposes, the database 180 may further comprise parking register details table 190 which may store an audit log for each vehicle for auditing purposes.

[55] In this regard, utilising the configuration page 170 served by the web server 165, fleet owners, companies and the like may input their vehicles for tracking.

[56] Furthermore, utilising the reporting and auditing page 175, the fleet owners and company owners, and officials of the Australian Taxation Office may retrieve parking register data and parking register details data for fringe benefit tax reporting and auditing purposes.

[57] In a preferred embodiment, the server 155 is adapted to maintain the parking register details data and parking register data in a manner suitable for forensic auditing purposes, especially for the purposes of satisfying subsection 382-5(8) of Schedule 1 of the Taxation Administration Act 1953. Furthermore, the system 100 may be adapted to maintain the data for at least 5 years.

[58] In this manner, the server 105 may be adapted to indelibly record the parking register details data and record logs of user interaction with the database 180. Furthermore, at periodic intervals, the server 155 may generate a hash representing the current state of the database 180 wherein the hash may be utilised for subsequently proving that the database 180 has not since been tampered with.

[59] As such, there will now be described the manner in which the system generates parking register data in accordance with in-car data received from the plurality of location tracking devices 105.

[60] The system 100 is firstly configured wherein the carpark table 182 of the database 191 is populated with various carparks. The carparks may include the carpark of the relevant company.

[61] As such, the carpark data may comprise the geo-fence boundary or the location 183, typically specified in latitude and longitude coordinates.

[62] Thereafter, using the configuration page 170, the company or fleet owner would input their vehicles so as to populate vehicles table 185. The vehicles table 185 may include a unique identifier for each vehicle, and the unique identifier representing the in-car device 105 installed within each vehicle. As alluded to above, other information may be included, such as the type of vehicle, engine capacity, owner and the like.

[63] Thereafter, in use, the system is adapted to receive carpark the geo-fence data representing a boundary or location of a carpark of an employer or fleet owner. For example, an employee may specify the location of their employee carpark.

[64] Furthermore, the system administrator may configure the system 100 with relevant time period data representing a relevant time period for the purposes of calculating fringe benefit tax. In this case, the system administrator would input the relevant time period has been between 7 AM and 7 PM daily.

[65] The system administrator may further configure the system with threshold data representing a time thresholds. The time thresholds represents a threshold beneath which parking is not considered for the purposes of fringe benefit tax compilations. In this embodiment, the system administrator may input a threshold of four hours.

[66] As such, for a time period, such as preferably from a minimum of 12 weeks, the system 100 would record in-car data representing the movements of the plurality of vehicles 185.

[67] In a preferred embodiment, each device 105 is configured with the geo-fence data or location representing the location of the carpark of the company. In this manner, as opposed to having to send raw location data to the server 155, the device 105 may itself calculate whether the vehicle is within the relevant carpark 182 based on eligible regions configured in database 183. In one embodiment, the device 105 is adapted to generate an event log wherein event code 2 represents that the vehicle has entered the relevant carpark and event code 3 represents that the vehicle has exited the relevant carpark. The event log would further comprise an accumulator reading representing the time duration during which the vehicle was within the relevant carpark, such is represented in seconds.

[68] However, it should be noted that in another embodiment, the device 105 may transmit the raw location data to the server 155 wherein the server makes the appropriate geo-fence calculations.

[69] In either manner, the system 100 is able to identify when each vehicle is parked at the relevant carpark.

[70] As such, the company, fleet owner or official of the Australian Taxation Office may wish to query the parking register data applicable for fringe benefit tax. As such, using the report and auditing page 175, the user would input a time period, such as a 12 week time period spanning the months of January, February and March.

[71] As such, for the received parking register time period query, the system 100 is adapted to calculate, for each day of the parking register time period query, an applicable parking duration for fringe benefit tax purposes. Specifically, the system 100 is adapted to calculate the applicable parking duration being for time periods 1) when the vehicle was within the carpark boundary or substantially proximate the carpark location is represented by the in-car data, 2) during the relevant time period (i.e. between 7 AM and 7 PM) and 3) to greater than the time threshold (i.e. for greater than four hours).

[72] As such, the server 155 is then adapted to generate the parking register data comprising at least vehicle identify data representing each of the plurality of vehicles and the sum of the applicable parking duration for each day of the parking register time query period.

[73] The server 155 may then be adapted to generate a report comprising the parking register data which may be utilised for fringe benefit tax purposes.

Software modules of the in-car device [74] Turning now to figure 2, there is shown an exemplary representation of the software modules 200 of the in-car device 105. The software modules may be implemented by the above-mentioned computer program code executed by the processor 115 of the device 105.

[75] Specifically, the modules comprise a location calculation module 205 adapted to calculate the location of the device 105. In this manner, the location calculation module 205 receives GPS data from the GPS receiver 110 to calculate the location, usually expressed in latitude and longitudinal coordinates.

[76] Furthermore, the modules comprise a geo-fence module 210 adapted for detecting whether the device 105 falls within the boundaries or is substantially proximate the boundary or location defined for the relevant carpark.

[77] As alluded to above, the device 105 is adapted to generate an event log wherein when the geo-fence module 210 detects that the device 105 is at or within the boundary or location of the geofence for the relevant carpark, the geo-fence module 210 will insert an event code of 2 into the event log.

[78] At that time, the device 105 will start a timer utilising clock module 215.

[79] When the geo-fence module 210 subsequently determines that the device 105 has left the geo-fence of the relevant carpark, the geo-fence module 210 will insert a further entry into the event log comprising event code 3 representing that the vehicle has exited the geo-fence. The geo-fence module 210 also insert an entry named accumulatorl representing the duration of the time during which the vehicle was parked within the relevant carpark.

[80] As alluded to above, it should be noted that in other embodiments, the geo-fence calculation may be performed by other computing devices of the system 100.

[81] The device 105 further comprises a data store model 225 adapted to store the raw location data, or the event log data or other data within the memory device 102.

[82] Furthermore, the device 105 comprises a data transmission module 230 adapted to transmit the data from the memory device 102. In embodiments, the data transmission module is adapted to transmit the data using the GSM interface 135. During times when the GSM interface 135 is out of cellular range, the device 105 may buffer the data within the data store module 225 until such time that a data channel becomes available.

Exemplary map representation [83] Turning now to figure 3, there is shown an exemplary map representation to illustrate the functionality of the system.

[84] As can be seen, the representation 300, the representation 300 comprises the in-car tracking device 105 installed within a vehicle 320.

[85] As such, when the vehicle 320 enters the relevant carpark 315, the in-car tracking device 105 will determine that the vehicle 320 is within the boundary of the carpark geo-fence 310 defined for the relevant carpark 315. Specifically, during the above-mentioned configuration process, various carpark geo-fence data will be input into the carparks table 182 representing the boundaries of various carparks including the relevant carpark 315 for the company, fleet owner or the like.

[86] Furthermore, for the purposes of satisfying subsection 39A(l)(g) of the Fringe Tax Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986, the server 155 may be configured with home geo fences 350 representing the home locations of employees. Such information may be stored within an employee table (not shown) of the database 180.

[87] As such, by knowing the location of the employee home, the server 155 is adapted to calculate whether, for a particular day, the vehicle was used in connection with travel by the employee between a place of residence of the employee and the primary place of employment.

Method for calculating parking register data [88] Turning now to figure 4, there is shown an exemplary method 400 for calculating parking register data. It should be noted that the method 400 is exemplary only and that variations may be made thereto within the purposive scope of the embodiments herein of generating the parking register data.

[89] The method starts at step 405 where parking segment data is received from the event log from the device 105. As can be shown, the event log comprises a plurality of events comprising event code 2 representing when the vehicle entered the relevant carpark and an event code 3 representing when the vehicle exited the carpark and an accumulatorl event entry representing the duration of the park.

[90] Upon receipt of the data across the GSM network 150, the server 155 is adapted to store the parking segment data in a parking segment table at step 420.

[91] At step 415, the server 155 is adapted to apply the applicable time zone for the segment data so as to be able to calculate whether the vehicle was parked during the relevant time period, given as 7 AM to 7 PM in the example described herein.

[92] At step 420, the server 155, via reporting and auditing page 175, is adapted to receive a parking register time period query such as for a three-month period from January to March 2015.

[93] As such, for the time period query, at step 425, the server 155 is adapted to identify segments falling within the relevant time period, given a 7 AM to 7 PM and the examples provided herein.

[94] After identifying those parking segments having at least a portion falling within the relevant time period, at step 430, the server 155 is adapted to calculate the duration of each segment 430.

[95] At step 435, the server 155 is adapted to subtract those portions of each segment falling outside the bounds of the relevant time period.

[96] Then, at step 440, for each day of the parking register time period query, the server 155 is adapted to sum the adjusted relevant segments.

[97] Then, at step 445, the server 155 to calculate whether the sum is greater than the threshold, given here as four hours in the example provided.

[98] Furthermore, the server 155 is adapted to exclude a time period for which the vehicle was stationary for more than 24 hours. As such, at step 450, the server 155 is adapted to calculate whether the vehicle moved within the 24-hour period.

[99] At step 455, the server 155 sums the eligible adjusted time periods for each day for the number of days of the parking register time period query.

[100] At step 460, the server 155 generates the parking register data for storage within the parking register table 195. The server 165 may be adapted to allow the viewing or the downloading, such as in PDF format, of the parking register data from the parking register table 195.

[101] By way of a further example, the exemplary table below represents exemplary scenarios and the calculation outputs of the method 400:

Exemplary parking register graphical user interface [102] Turning now to figure 7, there is shown an exemplary graphical user interface 700 showing an exemplary representation of the parking register.

[103] As can be seen, the parking register 700comprises a number of rows representing each vehicle, represented as the name of the operator of the vehicle in this case. Furthermore, in the second column the register 700shows the number of days in which each vehicle was considered to be part for the purposes of the Fringe Tax Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986.

[104] In this manner, the register 700may be utilised for the purposes of making a tax return.

[105] As can be seen, the third column comprises a link to further details relating to each vehicle for auditing purposes. Clicking each link will display the parking register details graphical user interface as is described below.

Exemplary parking register detail graphical user interface [106] As such, turning now to figure 6, there is shown an exemplary graphical user interface 600 showing the parking register details.

[107] The parking register details may be utilised for data verification and auditing purposes for the data represented in the above parking register. For example, for the first row of the above parking register 500, the parking register details interface 600 may comprise a breakdown of each day and the calculations recorded by the system 100 for each day.

[108] For example, for the first row of the parking register detail 600, it is represented on 1 March, the vehicle belonging to David Lu was parked for 4.56 hours, and is therefore to be recorded for fringe tax benefit purposes. Flowever, for 2 March, David was only part for 2.16 hours and therefore is excluded for the purposes of fringe benefit tax calculations.

Eligible region fuel usage register data [109] There will now be described the above-mentioned second embodiment when the system 100 is utilised for the purposes of calculating eligible region fuel usage register data.

[110] Now, in Australia, section 41-5 (1) of the Fuel Tax Act 2006 states that entities are entitled to fuel tax credits for fuel used for the purposes of carrying on their enterprise. Flowever, subsection 41-B disentitles entities to fuel tax credits for fuel used on public roads.

[111] Flowever, entities, especially those such as fleet owners, companies and the like having multiple vehicles cannot track when and whether their vehicles drove on public or non-public roads. For example, logistics companies may have vehicles and regularly travel on airport grounds (which is a non-public road) and back to the warehouse which is on a public road.

[112] These entities have no practically feasible manner in which to know the relevant percentage of each of their vehicles was travelling on a public or non-public road for the purposes of claiming fuel tax credits. As such, many entities simply do not claim fuel tax credits or alternatively make assumptions based on estimated distances which may not withstand tax audit scrutiny.

[113] As such, there will now be described the utilisation of the system 100 for utilising the in-car tracking devices 105 configured with geo-fence data representing eligible regions comprising nonpublic roads such that the system 100 is able to calculate when each relevant vehicle was travelling on a public or non-public road. In this manner, the system 100 is able to generate a report comprising a register of the eligible region fuel usage data which may be utilised for the purposes of claiming fuel tax credits in an accurate manner.

[114] As such, in this embodiment, the system 100 similarly comprises the server 155 comprising the database 180 for storing digital data including vehicle identifying data representing the plurality of vehicles. Furthermore, a plurality of the in-car tracking devices 105 are installed on the plurality of vehicles. Each in-car tracking device comprises the location sensor 100 to determine the location each vehicle, a memory device 102 for storing digital data. The digital data may include the in-car data which is calculated in accordance with location sensor data received from the location sensor.

[115] Furthermore, in embodiments as will be described below, the memory device 102 may be configured with the geo-fence data representing the eligible regions comprising non-public roads.

[116] Furthermore, the in-car device 105 further comprises a data interface 135 for transmitting the in-car data, or derivatives or calculations thereof, to the server 155 across a network 150. Similarly, so as to provide for remote data connectivity, the wireless interface 135 the GSM interface 135 is adapted to transmit data across a GSM network 155, such as a 3G or 4G network or the like.

[117] As such, in this embodiment, the system 100 is adapted to receive eligible region data representing an eligible region. For example, the system administrator would configure the configuration page 170 with geo-fence data representing the eligible regions. For example, utilising a map representation, the administrator may utilise a graphical user interface displayed by the browser 160 create demarcations of regions comprising non-public roads.

[118] Specifically, referring to figure 8, there is shown an exemplary map representation 800. On the map representation 800, there has been configured the geo-fence boundary 805 of the Banks town airport. All roads within this geo-fence boundary 185 are private roads. As such, and for example, first route 820 travel by a vehicle would be on a public road and therefore not eligible to fuel tax credits. However, a second route 810 travelled by the vehicle within the geo-fence boundary 805 would be on a private road and therefore eligible for fuel tax credits. It should be noted that in certain embodiments, each vehicle may be installed with a navigational system adapted to favour or suggest routes to operators within non-public road boundaries 805.

[119] In other embodiments, as opposed to requiring the system administrator to create such demarcations, the database 180 may be configured with geo survey data from a road traffic authority or the like wherein the geo survey data representing plurality of roads and an indication of whether each road is a public or private road.

[120] In embodiments, the geo-fence data may be written directly to the memory device 102 of the in-car device 105 such that the processor 115 of the in-car device 105 is adapted to make the necessary calculations. It should be noted that the geo-fence data may be written once to the memory device 102 prior to installation, or additionally or alternatively, provisioned over the air by the GSM interface 135.

[121] As such, in the embodiment where the memory device 102 comprises the geo-fence data, the processor 115 is controlled by computer program code to calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with the in-car data. For example, the processor 115 may be adapted to calculate when the respective vehicle enters the eligible region in accordance with the location data received from the location sensor and the geo-fence data from the memory device 102. Furthermore, the processor 115 may similarly calculate when the respective vehicle exits the eligible region. In this manner, the processor 115 may calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with detecting when the vehicle enters and exits the eligible region. For example, the processor 115 may calculate distance in accordance with the determined locations of the vehicle at the eligible region entry and exit points, or by some other manner such as by taking into account the velocity of the vehicle.

[122] In another embodiment, the in-car device 105 may send a serial event log to the server 155 wherein the server 155 deduces the eligible distance travelled in accordance with the events from the event log. For example, when the processor 115 detects that the vehicle has entered the eligible region, the processor 115 may create an entry in the event log representing that the vehicle has entered the eligible region. Simultaneously, the processor 115 may enter the location of the vehicle into the event log, such as and latitude and longitude format. Furthermore, when the vehicle exits the eligible region, the processor 115 may create a further entry in the event log representing that the vehicle has exited the eligible region and similarly also a record of the location of the exit point. In this manner, the server 150 may be able to calculate the distance between the entry point and exit points.

[123] It should be noted that in other embodiments, the memory device 102 of the in-car device 105 need not necessarily be configured with the geo-fence data. For example, in embodiments, the in-car device 105 may transmit a raw location readings to the server 155 wherein the server compares the raw location data to the geo-fence data for the purposes of calculating the eligible distance travelled.

[124] Furthermore, the system 100 is adapted to receive fuel usage data representing an amount of fuel used by a respective vehicle during a reporting period. In one embodiment, the fuel consumption may be input into the browser 160 by the vehicle operator administrator or the like, such as from logbook records, odometer readings and the like. However, in embodiments, the system 100 further comprises a fuel usage interface 197 adapted to read fuel usage data for each of the plurality of vehicles.

[125] In one embodiment, the fuel usage interface is a fuel card financial transaction processing system. In this manner, in order to receive the amount of fuel used for each vehicle, the amount of fuel used by each respective vehicle may be retrieved from the fuel usage data interface 197 by inputting an account number or fuel card number to retrieve the fuel used from the fuel card financial transaction processing system. In this manner, the fuel usage need not necessarily be input into the system 100 manually.

[126] In other embodiments, the fuel usage interface is a vehicle on board fuel consumption meter. In this manner, the in-car tracking device 105 may read the fuel consumed directly from the vehicle and transmit the fuel consumption to the server 155 for compilation purposes.

[127] The in-car device 105 is especially suited for reading fuel usage where the in-car device 105 takes the form of an in-car device adapted to interface with the diagnostics port of a vehicle. In this manner, the in-car device 105 is adapted to receive the fuel usage from the diagnostics port of the vehicle.

[128] The system 100 is further adapted to calculate the eligible distance travelled for of the plurality of vehicles representing the distance travelled by each respective vehicle within the eligible region during the reporting period in accordance with the in-car data.

[129] Having calculated the eligible distance travelled, the system 100 is adapted to calculate an eligible fuel usage amount in accordance with the eligible distance travelled and the fuel usage for each vehicle.

[130] Thereafter, the system 100 is adapted to generate the eligible region fuel usage register data. The register data comprises at least vehicle identified data representing each of the plurality of vehicles and the respective eligible fuel usage amount for each of the vehicles for the reporting period. The system 100 may be adapted to generate a report comprising the register data, such as in PDF format or the like. The report may be utilised for the purposes of claiming fuel tax credits for each of the vehicles.

[131] In a preferred embodiment, the report comprises the relevant reporting period, vehicle identifies uniquely identify each of the plurality of vehicles, the distance travelled by each of the vehicles within eligible regions and the total distance travelled by each of the vehicles.

Method for calculating fuel tax credit [132] Turning now to figure 5, there is shown an exemplary method 500 for calculating fuel tax credit eligible travel. It should be noted that the method 500 is exemplary only and that variations may be made thereto within the purposive scope of the embodiments herein of generating the fuel tax credit data.

[133] The method starts at step 510 where mileage data is received from the event log from the device 105. As can be shown, the event log comprises a plurality of events comprising 515 when a register time is recorded, 520 where eligible trips from database 515 are identified and classified as eligible for fuel tax credit.

[134] As mileage data is recorded at 515, each transmission of mileage is classified with an event code to identify whether the trip occurred within the eligible regions defined at 183.

[135] Upon receipt of the data across the GSM network 150, the server 155 is adapted to store the fuel tax credit data in a fuel tax credit table at step 530.

[136] Where trips are classified as eligible for fuel tax credit, the trips are stored at 195.

[137] Periodically, the distance of fuel tax credit eligible trips are calculated 535 and aggregated 540 to determine total claimable amount.

[138] At step 515, the server 155 is adapted to apply the applicable time zone for when the eligible credit event occurred. This utilises the reporting and auditing page 175, the fleet owners and company owners, and officials of the Australian Taxation Office may retrieve vehicle 185 and usage data 195 and for fuel tax credit reporting and auditing purposes.

[139] At step 555, server 155 applies 540 to actual fuel usage as input by fleet manager or employer.

[140] At step 560, the server 155, via reporting and auditing page 175, is adapted to receive a fuel tax credit query for any relevant period as defined by the user.

[141] As such, for the relevant period query, at step 560, the server 155 is adapted to identify and report on segments of trips eligible for fuel tax credit in both distance calculated at 530 and aggregate distance at 540 and the examples provided herein.

[142] After identifying those trip segments, at step 555, the server 155 is adapted to calculate the fuel tax credit eligible usage referencing the total trips at 540.

[143] At step 560, the server 155 is adapted to generate a report 197 showing fuel tax credit eligibility and cross checks 530 and 540 to ensure accuracy of the report for the relevant time period.

Fuel tax credit register [144] Turning now to figure 9, there is shown an exemplary interface showing the fuel tax credit register 900 generated by the system 100.

[145] As can be seen, the register 900 comprises a plurality of columns each uniquely identifying a particular vehicle as identified by the allocated owner and registration number is shown in the first two columns.

[146] The third column shows the eligible kilometres for fuel tax credits, the fourth column shows the ineligible credits of fuel tax credits and the fifth column shows the total number of kilometres travelled. The sixth and seventh column shows the applicable date range.

[147] The eighth column comprises a link to view additional details in relation to the trips for that particular date range.

[148] As can be seen from the example, from 27 November 2014 to 4 December 2014 Barry Lamb travelled 217 km for which 207 km were eligible fuel tax credits.

Interpretation

Wireless: [149] The invention may be embodied using devices conforming to other network standards and for other applications, including, for example other WLAN standards and other wireless standards. Applications that can be accommodated include IEEE 802.11 wireless LANs and links, and wireless Ethernet.

[150] In the context of this document, the term "wireless" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices do not contain any wires, although in some embodiments they might not. In the context of this document, the term "wired" and its derivatives may be used to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques, communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the use of modulated electromagnetic radiation through a solid medium. The term does not imply that the associated devices are coupled by electrically conductive wires.

Processes: [151] Unless specifically stated otherwise, as apparent from the following discussions, it is appreciated that throughout the specification discussions utilizing terms such as "processing", "computing", "calculating", "determining", "analysing" or the like, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or computing system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical, such as electronic, quantities into other data similarly represented as physical quantities.

Processor: [152] In a similar manner, the term "processor" may refer to any device or portion of a device that processes electronic data, e.g., from registers and/or memory to transform that electronic data into other electronic data that, e.g., may be stored in registers and/or memory. A "computer" or a "computing device" or a "computing machine" or a "computing platform" may include one or more processors.

[153] The methodologies described herein are, in one embodiment, performable by one or more processors that accept computer-readable (also called machine-readable) code containing a set of instructions that when executed by one or more of the processors carry out at least one of the methods described herein. Any processor capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken are included. Thus, one example is a typical processing system that includes one or more processors. The processing system further may include a memory subsystem including main RAM and/or a static RAM, and/or ROM.

Computer-Readable Medium: [154] Furthermore, a computer-readable carrier medium may form, or be included in a computer program product. A computer program product can be stored on a computer usable carrier medium, the computer program product comprising a computer readable program means for causing a processor to perform a method as described herein.

Networked or Multiple Processors: [155] In alternative embodiments, the one or more processors operate as a standalone device or may be connected, e.g., networked to other processor(s), in a networked deployment, the one or more processors may operate in the capacity of a server or a client machine in server-client network environment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer or distributed network environment. The one or more processors may form a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any machine capable of executing a set of instructions (sequential or otherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine.

[156] Note that while some diagram(s) only show(s) a single processor and a single memory that carries the computer-readable code, those in the art will understand that many of the components described above are included, but not explicitly shown or described in order not to obscure the inventive aspect. For example, while only a single machine is illustrated, the term "machine" shall also be taken to include any collection of machines that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

Additional Embodiments: [157] Thus, one embodiment of each of the methods described herein is in the form of a computer-readable carrier medium carrying a set of instructions, e.g., a computer program that are for execution on one or more processors. Thus, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, embodiments of the present invention may be embodied as a method, an apparatus such as a special purpose apparatus, an apparatus such as a data processing system, or a computer-readable carrier medium. The computer-readable carrier medium carries computer readable code including a set of instructions that when executed on one or more processors cause a processor or processors to implement a method. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a method, an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present invention may take the form of carrier medium (e.g., a computer program product on a computer-readable storage medium) carrying computer-readable program code embodied in the medium.

Carrier Medium: [158] The software may further be transmitted or received over a network via a network interface device. While the carrier medium is shown in an example embodiment to be a single medium, the term "carrier medium" should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The term "carrier medium" shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying a set of instructions for execution by one or more of the processors and that cause the one or more processors to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. A carrier medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.

Implementation: [159] It will be understood that the steps of methods discussed are performed in one embodiment by an appropriate processor (or processors) of a processing (i.e., computer) system executing instructions (computer-readable code) stored in storage. It will also be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular implementation or programming technique and that the invention may be implemented using any appropriate techniques for implementing the functionality described herein. The invention is not limited to any particular programming language or operating system.

Means For Carrying out a Method or Function [160] Furthermore, some of the embodiments are described herein as a method or combination of elements of a method that can be implemented by a processor of a processor device, computer system, or by other means of carrying out the function. Thus, a processor with the necessary instructions for carrying out such a method or element of a method forms a means for carrying out the method or element of a method. Furthermore, an element described herein of an apparatus embodiment is an example of a means for carrying out the function performed by the element for the purpose of carrying out the invention.

Connected [161] Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term connected, when used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being limitative to direct connections only. Thus, the scope of the expression a device A connected to a device B should not be limited to devices or systems wherein an output of device A is directly connected to an input of device B. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. "Connected" may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical or electrical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other.

Embodiments: [162] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, but may. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments.

[163] Similarly it should be appreciated that in the above description of example embodiments of the invention, various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments are hereby expressly incorporated into this Detailed Description of Specific Embodiments, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

[164] Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some but not other features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form different embodiments, as would be understood by those in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

Different Instances of Objects [165] As used herein, unless otherwise specified the use of the ordinal adjectives "first", "second", "third", etc., to describe a common object, merely indicate that different instances of like objects are being referred to, and are not intended to imply that the objects so described must be in a given sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking, or in any other manner.

Specific Details [166] In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. Flowever, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

Terminology [167] In describing the preferred embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, specific terminology will be resorted to for the sake of clarity. However, the invention is not intended to be limited to the specific terms so selected, and it is to be understood that each specific term includes all technical equivalents which operate in a similar manner to accomplish a similar technical purpose. Terms such as "forward", "rearward", "radially", "peripherally", "upwardly", "downwardly", and the like are used as words of convenience to provide reference points and are not to be construed as limiting terms.

Comprising and Including [168] In the claims which follow and in the preceding description of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising" are used in an inclusive sense, i.e. to specify the presence of the stated features but not to preclude the presence or addition of further features in various embodiments of the invention.

[169] Any one of the terms: including or which includes or that includes as used herein is also an open term that also means including at least the elements/features that follow the term, but not excluding others. Thus, including is synonymous with and means comprising.

Scope of Invention [170] Thus, while there has been described what are believed to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, those skilled in the art will recognize that other and further modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit of the invention, and it is intended to claim all such changes and modifications as fall within the scope of the invention. For example, any formulas given above are merely representative of procedures that may be used. Functionality may be added or deleted from the block diagrams and operations may be interchanged among functional blocks. Steps may be added or deleted to methods described within the scope of the present invention.

[171] Although the invention has been described with reference to specific examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims (17)

1. Claims

   1. A system for generating eligible region fuel usage register data in accordance with in-car data received from a plurality of location tracking devices, the system comprising: a server comprising a database for storing digital data including vehicle identifier data representing a plurality of vehicles; and a plurality of in-car tracking devices installed in the plurality of vehicles, each in car tracking device comprising: a location sensor to determine a location of each vehicle, a memory device for storing digital data, including in car data calculated in accordance with the location of each vehicle; and a data interface for transmitting the in car data to the server across a network, wherein, in use, the system is adapted to: receive eligible region data representing an eligible region; receive fuel usage data representing a fuel usage during a reporting period for each vehicle; calculate an eligible distance travelled for each of the plurality of vehicles representing the distance travelled within the eligible region during the reporting period in accordance with the in car data; calculate an eligible fuel usage amount in accordance with the eligible distance and the fuel usage for each vehicle; and generate the eligible region fuel usage register data comprising at least vehicle identifier data representing the plurality of vehicles and the respective eligible fuel usage amount for each of the plurality of vehicles for the reporting period; and generate a report comprising the eligible region fuel usage register data.
2. 2. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the report comprises: the reporting period; the vehicle identifiers uniquely identifying each of the plurality of vehicles; distance travelled in eligible regions by each of the plurality of vehicles; and the total distance travelled by each of the plurality of vehicles.
3. 3. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein receiving eligible region data further comprises programming a memory device of the in car tracking device with the eligible region data.
4. 4. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the in car device comprises a processor and wherein the processor is controlled by computer program code to calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with the in-car data.
5. 5. A system as claimed in claim 4, wherein the processor is adapted to calculate when the respective vehicle enters the eligible region in accordance with the location data received from the location sensor and the geo-fence data.
6. 6. A system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the processor is adapted to calculate when the respective vehicle exits the eligible region in accordance with the location data received from the location sensor and the geo-fence data.
7. 7. A system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the processor is adapted to calculate the eligible distance travelled in accordance with detecting when the vehicle enters and leaves the eligible region.
8. 8. A system as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processor is adapted to transmit the eligible distance travelled to the server, via the data interface.
9. 9. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is further adapted to: calculate an ineligible distance travelled for each of the plurality of vehicles representing the distance travelled outside the eligible region during the reporting period in accordance with the in car data; and calculate the eligible fuel usage amount in accordance with the ratio of the eligible distance and the non-eligible distance.
10. 10. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein receiving fuel usage data comprises receiving the fuel usage data from a fuel usage interface.
11. 11. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fuel usage interface is a fuel card financial transaction processing system.
12. 12. A system as claimed in claim 11, wherein receiving fuel usage data comprises using a fuel card identifier to retrieve the fuel usage data from the fuel card financial transaction processing system.
13. 13. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the fuel usage interface is a vehicle on-board fuel consumption meter.
14. 14. A system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the in-car tracking devices comprises the fuel usage interface.
15. 15. A system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the fuel usage interface comprises an interface adapted to interface with a diagnostics port of each vehicle to receive the fuel usage data via the diagnostics port.
16. 16. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein server is adapted to send, via an API, the eligible region fuel usage register data to a tax authority interface.
17. 17. A system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system is further adapted to calculate a fuel tax refund in accordance with a claimable rate.