DK2665044T3

DK2665044T3 - PROCEDURE FOR MEASURING THE CAPACITY OF A ROADBY SYSTEM

Info

Publication number: DK2665044T3
Application number: DK12168187.8T
Authority: DK
Inventors: Jasja Tijink
Original assignee: Kapsch Trafficcom Ag
Priority date: 2012-05-16
Filing date: 2012-05-16
Publication date: 2015-03-02
Also published as: SI2665044T1; PL2665044T3; EP2665044A1; PT2665044E; EP2665044B1; ES2530620T3

Description

Method for measuring the capacity of a toll system

The present invention relates to a method for measuring the performance of a road toll system, based on a plurality of vehicle mounted onboard units each determining their position and being able to wirelessly communicate with geographically distributed radio stations to accumulate position-based toll transactions in a central tolling station connected to the radio stations.

The function, role and interfaces of modern road toll systems (electronic fee collection systems, EFC systems) often follow the principles defined in ISO standard 17573 “Road Transport and Traffic Telematics - Electronic Fee Collection - System Architecture for Vehicle Related Transport Services”. By means of EU Guideline 2004/52/EC of 29 April 2004 and also by European Commission Decision 2009/750/EC of 6 October 2009, requirements for the interoperability of such EFC systems were established for the European area (“European Electronic Toll Service”, EETS). The user with an onboard unit (OBU) which is registered with or contracted to a single service provider should then be able to pay toll fees in the entire European Union to the respective road operators and authorities, or what are known as “toll chargers”, via a wide range of different infrastructures, such as country-specific GSM mobile radio networks or DSRC (dedicated short range communication) radio beacon networks. Conversely, toll chargers are to have free reign when selecting service providers and the use of infrastructure.

Flere, service providers are often faced with the problem that they have to guarantee the toll charger a certain performance, for example a certain tolling level on a toll section, without, however, having full availability of the intermediate infrastructure, such as mobile radio and DSCR beacon networks. Toll chargers in turn would like to have an instrument by means of which they can check the performance of a road toll system operated by various service providers and infrastructure owners in order to monitor their contract conformity.

In order to measure the performance of road toll systems, fleets of test vehicles are currently used, which for example travel over predefined toll sections on a random basis so as to then compare the toll transactions accruing in the central station of the toll charger with the test journeys. This signifies a high outlay in terms of staff and or ganization, in particular if the performance is to be continuously monitored or if a performance measure of the road toll system is to be determined periodically.

The object of the invention is to create a method for measuring the performance of a road toll system which overcomes the disadvantages of the known prior art and which allows a simple, quick and automatable creation of a performance measure for the road toll system.

This object is achieved in accordance with the invention by a method of the type mentioned in the introduction, comprising sending a data collecting order with a start position and a stop position from the central tolling station via a mobile radio network to a group of onboard units, in each onboard unit of the group: when the own position reaches a predetermined proximity to the start position, starting a recording of the own positions or of data derived therefrom or of radio communications with DSRC beacons and, when the own position reaches a predetermined proximity to the stop position, stopping the recording, and sending the record via the mobile radio network to the central tolling station, in the central tolling station: comparing the records received from all onboard units of the group with the toll transactions collected by these onboard units with respect to positions lying between the start and stop positions, and calculating a performance measure of the road toll system on the basis of the comparison.

The invention spares the use of a reference fleet since all vehicles or OBUs using a certain section between a start position and a stop position can be used to directly record the causal toll transaction data randomly at any moment upon request of the central toll station of a toll charger. The OBU records raised in this way in-situ “in the field” are compared in the central toll station with the toll transactions generated by the entire road toll system, that is to say the entire chain formed of onboard unit, infrastructure and toll charger. A performance measure is then produced from the comparison of the causal toll transaction data recorded in-situ with the finally produced toll transactions and reflects the performance of the road toll system, for example the tolling level thereof.

Here, the performance can be calculated in different ways. Preferred variants of the method according to the invention lie in that - the toll transactions correspond to path lengths tolled by the central tolling station and the records specify path lengths travelled by the onboard units, and the performance measure is calculated on the basis of at least a ratio of tolled path lengths to travelled path lengths; - the toll transactions correspond to travel times tolled by the central tolling station and the records specify travel times spent by the onboard units, and the performance measure is calculated on the basis of at least a ratio of tolled travel times to spent travel times; - the toll transactions correspond to actual toll charges charged by the central tolling station and the records specify target toll values recorded by the onboard units, and the performance measure is calculated on the basis of at least a ratio of charged actual toll charges to recorded target toll charges; - in that the toll transactions correspond to road sections tolled by the central tolling station and the records specify road sections travelled on by the onboard units, and the performance measure is calculated on the basis of at least a ratio of tolled road sections to road sections travelled on, or - the toll transactions correspond to DSRC radio beacon passages tolled by the central tolling station and the records specify DSRC radio beacon passages recorded by the onboard units, and the performance measure is calculated on the basis of at least a ratio of tolled beacon passages to recorded beacon passages.

In each embodiment of the invention, it is particularly favorable if the data collecting order also comprises a specification about a period of validity, wherein the recording in an onboard unit is only performed in this period of validity. The performance measure for entire specific periods of time can thus be determined.

The method of the invention is suitable for all types of road toll systems, more specifically both for GNSS road toll systems, in which the onboard units determine their position in a self-sufficient manner in a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) and transmit this via a mobile radio network to a central tolling station for processing (or process this themselves to form toll data which they then transmit to the central tolling station), and for DSRC road toll systems, in which geographically distributed DSRC radio beacons localize passing onboard units to the respective radio coverage area thereof by means of DSRC radio communications (dedicated short range communications) in order to generate toll transactions herefrom. Whereas onboard units for GNSS road toll systems, for example EETS OBUs, already have the communication capability in mobile radio networks required for the invention, the use of the invention in DSRC road toll systems requires what are known as “hybrid” OBUs, which, in addition to their DSRC communication capability, also have a transceiver for mobile radio networks.

In a first embodiment of the method according to the invention specifically for GNSS road toll systems, the radio stations are therefore base stations of radio cells of the mobile radio network, and the onboard units send the positions determined by them in the form of what are known as “thin clients” via the mobile radio network to the central tolling station, which generates toll transactions therefrom. In a second embodiment of the invention for GNSS road toll systems, the radio stations are base stations of radio cells of the mobile radio network, and the onboard units generate toll transactions in the form of what are known as “thick clients” from the positions determined by them, which they send via the mobile radio network to the central tolling station.

In a third embodiment of the method of the invention, which is especially suitable for DSRC road toll systems, the radio stations are DSRC radio beacons which determine the positions of the onboard units from the passages of the corresponding DSRC radio beacon to generate toll transactions therefrom.

The aforementioned group of onboard units, to which the data collecting orders are issued, may comprise all onboard units of the road toll system. The group is preferably just part of all onboard units in order to minimize the data traffic in road toll systems. The group comprises all onboard units located in a predetermined area around the start position. By way of example, the onboard units located in said area can be determined according to their last position-based toll transactions.

Alternatively, the group of onboard units could be selected for example according to a vehicle class, for example in order to exclude vehicles not liable to a toll charge as a reference variable for the performance measure or in order to generate a performance measure for only a certain class of vehicles.

It is particularly favorable if the records are sent anonymously from the onboard units to the central tolling station in order to quell any data protection concerns in terms of the trackability of vehicles. The anonymization may preferably be performed by means of a proxy server which is connected to the mobile radio network and which is known in the art.

The onboard units can determine their positions in a wide range of ways known in the prior art, for example by means of optical identification of certain landmarks in camera images of their environment, radio triangulation in terrestrial radio networks, by cell identification detection in mobile radio networks, etc. The onboard units preferably determine their positions by means of satellite navigation in GNSS systems, such as GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, and the like.

The invention will be explained in greater detail hereinafter on the basis of exemplary embodiments illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the method of the invention for measuring the performance of a GNSS road toll system on the basis of “thin client” GNSS OBUs;

Fig. 2 shows a block diagram of an OBU for the method of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of the method of the invention for a GNSS road toll system on the basis of “thick client” GNSS OBUs;

Fig. 4 shows a block diagram of an OBU for the method of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 shows a third embodiment of the method of the invention for a DSRC road toll system on the basis of hybrid OBUs; and

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram of an OBU for the method of Fig. 5.

Fig. 1 shows a GNSS road toll system 1, which is based on a plurality of onboard units (OBUs) 2, which are carried by vehicles (not shown), in order to toll or charge the location uses thereof in a road network formed of road segments Si, S2, ..., generally Sj. The location uses may be, for example, travel in a certain road segment Sj, the crossing of a boundary, the residence in a certain geographic area, or the like, and can be charged arbitrarily, for example per road segment, per travelled section or path length, per time spent (for example parking fee), per boundary crossing, etc.

For this purpose, the OBUs 2 according to Fig. 2, besides a processor 3 and a memory 4, also have a satellite navigation receiver 5, with which they continuously determine their positions (“position fixes”) pi, P2, ..., generally p,, in a global navigation satellite system 6 (GNSS). Furthermore, the OBUs 2 are equipped with a transceiver 7, via which they transmit the determined positions p, to radio stations 8, here base stations of a cellular mobile radio network 9, for forwarding to a central tolling station 10 of a toll service provider (TSP) and/or of a toll charger (TC); see paths 11, 12 for a representative OBU 2 with the OBU ID On. In the central tolling station 10, a toll transaction taj,n for the OBU On and the road segment Sj can be produced from the position data Pi,n thus obtained of an OBU On, for example by a map comparison (map matching) with a digital road map of toll-liable road maps Sj. The toll map comparison (map matching) can also be carried out in a separate map comparison server (map matching proxy) upstream of the central tolling station 10 if desired.

In order to measure the performance of the road toll system 1, for example in order to determine a “tolling level” as a ratio of correctly tolled OBUs 2 to all OBUs 2 or of correctly tolled road segments Sj to all road segments Sj, the following method is used.

In a first phase 13 of the method, an order message or a data collecting order m is sent via the mobile radio network 9 to a group of K OBUs 2, here illustrated by way of representation by an OBU 2 with the ID Ok. The data collecting order m contains (at least) the specification of a start position A and of a stop position B. The data collecting orders m may additionally also contain the specification of a period of validity T, within which an OBU 2 is to collect and record data.

The number K of OBUs Ok may be smaller than or equal to the number N of all OBUs On of the road toll system 1 (K < N). The data collecting message m is preferably only sent to such onboard units 2 that are located in a predetermined area around the start position A, which for example can be determined from the last position communications Pi n or toll transactions taj,n of the OBUs 2 in the central tolling station 10.

The group of OBUs Ok to which the data collecting orders m are sent in step 13 can also be selected for example on the basis of properties of the OBUs 2 or vehicles thereof, for example in accordance with the authorizations stored in the OBUs 2 (for example “not toll-exempt passengers”, “not emergency vehicles”, etc.) or a specific vehicle class (for example “lorries”, “lorries having three axles”, “lorries with trailers”, etc.), which is stored in the OBUs.

As soon as an OBU 2 or Ok which has received a data collecting order m has detected that the start position A has been reached, that is to say when its continuously determined position pi k enters a predetermined proximity (tolerance range) of the start position A, it starts to record all positions p,,k determined subsequently, as illustrated by the gray crosses in Fig. 1. The recording is ended when the OBU 2 detects that the stop position B has been reached, that is to say when its position pi k enters a predetermined proximity (tolerance range) of the stop position B. The OBU stores the recorded data in its memory 4.

Once recording at the stop position B has finished, the OBU 2 sends its record rc via the mobile radio network 9 to the central tolling station 10; see paths 14 and 12. In the example shown in Fig. 1, the record rc of the OBU Ok between the points A and B is denoted by rcAB.k and comprises at least the sequence of positions p,,k determined between the points A and B. The record rcAB.k may also additionally contain data such as measurement data of ambient sensors of the OBU Ok or vehicle thereof, characteristic data of the OBU Ok or vehicle thereof, etc. It goes without saying that, instead of individual positions, sequences of positions (“position fix tracks”) tn,n, trijk can also be communicated by the OBUs 2 (arrows 11, 12) or recorded (arrows 14, 12).

The records rcAB.k of all K OBUs Ok in the group are then compared in the central tolling station 10 with the transactions taAB.k produced by all K OBUs Ok in terms of the section A-B so as to calculate a performance power Px of the road toll system 1. To this end, the toll transactions taj,n or taj.k produced in the central tolling station 10 from the position communications p,,n and p,,k are first filtered in a filter step 15 in respect of those OBUs Ok and positions pi k that are located between the start and stop positions A, B in order to obtain exclusively the transactions {taAB}k of the OBUs Ok falling in the portion A-B.

In terms of any characteristic variables derivable from the transactions {taABjk and records rcAB.k, the performance measure Ρχ can now be calculated on the one hand from the transactions {taABjk filtered in this way and on the other hand OBU records rcAB.k! see step 16. These characteristic variables may be: - path lengths L tolled in the transactions {taAe}k and travelled according to the records rcAB.k (measured from map material or measured actually); - path times T tolled in the transactions {taAB}k and recorded in the records rcAB.k! - current toll fees calculated on the basis of the transactions {ϊΘαβΚ ancl target toll fees F to be paid according to the records rcAB.k! - types or numbers (“segment counts”, SCs) of road segments Sj tolled according to the transactions {taAB}k and travelled according to the records rcAB.k! - numbers of beacon passages (“beacon passage counts”, BCs) tolled according to the transactions {taAB}k and experienced according to the records rcAB.k, as explained later in greater detail with reference to Fig. 3; etc.

By way of example, the performance power is calculated on the basis of tolled path lengths L relative to recorded path lengths L to give wherein L ({taAB}k) is the path lengths calculated from the sequence of transactions ta of the OBU On based on the portion A-B and L(rcAB,k) is the path lengths used from the record rc of the OBU Ok in respect of the portion A-B. If, for example, all path lengths L for a portion A-B charged in the toll transactions ta are equal to the path lengths L recorded by all OBUs 2 in the portion A-B, the performance measure Pl is equal to 100%. If only some of the path lengths L recorded by the OBUs 2 have been charged in toll transactions, the performance measure Pl is lower accordingly.

In the same way, performance measures can be calculated on the basis of journey times, fees, road segments, beacon passages, or similar characteristic variables. The performance measure Ρχ is generally calculated as follows

as explained above.

It goes without saying that, instead of a ratio (division), any other type of comparison measure between on the one hand characteristic variables determined from {taABjk and on the other hand characteristic variables determined from rcAB.k could also be calculated, for example a difference or other standard for a comparison deviation.

Fig. 3 and 4 show an alternative embodiment of the road toll system 1 on the basis of “thick client” OBUs 2’, which additionally have a map matcher 17, which carries out the toll map comparison of the positions ρ,,η and pi;k with, for example, toll-liable road segments Sj in order to create herefrom “finished” toll transactions taj,n and taj,k respectively and to transmit these via the mobile radio network 9 to the central tolling station 10 (paths 11, 12). The OBUs 2 or Ok in the present example no longer record individual positions P,,k in the records rcAB.k, but for example the travel over entire road segments Sj, for example as a list or simply as a number (segment count) SC of road segments Sj travelled on between the start and stop positions A, B. The performance measure Ρχ may in this case be, for example, a performance measure Pf based on road segment fees or a segment-based performance measure Psc-

Fig. 5 and 6 show the use of the presented method within the scope of a DSRC road toll system 1’, which is based on hybrid OBUs 2”. The DSRC road toll system T comprises a network of geographically distributed DSRC radio beacons 18 or Ri, R2, ..., generally Rj, in particular positioned at the roadside, which for example each serve for the tolling of a road segment Sj. The radio beacons 18 each have a locally limited radio coverage range 19, in which they can establish short-range radio communications (dedicated short range communications) with DSRC transceivers 20 of the OBUs 2” in order to locate these to the respective radio coverage range 19. Each OBU 2” that passes a DSRC radio beacon 18 thus initiates a toll transaction taj,n or taj,k in the radio beacon 18, said toll transaction being sent via a data network 21 to the central tolling station 10 (or being actually produced there).

In order to measure the performance of the DSRC road toll system T, the hybrid OBUs 2” are sent data collecting orders m from the central tolling station 10 via the mobile radio network 9 and mobile radio transceiver 7 in the OBUs 2”; see arrow 13. The OBUs 2” then detect, with the aid of their satellite navigation receiver 5, whether the start position A has been reached, for example in order to trigger a recording of the radio communications with the radio beacons 18 or Rj (the “beacon passages”). The records rcAB.k of the OBUs 2” can be, here, for example a list of the passed radio beacons Rj, a sum of the toll paid there or simply just the number (beacon count) BC of passed radio beacons Rj. Upon detection of the stop position B, the recording is ended again.

The central tolling station 10 now collects on the one hand the toll transactions taj k produced or initiated by the radio beacons Rj for an OBU Ok and on the other hand the records rcAB.k sent by the OBUs Ok via the mobile radio network 9 following completion of the recording (arrow 14), filters the toll transactions again in step 15 and compares them in step 16, as described previously, in order to create the performance measure Ρχ, here for example the performance measure Pbc, Psc, or PF.

The records rc sent from the OBUs 2, 2’, 2” via the mobile radio network 9 to the central tolling station 10 are preferably sent anonymously in order to hinder a tracking of vehicles. To this end, a proxy server (not illustrated) can be arranged upstream of the central tolling station 10 for example, and anonymizes the records rc, for example removes OBU IDs Ok therefrom or replaces these with random (anonymous) IDs.

The invention is not limited to the presented embodiments, but includes all variants and modifications that fall within the scope of the accompanying claims.

Claims

PROCEDURE FOR MEASURING THE CAPACITY OF A ROADBY SYSTEM

A method for measuring the capacity (1, 1 ') capacity (Px) of a road toll system based on a larger number of vehicle-mounted built-in units (2, 2', 2 '), each of which determines their position (p) and is capable of communicating wirelessly with geographically distributed radio stations (8, 18) to collect positioned fee transactions (ta) in an associated fee exchange (10), comprising: sending (13) a data collection order (m) with a start position (A) and a stop position (B) ) from the charge center (10) via a mobile radio network (9) to a group of flush-mounted units (2, 2 ', 2 "), in each flush-mounted unit (2, 2', 2") of the group: when the own position (p) reaches a predetermined distance to the starting position (A), starting a recording of the intrinsic positions (p) or derived data (S) or of radio communications with DSRC radio beacon (R), and, when the intrinsic position (p) reaches a predetermined distance from the stop position (B), stopping registration and sending (14) of registers the ring (rc) via the mobile radio network (9) to the charge center (10), in the charge center (10): comparison (16) of the registrations (rc) received from the group with all the fees transactions (2, 2 ', 2 ") with the fee transactions ( ta) collected by these flush mounting units (2, 2 ', 2 ") with respect to positions (p) lying between the start and stop positions (A, B) and calculation of a capacity measure (Px) for the road fee system ( 1, 1 ') on the basis of comparison (16).

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fee transactions (ta) correspond to path lengths (L) which are charged by the charge center (10) and the records (rc) indicate the path lengths (L) of the built-in units (2, 2 '). and that the capacity target (PL) is calculated on the basis of at least one ratio (16) between fee-laden and lengths traveled.

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fee transactions (ta) correspond to travel times (T) charged by the fee exchange (10) and the records (rc) indicate the travel times (T) of the built-in units (2, 2 '). and that the capacity target (PT) is calculated on the basis of at least one relationship (16) between fee-charged travel times and spent travel times.

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fee transactions (ta) correspond to the required road charges (F) as calculated by the charge center (10) and the records (rc) indicate the calculated road charges (F) of the built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 "). ) and that the capacity target (PF) is calculated on the basis of at least one relationship (16) between road charges and calculated road charges.

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fee transactions (ta) correspond to the road sections (SC) that are charged by the central exchange (10) and the records (rc) indicate the road sections (SC) traveled by the built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 "). and that the capacity target (Psc) is calculated on the basis of at least one ratio (16) between toll road sections and road sections.

Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the fee transactions (ta) correspond to the DSRC radio beacon passages (BC) charged by the central exchange (10) and the records (rc) indicate the DSRC radio beacon passages (BC) of the built-in units (2), and the capacity target (Pbc) is calculated on the basis of at least one ratio (16) between charge-fired radio-beacon passenger and registered radio-beacon passenger.

Method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the data collection order (m) also contains a specification of a validity period (T), wherein the registration in a built-in unit (2, 2 ', 2 ") is carried out only within the validity period ( T).

Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the radio stations (8) are base stations of radio cells in the mobile radio network (9) and that the built-in units (2) transmit the positions (p) determined by them via the mobile radio network (9) to the charge center (10) providing the charge transactions (ta) thereof.

Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the radio stations (8) are base stations of radio cells in the mobile radio network (9) and that the built-in units (2 ') from the positions (p) determined by them , provides fee transactions (ta) which they transmit via the mobile radio network (9) to the fee exchange (10).

Method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the radio stations (18) are DSRC radio beacons which determine the positions (p) of the installation units (2 ”) from the passages of the individual DSRC radio beacons (18), for thereby providing fee transactions (ta).

Method according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the group of built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 ") to which the data collection order (m) is sent comprises all built-in units (2, 2', 2") which are located say in a predetermined area around the starting position (A).

Method according to claim 11, characterized in that the built-in units (2, 2 ', 2') located in said area are determined from their last position-determined fee transactions (ta).

Method according to one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the group of built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 ") to which the data collection order (m) is sent is selected depending on the vehicle class.

Method according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the records (rc) are sent anonymously from the built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 ") to the charge center (14).

Method according to claim 14, characterized in that the anonymization is performed by means of a proxy server connected to the mobile radio network (19), over which the registrations (rc) are carried out.

Method according to one of claims 1 to 15, characterized in that the built-in units (2, 2 ', 2 ") determine their positions (p) by means of satellite navigation (5, 6).