EP2176836B1 - Method for checking a position message of a vehicle emitted from a vehicle and transmission and receiving device for use in a vehicle - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for checking a vehicle emitted from a position of the vehicle. Furthermore, the invention relates to a vehicle with a transmitting and receiving device.

In some known systems for electronic toll collection, the toll to be paid by the owner of the toll vehicle is determined by means of an in-vehicle device. Such a device is for example an OBU unit (on-board unit). Since this device is mounted on the toll vehicle, there is a risk that the vehicle owner will try to manipulate the function of the device in order to reduce in this way the toll to be paid. In the following, this problem will be further explained by the example of an OBU unit, although the present invention is not limited to this on-vehicle device for determining a toll of a toll vehicle.

In order to check the correctness of the OBU unit mounted on a tolled vehicle, a conventional electronic toll collection system often has a higher number of control devices. A corresponding control device may be, for example, a mobile test device or a test bridge. If a toll vehicle is located in an environment of such a control device, the OBU unit of the vehicle is checked via a data query. This can be done by the controller sending an interrogation signal to the OBU unit. The OBU unit responds to a received interrogation signal, for example, by transmitting a determined current position and an identity of the own vehicle. The control device then compares the received position of the toll vehicle with the stored position of the control device. If the control device detects a contradiction between the position of the vehicle subject to the toll and its stored position, it informs the operator of the system for electronic toll collection in this regard.

In such a conventional electronic toll collection system, however, the tolled vehicles can only be checked during the passage of a road equipped with a control device for correct operation of their OBU units. This requires the presence and operation of expensive infrastructure from such control devices on virtually all tolled roads. The associated costs significantly reduce the profits made by such electronic toll collection.

It would therefore be desirable to have a more cost-effective way to check toll vehicles for the correct functioning of their on-board equipment necessary for toll collection.

The invention provides a method with the features of claim 1 and a transmitting and receiving device for use in a vehicle according to claim 6.

In this case, the present invention is based on the recognition that the conventionally necessary control devices for checking the vehicle-owned devices necessary for determining the toll can be replaced by a mutual checking of the respective devices of different vehicles. Using wireless communication technology to transmit and receive short range signals, the on-vehicle toll collection devices may contact one another during a ride or during an operational vehicle standstill and perform a mutual integrity check. The results of such mutual integrity checks may then be communicated to a toll center computer center. In this way, a reliable integrity check of many vehicles is possible without having to be mounted control devices on busy roads. This saves the cost of the additional infrastructure of such control devices, which is particularly advantageous for an area toll on all road classes. An area toll on all roads of a state is thus technically easier to implement and is economically more profitable.

A further advantage of the present invention is that the integrity checks of the vehicles carried out with the aid of the invention can be carried out far more comprehensively because the likelihood of meeting two toll vehicles is far greater than that of a toll vehicle passing through a stationary or mobile inspection station , The frequency with which such a check on the toll vehicle is feasible, can thus be increased. In addition, the checks made using the present invention are time and location independent.

From the article " "LAN LIN ET AL, 6TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON IS TELECOMMUNICATIONS PROCEEDINGS, pages 122-126, 2006 , Vehicle Vehicle Communication V2VC and a vehicle data communication system is known in which those vehicles having both systems function as so-called master vehicles. Information which they acquire via the V2V network is forwarded via a radio connection, in particular via a mobile radio connection, to a traffic data center for the purpose of evaluating traffic data.

In a preferred embodiment of the method, a signal with a range of less than 1 km, in particular less than 100 m, preferably less than 10 m, is emitted as short-range signal. In this way, it can be determined by a simple comparison of the first position of the first vehicle and the second position of the second vehicle, whether the necessary for toll collection devices of the first and second vehicle forward correct positions of their vehicles, or at least one of the devices Malfunction, for example, due to a manipulation of the device is present.

Preferably, a WLAN signal (Wireless Local Area Network), a DSRC signal (Dedicated Short Range Communication) and / or a Bluetooth signal is transmitted as a short-distance signal. In this way, the present invention can be implemented easily and inexpensively. In addition, such transmitting and receiving devices have only a relatively small space requirement, which simplifies the equipping of a vehicle with such a transmitting and receiving device.

In an illustrative example, the first transmitting and receiving device transmits a position signal with a position specification directly to the central evaluation device, wherein the central evaluation device compares the position information with the first position of the long-distance signal. If the central evaluation device recognizes that the position statement contradicts the first position although the position specification and the first position are received within a relatively short period of time, the central evaluation device can output a corresponding error notification to the operator of the electronic toll collection system. This makes it possible to detect manipulations on a device for determining a toll for a toll vehicle even in cases where the respective device is manipulated so that it outputs to another vehicle a correct first position, while it to the central evaluation device for Determine the toll sent an incorrect position information.

For example, the first transmitting and receiving device transmits a toll determination signal as a position signal. The position signal is then sent to the central office for toll collection. By comparing this data with the items reported for verification purposes, it is possible to check the correct operation of the on-board unit for determining the toll.

In a further preferred embodiment, after receiving the long-distance signal, the central evaluation device determines whether a vehicle with the first and / or the second identity is reported within a predetermined period of time after the reception of the long-distance signal at a third position which corresponds to the first and / or the second position has a distance greater than a predetermined comparison distance. In this way, even such manipulations be recognized on a device for determining a toll, in which a toll vehicle reports under a false identity to the operator of the system for electronic toll collection.

In a continuation, the first vehicle sends a short-distance signal which, together with the first position and the first identity of the first vehicle, also contains additional information about a traffic jam, an accident, a road course, a road condition and / or a speeding-over. In this way, the vehicle-owned devices required for carrying out the method described here can also be used for an information transfer between the own vehicle and a foreign vehicle. This multi-functionality of facilities is cost saving for a vehicle owner.

The advantages described in the upper sections are also ensured by a corresponding vehicle with a transmitting and receiving device.

Figur 1

ein Flussdiagramm eines veranschaulichenden Beispiels des Verfahrens zum Überprüfen einer von einem Fahrzeug ausgesendeten Position des Fahrzeugs; und

Figur 2

zwei Fahrzeuge, welche mit Hilfe des veranschaulichenden Beispiels des Verfahrens zum Überprüfen einer von einem Fahrzeug ausgesendeten Position des Fahrzeugs ihre zum Ermitteln einer Maut notwendigen Geräte gegenseitig überprüfen.

Further applications and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of exemplary embodiments, which are illustrated in the drawings. Show it:

FIG. 1

a flowchart of an illustrative example of the method for checking a vehicle emitted position of the vehicle; and

FIG. 2

two vehicles that mutually check their necessary equipment for determining a toll with the aid of the illustrative example of the method for checking a vehicle emitted position of the vehicle.

FIG. 1 FIG. 12 is a flow chart of an illustrative example of checking a vehicle emitted position of the vehicle. FIG. In a first step S0, a vehicle A is equipped with a transmitting and receiving device a. Likewise, a transmitting and receiving device b is attached to a vehicle B. Subsequently, in a step S1a, a position α and an identity α 'of the vehicle A are provided to the transmitting and receiving device a. The position α of the vehicle A during a travel of the vehicle A is continuously output from a position detection device or from a navigation device to the transmitting and receiving device a. The position α of the vehicle A may be, for example, a vehicle position indicated in coordinates or a road section being traveled by the vehicle A. The identity α 'of the vehicle A is entered into this prior to commissioning of the transmitting and receiving device a. The identity α 'is preferably a license plate of the vehicle A, an identification number of the transmitting and receiving device a and / or at least one personal statement to the vehicle owner of the vehicle A. In a simultaneously proceeding step S1b, a position β and an identity β 'of the vehicle B are provided to the transmitting and receiving device b in a corresponding manner.

At the time of step S2, the vehicle A is in a vicinity of the vehicle B. Since the distance between the vehicles A and B is smaller than a range of a short-distance signal emitted by the transmitting and receiving device a, the short-distance signal is transmitted from the transmitting and receiving device b received. In a preferred embodiment, the transmitting and receiving device a send the short-distance signal always after receiving an interrogation signal of the transmitting and receiving device b. Alternatively, however, the transmitting and receiving device a can also be designed to transmit the short-range signal continuously according to a predetermined time frame. In both cases, the short-distance signal contains the position α and the identity α 'of the vehicle A. The short-distance signal is, for example, a WLAN signal (Wireless Local Area Network), a DSRC signal (Dedicated Short Range Communication) and / or a Bluetooth signal , The data of the short-distance signal can be encrypted before transmission, which is not necessary to carry out the method.

In a subsequent step S3, the transmitting and receiving device b transmits a long-distance signal with the received data for the position α and the identity α 'and with the provided data for the position β and the identity β' to a central evaluation device of an operator of a system electronic toll collection. Before transmitting the long-distance signal, the data of the positions α and β and the identities α 'and β' can be encrypted. The long-distance signal preferably has a range of up to 100 km or even greater. In this case, the operator of the electronic toll collection system has only to provide a central evaluation device for receiving the long-distance signals.

After receiving the long-distance signal by the central evaluation device, a distance D between the positions α and β is determined in a step S4. The central evaluation device compares the determined distance D with a predetermined comparison distance D0 in a subsequent step S5. If the determined distance D is below the comparison distance D0, the central evaluation device recognizes in a step S6 that the vehicles with the identities α 'and β' emit correct positions.

However, if the central evaluation device determines that the determined distance D is greater than the predetermined comparison distance D0, the central evaluation device recognizes in a step S7 that at least one of the vehicles with the identities α 'and β' transmits an incorrect position. This may be because at a position detection device or at a transmitting and receiving device a or b of one of the vehicles A or B is a manipulation. Therefore, after the step S7, the central evaluation device issues a warning to the operator of the electronic toll collection system.

As an alternative to steps 4 and 5, in the case that the positions α and β are road segments, the central evaluation device may also be designed to determine whether the respective road segments α and β are identical or at least adjacent to each other. If this is not true, the central evaluation device issues a corresponding warning.

FIG. 2 FIG. 12 shows two vehicles that mutually check their devices necessary for determining a toll by means of the embodiment of the method for checking a position of the vehicle emitted by a vehicle. Each of the two vehicles A and B has a position detection device or a navigation device, which determines a current position α or β of the associated vehicle A or B and then outputs. In addition, the vehicles A and B are each equipped with a non-sketched transmitting and receiving device.

The transmitting and receiving devices of the vehicles A and B serve to notify a central evaluation device Z, for example a data center of an electronic toll collection system, when the respective vehicle A or B is driving on a tolled road. The central evaluation device Z processes the route information / amounts communicated by the transmitting and receiving devices of the vehicles A and B into monthly totals and communicates them to the respective owner of the vehicle A or B.

In FIG. 2 the vehicles A and B are at a distance from each other within a range of a short-distance communication technology with which the transmitting and receiving devices of the vehicles A and B are equipped. This allows data to be exchanged between the transmitting and receiving devices of the two vehicles A and B. The transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle A receives a short-distance signal 10b emitted by the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle B with a determined position β and one on the transmission At the same time the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle A sends a short-distance signal 10a with a current position α and a stored identity α 'of the own vehicle to the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle B. ,

After receiving the short-range signal 10b emitted by the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle B, the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle A transmits a long-distance signal 12a to the central evaluation device. The long-distance signal 12a contains the positions α and β and the identities α 'and β' of the vehicles A and B. Accordingly, the transmitting and receiving device of the vehicle B transmits a long-distance signal 12b with the data α, β α 'and β' to the central evaluation device Z.

In a first evaluation step, the central evaluation device Z checks whether long distance signals 12a and 12b are received by both vehicles A and B. If this is not the case, for example, if only one long-distance signal 12a or 12b is received, it is suspected that one of the two transmitting and receiving devices of the vehicles A and B is manipulated in such a way that it does not send any data to the central evaluation device Z. If this is the case, a corresponding message is issued to the operator of the central evaluation device Z.

Optionally, the central evaluation device Z can check whether further cases of non-received long-distance signals of the respective vehicle A or B have already been detected and, if this is true, issue a corresponding message to the operator of the central evaluation device Z. Even with a single detection of a message not received, of course, a corresponding message to the operator can be issued.

It may also be the case that a long-distance signal 12a or 12b is received, from which it is apparent that no short-distance signal 10a or 10b has been received from a detected foreign vehicle, or no position and / or identity of the other vehicle can be removed from the short-distance signal 10a or 10b , In this case, the central evaluation device Z checks whether further vehicles in a near vicinity of the detected foreign vehicle send a corresponding error message and attempts to guide a checking command to the foreign vehicle located in this way.

If long distance signals 12a and 12b are received by both vehicles A and B during the first evaluation step, the central evaluation device Z compares the transmitted positions α and β of the two long-distance signals 12a and 12b with one another in a further method step. If it is determined that there is a distance between the transmitted positions α and β which is greater than the range of the short-distance communication technology of the transmitting and receiving devices of the vehicles A and B, then the central evaluation device Z evaluates this as an indication of a malfunction of at least one position detection device or a transmitting and receiving device of the vehicles A and B. Such a malfunction may also be traceable to a specific manipulation of the relevant position detection device or the respective transmitting and receiving device. A corresponding error message is then output from the central evaluation device Z to its operator.

On the other hand, if the positions α and β appear plausible, then in a subsequent evaluation step they are compared with position information which is transmitted by the transmitting and receiving devices to the central evaluation device Z for calculating the toll to be paid. If the positions α and β deviate from the transmitted position information, then there may be a malfunction due to a manipulation attempt. The operator of the central evaluation device Z is therefore notified immediately.

In a further evaluation step, the central evaluation device can check whether one of the two vehicles A or B is determined within a time span at a plurality of positions which are too far apart with respect to the time span. The central evaluation device Z also interprets this as possible manipulation of the respective vehicle A or B, which causes the associated transmitting and receiving device for toll control indicates a false identity.

According to the invention are based on the FIG. 2 explained methods, the transmitting and receiving means of the vehicles A and B designed to evaluate the received from the other vehicle A or B by means of the short-distance signal 10a or 10b position α or β with respect to a plausibility with respect to the own position α or β. In this case, a long-distance signal is only output to the central evaluation device Z if deviations occur between the compared positions α and β.

The transmitting and receiving device used for the described method can still be used for further communication options between the vehicles A and B. For example, the vehicles may interchange congestion alerts, accident alerts, turn warnings, smoother warnings, and / or overspeed warnings. Likewise, the transmitting and receiving devices of the two vehicles A and B can be used for data transmission to other destinations if mobile or stationary access points to the destination network are available. Corresponding access points are, for example, stationary access points or mobile gateways. In this way a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) can be replaced. Likewise, programming data between the vehicles A and B can be exchanged with the aid of the transmitting and receiving devices.

Claims (9)

1. Method for checking a position message (α, β) of a vehicle (A, B) that is transmitted by the vehicle (A, B), wherein a first vehicle (A, B) is equipped with a first transmission and reception device and a second vehicle (A, B) is equipped with a second transmission and reception device, having the steps of:

   - providing a first position (α, β) and a first identity (α', β') of the first vehicle (A, B) to the first transmission and reception device;

   - providing a second position (α, β) and a second identity (α', β') of the second vehicle (A, B) to the second transmission and reception device;

   - sending a short-range signal (10a, 10b) having the first position (α, β) and the first identity (α', β') of the first vehicle (A, B) from the first transmission and reception device to the second transmission and reception device,

   wherein a position comparison device of the second transmission and reception device ascertains whether the received position (α, β) of the first vehicle (A, B) corresponds to the provided position (α, β) of the second vehicle (A, B), and, if the received position (α, β) of the first vehicle (A, B) does correspond to the provided position (α, β) of the second vehicle (A, B), prevents a long-range signal (12a, 12b) from being transmitted by the second transmission and reception device,
   and otherwise sending the long-range signal (12a, 12b) having the received first position (α, β) and first identity (α', β') of the first vehicle (A, B) and the provided second position (α, β) and second identity (α', β') of the second vehicle (A, B) from the second transmission and reception device to a central evaluation apparatus (Z).
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the short-range signal (10a, 10b) transmitted is a signal having a range below 1 km, in particular below 100 m, preferably below 10 m.
3. Method according to either of the preceding claims, characterized in that the short-range signal (10a, 10b) transmitted is a WLAN (wireless local area network) signal, a DSRC (dedicated short range communication) signal and/or a Bluetooth signal.
4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the central evaluation apparatus (Z), after receiving the long-range signal (12a, 12b), ascertains whether a vehicle having the first or the second identity (α', β') is reported at a third position, which is at a distance from the first and/or the second position (α, β) greater than a prescribed comparison distance, within a prescribed period after reception of the long-range signal (12a, 12b).
5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the first vehicle (A, B) sends a short-range signal (10a, 10b) that, together with the first position (α, β) and the first identity (α', β') of the first vehicle (A, B), also contains additional information about congestion, an accident, a road profile, a road condition and/or about speeding.
6. Transmission and reception device for use in a vehicle (A, B), which is designed to transmit a short-range signal (10a, 10b) having a provided position (α, β) and a provided identity (α', β') of the ego vehicle (A, B), to receive a short-range signal (10a, 10b) having a position (α, β) and an identity (α', β') of another vehicle (A, B), and, after receiving the short-range signal (10a, 10b) having the position (α, β) and the identity (α', β') of the other vehicle (A, B), to send a long-range signal (12a, 12b) having information regarding the provided position (α, β) and identity (α', β') of the ego vehicle (A, B) and the received position (α, β) and identity (α', β') of the other vehicle (A, B) to a central evaluation apparatus (Z), characterized in that the transmission and reception device has a position comparison device that is designed to ascertain whether the received position (α, β) of the other vehicle (A, B) corresponds to the provided position (α, β) of the ego vehicle (A, B), and, if the received position (α, β) of the other vehicle (A, B) does correspond to the provided position (α, β) of the ego vehicle (A, B), to prevent the long-range signal (12a, 12b) from being transmitted via the transmission and reception device.
7. Transmission and reception device according to Claim 6, characterized in that a range of the sent short-range signal (10a, 10b) is below 1 km, in particular below 100 m, preferably below 10 m.
8. Transmission and reception device according to Claim 6 or 7, characterized in that the received short-range signal (10a, 10b) and/or the sent short-range signal (10a, 10b) is a WLAN (wireless local area network) signal, a DSRC (dedicated short range communication) signal and/or a Bluetooth signal.
9. Transmission and reception device according to one of Claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the transmission and reception device has an information output device for providing information about congestion, an accident, a road profile, a road condition and/or about speeding, and in that the transmission and reception device is additionally designed so as, together with the position (α, β) and the identity (α', β') of the ego vehicle (A, B), to also transmit the provided information as a short-range signal (10a, 10b).

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