EP2325807A1 - Method and device for generating toll information in a road toll system - Google Patents

Abstract

The method involves providing a location data record (mi) of toll road geo objects (o-11) from the local proximity (U-1) of a beacon (3). A road toll system (1) comprises a toll center (2) having a vehicle unit (4). The location data record is received from the beacon, when the vehicle unit is arranged in the reception area (S-1) of the beacon. Independent claims are also included for: (1) a vehicle equipment for a road toll system; (2) a beacon for a road toll system; and (3) a control instrument for a road toll system.

Description

The present invention relates to a method for generating toll information from the movements of vehicular devices in a road toll system comprising at least one toll center and a plurality of geographically distributed beacons connected thereto for short range radio communication with the vehicular devices.

The invention further relates to a vehicle device (onboard unit, OBU) for such a road toll system, having a satellite navigation receiver for generating a sequence of position data, a first memory for recording the position data sequence, and a short range transceiver for radio communication with one of many geographically distributed beacons, if the vehicle unit is in the transceiver area.

Finally, the invention also relates to a beacon and a monitoring device for such a road toll system.

By "short-range" radio communications in the present specification radio distances (cell radii) of up to several kilometers are meant.

• "Infrastrukturgebundene" Systeme, z.B. DSRC-Mautsysteme (dedicated short range communication), bei denen eine straßenseitige Infrastruktur (roadside equipment, RSE), beispielsweise DSRC-Funkbaken, die OBUs lokalisiert und vermautet; und
• "infrastrukturlose" Systeme wie GNSS-Mautsysteme (global navigation satellite systems), bei welchen sich die OBUs autark selbst lokalisieren und entweder "rohe" Positionsdaten (als sog. "thin clients") oder daraus auf Grundlage von Mautkarten "fertig" berechnete Mautinformationen (als sog. "thick clients") über ein Mobilfunknetz (cellular network, CN) an die Mautzentrale senden.

Modern road toll systems follow in their functions, role distributions and interfaces the principles defined in the standard ISO 17573, "Road Transport and Traffic Telematics - Electronic Fee Collection - System Architecture for Vehicle Related Transport Services". After that, there are currently essentially two basic types of systems:

• "Infrastructure-linked" systems, eg dedicated short range communication (DSRC) toll systems, where roadside equipment (RSE), such as DSRC beacons, locates and loops the OBUs; and
• "infrastructural" systems such as GNSS toll collection systems (global navigation satellite systems), in which the OBUs autonomously locate themselves and either "raw" position data (as so-called "thin clients") or toll information calculated on the basis of toll cards ( as so-called "thick clients") via a cellular network (CN) to the toll center.

Infrastructure-based tolling systems achieve a high security of leases, but require a comprehensive roadside infrastructure to localize OBUs area-wide, because the local resolution of the localization of the size of the transceiver areas and number of beacons results. Infrastructure-free tolling systems, on the other hand, have a fundamentally unlimited area coverage due to the self-localization capability of the OBUs, but require an enormous computing power (server farm) in the toll center in order to generate toll information from the raw OBU position data or in the case of "thick client". -Systems correspondingly complex OBUs, which can record and process the entire toll cards of the toll cover area, which also requires a correspondingly complex distribution and updating the toll cards over the mobile network. This traffic is bandwidth-consuming and not least expensive for the user.

The invention has for its object to provide methods and devices for a road toll system, which combine the advantages of the known systems, without taking over their respective disadvantages.

1. a) Bereitstellen eines Satzes von Ortsdaten mautpflichtiger Geoobjekte aus der jeweiligen lokalen Umgebung einer Bake in dieser Bake,
2. b) Aufzeichnen einer Folge von Positionsdaten eines Fahrzeuggeräts in diesem Fahrzeuggerät,
3. c) wenn das genannte Fahrzeuggerät im Sendeempfangsbereich einer Bake ist: Empfangen des Ortsdatensatzes von dieser Bake im Fahrzeuggerät,
4. d) Vergleichen der Positionsdatenfolge mit dem empfangenen Ortsdatensatz im Fahrzeuggerät, um daraus Mautinformationen zu erzeugen, und
5. e) wenn das genannte Fahrzeuggerät im Sendeempfangsbereich einer Bake ist: Senden der Mautinformationen vom Fahrzeuggerät über die Bake an die Mautzentrale.

This object is achieved in a first aspect of the invention with a method of the type mentioned in the introduction, which is characterized by the steps:

1. a) providing a set of location data of toll geo-objects from the respective local environment of a beacon in this beacon,
2. b) recording a sequence of position data of a vehicle device in this vehicle device,
3. c) when said vehicle device is in the transceiver area of a beacon: receiving the location data set from that beacon in the vehicle device,
4. d) comparing the position data sequence with the received location data set in the vehicle device in order to generate toll information, and
5. e) if said vehicle unit is in the transceiver area of a beacon: sending the toll information from the vehicle unit via the beacon to the toll center.

In a second aspect, the invention provides a vehicle device of the type mentioned, which is characterized by a second memory for receiving at least one set of location data tolling geo-objects from the environment of a beacon, which location data set was received by the short range transceiver of this beacon, wherein the vehicle device compares the recorded position data sequence with the received location record (s) to generate toll information therefrom, and transmits this toll information to the beacon via the short range transceiver when the vehicle unit is in its transceiver area.

In a third aspect of the invention, there is provided a beacon for such a road toll system comprising a short range transceiver for radio communication with vehicular devices located in its transceiver area, characterized by a memory for receiving a set of toll local geo-objects location data the beacon, which it sends to vehicle devices in their transceiver area.

In a fourth aspect, the invention also provides a monitoring device for a road toll system having at least one such beacon configured to detect movements of vehicle devices, and based on the location record of a beacon and the detected movements of vehicle devices in the local environment of the beacon the toll information generated by these vehicle devices - whether directly in these vehicle devices or in a beacon. Incorrect or missing toll information can be detected in this way. In the case of a negative check result, further measures may preferably be initiated, in particular photo or video recordings of the vehicle and / or the recording and storage of data of the vehicle device.

• Durch die Aufteilung des gesamten Abdeckungsbereichs des Mautsystems auf einzelne lokale Teilkarten (Ortsdatensätze) wird die Wartung und Bereitstellung der Ortsdaten der mautpflichtigen Geoobjekte an die OBUs wesentlich vereinfacht. Bei lokalen Änderungen brauchen in der Zentrale und/oder den zuständigen Baken jeweils nur die lokalen Ortsdatensätze aktualisiert zu werden.
• OBUs der Erfindung sind im Vergleich zu bekannten "thick client"-OBUs wesentlich einfacher und kostengünstiger aufgebaut, da sie nur geringen Speicher zur Aufnahme der lokalen Mautkarten ihres Aufenthaltsgebiets benötigen.
• Auch der zur Verteilung und Aktualisierung der Mautkarten erforderliche Datenverkehr ist wesentlich reduziert, was Bandbreite spart. Überdies ist hiefür kein Mobilfunknetz erforderlich, was dem Benutzer beträchtliche Mobilfunkgebühren erspart.
• Schließlich gestaltet sich auch die Straßeninfrastruktur wesentlich einfacher als bei den bekannten infrastrukturgebundenen Systemen: Da sich die OBUs selbst lokalisieren, ist die Lokalisierungsgenauigkeit nicht mehr von den Orten und der Dichte der Baken abhängig, so daß wesentlich weniger Baken erforderlich sind. Die Baken brauchen auch nicht mehr - wie bei den bekannten DSRC-Systemen - Richtstrahlcharakteristik haben, um passierende OBUs möglichst genau zu lokalisieren, sondern können mit einer Rundstrahlcharakteristik ausgestattet sein und sogar OBUs in größerer Entfernung, z.B. 1 bis 2 km, servicieren.
• Nicht zuletzt kann eine Bake damit nicht nur für ein, sondern für viele mautpflichtige Geoobjekte in ihrer Umgebung zuständig sein, wodurch mit einer sehr geringen Anzahl von Baken das Auslangen gefunden werden kann.

Gemäß einer besonders bevorzugten Ausführungsform der Erfindung wird demgemäß vorgesehen, daß die genannte lokale Umgebung einer Bake größer ist als ihr Sendeempfangsbereich, daß in Schritt a) auch der Ortsdatensatz einer benachbarten Bake in dieser Bake bereitgestellt wird, und daß in den Schritten c) und d) auch der benachbarte Ortsdatensatz empfangen und mit der Positionsdatenfolge verglichen wird. Die OBUs erhalten auf diese Weise auf ihrem Weg - wenn sie in den Sendeempfangsbereich einer Bake kommen - aktuelle Ortsdatensätze für ihr Aufenthaltsgebiet, können die zuletzt aufgezeichnete Positionsdatenfolge auf Grundlage dieser Ortsdatensätze zu Mautinformationen verarbeiten, und liefern die so erzeugten Mautinformationen bei einer Bake auf ihrem Weg ab.The invention is based on a novel use of self-locating OBUs in the context of an infrastructure-based toll collection system with radio beacons for the distribution of locally limited toll cards of the environment, so-called location data sets, to passing OBUs and for the receipt of toll information calculated in the OBUs on the basis of these local cards. This provides the following benefits:

• By dividing the entire coverage area of the toll collection system into individual local sub-maps (local data sets), the maintenance and provision of the location data of the tolled geo-objects to the OBUs is considerably simplified. In the case of local changes, only the local location data sets need to be updated in the central office and / or the relevant beacons.
• OBUs of the invention are much simpler and less costly compared to known "thick client" OBUs because they require little memory to accommodate the local toll cards of their residence area.
• Also, the traffic required to distribute and update the toll cards is significantly reduced, which saves bandwidth. Moreover, no mobile network is required for this, which saves the user considerable mobile charges.
• Finally, the road infrastructure is much simpler than in the known infrastructure-based systems: Since the OBUs locate themselves, the localization accuracy is no longer dependent on the locations and the density of the beacons, so that significantly fewer beacons are required. The beacons need not - as in the known DSRC systems - have directional beam characteristic to locate passing OBUs as accurately as possible, but can be equipped with an omnidirectional characteristic and even OBUs at a greater distance, eg 1 to 2 km, service.
• Not least, a beacon can be responsible not only for one, but for many tolling geo objects in their environment, which can be found with a very small number of beacons Auslangen.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, it is accordingly provided that said local environment of a beacon is greater than its transceiver area, that in step a) the location data set of an adjacent beacon in this beacon is provided, and that in steps c) and d ) and the adjacent location data set is received and compared with the position data sequence. The OBUs thus receive on their way - when they come in the transceiver area of a beacon - current location records for their residence area, the last recorded position data sequence based on these location records to process toll information, and deliver the toll information generated at a beacon on their way from.

For the basic functions of the system according to the invention, it is sufficient if OBUs localize themselves in any manner known in the art, for example by means of radio coverage in a mobile radio network etc. Preferably, however, the position data are determined and recorded with a satellite navigation receiver of the vehicle device, as is is practically proven in "thick client" OBUs for GNSS / CN toll systems.

Short range radio communication between the vehicle devices and beacons may also be accomplished by any short range radio standard known in the art, but preferably by dedicated short range communication (DSRC), WAVE (wireless access for vehicle environments) or WLAN (wireless local area network) standard which allows the use of existing infrastructures.

It is particularly advantageous if the location data set additionally contains charging information, which is included in the generation of the toll information. Thereby, e.g. individual tolls for individual tolled geo-objects or special OBUs or OBU settings can be specified.

Preferably, the location data set also test mechanisms such as checksums, hash functions or the like. include, with which its timeliness, validity and / or completeness is verifiable.

The generated toll information is preferably location anonymized to ensure privacy.

The memory of the vehicle device of the invention are preferably ring memory, which each record only the last recorded (n) position data sequence (s) or the last received location records, thereby saving memory and the vehicle unit can be carried out correspondingly cheaper.

• Fig. 1 eine ausschnittsweise und schematische Draufsicht eines Straßenmautsystems, welches nach dem Verfahren der Erfindung arbeitet und erfindungsgemäße Fahrzeuggeräte und Baken umfaßt;
• Fig. 2 ein Blockschaltbild eines Fahrzeuggeräts der Erfindung; und
• Fig. 3 ein Sequenzdiagramm des erfindungsgemäßen Verfahrens.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. In the drawings shows

• Fig. 1 a fragmentary and schematic plan view of a road toll system, which operates according to the method of the invention and includes vehicle devices and beacons according to the invention;
• Fig. 2 a block diagram of a vehicle device of the invention; and
• Fig. 3 a sequence diagram of the method according to the invention.

In Fig. 1 1 is a detail of a road toll system 1 with a toll center (central system, CS) 2 and a multiplicity thereof via connections 2 'of connected, geographically distributed short range radio beacons ("beacons" for short) 3. The beacons 3, of which three beacons RSE ₁ , RSE ₂ , RSE ₃ (generally RSE _i ) are shown here, each have a locally limited transceiver range S ₁ , S ₂ , S ₃ (generally S _i ), within which they Vehicle devices or OBUs 4 can communicate. For this purpose, the OBUs 4 with corresponding short-range transceivers 5 (FIG. Fig. 2 ) for radio communication with the beacons 3 equipped. The short-range radio communication between the beacons 3 and the OBUS 4 preferably takes place according to the DSRC, WAVE or WLAN standard.

The OBUs 4 are carried by vehicles 6 which are located on traffic areas 7, e.g. Roads, highways, parking lots, parking garages, etc., of the coverage area 8 of the road toll system 1 move.

The coverage area 8 of the road toll system 1 is subdivided into a multiplicity of adjoining local surroundings U ₀ , U ₁ , U ₂ , U ₃ , U ₄ (generally U _i ), to each of which one of the beacons 3 is allocated. The local environment U _{i of} a beacon 3 is preferably greater than its transceiver range S _i . Geographical objects o _ij in the coverage area 8 of the road toll system 1, whose local use by a vehicle 6, more precisely whose OBU 4, is charged ("vermautet"), so-called. tolled geo-objects, are distributed accordingly to the local environments U _i . Each beacon 3 is thus responsible for the tolling of the geo objects o _ij in their environment U _i .

The tolled geo objects o _ij can be of any kind. In Fig. 1 Some examples are shown, such as road sections o ₁₁ , o ₁₂ and o ₂₁ , whose driving is to be vermautet, a parking o ₂₃ , whose use time is to be charged, and a barrier o ₂₂ , the passage is toll road.

As in Fig. 2 shown in detail, each OBU 4 is equipped with a device 9 for their self-sufficient positioning. The device 9 is preferably a satellite navigation receiver, for example a GPS receiver, which continuously determines its position in a global navigation satellite system and generates a sequence ("track") t of position data ("position fixes") p ₁ , p ₂ , which is recorded in a first memory 10 of the OBU 4. The memory 10 is preferably a ring memory which contains only the last position data p _i determined.

Returning to Fig. 1 Each beacon 3 in a local memory 11 provides the location data of the geoobjects o _{ij of} its environment U _i as a location dataset m _i for passing OBUs 4. The location data set m _i is entered locally into the beacon 3 or distributed centrally from the toll center 2 via the connections 2 'to the beacons 3. In addition to its own location data set m _i , each beacon 3 preferably also contains the location data sets of one or more adjacent neighborhoods U _i , such as, for example, the beacon RSE ₂ for the location records m ₁ and m _{3 of} the neighboring neighborhoods U ₁ and U ₃ .

When an OBU 4 enters the transceiver area S _{i of} a beacon 3, the beacon 3 sends the location data sets m _i provided in its memory 11 to the OBU 4, which receives these via its transceiver 5 and stores them in a second memory 12. Also, the second memory 12 is preferably a ring memory, which receives only the last received location records m _i .

The OBU 4 then compares the position data sequence t recorded in the memory 10 with the received location data records m _i in the memory 12 for geographic similarity or "map-making" (block 14), in order to generate toll information tc ("toll charge").

The toll information tc generated in the OBU 4 are deposited via the transceiver 5 to a beacon 3, either to the same beacon 3, if the OBU 4 is still in its transceiving area S _i, or at a later time to a next beacon 3 , in whose transmission reception area S _i the OBU 4 arrives on its way.

In the "map matching" comparison 14, preference is also given to charging information which was received by the beacons 3 together with the location data records m _i , for example geo-object and / or OBU-specific or OBU-setting-specific tolls.

Fig. 3 shows the procedure of the procedure again in detail. In a first step a), one or more sets m _i with location data of tollable geo objects o _{ij of} the respective surroundings U _{i of} a beacon 3 are provided in the beacons 3, for example by receiving the toll center 2 via the links 2 '.

In a step b), an OBU 4 records a first sequence t ₁ of position data {p ₁ , p ₂ , p ₃ , ...} in its memory 10. As soon as the OBU 4 gets into the transceiver area S _{1 of} a first beacon 3, here RSE ₁ , it receives from this - according to Handshake ("connect") - in a step c) the location data set m _{1 of} the beacon RSE ₁ and - optionally - the location records m ₀ , m _{2 of} the neighboring environments U ₀ , U ₂ .

In a subsequent step d), the OBU 4 carries out a comparison between the recorded position data sequence t ₁ and the received location data records m ₀ , m ₁ , m ₂ ("map matching" block 14), possibly taking into account geo-object data. and / or OBU (setting) -specific charging information received together with the location records m _i , and generates toll information tc ₁ therefrom. In a subsequent step e), the toll information tc ₁ is sent to the toll center 2 via the transceiver 5 of the OBU 4 and via the next available beacon 3, in this case also the beacon RSE ₁ .

After generation of the first toll information tc _1, the ring memory with the recording of the position data p _i to be restarted deleted and 10 to a next position-data sequence _t2 {p _1, p _2, ...} be recorded.

As soon as the OBU 4 then arrives in the transceiver area S _{2 of} a next beacon 3, in this case RSE ₂ , on its way, steps c) and d) are again carried out. As in Fig. 3 shown, the generated second toll information tc ₂ via one of the next beacons 3 on the way, here the beacon RSE ₃ , are sent to the toll center 2, for example, when the transceiver area S _{2 of} the second beacon RSE ₂ already during the step d) has been.

The location records m _i the beacons 3 can also (stationary or mobile) monitoring devices 15 of the road toll system 1 are provided, u.zw. preferably by direct transmission from beacons 3 via said short range radio communication. The monitoring devices 15 are in a conventional manner capable of detecting the movements of vehicles 6 with vehicle devices 4 in their vicinity, For example, by means of photo or video surveillance, light barriers, radar or laser scanners, etc. The monitoring devices 15 check the toll information generated by the vehicle devices 4 on the basis of the location data records m _{i of} a beacon 3 and the detected vehicle movements in the vicinity U _{i of} the beacon 3 tc _i and can cause further measures in case of divergence, eg a malfunction or a toll, for example a photo or video recording of the vehicle 6 and / or a registration and storage of data of the vehicle device 4.

If the toll system 1 also called "thin client" -OBUs comprises which their position data sequences _ti directly to a beacon 3 send, so that it produces therefrom based on their location-data sets m _i the toll information tc _i, the monitoring device 15 could be also used to on the basis of the location data records m _i received from a beacon and the detected movements of the OBUs in the local environment U _{i of} a beacon check the toll information tc _i generated by this beacon 3.

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

Claims (19)

Method for generating toll information (tc _i ) from the movements of vehicle devices (4) in a road toll system (1) comprising at least one toll center (2) and a plurality of geographically distributed beacons (3) connected thereto for short-range radio communication with the vehicle devices (3) 4), characterized by the steps: a) providing a set (m _i ) of location data of tolling geo objects (o _ij ) from the respective local environment (U _i ) of a beacon (3) in this beacon (3), b) recording a sequence (t _i ) of position data (p _i ) of a vehicle device (4) in this vehicle device (4), c) if said vehicle device (4) is in the transceiver area (S _i ) of a beacon (3): receiving the location data set (m _i ) from this beacon (3) in the vehicle device (4), d) comparing the position data sequence (t _i ) with the received location data set (m _i ) in the vehicle unit (4) in order to generate toll information (tc _i ) therefrom, and e) if said vehicle device (4) in the transceiver area (S _i ) of a beacon (3): sending the toll information (tc _i ) from the vehicle unit (4) via the beacon (3) to the toll center (2). Method according to claim 1, characterized in that said local environment (U _i ) of a beacon (3) is greater than its transceiver area (S _i ), in step a) also the location data set (m _i ) of an adjacent beacon (3) in this beacon (3) is provided, and in steps c) and d) also the neighboring location data set (m _i ) is received and compared with the position data sequence (t _i ). Method according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the position data (p _i ) is provided by a satellite navigation receiver (9) of the vehicle unit (4) are determined and recorded. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the short-range radio communication between the vehicle unit (4) and the beacon (3) takes place according to the DSRC, WAVE or WLAN standard. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the location data set (m _i ) also contains charging information which goes into the generation of the toll information (tc _i ). Method according to one of Claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the location data set (m _i ) also contains checksums, hash functions or the like. contains, with which its timeliness, validity and / or completeness is verifiable. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the toll information (tci) generated is location-anonymised. Vehicle device for a road toll system, in particular for carrying out the method according to one of Claims 1 to 7, having a satellite navigation receiver (9) for generating a sequence (t _i ) of position data (p _i ), a first memory (10) for recording the position data sequence ( t _i ), as well as a short-range transceiver (5) for radio communication with one of many geographically distributed beacons (3) when the vehicle unit is in its transceiver area (S _i ), characterized by a second memory (12) for receiving at least one Set (m _i ) of location data of toll geo objects (o _ij ) from the environment (U _i ) of a beacon (3), which location record (m _i ) was received by the short range transceiver (5) from this beacon (3), wherein the vehicle device (4) compares the recorded position data sequence (t _i ) with the received location data set (s) (m _i ) in order to generate toll information (tc _i ) therefrom and, sends this toll information (tc _i ) to a beacon (3) via the short range transceiver (5) when the vehicle unit (4) is in its transceiver area (S _i ). Vehicle device according to claim 8, characterized in that the second memory (12) is a ring memory, which receives only the last received location data sets (m _i ). Vehicle device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the second memory (12) with the location data sets (m _i ) receives received charging information and the vehicle device (4) takes this into account in the generation (14) of the toll information (tc _i ). Vehicle device according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the short-range transceiver (5) is a DSRC, WAVE or WLAN transceiver. A beacon for a road toll system, in particular for carrying out the method according to one of claims 1 to 7, with a short range transceiver for radio communication with vehicle devices (4), which are located in their transceiver area (S _i ), characterized by a memory (11) for Recording of a set (m _i ) of location data of tolling geo-objects (o _ij ) from the environment (U _i ) of the beacon (3), which it sends to vehicle devices (4) in their transceiver area (S _i ). Beacon according to Claim 12, characterized in that the memory (11) also receives location data sets (m _i ) of adjacent beacons (3) and the beacon (3) also transmits these to vehicle devices (4) in their transceiver area (S _i ). Beacon according to claim 12 or 13, which is connected to a toll center (2) of the road toll system (1), characterized in that it receives the location data sets (m _i ) from the toll center (2). A beacon according to any one of claims 12 to 14 for communication with toll information (tc _i ) transmitting vehicle equipment, characterized in that it forwards toll data (tc _i ) received from vehicle equipment (4) to a toll center (2). Beacon according to one of claims 12 to 14 for communication with position data sequences (t _i ) transmitting vehicle devices, characterized in that it calculates from vehicle devices (4) received position data sequences (t _i ) toll information (tc _i ) and to a toll center (2) on , A road toll system monitor having at least one beacon as claimed in claim 15, wherein the monitor is adapted to detect movements of vehicle devices, characterized in that the monitor (15) based on the location record (m _i ) a beacon and the detected movements of vehicle equipment (4) in the local environment (U _i ) the beacon (3) checks the toll information (tc _i ) sent by these vehicle devices (4). A road toll system monitoring apparatus comprising at least one beacon according to claim 16, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to detect movements of vehicle devices, characterized in that the monitoring device (15) based on the location record (m _i ) a beacon and the detected movements of vehicle equipment (4) in the local environment (U _i ) the beacon (3) checks the toll information (tc _i ) generated by the beacon of these vehicle devices (4). Monitoring device according to claim 17 or 18, characterized in that the monitoring device initiates further measures if the result of the check is negative, preferably photographic or video recordings and / or the recording and storage of data of the vehicle device.

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