ES2639767A1 - System and method of payment or automatic payment prepaid through smartphone (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding) - Google Patents

Abstract

System and method of payment or automatic prepayment of toll by smartphone or smartphone. The smartphone comprises a mobile toll application or downloaded app. A toll reader device with a license plate reader is configured to exchange data with said smarphone via a dsrc or gnss communication protocol. A subsystem or backoffice of the toll provider with the car data and customer banking receives data from the license plate reader and the smartphone. A virtual payment gateway presents a common electronic communication protocol between said app and said subsystem of the toll provider. The subsystem or backoffice executes the payments in said virtual payment gateway based on the data of a previous planning selected in the app and/or the read data of the toll reader. (Machine-translation by Google Translate, not legally binding)

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD OF PAYMENT OR AUTOMATIC TOLL PREPAYMENT BY SMARTPHONE

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

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The object of the present invention is in the state of the art of automatic payment systems or prepaid tolls through the use of smartphones or smartphones, adaptable for use in toll points channeled by lanes, on 10-lane roads without traffic interruption or stop and in payment scenarios for use of the road.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

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Electronic toll payment (ETC) systems are expanding on all continents. Europe and the US have been implementing these types of systems for years to solve the problems of congestion, financing of roads and infrastructure and also as a means of protecting the environment, but the rest of the continents are moving very quickly in their adoption.

Collection models are being sophisticated to achieve objectives that were previously unthinkable, thanks, above all, to the technological advances that allow us today to carry out actions that were previously impossible.

The concept of toll, payment for use, has transcended 30 notoriously and nowadays it applies to multiple types of services and not only to the use of highways, which requires different and more advanced measurement and payment mechanisms.

The means of payment have also evolved and now we are faced with automated systems that do not require 5 support personnel. Within these means of payment, the mobile phone and, more specifically, the smartphone or smartphone endorsed by all for this purpose are emerging strongly.

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Smartphone penetration is reaching unforeseen levels and, according to studies, there is a growing demand for electronic toll systems (ETC) due to the need to reduce travel times, avoid or reduce congestion of the 15 routes circulation, reduce payment times at toll stations and facilitate travel without the need to carry cash. These ETC systems also contribute to reducing air pollution by allowing a more fluid circulation in 20 toll roads.

ETC systems present challenges such as high development and implementation costs.

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On the one hand we have products in the ETCs such as antennas, communication systems, cameras, scanners, video image storage media, etc.

The technologies used in the ETCs frequently use radiofrequency with the method of automatic identification and capture of RFID data (in English: radio-frequency identification), or the DSCR protocol (in English: dedicated short ragne communications), track analysis in form Automatic license plate recognition (ALPR), geo-tracking detection protocol with wide coverage (global navigation satellite system or GNSS) and global positioning system

The DSRC system is more widespread in Europe and Asia, and the RFID in the US.

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There is also strong competition to impose, either short-range communications (RFID or DSRC) or broad-coverage (GNSS or GSM).

Today GNSS technology and hybrid OBUs 15 are a Premium technology. Trends indicate that RFID technologies will displace the DSRC. A clear increase in the use of wireless technology (Wireless) with greater use of the ubiquitous smartphones as an on-board unit 20 is also expected to replace current ransponder devices (“TAGS”) and many OBUs, and automatic recognition technology of the vehicle registration number (automatic number plate recognition or “ANPR” technology) as an anti-fraud and roaming mechanism. 25

The electronic page market has been very focused on toll methods that require the use of an OBU with RFID or DSRC communication capabilities. OBUs can be expensive for users and several 30 OBUs may be required for different highways, and for highway operators who need ad-hoc infrastructure compatible with a given OBU. A growing use of smartphones is expected to make toll payments. The SIM card of the smartphones identifies and validates a phone in a network and provides a link with the user as well as information about the capabilities of your account; and they are increasingly using smartphones to make toll payments. The SIM card of the smartphones identifies and validates a phone in a network and provides a link with the user as well as information about the capabilities of your account; and they are increasingly using smartphones to make toll payments. The SIM card of the smartphones identifies and validates a phone in a network and provides a link with the user as well as information about the capabilities of your account; and they are

Patent document US2015 / 0088617 from Geotoll, Inc. 10 converts a Smartphone into a multiprotocol transponder for use in tolls through the use of NFC technology. It uses an omnidirectional antenna to allow the Smartphone not to be located in a specific area of the vehicle like today with OBUs. A 15C 6C chip capable of operating in the RFID band, which integrates NFC technology, is mounted on an adhesive label (TAG) that adheres to the back of the Smartphone or to its housing, allowing communication on the one hand with the antennas. RFID of the ETC system and on the other with 20 the Smartphone and the application that runs on it. Therefore, it is a hardware that allows the Smartphone to have communications with the RFID protocol at 900 MHz (incompatible with the European DSRC operates at 5.8 GHz), something that the Smartphone does not have. This is a technology that uses geolocation to identify when the user is close to a toll point. The system is activated at a certain distance from the toll to save energy to the Smartphone.

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As disadvantages of Geotoll, Inc. system are the need for utility RFID tags, need for smartphones with NFC technology to communicate with the TAG, the TAG does not work if the Smartphone does not activate before the toll point, the Apps require subscription. The TAG drains the battery of the Smartphone quickly.

The smartphone application described in patent 5 US2014 / 0025444 A1 of PayUrToll LLC is based on a transponder device connected to the Smartphone through the headphone jack facilitating communication between the toll point equipment and the application. Identify the location with geographic coordinates thanks to the phone's GPS, calculate the tolls due based on the time and distance on the toll roads, and identify the type of toll. As disadvantages, the additional device for communicating with the toll point equipment and option 15 "not intelligent" is based only on the identification of the license plate.

The smartphone payment solution “PToll” is an application developed by BancPass requires that its 20 users register and provide a charge account, an image of the vehicle registration so that it can be used in tolls matching it with those identified by the systems of license plate recognition through video (ANPR) used to prevent fraud. 25 This requires a prior agreement or partnership with toll operators. Does not use GPS or RFID tags. It is useful for non-frequent users or do not have TAG / OBU. Therefore a mobile application can be considered rather than a 30-toll payment solution.

MToll technology is based on the WI-FI connection of the Smartphone to authenticate, validate and debit the charge to toll users without the need for additional hardware as in the technologies described above. Thus, the servers installed at a toll point locate 5 the Smartphone 600 meters away and deduct the amount of the account connected through WI-FI. The WI-FI ensures the interoperability and use of security protocols requiring less expensive infrastructure and is RFID compatible. Also, in case of non-coverage, 10 the system accepts payments through NFC. As disadvantages, it could present reliability problems and cannot be implemented in free-flow paths.

The main features to consider when designing or choosing an ETC technology using Smartphone are:

The following table summarizes the characteristics or criteria of the payment toll technology with Smartphone described above, including a fifth technology called "The Toll Toads" that is not properly an electronic toll application but a formula of Payment at operational tolls in California (USA):

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There are other technical solutions for toll payment through Smartphone that are in a development phase that is still emerging or in the testing phase, of which we highlight four of them:

A first technical solution consists in the design and manufacture of an RF transmitter and receiver that will be located on the road at the toll point (RS-TX and RS-RX), together with a unit inside the vehicle, which will have identical transmission capacity and 5 reception as the transmitters described above. This unit is in permanent connection with a GSM phone. Through a communications protocol specially developed for this model, an exchange of recognition messages is achieved, which, in case of being positive, activates a call through the GSM device to a control center that identifies the mobile device ( his telephone number) and records the entry, giving orders for the barrier to be lifted and the traffic light to indicate authorization to continue. A similar procedure is performed at the exit of the highway, but in this case the toll amount is calculated and the charge is made to the customer's account or credit card.

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In a second technical solution, users register in the system and must provide the details of their vehicle that, later, during the payment process will allow identification. On the road, a mini-25 mobile phone antenna will be located at a certain distance from the toll point along with a camera. When a vehicle approaches the toll point, the mini-antenna detects the user's mobile phone number and takes a picture of the vehicle. This information is sent to a control center for approval of the transaction. In this control center, the information is received and the operation is assigned to an operator, who will have to confirm that the data of the registered vehicle and those of the vehicle that will pass through the toll point are the same. With this confirmation you activate the step procedure or otherwise deny it. The communications between the equipment of the toll point and the control center are made via registered and those of the vehicle that will pass through the toll point are the same. With this confirmation you activate the step procedure or otherwise deny it. The communications between the equipment of the toll point and the control center are made via registered and those of the vehicle that will pass through the toll point are the same. With this confirmation you activate the step procedure or otherwise deny it. The communications between the equipment of the toll point and the control center are made via registered and those of the vehicle that will pass through the toll point are the same. With this confirmation you activate the step procedure or otherwise deny it. Communications between the equipment of the toll point and the control center are made via

A third project proposes a solution specially designed for ORT (Open Road Tolling) infrastructures that consists of a new OBU that integrates the most used technologies in toll collection: DSRC and GNSS, with a 15 mobile application for Smartphone that provides new features for users, such as a new payment method based on NFC in which the user brings the OBU to the Smartphone and collects all the invoices that he must pay. twenty

A fourth project proposes a method to improve the success rate of automatic vehicle recognition (ALPR), currently around 85% through the use of geo-location services available on 25 smartphones, which allows to track the position of the vehicle and ensure that the vehicle goes through a certain toll point. It is known that in the free-flow routes those who do not carry OBU are identified by the license plate recognition system, 30 starting from that moment an expensive collection process. This system does not eliminate the OBU but allows to increase, thanks to new recognition techniques (image fingerprinting) the reliability of the license plate recognition systems at a rate similar to the reliability of the OBUs with DSRC / RFID (99%), of such that the costs of anti-infringement processes are minimized. recognition (image fingerprinting) the reliability of license plate recognition systems at a rate similar to the reliability of OBUs with DSRC / RFID (99%), so that the costs of anti-infringement processes are minimized.

Therefore, smartphones are expected to play an increasingly important role in EETS (European Ellectronic Toll Services) systems, the technologies described above show this emerging role of the use of smartphones in this field. One of the challenges is to facilitate the payment of tolls in an Open Road Tolling (ORT) or free-flow tolling model in which it is not necessary to stop to pay the toll, all with guarantees of reliability and safety. fifteen

Efforts in the area of standardization will be necessary to facilitate the interoperability of the different existing technologies. In fact, the payment of tolls by Smartphone allows more easily interoperability with several toll systems since mobile technology is interoperable, for example, throughout Europe. Mobile technology offers a superior interface to existing ETC systems and provides better memory, greater processing capacity and cross-border use. It allows users and operators to manage user accounts more easily.

ETC applications can be run on 30 highways / highways, urban areas, bridges and tunnels.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

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The invention object of the present invention proposes a system and method of payment or automatic prepayment of tolls by smartphone both in toll points channeled by lanes, and in free-flow scenarios, including the pay-per-use scenario. 10

The invention object of the present invention proposes a toll payment solution by smartphone that provides fundamental advantages overcoming the current state of the art:

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The advantages indicated above are achieved thanks to key features of the present invention to ensure its success against current technologies:

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These features are basically hardware-like capabilities on the communications side, the first being a challenge today because current smartphones do not process the reception of signals using the DSRC protocol without the need for an additional device or hardware such as the one described above. “GeoToll” (which on the other hand is designed to operate on existing protocols in the US and not the extended DSRD protocol in Europe). 10

For this, the application or App is configured so that the Smartphone can process said DSRC signal. For this, the toll management company has the registered vehicle registration number and an account number associated with said registration number, the App software being compatible with the subsystem or backoffice software of the utopian manager through a common communication protocol. In this way, the database of the manager's subsystem or backoffice is intercommunicated. The application is open to integrate or add software compatible with the backoffice or subsystem of the corresponding toll manager.

Any of the DSRC or GNSS protocols interconnect the Smartphone with the ETC devices of the track: an OCR license plate reader, a toll reader and a toll manager or backoffice subsystem with a database and a server.

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Thus, the user can act in two ways: with or without established prior planning.

To carry out an established pre-planning, the user has determined a point of origin and a point of destination in the App and it calculates a route between both points. The App communicates this route to the toll provider subsystem server and it calculates the 5 tolls (and payments) existing on said route, and said servers identify the card and registration (or other data that identifies the vehicle) corresponding to the user of the App. With this data prepaid is executed. In this way, after planning 10 has been carried out, as indicated above, the user begins the journey and when he arrives at each of the identified tolls, the license plate reader reads the license plate of the vehicle and is checked on the manager's backoffice servers of tolls that said license plate has a properly established and prepaid planning 15, proceeding to the opening of the barrier and to the update of the route that will be notified to the app through its messaging service. When you have gone through a prepaid toll within a route, the server 20 updates the route executed and will notify the App through the messaging service through the smartphone communication module.

In the event that the user has not done a pre-trip planning, when the user is en route and approaches a toll reader, the smartphone communication module receives, processes and sends the application (App) the data from a signal (s) of the toll reader sent through a DSRC protocol, or alternatively, the geo-location module of the smartphone receives, processes and sends to the application (App) the data of a detection protocol of geo-tracking (g) of wide coverage. The toll reader license plate reader reads the license plate of the vehicle where the Smartphone goes and sends the registration data to the backoffice server. He

Both methods, with or without prepayment, can be combined on the same route in the case of deviations from route 15 pre-programmed and prepaid.

In all cases, an opening of the barrier occurs once the execution of the payment by the server of the subsystem or backoffice has been verified. twenty

The App communicates with the toll manager or backoffice subsystem server via a secure internet connection or other frequency such as the 5.8 GHz DSRC. 25

The App can therefore be configured to provide toll route information (via its connection and to a map application), and also to provide alarms of proximity to a toll reader.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The following figures are included in order to facilitate the understanding of the invention:

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PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

A preferred embodiment of the machine object of the present invention is detailed below.

Figure 1 shows the automatic toll payment system using a smartphone or smartphone (1) with a geo-location module of the GPS type (11), a communication / data module (10) and a mobile toll application o App (12).

The toll reader device (2) has a license plate reader that can be of the type 25 laser (21) or optical OCR (20) license plate reader. The toll reader with visual registration reader of the OCR type (20) communicates with the communication / data module (10) of the smarphone (1) via a wireless network with the DSRC protocol at 9.8 Hz (3) (also 30 can do it alternately in 3G / 4G or equivalent). The toll reader with laser license plate reader (21) communicates with the GPS module (11) of the smarphone (1) via a wireless network in the GNSS protocol (4).

A subsystem of the toll manager or backoffice provider (5) has a server (50) and a database of 5 data (51). The database (51) presents a data module (511) of the App client (12) that is registered with the registration number of your car and with a bank account number authorized to make payments in favor of the manager or Toll provider. 10

A telematic data network (6) connects said backoffice (5) with each toll reader (2).

The backoffice is also connected via a wireless network (7) of type 3G to the communication / data module (10) of the smartphone (1).

The figure shows a virtual payment gateway (8) with a common electronic communication protocol 20 between the App (12), the backoffice (5) and the bank (9). The App communicates with the backoffice server through a secure internet connection or other frequency such as the DSRC at 5.8 GHz. Payment orders are executed using the Internet as a communication channel through 3G / 4G or Wi-Fi using the usual security methods, in this case https communication.

Figure 2 shows a flowchart with the stages of the toll payment method with prior planning in the system of Figure 1:

Claims (8)

 5 1. Automatic toll payment or prepayment system by smartphone or smartphone, said smartphone of the type comprising a geo-location module and a communication / data module, and said system of the type comprising: 10 - a mobile toll application or App, said App downloaded to said smartphone, and configured to connect with said geo-location and communication modules and process data received in said modules, 15 - a toll reader device comprising a license plate reader, and configured to communicate by exchanging data with said communication module of the smarphone through a wireless communication channel, 20 - a subsystem or backoffice of the toll provider, said subsystem comprising a server and a database, said database comprising a registered customer data module comprising its registration number and a bank account number 25, said subsystem configured for receiving data from said license plate reader device through a telematic network, and said subsystem configured to communicate with said Smartphone through a wireless network, 30 - a virtual payment gateway comprising a common electronic communication protocol between said App and said toll provider subsystem, characterized in that said wireless communication channel is operated with the DSRC or GNSS protocol; said subsystem or backoffice is configured to process and execute the payments in said virtual payment gateway based on the data of a previous planning selected in the App and communicated by said wireless network and / or based on the reader reading data of tolls sent by said telematic network. 10 2. Automatic toll payment system by Smartphone, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said subsystem or backoffice is configured to communicate to the App the execution 15 of a prepaid and the payment of pass detected by a toll. 3. Automatic toll payment system by Smartphone, according to any of the preceding claims 20, characterized in that said license plate reader is of the optical type. 4. Automatic toll payment system by Smartphone, according to any of claims 25 1 to 2, characterized in that said license plate reader is of the laser type. 5. Toll payment method implemented in the system of any of the preceding claims, of the type comprising steps of: - Customer registration, vehicle registration and payment data in the APP database and the toll provider, and - Activation of the communication and geo-location modules of the smartphone, 5 and characterized by understanding the following stages: - optionally the user determines a trip planning in the App by selecting a point of origin and a destination point in the App and it calculates a route between both points; App 10 communicates this route to the toll provider's subsystem or backoffice and it calculates the existing tolls (and payments) on said route, and said servers identify the card and registration (or other data that identifies the vehicle) 15 corresponding to the user of the App; and it makes a registration and execution of the prepayment based on the calculated tolls, or alternatively it makes an option register with direct payment as it passes through the toll reader made. twenty - the smartphone communication module receives, processes and sends the data of a toll reader signal sent to the App via a DSRC protocol or via 3G / 4G protocol, or equivalent to the geo-location module of the smartphone receives , processes and sends to the App the data of a geo-tracking detection protocol with wide coverage and data, - the toll reader registration reader makes a reading of the license plate of the vehicle where the Smartphone is going and sends the registration data to the backoffice server, and - The server checks that registration is registered in the database and if there is a prepaid planning record or with payment 5 directly to the pass through the toll reader. 6. Toll payment method according to the preceding claim, characterized by further comprising the steps of: - the subsystem server checks the registration and the existence of any registered payment card or checking account and a payment execution request is made, and - The server notifies the App through the payment gateway of the payment executed. fifteen 7. Toll payment method, according to the preceding claim, characterized by comprising a stage of updating the route executed in the subsystem or backoffice that will be notified to the App through the messaging service through the smartphone communication module. 8. Toll payment method according to any of claims 5 to 7, characterized in that it also comprises the step of opening the barrier.