FR2830659A1 - Remote control and surveillance circuit for fleet of road vehicles has central information processor with controls for sampling to allow fixing of frequency of data transfer - Google Patents

Abstract

The remote control and surveillance circuit for motor vehicles (C) from a central station (1) has a fixed information system (3) with a data processing and storage circuit on each vehicle connected to a transmitter. The receivers (BRN) have controls for the sampling to allow fixing of the frequency of the action cycles controlled by routines to determine the frequency of the data transfer provided by detectors at the center.

Description

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The present invention relates to a vehicle remote control and monitoring system by a management and monitoring center. It applies in particular, but not exclusively, to the management of a fleet of road transport vehicles.

In general, we know that there are already processing and storage systems in this area, on board vehicles allowing a monitoring center to constantly know the geographic position. These processing systems, which are coupled to positioning devices, for example of the GPS or GSM type, also make it possible to display the position of the vehicle on a display located on board the vehicle, intended for the driver.

Access to this data by the monitoring center considerably improves the management provided by the monitoring center. As such, it allows in particular: * To display in real time in slightly delayed, the position of all the vehicles of the fleet on a geographical map so as to be able to select at all times the vehicle best placed to perform without delay a urgent and unforeseen removal. Of course, the delivery points assigned to the vehicles can be identified on this card.

 '' Manage appointments and trigger automatic alerts in the event of a foreseeable delay to an appointment: Each time an appointment hour arrives, the system compares the actual position of the truck and the stored position of the point corresponding delivery. If the geographic difference detected

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 is greater than a predetermined value, the system transmits an alert to the responsible person concerned.

 As the planned journey of a vehicle is calculated before departure (route optimization) and stored, tracking the position of the truck makes it possible to identify any deviation of the vehicle from its planned journey without delay. (This allows rapid intervention in the event of theft of the vehicle).

Of course, knowing the instantaneous position of the vehicle makes it possible to ensure, thanks to the presence of computer systems on board the vehicle, other derived functions such as, for example: - the calculation of the mileage traveled, from parameters such as longitude, latitude and altitude, - the calculation of instantaneous speeds, based on the mileage and the system clock.

In addition, monitoring the activity of a vehicle and its driver can also relate to elements other than those linked to its geographic position, in particular mileage, speed, etc.

In addition, labor regulations impose constraints on the maximum continuous driving time, daily schedule, weekly schedule, etc.

Similarly, in certain types of transport, it is necessary to constantly know the value of one or more parameters (pressure, temperature, humidity, vibrations, shocks, etc.). This is the case of refrigerated transport with regard to temperature.

At the present time, the transmission of information (for example of position) from a vehicle to its monitoring center can be done in two ways: - by a "uplink" satellite channel using a specialized transmission box, on board the vehicle, and specialized telecommunication satellites,

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 - by cellular telephone networks, for example of GSM data type (SMS messages, or data connections).

Usually, the monitoring centers implement two types of management: * the information is sent systematically, at a high rate (for example every 2 min), * the information is stored in the memories of the on-board system, with periodic transmission over long periods, for example 24 hours, or when the vehicle is returned to the monitoring center.

It turns out that in industrial uses such as the transport of goods or passengers, the on-board systems currently on board vehicles have many weaknesses for the following reasons: a) sending information at a high rate (which avoids having to use memories with large capacities) generates high transmission costs, unjustified in the majority of situations encountered in this field of activity, b) storing information in memory, with transfers spaced over time, poses the problem of memory capacity and leads to high costs, which are prohibitive in many cases.

It can therefore be seen that, whatever the solution adopted, these systems are expensive and require significant investments in their installation.

In addition, they do not provide the flexibility and flexibility that would be desirable given the variety of problems encountered in the field of surveillance and control of vehicles of a fleet of transport vehicles.

The invention therefore more particularly aims to eliminate these drawbacks.

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To this end, it offers a telecontrol and telesurveillance system between a surveillance center and vehicles, this system involving, at the surveillance center, a fixed computer system, provided with processing and storage means coupled with remote transmission means and, on each vehicle, an on-board computer system also provided with processing and storage means, this on-board system being coupled, on the one hand, to means for detecting and collecting information and, on the other hand, to transmission means able to connect to the transmission means of the fixed computer system of the management and monitoring center, the fixed computer system comprising means making it possible to compose control command messages. actions to be performed by the on-board system based on information entered on an input station associated with the fixed system, the computer system e on-board comprising memories containing a plurality of routines each formed from a list of instructions, as well as means for selective activation of these routines according to the nature of said messages so as to cyclically execute the actions commanded by these routines and to transmit at the end of the action, to the fixed system, data relating to the actions executed and / or to information detected by said detection means and stored in memory according to the instructions of the routine.

According to the invention, the above-mentioned input means comprise sampling control means making it possible to fix the frequency of the action cycles controlled by the routines as well as transfer control means making it possible to fix the frequency of transfer of the data supplied by the means for detecting and collecting information and / or by the above processing means, intended for the fixed system, this data being able to consist of alert messages stored in memory.

Thus, in particular: - the on-board system may include in memory data relating to the list of segments of the current journey and / or the list of appointments to which the vehicle must go, data from sensors on board the vehicle

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 as well as associated data, such as time stamping data and positioning data, - the information transmitted at the above frequency may relate to the mileage of the vehicle, the sampling period being defined by a mileage value, - the information transmitted at the above frequency may relate to the fuel level of the vehicle, the sampling period then being defined by a volume of fuel, - the information transmitted periodically may relate to the speed of the vehicle and in particular information concerning the exceeding of a limit value speed, this information containing data relating to the places and time at which the overruns were recorded, - the data entry station may include control means making it possible to define data, for example alert messages to be transmitted instantly by the mobile system as soon as they occur as well as e control means making it possible to define a determined number of predetermined data occurrences processed by the on-board system before transferring this data to the fixed system.

Advantageously: - the data entry station may include timing control means making it possible to define a minimum period of time between two successive transfers made by the on-board system, - the data entry station may include control means making it possible to define one or more time ranges within which transfers can be made by the on-board system and / or a maximum number of instant transfers.

Likewise, prior to the activation of any of the above-mentioned routines, the on-board system will be able to carry out a sequence of zone, journey and date discrimination comprising the following successive steps:

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 - the prior storage in memory by the on-board system of data relating to: 0 a plurality of geographic areas 0 a plurality of journeys 0 a plurality of dates - a phase of discrimination by the monitoring center of authorized and / or excluded areas - a phase of discrimination of authorized and / or excluded journeys - a phase of discrimination of dates defining the periods during and / or outside of which journeys must be taken - determination of the geographical position of the vehicle - transmission of the signal d alarm in the event that the vehicle takes a prohibited route on the date in question.

In addition, at least one of the above routines may include a sequence of instructions intended to cause at the end of the action a procedure for partial erasure of the memories of the on-board computer system, with recovery of the corresponding space. thus released, for other uses.

Of course, the aforementioned input and display station of the fixed computer system may include: - means for inputting and calculating routes or routes, at the surveillance center, using techniques based on vector maps, now well known to those skilled in the art skilled in this technique, - central means for entering data in addition to the calculated routes, such as meeting points with their associated timetable, - means for transferring the calculated routes , and associated data, from the surveillance center to the vehicle storage means, Execution modes of the invention will be described below, by way of nonlimiting examples, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

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 Figure 1 is a block diagram of a control system of a transport network according to the invention; Figure 2 is a block diagram of transfer means between a vehicle and the monitoring center; FIG. 3 is another block diagram of transfer means between a vehicle and the surveillance center; FIG. 4 is a block diagram of means 5 for processing, storage and transfer, on board a vehicle; FIG. 5 is a block diagram of means 6 for processing, storing and transferring the monitoring center as well as the organization of the vehicle storage means; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of means for performing functions developed on board a vehicle by the processing, storage and transfer means on board; Figure 7 is a block diagram of peripheral means on board vehicles, used to perform the functions of Figure 6; FIG. 8 represents a control panel of the monitoring center for the data from the map; Figure 8-1 shows a control panel of the monitoring center for the extraction of discrimination lists of zones, and for their use in a list of repositories intended for speed control; FIG. 9 represents a control panel of the monitoring center for the data coming from the tachograph, for a vehicle equipped with this control instrument;

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 FIG. 10 represents a control panel of the monitoring center for consumption data, such as diesel; Figure 10-1 shows another control panel of the monitoring center for consumption data, such as diesel, intended more particularly for monitoring engines running when stopped; Figure 10-2 shows another control panel from the monitoring center for technical data such as temperature in a refrigerated trailer; FIG. 11 represents a control panel of the monitoring center for monitoring the door openings, such as the rear doors of the body or of the trailer of a truck, and the front doors, of the driver's cabin; FIG. 12 represents a control panel of the surveillance center for tracking the path of a vehicle; FIG. 13 represents a control panel of the surveillance center for monitoring the meeting points of a vehicle; Figures 15 to 19-1 show lists of commands, with groups and sub-groups of information concerned in the control panels of Figures 8 to 13; Figures 14,20 to 22 show characteristic steps of an embodiment of the invention; FIG. 23 represents, among the particular stages characteristic of the invention, those which correspond to the commands for discriminating zones, routes and dates;

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FIGS. 24 to 27 represent the characteristics of a journey relating to the implementation of the control panel of FIG. 12, relating to the tracking of a vehicle on its journey;
FIGS. 28 to 30 represent the characteristics of a journey relating to the implementation of the control panel of FIG. 13, concerning the provisional monitoring of the appointments of a vehicle on its journey;
Figures 31 and 33 show the implementation of the command 122 of Figure 18, relating to the definition of the areas used by the area discrimination means;
FIG. 32 represents, among the particular characteristic stages of the invention, those which correspond to the processing of a delay as defined in the control panel of FIG. 13, concerning the monitoring of the appointments of a vehicle on its journey, plus the orders that appear in 125,126 and
127 of Figure 18;
FIG. 34 represents a control panel of the surveillance center which makes it possible to control the storage means on board a vehicle;
FIG. 35 represents a control panel of the surveillance center to allow the entry of the commands to be transmitted to the storage means of a vehicle for the selective erasure of data stored on board a vehicle of the transport network.

According to a figure such as FIG. 8, the invention will be better understood by noting that a command such as "sampling", entered by the entry means of the surveillance center and transferred by its transfer means to the vehicle storage means , can also be designated by P21, name of the corresponding parameter used by the vehicle processing means to carry out the processing.

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In this example, the system according to the invention involves a control and monitoring center located inside a peripheral zone, for example a parking lot, inside which vehicles CI to C7 can circulate or park . This center 1 is equipped with a computer system 3 comprising in particular processing, display, input and storage means as well as transmitter / receiver terminals BRN5 to BRN8 allowing remote data transfers with at least one vehicle located in said zone 1. These terminals may consist of radio transmitters / receivers and / or of memory card readers.

As illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 5, the processing means 4 of the monitoring center include transfer means by cellular telephone network 23, for example of the GSM type used for vehicles located outside of zone 1, different transfer means, such as radio wave transfer means used for vehicles located inside zone 1 via terminals BRN5 to BRN8 and, inside at least one computer 16, means measurement 56, calculation 57, notification 58, alert 59, control of transfer 60, storage in memory 61, display and entry 62 (FIGS. 2 and 4) in the form of a control panel.

The vehicle CI which enters zone 1 is itself equipped with an on-board computer system comprising means 5 for processing and storing in data memory grouping together means 11 of geographic location such as GPS satellite location devices ( "Global Positioning System"), transfer means 22 for example on the GSM cellular network, different transfer means 13 for example by radio link and, inside at least one computer 12, measurement means 30 , calculation 31, notification 32, alert 33, transfer control 34, and data storage in memory 35.

In view of the fact that at least part of the computer system on board the vehicle CI operates in real time, the data storage memories are largely organized in blocks. Consequently, the deletion of the memory boxes containing the data is not carried out box by box but by whole blocks (such as blocks LI to L4, FIG. 5).

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As illustrated in FIG. 5, the memory storage means 35 of the vehicle store data of different origin and of different nature. For example, the block LI stores the data from sensors on board the vehicle, such as the GPS location device 11, a fuel level sensor 38. Each data item 77 is associated, for example, with a storage time stamp, such as as 78, as well as other data concerning for example the position at the time of storage.

The blocks L2 and L3 of the storage memory can for example store data transmitted by the transfer means 60 of the monitoring center.

The block L2 can store for example the list of segments of the journey in progress of the vehicle, the boxes 85.86, 87.88 of this block L2 then being relative to a segment. Box 85 can be the start position of an arc, box 86 the end position, box 87 its length, and box 88 its speed profile.

The block L4 can be a block for storing the sequences of commands triggered by the corresponding command signals sent by the monitoring center. For example, it can include commands relating to the erasure procedures.

Such a possibility of remote control of the erasure of the memories is particularly important since it makes it possible to reduce the capacity of the memories, which are generally limited because of their cost. This solution therefore makes it possible to carry out management at several levels of the on-board storage means, and therefore to process large amounts of information, without requiring bulky and therefore expensive storage means.

The GSM type transfer means 24 of the vehicle are used when the vehicle is outside of zone 1 while different transfer modes, for example by HF radio transmission, by memory cards or by laptop, can be used inside zone 1 via terminals BRN5 to BRN8.

The monitoring of the position of the vehicle can be carried out by the measurement means 30 of the vehicle which make it possible to notify transfer tracking means 34, 60 that the

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 CI vehicle enters or leaves zone 1. This measurement is made possible by the storage in memory in the storage means 35 of the vehicle of the location 36 of the area 1. This location can for example consist of the position of the two ends of a diagonal of the area 1 (here rectangular to simplify the description).

The input and display means 6 of the monitoring center 1 comprise at least one control panel on which are represented the order lists, characteristics of the invention. Examples of execution of these panels are illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 13.

The activation of the controls of these panels such as CEC according to FIGS. 12 and 13 causes the transmission of a control message (thanks to the transfer means 23 or 17) to the storage means 35 of the vehicle. This message, once stored, is processed by the processing means 5 with a view to executing instruction sequences making it possible to act on the means of the vehicle and to perform an action responding to the commands activated on the panels.

As illustrated in FIG. 7, the processing means on board a vehicle have means of acquisition, restitution or transfer.

* des moyens d'acquisition de données D5 par un système de type microordinateur des moyens d'acquisition de données D5 relatives à des paramètres tels que des données de température délivrées par une sonde thermométrique Les moyens de restitution pourront comprendre : The acquisition means may include: * means for acquiring geolocation data Dl, for example of the type
GPS * means of acquiring social data from D2 drivers, for example by a tachograph type system

* means of acquiring D5 data by a microcomputer type system means of acquiring D5 data relating to parameters such as temperature data delivered by a thermometric probe The restitution means may include:

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Comme précédemment mentionné, les moyens de transfert pourront comprendre : * un lecteur-enregistreur de carte à mémoire D3 * un émetteur-récepteur de radio haute fréquence HF, D6 e un poste de téléphone cellulaire de type GSM, D15 Dans le but de simplifier considérablement le fonctionnement des moyens de traitement et de stockage 2 du centre de surveillance et des moyens correspondants 5 du véhicule, l'invention propose un emploi, par ces moyens de traitement et de stockage, d'au moins une liste de groupes d'informations, d'au moins une liste de sous-groupes d'informations et d'au moins une liste de commandes qui seront détaillées ci-après : On comprendra mieux l'invention en notant que : - une commande telle que"échantillonnage", saisie par les moyens de saisie du centre de surveillance et transférée par ses moyens de transfert aux moyens de stockage du véhicule, peut être également désignée par P21, nom du paramètre correspondant utilisé par les moyens de traitement du véhicule pour en effectuer le traitement - les groupes d'informations se rapportent à des groupes de traitements homogènes, tels que GI, Géo Positionnement selon la figure 8, G2
Tachygraphe selon la figure 9, et que les sous groupes d'informations se rapportent aux fonctions applicatives de ces groupes, telles que Suivi des
Kilométrages, selon la figure 8. . a PDA type system, D8 'a printer D 14

As previously mentioned, the transfer means may include: * a memory card reader-recorder D3 * a high frequency HF radio transceiver, D6 e a cellular telephone set of the GSM type, D15 In order to simplify considerably the operation of the processing and storage means 2 of the monitoring center and the corresponding means 5 of the vehicle, the invention proposes the use, by these processing and storage means, of at least one list of information groups, at least one list of information sub-groups and at least one list of commands which will be detailed below: The invention will be better understood by noting that: - a command such as "sampling", entered by the input means of the surveillance center and transferred by its transfer means to the vehicle storage means, can also be designated by P21, name of the corresponding parameter used by the transmission means the vehicle to perform the processing - the information groups relate to homogeneous processing groups, such as GI, Geo Positioning according to Figure 8, G2
Tachograph according to figure 9, and that the information subgroups relate to the application functions of these groups, such as Monitoring of
Mileage, as shown in Figure 8.

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 to 13, the list of groups includes at least:

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1. Means of IM map (figure 8 - references BI, B3, B4, figure 6)
These means monitor the geographic positions of the vehicle by the G 1 positioning means (GPS), the measurement means 30, and the storage means 35. The calculation means 31 make it possible to obtain, from the tracking of the positions of the vehicle, its mileage traveled, and its speed between two mileage calculations. The alert means 33 of the vehicle trigger suitable automatic actions relating to the measurements of the speed carried out by the measuring means 30.

2. Tachograph means G2 (figure 9-references B2, B3, B4, figure
6)
These means monitor the working times of the vehicle drivers, by means of the regulatory instrument called a tachograph 37. The vehicle alert means 33 are designed so as to trigger suitable automatic actions, relating to the measures of data such as speed, continuous driving time, daily rest carried out by the measuring means 30.

3. Means for generating technical data such as fuel consumption G3 (diesel), a temperature reading G4, for example of a refrigeration chamber (FIG. 10 to 10-2-references B5, B6, B 13, FIG. 6)
These means monitor technical data of the vehicle by means of suitable instruments such as probes 38. The warning means 33 of the vehicle trigger appropriate automatic actions relating to measurements on data such as fuel consumption , the temperature, carried out by the measuring means 30.

4. Means for monitoring the state of the vehicle openings: rear doors G5, front door G6 (figure 11-references B7, B8, figure 6)
These means monitor the door openings of the vehicle, by means of suitable instruments such as contacts 39. The alert means 33 of the vehicle trigger suitable automatic actions,

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 relating to unauthorized door openings, in conjunction with calculation means 31.

5. Means for determining geochannels G7 (FIG. 12, reference B9, FIG. 6)
These means track the geographic position of the vehicle with respect to a reference such as, for example, the list L2 of the arcs of the current journey. The means 30 for measuring, calculating 31 and alerting 33 of the vehicle trigger suitable automatic actions relating to a deviation of the vehicle from the planned journey.

6. G8 appointment management means (figure 13 - BIO reference, figure 6)
These means track the geographic position of the vehicle with respect to a reference such as, for example, the L3 list of meeting points to which the vehicle must go. Measuring means
30, calculation 31 and alert 33 of the vehicle trigger adapted automatic actions relating to the appearance of a foreseeable delay to one or more next meetings on its journey.

It will be noted that when an alert is produced by one of the alert means, the notification means 32 act so as to immediately transmit the alert to the surveillance center by means of transmission by GSM cellular network, 22, and / or to store it in the storage means.

Each of the groups previously described may include a list of subgroups detailed in FIGS. 8 to 13, namely: - According to FIG. 8: group G 1 may include a sub-group of mileage SG1, a sub-group of speeds SG2, a subgroup of SG3 speed alerts, a subgroup of SG4 Out of Zones positions, a subgroup of SG4 Out of Zones positions.

 - According to Figure 9: group G2 could include a working time subgroup SG4, a subgroup of driving time offenses SG5, a

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 SG6 daily rest offense subgroup. We will note here the re-use of the SOI, SG2, SG3 subgroups, already appearing in the lists of the preceding groups.

- According to Figures 10 and 10-1: group G3 may include a subgroup of instantaneous fuel consumption SOI, an alert subgroup of instantaneous fuel consumption SG2, a subgroup of consumption on full fuel SG3, a fuel consumption alert sub-group SG4, a minimum group of tank inputs
SG5, a subgroup of minimum outputs from the tank SG6, a subgroup
SG7 control between the data from SG 1 and that from SG3, an engine control subgroup operating when stationary on Zone SG8, an engine control subgroup operating when stationary outside Zone SG9.

- According to Figure 10-2: group G4 could include a subgroup of
SGI Temperatures, an alert subgroup on SG2 Temperatures.

 - According to FIG. 11: the group G5 could include a subgroup for monitoring access to the rear doors SG 1, and the group G6 could include a subgroup for monitoring access to the rear doors SG2.

 - According to FIG. 12, the group G7 can comprise a subgroup for monitoring positions SG1, a subgroup for alerts on corridors SG2.

 - According to FIG. 13, the group G8 can comprise a subgroup for monitoring positions SG 1, a subgroup for alerts by appointment SG2.

Additionally, all groups G7 to G8 may include an AEX exceptional call transfer subgroup.

According to the invention, the system further comprises lists of command command sequences allowing the means of the monitoring center to control the processing and storage means on board vehicles, for processing and storing information relating to the groups and subgroups previously defined and which may include, as illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 19-1 and 8 to 13: for groups 100, called Groups ~ F, corresponding to groups G 1 to G8:

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 - List 103 of the state commands, containing at least the command P10, and applying to all the groups 150 of functions from the list of the groups G 1 to G8.

- List 104 of commands for selecting vehicle groups, called Groups, containing at least the PlOa command, and applying to all groups 150 of functions from the list of groups G 1 to G8.

- List 105 of commands for selecting vehicle subgroups, called Subgroups, containing at least the Pl Ob command and applying to all the groups 150 of functions in the list of groups Gl to G8.

groupes 150 de fonctions de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. pour les sous groupes 101, appelés Sous Groupes, correspondants aux sous groupes S G : - Liste 107 des commandes d'Etat, contenant au moins la commande P20, et s'appliquant à tous les sous groupes 151 de la liste des groupes Gl à G8. La commande P20 pilote soit les moyens généraux MG des sous groupes concernés, soit les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes. - List 106 of the vehicle selection commands, in the Subgroup (s) - V, containing at least the PI Oc command, and applying to all

groups 150 of functions from the list of groups G 1 to G8. for the subgroups 101, called Subgroups, corresponding to the SG subgroups: - List 107 of state commands, containing at least the command P20, and applying to all subgroups 151 of the list of groups Gl to G8 . The command P20 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

According to FIGS. 15 and 8 for example, a means MG is such as SG1, under group of functions entitled Management of the Mileage; a means MA is such that
SG3, subgroup of functions entitled Speed Alerts.

 - List 108 of the sampling commands, containing at least the commands P21 and P21 a, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG1 to SG9 of the list of the groups GI to G8. The command P21 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups. The command P21 a may only control the general means.

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- List 109 of the cumulative commands, containing at least the command P21b, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SOI to SG9 of the list of groups Gl to G8. The command P21b controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 110 of commands for memorizing the sampled data, containing at least the command P21c, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P21c controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 111 of the Posi / Time storage commands, containing at least the command P21d, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups Gl to G8. The command P21d controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

commande P23, et s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. La commande P23 pilote soit les moyens généraux MG des sous groupes concernés, soit les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes. - List 112 of the transfer means orders, containing at least the

command P23, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P23 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

contenant au moins la commande P23a, et s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. La commande P23a pilote soit les moyens généraux MG des sous groupes concernés, soit les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes. - List 113 of commands for erasing the vehicle storage means,

containing at least the command P23a, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P23a controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

commandes P42, P42a, P42b, P42c et s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. La commande P42 pilote les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes. - List 114 of the repository commands for alerts, containing at least the

commands P42, P42a, P42b, P42c and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 from the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P42 controls the means of alert MA of these subgroups.

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- Liste 115 des commandes de notification pour alertes, contenant au moins la commande P43, et s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. La commande P43 pilote les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes.

- List 115 of the notification notification commands, containing at least the command P43, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P43 controls the means of alert MA of these subgroups.

- List 116 of the alarm timing commands, containing at least the command P44, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P44 controls the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 117 of driver alert commands, containing at least command P45, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command P45 controls the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 118 of interval control commands for driver alert, containing at least command P46, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups Gl to G8. The command P46 controls the means of alert MA of these subgroups.

- List 119 of the zone discrimination commands, containing at least the command Al, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command A1 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 120 of the route discrimination commands, containing at least the A3 command, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SGI to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command A3 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

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 - List 121 of the date discrimination commands, containing at least the A2 command, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command A2 controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 122 of the zone definition commands, containing at least one selector making it possible to select a zone as defined according to FIGS. 31 and 33, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The command to define pilot areas is either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 123 of the commands for discriminating zones / dates / journeys, containing at least the command CLZ, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The area / date / route discrimination command controls either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

et s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. Les commandes de MAJ trajets pilotent les moyens généraux MG des sous groupes concernés. - List 124 of the commands for MAJ journeys, concerning the positions, the timetables or the traffic lanes, containing at least the command CCC,

and applying to all or part of subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The MAJ journeys commands control the general resources MG of the subgroups concerned.

- List 125 of the MAJ des Rendez Vous commands, concerning the positions and times, containing at least the CRV command, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The Rendez Vous update commands control the general MG means of the subgroups concerned.

- List 126 of the commands of MAJ of the departures of points such as Rendez Vous, concerning the positions and the schedules, containing at least the command CRV, and applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9

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 from the list of groups G 1 to G8. The departure update commands control the general MG means of the subgroups concerned.

- List 127 of the commands for calculating the new optimized journeys, concerning the positions and timetables along the paths stored in the storage means 35 of the vehicle, containing at least the CCC / CRV commands, and applying to all or part of the under groups SOI to SG9 from the list of groups G 1 to G8. The route calculation commands control the general means MG of the subgroups concerned.

- List 128 of the function selection commands for exceptional calls, containing at least the command P60, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands for exceptional call extraction types control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 129 of the commands for types of extraction of exceptional calls, containing at least the command P61, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands for exceptional call extraction types control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 129-1 of the commands for resetting exceptional calls, containing at least the command P62, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands for exceptional call extraction types control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

la commande P22, s'appliquant à tout ou partie des sous groupes SG 1 à SG9 de la liste des groupes G 1 à G8. Les commandes de transmission des données pilotent soit les moyens généraux MG des sous groupes concernés, soit les moyens d'alerte MA de ces sous groupes. - List 129-2 of the data transmission commands, containing at least

command P22, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The data transmission commands control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

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- List 130 of the commands for selecting a part of the vehicle equipment, containing at least the CPT command, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands for selecting a part of the equipment control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 131 of the commands for selecting a part of the vehicle equipment, containing at least the NAC command, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands for selecting a part of the equipment control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 132 of commands for defining the direction of variation of a data item, containing at least the SNS command, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The commands such as SNS control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 133 of the commands for extinguishing alerts, containing at least the ZEA command, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The ZEA command controls the MA alert means of these subgroups.

- List 134 of the date storage commands, containing at least the DMA command, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The date memorization commands control either the general means MG of the subgroups concerned, or the alerting means MA of these subgroups.

- List 136 of the Alert Type commands, containing at least the TPA commands, applying to all or part of the subgroups SG 1 to SG9 of the list of groups G 1 to G8. The Alert Types commands control the MA alert means of these subgroups.

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Advantageously, it will be noted that this list of commands only comprises around 30 elements, but that the total of the commands controlling the functions of groups G 1 to G8 can be much higher, for example equal to approximately 400. Thus, according to FIG. 8 , the vehicle processing means use 5 simple sampling commands, 1 driver sampling command, 7 memory commands.

A main characteristic of the invention is the use of a particular process, which allows this sharp reduction in the number of individual orders necessary for the processing means for their processing.

This process consists in that, in a first step, functions common to groups such as Gl to G8 are identified. According to figures such as 8, 9 or 12, for groups such as G1, G2, G7, such common functions can be the alert or exceptional call functions.

In a second step, commands common to these common functions were highlighted. According to FIGS. 8, 9 or 12, such commands are for example sampling, storage, posi / time, sending, minimum number of alerts, sending of alerts, type of extraction. These commands correspond to the parameters P21, P21c, P21d, P43, P22, P60.

In a third step, it was identified that many of these commands common to the common functions were also common to the other functions. According to FIGS. 8 to 13, the sampling command is common to all the functions, except for a function such as SG4 in FIG. 9.

According to FIG. 15, it will be advantageously seen that the commands corresponding to the parameters PlO, PlOa, P10b, PlOc, P20 are common to all the functions. According to Figures 16 to 19-1, the number 152 of functions using each command such as 108, sampling, varies from 1 to 30.

We can easily see that the three steps indicated above have resulted in a very high rate of reuse of each order taken one by one, this

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 which greatly simplifies the treatments carried out by the processing means, and allows a significant economy of means.

Advantageously, to do this, the transfer means of the monitoring center can add, when sending commands to the means on board the vehicle, information on the group of information concerned, and on the sub-group or sub-groups. correspondents. Conversely, the on-board transfer means can add, to each sending of information to the means of the monitoring center, information on the group of information concerned, and on the corresponding sub-group or sub-groups.

For example, any order or any information concerning the group Gl, corresponding here to information on the geographical positioning of the vehicle, on its mileage traveled, and on its speed, can be preceded by a reference such as the symbol "/".

Thus, as seen above, the processing and storage means can, with minimum lists of sub-groups and commands, perform their actions without possible error.

The example illustrated in Figures 8 and 9 provides a better understanding of the following process. If all the elements of the group G2, concerning for example the information linked to the on-board particular processing means called "tachograph", are identified by the processing means using the symbol "*", the processing and storage means, at the vehicle level, or at the surveillance center level, do not need a list of subgroups other than SG1, SG2, SG3, SG4, SG5, SG6, AEX, knowing that SG1, SG2, SG3, AEX are common to both groups G 1 and G2. The processing and storage means are able to distinguish in these sub-groups the information and the commands corresponding to G 1 or to G2, because the transfer means precede any information and any command relating to GI with the symbol "/ ", and any order and any information relating to G2 by the symbol" * ". Similarly, we understand that the list of necessary commands is itself also greatly shortened. Thus, the processing and storage means process the groups G 1 and G2 with only the

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distinguer, lors d'un transfert, les informations ou les commandes destinées à G 1 et celles qui sont destinées à G2, grâce aux symboles"/"et"*"ci-dessus, et en ajoutant la notification du sous-groupe d'informations concerné. commands P10, PlOa, PlOb, PlOc, P20, P21, P21a, P21b, P21c, P21d, P22, P23, P23a, P41, P42, P43, P44, P45, P46, P60, P61, P62, LZ, these commands being all common to the 2 groups. The means of processing and storage can

distinguish, during a transfer, the information or commands intended for G 1 and those intended for G2, using the symbols "/" and "*" above, and adding the notification of the subgroup of information concerned.

With a current structure for the use of processing and storage means, processing could request a list of 13 functions instead of 9 here, ie a gain brought by the invention of 30%, and around 400 commands, at instead of 30 here, a gain brought by the invention of 92%. This economy of means is particularly evident in Figure 10-1, where almost all the commands are common, ie a gain of around 100%.

According to FIGS. 8 to 13, it will advantageously be noted that, to lighten the presentation, all the parameters representative of the commands are not systematically mentioned, since to any command of the same nature as another corresponds the same parameter.

According to FIGS. 8 to 13, the elements of these lists of command instruction sequences, represented by the corresponding operating parameters, can be such that: - P10 is a status command for each of the information groups. It is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the surveillance center to the means on board the vehicle. If P10 has a value such as "INACTIVE", the means on board the vehicle cease all action concerning this group, such as storing positions or mileage, if it is the grouping group. The storage means can be immediately emptied of the data corresponding to this group, according to the characteristic process of the invention, described below. In fact, this command P10 makes it possible to remotely activate a function such as the positioning system, or on the contrary to deactivate it. All functions can be disabled. On the one hand, because the company may wish

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 use only some of them. On the other hand, because an active function consumes processor resources, and fills memory. We may wish to temporarily interrupt this process, for example because the on-board memory may be full. The company then decides on the best strategy to follow, for example by temporarily stopping a function that is less attractive than others.

Setting Pl 0 to "inactive" of a group of functions such as G 1 inactivates all the subgroups SOI to SG5, plus, optionally, the subgroup AEX.

P20: status command for information sub-groups, within each information group, characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the surveillance center to the means on board the vehicle, and that, if P20 has a value such as "NO", the means on board the vehicle cease all action concerning this sub-group, such as storing the mileage. The storage means can be immediately emptied of the data corresponding to this subgroup, according to the characteristic process of the invention, described below. In the "YES" state, this command will then consume computing resources and memory to store the results. So we can also decide to deactivate it, by setting P20 to "NO". As seen above, the driver has no action.

These orders come from the company, for example by SMS.

Putting the command in the "NO" state does not cause parameters such as P21 to P23 to be reset to zero, according to FIG. 8.

As soon as P20 is reset to "YES", these parameters, which have remained in memory, come into operation again.

P21: sampling command for data sub-groups, within each group, characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the monitoring center to the means on board the vehicle, and that 'it concerns both the production of data other than that concerning alerts. This is the frequency at which the vehicle storage means stores the data, or at which the alert means calculate the alerts. For example, in Figure 8, the sampling is

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 done every 5 kilometers, which means that, every 5 kilometers, the corresponding mileage is stored in a box such as 77 in Figure 5. Like all the other parameters, these figures are determined by the company. We reserve the possibility that the unit is of a different nature.

For example, for mileage, we could have a sampling every 15 minutes.

Another type of sampling can be that of instantaneous fuel consumption, according to FIG. 10. In this case, a probe transmits to the calculation means a pulse each time a volume such as 5 cubic centimeters is consumed. P21 equal to one can mean that the sampling is done at each pulse. P21 equal to three can mean that the consumption is measured by the measuring means every three pulses, and can relate to a quantity such as the elementary volume of the third pulse, therefore five cubic centimeters, or on the contrary such a quantity than that consumed since the last sampling, therefore three times five cubic centimeters. In this case, the command P21 is completed by the command P21b.

- P21 a: additional sampling command from P21, characterized in that a datum or an alert may concern the driver of the vehicle, such as an audible alarm in the cabin when the speed exceeds a limit value. The invention will be better understood by noting that in this case, the sampling and the subsequent processing may be different from P21, intended for the monitoring center.

 - P2lb: cumulative command equal to YES or NO, complementary to P21, characterized in that, according to the description of P21 concerning the instantaneous fuel consumption, when the sampling is every three occurrences, if P21b is YES, then the sampling relates to the cumulation since the previous sampling, that is to say three times five cubic centimeters here.

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 - P21c: command to store the sampled data, equal to YES or NO, characterized in that, if P21 c equals YES, the sampled data is stored by the storage means 35 of the vehicle.

- P21 d: command to memorize the position of the vehicle and the timetable, during sampling. P21d is characterized in that this command is independent of any other storage of the position of the vehicle, such as the function SG4 of group G 1 relating to geo positioning, for example. We will better understand the interest of P21d by noting that, in an event such as a speed alert for example, the monitoring center thus has a certain way of the place and time at which the alert was produced, knowing that any other means of storing the position may have been deselected at this precise moment.

P22: sending frequency command characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the monitoring center to the means on board the vehicle, and that it causes the corresponding data to be sent, during storage . For example, 1 hour 30 minutes means that the transfer means transfer the mileage in FIG. 8 every 1 hour 30 minutes. This information from the control panels 6 is also used to transfer alerts. An immediate transfer mode, upon sampling, can be to give the value zero to P22. The qualifier "equal to 24 h 00" can mean that the stored data is sent to the company every 24 h. It is also possible to use other units.

P23: transmission mode command for data sub-groups, within each group, characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the surveillance center to the means on board the vehicle, and that, if the value of P23 is such as "SMS", the transfer means use the transfer 24 in FIG. 2 of GSM type. Otherwise, the transfer is done by mode 20 in FIG. 2, such as HF radio waves. In this case, the vehicle transfer means wait for the notification means to indicate that the vehicle has entered zone 1; in the meantime, the vehicle storage means store the data of the subgroup

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 concerned. TMat, means transmission other than by SMS. In this case, the means used are all the other means, for example: HF, connected microcomputer, smart card, etc. If P23 is at TMat, this means that the samplings are memorized, awaiting the planned transfer, on return to the company, since the TMat means are by definition proximity means.

It will advantageously be noted that the so-called SMS transmission means may in fact represent any other means of remote and wireless transfer, such as
GSM DATA, GPRS.

 - P23a: optional command to erase the vehicle storage means, after transfer controlled by P23. This command is characterized in that the erasure is immediate after the transfer, and can relate only to the data which have just been transferred by the transfer means.

 - P60, P61, P62: specific commands from the control panels 6, to cause immediate dispatch to the surveillance center, characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 from the surveillance center to the means on board the vehicle, and that this shipment has priority over the other commands controlling the vehicle transfer means. For example, the command P23 of the Positions subgroup, of the grouping group can be at "TMat", meaning for example that the system transmits the positions of the vehicle only by means other than GSM, and therefore only when the vehicle is at inside zone 1, figure 1.

 In this case, the P60 command, reaching the vehicle, imposes an immediate GSM type transmission.

It will advantageously be noted that all the groups of functions, such as G 1 to
G8, have a subgroup such as AEX, with P60 commands,
P61, P62.

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 P60 indicates the function considered. A variant could be a complete transfer of data from a group, such as Gl. P61 allows the monitoring means to select the data; P61 can take values such as a number of days D, in which case only the data of the J days preceding the current date are transferred, or such as two dates bounding a period.

 The system empties the vehicle storage means of the data which has just been transmitted, if P62 has a value such as "YES".

- P42: frame of reference for measuring the difference between a data calculated or measured by the vehicle calculation or measurement means, and a data transmitted from the control panel 6 of the monitoring center to the means on board the vehicle, characterized in that, when a positive, or possibly negative deviation, appears, the notification means 32 can notify the transfer tracking means 34 of an alert. For example, when P42 is 95 km / h in the grouping group, sub-group
Speed alerts, P42 commands the system notification means to notify a speed alert to the tracking means 34, each time the speed is greater than 95 km / h. The reference speed can be a speed authorized by the company.

 The invention will be better understood by noting that, in a case such as speed monitoring, the monitoring center may want, in cases such as traffic in a delicate area, or with a dangerous load, to follow a even more precisely, possible speeding.

 The invention is then characterized according to FIG. 8-1 by the call no longer to a single value P42, but to a table of values, associated with the elements of the journey and their characteristics stored by the storage means of the vehicle.

 A first type P42a of values can be such as running speeds, for example 130 km / h on the highway, 110 km / h on expressways, 90 km / h on normal tracks.

<Desc / Clms Page number 31>

A second type P42b of values can be such as the speed profile of the path taken by the vehicle.

A third type P42c of values can be a set of values entered by the operator, at a much more detailed level than P42a.

According to FIG. 23, and through the command CLZ of a figure such as 8-1, the calculation means use for the calculation of the alerts data coming from commands for discriminating zones, journeys and dates.

Thus, according to FIG. 8-1, the storage means of the monitoring center or of the vehicle can store data such as data A1 of area discrimination, A2 of date discrimination, or A3 of route discrimination. With this data, the storage means can associate other data, such as speeds provided by the company, or regulatory speeds.

Thus, for the PARK1 zone, such as the parking lot of the surveillance center, the speed limit is 35 km / h. For the AMST1 zone, such as the parking lot for the main AMSTERDAM road center, the speed limit is 35 km / h, for the period from 02/15/02 to 06/15/02, and is not fixed for other dates, for example because the managing body then sets up a network of expressways. On the ROTERI route, such as the outward journey PARISROTERDAM for a full package of a particular danger, the monitoring center sets a maximum speed of 60 km / h, from 15/02/02.

This characteristic of the invention will be better understood by noting that the operator can have at the central storage means, to facilitate this entry, a central list containing all the zones, the dates and the routes, and their characteristics which are likely to be used by the computing means. The CLZ command extracts a list such as LZ. Thus, the operator in P42c can enter AMST1, and automatically obtain from storage means the characteristics of AMSTI as appearing in block LZ of FIG. 8-1, for example the list of the 3 periods; he can get in

<Desc / Clms Page number 32>

 sublists of LZ extracted at the time when LZ is constituted, data such as 35 km / h, speeds appearing in block P42c.

A characteristic of the invention consists in transferring to the vehicle storage means the data corresponding to table P42 according to FIG. 8-1.

It will be usefully noted that the lists P42a, P42b, P42c comprise commands of the P20 type, YES / NO, which allow the calculation means to use all or part of the data contained in the table P42.

To better understand the invention, it will also be noted that the calculation means can establish a hierarchy in this data.

Thus, according to FIG. 8-1, for any processing concerned with the zones / dates / journeys of the list P42, the calculation means can use for their calculations in priority the data of the list P42c, because it may have been entered. by the operator to compensate for gaps or inadequacies in the data used as a basis for the calculations.

Then, apart from the data of the list P42c, the processing means can use the data of the list P42b, when they exist. These data have a high degree of precision and relevance, by their origin, since they come from official bodies. However, since they are only updated periodically by the organizations concerned, or because they only cover part of the road network, the monitoring center may have to supplement them with list P42c, in particular.

Finally, the processing means can also use, for example when no other data is available, the data from the list P42a.

According to FIG. 8, the triggering of an alert SG3 by the vehicle alert means, with the use of a table such as P42 according to FIG. 8-1, can take place according to the following steps:

<Desc / Clms Page number 33>

 In a first step of the method, the vehicle measurement means measure the position of the vehicle and the date. The calculation means, using this position, plus the date, calculate if the vehicle is affected by data such as that of the list P42c.

If the alert means determine that the vehicle is on the ROTER 1 route, and the current date is after 02/15/02, and if the speed is greater than 60 km / h, an alert is triggered according to the SG3 commands, since the speed limit is 60 km / h in this case.

If the alert means do not detect any correspondence with the list P42c, or if this list is empty, or if this list is deactivated the box NO being checked, then a second step of the method is characterized in that the alert means can use data from list P42b.

Thus, the measuring means can give as position a particular section of a road. If the measurement means have specific data in the list P42b on the speed authorized for this specific section, they use it to measure the difference between the actual speed sampled in SG2 / P21 according to figure 8, and the standard speed given by list P42b. The alert means can then trigger a possible alert.

A third step of the method is characterized in that, when the measurement means have found no data in the lists P42c and P42b, they can use the data in the list P42a.

For a good understanding of the invention, it will be noted that the parameter P42 can appear data of various natures.

Thus, according to FIG. 8, block SG3, P42 is a speed reference system in the form of a data table. According to FIG. 9, in block SG5, relating to driving violations, P42 is a simple value, corresponding to the maximum time during which a driver can drive without interruption. At block SG6,

<Desc / Clms Page number 34>

P42 represents the benchmark necessary for the calculation of another infraction, that of minimum daily rest which must be respected by the driver. According to FIG. 10, in block SG5 relating to the storage of data relating to fuel entries into the vehicle tank, P42 is the minimum quantity from which the storage means store the data characterizing the event.

 Whatever the function processed, and whatever wording affects P42, such as Table of Speed Alerts according to figure 8, Driving or Daily Rest Threshold according to figure 9, Minimum Fuel Quantity according to figure 10, P42 represents the same basic entity used by the processing means, namely the reference frame used as standard in the calculations of deviations carried out by the calculation means.

- P43: command for the notification of an alert, transmitted from the control panel 6 of the monitoring center to the means on board the vehicle, characterized in that P43 commands the transfer tracking means to wait until it has received several alert notifications before transmitting an alert by the means 22, or storing the information in the storage means 35. For example, when P43 is equal to 3 in the grouping group, subgroup on Alerts on speed, P43 commands the system transfer monitoring means to receive 3 successive notifications of exceeding the speed limit, before intervening. Before taking an alert into account, it must first be confirmed by three successive positive samples.

 P44: timing command between two successive transfers by the vehicle transfer means 22, characterized in that it is transmitted by the control panel 6 of the monitoring center to the means on board the vehicle, and that the transfer means are saved, for example in terms of the number of text messages sent. For example, when P44 is worth 5 minutes, in the grouping group, speed alerts sub-group, P44 authorizes a speed alert, transmitted or stored, only every 5 minutes, even if during these 5 minutes a sufficient number

<Desc / Clms Page number 35>

 of notifications by the notification means took place, and could have caused the transfer tracking means to deal with several alerts. The unit of P44 can have various values, such as a time range, a number of alerts. According to this device, the intermediate total of notifications, controlled by P43, can be automatically reset to zero at the end of the period controlled by P44.

- P45: alert command for the vehicle driver, which can take values such as YES or NO, characterized in that, when the value is YES, in addition to possible storage and sending by means of vehicle processing, this alert is also sent to the driver, for example in the form of an audible alarm.

- P46: alert interval control for the driver, characterized in that, when the cause of the alert persists, it may be appropriate for the alert means to allow a period such as P46 to elapse before alert the driver again. P46 may be such as a period of time, or such that N occurrences of sampling P21 or P21a of the alert.

- CLZ: zone, route and date discrimination command, characterized in that it can extract from a list common to all the vehicles of the monitoring center a list such as LZ. LZ includes lists such as all the geographic zones, all the journeys and all the periods which can relate to a vehicle, within the framework of its piloting by the processing means of the monitoring center.

LZ comes from the processing carried out by the processing means of the monitoring center, such as the preparation of delivery rounds to be carried out by a vehicle, and includes the characteristic data for controlling the functions processed by the on-board means, for all that concerns geographic areas, routes and dates or periods.

<Desc / Clms Page number 36>

It will advantageously be noted that the designation List of Zones actually covers a set of lists of zones, lists of dates and lists of journeys, to which the parameters A1, A2, A3 correspond.

We will better understand the definition of an area by noting that an area is an object characterized by an index such as PARK1 according to figure 8-1, and by characteristics such as 400,401, 402 according to figure 31, stored by the means storage unit 35 according to FIG. 33, where 400 and 401 can be such as the coordinates of a center, 402 a radius, when the area is defined as a circular area. According to FIG. 31, it will be noted that an area can have various shapes, the characteristics of which are stored by the storage means.

Similarly, we will better understand the definition of a path, or route, by noting that a path is an object characterized by an index such as ROTER1 according to Figure 8-1, and by a succession of contiguous segments such as the segments on the right of route P1P3, according to FIG. 24. According to the usual use of vector mapping methods, these segments represent a cartographic object such as a road open to traffic, digitized at as many points as necessary to define the segments represented. The storage means such as those of the surveillance center or of the vehicle store each point according to its coordinates, in general the latitude and the longitude of the point, ie 200 and 201 according to FIGS. 24 and 27, FIG. 27 being a representation of the means storage 35 of the vehicle.

From a vectorial cartographic base, the processing means can extract particular characteristics of each segment, such as the nature of the lane, its direction of circulation for example if it is a single direction, its speed profile. .

It will be noted, for a better understanding of the invention, that the speed profile of a track segment can be such as a datum originating from the vector mapping used by the processing means, or a datum as entered by the means of seizure of the surveillance center.

<Desc / Clms Page number 37>

Likewise, it should be noted that a segment may comprise several speed profiles, for reasons such as the nature of the vehicle which is traveling there.

The coordinates of all the points of a path such as PI, P3 can come from a simple extraction carried out by the storage means, from the entry of the two ends PI, P3, when these points are on the same route, such as the departmental D105, or come from a route calculation, consisting, starting from a starting point PI, and an ending point P3, to calculate the best route between these points, using multiple traffic lanes, and optimizing certain criteria, such as the shortest distance.

The list of segments obtained, their characteristics, plus the capture by the central capture means of characteristic points of the path, such as P2 according to FIG. 24, which can be an imposed passage point, can then be stored by the central storage means , and be transferred by the transfer means to the vehicle storage means.

The central means can then recalculate certain journeys and certain journey portions, and transfer them again to the vehicle storage means, as well as other characteristics such as new speed profiles, or new appointments, the corresponding data. supplementing or replacing the data already stored by the vehicle's means.

The vehicle processing means, having this data, can carry out many treatments that are much more economical than if they were carried out directly at the level of the central means.

This characteristic of the invention will be better understood by noting that many of the treatments described concerning groups G 1 to G8, such as the various alerts, require knowledge of the position of the vehicle. If the central processing means carry out these treatments, they require

<Desc / Clms Page number 38>

 vehicle transfer means the frequent transfer of this position, plus other data such as the speed list. These transfers, which are mostly remote transfers, are generally prohibitively expensive. This is why a main characteristic of the invention is to carry out the treatments at the vehicle level. The storage means of this store most of the necessary data, coming from its measurement means such as speed measurement, plus other data transferred by the means of the monitoring center, such as the routes or the zones.

It should advantageously be noted that if the central list from which LZ originates relates to all vehicles, all zones, all journeys and all dates, the entry by the operator of a group of vehicles such as PlOa, or of a vehicle such as PI Oc, however, allows display by the display means of LZ, which is a list of data relating only to this group or this vehicle, this by the usually used means of selection! sorting of data, the central list from which LZ originates being stored by the storage means with the necessary extraction indexes.

- A1: zone discrimination control, characterized in that it designates zones as defined by the zone definition means 122, and that the vehicle processing means process the corresponding zones according to particular criteria.

- A2: date discrimination command, characterized in that it designates dates or periods, and that the vehicle processing means process these dates or periods according to particular criteria.

- A3: trip discrimination control, characterized in that it designates routes, and that the vehicle processing means process these routes according to particular criteria.

- CPT: command to designate certain elements of a vehicle, characterized in that it distinguishes different sources of data of the same kind, continuously stored by the storage means. According to the figure

<Desc / Clms Page number 39>

 10-2, each CPT value can correspond to a particular set of parameters such as P21, P21c, P23a.

CPA allows the vehicle processing means to process the same type of data, the arrival of which is continuous, or at regular periods, but coming from different parts of this vehicle. It may be the temperature of the parts such as compartments of the same refrigerated trailer, insulated from one another, and placed at different temperatures, so as to be able to store goods requiring different storage conditions.

- SNS: command to designate the direction in which a deviation calculation must take place, characterized in that it makes it possible to take into account only deviations such as temperature increases, and not decreases.

It allows the vehicle alert means to trigger an alert only if the variation is such as an increase for example. Thus, it will advantageously be noted that the monitoring center may wish to monitor only the temperatures exceeding a certain limit, in a refrigerated trailer, such as minus 18 degrees for a temperature which should normally be minus 20, and disregard any temperature below minus 20.

- NAC: command to designate certain elements of a vehicle, characterized in that it distinguishes different sources of data of the same kind, stored in an unpredictable and random manner by the storage means. According to FIG. 11, each value of NAC can correspond to a particular set of parameters such as P21c, P23a.

NAC allows the vehicle processing means to process the same type of data, the arrival of which is done in a random manner, coming from different parts of this vehicle. They can be parts such as the various doors and access points to the vehicle. In this case, according to FIG. 11, the SG 1 function can relate to the rear doors of a trailer, NAC having the value 1 corresponding to the two rear doors of this trailer,

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 and NAC equal to 2 corresponding to a side discharge door. It should be noted advantageously that NAC for SG 1 equal to "T" can mean commands in SG 1 piloting any door of the trailer.

- DMA: command to designate the last update of data such as the parameters of a function, characterized in that it is especially useful in the case of parameters which change frequently, such as the data in LZ lists, which can be updated on each trip made by a vehicle.

- TPA: command to designate a list of specific alerts, characterized in that it allows the alert means to deal simultaneously with different types of alert, such as lane alerts, according to the figure 12.

Each type of alert, as referenced by the TPA parameter, can have its own list of parameters ranging from P42 to ZEA. Thus P42, for the above monitoring of the position relative to the corridor, for a TPA value such as 1, can correspond to the width of the corridor, beyond which the position of the vehicle triggers an alert, i.e. a value such as 5 km according to figure 12. On the other hand P42, for monitoring the alert on schedule, for a TPA value such as 2, can contain the value 10 minutes, which will allow the alert means to trigger an alert as soon as the vehicle is more than 10 minutes late when passing a control point on its planned route.

- ZEA: command to extinguish alerts, characterized in that it is different from a command such as P44, in that it makes it possible to define zone lists of the LZ type in which the alert is not reproduced more while the vehicle is located there, even if the causes of the alert are still present.

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 - CCC: command to recalculate a planned journey for a vehicle, characterized in that it allows the processing means to take into account real events occurring during the journey of this vehicle, such as the exit from a lane, according to Figures 12,24, 25 and 26, or an accepted change of planned route, from the point of divergence from the original planned route.

 - CEC: order to send a new planned route to the vehicle concerned, characterized in that this send includes all the data necessary for the pursuit of functions such as G7, Geo Corridor, or for example a new collection of checkpoints P2, P3.

 - CRV: order to send a new planned route to the vehicle concerned, characterized in that this shipment includes all the data necessary for the pursuit of functions such as G8, Géo Rendez Vous, or for example a new collection of Rendez Vous P2, P3.

FIGS. 14 and 20 to 23 are flowcharts illustrating the method according to the invention in its operation at the level of the means on board a vehicle and showing the command sequences characteristic of the invention: A main characteristic of the invention is that all of the commands, whatever the groups of functions considered, can be classified into only six sequences of commands, which brings a second significant economy of means in terms of the vehicle processing means and the monitoring center .

This economy of means is further reinforced by the low number of steps in these command sequences, a direct consequence of the number limited to 30 commands which the invention makes it possible to obtain.

According to FIG. 14, a first sequence of commands is constituted by steps E1 to E5.

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- Step El consists in the selection by the input means of the control panel 6 of the monitoring center of a group of functions to be controlled, such as GI, grouping together the functions of Geo Positioning.

- Step E2 consists of the selection by the input means of the control panel 6 of the monitoring center of the state selection command PI 0, which will be used by the vehicle calculation means to define whether the functions d 'a group such as Gl are activated or not.

 - Steps E3, E4, E5 consist of the selection by the input means of the control panel 6 of the monitoring center of the group or groups of vehicles concerned by the data entry in progress, of the subgroup or groups of vehicles in the or the selected groups, and of the vehicle or vehicles in the selected subgroups.

 The steps E3, E4, E5 allow economy of means at the level of the processing means of the monitoring center, by carrying out so-called generic treatments. Using a single entry per order concerned, the transfer means can then transfer this order to all the vehicles selected through E3, E4, E5. This selection must be understood in the broad sense, as used elsewhere according to FIG. 23, that is to say that it includes unions, intersections and exclusions of combinations of vehicles.

The invention will be better understood by noting that this step, once these data have been transferred to the vehicle by the transfer means from the monitoring center, also allows a plausibility check of the process, since it is always possible that the transferred data are erroneous. , or that the transfer means of the surveillance center reach erroneous targets. Thus, when the vehicle processing means receive a list of commands, they simultaneously receive the list of groups of vehicles sought, the list of subgroups, and the identification of the vehicle itself. The vehicle storage means also storing the group and the sub-group to which it belongs, plus its identification, the

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 calculation means can compare this data with each list of orders received, and thus detect a sending error when the correspondence is not complete.

According to FIG. 14, a second sequence of commands is constituted by steps E6 to E8.

The processing means of the monitoring center control exceptional sendings of data from the vehicle through the following steps.

 - Step E6 consists of the identification of the function or functions whose data will have to be transferred by the vehicle transfer means.

 - Step E7 consists of the identification by the transfer means of the type of extraction requested, for a function concerned. The vehicle transfer means can transfer only the last data sampled and stored, or can perform other types of transfer, such as sending the data stored since the last sending.

 - Step E8 consists in identifying the action to be carried out by the vehicle storage means, when the vehicle transfer means have finished transferring the data of a function. Thus, the surveillance center can control the erasure of the corresponding memory areas, once the exceptional transfer has been carried out.

According to FIG. 20, a third sequence of commands is constituted by steps E 10 to E22.

The invention will be better understood by noting that steps E10 to E22 constitute the main sequence of commands processed by the vehicle processing means.

 - Step E10 consists of the identification by the vehicle measurement means of the position of the vehicle relative to the surveillance center. We

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 will advantageously remember that, according to the invention, two different methods are used by the transfer means depending on the distance from the vehicle, a high-speed and inexpensive transfer method when the vehicle is nearby, and a low-speed method and expensive, when the vehicle is far away.

 - The EU stage is characterized in that the vehicle is considered by its measurement means to be close to the surveillance center, and that its transfer means then carry out a proximity transfer.

 - Step E21 is characterized in that the vehicle processing means can perform certain treatments when the vehicle is near the monitoring center. According to FIG. 8, such a function can be controlling the speed of the vehicle in the company parking lot. The steps according to FIG. 20 relating to remote transfers do not apply to the continuations of step E21.

 - Step El 2 is characterized in that the vehicle is in a remote situation, and consists of the identification by the vehicle calculation means of the state of parameter P20.

 - Step E13 is characterized in that the vehicle processing means have identified a parameter P20 to YES for the function being processed, and that they are continuing the treatments. This step consists of the reading by the processing means of the parameter P21, corresponding to a sampling command of the data item concerned by the function, such as the mileage of the vehicle.

 - Step E14 consists in that the sampling relates only to certain data, extracted by the processing means from a continuous stream of data reaching them. This step is characterized in that the calculation means can optionally perform an intermediate accumulation, between two samplings.

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 - Step E15 is characterized in that step 14 does not add up, and that the subsequent steps are identical below, according to box A of FIG. 20.

- Step El 6 consists of the optional measurement of the position of the vehicle and the timetable at the time of sampling of step E13, by the measurement and storage means of the vehicle. In the case where the processing means do not carry out measurement and storage in E16, the subsequent steps take place according to box B of FIG. 20.

- Step E20 consists in carrying out storage in an optional manner by the means for storing the data sampled in E13.

- Step E22 is characterized in that, during step E20, the storage means do not permanently store the data sampled in E13. In this case, the data is necessarily transferred to the monitoring center by the transfer means, otherwise correct operation of the system means that the function is inactive, in E12.

The transfer means can carry out either an immediate transfer, corresponding therefore to each sampling, or a periodic transfer, relating to the last sampling carried out or to an accumulation, or to a collection of data temporarily stored in a particular area by the storage means , and systematically deleted after transfer. The invention will be better understood by noting the use by the means of inputting particular inputs, making it possible to save orders. Thus P22, according to FIG. 8 SOI block, set to 00:00 can mean the immediate sending of each sampling, P22 set to 24:00 can mean the sending every 24 hours of the sampling of the moment, P22 set to T24 : 00 can mean the sending every 24 hours of the accumulation over 24 hours, P22 set to D24: 00 can mean the sending every 24 hours of the provisional detailed storage on 24 hours of the samplings carried out.

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 - Step El 7 is characterized in that the storage means in E20 store the data, the vehicle transfer means transferring them at a rate such as P22.

- Step E 18 is characterized in that, E 17 sending immediately or periodically, and the vehicle being in a remote situation, the transfer means can use remote sending means. This stage will be better understood by remembering that P23 controls the transfer means. P23 can be considered to have priority over P22, which means that, if P23 has the value TMat, meaning transfers using proximity means only, no transfer takes place remotely, whatever the value of P22. The transfer means perform remote transfers only for a value of P23 such as "SMS". It will advantageously be noted that the means of storage and transfer of the vehicle, when the latter is close to the company, can dispense with piloting by P23, and effect the transfer by the proximity transfer means of all the data. stored.

- Step E16 is characterized in that, a remote sending or a proximity transfer having been carried out in E18, the storage means can erase the corresponding data, with the aim of immediately recovering from the storage space.

 - Step E19 is characterized in that the parameter P22 has a value such as 9999, providing no transfer. In this step, whatever the value of P23, the transfer means transfer the data by proximity means, when the vehicle is close to the surveillance center.

According to FIG. 21, a fourth sequence of commands is constituted by steps E30 to E34.

This characteristic of the invention will be better understood by noting that this sequence is a secondary assembly which is added, for the functions concerned, to the main sequence presented according to FIG. 20.

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It will advantageously be noted that the preceding sequence of commands is used by the general means MG for processing the vehicle.

It will then be noted that the sequence of commands according to FIG. 21 is used by the alert means MA for processing the vehicle.

 - According to FIG. 21, step E30 is characterized in that it can take place after step E14, and before step E16, and that it consists in that the measurement means measure the possible difference between the actual sampled data, and a referential data. To better understand this aspect of the invention, it will be noted that, if no alert is triggered, the sequence of steps stops at E30, and that, consequently, all the steps equal to or subsequent to E16, according to the figure. 21, or at E30 according to block C in figure 21, are not processed by the vehicle processing means.

 - Step E31 is characterized in that, in E30, the measurement means have measured a difference greater than the expected reference difference.

 - Step E32 is characterized in that, the alert processing means having processed an alert, the measurement means wait for an interval P44 before recommencing a next measurement.

 - Step E33 is characterized in that, an alert having been processed by the alert means intended for the monitoring center, the alert means can also alert the driver, according to the value of an optional parameter such as P45.

 - Step E34 is characterized in that, the driver having been alerted in E33, the alert means, in the event of detection of new alerts, will no longer alert the driver before the period P46 has elapsed.

 The invention will be better understood by noting that the driver alert end means can consider criteria other than temporal criteria.

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 Thus, they can stop an alert as long as the position of the vehicle is measured by the measuring means inside an area as defined by an LZ list.

 It will also be noted that the parameters P44 and P46 are independent, and may have different values.

According to FIG. 22, a fifth sequence of commands is constituted by steps E40 and E41.

 For groups such as G7 / Geo Corridor, the alerting means can trigger alerts using several different criteria, measured simultaneously by the measuring means.

 According to FIGS. 12 and 24 to 26, the measuring means measure at regular intervals the position of a vehicle inside a geographical corridor which it is not supposed to leave, and measure the timetable at the same time of the vehicle, compared to a reference timetable for passage to predetermined positions.

 Consequently, the alert means can trigger two different types of alerts. On the one hand, when the vehicle leaves its reference lane, whatever the time, and on the other hand when, at a given reference time, the vehicle is not in the planned position, even if it remains well geographically in its reference corridor. E40 can correspond to the processing of the first type of alert, E41 to the second. Of course, the number of types of alerts is not limited to 2.

* According to FIG. 23, a sixth sequence of commands is constituted by steps E50 and E58.

 This main characteristic of the invention will be better understood by noting that these steps are steps common to all the commands used by the processing means, and comprising discrimination criteria of

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 zones, routes and dates. Thus elements such as the list LZ according to figure 8, blocks SG4 and SG5, the corresponding list LZ according to figure 8-1, used in block P42c, the list LZ according to blocks SG8 and SG9 of figure 10-1 , correspond to the prior implementation of the steps of FIG. 23, by the central processing means, through the CLZ command. The central transfer means then transfer the LZ lists corresponding to the groups and functions concerned to the vehicle storage means.

The vehicle processing means can thus apply the criteria of discrimination of areas Al, dates A2, journeys A3, to a function such as SG4 / Positions Outside the Area of group G 11 Geo Positioning, using the LZ discrimination list of zones / dates / routes of this function.

Whenever the vehicle processing means must treat the position of the vehicle in relation to well-defined geographical areas, or in relation to the routes it is likely to take, or in relation to dates or periods having significance particular in the activity of this vehicle, its processing means can use steps E50 to E58, and a list such as LZ according to FIG. 8-1.

Such lists can be drawn up by the processing means of the surveillance center according to the criteria of union, intersection or separation commonly used for the management of sets of all kinds, within the meaning of the mathematical theory of sets.

 - Step E50 is characterized in that the processing means can first identify the geographic areas concerned. Thus, a step E53 could mean that all the zones are concerned. Another step E56 could mean that, on the contrary, no zone is retained. If neither E53 nor E56 are retained by the input means of the monitoring center, then steps E54 and E55 can be implemented.

This implementation of the invention will be more easily understood through the following illustration.

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toutes zones moins ZONE1, moins ZONE2, moins ZONE 3 dont sont retirées les ZONE4 et ZONE5. Assuming that ZONE1, ZONE2, ZONEN represent zones whose structure is as shown in Figures 31 and 33, the input means can enter sets such as: ZONE1, more ZONE2, more ZONE3 minus ZONE4 and ZONE5, or even :

all zones minus ZONE1, minus ZONE2, minus ZONE 3 from which ZONE4 and ZONE5 are removed.

 - Step E57 is characterized in that, when a list of zones has been entered by the entry means of the monitoring center, these means allow entry of the same kind for the journeys. This stage will be better understood by noting that, in the areas selected in E50, if there are any, certain routes can be added or on the contrary excluded.

Thus, if zone ZONE2 has been selected for processing such as alerts, it is possible that certain journeys in this zone do not require special monitoring. The implementation of the input means is then simpler by retaining the entire area, except for certain journeys.

It will be understood that, similarly, the input means can completely exclude ZONE1, except for certain journeys.

In addition to the above entries, the entry means can enter sets such as: TRAJET1, plus TRAJET2, plus TRAJET3 minus TRAJET4 and TRAJET5, or:

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 all journeys minus TRAJET 1, minus TRAJET2, minus TRAJET 3 from which TRAJET4 and TRAJET5 are removed.

 - Step E58 is characterized in that, when a list of zones and routes has been entered by the entry means of the monitoring center, these means allow entry of the same nature for the dates. This stage will be better understood by noting that, in the areas selected in E50 and the routes selected in E57, if there are any, certain dates and periods may have an additional discriminating character.

In addition to the entries above, the entry means can enter sets such as: PERIODEN, plus DATE2, plus PERIODE3 minus DATE4 to DATE5, or again: all dates minus DATE l, minus DATE2, minus PERIODE3 from which PERIODE4 is withdrawn Of course, the implementation of the invention is not limited to this example.

According to Figure 8-1, the input means can enter lists such as P42c, that is: ZONE1, such as PARK1, plus ZONE2, such as AMST1, if the date is within the period from DATE1 to DATE2, such as 2/15/02 to 6/15/02, plus TRAJET1, such as ROTERI, if the date is after DATE3, such as 2/15/02.

sélectionnant d'abord les trajets, puis les zones puis les dates. E52 serait une i According to FIG. 23, the combination of the criteria zones-journeys-dates by the input means can be different. So E51 would be a list built in

first selecting the routes, then the zones then the dates. E52 would be an i

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 list built by first selecting the dates, then the zones then the routes.

According to the example in Figure 8-1, the input means can also combine the three discrimination criteria.

- Step E59 consists in the selection of the group such as G 1 according to FIG. 8, or of the function such as SG 1 Management of the Mileage according to the same figure, to which the sequence of discrimination of zones / dates / journeys is applied.

This second economy of means characteristic of the invention will be better understood, by noting that, according to FIG. 20, the main sequence of commands only comprises 12 steps, and that, according to FIGS. 21 to 23, the other five sequences only comprise only 5 to 8 steps. In comparison, without this characteristic of the invention, the vehicle processing means would require approximately 40 sequences of 10 steps each on average, which makes it possible to estimate a saving of approximately 92% on the means, through command sequences.

A main characteristic of the invention is to establish lists of commands by function, and to constitute, at the level of each of the groups G 1 to G8, sets of functions, so that each list includes the commands necessary and sufficient for the data processing by the processing means, and for control by the central means of the vehicle means.

It will advantageously be remembered that the following names have the same meaning, taken paragraph by paragraph: - groups, groups of information, groups of functions, which correspond to an example such as GI, according to FIG. 8, - sub group, sub group information, function, which correspond to an example such as SG1, according to FIG. 8, - commands, parameters, which correspond to examples such as
Sampling and P21, according to figure 8, remembering that

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Sampling is a command entered by the processing means of the monitoring center, and transmitted to the processing means of the vehicle to control the latter, and that P21 is the name of the corresponding parameter, used by them to process the command. P21 is used in the description of the invention interchangeably to designate the command or the parameter, since it has the most condensed designation.

According to FIG. 8, group G 1 / GeoPositioning, the vehicle processing means process data related to the geo positioning of the vehicle, such as the tracking of the mileage traveled, the speed, and the position of the vehicle, inside of predefined zones, or outside.

For the SG1 / Mileage management function, the calculation means use P21, a sampling parameter according to various methods. The value 5 indicated can correspond to a sampling every 5 km, whatever the frequency at which the processing means capture this data. Thus, the storage means can receive a pulse every 100 m traveled, the calculation means temporarily totaling these values, until 5000 m are obtained, which triggers the following commands from P21c to P23a. Conversely, the calculation means can total 5 pulses, ie 500 m, before the vehicle processing means continue processing, by the commands P21c to P23a.

The invention will be understood more precisely by noting that this implementation of P21 by the vehicle processing means is not reserved for Gl, in group SG 1. It can be used by other functions. In general, the descriptions given by function only correspond to a particular implementation, others remaining possible.

For the SG2 / Speed management function, the sampling parameter P21a allows the calculation means to carry out a possibly different sampling when the data is intended for the information of the driver, rather than when it is intended for the monitoring center. . Thus, the calculation means can sample the speed of the vehicle every second, the display means

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 continuously displaying this speed accompanied by an audible signal if the speed limit is exceeded. The storage means being able to store each sampling of the speed, P21a is unsuitable because causing a large bulk of the storage means. P21, sampling parameter intended for the storage means, if P21c is worth YES, can have a higher value, such as 60 seconds.

When P21b has the value YES, the calculation means can calculate the weighted average speed over the period P21. When P21 b is set to NO, the processing means process the instantaneous speed sampled by the calculation means according to P21, ie once every minute, according to the example above.

P21 of the SG3 / Speed alert function, can have a different value from P21 of SG2, P21b being used by the calculation means in the same way as for SG2.

P42, which will be better understood with reference to FIG. 8-1, according to the preceding descriptions, is used by the calculation means through an implementation characteristic of the invention.

The measurement means refer on the one hand to the indications of area and path discrimination contained in the lists P42a, P42b and P42c, and on the other hand refer to the geographical position of the vehicle, known by the geo positioning means of the vehicle, such as GPS.

According to FIGS. 31 and 33, the storage means can store, for each zone, its geographical characteristics such as 400.401, 402 for a circular zone, 400 and 401 being the coordinates of the center, and 402 the radius, or any other characteristics defining areas such as rectangular or irregularly contoured.

According to FIG. 8-1 block P42c under block A1, such an area can be PARK1, the company car park, with the authorized speed entered previously at the level of the entry means of the surveillance center, 35 km / h.

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 The path ROTER1, according to the same figure, block P42c, under block A3, may have been transferred by the transfer means of the monitoring center.

According to Figure 8-1, block P42a, the names common roads, expressways and highways are such as lane types, and the values 90,110, 130 are such as speed profiles.

The invention will be better understood by noting that these values correspond to those commonly used by calculation means such as those of the monitoring center to calculate an optimized route between two points of a route. It will be usefully remembered that these values in limited number (4 in general) can be fixed by the user, before the start of the calculation.

It is understood that the measurement means knowing the instantaneous position of the vehicle on the one hand, and having on the other hand the complete list of the segments of a route, or of all the routes that the vehicle can take, these measurement means can identify in the storage means on which segment this vehicle is at a given instant, then extract the type of the route taken and its speed profile.

In the absence of other indications, according to P42b, the measurement means measure according to P21 of SG3 the real speed of the vehicle, and compare it with the limit speed associated with the type of segment taken at this instant, which is the speed profile. above. The measurement means therefore have, by simple knowledge of the geo positioning and corresponding extraction of the storage means, limit speeds such as 50 km / h if the vehicle is in a common agglomeration, of 70 km / h if the vehicle is in a agglomeration, 110 km / h if the vehicle is on a fast lane.

This characteristic of the invention will be better understood by noting that public or private institutions can provide regularly updated data, relating to various characteristics of the road network, in particular the regulatory speeds on a given date. The above calculation means, for the optimization calculation of a route, use this speed data, by

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 integrating automatically. It will then be noted, in order to fully understand this parameter P42b, that the calculation means have in this case a considerably greater number of data than for P42a. Indeed, here, each segment of the route is likely to present a speed profile different from the other segments, whereas with P42a, all the segments of a normal route for example receive the speed profile entered by the operator. .

In the case of trucks with more complex regulatory limits, such as, for a vehicle of more than 3.5 T and less than 12 T, 80 km / h on normal tracks, 100 km / h on fast tracks and 110 km / h on motorways, the measurement means may not use the speed profiles systematically associated with each elementary segment by the cartographic tool, which are often general. In this case, the measurement means have at the storage means, data such as the category of the vehicle, by a process such as prior transfer by the transfer means from the monitoring center. The measuring means can have more data such as a list of authorized speeds according to the categories of vehicles, and according to the types of lanes, or a list of speeds relating only to the type of vehicle. Knowing the instantaneous position of the vehicle, the measurement means can extract from storage means, as above, the references of the elementary path segment where the vehicle is located, then, having this data, extract the type of lane to which this segment. Knowing the type of lane, the measurement means can extract the reference speed of the moment from the list of regulatory speeds above, and compare this reference with the actual speed of the vehicle.

According to FIG. 8 and the functions SG4 and SG5, the vehicle processing means process data such as the position of the vehicle, sampled at regular intervals. It will be noted that the processing means discriminate on LZ type zones, with monitoring of Out of Zone positions and of On Zones positions, for reasons such as the desire to know at any time the position of a vehicle on the company parking, regularly relevant operating data, and possible here since positions can be transferred by proximity means, at almost no cost. As a result, parameters such as

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 P21, P22 can have different values, depending on whether they relate to SG4 or SG5.

The AEX function according to Figure 8, used by the monitoring center to control exceptional transfers applies, as for all groups G 1 to G8, to all IM functions, the transfer means using for each function parameters such as P60, P61 and P62.

According to FIG. 9, group G2 / Tachograph, the functions SG4, SG5 and SG6 are characterized by monitoring the activity of the driver. It will be noted, for these functions, the absence of use by the parameter processing means such as P21, since the processing means must process any data transmitted to the on-board means and relating to these functions. SG4 / Working time corresponds to the monitoring of times such as driving, rest, disposition, SG5 corresponds to the monitoring of driving time violations, calculated by the calculation means on the basis of SG5 / P42, SG6 corresponds to the monitoring of violations of the daily rest, calculated by the calculation means on the basis of SG6 / P42.

According to FIG. 10, group G3 / Fuel consumption, the functions SG 1 and SG2 are characterized by monitoring the instantaneous consumption of the vehicle, the sampling P21 or P21 a being carried out by the measurement means by means such as a probe measuring the flow of fuel in a pipe, and delivering a data such as a pulse every 5 cubic centimeters consumed.

When P21 is equal to 3, the measuring means can measure three successive pulses, before processing the commands P21b to P23a, the value of P21 b indicating to the calculation means whether a totalization such as 5 * 3 is to be carried out or not.

The invention will be better understood by noting that, as for all the functions, the parameters of SG 1 and SG2 not explicitly described have an operation identical to the general operation, described above.

 G3 / SG3 / Consumption calculated on the full tank is characterized in that, unlike SG1, consumption is calculated by the means of calculating the

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 vehicle thanks to data on the quantities entered into the tank, and on the mileage traveled between two refills.

The measurement means use P21 as an indicator of the rate at which the calculation is to take place. Thus, P21 having the value 1 can mean a calculation every full, P21 equal to K300 a calculation every 300 km.

It will advantageously be noted that the calculation means can use a parameter such as TP, giving the fuel temperature, which temperature can have an influence on the accuracy of the consumption calculation.

 G3 / SG5 / Mini inputs consists in monitoring the tank inputs, P42 giving the value of the minimum quantity from which the processing means process this input.

 G3 / SG6 / Mini outputs consists of monitoring the tank outputs, P42 giving the value of the minimum quantity from which the processing means process this output. The invention will be better understood by noting that the quantities entering or leaving the tank are measured by the measurement means using an indicator of the level of fuel in the tank, an entry or exit being calculated from the differences in levels before and after.

G3 / SG7 is used by the vehicle processing means to identify any significant discrepancies between the consumptions sounded by SG 1 and by SG3, with alert processing by the alert means.

G3 / SG8 according to Figure 10-1 is characterized in that the monitoring center can follow the periods when the vehicle is stopped, engine running, and therefore wasting fuel. Sampling can be done in the same way as for SG1, ie on the basis of instantaneous consumption. P42 may be such as an accepted operating time, beyond which an alert is triggered by the alert means. The vehicle processing means establish an LZ type area discrimination, such as SG8 consists of monitoring such as monitoring in the company car park, and SG9 monitoring during the journey of the vehicle, such as

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 prolonged engine operation during a traffic jam. The invention will be better understood by noting that the processing means process the functions SG8 and SG9 in association with the position measurement means, which measure when the vehicle is stationary, a basic condition for the implementation of these two functions.

 04 / Temperature monitoring according to Figure 10-2 is characterized in that this group allows the processing means to process data such as the temperature of a refrigerated trailer.

In addition to the usual parameters, the processing means use two specific parameters here. CPT, on the one hand, being used to treat certain parts of the vehicle differently, such as compartments with different controlled temperatures. SNS on the other hand, supplementing the management of alerts by the alerting means, characterized in that SNS allows the alerting means to take into account only deviations observed in a given direction. Thus, SNS having a value such as>, the alert means will only retain positive deviations. We will usefully refer to the descriptions already made on this subject.

The exceptional transfer means also use CPT for transfers.

G5 / 6-Access Control according to Figure 11 is characterized in that this group allows the processing means of the monitoring center to control an event such as the opening of the rear doors of a vehicle, and to identify a possible criminal intrusion.

 SO 1 can consist of monitoring such as that of the rear or side doors, and SG2 monitoring of the doors of the driver's cabin. An additional parameter is used by the processing means, NAC, which is an index, and which allows the processing means to use lists of parameters of the same name, but of different value depending on the value of NAC. Thus, the processing means using zone discriminations for the group G5 / 6, they can define different zones, routes and dates according to the values of the NACs. The NAC is also used by Exceptional means of transfer. A second additional parameter, DMA, is also used by the processing means, in the

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 processing of G5 / 6 functions. DMA is an indicator, which stores the last update date of the list such as LZ, and which is updated by the vehicle transfer means, when the transfer means of the monitoring center transfer an update to it from LZ.

The G7 / Geo Corridor group is characterized in that the processing means of the monitoring center can be automatically alerted as soon as a vehicle departs from its initially planned route, or does not pass the scheduled time at a point of given control.

It will be usefully remembered that the transfer means of the surveillance center transfer to the vehicle storage means the elementary segments of routes corresponding to the route planned for the vehicle, or to all the road segments that the vehicle is likely to take. A particular list of segments can be such that the segments connecting PI, P2, P3 according to FIG. 24. The geographic coordinates of the segments can be such as 200,201, 204,205, 216,217, stored by the vehicle storage means, according to FIG. 27.

According to FIGS. 24, 25, 27, the hours of passage planned at checkpoints such as P1, P2, can be such as 202.218, and the speeds provided on the segments, such as 203.206, 209. The storage means store also a parameter 230, which the vehicle calculation means use to calculate a corridor located at distance 230 on either side of the planned path, here called C ~ 230.

According to FIG. 12, the vehicle measurement means measure in G7 / SGI the position of the vehicle, within the framework of a list LZ of discrimination of zones, journeys and dates. This aspect of the invention will be better understood by noting that the control which the central means intend to carry out is not necessarily permanent control for this vehicle. This control may only be requested by the central processing means for certain zones or certain journeys, such as risky zones or journeys, where a diversion of the vehicle may be feared, and at certain times, such as hours. by night.

 SG 1 consists of a processing which is triggered automatically when the discrimination conditions of the LZ list are met, considering of course

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 that the processing means of the monitoring center have given to P10 of G7, and to P20 of SOI and SG2 the value YES, and to the other parameters of the values allowing the processing means of the vehicle to activate the functions of G7 normally.

The calculation means use for the alert calculation a particular parameter TPA which allows the calculation means to calculate deviations simultaneously on several repositories.

According to FIG. 26, an alert can be caused by the alert means when the vehicle V has left its initial planned journey for reasons accepted by the monitoring center. Therefore, the monitoring center does not want the vehicle alert means to continue to consider the vehicle as out of its acceptable path, and continue to cause alerts.

This particular characteristic of the invention will be better understood by remembering that the means of transfer from the monitoring center can then transfer to the vehicle processing means a list ZEA of warning extinction zones, of the same type as a list discrimination LZ. As long as the vehicle meets the criteria contained in ZEA, no more G7 / SG2 alerts are sampled.

It will advantageously be noted that the control panel of the surveillance center has a CCC command for recalculating a new forecast route, which allows the calculation means to calculate a new control corridor. According to Figures 26 and 27, this new route can be such that the coordinates of its points are 231,232, 234,235, 241,242, stored by the vehicle storage means.

The transfer by the transfer means of the center can be carried out by an action on the CEC command of the control panel of the center, for this data as for any other data intended for vehicles.

Following such a transfer, the vehicle calculation means no longer highlight any deviation likely to result in an alert, since the actual position of the vehicle again corresponds to its planned route, at least immediately after the

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 transfer. New drifts can then occur. In such a transfer case, the ZEA list may not be useful to the calculation means.

Note also that the vehicle processing means, through the use of a list such as LZ in SOI, are not limited to processing routes as shown in Figures 24 to 26. The processing means can deal with the same way leaving the vehicle from an area as defined above, with the possible implementation of a parameter identical to 230 in FIG. 25, with the difference that C ~ 230 can then represent a border surrounding the area control.

It will be noted that, in the case where TPA is used to manage several types of alert simultaneously, the AEX function for transferring exceptional calls includes a TPA parameter for the transfer of alerts.

The G8 / Geo Rendez Vous group is characterized in that the processing facilities of the monitoring center can be alerted automatically as soon as a vehicle is likely to arrive late for a Rendez Vous, including well in advance.

According to FIGS. 28 and 29, and following a route as already described above, composed of elementary segments connecting points PI, P2, P4, P3 of Rendez Vous, point P4 can be characterized by its coordinates 302 and 303, its time meeting point 304, the point P3 being characterized by equivalent data 305, 306, 307, all of this data being stored by the vehicle storage means 35.

The position of the vehicle being V, according to FIG. 28, the calculation means can calculate that the meeting time in P2 will not be respected, that in P4 will be respected because there is flexibility, the delay in P2 causing by against an identical delay in P3. The corresponding alerts are sent by the vehicle alert means to the monitoring center.

This aspect of the invention will be better understood by remembering that the vehicle storage means store for each elementary segment of the journey, such as P4,

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 P3, in addition to the geographic coordinates of its ends, its expected speed profile. The calculation means, knowing the position of V on a point of the path PI, P3, can therefore calculate the estimated time of arrival at P2, P3 and P4 at any time, and compare it with the scheduled times, ie 304 for P4 and 307 for P3. The calculation means can also take into account delays accepted on certain points, such as P4.

According to FIG. 13, the SOI position tracking function comprises a zone discrimination command such as LZ, and a command such as ZEA, for reasons identical to those described in the subject of 07.

The group G8 is characterized in that a CRV command allows the central processing means to recalculate new appointments, new routes, or other variants, through the steps of a method described according to FIGS. 29 and 32 , then to the central transfer means for transferring this new data to the vehicle storage means, the G8 group then continuing its action on these new bases.

According to step El 00, the means for calculating the vehicle or the monitoring center calculate that the delay in P2 is recoverable. The monitoring center defines with the driver one or more catch-up strategies, according to step E102. According to step E103, the vehicle journey continues without further processing by the processing means, since the delay in P3 is automatically absorbed.

According to step E101, unlike step E100, the delay in P2 is not considered to be recoverable.

According to step E104, the monitoring center decides to deal with the delays that have appeared, in order to transfer new meeting route conditions to the vehicle.

According to FIG. 29, the input means of the monitoring center allow the input of data such as 308, departure times of the vehicle from a point of the route, 309, statutory stop times, on which the company can sometimes play by decreasing them, 310, speed profile of a segment, 311, exceptional events on the

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 journey, or in its surroundings, likely to slow down or speed up the vehicle, 313, particular characteristics of the journey, such as bridge height, authorizing or prohibiting certain journeys, 314, downtime at a delivery point, for waiting and unloading / loading.

This data can be used by the monitoring center's calculation means to try to minimize delays at Appointments, and to bring a different organization to the work of the vehicle.

According to FIG. 32, steps E104 to E107 allow the central processing means to best redefine the path of the vehicle, to reduce as much as possible, at an optimized economic cost, the delays in P2 and P3. Note that an economic component is taken into account by the processing means, because one of the remedial strategies can use a solution such as borrowing a motorway, with an additional cost for the journey.

Step E108 corresponds to the CRV command in FIG. 13, and consists in a recalculation by the means of calculation of the center for monitoring the route of the vehicle, from its position V, and in the transfer by the means of transfers central to the vehicle storage means of the elementary segments of this new journey, accompanied by the characteristics already described of these segments, and of other data such as the new appointment schedules in P2, P4 and P3.

The invention will be better understood by noting that, following this transfer, the vehicle calculation means no longer determine alerts on Rendez Vous, at least for the time being.

The step El 09 is characterized in that the delay in P2 having been judged by the central means as not catchable, the decision is made not to change anything at the initial journey, nor at the initial meeting times. E109 consists of commands transferred by the central transfer means to the vehicle processing means, and such, according to ZEA or not, that all the alerts are deleted. The central means can transfer a command such as setting the P20 of SG2 to NO.

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Step E110 is characterized in that, by the use of a command such as ZEA, the central means control the extinction of certain alerts only, such as the alert in P2.

Step E111 is characterized in that it supplements E110, by using a command such as ZEA, to control the extinction of some or all of the alerts, according to a criterion such as "for N hours", or "until the vehicle has reached such a position ".

It therefore appears that at the level of the operation of the storage means, the system according to the invention is characterized by a method for managing the on-board storage space controlled remotely by the means of the surveillance center. This method is also implemented by the means on board in the erasing operations seen above.

According to FIG. 34, the control panel 6 in FIG. 2 of the surveillance center displays, via its display means, for each group and subgroup of information 500, the volume 501 occupied in the storage means on board the vehicle, the date 502 of the oldest stored data, and the date 503 of the most recent data. The groups and sub-groups correspond to the groups and sub-groups seen above, for example according to FIGS. 8 to 13. The total space occupied by the data stored in the storage means on board the vehicle, and the space total available, are displayed in 134 by the display means of the monitoring center.

According to FIG. 35, the input means of the surveillance center can communicate to the transfer means of this center, for each group 510 or sub-group of data, the dates 511 and 512 of start and end of the data which must be erased by the storage means on board a vehicle. The display means of the monitoring center give the total 513 of the space freed up in the storage means on board the vehicle. Upon receipt of these commands, the vehicle storage means erase the corresponding data from their storage space.

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According to FIG. 5, the erasing method is characterized in that, in the case where the on-board storage means 35 manage the storage space only by blocks of storage boxes, such as 75, and not box by box , such as 77 or 78, a certain number of blocks are permanently reserved for this erasing operation, such as L4. Thus, each stored data, such as 77 being associated with a date and a time corresponding to its storage date, such as 78, the storage means successively run through all the storage blocks such as L1, L2, L3 likely to contain data of the groups and sub-groups concerned, that is to say the date of which is part of the period between the dates 142 and 143 of FIG. 17, and belonging to the group and sub-groups 140 of this figure. The storage means, for a block such as LI, transfer to the block L4 the data which is not to be erased, then erase the block LI, then re-store in LI the data temporarily moved in the block L4. Then, the storage means erase the block L4, transfer from the block L2 to the block L4 the data which is not to be erased, then erase the block L2, then re-store the data of the block L4 first in the block LI if space is still available, then in block L2.

Likewise, it can be seen that the system according to the invention allows the display means of the monitoring center to permanently display the space available in the storage means of a vehicle, the data being obtainable by sending by the means 58 for notification of the monitoring center of a priority transfer command such as P60 according to FIG. 8, in the case of the group "geopositioning".

The system is then characterized by means of causing from the monitoring center the selective erasure of certain data contained in the storage space on board the vehicle. As seen above, the commands that the means of the monitoring center can transfer to the means on board the vehicle allow the transfer to the monitoring center of the data concerned, before erasing them.

Optionally, the display means of the control panel 6 can display simplified forms of FIGS. 8 to 13, such as the display for each vehicle of only the controls which are activated, at a given instant.

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Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.

Thus, processing carried out by the processing and storage means on board a vehicle is carried out by the processing and storage means of the monitoring center, such as the calculation of speed alerts, according to FIG. 8, vehicle transfer means, in this case transferring to the means of the monitoring center the desired data on the mileage traveled by the vehicle, and the measured timetables. The commands such as P20, P41, P42, P43, P22, P44, P23 according to FIG. 8 are communicated by the control panel 6 of the surveillance center to the calculation and measurement means of the surveillance center.

Furthermore, the naming of the commands of the system according to the invention is not limited to the named quotations. Thus, according to FIG. 8, illustrating a group such as "geopositioning" from the list of command groups, the command P21 "sampling" of the subgroup P20 "Memo mileage" can be called "acquisition frequency".

Likewise, the value unit of the commands of the system according to the invention is not limited to the names mentioned. Thus, according to FIG. 8 illustrating a group such as "geopositioning" from the list of command groups, the command P21 "sampling" of the subgroup P20 "Memo mileage" can be a time, such as every 10 minutes, at location of the indicated distance, which is every 5 kilometers.

In addition: - The list of information groups may include other elements, such as a group of information relating to the management of the storage means on board the vehicle, according to the implementation of FIGS. 34 and 35.

 - The list of information subgroups may include other elements, such as information subgroups relating to other offenses, for the GI group, here "geopositioning", in Figure 8.

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The list of commands can include other elements, such as commands for erasing the storage means on board the vehicle, according to the implementation of FIGS. 34 and 35.

- The modes of data transfer, by the transfer means of the surveillance center, or by those of the vehicle, can be different. Thus, according to FIG. 8, the P23 "SMS" mode can be another mode such as the use of radio frequency waves, the means 22 for transferring a vehicle such as GSM becoming means of the transmitter / receiver type. HF ("transceivers").

- The use of vehicle means and those of the surveillance center is not limited to the actions according to FIG. 6, and to the attached peripherals, such as FIG. 7.

The control system according to the invention relates to any action and any peripheral responding to all or part of the command lists of the control panel 6 of the surveillance center. These lists being according to Figures 15 to 19-1 and the descriptive text.

 - The process according to FIGS. 14 and 20 to 23, may comprise only part of the steps, or include others. Thus, steps E50 to E58, linked to zone or date discrimination commands, may not appear. Or, the on-board transfer means can be controlled so that additional steps of the type E6 to E8 carry out priority transfers not only at the level of a group of information, but at the level of a sub-group only. This is a way to relieve the processing means embedded in their tasks, since they then have less information to process.

- The measurement means on board the vehicle measure the space available in the on-board storage means, by comparison with an optional command from the control panel of the surveillance center transmitted previously and indicating a minimum space, and trigger an alert by l intermediary of the on-board alert means, as soon as the space available in the vehicle storage means becomes less than the aforementioned minimum space.

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 The above alert is triggered by the alert means of the monitoring center, which center detects through its measurement means, and by the reception of data on the occupation of the space of the storage means. on board, exceeding the minimum available space optionally displayed on the control panel 6 of the center.

Claims (16)

claims 1. Telecontrol and telemonitoring system for vehicles by a management and surveillance center, this system making use, at the level of the surveillance center, of a fixed computer system, provided with processing and storage means coupled with transmission means to distance and, on each vehicle, an on-board computer system also provided with processing and storage means, this on-board system being coupled, on the one hand, to means for detecting and collecting information and, on the other hand, to transmission means able to connect to the transmission means of the fixed computer system of the management and surveillance center, the fixed computer system comprising means making it possible to compose command messages for actions to be executed by the on-board system based on information entered on an input station associated with the fixed system, the on-board computer system includes t memories containing a plurality of routines each formed from an instruction list, as well as means for selective activation of these routines according to the nature of said messages so as to cyclically execute the actions commanded by these routines and to transmit at the end of the action, intended for the fixed system, data relating to the actions executed and / or to information detected by said detection means and stored in memory according to the instructions of the routine, characterized in that the said means input comprise sampling control means making it possible to fix the frequency of the action cycles controlled by the routines as well as transfer control means making it possible to fix the frequency of transfer of the data supplied by the detection and collection means of information and / or by the above processing means, intended for the fixed system, this data being able to cons ister in alert messages stored in memory.  2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the on-board system includes in memory data relating to the list of segments of the current journey and / or the list of appointments to which the vehicle must go, data from on-board sensors <Desc / Clms Page number 71>  vehicle as well as associated data, such as timestamp data and positioning data.  3. System according to one of claims 1 and 2, characterized in that the information transmitted at the above frequency relates to the mileage of the vehicle, and in that the sampling period is defined by a kilometer value.  4. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information transmitted at the above frequency relates to the fuel level of the vehicle, the sampling period then being defined by a volume of fuel.  5. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information transmitted periodically relates to the speed of the vehicle and in particular information relating to the exceeding of a speed limit value, this information containing data relating to the places and to the 'time at which overruns were recorded.  6. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the input station comprises control means making it possible to define data, for example alert messages to be transmitted instantly by the mobile system as soon as they occur.  7. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the input station comprises control means making it possible to define a determined number of predetermined data occurrences, processed by the on-board system before transferring these data to the fixed system.  8. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the entry station comprises timing control means making it possible to define a minimum time period between two successive transfers made by the on-board system. <Desc / Clms Page number 72>  9. System according to claim 8, characterized in that the input station comprises control means making it possible to define one or more time ranges within which transfers can be made by the on-board system and / or a maximum number instant transfers.  10. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, prior to the activation of any of the above-mentioned routines, the on-board system performs a sequence of zone, journey and date discrimination comprising the successive stages following: - the prior storage in memory by the on-board system of data relating to: 0 a plurality of geographic areas 0 a plurality of journeys 0 a plurality of dates - a phase of discrimination by the monitoring center for authorized and / or excluded areas - a phase of discrimination of authorized and / or excluded journeys - a phase of discrimination of dates defining the periods during which and / or outside which journeys must be taken - determination of the geographical position of the vehicle - transmission of the alarm signal in the event that the vehicle takes a prohibited route on the date in question.  11. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the above-mentioned routines comprises a sequence of instructions intended to cause at the end of the action a procedure for partial erasure of the memories the on-board computer system, with recovery of the corresponding space thus freed, for other uses. <Desc / Clms Page number 73>  12. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the memory storage means of the on-board computer system are at least organized by blocks of memory boxes, the erasure of which is carried out by whole blocks.  13. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the information stored in the above storage means is organized according to at least one list of information groups, a list of information subgroups and at least one list of control information allowing the computer system of the monitoring center to control the processing and storage means of the on-board system, for the processing and storage of information concerning said groups and said sub-groups.  14. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the processing means of the on-board system are designed so as to distinguish, in the list of information and sequences of control instructions, those which relate to general processing.  15. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when a command message is sent to the on-board system, the transmission means of the fixed system add information identifying the group of information concerned and on the corresponding subgroup (s).  16. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, each time the on-board information is sent to the computer system of the monitoring center, the on-board transmission means add information identifying the group d 'information concerned and on the corresponding subgroup (s).