JP2003505801A - Automatic toll collection method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for automatically charging tolls which comprises both the use of a short range as well as a long range communication, for example, by microwaves and by mobile radio telephone. The appropriate type of communication for paying the tolls is selected according to the type of road in order to, all in all, realize a toll charging system that is as economical as possible.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for automatically collecting a charge for use at a road level or a traffic level or a device for automatically collecting a charge according to the concept of the independent claim.
Such a method is already known from DE 19615733 A1. In this way, GPS data is processed for detection of fees to be paid. This method is limited to beacon equipped roads.

Advantages of the invention The method of the invention having the features of the independent claims or the device of the invention for implementing this method, on the other hand, enables an optimum overall system for toll collection. Has the advantage. This entire system is, for example, an electronic communication system having a short reach in a densely populated area, for example, a MW-DSRC method (Microwave Dedicate
d Short Range Communication) and, for example, on a highway distant from the lower road network in a less populated suburb, a mobile radio connection is used, for example. Here, the position of the vehicle is detected by, for example, GPS. The MW-DSRC scheme requires cumbersome infrastructure in the form of transmit and receive beacons on roads or bridges. The onboard equipment required for the vehicle is relatively inexpensive, and data transmission between the beacon and the onboard equipment only requires electrical energy to drive the beacon. On the other hand, GP
The S mobile radio system does not require additional infrastructure costs if it is used for toll collection. However, the manufacturing and installation of the onboard equipment for this purpose is troublesome. There is a considerable telephone charge for data transmission.

The method of the present invention flexibly adapts to the daily routine of toll collection depending on which type of vehicle the respective toll should be charged for, or on which part of the road network the vehicle mainly runs. can do. This can minimize the cost of the overall system for automatic charge detection and collection. By means of the device according to the invention, the vehicle can comfortably and automatically pay tolls, both on sections equipped with beacons and on road networks consisting of tolled but non-beaconed roads.

It is also possible to purchase an individual pass if the vehicle to be paid has only conventional on-board equipment (which functions exclusively according to the MW-DSRC scheme). With this individual pass ticket, a user of a conventional on-board device or a user of a vehicle not equipped with a conventional on-board device can travel in the section of the road partial network. Therefore, the method of the present invention can be realized in time before the vehicle is exhaustively equipped with the on-board equipment of the present invention.

Advantageous developments and improvements of the method or the device according to the independent claims are possible by the measures specified in the dependent claims.

Particularly advantageously, the toll road network is divided as follows. That is, the beacons are mainly placed in densely populated areas. The toll road section in which the beacon is not installed can be identified by a position comparison on a data memory, which is advantageously arranged in the vehicle. This automatically activates the communication with a long reach necessary for the charge collection in this case. This makes it possible to easily combine the advantages of the beacon system and the advantages of the fee collection system without the beacon. Here it is advantageous if the beacon system is in a densely populated area. This is because there are a large number of underground crossings and sound barriers, which do not impair short-range data transmission, but long-range data transmission, such as data transmission via GSM mobile radio or GPS satellites. May interfere with the position detection by. Furthermore, this is especially important in densely populated areas where vehicle distances are usually short and the vehicle density is high, since there is no communication cost between the vehicle and the infrastructure. Furthermore, a beacon system in a densely populated area makes it possible to uniquely distinguish between toll roads and toll roads that are closely adjacent to each other. Position detection via GPS is not sufficiently reliable here. This is because in some cases ambiguous results can occur during position detection.
This is because the position detection accuracy is degraded, for example, because the GPS signal is received not directly but after reflection at the building. Additionally, intentional inaccuracies may be created by the US Department of Defense satellite administrator.

Outside the densely populated areas, eg suburban areas, it is advantageous to use long reach communications for toll collection. Firstly, there may be a saving of beacons needed for short range communications, and secondly, there is generally no electrical energy available to drive the beacons in such areas. . It is troublesome to lay the necessary electric lines. Thirdly, in such a section, approximate position detection using GPS is sufficient to obtain unique information.

Particularly advantageously, the method according to the invention can be used almost exclusively in heavy-duty trucks that pass through populated areas. This makes it sufficient for a large number of freight vehicles to be equipped with the conventional on-board equipment (which can communicate with the external control station only by the MW-DSRC system). As a result, the total amount of infrastructure / equipment for the entire system is minimized, and the method of the present invention can be rapidly introduced even if all the vehicles are not equipped with the equipment of the present invention for automatic toll collection.

[0009]   Drawing   Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and will be explained in more detail below.

[0010] FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the present invention.

[0011] FIG. 2 is a charge module on the vehicle side.

Description of the Embodiments The vehicle is started in method step 10 and the toll module located on the vehicle is activated. Thereby, the position data of the vehicle, for example the position data of the satellite assisted GPS (Global Positioning System), is received by the toll module (method step 20). Further, the toll module can communicate with the beacon when passing through a beacon for toll collection located on the road side. This is done, for example, via a microwave assisted DSRC scheme. If driving is not continued (
Inquiry 30, decision 31), the method ends by shutting off the fare module on the vehicle side again (method step 70). However, if the vehicle continues to travel (decision 32), the toll road is not equipped with a beacon for toll collection based on the result of an inspection as to whether or not the vehicle passes the beacon or the result of comparison between the vehicle position and the stored position data. A check is made to see if it is on the net. If the comparison is negative and the beacon is not identified, the method step 20 is returned (decision 41). Otherwise (case 42
) Identifies the beacon (decision 50, case 51) and performs short-range electronic communication with the beacon, in particular via microwave (method step 80). After exchanging information with the beacon, return to method step 20. If the vehicle is traveling on a toll road network but is not equipped with a beacon (case 52), toll collection is carried out via long-range communication, eg GSM mobile radio (method step 60). Then, return to method step 20.

This method is a combination of two different toll collection means, and the advantage of the MW-DSRC method is particularly effective in a densely populated area, while a CD-ROM memory mounted in a vehicle is used in a suburban area. Be utilized. In this CD-ROM memory,
Data for road sub-networks, which are charged but are not equipped with beacons, are stored. In the latter case, toll collection is automatically activated by the vehicle equipment via mobile radio. This is done by the vehicle equipment communicating with the company's control center of the toll system.

Positioning in method step 20 may optionally be performed via another position-finding system as GPS. For example, alternatively or in combination with GPS, the section detection device can be arranged on the vehicle side. This zone detection device can record each direction and zone of the vehicle and detect the instantaneous position of the vehicle accordingly. Alternatively to the method step 40, the float shown in FIG. 1 performs a comparison of the instantaneous vehicle position data with a correspondingly equipped position memory, whether it is on a toll leg or not. Can be determined to be a section in which a beacon is arranged or a section of a road sub-network. If not, branch to 41, otherwise branch to 42. If a beacon checkout is expected (case 51), then a corresponding communication is sent via the mobile radio to the control unit or to the toll collector if a beacon is expected but not detected. Upon communication with the next beacon to be identified or identified, information about the previous error function can be transmitted. This information can be inquired by the toll collector via mobile radio via a beacon transceiver which carries out corresponding communication with the control unit, or is automatically obtained.

As an alternative to the inquiries 40 and 50 shown in FIG. 1, it is also possible to first check whether the beacon signal is receivable following step 32. In the affirmative, the payment is made in step 80, and then the process returns to step 20. If not, the vehicle position is compared with the filed road data of the road sub-network, if there is a charge, step 60 is executed, and then the process returns to step 20. If the comparison with the road sub-network is negative, the process immediately returns to 20. Alternatively, the opposite can be done. In this case, the position data is first compared with the road sub-network, and subsequently, if the comparison result is negative, it is checked whether a beacon signal is received.

FIG. 2 shows a toll module 200 located in a vehicle. Hereinafter, this charge module is referred to as "apparatus" for short. This device allows the method of FIG. 1 to be implemented. The device 200 comprises a microwave transponder 5, a GSM mobile radio module 4 and a GPS satellite navigation module 6. The microwave transponder 5 uses the beacon 1 in which the electronic communication 110a having a short reach is arranged on the road side.
Carry out with 10. The GSM mobile radio module 4 has electronic communication with long reach,
It is carried out with the mobile wireless terminal 100 of a system company for collecting charges through the mobile wireless 100a. The GPS satellite navigation module 6 receives the signal 120a from the GPS satellite 120. The units 4, 5, 6 are connected to the control unit 1 via connection lines 4a, 5a, 6a. The control unit can furthermore communicate with the payment means unit 3 via the connection line 3a. The payment means unit can be configured, for example, in the form of an electronic chip card module. Here, the chip card is a deposit card and can be settled by electronic money.
Further, the control unit 1 is connected to a CD-ROM or a general large capacity memory 2 via a connection line 2a.

When the device is plugged in at the start of the vehicle, the satellite navigation module 6 receives the position data and the microwave transponder 5 waits for the signal transmitted from the toll beacon located on the road side. This signal is received as the vehicle approaches the beacon. When the transponder 5 receives such a signal, the transponder forms a communication with the beacon via the MW-DSRC connection.
The control unit 1 carries out a corresponding charge settlement with the chip card provided in the payment means unit based on the information sent from the transponder 5. Data memory 2
Stores all roads that are toll roads but do not have beacons. When traveling on such roads, the control unit 1 compares the position data sent from the satellite navigation module 6 with the data stored in the data memory 2 so that the vehicle can reach such sections, especially suburban sections. Is present in the payment means unit 3 and the corresponding payment from the chip card is made accordingly. Information about the amount of charge required for this is inquired by the mobile radio system via the mobile radio module 4 from the tariff system company.

The device 200 has its own modules 4 and 6, or alternatively is simply connected to the mobile radio module and the GPS module via connection lines 4a and 6a. These modules are already in the vehicle as well. Alternatively, instead of paying from the chip card, the payout can be performed as follows. That is, a section in which the control unit 1 is used as a vehicle identifier by the mobile radio terminal 100 via the mobile radio module 4 (this section is the control unit 1
Is detected via the satellite navigation module 6) and, for example, the subsequent usage charges are settled from the vehicle owner's bank account. Alternatively, the data memory 2 may additionally store beacon-equipped toll roads, so that the system can better perform the method implemented in FIG. 1 above.

[Brief description of drawings]

[Figure 1]   FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the present invention.

[Fig. 2]   FIG. 2 is a charge module on the vehicle side.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Jochen Herture             Federal Republic of Germany Ottobrunn Reha             Leweg 5 F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB07 AC02 AC09 AC13                 5H180 AA01 BB04 BB12 BB13 CC12                       EE10 FF05 FF13 FF22

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A method for automatically collecting a charge for using a road or a traffic surface, wherein a device arranged on a vehicle detects position data of the vehicle (20). Performs a short-distance electronic communication (50, 80) for the beacon and payment of charges when a beacon placed on the road side passes, and the location data is charged but there is no beacon on the road. When the data matches the data of the partial network, the payment of the fee is made with the control center via electronic communication over which the device reaches a long distance. 2. The device compares (40) the position data with a position of a road network stored in a data memory, in particular a mass memory located in the vehicle, eg a CD-ROM, a DVD or a chip ROM, which is 2. The method according to claim 1, in which long reach communication is activated when using the road subnetwork. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the beacons are located in populated areas along toll roads. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the position data is obtained via a satellite assisted information system, eg GPS. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication having a short reach is performed by microwave. 6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the long-range communication is carried out by mobile radio, in particular GSM mobile radio. 7. A device for automatic toll collection, the device comprising a position detection system (6) for detecting a vehicle position and a module (5) for communicating with a beacon in a short reach. Another module for communication with long reach distance with the control center in equipment with
A control unit (1) for carrying out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6 with a position detection device (6), a module (5) and a further module (4). Connected to the device. 8. A data memory (2) is provided for the storage of data, said data being especially position data of a road sub-network for which there is a charge but without beacons, whereby a control unit ( 8. The device according to claim 7, wherein 1) is capable of comparing the vehicle position data with the road sub-network position data. 9. Device according to claim 8, characterized in that the data memory (2) is constituted by a CD-ROM, a DVD or a chip ROM, in particular a ROM provided on a chip card.