JP4718071B2 - Automatic fee collection method and apparatus 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

[0001]
2. Description of the Related Art The present invention relates to a method for automatically collecting a fee for use at a road level or a traffic level or an automatic fee collecting device described in the superordinate concept of the independent claim. Such a method is already known from DE19615733 A1. In this method, GPS data is processed for detection of the fee to be paid. This method is limited to roads equipped with beacons.
[0002]
Advantages of the Invention The method of the present invention with the characteristic features of the independent claims or the device of the present invention for carrying out this method, on the other hand, has the advantage that an optimal overall system for toll collection is possible. Have. This whole system uses, for example, an electronic communication system having a short reach in a densely populated area, for example, MW-DSRC (Microwave Dedicated Short Range Communication), and is separated from a lower road network in a suburban section with a small population, for example, On the road, for example, a mobile radio connection is used. Here, the position detection of the vehicle is performed by GPS, for example. The MW-DSRC method requires troublesome infrastructure in the form of transmission / reception beacons on roads or bridges. The on-board equipment required for the vehicle is relatively inexpensive, and data transmission between the beacon and the on-board equipment only requires electrical energy to drive the beacon. In contrast, GPS mobile radio systems do not require additional infrastructure costs if they are used for toll collection. However, the manufacture and installation of the on-board equipment for this purpose is troublesome. There is a considerable telephone charge for data transmission.
[0003]
The method of the present invention can be flexibly adapted to the daily practice of toll collection, depending on which car type each fare should be charged or which part of the road network the vehicle is primarily driving. it can. This can minimize the overall system cost for automatic fee detection and fee collection. By means of the device according to the invention, the vehicle can comfortably and automatically pay tolls, even in sections with beacons, or on a road network consisting of roads that are tolled but without beacons.
[0004]
If the vehicle to which the fee is to be paid has only conventional on-board equipment (functioning exclusively according to the MW-DSRC system), it is also possible to purchase an individual pass. With this individual pass ticket, a user of a conventional on-board device or a vehicle user who does not have the on-board device can also travel on a section of the road partial network. Therefore, the method of the present invention can be realized in time before the vehicle is comprehensively equipped with the mounted devices of the present invention.
[0005]
By means of the dependent claims, advantageous developments and improvements of the method or apparatus described in the independent claims are possible.
[0006]
The toll road network is particularly advantageously divided as follows. In other words, beacons are mainly placed in densely populated areas. The identification of toll road sections in which no beacons are installed can advantageously be performed by position comparison on a data memory arranged in the vehicle. This automatically activates communication with a long reach required for charge collection in this case. Thereby, the advantage of a beacon system and the advantage of a toll collection system without a beacon are easily combined into one. It is advantageous here 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 position detection. Furthermore, this is particularly important in densely populated areas where the section distance is usually short and the vehicle density is high, since there is no communication cost between the vehicle and the infrastructure. In addition, a beacon system in a densely populated area allows a unique distinction between closely adjacent toll roads and toll roads. 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 lowered when, for example, the GPS signal is received directly after being reflected from the building, not directly. Additionally, intentional inaccuracies may be created by US Department of Defense satellite administrators.
[0007]
For out-of-population areas, such as suburban areas, it is advantageous to use long reach communications for toll collection. First, it can save the beacons needed for short reach communications, and secondly, in such areas, generally no electrical energy can be used to drive the beacons. . Laying the necessary electrical lines is cumbersome. Thirdly, in such a section, a rough position detection using GPS is sufficient to obtain unambiguous information.
[0008]
The method of the invention can be used particularly advantageously for heavy lorries traveling almost exclusively through densely populated areas. This makes it sufficient for a large number of trucks to be equipped with conventional on-board equipment (which can communicate with an external control station only by the MW-DSRC method). As a result, the total of infrastructure and on-board equipment for the entire system is minimized, and the method of the present invention can be quickly introduced even if the equipment of the present invention for automatic fee collection is not attached to all vehicles.
[0009]
Drawings Embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings and are described in detail below.
[0010]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the present invention.
[0011]
FIG. 2 shows a charge module on the vehicle side.
[0012]
Example Description Method The vehicle starts at step 10 and the charge module located on the vehicle is activated. As a result, the position data of the vehicle, for example, the position data of satellite assisted GPS (Global Positioning System) is received by the fee module (method step 20). Furthermore, the fee module can communicate with the beacon when passing the beacon for fee collection arranged on the road side. This is done, for example, via a microwave assisted DSRC scheme. If the run is not continued (inquiry 30, decision 31), the method ends by shutting off the vehicle-side rate module again (method step 70). However, if the driving is continued (decision 32), a toll road that does not have a beacon for collecting a toll by checking whether or not the vehicle passes the beacon or comparing the vehicle position with the stored position data A check is made to see if it is on the net. If the comparison result is negative and no beacon is identified, the method returns to method step 20 (decision 41). Otherwise (case 42), the beacon is identified (case decision 50, case 51) and electronic communication with a short reach with the beacon, in particular communication via microwaves, is performed (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 performed via a long reach communication, for example GSM mobile radio (method step 60). Then return to method step 20.
[0013]
This method is a combination of two different toll collection means. The advantage of the MW-DSRC method is particularly effective in densely populated areas, while the CD-ROM memory mounted on the vehicle is utilized in the suburb section. . This CD-ROM memory stores data of a road partial network which is charged but does not have a beacon. In the latter case, fee collection is automatically activated by the vehicle equipment via mobile radio. This is done by the vehicle equipment communicating with the control center of the toll system.
[0014]
The position detection in method step 20 can optionally be performed via another position detection system as GPS. For example, the section detection device can be arranged on the vehicle side alternatively or in combination with GPS. This section detection device records each direction and section of the vehicle and can detect the instantaneous position of the vehicle accordingly. As an alternative to the method step 40, the float shown in FIG. 1 performs a comparison between the instantaneous vehicle position data and the correspondingly equipped position memory to determine whether it exists on the toll road, Can be determined whether it is a section where a beacon is arranged or a section of a road subnetwork. If negative, branch to 41; otherwise, branch to 42. If beacon settlement is expected (case 51), then if a beacon is expected but not detected, a corresponding communication is sent to the control unit via the mobile radio or passed to the toll collector. During 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 transmission / reception device which performs a corresponding communication with the control unit, or obtained automatically.
[0015]
As an alternative to the inquiries 40 and 50 shown in FIG. 1, it is also possible to check whether a beacon signal can be received first following step 32. If the result is affirmative, payment is made at step 80, and then the process returns to step 20. If the result is negative, the vehicle position is compared with the road data filed in the road partial network. If the comparison with the road partial 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 partial network, and subsequently, it is checked whether or not a beacon signal is received when the comparison result is negative.
[0016]
FIG. 2 shows a fee module 200 located in the vehicle. This fee module is hereinafter referred to as “equipment” for short. With this device, the method of FIG. 1 can be implemented. The device 200 includes a microwave transponder 5, a GSM mobile radio module 4, and a GPS satellite navigation module 6. The microwave transponder 5 performs the electronic communication 110a with a short reach distance with the beacon 110 arranged on the road side. The GSM mobile radio module 4 performs electronic communication with a long reach distance with the mobile radio terminal 100 of the system company for toll collection via the mobile radio 100a. The GPS satellite navigation module 6 receives a signal 120 a from the GPS satellite 120. The units 4, 5, and 6 are connected to the control unit 1 via connection lines 4a, 5a, and 6a. The control unit can further 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 with electronic money. Further, the control unit 1 is connected to a CD-ROM or a general large-capacity memory 2 through a connection line 2a.
[0017]
When the device is turned on at the start of the vehicle, the satellite navigation module 6 receives the position data, and the microwave transponder 5 waits for a signal transmitted from a toll beacon arranged on the road side. This signal is received when the vehicle reaches the vicinity of this 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 performs a corresponding fee settlement with the chip card provided in the payment means unit based on the information sent from the transponder 5. The data memory 2 stores all roads that are toll roads but do not have beacons. When traveling on such a road, the control unit 1 compares the position data sent from the satellite navigation module 6 with the data filed in the data memory 2, so that the vehicle is in such a section, particularly a suburban section. The payment means unit 3 performs a corresponding settlement of the charges from the chip card. Information on the amount of charge necessary for this is inquired by the charge system company via mobile radio module 4 by mobile radio.
[0018]
The device 200 has its own modules 4 and 6, or alternatively is connected to the mobile radio module and the GPS module simply via connection lines 4a and 6a. These modules are already in the vehicle as well. Instead of paying from the chip card, the checkout can be performed as follows. That is, the control unit 1 notifies the mobile radio terminal 100 via the mobile radio module 4 of the section used for the vehicle identifier (this section is detected by the control unit 1 via the satellite navigation module 6). The usage fee generated from the vehicle is settled from the bank account of the vehicle owner. Alternatively, the data memory 2 can additionally store toll roads equipped with beacons so that the system can better implement the method implemented in FIG.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a flowchart of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a charge module on the vehicle side.

Claims (7)

A method for automatically collecting charges for using roads or traffic,
A device arranged in the vehicle detects vehicle position data (20),
The instrument performs during passage of the beacon arranged on the road side, reach short electronic communication beacon performed by microwaves (50, 80) for fee payment,
Position data, when it is paid to match the data of a road section network is not equipped with the beacon, the payment of a fee, conduct and control center via a long electronic communication of reach by a GSM mobile radio device,
A method characterized by that.   The device compares the position data with the position of the road subnetwork filed in a data memory, in particular a large capacity memory located in the vehicle, for example a CD-ROM, DVD or chip ROM (40), whereby the road subnetwork The method of claim 1, wherein long range communication is activated when using.   The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the beacons are arranged in a densely populated area along the toll road.   4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the position data is obtained via a satellite assisted information system, for example GPS. A device for automatic fee collection,
The device is a device of a type having a position detection system (6) for detecting a vehicle position and a module (5) for performing a short distance communication with a beacon.
It has another module (4) for communication with the control center with a long reach,
A control unit (1) is connected with the position detection device (6), the module (5) and another module (4) to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
Equipment characterized by that. A data memory (2) is provided for data storage;
This data is in particular the location data of the road sub-network that is charged but not equipped with beacons,
6. Device according to claim 5 , whereby the control unit (1) can compare the position data of the vehicle with the position data of the road partial network. 7. Device according to claim 6 , wherein the data memory (2) is constituted by a CD-ROM, a DVD or a chip ROM, in particular a ROM provided in a chip card.

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