NZ622264B2 - Telematics on-board unit for vehicles - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a telematics on-board unit (1) for vehicles (61) including data collection means for collecting vehicle usage data, data transmission means for transmitting collected vehicle usage data and/or analyzed vehicle usage data derived therefrom, to a telematics service platform (20), and driver identification means for identifying a driver using the vehicle and providing a driver identification. The driver identification means includes a plurality of peripheral elements of different types for entering, detecting and/or receiving different identification data for determining the driver identification on the basis of different identification features. The different peripherals are integrated in a common component to be installed in the vehicle's passenger compartment, thereby simplifying the installation of the device in the vehicle and reducing time and costs of first installation and reducing the number of possible mistakes done during the installation which usually would result in a recall to the installation plant with all costs associated. er identification means for identifying a driver using the vehicle and providing a driver identification. The driver identification means includes a plurality of peripheral elements of different types for entering, detecting and/or receiving different identification data for determining the driver identification on the basis of different identification features. The different peripherals are integrated in a common component to be installed in the vehicle's passenger compartment, thereby simplifying the installation of the device in the vehicle and reducing time and costs of first installation and reducing the number of possible mistakes done during the installation which usually would result in a recall to the installation plant with all costs associated.

Description

Telematics on-board unit for vehicles The present ion relates to telematics on-board units for vehicles including da- ta collection means for ting vehicle usage data, data transmission means for transmitting ted vehicle usage data and/or analyzed vehicle usage data de- rived therefrom, to a telematics service platform and driver identification means for identifying a driver using the vehicle and providing a driver identification. The inven- tion further relates to the telematics service rm having communication means for communicating with the driver identification means of the on-board unit mounted in the vehicle.

Telematics on-board units are used for collecting vehicle usage data such as vehi- cle speed, mileage, travel routes or accelerations of the vehicle to be able to char- acterize the vehicle’s use what in turn may be used by the telematics service plat- form to initiate or control n service functions such as service/maintenance rou- tines, emergency/accident calls, theft monitoring and car tracking, or risk assess- ment for determining insurance premiums. For some of those services, it is d to know who was the driver when ting the respective data so the collected and/or analyzed data can be associated with different drivers using the vehicle. For example, antitheft es need to differentiate if it is an authorized person or not who uses the vehicle. Furthermore, for emergency assistance, it is helpful to know who is the driver to be able to prepare medical services depending on individual ters such as age, blood group, personal handicaps etc. Furthermore, for risk ment of insurance companies it is also helpful to know who is the driver to be able to calculate the insurance m individually for the respective driver. On the other hand, extensive data transmission between the telematics on-board unit and the telematics e platform is in conflict with the requirement of privacy and data security. It is desirable to reduce the amount of data transmitted between the on-board unit and the telematics service platform as far as possible, not only because of privacy and data security, but also e of transmission costs and required bandwidth of the equipment.

Any comment ing prior art is not to be taken as an admission or acknowledgement that the prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in the art.

EP 0700009 B1 discloses a system for dual evaluation of motor vehicle risk including an on-board unit having data tion means for collecting vehicle usage data including acceleration of the vehicle in all three dimensions, speed of the vehicle and time periods in which the acceleration and speed values occurred. The collected data are transmitted to a data network when the vehicle is at a ne station.

However, such system transmits lots of data. On the other hand, the system is not able to individualize the collected data and to differentiate the collected data for ent drivers.

Furthermore, EP 12 41 599 A1 discloses a monitoring system for determining real time insurance costs, said system including an external information gathering device which may gather environmental information relating to a vehicle such as time, weather information or street conditions, and an internal information gathering device that may gather internal information relating to the vehicle such as the current mode of usage, the position, speed and acceleration of the vehicle. The system adjusts the nce fee in response to the detected external and internal information.

Furthermore, US 6,502,020 B2 discloses a driving record ring system using a monitoring device located in the motor vehicle, wherein the monitoring device is coupled to a navigation system determining the location of the vehicle, and to a wireless modem capable of connecting to a ss communication network. A central computer receives information from the ring device as it travels in a specific region covered by the wireless communication k, wherein the central computer uses ancillary databases containing roadway information for the region in which the vehicle is ing, route information and traffic pattern information. The collected and analyzed data are forwarded to an insurance company that es the risk and consequently the insurance fee on the basis of the amount of driving, the driving routes, the time of driving and the safety sensor information. However, such system does not provide for any driver fication and does not allow for individual telematics services specifically adapted to different drivers.

It is an ive of the present invention to provide an improved on-board unit for vehicles of the type mentioned at the beginning wherein disadvantages of the prior art are avoided and the prior art is further developed in an advantageous manner, or at least to provide the public with an alternative choice. In ular, the onboard unit should allow easy and quick installation in the vehicle’s driver compartment and provide for a more reliable driver identification even under difficult, noisy nmental conditions with less data c between the on-board unit and the telematics service rm.

According to the present invention, at least one of these objectives is achieved by an on-board unit as defined in claim 1 and a telematics service platform as defined in claim 14. Preferred embodiments of the invention are laid down in the dependent claims.

The on-board unit allows for different modes of driver fication and provides for different kinds of output or peripheral elements for detecting in different ways different identification features, wherein the different kinds of peripherals are integrated in a common box to combine easy and quick installation with more reliable driver identification. In accordance with the present invention, the driver identification means includes a plurality of peripheral elements of different types for entering, detecting and/or receiving different identification data for determining the driver fication on the basis of different identification features, said different peripher- als being integrated in a common component to be installed in the vehicle's pas- senger compartment. The integration of ent erals into a common unit greatly simplifies the installation of the device in the vehicle, thereby reducing time and costs of first installation and reducing the number of possible mistakes done during the installation which y would result in a recall to the installation plant with all costs associated. Use of different types of peripherals calling up different identification features allows for reliable driver identification even under difficult, e.g. noisy environmental conditions as usually one specific peripheral is less impaired by specific conditions than another peripheral element and vice versa. A first pe- ripheral may compensate for bances of a second peripheral and vice versa.

Basically, various kinds of peripherals such as fingerprint scanner or iris scanner may be used for detecting or receiving the identification data to determine driver identification. r, according to a preferred embodiment of the present inven- tion, the peripheral elements include a body feature recognizer such as a voice rec— ognition means and code receiver for receiving a code independent from body fea- tures, such as a wireless data receiver, preferably a radio frequency identification receiver, for receiving identification data from a data storage element, preferably an RFlD transponder carried by the vehicle’s driver. The voice recognition means is provided for recognizing a ’s voice and determining the driver identification therefrom, thereby allowing for driver identification without presenting any specific key, any ic data carrier and without remembering plural digit number codes or passwords. In the ative or in addition to such voice recognition means, other biometric data detection means may be ed for detecting biometric data of the driver and determining the ’s identification therefrom. Such other biometric data detector may e a fingerprint scanner or an iris scanner or any other bio- metric solution such as a biometric combination detector for determining the driver's identification from a combination of different biometric teristics such as a combination of fingerprint scan, iris scan and/or size, symmetry and ve position of face characteristics such as distance of the eyes, positioning of the nose relative to mouth and/or eyes or height on of the eyes relative to the total height of the face. On the other hand, the wireless data receiver, preferably in terms of an RFID receiver, allows for precise driver identification also under noisy, difficult conditions where voice recognition is difficult. Furthermore, the integration of the wireless data receiver, preferably in terms of the RFID receiver, within the human machine inter- face or voice box also used for voice or biometric data recognition icantly en- hances the communication between the keyless identification card and the ss data receiver, thereby achieving less errors of onization and the possibility to transfer more ation. The combination of means for identifying individual hu- man physical features such as voice and means for ing non-human identifica- tion data from a storage medium carried by the driver allows for a more secure, more reliable driver identification.

The driver identification means does not necessarily make use of such RFID trans- ponder identification or other wireless data receiver, but may only or primarily use said voice recognition which allows for a more convenient and also more reliable driver identification as the driver’s voice may not be forgotten or lost like an RFID transponder and may not be given to another driver. In particular, priority may be given to the voice recognition under usual circumstances allowing for voice recogni- tion so that the voice recognition forms the primary basis for driver identification.

The RFID fication or other data identification on the basis of input or ed data may be used as a secondary basis for driver identification either to increase security if put on top of the voice recognition or as an alternative or backup means that may be used for driver identification if voice recognition is not possible, eg. due to high background noise, or does not e or if the voice ition cannot identify the driver as it may be the case when an unknown driver uses the car.

In order to allow for a more reliable driver identification, it is particularly advanta- geous to have a biometric data detector in combination with a non-biometric identi- fication means such as the aforementioned code receiver, preferably combined in one common box allowing for easy and quick installation. Biometric data detection may not be circumvented easily as biometric data may not be passed to any other person. On the other hand, non-biometric data detection allows for driver identifica- tion even under difficult, noisy environmental conditions so that the combination of biometric data detection and non-biometric data detection allows for a secure, but still convenient determination of the driver’s identification.

In an advantageous embodiment, the integration of a plurality of peripherals for de- tecting/receiving different identification features in a single device may be utilized to adjust the function such as the used identification criteria of one eral in re- sponse to the identification data provided by the other peripheral. For example, the voice recognition means may use criteria that are controlled in response to the identification data provided by the RFlD transponder. More particularly, the required level of correspondence of the detected voice or audio signals with the reference voice or audio s may be lowered after having received identification data from the RFID chip. On the other hand, it also would be possible to select one of a plural— ity of audio reference files for the voice recognition after having received identifica- tion data from the RFID transponder. Such interdependent adaption of the identifi— cation function also could be implemented in the opposite direction. For example, after having ined a specific driver identification by means of voice recogni- tion, the identification means could adjust the data exchange between the RFID transponder and the RFID reader or receiver, for example such that correspon- dence of, e.g., nine out of ten digits is deemed to be sufficient for determining driver identification, thereby allowing for less data traffic and less synchronization between the RFID transponder and the RFID reader. ing to a preferred embodiment, the aforementioned voice recognition means may include a voice recorder for recording a voice pattern of a term spoken by the driver, and a voice comparator for comparing the recorded voice n with at least one previously stored voice pattern of that term, wherein the driver identifica- tion is determined in se to differences and correspondences of the recorded voice n and the at least one previously stored voice pattern.

Such previously stored voice n or audio reference file may be stored at differ- ent places and made available to the comparator in different ways. One option is to store such audio reference file in a e unit that is part of the on-board unit or directly connected thereto by means of, e.g., a data transmission line. On the other hand, according to another red ment of the present invention, the ref- erence voice pattern may be stored in the telematics service platform so the refer- ence voice n is provided to the identification means of the on-board unit each time driver identification is to be performed by the on-board unit. Such external e of the reference voice pattern further enhances security against manipula- tion since access to the on-board unit only will not suffice to get access to the refer- ence voice pattern. ective of storing the reference audio file or voice pattern in the tics ser- vice platform, it is an advantageous embodiment of the present invention to allow for entering the reference voice pattern via the telematics service platform. For ample, a user may input his reference voice pattern by speaking a ic term into a microphone connected to his/her personal home computer from which the refer- ence voice pattern may be transmitted to the telematics service platform. Thus, the user does not have to enter the reference voice pattern in the car, where possible an increased noise level may occur.

Such remote key code input may also be used for provision of the key code for the other peripherals. For example, the RFID transponder also may be provided with the nt identification data via the telematics service platform, where a user be- ing in contractual relationship with the service rm provider may get access, e.g., via a network such as Internet to download the respective key code to the RFID chip.

The aforementioned voice recognition means preferably includes sound analyzing means analyzing tone pitch, pitch variation, sound level variation, tone length, voice frequency range and/or tone oscillation or other voice characteristics.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the driver identification is used to reduce data traffic between the on-board unit and the telematics service platform. In particular, upon determination of a ic driver identification, the on- board unit may transmit only those collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data to the telematics service platform that are relevant to the determined driver identifica- tion. The controller of the on-board unit may include data ion means for se- lecting some of the collected and/or ed vehicle usage data in response to the determined driver identification and transmission control means that control data transmission to the telematics service platform such that only the selected sum of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data are transmitted together with the determined driver identification.

To allow for easy data selection for transmission to the telematics service rm, the controller may include data linking means for linking the collected and/or ana- lyzed e usage data to the driver identification and/or the recognized driver’s voice and/or the data received from the data storage element such as the RFID onder, and furthermore storage l means for controlling storage of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data together with the driver identification and/or ized driver’s voice and/or data received from the data e ele- ment in a storage means of the on-board unit. The respective driver identification is added as a sort of marker to the stored collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data. Preferably, the storage means of the on-board unit provides for storage of ent sets of collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data, each set being asso- ciated with a specific driver identification determined when collecting the respective usage data. Such storage structure allows for ed multi-user management providing less data traffic between the telematics service platform and the on-board unit.

In order to reduce telecommunication costs, the system may be provided with data compression means for the ssion of data to be transferred. in the alternative or in addition to such data compression, the system may include prioritizing means for prioritizing the data to be transferred, wherein such prioritizing means preferably decides on the basis of data characteristics what data are when transferred. For example, data indicating that an accident has happened and/or an emergency call may be given highest priority what may cause that such high priority data are transmitted immediately irrespective of telecommunication costs. In addition or in the alternative, other data such as mileage or average speed, relevant for calculat- ing the nce premium may be given a lower priority what may cause that such data are transmitted only during specific periods of time such as weekend time pro- viding for low telecommunication costs. gh it is desirable to be able to differentiate between vehicle usage data asso- ciated with a first driver and vehicle usage data associated with another , it is also desirable to have the option to transfer data without any driver identification, e.g., to allow for ous usage statistics or effecting routines such as e maintenance routines where driver fication is not necessary to provide for maximum privacy and data security. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the controller of the on-board unit includes a privacy mode selec- tion means for ing the driver identification means and/or ng transmission of at least some of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data without driver fication. Such privacy mode selection may be used in various situations, eg. to make an emergency call. On the other hand, such privacy mode also may be ed by the telematics service platform when polling data for purposes where driver identification is irrelevant.

Basically different vehicle usage data may be collected and/or analyzed, wherein the selection of collected data may be adapted to the specific purpose of the telematics services. According to a preferred embodiment of the ion, the data collection means includes, or is connected to, a speed meter, an accelerometer, a mileage meter and/or a travel route recorder, wherein the data transmission means includes a speed itter, an acceleration transmitter, a mileage transmitter and/or a travel route transmitter for transmitting speed data, acceleration data, mileage data and/or travel route data to the telematics service platform.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the on-board unit may include data analysis means to analyze the collected data before transmitting them to the tics service platform to reduce data traffic and data volume. For example, the data analysis means may compare the collected vehicle usage data with a predetermined range of normal vehicle usage data, wherein, e.g., only the information l use” is transmitted to the telematics service platform when there are no collected vehicle usage data outside the predetermined range, and, on the other hand, only the collected vehicle usage data being outside the predetermined range are itted to the telematics service platform. Other data reduction is of course possible, wherein, e.g., average values may be transmitted instead of all data samples, or, in the alternative, average values together with maximum and minimum values may be transmitted.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, hout the description and claims the terms “comprise”, ising” and the like are to be construed in an inclusive sense, as opposed to an exclusive or exhaustive sense. That is, in the sense of “including, but not limited to”.

In the following, the present invention is described in greater detail on the basis of a red embodiment of the invention together with anying drawings. In said drawings show: Fig. 1: a schematic, perspective view of an automobile, in the passenger compartment of which an on-board unit according to a preferred embodiment of the t invention is installed, Fig. 2: a schematic view of the ement of the on-board unit within the passenger tment of the vehicle of Fig. 1, Fig. 3: a block diagram of the on-board unit according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4: a more detailed block diagram showing the logic of the data processing system of the on-board unit and communication f with the remote server according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

As shown in Fig. 1, the on-board unit according to a preferred embodiment of the invention may be installed in the passenger’s compartment 60 of a vehicle 61 which may be an automobile, a motorbike or the like. The on-board unit 1 may be connected to the e’s data processing equipment including a board computer, a 2012/003858 navigation system and the like, e.g. by means of a data transmission cable 62 con- necting to the data bus 63 of the vehicle 61.

As shown by Fig. 2, the on-board unit 1 includes a separate mounting entity that forms a common component into which several peripherals are integrated. Prefera- bly, the said common component is formed by a voice box 2 that may be positioned on the dashboard 66 of the vehicle 61, on the central operator’s control panel, or it may be attached to the windscreen e.g. by means of a suction cup, or it may be positioned anywhere else within the driver’s operating area.

As shown by Fig. 3, the rd unit 1 includes data collection means 90 for col- lecting vehicle usage data such as vehicle speed, engine speed, vehicle ra- tion, e or travel route. The respective detection means may be part of the on- board unit 1 and/or the data collection means 2 may be connected to the respective ion means of the vehicle 61. In particular, the data collection means 90 of the on-board unit 1 may be connected to the vehicle’s speed meter or GPS module 40 or any similar satellite position system such as GLONASS or O, acceler- ometer 41, mileage meter or odometer 42 and other sensors 44. The said GPS module 40 preferably receives and decodes the GPS signal and outputs the current position preferably in terms of latitude and ude. On the basis of such on data and the change thereof different other parameters may be determined such as vehicle speed or travel route. However, such parameters like vehicle speed and traveled ce also may be determined by other means such as a speed meter or a mileage meter of the vehicle. The said odometer 42 reports the odometric dis- tance driven and may be a virtual sensing means calculating the driven distance from the GPS data, or a al sensor. Depending on the desired functions of the on-board unit, the data collection means 90 may by connected to other sensors 44 such as a battery sensor providing for battery voltage and/or the vehicle battery connection status, or an ignition sensor providing for the ignition status of the en- gine, wherein in general such other sensors may be used to retrieve information on the status of the vehicle and parameters reflecting such status that are not reported via the vehicle bus. ing to Fig. 1, such detection units or sensors may be in- tegrated in a detection unit 45 forming part of the usual control equipment of the vehicle 61. As mentioned, in the alternative, such detection equipment may be in- corporated into the on-board unit 1 itself. Preferably, the data collection means 90 also may include a vehicle bus adapter 43, cf. Fig. 4, said vehicle bus adapter 43 providing ability to exchange data with the vehicle bus 63. By means of said vehicle bus adapter 43 further information on the vehicle status may be retrieved.

Furthermore, the on-board unit 1 includes data transmission means 3 to communi- cate with the telematics e platform 20 that may be formed by a l com- puting unit or a server that is accessible via a network such as the Internet. In the shown example of Fig. 1, ication between the on-board unit 1 and the telematics service platform 20 is effected by means of a wireless and/or mobile communication network such as GSM, UTMS or the like. In particular, the data transmission means 3 of the on-board unit 1 may be used to transmit the collected e usage data or analyzed vehicle usage data determined therefrom and/or alarm data to the telematics service platform 20 via the mobile mmunication network 21.

More particularly, the said data ission means 3 of the on-board unit 1 pref- erably includes a communication bus 100 that allows the various elements of the on-board unit to icate with a GSM module 101 and, through said GSM module 101, with a remote server 20. For example, the said communication bus 100 may allow a trip calculation module 81 and/or a theft detection module 91 and/or other modules to communicate with said GSM module 101 and through such GSM module with the remote server 20. As can be seen from Fig. 4, such trip cal- culation module may be ted to the data ion unit and/or the various sensors thereof via a trip data bus 80 which is used to report relevant information to said trip calculation module 81. In addition or in the alternative, said theft detection module 91 may communicate with said ion unit 45 and/or the relevant sen- sors thereof and/or with an authorization module 33 via an alarm data bus 90 to which the said sensors and detection units and also the authorization module are connected.

Use of different data and/or communication buses provides for a more structured In addition to the aforementioned vehicle usage data, the on-board unit 1 deter- mines driver identification. For this purpose, the rd unit 1 further includes driver identification means 4 which includes, on the one hand, voice recognition means 5 and, on the other hand, a wireless code receiver 30 in terms of a - able bidirectional RFID sender/receiver that communicates with a data storage t 31 in terms of an RFID transponder.

The aforementioned voice recognition means 5 include a microphone 50 that is provided at the aforementioned voice box 2 to allow the vehicle’s driver to enter a certain identification term such as a code word into the voice recognition means 5.

A voice recorder 6 records the term or tone entered into microphone 50, wherein advantageously the on-board unit 1 provides for an enter command inviting the driver to speak the respective term. Depending on the security criteria, the rd unit 1 may display the term to be spoken by the driver or in the alternative the driver just may be invited to enter the term without indicating the term.

More particularly, as shown by Fig. 4, the voice recognition means 5 may include an audio sampling activation sensor 51 that s driver presence and controls the start and stop of the audio sampling process. Such sensor 51 may include dif- ferent sensing means such as ing means for detecting fastening of a seat belt and/or detecting means for detecting pressure on the driver’s seat and/or other de- tecting means such as tactile sensing means on the steering wheel or infrared light sensors for detecting the driver’s presence.

The audio s input via microphone 50 may be given to an AD converter 52 that converts the analog signals to digital s. Preferably, the input audio , preferably after digital conversion, may be given to filtering means such as an echo and/or noise suppressor 53 that filters the sampled wave form to reduce ambient and/or electrical noise so as to improve the quality of the audio signal as shown by Fig. 4.

As shown by Fig. 3, the voice pattern or audio signal recorded by voice recorder 6 is then compared by a voice comparator 7 to a reference voice pattern or nce audio file which may be stored in a storage means of the on-board unit 1 or pro- vided by the tics service platform 20 each time driver identification is to be carried out. Such reference voice pattern or reference audio file was entered by authorized driver in an initial setup routine, wherein preferably such l setup rou- tine may be carried out with a personal home computer entering the nce pat- tern or the reference key code into the home er that transmits the entered data to the telematics service rm 20 which in turn forwards the reference pat- tern or reference file to the on-board unit 1. heless, the comparison n the ed voice pattern and the previ- ously stored voice pattern is preferably effected by the rd unit 1 to keep the data traffic to the telematics service platform limited. Such comparison may analyzed various voice pattern features including, but not limited to tone pitch, pitch variation, sound level variation, tone length, voice frequency range, tone oscillation or other voice pattern characteristics.

More particularly, as shown by Fig. 4, the audio signal input via microphone 50 and optionally converted into a digital signal by converter 52 and/or filtered by echo/noise suppression means 53, is transmitted to a voice sample matching en- gine 54 that compares the driver’s sampled voice with the stored reference sample 55. As already mentioned, the said reference voice sample 55 may have been transmitted to the on-board unit 1 from the remote server 20. As shown by Fig. 4, the GSM module 101 and the communication bus 100 connected thereto may be used for transmission of the reference voice sample from the remote server 20 to the on-board unit 1. The reference voice sample may be transmitted er comparison to the audio signal input via microphone 50 is required. In addition or in the alternative, the reference voice sample 55 may be transmitted once and then stored in suitable storing means at the on-board unit 1.

Depending on the ison of the driver’s sampled voice with the stored refer- ence sample 55, the said voice sample matching engine 54 reports a positive or negative outcome to the authorization module 33 which reads the input from the voice matching engine 54.

Depending on the result of the comparison, a tive driver identification is de- termined such as “driver 1”, “driver 2" or “driver 3”. If no matching voice n is found, the voice recognition means 5 may determine “unknown driver" as driver identification.

In addition to microphone 50, the system may include also a speaker which, to- gether with microphone 50, allows bidirectional communication with a service cen- ter.

In addition to such voice recognition as described before, the on-board unit 1 may fy the driver from an RFID onder carried by the respective driver. The aforementioned wireless data receiver is preferably also orated into the voice box 2 where the voice recognition means are provided. Such positioning of the RFID receiver minimizes communication problems that usually occur when the RFID receiver is positioned within the engine tment or under the dashboard.

Thus, also problems of synchronization are minimized.

In such RFID transponder 31, fication data identifying the respective driver may be stored so the respective identification data are transferred to the on-board unit 1 when a driver enters into the passenger’s compartment 60 and the on-board unit 1 is initiated.

More particularly, as shown by Fig. 4, the wireless data receiver of the on-board unit may include an RFID radio module 32 which receives and decodes RF trans- 2012/003858 mission s from the RFID tag 31 and then provides the decoded signals to the aforementioned authorization module 33 which also reads the input from said RFID radio module 32.

Said authorization module 33 which may be a piece of re run by the control- ler 10, may employ different authorization algorithms to control s functions such as allowing a privacy mode, reporting an alarm and others.

Upon driver identification, the on-board unit 1 collects the respective vehicle usage data as mentioned before and stores such vehicle usage data~ in association with the respective driver identification in the storage means of the on-board unit 1.

Preferably, the on-board unit includes data analyzation means for analyzing the collected vehicle usage data. For example, average values may be determined or it may be monitored if and to what extent a predetermined range of normal operation ions is disregarded, wherein maximum and/or minimum values outside such range of normal operating conditions may be recorded and stored.

Controller 10 of the on-board unit '1 controls the transmission of the collected and analyzed vehicle usage data to the tics service platform 20 in response to the driver identification, wherein préferably only those vehicle usage data relevant to the respective driver identification are transmitted together with the respective driver identification, s other vehicle usage data are not.

The aforementioned voice box 2 may further include other communication equip- ment such as an emergency push button or a privacy mode selection means includ- ing a privacy push button for disabling the driver identification means 4 and/or al- lowing transmission of at least some of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data without driver identification. Such privacy mode selection means is shown at numeral 70 in Fig. 4.

More ularly, as shown by Fig. 4, the authorization module 33 may i- cate with and/or control a privacy module 71, n in particular the identified driver may be communicated to said privacy module 71. As shown by Fig. 4, pri- vacy button 70 is connected to said privacy module 71 so as to allow the driver to communicate his/her t to enter in privacy mode. Said privacy module 71 then controls the trip calculation module 81, more particularly the data that are fonNarded by said trip calculation module 81 to communication bus 100 so as to control what data are indeed transmitted to remote server 20.

As shown by Fig. 4, authorization module 33 also communicates with theft detec- tion module 91 via alarm data bus 90. Said theft detection module 91 analyzes data from the various vehicle status s 40, 41, 42, 43 and 44 and from authoriza- tion module 33 to detect vehicle theft attempts. Depending on said is, theft detection module 91 may then communicate an alarm signal to the remote server via communication bus 100 and GSM module 101.

Claims (16)

Patent claims

1. On-board unit for vehicles, including data collection means for collecting vehicle usage data, data ission means for transmitting collected vehicle usage data and/or ed e usage data derived therefrom, to a telematics service platform, driver identification means for identifying a driver using the vehicle and providing a driver identification, and a controller for controlling the transmission of the collected and/or analyzed e usage data to the telematics service rm in response to the provided driver identification, wherein said driver identification means includes a plurality of peripheral elements of different types for entering, detecting and/or receiving different identification data for determining the driver identification on the basis of different identification data, said different peripherals being integrated in a common component to be installed in the vehicle’s ger compartment, wherein said driver identification means include voice recognition means for recognising a driver’s voice and determining the driver fication rom, and a wireless data receiver for wireless data reception of identification data stored on a data storage element carried by the vehicle’s driver and determining the driver identification from such wireless received identification data, wherein the controller includes an adjustment means for adjusting the function and identification cri- teria including a required level of correspondence of the voice recognition means in response to the result of the driver fication determined by the wireless data receiver, and for adjusting the function and identification criteria of the wireless data receiver in se to the driver identification determined by the voice recognition means.

2. On-board unit ing to the preceding claim, wherein said different peripheral elements include a microphone for inputting audio data for the voice recognition and said wireless data receiver for receiving said stored identification data, wherein said common component is a voice box including both said microphone and said wireless data receiver.

3. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said ss data receiver includes an RFID receiver for receiving data from an RFID transponder carried by the e’s driver.

4. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller includes priority means for giving priority to the voice recognition means such that the driver identification means uses the voice recognition first, whereas the wireless received identification data are used on a secondary basis when voice recognition is inoperative and/or a driver identification is underivable from the ’s voice.

5. On-board unit according to any one of claims 2-4, wherein the voice recognition means includes a voice er for recording a voice pattern of a term spoken by the driver and a voice comparator for ing the recorded voice n with at least one previously stored voice pattern of that term and determining the driver identification in response to differences of the recorded voice pattern and the at least one previously stored voice pattern, n the voice recognition means includes sound analyzing means analyzing tone pitch, pitch variation, sound level variation, tone length, voice frequency range and/or tone oscillation.

6. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the voice recognition means include voice pattern receiving means for receiving the usly stored voice pattern from the telematics e platform for comparison with the recorded voice pattern.

7. On-board unit according to claim 2 or any one of the claims depending thereon , n the controller is adapted to l the transmission of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data to the telematics service platform in response to the recognized driver’s voice as well as in se to the data received from the data storage element.

8. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said common component is a separate mounting entity that includes connection ports to be releasably connected to the vehicle’s bord computer.

9. rd unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said driver identification means includes key code receiving means for receiving a key code from the telematics service platform, said key code ing an audio reference file, a pin code, biometric nce data or similar reference data for determining the driver identification from the identification data input into the driver identification means via a peripheral element in the vehicle’s driver cabinet.

10. rd unit ing to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller includes data selection means for selecting some of the collected and/or ed vehicle usage data in response to the determined driver identification and transmission control means for controlling the transmission to the telematics service platform such that only the selected some of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data are transmitted together with the determined driver identification, n said controller includes data linking means for linking the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data to the driver identification and/or the recognized driver’s voice and/or the data received from the data storage element, and storage control means for controlling storage of the collected and/or analyzed vehicle usage data together with the driver fication and/or recognized driver’s voice and/or data received from the data e element in a storage means of the on-board unit.

11. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said controller es a privacy mode selection means for ing the driver identification means and/or allowing transmission of at least some of the collected and/or analysed vehicle usage data without driver identification.

12. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the data collection means includes, or is connected to, a GPS receiver, an accelerometer and/or odometer, wherein the data transmission means includes a speed transmitter, an acceleration transmitter, a mileage transmitter and/or a travel route itter for transmission of the speed, ration, mileage and/or travel route to the telematics service platform.

13. On-board unit according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the controller includes compression means for the ssion of the data to be transferred to the telematics service platform and/or prioritizing means for prioritizing data to be transferred and determining when and/or what data are transferred.

14. Telematics service platform configured to communicate with the on-board unit of claim 9 or any one of the claims depending thereon, comprising key code ission means configured to transmit the key code to the on-board unit.

15. On-board unit for es substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.

16. Telematics service platform configured to communicate with the on-board unit substantially as herein described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings. WO 41199 WO 41199 WO 41199