Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B15/00—Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points
  • G07B15/06—Arrangements for road pricing or congestion charging of vehicles or vehicle users, e.g. automatic toll systems
  • G07B15/063—Arrangements for road pricing or congestion charging of vehicles or vehicle users, e.g. automatic toll systems using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G07—CHECKING-DEVICES
  • G07B—TICKET-ISSUING APPARATUS; FARE-REGISTERING APPARATUS; FRANKING APPARATUS
  • G07B15/00—Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points

Definitions

• the invention presented here concerns a mountable and removable transmitting and receiving unit primarily intended for placing in a vehicle.
• the equipmen, furnished with a transponder, is preferably placed inside the windscreen of the vehicle and intended for radio communication with a transmitting and receiving unit outside the vehicle.
• a common arrangement for debiting road charges at toll-road stations is to equip the vehicle with transmitting and receiving equipment for radio communication with transmitting and receiving equipment in a roadside toll station.
• the communication unit in the vehicle is often in the form of a transponder, that is to say a device which is designed to receive a radio signal and retransmit it modulated, so as to transmit a reply to the received signals content.
• Toll systems of this type are described, for example, in US, A, 4 303 904 (Chasek) and US, A, 5 422 473 (Hassett et al).
• This type of system for remote debiting of traffic charges has its equivalent in other remote communication systems with similar equipment. Examples of such systems are that for supervision of certain areas where only authorized vehicles may pass in and out, or that for establishing the position of busses in public transport systems.
• the vehicle units are to be identified with a specific vehicle and can only be used for payment operations when the vehicle in question is passing. It is often desirable that the vehicle equipment consists of a single unit, which thereby must be positioned in the vehicle such that the radio communication is not disturbed by shielding from parts of the vehicle. In practice this means that the unit is visibly placed inside the windscreen of the vehicle. The unit is thus secured to the vehicle in such a way that special measures are required to have it removed.
• the vehicle unit could be removed from its position in the vehicle. Doing this would eliminate the risk of theft of the unit from the vehicle when it is left unguarded, since the unit could be removed, and at the same time the said servicing would be facilitated.
• the possibility of being able to temporarily remove the unit from the vehicle and to conveniently replace it must be arranged in such a way that identification between the unit and a specific vehicle is not violated. In other words, it must not be possible to use the unit by reinserting it in a vehicle other than that for which the unit is intended.
• the purpose of the invention is to produce a device which makes possible the easy removal and remounting of the vehicle unit but which, nevertheless, is securely identified to the mounting position the unit is intended to be placed when in use.
• the purpose of the invention is accomplished by dividing the vehicle equipment into two components, of which one is fixed in the position of use, while the other component is possible to remove from the fitted component when the equipment is not being used.
• the detachable component is the unit that performs the communication, and is the carrier of the devices which need servicing, such as the control unit and reading device.
• signals are transmitted between the two components on using a signal coding, which permits the intended operation only when the two complementary components are brought together.
• the fixed component is identified with the mounting position by nature of it being secured but lacks a device for independent execution of remote communication.
• the equipment which is designed for the execution of this communication, together with the fixed component, is, on the other hand, linked to the identity of the person responsible for payment, from which activation of the payment operation starts.
• the fixed component is secured to the vehicle, preferably on the inside of the its windscreen.
• This component does not comprise any device for independent remote communication, but rather can be regarded as an electronic " key " , which is coupled to the lock, which is carried by the detachable component.
• This in turn is, as already mentioned, identified with the person responsible for payment of the traffic charges, usually the owner of the vehicle in which the fixed component is mounted.
• FIG. 1 a perspective view of the vehicle equipment with both components installed for use in a vehicle on the inside of the windscreen; in Fig. 2 an analogous perspective view displaying the two components separated from each other; and in Fig. 3 a block diagram of the equipment.
• Fig. 1 shows vehicle equipment for remote communication by means of radio waves and mounted inside the windscreen of a vehicle.
• the equipment is intended to carry out, by remote communication, payment operations or identification operations or other operations according to that stated in the introduction.
• the vehicle equipment which in its entirety is denoted by 1, comprises a single unit when in use, but consists of two main components, a fixed holder 2 and a holder-detachable component 3, which comprises most,if not all, of the principally electronic parts which are required for the operation of the communication equipment. It includes even the servicing unit, here indicated to include control keys (4), a display unit (5) and a insert aperture (6) for a card reader for a smart card (see Fig. 2).
• the two components 2 and 3 can be separated from each other, whereby the holder (2), which is permanently secured, remains attached to the vehicle's windscreen, while the component (3) can be handled completely separately and can even be removed and stored in a place other than the vehicle.
• the fixed component (2) is equipped with a seat (10) for part 3 and in this said seat there is an electrical contact member 11 for communication with component 3, which is equipped with a corresponding electrical contact member.
• the shown contact member 11 is intended to have contact with component 3's contact member.
• the internal communication between the components can, however, be alternatively arranged contact free by means, for example, of light or electrostatic induction.
• Fig. 2 shows, in addition, that the holder 10 is equipped with a controllable simple locking device 12 for secure support of component 2.
• This sort of locking device can be designed in several ways, and as an alternative to locking by direct contact, such as snap locking with a spring-mounted device.
• the communication is carried out by means of microwaves, and therefore the vehicle equipment is supplied with a transponder.
• This same transponder is placed in the detachable component 3, with the transponder's antenna elements placed on the side of the component which is intended to be placed in the seat of the holder 2, thereby exposing the antenna element through an aperture 13 in the holder.
• the component 3 contains the principal electronic equipment which is needed for communication via the transponder.
• One part of the electronic equipment is a blocking circuit, which has to be activated before the component's device for communication can start working. This blocking circuit is designed to cooperate/interact with an activation circuit in the holder 2.
• the holder for its part, is secured by gluing, preferably on the vehicle's windscreen, .
• the holder is provided with a frame along its outer edges and surrounding the aperture 13.
• the glued edges are preferably designed so that the said electric circuit is broken and is unable to function, if someone attempts to break the glue joint.
• the circuit can be positioned in a section of the holder's glued edge which is more brittle than the intended glue joint and which thereby makes it impossible to break the glue joint and remove the holder without eliminating important functions of the said activation circuit.
• the safety circuit in the detachable component 3 is designed to connect with the activation circuit in the holder by means of a device for signal transmission between the two components, when they are coupled with one another.
• the contact member 11 in the holder 2 exemplifies such a device.
• Fig. 3 shows schematically both components of the vehicle equipment, the holder 2 from its side facing the interior of the vehicle with the seat 10, while the detachable component 3 is shown from the side which is to face towards the vehicle when positioned in the seat 10.
• the figure consists both of the said schematic view of the parts and a block diagram of its functional parts.
• the said devices for signal transmission between the components are indicated here. These are connected to the said activation circuit, denoted here by 16. This is positioned in the glued edge of component 2.
• the transponder's antenna element denoted here by 20.
• This is electrically linked to a microprocessor 21 , equipped with the memory, a ROM 22 and a RAM 23.
• the microprocessor 21 is, in addition, connected to the said blocking circuit, denoted by 24 here, which in its turn is connected to the signal transmission device, shown here as contact member 25 matched with contact member 11. Furthermore, there is a battery 26 for power supply.
• the holder 2 is a simple component for supporting the functional component 3.
• the holder contains only the electronic activation circuit 16 with its safety circuit, which may be a simple tie circuit.
• the blocking circuit may, in its entirety, be constructed and positioned for the said safety function, that is to say to break on attempts to break the glue joint. Because of its design, the holder is so simple that it is unlikely to be prone to theft.
• the holder's safety circuit could be constructed as a detachable part, as a rod for example, the removal of which means that the blocking circuit ceases to function. If the part must be removed from the mounting position with greater force than required to remove it from the rest of the holder, the holder will not be able to be removed without first separating the part from the main part of the holder.
• the holder could include, instead of the aperture 13, the transponder's antenna elements on the side facing the windscreen. Communication between the other functional parts in the detachable component and the antenna elements can then occur by the said signal communication.
• An essential feature of the invention is that the detachable component's functional parts are unable to work without a signal communication with the activation circuit in the holder.
• the blocking circuit in the detachable component is coded to the activation circuit in such a way that the main part of the detachable component can only function when positioned in the holder, to which it is coupled and which contains an appropriately coded activation circuit.
• the detachable component is the carrier, by means of a coding in the RAM memory, of the identity of the person responsible for payment. Since the detachable component is coupled to the holder the identity of the person responsible for payment is even coupled to the vehicle, and can be coupled only to that vehicle, in which the detachable component-linked holder is fixed.
• the vehicle equipment When in use, with the detachable component 3 inserted in its complementary holder in the vehicle, and when approaching a toll-road station having transmitting and receiving equipment for payment operations, the vehicle equipment will be activated by the microwaves, transmitted from the toll-road station, by being intercepted by the transponder. This leads to activation of the the microprocessor 21 , which via the said blocking function reads the coding in the holder's activation circuit 17. This is performed by the coding stored in the processor's memory. If this comparison produces a predetermined result, only then is the microprocessor made accessible to allow communication with the toll-road station.
• the processor is not made available for this communication by simply placing the detachable component in the holder, but rather on activation of the vehicle equipment from the toll-road station, and each occasion on which this occurs.
• the blocking function's code and the identity code for the identity of the person responsible for payment as well as the programme code for execution of the payment operation is stored internally in the processor's ROM or RAM, in a way that they cannot be changed without considerable tampering with the detachable component.
• the carrier of the safety function which one wishes to achieve, is the encrypted communication between the detachable component's active blocking function and the holder's passive activation function.
• active is meant here that the microprocessor transmits the code signal while the activation circuit merely reflects the same in a specific, modulated form, which is the carrier of the safety code. If someone attempts to manipulate the safety function it is conceivable that this would happen by, in some way, reading the communication between the microprocessor and the holder's activation circuit. However, this can be prevented by the microprocessor successively modifying the transmitted signal so that the codes are gradually changed.
• the holder's activation circuit is to be designed in such a way as to gradually modify the reflected code, at the same time as the microprocessor is designed to activate communication with the toll-road station only if every specific code in the modified pattern corresponds to a matched reflected code from the holder's activation circuit.
• the activation circuit in the holder will successively block the reply codes as they are used and reply with the following code in a repeating schedule, which can be repeated after a large number of sequences.
• a possible design is that the active, detachable component, before a removal from the holder, programmes this with a new code, which is valid at the next time of use.

Landscapes

• Business, Economics & Management (AREA)
• Finance (AREA)
• Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
• Devices For Checking Fares Or Tickets At Control Points (AREA)
• Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)

Priority Applications (5)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=20409882

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (9)

Cited By (5)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (4)

• 1998
  • 1998-01-19 SE SE9800103A patent/SE9800103L/sv not_active IP Right Cessation
• 1999
  • 1999-01-11 CN CN99802255A patent/CN1288551A/zh active Pending
  • 1999-01-11 BR BR9907021-9A patent/BR9907021A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-01-11 KR KR1020007007878A patent/KR20010034217A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-01-11 AU AU20841/99A patent/AU748774B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1999-01-11 EP EP99901262A patent/EP1050022A1/en not_active Withdrawn
  • 1999-01-11 WO PCT/SE1999/000018 patent/WO1999036886A1/sv not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1999-02-11 TW TW088102150A patent/TW504661B/zh active
• 2000
  • 2000-07-06 NO NO20003489A patent/NO20003489L/no not_active Application Discontinuation

Patent Citations (4)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events