WO2004019646A1

WO2004019646A1 - System for preventing telephone call

Info

Publication number: WO2004019646A1
Application number: PCT/GB2003/003694
Authority: WO
Inventors: Andrew John Kinghorn; Jonathan Richard Fulcher
Original assignee: Andrew John Kinghorn; Jonathan Richard Fulcher
Priority date: 2002-08-21
Filing date: 2003-08-21
Publication date: 2004-03-04
Also published as: GB0219480D0; AU2003260738A1

Abstract

Mobile phone inhibition means (13, 14) are incorporated in a vehicle (10) for to disabling the use of a mobile phone in the vehicle. The inhibition means is preferably coupled at (15) to the electrical system of the vehicle, so that it cannot easily be removed or disabled, and/or is operative only when the ignition. system is switched on and/or the engine is running. In its simplest form, the inhibition means comprises a noise generator or jammer (14) which prevents the use of a mobile phone in the car.The inhibition means may also include sensors for various vehicle conditions, such as motion, engine running, use of a hands-free mobile phone kit (16), etc.

Description

SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING TELEPHONE CALL

The present invention relates to vehicle safety systems and to road safety generally.

In recent decades, the popularity of mobile telephones has increased enormously, to the point where the market is approaching saturation, with a very large fraction of the population now carrying them. They are normally kept switched on, and are used on a very casual basis.

In particular, many drivers carry mobile phones. It is becoming widely recognized that the use of mobile phones by drivers is dangerous, with a substan- tially increased risk of accidents. Nevertheless, many drivers use their mobile phones when driving to make calls in situations which are clearly not emergencies. Many more, while not initiating calls when driving, leave their phones switched on and may often receive calls when driving.

The fact that a driver has to use at least one hand when using an ordinary mobile phone is clearly a hazard factor for drivers. In an effort to combat this, car phone or hands-free kits have been developed, in which the microphone and speaker are mounted in the car in such a manner that the driver does not need to hold them. Such systems make the use of mobile phones in cars safer, although the fact that the driver is carrying on a conversation with someone not present in the car still raises the risk of accidents.

The general object of the present invention is to further reduce the hazards of using mobile phones in vehicles. According to the invention there is provided mobile phone inhibition means incorporated in a vehicle for disabling the use of a mobile phone in the vehicle. The inhibition means is preferably coupled to the electrical system of the vehicle, so that it cannot easily be removed or disabled, and/or is operative only when the ignition system is switched on and/or the engine is running. In its simplest form, the inhibition means comprises a noise generator or jammer which prevents the use of a mobile phone in the car; in a more advanced form, it may include communication means for communicating with mobile phones in the vehicle, eg by Bluetooth technology, for preventing such mobile phones from being used.

In countries where hands-free car phones are permissible, the inhibition means may be coupled to the hands-free set in such a way that use thereof is not inhibited. In countries where the use of any form of mobile phone in a car is prohibited, such coupling may be omitted. The control unit may be constructed with a factory settable control for permitting or not permitting such coupling.

Three main forms and applications of the present concept are envisaged:

1 The first form of the unit is intended for use with public transport vehicles such as trains and buses. The unit will be wired to a movement sensor and/or speedometer which will detect motion of the vehicle. While the driver is in motion, the unit will emit the blocking signal, preventing the driver using their mobile cellular phone while they are driving.

This signal will only be strong enough to block an area of approximately 2 m² in the vicinity of the driver, so train passengers will not be affected and only bus passengers sitting directly next to the driver cannot use their mobile phones. (If the driver is in a partially or completely enclosed compartment, the walls of the compartment may limit the area covered by the signal. The compartment walls may be upgraded for such screening if necessary.) This would be seen as a distraction to the driver anyway, and passengers knowingly wanting to use their mobiles should sit further down the bus. When the vehicle is at standstill, say either a station or bus stop, the unit will automatically switch off. The driver can then and only then use their mobile cellular phone. In an emergency or accident the unit will default to off either from detecting there is no motion or by the elec- tries or ignition being turned off by the driver.

2 The second form of the unit is designed for lorries, vans, and cars. The unit can be installed either during or after manufacture of the vehicle. It will prevent all those within the vehicle from making or receiving mobile phone calls, unless they have also installed one of the especially dedicated, voice activated, hands-free mobile car kits, which will link to the unit and control the switching mechanism. The unit is wired into the ignition system to prevent tampering or easy removal of it. Once the vehicle ignition is turned on, if the user either disconnects their phone or forgets to activate the Bluetooth function preventing the car kit from making a connection to the mobile, then the unit will be activated and the mobile rendered useless. While there is a valid connection between car kit and the mobile, the unit will be de-activated.

If the mobile is accidentally removed from the cradle of the car kit while on a call, it is rendered useless immediately, but the car kit still holds the open line for a suitable period (typically in the region of 7-10 seconds), allowing the user to correct their mistake and return the mobile phone back into the car kit cradle and continue with their conversation.

Desirably, car kit manufacturers will change the software within the car kit to disable certain of the mobile phone keys, so preventing manual use like dialling prior to a call. The car kit software would also prevent the use of "texting" while driving. The only way to send a text message is for the driver to pull over to the roadside and switch off the car ignition; a text message can then be sent while the unit is not operating. In an emergency or accident, the unit will be deactivated as soon as either the car ignition is turned off or power is lost to the circuit. There is no backup battery involved with this unit.

3 In certain countries around the world, the use of even hands-free mobile phones when driving is prohibited. This usually includes stationary traffic or sitting at the traffic lights. For these countries, the unit will block all signals without discretion while the vehicle ignition is on. This will prevent either hand-held use or use with an installed car phone kit. Again, in an emergency or accident the unit will be deactivated as soon as either the car ignition is turned off or power is lost to the circuit. There is no backup battery involved with this unit. In an emergency or accident, the unit will be deactivated as soon as either the car ignition is turned off or power is lost to the circuit.

Further features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof, given by way of example and with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a general diagrammatic view of a car having mobile phone inhibition unit;

Fig. 2 is a top diagrammatic view of a car with the unit; Fig. 3 is a more detailed view of a preferred form of the mobile phone inhibition unit; and Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a preferred form of jammer unit.

Referring to Fig. 1, a car 10 has an engine compartment 11 and a passenger compartment 12. A control unit 13, incorporated in the wiring loom 15, is included in the engine compartment, and is coupled to a jammer unit 14 in or adjacent to the passenger compartment. When the engine is turned on, the control unit 13 is energized; this in turn energizes the jammer unit 14. The power of the jammer unit is chosen to be just sufficient to prevent the operation of a mobile phone in the passenger compartment. Since the passenger compartment is largely surrounded by the metal of the vehicle floor, roof, and pillars supporting the roof, only a rela- tively small fraction of the jammer field will emerge through the windows into the space surrounding the vehicle. This, together with fact that the field decreases with distance (in fact, according to the inverse square law), means that the system is unlikely to interfere with mobile phones outside the car.

The jammer unit 14 includes a directional antenna tuned to the control frequencies of cellular mobile phone network and installed within the instrumentation panel of the vehicle or within the interior of the vehicle in an orientation such as to provide a signal just strong enough to cover the area surrounding the driver of the vehicle. The jammer unit 14 is preferably located in a front corner of the passenger compartment and its antenna preferably radiates over an approximately 90° angle 17 between the side wall of the car and the dashboard, as shown in Fig. 2. This may be achieved by providing a tube of microwave shielding material around the antenna with its circular end defining a radiative cone of the required angle. The antenna may have more than one element to cover different frequency bands.

The control unit 13 in this embodiment is original equipment built into the vehicle. It is preferably arranged so that attempts at removing or disabling it, or at disconnecting or removing the jammer, are likely to result in the vehicle being immobilized. If the vehicle has an electronic engine control system, the control unit may be incorporated in that system. Obviously the control unit will be inoperative if the ignition is switched off. It may also be designed to be inoperative if the engine is not running.

The mobile phone inhibition means can of course be fitted to an existing vehicle as a retro-fit. In this case, the mobile phone inhibition means is preferably designed to make it difficult for it to be removed or disabled.

The jammer may generate a broad band jamming signal, but is preferably tuned to jam only those bands which are essential for establishing a communication channel for a mobile phone. US 6 456 822 Bl, Gorman and Yarden- Zaslavsky Netline Communications Technologies (NCT), which proposes a system for inhibiting mobiles in a fixed geographical area or building, describes various ways in which such jamming may be implemented, and WO 98/56192, Israeli, Te-Eni, Gofrnan, and Yarden-Zaslavsky/Netline Communications Technologies (NCT) describes a similar system.

If the vehicle is fitted with a hands-free mobile phone unit 16, this may be coupled to the control unit 13 to inhibit operation of the jammer if the hands-free unit 16 is used. This will allow the driver to use the hands-free system but pre- vent them from using an ordinary mobile phone.

The device 14, instead of being a simple jammer, may be an enhanced device including communication means which monitors for mobile phone signals. On detection of a mobile phone signal, the device 14 may communicate with the mobile phone and inhibit it from being used; Bluetooth technology can conveniently be used for this. The device 14 may operate only if it detects that a call is being attempted; alternatively, it may monitor continuously for the presence of mobile phones and pass inhibiting instructions immediately on detection. Such inhibition is preferably time-limited, so that the mobile phone automatically becomes fully operative when or within a short time of being removed from the vehicle.

Such an enhanced device 14 may permit the mobile phone to receive certain types of message, eg text messages or alarm messages, while permitting the mobile phone to give, at most, an indication that a call has been received, so that the driver will then have to stop to receive the message. (It can also allow the periodic control signal communications which mobile phone systems use to track the location of mobile phones.)

The effectiveness of such an enhanced device 14 depends, of course, on all likely mobile phones being able to receive and respond to control signals from the device 14. The device 14 may be arranged to emit a jamming signal if it detects a mobile phone signal but finds that it cannot communicate adequately with the mobile phone.

An enhanced device 14 may also be arranged to monitor the strength of any mobile phone signals which it receives. A sudden high level signal will indicate the initiation of a call involving a mobile phone in the vehicle, which will require inhibition. In contrast, a low level signal which gradually increases in strength will indicate a call involving a mobile phone which is outside the vehicle and being carried towards the vehicle, and should therefore not be inhibited.

Obviously the functions of the present system can be divided in various ways between the control unit 13 and the jammer or enhanced unit 14, and those two units may be combined as a single module.

Fig. 3 shows a preferred form of the unit in more detail. A vehicle 21 has an interior or cabin 22 with a dashboard or instrumentation panel 23, and an engine and electronics compartment 24.

A module 25 comprises a combined jammer 27 and power regulator 26 built into one unit, thus preventing individual removal and use of the subcomponents. The jammer unit 27 is broadly as described above. The power regulator 26 is capable of regulating 12 V or 24 V from a power source 33 down to the required operational voltage of the system, and distributes power to all the indivi- dual components of the system. The jammer unit 27 is connected to a directional antenna 40 by a connection 41, preferably shielded, which carries the jamming signals. The antenna 40 is placed in the dashboard or instrumentation panel, or directly in front of the driver. A loop-back path from the antenna carries a loop- back signal so that if the antenna connection is severed from the jammer, an immobiliser 29 (described below) is enabled. An RF amplifier (not shown) may be located adjacent to the antenna if appropriate. The module 25 is intended to be fitted either during manufacture of a vehicle or retrofitted by a trained fitter at a date subsequent to the purchase of the vehicle. The operation of the device is such as to achieve jamming of the control frequencies of a cellular mobile phone within the vicinity of the driver of the vehicle sufficient to render the mobile device useless during such conditions defined by the setup of the module. This jamming is achieved via the integration of a jamming unit as described above. The jamming signal is then distributed by a directional antenna to provide a signal that is just strong enough to prevent the driver of the vehicle from using a cellular mobile device. The signal strength is such that its effect outside of the vehicle will not impinge significantly on others.

The module 25 also preferably includes an immobiliser controller unit 28 which is coupled to an immobiliser 29, thus rendering the car immobilised if the jammer module 25 is removed from the car. This is an optional feature which will normally be fitted during vehicle manufacture. The vehicle immobiliser 29 is provided by the vehicle manufacturer or retro-fitted at a later date. An interface may be provided, for use when there is no immobiliser, which can be connected into the car ignition loom so that the car will be immobilized if the module 25 is removed.

An intelligent controller 30 provides communication to the jammer 27. This controller can accept anti-jamming request signals from any number of switching mechanisms. By not providing any anti-jamming signal, the controller will effectively turn the jammer on, which is the default state of the jammer. Thus disconnection of any of the switching mechanisms, or severing the link between the controller and the jammer, will switch the jammer on.

The power regulator 26 has two inputs, the power source 33 and a digital communication link to a current sensor 32 which instructs the power regulator when to provide power to the jammer. The current sensor thus provides a signal to the power regulator when current is drawn by the vehicle. In order to render it difficult to remove the jamming unit and misuse it for other purposes, the current sensor 32 senses the current drawn by the vehicle from a convenient position in the power supply circuit of the vehicle. If a current over a calibrated threshold is sensed, then a signal is sent to the regulator 26, instructing it to power up the device and thus rendering it capable of sending jamming signals. The sensor 32 may also send a signal to the controller 30.

There are also various optional developments which can be selected depen- ding on the type of vehicle and usage of the device determined by future laws and other requirements.

The module can be installed in a number of different configurations each of which has the purpose of causing the jamming device to be switched on under a predetermined condition within the vehicle. There are 5 main situations.

1 With no switching devices connected to the controller 30, the controller will continually send a signal to the jamming unit which will switch the unit on and thus render mobiles useless in the vicinity of the driver.

2 A vibration sensor 31 provides an anti-jamming signal to the controller whenever it does not sense any vibrations. This vibration sensor is connected within the engine compartment to sense when the engine is running or when the vehicle is in motion. If the sensor senses that the vehicle is not in motion, then it will send a signal to the controller which will instruct the controller to switch the jamming unit off.

3 A speedometer 34 provides a signal to a speed sensor 35 when the vehicle is in motion. The speed sensor provides an anti-jamming signal when the car is substantially motionless. 4 A current sensor 36 is connected to the power source of the hands-free kit 38 of the cellular mobile phone 44. If the mobile phone is connected to the hands-free kit and is drawing current, the sensor 36 will sense the current and thus know that the mobile is connected to the hands-free kit. The current sensor will then send a signal to the controller 30 to instruct the controller to switch the jamming unit off.

5 A hands-free intelligent communication unit 37 receives signals from the hands-free kit 38 and provides an anti-jamming signal when the cellular mobile unit is connected to the hands-free kit via either direct contact or Bluetooth. When the mobile phone 44 is connected to the hands-free kit 38, the hands-free kit will communicate with the communication device 37 which will send a signal to the controller 30 which in turn will instruct the controller to switch the jamming unit off. The hands-free kit and the cellular mobile phone are connected together by a direct connection 42 or a Bluetooth connection 43.

Severing of any of the cables from the vibration sensor 31, the speed sensor 35, the current sensors 32 and 36, or the hands-free communication unit 37 will break the communication with the controller 30 and thus the controller will switch the jamming unit on.

The controller 30 is wired into the vehicle in such a way as to make it hard to remove and, if it is removed, it is likely that damage will be caused to the vehicle, thus dissuading people from attempting to remove the controller. Con- nections between the controller and all the switching sensors described above are preferably wired into the loom of the vehicle. The signals used in the device are generally digital, and the coding system should be such that it would be extremely difficult to determine their form sufficiently to be able to misuse the device outside of a vehicle. The most effective way of jamming cellular mobile phone signals is to interfere with the control frequencies of the mobile unit with the base station. Mobile unit operation is initiated with communication between the base station and the mobile unit on a control frequency. Once communication between the mobile unit and the base station has been established, voice or data transfer is carried out on a different selected frequency. In order to successfully interrupt communication between the mobile unit and the base station, one must effectively block the signals on the control frequencies, using standard radio transmission blocking techniques.

Fig. 4 shows a possible implementation of the jamming unit in more detail. A signal generator 45 creates a noisy digital or analog signal, the contents of which will interfere with the normal digital communication signals on the mobile unit's control frequencies. The signal generator can comprise a noisy resistor or diode generating analog noise; alternatively, it can comprise a random or pseudorandom digital signal unit with a data rate sufficiently high to cause corruption of the data within the control frequencies of the mobile unit.

The jamming noise signal from generator 45 is then mixed in a mixer mod- ulator 46 with a carrier frequency signal from a carrier frequency oscillator 47. This produces a signal that can be transmitted as microwaves or radio waves in the frequency domain of the control frequencies of the mobile unit. A filter unit 48 removes any unwanted frequencies so as not to cover too wide a bandwidth, limiting the jamming signals to those of the control frequencies of the mobile unit. The filtered signal is amplified by amplifier means, which may comprise a preamplifier 49 feeding a power amplifier 50. This amplifier may not be required when operating the signal source as a digital noise source, since the device required to produce this noise may already produce sufficient power.

The carrier frequency oscillator 47 generates a signal at the centre of the control frequency band of the mobile communication system. In order to cover the large number of specific frequencies within the control frequency bandwidths of the various types of mobile network, the carrier frequency oscillator 47 steps through a number of different frequencies by adjusting its base carrier frequency. This is done cyclically so as to cover all control frequencies within a suitable time period, thus rendering the device capable of blocking all modern mobile units.

The antenna 40 is tuned specifically to the centre of the control frequency bandwidth of the mobile unit, thus rendering it capable of efficiently transmitting on all control frequencies.

Claims

1 Mobile phone inhibition means incorporated in a vehicle for disabling the use of a mobile phone in the vehicle.

2 Mobile phone inhibition means according to claim 1 operative to disable the use of a mobile phone in the vicinity of the driver.

3 Mobile phone inhibition means according to claim 1 operative to disable the use of a mobile phone throughout the vehicle.

4 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim coupled to the electrical system of the vehicle so that it is operative only when the ignition system is switched on.

5 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim coupled to a vibration sensor so that it is operative only when the engine is running.

6 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim coupled to a speedometer so that it is operative only when the vehicle is moving.

7 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim coupled to a hands-free mobile phone kit so that it is inoperative if the mobile phone is being used in conjunction with the hands-free mobile phone kit.

8 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim coupled to an antenna and including means for detecting a break in said coupling and activa- ting immobilising means. 9 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim including a jammer comprising a signal generator and a carrier oscillator feeding a mixer which in turn feeds an antenna.

10 Mobile phone inhibition means according to claim 9 including a filter between the mixer and the antenna.

11 Mobile phone inhibition means according to either of claims 9 and 10 wherein the carrier oscillator steps through a sequence of frequencies.

12 Mobile phone inhibition means according to any previous claim including means for detecting mobile phone signals originating within the vehicle.

13 Mobile phone inhibition means substantially as herein described with refer- ence to the drawings.

14 Any feature of novelty or combination thereof within the meaning of Article 4H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).