WO2007073748A1

WO2007073748A1 - System and method for determining the tolls for road sections and/or regions which are subject to a toll

Info

Publication number: WO2007073748A1
Application number: PCT/EP2005/013810
Authority: WO
Inventors: Bulcsu Balasy
Original assignee: Entersoft Szamitastechnikai Kft.
Priority date: 2005-12-16
Filing date: 2005-12-16
Publication date: 2007-07-05

Abstract

The invention relates to a system and a method for determining the tolls for road sections and/or regions which are subject to a toll, said system having: position-determining means (9, 10) for determining the current position of a vehicle (4); evaluation means (11) which use the position of the vehicle (4) and/or a change in the position of the vehicle to determine a stretch of road which has been travelled and is subject to a toll and/or the time spent in a region which is subject to a toll; and toll calculation means (13) which calculate a toll taking into account the stretch of road which has been travelled and is subject to a toll and/or the time spent in the region which is subject to a toll. According to the invention, the position-determining means comprise a mobile radio terminal (9) which is arranged in the vehicle and means (10) for determining the position of the mobile radio terminal (9) by evaluating information from at least one mobile radio base station (1, 2, 3) from which the mobile radio terminal (9) receives data and/or to which it sends data.

Description

System and method for determining the user charges for toll road sections and / or areas

description

The invention relates to a system and a method for determining the user charges for toll road sections and / or areas.

Background of the invention

The users of toll road sections shall pay royalties to the track operator company (s) in proportion to the amount of tolls covered by them. The users of toll areas, such as an inner city area, should pay royalties according to their length of stay in the area under consideration. To determine the toll road lengths, the position of the vehicle must be tracked.

In a simplified embodiment while the up and departure points of the vehicle are determined on the toll route. In order to determine toll periods in areas subject to tolls, it must be recorded when a vehicle enters and leaves a toll area.

The usage-based fee calculation for the toll road sections requires the determination of the departure and departure points as well as the departure and departure times of the users of these road sections. The invoiced fees can be determined clearly with knowledge of this data and with known road course.

The present invention is based on the object to provide a system and a method, the determination allow usage-based fees for toll road sections and / or areas.

Summary of the invention

This object is achieved by a system having the features of claim 1 and a method having the features of claim 28. Preferred and advantageous embodiments of the invention are specified in the subclaims.

According to the invention, a mobile radio terminal is arranged in the vehicle to determine the current position of a vehicle, and the position of the mobile terminal is determined by evaluating information of at least one mobile radio base station from which the mobile radio terminal receives data receives and / or to which it transmits data. It is therefore possible to determine the position by means of the already existing infrastructure of at least one mobile radio network. Of course, this does not preclude setting up and using new base stations for position determination. The position determination then allows a determination of the driven toll road and this in turn the calculation of a KTutzungsgebühr. The position determination also makes it possible to determine when a vehicle first enters and then leaves a certain area and thus the calculation uses a user fee for the stay in the area.

The system according to the invention thus determines the position data of the mobile phone assigned to the vehicle (identified by its SIM number and / or IMEI number) and subsequently generates billing data from this position data.

The vehicle tracking or the position determination can both by means of a permanently installed in the vehicle, a mobile phone-containing device as well as by means of a Users registered and while driving in the vehicle mobile phones are made. The mobile radio network (or several cooperative mobile radio networks) generates data whose evaluation allows continuous monitoring of the position of the mobile radio terminal and its modification. The system according to the invention determines, on the basis of these position data and on the basis of, for example, reference cards located in a database, the distance covered by the vehicles of the users and / or the duration of the stay in a certain area. From the calculated travel distance, from their category and from the vehicle type (eg trucks, cars, motorcycles, number of axles)) dependent multiplication coefficients and possibly other factors (such as time of day and date), the user fee to be paid is calculated. The system is capable of taking into account complex rates - such as time of day, the season or other influencing factors - as well as exceptions - eg police, rescue service etc. or alternative payment methods in demanding users.

The vehicles are preferably divided into three categories: a) vehicles of frequent users and permanently installed mobile radio terminals in the vehicle, b) casual users with situationally registered mobile phones, and c) users using alternative payment methods.

A user is identified firstly by his license plate number and secondly by his unique SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) and / or IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) number. The number plate is always one-to-one with the vehicle - and thus its type - assigned, ie that the toll can be calculated by means of the number plate and the distance traveled always. The determination of the distance covered takes place via the position tracking of the user, preferably according to a route network map stored in a central database. The position of the user results from the location determination information of the mobile phone permanently installed in the vehicle or coupled by temporary registration with the vehicle registration number.

When using a mobile phone permanently installed in the vehicle, a transaction ticket will be automatically opened immediately after driving on the toll route. The transaction ticket remains valid until the departure of the toll route. The toll route can also consist of several sections, which are deductible with different rates. While driving on a toll route, the built-in device preferably gives a visual and / or audible feedback on current developments such as driving in and out of a toll area.

Occasional users (whose vehicles do not have a built-in device) use their own mobile phone to indicate their position data. The assignment of the mobile phone to the vehicle registration number must be initiated before the driveway on the toll route, for example by sending a registration SMS to a given phone number. Such a registration SMS must include the license plate number of the vehicle intended for driving on the toll route and should also indicate the intended validity period of the registration and the vehicle type.

It can be provided that several numbers are available for registration, the different types of vehicles are assigned. By sending an SMS to a specific number, the type of vehicle (eg car) is already determined in this way, so that the user has this information in his or her own car. It is not necessary to record an SMS and the text message can therefore be A coding of the vehicle type can also be done in other suitable manner.

An SMS is preferably sent to the registered mobile phone in the driveway on the toll route, which asks for confirmation of the registration, with which the user can confirm his intention to carry the tolls, or reject it. Failure to comply with this SMS will automatically result in the acceptance of payment obligations so that drivers will not distract their attention from driving by responding to these SMSs. Timing of the registration makes sense in order to prevent the owners of the registered mobile phones from receiving toll registration SMSs on other trips where they are only passengers.

The system according to the invention has several advantages. In particular, without major investment in infrastructure, it will allow toll collection to be carried out in proportion to the distance traveled by road users. It also allows occasional users to integrate into the toll collection system without the use of a dedicated toll collection device through the use of their mobile phone.

In a preferred embodiment, the toll fee determination takes place on the basis of up and down points of the toll route and / or the toll area, which determine the evaluation. The evaluation is simple in that it only needs to be determined which up and down points a registered vehicle passes. In addition, it can be determined when the arrival and departure points are passed. It is possible to carry out a position monitoring and determination only in the area surrounding an entry and exit point, without the Vehicle is continuously monitored for its position.

Alternatively, there is a position determination and tracking by the evaluation on the toll route or in the toll area continuously. This makes it possible, for example, to calculate different fees for certain sections and / or the length of stay in certain sections. Billing can be differentiated.

The system may be implemented as an integrated system or as a shared architecture system. By an integrated system is meant, for example, a software that realizes all functionalities such as position determination, distance determination and billing of the system. A shared architecture system is understood to mean a system that has multiple modules (which may be software and / or hardware) that may be spatially separate and communicate with each other.

In a preferred embodiment, the mobile radio terminal is a GSM terminal and the mobile radio base station is a GSM base station. In another preferred embodiment, the mobile radio terminal is a UMTS terminal and the mobile radio base station is a UMTS base station. In principle, however, the invention is not limited to specific mobile radio networks and rather can be implemented in any mobile radio networks ^" having a cellular structure.

The means for determining the position of the mobile terminal evaluate in an embodiment only in which base station of the mobile terminal is currently booked. The locations of the base stations and their coverage areas (the radio cells) are known, so that from this information can already be a rough location determination, the resolution of which depends on the size of the radio cell. However, the means for determining the position of the mobile radio terminal preferably evaluate information from a plurality of base stations, preferably from at least three base stations, although the use of two base stations is also conceivable. The base stations will usually belong to a network and operator. However, it is also conceivable that the plurality of base stations belong to several mobile networks of different operators, which forward the relevant data to the evaluation and cooperate in this respect.

The network preferably measures the distance of a targeted mobile radio terminal to at least three surrounding base stations so as to determine the exact location by cross-polling.

Particular preference is given to evaluating different signal propagation times of signals which are transmitted between the mobile radio terminal of a vehicle and the three closest base stations, the base stations being synchronized. By triangulating the distances measured from the three base stations, the position of the mobile radio terminal can then be determined with high precision.

For position determination, other or further parameters such as the timing advance value, signal strength and angle information can also be evaluated. In this respect, reference is made to the publication Salcic, Z .: "AGPCS - An Automatic GSM-based Positioning and Communication System", Proceedings of Geocomputation 97, pp. 15ff.

Description of preferred embodiments

The invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the figures with reference to several embodiments. Show it.- Figure 1 shows the components of a system for determining the user charges for toll road sections in one embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a first example of a position determination in a GSM network; and

FIG. 3 shows a second example of a position determination in a GSM network;

In a first embodiment, a permanently installed in a vehicle 4 mobile terminal is provided.

The position of a vehicle 4 approaching a toll route 5 is determined by GSM base stations 1, 2 located in the vicinity of a virtual access gate 7,

3 continuously monitored. When the approaching vehicle 4 crosses the virtual driveway gate 7, the system regards this as the starting point of the travel of the vehicle 4 on the toll road 5. The vehicle 4 is in the position A. The vehicle radio 4 permanently installed in the vehicle with GSM mobile phone receives in a SMS one

Notification of driving on the toll

Route 5 and reports this visually and acoustically to the driver.

The system controls with the help of data from license plate recognition cameras 9, which are installed on the toll road 5, whether the driving on the toll road 5 (position B) respective vehicle 5 is equipped with a fixed mobile terminal or not. This is determined by matching the detected tag to a database containing all registered tags. Such a check can also be carried out in other ways or be omitted altogether. When the vehicle 4 crosses a virtual departure gate 8, the system regards this as the end point (position C) of the travel of the vehicle 4 on the toll road 5. The mobile terminal with GSM mobile phone permanently installed in the vehicle 4 receives an SMS in an SMS Notification of the departure of a toll road 5 and reports this visually and acoustically turn to the driver.

The GSM base stations 1, 2, 3 are connected to schematically illustrated means 10 for determining the position of the mobile radio terminal. In this case, the means 10 evaluate information which they receive from the mobile radio base stations 1, 2, 3, and from this information determine the current position of the mobile radio terminal and thus of the vehicle 4, as with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3 will be explained. As the vehicle 4 moves on and exits the base station radio cells, the data of other base stations are used for position determination.

The current position detection of a vehicle 4 can take place continuously or alternatively only in certain areas, for example in the areas of driveway gate 7 and departure gate 8.

The means 10 are connected to evaluation means 11, which determine from the position and / or a change in position of the vehicle a driven toll road and / or a residence time in a toll area. For example, the evaluation means 11 detect the departure point 7 and the departure point 8 and determine the route length between these points. Alternatively, the evaluation means 11 currently calculate the previously traveled distance by continuous position determination.

The evaluation means 11 are connected to charge calculation means 13, which, taking into account the tolls charged, Compulsory route and / or the length of stay in the toll area charge a user fee.

Furthermore, FIG. 1 shows registration means 12 by means of which a mobile radio terminal can be registered temporarily or continuously in the system. The registration means 12 are connected to the evaluation means 11 and / or the charge calculation means 13.

Based on the distance of registered up and down positions 7, 8, and depending on the type of vehicle and possibly other conditions, the system completes a transaction ticket 14 associated with the covered route, shown schematically in Figure 1, and forwards it to an accounting system , The transaction ticket 14 is created when a virtual entry gate 7 is exceeded.

It should be noted that the means 10, the evaluation means 11, the registration means 12 and the charge calculation means 13 can be part of a single software. It is also conceivable that these are separate components, which may also be spatially separated, and communicate with each other. The said functionalities can also be divided into specific modules in a different manner; for example, the module 10 can only collect the basic data of the base stations and the position can be determined by the module 11.

In a second embodiment, no permanently installed in the vehicle mobile terminal is provided. Rather, the mobile phone of the driver or the user is used.

The driver of the on the toll route 5 ascending vehicle 4 leaves - even before the actual drive - with the transmission of an SMS the license plate of his vehicle, register the intended journey time and vehicle type with the system.

The position of the approaching vehicle 4 is continuously monitored by the GSM base stations 1, 2, 3 located in the vicinity of the virtual driveway gate 7. If the approaching vehicle 4 crosses the virtual driveway gate 7, the system considers this as the starting point of the drive of the vehicle 4 on the toll route 5. The driver or user receives an SMS that informs about the start of the toll route and for confirmation to request the registration. If the user does not send a negative answer to this SMS, the system registers the position of the virtual driveway gate 7 as the starting point of the travel of the vehicle 4 on the toll route 5.

The system checks, with the help of the data of the license plate recognition camera 6 installed on the toll route 5, whether a mobile telephone has been registered with the license plate of the respective vehicle 5 and whether the confirmation requested in the SMS has not been rejected.

When the vehicle 4 crosses the virtual departure gate 8, the system regards this as the end point of the journey of the vehicle 6 on the toll road 5. The user receives an SMS on the mobile phone registered to the license plate of his vehicle, which informs him about the departure informed of a toll route 5.

Based on the distance of the registered up-and-down positions, as well as the charge rate dependent on the vehicle type and possibly other conditions, the system completes the transaction ticket 14 associated with the covered route and forwards it to the accounting system. At the request of the user he receives an SMS with the information about this transaction. FIGS. 2 and 3 show exemplary embodiments for determining the position of a mobile radio terminal 9 at known positions of a plurality of base stations BS1, BS2, BS3 in the reception area by means of triangulation from the distances measured by the base stations.

According to FIG. 2, the distance between the mobile device 9 and in each case one base station BS1, BS2, BS3 can be determined by measuring the propagation delay (timing advance TA) of the radio signal (at known signal propagation speed). The points with the same transit times are located on circular paths around the respective base stations BS1, BS2, BS3. The intersection of the circular paths gives the Ausenthaltsbe- range of the mobile terminal. 9

An even better position determination is possible by determining the transit time difference between the signals which the mobile device 9 has exchanged with two different base stations (Time Different Of Arrivals - TDOA). This is shown in FIG. This measurement determines a hyperbola L12, L13, L23 related to each two base stations. The intersection of the hyperbolas L12, L13, L23 gives the position of the mobile device 9.

In Fig. 3, L12, L13 and L23 represent three hyperbolas indicating the measured propagation time differences of the signal from / to two base stations (e.g., the hyperbola L13 indicates the transit time differences from / to the base stations BS1 and BS3), i. each point on a hyperbola L12, L13, L23 gives the measured transit time difference between the respective base stations.

This method can also be used when only two base stations are used. These two methods of measurement can be supplemented by the received signal level (RPL), which increases the overall accuracy of the measurement.

Another way to refine the measurement results from the fact that the antennas of the base stations are sectored with respect to the signal transmission direction, as well as by the evaluation of angle information.

In a corresponding manner as described in FIG. 1, a specific area can be defined by the toll collection system, for example an inner city area. Toll charges do not apply depending on the distance traveled, but depending on the length of stay in the defined area. By means of the means 10 for detecting the position of the mobile radio terminal can be determined how long the mobile terminal or the vehicle is in the defined area. In doing so, e.g. the position of the vehicle continuously or at defined time intervals determined and compared with a reference card. The mentioned transaction ticket would then include the duration of the vehicle in the toll area.

Claims

claims

1. System for determining the user fees for toll road sections and / or for toll areas

Position determining means (9, 10) for determining the current position of a vehicle (4),

- Auswertmittel (11), which determine from the position and / or a change in position of the vehicle (4) a driven mautpflich- tige route (5) and / or a residence time in a toll area, and

- fee calculation means (13) which charge a fee for use, taking into account the distance traveled and / or the length of stay in the toll area,

characterized,

in that the position determining means comprise: a mobile radio terminal (9) arranged in the vehicle, and

Means (10) for determining the position of the mobile terminal (9) by evaluating information of at least one mobile radio base station (1, 2, 3) from which the mobile radio terminal (9) receives data and / or to the it sends out data.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the system further comprises registration means (12) by which the mobile radio terminal (9) is temporarily or continuously registered in the system, wherein a registration of an assignment of the mobile terminal (9 ) to the license plate of the vehicle.

3. System according to claim 2, characterized in that the mobile radio terminal (9) in the vehicle (4) fixedly arranged and the mobile terminal is assigned the license plate of the vehicle in the system.

4. System according to claim 2, characterized in that it is in the mobile terminal (9) to the mobile phone of

User of the vehicle (4) and this registered before the use of toll roads or a toll area at the registration means (12), wherein the registration comprises an assignment of the mobile phone (9) to the license plate of the currently used vehicle (4) ,

5. System according to claim 4, characterized in that the mobile phone (9) when registering its SIM number and / or its IMEI number and the license plate of the vehicle sends.

6. System according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the registration takes place by means of sending an SMS.

7. System according to one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that the system sends an SMS to the mobile phone (9) when the vehicle (4) ascends to a toll route (5), so that informs the user of the mobile phone about this is.

8. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the billing means (13) make a toll calculation in consideration of partial stretches, which travels the vehicle (4).

9. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the toll calculation also takes into account the vehicle type.

10. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the toll calculation also under Consideration of the time of use of the toll road (5) or the toll area takes place.

11. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile radio terminal (9) is identified by the SIM number.

12. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile radio terminal (9) is identified by the IMEI number.

13. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the toll fee determination takes place on the basis of up and down points (7, 8) of the toll road (5) and / or the toll area, which the evaluation means (11) establish.

14. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a position tracking by the evaluation means (11) on the toll route (5) or in the toll area continuously takes place.

A system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the system is an integrated system.

16. System according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the system is a shared architecture system.

17. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the accounting is performed to a user on the basis of transaction tickets (14), the registered up and down positions and / or entry and exit times of the vehicle, the vehicle type, the distance traveled and / or the residence time.

18. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile radio terminal (9) is a GSM terminal and the mobile radio base station (1, 2, 3) is a GSM base station.

19. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the mobile radio terminal (9) is a UMTS terminal and the mobile radio base station (1, 2, 3) is a UMTS base station.

20. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means (10) for determining the position of the mobile terminal evaluate in which base station (1, 2, 3) the mobile terminal (9) is currently booked.

21. System according to any one of claims 1 to 19, characterized in that the means (10) for determining the position of the mobile radio terminal (9) information of several base stations (1, 2, 3) evaluate.

22. System according to claim 21, characterized in that the information from at least three base stations (1, 2, 3) are evaluated.

23. System according to claim 21 or 22, characterized in that the several base stations (1, 2, 3) belong to a plurality of mobile radio networks of different operators, which transmit the relevant data to the means (10) for determining the position of the mobile radio terminal / or forward to the evaluation means (11).

24. System according to any one of claims 21 to 23, characterized in that different signal propagation times of signals are evaluated signals which are emitted between the mobile radio terminal (9) and the base stations (1, 2, 3), wherein the base stations ( 1, 2, 3) are synchronized.

25. System according to any one of claims 21 to 24, characterized in that angle information is evaluated.

26. The system according to any one of claims 21 to 25, characterized in that the means (10) for determining the position of the mobile terminal (9) make a triangulation of the at least three base stations (1, 2, 3) measured distances.

27. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the evaluation means (11) and / or the fee calculation means (13) a position change of the vehicle with at least one reference route network map.

28. Method for determining the user charges for toll road sections and / or for toll areas, in which - a current position of a vehicle (4) determines from the position and / or a change in position of the vehicle (4) a driven toll road (5) and / or a period of residence in a tollable area is determined and - a user fee is charged, taking into account the distance traveled (5) and / or the length of stay in the toll area ^" ;

characterized,

in that a mobile radio terminal (9) is arranged in the vehicle (4) and the position of the mobile radio terminal (9) is determined for determining the position of the vehicle (4), the determination of the position of the mobile radio terminal (9). the evaluation of information from at least one mobile

Base station (1, 2, 3), from which the mobile terminal (9) receives data and / or to which it sends data.