WO2020225647A1

WO2020225647A1 - Digital vehicle display system, apparatus and method

Info

Publication number: WO2020225647A1
Application number: PCT/IB2020/053976
Authority: WO
Inventors: Philip Joseph Kanyamuny NGANWA
Original assignee: Nganwa Philip Joseph Kanyamuny
Priority date: 2019-05-03
Filing date: 2020-04-28
Publication date: 2020-11-12
Also published as: ZA202102973B

Abstract

A method of monitoring, updating and displaying information about a vehicle (11) employing a monitoring device (14) and a monitoned device (13), the latter (13) being connectable or mountable to the vehicle (11) and in live communication with the monitoring device (14) as well as apparatus used in said method; and an associated Integrated digital vehicle display system for use with said vehicle (11), the display system being computer implemented and adapted to assist a monitoring device user (6), being either the owner of said vehicle (11), and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle (11).

Description

DIGITAL VEHICLE DISPLAY SYSTEM. APPARATUS AND METHOD

FIELD TO THE INVENTION

THIS INVENTION relates to electronic digital data processing, mobile, and wireless communication system tools, more particularly, to vehicle informatics and a vehicle and vehicle status monitoring and information computer implemented software dependent system and apparatus, a method of implementing same on, inter alia, a mobile device, and a method of using same to facilitate transactions involving vehicles and to improve availability of information, related to vehicles, to the public in general and to authorities.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

It is believed that there is an alarming increase in the number of motor vehicles on the roads these days.

According to the research house Bernstein, the global number of cars on the road and kilometres flown in airplanes will nearly double by 2040. This information was released in Bernstein’s report that was published in April 2016. Cars are projected to reach the two billion mark by 2040, while air travel kilometres are set to hit 20 trillion in the same period.

With so many vehicles on the road, rail, water and in the air, registration authorities and vehicle owners need to start looking at new and improved ways to deal with disaggregated data related to these vehicles. For example, new vehicles need to be registered on an ongoing basis with government licensing authorities. In many developing countries, the vehicle owner, or someone authorised to do so on his/her behalf, has to physically queue at a vehicle registration office before being assisted with renewal needs. The needless waiting not only results in many unproductive hours but also in a high degree of frustration.

The inventor believes that this invention can address the above-mentioned shortcomings by describing a computer implemented digital vehicle display system, apparatus, and method of using same. In this specification a selection of terms, commonly known in the art to which the invention relates, are used. The terms are named and have the meaning described in the table below.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with a broad aspect of this invention there is provided an integrated digital vehicle display system for use with a vehicle, the system being computer implemented and adapted to assist a monitoring device user, being either the owner of said vehicle, and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle, said system comprising:

a remote database for storing live or real-time aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle;

a monitoring device selected from the likes of a mobile phone, laptop, desktop, phablet, tablet, smartwatch, smart band, or smart key chain;

a monitored device connectable to, or integral with, a vehicle to be monitored via the monitoring device by a monitoring device user, said monitored device comprising:

a PCB defining an integrated circuit with a display component, a system on a chip microcontroller, a GSM component, a SIM component, and a data storage component;

a power source for powering said components and microcontroller; and wherein said system on a chip microcontroller is adapted to be programmed via programable input/output peripherals to enable two way communication between the monitoring device and the display component while utilizing the GSM component such that said display component is able to alter its display topography immediately upon receipt of a change in live data related to the vehicle and as stored on the remote database with which the monitoring device is operatively linked; and

wherein the monitoring device is remote from, or in proximity of, said monitoring device user operatively in communication with said monitored device and containing, or interacting remotely with, software instructions adapted to assist said monitoring device user to utilize said display component to discern, access, gather, manipulate, alter, save, and/or transfer to or from said monitored device, disaggregated data about the vehicle to be monitored.

In an embodiment, the disaggregated data may be selected from vehicle data records, vehicle traffic infringement status and vehicle access status.

The monitoring device may comprises a computing device having a software application with sensor electronics module adapted to communicate with a processing module to interpret and execute electrical signals fed into the computing device; memory means for storing disaggregated and aggregated data; and a communication module for communicating with the monitored device thereby to permit the monitoring device user selective rights to access, gather, manipulate, alter, save, and/or transfer to or from said monitored device transactions related to said vehicle.

The transactions may comprise direct payments on a screen of the monitoring device for the renewal of a licence disc, the output of which is immediately relayed via the communication module to display on the display component.

The respective modules and/or memory means may be located remote from the monitoring device user and both the monitored device and monitoring device may be provided with two-way communication means. In an embedment, the two-way communication means comprises a direct link with suitable wire or cable; alternatively, at least one wireless transmitter and receiver.

In an embodiment of the invention, the disaggregated data may be modifiable and/or updateable by the authorised monitoring device user on the monitoring device which displays the live display topography of the display component shown on the monitored device when said monitoring device is uniquely paired with the monitored device so that disaggregated data may be transformed into aggregate data displayable on said display component.

The monitoring device may be adapted to upload to the display component of the monitored device contextual information and/or configurable information and/or photos about the vehicle. As such, the monitoring device may be in proximity of said monitoring device user and wearable or carryable by said user.

The person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle may be a government official employed to attend to transactions and records related to said vehicle having varying access rights selected from‘discernment rights’,‘partial access rights’, and‘full access rights’. Alternatively, the person authorised to discern or access aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle may be a security or entrance control officer employed to grant or refuse access to an event, school, church or premises, where said vehicle enters.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention a monitored device is provided connectable to, or integral with, a vehicle to be monitored via a monitoring device by a monitoring device user, being either the owner of said vehicle, and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer disaggregate and/or aggregate data about said vehicle, said monitored device comprising:

a power source for powering said components and microcontroller; and wherein said system on a chip microcontroller is adapted to be programmed via programable input/output peripherals to enable two way communication between the monitoring device and the display component while utilizing the GSM component such that said display component is able to alter its display topography immediately upon receipt of a change in live data related to the vehicle and as stored on a remote database with which the monitoring device is operatively linked.

In an embodiment, said system on a chip microcontroller, GSM component, SIM component, and data storage component may be disposed on a front side of the PCB, opposite to a rear side of the PCB on which the display component is provided. The display component may comprise an electronic visual display such as, for example, e- paper which may be electronically linked to said system on a chip microcontroller such that live changes on the monitoring device and remote database in respect of the vehicle being monitored are discernable on the display component. Alternatively, a backlit flat panel display or a liquid crystal display or light emitting diode display may be utilised. The GSM component may comprise capabilities selected from bluetooth, Wi-Fi, radio wave, and radio frequency identification to enable communication with the monitoring device.

The monitored device may comprise a power source consisting of photovoltaic cells built into the rear side of the PCB, which rear side is adapted to face away from said vehicle when the PCB is mounted to said vehicle. Optionally, an AC charging module may be provided on the front side of the PCB to enable charging of the components and microcontroller.

The invention extends to a method of monitoring, updating and displaying information about a vehicle, comprising:

providing an integrated digital vehicle display system as described herein above;

positioning a monitored device on the vehicle to be monitored;

powering said monitored device so as to enable communication with the monitoring device; and

allowing an authorised person, to actuate a monitoring device, operable to be in communication with the monitored device and with a remote database for storing live aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle, such that software instructions on both the monitoring device and monitored device assist said authorised person to utilize a display component of said integrated digital vehicle display system to discern, access, gather, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer to, or from, said monitored device, disaggregated and/or aggregate data about the vehicle to be monitored.

Moreover, the invention provides for a non-transitory computer-readable medium apt for storing instructions, the instructions comprising: one or more commands which, when executed by a processor of the monitoring device or a main computer system remote from said monitoring device, directs its operation to bring about:

gathering, by means of a data collecting module, disaggregated data in the form of a vehicle data record, vehicle traffic violation status, and vehicle access control status; forwarding, by means of a forwarding module, said disaggregated data to a main computer system on a monitoring device having a database for storing the disaggregated data;

investigating and collating, by means of an investigative module, said disaggregated data to create and store a displayable version of said data within said database; and permitting access, by means of an access module, to the displayable version of said data and for presenting same to an authorised user via a display component of a monitored device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the invention are now described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying non-limiting diagrammatic drawings. In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a diagrammatic layout of an integrated digital vehicle display system according to an embodiment of the invention;

Figure 2 shows a schematic layout of a digital vehicle display apparatus for the integrated person monitoring system of Figure 1 ;

Figure 3 shows a method of monitoring, updating and displaying information about a vehicle utilizing the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 4 shows a circuit diagram of a charging USB port and protection unit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 5 shows a circuit diagram of solar panel and protection unit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 6 shows a circuit diagram of a battery charger circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2; Figure 7 shows a circuit diagram of a battery and battery connector for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 8 shows a circuit diagram of a 3.3V voltage regulator circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 9 shows a circuit diagram of a battery voltage measurement circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 10 shows a circuit diagram of a 2G GSM modem for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 11 shows a circuit diagram of a GSM power controlling circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 12 shows a circuit diagram of a sim card and sim chip circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 13 shows a circuit diagram of a GSM status LED circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 14 shows a circuit diagram of an ESP32 programmable module and status LED’s circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 15 shows a circuit diagram of an E-Paper Display circuit for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2;

Figure 16 shows a circuit diagram of a temperature sensor needed by the E-Paper display of Figure 15;

Figure 17 shows a circuit diagram of a non-removable Flash Memory for storing configuration values of unit not saved on SD Card for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2; and

Figure 18 shows a circuit diagram of an SD Card Interface with ESD protection for a monitored device of the apparatus of Figure 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The following is presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention. The description taken with the Figures making apparent to those skilled in the art to demonstrate how at least one of the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.

Further, in the following description, similar features in the Figures may have been given the same reference numeral or similar reference numerals. Arrow heads of connector lines in the drawings indicate the flow of instructions, information and/or data in at least the direction of the arrow head. In this application, the term service is to be given a broad meaning in the context of the computing device(s) and/or software providing the service(s).

Referring to Figure 1 , an integrated digital vehicle display system (100), in accordance with an embodiment of the invention, is depicted. System (100) is a computer implemented system for information collection and sharing with authorised users, the system is understood to be used with a digital vehicle display apparatus (10), as depicted in Figure 2 of the drawings. Apparatus (10) broadly comprises a remote database (12), a display component (16) provided on a monitored device (13) physically connected to a vehicle (1 1 ) being monitored from a monitoring device (14) operated by an authorised monitoring device user, who in one embodiment of this invention is the owner of the vehicle (1 1 ) who has access to information stored on the remote database (12) in respect of the vehicle. As a platform, the system (100), being computer implemented and software dependent, collates, visualizes and makes available data and information collected as disaggregated data about a vehicle, which vehicle may be any motor driven vehicle irrespective of whether such motor is electric, or fuel actuated. The disaggregated data may range from a multitude of variables that can be captured by means of the system (100) such as a vehicle’s accident record, vehicle traffic violation status, vehicle ownership history, vehicle insurance status, vehicle driver illness status, and vehicle access control status. The data and information collected about the variables are then presented in aggregated data and information format to an authorised user such as government vehicle registration authorities, vehicle owner, security personnel, access control guards or police, depending on the level of access they have to part of the system (100).

In creating an account on the system (100), vehicle record information and data that can be regarded as disaggregated will be considered as sensitive.

With reference to Figures 1 and 2, system (100) is apt to assist in obtaining more usable information about the vehicle (1 1 ) being monitored, or its driver, compared to existing monitoring device technology associated with vehicles or its owners in that it importantly includes the visual display component (16), clearly discernible from afar, by for example, an access guard or police officer, who may in some embodiments of the invention be regarded as authorised users of system (100) or at least part thereof, so that the guard or police officer can quickly and efficiently act and make a decision as to whether the approaching vehicle has to be stopped or not at a blockade.

Referring to Figure 2, the display component (16) is provided on the monitored device (13), typically in disk form such as a PCB attached to or integral with a windscreen of the vehicle (1 1 ). The monitored device or disk (13), in other non-shown embodiments of the invention, may also be provided on the body of the vehicle (1 1 ). It may further be integrally formed with an internal or external panel or component of the vehicle (1 1 ) or may be attachable thereto. The display component (16) is operatively brought into communication with the monitoring device (14) of the owner (8), which monitoring device is typically, but not necessarily, located on the body of, or wearable by, the owner (8), as best shown in Figure 2.

The monitored device (13) is arranged to allow two-way communication to and from the monitored device ( 3), which is a computing device by itself as illustrated in Figures 4 to 18 of the drawings. Wireless transmitter and receiver peripherals are typically utilised to permit two-way communication. GSM technology is implemented as shown in Figures 10, 1 1 and 13 respectively where circuit diagrams are shown depicting a 2G GSM modem, power diagram for said modem, and status indicators for the GSM circuit of the monitored device (13).

Referring to Figure 1 , the software system (100), which is used with the apparatus (10), consists of one or more remote databases (1 12) on which disaggregate and/or aggregate data about the vehicle (1 1 ) being operatively monitored is stored; disaggregated data collecting module (1 14) for collecting disaggregated data of the vehicle (1 1 ); forwarding module (1 16); investigative module (1 18); and an access module (120). The remote database can be a device capable of storing data, but will typically be a server (12) configured to establish a real-time connection between aggregated data and information recorded on a user’s computing device or monitoring device (14), collated and stored on the remote database (12) and screened on a display component (16) of the computing device (14) such as, for example, a smart mobile device of an authorized user, typically, an owner of vehicle (1 1 ) to thereby monitor the status of aspects related to the vehicle (1 1 ) or its owner or driver. Important to refer to is that a feature of the system (10) is that it includes in its software application an educational component of “how to operate the system (100) and apparatus (10)?”.

The database (12) is anticipated to be located and stored within a memory of a main computer system (not shown) adapted to in use communicate wirelessly with the computing device or monitoring device (14), which would typically, but not necessarily, be a smart mobile device. Although the invention will be described herein by way of reference to a smart mobile device, it will be appreciated that any one of a number of computing devices may be employed by an authorised person such as, for example, desktop computers, laptops and smart phones and the like. Referring to Figure 3, a method (200) is shown of implementing use of the monitoring system (100) and apparatus (10) via a communication network, in accordance with the invention.

Firstly, provision (210) is made for an integrated digital vehicle display and monitoring system (100). Then a wearable or carryable monitored device (13) is positioned (220) on, and activated on a vehicle (1 1 ) to be monitored and, by means of a data collecting module, disaggregate data and information about said vehicle being monitored is gathered from the remote database (12).

The method (200) further includes the step of forwarding (230), by means of a forwarding module, the disaggregated data to and from a main computer system having a database for storing the data such as a license department having live information on whether a license disk has, for example expired or not in respect of a particular vehicle. The method (200) also includes an investigative module for investigation and collation (240) of the data and information into aggregated format such that a displayable version of said data and information can be created and stored within said database. Finally, the method (200) includes the step of permitting access (250), by means of an access module on the display component (16) as relayed via the monitoring device (13), to the displayable version of said data and for presenting same to an authorised user. The authorised user may for example, renew his licence on a screen of the monitoring device (14) so that a live transaction is recorded and updated on the system (100). The effect of such update would be that a clearly visible and discernible image or colour is displayed on the display (13/16) shown in Figure 2, so that law enforcement officers may be able to discern from afar that the vehicle licence is renewed. Similarly, when a licence is expired, the display (13/16) will be set to emit a red or other clearly discernible image or colour to attract the attention from law enforcement official from afar. E-Paper Display technology is utilised for the monitored device (13) as shown in the circuit diagrams of Figures 15 and 16 of the drawings.

The recorded disaggregated data, as shown in Figure 1 , is typically transferred or forwarded (230) in accordance with method (100) to the database (1 12) via the forwarding module (1 16) where such disaggregated data is temporarily stored before being collated and edited (240) to a useable format so that it can be displayed (250) to an owner or other authorised users such as for example registration authorities or security personnel using the system (100) when they gain access to the system (100) from their smart devices (12) or computers.

In would be appreciated that the monitored device (13) is connectable to, or integral with, the vehicle (1 1 ) to be monitored via the monitoring device (14) by a monitoring device user (6), being either the owner of said vehicle, and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer disaggregate and/or aggregate data about the vehicle (1 1 ) or its owner or driver.

The monitored device (13) therefore typically consists of a printed circuit board (PCB) defining an integrated circuit comprised of multiple circuitry and hardware components which are depicted in Figures 4 to 18 of the Drawings.

Most importantly, monitored device (13) has a display component (16) utilizing an E- Paper Display as depicted in Figures 1 5 and 1 6; a system on a chip microcontroller (typically an ESP32 microcontroller as shown in Figure 14); a GSM component as shown in Figures 10, 1 1 and 13; a SIM component being either a sim card or sim chip as shown in Figure 12 for GSM connectivity, and a data storage component in the form of a SD card as shown in Figures 17 and 18 as well as a power source for powering the described components and microcontroller.

The ESP32 is adapted to be programmed via programable input/output peripherals to enable two way communication between the monitoring device (14) and the display component (16) while utilizing the GSM component such that said display component is able to alter its display topography immediately upon receipt of a change in live data related to the vehicle (1 1 ) or its owner and as stored on the remote database (12) with which the monitoring device (14) is operatively linked.

Although not shown in the drawings, the ESP32, GSM component, SIM component, and data storage component are disposed on a front side of the PCB of the monitored device (13), opposite to a rear side of the PCB on which the display component (16) is provided. The display component (16) utilizes e-paper which are electronically linked to said ESP32 such that live changes on the remote database (12) relayed to the monitoring device (14), or vice versa, in respect of the vehicle being monitored are discernable in real time on the display component or E-Paper Display (16).

The GSM component comprise capabilities selected from Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, radio wave, radio frequency identification enabling communication with the monitoring device (14).

The monitored device (13) further typically consists of a power source consisting of photovoltaic cells and suitable batteries and regulator unit built into the rear side of the PCB, which rear side is adapted to face away from the vehicle (1 1 ) when the PCB is mounted to the vehicle. These will allow uninterrupted and autogenous operation of the monitored device (13) when mounted or connected to the vehicle (1 1 ). Batteries and peripheral circuitry and hardware thereof are shown in Figures 6 to 9 of the drawings. Optionally, an AC charging module may be provided on the front side of the PCB to enable charging of the components and microcontroller directly from AC means.

It is important to realize that different users will be able to only tap into certain information within the different platforms i.e. a computing device user such as the owner of the monitored vehicle will not be able to gather details of another user. It would remain confidential for instance but only be able to see the vehicle registered to system (100) aggregate data. For example, access control guards and police can access aggregate data which have been recorded and verified after a transaction, while government vehicle registration authorities have complete access.

It will be appreciated that any disaggregated recorded data like vehicle data record which may include: a full service history, insurance details, ownership history of the vehicle, and information about accidents the vehicle was involved in, and owner or driver illness records will firstly be displayed on screen of the owner’s monitored device via the monitoring device (14) and database (12) of the system (100). Until the vehicle owner or another authorised official, being health or governmental official, actuates a push button/tab/screen icon to update, transact or forward disaggregate data to the monitored device (13) via the remote database (12) no data is stored. It is envisaged that such push button/tab/screen icon may for example be pushed when licence renewal and/or new vehicle access control requirements are imminent. As shown in Figure 3, the method (200) permits the forwarding module (1 16) to communicate with the disaggregated data collecting module (1 14) and prompt transfer of data to the database (1 12).

The respective modules (1 14), (1 16), (1 18), and (120) may be built into on the mobile phone or may be in downloadable application format apt for download from a digital distribution platform that hosts digital media content.

The modules (1 14), (1 16), (1 18), and (120) provide specific sets of functions which, by definition, do not include the running of the mobile phone itself. The modules may be combined in an application available in downloadable format and may be designed to run on specific mobile phones. The software instructions may also be written in suitable code for a variety of mobile operating systems (such as iOS, MacOS, Windows, or Android).

Moreover, the respective modules (1 14), (1 16), (1 18), and (120) are built into software comprising a set of instructions fixed or stored in any manner and which, when used directly or indirectly in the mobile phone, directs its operation to bring about the results, as set out in the description above. A WASP is envisaged to be controlling installation, functioning and maintenance of the applications written for the respective modules (1 14), (1 16), (1 18), and (120). It is envisaged that a specified set of instructions exists, which respective sets of instructions are dependent on the computing device user, i.e. owner, parking lot authority, police authority, health monitoring official, government registration authority.

System (100) reports would be collected through the application and analyzed, providing statistics through ratings of facilities and experiences by the service users and providers. This will allow the interface to display what aspects of vehicle on the road, in general, are problematic areas in a geographical area.

System (100) is believed to be applied not only on all road-going vehicles in a country such as cars, motorbikes, trailers, caravans, etc., but also on aircraft and waterborne vehicles, which must be licensed to legally use the roads, air, or waters in that country. This represents a (significant) source of revenue for traffic/licensing departments and authorities. Currently in many countries, vehicle licence renewals are effected by presenting to a licensing department vendor and purchasing a paper/plastic-based cut out that is then affixed to the vehicle concerned. The digital visual display [DVD] (16) forming an integral part of the monitored device (13) will replace the current paper/plastic display with the following advantages:

• Switching to a DVD will eliminates the need to continue using expensive and environmentally unfriendly paper/plastic displays. As it is in a digital format, other than functioning as a conventional paper/plastic display, the DVD will allow for integration of other licence and traffic enforcement features.

• Depending on the colour displayed on the DVD, traffic police will be able to identify unlicensed vehicles from afar thus reducing the need to stop all vehicles at roadblocks to physically check on the validity of their vehicle licence. This will decrease traffic congestion and free up human resources to perform other crucial tasks.

• Red Background= Licence expired past grace period

• Orange Background= Licence expired, but-within grace period

• Green Background = Licence valid

• The colour display on the DVD will also serve to inform the vehicle user that the vehicle licence is up for renewal, eliminating the need for licensing departments to send out costly and administratively burdensome renewal notices. This, together with the ability to easily identify expired licenses will decrease defaulter numbers.

• By integrating an outstanding traffic fine alert, the DVD can be used to alert traffic police from afar of vehicles with outstanding traffic fines;

• Using existing technologies in the payment space, the DVD can be used to make on the spot payments via the monitoring device (14) for vehicle licenses and traffic infringement and immediately displayed on the display component (16) of the monitored device (1 3).

• Uptake in and collaboration with neighbouring countries and regional blocks will allow for easy cross-border monitoring and verification of vehicle status.

• The DVD can also be adapted to monitor and enforce vehicle speed.

• With its in-built security features, the DVD will be harder to counterfeit than conventional paper-/plastic -based licence discs. The methods and systems described herein is envisaged to be deployed in part or in whole through network infrastructures. The network infrastructure may include elements such as computing devices, servers, routers, hubs, firewalls, clients, personal computers, communication devices, routing devices and other active and passive devices, modules and/or components as known in the art. The computing and/or non-computing device(s) associated with the network infrastructure may include, apart from other components, a storage medium such as flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM, ROM, and the like. The processes, methods, program codes, instructions described herein and elsewhere may be executed by one or more of the network infrastructural elements. The methods and systems described herein may be adapted for use with any kind of private, community, or hybrid cloud computing network or cloud computing environment, including those which involve features of software as a service ("SaaS"), platform as a service ("PaaS"), and/or infrastructure as a service ("laaS").

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on a cellular network having multiple cells. The cellular network may either be frequency division multiple access ("FDMA") network or code division multiple access ("CDMA") network. The cellular network may include mobile devices, cell sites, base stations, repeaters, antennas, towers, and the like. The cell network may be a GSM, GPRS, 3G, EVDO, mesh, or other networks types.

The methods, program codes, and instructions described herein and elsewhere may be implemented on or through mobile devices. The mobile devices may include navigation devices, cell phones, mobile phones, mobile personal digital assistants, laptops, palmtops, netbooks, pagers, electronic books readers, and the like. These devices may include, apart from other components, a storage medium such as a flash memory, buffer, RAM, ROM and one or more computing devices. The computing devices associated with mobile devices may be enabled to execute program codes, methods, and instructions stored thereon. Alternatively, the mobile devices may be configured to execute instructions in collaboration with other devices. The mobile devices may communicate with base stations interfaced with servers and configured to execute program codes. The mobile devices may communicate on a peer-to-peer network, mesh network, or other communications network. The program code may be stored on the storage medium associated with the server and executed by a computing device embedded within the server. The base station may include a computing device and a storage medium. The storage device may store program codes and instructions executed by the computing devices associated with the base station.

The computer software, program codes, and/or instructions may be stored and/or accessed on machine readable transitory and/or non-transitory media that may include: computer components, devices, and recording media that retain digital data used for computing for some interval of time; semiconductor storage known as random access memory ("RAM"); mass storage typically for more permanent storage, such as optical discs, forms of magnetic storage like hard disks, tapes, drums, cards and other types; processor registers, cache memory, volatile memory, non-volatile memory; optical storage such as CD, DVD; removable media such as flash memory (e.g. USB sticks or keys), floppy disks, magnetic tape, paper tape, punch cards, standalone RAM disks, zip drives, removable mass storage, off-line, and the like; other computer memory such as dynamic memory, static memory, read/write storage, mutable storage, read only, random access, sequential access, location addressable, file addressable, content addressable, network attached storage, storage area network, bar codes, magnetic ink, and the like.

The methods and systems described herein may transform physical and/or intangible items from one state to another. The methods and systems described herein may also transform data representing physical and/or intangible items from one state to another.

The elements described and depicted herein imply logical boundaries between the elements. However, according to software or hardware engineering practices, the depicted elements and the functions thereof may be implemented on machines through computer executable transitory and/or non-transitory media having a processor capable of executing program instructions stored thereon as a monolithic software structure, as standalone software modules, or as modules that employ external routines, code, services, and so forth, or any combination of these, and all such implementations may be within the scope of the present disclosure. Examples of such machines may include, but may not be limited to, personal digital assistants, laptops, personal computers, mobile phones, other handheld computing devices, medical equipment, wired or wireless communication devices, transducers, chips, calculators, satellites, tablet PCs, electronic devices, devices having artificial intelligence, computing devices, networking equipment, servers, routers, and the like. Furthermore, the elements depicted in the drawings may be implemented on a machine capable of executing program instructions. Thus, it will be appreciated that the various steps identified and described above may be varied and that the order of steps may be adapted to particular applications of the techniques disclosed herein. All such variations and modifications are intended to fall within the scope of this disclosure. As such, the depiction and/or description of an order for various steps should not be understood to require a particular order of execution for those steps, unless required by a particular application, or explicitly stated or otherwise clear from the context.

The methods and/or processes described above, and steps associated therewith, may be realized in hardware, software or any combination of hardware and software suitable for a particular application. The hardware may include a general-purpose computer and/or dedicated computing device or specific computing device or particular aspect or component of a specific computing device. The processes may be realized in one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, embedded microcontrollers, programmable digital signal processors or other programmable devices, along with internal and/or external memory. The processes may also, or instead, be embodied in an application specific integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, programmable array logic, or any other device or combination of devices that may be configured to process electronic signals. It will further be appreciated that one or more of the processes may be realized as a computer executable code capable of being executed on a machine-readable medium.

The computer executable code may be created using a structured programming language such as C, an object oriented programming language such as C++, or any other high- level or low-level programming language (including assembly languages, hardware description languages, and database programming languages and technologies) that may be stored, compiled or interpreted to run on one of the above devices, as well as heterogeneous combinations of processors, processor architectures, or combinations of different hardware and software, or any other machine capable of executing program instructions. Thus, in one aspect, methods described above and combinations thereof may be embodied in computer executable code that, when executing on one or more computing devices, performs the steps thereof. In another aspect, the methods may be embodied in systems that perform the steps thereof, and may be distributed across devices in a number of ways, or all of the functionality may be integrated into a dedicated, standalone device or other hardware. In another aspect, the means for performing the steps associated with the processes described above may include any of the hardware and/or software described above. All such permutations and combinations are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure.

While the monitored device (13) has been disclosed in connection with the preferred embodiments shown in detail in Figures 4 to 18, various modifications and improvements thereon will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present disclosure is not to be limited by the foregoing examples but is to be understood in the broadest sense allowable by law.

The use of the terms "a," "an." and "the" and similar referents in the context of describing the disclosure (especially in the context of the following claims) is to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms "comprising," "having," "including," and "consisting" are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning "including, but not limited to,") unless otherwise noted. Recitations of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein may be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the disclosure and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the disclosure unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the disclosure.

Firmware is accordingly developed for allowing integration of the various components of the system (10) in the following way:

• Download of set of data from a compatible software program linked to various components of the system (10) e.g. App or Computer via Bluetooth, Wifi, GSM (SIM Card) or Directly to SD Card.

• Processing of the data downloaded.

• Using various features, including Real Time Clock, display of processed information on monitored device (13) or on its e-paper display by use of font generation with relevant colour displays whilst showing the same output on the monitoring device (14).

• T ransactions done for payment of license fee’s or fines will be updated in real-time on the remote database being for example a Client Database or Licence Disc Database and then pushed to the e-paper display of the monitored device (13). This means that infringements can be cleared and updated from payment all the way to the e-paper display in few seconds and that change the red colour on the display back to green.

• Based on permissions granted, information can be shared between the various components of the system (10) which will affect the display on the e-paper display.

While preferred embodiments of the invention are shown and described, it will be understood that it is not intended to limit the extent of the invention, but rather it is intended to cover all modifications and alternate methods, including: methods, for manufacturing and putting together the system (100), code written therefore, as well as the apparatus (10) associated therewith including the monitored device (13) and method (200) of implementing system (100) and of using same, falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

The applicant believes that the method (200), system (100), apparatus (10), and monitored device (13) of this invention, at least in part, addresses shortcomings in existing digital vehicle display and monitoring technology, while providing adaptability and comfort of use by authorised persons who deal with vehicle details on a frequent basis.

The invention for which patent protection is sought is now defined by way of the set of claims that follows herein.

Claims

1. An integrated digital vehicle display system for use with a vehicle, the system being computer implemented and adapted to assist a monitoring device user, being either the owner of said vehicle, and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle, said system comprising:

wherein the monitoring device is remote from, or in proximity of, said monitoring device user operatively in communication with said monitored device and containing, or interacting remotely with, software instructions apt to assist said monitoring device user to utilize said display component to discern, access, gather, manipulate, alter, save, and/or transfer to or from said monitored device, disaggregated data about the vehicle to be monitored.

2. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 1 , wherein the disaggregated data is selected from vehicle data records, vehicle traffic infringement status and vehicle access status.

3. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the monitoring device comprises a computing device having a software application with sensor electronics module adapted to communicate with a processing module to interpret and execute electrical signals fed into the computing device; memory means for storing disaggregated and aggregated data; and a communication module for communicating with the monitored device thereby to permit the monitoring device user selective rights to access, gather, manipulate, alter, save, and/or transfer to or from said monitored device transactions related to said vehicle.

4. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 3, wherein the transactions comprise direct payments on a screen of the monitoring device for the renewal of a licence disc, the output of which is immediately relayed via the communication module to display on the display component.

5. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the respective modules and/or memory means are located remote from the monitoring device user.

6. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein both the monitored device and monitoring device are provided with two-way communication means.

7. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 6, wherein the two- way communication means comprises a cable connection.

8. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 6, wherein the two- way communication means comprises at least one wireless transmitter and at least one receiver.

9. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the disaggregated data is modifiable and/or updateable by the authorised monitoring device user on the monitoring device which displays the live display topography of the display component shown on the monitored device when said monitoring device is uniquely paired with the monitored device so that live disaggregated data may be transformed into aggregate data displayable on said display component.

10. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring device is adapted to upload, to the display component of the monitored device, contextual information and/or configurable information and/or photos.

1 1. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the monitoring device is in proximity of said monitoring device user and wearable or carryable by said user.

12. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer aggregate and/or disaggregate data about said vehicle is an official employed to attend to transactions and records related to said vehicle having varying access rights selected from‘discernment rights’,‘partial access rights’, and ‘full access rights’.

13. The integrated digital vehicle display system according to claim 12, wherein the official is selected from the group consisting of: a security or entrance control officer employed to grant or refuse access to an event, school, church or premises; government official; bank official; petrol attendant; licensing department official; car dealership official, credit bureau official, police service official.

14. A monitored device connectable to, or integral with, a vehicle to be monitored via a monitoring device by a monitoring device user, being either the owner of said vehicle, and/or a person authorised to discern, access, manipulate, alter, save and/or transfer disaggregate and/or aggregate data about said vehicle, said monitored device comprising:

15. The monitored device according to claim 14, wherein said system on a chip microcontroller, GSM component, SIM component, and data storage component are disposed on a front side of the PCB, opposite to a rear side of the PCB on which the display component is provided.

16. The monitored device according to claim 14, wherein the GSM component comprises capabilities selected from bluetooth, Wi-Fi, radio wave, and radio frequency identification to enable communication with the monitoring device.

17. The monitored device according to claim 14, wherein the power source comprises photovoltaic cells built into the rear side of the PCB, which rear side is adapted to face away from said vehicle when the PCB is mounted to said vehicle.

18. The monitored device according to claim 14, including an AC charging module provided on the front side of the PCB to enable charging of the components and microcontroller.

19. A method of monitoring, updating and displaying information about a vehicle, comprising: providing an integrated digital vehicle display system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 13;

positioning a monitored device on the vehicle to be monitored, and activating said monitored device;

20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium for storing instructions, the instructions comprising: one or more commands which, when executed by a processor of the monitoring device or a main computer system remote from said monitoring device, directs its operation to bring about:

gathering, by means of a data collecting module, disaggregated data in the form of a vehicle data record, vehicle traffic violation status, and vehicle access control status;

forwarding, by means of a forwarding module, said disaggregated data to a main computer system on a monitoring device having a database for storing the disaggregated data;

investigating and collating, by means of an investigative module, said disaggregated data to create and store a displayable version of said data within said database; and

permitting access, by means of an access module, to the displayable version of said data and for presenting same to an authorised user via a display component of a monitored device.