WO2021062958A1

WO2021062958A1 - Methods and systems for providing status reminder of a charging pole

Info

Publication number: WO2021062958A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/129979
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yangyang Xu
Original assignee: Beijing Didi Infinity Technology And Development Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2019-09-30
Filing date: 2019-12-30
Publication date: 2021-04-08
Also published as: CN110782054A; CN110782054B

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses methods and systems for providing a status reminder of a charging pole when the charging pole is in use by a vehicle of a first user. The method includes establishing communication between the charging pole and a terminal of a second user and receiving a request from the second user to use the charging pole; determining the status of the charging pole; and establishing communication between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user using a virtual communication number based on the status of the charging pole, wherein the third user has a reservation on the charging pole. The present disclosure is believed to improve the usage efficiency of the charging pole, while protecting the privacy of users, and improving user data security.

Description

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING STATUS REMINDER OF A CHARGING POLE

CROSS-REFERENCE TO TELATED APPLICATIO

This application claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 201910945184.1, filed on September 30, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods used in charging an electrical vehicle. Specifically, systems and methods for providing status reminder of a charging pole by establishing encrypted communication between users are disclosed.

BACKGROUND

With the popularization of electric vehicles, more and more charging stations have been put into use to provide charging services for these electric vehicles. However, when electric vehicles are operated in areas where a large number of electric vehicles are in use, drivers are often frustrated by the low availability of charging poles due to high occupancy of these charging poles by other electric vehicles. In the meantime, often times when charging a vehicle, user goes elsewhere for activities such as eating and resting. After the user's vehicle is fully charged, if the user does not move the vehicle and make the charging pole available in time, the charging pole will not be available to be used by the next user, thus further aggravates the low availability of the charging poles. To combat this issue, after the user's vehicle is fully charged, the user is usually notified through an application (APP) . When the user is engaged in other activities such as eating and resting, however, it is easy for the user to ignore the notification, resulting in low utilization rate of the charging pole.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method for providing a status reminder of a charging pole through an electronic server, the charging pole is in use by a vehicle of a first user, is disclosed herein. The method comprises the steps of establishing communication between the charging pole and a terminal of a second user and receiving a request from the second user to use the charging pole; determining the status of the charging pole; and establishing communication between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user using a virtual communication number of the first or the third user based on the status of the charging pole, wherein the third user has a reservation on the charging pole.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user and the communication between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user is established by: obtaining a virtual communication number that corresponds to an actual communication number associated with the first user; sending the virtual communication number of the first user to the terminal of the second user; and upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the first user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the first user based on the virtual communication number of the first user to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user and the method further comprising generating and sending a first user reminder to the terminal of the first user and optionally generating and sending a second user reminder to the terminal of the second user. In some embodiments, the method further comprises determining the charging completion time of the first user; determining the time lap between the charging completion time of the first user and the current time; determining a reminder frequency based on the length of the time lap; and sending the first user reminder at the reminder frequency. In some embodiments, the method further comprises receiving reminder instructions from the terminal of the first user, the reminder instructions comprising charging target and corresponding charging target reminder; and upon detecting the charging target is met, deploying the charging target reminder to the terminal of the first user. In some embodiments, the charging target reminder is an alarm or a reminder phone call to the actual communication number of the first user. In some embodiments, if it is determined that charging is not complete, the method further comprises the steps of obtaining the remaining length of time to complete the charge and sending a reminder about the remaining length of time to the terminal of the second user.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user, the method further comprises the steps of, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is less than a threshold value, obtaining an actual communication number of the third user and a virtual communication number corresponding to the actual communication number of the third user; sending the virtual number of the third user to the terminal of the second user; upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the third user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the third user based on the virtual communication number of the third user; and establishing communication between the terminal of the third user and the terminal of the second user.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user, the method further comprises if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is more than a threshold value, sending a message to the terminal of the second user to indicate the charging pole is available without establishing communications between the third user and the second user and optionally sending a reminder to the terminal of the third user to indicate the reservation of the charging pole by the third user has expired. In some embodiments, when the communication channel between the second user and the first user or the third user is established by using an actual communication number of the second user, the method further comprises obtaining a virtual communication number of the second user that corresponds to the actual communication number of the second user and displaying the virtual communication number of the second user on the terminal of the first user or the third user once the communication is established.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, an electronic device comprising a computer-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions and a processor configured to execute the set of instructions to run any of the method disclosed herein is disclosed.

According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a system for status reminder of a charging pole that is in use by a vehicle of a first user is disclosed. The system comprises a receiving module for establishing communication between the charging pole and a terminal of a second user and receiving a request from the second user to use the charging pole; a determination module for determining the status of the charging pole; and an establishing module for establishing communication between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user using a virtual communication number of the first or the third user based on the status of the charging pole, wherein the third user has a reservation on the charging pole.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user by the determination module, the establishing module is configured to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user by: obtaining a virtual communication number that corresponds to an actual communication number associated with the first user; sending the virtual communication number of the first user to the terminal of the second user; and upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the first user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the first user based on the virtual communication number of the first user to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to generate and send a first user reminder to the terminal of the first user and optionally to generate and send a second user reminder to the terminal of the second user. In some embodiments, the determination module is further configured to determine the charging completion time of the first user, determine the time lap between the charging completion time of the first user and the current time; determine a reminder frequency based on the length of the time lap; and send the first user reminder at the reminder frequency. In some embodiments, the receiving module is further configured to: receive reminder instructions from the terminal of the first user, the reminder instructions comprising charging target and corresponding charging target reminder; and upon detecting the charging target is met by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to deploy the charging target reminder to the terminal of the first user. In some embodiments, the charging target reminder is an alarm or a reminder phone call to the actual communication number of the first user.

In some embodiments, if it is determined that charging is not complete by the determination module, the determination module is further configured to obtain the remaining length of time to complete the charge and the establishing module is further configured to send a reminder about the remaining length of time to the terminal of the second user. In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user by the determination module, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is less than a threshold value as determined by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to obtain an actual communication number of the third user and a virtual communication number corresponding to the actual communication number of the third user; send the virtual number of the third user to the terminal of the second user; upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the third user, retrieve the actual communication number associated with the third user based on the virtual communication number of the third user; and establish a communication channel between the terminal of the third user and the terminal of the second user.

In some embodiments, when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user by the determination module, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is more than a threshold value as determined by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to send a message to the terminal of the second user to indicate the charging pole is available without establishing communications between the third user and the second user and optionally send a reminder to the terminal of the third user to indicate the reservation of the charging pole by the third user has expired. In some embodiments, the establishing module is configured to establish a communication channel between the second user and the first user or the third user by using an actual communication number of the second user and the establishing module is further configured to obtain a virtual communication number of the second user that corresponds to the actual communication number of the second user and display the virtual communication number of the second user on the terminal of the first user or the third user once the communication is established.

According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions and a processor configured to execute the set of stored instructions to run any of the systems disclosed herein.

The systems and methods disclosed herein provide a status reminder of a charging pole through an electronic server when the charging pole is in use by a vehicle of a first user. When a second user terminal sends a charging request to use the charging pole, if the status of the charging pole is determined as finished charging the vehicle of the first user while remain connected to the vehicle of the first user, a terminal of the second user is provided with a first virtual or fictitious communication number of the terminal of the first user. The virtual communication number corresponds to an actual communication number of the first user. The second user would then have the option to contact the first user by dialing the virtual communication number, which is then converted to the actual communication number of the second user to establish communication with the first user. The methods and system disclosed herein thus provide a negotiation channel between the users, thereby improve the use efficiency of the charging pole, protects the privacy and security of the users.

Additional features will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following and the accompanying drawings or may be learned by production or operation of the examples. The features of the present disclosure may be realized and attained by practice or use of various aspects of the methodologies, instrumentalities and combinations set forth in the detailed examples discussed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present disclosure is further described in terms of example embodiments. These example embodiments are described in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawings are not to scale. These embodiments are non-limiting example embodiments, in which like reference numerals represent similar structures throughout the several views of the drawings, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating systems and methods disclosed herein implemented with an electronic server;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating the process of receiving a request, determining status and establishing encrypted communication between users when waiting to use a charging pole, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating the process of FIG. 2 implemented when the vehicle of the first user remain connected to the charging pole upon completion of the charge and optionally sending user reminders, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating the processes of FIG. 3 when user reminders are sent at a frequency, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the processes of FIG. 3 when user reminders are sent based on a reminder setting instruction, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating the processes of determining a remaining charging time, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a flow chart illustrating the processes of determining completion of charging, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating the processes of FIG. 2 implemented when the third use has a reservation and optionally sending user reminders, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the modules of the systems disclosed herein, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the structure of an electronic device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description is presented to enable any person skilled in the art to make and use the present disclosure and is provided in the context of a particular application and its requirements. Various modifications to the disclosed embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments and applications without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Thus, the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments shown but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the claims.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a, ” “an, ” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise, ” “comprises, ” and/or “comprising, ” “include, ” “includes” and/or “including” when used in this disclosure, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Generally, the word “module, ” “unit, ” or “block, ” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions. A module, a unit, or a block described herein may be implemented as software and/or hardware and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or another storage device. In some embodiments, a software module/unit/block may be compiled and linked into an executable program. It will be appreciated that software modules can be callable from other modules/units/blocks or from themselves, and/or may be invoked in response to detected events or interrupts. Software modules/units/blocks configured for execution on computing devices may be provided on a computer-readable medium, such as a compact disc, a digital video disc, a flash drive, a magnetic disc, or any other tangible medium, or as a digital download (and can be originally stored in a compressed or installable format that needs installation, decompression, or decryption prior to execution) . Such software code may be stored, partially or fully, on a storage device of the executing computing device, for execution by the computing device. Software instructions may be embedded in firmware, such as an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM) . It will be further appreciated that hardware modules/units/blocks may be included in connected logic components, such as gates and flip-flops, and/or can be included of programmable units, such as programmable gate arrays or processors. The modules/units/blocks or computing device functionality described herein may be implemented as software modules/units/blocks but may be represented in hardware or firmware. In general, the modules/units/blocks described herein refer to logical modules/units/blocks that may be combined with other modules/units/blocks or divided into sub-modules/sub-units/sub-blocks despite their physical organization or storage. The description may be applicable to a system, an engine, or a portion thereof.

It will be understood that when a unit, engine, module or block is referred to as being “on, ” “connected to, ” or “coupled to, ” another unit, engine, module, or block, it may be directly on, connected or coupled to, or communicate with the other unit, engine, module, or block, or an intervening unit, engine, module, or block may be present, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

These and other features, and characteristics of the present disclosure, as well as the methods of operation and functions of the related elements of structure and the combination of parts and economies of manufacture, may become more apparent upon consideration of the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, all of which form a part of this disclosure. It is to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for the purpose of illustration and description only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. It is understood that the drawings are not to scale.

The flowcharts used in the present disclosure illustrate operations that systems implement according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. It is to be expressly understood, the operations of the flowcharts may be implemented not in order. Conversely, the operations may be implemented in inverted order, or simultaneously. Moreover, one or more other operations may be added to the flowcharts. One or more operations may be removed from the flowcharts.

In order to enable those skilled in the art to use the contents of the present disclosure, in combination with a specific application scenario i.e. an occupied charging pole scenario, the following implementation methods are provided. For those skilled in the art, the general principles defined herein can be applied to other embodiments and application scenarios without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Although the present disclosure is described mainly around the “occupied charging pole scenario” , it should be understood that this is only an example embodiment.

Typically, when a charging pole is occupied by a user's vehicle and is subsequently fully charged, the user is usually notified by an application (Application, APP) . However, when the user is engaged in activities such as eating or resting, it is easy for the user to ignore the notification and cause the low usage efficiency of the charging pole. The methods, systems, devices, and storage media disclosed herein provide an effective reminder by establishing encrypted communication channels between the users, thus improves the usage efficiency of the charging pole, protects the privacy of the users, and improves user data safety.

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a charging pole occupancy reminding system 100 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The charging pole occupation reminding system 100 may include one or more of a server 110, a network 120, a first user terminal 130, a second user terminal 140, a third user terminal 150, a database 160, and a charging pole 170.

In some embodiments, the server 110 may include a processor. The processor may process a charging request, determine status of the charging pole, establish channel of communication for the users, and the like to perform one or more functions described in the present disclosure. For example, the processor may determine, based on the charging request sent by the second user terminal 140, whether the vehicle of the first user served by the charging pole 170 or station has completed charging and the status of the charging pole 170. In some embodiments, the processor may include one or more processing cores (e.g., a single-core processor (S) or a multi-core processor (S) ) . For example, the processor may include a Central Processing Unit (CPU) , an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) , an Application Specific Instruction-set Processor (ASIP) , and a graphics processing unit. (Graphics Processing Unit, GPU) , Physical Processing Unit (PPU) , Digital Signal Processor (DSP) , Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) , Programmable Logic Device (Programmable Logic Device (PLD) , controller, microcontroller unit, Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) , or microprocessor, or any combination thereof.

In some embodiments, the device types corresponding to the first user terminal 130, the second user terminal 140, or the third user terminal 150 may be mobile devices, such as smart home devices, wearable devices, smart mobile devices, virtual reality devices, or augmented reality devices, etc. or a tablet, laptop, or built-in device in a motor vehicle.

In some embodiments, the database 160 may be connected to the network 120 to communicate with one or more components (e.g., the server 110, the first user terminal 130, the second user terminal 140, etc. ) in the charging pole occupancy reminder system 100. One or more components in the charging pole occupancy reminding system 100 may access data or instructions stored in the database 160 via the network 120. In some embodiments, the database 160 may be directly connected to one or more components in the charging pole occupancy reminding system 100, or the database 160 may also be part of the server 110.

In some embodiments, the charging pole 170 is a device for charging an electric vehicle, and is connected to the server 110 for data communication with the server 110.

The following describes in detail the charging pole occupancy reminding method provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure in reference to the charging pole occupancy reminding system 100 shown in FIG. 1 above.

It should be noted that the term “including” will be used in the embodiments of the present disclosure to indicate the existence of the features that follows, but does not exclude the addition of other features.

Referring to FIG. 2, a schematic flowchart of a charging pole occupancy reminding method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is provided. The method may be executed by the server 110 in the charging pole occupancy reminding system 100 by conducting the follow steps:

In step S210, communication between a charging pole in use by a vehicle of a first user and a terminal of a second user is first established and a charging request from a second user terminal 140 is received for using the charging pole that is in use by the vehicle of the first user. Optionally, an APP is pre-installed on the second user terminal 140, and the second user 140 terminal sends a charging request to the server for using the charging pole through the APP. Alternatively, each charging pole corresponds to a two-dimensional code. And the two-dimensional code can be installed, pasted, or displayed on the corresponding charging pole. When the second user scans the QR code of a given charging pole, the second user terminal sends a charging request to the server for using the scanned charging pole.

In step S220, the status of the charging pole is established.

In step S230 based on the status of the charging pole, a communication channel between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user is established using a virtual communication number of the first or the third user. In some embodiments, the third user has a reservation on the charging pole that predates the service request placed by the second user.

Because the communication channel between the second user and the first user or the third user is established by using an actual communication number of the second user, optionally in step 240 a virtual communication number of the second user that corresponds to the actual communication number of the second user is obtains such that the virtual communication number of the second user is displayed on the terminal of the first user or the third user once the communication is established.

Referring to FIG. 3, a flow chart illustrating the process of FIG. 2 implemented when the vehicle of the first user remains connected to the charging pole upon completion of the charge and optionally sending user reminders, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In step S310, the status of the charging pole is determined to have completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user.

In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, a virtual or virtual communication number pool is stored in the server in advance, and the virtual communication number pool includes a plurality of virtual communication numbers. After receiving the charging request from the second user terminal for using charging pole that is in use by the vehicle of the first user, based on the charging request, the server detects whether the vehicle of the first user is fully charged. If it is, the server further detects whether the vehicle of the first user is still connected to the charging pole. If it is, i.e. when the charging station or pole has fully charged the vehicle, but the vehicle still occupies the charging station or pole, the server then selects an unused virtual communication number from the preset virtual communication number pool and assign this unused virtual communication number to the first user, and then maps the virtual communication number of the first user with the actual communication number of the first user.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the mapping relationship between the virtual communication number and the actual communication number corresponds to a preset retention time period. When the existence time of the virtual communication number exceeds the preset retention time period, the mapping established between the virtual communication number and the actual communication number is released and the virtual communication number is recycled for subsequent use.

For example, if the actual communication number of the first user terminal corresponding to the vehicle is 189XXX, and the virtual communication number corresponding to the target vehicle is 176XXX. The above 189XXX corresponds to 176XXX, and the preset retention time of 189XXX and 176XXX is 20 minutes.

Optionally, the server can send the virtual communication number of the first user to the APP of the second user terminal. And the second user can use the APP to obtain the virtual communication of the first user.

Alternatively, if the second user terminal registers in advance with an actual communication number when using the APP, the server can send the virtual communication number to the second user terminal through the actual communication number of the second user terminal. For example, the server can send the virtual communication number of the first user to the second user terminal through a short text message, and the second user can obtain the virtual communication number of the first user through the short text message.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving a communication connection request initiated by the second user terminal based on the virtual communication number of the first user, it is determined whether the existence of the virtual communication number of the first user exceeds a preset retention period. If the existence of the virtual communication number is within the preset retention period, the communication channel between the first and the second users is established by the server. If the existence of the virtual communication number of the first user exceeds the preset retention period, the communication channel between the first and the second user is not established.

For example, if a communication connection request initiated by the second user terminal based on the virtual communication number of the first user 176XXX is received and if the existence time of 176XXX is determined to be less than 20 minutes, the actual communication number of the first user189XXX is linked with the virtual communication number of the first user 176XXX, and a communication channel between the first and the second user terminal is established.

In step S320, a virtual communication number that corresponds to an actual communication number associated with the first user is obtained.

In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, on the one hand, the server can provide the second user terminal with a virtual communication number of the vehicle currently occupying the target charging pole, and on the other hand, the server can actively remind the first user.

Specifically, in step S330, the virtual communication number of the first user is sent to the terminal of the second user. Upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the first user, in step S340, the server retrieves the actual communication number associated with the first user based on the first virtual communication number. In step S350, communication between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user is then established.

Optionally, in step S360, the server can generate a first user reminder and send it to the terminal of the first user to remind him or her that his or her vehicle has been fully charged and should be moved away from the charging station to make room for a subsequent user such as the second user who requested service. For example, the first user reminder is used to remind the first user not only that charging has been completed and but also to remind the first user of a brief time the fully charged vehicle can remain at the charging pole without incur an extra charge. Alternatively or additionally, the first user reminder is used to remind the first user that not only the charging has been completed but also to remind the first user of overtime charge information is the fully charged vehicle remains at the charging pole after the lapse of a preset grace period.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the first user reminder may include one or more of the following information: vehicle information, charging information of the charging pole, and information of the first user. For example, the vehicle information may include but is not limited to, a license plate number, model information, vehicle color, and the like. The charging information may include, but is not limited to, charging pole identification information, charging time, and power information of the target vehicle. The first user information may include, but is not limited to, a user name, an actual communication number of the first user terminal, and the like.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the server may send the first user reminder information to an APP installed on the first user terminal, or may send the first user reminder based on the actual communication number of the first user terminal.

The following describes the manner in which the server sends the first user reminder to the first user terminal in different situations:

First, when the server determines that the vehicle of the first user is fully charged by the charging pole, but the vehicle remain connected to the charging pole, the server automatically generates first user reminder, and sends the first user reminder to an APP of the first user terminal. Accordingly, the first user can view the first user reminder through the APP of the first user terminal.

Second, when the server determines that the vehicle of the first user is fully charged by the charging pole, but the vehicle remains connected to the charging pole, if the server receives a reminder instruction for the vehicle of the first user, the server automatically generates a first user reminder in response to the reminder instruction and sends the first user reminder to the first user terminal according to the actual communication number of the first user terminal.

Here, when the server determines that the vehicle of the first user is fully charged, but the charging pole and the vehicle are still connected, the server may provide a reminder to a staff member to ask the staff member since the charging of the first user vehicle is completed, should a reminder be sent to the first user terminal to remind the first user about the completion of the charge. Once the server receives confirmation from the staff member, the server generates a first user reminder

After the staff member approves the first user reminder generated by the server, sends the first user reminder to the first user terminal through the actual communication number of the first user terminal; for example, the first user reminder can be sent by phone or SMS the first user terminal.

After the first user's vehicle is fully charged, if the user cannot remove the vehicle in a timely manner, a penalty for the occupying the charging pole overtime may be generated and the penalty information included in the first user reminder. The first user reminder sent to the first user terminal thus provides that delayed reminding method of occupying the target charging pole can promptly let the user know the current state of the target vehicle, and avoid the economic loss caused by the second user staying and occupying the target charging pole.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, in the charging pole occupancy reminding method 400 provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the sending the first reminder information to a first user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle includes:

S410. Obtain a charging end time when the vehicle of the first user finishes charging.

S420. Determine a reminder frequency of the vehicle according to a time length between the charging end time and the current time.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the length of time that the charging pole is occupied after the vehicle is charged (that is, the length of time that the corresponding charging order is in an unfinished order state after the vehicle is charged) is different, and the corresponding reminder frequency is also different. Among them, the longer the charging pole is occupied after the vehicle is charged, the greater the corresponding reminder frequency (that is, the more frequent the reminder) .

Optionally, when the time length between the charging end time and the current time is within the first time length range, it is determined that the first reminder frequency corresponding to the first time length range is the reminder frequency of the target vehicle.

Alternatively, when the time length between the charging end time and the current time is within the second time length range, it is determined that the second reminder frequency corresponding to the second time length range is the reminder frequency of the target vehicle. The second time length range is greater than the first time length range. Accordingly, the second reminder frequency is greater than the first reminder frequency.

S430. Send the first reminder information to the second user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle according to the reminder frequency.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, when the time length between the charging end time and the current time is within the first time length range, the first reminder information is sent to the second user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle according to the first reminder frequency. When the time length between the charging end time and the current time is within the second time length range, the first reminder information is sent to the second user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle according to the second reminder frequency.

For example, the charging end time for the vehicle of the first user to finish charging is 10 am on May 1, 2019, the first time range is 0-30 minutes, and the current time is 10: 20 am on May 1, 2019. In this way, if the time length between the current time and the charging end time of the target vehicle is within the above-mentioned first time length range, the reminder information is sent at a frequency of every 25 minutes to the first user terminal. For example, the first reminder information may be sent to the first user terminal at 10 am on May 1, 2019, and the first reminder message may be sent to the first user terminal at 10: 25 am on May 1, 2019.

When the time length between the current time and the charging end time of the target vehicle is within the second time length range, the first reminder information is sent to the first user terminal according to the second reminder frequency of sending the reminder information every 20 minutes. For example, the first reminder information may be sent to the first user terminal at 10: 30 am on May 1, 2019. The second first reminder message may be sent to the first user terminal at 10: 50 am on May 1, 2019.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the longer the charging pole is occupied by the target vehicle after charging is completed, the more frequently the user terminal is reminded of the occupied charging pole. In this way, the use efficiency of the charging pole can be further improved, and the user is prevented from causing damage. Economic loss.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the charging pole occupancy reminding method 500 provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure, the method further includes:

S510. If a reminding setting instruction for the vehicle of the first user is received from the first user terminal, performing a reminding setting of the vehicle according to the reminding setting instruction, wherein the reminding setting instruction includes target charging information and a target reminding mode.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the first user uses the target charging pole to charge the target vehicle, the first user terminal can also perform the charging reminder setting of the target vehicle; wherein the first user can set the target through the reminder setting including target charging information and target reminding mode. The target charging information may include a charging power value, a remaining time duration, and the like. The target reminding mode may be a reminding method based on an alarm clock, or a reminding method based on an actual communication number of the first user terminal.

For example, the target charging information may be: charging power value is 100%, the target reminding mode is a reminder method based on an alarm clock. For another example, the target charging information may be: the remaining charging time is 10 minutes, and the target reminding mode is a reminder method based on an alarm clock.

S520. If it is detected that the charging information corresponding to the vehicle of the first user matches the target charging information in the setting instruction, the vehicle of the first user is reminded according to the target reminding mode in the reminder setting instruction.

Optionally, the alarm clock in the first user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle is enabled to remind the target vehicle; for example, the server sends the charging power value to the first user terminal in real time, and the first user terminal detects the charging status when the battery value reaches 100%, enables the alarm to remind the first user. For another example, the server sends the charged power value to the first user terminal in real time, and when it detects that the charged power value reaches 100%, it sends a notification message to the first user terminal to notify the first user terminal to enable the alarm to remind the first user.

Alternatively, the server generates second reminder information corresponding to the target vehicle, and sends the second reminder information to the second vehicle according to the actual communication number of the first user terminal. For example, the server detects the charging capacity value of the vehicle of the first user in real time, and when the charging capacity value reaches 100%, generates a second reminder information corresponding to the vehicle, and sends the second reminder information to the first user terminal by phone or SMS.

Here, the server generates second reminder information according to the vehicle information and the charging information of the vehicle and sends the second reminder information to a first user terminal.

Further, in FIG. 6, the charging pole occupancy reminding method 600 provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, the method further includes:

S610. If it is determined that the vehicle of the first user served by the target charging pole has not completed charging, obtain the remaining charging duration of the target vehicle.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the charging pole reports the charging state information of the vehicle of the first user to the server in real time. The charging status information here includes one or more of the following information: battery capacity information, current remaining charging progress information, remaining charging time, charging power information, and charging capacity information.

In some embodiments, the charging status information reported by the charging pole does not include the remaining charging time of the vehicle; in this case, from the current remaining charging progress information of the vehicle, the server obtains the battery capacity information of the vehicle from the charging information of the vehicle reported by the charging pole, determines a product of the battery capacity information of the vehicle and the current remaining charging progress information of the target vehicle; determines a ratio of the product to the charging power information of the target vehicle; and the ratio is determined as the remaining charging time.

In another embodiment, the charging status information reported by the charging pole includes the remaining charging duration of the target vehicle; in this case, the server obtains the remaining charging duration of the target vehicle from the charging status information of the vehicle reported by the charging pole.

S620. Send the remaining charging duration of the vehicle to the terminal of the second user.

In the embodiment of the present disclosure, after the terminal of the second user receives the remaining charging time of the target vehicle, the second user can check the remaining charging time of the vehicle through the APP of the second user terminal.

Further, in FIG. 7, a charging pole occupancy reminding method 700 provided in the embodiment of the present disclosure is shown, the vehicle of the first user serviced by the charging pole is charged by the following methods:

S710. Obtaining current battery power information of the vehicle of the first user served by the charging pole.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, the server obtains the current battery power information of the vehicle from the charging state information of the vehicle reported by the charging pole.

S720. If the current battery power information of the vehicle served by the charging pole meets the preset full power information, determine that the vehicle serviced by the target charging pole has completed charging.

In accordance with the embodiment of the present disclosure, after obtaining the current battery power information of the vehicle, the server compares the current battery power information with the preset full battery power information to determine that the charging of the vehicle served by the charging pole is completed.

An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a charging pole occupancy reminding method, where the charging pole is occupied by a vehicle of a first user. After a second user terminal sends a charging request for using the charging pole, if it is determined that the vehicle of the first user is charged in full but is remain connected to the charging pole, the server provide the terminal of the second user with a virtual communication number of the first user terminal, providing a negotiation channel between the first user and the second user, improving the charging pole use efficiency and simultaneously protects the privacy of the users and improves the data security of the users, and avoids the economic loss caused by the first user's staying and occupying the charging pole overtime.

Further, in FIG. 8, a charging pole occupancy reminding method 800 is shown.

In step S810, the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user.

In step S820, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is less than a threshold value and an actual communication number of the third user, a virtual communication number corresponding to the actual communication number of the third user is obtained.

In step S830, the virtual number of the third user is sent to the terminal of the second user.

In step S840, upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the third user, the actual communication number associated with the third user is retrieved based on the virtual communication number.

In step S850, communication between the terminal of the third user and the terminal of the second user is then established.

An alternatively scenario is illustrated in step S860. Specifically, in step S860, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is more than a threshold value, a message is sent to the terminal of the second user to indicate the charging pole is available without establishing communications between the third user and the second user and optionally sending a reminder to the terminal of the third user to indicate the reservation of the charging pole by the third user has expired.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a charging pole occupancy reminding system 900 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 9, the system include: a receiving module 910, configured to receive a charging request from a second user terminal for using a charging pole that is occupied by a vehicle of a first user; a determination module 920 configured to determine the status of the charging pole, and a establishing module 930 configured to establish communication between the users.

In some embodiments, the system comprises a first obtaining module configured to obtain a virtual communication number of the first user terminal corresponding to the target vehicle when it is determined that the vehicle of the first user served by the charging pole has completed charging, but remain connected to the charging pole.

As shown in FIG. 10, an electronic device 1000 provided in an embodiment of the present application includes a processor 1001, a memory 1020, and a bus. The memory 1020 stores machine-readable instructions executable by the processor 1010. When the device is running, the processor 1010 and the memory 1020 communicate via a bus, and the processor 1010 executes the machine-readable instructions to perform the steps of the charging pole reminding method described above.

Specifically, the memory 1020 and the processor 1010 can be general-purpose memories and processors, which are not specifically limited herein. When the processor 1010 runs a computer program stored in the memory 1020, the foregoing charging pole reminding method can be executed.

It should be noted that the above description is merely provided for the purpose of illustration, and not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. For persons having ordinary skills in the art, multiple variations and modifications may be made under the teachings of the present disclosure. However, those variations and modifications do not depart from the scope of the present disclosure.

Having thus described the basic concepts, it may be rather apparent to those skilled in the art after reading this detailed disclosure that the foregoing detailed disclosure is intended to be presented by way of example only and is not limiting. Various alterations, improvements, and modifications may occur and are intended to those skilled in the art, though not expressly stated herein. These alterations, improvements, and modifications are intended to be suggested by this disclosure, and are within the spirit and scope of the example embodiments of this disclosure.

Moreover, certain terminology has been used to describe embodiments of the present disclosure. For example, the terms “one embodiment, ” “an embodiment, ” and “some embodiments” mean that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present disclosure. Therefore, it is emphasized and should be appreciated that two or more references to “an embodiment” or “one embodiment” or “an alternative embodiment” in various portions of this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics may be combined as suitable in one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

Further, it will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present disclosure may be illustrated and described herein in any of a number of patentable classes or context including any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. Accordingly, aspects of the present disclosure may be implemented entirely hardware, entirely software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc. ) or combining software and hardware implementation that may all generally be referred to herein as a “module, ” “unit, ” “component, ” “device, ” or “system. ” Furthermore, aspects of the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable media having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including electro-magnetic, optical, or the like, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that may communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Program code embodied on a computer readable signal medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, or the like, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Scala, Smalltalk, Eiffel, JADE, Emerald, C++, C#, VB. NET, Python or the like, conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language, Visual Basic, Fortran 2003, Perl, COBOL 2002, PHP, ABAP, dynamic programming languages such as Python, Ruby and Groovy, or other programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN) , or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider) or in a cloud computing environment or offered as a service such as a Software as a Service (SaaS) .

Furthermore, the recited order of processing elements or sequences, or the use of numbers, letters, or other designations therefore, is not intended to limit the claimed processes and methods to any order except as may be specified in the claims. Although the above disclosure discusses through various examples what is currently considered to be a variety of useful embodiments of the disclosure, it is to be understood that such detail is solely for that purpose, and that the appended claims are not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, are intended to cover modifications and equivalent arrangements that are within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments. For example, although the implementation of various components described above may be embodied in a hardware device, it may also be implemented as a software only solution, e.g., an installation on an existing server or mobile device.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the foregoing description of embodiments of the present disclosure, various features are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various embodiments. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed subject matter requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, claim subject matter lie in less than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment.

In some embodiments, the numbers expressing quantities, properties, and so forth, used to describe and claim certain embodiments of the application are to be understood as being modified in some instances by the term “about, ” “approximate, ” or “substantially. ” For example, “about, ” “approximate” or “substantially” may indicate ±20%variation of the value it describes, unless otherwise stated. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the numerical parameters set forth in the written description and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained by a particular embodiment. In some embodiments, the numerical parameters should be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. Notwithstanding that the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of some embodiments of the application are approximations, the numerical values set forth in the specific examples are reported as precisely as practicable.

Each of the patents, patent applications, publications of patent applications, and other material, such as articles, books, specifications, publications, documents, things, and/or the like, referenced herein is hereby incorporated herein by this reference in its entirety for all purposes, excepting any prosecution file history associated with same, any of same that is inconsistent with or in conflict with the present document, or any of same that may have a limiting affect as to the broadest scope of the claims now or later associated with the present document. By way of example, should there be any inconsistency or conflict between the description, definition, and/or the use of a term associated with any of the incorporated material and that associated with the present document, the description, definition, and/or the use of the term in the present document shall prevail.

In closing, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the application disclosed herein are illustrative of the principles of the embodiments of the application. Other modifications that may be employed may be within the scope of the application. Thus, by way of example, but not of limitation, alternative configurations of the embodiments of the application may be utilized in accordance with the teachings herein. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to that precisely as shown and described.

Claims

A method for providing a status reminder of a charging pole through an electronic server, the charging pole is in use by a vehicle of a first user, the method comprising:

establishing communication between the charging pole and a terminal of a second user and receiving a request from the second user to use the charging pole;

determining the status of the charging pole; and

establishing communication between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user using a virtual communication number of the first or the third user based on the status of the charging pole,

wherein the third user has a reservation on the charging pole.
The method of claim 1, wherein the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user and the communication between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user is established by:

obtaining a virtual communication number that corresponds to an actual communication number associated with the first user;

sending the virtual communication number of the first user to the terminal of the second user;

upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the first user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the first user based on the virtual communication number of the first user to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user.
The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user and the method further comprising generating and sending a first user reminder to the terminal of the first user and optionally generating and sending a second user reminder to the terminal of the second user.
The method of claim 3, further comprising,

determining the charging completion time of the first user;

determining the time lap between the charging completion time of the first user and the current time;

determining a reminder frequency based on the length of the time lap; and

sending the first user reminder at the reminder frequency.
The method of any one of claims 1-4, further comprising:

receiving reminder instructions from the terminal of the first user, the reminder instructions comprising charging target and corresponding charging target reminder; and

upon detecting the charging target is met, deploying the charging target reminder to the terminal of the first user,

wherein the charging target reminder is an alarm or a reminder phone call to the actual communication number of the first user.
The method of any one of claims 1-5, if it is determined that charging is not complete, the method further comprising:

obtaining the remaining length of time to complete the charge and

sending a reminder about the remaining length of time to the terminal of the second user.
The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user, the method further comprising:

If the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is less than a threshold value, obtaining an actual communication number of the third user and a virtual communication number corresponding to the actual communication number of the third user;

sending the virtual number of the third user to the terminal of the second user;

upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the third user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the third user based on the virtual communication number of the third user; and

establishing communication between the terminal of the third user and the terminal of the second user.
The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user, the method further comprising:

If the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is more than a threshold value, sending a message to the terminal of the second user to indicate the charging pole is available without establishing communications between the third user and the second user and optionally sending a reminder to the terminal of the third user to indicate the reservation of the charging pole by the third user has expired.
The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein the communication channel between the second user and the first user or the third user is established by using an actual communication number of the second user and the method further comprising obtaining a virtual communication number of the second user that corresponds to the actual communication number of the second user and displaying the virtual communication number of the second user on the terminal of the first user or the third user once the communication is established.
An electronic device, comprising: a processor, a storage medium, and a bus, wherein the storage medium stores machine-readable instructions executable by the processor, and when the electronic device is running, the processor and the storage medium communicates via the bus, and the processor executes the machine-readable instructions to perform the steps of providing the status reminder of a charging pole method according to any one of claims 1 to 9.
A system for status reminder of a charging pole that is in use by a vehicle of a first user, the system comprising,

a receiving module for establishing communication between the charging pole and a terminal of a second user and receiving a request from the second user to use the charging pole;

a determination module for determining the status of the charging pole; and

an establishing module for establishing communication between a terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user or the terminal of the second user and a terminal of a third user using a virtual communication number of the first or the third user based on the status of the charging pole,

wherein the third user has a reservation on the charging pole.
The system of claim 11, wherein when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user by the determination module, the establishing module is configured to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user by:

obtaining a virtual communication number that corresponds to an actual communication number associated with the first user;

sending the virtual communication number of the first user to the terminal of the second user; and

upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the first user, retrieving the actual communication number associated with the first user based on the virtual communication number of the first user to establish a communication channel between the terminal of the first user and the terminal of the second user.
The system of claim 11 or 12, wherein when the status of the charging pole is determined to be having completed charging the vehicle of the first user while still connected to the vehicle of the first user by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to generate and send a first user reminder to the terminal of the first user and optionally to generate and send a second user reminder to the terminal of the second user.
The system of claim 13, the determination module is further configured to,

determine the charging completion time of the first user;

determine the time lap between the charging completion time of the first user and the current time;

determine a reminder frequency based on the length of the time lap; and

send the first user reminder at the reminder frequency.
The system of claims 11-14, the receiving module is further configured to:

receive reminder instructions from the terminal of the first user, the reminder instructions comprising charging target and corresponding charging target reminder; and

upon detecting the charging target is met by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to deploy the charging target reminder to the terminal of the first user,

wherein the charging target reminder is an alarm or a reminder phone call to the actual communication number of the first user.
The system of claims 11-15, if it is determined that charging is not complete by the determination module, the determination module is further configured to obtain the remaining length of time to complete the charge and the establishing module is further configured to send a reminder about the remaining length of time to the terminal of the second user.
The system of claims 11-16, wherein when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user by the determination module, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is less than a threshold value as determined by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to

obtain an actual communication number of the third user and a virtual communication number corresponding to the actual communication number of the third user;

send the virtual number of the third user to the terminal of the second user;

upon receiving a communication request from the terminal of the second user using the virtual communication number of the third user, retrieve the actual communication number associated with the third user based on the virtual communication number of the third user; and

establish a communication channel between the terminal of the third user and the terminal of the second user.
The system of claims 11-16, wherein when the status of the charging pole is determined to be the first user has completed charging, left the charging pole, moved outside of a charging area that corresponds to the charging pole, and having a reservation by the third user by the determination module, if the start time of the reservation has passed the current time and the difference between the start time of the reservation and the current time is more than a threshold value as determined by the determination module, the establishing module is further configured to send a message to the terminal of the second user to indicate the charging pole is available without establishing communications between the third user and the second user and optionally send a reminder to the terminal of the third user to indicate the reservation of the charging pole by the third user has expired.
The system of any one of claims 11-18, wherein the establishing module is configured to establish a communication channel between the second user and the first user or the third user by using an actual communication number of the second user and the establishing module is further configured to obtain a virtual communication number of the second user that corresponds to the actual communication number of the second user and display the virtual communication number of the second user on the terminal of the first user or the third user once the communication is established.
A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing a set of instructions and a processor configured to execute the set of stored instructions to run a system of any one of claims 11-19.