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US 12,749,063 B2Granted
Sensor device and system for communicating information
AssigneeAmerican Traffic Solutions Consolidated, L.L.C.
InventorsDavid Centner, Pinku Kurian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sensor device for conducting electronic transactions from a vehicle including a housing including an RFID circuit operably connected to an RFID antenna, a short range communication device, the RFID circuit and short range communication device operably connected to a processor, and a power supply. The sensor device is wirelessly connectable to a mobile communication device via the Bluetooth chip and the mobile communication device runs a software application. The RFID antenna is adapted to receive a wireless signal from a transmitter. Responsive to the wireless signal, the processor causes the short range communication device to wirelessly communicate with the mobile communication device to initiate a transaction.
Claims20
A method for assessing charges associated with vehicle use, the method comprising:
- receiving, at a mobile computing device within a vehicle via a software application, a configuration from a remote server for a set of geofences in proximity to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the set of geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences,
- wherein the mobile computing device is battery powered and comprises location service circuitry configured to determine a geographic location by polling an external positioning system;
- determining a geographic location of the mobile computing device by polling the external positioning system using the location service circuitry of the mobile computing device;
- tracking, via a processor of the mobile computing device, changes in a set of determined geographic locations over a period of time;
- detecting a motion state of the mobile computing device based on the tracked changes in geographic locations, wherein the motion state comprises at least a stationary state and a moving state;
- automatically adjusting, via the processor of the mobile computing device, a polling rate of the location service circuitry based on the detected motion state, such that the polling frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is in the stationary state and more frequent as the mobile computing device is in the moving state, thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion;
- enhancing, via the processor of the mobile computing device, the geologic location determined using the location service circuitry to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
- determining, via the software application, a path taken by the mobile computing device by plotting a series of lane-level geographic locations of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences within the set of geofences;
- sending path information to the remote server in response to determining the path;
- receiving, from the remote server, toll information based on the path information;
- displaying the toll information on a display coupled to the mobile computing device and a payment feature;
- and
- receiving, via the software application, an authorization input from the user via the payment feature to initiate a transaction based on the toll information.
10 more elements
A mobile computing device comprising:
- a processor;
- a battery;
- a location detection circuitry;
- and
- a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the mobile computing device to:
- receive, at a mobile computing device within a vehicle via a software application, a configuration from a remote server for a set of geofences in proximity to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the set of geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences;
- determine a geographic location of the mobile computing device by polling an external positioning system using a location service circuitry of the mobile computing device;
- track, via a processor of the mobile computing device, changes in a set of previously determined geographic locations over a period of time;
- detect a motion state of the mobile computing device based on the tracked changes in geographic locations, wherein the motion state comprises at least a stationary state and a moving state;
- automatically adjust via the processor of the mobile computing device, a polling rate of the location service circuitry based on the detected motion state, such that the polling frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is in the stationary state and more frequent as the mobile computing device is in the moving state, thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion;
- enhance, via the processor, the geologic location determined using the location service circuitry to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
- determine, via the software application, a path taken by the mobile computing device by plotting a series of lane-level geographic location of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences within the set of geofences;
- send path information to the remote server in response to determining the path;
- receive, from the remote server, toll information based on the path information;
- display the toll information on a display coupled to the mobile computing device and a payment feature;
- and
- receiving, via the software application, an authorization input from the user via the payment feature to initiate a transaction based on the toll information.
14 more elements
A method for operating a remote server for assessing charges associated with vehicle use, the method comprising:
- receiving, from a mobile computing device that is battery powered, a current geographical location, wherein a frequency of updates for the current geographical location is based on speed of the mobile computing device such that the frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is not moving and more frequent as the mobile computing device accelerates thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion,
- wherein the current geographical location is enhanced to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the current geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
- maintaining an active list of nearest geofences to the current geographical location by:
- generating a KD tree based on coordinates of a set of geofences by linking each of the set of geofences based on latitude and longitude;
- and
- identifying which geofences of the set of geofences are nearest the current geographical location using the KD tree;
- and
- sending a configuration for the active list of nearest geofences to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the active list of nearest geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences;
- receiving path information from the mobile computing device, the path information comprising information regarding a series of geographic locations of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences from the active list of nearest geofences;
- sending, to the mobile computing device, toll information based on the path information;
- and
- receiving a transaction initiation from the mobile computing device in response to the mobile computing device receiving an authorization input from the user received via the software application on the mobile computing device.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.