System and method to associate geographical position data collected from a vehicle with a specific route

A system for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising:

• (a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;
• (b) a data link for conveying data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle;
• and
• (c) a processor, coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including:
• (i) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle that are received via the data link to determine which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled using at least one of the following techniques:
• (A) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle includes a route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier;
• and
• (B) automatically determining if the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle comprises vehicle geographical position data, and if so, comparing the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of route fingerprints, each route fingerprint corresponding to one of the plurality of predefined routes, to determine which one of the route fingerprints corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and its corresponding route fingerprint.

A method for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:

• (a) providing data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle, after the vehicle has completed one of the plurality of predefined routes;
• (b) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine if the data collected includes a route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier, storing the predefined route for later retrieval or display to a user;
• and
• (c) where the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle does not comprise a route identifier that specifies the route the vehicle has traversed, automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to:
• (i) identify vehicle geographical position data from the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle;
• (ii) compare the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of different route fingerprints, where each different route fingerprint comprises geographical position data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of predefined routes;
• and
• (iii) determine which route fingerprint corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traversed based on the vehicle geographical position data and the route fingerprint, and storing the predefined route that was identified for later retrieval or display to a user.

A system for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled, comprising:

• (a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;
• (b) a data link for conveying data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle;
• and
• (c) a processor, coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including:
• (i) automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to determine if the data collected includes a route identifier that specifies which one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the route identifier;
• and
• (ii) where the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle does not include a route identifier that specifies the route the vehicle has traveled, automatically analyzing the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle to:
• (A) retrieve vehicle geographical position data from the data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle;
• (B) compare the vehicle geographical position data with a plurality of different route fingerprints, where each different route fingerprint comprises geographical position data corresponding to a specific one of the plurality of predefined routes;
• and
• (C) determine which route fingerprint corresponds to the vehicle geographical position data retrieved, thereby identifying the specific one of the plurality of predefined routes the vehicle has traveled based on the vehicle geographical position data and the route fingerprint.

A method of determining what route a vehicle has traveled, comprising the steps of:

• (a) using geographical position data to define a plurality of predefined vehicular routes;
• (b) collecting geographical position data from the vehicle;
• and
• (c) automatically analyzing the geographical position data collected from the vehicle to identify which one of the predefined vehicular routes most closely corresponds to the geographical position data collected from the vehicle, thereby identifying which one of the predefined vehicular routes the vehicle traveled, and storing the predefined route that was identified for later retrieval or displayed to a user.

A system for automatically determining which one of a plurality of predefined routes a vehicle has traveled by analyzing data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle, comprising:

• (a) a memory in which a plurality of machine instructions are stored;
• (b) a data link for conveying data collected in conjunction with operation of the vehicle;
• and
• (c) a processor, coupled to the memory and to the data link, said processor executing the machine instructions to carry out a plurality of functions, including automatically analyzing the geographical position data collected from the vehicle to identify which one of the predefined vehicular routes most closely corresponds to the geographical position data collected from the vehicle, thereby identifying which one of the predefined vehicular routes the vehicle traveled.