Automated toll payments using vehicle and toll route tracking

• US 10,204,459 B1
• Filed: 09/18/2017
• Issued: 02/12/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Martin, Angela L., Suri, Atul, Shrader, Gregory Robert, Darivemula, Mourya C.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trieu, Van T
• Application Number:
  US15/707,020
• Time in Patent Office: 512 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/01 Detecting movement of traffic to be counted or controlled G08G1/07 - G08G1/14 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096783 where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element

Abstract

A network device receives a vehicle coordinate report from a vehicle transiting a toll-way, wherein the report includes current geographic coordinates of the vehicle. The network device determines a distance to a current toll station (DTT) of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, and determines a cumulative distance (CD) traveled by the vehicle on the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle. The network device triggers assessment of a toll charge to a customer associated with the vehicle based on the determined distance DTT and the determined cumulative distance CD.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a network device, a vehicle coordinate report from a vehicle transiting a toll-way, wherein the report includes current geographic coordinates of the vehicle;

determining, by the network device, a location of a previous toll station of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the previous toll station is a toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has most recently passed;

determining, by the network device, a distance to a current toll station (DTT) of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the current toll station is a next toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has not yet passed;

determining, by the network device, a cumulative distance traveled by the vehicle on the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the cumulative distance is a distance between the previous toll station and the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle;

determining, by the network device, a distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station;

determining, by the network device, whether the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance;

triggering, by the network device, assessment of a first toll charge to a customer associated with the vehicle when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance, wherein the first toll charge is based on the previous toll; and

triggering, by the network device, assessment of a second toll charge to the customer associated with the vehicle based on the determined DTT and the cumulative distance when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is not less than the cumulative distance, wherein the second toll charge is based on the current toll station.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the determined DTT to a proximity value,

wherein triggering the assessment of the second toll charge is based on the comparison.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle as a coordinate match with the current toll station based on the comparison.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates obtained by a device associated with the vehicle and transmitted to the network device via wireless mechanisms.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

obtaining geographic coordinates of the current toll station of the toll-way; and

obtaining geographic coordinates of the previous toll station of the toll-way.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₂, VehLon₂), wherein the current toll station of the toll-way has geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂), and wherein the DTT is determined by applying a Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the current toll station geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂).

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving, by the network device, a previous vehicle coordinate report from the vehicle transiting the toll-way, wherein the previous report includes the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle,

wherein the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₁, VehLon₁), and wherein the cumulative distance is determined by applying the Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the previous geographic coordinates (VehLat₁, VehLon₁) of the vehicle.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting the current toll station as the previous toll station in response to triggering assessment of the second toll.

9. A network device, comprising:

a wireless communication interface connected to a wireless network and configured to receive a vehicle coordinate report from a vehicle transiting a toll-way, wherein the vehicle coordinate report includes current geographic coordinates of the vehicle; and

a processor configured to;

determine a location of a previous toll station of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the previous toll station is a toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has most recently passed;

determine a distance to a current toll station (DTT) of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the current toll station is a next toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has not yet passed,

determine a cumulative distance traveled by the vehicle on the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the cumulative distance is a distance between the previous toll station and the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle,

determine a distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station,

determine whether the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance,

trigger assessment of a first toll charge to a customer associated with the vehicle when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance, wherein the first toll charge is based on the previous toll, and

trigger assessment of a second toll charge to the customer associated with the vehicle based on the determined DTT and the cumulative distance when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is not less than the cumulative distance, wherein the second toll charge is based on the current toll station.

10. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

compare the determined DTT to a proximity value,

wherein triggering the assessment of the second toll charge is based on the comparison.

11. The network device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle as a coordinate match with the current toll station based on the comparison.

12. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to:

obtain geographic coordinates of the current toll station of the toll-way; and

obtain geographic coordinates of a previous toll station of the toll-way.

13. The network device of claim 9, wherein the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₂, VehLon₂), wherein the current toll station of the toll-way has geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂), and wherein the DTT is determined by applying a Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the current toll station geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂), and wherein the communication interface is further configured to receive a previous vehicle coordinate report from the vehicle transiting the toll-way, wherein the previous report includes the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₁, VehLon₁), and wherein the cumulative distance is determined by applying the Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the previous geographic coordinates (VehLat₁, VehLon₁) of the vehicle.

14. The network device of claim 9, wherein the processor is further configured to set the current toll station as the previous toll station in response to triggering assessment of the second toll.

15. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions executable by a device, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the device to:

receive a vehicle coordinate report from a vehicle transiting a toll-way, wherein the report includes current geographic coordinates of the vehicle;

determine a location of a previous toll station of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the previous toll station is a toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has most recently passed;

determine a distance to a current toll station (DTT) of the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the current toll station is a next toll station on the toll-way that the vehicle has not yet passed;

determine a cumulative distance traveled by the vehicle on the toll-way based on the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle, wherein the cumulative distance is a distance between the previous toll station and the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle;

determine a distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station;

determine whether the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance;

trigger assessment of a first toll charge to a customer associated with the vehicle when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is less than the cumulative distance, wherein the first toll charge is based on the previous toll; and

trigger assessment of a second toll charge to a customer associated with the vehicle based on the determined DTT and the cumulative distance when the distance between the previous toll station and the current toll station is not less than the cumulative distance, wherein the second toll charge is based on the current toll station.

16. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the device to:

compare the determined DTT to a proximity value,

wherein triggering the assessment of the second toll charge is based on the comparison.

17. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the device to:

identify the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle as a coordinate match with the current toll station based on the comparison.

18. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, wherein the current geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₂, VehLon₂), wherein the current toll station of the toll-way has geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂), and wherein the DTT is determined by applying a Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the current toll station geographic coordinates (Lat₂, Lon₂).

19. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 18, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the device to:

receive a previous vehicle coordinate report from the vehicle transiting the toll-way, wherein the previous report includes the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle,

wherein the previous geographic coordinates of the vehicle comprise (VehLat₁, VehLon₁), and wherein the cumulative distance is determined by applying the Haversine Formula to the current geographic coordinates (VehLat₂, VehLon₂) and the previous geographic coordinates (VehLat₁, VehLon₁) of the vehicle.

20. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions comprise instructions to cause the device to set the current toll station as the previous toll station in response to triggering assessment of the second toll.