MONITORING SPEED OF A VEHICLE USING A MOBILE NETWORK

• US 20110059754A1
• Filed: 09/09/2009
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Piece Future Pte., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Alcatel-Lucent SA (Nokia Corporation)
• Inventors: Wang, Shengqiang, Sharma, Ranjan, Cai, Yigang
• Granted Patent: US 8,515,457 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 64/006 with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that monitor the speed that a mobile device is traveling, such as when the user of the mobile device is driving or riding in a vehicle. A speed monitoring system described herein receives a request from a third party to monitor a speed of a mobile device. The system periodically queries a mobile network for a location of the mobile device over a time period, and receives responses from the mobile network indicating locations of the mobile device. The system then determines a speed of the mobile device based on the locations indicated during the time period, and may determine the speed limit the roadway the mobile device is traveling on. The system then sends a notification message to the third party that includes an indication of the speed of the mobile device and possibly the speed limit.

Claims

1. A speed monitoring system comprising:

a network interface operable to receive a request from a third party to monitor a speed of a mobile device; and

a control system operable to periodically query a mobile network through the network interface for a location of the mobile device over a time period, to receive responses from the mobile network through the network interface indicating locations of the mobile device during the time period, to determine a speed of the mobile device based on the locations indicated during the time period, and to send a notification message to the third party that includes an indication of the speed of the mobile device.

2. The speed monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is further operable to determine a distance travelled between two of the locations, to determine a time interval for travelling between the two locations, and to determine the speed of the mobile device based on the distance and the time interval.

3. The speed monitoring system of claim 2 wherein:

the control system is further operable to query a map database to determine the distance travelled between the two locations.

4. The speed monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is further operable to query a map database to determine a speed limit corresponding with one of the locations of the mobile device, to determine whether the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by a threshold, and to include an indication in the notification message that the mobile device is exceeding the speed limit.

5. The speed monitoring system of claim 4 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send the notification message to the third party responsive to a determination that the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by the threshold.

6. The speed monitoring system of claim 4 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send a warning message to the mobile device through the network interface indicating that the mobile device is exceeding the speed limit.

7. The speed monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send the notification message to the third party in a Short Message Service (SMS) message.

8. The speed monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send the notification message to the third party in an email message.

9. The speed monitoring system of claim 1 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send the notification message to the third party in an Instant Message (IM).

10. A method comprising:

receiving a request from a third party to monitor a speed of a mobile device;

periodically querying a mobile network for a location of the mobile device over a time period;

receiving responses from the mobile network indicating locations of the mobile device during the time period;

determining a speed of the mobile device based on the locations indicated during the time period; and

sending a notification message to the third party that includes an indication of the speed of the mobile device.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein determining a speed of the mobile device comprises:

determining a distance travelled between two of the locations;

determining a time interval for travelling between the two locations; and

determining the speed of the mobile device based on the distance and the time interval.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein determining a distance travelled between two of the locations comprises:

querying a map database to determine the distance travelled between the two locations.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

querying a map database to determine a speed limit corresponding with one of the locations of the mobile device;

determining whether the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by a threshold; and

including an indication in the notification message that the mobile device is exceeding the speed limit.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein sending a notification message to the third party comprises:

sending the notification message to the third party responsive to a determination that the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by the threshold.

15. The method of claim 13 further comprising:

sending a warning message to the mobile device indicating that the mobile device is exceeding the speed limit.

16. The method of claim 10 wherein sending a notification message to the third party comprises:

sending the notification message to the third party in a Short Message Service (SMS) message.

17. The method of claim 10 wherein sending a notification message to the third party comprises:

sending the notification message to the third party in an email message.

18. The method of claim 10 wherein sending a notification message to the third party comprises:

sending the notification message to the third party in an Instant Message (IM).

19. A speed monitoring system comprising:

a network interface operable to receive a Short Message Service (SMS) message from a third party over a mobile network, wherein the SMS message requests to monitor a speed of a mobile device; and

a control system operable to periodically query a location server in the mobile network through the network interface for a location of the mobile device over a time period, to receive responses from the location server through the network interface indicating locations of the mobile device during the time period, to determine a speed of the mobile device based on the locations indicated during the time period, to determine a speed limit corresponding with one of the locations of the mobile device, to determine whether the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by a threshold, and to send a notification message to the third party responsive to a determination that the speed of the mobile device exceeds the speed limit by the threshold.

20. The speed monitoring system of claim 19 wherein:

the control system is further operable to send the notification message to the third party in an SMS message.