MULTI-LANE FREE FLOW ELECTRONIC TOLL COLLECTION SYSTEM AND ON BOARD UNIT THEREOF

• US 20120059689A1
• Filed: 10/14/2010
• Published: 03/08/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Original Assignee: Industrial Technology Research Institute
• Inventors: Kang, Po-Chun, Juan, Ta-Yang, Su, Tzu-Hsiang
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,390 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/02 taking into account a variable factor such as distance or time, e.g. for passenger transport, parking systems or car rental systems G07B15/06 takes precedence; taximeters G07B13/00; parking meters per se G07F17/24; car rental systems per se G07B15/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G

Abstract

An electronic toll collection (ETC) system and an on board unit (OBU) thereof are provided. The ETC system includes a toll collection module and an identification module. The toll collection module provides a pre-pay service and a post-pay service such that the OBU on a vehicle can make a toll payment in response to one of the pre-pay service and the post-pay service. The identification module captures an image of the vehicle and provides an identification service to the OBU to obtain an identification information of the vehicle.

Claims

1. An electronic toll collection (ETC) system, comprising:

a toll collection module, for providing a pre-pay service and a post-pay service, wherein an on board unit (OBU) on a vehicle makes a toll payment in response to one of the pre-pay service and the post-pay service; and

an identification module, for capturing an image of the vehicle and providing an identification service to the OBU to obtain an identification information of the vehicle.

2. The ETC system according to claim 1 further comprising:

a law enforcement module, for receiving and linking the image and the identification information of the vehicle and recording a linkage data when the identification module obtains the identification information of the vehicle, and for receiving and recording the image of the vehicle as a law enforcement evidence when the identification module does not obtain the identification information of the vehicle.

3. The ETC system according to claim 2 further comprising:

a central control module, for guiding behaviours of the toll collection module, the identification module, and the law enforcement module.

4. The ETC system according to claim 3, wherein

the toll collection module further provides the pre-pay service and the post-pay service within a first communication range;

and

the identification module further captures the image of the vehicle and provides the identification service to the OBU within a second communication range.

5. The ETC system according to claim 4, wherein

the first communication range comprises a pre-pay communication range and a post-pay communication range;

and

the second communication range comprises a plurality of identification communication ranges, and the identification communication ranges are corresponding to a plurality of isometric lanes,

wherein the pre-pay communication range covers the identification communication ranges.

6. The ETC system according to claim 5, wherein when the vehicle enters the pre-pay communication range, the central control module controls the toll collection module to provide the pre-pay service to the OBU in a control channel specified by a specific communication protocol according to the specific communication protocol, so that the OBU executes an intermittent pay procedure in a pay service channel among a plurality of service channels specified by the specific communication protocol in response to the pre-pay service.

7. The ETC system according to claim 6, wherein a frequency of the control channel is different from frequencies of the service channels.

8. The ETC system according to claim 7, wherein when the vehicle enters one of the identification communication ranges, the central control module controls the identification module to capture the image of the vehicle, and the central control module further controls the identification module to provide the identification service to the OBU in the control channel according to the specific communication protocol, so that the OBU sends the identification information of the vehicle to the identification module in one of a plurality of identification service channels among the service channels in response to the identification service.

9. The ETC system according to claim 8, wherein when the vehicle enters an overlap area of the pre-pay communication range and the identification communication ranges, a priority of the identification service provided by the identification module in the control channel is higher than a priority of the pre-pay service provided by the toll collection module in the control channel, and when the OBU receives the identification service provided by the identification module within the overlap area, the OBU instantly sends the identification information of the vehicle to the identification module in the corresponding identification service channel in response to the identification service.

10. The ETC system according to claim 8, wherein different OBUs at adjacent lanes respectively send identification information of different vehicles to the identification module in different ones of the identification service channels in response to the identification service provided by the identification module.

11. The ETC system according to claim 8, wherein when the intermittent pay procedure executed by the OBU within the pre-pay communication range succeeds, the toll payment is completed.

12. The ETC system according to claim 8, wherein when the intermittent pay procedure executed by the OBU within the pre-pay communication range fails and the vehicle enters the post-pay communication range from the identification communication ranges, the central control module controls the toll collection module to provide the post-pay service to the OBU in the control channel according to the specific communication protocol, so that the OBU executes an extended pay procedure in the pay service channel in response to the post-pay service to make the toll payment.

13. The ETC system according to claim 8, wherein when the identification module captures the image of the vehicle and obtains the identification information of the vehicle, the central control module controls the law enforcement module to receive and link the image and the identification information of the vehicle and record the linkage data, and when the identification module does not obtain the identification information of the vehicle, the central control module controls the law enforcement module to receive and record the image of the vehicle as a law enforcement evidence.

14. The ETC system according to claim 6, wherein the specific communication protocol at least comprises an IEEE 1609 communication protocol or a multi-channel network protocol.

15. An OBU, installed on a vehicle, the OBU being configured for:

determining whether a pre-pay service is received within a pre-pay communication range;

when the pre-pay service is received within the pre-pay communication range, executing an intermittent pay procedure, and determining whether an identification service is received;

when the identification service is received, instantly and continuously sending an identification information of the vehicle for a predetermined time, and when the identification service is not received, continuously executing the intermittent pay procedure until the vehicle exits the pre-pay communication range;

after sending the identification information of the vehicle, determining whether the intermittent pay procedure succeeds;

when the intermittent pay procedure succeeds, determining that a toll payment is completed, and when the intermittent pay procedure fails, determining whether a post-pay service is received within a post-pay communication range; and

when the post-pay service is received within the post-pay communication range, executing an extended pay procedure to make the toll payment, and when the post-pay service is not received within the post-pay communication range, continuously determining whether the post-pay service is received until the vehicle exits the post-pay communication range.

16. The OBU according to claim 15, wherein a priority of the OBU sending the identification information of the vehicle in response to the identification service is higher than a priority of the OBU executing the intermittent pay procedure in response to the pre-pay service.

17. The OBU according to claim 15, wherein

the OBU receives the pre-pay service, the identification service, and the post-pay service in a control channel specified by a specific communication protocol;

the OBU executes the intermittent pay procedure and the extended pay procedure in a pay service channel among a plurality of service channels specified by the specific communication protocol; and

the OBU sends the identification information of the vehicle in one of a plurality of identification service channels among the service channels.

18. The OBU according to claim 17, wherein a frequency of the control channel is different from frequencies of the service channels.

19. The OBU according to claim 18, wherein different OBUs at adjacent lanes respectively send identification information of different vehicles in different ones of the identification service channels in response to the identification service provided by the identification module.

20. The OBU according to claim 17, wherein the specific communication protocol at least comprises an IEEE 1609 communication protocol or a multi-channel network protocol.