APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING TRIP INFORMATION

• US 20140289026A1
• Filed: 10/29/2012
• Published: 09/25/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/11/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Siemens AG
• Original Assignee: Siemens AG
• Inventors: Neumann, Peter
• Application Number:
  US14/356,951
• Publication Number:
  US 20140289026A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 2205/09 for tracking people
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0284 Relative positioning
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0295 Proximity-based methods, e.g. position inferred from reception of particular signals
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• 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

Abstract

A device determines trip information related to a route travelled by a passenger. In order to provide a solution for automatically verifying trip information and for enhancing passenger comfort when using public transportation, the device includes a receiver that can be carried by the passenger and receives a signal generated by a ground-based local transmitter, and a processor for determining at least one bit of trip information by signal evaluation in which at least one signal characteristic of a received signal is evaluated.

Claims

1-9. -9. (canceled)

10. An apparatus for determining trip information based on a route traveled by a passenger, the apparatus comprising:

a receiving unit carried by the passenger and for receiving a signal generated by a ground-based, location-based transmitting unit; and

a computing unit for determining at least one item of trip information using signal evaluation during which at least one signal property of a received signal is evaluated, the at least one signal property being an item of network identification information relating to a ground-based local area network, and, if a plurality of ground-based local area networks are detected at a same time, said computing unit evaluating a temporal sequence of a signal amplitude as a further signal property in order to determine the trip information.

11. The apparatus according to claim 10, further comprising a unit carried by the passenger and containing said at least the receiving unit and said computing unit.

12. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein if the ground-based, location-based transmitting unit is assigned to a station, said computing unit uses the signal evaluation to determine the item of trip information with respect to a stay of the passenger in the station.

13. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein if the ground-based, location-based transmitting unit is arranged in a vehicle, said computing unit uses the signal evaluation to determine the item of trip information with respect to a stay of the passenger in the vehicle.

14. The apparatus according to claim 11, further comprising an evaluation unit which uses the trip information relating to the route traveled to determine trip costs.

15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said unit transmits the trip information to said evaluation unit by establishing a wireless data connection to said evaluation unit.

16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said evaluation unit is intended to take into account time information associated with the trip information.

17. A method for determining trip information based on a route traveled by a passenger, which comprises the steps of:

receiving a signal generated by a ground-based, location-based transmitting unit via a receiving unit being carried by the passenger;

evaluating at least one signal property of the signal during signal evaluation; and

determining at least one item of trip information using the signal evaluation, the at least signal property is an item of network identification information relating to a ground-based local area network, and in that, if a plurality of networks are detected at a same time, evaluating a temporal sequence of a signal amplitude as a further signal property in order to determine the trip information.

18. The method according to claim 17, which further comprises determining trip costs using the trip information relating to the route traveled.