FARE COLLECTION USING WIRELESS BEACONS

• US 20150120558A1
• Filed: 10/29/2014
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Inventors: Mistry, Pradip, Andrews, David, Monk, Paul
• Granted Patent: US 9,317,976 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/44
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/40 Authorisation, e.g. identification of payer or payee, verification of customer or shop credentials; Review and approval of payers, e.g. check credit lines or negative lists
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/00 Arrangements or apparatus for collecting fares, tolls or entrance fees at one or more control points handling coins or valuable papers, e.g. banknotes, G07D; apparatus for vending or hiring articles or services activated by coins, credit cards, paper currency or the like G07F7/00, G07F17/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00373 whereby the wake-up circuit is situated in the lock
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00769 with data transmission performed by wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00571 operated by interacting with a central unit

Abstract

Systems and techniques are presented for processing a user through a paid entry gate using a mobile device. The mobile device receives a beacon packet from a first wireless beacon and wakes up an application. The application wakes up by transitioning to an active or background execution state. The application transmits validation data to a computer server system and the computer server system validates an account of the user. The mobile device receives a beacon packet including a gate identifier that is a unique identification of the paid entry gate from a second wireless beacon and transmits the gate identifier to the computer server system. The computer server system receives the gate identifier, debits the account of the user, and transmits a signal to a gate entry device associated with the gate identifier to grant the user passage through the paid entry gate.

Claims

1. A system for processing a user through a paid entry gate using a mobile device, the system comprising:

a first wireless beacon configured to wirelessly transmit a first beacon packet in a first area;

a second wireless beacon configured to wirelessly transmit a second beacon packet in a second area that is closer to the paid entry gate than the first area, the second beacon packet including a gate identifier that is a unique identification of the paid entry gate;

an application executed by the mobile device, the application being configured to;

wake up in response to the mobile device receiving the first beacon packet from the first wireless beacon, wherein the application wakes up by transitioning to an active or background execution state,

transmit validation data to a computer server system after waking up,

receive the second beacon packet including the gate identifier from the second wireless beacon, and

transmit the gate identifier to the computer server system; and

the computer server system being configured to;

receive the validation data,

validate an account of the user,

receive the gate identifier,

debit the account of the user, and

transmit a signal to a gate entry device associated with the gate identifier to grant the user passage through the paid entry gate.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

the gate entry device being configured to activate a green colored light source in response to receiving the signal from the computer server system.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the gate entry device includes an infrared sensor, the gate entry device being further configured to:

sense a second user passing through the paid entry gate,

determine that a second signal has not been received from the computer server system, and

activate at least one of a red colored light source and a speaker that generates an alarm in response to determining that the second signal has not been received.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the first wireless beacon and the second wireless beacon are Bluetooth low energy beacons.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the application is further configured to:

query the user to authorize a transaction after waking up, and

receive user input in response to the query,

wherein the application transmits the validation data to the computer server system based on the user input.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the first wireless beacon is configured to transmit at a greater transmission power level than the second wireless beacon.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the second wireless beacon is configured to transmit the second beacon packet in a limited direction.

8. A method for processing a user through a paid entry gate using a mobile device, the method comprising:

transmitting a first beacon packet from a first wireless beacon to the mobile device in a first area;

validating an account of the user after transmitting the first beacon packet;

transmitting a second beacon packet from a second wireless beacon to the mobile device in a second area that is closer to the paid entry gate than the first area; and

conducting a transaction after transmitting the second beacon packet, the transaction including debiting the account of the user and granting passage through the paid entry gate.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein validating the account of the user includes transmitting an authorization request to a payment processor.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein validating the account of the user includes checking a balance of the account.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the first beacon packet is encrypted.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the first beacon packet is encrypted using a public key encryption.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the first beacon packet includes a message authentication code.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the first beacon packet includes a time of day and a date.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed cause a computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

receiving a first beacon packet from a first wireless beacon;

validating an account of a user in response to receiving the first beacon packet;

receiving a second beacon packet from a second wireless beacon;

debiting the account of the user in response to receiving the second beacon packet; and

transmitting a signal wirelessly to a gate entry device that causes the gate entry device to grant passage through a paid entry gate.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

displaying a coupon to the user.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

receiving user input that includes account information for the account.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

displaying a plurality of accounts that are stored on a mobile device; and

receiving user selection of the account from the plurality of accounts.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, having further instructions stored therein, which when executed cause the computer to perform a set of operations comprising:

querying the user to authorize a transaction; and

receiving biometric data from the user in response to the query;

authorizing the transaction based on the biometric data.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the signal is transmitted to the gate entry device via a Bluetooth protocol.