CONNECTED TOLL PASS

• US 20150134428A1
• Filed: 11/13/2013
• Published: 05/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cellco Partnership, Inc. (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: LI, Yuk Lun, CACERES, Manuel Enrique, DIAL, Gregory
• Granted Patent: US 10,078,831 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/13
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/326 Payment applications installed on the mobile devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/327 Short range or proximity payments by means of M-devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3278 RFID or NFC payments by means of M-devices
• 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: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Examples are disclosed that facilitate provisioning of a toll system communication device used in an electronic toll collection system, such as EZ Pass. The toll system communication device (e.g., an EZ Pass tag) can have user credentials provided to it that are associated with a user payment account. As a user travels a toll road, the toll system communication device is interrogated at a toll booth location. In response to the interrogation, the toll system communication device provides information identifying the toll system communication device and associated user credentials. The user credentials may be obtained from or authenticated with a mobile device within close proximity to the vehicle equipped with the toll system communication device. Using the user credentials and the identifying information, a user payment account may be provisioned to pay tolls accrued by the vehicle using the toll road.

Claims

1. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one user interface element;

a wireless communication transceiver;

a short range transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the at least one user interface element, the wireless communication transceiver and the short range transceiver;

wherein the processor is configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including functions to;

receive user credentials that identify a user toll payment account for payment of vehicle tolls;

in response to the detection of a toll system communication device via the short range transceiver, obtain from the toll system communication device information related to the toll system communication device, the obtained information including information identifying the toll system communication device;

transmit, via the wireless communication transceiver to a server address associated with the received user credentials, a request to associate received user credentials and the information identifying the toll system communication device, wherein the request includes the identifying information of the toll system communication device; and

in response to receiving a confirmation of the association of the user credentials with the toll system communication device identifying information, transmit the user credentials to the toll system communication device via the short range transceiver.

2. The mobile device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including functions to:

in response to detection of the toll system communication device via the short range transceiver at a subsequent time, transmit a command via the short range transceiver to the toll system communication device to delete the delivered user credentials from the toll system communication device.

3. The mobile device of claim 2, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including functions to:

prior to transmitting the command to delete the delivered user credentials, confirm the mobile device transmitted the user credentials to the toll system communication device.

4. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising:

another wireless transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including a function to;

transmit a polling signal to the toll system communication device via the other wireless transceiver; and

receive a response signal from the toll system communication device via the other wireless transceiver.

5. The mobile device of claim 4, wherein:

the short range transceiver is a near field communication transceiver, and

the other wireless transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver or a Wi-Fi transceiver.

6. The mobile device of claim 1, further comprising:

another wireless transceiver coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including a function to;

in the absence of a response from the toll system communication device to a polling signal transmitted via another wireless, transmit to the server a request to disassociate the toll system communication device from the user payment account.

7. The mobile device of claim 6, wherein the other wireless transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver or a Wi-Fi transceiver.

8. A toll system communication device, comprising:

a wireless toll system communication transponder;

a wireless communication transceiver;

a processor; and

a storage device accessible by the processor;

wherein the processor is configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including functions to;

receive user credentials via the wireless communication transceiver, wherein the user credentials are associated with a toll payment account;

store the user credentials in the storage device;

transmit a confirmation signal confirming receipt of the user credentials to a toll system server; and

in response to receipt of a toll system signal, transmit via the wireless toll system communication transponder a signal including the stored user credentials and information identifying the toll system communication device.

9. The toll system communication device of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a near field communication (NFC) transponder.

10. The toll system communication device of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver coupled to the processor;

and

the processor is further configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including the function to;

authenticate a Bluetooth-enabled mobile device as a device associated with the user credentials stored in the storage device of the toll system communication device, wherein the Bluetooth-enabled mobile device is paired with the toll system communication device.

11. The toll system communication device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including the function to:

transmit a polling signal via the Bluetooth transceiver to the paired Bluetooth-enabled mobile device; and

authenticate a polling signal response is received from the paired Bluetooth-enabled mobile device.

12. The toll system communication device of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including the functions to:

wait a predetermined time period to receive a polling signal response from the Bluetooth-enabled mobile device; and

in response to the predetermined time period lapsing, delete the stored user credentials associated with the paired Bluetooth-enabled mobile device from the storage device.

13. The toll system communication device of claim 12, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including the function to:

prior to deleting the stored user credentials from the storage device, transmit, via the Bluetooth transceiver to the Bluetooth-enabled device, a warning signal that the stored user credentials are to be deleted.

14. The toll system communication device of claim 8, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a short range radio frequency transceiver;

and the processer is further configured to cause the toll system communication device to perform functions, including the function to;

in response to a short range radio frequency request, authenticate a device sending the request as a device authorized to provision the toll system communication device.

15. A mobile device, comprising:

at least one user interface element;

a wireless communication transceiver;

a processor coupled to the at least one user interface element and the wireless communication transceiver; and

a storage device accessible by the processor; and

wherein the processor is configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including functions to;

retrieve user credentials that identify a user toll payment account for payment of vehicle tolls;

in response to detecting a toll system communication device via the wireless communication transceiver, obtain from the toll system communication device information related to the toll system communication device, the obtained information including information identifying the toll system communication device and user credentials stored in the toll system communication device;

present via the at least one user interface element a prompt to confirm that the user credentials stored in the toll system communication device are associated with the user toll payment account; and

in response to an input to the at least one user interface element, transmit a confirmation of the association of the received user credentials with user credentials stored in the toll system communication device to a toll system server.

16. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, wherein the function to retrieve user credentials includes functions to:

establish a communication session with a toll system server;

access a toll system server database of user payment account information; and

obtain, based on security information input into the at least one user interface element, user credential information related to a user payment account information from the database.

17. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, wherein the function to retrieve user credentials includes functions to:

access the storage device; and

obtain credential information related to a user payment account information from the storage device.

18. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a short range transceiver, and the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including a function to:

in response to receipt of a proximity indication signal received via the short range communication transceiver, transmit a proximity confirmation signal to confirm receipt of the proximity indication signal.

19. The mobile device of claim 18, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver or a Wi-Fi transceiver.

20. The mobile device of claim 15, wherein the wireless communication transceiver is a short range transceiver, and the processor is further configured to cause the mobile device to perform functions, including functions to:

detect the toll system communication device through the short range transceiver a subsequent time;

in response to the detection of the toll system communication device via the short range transmitter at the subsequent time, deliver a command via the short range transceiver to delete the delivered user credentials from the toll system communication device; and

present a confirmation of the deletion of the delivered user credentials from the toll system communication device via the at least one user interface element, wherein the confirmation is received via the short range transceiver.