METHOD OF DETERMINING IF A VEHICLE HAS BEEN STOLEN AND A SYSTEM THEREFOR

• US 20150203072A1
• Filed: 07/16/2013
• Published: 07/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/17/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Discovery Limited
• Original Assignee: Discovery Limited
• Inventors: Hockman, Yehuda Aryeh
• Granted Patent: US 9,511,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/10 Communication protocols, communication systems of vehicle anti-theft devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/20 Communication devices for vehicle anti-theft devices
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/10 actuating a signalling device
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/32 of vehicle dynamic parameters, e.g. speed or acceleration
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A system for determining if a vehicle has been stolen includes a communication module to receive data including a location of the vehicle and a manner in which the vehicle is being driven. A comparator module compares the received location data against a database of stored locations and compares the manner in which the vehicle is being driven with previously stored driving data indicating the manner in which the vehicle was historically driven and based on this to determine if the vehicle has been stolen. A notification module issues a notification in response to the comparator module determining that the vehicle has been stolen.

Claims

1. A system for determining if a vehicle has been stolen, the system including:

a communication module to receive data including a location of the vehicle and a manner in which the vehicle is being driven;

a comparator module to compare the received location data against a database of stored locations and to compare the manner in which the vehicle is being driven with previously stored driving data indicating the manner in which the vehicle was historically driven and based on this to determine if the vehicle has been stolen; and

a notification module to issue a notification in response to the comparator module determining that the vehicle has been stolen.

2. A system according to claim 1 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes checking the area in which the vehicle is currently located and comparing this to a previously stored list of areas that the vehicle historically has entered.

3. A system according to claim 1 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes comparing at least one of current acceleration, braking, cornering, speed and time of day of travel of the vehicle to previously stored historical driving patterns.

4. A system according to claim 1 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes comparing current g-force patterns of the vehicle to previously stored historical g-force patterns.

5. A system according to claim 1 wherein the communication module receives data from a tracking device installed in the vehicle.

6. A system according to claim 1 wherein when the comparator module compares the manner in which the vehicle is being driven the comparator module monitors the occurrence of driving events and compare these with previously stored driving events and determines if a driving event is an unusual driving event.

7. A system according to claim 6 wherein the comparator module determines that the vehicle has been stolen if a predetermined number of unusual driving events occur within a predetermined amount of time.

8. A system according to claim 7 wherein the comparator module determines that the vehicle has been stolen if less than the predetermined number of unusual driving events occur within a predetermined amount of time but the vehicle is currently located in an unusual geographical zone.

9. A system according to claim 1 wherein the comparator module determines that the vehicle has been stolen if the vehicle has entered a previously identified high risk geographical zone.

10. A method for determining if a vehicle has been stolen, the method including:

receiving data including a location of the vehicle and a manner in which the vehicle is being driven;

comparing the received location data against a database of stored locations;

comparing the manner in which the vehicle is being driven with previously stored driving data indicating the manner in which the vehicle was historically driven;

determining if the vehicle has been stolen using the location data and the manner in which the vehicle is being driven; and

issuing a notification in response to determining that the vehicle has been stolen.

11. A method according to claim 10 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes checking the area in which the vehicle is currently located with a previously stored list of areas that the vehicle historically has entered.

12. A method according to claim 10 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes comparing at least one of current acceleration, braking, cornering, speed and time of day of travel of the vehicle to previously stored historical driving patterns.

13. A method according to claim 10 wherein the manner in which the vehicle is driven includes comparing current g-force patterns of the vehicle to previously stored historical g-force patterns.

14. A method according to claim 10 including monitoring the occurrence of driving events and comparing these with previously stored driving events to determine if a driving event is an unusual event.

15. A method according to claim 10 the vehicle is determined as being stolen if a predetermined number of unusual driving events occur within a predetermined amount of time.

16. A method according to claim 10 wherein the vehicle has is determined as being stolen if less than the predetermined number of unusual driving events occur within a predetermined amount of time but the vehicle is currently located in an unusual geographical zone.

17. A method according to claim 10 wherein the vehicle is determined as being stolen if the vehicle has entered a previously identified high risk geographical zone.