SELF-DECLARING ELECTRONIC LICENSE PLATE WITH IMMOBILIZER FEATURES

• US 20170066408A1
• Filed: 09/06/2016
• Published: 03/09/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Neology Incorporated (OEP Technologie BV)
• Original Assignee: Neology Incorporated (OEP Technologie BV)
• Inventors: Leanio, Bobby, Nyalamadugu, Sheshi, Mullis, Joe
• Granted Patent: US 10,632,966 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2025/1013 Alarm systems characterised by the type of warning signal, e.g. visual, audible
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/10 actuating a signalling device
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/24 using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0716 at least one of the integrated circuit chips comprising a sensor or an interface to a sensor
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0723 the record carrier comprising an arrangement for non-contact communication, e.g. wireless communication circuits on transponder cards, non-contact smart cards or RFIDs
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/0772 Physical layout of the record carrier
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07786 the antenna being of the HF type, such as a dipole
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10009 sensing by radiation using wavelengths larger than 0.1 mm, e.g. radio-waves or microwaves
• CPC Class Codes: G07B 15/063 using wireless information transmission between the vehicle and a fixed station identification of vehicles G08G

Abstract

A self-declaring electronic license plate (e-plate) system for a vehicle is disclosed. This self-declaring e-plate system includes: an input device; a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader coupled to the input device; and an RFID-enabled license plate. In some embodiments, the input device is configured to receive vehicle occupancy information and triggers the RFID reader to write the received vehicle occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate in response to receiving the vehicle occupancy information. The RFID reader is configured to write at least a portion of the received vehicle occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate. The RFID-enabled license plate is configured to provide at least a portion of the received vehicle occupancy information to an electronic toll collection (ETC) reader. In some embodiments, the received vehicle occupancy information includes a current number of occupants self-declared by a user, such as a driver or a passenger inside the vehicle.

Claims

1. A self-declaring electronic license plate (e-plate) system for a vehicle, comprising:

an input device;

a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader coupled to the input device; and

an RFID-enabled license plate;

wherein;

the input device is configured to receive vehicle occupancy information and trigger the RFID reader to write the received vehicle occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate in response to receiving the vehicle occupancy information;

the RFID reader is configured to write at least a portion of the received vehicle occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate; and

the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to provide at least a portion of the received vehicle occupancy information to an electronic toll collection (ETC) reader.

2. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate comprises a first RFID module configured to operate using a first frequency band.

3. The e-plate system of claim 2, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to communicate with the RFID reader via the first RFID module using the first frequency band.

4. The e-plate system of claim 2, wherein the first frequency band comprises a high frequency (HF) frequency band.

5. The e-plate system of claim 2, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate further comprises a second RFID module configured to operate using a second frequency band.

6. The e-plate system of claim 5, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to communicate with the ETC reader via the second RFID module using the second frequency band.

7. The e-plate system of claim 5, wherein the second frequency band comprises an ultra-high frequency (UHF) frequency band.

8. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the input device includes a keypad configured to receive the vehicle occupancy information directly from a user.

9. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the input device is integrated with an onboard computer system and is configured to receive the vehicle occupancy information input by a user via a user interface of the onboard computer system.

10. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is further configured to store account information for a toll account associated with a vehicle.

11. The e-plate system of claim 10, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to provide at least a portion of the account information to the ETC reader, and wherein the ETC reader is configured to identify the toll account associated with the vehicle based at least in part on the account information, and debit a toll charge determined based at least in part on the received vehicle occupancy information.

12. The e-plate system of claim 10, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to interact with a near-field communication (NFC) enabled device including by providing at least a portion of the account information to the NFC-enabled device, and wherein the NFC-enabled device is configured to complete an electronic payment transaction to replenish the toll account based at least in part on the received account information.

13. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the writing of the received occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate and the provision of the received occupancy information to the ETC reader by the RFID-enabled license plate includes gaining access to a memory of the RFID-enabled license plate based on one or more security keys.

14. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader is a multi-purpose RFID reader configured to perform one or more functions other than writing to the RFID-enabled license plate.

15. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the one or more functions include locking and unlocking the vehicle.

16. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the RFID reader is a dedicated RFID reader configured specifically for communicating with the RFID-enabled license plate.

17. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the input device and the RFID reader are integrated as a single electronic module.

18. The e-plate system of claim 1, wherein the vehicle occupancy information includes a number of occupants inside the vehicle self-declared by a user.

19. A method for providing vehicle occupancy information to an electronic toll collection (ETC) reader, comprising:

receiving, at an input device, current occupancy information for a vehicle;

writing the received current occupancy information, using a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader, to an RFID-enabled license plate; and

providing, by the RFID-enabled license plate, the current occupancy information to the ETC reader.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the current occupancy information includes a number of occupants entered though the input device by a user.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein prior to writing the received current occupancy information, the method further comprises sending a signal from the input device to the RFID reader to trigger the writing operation by the RFID reader.

22. The method of claim 19, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is further configured to store account information for a toll account associated with the vehicle.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to provide at least a portion of the account information to the ETC reader, and wherein the ETC reader is configured to identify the toll account associated with the vehicle based at least in part on the account information, and debit a toll charge determined based at least in part on the received occupancy information.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is further configured to interact with a near-field communication (NFC) enabled device including by providing at least a portion of the account information to the NFC-enabled device, and wherein the NFC-enabled device is configured to complete an electronic payment transaction to replenish the toll account based at least in part on the account information.

25. The method of claim 19, wherein the RFID-enabled license plate is configured to communicate with the RFID reader using a first frequency band and the ETC reader using a second frequency band.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first frequency band comprises a high frequency (HF) frequency band, and wherein the second frequency band comprises an ultra-high frequency (UHF) frequency band.

27. The method of claim 19, wherein at least one of the writing of the current occupancy information to the RFID-enabled license plate and the provision of current occupancy information to the ETC reader by the RFID-enabled license plate includes gaining access to a memory of the RFID-enabled license plate based on one or more security keys.

28. An electronic license plate (e-plate) system on a vehicle, comprising:

an RFID-enabled license plate configured to store one or more identifiers;

an RFID reader configured to interrogate the RFID-enabled license plate; and

a microcontroller coupled to the RFID reader and configured to;

determine whether the RFID-enabled license plate is present on the vehicle based at least on a result of interrogation of the RFID-enabled license plate received from the RFID reader;

in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is present on the vehicle, determine whether the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate for the vehicle based at least on the one or more identifiers stored on the RFID-enabled license plate; and

in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is not a valid license plate for the vehicle, enable one or more vehicle functions.

29. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein if the RFID reader is unable to successfully interrogate the RFID-enabled license plate, the RFID reader is further configured to transmit a signal to the microcontroller indicating that the RFID-enabled license plate is not present on the vehicle.

30. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein if the RFID reader is able to successfully interrogate the RFID-enabled license plate, the RFID reader is configured to receive, from the RFID-enabled license plate, the one or more identifiers stored on the RFID-enabled license plate.

31. The e-plate system of claim 30, wherein the RFID reader is further configured to determine whether the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate for the vehicle based at least on the one or more identifiers received from the RFID-enabled license and one or more stored identifiers corresponding to the valid license plate.

32. The e-plate system of claim 30, wherein the microcontroller is further configured to determine whether the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate for the vehicle based at least on the one or more identifiers received from the RFID-enabled license plate and one or more stored identifiers corresponding to the valid license plate.

33. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein the one or more vehicle functions include at least one of an immobilizer function and an alarm function, wherein the immobilizer function is configured to, when enabled, prevent the vehicle from starting.

34. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate for the vehicle, the microcontroller is configured to disable the one or more vehicle functions.

35. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is not present on the vehicle, the microcontroller is configured to set off an alarm of the vehicle.

36. The e-plate system of claim 28, wherein the RFID reader is configured to interrogate the RFID-enabled license plate periodically or based on a dynamic or fixed schedule.

37. A computer-implemented method for automatically validating an RFID-enabled license plate on a vehicle, the method comprising:

interrogating the RFID-enabled license plate to determine whether the RFID-enabled license plate is present on the vehicle;

in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is present on the vehicle, determining whether the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate for the vehicle based at least on one or more identifiers stored on the RFID-enabled license plate; and

in response to determining that the RFID-enabled license plate is not a valid license plate for the vehicle, enabling one or more vehicle functions.

38. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein if it is determined that the RFID-enabled license plate is present on the vehicle, the method further includes receiving, from the RFID-enabled license plate the one or more identifiers.

39. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein determining whether the RFID-enabled license plate is a valid license plate includes comparing the one or more identifiers received from the RFID-enabled license plate with one or more stored identifiers corresponding to the valid license plate.

40. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein enabling the one or more vehicle functions includes enabling an immobilizer function to prevent the vehicle from starting.

41. The computer-implemented method of claim 37, wherein enabling the one or more vehicle functions includes setting off an alarm siren of the vehicle.