DETERMINING VEHICLE OCCUPANCY USING SENSORS
First Claim
1. A method of determining occupancy of a vehicle along a route, comprising:
- executing software upon at least one processor, the software stored on non-transitory media, the at least one processor configured by the software to;
receive information from each of a plurality of mobile computing devices, each mobile computing device associated with a person, the information including a unique identification of the vehicle and a unique identification of at least one of the transmitting mobile computing device and the person associated with the transmitting mobile computing device;
receive data during a plurality of time intervals during the trip corresponding to portions of the route, by at least one electronic sensor of each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the data corresponding to a local ambient environment of the mobile computing device generating the data; and
communicate the received data to at least one server;
executing software upon the server, the software stored on non-transitory media, the server configured by the software to;
compare the received data to determine, during one or more predetermined portions of the route, the number of mobile computing devices having sensor data that mutually corresponded during the predetermined portions of the route; and
calculate a fee, based on the compared data, corresponding to the number of mobile computing devices having sensor data which mutually corresponded.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Determining occupancy of a vehicle during a trip can be carried out using a computer server which receives data from mobile computing devices within the vehicle. Each of the mobile computing devices is associated with a person, and sends to the server a unique identification of the vehicle, such as a license plate number, and also data generated during the trip from sensors within the device. The sensors collect data that relates to the local ambient environment of the device during the trip, such as a local magnetic field, movements, altitude, location, and sounds. The server compares the data from all devices in the vehicle to determine if the data from all of devices match, within predetermined limits. If there is a match, the server can provide a probable vehicle occupancy count; otherwise, the server can provide an indication that the vehicle occupancy should be investigated in another manner.
51 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of determining occupancy of a vehicle along a route, comprising:
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executing software upon at least one processor, the software stored on non-transitory media, the at least one processor configured by the software to; receive information from each of a plurality of mobile computing devices, each mobile computing device associated with a person, the information including a unique identification of the vehicle and a unique identification of at least one of the transmitting mobile computing device and the person associated with the transmitting mobile computing device; receive data during a plurality of time intervals during the trip corresponding to portions of the route, by at least one electronic sensor of each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the data corresponding to a local ambient environment of the mobile computing device generating the data; and communicate the received data to at least one server; executing software upon the server, the software stored on non-transitory media, the server configured by the software to; compare the received data to determine, during one or more predetermined portions of the route, the number of mobile computing devices having sensor data that mutually corresponded during the predetermined portions of the route; and calculate a fee, based on the compared data, corresponding to the number of mobile computing devices having sensor data which mutually corresponded. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of determining occupancy of a vehicle during a trip travelled upon a fee based roadway, comprising:
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executing software upon at least one computer server, the software stored on non-transitory media, the at least one server configured by the software to; receive information from each of a plurality of mobile computing devices, each mobile computing device associated with a person, the information including a unique identification of the vehicle and a unique identification of at least one of the transmitting mobile computing device and the person associated with the transmitting mobile computing device; receive data that was generated, during a time interval of the trip, by a plurality of electronic sensors selected from the group consisting of a magnetometer, gyroscope, GPS, accelerometer, and microphone, within each of the plurality of mobile computing devices, the data corresponding to local ambient environmental conditions of the mobile computing device generating the data; compare the received data to determine if the data obtained from all of the plurality of mobile computing devices mutually correspond within predetermined limits, to determine a probable vehicle occupant count; and communicate the probable vehicle occupant count and identification information of the vehicle to a server configured for determining fees for vehicles travelling on the fee based roadway. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of determining occupancy of a vehicle during a trip travelled upon a fee based roadway, comprising:
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executing a software app upon each of a plurality of mobile computing devices travelling in the vehicle during the trip, the app configured to enable each of the plurality of mobile computing devices to; a) receive identification information pertaining to an identification of the vehicle; b) generate data during a time interval of the trip, by at least one electronic sensor selected from the group consisting of a magnetometer, gyroscope, GPS, accelerometer, and microphone, within the mobile computing device, the data corresponding to local ambient environmental conditions of the mobile computing device; and c) communicate the identification information of the vehicle, the generated data, and identification information relating to the mobile computing device, to at least one server, using a long range wireless communication protocol; and executing software upon at least one computer server, the software stored on non-transitory media, the at least one server configured by the software to; receive the communicated information from each of the plurality of mobile computing devices; compare the received data that was generated to determine if the data obtained from all of the plurality of mobile computing devices mutually correspond within predetermined limits, to determine a probable vehicle occupant count; and calculate, using the probable vehicle occupant count and identification information of the vehicle, a fee for the vehicle for travelling on the fee based roadway. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
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Specification