Transportation notification system
First Claim
1. A transportation notification system comprising:
- at least one vehicle for transporting people as passengers;
a transceiver unit within said at least vehicle comprising a wireless communication means wherein said wireless communication means within said transceiver unit is at least one connection to a mobile telephone network, wherein said connection to said mobile telephone network comprises at least one removable mobile telephone network module;
wherein said at least one removable mobile telephone network module contains an electrical connector means to accept electrical power and signals;
wherein said transceiver unit further comprises a plurality of expansion slots dimensioned to accept said at least one removable mobile telephone network module;
wherein said slots comprise a second electrical connector means dimensioned to accept a first electrical connector means;
whereby a desired number of said removable mobile telephone network modules may be added and removed from said transceiver unit to adjust the amount of said data that said transceiver unit is capable of transferring,a satellite navigation system receiver to acquire the location of said at least one vehicle, a memory storage device for storing map and vehicle route information, at least one display means for presenting information to a vehicle driver, and at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfaced to said memory storage device, to said wireless communication means, and to said satellite navigation system receiver, wherein said transceiver unit transfers data regarding a location of said at least one vehicle relative to a plurality of passenger pick-up and drop-off locations;
a plurality of household units located proximate to said pick-up and drop-off locations comprising at least one means for sending and receiving data regarding passenger status and said vehicles impending arrival at said pick-up and drop-off locations, at least one display means, and at least one CPU controllably interfaced to said means for sending and receiving data and to display means.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to a system and method of providing students, drivers, guardians, and schools with useful notifications regarding a school'"'"'s transportation system comprising, at least one vehicle for transporting people as passengers; a transceiver unit within a vehicle comprising a wireless communication means, a satellite navigation system receiver to acquire the location of the vehicle, a memory storage device for storing map and vehicle route information, at least one display means for presenting information to a vehicle driver, and a Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfaced to the memory storage device, to the wireless communication means, and to the satellite navigation system receiver, wherein the transceiver unit transfers data regarding a location of the at least one vehicle relative to a plurality of passenger pick-up and drop-off locations; a plurality of household units located proximate to the pick-up and drop-off locations comprising at a means for sending and receiving data regarding passenger status and the vehicles'"'"' impending arrival at the pick-up and drop-off locations, a display means, and a CPU controllably interfaced to the means for sending and receiving data and to the display means.
46 Citations
13 Claims
-
1. A transportation notification system comprising:
-
at least one vehicle for transporting people as passengers; a transceiver unit within said at least vehicle comprising a wireless communication means wherein said wireless communication means within said transceiver unit is at least one connection to a mobile telephone network, wherein said connection to said mobile telephone network comprises at least one removable mobile telephone network module; wherein said at least one removable mobile telephone network module contains an electrical connector means to accept electrical power and signals; wherein said transceiver unit further comprises a plurality of expansion slots dimensioned to accept said at least one removable mobile telephone network module; wherein said slots comprise a second electrical connector means dimensioned to accept a first electrical connector means; whereby a desired number of said removable mobile telephone network modules may be added and removed from said transceiver unit to adjust the amount of said data that said transceiver unit is capable of transferring, a satellite navigation system receiver to acquire the location of said at least one vehicle, a memory storage device for storing map and vehicle route information, at least one display means for presenting information to a vehicle driver, and at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfaced to said memory storage device, to said wireless communication means, and to said satellite navigation system receiver, wherein said transceiver unit transfers data regarding a location of said at least one vehicle relative to a plurality of passenger pick-up and drop-off locations; a plurality of household units located proximate to said pick-up and drop-off locations comprising at least one means for sending and receiving data regarding passenger status and said vehicles impending arrival at said pick-up and drop-off locations, at least one display means, and at least one CPU controllably interfaced to said means for sending and receiving data and to display means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A transportation notification system utilizing a web service to allow system users to access notifications through the Internet, comprising:
-
at least one vehicle for transporting people as passengers; a transceiver unit within said at least vehicle comprising a wireless communication means, a satellite navigation system receiver to acquire the location of said at least one vehicle, a memory storage device for storing map and vehicle route information, at least one display means for presenting information to a vehicle driver, and at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfaced to said memory storage device, to said wireless communication means, and to said satellite navigation system receiver, wherein said transceiver unit transfers data regarding a location of said at least one vehicle relative to a plurality of passenger pick-up and drop-off locations; a plurality of Internet connected devices, each having a display means capable of displaying a plurality of notifications; and a web server having a connection to the Internet to receive data from said transceiver units and send notifications over the Internet to said Internet connected devices and said web server further comprises a display for showing vehicle fleet data comprising the location of said at least one vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (6)
-
-
7. A transportation notification method comprising steps of:
-
acquiring the location of at least one vehicle by receiving signals from at least one satellite in a satellite navigation system; deriving the distance that the vehicle must travel to reach various destinations by comparing a vehicle location to stored route information, stored map information, and stored locations of destinations; determining if the vehicle is nearby said designated destinations by calculating which if any of said distances are below a predefined threshold; notifying parties of at least one type of situation including the impending arrival of a vehicle; receiving said notification signals at a plurality of household devices located within a plurality of residences; providing a user interface in each of said household devices for a person to activate when said person does not desire to be picked up by a vehicle; querying said user interface in each of said household units to determine if it has been activated; generating at least one no pickup notification for each household unit in which said user interface has been activated; sending said at least one no pickup notification wirelessly to said at least one vehicle; providing a display within said at least one vehicle viewable by the driver of said at least one vehicle; showing which of said persons do not desire to be picked up on said display. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
-
-
13. A transportation notification system comprising:
-
at least one vehicle for transporting people as passengers; a transceiver unit within said at least one vehicle comprising a wireless communication means including at least one removable mobile telephone network module, a satellite navigation system receiver to acquire a location of said at least one vehicle, a memory storage device for storing map and vehicle route information, at least one display means for presenting information to a driver of said at least one vehicle comprising an array of indicators, each said indicator associated with the status of one of said people, an identification device reader to record a unique identification code when at least one of said passengers enters and departs said at least one vehicle, and at least one Central Processing Unit (CPU) interfaced to said memory storage device, to said wireless communication means, to said satellite navigation system receiver, and to said identification device reader, wherein said transceiver unit transfers data regarding a location of said at least one vehicle relative to a plurality of passenger pick-up and drop-off locations; a plurality of household units located proximate to said pick-up and drop-off locations comprising at least one means for sending and receiving data regarding passenger status and said vehicles'"'"' impending arrival at said pick-up and drop-off locations, at least one display means, a user interface means to notify a driver of said at least one vehicles through said array of indicators that at least one of said people at a specific said pick-up location does not need to be picked up, and at least one CPU controllably interfaced to said means for sending and receiving data, said display means, and said user interface means; a plurality of handheld units, said handheld units comprising at least one wireless communication means for sending and receiving data including passenger status and said vehicles'"'"' impending arrival at said pick-up and drop-off locations, a display means, at least one identification device to transfer a unique identification code to said transceiver unit when at least one of said passengers enter and depart said at least one vehicle, and at least one CPU controllably interfaced to said means of transferring information wirelessly, to said display means, and to said identification device reader, wherein the handheld units are portable and carried by at least one of said people; a plurality of Internet connected devices, each having a display means capable of displaying a plurality of notifications; and a web server to receive data from said transceiver units and send notifications over the Internet to said Internet connected devices.
-
Specification