System for detecting the operational status of a vehicle using a handheld communication device
First Claim
1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a set of computer executable instructions that, when executed by a handheld communication device cause the handheld communication device to:
- sense acoustic signals during entry of a user into a vehicle, the sensed acoustic signals including ambient noise and desired noise;
filter the ambient noise from the desired noise to identify a filtered signal pattern;
activate operational status detection hardware in the handheld communication device when the filtered signal pattern matches a stored signal pattern;
detect operational data during operation of the vehicle using the activated operational status detection hardware;
receive vehicle characteristic information associated with at least one feature of the vehicle;
identify sensing parameters associated with the received vehicle characteristic information;
compare the detected operational data to the identified sensing parameters to determine the operational status of the vehicle; and
where the defected operational data is determined to indicate that the vehicle is idling, measure an idling time corresponding to duration of vehicle idling;
compare the measured idling time to an idling time threshold; and
generate an alert signal when the measured idling time exceeds the idling time threshold.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system which utilizes the on-board capabilities of handheld communication devices, such as smartphones, tablet computers and the like, to detect the operational status of a vehicle, such as the engine being ON, the engine idling, the vehicle moving, etc. The detected operational state may be desirable for monitoring operation of the vehicle, such as fleet management systems, wherein the duration and location of idling are of particular interest. The detected operational state may also be useful for controlling functionality on the handheld communication device, such as disabling texting or other manually operated functions when the vehicle is in motion.
110 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a set of computer executable instructions that, when executed by a handheld communication device cause the handheld communication device to:
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sense acoustic signals during entry of a user into a vehicle, the sensed acoustic signals including ambient noise and desired noise; filter the ambient noise from the desired noise to identify a filtered signal pattern; activate operational status detection hardware in the handheld communication device when the filtered signal pattern matches a stored signal pattern; detect operational data during operation of the vehicle using the activated operational status detection hardware; receive vehicle characteristic information associated with at least one feature of the vehicle; identify sensing parameters associated with the received vehicle characteristic information; compare the detected operational data to the identified sensing parameters to determine the operational status of the vehicle; and where the defected operational data is determined to indicate that the vehicle is idling, measure an idling time corresponding to duration of vehicle idling; compare the measured idling time to an idling time threshold; and generate an alert signal when the measured idling time exceeds the idling time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having a set of computer executable instructions that, when executed by a handheld communication device cause the handheld communication device to:
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receive vehicle characteristic information associated with at least one feature of a vehicle; identify sensing parameters associated with the received vehicle characteristic information; operate in a training mode to sense acoustic signals and acceleration signals based on the identified sensing parameters to recognize an acoustic signal and an acceleration signal associated with idling of a vehicle and store the recognized acoustic signal and acceleration signal on the handheld communication device; operate in a detecting mode to detect an acoustic signal and an acceleration signal generated by the vehicle; compare the detected acoustic signal and acceleration signal from the detecting mode with the stored acoustic and acceleration signals corresponding to vehicle idling from the training mode to detect vehicle idling; and measure an idling time corresponding to duration of vehicle idling; compare the measured idling time to a prescribed idling time threshold; and generate an alert signal when the measured idling time exceeds the prescribed idling time threshold. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A process of detecting an operational status of a vehicle using a handheld communication device, the process comprising the steps of:
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detecting entry of the handheld communication device into an area associated with the vehicle by; sensing acoustic signals during entry of a user into the vehicle, the sensed acoustic signals including ambient noise and desired noise; and filtering the ambient noise from the desired noise to identify a filtered signal pattern; activating idling detection hardware located on the handheld communication device in response to detection of entry of the hand held communication device into the area associated with the vehicle; detecting operational data of the vehicle using the idling detection hardware; receiving vehicle characteristic information associated with at least one feature of the vehicle; identifying sensing parameters associated with the received vehicle characteristic information; comparing the detected operational data to the identified sensing parameters to determine the operational status of the vehicle; and where the detected operational data is determined to indicate that the vehicle is idling, measuring an idling time corresponding to duration of vehicle idling; comparing the measured idling time to a prescribed idling time threshold; and generating an alert signal when the measuring idling time exceeds the prescribed idling threshold. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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Specification