Road toll system and method
First Claim
1. A road toll system comprising:
- a vehicle-mounted unit for use in the road toll system, wherein the vehicle-mounted unit comprises a satellite navigation receiver implementing a position tracking function used by a routing system for determining routes taken by a vehicle based on position tracking information; and
a portable activation device that is not mounted on the vehicle, the portable activation device comprising;
a transmitter and receiver; and
a security module, wherein the security module is configured to implement user-personalization data to personalize the vehicle-mounted unit, wherein the user-personalization data is stored in the portable activation device separate from the vehicle-mounted unit, and wherein the security module applies a digital signature to route information received from the vehicle-mounted unit,wherein the road toll system is adapted to establish a wireless communication channel between the security module and the vehicle-mounted unit via the transmitter and receiver;
wherein the portable activation device is adapted to transmit information concerning an owner of the portable activation device and the digitally signed route information to the vehicle-mounted unit via the wireless communication channel, andwherein the vehicle-mounted unit is adapted to provide information to a billing system to enable identification of the owner of the portable activation device for billing a user of the system in dependence on the road prices incurred based on the routes taken.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention relates to a road toll system using a vehicle-mounted satellite navigation receiver, from which routes taken and road prices incurred are determined. A billing system bills a user in dependence on the road prices incurred. A portable activation device transmits information concerning the owner of the portable activation device to the vehicle-mounted unit, and the vehicle-mounted unit provides information to the billing system to enable identification of the owner of the portable activation device.
In combination, the portable activation device and the vehicle-mounted unit can be considered to function in a similar way to a known vehicle-mounted OBU. However, by separating the data necessary to provide user-personalization into the portable activation device, the vehicle-mounted unit can become more standard, and the user is able to drive other vehicles more easily.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A road toll system comprising:
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a vehicle-mounted unit for use in the road toll system, wherein the vehicle-mounted unit comprises a satellite navigation receiver implementing a position tracking function used by a routing system for determining routes taken by a vehicle based on position tracking information; and a portable activation device that is not mounted on the vehicle, the portable activation device comprising; a transmitter and receiver; and a security module, wherein the security module is configured to implement user-personalization data to personalize the vehicle-mounted unit, wherein the user-personalization data is stored in the portable activation device separate from the vehicle-mounted unit, and wherein the security module applies a digital signature to route information received from the vehicle-mounted unit, wherein the road toll system is adapted to establish a wireless communication channel between the security module and the vehicle-mounted unit via the transmitter and receiver; wherein the portable activation device is adapted to transmit information concerning an owner of the portable activation device and the digitally signed route information to the vehicle-mounted unit via the wireless communication channel, and wherein the vehicle-mounted unit is adapted to provide information to a billing system to enable identification of the owner of the portable activation device for billing a user of the system in dependence on the road prices incurred based on the routes taken. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method of implementing road tolling in a road tolling system comprising a vehicle-mounted unit, the vehicle-mounted unit comprising a satellite navigation receiver and a transmitter and receiver to wirelessly communicate with a portable activation device, the portable activation device comprising a transmitter and receiver and a security module, the method comprising:
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operating the satellite navigation receiver to implement a position tracking function in the vehicle-mounted unit used by a routing system for determining route information including routes taken by a vehicle based on the position tracking information; using the vehicle-mounted unit transmitter to establish a wireless communication channel to send data derived from the route information to the portable activation device that is not mounted on a vehicle for the portable activation device to apply a digital signature to the route information using a security module, wherein the security module is configured to implement user-personalization data to personalize the vehicle-mounted unit, wherein the user-personalization data is stored in the portable activation device separate from the vehicle-mounted unit; using the vehicle-mounted unit to transmit information concerning an owner of the portable activation device and the digitally signed data from the portable activation device to a billing system to enable identification of the owner of the portable activation device for billing a user of the system in dependence on the road prices incurred based on the routes taken. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A vehicle-mounted unit comprising:
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a satellite navigation receiver configured to implement a position tracking function; a transmitter-receiver unit configured for short-range wireless communication established over a wireless communication channel with a security module external to the vehicle-mounted unit and not mounted on a vehicle; wherein the security module is configured to implement user-personalization data to personalize the vehicle-mounted unit, wherein the user-personalization data is stored in a portable activation device separate from the vehicle-mounted unit; and an on-board unit configured to send data, which is derived from route information based on the position tracking function to the security module via the transmitter-receiver unit to be digitally signed by the security module and, once digitally signed, to send the signed data to a remote server. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification