System and method for obtaining vehicle telematics data

• US 10,440,451 B2
• Filed: 04/29/2019
• Issued: 10/08/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Discovery Limited
• Original Assignee: Discovery Limited
• Inventors: Balakrishnan, Hari, Girod, Lewis David, Ossin, Ilan
• Primary Examiner(s): Balseca, Franklin D
• Application Number:
  US16/398,083
• Publication Number:
  US 20190261069A1
• Time in Patent Office: 162 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/166 Mechanical, construction or arrangement details of inertial navigation systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0858 wherein the data carrier is removable
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/10 using a centralized architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/20 using a distributed architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/40 using a wireless architecture
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 2209/50 using a mobile data collecting device, e.g. walk by or drive by
• CPC Class Codes: H04Q 9/00 Arrangements in telecontrol or telemetry systems for selectively calling a substation from a main station, in which substation desired apparatus is selected for applying a control signal thereto or for obtaining measured values therefrom

Abstract

A sensor tag which in use will be affixed to a vehicle for obtaining vehicle telematics data includes a battery for powering the tag and a processor running executable code to process accelerometer data. An accelerometer measures the acceleration of the tag and thereby of the vehicle, and also controls the operation of the processor. A memory is used for storing a unique tag identifier of the tag and for storing trip data including information about trips and acceleration data. Finally, a communication module is used for short range wireless communication with a mobile communications device located in the vehicle via a short range wireless communications protocol, the communication module transmitting the tag'"'"'s unique identifier and a sequence of time stamped acceleration data. The mobile communications device obtains GPS data, combines this with the acceleration date and transmits this to a server for analysis.

Claims

1. A vehicle tag for providing acceleration data from a vehicle to a server, the vehicle tag being configured to

(a) be affixed mechanically to, but not connected electrically to, a vehicle owned by a user,

(b) by interaction with a mobile device of the user become identifiably associated with the vehicle,

(c) while the vehicle is being driven on trips, sense acceleration of the vehicle,

(d) generate timestamped digital acceleration data for the vehicle based on the sensed acceleration,

(e) at times during a trip of the vehicle, when a mobile device in the vehicle is not available for wireless communication with the tag, store digital acceleration data exceeding a certain acceleration magnitude in the tag,

(f) at times during a trip of the vehicle, when a mobile device in the vehicle is available for wireless communication with the vehicle tag, establish a connection between the mobile device and the vehicle tag, the establishing of the connection not requiring a pairing of the mobile device and the vehicle tag, and use the established connection to communicate the generated timestamped digital acceleration data to an app running on the mobile device in the vehicle for forwarding to the server for analyzing driving behavior of a driver of the vehicle or driving behavior of the vehicle, the driver of the vehicle not necessarily being the owner of the vehicle,

(g) continue to store the digital acceleration data at the tag until the stored digital acceleration data has been communicated through an established connection to the app running on a mobile device in the vehicle and until an acknowledgement of the digital acceleration data has been received from the server,

(h) be in a low-power mode until the sensed acceleration data exceeds a threshold for a certain period of time, and

(i) revert to a low-power mode when the sensed acceleration data is lower than a threshold for a certain period of time.

2. The tag of claim 1 configured to advertise itself to mobile devices within wireless communications range when the vehicle is moving and to connect to a mobile device that initiates a connection.

3. The tag of claim 2 configured to reduce or stop advertising itself when the tag is connected with at least one mobile device.

4. The tag of claim 1 configured to be on a list of tags to which the mobile device is permitted to connect.