Method and system for monitoring a vehicle

• US 20060111822A1
• Filed: 10/25/2005
• Published: 05/25/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/25/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: RFC Lenders of Texas, LLC (RFC Capital Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Payment Protection Systems, Inc. (Sekurus, Inc.)
• Inventors: Simon, Franklin C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,430,471 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/29
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/1003 Alarm systems characterised by arm or disarm features
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/1004 Alarm systems characterised by the type of sensor, e.g. current sensing means using door lock sensors B60R25/1001
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/2018 Central base unlocks or authorises unlocking
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: G01L 17/00 Devices or apparatus for measuring tyre pressure or the pressure in other inflated bodies
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A method for monitoring a vehicle includes detecting movement or activation of the vehicle, transmitting a signal indicating movement or activation of the vehicle, to a control center, transmitting any received operator identification information to the control center, and determining whether an operator identification was received within a time interval of the detected movement or activation of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a vehicle, comprising:

detecting movement or activation of the vehicle;

transmitting a signal indicating movement or activation of the vehicle, to a control center;

transmitting any received operator identification information to the control center; and

determining whether an operator identification was received within a time interval of the detected movement or activation of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising:

determining whether an operator identification was received prior to the detected movement or activation of the vehicle;

determining whether a received operator identification is valid; and

setting an alarm condition in a case where a valid operator identification was not received prior to the detected movement or activation of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1, comprising:

setting an alarm condition when the determining indicates that an operator identification was not received within the time interval.

4. The method of claim 3, comprising:

transmitting location coordinates of the vehicle provided by a Global Positioning System receiver co-located with the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 3, comprising:

transmitting a beacon signal from the vehicle;

receiving the beacon signal at a plurality of different locations; and

determining a location of the vehicle based on the beacon signal received at the plurality of different locations.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the control center performs the determining of the location of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the beacon signal includes one or both of the signal indicating movement or activation of the vehicle and a signal including received operator identification information.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the steps of transmitting are performed by a radio communications device co-located with the vehicle, and wherein a radio communications service provider that supports operation of the radio communications device indicates a location of the radio communications device to the control center.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the radio communications device is a cellular phone and the radio communications service provider is a cellular communications service provider.

10. The method of claim 1, comprising:

detecting at the vehicle the presence of a landmark; and

transmitting data identifying the landmark and/or a location of the landmark to the control center.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the detection is performed by a Radio Frequency IDentification transceiver at the vehicle and a Radio Frequency IDentification tag at the landmark.

12. The method of claim 1, comprising:

detecting at a landmark the presence of the vehicle; and

transmitting data identifying the vehicle and a location of the landmark to the control center.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the detection is performed by a Radio Frequency IDentification transceiver at the landmark and a Radio Frequency IDentification tag at the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 1, comprising:

transmitting operational information regarding the vehicle to the control center, wherein the operational information includes one or more of specifications of the vehicle, fluid levels in subsystems of the vehicle, vehicle subsystem fault codes and/or status codes, battery level, speed(s) of the vehicle, and velocities of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving operator identification information via a reader at the vehicle, wherein the information is provided to the reader via a token.

16. The method of claim 1, comprising:

receiving operator identification information via a reader at the vehicle, wherein the reader reads biometric information of the operator.