System for communicating among vehicles and a communication system control center

• US 6,362,748 B1
• Filed: 09/27/2000
• Issued: 03/26/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lite Vision Corporation
• Original Assignee: Lite Vision Corporation
• Inventors: Huang, Lin-Hsiang
• Primary Examiner(s): Hofsass, Jeffery
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Tai T.
• Application Number:
  US09/670,787
• Time in Patent Office: 545 Days
• Field of Search: 340/901, 340/902, 340/903, 340/988, 340/989, 342/457, 701/207, 701/202, 701/208, 701/300, 455/445, 455/456, 455/459
• US Class Current: 340/901
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0027 of actual mobile position, i.e. position determined on mobile
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0965 responding to signals from another vehicle, e.g. emergency vehicle
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/08 Mobility data transfer

Abstract

The license plate number of a specific vehicle is related to a passcode that is built into a communications reception unit installed in the vehicle. When a driver enters a plate number of the vehicle having the communication reception unit installed, he can communicate with another vehicle. The communication reception unit can receive satellite positioning signals to provide more accurate coordinates to a control center, which can determine the position of the vehicle and send accurate, useful and relevant information to the vehicle.

Claims

1. A system for communicating among vehicles and its control center, which requires a communications reception unit installed on each vehicle for the vehicles to perform communications with one another and with the control center;

wherein the communications reception unit comprises a processing unit, which has multiple built-in passcodes that associate with different license plate numbers;

a signal reception unit that connects to the input terminal of the processing unit to receive more than two types of coordinate reference signals, converting them into the coordinates representing the position of the vehicle and sending the coordinates to the processing unit; and

a mobile phone unit that connects to the processing unit to establish communications with the control center and other vehicles with the same devices installed so as to have duplex communications with the control center and other vehicles.

2. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 1, wherein the processing unit comprises a microprocessor that communicates with the signal reception unit through an appropriate interface;

a means of wire communications that established a wire connection between the microprocessor and the mobile phone unit; and

a means of radio communications that establishes a radio connection between the processing unit and the mobile phone unit.

3. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 2, wherein the means of wire communications and the means of radio communications connect to the microprocessor through a multitask processor.

4. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 2, wherein the means of radio communications is a Bluetooth module.

5. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 2, wherein the means of radio communications is an infrared module.

6. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 1 wherein the built-in passcode in the processing unit is the number of the mobile phone unit in the communications reception unit.

7. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 1 wherein the signal reception unit comprises a satellite signal reception module, which receives the satellite signals from the GPS;

a radio signal reception module, which receives the radio signals emitted from the RDS (Radio Data System); and

a coordinate signal conversion module, which converts the satellite signals and radio signals into a set of coordinates.

8. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 7, wherein the signal reception unit further comprises a broadcasting module connecting to the satellite/radio signal reception modules.

9. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 8, wherein the coordinate signal conversion module and the broadcasting module connect to the satellite/radio signal reception modules through a multitask processor.

10. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 8, wherein the coordinate signal conversion module and the broadcasting module connect to the processing unit through an appropriate interface.

11. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 10, wherein the interface is a standard computer RS-232 interface.

12. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 7, wherein the control center comprises a mobile phone unit, which communicates with each communications reception unit;

and a server, which forms duplex communications with the mobile phone unit and each communications reception unit.

13. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 12, wherein the control center further comprises a broadcasting unit connecting to the server.

14. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 13, wherein the control center further comprises a display unit connecting to the server.

15. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 1, wherein the control center comprises a mobile phone unit, which communicates with each communications reception unit;

and a server, which forms duplex communications with the mobile phone unit and each communications reception unit.

16. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 15, wherein the control center further comprises a broadcasting unit connecting to the server.

17. The system for communicating among vehicles and its control center of claim 16, wherein the control center further comprises a display unit connecting to the server.