IP Library Granted Patent US 12697979
Granted Patent B2
US 12697979 · App. 18/814,347 · Granted Aug 4, 2026

Driver passenger detection using ultrasonic sensing

Inventor: Emad Isaac (Chicago, IL)
Assignee: Allstate Insurance Company
B60W40/08G06F18/217G06F18/24G06N20/20G06V20/59H04W4/40H04W4/70B60W2040/0881B60W2420/54B60W2540/043
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12697979
App. No.
18/814,347
Granted
Aug 4, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

Aspects of the disclosure relate to using ultrasonic or other types of signals to detect a driver in a vehicle. A computing platform may receive ultrasonic sensing data associated with mobile devices in the vehicle from a signal transmitter. Unique identifiers of the mobile devices may be determined. Based on the ultrasonic sensing data and the unique identifier, a relative distance from the signal transmitter to each mobile device in the vehicle may be determined. The computing platform may use a machine learning classifier to determine that a particular occupant is a driver in the vehicle based on the relative distance.

Claims (49)

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, ultrasonic sensing data that comprises respective frequency signatures associated with each of a plurality of mobile devices positioned within a vehicle during a particular period;

determining, by the computing device and based on the respective frequency signatures, relative distances of the plurality of mobile devices from an ultrasonic transmitter positioned within the vehicle; and

after determining, based on the relative distances, that a particular mobile device is closest to the ultrasonic transmitter, determining, by the computing device, the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to a driving position of the vehicle.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, sensor data from a sensor array associated with the vehicle; and

wherein determining the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle further comprises determining, using a machine learning classifier and based on the ultrasonic sensing data and the sensor data, that the particular mobile device is positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the sensor array comprises an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, a pressure sensor and a motion sensor.

4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the machine learning classifier comprises a supervised machine learning classifier and an unsupervised machine learning classifier.

5 . The method of claim 2 , wherein determining, using the machine learning classifier, that the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle comprises:

prior to using the machine learning classifier, training, using training data comprising predefined labels associated a set of mobile devices in the vehicle, the machine learning classifier to output predicted labels for a plurality of mobile devices associated with the vehicle;

providing, as input to the trained machine learning classifier, the sensor data and the ultrasonic sensing data; and

receiving, as output from the trained machine learning classifier and based on the sensor data and the ultrasonic sensing data, a position label of the particular mobile device indicating whether the particular mobile device is positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein training the machine learning classifier comprises:

generating, using the machine learning classifier, a first set of predicted labels;

determining that the first set of predicted labels have corresponding confidence scores falling below a threshold value; and

regenerating, using the machine learning classifier, a second set of predicted labels, wherein the second set of predicted labels having confidence scores above the threshold value.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the respective frequency signatures correspond to a plurality of different frequencies, wherein each frequency corresponds to one of the plurality of the mobile devices in the vehicle.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein each frequency corresponds to a communication channel between the ultrasonic transmitter and the corresponding mobile device.

9 . A computing system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more instruction storage units that comprises instruction code executable by the one or more processors to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

receiving ultrasonic sensing data that comprises respective frequency signatures associated with each of a plurality of mobile devices positioned within a vehicle during a particular period;

determining, based on the respective frequency signatures, relative distances of the plurality of mobile devices from an ultrasonic transmitter positioned within the vehicle; and

after determining, based on the relative distances, that a particular mobile device is closest to the ultrasonic transmitter, determining the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to a driving position of the vehicle.

10 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the instruction code is executable by the one or more processors to cause the computing system to perform further operations comprising:

receiving sensor data from a sensor array associated with the vehicle; and

wherein determining the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle further comprises determining, using a machine learning classifier and based on the ultrasonic sensing data and the sensor data, that the particular mobile device is positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle.

11 . The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the sensor array comprises an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, a pressure sensor and a motion sensor.

12 . The computing system of claim 10 , wherein the machine learning classifier comprises a supervised machine learning classifier and an unsupervised machine learning classifier.

13 . The computing system of claim 10 , wherein determining, using the machine learning classifier, that the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle comprises:

prior to using the machine learning classifier, training, using training data comprising predefined labels associated a set of mobile devices in the vehicle, the machine learning classifier to output predicted labels for a plurality of mobile devices associated with the vehicle;

providing, as input to the trained machine learning classifier, the sensor data and the ultrasonic sensing data; and

receiving, as output from the trained machine learning classifier and based on the sensor data and the ultrasonic sensing data, a position label of the particular mobile device indicating whether the particular mobile device is positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle.

14 . The computing system of claim 13 , wherein training the machine learning classifier comprises:

generating, using the machine learning classifier, a first set of predicted labels;

determining that the first set of predicted labels have corresponding confidence scores falling below a threshold value; and

regenerating, using the machine learning classifier, a second set of predicted labels, wherein the second set of predicted labels having confidence scores above the threshold value.

15 . The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the respective frequency signatures correspond to a plurality of different frequencies, wherein each frequency corresponds to one of the plurality of the mobile devices in the vehicle.

16 . The computing system of claim 15 , wherein each frequency corresponds to a communication channel between the ultrasonic transmitter and the corresponding mobile device.

17 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instruction code executable by one or more processors of a computing system to cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

receiving ultrasonic sensing data that comprises respective frequency signatures associated with each of a plurality of mobile devices positioned within a vehicle during a particular period;

determining, based on the respective frequency signatures, relative distances of the plurality of mobile devices from an ultrasonic transmitter positioned within the vehicle; and

after determining, based on the relative distances, that a particular mobile device is closest to the ultrasonic transmitter, determining the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to a driving position of the vehicle.

18 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the instruction code is executable by the one or more processors to cause the computing system to perform further operations comprising:

receiving sensor data from a sensor array associated with the vehicle; and

wherein determining the particular mobile device to be positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle further comprises determining, using a machine learning classifier and based on the ultrasonic sensing data and the sensor data, that the particular mobile device is positioned proximate to the driving position of the vehicle.

19 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the sensor array comprises an infrared sensor, a sound sensor, a pressure sensor and a motion sensor.

20 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18 , wherein the machine learning classifier comprises a supervised machine learning classifier and an unsupervised machine learning classifier.