Sensor device and system for communicating information
View Patent ↗A sensor device for conducting electronic transactions from a vehicle including a housing including an RFID circuit operably connected to an RFID antenna, a short range communication device, the RFID circuit and short range communication device operably connected to a processor, and a power supply. The sensor device is wirelessly connectable to a mobile communication device via the Bluetooth chip and the mobile communication device runs a software application. The RFID antenna is adapted to receive a wireless signal from a transmitter. Responsive to the wireless signal, the processor causes the short range communication device to wirelessly communicate with the mobile communication device to initiate a transaction.
1 . A method for assessing charges associated with vehicle use, the method comprising:
receiving, at a mobile computing device within a vehicle via a software application, a configuration from a remote server for a set of geofences in proximity to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the set of geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences,
wherein the mobile computing device is battery powered and comprises location service circuitry configured to determine a geographic location by polling an external positioning system;
determining a geographic location of the mobile computing device by polling the external positioning system using the location service circuitry of the mobile computing device;
tracking, via a processor of the mobile computing device, changes in a set of determined geographic locations over a period of time;
detecting a motion state of the mobile computing device based on the tracked changes in geographic locations, wherein the motion state comprises at least a stationary state and a moving state;
automatically adjusting, via the processor of the mobile computing device, a polling rate of the location service circuitry based on the detected motion state, such that the polling frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is in the stationary state and more frequent as the mobile computing device is in the moving state, thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion;
enhancing, via the processor of the mobile computing device, the geologic location determined using the location service circuitry to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
determining, via the software application, a path taken by the mobile computing device by plotting a series of lane-level geographic locations of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences within the set of geofences;
sending path information to the remote server in response to determining the path;
receiving, from the remote server, toll information based on the path information;
displaying the toll information on a display coupled to the mobile computing device and a payment feature; and
receiving, via the software application, an authorization input from the user via the payment feature to initiate a transaction based on the toll information.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the series of related geofences comprises an approach geofence corresponding to an approach of an area, a departure geofence corresponding to a departure of the area, and a core geofence corresponding to a middle location of the area.
3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the information from the remote server comprises geographic boundaries of the set of geofences, wherein one or more of the set of geofences are associated with a toll region or a parking lot.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
displaying a request for authorization corresponding to a parking event, wherein the path information indicates that the mobile computing device traveled into a first geofence,
the first geofence corresponds with a parking area, and
the toll information received from the remote server comprises a current rate for the parking area.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the path comprises determining a combination of one or more geofences of the set of geofences that the mobile computing device passes through.
6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting, by the mobile computing device to the remote server, location, speed, time of day, vehicle type, and lane of travel.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining a specific lane in which a vehicle associated with the mobile computing device is traveling based on the geographic location and the set of geofences.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising requesting or refreshing the set of geofences by sending a current geographical location to the remote server.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the set of geofences is determined by the remote server using a KD tree on coordinates of geofences and the current geographical location of the mobile computing device to generate a list of nearest geofences to the mobile computing device.
10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising confirming the toll information based on one or more of the set of geofences before and after a toll location.
11 . A mobile computing device comprising:
a processor;
a battery;
a location detection circuitry; and
a memory storing instructions that, when executed by the processor, configure the mobile computing device to:
receive, at a mobile computing device within a vehicle via a software application, a configuration from a remote server for a set of geofences in proximity to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the set of geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences;
determine a geographic location of the mobile computing device by polling an external positioning system using a location service circuitry of the mobile computing device;
track, via a processor of the mobile computing device, changes in a set of previously determined geographic locations over a period of time;
detect a motion state of the mobile computing device based on the tracked changes in geographic locations, wherein the motion state comprises at least a stationary state and a moving state;
automatically adjust via the processor of the mobile computing device, a polling rate of the location service circuitry based on the detected motion state, such that the polling frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is in the stationary state and more frequent as the mobile computing device is in the moving state, thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion;
enhance, via the processor, the geologic location determined using the location service circuitry to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
determine, via the software application, a path taken by the mobile computing device by plotting a series of lane-level geographic location of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences within the set of geofences;
send path information to the remote server in response to determining the path;
receive, from the remote server, toll information based on the path information;
display the toll information on a display coupled to the mobile computing device and a payment feature; and
receiving, via the software application, an authorization input from the user via the payment feature to initiate a transaction based on the toll information.
12 . The mobile computing device of claim 11 , wherein the series of related geofences comprises an approach geofence corresponding to an approach of an area, a departure geofence corresponding to a departure of the area, and a core geofence corresponding to a middle location of the area.
13 . The mobile computing device of claim 11 , wherein the instructions further configure the mobile computing device to request or refresh the set of geofences by sending a current geographical location to the remote server, and receiving an updated set of geofences local to the mobile computing device, wherein the updated set of geofences are determined by the remote server using a KD tree on coordinates of geofences and the current geographical location of the mobile computing device to generate a list of nearest geofences to the mobile computing device.
14 . The mobile computing device of claim 11 , wherein the information from the remote server comprises geographic boundaries of the set of geofences, wherein the set of geofences are associated with toll plazas and parking lots.
15 . The mobile computing device of claim 11 , wherein the path information indicates that the mobile computing device traveled into a first geofence, wherein the first geofence corresponds with a parking area computing;
wherein the toll information received from the remote server includes a current rate for the parking area; and
wherein the instructions further configure the mobile computing device to display an authorization input corresponding to a parking event.
16 . A method for operating a remote server for assessing charges associated with vehicle use, the method comprising:
receiving, from a mobile computing device that is battery powered, a current geographical location, wherein a frequency of updates for the current geographical location is based on speed of the mobile computing device such that the frequency is less frequent when the mobile computing device is not moving and more frequent as the mobile computing device accelerates thereby reducing power consumption of the battery during periods of inactivity while maintaining location accuracy during motion,
wherein the current geographical location is enhanced to a lane-level geographic position by augmenting the current geographic location with supplemental vehicle data;
maintaining an active list of nearest geofences to the current geographical location by:
generating a KD tree based on coordinates of a set of geofences by linking each of the set of geofences based on latitude and longitude; and
identifying which geofences of the set of geofences are nearest the current geographical location using the KD tree; and
sending a configuration for the active list of nearest geofences to the mobile computing device, the configuration for the active list of nearest geofences comprising a location for each of the geofences and a geofence type for each of the geofences;
receiving path information from the mobile computing device, the path information comprising information regarding a series of geographic locations of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences from the active list of nearest geofences;
sending, to the mobile computing device, toll information based on the path information; and
receiving a transaction initiation from the mobile computing device in response to the mobile computing device receiving an authorization input from the user received via the software application on the mobile computing device.
17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the set of geofences are sorted in the KD tree using latitude and longitude of each geofence of the set of geofences.
18 . The method of claim 16 , further comprising:
receiving path information from the mobile computing device, the path information comprising information regarding a series of geographic locations of the mobile computing device in relation to a series of related geofences from the active list of nearest geofences; and
sending, to the mobile computing device, toll information based on the path information.
19 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising identifying the geofence type for series of related geofences,
wherein the geofence types include an approach type corresponding to an approach of an area, a departure type corresponding to a departure of the area, and a core type corresponding to a middle location of the area,
wherein the path is determined when the mobile computing device passes through a first geofence that is the approach type, a second geofence that is the core type, and a third geofence that is the departure type.
20 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving the supplemental vehicle data comprises data from a secondary sensor that is different than the location service circuitry.