Devices, systems and methods for identifying and/or billing an individual in a vehicle

摘要

Devices, systems, and methods are disclosed for identifying a driver versus a passenger within a smart vehicle. This involves a determination of the relative positions of the wireless communication devices within the smart vehicle using near-field communication (NFC) or GPS, AGPS, etc. The wireless communication device detected closest to the driver seat is assumed to be the device owned by the driver. Once identified, the driver can be billed for tolls and other road services, based on the location of the smart vehicle. For instance, as the smart vehicle approaches a toll, a notification can be sent to all of the wireless communication devices. A response from a particular wireless communication device will result in the corresponding user's account being billed for the toll. Further, the smart vehicle can communicate with near-field transceivers placed, for instance, alongside a High-Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane. A driver of the vehicle can be billed, fined, or ticketed based upon a determination of an absence of passengers in the smart vehicle.

主权项

1. A smart vehicle comprising:
an antenna positioned at a distance that is closer to a driver seat of the smart vehicle than a passenger seat of the smart vehicle; at least one processor; and a device memory that stores computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations including:
receiving a first unique identifier from a first wireless communication device associated with a first user and a second unique identifier from a second wireless communication device associated with a second user, both the first wireless communication device and the second wireless communication device being within a proximity of the smart vehicle,determining that a communication link between the antenna and the first wireless communication device is associated with a signal strength that is greater than a signal strength associated with a communication link between the antenna and the second wireless communication device,determining, based at least in part on the communication link between the antenna and the first wireless communication device being associated with the signal strength that is greater than the signal strength associated with the communication link between the antenna and the second wireless communication device and further based in part on the antenna being positioned closer to the driver seat of the smart vehicle than the passenger seat of the smart vehicle, that the first user associated with the first wireless communication device is a driver of the smart vehicle,determining a location of the smart vehicle, wherein determining the location of the smart vehicle comprises receiving, from a roadside near-field communication transceiver, location information related to the location of the smart vehicle,determining, based on the location of the smart vehicle, to bill the driver, andtransmitting, across a network, to a billing server, the first unique identifier from the first wireless communication device and the location of the smart vehicle, wherein the billing server determines a user account associated with the first unique identifier and bills the user account an amount based on the location of the smart vehicle.