Data processing: financial – business practice – management – or co – Automated electrical financial or business practice or... – Transportation facility access
Patent
1997-07-17
1999-10-26
MacDonald, Allen R.
Data processing: financial, business practice, management, or co
Automated electrical financial or business practice or...
Transportation facility access
340928, 340933, 340937, 235384, G06F 1760
Patent
active
059743972
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and a device for radio communication between mutually mobile objects. The present invention is especially intended for communication between a fixed object, which can be a road toll facility, and a mobile object, which can be a vehicle passing the toll facility. The present invention is capable of communicating wirelessly with the road toll facility for performing an operation.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
U.S. Pat. No.4,303,904, to Chasek, for example, discloses a system for a road toll facility where radio communication with a vehicle is used to perform an identification and payment operation. The operation should be completed even if the vehicle passes at high speed. To obtain a sufficiently selective communication even if several vehicles pass the road toll facility simultaneously, shortwave radiowaves, such as microwaves, with extremely limited range are used. This means that the operation must be performed while the vehicle passes a relatively short distance which gives a very short available time for the operation if the vehicle travels at high speed.
If the operation comprises several steps, which often must be the case, it is a problem to perform the whole operation in the short time available. To solve this problem, it has been suggested in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,553, to Hassel, to divide the communication cycle among several units in the road toll facility. According to Hassel, a first part of the operation can be performed in a first unit in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The operation must be continued by a second unit and concluded by a third unit.
Such an arrangement will naturally be more expensive than an arrangement in which only one communication unit is required. This additionally results in an extended facility along the passage, which is not desirable. For each communication unit, the equipment usually requires a gantry mounted above the road. Several such gantries, one after the other, will be less aesthetically appealing and result in higher installation and maintenance costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention provides a method by which the time required for the above-described operation is reduced, so that an operation in several steps can be performed by a single communication unit at the highest possible vehicle speed in road traffic. The invention also provides a device for carrying out the method.
The present invention addresses the disadvantages of dividing the operation among several communication units and the associated equipment usually required if high vehicle is permitted in passing a toll facility.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The following description depicts an embodiment of the invention, which is illustrated on the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 represents an overview of an embodiment of a road toll facility according to the present invention with passing vehicles; and
FIG. 2 represents a block diagram of units included in a device according to the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The road toll facility shown in FIG. 1 is located by a road 1, marked to have three lanes in which the passing vehicles can travel in free formation. Above the road 1 extends a gantry 2, which carries a transmitter and receiver equipment 3 for radiowaves. The device 3 stands in wired connection with a computer 4 belonging to the road toll facility.
A vehicle approaching the road toll facility is designated by 5. This is also shown with dashed/dotted lines in a second position in which it is closer to the radio device 3 on the gantry 2. It is understood here that it shall be possible to perform an identification and payment operation while the vehicle passes between the two designated positions. FIG. 1 also illustrates a vehicle 6 that has passed the positions and for which the operation, therefore, shall have been concluded.
The operation is performed by a wireless connection between the transmitter and receiver unit 3 of the road toll facility
REFERENCES:
patent: 4303904 (1981-12-01), Chasek
patent: 5144553 (1992-09-01), Hassett et al.
patent: 5310999 (1994-05-01), Claus et al.
patent: 5428353 (1995-06-01), Bird
patent: 5554984 (1996-09-01), Shigenaga et al.
Hjelmare Anders
Olsson Lars
Combitech Traffic Systems AB
Irshadullah M.
MacDonald Allen R.
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