Patent ID: 11907929
Assignee: GEOTOLL INC.
Field: IT methods for management (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G | IPC G

Claim 6:
7. A method for identifying a plurality of mobile devices traveling together in a vehicle, comprising:
receiving, at a server, a plurality of location reports from a plurality of mobile devices, wherein the location reports are produced by each mobile device by monitoring a speed of the mobile device based on location fixes produced by a satellite positioning receiver of the mobile device over time, and when the speed is above the a speed threshold, generating location reports to include location fix information produced by the satellite positioning receiver, taken when approaching and passing through a tolling location in order to complete a toll transaction, the location fix information including a location and a time at which the location fix was performed, and a media access control (MAC) address of a personal area network (PAN) transceiver of the vehicle read by the mobile device using a PAN transceiver of the mobile device, and an indication whether the mobile device is actively connected to the PAN transceiver of the vehicle;
the server selecting a first location report from one mobile device of the plurality of mobile devices that indicates the one mobile device passed through the tolling location;
the server defining speed and distance boundaries based on location information in the first location report;
the server searching the plurality of location reports to identify other ones of the location reports that are within the speed and distance boundaries and having a similar crossing time and lane location when crossing the tolling location based on a defined lane geofence;
the server performing a statistical process on the speed, location, crossing time, and lane of the other ones of the location reports to identify at least one other location report from at least one other mobile device that has a minimum likelihood of being in the same vehicle as the one mobile device; and
wherein at least one of the first location report or the at least one other location reporting indicating that the respective mobile device is actively connected to the PAN transceiver of the vehicle, the server automatically assessing a toll fee to at least a toll account associated with the respective mobile device indicating that it is connected to the PAN transceiver of the vehicle.