Patent ID: 7801512
Filing Date: 2010-09-21
Classification: G08G

Abstract:
1. A method for detecting the speed of a moving vehicle through measurements of cellular phone location data obtained through wireless handoff optimization measurements at specific time intervals, and determining if the vehicle's speed is above a maximum speed limit for any particular section of a road, comprising: a) generating a list of cell phones located at each cell of a wireless network; b) determining, for a cell phone in the list of step a), when the cell phone has performed a handoff process due to moving from one cell in the wireless network to another cell in the wireless network; c) determining, for a cell phone in the list of step a), the time of a handoff process following the handoff process of step b); d) for a cell phone in the list that performed the handoff processes of steps b) and c), virtually positioning the cell phone onto each of all road sections that the cell phone could have been located on between points at which the handoff processes of steps b) ands c) could have occurred; e) for a cell phone in the list that performed the handoff processes of steps b) and c), determining the distances between all points where the handoffs of steps b) and c) could have occurred along the road sections of step d); f) for a cell phone in the list that performed the handoff processes of steps b) and c), obtaining from a speed limits database the maximum speed limit for the road sections of step d); g) obtaining a number representing the minimum length of time in which the moving vehicle corresponding to a cell phone of step f) could travel the distance between two handoff points of step e) in compliance with said maximum speed limits, wherein the number is obtained from a real-time calculation of the minimum ratio of the distances of step e) to the maximum speed limits of step f), or from a database containing the pre-calculated result of said calculation; h) comparing the actual time between handoffs in steps b) ands c) with the minimum length of time of step g) to determine if the moving vehicle is traveling at a speed above a corresponding maximum speed limit; i) identifying cell phones that are grouped together in a single moving vehicle and eliminating those cell phones from the list; j) for a vehicle corresponding to a cell phone in the list and traveling at a speed above a corresponding maximum speed limit, generating a speeding violation ticket; and k) maintaining a database of speeding violations for a vehicle of step j) that is registered, determining if a certain speeding ticket has not been paid in time, and sending a request to settle the ticket.