VEHICLE CELLULAR DATA TRANSMISSION

Abstract: A road vehicle speed restriction violation system comprises a base station having a data processing unit addressing data transmitted to a local cellular telephone receiver by a transmitter carried by the road vehicle, the transmitter in use transmitting GPS geographical location information to the receiver together with vehicle identity and vehicle velocity at its location. The transmitter has active and silent states and is triggered to an active state by the transmitter actuator receiving from the velocity gauge a velocity signal indicating a velocity above or equal to a threshold velocity calibrated into the transmitter actuator. The transmitter actuator can be recalibrated to other thresholds normally corresponding to a speed limit restricted by regulation. For this purpose, a cellular transceiver array broadcasts a command signal on a control channel and the vehicle includes a selector, which receives such command signal. The command signal broadcast by the array informs the selector of the value of the lowest speed restriction in the cell addressed by the array. In response, the selector calibrates the transmitter actuator to the value so that it is operable to actuate the transmitter in response to a velocity signal from the velocity gauge which exceeds the calibrated value. In the absence of a command signal, the selector calibrates the actuator to the highest value speed restriction for the vehicle.

Description: Vehicle Cellular Data Transmission The invention relates to a method and apparatus for the collection of data regarding the identity, use and geographical location of a vehicle and its transmission to and processing by a remote data processing station or other location The invention is in particular concerned with the referencing of vehicle velocity information to vehicle identity and geographical location so that vehicle violation of road speed restrictions can be detected with reliability and rapidity and manifested at such remote data processing location in a conveniently automated and efficient manner and, for example, hard copy or other communications sent to vehicle addresses by way of legal enforcement of speed restrictions as an adjunct document creation function linked to the data processing by said remote data processing location EP-A-000 809 117 discloses the combination in a portable device of a GPS satellite position determination receiver with a wireless telephone transceiver for transmitting position data and vehicle status data via eg a cellular telephone network during a two-way telephone conversation US Patent 5828738 discloses interface of a mobile telephone with a mobile billing interface device in order to combine travel billing of a taxi passenger with billing for the passenger's use of an on-board mobile telephone In US Patent 5504482, automatic emergency position notification is accomplished by an inertial measuring unit causing a telecommunications equipment of the vehicle carrying a GPS receiver as well as the unit and that equipment to signal a GPS satellite-determined vehicle accident location to an emergency care provider US Patent 5669061 discloses a GPS tracking system for providing cellular telephone hadoff between cellzones In EP-A-000 837 341 , DTMF codes provide for data exchange between a mobile unit and a station, the mobile unit communicating via a cellular telephone GPS determined position data for the unit and a request for navigation assistance to the station and the latter addressing the position data to a geographical database and issuing navigation computer output to the mobile unit via the cellular telephone According to the invention, there is provided a road vehicle equipped to provide a remote data processing location information concerning use of the vehicle, the vehicle having (i) means to determine location parameters defining instantaneous geographical location of the vehicle (for example means for receiving satellite transmissions from, eg the GPS satellite constellation, and for determining the location of said receiving means itself from said received transmission), (u) means electronically storing a signature, such as a memory device storing an identification characteristic, such as a code, for the vehicle or a signal generation device calibrated or otherwise arranged to generate a signal which characterises the vehicle, such as by a characteristic pattern of frequency, wavelength and/or amplitude variations or by, for example pulse coding, (m) means for determining one or more vehicle use parameters defining the instantaneous use of the vehicle (eg its velocity) and (iv) signal transmission means for transmitting for processing by data processing means of said remote data processing location a data signal which encodes said location parameters, said signature and said vehicle use parameters, so that information concerning the vehicle's use location of use and identity can be processed by said data processing means of said remote data processing location In an embodiment, the vehicle is one in which the means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters includes velocity-determining means of the vehicle provided for informing the vehicle operator of the vehicle velocity and wherein said means to determine location parameters said means electronically storing a signature and said signal transmission means form a data collection and transmission system having as input an output from said velocity-determining means, said velocity-determining means optionally having redundancy conferred thereon by said data collection and transmission system including second velocity-determining means. In an embodiment which is preferred, the vehicle includes referencing means for referencing said location parameters to a road map electronically stored in storage means of the vehicle in order to generate comparison information between said location parameters and geographical reference points on said map which signify the boundaries of speed restriction zones, transmission of said encoding signal by said signal transmission means being disabled unless the vehicle when located in such a zone has a velocity which exceeds the speed restriction or another predetermined speed or the vehicle use is not authorised eg by PIN code input, and the use of the vehicle being unauthorisable by said PIN code input or other authorisation measure if the electronically stored road map is not accessible to said referencing means. In a second aspect, the invention provides a data processing apparatus for disposition at a location receiving means as defined herein in the context of the invention and comprising a wireless or line transmission receiving means, data processing means having multiplex input from the receiving means, data storage means for storage of processed data, and an electronically stored map of the road system of an area, said map being accessible to said data processing means, the apparatus being operable to receive multiple transmissions from each of multiple vehicles as defined in any preceding claim of signals as defined to said data processing means, said data processing means being operable to identify from said multiplex input individual vehicles or persons associated therewith and to decode and process information concerning the use of the so identified individual vehicles. The invention is illustrated schematically in the accompanying drawings of which:- Figure 1 shows in generalised form the components of a system comprising a base station having a data processing unit addressing data transmitted to a local cellular telephone receiver by a transmitter carried by a road vehicle and transmitting GPS geographical location information to the receiver together with vehicle identity and vehicle velocity at its location, in order to detect and act against a speed violation by the vehicle, the depicted controller is optional to compare vehicle speed and location with the requirements of speed restriction in the zone occupied by the vehicle and to disable the transmitter at vehicle speeds of less than the restriction applying to that location. The controller also actuates the in- cabin speed restriction alarm (which may be audible and/or visual); and Figure 2 shows in generalised form the components of a system comprising a base station having a data processing unit addressing data transmitted to a local cellular telephone receiver by a transmitter carried by a road vehicle and transmitting GPS geographical location information to the receiver together with vehicle identity and vehicle velocity at its location, in order to detect and act against a speed violation by the vehicle. The transmitter in Figure 2 has active and silent states and is triggered to an active state by the transmitter actuator receiving from the velocity gauge a velocity signal indicating a velocity above or equal to a threshold velocity calibrated into the transmitter actuator. The transmitter actuator can be recalibrated to other thresholds normally corresponding to a speed limit restricted by regulation for the purpose, a cellular transceiver array broadcasts a command signal on a control channel and the vehicle includes a selector, which receives such command signal. The command signal broadcast by the array informs the selector of the value of the lowest speed restriction in the cell addressed by the array. In response, the selector calibrates the transmitter actuator tot he value so that it is operable to actuate the transmitter in response to a velocity signal from the velocity gauge which exceeds the calibrated value. In the absence of a command signal, the selector calibrates the actuator to the highest value speed restriction for the vehicle.

Claims: Claims: 1. A method of policing vehicle violation of road speed restrictions which method comprises collecting data defining individual vehicle speed and location and referencing said collected data to vehicle identity and speed restriction zone locations so that individual vehicle violations of road speed restrictions can be determined, characterised in that said data collection is carried out by apparatus on-board said individual vehicles, in that said individual vehicles are each provided with means electronically storing a respective signature which identifies an individual said vehicle and in that data defining individual vehicle identity and regarding individual vehicle speed and location is transmitted to said remote data processing location by transmission means on-board said individual vehicles and processed by data processing means of said remote location whereby said determined speed restriction violations are manifested at said remote location. 2. A method of policing vehicle violation of road speed restrictions which method comprises collecting data defining the geographical location and speed of respective vehicles, transmitting said data and vehicle identity-defining data to a remote data processing location, processing said data by means of data processing means of said location to reference vehicle velocity information to vehicle identity and vehicle geographical location so that vehicle violation of road speed restrictions can be detected, and manifesting at such remote data processing location said detected violations for legal enforcement against said speed restriction violations, characterized in that said data collection is effected by means of said respective vehicles and in that said collected data and vehicle identity-defining data is transmitted by transmission means of said respective vehicles to said remote data processing location 3 A method as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein said data collection means of said respective vehicles includes GPS receiving means 4 A method as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 3 wherein said data collection means of said respective vehicles includes velocity-determining means other than provided for velocity notice to a driver of such vehicle 5 A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the transmission means comprises cellular telephone transmission means 6 A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein the cellular telephone transmission means is UTMS telephone transmission means 7 A method as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said transmission means is switchable between active and silent states by means of trigger means 8 A method as claimed in Claim 7 wherein said trigger means responds to achievement by the vehicle of a pre-selected velocity threshold to trigger change between said states 9 A method as claimed in Claim 8 wherein receiving means are provided for receiving a command signal which actuates trigger selection means for calibrating said trigger means to a particular velocity threshold for actuation thereof 10 A method as claimed in Claim 9 wherein said command signal is a broadcast signal along a cellular telephone base station control channel 11 A method as claimed in Claim 9 wherein said trigger selection means is operable in response to particular command signals to calibrate the trigger means with a velocity threshold from plural such thresholds each defining a velocity equal to a vehicle velocity restriction or to the sum of such a velocity and a pre-selected velocity margin 12 A method as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the vehicle includes means for referencing vehicle location to a road map electronically stored in storage means in order to generate comparison information between said location and geographical reference points on said map which signify the boundaries of speed restriction zones, transmission of data to said remote data processing location being disabled unless the vehicle located in such a zone has a velocity which exceeds the speed restriction or another pre-determined speed or unless the road map is not accessible to the referencing means. 13. A method as claimed in Claim 11 wherein said map is stored on- board the vehicle. 14. Use of vehicle speed reporting apparatus in the detection of speed restriction violations by vehicles equipped therewith, the apparatus comprising means to determine location parameters defining instantaneous geographical location of a vehicle equipped with the reporting apparatus, means electronically storing a signature for the vehicle, vehicle velocity input means for inputting instantaneous vehicle velocity to the apparatus (e.g. from a vehicle speedometer) and signal transmission means for transmitting for processing by data processing means of a remote data processing location a signal which encodes said vehicle location parameters, said vehicle signature and said vehicle velocity so that information concerning the vehicle's identity, location and velocity can be processed by said data processing means and so that said remote data processing location can thereby detect and react to violation by the vehicle of a speed restriction applying at a location included by a journey of the vehicle. 15. A road vehicle equipped to provide to a remote data processing location information concerning velocity restriction violation by the vehicle, the vehicle having means to determine location parameters defining instantaneous geographical location of the vehicle, means electronically storing a signature, means for determining instantaneous velocity of the vehicle and signal transmission means for transmitting for processing by data processing means of said remote data processing location a data signal, so that violation by the vehicle of a road speed restriction applying to a geographical location can be detected and manifested at said remote data processing station for legal enforcement purposes. 16 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 15 wherein said transmission means is switchable between active and silent states and switch means is provided for switching between said states 17 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 16 wherein said switch means is responsive to achievement by the vehicle of a pre-selected velocity threshold to trigger said transmission means to change between said active and silent states 18 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 17 wherein the signal transmission means is switchable by switch means between an active state and a silent state, the signal transmission means being switchable to said active state in response to detection of a condition in which instantaneous vehicle velocity exceeds a maximum threshold velocity for a vehicle velocity restriction zone in which the vehicle is located at that instant and said signal transmission means being switchable in response to detection of any other condition to said silent state. 19 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 18 wherein said switch means is responsive to achievement of a pre-selected velocity threshold by the vehicle in acceleration mode to trigger change of said transmission means from said inactive state to said active state 20 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 19 wherein said switch means is responsive to achievement of a pre-selected velocity threshold by the vehicle in deceleration mode to trigger change to restore said inactive state of said transmission means 21 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 16 to 20 which includes receiving means for reception of a command signal which actuates trigger selection means, said trigger selection means being responsive to said command signal reception by said receiving means to select the conditionally for said change of state of said transmission means 22 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 21 wherein said conditionally for said change of state of said transmission means is achievement by said vehicle of a pre-selected vehicle velocity threshold and wherein said trigger selection means has at least two selectable such vehicle velocity thresholds 23 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 22 wherein said trigger selection means has a plurality of selectable such vehicle velocity thresholds each defining a vehicle velocity equal to a vehicle velocity restriction imposed by regulation or to the sum of such a velocity and a preselected velocity margin 24 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 20 and including referencing means for referencing said location parameters to a road map electronically stored in storage means in order to generate comparison information between said location parameters and geographical reference points on said map which signify the boundaries of speed restriction zones, transmission by said transmission means being disabled unless the vehicle when located in such a zone has a velocity which exceeds the speed restriction or another predetermined speed such as one less than such restriction by a margin or another speed given a significance in relation to the zone 25 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 24 and including means responsive to the location parameter determining means to display or sound in the vehicle notice that a threshold vehicle speed significant for the location has been exceeded 26 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 25 and including means for referencing location parameters to a road map electronically stored in storage means of the vehicle in order to compare the location parameters with geographical reference points on said map signifying e g the boundaries of speed restriction zones 27 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 26 wherein the location-determining means is a differential or other GPS receiver 28 A vehicle velocity violation detection system comprising plural vehicles each equipped with a vehicle reporting apparatus, and one or more remote data processing locations, said vehicle reporting apparatus comprising means to determine location parameters defining instantaneous geographical location of the vehicle equipped with said reporting apparatus, means electronically storing the signature of that vehicle, means for determining instantaneous velocity of the vehicle or for inputting to the reporting apparatus instantaneous vehicle velocity determined by other means of the vehicle, and signal transmission means for transmitting for processing by data processing means of said remote data processing location an encoding signal which encodes said location parameters, said signature and said vehicle velocity, so that information concerning the vehicle's location, the velocity of the vehicle at such location and the vehicle's identity can be processed by said data processing means of said remote data processing location, said data processing means comprising a wireless or line transmission receiving means, data processing means having multiplex input from the receiving means, data storage means for storage of processed data, and a model of a road map electronically stored in storage means of the data processing means, said map model being accessible to said data processing means so that said vehicle location parameters in said encoding signals can be referenced to said model in order that said location parameters and geographical reference points on said map of the location of the vehicle during violation of said velocity restriction can be generated, the apparatus being operable to receive multiple transmissions from each reporting apparatus of said plural vehicles of said encoding signals and to input said signals as said multiplex input to said data processing means, said data processing means being operable to identify from said multiplex input individual vehicles and to decode and process information concerning the use of the so-identified individual vehicles 29 A vehicle velocity violation detection system as claimed in Claim 28, wherein said remote data processing station is equipped to create a text in hard copy or electronic form and addressed to, or to selected one of, respective addresses for the identified vehicles 30 A data processing apparatus as claimed in Claim 29 wherein said respective addresses for the identified vehicles are addresses registered for those respective vehicles by a vehicle registration authority or road use authority 31 A data processing apparatus as claimed in Claim 29 or Claim 30 wherein, in relation to any particular identified vehicle, said text is text expressing a notice or information relating to legal enforcement against vehicle velocity restriction violation by the vehicle evidenced in information processed by said data processing means of said remote data processing location 32 A method of vehicle speed restriction violation monitoring and control which method comprises (a) determining the instantaneous speed of a vehicle, (b) determining the geographical location of the vehicle at said instantaneous speed, said speed and location determinations being effected by apparatus on-board the vehicle, thereafter (c) either - A (i) comparing said determined location with a store of speed restriction zones stored on-board the vehicle, and (n) transmitting to remote receiving means the vehicle and speed location together with vehicle identity if the vehicle speed exceeds the speed restriction (or another predetermined speed), B (i) transmitting to remote receiving means the speed location and identity of the vehicle optionally after performing the comparison referred to in A(ι) above, and (i) comparing said vehicle location with a store of speed restriction zones stored other than on-board the vehicle, said remote receiving means forming part of a data processing apparatus comprising said receiving means and any remote speed restriction zone store, and (d) operating data processing means of said data processing apparatus to identify vehicles travelling in a speed restriction zone in violation of the speed restriction and optionally creating a communication for dispatch to an address applicable to such a vehicle in order to communicate said violation 33 A method of creating a signal encoding the violation of a speed restriction by a vehicle which method comprises operating vehicle onboard speed detection apparatus to determine instantaneous vehicle speed, operating vehicle on-board location determining apparatus to determine the location at which said vehicle travelled at said determined instantaneous speed, comparing said location and speed with speed restriction zone information stored in a store thereof, and creating a signal encoding (i) said vehicle determined instantaneous speed, (n) the location of the vehicle when it travelled at that speed and (in) the identity of the vehicle, if said comparison indicates a speed restriction violation by the vehicle 34 A method of policing vehicle speed restriction violation which method comprises receiving from plural vehicles data in the form of signals encoding, for respective vehicles, vehicle speed, vehicle identity and vehicle location applicable to said vehicle speed, operating data processing apparatus for comparing said data for each respective vehicle which speed restriction zone data stored in a store and determining the identity of individual vehicles travelling in speed restriction zones in violation of said speed restrictions, and optionally creating, in respect of each such violation, a communication for dispatch to an address applicable to such a violating vehicle in order to communicate said violation to a person associated with said vehicle 35 A road vehicle equipped to provide to a remote data processing location information concerning use of the vehicle the vehicle having means to determine location parameters defining instantaneous geographical location of the vehicle, means electronically storing a signature, means for determining one or more vehicle use parameters defining the instantaneous use of the vehicle and signal transmission means for transmitting for processing by data processing means of said remote data processing location a signal which encodes said location parameters, said signature and said vehicle use parameters, so that information concerning the vehicle's use, location of use and identity can be processed by said data processing means of said remote data processing location 36 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 35 wherein said signal transmission means is wireless transmission means 37 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 35 or Claim 36 wherein said wireless transmission means is digital transmission means 38 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 37 wherein said signal transmission means is cellular telephone transmission means 39 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 38 wherein said cellular telephone transmission means is UTMS telephone transmission means 40 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 39 wherein said signal transmission means is operable as open channel transmission means 41 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 40 wherein said means to determine location parameters is GPS receiving means 42 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 41 wherein said GPS receiving means is operable so as continuously to monitor vehicle geographical location 43 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 42 and including means responsive to the means to determine location parameters to display or sound in the vehicle notice that a threshold vehicle speed has been exceeded 44 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 43 preceding claim and including a means for electronically storing said location parameters 45 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 44 and including means for referencing said location parameters to a road map electronically stored in storage means of the vehicle in order to generate comparison information between said location parameters and geographical reference points on said map 46 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 45 wherein the storage means for electronically storing said road map is a CD-ROM, the system including a preferably closed CD-ROM drive therefor 47 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 46 wherein the CD-ROM or its drive is operable to remove a bar to the transmission of a code so as to permit said code to be transmitted 48 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 47 wherein continuation of said bar is signalled in the vehicle by audible and/or visual means 49 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 48 wherein continuation of said signalling whilst the vehicle is in motion actuates audio and/or visual signalling manifested externally of the vehicle 50 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 48 or Claim 49 wherein parking of the vehicle disables said audio and/or visual signalling manifested externally of the vehicle 51 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 48 to 50 wherein input of a PIN code to the system disables said audio and/or visual signalling manifested externally of the vehicle, optionally only following a delay period 52 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 51 wherein keypad input means is provided for input of said PIN code 53 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 52 wherein said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters includes use parameter-determining means of the vehicle provided for informing the vehicle operator of the vehicle parameter and wherein said means to determine location parameters, said means electronically storing a signature and said signal transmission means form a data collection and transmission system having as input an output from said use parameter- determining means 54 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 52 wherein said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters includes use parameter-determining means forming part of a data collection and transmission system which includes said means to determine location parameters, said means electronically storing a signature and said signal transmission means 55 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 54 wherein said one or more vehicle use parameters include parameters of the use of the road by the vehicle 56 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 55 wherein said one or more vehicle use parameters include parameters which define vehicle velocity at one or more instants 57 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 56 wherein said velocity is determined by velocity determining means of the system or by velocity determining means of the vehicle communicating to the system 58 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 53 wherein said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters includes velocity- determining means of the vehicle provided for informing the vehicle operator of the vehicle velocity and wherein said means to determine location parameters, said means electronically storing a signature and said signal transmission means form a data collection and transmission system having as input an output from said velocity-determining means, said velocity-determining means optionally having redundancy conferred thereon by said data collection and transmission system including second velocity-determining means 59 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 52 or Claim 54 wherein said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters includes velocity-determining means forming part of a data collection and transmission system which includes said means to determine location parameters, said means electronically storing a signature and said signal transmission means, said velocity-determining means optionally having redundancy conferred thereon by said data collection and transmission system having as enablable but normally disabled input, an output from velocity-determining means of vehicle provided for informing the vehicle operator of the vehicle velocity 60 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 55 wherein a said vehicle road use parameter is road distance travelled by the vehicle on a journey between two geographically spaced apart road locations, said means to determine location parameters determining said vehicle instantaneous geographical locations at the extremities of the journey and said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters being distance measurement means 61 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 56 wherein a said vehicle road use parameter is journey time for travel of the vehicle between two geographically spaced apart road locations, said means to determine location parameters determining said vehicle instantaneous geographical locations at the extremities of the journey and said means to determine one or more vehicle use parameters being a clock 62 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 61 wherein a said vehicle use parameter is a parameter defining whether the use is authorised or unauthorised 63 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 62 wherein said parameter is a parameter defining whether the operation of the vehicle or a device forming part of the vehicle is authorised by input of a code (e g a PIN code), and the vehicle includes code input means 64 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 62 or Claim 63 wherein unauthorised use of the vehicle creates a distressed vehicle use parameter encoded in said encoded signal 65 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 64 wherein means is provided to bar the creation of said distressed vehicle use parameter, its inclusion in the encoded signal or the transmission thereof or to transmit a countermand signal 66 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 65 wherein said bar is effected or the transmission of said countermand signal is actuated by code input within a predetermined time delay period 67 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 66 wherein said code input is input of a PIN code 68 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 64 to 67 wherein said encoded signal includes said geographical data pertaining to the geographical location of the vehicle at the instant of distressed vehicle use parameter creation 69 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 64 to 68 wherein said encoded signal includes a code defining the nature of the unauthorised use of the vehicle by reference to a list of specific unauthorised uses 70 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 69 wherein the list includes vehicle ignition, vehicle door or other closure movement without key instigation and tampering applied to any, or any selected one of the parts of said data collection and transmission system or to the means for the mounting thereof to the vehicle 71 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 70 and including means for electronically storing vehicle use parameters 72 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 71 wherein said transmission means has an inactive state in which said transmission means is silent with respect to transmission of at least a component of said encoding signal and an active state in which said transmission means transmits said encoding signal, and wherein the vehicle is provided with means to trigger said transmission means to change between said states 73 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 72 wherein said trigger means comprises switch means responsive to achievement by the vehicle of a pre-selected velocity threshold to trigger change between said states 74 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 73 wherein said switch means is responsive to achievement of a pre-selected velocity threshold by the vehicle in acceleration mode to trigger change of said transmission means from said inactive state to said active state 75 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 74 wherein said switch means is responsive to achievement of said pre-selected velocity threshold by the vehicle in deceleration mode to trigger change to restore said inactive state of said transmission means 76 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 72 to 75 which includes receiving means for reception of a command signal which actuates trigger selection means, said trigger selection means being responsive to said command signal reception by said receiving means to select the conditionally for said change of state of said transmission means 77 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 76 wherein said conditionally for said change of state of said transmission means is achievement by said vehicle of a pre-selected vehicle velocity threshold and wherein said trigger selection means has at least two selectable such vehicle velocity thresholds 78 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 77 wherein said trigger selection means has a plurality of selectable such vehicle velocity thresholds each defining a vehicle velocity equal to a vehicle velocity restriction imposed by regulation or to the sum of such a velocity and a preselected velocity margin 79 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 77 or Claim 78 wherein said plural selectable vehicle velocity thresholds are capable of recalibration 80 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 76 to 79 wherein said command signal is a broadcast signal 81 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 76 to 80 wherein said command signal is a signal transmitted by a cellular telephone infrastructure 82 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 76 to 81 wherein said command signal is transmitted by a cellular telephone base station 83 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 82 wherein said command signal is transmitted along a cellular telephone base station control channel 84 A vehicle reporting device comprising - (i) means for electronically storing a signature for the vehicle, (n) means for inputting to the device the velocity of the vehicle, (in) a GPS receiver for determining vehicle location, (iv) transmission means for transmitting a signal encoding vehicle identity, velocity and location to a base station (v) actuator means for switching the transmitter from a silent to an active state, (vi) means for inputting vehicle velocity to said actuator, (vn) command signal receiver means for receiving a wireless command signal, and (vni) selector means for calibrating the actuator with a vehicle velocity threshold signified by said command signal 85 A vehicle including a reporting device as claimed in Claim 84 86 A vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 35 to 85 and including referencing means for referencing said location parameters to a road map electronically stored in storage means in order to generate comparison information between said location parameters and geographical reference points on said map which signify the boundaries of speed restriction zones, transmission of said encoding signal by said signal transmission means being disabled unless the vehicle when located in such a zone has a velocity which exceeds the speed restriction, the vehicle use is not authorised (e g by code input such as input of a PIN code), or the electronically stored road map is not accessible to said referencing means 87 A vehicle as claimed in Claim 86 wherein said unauthoπsable use is exceptionally authorisable by input of an emergency code to said PIN code input means which input removes the disablement of the encoding signal transmission 88 A data processing apparatus comprising a wireless or line transmission receiving means, data processing means having multiplex input from the receiving means, data storage means for storage of processed data, and an electronically stored map of the road system of an area, said map being accessible to said data processing means, the apparatus being operable to receive multiple transmissions from each of multiple vehicles of signals transmitted by transmission means of said vehicles and defining respective vehicle identities and regarding individual vehicle speed and location and to input said signals as said multiplex input to said data processing means, said data processing means being operable and said signals being composed such that from said multiplex input individual vehicles can be identified and information concerning said individual vehicles' violation of road speed restrictions manifested with vehicle identity at the location of said data processing apparatus. 89. A data processing apparatus as claimed in Claim 88 equipped to create a text in hard copy or electronic form and address to, or to selected ones of, respective addresses for the identified vehicles. 90. A data processing apparatus as claimed in Claim 89 wherein said respective addresses for the identified vehicles are addresses registered for those respective vehicles by a vehicle registration authority or road use authority. 91. A data processing apparatus as claimed in Claim 89 or Claim 90 wherein, in relation to any particular identified vehicle, said text is text expressing (i) a notice or information relating to legal enforcement against unlawful use of the vehicle evidenced in information processed by said data processing means of said apparatus and/or (ii) toll information in relation to tolled road use by the vehicle. 92. A data collection and transmission system as defined in any one of Claims 1 to 87, optionally including a velocity-determining means. 93. A use as claimed in Claim 14, a detection system as claimed in Claim 28, a method as claimed in any one of Claims 1 , 2, 8, 9 or 10 or a vehicle as claimed in any one of Claims 15 to 27 wherein one or more preferred or optional features are incorporated, said feature(s) being selected from those recited in any one of Claims 35 to 92.

Inventors: LAWRENCE MALCOLM GRAHAM, LAWRENCE, MALCOLM, GRAHAM
Applicants: LAWRENCE MALCOLM GRAHAM, LAWRENCE, MALCOLM, GRAHAM
Application year: 2000
Main classification: G08G
IPC codes: G08G1, H04W64