Patent ID: 8666801

Claim:
A method for performing wireless payment of road tolls from a vehicle, the method comprising: performing, by a computer system (which is not a mobile phone and is located inside a vehicle), all of the steps comprising: receiving an initial communication from a base station comprising an indication of a road toll amount required to be paid; receiving an input from a user inside the vehicle to transmit partially encrypted vehicle data to the base station, wherein the partially encrypted vehicle data comprises license plate number, make, model, year, and color; transmitting the partially encrypted vehicle data to the base station; receiving a control code, a session ID code, and menu data from the base station, in response to the base station having located data in a database which matches the partially encrypted vehicle data; displaying, on a screen of the computer system, the control code and a payment option menu, wherein the payment option menu comprises credit, debit, 3 days (which is a pledge to pay a toll within three calendar days with a surcharge), carpool, and prepaid; and not displaying, on the screen of the computer system, the session ID code; receiving an input from a user inside the vehicle to select a payment option from the payment option menu and transmit the payment option to the base station; transmitting the payment option to the base station, thereby authorizing payment of the road toll amount required to be paid, the payment to be made via the user-selected payment option; receiving, from the base station, an approval code; displaying the approval code on the screen of the computer system; creating an electronic document, the contents of the electronic document based at least in part on the control code and the approval code; receiving an input from a user inside the vehicle, within a predetermined time period after the electronic document is ready for transmission, to select to transmit the electronic document to the base station; transmitting the electronic document to the base station before the vehicle passes the tollroad gate for which the payment of the road toll amount was authorized; receiving a Gate ID code from the base station before the vehicle passes the tollroad gate for which the payment of the road toll amount was authorized; and transmitting the Gate ID code to the tollroad gate for which the payment of the road toll amount was authorized; wherein the control code, the session ID code, and the approval code are each based at least in part on an English-language alphabetical character representing one of the 24 hours in a day, a number representing a time interval within the one of the 24 hours, and a number representing a time within the time interval; wherein the computer system is powered by a battery of the vehicle; and wherein the road toll amount required to be paid is based at least in part on anticipated traffic levels on the tollroad for which the road toll amount is paid.