VEHICLE OPERATION CERTIFICATION VERIFICATION SYSTEM AND METHOD
This invention relates to providing information relating to apparatus requiring certification to be operated to an enquiring user separated from the apparatus and particularly, but not exclusively, in relation to apparatus operated by an operator, providing information relating to certification of an operator of such apparatus.
The invention is particularly applicable to, but not restricted to, apparatus in the form of a road vehicle.
In most countries of the world or otherwise defined jurisdictions use of a vehicle on public roads is subject to compliance with certain requirements as regards at least one of the vehicle and driver, and often both.
In respect of the vehicle a tax may have to be paid to permit its use and a roadworthiness test periodically passed so that there are certificates to be held regarding the legitimacy of current use of the vehicle as means to raise money and offer a level of safeguard and protection to other users.
The existence and some physical details of a vehicle may be held on a licensing database, in relation to a registered keeper or owner, and a unique licence plate issued to be displayed on the vehicle, such plate constituting a first line of action in providing an identification of the vehicle and thereby its registered keeper or owner and at least a presumption of the likely driver.
In respect of a driver, a licence indicating fitness to drive (above a standard prescribed by test) and authority to drive (driving offences recorded) may be required along with documentation showing responsibility towards other users in the form of insurance.
The systems of licensing vehicles and drivers is highly inter-linked. For example, if a vehicle is unfit to pass a roadworthiness test, the driver cannot have it for use on the road and, if any such use nevertheless occurs, the driver may be uninsured for harm caused and is liable to have driving offences recorded against his personal licence to drive any vehicle.
In many jurisdictions, the possession of appropriate licence, taxation / roadworthiness certificate and other (possibly identity) documents by a vehicle driver if stopped by the authorities is considered prima facie proof that the driver and/or vehicle is authorised to be on the road.
Because of the dependency of individuals on motor vehicles in most countries, their standard of living and indeed the livelihood of them and their families depends upon their continued ability to drive.
The counterfeiting of vehicle and driver certification documents has reached epidemic proportions and other measures are being introduced to monitor the driving of vehicles, although there are limitations to the way they can be implemented.
For example, various officially issued documents may be produced with special inks, watermarks, embedded foils and holograms to make forging/counterfeiting more difficult. However, the availability of computer operated devices and copiers makes it possible to produce at low cost counterfeits of good quality that are readily able to fool all but experts.
Also, in many jurisdictions where it is necessary for each vehicle to be registered and carry a unique licence plate that is legible from a distance when moving, if the vehicle is seen to be involved in a traffic rule violation or accident that vehicle, if not the owner, can be identified. However, such counterfeiting may also extend to openly displayed registration plates insofar as most other road users and officials have no readily accessible means to check their veracity.
Other schemes being employed in certain areas include the photographing of vehicle registration plates of passing vehicles by electronic cameras, which use image recognition techniques to identify the registration number, and real-time communication with a central registration and certification issuing database to determine if that vehicle is legitimately on the road, although if the licence plate is a " clone" of one from a vehicle of similar appearance any check may give a false confirmation. Apart from the cost of such equipment, and use infrastructure, it does not lend itself to being employed to the wide extent that ordinary law enforcement officers are in the course of their normal duties. Furthermore, whilst useful information regarding the vehicle may be obtained there is no adequate means of performing the same checks upon the driver, other than the theoretically possible, but impracticable, technique of photographing the driver as well as the vehicle registration and applying corresponding image recognition techniques in a database of licensed drivers.
Thus, notwithstanding the shortcomings noted to ascertain that a vehicle is legitimately registered and on the road, in most circumstances there is nothing to indicate the legitimacy of the driver short of confronting the driver and making an inspection of documents carried thereby. Even this may not provide a way to verify legitimacy as in many jurisdictions the driver, although obliged to possess licence and insurance documents, is not obliged to carry them at all times, and an official making a roadside check can frequently do little beyond requesting the driver to volunteer a name and address and requesting the driver to present the relevant documents at, for example, a police station, in the future.
Thus, in a situation where there is suspicion of an irregularity that may reflect negatively on the driver, there is in many cases no other option but for an enforcement officer to approach the suspicious/suspect driver, and with little expectation of getting to the truth if the driver is in possession of counterfeit documents or promises to present them another time, and even putting himself or herself in harm's way if the driver decides to react violently
An analogous situation pertains when for example a vehicle is involved in an accident. Any third party damage or injury by the driven vehicle is in a similar situation of having access to part of the information required, namely the vehicle registration number, but not of having access to the driver information except by confronting the driver and placing reliance upon reasonable and honest behaviour of the driver.
There are other circumstances in which it is appropriate for an official to interact with a vehicle and identifying the driver in charge of the vehicle at that time without confronting the driver or if the driver is temporarily not present with the vehicle. Such a situation occurs with unauthorised parking of a vehicle, usually in urban areas, where it is the responsibility of officials such as police officers or parking wardens, to enforce parking restrictions and to issue penalties, usually by affixing documents to the (unattended) vehicle. If the vehicle is unattended there may be dispute, in respect of a jointly or corporately owned vehicle, as to who is the driver in charge at the time, and if the vehicle is attended, such affixing may lead to confrontation with the driver.
Thus, there exists a number of situations wherein it is necessary and appropriate for different classes of persons to be given access to and verify details of licensing and/or certification details of a vehicle and/or driver in charge of the vehicle and desirably separated from confrontation with and/or honesty of the driver in charge
Having regard to the above described vehicle and driver as being exemplary only of apparatus and operator, either or both of which may require certification, it is an object of the present invention to provide for apparatus operated under the control of an operator a verification system of certification details of at least one of the apparatus and operator. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a method of so verifying.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a system for verifying that apparatus, arranged to be operated under the control of an operator and requiring certification of at least one of the apparatus and operator, is operational with the appropriate certification,
comprises control means, remotely of said apparatus, operable to issue certification details pertaining to at least one of the apparatus and authorised operator thereof and means to transmit said certification details by radio, radio receiving means carried the apparatus, operable to receive said transmitted certification details from the control means, and dissemination means carried at least in part by the apparatus operable to make said certification details available to a user proximate the apparatus.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method of verifying that apparatus requiring an operator and at least one of the apparatus and operator requiring certification to operate, has certification of at least one of the apparatus and operator, comprises downloading to the apparatus details of at least one of certification and disseminating details pertaining to said certification details from the apparatus to a user proximate to, but separate from the apparatus.
Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example in which the apparatus is a road vehicle, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram of a first embodiment of verification system for vehicular apparatus operated by a driver,
Figure 2 is a perspective view of the system of Figure 1 in relation to a vehicle and user proximate the vehicle,
Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of a second embodiment of verification system for vehicular apparatus operated by a driver, and user proximate the vehicle.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, apparatus 5 comprises a road vehicle that for normal operation is in the charge of an operator 6 responsible for it, that is a responsible operator, or more conveniently, just operator.
The responsible operator is normally the driver who takes sole responsibility for where the
vehicle goes and how it is driven, but not necessarily so, for example when the vehicle is driven by a chauffeur to the orders of a directing passenger, a director; therefore in some circumstances the operator role may be split between such a director and driver. Thus, there are certain actions and obligations that are the responsibility of the driver alone to satisfy, for example having a valid driving licence and obeying driving laws, and there are certain actions and obligations which may be the responsibility of the director, such as having a vehicle use certificate and where the vehicle is parked. In this specification the term operator will be used to refer to either driver or director unless specific to one or the other. There is required to be official certification of the vehicle and, optionally, the operator.
The vehicle is not described in any more detail than is necessary to explain the invention and typically includes a cab 7 having seats for a plurality of occupants, including a driver 6 and any other director, an engine shown at 8 which is controlled by the driver in respect of initiating its operation and changing performance functions, optionally in conjunction with an electronic engine management unit (EMU) 9 .
Preferably, there is also provided an authorisation system, indicated generally at 10 and in accordance with co-pending PCT application No. PCT/GB2004/001274. The functional nature of the authorisation system 10 is to ensure that the vehicle functions properly or fully only in the presence of an authorised operator with the intention that if such operator becomes separated from the vehicle, for example by a hijacker, the vehicle ceases to function only after a delaying interval intended to permit the authorised operator to achieve such a distance from the vehicle as to ensure his or her safety.
To this end the authorisation system 10 is in two parts, one part 11 associated with the vehicle (herein called the apparatus part) and one part 12 associated with the operator (herein called the operator part, but in the co-pending application called the "user part" that has a different meaning herein) which comprise complementary parts of wireless communications means 13.
The operator part is intended to be carried discreetly or secretly by the operator and effects a communication link 14 with the apparatus part when within a spatial envelope, such as substantially coextensive with the vehicle cab. An initial communication link must be established between them to enable the vehicle apparatus to be started and function normally under operator control and must thereafter be continual to permit the vehicle to continue functioning, cessation of the communication link causing the delayed inhibition of normal function.
Whilst the detailed form of the communication link and what constitutes communication may be varied any such link will usually be involving the transmission of coded and/or encrypted data to establish a communication 'pair'. Furthermore, the continuity of the communication link may comprise continual transmission of data and recognition thereof, each transmission including different codes evolving or randomly differing from previous ones.
Although not central to the present invention, the above described schemes for continual communication between the operator part of the apparatus part may be put to uses other than merely keeping the vehicle functioning and the present invention is concerned with such other uses.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a system for verifying, particularly to the satisfaction of a user 20, that the vehicle, in being operational, has the appropriate certification for the vehicle itself and/or the operator. To this end, in this specification "being operational" is intended to include not only being driven but also being on a public or private road, even if unattended, for which certification is nevertheless required. As an example of such certification required there is not only road- usage tax but also possibly certificate of payment of a parking charge or, as an extension thereto, a certification identifying specific exemption from such a requirement normally to be expected.
Also, and as used in this specification, a "user" is a person not associated with the vehicle
or its operation who may need to verify existence and possibly nature of any certification. Such a user may be a police officer, parking warden or the like whose duties involve verifying that any such certification that requires to be displayed or carried, as authenticating the existence of said certification, is displayed properly and visible from externally of the vehicle, proximate thereto but separated therefrom by a distance that not only has the vehicle in sight but close enough to observe normal features of its appearance and the appearance of the driver and/or other occupants.
In accordance with a first embodiment of the invention, for use by user 20 and with vehicular apparatus 5, a system 30 for verifying that the vehicle is operation with appropriate certification for the vehicle (apparatus) and/or operator comprises certification issuing control means 32 remotely of said apparatus. The control means 32 will typically be fixed at one or more locations and may be self contained, have access to information stored elsewhere, by for example various government or commercial bodies, or a combination of both. The control means by retrieval or derivation (33, 34) effectively issues certification details pertaining to the vehicle; it also comprises transmitter means 36 to transmit the certification details by radio. Preferably, as described below, the controlling station also contains receiving means 38.
The system 30 also comprises radio receiver means, indicated generally at 40, and carried by the vehicle 5. The receiver means contains radio receiving means 41 and processor 42 and is operable to receive, and make available at 44, the certification details transmitted from the control means 32.
The transmission and reception of certification details may be by one-way link. The transmitter and receiver means may be designed such that the transmissions are encrypted so as to be receivable only by a receiver of such a system (irrespective of the actual receiver means and associated vehicle) or by a particular receiver means per se. As part of the certification the receiver means may be primed with a unique identity code and the transmissions for a particular vehicle prefaced thereby to make them uniquely receivable by receiver means carried by that vehicle. Alternatively, the receiving means 41 may
comprise a transceiver including transmitter 43 that is able to transmit to the control means 32 via receiving means 38. Such bi-directional communication permits the control means and receiver means (vehicle) to establish a secure connection by way of handshaking so that downloaded certification details are unique to the vehicle and protected from interference. Whether or not the receiver and control means require bidirectional communication to effect transmission of certification information to the vehicle receiver for dissemination, it is appropriate to have such bi-directional operation to pair them prior to transfer of information. In any event, it is appropriate and practicable to effect communication between receiver and control means using cellular telephony or messaging services.
The verification system 30 also includes dissemination means, indicated generally at 50. The dissemination means, which operate to make the certification details available to user 20 is carried at least in part, and in this embodiment wholly, by the vehicular apparatus 5.
The dissemination means comprises display means 52 to emit the certification information at optical wavelengths, more particularly in the visible part of the spectrum, in such a way that the user can view the information and make use of it.
The display means 52 conveniently comprises an electro-optical display device 53 which is able to display alphanumeric characters or graphical information, and preferably one that emits radiation actively rather than passively reflects, although that is not ruled out a passively reflecting device may comprise a printer of paper documents or a liquid crystal display or equivalent. An actively emitting device is expected to have a higher degree of visibility in conditions of poor ambient light, and may comprise an array of individually addressable light sources.
Furthermore, to be practicable the display device is disposed so as to be visible through a window of the vehicle cab by such a remote but proximate user. There may be advantages for security and safety if the display device is not visible from outside of the vehicle.
The certification details disseminated by display may relate solely to the vehicle and provide a convenient way for an official (the user) to verify the details, in order to take action against the operator of the vehicle and/or its registered owner, or not to take action, as the case may be.
As indicated above, the control means may contain or have access to information about one or more authorised operators. The control means may thus issue and transmit along with the certification details pertaining to a vehicle analogous certification details relating to an operator. In the simplest case, such details relate to a primary and/or auxiliary authorised users who should be operating the vehicle.
The transmitted signals may comprise representations of details pertaining to personal characteristics of any such operator. The information of those characteristics may be transmitted as the signal or the signal merely identify which set of information stored in the vehicle, in the receiver means or retrievable thereby, to disseminate. The personal characteristics may be a simple name and/or include personal appearance characteristics.
For example, it the or an authorised operator is "John Doe" then if this information is disseminated via the display device a user may be able to verify that the operator should be a male person but little else. If the certification details pertain to a plurality of different operators, such as "John Doe" and "Jane Doe", there is little for the user to verify other than the existence of some operator certification per se. If the certification details results in personal appearance data of such an authorised user being displayed, such as, sex, age, skin/hair colour and the like, the user would very quickly be able to form an opinion on the operator's authenticity.
As described above, if operation of the vehicle requires an interaction between the operator and vehicle, provision and dissemination of operator information may be integrated therewith.
As described above, the vehicle may require to know something about the actual operator
before it functions. The operator may need to insert a key 13', or enter a code via a keypad 13", or establish and maintain a wireless communication link 14 via parts 13. The key or code or communication link may be unique to a particular driver, so that the receiver means is able to determine from the vehicle who the driver is (or at least purports to be). Details of the operator's identity may be retrieved from the receiver means 40 or uploaded to the control means by way of transceiver (transmitter) 43 such that only certification details for that purported operator are issued by the control means and downloaded to the vehicle receiver means.
One or more name, address and/or personal appearance details for that operator may thus be disseminated by display so that the user can note the name and/or address should these be required by the user, although the control means may readily keep a record of this if in the loop. Displaying personal appearance details would permit the user to verify an actual operator against the displayed details.
Although the display device conveniently is arranged to display such operator appearance information in alphanumeric form, it will be appreciated that the display may be graphical in nature and display a photographic image of the purported user according to the user- submitted information.
It will be appreciated that as described above the display device 53 ensues that the information displayed is disseminated publicly, that is, to anyone who chooses to look, and may, in the case of operator data convey information that should preferably be restricted to a user of official standing. To maintain a degree of confidentiality, the dissemination means may cause the display device to display the information in say, a readily observed alphanumeric form, but in the nature of a code that only a user having suitable knowledge can interpret.
The above described embodiment of dissemination means and its variants and options is essentially passive insofar as information pertaining to the certification details, and possibly additional information, is displayed in optical form visible to a user who may be
any observer.
Referring now to Figure 3, this shows a schematic block diagram view of a second embodiment of verification system 130. Many parts are the same as or similar to ones described above for system 30 and are given the same reference numbers, without describing them again.
The system 130 includes, in conjunction with certification issuing control means 32 and receiver means 40 dissemination means 150 that differs from the means 50 in that it is carried only in part by the vehicle 5, the remainder being arranged to be carried by the user 20 in a hand held user device module or the like 120.
In general terms, the dissemination means 150 comprises a dissemination emitter, indicated generally at 152, carried by the vehicle and a dissemination receiver device 154 intended to be carried by the user in device module 120.
Insofar as the user is separated from the vehicle, the dissemination receiver device 154 is arranged to receive disseminated information wirelessly and may operate at short range radio wavelengths or optical wavelengths. Optical wavelengths are particularly appropriate insofar as the user would normally be both within sight of the vehicle and proximate thereto.
The dissemination receiver device also includes some form of output means by which received disseminated information can be delivered to the user 20; it may be in audible form by way of speaker of earphone (not shown), or as shown in the form of an electro- optical display device 155. Such device may correspond to, and replicate or replace, the device 53 in the vehicle.
The dissemination emitter 152 comprises one or both of parts shown at 152ι and 1522. The part 152ι corresponds to the display device 53 described above that display user- readable information. The dissemination receiver device 154 may comprise means, such
as a camera, to view the display and replicate its content for delivery to the user. If the certification details information is disseminated in coded form the dissemination receiver device may include means to effect decoding and present it to the user in plain form.
The information may be disseminated additionally or instead by emitter 1522 which is not directly readable by the user 20. The emitter 1522 may emit optical signals which need not be, and for efficiency are not, in the visible part of the spectrum. Alternatively, the emitter 1522 may emit short range radio frequency signals. The user device 120 may include a transmitter 156 and the coupling between the dissemination receiver device module and vehicle receiver means be arranged to communicate using a short range wireless networking protocol, such as the proprietary Bluetooth.
By providing the dissemination means in such two-part form, it provides a convenient way for the user, through the user device 120, to communicate with the vehicle and/or the control means 32 so that the dissemination is interactive with respect to the user.
The user, through the dissemination receiver device module, may send an interrogation signal to an interrogation receiver in the vehicle to effect control of the dissemination means, particularly the emitter 152! or 1522. The interrogation receiver may be the radio receiver means 40 or a separate receiving entity 158 that may operate at optical or radio wavelengths. Radio communication may be inherent in radio frequency dissemination as discussed above.
The interrogation may define what information is to be disseminated or may cause the emitter to disseminate information only in response to an interrogation. In respect of controlling what information is disseminated, the user may choose to have disseminated only information relating to the vehicle if there is no operator present; if the operator is present, the user may choose to replace or supplement information pertaining to the vehicle with information pertaining to the user.
The user device 120 may be arranged, by the same or different transmitter means, to
transmit an interrogation signal directly to the control means 32 whereby the user can influence what certification details are downloaded from the control means to the vehicle receiver means.
It may be deemed important for the user to be sure that the disseminated information is genuine and that the vehicular receiving and disseminating means has not been interfered with. To this end the user device 120 may be arranged so as to cause transmission of an authorisation interrogation to the vehicle receiver means 40 (or 158) so as to effect temporary dissemination of information associated with the interrogation. A predetermined message may be disseminated temporarily for the user to observe or the user, as part of the interrogation, may include ad hoc information which, if subsequently disseminated, confirms that the receiver is receiving and processing information signals to dissemination. Alternatively, the user device may be arranged to transmit an authorisation interrogation signal to the issuing control means 32 and cause that control means to transmit the authorisation message to the receiver means 40 prior to its dissemination, thus confirming that the whole of the transmission and dissemination path is properly functional.
If the certification details downloaded from the issuing control means, supplemented if appropriate by information from or about the operator stored in the vehicle receiver, indicate that all of the necessary certifications are not in place, or that those issued do not accord with the operator-provided or vehicle stored operator details, then the dissemination means may display and/or otherwise disseminate information relating to the failure or inability to authenticate, and optionally details of any particular certification that is the cause. Also, as indicated above, the vehicle may contain authorisation means that causes full functionality of the vehicle to be inhibited after a delaying interval if the communication link between operator and vehicle ceases. The vehicle receiver means 40 may be linked to the authorisation means so that in the event of such inhibition the dissemination means displays a message, either highly visible to the public at large or only to a user (an official) in possession of a dissemination receiver device,, that at the very
least constitutes absence of authentication. Alternatively such lack of certification may render the vehicle inoperable, although for safety reasons this may be limited to vehicle certification.
It will be appreciated that the certification details as represented by the signals transmitted by the control means may not correspond to the from disseminated alphanumerically or graphically, but may comprise key words or the like to effect selection and/or extraction of data stored in the receiver or available to the receiver that is actually disseminated.
The invention has been disclosed by way of the exemplary embodiments that each have a vehicle 5 as the apparatus. It will be appreciated that such operator-controlled apparatus may be other than a vehicle, such as industrial plant that is potentially dangerous to operators and/or bystanders and which requires certification for the plant itself and/or any person wanting to operate it.