PROVIDING SERVICES FOR MOTOR VEHICLES, AND DUAL-MODE

FUNCTIONALITY WITH INSTITUTIONAL CENTRES AND COMMERCIAL SERVICE PROVIDER CENTRES

DESCRIPTION

Field of the invention

The present invention regards a terminal device employing satellite technologies (GPS, Galileo, etc.) to be used on industrial vehicles or motor vehicles capable of communicating on a number of GSM, GPRS, UMTS, TETRA service channels and/or dedicated radiofrequencies with Service Centres and Institutional Centres .

In greater detail, the invention refers to a device to be installed on motor vehicles and industrial and commercial vehicles, supplied at low voltage (8- 32 V) , and connected via GPRS/UMTS channels to its Service Centre and simultaneously to an Institutional Centre for possible activities of security of national- international strategic importance (for example, Civil Protection, Fire Brigade; Forestry Corps; Road Safety, emergency numbers such as in Italy 118, 112), and for providing services of emergency (e.g., eCall, bCall, SOSCall, medical intervention) or control services (e.g., transportation of radioactive material, transportation of dangerous and non-dangerous waste materials, special activities, activities of investigation, collection of sensitive data for countering insurance fraud, etc.).

The device constantly communicates to the Service

Centre its own GPS position, the measurements made by the sensors ^' present on the vehicle, technological data (FMS CAN bus) regarding the vehicle, such as tank state, engine r.p.m. , brakes, fuel consumption, etc. In this way, the Service Centre is able to provide ^■ services to the Fleet Managers, such as: position of the vehicle, fuel consumption, trip report, messages from and to the driver, storage of data of the tachograph, tracking of the goods,, delivery times, and safety alarms for the vehicle or the driver.

According to a peculiar characteristic of the invention, in addition to. the logistic and safety services referred to above, the device:

a) is able to generate and receive voice communications via an integrated device equipped with handsfree kit and pushbuttons (SOSConsole) ; the voice communications can regard medical alarms, mechanical alarms, automatic warning■ on accidents or requests for information on traffic; the voice communications are directed to the Service Centre or else to Centres dedicated to medical emergency services (e.g., 118 in Italy) or for mechanical-breakdown purposes; and simultaneously

b) is also available for access by an Institutional Centre, via data access on GSM/Voice ^■ channel, for possible actions of police- investigation; in said mode, the device, according to specifications agreed upon with institutional bodies and the Forces of Order, is completely available for the requests Of the Institutional Centre, which can verify, for example, the position of the vehicle with respect to a declared mission plan. Purpose ^' of the invention

The main purpose of the present invention is to unite in a single satellite device the possibility of providing services to the client owner of the vehicle with the simultaneous possibility by the Forces of Order of connecting up to the device for actions of investigation. Advantageously, both communications are active and independent without the institutional communication having to wait for availability of the vehicle.

This invention hence avoids the owner of the vehicle from being forced to mount on his own vehicle a satellite device dedicated to value-added services in the case where he has been already forced by law to install a device dedicated to verification by the Police Force of the routes followed by his own vehicle.

Another primary purpose of the device forming the subject of the present invention is to enable the Police Centre to operate with a privileged and direct connection to the device itself, thus fully exploiting the computer tools of said Police Centre (for example, a cartography of the metropolitan area that is much richer and more detailed) .

It is known in fact that today, in the activities of search for a stolen vehicle, the Service Centre functions as guide for police activities by interfacing by telephone between the device on board the vehicle and the Police Centre. Up to now the latter has not had the possibility of fully exploiting its own organizational capacity precisely because the telephone contact is only with an operator of the Service Centre. Consequently ^' , the Police Centre can only receive -information in voice ^' mode and must in turn guide the patrol - always ^' with information exchanged in voice mode.

Summary of the Invention

The above purposes have been achieved considering that today many vehicles equipped for transporting dangerous goods (explosives) or pollutants are obliged to be equipped with satellite devices, the purpose of which is only to enable the Police Force to check the planned route against the one actually followed. And it is reasonable to foresee that ever-increasing numbers of transport categories and vehicles will find themselves in this condition, thus having on board a device, installed by law, the owners possibly having to sustain the corresponding costs of purchase and installation thereof, without being able to benefit from the advantages deriving from the logistic and antitheft services that a satellite device normally affords .

With the use of the device forming the subject of the present invention, the owner of the vehicle may avoid purchase of a second satellite device, simply signing a contract for the value-added services from the Commercial ^' Provider, said services possibly being rendered by the same device as the one ^' used for institutional purposes.

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge clearly from the ensuing detailed description, with . reference to the attached drawings, which illustrate merely by way of non-limiting example a preferred embodiment of the invention. In the- drawings:

Figure 1 shows the general architecture of which the invention comes to form part;

Figure 2 shows the block composition of the main components of the device;

Figure 3 shows, the architecture of the system with the so-called Bridge-Box connection (which is the bridge unit) , through a proprie ^' tary CAN-bus protocol belonging to the present applicant, for further expansions to the dedicated electronics on board the vehicle, such as digital tachograph, printers, load cells, RF peripherals;

Figure 4 is a flowchart that illustrates operation of the device not connected on any GSM channel, which receives a data/voice call;

Figure 5 is a flowchart that shows operation of the device, which receives a voice/data call whilst it is connected to the Service Centre on the GPRS channel;

Figure 6 is a flowchart that shows operation of the device, which receives a voice/data call while itis connected to the Service Centre on the UMTS channel;

Figure 7 is a flowchart that shows operation of the device, which receives a data call while it is connected to the ^' Service Centre on the voice channel; and

Figure 8 is a schematic illustration of the role of the smart card in the encryption and decryption of the data of the Institutional Centre.

Detailed description of the invention

With reference to the attached drawings (Figure

2), the device, designated as a whole by 10, is contained in a box, inside which the following main components are present:

a processing unit (CPU) 12 with four serial ports and CAN-bus ports, which is connected to:

a smart-card-reader device 14 for encrypting the data transmitted to the centres;

a GPS module 16 with its internal GPS antenna;

a GPRS/UMTS GSM modem 18 equipped with double SIM, or with SIM integrated in the module itself ("inSIM"). and connected to its internal GSM antenna 20;

an internal backup battery 22;

one or more memories 24, designed to store the data coming from the CPU; and

•an accelerometer 26, for antitheft functions (for detecting vehicle lifting) , functions of recognition of accidents (and their reconstruction) , and functions for detecting the style of driving of the driver (braking, sudden accelerations, sharp steering) .

The device .10 is able to generate and receive voice communications via an integrated device in the form of a console 30 equipped with handsfree kit and emergency pushbuttons. The voice communications, which can regard medical alarms, mechanical alarms, or even requests for information on traffic, are directed both to the Service Centre CS and to Centres dedicated to. medical or mechanical assistance.

The task of the smart-card-reader device 14 is to guarantee absolute secrecy of the data exchanged with the Institutional Centres CI. In fact, with said device 14 it is possible to insert a smart card supplied by institutional clients, which enables the CPU to execute the encoded ^' commands coming from the Institutional Centre CI and to encrypt the data transmitted following upon the requests that have arrived in such a way said that decryption is impossible even for the manufacturer of the device. For this purpose, an asymmetrical encrypting system of the RSA type or a symmetrical encrypting system of the AES type is used. The key, however, is contained in the smart card and is not known to the software application on board the device. Moreover, the smart card carries out the action of encrypting the data, which may be decrypted only by an appropriate procedure at the Centre that possesses the same key and uses the same algorithm. The encrypted datum can consequently be sent directly to the Institutional Centre CI, which can decrypt it in absolute autonomy, irrespective of who has carried out the encryption.

For its commercial-service functions, the device 10 is almost- constantly connected on the GPRS channel or UMTS channel to the Service Centre CS.

Upon arrival of a call on the GSM/Voice channel (whether it be an operator call or a data call), the terminal receives a notification from its own telephone module .

The possibilities are the following:

1) In the case where the device 10 is not connected on any channel (GPRS, UMTS, Voice/Data) , it will immediately accept the call (Case 1) . More in particular, according to the flowchart of Figure 4:

the GSM modem 18 receives a notification from the

GSM network and issues a Ring signal to the CPU 12, which, once it has received the signal, asks said GSM modem 18 for the caller number;

the CPU 12 accepts the call only if it identifies the caller number as belonging to one of the authorized Centres and will act differently according to whether it' is a data call or a voice call:

in the case of a data call, the CPU 12, via the smart card inserted in the reader 14, executes the encoded commands coming from the Institutional Centre and sends the consequent encrypted replies;

in the case of a voice call, the CPU 12 accepts the call and turns on the handsfree device, setting the driver in communication with his own Service Centre; at the end of the call from the Centre, the device 10 is ready ÷for a new voice/data call.

2) In the case of a voice/data call that reaches the device whilst a GPRS transmission is in progress with the Service Centre CS, the GPRS context is suspended automatically and the voice call or data call is accepted in real time, without any waiting (Case 2). In fact, as illustrated in the flowchart of Figure 5: the GSM modem receives a notification from the GSM network and issues a Ring signal to the CPU, automatically suspending the GPRS context;

once the CPU has received the Ring signal, it. asks the GSM modem for the caller number; all the information to the Service Centre is stored on the modem until closing of the voice channel;

the CPU 12 identifies the caller number, as belonging to one of the authorized Centres and accepts the call; if it is. a data call, the CPU 12 executes, as in the previous case, the encoded commands coming from the Institutional Centre CI and sends the consequent replies after encrypting them via the smart card;

in the presence of a voice call, the CPU 12 accepts the call and turns on the handsfree device, setting the driver in communication with the Service Centre CS.

When the call from the Centre CI terminates, the device is ready for a new voice/data call and automatically resumes the GPRS connection with the Service Centre CS, dealing with the information accumulated .

3) In the case of UMTS transmission, the connection with the Service Centre CS is not suspended, and the voice call or data call is accepted in real time, without any waiting. In fact, as illustrated by the flowchart of Figure 6:

when the GSM modem receives a notification from the GSM network, it issues a Ring signal to the CPU; once the CPU has received the Ring signal, it asks the GSM modem for the caller number, but all the information directed to the Service Centre continues to be communicated;

the CPU identifies the caller number as belonging to one of the authorized Centres and accepts the call; in the case of data call, the CPU executes the encoded commands coming from the Institutional Centre CI after decrypting them via the smart card supplied by the Institutional Body, and sends the consequent replies once they have been encrypted; in the ^' case of voice call, the CPU accepts the call and turns on the . handsfree device, setting the driver in communication with the Service Centre CS;

at the end of the call from the Centre, the device 10 is ready for a new voice/data call.

4) In the case of voice conversation in progress with the Service Centre CS (see Figure 7), a data call on the voice, channel from the Institutional Centre finds the number busy in another conversation. In this case, however, the GSM Provider forwards a service message that is received by the telephone module of the device. The service message notifies that a given telephone number is waiting to be handled. In this case, the CPU of the device will carry out the following actions:

recognizing the incoming number as the phone number of the Institutional Centre, authorized to carry out actions of investigation; ^■

suspending or closing the conversation in progress;

accepting the new incoming call;

carrying out the encoded requests coming from the Institutional Centre, and sending the consequent replies after having encrypted them 'using the' smart card supplied by the Institutional Body to which the Centre connected belongs.

At the end of the call from the- Institutional Centre the device is ready for a new voice/data call.

Given the evolution of GSM technologies, it is envisaged that soon GSM modules will be available with double SIM (or 'SIM integrated in the GSM module - "inSIM") . With these modules two connections will be possible simultaneously with one's ^' own telephone provider.

In this case, the device can support a double connection completely in parallel both in data and in Voice/Data.

Reading the FMS CAN bus from the vehicle

Bridge-Box connection 32 (see Figures 1 and 3) for further expansions to the dedicated electronics on the vehicle (e.g., digital tachograph, printers, load cells, RF peripherals, etc.) . For the Bridge-Box see the Italian patent filed in the name of the present applicant No. IT 1353470.

Extensions of the device with the use of the Bridge-Box

The device forming the subject of the patent is able to achieve particular benefits from the external integration with the Bridge-Box 32 (patent filed in the name of the present applicant No. IT 1353470), through a proprietary CAN-bus protocol (VST-CAN) . The number of Bridge-Boxes that can be connected is virtually infinite. The architecture that results therefrom is illustrated in Figure 3.

The practical applications are numerous. We cite by way of example:

reading of data from digital tachograph, for filing, according to law, at the Service Centre;

printing of transport document;

reading of goods badges and barcodes;

reading of CAN-bus data of the vehicle

connections via RF with vehicle sensors (fuel cap, hatchback, trailer, temperature sensors, etc.) .

Advantages in economic terms deriving from the patent

The solution illustrated affords parallel functions with different protocols, to different communication partners, without any loss in performance in regard to the Institutional Centre.

In this way, the device and the architecture proposed guarantee for the present applicant a privileged position on the market constituted by the transportation of goods that are subject to possible checks by. the Police Force, it being possible at the same time to provide value-added services that are typical. of those provided by the present applicant, the foregoing without requiring the client to install further satellite devices.