U.S. patent application number 15/072378 was filed with the patent office on 2017-09-21 for methods and systems for increasing vehicular safety.
The applicant listed for this patent is Cisco Technology, Inc.. Invention is credited to Harel CAIN, Michal DEVIR, Alexander KREINES, Yaron SELLA.
Application Number | 20170270788 15/072378 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 59828535 |
Filed Date | 2017-09-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20170270788 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
CAIN; Harel ; et
al. |
September 21, 2017 |
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR INCREASING VEHICULAR SAFETY
Abstract
A method, system and apparatus are described, the method,
system, and apparatus, in one embodiment including assigning at a
processor an initial driving score S(V) to a vehicle which is being
driven, receiving a report at a communication system controlled by
the processor, the report including a report of a reckless driving
incident in a vicinity of a receiver disposed in the vehicle,
incrementing S(V) by the processor upon receipt of the report of
the reckless driving incident, decreasing S(V) by the processor for
every unit of driving the vehicle is driven, broadcasting the value
of S(V) to other vehicles by the communication system controlled by
the processor. Related methods, systems and apparatuses are also
described.
Inventors: |
CAIN; Harel; (US) ;
DEVIR; Michal; (Haifa, IL) ; SELLA; Yaron;
(Beit Nekofa, IL) ; KREINES; Alexander;
(Jerusalem, IL) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Cisco Technology, Inc. |
San Jose |
CA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
59828535 |
Appl. No.: |
15/072378 |
Filed: |
March 17, 2016 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08G 1/0141 20130101;
G08G 1/0112 20130101; G08G 1/017 20130101; G08G 1/096791 20130101;
G08G 1/096716 20130101; G08G 1/096758 20130101; G08G 1/0133
20130101; B60W 40/09 20130101 |
International
Class: |
G08G 1/0967 20060101
G08G001/0967 |
Claims
1: A method comprising: assigning at a processor an initial driving
score S(V) to a vehicle V which is being driven; receiving a report
at a communication system controlled by the processor, the report
comprising a report of a reckless driving incident in a vicinity
the vehicle V; incrementing S(V) by the processor upon receipt of
the report of the reckless driving incident; decreasing S(V) by the
processor for every unit of driving the vehicle V is driven;
broadcasting the value of S(V) other vehicles by the communication
system controlled by the processor.
2: The method according to claim 1 wherein, the unit of driving
comprises a unit of time.
3: The method according to claim 1 wherein the unit of driving
comprises a unit of distance.
4: The method according to claim 1 wherein the incrementing
comprises linear incrementing.
5: The method according to claim 1 wherein the incrementing
comprises non-linear incrementing.
6: The method according to claim 1 wherein the decreasing comprises
linear decrementing.
7: The method according to claim 1 wherein the decreasing comprises
non-linear decrementing.
8: The method according to claim 1 wherein a driver of a second
vehicle generates the received report of the reckless driving
incident.
9: The method according to claim 8 wherein the incrementing of S(V)
comprises a function of a reputation of the driver of the second
vehicle.
10: The method according to claim 9 wherein the reputation of the
driver of the second vehicle is a function of the quality of
reporting by the driver of the second vehicle.
11: The method according to claim 1 wherein S(V) is incremented or
decremented based on reporting, of on-board diagnostic devices of a
second vehicle.
12: The method according to claim 1 wherein the report of the
reckless driving incident is received from an on-board diagnostic
device disposed in the vehicle V.
13: The method according claim 12 wherein the broadcasting the
value of S(V) comprises broadcasting a weighted function, f(S(V),
SMDS(V)), where SMDS comprises a Self-Measured Driving Score,
SMDS(V).
14: The method accord claim 12 wherein a Self-Measured Driving
Score, SMDS(V), is derived in addition to S(V).
15: The method according to claim 1 wherein the processor controls
graphical user interface which displays a location of nearby
vehicles.
16: The method according to claim 15 whereby the graphical user
interface also displays a driving score of the nearby vehicles.
17: The method according to claim 15 whereby the graphical user
interface is used to report an instance of reckless driving.
18: A system comprising: processor operative to assign an initial
driving score S(V) to a vehicle V which is being driven; a
communication system controlled by the processor operative to
receive a report, the report comprising a report of a reckless
driving incident in a vicinity of the vehicle V; the processor
being operative to increment S(V) by upon receipt of the report of
the reckless driving incident; the processor being operative to
decrease S(V) for every unit of driving the V is driven; the
communication system controlled by the processor being operative to
broadcast the value of S(V) to other vehicles.
19: The system according to claim 18 wherein the unit of driving
comprises a unit of time.
20: The system according to claim 18 wherein the unit of driving
comprises a unit of distance.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to methods and
systems for increasing vehicular safety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Drivers who drive recklessly and aggressively endanger the
lives of others on the road, but drivers who are not driving
recklessly have, at the present time, no effective means to report
on this behavior, although it lies in their best interest to do
so.
[0003] Vehicular communication systems are a type of network where
vehicles and roadside units are the communicating nodes providing
each other with information, such as safety warnings and traffic
information. Typical vehicular communication systems utilize short
range communication devices and support both private data
communications (i.e. unicast, vehicle-to-vehicle, V2V) and public
communications (i.e. broadcast to all vehicles on the network or in
a given region). In practice, on the physical level, V2V is
typically broadcast. On the logical level, however the message can
be addressed specific vehicle based on ID or location.
[0004] Systems in which driving information is collected at all
times and transmitted over a cellular data connection to a central
server where the collected information is analyzed for building
driver profiles for, by way of example, the sake of Usage-Based
Insurance (UBI) are known.
[0005] Reputation systems are well known systems for computing and
publishing reputation scores for a set of objects (e.g. service
providers, services, goods or entities) within a community or
domain, based on a collection of opinions that other entities hold
about the objects. The opinions are typically passed as ratings to
a central place where all perceptions, opinions and ratings can be
accumulated. A reputation center uses a specific reputation
algorithm to dynamically compute the reputation scores based on the
received ratings. Reputation is a sign of trustworthiness
manifested as testimony by other people.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] The present disclosure will be understood and appreciated
more fully from the following detailed description, taken in
conjunction with the drawings in which:
[0007] FIG. 1 is a simplified pictorial illustration of vehicles
travelling on a city street, the vehicles comprising a system for
enhanced vehicular safety constructed and operative in accordance
with an embodiment of the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is a partly pictorial, partly block diagram
illustration of an embodiment of one vehicle in the system of FIG.
1;
[0009] FIG. 3 is a simplified pictorial illustration of an
in-vehicle display screen, showing ratings of neighboring vehicles
in the system of FIG. 1;
[0010] FIG. 4 is a simplified pictorial illustration of a plurality
of vehicles interacting with a central server in the system of FIG.
1;
[0011] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an exemplary process to be executed
by one of the vehicles of FIG. 1; and
[0012] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an exemplary method executed by one
of the vehicles of FIG. 1.
DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS
Overview
[0013] A method, system and apparatus are described. The method,
system, and apparatus, in one embodiment include assigning at a
processor an initial driving score S(V) to a vehicle V which is
being driven, receiving a report at a communication system
controlled by the processor, the report including a report of a
reckless driving incident in a vicinity of a receiver disposed in
the vehicle V, incrementing S(V) by the processor upon receipt of
the report of the reckless driving incident, decreasing S(V) by the
processor for every unit of driving the vehicle V is driven,
broadcasting the value of S(V) to other vehicles by the
communication system controlled by the processor. Related methods,
systems and apparatuses are also described
EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0014] Reference is now made to FIG. 1, which is a simplified
pictorial illustration of vehicles travelling on a city street, the
vehicles comprising a system for enhanced vehicular safety
constructed and operative in accordance with an embodiment of the
present invention. It is appreciated that the description herein
refers to automotive vehicles by way of example only. The present
invention, may, in embodiments thereof, be implemented in boats and
yachts, mobile robots, and so forth.
[0015] In FIG. 1, a first vehicle 110 is turning left into a busy
intersection 100. Other vehicles, such as vehicles 115, 120, 125,
128 are approaching and/or about to enter the busy intersection
100. Still other vehicles, such as vehicle 130 may have just
finished driving through the busy intersection 100. Each of the
vehicles 110, 115, 120, 125, 128, 130 is equipped with various
systems which will be described below, with reference to FIG.
2.
[0016] Among these systems are vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V)
communication systems. V2V systems are coming into more widespread
use, and this trend is continuing. Each of the vehicles 110, 115,
120, 125, 128, 130 in FIG. 1 is, accordingly, depicted as having an
antenna 150, the antenna 150 being a part of each vehicle's V2V
system. Accordingly, as V2V systems become more widespread, it is
becoming possible to take advantage of such communications in order
to improve road safety.
[0017] Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which is a partly
pictorial, partly block diagram illustration of an embodiment of a
vehicle 200 in the system of FIG. 1. The vehicle 200 may be any of
the vehicles 110, 115, 120, 125, 128, 130 mentioned above with
reference to FIG. 1. The vehicle 200 will typically support a
variety of communication 210 options. Typical V2V communication
systems, such as those described above with reference to FIG. 1,
are short range 220 communications systems.
[0018] As is known in the art, V2V systems may be based on various
technologies such as DSRC (802.11p), BlueTooth, Wifi or others.
DSRC communication is an emerging technology being actively
introduced into the automotive industry in current automotive model
years.
[0019] The vehicle 200 may be connected to at least one central
server (discussed below in FIG. 4) by a long range communication
system 230, which typically incorporates wireless communication
apparatus such as LTE modems ("Long Term Evolution" modems, for
wireless data communications technology are a development of the
GSM/UMTS telecommunications standards). The at least one central
server may have access to information about the location of
vehicles, which use Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)
signals units in their telematics systems (not shown) and/or
cellular phones to determine their location and then to report that
location to the at least one central server. LTE modems and
built-in GNSS units are becoming more widespread in vehicles as
time goes on. Nevertheless, it is appreciated that in embodiments
as described herein, it is not necessary for the at least one
central server to keep track of the location of vehicle 200. As
will be described below, vehicles may periodically report their
accumulated driving scores to the central server.
[0020] The vehicle 200 also has a dedicated secure computing unit
240 for managing a driving score, which is generated as described
below. A level of security of the secure computing unit 240 should
be such as to prevent the vast majority of drivers from being able
to tamper with the driving scores that have been calculated for
them. Secure platforms such as hardware security modules (HSMs) are
in use in many modern vehicles and are also typically used in
forming security for intra-vehicle communications. As is known in
the art, hardware security modules are physical computing devices
that safeguard and manage digital keys for strong authentication
and that provide cryptoprocessing.
[0021] The secure computing unit 240 comprises at least one
processor (PROC) 250, and may comprise more than one processor 250.
One of the processors 250 may be a special purpose processor
operative to perform the methods for increasing vehicular safety as
described herein below. In addition, the secure computing unit 240
comprises non-transitory computer-readable storage media (i.e.
memory, MEM) 260. The memory 260 may store instructions, which at
least one of the processors 250 may execute, in order to perform
the method described herein below. The secure computing unit 240
may also comprise long term storage (not depicted), such as, but
not limited to a hard disk drive or flash memory. Such long term
storage is available for, among other purposes, the storing of
information which might be needed or useful for the operation of
the one of the processors 250.
[0022] Additionally, the vehicle 200 may optionally be equipped
with a user interface (UI) 270 comprising a screen 280 (such as
those used by on-board navigation devices) that allows displaying
of positions of neighboring vehicles and their associated driving
scores. The screen 280 might be a touch screen, as is known in the
art. In some embodiments, the screen 280 might also allow for
selecting one of the neighboring vehicles and reporting unsafe
driving by the selected one of the neighboring vehicles. For
example, a driver of vehicle 115 (FIG. 1) might use the screen 280
to select vehicle 110 (FIG. 1) and then report unsafe driving on
the part of vehicle 110 (FIG. 1).
[0023] Furthermore, the vehicle 200 typically comprises various
sensors, such as, but not limited to brake sensor 290, which may be
in communication with the processor 250. By way of example, the
brake sensor 290 may send periodic reports to the processor 250
concerning the use and status of the brakes of the vehicle 200. It
is appreciated that the brake sensor 290 may be connected to the
processor 250 via an intra-vehicle communication bus (such as the
CAN bus, as is known in the art), from which data from various
sensors that exist in the vehicle may be read and analyzed.
[0024] Returning now to the discussion of FIG. 1, as was mentioned
above, the system of FIG. 1 is designed to derive a driving score,
hereinafter designated S(V) for every vehicle, hereinafter
designated V.
[0025] The driving score S(V) is based on mutual reporting of
reckless driving incidents by drivers. The computation is typically
distributed and not necessarily managed by a central server,
although a central server can be used as well. The derivation of
S(V) is now described.
[0026] Drivers who encounter reckless driving by other drivers in
their vicinity report these incidents, without specifying which
vehicle was driven recklessly, to all neighboring vehicles in a
certain radius (for example, approximately the reception radius of
the V2V antenna) using a broadcast message. For example, the driver
of vehicle 115 might see the first vehicle 110 turning left into
the busy intersection 100, and judge that this was an act of
reckless driving on the part of the driver of the first vehicle
110. Accordingly, the driver of vehicle 115 would take an action to
report this act.
[0027] The action taken to generate the report is typically a very
simple action requiring minimal effort by the driver--such as
pressing a button or giving a voice command. Thus the driver of
vehicle 115 can safely perform the reporting action without being
distracted from driving vehicle 115. The act of pressing the button
or giving the voice command will invoke a routine resident in one
of the processors 250 (FIG. 2) which will initiate the method
described herein below
[0028] As was mentioned above, in the discussion of FIG. 2, the
vehicle which has committed an act of reckless driving might, in
some embodiments, be specified when making the report. For example,
the screen 280 or UI 270 of FIG. 2 might be used to single out the
recklessly driving vehicle 110. Alternatively, other methods of
specifying a vehicle which has committed an act of reckless
driving, such as, for example, entering the license plate number of
the vehicle into the UI 270, might be implemented. In an embodiment
where the vehicle which has committed the act of reckless driving
is specified, it may be necessary to ensure that the driver of the
reporting vehicle is subject to few distractions. For example,
there may only be a few other vehicles nearby.
[0029] In some embodiments, generation of the reports can be
triggered fully automatically once the vehicle observes the
reckless driving. By way of example, if the driver of vehicle 115
has to brake suddenly, then the sensor 290 (FIG. 2) may
automatically trigger a report of unsafe driving. Similarly, if the
sensor 290 (FIG. 2) senses that the driver of vehicle 115 is
reacting to a dangerous passing situation, a report of unsafe
driving may be automatically generated, and so forth. It is
appreciated that the operators of the system for enhanced vehicular
safety described herein may define which behaviors and thresholds
measured by existing sensors (such as sensor 290 of FIG. 2)
constitutes the reckless driving.
[0030] Driving Score S(V)
[0031] All neighboring vehicles in the vicinity of the reporting
vehicle receive the report and process it so that their own score
S(V) increases (it is assumed here that the higher the score, the
worse the driving; of course this could be the other way around,
and a lower score may be indicative of bad driving practices).
Accordingly, the score S of vehicle V is updated, so that now S(V)
is incremented to equal S(V)+P, with P a certain penalty amount.
For example, in FIG. 1, after the driver of vehicle 115 reports the
act of reckless driving on the part of vehicle 110, the driving
score S(V) of all of the nearby vehicles 115, 120, 125, 128, 130
would be increased, as mentioned above. It is appreciated that the
score S of the reporting vehicle 115 need not be incremented by the
penalty amount P. In some embodiments, the score S of the reporting
vehicle 115, may, instead, be incremented by the penalty amount P.
As will be discussed below, however, the reputation of the
reporting vehicle 115 will be effected by the report, in order to
discourage over reporting.
[0032] In embodiments where the report of an incident of unsafe
driving is directed at a single one of the neighboring vehicles,
for instance, by using the screen 280 (FIG. 2), then the selected
score of the selected vehicle will be incremented to S(V)+P, but
the scores of other nearby unreported vehicles, will remain
unchanged.
[0033] For every time unit (minute, hour, day, etc.) driven on the
road, or alternatively every mile or kilometer driven on the road,
the vehicle's score S(V) is decreased by a typically small amount
T, so that now S(V) is decremented to equal S(V)-T. Typically,
T<<P, forming a "leaking bucket" model. It is appreciated
that many vehicles such as vehicles 120, 125, 128, 130 in the
vicinity of the recklessly driven vehicle 110 will have their
scores S incremented by the penalty amount P simply as a
consequence of their having been in the vicinity of the recklessly
driving vehicle 110. Accordingly, the use of the leaking bucket
model enables the score S of the vehicles 120, 125, 128, 130 in the
vicinity of the recklessly driving vehicle 110 to return to its
base level. Nevertheless, if the driver of the recklessly driving
vehicle 110 repeatedly commits acts of reckless driving, that
vehicle's score will continue to accrue penalty points P.
[0034] The values of P and T may depend on the overall density of
vehicles on the road, the likelihood of reckless driving to happen,
the likelihood of drivers to report reckless driving, the radius of
the V2V broadcast report and many other parameters. In a real world
deployment these values will be calibrated using field trials to
derive realistic values. Likewise, a real world setting may include
more parameters (such as time of day, geographic region, etc.) and
more complex dependencies between them. For example, and without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, rather being fixed
constants, P and T may become functions of such parameters, e.g. P
(vehicle density, time of day, region), T (annual mileage of
vehicle), and so forth.
[0035] It should also be noted that P and T need not necessarily be
linearly added and subtracted from S(V) and might be applied
according to other formulas. By way of example, and without
limiting the generality of the foregoing, S(V) might be set equal
to a value of S(V) before the act of reckless driving was reported
* (1+P) [i.e., S.sub.new(V)=S.sub.old(V)*(1+P)]. Or, alternatively,
S(V) might be set equal to a value of S(V) before the act of
reckless driving was reported * (1+P.sub.1)+P.sub.2 [i.e.,
S.sub.new(V)=S.sub.old(V)=(1+P.sub.1)+P.sub.2], and so forth.
[0036] Reporting Reputation Score RR(V)
[0037] Embodiments described herein can be regarded as a reputation
based system to calculate S(V) for every vehicle, V. In addition to
the aforementioned driving score S(V), in some embodiments, an
additional reputation based score can be computed by the system,
i.e., Reporting Reputation RR(V) score. For example, vehicle 115
may have a driving score S(V) of 23 and a reporting reputation
RR(V) of 12. By contrast, vehicle 110, for example, may have a
driving score S(V) of 32 and a reporting reputation RR(V) of 6.
[0038] As noted above, the driving score represents the quality of
a given driver's driving, say the driver of vehicle 115, as
reflected by the reports collected in this system. The reporting
reputation RR(V) reflects the quality of the given driver's
reporting, and can be translated to how much weight is assigned to
the given driver's reports. Additionally, RR(V) may also endow the
given driver with reporting rights, i.e. the right to report (how
often, how much). Accordingly, the higher a given vehicle's
driver's reporting reputation, the more that particular driver's
reports effect the driving score of other drivers. And the lower
the given vehicle's driver's reporting reputation, the less effect
that driver's reports will have on the driving score of other
drivers. Additionally and optionally, once a driver's reputation
falls beneath a certain threshold, other vehicles ignore reports
from that driver. The RR(V) score of a given vehicle may also
increase over time, to compensate for loss of reputation when
reporting incidences of unsafe driving.
[0039] RR(V) of the given driver can increase or decrease based on
the S(V) scores of the vehicles in the vicinity of the given driver
when a report is issued--if the vehicles in the vicinity all have
low driving scores (i.e. the drivers in the local area are rated as
careful drivers), then RR(V) should decrease as this may be a
non-justified report.
[0040] For example, if the given driver provides more trustworthy
reports, then the given driver may be allowed to report more often.
Alternatively, if the given driver provides less trustworthy
reports, then the given driver may be allowed to report less
frequently. The processor 250 and the memory 260 (both of FIG. 2)
may be used to track the RR(V) score of the vehicle 200 (FIG. 2) in
which they are resident. The processor 250 (FIG. 2), based on the
RR(V) of the vehicle 200 may, as described above, allow or not
allow report.
[0041] Self-Measured Driving Score SMDS(V)
[0042] In an additional and optional embodiment, vehicles 110, 115,
120, 125, 128, 130 may be equipped with on-board diagnostic devices
capturing physical characteristics of driving behavior. Such
on-board diagnostic devices typically use built-in accelerometers,
gyroscopes, GNSS antennas and so forth. The on-board diagnostic
devices may additionally or alternatively be connected to the
vehicle's internal networks (such as the internal networks of
vehicles 110, 115, 120, 125, 128, 130) to gather information from
other ECUs (i.e. electronic control units, as are known in the art)
in the vehicle. By way of example, brake sensor 290 (FIG. 2) may
comprise such on-board diagnostic devices. Said on-board diagnostic
devices are known in the art, and are not expensive, they are used,
inter-alia, by user based insurance companies (sometimes also
called "pay as you drive insurance" and "pay how you drive
insurance" and "mile-based auto insurance") and are deployed in
many vehicles already on the road. The aforementioned on-board
diagnostic devices can be used to calculate a Self-Measured Driving
Score SMDS(V), which can be derived independently of S(V). It is
appreciated, that the SMDS(V) is also, like S(V), a driving score
which may be utilized by the system in a similar fashion.
[0043] Broadcasting Scores to Other Vehicles
[0044] The driving scores S(V) and SMDS(V) can be broadcast by V2V
communications by one vehicle, for example the first vehicle 110,
to neighboring vehicles 115, 120, 125, 128, 130. The scores may be
broadcast either independently (i.e. S(V) is broadcast, and when it
is available, SMDS(V) is also broadcast), or as some kind of
weighted function, f(S(V), SMDS(V)) such as a harmonic average of
S(V) and SMDS(V).
[0045] Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which is a simplified
pictorial illustration of an in-vehicle display screen 310, showing
ratings of neighboring vehicles in the system of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is
an illustration from the point of view of the vehicle 115, in which
the in-vehicle display screen 310 is situated. The display screen
310, (corresponding to screen 280 of FIG. 2) shows the position of
the vehicle 115 in which the screen 310 is situated, the
neighboring vehicles 120, 125, 128, 130 and their respective
driving scores 320. This allows drivers to be alerted of reckless
drivers (either based on S(V) or SMDS(V)) in their vicinity, in
real time, enabling divers to be aware of the potential associated
danger. It is appreciated that FIG. 3 is exemplary, and the system
described herein is applicable to most unsafe driving situations,
for example, unsafe passing, speeding, and so forth.
[0046] The user interface 270 (FIG. 2) may also comprise an audio
component (not depicted). The audio component may provide an audio
alert to the driver if a vehicle with an extremely low S(V) enters
the proximity of the vehicle 200 (FIG. 2) For example, vehicle 120
is depicted as having a driving score 320 of 5. Assuming, for the
sake of this example that the driving score 320 of 5 is beneath a
threshold for triggering audio alerts, when vehicle 120 enters
short range communication range of vehicle 115, then the user
interface 270 (FIG. 2) of vehicle 115 may trigger an audio
alert.
[0047] Short-Term Vs Long-Term Scoring
[0048] Either of the scores S(V) or SMDS(V) may be replicated into
different instances, wherein some scores act as short-term scores
(such that they are reset periodically or updated over time so that
they converge to some default score quite rapidly) and some scores
act as long-term scores (such that they keep being updated over
long periods of time without being reset--i.e. either no "leaky
bucket" is implemented for long term scores, or the incrementing
and decrementing of scores is adapted to be appropriate for the
long term time scale in use). While short-term scores better
reflect the behavior of the current driver and not of any other
drivers sharing the same vehicle, long-term scores are better in
statistically capturing the differences between careful and
reckless drivers. By way of example, long-term scores may
characterize the driving safety of a principle driver of a vehicle,
assuming that other drivers, over the long term are averaged out,
while short-term scores reflect the driving safety of the current
driver of the vehicle.
[0049] Central Servers
[0050] Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a simplified
pictorial illustration of a vehicle 450 interacting with a central
server 420 in the system of FIG. 1. As was noted above with
reference to FIG. 2, the vehicle 200 (FIG. 2), corresponding to
vehicle 450 of FIG. 4, may be connected to the central server 420
by a long range communication system 230 (FIG. 2) which typically
incorporates wireless communication apparatus, such as an LTE modem
cellular data connection 430, as is known in the art. In some
embodiments, the reports of reckless driving may also be collected
and analyzed by central servers, such as the central servers 420.
The central servers 420 can be owned and operated by transport
police, insurance companies, car pool managers, leasing companies
and others. The report data collected at the central servers 420
can be put to use by the owners of the central servers 420 for
monitoring driver behavior and taking appropriate action
accordingly. Appropriate action may include, but is not necessarily
limited to punitive action taken by police, managers of car fleets,
and so forth, and raising of insurance rates by insurance
companies.
[0051] By way of example, when a report of reckless driving is sent
by the driver of vehicle 450, the report data is sent, typically
via V2V communications to other vehicles of the plurality of
vehicles 410. Additionally, the report of reckless driving may also
be sent, via the cellular data connection 430, to the central
server 420.
[0052] Alternatively, if the self-maintenance of each vehicle's
S(V) score is managed as described above, then the resulting score
is a statistical score that gradually converges to a score
indicative of safe or reckless driving. If vehicles report their
own scores, then this decentralized-computed score may be reported
by each vehicle to the central server 420. The whole "who is in my
vicinity" question is thus offloaded from the central server 420
and is carried out in a decentralized manner using V2V, as
described above. Maintaining the driving score remotely and
broadcasting the score locally benefits both CPU usage and network
bandwidth. It is appreciated, however, that the reporting of its
own S(V) score by a vehicle to the central server 420 which in turn
reports the score to other vehicles in the vicinity of the
self-reporting vehicle, may depend on communications which are not
fast enough to deliver real-time updates. Accordingly, in such
cases, embodiments where vehicles report their driving scores to
neighboring vehicles may be implemented.
[0053] Reference is now made to FIG. 5, which is a flowchart of an
exemplary process 500 to be executed by one of the vehicles of FIG.
1. The process 500, which may be executed, for example, by
processor 250 of FIG. 2, waits for an input (step 510). As will be
described below, the input may be an input from the driver of the
vehicle (step 520), such as the driver of vehicle 115, of FIG. 1.
The input may also comprise receiving a communication from a
neighboring vehicle (step 530), such as vehicle 110 of FIG. 1; a
report of self-measured reckless driving (step 540); or receipt of
a broadcast updated driving score from a neighboring vehicle (step
545).
[0054] The input received in step 510 may be an input from the
driver of the vehicle (step 520), such as vehicle 115 of FIG. 1.
For example, the driver of vehicle 115 of FIG. 1 may press the
button indicating that an act of unsafe driving has occurred. The
process 500 will utilize the short range communication system 220
of FIG. 2 to broadcast the report to neighboring vehicles (step
550). The process will also reduce the reputation of reports
issuing from the vehicle (step 555). Process control is then
returned to step 510, whereby the process 500 waits for an input.
It is appreciated that in embodiments where the driver's report of
unsafe driving specifies only a single vehicle, then the report
will only be broadcast to the reported vehicle.
[0055] If the input received in step 510 is a communication from a
neighboring vehicle received at the short range communication
system 220 of FIG. 2 (step 530), said communication reporting an
incident of reckless driving by neighboring vehicle, then the
process 500 will reduce its own driving score (step 560). As was
noted above in the discussion of FIG. 1, the vehicle (e.g. vehicles
110, 115, 120, 125, 130 of FIG. 1) which is reducing its own
driving score may or may not be the vehicle which committed the
reported act of reckless driving received in step 530. The process
will utilize V2V local communications to broadcasts its driving
score to neighboring vehicles (step 563). The process 500 will
optionally report the vehicle's new driving score to a central
server (step 566), such as central server 420 of FIG. 4. Whether or
not the process 500 reports the vehicle's new driving score,
process control is then returned to step 510, whereby the process
500 waits for an input.
[0056] If the input received in step 510 is a report of
self-measured reckless driving (step 540) from within the vehicle
itself, that is the SMDS(V) described above, then steps 560-566 may
be followed, as described for the case where the reported act of
reckless driving was received from another vehicle.
[0057] If the input received in step 510 is a receipt of a
broadcast updated driving score from a neighboring vehicle (step
545), then the process 500 may update the GUI (step 570), such as
the user interface 270 of FIG. 2, where other vehicles and their
corresponding driving scores are displayed.
[0058] Reference is now made to FIG. 6, which is a flowchart of an
exemplary method executed by one of the vehicles of FIG. 1. The
initial driving score S(V) is assigned by the processor 250 (FIG.
2) to the vehicle which is being driven (step 610). A report of a
reckless driving incident in the vicinity of the vehicle is
received at the short range 220 communication system of the vehicle
(step 620). S(V) is incremented by the processor (FIG. 2) upon
receipt of the report of the reckless driving incident (step 630).
For every unit of driving driven by the vehicle, S(V) is decreased
by the processor (step 640). The value of S(V) is broadcast to
other vehicles by the communication system (step 650).
[0059] It is appreciated that software components of the present
invention may, if desired, be implemented in ROM (read only memory)
form. The software components may, generally, be implemented in
hardware, if desired, using conventional techniques. It is further
appreciated that the software components may be instantiated, for
example: as a computer program product or on a tangible medium. In
some cases, it may be possible to instantiate the software
components as a signal interpretable by an appropriate computer,
although such an instantiation may be excluded in certain
embodiments of the present invention.
[0060] It is appreciated that various features of the invention
which are, for clarity, described in the contexts of separate
embodiments may also be provided in combination in a single
embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention which
are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment
may also be provided separately or in any suitable
subcombination.
[0061] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that
the present invention is not limited by what has been particularly
shown and described hereinabove. Rather the scope of the invention
is defined by the appended claims and equivalents thereof:
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