A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
This invention relates to the field of cellular phones and cellular communications technology including text messaging, emailing, and social networking communications technology, GPS technology, wireless networking, related computer systems and software, and vehicular transportation modalities.
It has become a widely known problem that text messaging while driving is dangerous. Recent data shows that while text messaging, a person has an impairment level twice that of a person who is legally drunk. In the US in 2008, 6,000 deaths were attributed to distraction while driving and many of these fatalities were related to text messaging. In many states it is now against the law to text message while driving. Studies show a person is 23 times more likely to crash when texting behind the wheel. As a result of these alarming statistics, governments are considering steps toward wider bans on text messaging and emailing while driving.
While banning text messaging by law is an important step towards mitigation of this problem, that alone may be insufficient. Many states have instituted hands-free laws for cell phone use, and a large percentage of the populace simply ignores these laws. While holding a cell phone to your ear reduces your ability to properly control your car, the degree of distraction afforded by text messaging or emailing while driving makes voice use of cell phones seem insignificant by comparison. Additionally, texting has become highly addictive for many people—especially younger people. This has recently been further encouraged by social networking functionalities, such that many people will compulsively persist in texting while driving regardless of the laws unless a mechanism to defeat their dangerous habit is implemented. In considering the implementation of mechanisms to defeat text messaging, a major challenge is that it is difficult to distinguish between a person driving a car or truck and a person riding in the car as a passenger or riding on public transportation. There are many positive reasons to encourage people to ride on public transportation, and it is important that steps be taken not to discourage them to do so. It is also important for similar reasons to allow people riding as passengers in a carpool situation to utilize text messaging and emails while in a moving vehicle. An effective mechanism for defeating text messaging while driving must provide individuals who habitually take public transportation or carpool with the ability to text message and email while traveling by these means. Also, to broadly enforce a ban in a shortened period of time, it is useful that any solution not require modifications to existing cell phones. The most effective short term solution would use existing cell phones and existing cellular communications hardware and be implemented solely via software at the mobile service provider. The next most effective solution would include hardware changes in the cellular infrastructure but still require no changes to cell phones. Last, easily downloaded software changes to cell phones might be acceptable under certain conditions but are not desirable.
Cell phones in use today already contain GPS location capability as part of the emergency response network. The ability to query the location of cell phone from a central location using the GPS receiver in a cell phone is useful for many purposes, and for the purposes of this invention is useful to determine both the location and the velocity of a person according to the position and speed of lateral movement of his cell phone. Position location by triangulation from multiple cell towers may be combined with GPS (AGPS or Assisted-GPS), when readings purely from a phone's GPS receiver alone are not sufficient.
Prior art inventions address the issue of allowing passengers on public transportation to text while moving by inferring that people are on such public transport by their commonality of wireless signal attributes. These solutions would require hardware changes within the service provider's infrastructure. These solutions also ignore the fact that the driver of a public transportation vehicle must be prevented from texting on his phone. Serious train and bus accidents with many lives lost have been attributed to texting by the driver/operator. Prior art inventions also do not adequately address the scenario where passengers are riding in a carpool situation as the driver would still be allowed to text unless modifications were made to both cars and cell phones. Proposed solutions to allow passengers in a car to text while moving involve some form of proximity sensor to determine that a person is not sitting in the drivers seat. Unfortunately, this requires that enhanced phones must be purchased for all such passengers and that cars be specially designed to have devices implanted at certain seat locations. Thus, this only works for new cars and trucks and also requires users to purchase new cell phones.
To implement an enforced ban on texting in a very short amount of time, it is necessary to deploy a solution that can be generally effective without requiring changes to currently deployed user phones, existing cellular hardware infrastructure, or existing vehicles. Before such a mechanism is deployed to defeat unlawful texting while driving, it may be desirable to track such illegal activity and report it to the perpetrators as warnings or in conjunction with traffic tickets. As such, a mechanism to discover and track texting while driving may be a useful interim solution. Also, it is desirable to also implement a tracking and warning mechanism without requiring changes to currently deployed user phones, existing cellular hardware infrastructure, or existing vehicles.
The texting problem mentioned above with respect to social networking is further exacerbated by the inclusion of telematics systems in new vehicles, as well as such systems being retrofitted to existing vehicles. With the addition of Telematics, the messaging problem related to social networking is expanded through in-car WiFi hotspots to all occupants of a vehicle, providing Internet connectivity and messaging through social networks such as Twitter and Facebook from a variety of mobile devices.
Some cell phone users may prefer to use a speech-to-text or text-to-speech (hereinafter: speech-text) capability in localities (cities, states, provinces, countries) where texting is illegal while driving but voice is allowed—typically requiring a hands-free capability. At the same time, if a speech-text capability is allowed, it is critical to determine that it has not been tampered with to either allow conventional manual entry of texts, or conventional viewing of textual information a user has received. Given the extremely high addiction of some people to texting, including the covert nature of manual text entry and visual text reception, it is likely that many users would seek to circumvent a speech-text capability, thereby allowing conventional texting on their phone.
Certain embodiments described in applicant's earlier patents on this topic have been focused on GPS locations, where time stamped GPS location parameters are compared to determine the proximity of two or more cell phones with respect to a position envelope. Further for some of those embodiments, those GPS location parameters are sometimes sent via cellular carriers to a server where those location comparisons are performed. For those specific embodiments, it may be that for certain municipalities, areas, or districts, a concern may arise with respect to the privacy of the cell phone users. It would therefore be useful to be able to determine the proximity of two or more cell phones with respect to a position envelope without passing a phone user's location data beyond the immediate vicinity of the position envelope encompassing the vehicle in which they are a driver or passenger.
As described herein, the terms “texting” and “text messaging” and the verb “to text” shall also include sending and receiving emails and any form of communication via a cellular communications network that is not purely voice. Although the term “texting” often has a specific definition, for the purpose of general discussion relative to the dangers of “texting while driving” the media has chosen to frequently refer only to “texting” and thus this specification hereby adopts that terminology for those various forms of textual communication. Also, the term “driver”, “operator”, and “engineer” are also used interchangeably. Cars, trucks, and busses are normally said to have “drivers”, however, trains are typically said to have “operators” or “engineers”, hence for the purpose of the present invention, all of these terms are used synonymously. A driver of a public transportation vehicle may also be referred to as a “professional operator” or “professional driver” and it may be a requirement for some embodiments of the present invention that cell phones belonging to such persons be specially recorded as such at the cellular service provider and be treated differently from phones used by the general public. For the purposes of the present invention, a “cell phone” may be any mobile communications device capable of any form of textual communications, including PDAs and even notebook computers. A cellular “Service Provider” may at times be referred to herein as “SP”. The user of a cell phone is typically referred to as “him” but actually refers to “him or her”.
According to this invention the position of a person's cell phone is queried from a central location via the cellular communications link in a manner similar to that performed by the emergency response network. The position and velocity of a person's cell phone are determined. The lateral direction of travel of the person's cell phone may also be determined. These determinations may be performed by means of the comparison of successive position queries or other means, including information obtained directly from the phone if available. The fact that a person is in a moving vehicle is then determined by comparing this determined velocity with a minimum velocity threshold—the “disable threshold”—for determining disablement of texting. If sufficient position and speed information is not available from a GPS receiver in the phone at a certain point in time, the position and speed may be supplemented by triangulation of signals as referenced from multiple cellular towers, as in A-GPS or Assisted GPS, or purely by triangulation. If a person's cell phone contains internal information available to the service provider that includes any of velocity, location, or direction information, that information may also be queried by the service provider according to this invention.
One object of this invention is to prevent a person from sending or receiving text messages or emails on a cell phone while driving. To do so, the invention disables this capability for anyone riding in a moving vehicle unless he is a passenger on public transportation (bus/train), or unless the person is a passenger in a car/truck under certain conditions such as a carpool. To “disable texting”, the service provider at a minimum would disable the transfer of text messages and emails from the SP to the user's phone, and also will disable the receipt of text messages and emails at the SP that are sent from the user's phone. It may be impossible to prevent the user from composing a text message or email on his phone while driving without altering the programming in the phone, and thus is not a preferred capability of this invention. However, it is possible to delay the resumption of the ability to send emails for a period of time after a person ceases to drive, such that there is little motivation to compose while driving. The user may as well wait to compose until after he stops since there would be time available then anyway. Fortunately, most text messages are relatively short, and it is text messages that have become the most addictive and are the bulk of the current hazard, especially those associated with certain popular social networking sites.
Another object of this invention is to implement a system to disable text messaging and emailing while driving without requiring any changes to the base of cellular phones currently installed, and preferably without requiring any changes to the existing cellular communications system hardware infrastructure. In the most desirable outcome, only software changes on the part of the service provider and implemented only within their infrastructure would be required to implement the key capabilities described herein. The majority of currently deployed phones contain GPS capability. For those phones not containing GPS receivers, the system according to this invention may rely solely on triangulation of signals from cellular towers. Alternately, this relatively small subset of phones may be excluded from texting and emailing capability. In most cases, these users would probably have replaced their phones in the near future anyway due to a desire for enhanced features, incompatibility with newer provider infrastructure, of simply the physical or electronic degradation of their current phone. Historically, infrastructure changes in cellular networks have, from time to time, forced users to replace their phones. Also, some older phones do not have the ability to text, email, or connect to the Internet.
Another object of the invention is to allow a person to text when his phone is within the “envelope” of a master phone. The envelope of a cell phone may include position information only and is therefore sometimes described herein as a “position envelope”. The envelope of a cell phone may also include the lateral speed of the phone and/or the direction of travel of the phone. Which of these parameters is included is implementation dependent, and all combinations thereof are encompassed by the present invention. The grater the number of parameters that are included, the more computations need to be performed within the SP infrastructure and the more complicated and expensive the solution gets. An SP, potentially in concert with government authorities, may implement a simple form of the present invention and measure the results before implementing a more complicated and expensive form.
It should be noted that the envelope of a cell phone per this invention may be viewed from two perspectives. A master phone may have an envelope and other cell phones may be described as being in the envelope of the master phone. Alternately, a group of cell phones traveling together (carpool or mass transit) may be said to have an envelope. Either way, the “envelope” is meant to encompass that of the vehicle in which persons traveling together are riding as referenced from the position of a phone or phones. If a master phone is within the envelope of a group of phones, then the group of phones is also within the envelope of the master phone.
Beyond including position information, an envelope may also include cell phones maintaining the instantaneous speed of a master phone so that a person in a car/truck is prevented from riding close to a bus in order to be allowed to text. Maintaining the instantaneous speed includes the speeds of passenger cell phones tracking small speed changes that are made by the master phone. Deviations relative to how closely these speeds track each other may be compared with a “threshold of equality” to determine that a passenger cell phone user is actually riding in the same vehicle with the user of a master phone. This speed comparison may be used to determine which vehicle a passenger is actually in when his cell phone appears to be within the position envelope of multiple master phones.
The user of a master phone may utilize a different service provider than a passenger. Information parameter measurements such as cell phone position, velocity, and direction of travel may be time-stamped and then passed between service providers or alternately made available to other service providers by way of a central database. These time-stamps are useful in synchronizing information parameter measurements in order to make comparisons more meaningful.
The direction of travel may also be included as a requirement for being in the “envelope”, however in actual implementation, it may not be necessary to utilize the direction of travel of a cell phone. If the position and velocity of a cell phone are to match that of a master phone over a period of time long enough to send and receive text messages, their direction of travel will in fact need to be the same. The master phone may belong to either a professional driver or to a driver of a carpool vehicle. The act of registration of a master phone is preferably performed by a voice call (preferably initiated by a single key on speed dial) or by a text message that can be sent with a minimum number of key presses (preferably one) to a special destination reserved for this purpose that is enabled for texting even when a phone is traveling faster than the disable threshold. It may also be useful if a professional driver who has registered his phone as a master phone is previously known to be a professional driver of a mass transit vehicle, and what type of vehicle he drives. Then, the length of the master phone position envelope can be computed according to the length of the vehicle. Given the inaccuracy of GPS and other location mechanisms, it is useful to compare the instantaneous velocity of phones that appear to be within the envelope of a master phone with that of the master phone in order to disable texting for cell phones in cars that are adjacent to the mass transit vehicle.
Another object of this invention is to allow a person riding on public transportation (bus/train) to be allowed to send and receive text messages or emails, while not allowing the professional driver/operator to send and receive text messages or emails while moving. This can be done by disabling texting for all phones in the vehicle until the driver registers his phone as a master phone. When the driver registers his phone as a master phone, his ability to text is disabled while users riding in the mass transit vehicle, whose phones are therefore in the envelope of the master phone, are allowed to text. If the professional driver is previously known by the SP to be a professional driver of mass transportation, he can be prompted (preferably via voice message) to register when in the presence of a group of cell phone users who are traveling in a group and at the same speed. Such a group essentially establishes their own envelope, the envelope being determined by the SP based on the position and velocity of the phones in the group. The SP then determines if the professional driver is within the envelope with the group of cell phones. The professional driver can choose to decline to register if he is at that moment riding as a passenger and not as the driver. Therefore, the registration of a cell phone belonging to a known professional driver can be purely voluntary, voluntary after being prompted, or fully automatic.
Similarly, a group of cell phone users participating in a carpool vehicle at speed may form their own envelope. Subsequently, if there is no currently registered master phone within the group and a carpool participant whose phone is within the envelope attempts to send or receive test messages, that user may be prompted that one of the group (the legal driver) should register so that the others can successfully text. Any participant in the carpool who finds his texting capability disabled can simply ask the driver to register as a master phone in order to allow the other carpool participants to text.
Similar methods are applicable to passenger and driver use of cell phones on trains. The process of establishing the position envelope for a train has unique challenges since a long train may form a curved or serpentine shape rather than the simple rectangle shape for a bus, truck, or car. On the other hand, the GPS coordinates for the railroad bed are known and may be useful in establishing a position envelope for a train.
There may exist different ways that individuals may try to bypass the system described herein and accordingly, mechanisms to discover these attempts and thwart them are also discussed herein.
Given the accuracy of position determination of a phone and therefore the accuracy for the envelope of a master phone or a group of passenger phones, the parameters for operating a system as described herein may be tuned over time with experience in order to determine the optimum parameters. Examples of these parameters include:
Additionally, a functionality to track texting while driving is described and provides a useful interim solution where drivers exhibiting a high probability of texting while driving are warned of this condition. Such warnings may be delivered by various means such as for instance text messages, automated phone calls, emails, or postal letters. Warnings via text message or phone call may be deferred until such time that it has been determined via the methods contained herein that the suspected individual is no longer in a moving vehicle. The embodiment for tracking and warning serves both as a deterrent and also prepares cell phone users for a possible ban where texting is actually disabled according to other embodiments of the present invention. As with the apparatus and methods described herein for disabling texting, the embodiment for tracking and warning may be implemented without requiring changes to currently deployed user phones, existing cellular hardware infrastructure, or existing vehicles.
Further, for municipalities where voice communication is allowed while driving, it may be desirable to allow text messages to be transferred to or from a user who may in fact be driving, when that user sends and receives those messages audibly, using a hands-free mechanism. Essentially, as long as the driver is prevented from texting with their hands and is also prevented from reading text messages visually while driving, the sending and receiving of “audible” text messages while driving can be made no more distracting than talking on the phone, and as such may be allowed. However, relying on the law to enforce this paradigm is not enough due to the addictive nature of conventional texting. It requires a capability to prevent conventional texting, combined with audible texting, in order to create a truly safe solution.
For users who are allowed to use a speech-text capability while driving, to ensure that the user cannot circumvent the speech-text capability and utilize any aspect of conventional texting while driving, the invention described herein offers multiple solutions—one where only voice communication is allowed from a phone, and one where control for speech-text conversion is performed on the phone, but with special provisions for validation to eliminate the possibility of tampering or hacking.
As previously mentioned herein, it is text messages that have become the most addictive and are the bulk of the current hazard, especially those associated with certain popular social networking sites. This of course includes “tweets” sent on Twitter and messages sent via Facebook, all of which are text messages. To handle this problem with respect to modern vehicles with telematics systems, the functions described herein for tracking, warning, and blocking texting in moving vehicles is expanded as described herein.
It is yet a further object of the invention to block or prevent texting by the driver of vehicle when that individual is attempting any form of visual or manual electronic communication (hereinafter known as “texting”) while that person is in control of the vehicle, and where that communication could in any way be dangerously distracting to the driver. The only exception to this would be use of route guidance which on one hand can sometimes be distracting, but on the other hand can sometimes reduce danger by guiding the driver. A further object of the invention is to block or prevent texting by a driver while allowing passengers traveling the same vehicle to text, and for some embodiments of the invention to do so without revealing the location of the driver or passenger remotely.
Accordingly for one embodiment, the invention may determine a velocity of a first Texting Capable Device (hereinafter: TCD), and if the first TCD is travelling in excess of a velocity threshold, determine if there is at least a second TCD located within a position envelope encompassing the first and second TCDs. If there is no locatable second TCD within the position envelope, then texting for the first TCD is disabled when travelling in excess of a velocity threshold. If there is at least a locatable second TCD within the position envelope, then the invention may determine if either the first or second TCD is a registered Driver TCD (hereinafter: DTCD, also known herein as a master phone). Subsequently, texting for the DTCD is disabled and texting is enabled for other TCDs determined to be within the position envelope. Note that other TCDs determined to be within the position envelope are assumed to be Passenger TCDs (hereinafter: PTCDs or passenger phones). Determining that the first and at least second TCDs are located within the position envelope is performed using local communication involving the first and at least second TCDs, where the local communication is established by wireless communication, and comprises one or more of the following methods:
Further, determining using local communication that the first and at least second TCDs are both located within the same position envelope, can be performed by comparing time-stamped GPS position data passed locally among the first and the at least second TCDs, thereby not revealing GPS position data to cellular carriers, municipal authorities, or any remotely located third-party.
A further object of the invention is to determine, using local communication among a first and at least a second TCD, that the first and at least second TCDs are all located within the position envelope, and to perform that analysis using Known Acquaintance Validation based on one or more contact data types and/or communication modalities determined to be in common among the first and at least second TCDs. Further, the one or more contact data types and communication modalities can include:
a) cellular contact numbers contained in an internal address book;
b) cellular contact numbers contained in a record of recent calls, either sent or received;
c) cellular contact numbers contained in a record of recent texts, either sent or received;
d) email addresses contained in an internal address book;
e) email addresses contained in a record of recent emails, either sent or received;
f) a list of social media contact numbers or user identifiers stored in, or accessible by, either or both of the first and at least second TCDs; or
g) a URL from which the TCS is contacted by both of the first and at least second TCDs.
For one embodiment of Known Acquaintance Validation, if a specific contact data type associated with one of the first and at least second TCDs is the same as a specific contact data type associated with the other of the first and at least second TCDs, then it is assumed that the first and at least second TCDs are located within the same position envelope. For a further embodiment of Known Acquaintance Validation where communication modalities are analyzed, if a specific communication modality associated with one of the first and at least second TCDs is the same as a specific communication modality associated with the other of the first and at least second TCDs, then it is assumed that the first and at least second TCDs are located within the same position envelope. One non-limiting example of such a communication modality is a URL associated with communications coming from TCDs located within the same vehicle envelope.
Another object of the invention is determining the velocity of a first TCD remotely from the first TCD by monitoring a strength of a signal transmitted from the first TCD as received at one or more cell towers.
Another object of the invention is determining the velocity of a first TCD by determining a velocity parameter within the first TCD, wherein the velocity parameter is transmitted from the first TCD to a TCS.
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is that neither a DTCD nor any of the PTCDs in a position envelope transmit their GPS coordinates to a TCS and/or a cellular carrier.
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is determining that a first and at least second a TCD are in the same position envelope where that determining is performed by an app installed in the first or at least second TCDs, or alternately performed by a software program integrated with a TCD operating system controlling the first or at least second TCDs.
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is to determine, using local communication in the vicinity of a position envelope, that a first and at least a second TCD are both located within the same position envelope, and where that determination is performed using a combination of:
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is that when a user attempts to register a DTCD, an identity of the user associated with the DTCD is queried in a drivers license database, and if the associated user is not a licensed driver then the registration is disallowed.
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is to determine, using local communication among the first and at least second TCDs, that a first and at least a second TCD are all located within the same position envelope, where that determination is performed using one or more queries with respect to GPS data, where:
Note that for an alternate embodiment, a TCD that is not a registered DTCD may query other TCDs in the local vicinity in a like manner to the foregoing.
Another object of the invention for some embodiments is where a telematics system is located in the same position envelope where a TCD is located; and
Another object of the invention is to determine, using local communication among a first and at least second TCD, that the first and at least second TCD are all located within the same position envelope using Known Acquaintance Validation where:
Note that for an alternate embodiment, a TCD that is not a registered DTCD may query other TCDs in the local vicinity in a like manner to the foregoing.
Another object of the invention is that when a first and at least a second TCD contact a TCS from a common source URL, it is assumed that the first and at least second TCDs are in contact with a hotspot or telematics system located in the same position envelope where the first and at least second TCD are both located, and therefore that users of the first and at least second TCD are therefore known acquaintances.
According to the present invention, it requires a certain minimum velocity of movement of a cell phone to disable texting. This velocity should be greater than what can be achieved jogging or walking. Speeds achievable on a bicycle are probably acceptable to cause text prevention since a person texting on a bicycle at speed is a danger to traffic and himself, and because it is less likely that a person will be texting while riding a bicycle at speed.
The velocity for setting the disable threshold speed may be a specific level, for instance, 10, 12, or 15 mph. For a person to travel at more than 10 miles per hour he is either running, cycling, skateboarding, or in a motor vehicle. Texting while running at over 10 mph is probably difficult enough to be considered unnecessary. Texting while bicycling or skateboarding at over 10 mph may be considered dangerous.
Simply disabling texting for cell phones traveling in excess of a disable threshold is not acceptable because it would discourage people from utilizing mass transit and carpools when riding as passengers. Therefore, the present invention focuses on a system and methodology that provides such passengers the ability to text message while traveling at speed. This is accomplished by the service provider's system determining that an individual's cell phone traveling in excess of the disable threshold speed is within the envelope of a registered master phone. While the description provided herein focuses on system and software infrastructure provided by a mobile communications Service Provider (SP), it should be understood that the SP's system may operate in conjunction with systems and software belonging to government agencies to implement the functionalities described herein.
The owner of a master phone must have a valid driver's license. To better support the present invention, SPs may require that each phone in a family be assigned to a specific individual if this has not been previously done, so that a child's phone, an elderly person's phone, or any phone that belongs to person without a driver's license cannot be used to spoof a master phone. Government agencies may also correlate across cellular providers to ensure that each individual has only one cell phone assigned and active, again so as to prevent an individual from using one phone to spoof a master while texting on the other. Alternately, if an individual is allowed to have multiple phones assigned to him, the SP system may prevent texting on all such phones if any are moving in excess of a disable threshold speed while not within the envelope of a master phone.
A professional driver/operator of a public transportation vehicle may also be treated specially. The SP may maintain a database of known professional drivers, or be in communication with organizations that maintain such databases such as mass transit companies and/or government agencies that monitor and/or administrate mass transit operations. An SP may always treat the phone of a professional driver as a potential master phone, and in one embodiment the professional driver may be required to make a “request” to text while moving when he is not acting as an on-duty operator. If he is found to be texting during hours he is scheduled for duty, he may be found to be in violation of the law. Given their liability for an entire vehicle full of passengers, it is proper that professional drivers be given some form of special scrutiny.
When a person's phone stops moving, or drops below the disable threshold for a certain amount of time, it is assumed that the vehicle is no longer moving or is no longer in stop-and-go traffic, and his phone is re-enabled for texting. This re-enable period may be chosen to be sufficiently longer than the longest traffic signal cycle time, or by other means. It may be set by varying the re-enable delay and measuring the results. For instance, if a text message is sent immediately after the re-enable period expires and the length of the message is such that it could not have been composed by a typical user within the re-enable period, that is a clue that the re-enable period may not be long enough. The time delay for the re-enable period provides extra minutes of time to compose a text message after completing a period of driving, rather than trying to compose a message while driving. To ensure that a driver is not simply caught in stop and go traffic whereby a cessation of motion is simply temporary, the re-enable period must be of sufficient length. Regarding the stop and go scenario, were it not for the re-enable period that prevents sending messages after stopping, some drivers addicted to text messaging would compose their messages while moving and send them while stopped during the cyclical pattern of stop and go driving.
A registration sequence for a master phone according to the present invention is shown in
Alternately, it is possible to install a cell phone or equivalent functionality in a mass transit vehicle to act as a form of permanent master phone. This is one solution to the problem that occurs when the operator forgets to register as a master phone, thus leaving his passengers without the ability to text. However, this still leaves the problem that the operator's personal cell phone must be disabled while moving. Assuming that the service provider is made aware of the cell phones of all professional mass transit drivers, these phones can be disabled when moving. Unfortunately, that prevents a professional driver from texting when traveling on mass transit as a passenger. Thus, the best overall solution may be for the actual operator of a mass transit vehicle to be required to register his phone as a master phone, thereby allowing a different professional driver to text on a mass transit vehicle when off duty and riding as a passenger.
De-registration of a master phone may occur in a number of ways. The driver may be offered the following choices for example:
Note that having multiple active master phones on a vehicle could enable the driver to de-register and text. People who drive in carpools as registered master phone user and then park and get on public transport can compound this problem if their phones don't de-register automatically. Thus, it may be preferred to have automatic de-registration after the re-enable period has transpired. Still, the following sequence of events demonstrates one scenario that could arise even with automatic de-registration after a re-enable period:
Upon detecting this situation, the cell phone of the nonprofessional driver can be automatically de-registered to avoid the situation where two master phones are present on the mass transit vehicle. Regardless, it may be beneficial for the SP system to determine if multiple master phones are active on the same mass transit vehicle and take steps to remedy the situation. A general way to handle this scenario is that if registered master phones of a non-professional driver and a professional driver are within the same envelope, the phone of the non-professional driver is automatically de-registered and allowed to text at speed.
For several embodiments of the present invention, a mass transit driver must register his phone in order for his passenger's phones to text. If he forgets to register, his passengers will be annoyed when attempting to text. In order to avoid unhappy passengers, a driver can also be known to the SP system as a professional driver, and then when his phone is in the presence of a group of people with the same position and speed as the professional driver, the professional driver can be prompted to register. Essentially, a group of cell phone users riding as passengers may form their own envelope and a professional driver whose phone is also in that envelope may be prompted to register in order to enable the passengers to text. This registration could also be done automatically, but that could disable the driver in some scenarios when he is on a bus as a passenger. An example process for prompting a professional driver to register his phone as a master phone is shown in
Trains have unique problems as described for
A goal of the present invention is to be as effective as possible in preventing drivers and operators of motor vehicles from texting while in motion. At the same time, another goal of the present invention is to accomplish this with an implementation strategy that can be executed quickly and using existing equipment wherever possible. While the system as described herein may accomplish this goal with a high degree of success, there may still be individuals who attempt to circumvent the system. For instance, a solitary driver may find a way to carry two phones such that one can be registered as a master phone while the other is used for texting. Such an attempt at circumvention can be detected by the SP system for example by:
While it will often occur that all persons traveling in the same vehicle have cell phones serviced by the same service provider such as in the case of a family, it will of course also occur that some people riding in a vehicle will have different service providers from others in the same vehicle. When this occurs, the system heretofore described for the present invention will function properly as long as appropriate communications exist between multiple service providers. To clarify how such communications might operate, consider the multiple service provider scenario of
When a first service provider registers a cell phone as a master phone and subsequently tracks and records information parameters concerning the master phone such as position, velocity, and direction of travel, it is also useful to record a specific point in time for each parameter measurement with a time marker or time stamp. When this time marker is supplied along with the corresponding master phone envelope information to a second service provider, the time markers allow the second service provider to synchronize or correlate the behavior of a particular cell phone with that of master phones in its vicinity—making meaningful parameter comparisons for similar points in time. Due to system inaccuracies and delays, as well as the interval spacing for taking parameter measurements for a particular phone, there may not exist time markers that match exactly. However, as long as the time markers match within an acceptable threshold of equality, the validity of the overall methodology is maintained.
An information flow for passing parameter data and time markers between service providers to enable the required analysis is demonstrated graphically in
Cell phone base stations typically contain GPS receivers that access time information supplied by the atomic clocks in the GPS satellites. This precise time information enables time stamping or marking of events observed at the base station with the degree of accuracy required to accurately perform parameter comparisons for multiple cell phones.
According to Wikipedia.org:
“Since the advent of the Global Positioning System, highly precise, yet affordable timing is available from many commercial GPS receivers. Its initial system design expected general timing precision better than 340 nanoseconds using low-grade “coarse mode” and 200 ns in precision mode. A GPS receiver functions by precisely measuring the transit time of signals received from several satellites. These distances combined geometrically with precise orbital information identify the location of the receiver. Precise timing is fundamental to an accurate GPS location. The time from an atomic clock on board each satellite is encoded into the radio signal; the receiver determines how much later it received the signal than it was sent. To do this, a local clock is corrected to the GPS atomic clock time by solving for three dimensions and time based on four or more satellite signals. Improvements in algorithms lead many modern low cost GPS receivers to achieve better than 10 meter accuracy, which implies a timing accuracy of about 30 ns. GPS-based laboratory time references routinely achieve 10 ns precision.”
When comparing parameter data, or time-stamps associated with parameter data, different values may often be close enough to equal to be considered equal from a practical standpoint without actually being equally when viewed with a higher degree of precision. Thus for the present invention, it may often be required that two parameters be equal within a “threshold of equality”. This essentially means that there is a tolerance on judging the equality of parameter values and that this tolerance may vary depending on the needs of a particular implementation.
The method for the
For multiple service provider scenarios such as those of
Tracking and Warning of Probable Texting while Driving
A functionality for tracking texting while driving according to the present invention provides a useful interim solution where drivers exhibiting a high probability of texting while driving are warned of this condition. This embodiment for tracking and warning serves both as a deterrent and also prepares cell phone users for a possible ban where texting is actually disabled according to other embodiments of the present invention. As with the apparatus and methods described herein for disabling texting, the embodiment for tracking and warning may be implemented without requiring changes to currently deployed user phones, existing cellular hardware infrastructure, or existing vehicles.
The presence of a conventional Speech-to-Text and Text-to-Speech function on a cell phone doesn't necessarily prevent the user from viewing texts on the phone's display or from creating a text manually. A solution that seeks to disable conventional texting for drivers must take this into account. To be comprehensive, for phones identified to belong to a current driver of a vehicle, a solution must require that all interaction between a user and their phone is performed via bi-directional voice communication, and that a user is never allowed to enter a text manually or view a text optically while driving. According to the invention, a phone user who wishes to use speech-text capability while driving would typically indicate this preference in advance. They could also indicate this desire once determined to be driving, preferably by a single button operation such as for instance a speed dial. As part of inventions described herein, a service provider may determine that a particular phone is likely to be in use by a driver of a vehicle. This can be performed by methods described herein for envelope determination and tracking, and can also be performed by other methods known in the art. That a particular phone is used by a driver and not a passenger in a moving vehicle can be accomplished by the voluntary registration method described herein, or by other methods known in the art. Once a particular phone has been determined to be in use by a driver of a vehicle, conventional texting for that phone is disabled by the service provider, and if desired by the individual and allowed by local laws, a speech-text capability may be activated and utilized.
If it is paramount to ensure that users can never circumvent speech-text capability while driving, the best solution is to have all speech-text functions performed at the service provider, requiring users to communicate solely by voice when dealing with text capability while driving. A representative and non-limiting infrastructure at a service provider 1202 for performing such functions is shown in
Other embodiments described herein include functions for voice command interpretation and process control of speech-text capability that are resident on a user's phone. In some embodiments the actual speech-text conversion may be performed on the user's phone while in other embodiments this conversion may be performed at the service provider. When the conversion is performed on the user's phone, text will be transferred back and forth between the service provider and the user's phone. When the conversion is performed at the service provider, text message information will be transferred back and forth in the form of a text-voice message. A “text-voice message” is a voice message that contains information originating from, or intended for, a conventional text message. Text-voice messages may be transferred by a conventional phone call, or alternative communication formats between a user's phone and a service provider including a voice Instant Massage (voice IM). A text-voice message may also include header information including source, destination, or other pertinent information. For the various embodiments described herein, a user may optionally choose to have incoming texts queued so that they can be listened to in sequence, thereby eliminating the need to scroll through a list on their phone whereby they would take their eyes off the road. If software or firmware is present on a user's phone to control and/or convert as part of a speech-text capability and that software is modified or hacked, it may be possible for a user to circumvent the speech-text functionality and either enter or view texts in a conventional manner. As such, and according to the present invention, when software or firmware functionality exists on a user's phone to allow speech-text capability while driving, a validation function is also included to ensure that the software or firmware has not been modified, hacked, or circumvented in any way.
When any of voice command interpretation, process control for speech-text capability, and the actual speech-text conversion, are resident on a user's phone, the software applications that perform these functions should be initially certified and then validated from time to time as described herein. When such an application is added to a smart phone, other communication can be performed between the user's phone and the service provider including sending codes to either enable or disable speech-text related functions.
An alternative embodiment is shown in
With respect to
All moving GPS-enabled devices (cellular-connected devices) are tracked in manners previously described herein. Those devices in the same envelope are assumed to be in the same vehicle. For passengers in a vehicle to be allowed to text, a master phone must be registered for that vehicle, regardless of how the master phone communicates texts:
A registered master phone may be allowed to send/receive texts through a strict voice-only protocol, if allowed by the municipality and/or cellular provider. A registered master phone cannot text via a WiFi hotspot in the vehicle. As described earlier herein, once a phone in a vehicle is registered as a master phone, passengers in the vehicle are allowed to send and receive texts.
An app on smartphones (and non-phone devices such as Tablets and PCs) may be utilized to facilitate the process:
Embodiments described previously herein for blocking texting in moving vehicles as well as tracking and warning of unsafe texting in moving vehicles relate to at least, and without limitation, the scenarios shown in
The scenario of
When tethered to telematics system 1904, phone 1906 may connect to cellular provider 1908 via connection 2006, or alternately may rely in some way on telematics system 1904 in communicating with cellular provider 1908 via connection 2008.
The scenario of
The scenario of
In keeping with the scenarios of
Further, if a cell phone determined to be in the envelope has been registered by its user as a master phone and is determined to be travelling in excess of a specified threshold velocity, the process prevents texting for that master phone wherein texts are communicated by any of the following:
Note that the process may optionally allow texting communicated solely by voice for the registered master phone.
Texting for passengers whose mobile communication devices are determined to be in the envelope is allowed as long as the master phone remains registered. Texting for all mobile communication devices determined to be in the envelope is prevented when it is determined that there is no registered master phone within the envelope, and the velocity of the envelope exceeds the specified threshold velocity. A mobile communication device (MCD) is any mobile electronic device capable of sending/receiving texts, either by direct communication with a service provider, or by local connection which may include wired or wireless connection within the vehicle and communication via a cell phone or a telematics system.
As previously described with respect to
Note that it may be useful to have a software app installed on one or more of the mobile communication devices. This may serve a number of useful purposes. First, the software app can track at least a position of the one or more of the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems, and provide that information via at least a first service provider. Velocity and direction of travel can also be tracked locally by such a software app which offloads processing from the service provider's infrastructure and reduces bandwidth required for GPS tracking. Where devices in a vehicle are in communication with more than one service provider, the provided at least a position is time-stamped by the app to enable a position comparison made when both first and second cellular service providers provide connections to the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems located in the vehicle.
A local software app installed on phones can support the tracking process and also encourage millions of users to upgrade to Smartphones. Such an app can also be installed on some telematics systems. Requiring a software app to be installed on smartphones should be a benefit and motivation for cellular service providers to implement the Masterphone System, since they frequently encourage users to upgrade to more capable phones. An additional function includes an optional app to enable safe speech-to-text and text-to-speech for use where hands-free voice is legal. (Such a safe speech/text capability has been described herein with respect to
To reinforce that the Masterphone system is operating, for passengers within the envelope a name or number associated with the master phone can be displayed on a mobile communications device associated with each passenger.
In some scenarios, a driver's phone either individually or working in conjunction with a telematics system supplies a WiFi hotspot within the vehicle. For some telematics systems, the cellular connection to support the Wi-Fi hotspot is provided by the driver's cell phone when the cell phone is tethered to the telematics system by either a wired or wireless connection. For some telematics systems, tethering a driver's phone may automatically cause texting capabilities on the phone to be disabled including Internet connectivity. Voice only communication including texting solely by voice may still be enabled and supported for some telematics systems.
To determine if any mobile communication device within the envelope is texting, packets transmitted by any of the mobile communication devices within the envelope can be optionally analyzed at the service provider or by a 3rd party server by examining one or more of the following parameters:
Every network packet travelling across a TCP/IP network, like the internet, has a built-in time-to-live (TTL) set on it, so that in case there is a problem with that packet reaching its destination this will stop it travelling around the network forever clogging everything up. The packet starts with a TTL number (say 128) set on it when it leaves the sending device (a phone or laptop), and then every time that packet travels through a router of any kind that router decrements the TTL. Also, mobile communication devices on a TCP/IP network, like the internet, all have a unique MAC ID set on their network interfaces. Further, different computer operating systems (eg Android, iOS, Windows, Mac OSX, Linux, etc) set up their TCP/IP stacks with different default values and settings, like the Initial Packet Size, Initial TTL, Window Size. etc. The combination of these values can give a “fingerprint” that can be used to identify what operating system is running on the originating device. Last, many OSs these days do Captive Portal Detection when they first connect to a WiFi network, such as a WiFi hotspot. They do this by trying to connect to a known web server across the internet, and checking to see if they get the response that they're expecting. If the expected response is not received, then it's likely that the WiFi connection the device is on is a “captive portal” and one may need to log in, or pay, to connect to it. As Microsoft OSs (like Windows) check with a Microsoft server by default and other OSs like Android, MacOS, etc. all connect to their parent company's servers to do these checks, it can be used as a good indication of the operating system just after the initial connection is made.
The following scenarios describe exemplary operation of the invention with respect to the inclusion of a telematics system within a vehicle, and for some scenarios the inclusion of Wi-Fi hotspots within a vehicle where the hotspot is provided by a cellular phone.
First, if a GPS-enabled telematics system is seen as moving at a velocity greater than a specified threshold velocity and transferring texts, but there is no licensed driver with a cell phone in the envelope, the invention warns:
Note that a reasonable assumption is that if someone is old enough to send texts, they are old enough to have a cell phone—and the cell phone is probably on (active) while they are in a vehicle even if they are using a tablet to communicate with a hotspot or are using their phone's data connection to send text messages via social networking.
In general, the Track & Warn functionality of
Where texting is detected via a telematics system, the following exists:
While the specific user of a tablet or PC may not be absolutely associated with a cell phone (and hence a DL) under all conditions, the number of non-cell phone devices and the path that texting data follows can be determined by analyzing transmitted packets as described earlier. Further, if the service provider analyzes packets transmitted to/from a hotspot, a unique mobile communications device (tablet, PC, or WiFi-connected phone) can be identified by one or more previously mentioned techniques used either singly or in combination.
Table 1 shows an analysis matrix for tracking with a telematics system included where texting has been detected in the telematics connection (from a Telematics hotspot) & the envelope is moving at a velocity above a specified threshold. For scenario T101, no cell phone is detected within the envelope and therefore a warning is issued via the telematics system since it is most probable that texting is occurring via a telematics-provided hotspot. For scenario T102, a detected phone is texting but not via cellular texts, therefore it must be texting via a Telematics hotspot, and since that phone is determined to have an owner with a drivers license (a DL-phone), that owner is warned. Warnings may be issued by any means previously described with respect to
Table 2 describes texting detected in a Telematics connection (from a Telematics hotspot) while the envelope is determined to be moving, and where packets communicated for texting from all mobile communication devices (MCDs) are analyzed. For scenario 201, no phones in a moving envelope are detected as active from a cellular standpoint, and therefore some MCD must be texting via the Telematics hotspot. Therefore, the owner of the vehicle is warned since the telematics system is associated with the vehicle. For scenario T202, DL-phone #1 is detected as texting via telematics system while no other phones are detected in the moving envelope. Therefore, the owner of the detected phone is warned. For scenario T203, two DL-phones are detected where one is not texting and is therefore assumed to be a driver's phone. Therefore, for scenario T203 no one in the envelope is warned. For scenario T204 all detected phones are texting via the telematics system and therefore all DL-phones are warned. For scenario 205 all but one detected phone is texting, and therefore the detected DL-phone which is not texting is assumed to be the driver and no warning is issued. For scenario T206, one detected DL-phone is texting and one detected non-DL phone is texting, resulting in a warning being issued since the DL phone is assumed to be probably the driver.
Table 3 describes texting detected for a cell phone provided hotspot, in this example Phone #1, and where the envelope is determined to be moving. Note that for all scenarios listed in table 3 phone #1 shows texting detected via phone #1's hotspot. For scenario T301, texting is not detected from any other MCD and therefore the owner of phone #1 is warned. For scenario T302 texting is detected for all other DL-phones in the envelope, and therefore the driver is probably texting. Since the phone used by the driver is not specifically known, owners of all three DL-phones are warned. For scenarios T303, T304, and T305, at least one DL phone that is detected is not texting. This could be the driver, so no warning is issued. For scenario T306, texting is detected via the phone #1 hotspot, and tablet #2 is detected and may correspond to a cell phone owned by a person with no drivers license (NoDL-phone). Since tablet #2 is not texting, it is likely that only one DL phone is texting and is probably the driver. Hence, the owner of phone #1 is warned.
Therefore, to summarize some of the exemplary embodiments for tracking and warning of texting while driving, that process utilizes:
At least positions of cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems in communication with at least a first service provider are tracked, and at least a position of each tracked cell phone and GPS-enabled telematics system is determined utilizing at least a GPS function contained in each of the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems. Velocities and directions of travel may also be tracked. It is then determined if one or more of the tracked cell phones and a GPS-enabled telematics system are in an envelope, and that the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics system are travelling at a velocity in excess of a specified threshold velocity. Then, for all cell phones thus determined according to at least their position information to be within the envelope, a database to is accessed to determine which cell phones in the envelope belong to licensed drivers and which do not.
Communications between the at least a first service provider and the cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics system within the envelope are analyzed determined to determine whether any mobile communication device contained within the envelope is texting. Based on this analysis, a vehicle occupant is warned of probable unsafe texting under the following conditions:
(i) the vehicle occupant is determined to be a licensed driver; and
(ii) the vehicle occupant's mobile communication device is determined to be within the envelope; and
(iii) an activity for the vehicle occupant's mobile communication device falls into one of the following categories:
If any of the cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems determined to be in the envelope are determined to also communicate via a second cellular provider, then it is determined that the cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems are in the envelope by comparing at least time-stamped position information for each of the cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems, where the data compared is obtained via both the first and second cellular service providers.
Note that if no cell phones are detected within the envelope and texting is detected communicated with at least a first service provider from the telematics system within the vehicle, then a database is accessed to determine the registered owner of the vehicle and the registered owner is warned of probable unsafe texting. Note also that it is assumed that any user of a mobile communication device probably has a cell phone, and that if they are in the envelope their cell phone is probably active while their mobile communication device is in use.
If advantageous, a software app may be included on one or more of the mobile communication devices where the software app tracks at least a position of the one or more of the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems, and provides the at least a position via the at least a first service provider. When both a first and second cellular service provider provide connections to the tracked cell phones and GPS-enabled telematics systems located in the envelope, the provided at least a position is time-stamped by the software app to enable accurate position comparisons made between devices tracked by both service providers.
If texting is detected from within the envelope and no active cell phones are detected within that envelope, a warning message is displayed on at least a mobile communication device located within the envelope or alternately sent to the owner of the vehicle containing the telematics system.
Where it is useful to analyze transmitters packets to determine if any mobile communication device within an envelope is texting, packets transmitted by any of the mobile communication devices within the envelope are analyzed by examining one or more of the following parameters:
For another embodiment of the invention where a cell phone hotspot is utilized for texting by one or more MCDs within a vehicle, the process for tracking and warning of texting while driving utilizes:
The process for tracking and warning then operates by tracking at least positions of cell phones in communication with at least a first service provider, and determining at least a position of each tracked cell phone, utilizing at least a GPS function contained in each of the tracked cell phones. Further, the process determines that one or more of the tracked cell phones are in an envelope, and for all cell phones thus determined to be within the envelope, a database is accessed to determine which cell phones in the envelope belong to licensed drivers and which do not.
Then, communications between the at least a first service provider and the cell phones are analyzed to determine whether any mobile communication device contained within the envelope is texting, followed by warning a vehicle occupant of probable unsafe texting under the following conditions:
(i) the vehicle occupant is determined to be a licensed driver; and
(ii) the vehicle occupant's mobile communication device is determined to be within the envelope; and
(iii) an activity for the vehicle occupant's mobile communication device falls into one of the following categories:
If any of the tracked cell phones determined to be in the envelope are determined to communicate via a second cellular provider, then it is further determined that the cell phones are in the envelope by comparing at least time-stamped position information for each of the cell phones. Velocity and direction of travel parameters can also be time-stamped and compared. To determine that a mobile communication device contained within the envelope is texting, the analysis may additionally determine that the mobile communication device is texting via a hotspot of a cell phone within the envelope.
To determine if any mobile communication device within the envelope is texting, including texting via a hotspot of a cell phone within the envelope, packets transmitted by any of the mobile communication devices within the envelope may be analyzed by examining one or more of the following parameters:
Certain embodiments described in applicant's earlier patents on this topic have been focused on GPS locations, where time stamped GPS location parameters are compared to determine the proximity of two or more cell phones with respect to a position envelope. Further for some (but not all) of those embodiments, those GPS location parameters are sometimes sent via cellular carriers to a server where those location comparisons are performed. For those specific embodiments where GPS data is sent to a server via the cellular infrastructure, it may be that for certain municipalities, areas, or districts, a concern may arise with respect to the privacy of the cell phone users. It is therefore useful to instead determine the proximity of two or more cell phones with respect to a position envelope without passing a phone user's location data, personal data, or contact data beyond the immediate vicinity of the position envelope encompassing the vehicle in which they are a driver or passenger.
Accordingly for additional embodiments described herein, the GPS position and/or speed of Texting-Capable Devices (TCDs) are compared via local wireless communication (for example and without limitation WiFi, Bluetooth, etc.) with those of other TCDs in the vicinity. Such local communication may be direct between two TCDs using WiFi or Bluetooth, or alternately may be indirect via a local hotspot. Such a hotspot may be implemented in a TCD, or alternately in an on-board access point or telematics system which itself may or may not operate as a TCD. A TCD may include may include for example and without limitation: cell phones, laptop computers, tablet computers, an onboard telematics system, or any device residing in a moving vehicle capable of sending and receiving textual/visual communications. “Textual/Visual” communications, referred to herein as “texting” may include SMS texts, email, or any textual and/or visual communications sent or received by a TCD via any form of social media communications such as, for example and without limitation: Twitter, Facebook (Meta), WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, TikTok, etc., as well as any online games, where the visual nature of the communications could be a distraction to a driver. In fact, web-browsing in general typically involves entering textual data for URLs and search terms, and visual interpretation of webpages that result—all of which can be distracting to a driver, and thus fall under the definition of “texting” with respect to the invention.
Where communications are filtered to allow only audible information, or where text-to-voice or voice-to-text technology is incorporated, such communication may be allowed as an exception. Of course, conveying information to a driver for route guidance can also sometimes be considered as an exception, since it also has safety benefits that offset distraction dangers.
When comparing GPS data via local communication, if the position and/or speed of one TCD track within an established margin with those parameters for one or more neighboring TCDs, it is assumed that those TCDs are in the same vehicle. Further and via local communication, a TCD can query local TCDs to facilitate a comparison of position and/or speed. To accomplish this validation using a query method, it is not necessary that all TCDs in the vicinity locally divulge their GPS position and/or speed data. For example, a TCD registered as a driver (a DTCD) may query other TCD's in the vicinity. The DTCD may divulge its time-stamped GPS-determined position and/or speed data as part of a query to neighboring TCD's, and each TCD thus queried can perform (using a resident safe-texting app) its own comparison. Any TCD whose GPS data tracks within a preset margin with the DTCD is determined to be within the envelope containing the DTCD, and is therefore validated and allowed to perform textual communication. Note that for an alternate embodiment, a TCD that is not a registered DTCD may query other TCDs in the local vicinity in a like manner to the foregoing.
In addition to comparisons based on GPS-determined data, the determination that a TCD is positioned within an envelope containing a DTCD, may also be facilitated using a method referred to herein as “Known Acquaintance Validation”, wherein a user of a passenger-operated TCD (a PTCD) is a known acquaintance of a TCD user whose TCD is registered as a driver (a DTCD). If so, they are assumed to be in the same vehicle. If one TCD in a vehicle is a registered Driver/Master TCD (a DTCD), then other TCDs in the same envelope/vehicle (PTCDs) are allowed to text.
Further and via local communication, a TCD can query other local TCDs with respect to their “Known Acquaintance” data. Known Acquaintance data incudes any data that provides an indication that two users know each other, and/or are communicating through a common modality that indicates they are probably in the same vehicle. As such, known acquaintance data may include for example and without limitation: contact data and/or communication modality data.
Note that contact data types may include for example and without limitation:
a) cellular contact numbers contained in an internal address book;
b) cellular contact numbers contained in a record of recent calls, either sent or received;
c) cellular contact numbers contained in a record of recent texts, either sent or received.
d) email addresses contained in an internal address book;
e) email addresses contained in a record of recent emails, either sent or received;
f) one or more lists of social media contact numbers or user identifiers stored in, or accessible by, either or both of the first and at least second TCDs;
In addition, communication modalities among TCDs in a local vicinity may include for example and without limitation:
a) a URL from which the TCS is contacted by one or more TCDs in the same envelope/vehicle; or
b) Analysis results related to packets transmitted from TCDs within the envelope with respect to one or more of the following parameters:
Note that a TCS can be any server or computer or processor that is communicated with via a cellular infrastructure servicing an area where a subject vehicle/envelope is positioned, and where that TCS pays a role in deciding whether textual communications are allowed for a TCD positioned within a vehicle/envelope.
To accomplish local communication in order to determine DTCDs and PTCDs in a vehicle envelope, it is not necessary that all TCDs in the vicinity divulge their Known Acquaintance data, even locally. Instead, a first TCD may query others in the vicinity and provide its information, enabling other local TCDs to make their own comparisons regarding any Known Acquaintance parameters. For example, a TCD registered as a driver (a DTCD) may query other TCD's in the vicinity after establishing local communication links. The DTCD may divulge its contact and/or communication modality data as part of a query to neighboring TCD's, and each neighboring TCD thus queried can perform (using a resident safe-texting app) its own comparisons. Any TCD containing the contact and/or communication modality data supplied by the DTCD is determined to be a “Known Acquaintance” and is therefore considered to be a PTCD within the envelope containing the DTCD, and thus validated is allowed to perform textual communication. Such a validated PTCD may then supply a validation code or certificate to the relevant TCS. Likewise, any TCD containing time-stamped GPS data that matches (within a pre-determined threshold margin) that supplied by a DTCD is determined to be most probably located within the same envelope as the DTCD, and is therefore considered to be a PTCD within the envelope containing the DTCD. Thus validated, the PTCD is allowed to perform textual communication. Such validated PTCDs may then supply a validation code or certificate to the relevant TCS. Or, the registered DTCD may provide a list of authorized PTCDs to the TCS.
In yet a different embodiment, PTCDs 1920, 1916, 1912, 1910, and telematics system 1904 may communicate with a TCS 2304 by way of a hotspot emanating from DTCD 1906, where DTCD 1906 communicates with TCS 2304 by way of an Internet connection via cell tower 1908.
In yet a different embodiment of the invention,
For all embodiments of the invention, it is important to block texting by a driver when they are not registered as the driver of a vehicle. To do so, there are numerous methods possible. As mentioned earlier in this specification, for some embodiments the GPS location of a user's phone can be examined by a remote server via a cellular provider servicing the particular user. For some municipalities, this may cause concern due to a user's privacy when the user does not wish to be remotely tracked. Instead for an additional embodiment of the invention, the velocity of a first TCD is performed remotely from the first TCD by monitoring a strength of a signal transmitted from the first TCD as received at one or more cell towers. Such a monitoring of velocity is no different from a policeman's radar sensing of a vehicle velocity, or by a police car pacing a vehicle to determine its speed, and is therefore no more a privacy violation than speed checks performed by police on a daily basis.
Additionally, many cellular phones (TCDs) comprise a software framework internally that tracks both GPS location and speed, and given a mandated requirement that a TCD contain a safe-texting app (if passengers in the same vehicle envelope wish to text), the Safe-Texting app can retrieve the velocity of the TCD at any point in time and transmit the velocity to a Texting Control Server (TCS) such as server 2304 shown in
Since according to the present invention, a determination that multiple TCD's are located within the same vehicle envelope can be determined by either comparing timestamped GPS locations or examining known acquaintance data and or communication modality, it is therefore possible to use more than one of these methods in combination. Therefore the process of determining, using local communication, that a first and at least a second TCD are both located within the same position envelope, may be performed using a combination of:
As with any system, there may be times that a user may attempt to bypass the restrictions afforded by the system to suit their own purposes. In the case of a system to block texting while driving, one possible method that could be used to bypass such a safe-texting system would be to register a child's phone as a driver phone (DTCD), thereby allowing the parent to be considered a PTCD that could be used for texting while driving. To avoid such a scenario, when a user attempts to register a DTCD, an identity of the user associated with the DTCD can be queried in a drivers license database, and if the associated user is not a licensed driver then the registration is disallowed.
Another consideration for safe texting in a moving vehicle relates to vehicles with self-driving capability. Such vehicles will always include some form of telematics system, and the telematics system will typically be aware of whether or not the vehicle is in a self-driving mode at any moment in time. At the time of this filing, many vehicles are available with a part-time self-driving capability, and in the future it is expected that vehicles will be available that are fully autonomous—some of which do not require a driver at any point in time. There is even discussion of some vehicles being sold without a steering wheel at some time in the future. For a fully autonomous vehicle that is always in “self-driving” mode, the vehicle (the telematics system residing vehicle) may be considered a registered driver. For vehicles that may be intermittently, but not always, in a self-driving mode, it may be desirable that for those time periods where the vehicle is in a self-driving mode and in complete control the vehicle, that an individual sitting in the driver seat is allowed to text only for that time period.
The foregoing description of preferred embodiments of the present invention has been provided for the purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the relevant arts. For example, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the embodiments described and claimed herein, while directed to preventing texting while driving, may also be used with minor modification to also prevent voice communication while driving. Such minor modifications would include, for instance, a shortening of the re-enable period.
Also for example, steps preformed in the embodiments of the invention disclosed can be performed in alternate orders, certain steps can be omitted, and additional steps can be added. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its practical application, thereby enabling others skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications that are suited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims and their equivalents.