Technique for identifying at least one mobile terminal user travelling in a vehicle comprising a connected device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9843901-B2
Application number	US-201415512589-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 30, 2014
Priority date	Sep 30, 2014
Publication date	Dec 12, 2017
Grant date	Dec 12, 2017

Abstract

A technique for identifying at least one mobile terminal travelling in a vehicle is disclosed, wherein the vehicle comprises a connected device. In a method aspect, the method comprises initializing a list of identifiers, IDs, of at least one candidate mobile terminal currently travelling in the vehicle, obtaining a current first position of the connected device and a current second position of the at least one candidate mobile terminal, comparing the current first position and the current second position so as to determine whether the current first and second positions match, and iteratively refining the list of IDs depending on the match of the current first and second positions by repeating the steps of obtaining and comparing until a predetermined condition is met.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for identifying at least one mobile terminal travelling in a vehicle comprising a connected device, the method comprising:
initializing a list of identifiers (IDs) of at least one candidate mobile terminal currently travelling in the vehicle;
obtaining a current first position of the connected device and a current second position of the at least one candidate mobile terminal;
comparing the current first position and the current second position so as to determine whether the current first and second positions match; and
iteratively refining the list of IDs depending on the match of the current first and second positions by repeating the obtaining and comparing until a predetermined condition is met, wherein:
the predetermined condition to be met is a predetermined number of iterations during which the list remains unchanged; and
the iteratively refining the list of IDs comprises removing an ID from the list of candidate mobile terminals responsive to the current first position of the connected device not matching the second position of the at least one candidate mobile terminal.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the connected device is or comprises a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card installed in the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the SIM card is attached to at least one of the following items installed in the vehicle:
an emergency call device;
a diagnostics device;
a car theft protection device;
a Wi-Fi hotspot;
a navigation device;
an entertainment system;
a mobile telephone; and/or
a mobile terminal connected to the central computer of the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the IDs are constituted by or derived from International Mobile Subscriber Identities.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the initializing, pre-populating the list of IDs with IDs of regular travelers related to the connected device.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-populating is performed by registering subscribers at a core network node.

7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-populating is performed by obtaining IDs of all mobile terminals in a cell on which the connected device currently camps on.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the IDs of the mobile terminals are obtained from one or more of:
a Mobility Management Entity (MME) providing a list of mobile terminals in a connected state for a given base station;
the mobile terminals or the MME configured to perform cell reporting during handover;
the mobile terminals in the connected state providing at least one of signal strength information and their respective distance from a base station;
an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem providing network-provided location information; and
another core network node.

9. The method of claim 5 , wherein the pre-populating is performed based on at least one of:
information from previously created lists of IDs of the at least one candidate mobile terminal;
previous call logs from a charging system;
information on family and friends from a Customer Relationship Management system; and
historical information based on one of terminal location and movement statistics.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the initializing, triggering commencement of the initializing by a start event of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the triggering is performed by at least one of:
the connected device;
a core network node; and
a user.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the triggering is performed by the connected device based on at least one of:
an event signaling the start of the vehicle;
a movement of the vehicle; and
an event signaling a special condition detected by the connected device.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein:
the event signaling the start of the vehicle is one of start and ignition of the vehicle; and/or
the special condition is a safety-critical condition of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the triggering is performed by the core network node based on booting or activating the connected device while an event signaling the start or movement of the vehicle is received.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the triggering is performed by the user or a core network node, and wherein a Passenger Identification Service (PIS) node performs, based on the triggering, one of booting and activating the connected device while an event signaling the start or movement of the vehicle is received.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein the triggering is performed by the user based on informing the network concerning an imminent intention to travel with or drive the vehicle.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the comparing and iteratively refining are further based on at least one of:
a cell ID of the connected device;
a signal strength indicator of an associated base station related to the cell ID of the connected device;
a timing advance parameter of the associated base station related to the cell ID of the connected device;
Global Positioning System coordinates of the base station and the connected device; and
Media Access Control addresses visible to a local Wi-Fi hotspot.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the removing is further based on at least one of:
a cell ID of the connected device matches with a cell ID of the at least one candidate mobile terminal;
a distance from the connected device to the associated base station matches, within a tolerance, a distance from the at least one candidate mobile terminal to the associated base station;
signal strength variations of the connected device and the at least one candidate mobile terminal both exhibit a similar pattern and match with an expected pattern on the site of the vehicle; and
the MAC address of the candidate mobile terminal having a Wi-Fi status ON is visible in an access point of the connected device.

19. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium storing a computer program product for identifying at least one mobile terminal travelling in a vehicle comprising a connected device, the computer program product comprising software instructions which, when run on processing circuitry of a computing device, causes the computing device to:
initialize a list of identifiers (IDs) of at least one candidate mobile terminal currently travelling in the vehicle;
obtain a current first position of the connected device and a current second position of the at least one candidate mobile terminal;
compare the current first position and the current second position so as to determine whether the current first and second positions match; and
iteratively refine the list of IDs depending on the match of the current first and second positions by repeating the obtaining and comparing until a predetermined condition is met, wherein:
the predetermined condition to be met is a predetermined number of iterations during which the list remains unchanged; and
the iteratively refining the list of IDs comprises removing an ID from the list of candidate mobile terminals responsive to the current first position of the connected device not matching the second position of the at least one candidate mobile terminal.

20. An apparatus for identifying at least one mobile terminal travelling in a vehicle comprising a connected device, the apparatus comprising:
processing circuitry;
memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the apparatus is operative to:
initialize a list o

Assignees

• ERICSSON TELEFON AB L M (publ)

Inventors

• Mihály Attila
• Purger Norbert
• Szalay-Beko Mate

Classifications

• H04W4/046

  Electricity · mapped topic

• H04W8/24

  Transfer of terminal data · CPC title

• H04W4/023 Primary

  using mutual or relative location information between multiple location based services [LBS] targets or of distance thresholds · CPC title

• H04W4/025

  using location based information parameters · CPC title

• H04W4/48

  for in-vehicle communication · CPC title