Method for diagnosing malfunction of an apparatus delivering goods or services against payment

Translation of description of equivalent WO 2004003862 A2

p0001METHOD FOR DIAGNOSIS MALFUNCTION OF EQUIPMENT AGAINST PAYMENT DELIVERING THE GOODS OR SERVICES

p0002The present invention concerns a method for diagnosing the malfunction of a unit providing goods or services against payment. The present invention also relates to an apparatus suitable for the implementation of this process as well as possibly a remote management server adapted for this purpose. The present invention relates in particular payment terminals used for paid parking of motor vehicles. For many years the auto city paid parking. To leave your vehicle in a parking space, the driver must prepay an amount corresponding to the chosen parking time. In the absence of such a payment, the vehicle is an offense and may be ticketed or fined by surveillance agents. To occupy a place of paid parking, the user has to pay parking fees with a payment terminal suitable for this purpose. Such terminals are known by the names of parking meters or parking meters.

p0003The type of meter system consists of a terminal in which the motorist wishing to pay to park (for coins, cards, etc.) for an amount corresponding to the desired parking time. A display mechanism on the terminal then shows an index corresponding to the time of paid parking. This index will then disappear gradually as time passes. The control of such a system is simple since it is enough to agents Surveillance watch the position of the index whether the occupant vehicle location controlled by the terminal in question is in breach or not.

p0004For timestamps, the user receives in exchange for payment of the desired parking time (payment made using coins or debit card suited, etc.) ticket with a different printed information including the authorized parking time limit. The user must place the ticket in evidence behind the windshield of his vehicle. security officers then check the presence in the ticket of the parked cars and checks the time limit mentioned parking. Whatever the type of payment terminals used: parking meters or parking meters, it is important to identify at the earliest possible malfunction of the terminals, malfunctions may disrupt the payment of motorists. Such early diagnosis allows to dispatch a service agent quickly and limit income losses. The manufacturers of these terminals have therefore developed many diagnostic tools operation terminals and systems to back any alarms with a remote management center and / or directly alert maintenance personnel. We can cite for example the control of ticket stock, control of filling the trunk, the pieces blocking any control in the coin, etc. This approach, however, tends to increase the cost of the terminals by multiplying the sensors and associated electronics and also today always prove unable to diagnose some faults not detectable. actions can be cited to fraud or vandalism consisting in plugging holes payment and thus making the device out services.

p0005It is, in fact, difficult to place sensors in all the sensitive areas of an apparatus for detecting metal bodies, non-metallic, solid, liquid, etc.

p0006The present invention proposes to remedy these drawbacks by proposing a simple, requiring no additional equipment and to diagnose the malfunction of a payment terminal. The method for diagnosing the malfunction of a unit providing goods or services against payment, automatic terminal type according to the invention is characterized in that it consists of calculating the least-data representative of the unit operation , to compare the calculated value to a predetermined reference value and to deduce the occurrence of a malfunction in case of deviation between said predetermined values.

p0007According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the data representing the device operation is data representative of the frequency of the payments on the device.

p0008According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the data representative of the device is in operation the elapsed time since the last payment dated operated on the device. According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the data representative of the device is in operation the elapsed time since the last payment dated operated on the device and for each payment method accepted by the apparatus. According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the reference value is representative of the average of the values ​​taken by the data representative of the operation of the apparatus. According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention method, the reference value depends on at least one parameter such as the time or the apparatus concerned.

p0009According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the predetermined distance depends on at least one parameter such as the time or the apparatus concerned.

p0010According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the operations for calculating data representative of the operation of the apparatus and of comparison between the calculated value and a predetermined reference value are carried directly by the camera.

p0011According to another characteristic of the method of the present invention, operations for calculating data representative of the operation of the apparatus and of comparison between the calculated value and a predetermined reference value are carried out wholly or partly by a server able to communicate with the device.

p0012According to another characteristic of the object of the present invention, the device is a payment terminal parking spaces, such as a parking meter or a parking meter. Be better understood the objects, features and advantages of the present invention, from the description given hereinafter of one embodiment of the invention, given by way of nonlimiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein :

p0013Figure 1 is a schematic view of a park ticket machines and the management server implementing the method according to the invention; Figure 2 shows the main steps of the process according to the invention. Figure 3 describes the pace of developments during the day the average time between the issuance, for a given time stamp of two consecutive parking tickets. In Figure 1, where only have been represented the elements necessary for understanding the invention, there is shown an automatic payment terminal delivering goods or services. This terminal is, in this case, a time stamp 1. This timestamp 1 belongs to timestamps Park 10. The park is managed by an operator such as a private organization or a municipality. One fleet may include dozens to thousands of parking meters depending on the size of the city or agglomeration concerned. Obviously, the use of RTC type of payment terminals is not limiting of the present invention. The invention also applies to parking meters and more generally to any automatic payment terminal delivering goods or services, such as a public phone or a vending machine. These stamps are distributed regularly, perhaps every fifty meters along the sidewalks of streets with regulated pay parking.

p0014The clock 1 like other park ticket machines 10 typically includes a number of specific elements inherent in a parking meter. We find bodies including visualization and data entry, as a screen, a keyboard, as well as payment means including a card reader and / or a coin collection device, etc. Note that the time stamp can also be equipped with means for paying a parking fee from a mobile phone. All of these hardware components is controlled by a microprocessor provided with appropriate software that oversees the operation of each element.

p0015Among the timestamp 1 facilities are also communication means for accessing a remote server 5. In order to facilitate the management and maintenance of payment terminals by the operator (municipalities), terminals are provided with communication means adapted to communicate with a remote central computer 5 and to transfer any data. This central computer 5 for operating the supervision of parking terminals Park, also known as PMS server (Anglo-Saxon acronym for Parking Management System) periodically receives from each terminal activity reports containing data describing the operation of the appliance or alarms when events requiring the intervention of a maintenance worker occur (chest full of money, lack of paper to edit tickets, but also failures or vandalism). Furthermore, the PMS 5 server can make the download in the terminals, file parameters, rate tables, or updates of programs by operating microprocessors payment terminals, updates improving the programs already in place or even introducing new services to users.

p0016The telephone network 2 used by the ticket machine 1 to access the management server 5 is for example the analog dial type telephone network PSTN (Public Switching Telephone Network) or numeric ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network). The network 2 may also be constituted by a mobile radio network and this, whatever its nature: GSM, CDMA, TDMA, AMPS, D-AMPS, or via the Internet or more generally any communication network capable of transmitting data (X25, Ethernet, ..) as well as any combination of such networks.

p0017The PMS 5 allows to operate the supervision of park ticket machines 10. Its function is to exchange with these parking meters information about their operation and in particular as will be detailed below for transactions conducted by users. Timestamps and the PMS 5 are fitted with appropriate means of supervision and reception / transmission of information, these means which are in themselves known are not described in detail.

p0018Among other functions, the PMS 5 transfers to the timestamps, files necessary for their operation, such as tables of prices, configuration settings, opposition lists or supervisory means of payment used (white, black lists or gray) or programs by operating microprocessors timestamps.

p0019Timestamps transmit their side, information on their use, namely a daily report with data on transactions, the traffic report an alarm that can signal the PMS 5 the occurrence of incidents or violations their integrity, such as a fault on the card reader, etc., so as to provide for the intervention of a monitoring agent. In a particular embodiment of the invention, time stamp 1 cooperating with software means for detecting the occurrence of malfunctions and therefore able to make self diagnosis. These software means are implemented in full in the microprocessor of the stamp 1. This embodiment is not limiting of the invention. Thus, in another embodiment, the software means are distributed in the microprocessor of the parking meter and the remote server 5. Thus, in another embodiment, the software means are entirely in the remote server which in particular to take into account information from other timestamps. The method underlying the invention is based on the statistical analysis of at least a given characteristic of the apparatus operation including the payment frequency. More specifically, the object of the present invention to detect abnormal operation by comparing the actual behavior of the parking meter 1 with a predetermined nominal behavior. In fact, the exploitation of certain payment information such as the time elapsed since the last payment (as well as the number of valid tickets, the occupancy rate, etc.) to diagnose malfunctions.

p0020Suppose the payment terminal 1 is switched off. This may be the case, for example, following a paint-coated screen. Or the fact that the (or) slot (s) of payment for coins or cards, is (are) bite (s). Or, because the terminal was torn. Such failures are today hardly diagnosable by specific means of control except for costly dedicated sensors. The decommissioning of the time stamp, users away from this post and therefore stops the payments. The number of valid tickets (or occupancy) will therefore decrease (if the failure occurs in the day) or will not take off (if the failure occurred before the paid parking range). Observation of (not) payments will lead to identifying a problem and therefore generate one or more alarms. The Operator of the parking lot then triggers the movement of a maintenance worker to identify and fix the problem.

p0021It should be noted that the consolidation of payments (number of valid tickets or occupancy rate) for all payment terminals of the same street or the same sector can further refine the diagnosis. Indeed, the unavailability of a terminal logically leads to postponement at least part of the activity on other nearby terminals there. The neighboring terminals and saw their occupancy rates grow beyond normal. Thus, the concomitant occurrence of a fall in payments over a terminal and an increase in payments on (or) terminal (s) close (s) translated indisputably the dysfunction of this terminal. Conversely, if the fall in occupancy not affect a terminal but all terminals of the same street, it is possible to consider other assumptions that the failure of these terminals, including the closure of the street to traffic after work, etc. It is then possible to carry out investigations, for example, service roads before moving the service agent. According to the invention, the clock 1 of the microprocessor is equipped with a transaction monitoring program made by users during the day.

p0022This transaction monitoring program focuses on calculating at least one significant magnitude of the progress of transactions. This quantity is for example the time T that has elapsed since the issuance of the last ticket. According to one embodiment of the invention, this variable is calculated for each payment. Indeed, a payment can be vandalized and not another. In case the ticket machine has a card reader and a coin, two magnitudes are calculated: time Tm pay with coins and the time Te for card payments. One could also distinguish the payment by magnetic card the smart card or the credit card type of credit Visa / Mastercard from that Moneo kind of electronic wallet, and insofar as each type of payment but implemented specific means liable to failure. In the following description and to simplify, we will focus not only a time T corresponding to a given means of payment.

p0023This time T is calculated periodically by the microprocessor as the difference between the present moment and the time that occurred the latest transaction for the payment means in question. This time T is compared to a threshold value Tmax stored and if exceeded, an alarm is triggered.

p0024According to Figure 2, the program implemented by the microcontroller of the terminal 1 is thus to calculate the Tact-i number of valid tickets at a time ti given and regularly throughout the duration of paid parking, for example, 9h to 19h.

p0025Tact the i-number is calculated from the information stored on each of the individual transactions conducted at terminal 1 to the payment method considered. Each payment n gives rise to the recording in a suitable memory area of ​​its occurrence time Tp-n non-figurative.

p0026Tact-i is then calculated as the difference between the value of time ti present value provided by the microprocessor internal clock during iteration i, and Tp-n where n is the last payment date. Tréel- i therefore measures the time between the last payment date for the fashion payment and considered the moment. The frequency calculating Tact-i will be adapted to the capabilities of the microprocessor. One can for example trigger this calculation Tact-i every minute. The value of Tp-n is she, updated with each payment. The program then compares this Tact i-number to a predetermined threshold value Tmax-i.

p0027If Tact-i is less than Tmax i then no malfunction is diagnosed, if the contrary Tact-i is greater than Tmax-i, then we consider the occurrence of an error and an alarm is triggered in the form of an appropriate signal to the server 5. the driver then 5 server sending a maintenance worker intervene on terminal 1.

p0028In an alternative embodiment, the terminal 1 may directly send an alarm message to a service agent equipped with appropriate communication means and able to respond to the scene quickly.

p0029Regarding the initial moment, i = 0, can be defined as being worth tp-0 9:00 insofar 9:00 marks the start of DO parking fee. In a particular embodiment of the invention, Tmax-i is obtained experimentally and mapping in microprocessor memory of the terminal 1. These data are stored after downloading from the server 5 or even during a maintenance operation on the site. According to another embodiment of the invention, the Tmax-i value is derived from that of Tnom-i is the average value observed at time t between two consecutive payments for the payment and considered timestamp. Tmax was equal to Tnom-i-i multiplied by an appropriate coefficient Coeff i-can by example depend on the type of distribution (Poisson, normal distribution) observed during measurement of Tnom-i values ​​(χ2 test). Thus, it may take a constant coefficient Coeff i-ajus side to allow to take into account 95% of the observed values ​​and avoid multiple false alarms compared to a threshold set too low. One can also change the coefficient Coeff-i during the day from experimental analyzes. Evolution curves of Tnom and Tmax of the day have been represented in Figure 3 by way of nonlimiting examples. Tnom these curves and Tmax can be determined more or less accurately by considering a larger or smaller number of factors. Thus, the curves can be identical for all timestamps. The curves can also be specific and adapted to each stamp. It may indeed be differences in attendance between the time stamps because of their location, parking is different in a residential area and area offices or in commercial area.

p0030Similarly, the curves can be considered constant regardless of the day of the week. They can also be adapted to each day of the week, see every day of the year to account for seasonal variations and in particular holiday periods.

p0031Similarly Tnom may be made constant regardless of the time of day or even depend on the time of day as shown in Figure 3. The Tnom curve shown in Figure 3 is a curve called with two humps: the time between two successive sales of tickets for a payment increases given the morning to reach a maximum value and then down to the start of the afternoon, then this number grows in the afternoon then back down to the end time of paid parking. This curve highlights the peak times: early in the day, mid and late in the day (tickets taken late in the day may be long after 9am the next day the amount paid the previous day). The Tnom curves Tmax are obtained by statistical analysis of raw data observed directly on the parking meter 1 or even all or part of the park ticket machines. These curves can be developed directly by the ticket machine or even by the PMS server 5. According to a particular embodiment of the invention, the implementation of the process is operated either by the only ticket machine 1 but from the server 5 through appropriate information sent by the ticket machine 1. the electronic circuit of the parking terminal, in this case the time stamp 1, so cooperates with software resources dedicated to the implementation of tele-gathering information to the management server PMS 5.

p0032The program implemented by the microcontroller is eg to transmit to the server 5, the status of payments made under each of the modes of payment terminal. The server 5 then deduced the time elapsed since the last payment for each payment and when that time is abnormal, and possibly after examination of the behavior of neighboring timestamps, triggers an alarm to schedule a maintenance operation.

p0033The manager's decision to intervene or not to the terminal that issued the alarm monitoring can also depend on the consolidation of different data reported by the timestamps of the same area. Of course, the illustrated embodiments are not limiting of the present invention.

p0034Thus, the invention is not limited to the terminals connected to a remote management server, but it also relates to the terminals capable of simply sending an alarm signal to a service center.

p0035Obviously, the present invention is not limited to the detection of abnormal operation of a terminal payment only from the analysis of the time T that has elapsed since the issuance of the last ticket. The present invention covers the detection of abnormal operation from the analysis of one or more characteristic data of the operation of the payment terminal.