Method and system for identification and registration of a moving object entering a pre-determined area, related network and computer program product therefor

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DESCRIPTION

Procedure and system for the identification and registration of a mobile object that enters a predetermined area, related network and computer program product to carry it out

Invention sector

[0001] The present invention relates to techniques for communication between a mobile object, for example a vehicle, and a control center.

Description of Related Art

[0002] The current known systems that allow communication between a mobile object, for example a vehicle, and a control center such as a remote control center mainly focus on the importance of data transfer from the vehicle to the control center.

[0003] These known systems hardly address the problem of the detection and registration in a completely automated way of the entry of the vehicle in a predetermined zone, such as an emergency surveillance zone or a parking zone, or, more generally, any area where surveillance function is needed.

[0004] For example, American patent application 2003 / 0043021A1 describes a system for automatically opening and closing a garage door that requires communication of the vehicle / customer identifier with a garage / server module, but not vice versa.

[0005] Similarly, US-A-5 812 070 describes a shared car rental system where a predetermined area is controlled through a control center for monitoring motor vehicles in a parking area. The control center monitors the vehicles by means of a GPS location system, so they cannot leave the surveillance zone. This system still requires manual identification and registration operations, which are carried out by inserting a specific card into a card reader.

[0006] From document US-B-6 567 501 a system for the transmission of alarms is known providing wired surveillance of a predetermined area.

[0007] Document US-B-5, 857,152 describes a system for the payment of tolls for vehicles, which comprises, in each vehicle, a communication device and an electronic purse coupled to the device, location means for locating devices of communication and a remote communication system for communicating with mobile communication devices to effect toll payment by exchanging cryptographically secure value transfer messages.

[0008] Essentially, in the prior art arrangements considered, at least one of the two entities primarily involved in the communication, ie the vehicle and the control center, is in some way bound to a priori knowledge of some of the characteristics or parameters of the other entity.

[0009] Furthermore, known systems do not allow automatic, bi-directional and complex communication to be established between the vehicle and the control center. Specifically, GPS-based solutions do not allow the control center to reliably understand whether the vehicle has actually entered the predetermined zone. Therefore, it is not possible to reliably register a vehicle approaching a predetermined area, such as urban areas. Also, through these systems, it is not possible to detect a vehicle entering a predetermined area, regardless of the maps pre-loaded on the vehicle. Maps, by definition, are strictly related to variable parameters (eg orographic, road, urban).

Object and summary of the invention

[0010] There is therefore a need to provide an arrangement adapted to overcome the inherent drawbacks of the prior art considered.

In particular, the need is felt for a provision in which, among other things:

- it is possible to identify and register in a totally reliable and automatic way a vehicle entering a pre-determined zone,

- the identification and registration are carried out without the need for either of the two entities involved in the communication to know a priori any characteristics and parameters of the other entity;

ES 2 392 708 T3

- complex two-way communication between the vehicle and the control center can be established automatically, and

- the control center is capable of reliably and safely detecting whether the vehicle has entered the pre-determined zone,

- the identification and registration operations are independent of the maps that are pre-loaded in the vehicle or other instruments that are related to variable parameters, in particular related to the conformation of the territory.

[0012] According to the present invention, said object is achieved by means of a method having the characteristics set forth in the appended claims. The invention also relates to a corresponding system, a related network as well as a related computer program product, which can be loaded into the memory of at least one computer and which includes parts of program code to carry out the steps of the procedure of the invention when the product runs on a computer. As used herein, reference to such computer program product is intended to be equivalent to reference to a computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to coordinate the operation of the method of the invention.

In summary, the basic idea underlying the invention is to automatically identify and register a moving object, that is, a vehicle, which enters a predetermined area by means of a mutual identification operation between the vehicle and the system. access to the area. This identification operation is carried out over a short-range wireless communication link (e.g. Bluetooth wireless link) and functions as an automatic trigger for a complete object movement record operation, which involves the exchange of additional parameters.

[0014] This registration operation is subsequently completed by the mobile object by establishing a long-range wireless communication link (eg GPRS). Therefore, a remote control center can communicate with the mobile object according to the needs established by the different applications (for example, continuous surveillance for security reasons, anti-theft systems, secure car parks, etc.) .

[0015] A deregistration process for interrupting surveillance operations of a moving object leaving the predetermined area is also described.

Brief description of the attached drawings

The invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

- figure 1 is a schematic representation of a typical context of use of the arrangement described here,

- Figure 2 is another schematic representation of the context of use of the arrangement described here, and

- Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a preferred context of use of the arrangement described here, and

Figures 4 and 5 are examples of diagrams of possible operation of the arrangement described here.

Detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention

[0017] As indicated, figure 1 is a schematic representation of a context of use of the proposed procedure and of the identification and registration system of a mobile object that enters a predetermined area.

[0018] Specifically, a monitored area A of circular shape and radius R is considered, for the sake of simplicity. However, it will be evident that the geometric conformation, that is, shape and extent, of the zone A to be monitored does not represent any limitation for the invention and strictly depends on the topography of the specific application context (road network, - urban areas or extra urban, car parks, etc.).

[0019] In figure 1 two points are indicated that correspond to two critical events in the control of a vehicle V moving on a highway HW that crosses zone A:

- a registration point RP, where the entry of vehicle V into the monitored area A is detected: this registration point RP defines the point at which the vehicle V begins to be controlled by a control center cC;

- an unregistration point DP, at which vehicle V leaving the monitored area A is detected: a deregistration point DP defines the point at which the control center CC stops observing vehicle V.

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[0020] Although an arrangement using a single pair of registration / de-registration points will be described in detail in the following description, as shown in Figure 1, any number of registration and / or de-registration points can be associated registration to the guarded area A. Advantageously, these points are arranged at any border crossing in the guarded area that is accessible to V vehicles.

[0021] A new vehicle V entering the monitored area A, as better detailed in figure 2, needs the definition of a specific registration procedure in order to recognize and control each vehicle V that passes into the monitored area A through the RP registration points.

[0022] According to the procedure described herein, a trigger event is used to initiate the recording operation: a trigger event is based on the occurrence of a communication with the vehicle V on a short communication link BT range.

[0023] In a preferred embodiment, said BT short-range communication link is a wireless link according to the Bluetooth wireless standard, preferably according to the Bluetooth 1.1 version standard.

In this way, the data exchange between an on-board system dedicated to communication and control, hereinafter referred to as the vehicle module VM, in the vehicle V, and the control center CC is driven by the own CC control center. In fact, as will be better detailed in the description of figure 2, an access system to zone AM, including access barriers B1 and B2, is available in zone A. The AM, as a whole, can be considered as an extension of the CC control center itself. The AM zone access system detects, through the Bluetooth BT link, the entrance of the vehicle V and, as will be better detailed below, communicates an event to the DC control center, so the identification operation is driven to through the AM zone access system and the CC control center that can be considered as a single infrastructure.

This means that the control center CC identifies and registers the vehicle V as the vehicle V approaches an access point or first barrier B1, located at the registration point RP in zone A (see figure 2 ), and deregisters vehicle V as it approaches a second point or barrier B2, located at the deregistration point DP in monitored zone A.

In this way, the CC control center can reliably assess whether the vehicle V has actually entered the monitored area A.

Obviously, the reference to points B1 and B2 as barriers is only dictated by the fact that these generally have some kind of similarity to entry barriers or gates, which provide access to motorways, for example. It will be appreciated that no provision is generally considered at points Bl and B2 to prevent or restrict vehicle access to the guarded area. In the case where points B1 and B2 are arranged as entry barriers, however, they could not be arranged differently than the access gates configured for automatic toll collection on motorways, exploiting the Bluetooth link available also for security functions. automatic toll collection.

The barriers B1 and B2 are preferably equipped with a Bluetooth module BM in order to establish the short-range communication link BT and communicate with the approaching vehicle V. Preferably, these Bluetooth modules BM have a range of the order of 100 m, in order to allow the vehicle V to approach the access barrier B1 or B2 at a suitable speed.

[0029] The Bluetooth module BM establishes a BT short-range communication link by performing the so-called "interrogation process" according to the Bluetooth standard. This "polling process" allows a Bluetooth unit to find out which Bluetooth units are in range, and what their device and watch addresses are. With a paging procedure, a real connection can be established. Only the address of the Bluetooth device should establish a connection, although knowledge of the clock will speed up the setup procedure. A unit that establishes a connection will perform a page procedure and automatically become the master of the connection.

Once established, this short-range communication link BT will allow mutual identification between the vehicle V and the control center CC through the access system to the AM zone of the monitored zone A, which includes the access barriers B1 and B2 and also a private PRN network.

The data exchange that occurs on the short-range communication link BT also functions as an automatic trigger for a complete vehicle registration operation, which is subsequently completed by vehicle V by establishing a wireless communication link long-range LT with the CC control center by means of a public mobile network MN, eg the mobile network GPRS.

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The proposed procedure is intended to be carried out by any suitably equipped vehicle, and therefore the vehicle V will establish the long-range communication link LT towards the remote control center CC, and not vice versa.

In order to do this, the vehicle V receives on the short-range communication link BT on the first barrier B1 an identifier to establish a connection with a control center.

[0034] As best detailed below, said identifier preferably comprises a control center identifier TCC ID and the TCP address of the control center CC, indicated with the reference TAT.

[0035] In general, a TCP identifier is not associated with the vehicle V until this vehicle V establishes the long-range communication link LT with the control center CC and receives this TCP / IP identifier from the public mobile network MN, which is a GPRS network.

Next, an embodiment of the proposed method will be detailed with reference to the possible application to control vehicle traffic in road tunnels.

[0037] Figure 3 shows a tunnel T included in a guarded area A.

In figure 3 an entrance IT of the tunnel T and an exit OT of the tunnel T are shown, located at distances d (not necessarily identical) from the first barrier Bl and from the second barrier B2 respectively. The distance d has to be sufficient to ensure that the vehicle V is registered and is therefore monitored before entering the tunnel T.

The input IT and the output OT of the tunnel T can be equipped with Bluetooth modules BM, in order to function as intermediate barriers, detect the passage of the vehicle V and to supply the control center CC with information about its position En in this case, however, no more complete registration procedure has to take place, only a notification operation that includes the identification of the vehicle V and the relevant barrier, and the corresponding information is therefore transmitted, for example, by the long-range link LT, to the control center CC which, in this way, is able to know that a certain vehicle V has passed through a certain barrier, by For example, the IT entry point, at a certain point in time.

[0040] It will be easily appreciated that this type of architecture, which comprises entry barriers and exit barriers in a guarded area to carry out the registration and cancellation of the registration of vehicles, and which also comprises intermediate barriers for signaling the passage of the registered vehicle It can be applied to different control services where it is necessary to obtain information about the passage of the vehicle through defined control points.

[0041] The road tunnel surveillance application, on the other hand, specifically requires the introduction of some suitable parameters to prevent or reduce accidents in road tunnels, as better detailed below. In addition to the data communication between the control center CC and the vehicle V, in the embodiment described in this document the possibility is also provided for a driver D of the vehicle V to make a voice call to the control center CC. This option requires that the phone numbers of the CC control center and V vehicles are also exchanged.

[0042] Figure 4 shows a message sequence diagram, which illustrates the exchange of messages between the different entities involved in the proposed procedure. The message sequence diagram in Figure 4 specifies when and how one entity sends a message to the other entity and defines the fields of the messages.

The application protocol between the vehicle V and the control center CC is based on a TCP / IP protocol; This protocol ensures the reliability of communication, mainly due to the presence of acknowledgment messages. Furthermore, the so-called TCP / IP base, that is, the simultaneous presence of TCP port information and IP address, is especially suitable to be part of a vehicle identifier VID for each vehicle V, once the GPRS connection is established. between the vehicle V and the control center CC and a TCP / IP base is assigned to the vehicle module VM by the public mobile network MN. This vehicle identifier VID is stored in a database in the control center CC.

Next, the vehicle registration procedure will be described.

[0045] When the vehicle V enters the monitored zone A, the registration procedure is activated through an automatically configured mutual identification operation between the zone access system AM and the vehicle V, carried out by means of the link short-range BT using the BM Bluetooth module.

In order to establish the long-range connection link LT with the control center CC, the vehicle V has to know, ie receive, the IP address of the control center CC. Each IP address is communicated to the vehicle V, as a TCP address of the TAT control center, through the short-range communication link BT from the zone access system AM, that is, the access barrier, Bl.

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As already mentioned, in general, the control center CC does not know in advance the IP address that is part of the vehicle identifier VID, which is dynamically assigned by the GPRS network that is part of the public network MN. Thus, the vehicle V establishes the long-range connection link LT and obtains an address, assigned by the public network MN, which is inserted into its vehicle identifier VID, which is then communicated to the control center CC.

[0048] In the diagram of figure 4, the reference PRN designates the private network, which is the cable network that links all the infrastructures of the control center CC, that is to say, barriers, computers, central computers: this private network PRN can be carried out in many different known ways and will not be described further.

The reference VN designates a vehicle network which is an on-board vehicle network V for the exchange of messages from / to the control center CC directly to / from the driver D: also in this case this vehicle network VN can be carried out in a number of different known ways and will not be described further.

[0050] Reference GP indicates a configuration of the GPRS connection. This GPRS connection GP configuration includes registering the vehicle module VM in the public mobile network MN, thereby obtaining a TCP / IP address intended to be used as a vehicle identifier VID.

The reference VAF indicates a vehicle zone flag parameter, that is, a status parameter, and performs the function of indicating whether the vehicle V is inside or outside the monitored zone A; the value of the vehicle zone flag parameter VAF is updated on both the V vehicle side and the CC control center side.

[0052] The registration procedure works as follows:

- in a step 110, corresponding to vehicle V traveling outside the monitored area A, the VAF parameter stored in the vehicle module VM is set to 0 and a position parameter in the tunnel TPP is set to OUT by default,

- when the vehicle V approaches the access barrier Bl, and enters the range of short-range communication link BT that allows the interaction between the vehicle V and the barrier B1, a mutual identification operation and the access barrier to Bl at the registration point RP sends an on-board device identification request message M1 to the vehicle module VM. This M1 request message has the following syntax: [Type of message, TCCID, ABID, TAT], where TCCID indicates a control center identifier, ABID indicates an access barrier identifier and TAT, the TCP address of the control center CC , that is, the base of the CC control center, which includes the TCP port number and the IP address;

- The vehicle module VM performs the GP configuration of the GPRS connection in figure 4, on the long-range communication link LT through the public mobile network MN and, in the meantime, sends an identification response message M2 of on-board device to access barrier B1: [Message type, VID, TCCID, ABID, TAT, VAF (0)] where VID indicates the vehicle identifier, including the TCP address obtained from the public mobile network MN, and the vehicle zone flag parameter VAF, adjusted to zero in a step 120, indicates that the vehicle V is an incoming vehicle;

- the on-board device identification response message M2 functions as the trigger used by the access barrier B1 to send a parameter message from the vehicle M3 to the control center CC through the private network PRN. The syntax of the M3 vehicle parameter message is [VID, ABID, VAF (0)];

- after the GPRS connection GP configuration, the vehicle module VM sends a registration request message M4 to the control center CC that includes the useful data to identify and contact the vehicle V, for example in the event of an alarm. Thus, the syntax of the M4 registration request message is [Type of message, VID, license plate number, ..., vehicle telephone number, ...] where information related to the vehicle V such as the vehicle number is provided. license plate and vehicle phone number;

- Upon receipt of the M4 registration request message, the control center CC sends an M5 registration response message to the vehicle module VM on-board the vehicle V. The log response message has the syntax [Type of message, VAF (1), CC phone number, MAP, PGS, access denied flag (Y / N)], which includes a VAF position flag parameter; the PGS parameter, which indicates data such as the air temperature inside / outside the tunnel and the slope of the road, useful for forecasting purposes; an access flag parameter that indicates whether access to tunnel T is allowed or not. The vehicle zone flag parameter VAF, set to '1' in a step 130 before sending the M5 register response message, in this case, when evaluated in the vehicle module VM, in a later step 140, indicates whether the vehicle module VM has to keep or cancel the data relative to the control center CC. A field map is also supplied, including data on the position and availability of the tunnel shelter.

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- Finally, the on-board information messages M6 are exchanged between the vehicle module VM and the driver D, in order to establish parameters such as the driver's language and to notify the driver D of the registration made.

[0053] In case the GPRS connection was terminated on the long-range link LT, the control center CC would lose the information about the vehicle base V. It is not safe to keep the same base in the next attempt to re-establish the GPRS connection. However, a GPRS connection failure is not associated with a complete removal of the registration procedure, because the vehicle zone flag parameter VAF keeps its value equal to 1 and, therefore, the vehicle V can keep in memory from the vehicle module VM the data of the control center CC, for example, its TCP address, while at the same time, the control center CC can also maintain the data of the vehicle. As a consequence, only the GPRS setup procedure, that is, the GP operation and the M4 and M5 messages, on the long-range communication link LT has to be repeated and not the entire identification and registration procedure.

Regarding the message format of the registration procedure, each M1, M2, M3, M4, M5 or M6 message shown in Figure 4 is made up of fields containing records, as indicated in the following tables 1 to Four.

[0055] The first field is called Command length and represents the length in bytes of the message. This information is used to read the message from the input stream.

The second field is called message type and identifies the received message.

The other fields encode the data transmitted between the vehicle V and the control center CC.

Each field can be encoded in a fixed length format or in a variable length format.

[0059] Regarding the definition of type of parameters, all messages are made up of an organized set of parameters.

[0060] These parameters can have the format described below:

- Integer: used to encode numbers and is an unsigned integer value, which can be 1.2 bytes in size. Octets are always encoded with the most significant byte first. A 1-octet integer with the value 5 would be encoded in a single octet with the value 0x05. A 2-octet integer with the decimal value of 41746 would be encoded as 2-octets with the value 0xA312

- String C-Octet: Used for encoded variable length strings. A C-Octet string is a sequence of ASCII characters that is terminated with a NULL octet (0x00). The string Hello would be encoded in 6 octets (5 hello characters and NULL octet) as follows: 0x48656C6C6F00

- String Octet: used to encode fixed-length strings. An octet string is a sequence of octets not necessarily terminated with a NULL octet. These fields, which use octet string encoding, typically represent fields that can be used to encode raw binary data. In all circumstances, the field will be a fixed-length field or an explicit-length field where another field indicates the length of the octet string.

The formats of the parameters are chosen according to the GTP (Global Telematics Protocol) specification.

[0062] The format of the messages exchanged between the vehicle V and the tunnel control center CC will be described below.

[0063] The order of the parameters in a message is fixed.

[0064] Table 1 shows the parameters of the M1 identification request message of the on-board device for each field of the message. The columns indicate, respectively, the field name, the octet size, the field type, and the field description:

Table 1

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification request message</td>

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<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00010001</td>

<td>TCC_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Tunnel control center identifier</td>

<td>AB_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Access barrier identifier</td>

<td>TCP_addrTCC (TAT)</td><td> 6</td><td>Whole</td><td>IP address: 4 octets Port number: 2 octets</td>

[0065] Table 2 shows the parameters of the M2 identification response message of the on-board device:

Table 2

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification response message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00020001</td>

<td>VINE</td><td>Var</td><td>Chain C- Octet</td><td>Vehicle Identifier</td>

<td>TCC_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Tunnel control center identifier</td>

<td>AB_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Access barrier identifier</td>

<td>TCP_addrTCC (TAT)</td><td> 6</td><td>Whole</td><td>IP address: 4 octets Port number: 2 octets</td>

<td>VAF</td><td> 1</td><td>Whole</td><td>0: vehicle outside tunnel safe zone T 1: vehicle inside tunnel safe zone T I: vehicle within the intermediate zone</td>

[0066] It should be noted from Table 2 that an optional range of values ​​I can be assigned to the vehicle zone flag parameter VAF in the case that the detection of passing vehicles at intermediate barriers is also provided. This range of optional values ​​I is used to indicate that you have approached an intermediate barrier and therefore no unregister operation should be performed.

[0067] Table 3 shows the parameters of the M4 registration request message:

Table 3

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification response message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00020001</td>

<td>VINE</td><td>Var</td><td>Chain C- Octet</td><td>Vehicle Identifier</td>

<td>Vehicle phone number</td><td> 16</td><td>Chain Octet</td><td>Vehicle phone number in international coding format (+390116823456) The number is encoded in packed decimal format (two digits for each byte) according to the following scheme:</td>

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<td></td><td></td><td></td><td>0x0 - 0x9: digits 0-9 0xA: * 0xB: # 0xC: + 0xF: padding for unused squares</td>

[0068] Table 4 shows the parameters of the M5 register response message:

Table 4

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification response message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00020001</td>

<td>VAF</td><td> 1</td><td>Whole</td><td>0: vehicle outside tunnel safe zone T 1: vehicle inside tunnel safe zone T I: vehicle within the intermediate zone</td>

<td>Vehicle phone number</td><td> 16</td><td>Chain Octet</td><td>Vehicle phone number in international coding format (+390116823456) The number is encoded in packed decimal format (two digits for each byte) according to the following scheme: 0x0 - 0x9: digits 0-9 0xA: * 0xB: # 0xC: + 0xF: padding for unused squares</td>

<td>Access Denied Flag</td><td> 1</td><td>Whole</td><td>0: denied 1: accepted</td>

<td>MAP</td><td>Var</td><td>Chain C- Octet</td><td>Shelter / track address</td>

<td>PGS</td><td>Var</td><td>Chain C- Octet</td><td>Prediction characteristic data</td>

[0069] The deregistration process is activated when the vehicle V leaves the monitored area A, and approaches the deregistration point DP. Also in this case, the activation of the de-registration procedure is carried out by a Bluetooth module BM in the barrier B2. The vehicle parameters are exchanged between the access barrier B2 and the control center CC by means of the private network PRN, as in the registration procedure, the de-registration is carried out by the infrastructure, including the center of 10 CC control and AM zone surveillance system.

[0070] After the vehicle data has been received from the access barrier B2 (meaning that the vehicle V leaves the guarded area A), the control center CC waits for a deregistration request message from the vehicle before starting the current deregistration procedure. After receiving it, the CC sets the VAF vehicle zone flag parameter to '0' and

ES 2 392 708 T3 triggers the GPRS deregistration process through a deregistration response message. The GPRS disconnection is carried out by vehicle V at the end of the deregistration process.

[0071] A message diagram is shown in Fig. 5, illustrating the vehicle deregistration process messages between vehicle V and control center CC. More concretely:

- the vehicle zone flag VAF in a step 210 is set to 1, indicating an exiting vehicle. The access barrier B2 sends, after activation on the short-range link BT, an on-board device identification M7 request message with the syntax [Message type, CC ID, ABID, TCPaddrCC].

- The vehicle module VM responds with an on-board device identification M8 response message having the syntax [Message type, VID, CC iD, ABID, TCPaddrCC, VAF (0)];

- The on-board device identification M8 response message is also used to trigger the sending of an M9 vehicle parameter message, which has the syntax [VID, ABID, VAF (1)] from the access barrier B2 to the CC control center in the private PRN network. It is verified in the control center CC if the vehicle zone flag VAF in a step 220 is set to 1 of the previous step 210, which would indicate that the vehicle V is leaving the monitored zone A.

- the vehicle module VM initiates the deregistration process by sending an M10 deregistration request message, which has the syntax [Type of message, VAF (0)] to the control center CC. The vehicle zone flag parameter VAF is now set to 0 in a step 230, indicating to the control center CC to cancel the vehicle data;

- The control center CC responds to the vehicle module request with an M11 deregistration response message with the syntax [Message Type]. The vehicle zone flag parameter VAF, set to zero in step 230 above message M11, is evaluated in a step 240 and instructs the vehicle module VM to cancel the data from the CC. Then a GPRS connection termination operation is performed, indicated by reference GP1 in figure 5, and optionally, selected information messages M12 are exchanged between the vehicle module VM and the driver D for the purpose of notifying compliance.

As regards the format of the message of the deregistration process, this substantially corresponds to the format of the messages of the registration process.

Table 5 shows the parameters of the M7 identification request message of the on-board device:

Table 5

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification request message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00010002</td>

<td>TCC_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Tcc identifier</td>

<td>Access Barrier_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Access barrier identifier</td>

<td>TCP_addrTCC (TAT)</td><td> 6</td><td>Whole</td><td>IP address: 4 octets Port number: 2 octets</td>

Table 6 shows the parameters of the M8 identification response message of the on-board device:

Table 6

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the identification request message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00020002</td>

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<td>VINE</td><td>Var</td><td>Chain C- Octet</td><td>Vehicle Identifier</td>

<td>TCC_Id</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Tcc identifier</td>

<td>TCP_addrTCC (TAT)</td><td> 6</td><td>Whole</td><td>IP address: 4 octets Port number: 2 octets</td>

<td>VAF</td><td> 1</td><td>Whole</td><td>0: vehicle outside tunnel safe zone T 1: vehicle inside tunnel safe zone T I: vehicle within the intermediate zone</td>

Also in this case, a range of I values ​​is available for the vehicle zone flag parameter VAF, in order to indicate whether the flag that is approaching is an intermediate barrier and, thus, the deregistration.

[0076] Table 7 shows the parameters of the M10 deregistration request message:

Table 7

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the log request message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00030001</td>

<td>VAF</td><td> 1</td><td>Whole</td><td>0: vehicle outside tunnel safe zone T 1: vehicle inside tunnel safe zone T I: vehicle within the intermediate zone</td>

[0077] Table 8 shows the M11 deregistration response message parameters:

Table 8

<td>Field Name</td><td>Octet size</td><td>Guy</td><td>Description</td>

<td>Length of command</td><td> 2</td><td>Whole</td><td>Defines the total length of the log request message</td>

<td>Type of message</td><td> 4</td><td>Whole</td><td>0x00040002</td>

[0078] From the above description it is therefore evident that the procedure and system for the identification and registration of a mobile object that enters a predetermined area that has just been described takes advantage of the exploitation of standard technologies both for the communication link of short range as well as long range communication link. For the latter, a public mobile telecommunications network can be used. Therefore, the apparatus and structures for carrying out the invention are easy to find on the market and their diffusion ensures few compatibility problems.

[0079] The arrangement described here allows full automation and an approach to communication between a mobile object and a remote control center of a generalized type. Pre-loading and subsequently loading of vehicle identification data to the control center or, vice versa, pre-loading of control center identification data for use by the vehicle are completely avoided. The management of procedures, both on the vehicle and on the control center side, is thus greatly simplified, even if complex two-way communication between the vehicle and the control center is established automatically.

ES 2 392 708 T3

The arrangement described here allows the control center to determine with certainty when a vehicle enters or leaves the predetermined monitored area.

[0081] An additional advantage is given by the use of Bluetooth, or any other short-range communication technology: this is independent of any problem of operation of and / or of GPS accuracy and guarantees the security and confidentiality of the exchanged data. Therefore, the identification and registration operations are independent of maps preloaded in vehicles or other instruments related to variable parameters, especially in relation to the conformation of the territory.

The communication technologies mentioned above can be substituted by other suitable communication links, whether standard or private to operate in association with a procedure for the identification and registration of a mobile object, such as a vehicle, which enters a predetermined area to be watched, said identification operation comprising an interaction between said mobile object and a zone access system associated with said predetermined zone and comprising supplying identification information (VID, TCCID, TAT), said registration operation being carried out in a link of wireless communication (LT) to a control center (CC), This procedure also comprises the steps of identifying said mobile object (V) through a mutual interaction between said mobile object (V, VM) and the area access system (AM), said mutual interaction being carried out in a communication link short range wireless (BT); and performing said registration operation by establishing (GP) a long-range type wireless communication link (LT) between said mobile object (V, VM) and said control center (CC), after the activation of said mutual interaction over the short-range wireless communication link (BT).

[0083] By way of example, for the long-range communication link, a UMTS network can be used instead of the GPRS network. As for the short-range communication link, other protocols such as Wi-Fi 802.11a / b / g, 802.16a, HYPERLAN2, DSRC, ISO / TC 204 CALM, and so on can be used instead of the Bluetooth link. Furthermore, e-tags (electronic tags), also known as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification), can also be used for short-range communication link. In this case, a passive or active electronic tag can be used on board the vehicle, a suitable electronic tag reader being associated with the barrier.

The arrangement described in this document can be advantageously applied to the management of vehicles crossing a road tunnel. However, they can also be implemented in other similar applications, for example, the entry of a vehicle in common areas such as urban parking lots or limited traffic areas, in which the vehicle is given the possibility of moving or stopping, but always a controlled manner, or the entry of a vehicle into private areas such as a patio or garage.

The integration of the proposed system with billing systems of the operator of the control center at the barriers, or with any other toll system is also possible.

Accordingly, without prejudice to the underlying principles of the invention, details and embodiments may vary, also appreciably, with reference to what has been described by way of example only, without departing from the scope of the invention such as is defined by the appended claims.