This Acknowledgement Receipt evidences receipt on the noted date by the USPTO ofthe indicated documents,
`characterized by the applicant, and including page counts, where applicable. It serves as evidence of receipt similar to a
`Post Card, as described in MPEP 503.
`
`New Applications Under 35 U.S.C. 111
`Ifa new application is being filed and the application includes the necessary components for a filing date (see 37 CFR
`1.53(b)-(d) and MPEP 506), a Filing Receipt (37 CFR 1.54) will be issued in due course and the date shown on this
`Acknowledgement Receipt will establish the filing date ofthe application.
`
`National Stage of an International Application under 35 U.S.C. 371
`lfa timely submission to enter the national stage of an international application is compliant with the conditions of 35
`U.S.C. 371 and other applicable requirements a Form PCT/DO/E0/903 indicating acceptance of the application as a
`national stage submission under 35 U.S.C. 371 will be issued in addition to the Filing Receipt, in clue course.
`
`New International Application Filed with the USPTO as a Receiving Office
`lfa new international application is being filed and the international application includes the necessary components for
`an international filing date (see PCT Article 11 and MPEP 1810), a Notification of the International Application Number
`and of the International Filing Date (Form PCT/R0/105) will be issued in due course, subject to prescriptions concerning
`national security, and the date shown on this Acknowledgement Receipt will establish the international filing date of
`the application.
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`Europaisches Patentamt
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`European Patent Office
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`Office européen des brevets
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`(11)
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`EP 1 207 499 A2
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`(12)
`
`EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION
`
`(43) Date of publication:
`22.05.2002 Bulletin 2002/21
`
`(51)
`
`|ntC|.7: G07C 5/00
`
`(21) Application number: 01204375.8
`
`(22) Date of filing: 15.11.2001
`
`(71) Applicant: Kuitenbrouwer, Tibor Benediktus
`Stanislas Sebastiaan
`2623 CR Delft (NL)
`
`(84) Designated Contracting States:
`AT BE CH CY DE DK ES FI FR GB GR IE IT LI LU
`MC NL PT SE TR
`Designated Extension States:
`AL LT LV MK RO SI
`
`Inventor: Kuitenbrouwer, Tibor Benediktus
`Stanislas Sebastiaan
`2623 CR Delft (NL)
`(30) Priority: 16.11.2000 NL 1016618
`
`
`(72)
`
`(54)
`
`System enabling transfer of mileage and other vehicle data as registered, processed and
`stored by the system, to telecommunications and data networks outside the vehicle
`
`System to be used in wheeled vehicles, for reg-
`(57)
`istration, processing and storage of data with respect to
`trips of the vehicle, comprising means for data transfer
`between the system according to the present invention
`and suitable electronic devices in said vehicle or in the
`proximity of said vehicle, characterised by the fact that
`
`the system according to the present invention compris-
`es means to control at least one other electronic device
`in such manner that through said electronic device, trip
`data as registered, processed and stored by the system
`according to the present invention, is transferred to one
`or more telecommunications and/or datanetworks out-
`side the vehicle.
`
`.uuIIuu-.,
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`‘In...0
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`_.n‘''
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`EP1207499A2
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`Printed by Jouve, 75001 PARlS (FR)
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`EP 1 207 499 A2
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`Description
`
`FIELD OFTHE INVENTION
`
`[0001] The present invention generally relates to a
`system to be used in wheeled vehicles, enabling regis-
`tration, processing and transferto at least one telecom-
`munications or datanetwork outside the vehicle, of data
`with respect to a trip of the vehicle, like for instance a
`trip number, date and time at the start of a trip, date and
`time at the end of a trip, the odometer reading at the
`start and at the end of a trip, and an identification of the
`purpose of the trip, for instance private, business or
`commuting.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0002] Traditionally in motorcars and other (motor)ve-
`hicles there's a device present to register the distance
`traveled by the vehicle. Even today the principle of many
`of these "odometers" is based on a mechanical conver-
`sion of wheel or axle rotation into a measure of the dis-
`tance traveled, which measure is displayed through a
`mechanical or electronic counter in the vehicle's dash-
`
`In addition to registration of the total distance
`board.
`traveled by the veh icle since it was manufactured, many
`odometers offer a possibility to register the distance
`traveled by the vehicle during a specific trip, through the
`use of a so-called "daycounter", which can be reset to
`zero prior to every trip. In the above mentioned conver-
`sion of wheel or axle rotations into mileage information,
`the conversion error may be as large as five percent.
`[0003]
`Presently registration of the distance traveled
`by a vehicle is predominantly achieved through the use
`of electro-mechanical sensors, with the aim to facilitate
`processing of the resulting data in electronic form by the
`measurement and control electronics that take an in-
`creasingly important position in modern road vehicles.
`The wheel or axle rotations are in this case represented
`by electrical pulses, where the number of pulses in a
`specific period oftlme is related to the distance traveled
`by the vehicle during that period of time. In this respect
`it is to be noted that the relation between the number of
`pulses per period and the distance traveled by the ve-
`hicle during that same period is dependent on vehicle
`parameters like the wheel diameter.
`the distance
`[0004] An accurate registration of
`traveled by a vehicle is important in many respects.
`Some of the more traditional situations where this reg-
`istration plays a role includeforinstance determining the
`marketvalue of avehiclethat is to be purchased orsold,
`determining when vehicle maintenance is required, de-
`termining the rent when one has rented a vehicle, cal-
`culating the height of the allowance to be paid by an
`employer to an employee when the latter uses his/her
`private vehicle for business purposes, calculating the
`fare for a taxi trip, or registering the fuel consumption of
`a vehicle per unit distance.
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`[0005] Nowadays the economic importance of (car)
`mobility is very high. In addition to this many corporate
`motor pools consist completely of leased vehicles, lead-
`ing to a situation in which leasing companies are the le-
`gal owners of the vehicles and are in most cases also
`responsible for vehicle maintenance. However, current
`information with respect to the leased vehicles is not
`continuously at the disposal of said leasing companies,
`like for instance the odometer reading, that may be im-
`portant to determine for instance whether maintance is
`required, or to determine whether the lease contract
`should be revised because the distance traveled with a
`
`specific vehicle significantly exceeds the contract provi-
`sions. Cars in the higher priced segments are in some
`cases equipped with extensive sensor and control sys-
`tems, for instance offering the possibility to send a tele-
`comunications message to the maintenance service
`with respect to (potential) defects in the vehicle's tech-
`nical systems. Such equipment is however quite expen-
`sive, what makes application economically infeasiblefor
`average corporate motor pools. In addition to this comes
`thefactthat such equipment is in most cases specifically
`tailored to a particular brand or even a particulartype of
`car. This makes flexible application of said equipment
`in vehicles of different brand and/ortype virtually impos-
`sible.
`[0006] The patent document US 5 673 018 describes
`a relatively simple passive transponder device that is to
`be affixed to a vehicle wheel. By means of a sensor the
`wheel rotations are registered and converted into a
`measure of the distance traveled by the vehicle. This
`mileage data is stored in an electronic memory in the
`device. When the transponder comes into the range of
`the electro-magnetic field of a special transmitter/re-
`ceiver which is located for instance at the entrance of a
`garage or a fuel station, the transponder emits a signal,
`for instance consisting of an electronic representation
`of said mileage data, which is then received by said re-
`ceiver. The main disadvantage of this device is the fact
`that the mileage data can only be transferred to systems
`outside the vehicle at specific locations.
`In addition to
`this, the affixing of electronics to moving parts ofthe ve-
`hicle's exterior,
`in this case a wheel, considerably in-
`creases the risk of damage to the device which may re-
`sult in defects.
`[0007]
`Furthermore, devices are known in the art, that
`enable the transfer of vehicle data by means of infrared
`light to receivers outside the vehicle. Also in this case,
`data can only be transferred at specific locations, and
`there is a need for a clear line of sight between the trans-
`mitter inside the vehicle and the receiver outside.
`[0008] Registration of the distance traveled with a ve-
`hicle furthermore plays an important role when a distinc-
`tion has to be made between distance travelled for pri-
`vate purposes and distance travelled for business pur-
`poses. For most companies with a motor pool that main-
`ly consists of leased vehicles this will be the case. In
`some countries people who drive a "company car" that
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`is leased by their employer will be subjected to the pay-
`ment of extra income taxes when the distance travelled
`with the company car for private purposes exceeds a
`specific treshold value. To avoid extra taxation the reg-
`istered user of the leased vehicle is required to keep a
`consistent and accurate mileage record.
`It
`is also re-
`quired that there exits an unambiguous relationship be-
`tween mileage registered as being for business purpos-
`es and a specific business activity. To be able to prove
`such relationship an accurate activity record has to be
`kept. Manually keeping such mileage and activity
`records, for instance by reading the vehicle's odometer
`atthe start and end of every trip, calculating the distance
`travelled during said trip and writing it down together
`with the corresponding business activity, may easily
`lead to errors, omissions and unnecessary costs.
`[0009]
`In the past, numerous systems have been de-
`velopped to remedy the problems mentioned above by
`automating said mileage registration as well as said ac-
`tivity registration. In the patent document US 5 541 858
`a device is disclosed consisting of a portable unit com-
`prising at least a micro-processor, RAM-memory, a dis-
`play and a keyboard, that can be placed in a docking-
`station in the vehicle. The device makes use of the elec-
`
`tronic odometer signal that is standard available in most
`recent model road vehicles. In addition to this, the de-
`vice offers the possibility to a user to register activities
`by assigning a numerical code to each of the activities.
`The record of an activity, for instance avisit to a specific
`client, may then be logically connected to a vehicle trip
`record by entering the corresponding numerical code,
`afterwhich the data is stored in the portable unit. On the
`portable unit there's an electrical connector present,
`through which the registered data can be transferred at
`a later stage to for instance a personal computer for fur-
`ther processing.
`[0010] The patent document US 6 064 929 discloses
`a device wherein the above mentioned portable unit is
`a portable personal computer (notebook computer, lap-
`top computer), equipped with software for keeping an
`extensive activity record. The odometer signal that is
`available in the vehicle is lead tothecomputer by means
`of a cable and is combined in said computerwith a time
`and activity record.
`[0011]
`A significant drawback of the lattertwo devices
`known in the art, is that said portable unit as well as said
`personal computer are in fact assigned to aspecific user
`and not to a specific vehicle. It is the personal respon-
`sibility of this userto transport the device from the vehi-
`cle to, for instance, an office location where the stored
`information can be read out of the device and entered
`into, for instance, the company's accounting system.
`The electronic odometer signal however, is dependent
`on vehicle specific parameters like for instance the
`wheel diameter. Consequently, when the above men-
`tioned systems are used in anothervehicle than the ve-
`hicle used for the previous registration, the distance
`measurement needs to be calibrated before the first trip
`
`In most cases such calibration re-
`in this new vehicle.
`quires reading the odometer and entering the resulting
`data into the device at least twice, which may lead to
`errors and omissions. Another drawback of the registra-
`tion of odometer readings with the help of a portable per-
`sonal unit, like a portable computer, is the fact that if a
`vehicle is used by a second person between two trips
`of a first person, and this second person does not use
`the same portable unit, the mileage record will not be
`consistent anymore. The most recent odometer reading
`stored in the portable unit of the first person will in this
`case differ from the current odometer reading in the ve-
`hicle. Preceding a next registration with said first porta-
`ble computer, a user will then have to enter again the
`current odometer reading into the device, with the afore-
`mentioned drawbacks as a potential consequence.
`[0012] The system according to the present invention
`means to remedy the drawbacks of devices known in
`the art in this field. To this effect a system for use in
`wheeled vehicles will be proposed, enabling registra-
`tion, processing and storing data with respect to trips of
`saidvehicle.The system comprises meansforthetrans-
`fer of data between said system and suitable other elec-
`tronic devices in the vehicle and/or in the proximity of
`the vehicle. Said other electronic devices may include
`for instance mobile cellulartelephones en portable com-
`puters (like laptop computers, notebook computers,
`palmtop computers, personal digital assistants) which
`can nowadays be regarded as more or less belonging
`to the standard equipment of professional users of
`wheeled vehicles, and will, as such, be present in said
`vehicles at least during normal business hours.
`[0013] The system according to the present invention
`is characterised by the fact that it comprises means to
`control said electronic devices in the vehicle or in the
`proximity of the vehicle in such a fashion that through
`said electronic devices, data with respect to trips of said
`vehicle, as registered, processed and stored bythe sys-
`tem according to the present invention, can be trans-
`ferred to at least one telecommunications and/or data-
`network outside the vehicle.
`[0014]
`In this way a user has a high degree offreedom
`in selecting a telecommunications and/or datanetwork
`through which the data transfer will take place, for in-
`stance a GSM (Global System for Mobile communica-
`tion)-network, satelite networks, networks similar to the
`Dutch Traxys-network or the future UMTS (Universal
`Mobile Telecommunications System)-network, as well
`as a high degree of freedom in selecting a format ac-
`cording to which the communication will take place, for
`instance in theform of S.M.S. (Short Message Service)-
`messages, email-messages or facsimile-messages. A
`significant advantage of the use of such networks is the
`fact that a vehicle does not have to be at a specific lo-
`cation to be able to transfer the trip data stored in the
`system according to the invention. Electronic devices
`like mobile cellular telephones and portable computers
`are commonly available and relatively low-priced. For
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`EP 1 207 499 A2
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`said transfer of data between the system according to
`the present invention and said electronic devices in or
`in the proximity of the vehicle, the system according to
`the present invention may employ a range of communi-
`cations standards like |rDA (Infrared Data Association)
`forcommunication by way of infrared light and Bluetooth
`for short-distance radio communications. These com-
`munications standards are widely supported by manu-
`facturers of, for instance, mobile cellulartelephones and
`portable computers.
`[0015]
`Systems like said portable computers offer
`flexible possibilities for further on-site processing of trip
`data, for the addition of extra information and for exam-
`plefor making hard-copies of data by means of a printer
`in the vehicle itself.
`[0016] The system according to the present invention
`may itself comprise means for direct transfer of data as
`registered, processed and stored by said system ac-
`cording to the present invention to at least onetelecom-
`munications and/ordatanetworkoutsidethevehicle. For
`this purpose the system according to the present inven-
`tion may for instance comprise built-in transmission/re-
`ception means for the GSM—network. This embodiment
`of the system according to the present invention is par-
`ticularly advantageous in case only very limited interac-
`tion between the system according to the present inven-
`tion and a user of the vehicle is necessary or required.
`This may for instance bethe case when the functionality
`of the system according to the present invention is lim-
`ited to the periodic transfer of trip data to for instance
`the manager of the corporate motor pool or to a main-
`tanance service. Access to said means for transfer of
`data between the system according to the present in-
`vention and said electronic devices in or in the proximity
`of the vehicle may then for instance be restricted to an
`authorised maintenance employee for entering or cor-
`rection of vehicle specific data in the system according
`to the present invention. To perform said entering or cor-
`rection ofsaid vehicle specific datafor instance a remote
`control device using infrared light could be used.
`[0017]
`Trip data as registered, processed and stored
`bythe system according tothe present invention at least
`comprise a trip number, date and time at the start of a
`trip, date and time at the end of atrip, the odometer read-
`ing at the start and at the end of a trip, and an identifi-
`cation of the purpose of the trip. The purpose of the trip
`may be for instance private, business or commuting.
`[0018] Through an electronic device in the vehicle or
`in the proximity ofthe vehicle, which is suitable and com-
`prises means for the transfer of data between the sys-
`tem according to the present invention and said elec-
`tronic device, extra information may be added. Said ex-
`tra information may for instance comprise information
`pertaining to the business activity related to the specific
`vehicle trip, for instance a visit to a specific client. Such
`extra information can be added by means of forinstance
`a portable computer (like a laptop computer, notebook
`computer, palmtop computer, personal digital assistant
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`etc). In this way a consistent combination of mileage
`registration and activity registration can be achieved,
`which may lead to reduced taxation. Furthermore said
`extra information may comprise the vehicle location at
`the start and at the end of the trip, which information
`could be provided by for instance a G.P.S. (Global Po-
`sitioning System)-system in the vehicle. Said vehicle lo-
`cation could also be determined by detecting automati-
`cally, for instance by means of a mobile cellular tele-
`phone, in which cell ofacellular networkformobile com-
`munications the vehicle is located and by using the
`known geographical location of said cell as an approxi-
`mation forthe location of said vehicle. In addition to this
`extra information could be added in the form of an elec-
`tronic representation of speech. For this purpose one
`could make use of a vehicle's built-in microphone/
`speakersystem fora mobile telephone or a microphone/
`headphone set, which are commonly used nowadays.
`In this waythesystem according to the present invention
`offers flexible and relatively simple usage for a wide
`range of applications.
`[0019]
`To provide for a base functionality, the system
`according to the present invention comprises at least the
`following parts:
`
`-
`
`-
`
`a central control and processing unit, for instance a
`microprocessor, equipped with a suitable software
`program to provide for the right functionality.
`an electronic memory for storage of veh icle specific
`data like for instance a vehicle identification code
`
`-
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`-
`
`and data necessary for calibration of the vehicle's
`electronic odometer signal.
`an electronic memory for storage of trip data as reg-
`istered and processed by the system according to
`the present invention.
`electronic means to provide the accurate date and
`time to the system according to the present inven-
`tion.
`- means to detect whether the vehicle's ignition
`switch is being operated.
`- means to registerthe vehicle's electronic odometer
`signal.
`- means to connect a cable for datacommunication
`with electronic devices outside the system accord-
`ing to the invention.
`output means, suitablefor issuing an optical and/or
`acoustical warning to a user of the system accord-
`ing to the invention.
`
`-
`
`All of the abovementioned parts may be real-
`[0020]
`ised by means of commonly available and relatively low-
`priced components.
`[0021]
`Said electronic odometer signal may be easily
`obtained from a standardised connector which is
`present in most recent model road vehicles to connect
`for instance a car radio. By using said electronic odom-
`eter signal instead of signals provided by complex elec-
`tronic control and processing systems that may be
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`present in the vehicle, only relatively simple vehicle pa-
`rameters like for instance the wheel diameter have to
`be taken into account. This has the advantage that the
`system according to the present invention can be built-
`in and calibrated in a relatively simple manner.
`[0022]
`By using said standardised connector, one can
`furthermore detect in a simple way whetherthe vehicle's
`ignition switch is being operated, by detecting significant
`changes in the electric voltage on the supply lead in said
`connector.
`
`Said output means, suitable for issuing an op-
`[0023]
`tical and/or acoustical warning to a user of the system
`according to the invention, preferably issues a warning
`to a user, when the available memory capacity for stor-
`ingtrip data has decreased below a specific tresh old val-
`ue. The latter situation may occur when, due to for in-
`stance a defect in an electronic device in the vehicle or
`in the vehicle's proximity, data transferto a telecommu-
`nications or datanetwork outside the vehicle can not
`take place for a certain period of time. It is evident that
`said memory capacity treshold value needs to be cho-
`sen so as to provide a user of the system according to
`the present invention under normal usage conditions
`with sufficient time to seek technical assistance and
`
`support before trip data is lost.
`[0024]
`It
`is advantageous to realise the system ac-
`cording to the present invention in such a way that the
`system periodically derives data from the aforemen-
`tioned electronic odometer signal, with respect to the
`distance travelled by the vehicle per unit time, and
`stores this data in an electronic memory in the system
`according to the present invention. In the case that said
`data with respect to the distance travelled by the vehicle
`per unit time is stored in the system according to the
`present invention, and the storage capacity of said elec-
`ronic memory is sufficiently large, so that at every point
`‘n time distance data with respect to a fixed period of
`ime preceding said point in time is present in said elec-
`ronic memory, the system according to the present in-
`vention can function as an accident recorder, more or
`ess similar to aflight data recorder, sometimes referred
`o as ''black box",
`in airplanes. For at any point in time
`he system according to the present invention contains
`a record of the distance travelled by the vehicle per unit
`ime, registered over a certain period of time preceding
`said point in time. If said unit time is chosen in the order
`of one second, the registered distance traveled per unit
`ime is a reasonably accurate measure of the vehicle
`speed. For instance when the vehicle has been involved
`"n an accident, such data may provide valuable informa-
`ion with respectto the cause and course ofthe accident,
`ike details concerning the vehicle's acceleration and
`deceleration.
`[0025] The aforementioned electronic memory for
`storage of vehicle specific data in the system according
`o the present invention, may for instance contain data
`necessary for calibration of the vehicle's electronic
`odometer signal. The contents of this memory is of pri-
`
`mary importance for a correct functioning of the system
`according to the present invention, and it may therefore
`be advantageous to secure said memory by means of
`data encryption, so that said vehicle specific data can
`only be entered, read out and altered by an authorised
`person.
`It is furthemwore advantageous when the sys-
`[0026]
`tem according to the present invention comprises input
`means enabling a user to indicate if a trip is to be reg-
`istered as business, private or commuting. Asimple em-
`bodiment of said input means could be a three-position
`switch.
`
`[0027] The system according to the invention may
`comprise means to detect whether the filling opening of
`the vehicle's fuel tank is open or closed. The open or
`closed status of said filling opening may serve as an in-
`dication of the instances when the vehicle is fueled.
`Such registration of fueling sessions could provide a ba-
`sis for keeping a fuel administration. Such fuel adminis-
`tration is often kept in addition to the aforementioned
`mileage and activity records.
`In many cases leasing
`companies offer so-called fuel arrangements with
`leased vehicles. according to such arrangements a
`chipcard may be issued to the user of a leased vehicle
`which can be usedto pay forfuel atfor instance afueling
`station. Said registration of the open or closed status of
`the filling opening of the vehicle's fuel tank may then be
`used to establish an administrative relation between a
`fueling session of a specific vehicle and fuel payments
`with the use of said chipcard.
`[0028] The system according to the present invention
`preferably comprises means for the transfer of data by
`way of infrared light, between the system according to
`the present invention and electronic devices in the ve-
`hicle and/or in the proximity of the vehicle. To achieve
`this, a transmitter/receiver for infrared light can be
`placed at a suitable location in the vehicle's interior.
`Many electronic devices like mobile cellular telephones
`and portable computers (like laptop computers, note-
`book computers, palmtop computers, personal digital
`assistants), which can nowadays be regarded as more
`or less standard equipment of professional users of
`wheeled vehicles, are already equipped with means for
`datacommunication by way of infrared light. A further
`advantage of this could be that the aforementioned ve-
`hicle specific data, stored in the system according to the
`present invention, could simply be entered or corrected
`with a remote control using infrared light by for instance
`a maintenance employee.
`In most cases it would not
`even be necessary for said maintance employee to en-
`ter the vehicle's interior.
`[0029] The aforementioned means of the system ac-
`cording to the present invention for datacommunication
`by way of infrared light could advantageously be organ-
`ised to adhere to the so-called "lrDA" (Infrared Data As-
`sociation) communications standard. Electronic devices
`in the vehicle or in the proximity of the vehicle that are
`to be used in combination with the system according to
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`he present invention, like mobile cellular telephones or
`portable computers, already comprise in many cases
`means for datatransfer and/or remote control by way of
`'nfrared light.
`[0030]
`A rapidly increasing number of systems in the
`ield of information technology and telecommunications
`adheres to the de-facto standard "B|uetooth" for short-
`distance radio communications. Therefore it is advan-
`ageous if the system according to the present invention
`comprises means enabling data transfer between said
`system and electronic devices in or in the proximity of
`he vehicle, according to this de-facto standard, which
`‘s supported by a significant part ofthe information tech-
`nology and communications industry.
`[0031] The data registered by means of the system
`according to the present invention will often serve to ac-
`curately establish for instance the extent of the private
`use of a company vehicle, the distance traveled with a
`rented vehicle etc. The financial consequences of this
`will often be beneficial forthe owner, renting or leasing
`company, but chargeableto the user of the vehicle con-
`cerned. Such system will consequently have to be able
`to resist unwanted tampering or sabotage. With the ex-
`ception of the aforementioned means for communica-
`tion by way of infrared light, which should placed at an
`accesible location in the passenger compartment of the
`vehicle, it could be advantageous if the remaining parts
`of the system according to the present invention are
`placed in the vehicle in away and at a location that such
`remaining parts are mechanically fixed to the vehicle
`and protected against unauthorised access and/ortam—
`peringfrom the passengercompartment, as well as from
`outside the vehicle.
`[0032]
`S.M.S.
`(Short Message Service)-messages
`are data-messages with a relatively simple structure
`that can be exchanged efficiently and at
`low cost
`through for instance GSM (Global System for Mobile
`communication)-networks. Trip data and additional in-
`formation as registered, processed and stored by the
`system according to the present invention may therefore
`be effectively transferred to GSM or other suitable net-
`works outside the vehicle in the form of S.M .S.-messag-
`es.
`
`Furthermore, trip data and additional informa-
`[0033]
`tion as registered, processed and stored by the system
`according to the present invention may be transferred
`to suitable telecommunications and/or datanetworks
`outside the vehicle in the form of electronic mail or fac-
`simile messages.
`[0034] The system according to the present invention
`will be explained in more detail below, according to the
`attached drawings and a description of a preferred em-
`bodiment. It should be noted howeverthat the described
`embodiment has been selected exclusively to illustrate
`application of the system according to the present in-
`vention and should not be regarded as limiting such ap-
`plication whatsoever.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`BRIEF DESCRlPTlON OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`is a schematic diagram of a preferred
`Figure 1
`[0035]
`embodiment of the system according to the present in-
`vention.
`Figure 2 is a graphical representation of a da-
`[0036]
`tastructure for trip data, which can advantageously be
`used with the system according to the present invention.
`[0037]
`Figure 3 is a graphical representation of a pre-
`ferred datastructure of a S.M.S. (Short Message Serv-
`ice)-message.
`[0038]
`Figure 4 is a graphical representation of a pre-
`ferred datastructure for the header of a S.M.S.-mes-
`sage.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of a pre-
`[0039]
`ferred embodiment 100 of the system according to the
`present invention, comprising a central processing unit
`101, preferably a microcontroller with RAM-memory
`(not shown) for storage of the program instructions for
`the microcontroller and intermediate data storage. The
`microcontroller is connected to a databus 102 enabling
`exchange of data with other parts of the system. Awide
`range of standardised systems may be used for such
`databus. Said databus102 connects the microcontroller
`101 to a first electronic memory 105 for storage of vehi-
`cle specific data, being for instance odometercalibration
`data and/or vehicle identification data, connects micro-
`controller 101 to a second electronic memory 108 for
`storage of trip data and additional information, and con-
`nects microcontroller 101 to a so-called "Rea|-time-
`clock" (RTC) 107, being an electronic means which pro-
`vides the current date and time. The electronic memory
`106 is organised in such a fashion that when it is full,
`the oldest trip record stored in said memory will be lost,
`every time a new trip record enters into the memory.
`RTC 107 can be adjusted by microcontro||er101 and is
`equipped with an emergency power supply 108, being
`for instance a (rechargeable) battery, which secures
`provision of the current date and time wh