Patents by Inventor Thomas Siegl

Thomas Siegl has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 11557154
    Abstract: System and method for verification and/or reconciliation of electronic transactions, such as for example, toll transactions or other purchase transactions. A vehicle utilizes an onboard communication device, such as a mobile phone, to locate virtual tolling points using GPS location, and then to communicate to an electronic tolling service provider that the vehicle has passed through the virtual tolling point. In addition, roadside equipment may be used to capture photo/video of the vehicle as it passes the virtual tolling point. The GPS-based toll transaction data is used in conjunction with the photo-based toll transaction data to verify a proper toll transaction, and optionally to reconcile between missing and/or inconsistent GPS-based and photo-based toll transaction data.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 23, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 17, 2023
    Assignee: Kapsch TrafficCom AG
    Inventors: Thomas Siegl, Gerald König
  • Patent number: 10883845
    Abstract: Methods for detecting the passing of a virtual tolling point by a vehicle travelling on a road network are performed by systems and apparatuses. In the methods, a sequence of distances between position fixes and the virtual tolling point are calculated, where the position fixes are sequentially obtained from a GNSS receiver carried by the vehicle. The sequence of distances are searched for a global minimum followed by an increase and, if such is found, then the passing of the virtual tolling point is detected. Otherwise, a new distance calculated between a newly obtained position fix and the virtual tolling point is appended to the sequence while discarding the oldest distance from the sequence. The method is then repeated from the sequence of distances being searched until the passing of the virtual tolling point is detected.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Date of Patent: January 5, 2021
    Assignee: Kapsch TrafficCom AG
    Inventors: Christian Poschinger, Thomas Siegl
  • Patent number: 10445592
    Abstract: Methods for surveilling a tolling system, in which vehicles carry onboard units and travel on a multilane road on which a surveillance station is set up, are described. A picture of each passing vehicle is taken, and the pictures are stored in a database. In each onboard unit, when the vehicle is within a predefined area of the surveillance station, a tolling message is generated and sent via the mobile network to the tolling server. In the database, those pictures whose timestamp matches the timestamp of a tolling message are deleted if the lane information of this tolling message corresponds to the lane identification of this picture.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 20, 2018
    Date of Patent: October 15, 2019
    Assignee: Kapsch TrafficCom AG
    Inventor: Thomas Siegl
  • Publication number: 20190065860
    Abstract: Methods for surveilling a tolling system, in which vehicles carry onboard units and travel on a multilane road on which a surveillance station is set up, are described. A picture of each passing vehicle is taken, and the pictures are stored in a database. In each onboard unit, when the vehicle is within a predefined area of the surveillance station, a tolling message is generated and sent via the mobile network to the tolling server. In the database, those pictures whose timestamp matches the timestamp of a tolling message are deleted if the lane information of this tolling message corresponds to the lane identification of this picture.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 20, 2018
    Publication date: February 28, 2019
    Inventor: Thomas Siegl
  • Publication number: 20180374279
    Abstract: System and method for verification and/or reconciliation of electronic transactions, such as for example, toll transactions or other purchase transactions. A vehicle utilizes an onboard communication device, such as a mobile phone, to locate virtual tolling points using GPS location, and then to communicate to an electronic tolling service provider that the vehicle has passed through the virtual tolling point. In addition, roadside equipment may be used to capture photo/video of the vehicle as it passes the virtual tolling point. The GPS-based toll transaction data is used in conjunction with the photo-based toll transaction data to verify a proper toll transaction, and optionally to reconcile between missing and/or inconsistent GPS-based and photo-based toll transaction data.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 23, 2017
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Thomas Siegl, Gerald König
  • Publication number: 20180094942
    Abstract: Methods for detecting the passing of a virtual tolling point by a vehicle travelling on a road network are performed by systems and apparatuses. In the methods, a sequence of distances between position fixes and the virtual tolling point are calculated, where the position fixes are sequentially obtained from a GNSS receiver carried by the vehicle. The sequence of distances are searched for a global minimum followed by an increase and, if such is found, then the passing of the virtual tolling point is detected. Otherwise, a new distance calculated between a newly obtained position fix and the virtual tolling point is appended to the sequence while discarding the oldest distance from the sequence. The method is then repeated from the sequence of distances being searched until the passing of the virtual tolling point is detected.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 2, 2017
    Publication date: April 5, 2018
    Inventors: Christian Poschinger, Thomas Siegl