V2X Electronic Toll Collection via Roadside Unit Token Issuance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional electronic toll collection systems (ETCS) face challenges in accurately charging tolls when dishonest users attempt to disable or deceive the location tracking of their vehicles, especially in environments with unstable GPS and communication signals, and fail to protect vehicle location privacy.
Innovation Solution
A V2X communication-based ETCS that uses a token issuer to generate toll information independently of vehicle location information, separating actual driving routes from location data and transmitting only toll information to the clearing house, ensuring robust toll collection and protecting location privacy through pseudonymization and encryption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional ETCS uses GPS and communication signals to track vehicle location, then toll collection can be automated, but the system becomes vulnerable to dishonest users disabling tracking and unstable signal environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces roadside units (RSUs) as intermediary devices that independently verify vehicle locations and generate location proofs. These RSUs act as trusted mediators between the vehicle and the toll collection system, providing reliable location data even when GPS signals are unstable or disabled. The RSUs create cryptographic proofs of vehicle passage that cannot be forged by dishonest users.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary actions by having vehicles register with RSUs before toll collection and by pre-generating location proofs at multiple roadside locations. The token issuer pre-issues location proof tokens that can be verified later, allowing the system to establish ground truth about vehicle locations before any potential fraud occurs.
2Measurement precision
If the system collects and transmits detailed location information to the clearing house, then accurate toll calculation is possible, but vehicle location privacy is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential toll-relevant information from complete location data. Instead of transmitting full trajectory information, the system extracts and transmits only the minimal location proofs needed for toll calculation - specifically, verification that the vehicle passed through authorized toll zones. This separates privacy-sensitive detailed location data from the minimal information required for billing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system applies different information processing qualities to different data elements. Location data is processed with high precision for toll calculation purposes, but then transformed into low-privacy formats for transmission to the clearing house. The token issuer generates location proofs with appropriate granularity - precise enough for billing, but anonymized for privacy protection.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication-based electronic toll collection system (ETCS) according to an embodiment of the present invention includes at least one roadside unit (RSU), a token issuer checking a de-identified token of a vehicle by communicating with an on-board unit (OBU) of the vehicle via the at least one roadside unit, and a clearing house communicating with the token issuer and charging a toll to a driver/owner of the vehicle. The token issuer generates toll information of the vehicle based on the de-identified token of the vehicle and location information of the at least one roadside unit involved in checking the de-identified token.