Vehicle Driver Identification via Portable Device MAC Address
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current on-board diagnostic systems in vehicles do not effectively associate diagnostic data with the specific driver using the vehicle, requiring drivers to carry special equipment or perform additional registration actions in fleet management systems.
Innovation Solution
A wireless device, such as a Bluetooth-enabled portable device, is used to uniquely identify drivers by registering its MAC address with a fleet management system, allowing the vehicle telematics unit to detect and transmit the MAC address, thereby passively associating the driver with the vehicle without the need for additional actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If drivers carry special equipment and perform additional registration actions to associate diagnostic data with their identity, then driver identification accuracy is improved, but device complexity and operational complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by using the driver's existing portable device (smartphone, tablet) for driver identification instead of requiring specialized equipment. The portable device's MAC address serves as the unique identifier, eliminating the need for separate driver identification devices while maintaining identification accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the identification function from specialized equipment and relocates it to the driver's existing portable device. By using the MAC address already present in the portable device's network settings, the system removes the need for additional special equipment and registration actions.
2Measurement precision
If drivers carry special equipment and perform additional registration actions to associate diagnostic data with their identity, then driver identification accuracy is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting the portable device's MAC address and associating it with the driver without requiring manual intervention. The telematics unit automatically retrieves the MAC address from the portable device's network settings and transmits it to the fleet management system, eliminating the need for drivers to perform registration actions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies preliminary action by having the portable device already contain the MAC address in its network settings before the identification process begins. The system retrieves and uses this pre-existing information without requiring drivers to provide identification data at the time of vehicle entry or during operation.
3Device complexity
If existing Bluetooth protocols are used for driver identification, then device complexity is reduced, but measurement precision may worsen due to lack of specialized identification mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses copying by taking the MAC address information that already exists in the portable device's network settings and using it as the driver identification identifier. Instead of creating a new specialized identification mechanism, the system copies and utilizes the existing MAC address data, maintaining identification accuracy while simplifying the system architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
A network device associates a fleet vehicle with a driver of it. The network device receives customer input associating a group of media access control (MAC) addresses of portable devices with driver identifiers and stores, in a memory, the MAC addresses associated with the driver identifiers. The network device also receives, from a vehicle telematics unit, a vehicle identifier of a vehicle connected to the vehicle telematics unit and a MAC address of a particular portable device proximate the vehicle. Based on the MAC address of the particular portable device, the network device associates a particular driver identifier and the vehicle identifier. The vehicle telematics unit may determine that driver is no longer driving when it can no longer detect a signal from the particular portable device that was proximate the vehicle.