DE102006024297A1 - Ad-hoc ride-sharing mediating system, co-operates technical components such as navigation system, mobile phone, server and community, by communication and also co-operates exchange of information between navigation system and mobile phone - Google Patents

Abstract

The system co-operates technical components such as navigation system, mobile phone, server and community, by manual or automatic communication and also co-operates exchange of information between the navigation system and the mobile phone by a wireless or cable bound connections, where the system forms a new location based service. A driver or a potential passenger transfers information about the start and the end of the travel directly and manually by the mobile phone, where the driver is informed about the possible passenger via short message service (SMS).

Description

introduction

The Invention is a system which is suitable to demand and Provider of carpooling ad-hoc for the purpose of carpooling merge.

Of the The focus is on the mobile and largely automated Use and thus the flexibility the participant of the system.

Already For many years, carpools are based either on private Agreements or are professionally e.g. through the carpool (www.mittahrzentrale.de) taught. Have been mostly before Mediation using the phone via the carpool between Tuned drivers and passengers, so today bring modern forms of communication, like the Internet or information channels, such as SMS or WAP providers and buyers of carpools together.

disadvantage the conventional one Form of mediation is always a certain planning lead both for drivers as well as for Passengers. This causes a loss in terms of flexibility on the journey.

It the object of the invention is a ride with respect the greatest possible flexibility for those involved To convey people. The invention eliminates the planning lead through the use of technological components, through data transmission and application logic as described below.

Technological components:

today to be found in many vehicles: navigation systems. Act here these are devices that after specifying the destination calculate the optimal route and this to the driver Voice output and / or display using electronic maps communicate.

One The essential factor is the location of the vehicle over the American satellite-based System GPS (Global Positioning Signal). With Galileo being currently a comparable European system put into operation.

today Mobile phones can also be located. Here come different technologies, based on the radio cell in which the mobile phone registers in the network is to use. The results are especially in metropolitan areas quite accurate. For Future generations of mobile devices are expected to these increasingly over the much more accurate GPS or Galileo systems are located can.

Services, Value-added services that make use of the location of telephones, To offer position-related services, one calls, Location Based Services' short LBS.

LBS are usually offered as SMS or WAP services and based always on one or more stationary computers (servers), which the determine and process actual information. Not infrequently databases are used here.

These Databases can also about the Internet made available through so-called portals or community applications become.

Communities (Communities of people with common goals) stand out et al by having members register with you personal Provide information and agree to terms and conditions.

Use of the individual components

The provider / provider of a carpooling enters the destination in a navigation system and then calls a menu item in the operating software (or presses a dedicated button on the device) of all relevant data for the route calculation to the connected mobile phone transmits , Optionally, also in the navigation device built-in mobile components can be used.

The mobile (telephone) device transmits this information (via WAP or SMS) to a central community and application server, the following as follows.

The transmitted Phone number of the used mobile phone is based on in the Database stored data associated with a registered person. The relevant data is in the database as an offer of a ride saved.

Subsequently, by a suitable software application Determines whether there is already a demand for a ride for the planned trip.

This is the case when the location of the person traveling along the route, or in egg reasonable distance from a point of the route and this location can be reached in a defined time window. And if the goal of the provider at a reasonable distance from the buyer's goal.

Of the Demander / Carrier of a ride uses one mobile terminal, with the help of software, maps and address information Provides the destination and a time slot in which the trip begin to indicate. This information is also about the Radio network (via SMS or WAP) to the central server.

The number of the mobile device used is assigned to a registered person based on the data stored in the database. The position of the device is automatically determined by the server , and this, along with the desired destination and other data is stored as a demand for a ride.

Subsequently, will determined by a suitable software application, whether for the planned trip already the offer for a ride is available.

This is then the case, if the location of the person traveling the route (or in 'reasonable' distance thereof, see above) and this location in the requested time window can be reached by the provider. And if the goal of the customer within a reasonable distance of the provider's destination

Mediation of offer and demand

If the software application determines the possibility of a ride for the driver and passengers under the conditions mentioned above, the driver will first (via SMS) on the common route (in KM) and informed about the necessary detour in (KM and time). He can accept or reject the request ,

For this Dialogue (Information and Acceptance or Rejection may alternatively also a mediation through a service center are used.

Becomes If the request is accepted, the customer will also be asked about it Offer informed.

Important: on the basis of the participation conditions defined in the community comes after the acceptance of the demand by the driver of the vehicle a contract between both persons applies. this contract regulates inter alia the billing of passenger transport.

Advantages of the invention

• 1. By registering / participating in a community can Profile data of the persons to be kept in the mediation be evaluated. Likewise, by joining an agreement with the provider of the placement service on billing of costs incurred for related Services (trips) or consent to location by mobile operators getting closed.
• 2. The invention guarantees the least effort for the offer or the demand for a ride.
• 3. The system allows the mediation of a variety of carpools.
• 4. For The operation is only a few people, no shops and only few locations of the service necessary
• 5. There is relative safety for drivers and passengers, since the persons over the assigned mobile number are uniquely identifiable.
• 6. Transport is provided by the use of spare capacity in the Vehicles drastically minimized.
• 7. Alone by offer or demand of a ride arise the operator of the service only small costs. That allows a cheap one fee for the Service.

Claims (9)

A system for arranging ad-hoc carpooling using technical components (navigation systems, mobile phones, servers, community), characterized in that they interact through (manual or automatic) communication and exchange of information between devices and applications and thereby a novel Form Location Based Service. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the exchange between navigation system and mobile device via a wireless connection takes place. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the exchange between navigation system and mobile device via a wired connection takes place. System according to claim 1, characterized in that the driver or the potential passenger information about the start and transmit the destination of the journey directly and manually via a mobile terminal. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that the driver is informed via SMS about a possible passenger. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that the driver through a different type of information transmission (including voice) over a potential Rider is informed. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that the driver the central service by SMS about that informed that he accepts the demand of the carpool. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized characterized in that the driver has the central service over a other type of communication (including language) about the Information about carpooling. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized indicated that reasonable distances are not stored on the server but either not at all or at each mediation new be specified.