“Detection Of Mobile Device Location Within Vehicle Using Vehicle Based Data And Mobile Device Based Data” in Patent Application Approval Process (USPTO 20190166474)

2019 JUN 19 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A patent application by the inventors Lundsgaard, Soren K. (Inverness, IL); Ferguson, Dana (Chicago, IL); Snyder, Jared S. (Chicago, IL), filed on January 11, 2019, was made available online on May 30, 2019, according to news reporting originating from Washington, D.C., by NewsRx correspondents.

This patent application is assigned to Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States).

The following quote was obtained by the news editors from the background information supplied by the inventors: “The combined operation of vehicles and mobile devices creates many concerns and challenges. Driving a vehicle while operating a mobile device creates hazardous and unsafe conditions for the driver, for their passengers, and for the public. Even ‘hands-free’ modes where the driver does not physically interact with the mobile device have, in some research, been shown to create distracted driving situations. Although many people are aware of the negatives of using a mobile device while driving, various psychological, societal, and behavioral factors play into continued operation of mobile devices while driving, even in jurisdictions where the operation of hand-held mobile devices while driving has been outlawed.

“Given that individual users require more than mere willpower to discontinue the usage of their mobile devices while driving, technical solutions have been proposed to identify situations in which a mobile device is being operated within a moving vehicle. Mobile devices such as smartphones, personal digital assistants, tablet computers, and the like, may include movement sensors, such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, speedometer, and/or Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, capable of detecting movement. Previously proposed solutions largely have involved processing accelerometer data from the accelerometer onboard the mobile device and/or data from a geolocation service (e.g., GPS). From this data, excessive movement or velocity may indicate the mobile device is being operated in a vehicle, and functionality of the mobile device may be disabled or notifications may be presented to the user warning them to discontinue operation of the mobile device while the vehicle is in motion. As may be expected, these solutions have yet to be widely implemented, because they do not address a side consideration of the permissible use of a mobile device by a non-driver. In other words, these proposed solutions cut off or restrict usage by passengers, who should be free to operate a mobile device within the vehicle without constant reminders or limited functionality.

“Additionally, in some situations, it may be advantageous or beneficial to the vehicular occupants to enable full operation of the mobile device. As discussed above, a passenger may be operating the mobile device, and repeated notifications may be annoying. As another example, a user may be using a mobile device as a navigational aid, and the disabling of functionality may cause more harm than good as the user may become distracted if their route guidance is suspended or terminated.

“Separately, many vehicles include sophisticated sensors and advanced internal computer systems designed to monitor and control vehicle operations and driving functions. Vehicle-based computer systems, such as on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems and telematics devices, may be used in automobiles and other vehicles, and may be capable of collecting various driving data and vehicle sensor data. For example, OBD systems may receive information from the vehicle’s on-board computers and sensors in order to monitor a wide variety of information relating to the vehicle systems, such as engine RPM, emissions control, vehicle speed, throttle position, acceleration and braking rates, use of driver controls, etc. Vehicles may also include Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers and devices installed within or operating at the vehicle configured to collect vehicle location and time data.”

In addition to the background information obtained for this patent application, NewsRx journalists also obtained the inventors’ summary information for this patent application: “The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the disclosure. The summary is not an extensive overview of the disclosure. It is neither intended to identify key or critical elements of the disclosure nor to delineate the scope of the disclosure. The following summary merely presents some concepts of the disclosure in a simplified form as a prelude to the description below.

“An advantageous solution to the problems presented above, and other issues which will be apparent upon the reading of the present disclosure, may be to determine a location of the smartphone within the interior of the vehicle, and disable device functionality or take other action based on the determined location. To do so, it may be desirable to process data received from the sensors of the mobile device (e.g., the gyroscope of the mobile device, the accelerometer of the mobile device) in combination with data received via the OBD system of the vehicle. The OBD system may provide additional information such as the vehicle speed, acceleration and braking rates, and in some vehicles, information such as input from the steering wheel (e.g., the user is making a left turn or right turn). Additionally, the OBD system may provide accelerometer information from an accelerometer aboard the vehicle other than the accelerometer of the mobile device, if such a vehicle-accelerometer is installed as a default option or as a post-market addition. Comparisons between the two accelerometers may be useful for determining the location of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“For example, the vehicle may encounter an imperfection or discontinuity in the road surface (e.g., a bump, pothole, lane marker, or the like). A front tire of the vehicle may encounter the road-surface discontinuity, and data from the encounter (the jolt felt in the car) may be recorded by the vehicle processor. As an example, a bump in the road may be felt by an accelerometer located at the front wheel (e.g., in the rim) and/or via an accelerometer fixedly located within the vehicle interior. The bump may then be recorded by the accelerometer of a mobile device traveling within the interior of the vehicle. The differences in magnitude along each axis of movement between the bumps may assist in determining the location of the mobile device. In some situations, the vehicle (and the mobile device) may experience the bump again by the rear tire encountering the same road surface imperfection. This additional information may be used to calculate further differences in magnitude along each axis of movement between the vehicle-accelerometer and the device-accelerometer, which also may assist in determining the location of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“Accordingly, aspects of the disclosure relate to determining, by a computing device, the approximate location of a mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet) within an interior of a vehicle. For example, aspects of the present disclosure include a location analysis computing device which includes a processing unit comprising at least one processor and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions may, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to receive first mobile device sensor data collected by mobile device sensors of a mobile device located within a vehicle. The sensor data may include X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data in the first mobile device’s reference frame. The processing unit may translate the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data in the vehicle’s reference frame. Based on the translated data, the processing unit may detect a first occurrence of an event (such as a tire of the vehicle hitting a bump). Detecting the event may include determining that a change in magnitude of the vehicle-frame Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a predetermined threshold. The processing unit may calculate a first event vector comprising a first event magnitude and a first event angle based on the detected event, determine a position of the mobile device within the vehicle based on the calculated first event vector.

“In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, a method disclosed herein includes receiving first mobile device sensor data collected by mobile device sensors of a mobile device located within a vehicle, the first mobile device sensor data including first-axis accelerometer data, second-axis accelerometer data, and third-axis accelerometer data. The method may include translating the first mobile device sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data, resulting in translated data. The method may include detecting, by a computing device, a first occurrence of an event in the translated data, wherein detecting the event comprises determining that a change in magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a predetermined threshold. The computing device may calculate a first event vector comprising a first event magnitude and a first event angle based on the detected event and determine a position of the mobile device within the vehicle based on the calculated first event vector.

“In accordance with further aspects of the present disclosure, a location analysis apparatus may be provided. The location analysis apparatus may include a processing unit comprising at least one processor and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions may, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to receive first vehicle sensor data collected by sensors of a vehicle. The first vehicle sensor data may include first-axis accelerometer data, second-axis accelerometer data, and third-axis accelerometer data. The processing unit may translate the vehicle sensor data into X-axis accelerometer data, Y-axis accelerometer data, and Z-axis accelerometer data, and may detect a first occurrence of an event in the translated data. Detecting the event may include determining a change in magnitude of the Z-axis accelerometer data exceeds a predetermined threshold. The processing unit may receive mobile device sensor data collected by mobile device sensors of a mobile device located within the vehicle, which may include further accelerometer data. The processing unit may calculate a first event vector comprising a first event magnitude and a first event angle based on the detected event and a second event vector comprising a second event magnitude and a second event angle based on the further accelerometer data. Based on the calculated first event vector and second event vector, the processing unit may determine a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“Other features and advantages of the disclosure will be apparent from the additional description provided herein.”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“1. A location analysis computing device comprising: a processing unit comprising at least one processor; and a memory unit storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to: receive vehicle sensor data collected by sensors of a vehicle, the vehicle sensor data comprising accelerometer data; detect a first occurrence of an event in the vehicle sensor data, wherein detecting the first occurrence of the event comprises determining that a first change in a magnitude of the accelerometer data exceeds a first predetermined threshold; receive mobile device sensor data collected by sensors of a mobile device located within the vehicle, the mobile device sensor data comprising further accelerometer data; detect a second occurrence of the event in the mobile device sensor data; calculate, based on the detected first occurrence of the event, a first occurrence vector comprising a first occurrence magnitude and a first occurrence angle; calculate, based on the detected second occurrence of the event, a second occurrence vector comprising a second occurrence magnitude and a second occurrence angle; compare the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector; and determine, based on the comparison, a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“2. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises determining a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, wherein the difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises a difference in the first occurrence magnitude and the first occurrence angle and the second occurrence magnitude and the second occurrence angle, respectively.

“3. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the vehicle includes a first tire and a second tire, wherein the first occurrence of the event comprises the first tire hitting a bump in a road, and wherein the second occurrence of the event comprises the second tire hitting a same bump in the road.

“4. The location analysis computing device of claim 3, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to: determine the second tire hits the same bump, based on a determination that a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector meets a third predetermined threshold.

“5. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to transmit, to a computing device other than the mobile device, an indication of the position of the mobile device.

“6. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores further computer-readable instructions which, when executed by the processing unit, cause the location analysis computing device to: transmit, to the mobile device, a command configured to deactivate a functionality of the mobile device.

“7. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein detecting the second occurrence of the event comprises determining that a second change in a magnitude of the further accelerometer data exceeds a second predetermined threshold.

“8. The location analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein determining, based on the comparison, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle comprises: determining, based on the comparison, an occurrence vector of the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprising a greater magnitude or a larger angle; and determining, based on the determined occurrence vector comprising the greater magnitude or the larger angle, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“9. A method comprising: receiving vehicle sensor data collected by sensors of a vehicle, the vehicle sensor data comprising accelerometer data; detecting a first occurrence of an event in the vehicle sensor data, wherein detecting the first occurrence of the event comprises determining that a first change in a magnitude of the accelerometer data exceeds a first predetermined threshold; receiving mobile device sensor data collected by sensors of a mobile device located within the vehicle, the mobile device sensor data comprising further accelerometer data; detecting a second occurrence of the event in the mobile device sensor data; calculating, based on the detected first occurrence of the event, a first occurrence vector comprising a first occurrence magnitude and a first occurrence angle; calculating, based on the detected second occurrence of the event, a second occurrence vector comprising a second occurrence magnitude and a second occurrence angle; comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector; and determining, based on the comparison, a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“10. The method of claim 9, wherein comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises determining a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, wherein the difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises a difference in the first occurrence magnitude and the first occurrence angle and the second occurrence magnitude and the second occurrence angle, respectively.

“11. The method of claim 9, wherein the vehicle includes a first tire and a second tire, wherein the first occurrence of the event comprises the first tire hitting a bump in a road, and wherein the second occurrence of the event comprises the second tire hitting a same bump in the road.

“12. The method of claim 11, further comprising: determining the second tire hits the same bump, based on a determination that a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector meets a third predetermined threshold.

“13. The method of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting, to a computing device other than the mobile device, an indication of the position of the mobile device.

“14. The method of claim 9, further comprising: transmitting, to the mobile device, a command configured to deactivate a functionality of the mobile device.

“15. The method of claim 9, wherein detecting the second occurrence of the event comprises determining that a second change in a magnitude of the further accelerometer data exceeds a second predetermined threshold.

“16. The method of claim 9, wherein determining, based on the comparison, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle comprises: determining, based on the comparison, an occurrence vector of the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprising a greater magnitude or a larger angle; and determining, based on the determined occurrence vector comprising the greater magnitude or the larger angle, the position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“17. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions, which when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the computing device to: receive vehicle sensor data collected by sensors of a vehicle, the vehicle sensor data comprising accelerometer data; detect a first occurrence of an event in the translated vehicle sensor data, wherein detecting the first occurrence of the event comprises determining that a first change in a magnitude of the accelerometer data exceeds a first predetermined threshold; receive mobile device sensor data collected by sensors of a mobile device located within the vehicle, the mobile device sensor data comprising further accelerometer data; detect a second occurrence of the event in the mobile device sensor data; calculate, based on the detected first occurrence of the event, a first occurrence vector comprising a first occurrence magnitude and a first occurrence angle; calculate, based on the detected second occurrence of the event, a second occurrence vector comprising a second occurrence magnitude and a second occurrence angle; compare the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector; and determine, based on the comparison, a position of the mobile device within the vehicle.

“18. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein comparing the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises determining a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector, wherein the difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector comprises a difference in the first occurrence magnitude and the first occurrence angle and the second occurrence magnitude and the second occurrence angle, respectively.

“19. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, wherein the vehicle includes a first tire and a second tire, wherein the first occurrence of the event comprises the first tire hitting a bump in a road and the second occurrence of the event comprises the second tire hitting a same bump in the road, and wherein a determination that the second tire hits the same bump in the road is based on a determination that a difference between the calculated first occurrence vector and the calculated second occurrence vector meets a third predetermined threshold.

“20. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 17, storing further instructions which, when executed by the processor of the computing device, cause the computing device to: transmit, to the mobile device, a command configured to deactivate a functionality of the mobile device.”

URL and more information on this patent application, see: Lundsgaard, Soren K.; Ferguson, Dana; Snyder, Jared S. Detection Of Mobile Device Location Within Vehicle Using Vehicle Based Data And Mobile Device Based Data. Filed January 11, 2019 and posted May 30, 2019. Patent URL: http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220190166474%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20190166474&RS=DN/20190166474

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