Patent Issued for Vehicle To Vehicle Telematics (USPTO 10,449,967)

2019 NOV 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Allstate Insurance Company (Northbrook, Illinois, United States) has been issued patent number 10,449,967, according to news reporting originating out of Alexandria, Virginia, by NewsRx editors.

The patent’s inventor is Ferguson, Dana (Chicago, IL).

This patent was filed on March 1, 2016 and was published online on November 4, 2019.

From the background information supplied by the inventors, news correspondents obtained the following quote: “Various vehicle-based communication systems allow vehicles to communicate with other devices inside or outside of the vehicle. For example, a Bluetooth system may enable communication between the vehicle and the driver’s mobile phone. Telematics systems (e.g., on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems installed within vehicles) may be configured to access vehicle computers and sensor data and transmit the data to a display within the vehicle, a personal computer or mobile device, or to a centralized data processing system. Data obtained from OBD systems has been used for a variety of purposes, including maintenance, diagnosis, and analysis. Additionally, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication systems can be used to provide drivers with safety warnings and collision alerts based on data received from other nearby vehicles and/or to evaluate other drivers on the road.”

Supplementing the background information on this patent, NewsRx reporters also obtained the inventor’s summary information for this patent: “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.

“Aspects of the disclosure may include a driving analysis computing device comprising a processor and at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the driving analysis computing device to receive monitoring vehicle driving data collected from vehicle operation sensors within at least one monitoring vehicle by a telematics device within the at least one monitoring vehicle, receive, from the telematics device of the at least one monitoring vehicle, target vehicle driving data, perform an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data, determine a driving behavior associated with the target vehicle based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data received from the telematics device of the at least one monitoring vehicle, and output the determined driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle.

“In one aspect, the driving analysis computing device may calculate a driver grade for the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle based on the determined driving behavior. The target vehicle driving data may be transmitted from the target vehicle to the at least one monitoring vehicle using vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The target vehicle driving data transmitted from the target vehicle to the at least one monitoring vehicle may include at least one selected from the group consisting of a speed of the target vehicle, a position of the target vehicle, and a direction of travel of the target vehicle. The target vehicle driving data may include a driver score associated with the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle. Determining the driving behavior may include determining a first relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the at least one monitoring vehicle at a first time and determining a relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the at least one monitoring vehicle at a second time after the first time. Determining the driving behavior may further include determining that the target vehicle tailgated the at least one monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times. Alternatively, determining the driving behavior may further include determining that the target vehicle cut off the at least one monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“Aspects of the disclosure may include a computer-implemented method comprising receiving, by a driving analysis computing device, monitoring vehicle driving data corresponding to monitoring vehicle operation data of at least one monitoring vehicle, receiving, via vehicle-to-vehicle communication, target vehicle driving data corresponding to target vehicle operation data of at least one target vehicle, performing, by the driving analysis computing device, an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data, determining, by the driving analysis computing device, a driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data, and outputting, by the driving analysis computing device, the determined driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle.

“In one aspect, the computer-implemented method may further comprise calculating a driver grade for the at least one target vehicle or a driver of the at least one target vehicle based on the determined driving behavior. The computer-implemented method may further comprise retrieving, by the driving analysis computing device, historical driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle, wherein the driver grade for the at least one target vehicle is further calculated based on the historical driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle. The target vehicle driving data received via vehicle-to-vehicle communication may include at least one selected from the group consisting of a speed of the at least one target vehicle, a position of the at least one target vehicle, and a direction of travel of the at least one target vehicle. The target vehicle driving data received via vehicle-to-vehicle communication may include a driver score associated with the at least one target vehicle or a driver of the at least one target vehicle. Determining the driving behavior may include determining a first relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the at least one monitoring vehicle at a first time and determining a relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the at least one monitoring vehicle at a second time after the first time. Determining the driving behavior may further include determining that the target vehicle tailgated the at least one monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times. Alternatively, determining the driving behavior may further include determining that the target vehicle cut off the at least one monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“Aspects of the disclosure may include a driving analysis computing device comprising a processor and at least one memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the driving analysis computing device to receive monitoring vehicle driving data collected from vehicle operation sensors within at least one monitoring vehicle by a telematics device within the at least one monitoring vehicle, receive, from the telematics device of the monitoring vehicle, target vehicle driving data, receive user input from a driver of the at least one monitoring vehicle, the user input including an indication of a driving behavior of a driver of the target vehicle, perform an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data, the target vehicle driving data received from the telematics device of the monitoring vehicle, and the received user input, determine a driving behavior associated with the target vehicle based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data, the target vehicle driving data received from the telematics device of the monitoring vehicle, and the received user input, and output the determined driving behavior associated with the at least one target vehicle. In one aspect of the disclosure, the user input may be received from a mobile device of the driver of the at least one monitoring vehicle.

“The details of these and other aspects of the disclosure are set forth in the accompanying drawings and description below. Other features and advantages of aspects of the disclosure will be apparent from the description and drawings. The driving analysis computing device may further receive data transmitted by the target vehicle to the at least one monitoring vehicle via vehicle-to-vehicle communications and display, via a graphical user interface, the data transmitted by the target vehicle. The user input received from the driver of the at least one monitoring vehicle may further include the identity of the target vehicle or the driver of the target vehicle”

The claims supplied by the inventors are:

“The invention claimed is:

“1. A driving analysis computing device comprising: a processor; and memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the driving analysis computing device to: receive monitoring vehicle driving data from vehicle operation sensors within a monitoring vehicle; receive target vehicle driving data associated with a target vehicle, wherein the target vehicle driving data is received via a vehicle-to-vehicle communication between the monitoring vehicle and the target vehicle, wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle communication comprises: establishing, by a first communication system of the monitoring vehicle, a communication link with a second communication system of the target vehicle; and receiving, by the first communication system and via the communication link, the target vehicle driving data from the second communication system; perform an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data; determine a driving behavior associated with the target vehicle, based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data; determine a severity of the driving behavior by comparing data associated with the driving behavior to a plurality of thresholds; calculate a driver grade for the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle based on the severity of the driving behavior; and output the driving behavior associated with the target vehicle.

“2. The driving analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein calculating the driver grade comprises assigning a weight to the driving behavior based on the severity of the driving behavior.

“3. The driving analysis computing device of claim 1, the memory storing additional computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the driving analysis computing device to: upload the driving behavior to a server.

“4. The driving analysis computing device of claim 3, wherein the target vehicle driving data comprises one or more of a speed of the target vehicle, a position of the target vehicle, and a direction of travel of the target vehicle.

“5. The driving analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein the target vehicle driving data comprises a driver score associated with the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle.

“6. The driving analysis computing device of claim 1, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining a first relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the monitoring vehicle at a first time; and determining a second relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the monitoring vehicle at a second time after the first time.

“7. The driving analysis computing device of claim 6, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining that the target vehicle tailgated the monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“8. The driving analysis computing device of claim 6, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining that the target vehicle cut off the monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“9. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving, by a driving analysis computing device, monitoring vehicle driving data corresponding to monitoring vehicle operation data of the monitoring vehicle, the monitoring vehicle operation data being received from a first plurality of sensors arranged within the monitoring vehicle, the monitoring vehicle being a customer of an entity; receiving, via vehicle-to-vehicle communication, target vehicle driving data corresponding to target vehicle operation data of a target vehicle, the target vehicle operation data being received from a second plurality of sensors arranged within the target vehicle, the target vehicle being a non-customer of the entity, wherein the vehicle-to-vehicle communication comprises: establishing, by a first communication system of the monitoring vehicle, a communication link with a second communication system of the target vehicle; and receiving, by the first communication system and via the communication link, the target vehicle driving data from the second communication system; performing, by the driving analysis computing device, an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data; determining, by the driving analysis computing device, a driving behavior associated with the target vehicle, based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data and the target vehicle driving data; determining a severity of the driving behavior by comparing data associated with the driving behavior to a plurality of thresholds; calculating a driver grade for the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle based on the severity of the driving behavior; and outputting, by the driving analysis computing device, the determined driving behavior associated with the target vehicle.

“10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein calculating the driver grade comprises assigning a weight to the driving behavior based on the severity of the driving behavior.

“11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, further comprising: retrieving, by the driving analysis computing device, historical driving behavior associated with the target vehicle, wherein the driver grade for the target vehicle is further calculated based on the historical driving behavior associated with the target vehicle.

“12. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the target vehicle driving data received via vehicle-to-vehicle communication comprises at least one selected from the group consisting of a speed of the target vehicle, a position of the target vehicle, and a direction of travel of the target vehicle.

“13. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the target vehicle driving data received via vehicle-to-vehicle communication comprises a driver score associated with the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle.

“14. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining a first relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the monitoring vehicle at a first time; and determining a second relative position of the target vehicle with respect to the monitoring vehicle at a second time after the first time.

“15. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining that the target vehicle tailgated or cut-off the monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“16. The computer-implemented method of claim 14, wherein determining the driving behavior comprises: determining that the target vehicle followed the monitoring vehicle at a safe following distance, yielded to the monitoring vehicle, or defensively avoided the monitoring vehicle, based on the first and second relative positions and the first and second times.

“17. A driving analysis system associated with a monitoring vehicle, the driving analysis system comprising: one or more vehicle operation sensors within the monitoring vehicle; a first communication system configured to receive target vehicle driving data from a target vehicle by: establishing a communication link with a second communication system associated with a target vehicle; and receiving target vehicle driving data from the second communication system via the communication link; and a driving analysis computing device comprising: a graphical user interface; one or more processors; and memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the driving analysis computing device to: receive monitoring vehicle driving data from the one or more vehicle operation sensors; receive, from the first communication system of the monitoring vehicle, the target vehicle driving data; receive user input from a driver of the monitoring vehicle, the user input including an indication of a driving behavior of a driver of the target vehicle; perform an analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data, the target vehicle driving data, and the user input; determine a driving behavior associated with the target vehicle, based on the analysis of the monitoring vehicle driving data, the target vehicle driving data, and the user input; determine a severity of the driving behavior by comparing data associated with the driving behavior to a plurality of thresholds; calculate a driver grade for the target vehicle or a driver of the target vehicle based on the severity of the driving behavior; and output the driving behavior associated with the target vehicle.

“18. The driving analysis system of claim 17, wherein the user input is received from a mobile device of the driver of the monitoring vehicle.

“19. The driving analysis system of claim 17, the memory storing computer-executable instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the driving analysis computing device to: display, via a graphical user interface, the target vehicle driving data.

“20. The driving analysis system of claim 17, wherein the user input received from the driver of the monitoring vehicle further comprises an identity of the target vehicle or the driver of the target vehicle.”

For the URL and additional information on this patent, see: Ferguson, Dana. Vehicle To Vehicle Telematics. U.S. Patent Number 10,449,967, filed March 1, 2016, and published online on November 4, 2019. Patent URL: http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=10,449,967.PN.&OS=PN/10,449,967RS=PN/10,449,967

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