28-05-2012, 11:08 AM
A Mobile Electronic Toll Collection for E-Commerce Applications
[attachment=23265]
Introduction
Mobile communication has become a livelihood technology to be widely adopted for added value applications. While
e-commerce is introduced to elevate daily commercial interactions from the conventional business concept, mobile
e-commerce (m-commerce) is another trend to develop suitable technologies for new applications under free mobility
condition. M-commerce is defined as a commerce behavior by mobile stations [12], [16]. Mobile stations include
wireless phone, wireless handheld computer, laptop, personal message pager device and personal digital assistants
(PDA) [3], [4]. M-commerce presents the function of personal mobility, operational flexibility, and interactive
availability with various function capabilities. Due to the high population of mobile communication users, mcommerce
is an emerging demand to those mobile users in the near future. In Taiwan, the National Communication
Committee (NCC) has statistics report of 22.8 million mobile users in second quarter 2006. It is extremely high
percentage on this 23 million population island (Site 1). In China, the official statistics has reported 487.4 million
mobile users in first quarter 2007 from Internet news April 30, 2007. It is 38% of total population in China. The mobile
phone users are still increasing in both areas, matching with the worldwide trend. As mobile communication has
been well accepted by the users, mobile services should not only limited within personal communications, but also
extended into wider added value applications in decreasing fare. Since mobile communication itself represents
freedom from fixed locations, the adoption of mobile communication to transportation system is an emerging
application.
System Framework
In this paper, a new ETC system design using mobile communication for freeway and parking lot application is
proposed. The m-ETC system configuration is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 for different applications as solutions for
freeway entrance gate control, toll station control and parking lot control. In the proposed m-ETC system, there are
key components to develop, such as the Roadside Transmitter (RS-TX), the Roadside Receiver (RS-RX) and the
Car Unit (CU). In the m-ETC system design, both systemic hardware as well as m-commerce software is discussed
in details. A business model is recommended.
Concept for Development
In Taiwan, the toll system will be converted from toll station control into entrance gate control. In China, gate
entrance control is most adopted on most freeways. In European countries, either toll station controls or gate
entrance controls are applied. Comparing to toll station control, the toll collection process for entrance gate control is
simplified in nature and has enhanced efficiency. In the proposed m-ETC, an unmanned Toll Collection e-Center will
be installed with a server to accept toll payment through m-commerce system via mobile communication. The mobile
communication protocols of either the transmission control protocol in addressed IP (TCP/IP) or the point-to-point
protocol (PPP) are adopted. The software will process the authentication, charge, and record in its Authorization
Database.
Definition of Basic Protocol
There are about sixty entrance gates of along the freeways from north to south in Taiwan. Every flow control gate
includes two directions with entrance and exit gates. A set of Roadside Unit at each direction of every entrance/exit
gate is installed by assigning four digit code numbers for every entrance/exit gate. The Roadside Transmitter, RSTX0101
is establishing in the entrance gate in the Figure 1. The 0101 number code is an example of the entrance
gate. The meaning of the first bit is direction bound, where 0 for the direction of northbound and 1 for the direction of
southbound. Gate numbering starts from north to south. That means all southbound vehicles will enter from small
number of control gates to larger number control gate to exit, and vice versa. The second and third bits represent the
number of the flow control gate, where the tenth gate from north is used as example. The least bit stands for
entrance or exit to this flow control gate, where 1 for entrance gate and 0 for exit gate. The data setting is shown in
Table 1. The coding method can easily be changed on any demand with any different combination for more digits.
[attachment=23265]
Introduction
Mobile communication has become a livelihood technology to be widely adopted for added value applications. While
e-commerce is introduced to elevate daily commercial interactions from the conventional business concept, mobile
e-commerce (m-commerce) is another trend to develop suitable technologies for new applications under free mobility
condition. M-commerce is defined as a commerce behavior by mobile stations [12], [16]. Mobile stations include
wireless phone, wireless handheld computer, laptop, personal message pager device and personal digital assistants
(PDA) [3], [4]. M-commerce presents the function of personal mobility, operational flexibility, and interactive
availability with various function capabilities. Due to the high population of mobile communication users, mcommerce
is an emerging demand to those mobile users in the near future. In Taiwan, the National Communication
Committee (NCC) has statistics report of 22.8 million mobile users in second quarter 2006. It is extremely high
percentage on this 23 million population island (Site 1). In China, the official statistics has reported 487.4 million
mobile users in first quarter 2007 from Internet news April 30, 2007. It is 38% of total population in China. The mobile
phone users are still increasing in both areas, matching with the worldwide trend. As mobile communication has
been well accepted by the users, mobile services should not only limited within personal communications, but also
extended into wider added value applications in decreasing fare. Since mobile communication itself represents
freedom from fixed locations, the adoption of mobile communication to transportation system is an emerging
application.
System Framework
In this paper, a new ETC system design using mobile communication for freeway and parking lot application is
proposed. The m-ETC system configuration is shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3 for different applications as solutions for
freeway entrance gate control, toll station control and parking lot control. In the proposed m-ETC system, there are
key components to develop, such as the Roadside Transmitter (RS-TX), the Roadside Receiver (RS-RX) and the
Car Unit (CU). In the m-ETC system design, both systemic hardware as well as m-commerce software is discussed
in details. A business model is recommended.
Concept for Development
In Taiwan, the toll system will be converted from toll station control into entrance gate control. In China, gate
entrance control is most adopted on most freeways. In European countries, either toll station controls or gate
entrance controls are applied. Comparing to toll station control, the toll collection process for entrance gate control is
simplified in nature and has enhanced efficiency. In the proposed m-ETC, an unmanned Toll Collection e-Center will
be installed with a server to accept toll payment through m-commerce system via mobile communication. The mobile
communication protocols of either the transmission control protocol in addressed IP (TCP/IP) or the point-to-point
protocol (PPP) are adopted. The software will process the authentication, charge, and record in its Authorization
Database.
Definition of Basic Protocol
There are about sixty entrance gates of along the freeways from north to south in Taiwan. Every flow control gate
includes two directions with entrance and exit gates. A set of Roadside Unit at each direction of every entrance/exit
gate is installed by assigning four digit code numbers for every entrance/exit gate. The Roadside Transmitter, RSTX0101
is establishing in the entrance gate in the Figure 1. The 0101 number code is an example of the entrance
gate. The meaning of the first bit is direction bound, where 0 for the direction of northbound and 1 for the direction of
southbound. Gate numbering starts from north to south. That means all southbound vehicles will enter from small
number of control gates to larger number control gate to exit, and vice versa. The second and third bits represent the
number of the flow control gate, where the tenth gate from north is used as example. The least bit stands for
entrance or exit to this flow control gate, where 1 for entrance gate and 0 for exit gate. The data setting is shown in
Table 1. The coding method can easily be changed on any demand with any different combination for more digits.