KR102700817B1 - Method and system of highway toll payment - Google Patents

Abstract

A toll payment method and a system therefor are provided. The method is a toll payment method performed in a toll payment system operated by at least one processor, comprising: a step of extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll charging point; a step of identifying a user's electronic wallet using the vehicle number; a step of generating a transaction for transferring a toll from the user's electronic wallet to a previously stored electronic wallet of a toll recipient; and a step of recording the transaction in the blockchain of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM OF HIGHWAY TOLL PAYMENT

The present invention relates to a toll payment method and system therefor, and more particularly, to a road toll payment technology for processing toll payments for users of vehicles passing through toll charging points, including toll roads.

It has been revealed that the number of overpayments on highway tolls is increasing significantly. According to the government audit data, the number of cases in which the road construction company overcharged tolls reached 38,935 over the past four years since 2014. The road construction company explains that when passing through a highway transit point, the toll is withdrawn, but then a communication failure occurs and the transit point information is not properly entered into the terminal, resulting in overpayments at the final toll office. In particular, the road construction company was found to not be properly returning the overcharged tolls to users. Over the past four years, a total of 274.71 million won in overcharges was collected, but only 107.72 million won, or 39%, was returned to highway users.

Also, although it has been 10 years since the full implementation of the highway tollgate Hi-pass, the amount of unpaid tolls has increased every year. The amount of unpaid Hi-pass tolls, which was 1.432 billion won in 2007, the first year of full implementation of Hi-pass, soared to 33.847 billion won in 2017. In terms of mathematics alone, this is an increase of more than 23 times. The number of unpaid tolls also increased by more than 10 times, from 1,372 to 14,034. A road construction official explained that as the number of Hi-pass users increased by about 8 times, there were also more cases of device malfunctions and insufficient prepaid card balances.

In addition, even when using a Hi-pass terminal, if there is a lack of battery, poor communication, or insufficient balance in the case of a prepaid card, an unpaid fee will be incurred. In such cases, the driver must check and pay the unpaid fee through a separate terminal installed at a highway rest stop, or pay by receiving a notice printed on paper and depositing it into a separate account.

The technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a method and system for automatically settling tolls using blockchain and vehicle license plate recognition technology.

A toll payment method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a toll payment method performed in a toll payment system operated by at least one processor, comprising the steps of: extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll charging point; identifying a user's electronic wallet using the vehicle number; generating a transaction for transferring a toll from the user's electronic wallet to a previously stored electronic wallet of a toll recipient; and recording the transaction in blockchains of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

The above generating step may include a step of extracting a user's electronic wallet address and the recipient's electronic wallet address mapped to the vehicle number from an electronic wallet address storage unit in which electronic wallet addresses are mapped to each vehicle number, and a step of generating a transaction including the user's electronic wallet address, the recipient's electronic wallet address, and a toll.

Between the generating step and the recording step, the method may further include a step of requesting an electronic signature for the transaction from a user terminal, a step of receiving an electronic signature encrypted with a secret key of the electronic wallet from the user terminal, and a step of including the electronic signature in the transaction.

Before the step of requesting the electronic signature, the method further includes a step of obtaining information of a user terminal mapped to the vehicle number, and the step of requesting the electronic signature may request an electronic signature using the information of the obtained user terminal.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a toll payment system comprises a vehicle recognition unit for extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll charging point, a transaction mediation unit for identifying a user's electronic wallet using the vehicle number, a transaction generation unit for generating a transaction for transferring a toll from the user's electronic wallet to a previously stored electronic wallet of a toll recipient, and a blockchain system comprising a plurality of blockchain nodes holding electronic wallets, and for recording the transaction received from the transaction generation unit in the blockchains of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

The method further includes an electronic wallet address storage unit including electronic wallet address information of users mapped by vehicle number and electronic wallet address information of a toll collector, and the transaction intermediary unit can extract, from the electronic wallet address storage unit, an electronic wallet address mapped to a vehicle number recognized by the vehicle recognition unit necessary for generating the transaction and the electronic wallet address of the toll collector.

The above transaction intermediary unit receives an electronic signature for the transaction from a user terminal at the request of the transaction generation unit and transmits it to the transaction generation unit, and the transaction generation unit can generate a transaction including the electronic signature, an electronic wallet address mapped to the vehicle number, the electronic wallet address of the toll recipient, and the toll, and transmit it to the blockchain system.

The electronic wallet address mapped to the above vehicle number is a public key, and the electronic signature may use a private key paired with the public key stored in the user terminal.

The method may further include a toll calculation unit that identifies a toll charging point and section based on the camera identifier that generated the vehicle image, and calculates a toll based on the identified information.

The above blockchain system can verify the validity of the electronic wallet address included in the transaction at the request of the transaction generation unit, and if the validity verification is successful, can transmit the transaction to the blockchain network.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a toll payment system includes a communication device connected to a communication network to transmit and receive data, a memory storing a program for performing toll payment using blockchain, and at least one processor executing the program, wherein the program extracts a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll charging point, generates a transaction for transferring a toll from an electronic wallet of a user identified using the vehicle number to an electronic wallet of a toll recipient stored in advance, and includes instructions for transmitting the transaction to a blockchain system, wherein the transaction can be recorded in the blockchains of each of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

The electronic wallet address is mapped to each vehicle number, and further includes a storage device storing the electronic wallet address of the toll payee, and the program may include commands for extracting the electronic wallet address of the user mapped to the vehicle number and the electronic wallet address of the payee from the storage device, and generating a transaction including the extracted electronic wallet addresses and the toll.

The above program may include commands for requesting and receiving an electronic signature for the transaction from a user terminal and including the electronic signature in the transaction.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a toll payment method is performed in a toll payment system operated by at least one processor, the method including: a step of extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll charging point; a step of obtaining a user account number mapped to the extracted vehicle number from a user database in which account numbers are mapped to each vehicle number; a step of processing a toll payment based on the obtained user account number; and a step of generating a transaction including the toll payment processing details and storing the transaction in a blockchain.

The step of storing may include a step of generating a transaction including the toll payment processing details, a step of including an electronic signature encrypted with the user's private key in the transaction, and a step of storing the transaction in the blockchain.

The step of including in the above transaction may include a step of obtaining information of a user terminal mapped to the extracted vehicle number from a user database in which user terminal information is mapped by vehicle number, a step of requesting an electronic signature for the transaction from a user terminal identified based on the obtained user terminal information, a step of receiving an electronic signature encrypted with a secret key from the user terminal, and a step of including the electronic signature in the transaction.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the license plate number of a vehicle passing through a toll zone is automatically recognized, the payer is identified from the license plate number, and the toll is automatically paid based on blockchain technology, thereby facilitating toll payment without having to pay for the installation of a separate Hi-pass terminal in the vehicle. Accordingly, the cost of operating the highway can be reduced, the convenience of collecting tolls is increased, and if the process of stopping for toll payment is eliminated, there is a fuel cost reduction effect.

Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a toll payment system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 illustrates the configuration of a transaction processing request according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 shows a blockchain structure used in an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a toll payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a toll payment system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a toll payment method according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a toll payment system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the attached drawings, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail so that those skilled in the art can easily practice the present invention. However, the present invention may be implemented in various different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein. In addition, in order to clearly describe the present invention in the drawings, parts that are not related to the description are omitted, and similar parts are assigned similar drawing reference numerals throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, whenever a part is said to "include" a component, this does not mean that it excludes other components, but rather that it may include other components, unless otherwise stated.

Additionally, the terms “part” and “module” described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware, software, or a combination of hardware and software.

In this specification, blockchain refers to a data management technology that records continuously increasing data in a specific unit of blocks and each node forming a P2P (peer-to-peer) network manages the blocks as a chain-shaped data structure, or the data itself formed as a chain-shaped data structure. In this case, the blockchain data formed as a chain-shaped data structure is operated in the form of a distributed ledger on each node without a central system.

In addition, toll gates (toll settlement offices) are usually installed at the entrances and exits of toll roads to settle toll fees. Toll fees refer to road usage fees incurred when passing through a toll gate.

In addition, in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, the term 'road' is interpreted to include not only roads under the Road Traffic Act, but also all structures on which vehicles can travel (e.g., private roads, parking lots, etc. within a specific area).

Now, a system for paying road tolls according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a toll payment system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a transaction processing request according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 shows a blockchain structure used in an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the toll payment system (100) includes a vehicle recognition unit (101), a toll calculation unit (103), an electronic wallet address storage unit (105), a transaction mediation unit (107), a user database (109), a transaction generation unit (111), and a blockchain system (113).

Here, the vehicle recognition unit (101) and the toll calculation unit (103) are connected via a network (not shown) such as the Internet, and the toll calculation unit (103), the electronic wallet address storage unit (105), the transaction mediation unit (107), the transaction generation unit (111), and the blockchain system (113) can be connected via an internal network. The internal network (not shown) can include a computer network built within a financial institution.

The vehicle recognition unit (101) is installed at points where tolls are charged to vehicles on the road, such as toll gates, parking lot entrances/exits, congested traffic areas, park entrances, etc.

The vehicle recognition unit (101) photographs a vehicle entering a toll collection point through multiple cameras (not shown) installed at a predetermined location, thereby obtaining a vehicle image including the vehicle license plate. The vehicle recognition unit (101) extracts the vehicle number from the vehicle image.

The vehicle recognition unit (101) transmits vehicle data including the camera's unique identification number (ID), shooting time, and extracted vehicle number to the toll calculation unit (103).

The toll calculation unit (103) calculates the toll for the vehicle based on the vehicle data. The toll calculation unit (103) identifies the information of the toll point where the camera is installed and the road section through the unique identification number (ID) of the camera. Then, the toll for the vehicle is calculated based on the identified information. For example, the toll calculation unit (103) can check the road use section of the vehicle through the toll point and the road section, and can calculate the toll by applying the toll rate already set for the road use section.

The electronic wallet address storage unit (105) stores the electronic wallet address of the toll collection agency, i.e., the road construction company, and the electronic wallet addresses of the users. Here, the electronic wallet addresses of the users are matched by vehicle number. At this time, the electronic wallet address may be a public key in a public key encryption method. That is, electronic currencies based on blockchain are encrypted currencies in the form of a private key-public key, and the public key may be used as the electronic wallet address.

The transaction brokerage unit (107) transmits a toll payment request including the toll data output from the toll calculation unit (103), the road construction company's electronic wallet address confirmed from the electronic wallet address storage unit (105), and the user's electronic wallet address mapped to the vehicle number to the transaction generation unit (111).

The transaction intermediary (107) transmits an electronic signature request for the transaction to the user terminal (200) according to the request of the transaction generation unit (111). The user terminal (200) generates signature data for the transaction using the stored secret key and transmits it to the transaction intermediary (107). Here, the secret key is a secret key according to the electronic wallet address and may be a secret key in a public key encryption method.

At this time, the transaction intermediary (107) obtains the identification information of the user terminal (200) matched to the vehicle number from the user database (109). Then, the obtained identification information of the user terminal (200) can be used to request and receive signature data from the user terminal (200). For example, the identification information can be a telephone number. The user terminal (200) can be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a PDA (personal digital assistant), a PMP (portable multimedia player), wearable smart glasses, a wearable smart watch, etc.

The transaction generation unit (111) performs validity verification on the user's electronic wallet address extracted from the toll payment request through the blockchain system (113). For example, it can verify whether the user's electronic wallet address exists validly and whether the electronic currency holding amount is sufficient. If the verification is successful, the transaction generation unit (111) generates a track-and-transfer to transfer electronic currency corresponding to the toll from the user's electronic wallet to the electronic wallet address of the road construction company. Then, it receives an electronic signature for the transaction from the user terminal (200) through the transaction intermediary unit (107).

The transaction generation unit (111) generates a transaction as shown in Fig. 2 and transmits it to the blockchain system (113).

At this time, the transaction creation unit (111) performs transaction validity verification to prevent double spending, etc. before transmitting the transaction. If the validity verification is successful, the transaction is transmitted to the blockchain system (113).

Referring to FIG. 2, a transaction (300) includes a road construction electronic wallet address (301), a user electronic wallet address (303), an electronic currency amount (305) corresponding to a toll, and authentication data (307). The authentication data (307) includes an electronic signature using a secret key received from a user terminal (200).

Again, referring to FIG. 1, the blockchain system (113) is composed of a plurality of blockchain nodes (115).

Multiple blockchain nodes (115) can manage blocks with a data structure as shown in Fig. 3. A block is an individual element that constitutes a blockchain and stores reference values for previous blocks and transaction history information.

Referring to FIG. 3, a block (400) includes a block hash (401), a header (403), a transaction count/ETC (405), and a body (407).

The block hash (401) is the name information of the block (400). The block hash (401) may be a result value converted by a hash function (e.g., SHA256) that calculates the sum by adding all of the version, previous block hash, Merkle Root, difficulty target (time, bits), and nonce information included in the header (403).

The version included in the header (403) is the version of the block (400), which is the version information of the blockchain program that generated the header (403). The previous block hash included in the header (403) indicates the address value of the previous block. Accordingly, block #1 and block #2 are connected to each other. Therefore, as blocks are piled up, falsification of transactions recorded in the blocks becomes more difficult, and the reliability of transactions recorded in each block improves.

The Merkle root in the header (403) is a hash tree of transactions, i.e., transaction information, stored in the body (407) of the block (4000). The Merkle root can be used to verify the integrity of transactions existing within a single block. Since the Merkle root is used when generating the hash of the block, it can also be used when verifying the integrity of the hash of the block.

The difficulty target in the header (403) may include time and bits. Time means the approximate creation time of the block (400). Bits is an indicator that means the difficulty hash target value. Nonce in the header (403) is a counter used in the proof of work of the block mining process.

Transaction count/ETC (405) stores the number of transactions.

The body (407) stores multiple transactions.

Again, referring to FIG. 1, the blockchain system (113) records the transaction received from the transaction generation unit (111) in a new block and propagates the new block on the blockchain network to achieve distributed consensus. When the transaction is finally confirmed according to the distributed consensus, the electronic money recorded in the transaction is transferred from the user's electronic wallet to the road construction company's electronic wallet. In other words, the transaction is recorded in the blockchain of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

The blockchain node (115) may be equipped with an electronic wallet having a blockchain. When a transaction is received from the transaction generation unit (111), the blockchain node (115) verifies the transaction and then generates a block according to the transaction. Then, the transaction is broadcast to the blockchain network to complete the toll payment. In other words, the transaction is recorded in the blockchain of the user's electronic wallet and the recipient's electronic wallet.

Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a toll payment method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Fig. 4, the vehicle recognition unit (101) transmits vehicle data including the vehicle number extracted from the vehicle image and the camera ID that generated the vehicle image to the toll calculation unit (103) (S101).

The toll calculation unit (103) calculates the toll (S103) based on the vehicle data received (S101). Then, the calculated toll (S103) is transmitted to the transaction mediation unit (107) (S105). At this time, the vehicle number is included in the toll.

The transaction intermediary unit (107) obtains the user's electronic wallet address and the road construction company's electronic wallet address mapped to the vehicle number received in step S105 from the electronic wallet address storage unit (105) (S107). The transaction intermediary unit (107) transmits a toll payment request including the user's electronic wallet address and the road construction company's electronic wallet address obtained in step S107 to the transaction generation unit (111) (S109).

The transaction creation unit (111) creates a transaction for toll payment as shown in Fig. 2 (S111). The transaction creation unit (111) requests the transaction mediation unit (107) to create an electronic signature for the transaction created in step S111 (S113).

The transaction broker (107) requests an electronic signature for a transaction for toll payment from a user terminal (200) mapped to the vehicle number (S115).

The user terminal (200) electronically signs a transaction using a stored secret key (S117) and then transmits the electronic signature to the transaction intermediary (107) (S119).

The transaction brokerage unit (107) transmits the electronic signature received (S119) to the transaction creation unit (111) (S121).

The transaction creation unit (111) includes an electronic signature in the transaction created in step S111 (S123). Then, the transaction including the electronic signature is transmitted to the blockchain system (113) to request transaction processing (S125).

Then, the blockchain system (113) verifies the requested transaction (S125), and if verification is successful, records the transaction in a block and then transmits it to the blockchain network to complete the toll payment (S127).

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, toll payment was processed with blockchain-based electronic money, but in another embodiment of the present invention, the transaction for toll payment is stored in blockchain, but the payment can be made through a predefined account transfer. This is explained as follows.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a toll payment system according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a toll payment method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the toll payment system (100) includes a vehicle recognition unit (101), a toll calculation unit (103), a transaction mediation unit (107), a user database (109), a transaction generation unit (111), a blockchain system (113), and an account transfer server (117).

Here, the configuration is mostly similar to that of Fig. 1, but the payment method is different, and is explained with reference to Fig. 6 as follows.

Referring to Fig. 6, the vehicle recognition unit (101) transmits vehicle data including the vehicle number extracted from the vehicle image and the camera ID that generated the vehicle image to the toll calculation unit (103) (S201).

The toll calculation unit (103) calculates the toll (S203) based on the vehicle data received (S201). Then, the calculated toll (S203) is transmitted to the transaction mediation unit (107) (S205). At this time, the vehicle number is included in the toll.

The transaction broker (107) obtains the user's account number mapped to the vehicle number received in step S105 from the user database (109) (S207). Here, the user database (109) stores account information mapped to each vehicle number and the account information of the toll payer. The toll payer may be the road construction company.

The transaction intermediary (107) transmits a toll payment request including the user's account number and toll fee obtained in step S207 to the account transfer server (117) (S209).

The account transfer server (117) processes an account transfer to withdraw tolls from the user's account and deposit them into the road construction company's account (S211). Then, the account transfer processing result is returned to the transaction intermediary department (107) (S213).

The transaction brokerage unit (107) transmits the toll payment details to the transaction generation unit (111) (S215). Then, the transaction generation unit (111) generates a transaction including the toll payment details (S217). Next, the transaction generation unit (111) requests the transaction brokerage unit (107) to create an electronic signature for the transaction generated in step S217 (S219).

The transaction intermediary (107) requests an electronic signature for the transaction from the user terminal (200) mapped to the vehicle number (S221). Here, the user database (109) stores user terminal information mapped to each vehicle number. The user terminal information may be a phone number.

The user terminal (200) electronically signs a transaction using a stored secret key (S223) and then transmits the electronic signature to the transaction intermediary (107) (S225).

The transaction brokerage unit (107) transmits the electronic signature received (S225) to the transaction creation unit (111) (S227).

The transaction creation unit (111) includes an electronic signature in the transaction created in step S217 (S229). Then, it transmits the transaction including the electronic signature to the blockchain system (113) to request transaction processing (S231).

Then, the blockchain system (113) verifies the requested transaction (S231), and if verification is successful, records the transaction in a block and then transmits it to the blockchain network to store the toll payment details (S233).

Meanwhile, Fig. 7 is a block diagram showing the hardware configuration of a toll payment system according to another embodiment of the present invention, which may be the configuration of the entire toll payment system described in Figs. 1 to 6, or the hardware configuration of each of the vehicle recognition unit (101), the toll calculation unit (103), the electronic wallet address storage unit (105), the transaction mediation unit (107), the transaction generation unit (111), and the blockchain system (113). In this case, each configuration may be implemented as a physically independent server.

Referring to FIG. 7, the toll payment system (500) includes a communication device (501), a memory (503), a storage device (505), and at least one processor (507).

A communication device (501) is connected to at least one processor (507) and transmits and/or receives data via a network (not shown). A memory (503) is connected to at least one processor (507) and stores a program including instructions for executing a configuration and/or method according to the embodiments described in FIGS. 1 to 4. The program is combined with hardware such as the memory (503) and at least one processor (507) to implement the present invention.

The storage device (505) includes information necessary for the operation of the toll payment system (500). The processor (507) executes the present invention in combination with hardware such as memory (503) and storage device (505).

As mentioned above, in this specification, a toll fee for road use has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this case and can be applied to various cases. For example, in the case of charging a parking fee by installing a camera at the entrance and exit of a parking lot, in the case of charging a park entrance fee by installing a camera at the entrance of a park, etc., it can be applied to all devices installed at a specific location to collect a fee from a vehicle passing through this location.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, the scope of the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications and improvements made by those skilled in the art using the basic concept of the present invention defined in the following claims also fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims (16)

A toll payment method performed in a toll payment system operated by at least one processor,
A step of extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll collection point;
A step for identifying the user's electronic wallet using the above vehicle number,
A step for creating a transaction to transfer the toll fee from the electronic wallet of the above user to the electronic wallet of the toll recipient stored in advance, and
A step of recording the transaction in the blockchain of the electronic wallet of the user and the electronic wallet of the recipient.
Including,
The above generating steps are:
A step of extracting the user's electronic wallet address and the recipient's electronic wallet address mapped to the vehicle number from the electronic wallet address storage unit where electronic wallet addresses are mapped to each vehicle number, and
A step for creating a transaction including the electronic wallet address of the above user, the electronic wallet address of the above recipient, and the toll fee.
Including,
Between the above generating step and the above recording step,
A step of requesting an electronic signature for the above transaction from the user terminal;
A step of receiving an electronic signature encrypted with the secret key of the above electronic wallet from the user terminal, and
A step of including said electronic signature in said transaction;
A method of paying tolls, including: delete delete In paragraph 1,
Prior to the step of requesting the above electronic signature,
Further comprising a step of obtaining information of a user terminal mapped to the above vehicle number,
The steps to request the above electronic signature are:
A toll payment method that requests an electronic signature using the user terminal information obtained above. delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete A toll payment method performed in a toll payment system operated by at least one processor,
A step of extracting a vehicle number from a vehicle image captured by at least one camera installed at a toll collection point;
A step of obtaining a user's account number mapped to the extracted vehicle number from a user database in which account numbers are mapped to vehicle numbers;
A step for processing toll payment based on the user's account number obtained above, and
Step of creating a transaction including the above toll payment processing details and storing it in the blockchain
Including,
The above saving steps are:
A step for creating a transaction including the above toll payment processing details;
a step of including an electronic signature encrypted with the private key of said user in said transaction, and
Step of storing the above transaction on the above blockchain
Toll payment methods including: delete In Article 14,
The steps to be included in the above transaction are:
A step of obtaining information of a user terminal mapped to the extracted vehicle number from a user database in which user terminal information is mapped to the vehicle number above,
A step of requesting an electronic signature for the transaction from a user terminal identified based on the acquired user terminal information;
A step of receiving an electronic signature encrypted with a secret key from the user terminal, and
A step of including said electronic signature in said transaction;
A method of paying tolls, including: