Vehicle state mileage determination system

Claim 1

A method for monitoring and recording the number of miles that a vehicle has traveled within each of a set of predefined geographic entities wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said method comprising the steps of: for each said geographic entity: storing a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity; storing at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and providing a storage location for storing the accumulated mileage traveled by said vehicle within the boundary of said entity; providing a geographic position sensing means on-board said vehicle, said position sensor for providing an electrical signal including a present vehicle position coordinate data point which is indicative of the present geographical location of said vehicle; and for each present vehicle location coordinate data point: comparing said location point to a set of said polygon coordinate data points to determine whether said location point lies on or within a said imaginary polygon; for a polygon having said location point lying thereon or therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for said entity to determine whether said location point lies on or within said entity boundary; and for a location point lying on or within said entity boundary, determining incremental mileage traveled by said vehicle and adding said incremental mileage to said stored accumulated mileage for said entity.

Claim 2

A method for monitoring and recording the number of miles that a vehicle has traveled within each of a set of predefined geographic entities wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said method comprising the steps of: for each said geographic entity: storing a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity; storing at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and providing a storage location for storing the accumulated mileage traveled by said vehicle within the boundary of said entity; providing a geographic position sensing means on-board said vehicle, said position sensor for providing an electrical signal including a present vehicle position coordinate data point which is indicative of the present geographical location of said vehicle; and for each present vehicle location coordinate data point: comparing said location point to a set of said polygon coordinate data points to determine whether said location point lies on or within a said imaginary polygon; for a polygon having said location point lying thereon or therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for said entity to determine whether said location point lies on or within said entity boundary; and for a location point lying on or within said entity boundary, determining incremental mileage traveled by said vehicle and adding said incremental mileage to said stored accumulated mileage for said entity.

Claim 8

A system for monitoring and recording the number of miles that a vehicle has traveled within each of a set of predefined geographic entities wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said system for monitoring and recording comprising: a vehicle position determination system installed on-board said vehicle for generating a present vehicle location point; a memory, said memory storing for each said entity: a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity; at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and the accumulated mileage traveled by said vehicle within the boundary of said entity; a device for calculating the mileage traveled by said vehicle; and a processor coupled with said position determination system and said memory for comparing said present vehicle location point to at least one set of said polygon coordinate data points and for a said polygon having said location point lying therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for the entity corresponding to said polygon and, if said location point lies on or within said boundary, adding the incremental mileage traveled by said vehicle to said memory.

Claim 9

A system for monitoring and recording the number of miles that a vehicle has traveled within each of a set of predefined geographic entities wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said system for monitoring and recording comprising: a vehicle position determination system installed on-board said vehicle for generating a present vehicle location point; a memory, said memory storing for each said entity: a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity; at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and the accumulated mileage traveled by said vehicle within the boundary of said entity; a device for calculating the mileage traveled by said vehicle; and a processor coupled with said position determination system and said memory for comparing said present vehicle location point to at least one set of said polygon coordinate data points and for a said polygon having said location point lying therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for the entity corresponding to said polygon and, if said location point lies on or within said boundary, adding the incremental mileage traveled by said vehicle to said memory.

Claim 16

A system for monitoring the travel of a vehicle within a set of predefined geographic entities and determining in which of the entities the vehicle is presently located, wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said system comprising: a vehicle position determination system installed on-board said vehicle for generating a present vehicle location point; a memory, said memory storing for each said entity a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity, and at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and a processor coupled with said position determination system and said memory for comparing said present vehicle location point to at least one set of said polygon coordinate data points and for a said polygon having said location point lying therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for the entity corresponding to said polygon.

Claim 17

A system for monitoring the travel of a vehicle within a set of predefined geographic entities and determining in which of the entities the vehicle is presently located, wherein the location of said vehicle and the boundaries of said entities can be defined by coordinate data points in a common coordinate system, said system comprising: a vehicle position determination system installed on-board said vehicle for generating a present vehicle location point; a memory, said memory storing for each said entity a set of ordered coordinate data points representing the boundary of said entity, and at least three coordinate data points wherein said points can be joined to form an imaginary polygon which substantially encloses said geographic entity boundary; and a processor coupled with said position determination system and said memory for comparing said present vehicle location point to at least one set of said polygon coordinate data points and for a said polygon having said location point lying therein, comparing said location point to said boundary coordinate data points for the entity corresponding to said polygon.