LIGHT SENSOR AND THRESHOLDING METHOD FOR MINIMIZING TRANSMISSION OF REDUNDANT DATA

A thresholding method and improved light sensor that reduce the processing requirements of processors used to control the shutter, gain, and pedestal settings of license plate cameras employed in a toll road revenue collection system. The thresholding method and light sensor reduce the amount of data transmitted from the light sensor to the processor which controls the shutter, gain, and pedestal settings of license plate cameras of the toll road collection system. To minimize the redundant transmission and processing of data by the processor, a threshold comparator is used in the light sensor that only transmits data when the light level changes enough to exceed or fall below a programmable threshold. The threshold is programmed by the processor using a microprocessor. Thus, data is only transmitted when lighting conditions change, and transmission of redundant data is therefore eliminated.