Methods and apparatus for monitoring and control of electronic devices
DC CAFCFirst Claim
1. A method for managing a vehicle inventory for a dealer implemented by a computer having a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
- while a location device is not communicatively coupled with a vehicle, associating the location device with a dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices in the memory, wherein the dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices comprises location devices owned by the dealer that are not coupled with any vehicle;
communicatively coupling the location device with a vehicle;
in response to the location device becoming communicatively coupled with the vehicle, the location device transmitting a connection notice over a network, the connection notice comprising a vehicle identifier and a location device identifier;
receiving, by the computer, the connection notice from the location device over the network;
in response to the connection notice received by the computer, the processor;
associating the location device identifier with the vehicle identifier in the memory; and
disassociating the location device from the dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices in the memory; and
receiving, by the computer, current location information from the location device.
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Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
Various aspects of the present invention relate generally to telemetry methods and systems and more particularly, to telemetry network connectivity systems, devices and methods. In some embodiments, an inventory management system may be configured to provide machine-to-machine network connectivity. The inventory management system may be used in conjunction with a location device configured to transmit a vehicle identification number (VIN) and a device identifier of the location device. In some embodiments, the inventory management system may be configured to: (1) track whether the location device is located within a predetermined perimeter; (2) provide current inventory and ownership status associated the location device; and/or (3) place the location device in a sleep and/or passive state with periodic check-ins.
35 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A method for managing a vehicle inventory for a dealer implemented by a computer having a processor and a memory, the method comprising:
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while a location device is not communicatively coupled with a vehicle, associating the location device with a dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices in the memory, wherein the dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices comprises location devices owned by the dealer that are not coupled with any vehicle; communicatively coupling the location device with a vehicle; in response to the location device becoming communicatively coupled with the vehicle, the location device transmitting a connection notice over a network, the connection notice comprising a vehicle identifier and a location device identifier; receiving, by the computer, the connection notice from the location device over the network; in response to the connection notice received by the computer, the processor; associating the location device identifier with the vehicle identifier in the memory; and disassociating the location device from the dealer'"'"'s group of available location devices in the memory; and receiving, by the computer, current location information from the location device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification