Portable device and method for querying a vehicle network
First Claim
1. A method for minimizing or preventing the drainage of the electrical capacity of a vehicle battery resulting from use of a portable controller device that plugs into the On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle and is configured to query a network of the vehicle for a real-time response value for one or more parameters, comprising the steps of:
- a) providing the portable controller device that is plugged into the On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle;
b) monitoring by the portable controller device a value of the voltage potential of a battery of the vehicle;
c) monitoring a vehicle journey status by the portable controller device, comprising;
in an inferring mode the steps of;
i) querying continuously a predetermined monitoring parameter on the network;
ii) comparing a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter against a predetermined inferring response or parameter value that infers that the vehicle journey has changed to ‘
ended’
, the predetermined inferring response or parameter value comprising an absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter;
iii) inferring that the vehicle having the vehicle journey status of ‘
underway’
has ‘
ended’
, if the response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter is the absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, and identifying the predetermined monitoring parameter as a candidate parameter, andin a confirming mode the steps of;
iv) querying the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, to return a sequence of responses for the candidate parameter;
v) comparing the sequence of responses with the inferring response or parameter value; and
vi) confirming that the journey status has ‘
ended’
when the sequence of responses are the predetermined inferring response or parameter value;
d) stopping querying the network by the portable controller device when the vehicle journey status is confirmed to be ‘
ended’
, and the monitored vehicle battery voltage potential is at or below a first predefined voltage level that implies an inactive battery charging state; and
e) restarting querying the network by the portable controller device only after the monitored vehicle battery voltage potential rises above a second predefined charging level that implies an active battery charging state.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A portable controller device having an OBD-II port interface and a microcontroller that interacts with a vehicle network through the interface, including programming for querying successively the vehicle network for one or more parameter, and for retrieving values for the parameter returned from the network. The retrieving values for the parameter returned from the network is compared with an inferring response or parameter value, such as an absence of a response to query of the monitoring parameter, that if satisfied can infer that the journey status of the vehicle has changed from ‘underway’ to ‘ended’, and identifies the monitoring parameter as a candidate parameter. The journey status can be confirm as ‘ended’ when successive querying of the candidate parameter returns the same an absence of a response.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for minimizing or preventing the drainage of the electrical capacity of a vehicle battery resulting from use of a portable controller device that plugs into the On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle and is configured to query a network of the vehicle for a real-time response value for one or more parameters, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing the portable controller device that is plugged into the On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle; b) monitoring by the portable controller device a value of the voltage potential of a battery of the vehicle; c) monitoring a vehicle journey status by the portable controller device, comprising; in an inferring mode the steps of; i) querying continuously a predetermined monitoring parameter on the network; ii) comparing a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter against a predetermined inferring response or parameter value that infers that the vehicle journey has changed to ‘
ended’
, the predetermined inferring response or parameter value comprising an absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter;iii) inferring that the vehicle having the vehicle journey status of ‘
underway’
has ‘
ended’
, if the response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter is the absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, and identifying the predetermined monitoring parameter as a candidate parameter, andin a confirming mode the steps of; iv) querying the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, to return a sequence of responses for the candidate parameter; v) comparing the sequence of responses with the inferring response or parameter value; and vi) confirming that the journey status has ‘
ended’
when the sequence of responses are the predetermined inferring response or parameter value;d) stopping querying the network by the portable controller device when the vehicle journey status is confirmed to be ‘
ended’
, and the monitored vehicle battery voltage potential is at or below a first predefined voltage level that implies an inactive battery charging state; ande) restarting querying the network by the portable controller device only after the monitored vehicle battery voltage potential rises above a second predefined charging level that implies an active battery charging state. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification