Systems and methods for insurance based upon status of vehicle software

• US 10,169,821 B2
• Filed: 09/20/2013
• Issued: 01/01/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 09/20/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Elwha LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Inventors: Bowers, Jeffrey A., Hagelstein, Peter L., Hyde, Roderick A., Ishikawa, Muriel Y., Kare, Jordin T., Tegreene, Clarence T., Wood, Jr., Lowell L., Wood, Victoria Y. H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rankins, William E
• Application Number:
  US14/033,053
• Publication Number:
  US 20150088550A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 705 4, 705 11
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/08 Insurance

Abstract

A vehicle may be configured to determine a characteristic of a software program operating on the vehicle. The characteristic may be provided to an insurer, and the insurer may determine a property of an insurance policy based on the characteristic. The characteristic may be, for example, a feature, a setting, and/or a version of the software program. The insurer may indicate to a vehicle operator and/or owner how changing the characteristic may affect the property of the insurance policy. The insurance policy may be formalized and agreed to by the insurer and/or the insured. The vehicle may also or instead save pre-collision status data, such adjustable parameters, internal variables, dynamic decisions, and/or identification of a software program, when a collision is detected. The pre-collision status data may be used to diagnose problems with the software program, determine fault, and/or determine future properties of insurance policies.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, via a communication interface, an alert to a driver of a vehicle indicating how modification of a characteristic of a software program operating on a computer system of the vehicle will affect a property of an insurance policy;

receiving, via the communication interface, historical information pertaining to modification by the driver of the characteristic; and

determining, using a processor, an adjustment to the property of the insurance policy based, at least in part, on the historical information and how consistently the driver makes modifications in response to alerts.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic comprises a version of the software program, and wherein the modification comprises an updated version of the software program.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic is a parameter of the software program selected from the group consisting of a collision avoidance parameter, a collision mitigation parameter, and a pre-collision warning parameter.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the characteristic comprises an operational state of the software program.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the historical information comprises a ratio of operation time during which the software program is in a first state verses operation time which the software program is in a second state.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first state corresponds to a pre-modification state and the second state corresponds to a post-modification state.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises information on how the driver may make the modification to the software program.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein providing an alert comprises providing real-time advice associated with an effect on the property of the insurance policy based on whether the driver modifies the characteristic of the software program.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert is sent to a portable communication device of the driver of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert comprises a visual alert.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the alert is displayed on a heads-up display of the vehicle.

12. A system comprising:

a communications module that provides to a driver of a vehicle an alert indicating how modification of a characteristic of a software program operating on a computer system of the vehicle will affect a property of an insurance policy, wherein the communications module sends historical information pertaining to modification by the driver of the characteristic; and

an insurance module operating on a processor of the computing device, wherein the insurance module determines an adjustment to the property of the insurance policy based, at least in part, on the historical information and how consistently the driver makes modifications in response to alerts.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises a setting of the software program.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises a type of the software program.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises a feature of the software program.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the characteristic comprises an indication that the feature of the software program has been disabled.

17. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises a version of the software program.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the communications module is configured to receive a version number for the version of the software program.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the alert comprises an indication that the software program should be upgraded.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the communications module is configured to transmit an indication of differences in the property of the insurance policy for different versions of the software program.

21. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises an identification of the software program.

22. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises a version of the software program, and wherein the modification comprises an updated version of the software program.

23. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic is a parameter of the software program selected from the group consisting of a collision avoidance parameter, a collision mitigation parameter, and a pre-collision warning parameter.

24. The system of claim 12, wherein the characteristic comprises an operational state of the software program.

25. The system of claim 12, wherein the historical information comprises a ratio of operation time during which the software program is in a first state verses operation time which the software program is in a second state.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the first state corresponds to a pre-modification state and the second state corresponds to a post-modification state.

27. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert comprises information on how the driver may make the modification to the software program.

28. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert is sent to a portable communication device of the driver of the vehicle.

29. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert comprises a visual alert.

30. The system of claim 12, wherein the alert is displayed on a heads-up display of the vehicle.