Vehicle email notification system and method
First Claim
1. A method of providing vehicle information to an owner, comprising the steps of:
- establishing one or more owner-configurable triggers that are used to initiate the construction of email messages in a first vehicle system module connected via a vehicle communications bus to an on-board diagnostics system module and one or more other vehicle system modules;
monitoring for the occurrence of the trigger(s) and, in response to determining that at least one of the trigger(s) has occurred;
receiving vehicle data concerning one or more vehicle conditions at an electronic message generating system from a vehicle telematics unit connected to the vehicle communications bus;
constructing a notification message in the form of an email message that includes information concerning the one or more vehicle conditions; and
sending the email message to the owner via an electronic messaging system.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle email notification system and method in which triggers are used to initiate the generation and transmission of email messages that provide diverse types of dynamic vehicle information to the owner or other authorized subscriber. The email notifications are triggered by different events, some of which are independent of the vehicle (e.g., a 30 day trigger to provide the subscriber with a monthly vehicle status report), and others of which occur at the vehicle, such as a mileage or low oil life trigger. Upon occurrence of a trigger, the notification system builds and sends to the subscriber an email message that contains the dynamic vehicle information and identifies any detected vehicle condition for which action is needed.
85 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of providing vehicle information to an owner, comprising the steps of:
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establishing one or more owner-configurable triggers that are used to initiate the construction of email messages in a first vehicle system module connected via a vehicle communications bus to an on-board diagnostics system module and one or more other vehicle system modules; monitoring for the occurrence of the trigger(s) and, in response to determining that at least one of the trigger(s) has occurred; receiving vehicle data concerning one or more vehicle conditions at an electronic message generating system from a vehicle telematics unit connected to the vehicle communications bus; constructing a notification message in the form of an email message that includes information concerning the one or more vehicle conditions; and sending the email message to the owner via an electronic messaging system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method of providing vehicle information to an owner or other recipient, comprising the steps of:
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initiating a first communication session from a central data system to the vehicle via a wireless communication network and establishing an owner-configurable trigger in the vehicle as a result of the first communication session; monitoring within the vehicle for occurrence of the owner-configurable trigger and, upon determining that the owner-configurable trigger has occurred, initiating a second communication session from the vehicle to the central data system via the wireless communication network; sending vehicle data to the central data system during the second communication session; generating an email notification message that contains at least some of the vehicle data; and sending the email notification message to the owner via an electronic messaging system. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of providing vehicle information to an owner or other recipient, comprising the steps of:
automatically providing dynamic vehicle data to a central data system by executing one or more vehicle software-controlled processes at the vehicle that carry out the steps of; providing dynamic vehicle data to a telematics unit in the vehicle; sending the dynamic vehicle data from the telematics unit to the central data system using a cellular communications system; and automatically generating and sending an email message based on an owner-configurable trigger utilizing at least some of the dynamic vehicle data by executing one or more centralized software-controlled processes that carry out the steps of; incorporating received dynamic vehicle data into an email message that is displayed to a recipient using two or more regions along with static vehicle data and one or more predetermined textual messages; sending the email out over a global public computer network using an electronic messaging system; monitoring the number of emails sent during a particular time period; and restricting the generation and/or transmission of one or more additional emails if the number of emails previously sent during the time period is above a preselected amount. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
Specification