Vehicle tracking unit having a self diagnostic mode and related methods
First Claim
1. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
- a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle tracking unit may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller cooperating with the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station. Furthermore, the vehicle tracking unit may also include at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to the controller, and the controller may include a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices. The controller may be switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested, and results thereof may be indicated by the at least one local diagnostic indicator.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
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a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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14. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
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a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least some of the plurality of output driver circuits are sequentially tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator.
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26. A method for performing diagnostics on a vehicle tracking unit comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices, the method comprising:
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switching the vehicle tracking unit to a diagnostic mode;
testing at least one of the output driver circuits when the vehicle tracking unit is switched to the diagnostic mode; and
indicating results from the testing using at least one local diagnostic indicator.
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Specification