Systems and methods for monitoring and controlling tractor/trailer vehicle systems
First Claim
1. A vehicle comprising:
- a tractor including a tractor cab for housing a tractor/trailer operator;
a trailer mechanically and electrically connected to said tractor, said trailer including an antilock braking system and an antilock braking system interface responsive to said antilock braking system which produces a data signal representing a status of said antilock braking system;
a power bus which distributes electrical power to said antilock braking system;
power line carrier communicating means responsive to said antilock braking system interface for producing a data communications signal on said power bus from said data signal, wherein said power line carrier communicating means comprises spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to the antilock braking system, for producing a spread spectrum data communications signal on said power bus from said data signal; and
status determining means responsive to said power bus for determining the status of said antilock braking system from said data communications signal, wherein said status determining means comprises means for determining the status of the antilock braking system from said spread spectrum data communications signal.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A status of one or more subsystems positioned on one or more trailers is communicated to a tractor electrically and mechanically connected to the trailer. The status may be automatically supplied by the subsystem or may be requested either by the operator of the tractor/trailer combination or automatically by another subsystem on either the tractor or the trailer. A spread spectrum data communications signal representing the status of a respective subsystem is superposed on the power bus. The status of the respective subsystem can then be determined from the spread spectrum data communications signal. Preferably, the status of the subsystem is indicated to an operator positioned on the tractor. A command for controlling a subsystem on a trailer can also be communicated from the tractor to the trailer over the power bus. A spread spectrum data communications signal representing the command is produced on the power bus, and the subsystem is controlled based on the spread spectrum data communications signal. Preferably, the command is received from an operator positioned in the tractor.
10 Citations
50 Claims
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1. A vehicle comprising:
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a tractor including a tractor cab for housing a tractor/trailer operator;
a trailer mechanically and electrically connected to said tractor, said trailer including an antilock braking system and an antilock braking system interface responsive to said antilock braking system which produces a data signal representing a status of said antilock braking system;
a power bus which distributes electrical power to said antilock braking system;
power line carrier communicating means responsive to said antilock braking system interface for producing a data communications signal on said power bus from said data signal, wherein said power line carrier communicating means comprises spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to the antilock braking system, for producing a spread spectrum data communications signal on said power bus from said data signal; and
status determining means responsive to said power bus for determining the status of said antilock braking system from said data communications signal, wherein said status determining means comprises means for determining the status of the antilock braking system from said spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A communications system for a trailer for communicating a status of a subsystem positioned on the trailer, the system comprising:
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a power bus which supplies electrical power to the trailer;
spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to a status signal from the subsystem and positioned on the trailer, for producing a spread spectrum data communications signal representing the status of the subsystem on the power bus, wherein said spread spectrum signal producing means comprises means for producing said spread spectrum data communications signal from the status signal; and
status determining means, remotely positioned relative to the trailer and responsive to the power bus, for determining the status of the subsystem from the spread spectrum data communications signal, wherein said status determining means comprises;
spread spectrum signal receiving means, responsive to the power bus, for receiving said spread spectrum data communications signal; and
means, responsive to said spread spectrum signal receiving means, for determining the status of the subsystem from the received spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A communications system for connecting to a combination of a tractor and a trailer mechanically and electrically connected to the tractor to communicate a command from the tractor to a subsystem positioned on the trailer, the system comprising:
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a power bus which supplies electrical power to the combination of the tractor and the trailer;
spread spectrum signal producing means, positioned on the tractor, for producing a spread spectrum data communications signal representing the command on said power bus, wherein said spread spectrum signal producing means comprises means for producing said spread spectrum data communications signal from the command; and
controlling means, positioned on the trailer, for controlling the subsystem based on the spread spectrum data communications signal, wherein said controlling means comprises;
spread spectrum signal receiving means, positioned on the trailer and responsive to said power bus, for receiving said spread spectrum data communications signal; and
means for controlling the subsystem from the received spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A communications system for a trailer for communicating a status of a first subsystem positioned on the trailer, the system comprising:
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a power bus which supplies electrical power to the trailer, wherein said power bus supplies power to the first subsystem and each of a plurality of second subsystems;
spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to the first subsystem, for producing a spread spectrum data communications signal representing the status of the subsystem on the power bus;
spread spectrum blocking means, associated with respective ones of said second subsystems, for protecting the spread spectrum data communications signal placed on said power bus by said spread spectrum signal producing means from attenuation by the second subsystems; and
status determining means, positioned remote from the trailer and responsive to the power bus, for determining the status of the subsystem from the spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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34. A communications system for at least one trailer, for communicating a respective status of a plurality of subsystems positioned on the at least one trailer, wherein the plurality of subsystems positioned on the at least one trailer communicate according to at least two different protocols, and wherein the communications system comprises:
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a power bus which supplies electrical power to the at least one trailer;
spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to the plurality of subsystems and positioned on the trailer, for producing spread spectrum data communications signals representing the status of the plurality of subsystems on the power bus, wherein said spread spectrum signal producing means comprises;
a plurality of protocol specific transmitters associated with respective ones of said subsystems, wherein each protocol specific transmitter receives signals having a predetermined protocol and converts the signals to a standardized format; and
means for producing spread spectrum data communications signals representative of the status of respective ones of the subsystems based upon the signals having the standardized format provided by the protocol specific transmitters; and
status determining means, responsive to the power bus, for determining the status of respective ones of the plurality of subsystems from the spread spectrum data communications signals. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A communications system for at least one trailer, for communicating a respective status of a plurality of subsystems positioned on the at least one trailer, the system comprising:
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a power bus which supplies electrical power to the at least one trailer;
spread spectrum signal producing means, responsive to the subsystems and positioned on the at least one trailer, for producing spread spectrum data communications signals representing the respective status of the subsystems on the power bus, wherein said spread spectrum signal producing means comprises a plurality of spread spectrum transmitters responsive to respective ones of the subsystems for producing spread spectrum communications signals representing the status of the respective subsystem, and wherein said spread spectrum signal producing means comprises self-diagnostic means associated with at least one of said transmitter and for halting further transmission by the respective spread spectrum transmitter to the communications system if said self-diagnostic means determines that the respective spread spectrum transmitter is being provided with inaccurate signals such that the remainder of the communications system will continue to operate; and
status determining means, responsive to the power bus, for determining the status of respective ones of the plurality of subsystems from the spread spectrum data communications signals. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44)
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45. A method of monitoring a subsystem positioned on a trailer that produces a data signal representing a status of the subsystem and a power bus which distributes electrical power to the trailer and a tractor connected thereto, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing a data communications signal from the data signal;
communicating said data communications signal over the power bus, wherein said step of communicating comprises the steps of;
modulating the data communications signal to produce a spread spectrum data communications signal; and
superposing the spread spectrum data communications signal on the power bus, at the trailer; and
determining the status of the subsystem from the communicated data communications signal, wherein said step of determining comprises the steps of;
receiving the superposed spread spectrum data communications signal; and
determining the status of the subsystem from the received spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (46, 47)
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48. A method of communicating a command from a tractor to a subsystem positioned on a trailer electrically and mechanically connected to the tractor, the tractor and trailer combination including a power bus which supplies electrical power to the tractor and the trailer, the method comprising the steps of:
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producing a data communications signal representing the command on the power bus, wherein said step of producing comprises the steps of;
modulating the data communications signal to produce a spread spectrum data communications signal; and
superposing the spread spectrum data communications signal on the power bus, at the tractor;
receiving the superposed spread spectrum data communications signal, at the trailer; and
controlling the subsystem based on the spread spectrum data communications signal. - View Dependent Claims (49, 50)
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Specification