System or method for loading software onto a vehicle
First Claim
1. A system for distributing software to a storage medium located on a vehicle, said system comprising:
- a transmission device, a load device, and a vehicle software file;
wherein said transmission device provides for making said vehicle software file accessible to said load device;
wherein said load device is a general purpose computer; and
wherein said load device provides for loading said vehicle software file onto the vehicle storage medium.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
The disclosure describes a system or method for distributing software intended for use in vehicles, including but not limited to navigation applications. The distribution system allows individual vehicle owners, as well as third-parties such as automotive dealerships and mechanics, to load software onto vehicle applications in a more efficient manner. Instead of loading the software off of a CD-ROM using a CD player within the vehicle, software files can be received by a general purpose computer accessible by the recipient of the software. The software can then be loaded onto the vehicle hard drive utilizing the superior computing power of the general purpose computer. In order to prevent the unauthorized copying and distribution of the software upgrades, the software can be encrypted using some type of unique identifier, such as a vehicle identification number (VIN).
43 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A system for distributing software to a storage medium located on a vehicle, said system comprising:
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a transmission device, a load device, and a vehicle software file;
wherein said transmission device provides for making said vehicle software file accessible to said load device;
wherein said load device is a general purpose computer; and
wherein said load device provides for loading said vehicle software file onto the vehicle storage medium. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for distributing software to embedded computers in a plurality of vehicles, comprising:
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configuring the vehicle software files so that they can be loaded onto a plurality of vehicle storage mediums by vehicle users using a plurality of general purpose computers;
encrypting the vehicle software files so that each vehicle software file will only function in a subset of vehicles within the plurality of vehicles; and
making the vehicle software files accessible to a plurality of loading devices associated with the plurality of vehicles. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A method of distributing upgraded vehicle software files to vehicle storage mediums through the use of general purpose computers under the control of vehicle users, said method comprising:
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encrypting the vehicle software file using a vehicle identification number as a unique key;
transmitting the vehicle software file to a plurality of different recipients, wherein each recipient receives a copy of the vehicle software file that corresponds to a vehicle identification number unique to the vehicle associated with the recipient and unique to the vehicle software file;
allowing a plurality of recipients to load their particular copy of the vehicle software file onto a vehicle hard drive corresponding to the vehicle identification number corresponding to the encryption key for the particular copy of the vehicle software file; and
prohibiting the loading of any vehicle software file onto a vehicle hard drive where the vehicle identification number for the vehicle does not correspond to the vehicle identification number serving as the encryption key for the vehicle software file. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification