Method and system for vehicle software configuration management

• US 20050216903A1
• Filed: 03/23/2004
• Published: 09/29/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Schaefer, Mark S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,506,309 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

The present invention provides a system and a method for managing a software configuration of a vehicle. Software configuration update data for a vehicle is requested from a central database from one of a call center or a telematics unit. Vehicle software configuration data representative of a vehicle software configuration is retrieved. A determination is made whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data and a software module is sent from the call center to the telematics unit via a wireless network based on the determination. A computer usable medium with suitable computer program code is employed for managing the software configuration of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method of managing a software configuration of a vehicle, the method comprising:

requesting a software configuration update data for a vehicle from a central database from one of a call center or a telematics unit;

retrieving a vehicle software configuration data representative of a vehicle software configuration;

determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data; and

sending a software module from the call center to the telematics unit via a wireless network based on the determination.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle further comprises requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle responsive to a trigger event.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the trigger event is selected from the group consisting of a predefined time period, an update flag generated by the call center, and a status check flag generated by the vehicle.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the vehicle software configuration data further comprises retrieving the vehicle software configuration data from the telematics unit.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the vehicle software configuration data by requesting software configuration data from a vehicle component.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle further comprises requesting a listing of software modules for the vehicle and wherein retrieving the vehicle software configuration data further comprises retrieving a listing of software modules installed in the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data further comprises determining whether the software configuration update data listing of software modules match the vehicle software configuration data listing of modules.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving the vehicle software configuration data representative of the vehicle software configuration further comprises:

requesting a first vehicle identification tag from the vehicle;

retrieving a second vehicle identification tag from the telematics unit;

determining whether the first vehicle identification tag corresponds with the second vehicle identification tag; and

storing the first vehicle identification tag in the telematics unit if the first vehicle identification tag does not match the second vehicle identification tag.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the software module comprises a software identification tag identifying a version of the software module.

10. A computer readable medium storing a computer program for managing a software configuration of a vehicle, comprising:

computer readable code for requesting a software configuration update data for a vehicle from a central database from one of a call center or a telematics unit;

computer readable code for retrieving a vehicle software configuration data representative of a vehicle software configuration;

computer readable code for determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data; and

computer readable code for sending a software module from the call center to the telematics unit via a wireless network based on the determination.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the computer readable code for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle comprises computer readable code for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle responsive to a trigger event.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, further comprising computer readable code for selecting the trigger event from a list consisting of a predefined time period, an update flag generated by the call center, and a status check flag generated by the vehicle.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the computer readable code for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data comprises computer readable code for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data from the telematics unit.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 10, further comprising computer readable code for determining the vehicle software configuration data by requesting software configuration date from a vehicle component.

15. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the computer readable code for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle comprises computer readable code for requesting a listing of software modules for the vehicle and wherein the computer readable code for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data comprises computer readable code for retrieving a listing of software modules installed in the vehicle.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the computer readable code for determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data comprises computer readable code for determining whether the software configuration update data listing of software modules match the vehicle software configuration data listing of modules.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein the computer readable code for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data representative of the vehicle software configuration comprises:

computer readable code for requesting a first vehicle identification tag from the vehicle;

computer readable code for retrieving a second vehicle identification tag from the telematics unit;

computer readable code for determining whether the first vehicle identification tag corresponds with the second vehicle identification tag; and

computer readable code for storing the first vehicle identification tag in the telematics unit if the first vehicle identification tag does not match the second vehicle identification tag.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 10, further comprising computer readable code for interpreting a software identification tag to identify a version of the software module.

19. A system for managing a software configuration of a vehicle, the system comprising:

means for requesting a software configuration update data for a vehicle from a central database from one of a call center or a telematics unit;

means for retrieving a vehicle software configuration data representative of a vehicle software configuration;

means for determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data; and

means for sending a software module from the call center to the telematics unit via a wireless network based on the determination.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle further comprises means for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle responsive to a trigger event.

21. The system of claim 20, further comprises means for selecting the trigger event from a list consisting of a predefined time period, an update flag generated by the call center, and a status check flag generated by the vehicle.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data further comprises means for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data from the telematics unit.

23. The system of claim 19, further comprising means for determining the vehicle software configuration data by requesting software configuration data from a vehicle component.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for requesting the software configuration update data for the vehicle further comprises means for requesting a listing of software modules for the vehicle and wherein the means for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data further comprises means for retrieving a listing of software modules installed in the vehicle.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the means for determining whether the software configuration update data corresponds with the vehicle software configuration data further comprises means for determining whether the software configuration update data listing of software modules match the vehicle software configuration data listing of modules.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the means for retrieving the vehicle software configuration data representative of the vehicle software configuration further comprises:

means for requesting a first vehicle identification tag from the vehicle;

means for retrieving a second vehicle identification tag from the telematics unit;

means for determining whether the first vehicle identification tag corresponds with the second vehicle identification tag;

means for storing the first vehicle identification tag in the telematics unit if the first vehicle identification tag does not match the second vehicle identification tag.

27. The system of claim 19, further comprising means for interpreting a software identification tag to identify a version of the software module.