Remote starting system for a vehicle
First Claim
1. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor, said slave controller comprising:
- a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up a radio frequency signal, the antenna circuit having a component for pre-processing the radio-frequency signal;
b) an output;
c) a control module, coupled to said antenna circuit input, said control module;
i) being responsive to a signal transmitted through said antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to generate a command signal at said output for directing the starter motor to crank the internal combustion engine;
ii) being operative to establish a data communication with an external entity through said antenna circuit input to perform a maintenance procedure.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A slave controller for a remote vehicle starting system. The slave controller is mounted in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor. The slave controller has an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up an RF signal and an output. The slave controller also has a control module, coupled to the antenna circuit input. The control module is responsive to a signal transmitted through the antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to generate a command signal at the output for directing the starter motor to crank the internal combustion engine. The control module is operative to establish a data communication with an external entity through the antenna circuit input to perform a maintenance procedure.
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Citations
71 Claims
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1. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor, said slave controller comprising:
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a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up a radio frequency signal, the antenna circuit having a component for pre-processing the radio-frequency signal;
b) an output;
c) a control module, coupled to said antenna circuit input, said control module;
i) being responsive to a signal transmitted through said antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to generate a command signal at said output for directing the starter motor to crank the internal combustion engine;
ii) being operative to establish a data communication with an external entity through said antenna circuit input to perform a maintenance procedure. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
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6. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having a plurality of electrical sub-systems, one of the electrical sub-systems being a starter sub-system operative to crank an internal combustion engine, said slave controller comprising:
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a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up an RF signal;
b) a set of ports, each port being suitable for electrical connection to a respective electrical sub-system of the plurality of electrical sub-systems, said set of ports including a starter port suitable for electrical connection to the starter sub-system;
c) a control module, coupled to said set of ports and to the antenna circuit, said control module;
i) being responsive to the RF signal to generate a command signal at said starter port for causing energization of the starter sub-system;
ii) being operative to establish a data communication with an external entity through at least one port of said set of ports via the respective electrical sub-system thereof, to perform a maintenance procedure. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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13. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor, said slave controller comprising:
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a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up an RF signal;
b) an output;
c) a control module, coupled to said antenna circuit input and to said output, said control module including;
i) a CPU;
ii) a storage medium for storing program data for execution by said CPU and an event log;
iii) said control module being responsive to an RF signal transmitted through said antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to generate a command signal at said output for directing the starter motor to crank the internal combustion engine;
iv) wherein the generation of the command signal being effected at least in part on a basis of processing of data by said CPU by execution of said program data;
v) said program data, while executed by said CPU, monitoring said control module for occurrence of predetermined events and, if at least one of the predetermined events occurs, creating an entry in the event log associated with the occurred predetermined event;
vi) said program data, while executed by said CPU being operative to record at least one marker in said event log allowing to differentiate between an order of occurrence of events recorded in said event log. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor, said slave controller comprising:
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a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up an RF signal;
b) an output;
c) a control module, coupled to said antenna circuit input, said control module being capable to acquire one of at least two operative modes, namely a common mode and a maintenance mode wherein;
1) in said common mode, said control module being responsive to a signal transmitted through said antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to perform a starting procedure to start the internal combustion engine, said starting procedure including a plurality of individual steps;
2) in said maintenance mode said control module;
(a) is operative to establish a data link with an external entity;
(b) is operative to receive a command sent on the data link and indicative of one or more steps of the starting procedure;
(c) performing the one or more steps indicated by the command without performing the entire starting procedure. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method for configuring a slave controller for installation in a particular vehicle, the slave controller being configurable for installation in a range of individual vehicles including the particular vehicle, the particular vehicle having an internal combustion engine and a starter motor for cranking the internal combustion engine,
a) said slave controller having an output; -
b) said slave controller being responsive to an RF signal containing a command to start the internal combustion engine to generate a command signal at said output for directing the starter motor to crank the internal combustion engine, c) said method including;
i) downloading configuration information corresponding to the particular vehicle into an external device from a remote location over the Internet;
ii) establishing a data communication between the external device and the slave controller to configure the slave controller on the basis of the configuration information. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47)
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71. A slave controller for mounting in a vehicle having an internal combustion engine started by a starter motor, said slave controller comprising:
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a) an antenna circuit input for connection to an antenna circuit suitable for picking up an RF signal;
b) an output;
c) a control module, coupled to said antenna circuit input, said control module being capable to acquire one of at least two operative modes, namely a common mode and a maintenance mode wherein;
i. in said common mode, said control module being responsive to a signal transmitted through said antenna circuit input and originating from the antenna circuit to perform a starting procedure to start the internal combustion engine, said starting procedure including a plurality of individual steps;
ii. in said maintenance mode said control module;
1. is operative to establish a data link with an external entity;
2. is operative to receive a command sent on the data link to perform the starting procedure;
3. performing the entire starting procedure.
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Specification