Wireless network and methodology for automotive service systems

• US 20090024272A1
• Filed: 07/20/2007
• Published: 01/22/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 07/20/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Snap-On Incorporated
• Inventors: Gill, George M., Rogers, Steven W., Moran, Robert O.
• Granted Patent: US 8,073,586 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/2755 using photoelectric detection means
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2210/10 Wheel alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2210/16 Active or passive device attached to the chassis of a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 2210/58 Wireless transmission of information between a sensor or probe and a control or evaluation unit
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 23/661 Transmitting camera control signals through networks, e.g. control via the Internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/38 for collecting sensor information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/11 Allocation or use of connection identifiers

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for forming a wireless communications network using a standard communications link between a master controller and at least one slave device. In one example, a list of available slave devices for the network is generated, valid slave devices are determined from the list of available slave devices based on an identification protocol of the standard communications link, and the at least one slave device is selected from the valid slave devices. A network identification is established between the master controller and the at least one slave device, and the network identification is used to establish a network comprising only the master controller and the at least one slave device.

Claims

1. A method for forming a wireless communications network, using a standard communications link, between a master controller and at least one slave device, the method comprising:

generating a list of available slave devices for the network having the standard communications link;

determining valid slave devices from the list of available slave devices based on an identification protocol of the standard communications link;

selecting the at least one slave device from the valid slave devices;

establishing a network identification between the master controller and the at least one slave device; and

using the network identification to establish a network comprising only the master controller and the at least one slave device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the standard communications link includes one of Bluetooth, Ultra Wide Band (UWB), 802.11 (WiFi), and 802.15.4/Zigbee.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the list of available slave devices comprises:

scanning for available slave devices using the master controller; and

recording the list of available slave devices in the master controller.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the valid slave devices from the list of available slave devices comprises:

attempting to establish an asynchronous Connection Oriented (ACL) connection between the master controller and each available slave device, respectively; and

determining whether each available slave device is a valid slave device based on whether the ACL connection is established.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein attempting to establish the ACL connection comprises determining whether each available slave device respectively has a predetermined default personal identification number (PIN).

6. The method of claim 4, wherein attempting to establish the ACL connection comprises determining whether each available slave device respectively has one of a predetermined set of personal identification numbers (PINs).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each valid slave device has a unique identification address per the standard communications link, and selecting the at least one slave device comprises:

using the master controller to automatically select all the valid slave devices when the quantity of valid slave devices is equal to a predetermined quantity; and

storing the unique identification address of each selected slave device in the master controller.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each valid slave device has a unique identification address per the standard communications link, and selecting the at least one slave device comprises:

comparing the quantity of valid slave devices to a predetermined number;

manually selecting each of a desired number of the valid slave devices when the quantity of valid slave devices exceeds the predetermined number; and

storing the unique identification address of each manually selected slave device in the master controller.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein manually selecting each of the desired number of the valid slave devices comprises manually operating an input device on each of the desired valid slave devices.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a network identification between the master controller and the selected at least one slave device comprises storing a unique identification address of the selected at least one slave device in the master controller, the unique identification address being part of the standard communications link.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein establishing a network identification between the master controller and the selected at least one slave device comprises assigning the at least one slave device a personal identification number (PIN) pre-stored in the master controller.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the PIN is one of a plurality of PINs pre-stored in the master controller.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein selecting the at least one slave device comprises using the master controller to automatically select all the valid slave devices when the quantity of valid slave devices is equal to a predetermined quantity;

and

wherein the network identification between the master controller and the selected at least one slave device is established using the default PIN of each selected slave device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one slave device is a pair of sensor pods for an automotive wheel alignment system.

15. A vehicle service system comprising a main processor, a master controller and at least one slave device;

wherein the master controller is for wirelessly communicating with the at least one slave device using a standard communications link;

wherein the at least one slave device is for gathering vehicle data and transmitting the data to the master controller via the standard communications link;

wherein the master controller includes a processor configured to process the data; and

wherein the main processor and the master controller are in communication with each other, and the processor of the master controller sends the processed data to the main processor for further processing.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the main processor and the master controller are linked via an Ethernet connection.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is a vehicle service system, the data comprises measurement data, and the master controller processor and main processor are for calculating results based on the measurement data.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the system is a vehicle wheel alignment system, the measurement data is sensor data, and the calculated results comprise vehicle wheel alignment angles.

21. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further configured to perform system maintenance functions.

23. The system of claim 15, wherein the master controller further comprises a communications link to a second system.

25. The system of claim 15, wherein the master controller further comprises a memory for storing vehicle specification data, and the master controller processor is configured to retrieve and process the vehicle specification data.

29. The system of claim 15, wherein each slave device has a unique identification address per the standard communications link;

wherein the master controller further comprises an input device for entering the unique identification address of each slave device into the master controller processor; and

wherein the master controller processor is further configured to establish a wireless network for wirelessly communicating with only the at least one slave device based on the unique identification address.

19. A vehicle service system comprising a master controller and at least one slave device;

wherein the master controller is for wirelessly communicating with the at least one slave device using a standard communications link;

wherein the at least one slave device is for gathering vehicle service data and transmitting the data to the master controller via the standard communications link; and

wherein the master controller includes a processor configured to process the data and serve the processed data.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the system is a vehicle wheel alignment system, the data is sensor data, and the processed data comprises vehicle wheel alignment angles.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is further configured to perform system maintenance functions.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the master controller further comprises a communications link to a second system.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the master controller further comprises a memory for storing vehicle specification data, and the processor is configured to retrieve and process the vehicle specification data.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein the processor is configured to serve the processed data as a web page to a browser-based client.

30. The system of claim 19, wherein each slave device has a unique identification address per the standard communications link;

wherein the master controller further comprises an input device for entering the unique identification address of each slave device into the master controller processor; and

wherein the master controller processor is further configured to establish a wireless network for wirelessly communicating with only the at least one slave device based on the unique identification address.

27. A system comprising a master controller and at least one slave device, the system using a standard communications link between the master controller and the at least one slave device to form a wireless communications network, wherein the master controller includes a processor configured to perform the steps of:

generating a list of available slave devices for the network having the standard communications link;

determining valid slave devices from the list of available slave devices based on an identification protocol of the standard communications link;

selecting the at least one slave device from the valid slave devices;

establishing a network identification between the master controller and the at least one slave device; and

using the network identification to establish a network comprising only the master controller and the at least one slave device.