SYSTEM FOR IDENTIFYING THE COMPONENTS OF A VEHICLE

• US 20120123611A1
• Filed: 09/14/2011
• Published: 05/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: STMicroelectronics SRL (STMicroelectronics NV)
• Original Assignee: STMicroelectronics SRL (STMicroelectronics NV)
• Inventors: Grasso, Giuseppe, Patti, Davide Giuseppe, Oliva, Viviana
• Granted Patent: US 9,002,534 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00

Abstract

A system for identifying a plurality of components of a vehicle that includes a plurality of non-volatile memories for storing identifiers associated with the plurality of vehicle components, a controller of the plurality of the vehicle components, a communication network configured for connecting the controller to the plurality of memories, and an identifiers memory including a portion to store a list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers associated with the plurality of type-approved vehicle components. The controller receives the identifiers, reads from the portion of the identifiers memory the list of type-approved identifiers, and checks if the identifiers of the plurality of components are included in the list of the type-approved identifiers, and when the controller detects that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the list, the controller blocks operation of the component.

Claims

1. A system for identifying a plurality of components of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a plurality of non-volatile memories structured to store respective identifiers associated with the plurality of vehicle components;

a controller coupled to the plurality of vehicle components;

a communication network structured to connect the controller to the plurality of memories; and

an identifiers memory, including a portion structured to store a list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers associated with the plurality of type-approved vehicle components, wherein the type-approved identifiers are different from each other;

wherein the controller is structured to;

receive, from the plurality of memories through the communication network, the identifiers associated with the plurality of components;

read, from the portion of the identifiers memory, the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers;

check if the identifiers associated with the plurality of components are included in the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers; and

in the case of detecting that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the list, blocking the operation of said component.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein a memory out of the plurality of memories is configured to store an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components and to further store an identifier associated with a spare component replacing the component.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the identifiers memory is structured to store the identifier associated with a type-approved spare component.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the identifier associated with the component and the plurality of type-approved identifiers is a digital identifier that includes at least one from among the following fields:

a field indicating a unique number;

a field indicating a date of installation of the component on the vehicle, the name of the garage performing the installation of the component on the vehicle and the name of the person performing the installation of the component on the vehicle;

a field indicating the software version used to update the memory associated with the component or indicating the name of the proprietor of the software;

a field indicating the date of the last check in the garage of the vehicle component.

5. The system of claim 1, further including:

a port for accessing the plurality of non-volatile memories from an exterior of the vehicle;

a device structured to connect to the port and to read the identifiers from the plurality of non-volatile memories, the device including;

another identifiers memory including a portion structured to store another list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers;

a processor structured to;

receive, from the plurality of memories through the communication network and the port, the identifiers associated with the plurality of components;

read, from the portion of the other identifiers memory the other list of type-approved identifiers;

check if the components identifiers are included in the other list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers; and

generate an alarm in case of detecting that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the other list.

6. The system of claim 1 wherein the components are mechanical-electronic spare parts.

7. A vehicle comprising:

a system structured to identify a plurality of elements, the system including;

a plurality of non-volatile memories structured to store respective identifiers associated with the plurality of vehicle components;

a controller coupled to the plurality of vehicle components;

a communication network structured to connect the controller to the plurality of memories; and

an identifiers memory, including a portion structured to store a list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers associated with the plurality of type-approved vehicle components, wherein the type-approved identifiers are different from each other;

wherein the controller is structured to;

receive, from the plurality of memories through the communication network, the identifiers associated with the plurality of components;

read, from the portion of the identifiers memory, the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers;

check if the identifiers associated with the plurality of components are included in the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers; and

in case of detecting that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the list, blocking the operation of the component;

wherein each component of the plurality of components has a respective memory out of the plurality of non-volatile memories.

8. The vehicle of claim 7, wherein a memory out of the plurality of memories is structured to store an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components and to further store an identifier associated with a spare component replacing the component.

9. The vehicle of claim 8, wherein the identifiers memory is structured to store the identifier associated with a type-approved spare component.

10. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein the identifier associated with the component and the plurality of type-approved identifiers are a digital identifier that includes at least one from among the following fields:

a field indicating a unique number;

a field indicating a date of installation of the component on the vehicle, the name of the garage performing the installation of the component on the vehicle and the name of the person performing the installation of the component on the vehicle;

a field indicating the software version used to update the memory associated with the component or indicating the name of the proprietor of the software;

a field indicating the date of the last check in the garage of the vehicle component.

11. The vehicle of claim 7, further including:

a port for accessing the plurality of non-volatile memories from an exterior of the vehicle;

a device structured to connect to the port and to read the identifiers from the plurality of non-volatile memories, the device including;

another identifiers memory including a portion structured to store another list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers;

a processor structured to;

receive, from the plurality of memories through the communication network and the port, the identifiers associated with the plurality of components;

read, from the portion of the other identifiers memory the other list of type-approved identifiers;

check if the components identifiers are included in the other list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers; and

generate an alarm in case of detecting that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the other list.

12. A method for identifying a plurality of components of a vehicle, the method comprising:

a) storing into a plurality of non-volatile memories respective identifiers associated with the plurality of vehicle components;

b) storing into a portion of an identifiers memory a list of a plurality of type-approved identifiers associated with the plurality of type-approved vehicle components, wherein the type-approved identifiers are different from each other;

c) at a controller of the plurality of vehicle components, receiving from the plurality of memories the identifiers associated with the plurality of components;

d) reading from the portion of the identifiers memory the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers;

e) at the controller, checking if the identifiers associated with the plurality of components are included in the list of the plurality of type-approved identifiers;

f) in the case of detecting at the controller that an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the list, blocking the operation of said component.

13. The method of claim 12, further including, before a), replacing a component out of the plurality of components with a spare component,

wherein storing into a plurality of non-volatile memories includes storing into a memory out of the plurality of non-volatile memories an identifier associated with the replaced component and storing an identifier associated with the spare component.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein storing into a portion of an identifiers memory further includes storing into the portion of the identifiers memory the identifier associated with a type-approved spare component.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein step b) further includes the step of deleting from the portion of the identifiers memory the identifier associated with a stolen spare component.

16. A circuit for vehicles having a plurality of components, the circuit comprising:

a memory structured to store identification data associated with respective components of the plurality of components; and

a processor coupled to the memory and the plurality of components and structured to communicate with the components and the memory to verify that the components are authorized components and, if not, to provide an error signal.

17. The circuit of claim 16, wherein the memory is structured to store identification data that includes a component identifier and at least one of the following:

date of installation of the component on the vehicle, the name of a facility performing installation of the component on the vehicle, name of a person performing the installation of the component on the vehicle, a version of software used to update the memory associated with the components, name of proprietor of the software that operates the processor, the date of the last vehicle service and the name of the facility performing the service, and an identifier associated with a spare component replacing one of the plurality of components.

18. The circuit of claim 17, further comprising a port structured to provide access to the plurality of components from an exterior of the vehicle, and a device structured to connect to the port and to access the plurality of components, the device including a memory structured to store type-approved component identifiers, and a processor structured to receive from the plurality of components identifiers associated with each of the plurality of components, to read from the memory coupled to the processor the component identifiers, to determine if the component identifiers in the memory are associated with the respective component of the plurality of components, and generate an alarm when an identifier associated with a component out of the plurality of components is not included in the memory coupled to the processor.

19. The circuit of claim 18, comprising an electronic semiconductor memory on each component and structured to store at least one of a component identifier, date of installation of the component on the vehicle, the name of a facility performing installation of the component on the vehicle, name of a person performing the installation of the component on the vehicle, a version of software used to update the memory associated with the components, name of proprietor of the software that operates the processor, the date of the last vehicle service and the name of the facility performing the service, and an identifier associated with a spare component replacing one of the plurality of components.

20. The circuit of claim 16, wherein the processor is structured to generate the error signal and prevent operation of at least one of the vehicle and the plurality of components determined to be unauthorized.