SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR WIRELESS VEHICLE CONTENT DETERMINATION

• US 20140277828A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 09/18/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Bullister, Kevin Michael, Chronowski, David, Woloszyn, Thomas
• Granted Patent: US 9,786,102 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0816 Indicating performance data, e.g. occurrence of a malfunction

Abstract

A fleet management system providing a manager with a tailored user interface based on the enabled features recognized in a vehicle. The fleet management system may monitor two or more vehicles, wherein each vehicle may have one or more processors. The one or more processors may receive an initialization signal from the fleet management system. The one or more processors may perform a query of one or more vehicle modules for enabled features in response to the initialization signal received from the fleet management system. The query of enabled vehicle features may be based on one or more criteria. The system may transmit to a server a signal indicating the enabled vehicle features installed in the vehicle. The system may output the enabled vehicle features to a user while tailoring the user screen data based on the enabled features.

Claims

1. A fleet management system comprising:

a vehicle having one or more processors configured to;

wirelessly receive a initialization signal from the fleet management system;

perform a query of one or more vehicle modules for enabled features installed in the vehicle in response to the initialization signal, wherein the query is based on one or more criteria; and

wirelessly transmit to a server a signal indicating the enabled features.

2. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the one or more criteria includes comparing a module software size.

3. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the one or more criteria includes analysis of calibration variables.

4. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the one or more criteria includes hardware configuration.

5. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the server is configured to output the enabled features to a cellular phone.

6. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the server is configured to output the enabled features to a personal computer.

7. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the query based on one or more criteria includes a query of one or more configuration settings for the module.

8. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein the one or more processors and the one or more vehicle modules communicate over a vehicle data bus.

9. The fleet management system of claim 1 wherein wireless connection is selected from a set consisting of WiFi, cellular, and BLUETOOTH.

10. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, storing instructions that when executed by a processor, configure the processor to:

wirelessly receive a initialization signal from a fleet management system;

perform a query of one or more vehicle modules for enabled features installed in the vehicle in response to the initialization signal, wherein the query is based on one or more criteria; and

wirelessly transmit to a server communicating with the fleet management system a signal indicating the enabled features.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein wireless connection is selected from a set consisting of WiFi, cellular, and BLUETOOTH.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the query based on one or more criteria includes a query of one or more configuration settings for the module.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the one or more criteria includes analysis of calibration variables.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein the one or more criteria includes hardware recognition.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 additionally storing instructions to configure the processor to transmit data from the enabled features.

16. A method comprising:

wirelessly receiving an initialization signal from a fleet management system;

establishing communication of one or more vehicle modules using a vehicle data bus;

performing a query of one or more vehicle modules for enabled features installed in a vehicle in response to the initialization signal on the vehicle data bus, wherein the query is based on one or more criteria;

wirelessly transmitting to a server a signal indicating the enabled features installed in the vehicle; and

outputting the enabled features on a display.

17. The method of claim 16 additionally comprising configuring the display based on the enabled features.

18. The method of claim 16 additionally comprising transmitting data related to the enabled features.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein the display is a personal computer.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the display is a mobile device.