MANAGING DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES IN A VEHICLE

• US 20150073649A1
• Filed: 09/11/2013
• Published: 03/12/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/11/2013
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Kelly, James J. III, Edwards, Ryan M., Hering, Carl J., Olsen, Jeffrey J.
• Application Number:
  US14/023,613
• Publication Number:
  US 20150073649A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/31.4
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A method of managing diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) in a vehicle includes generating at a vehicle a plurality of DTCs output from one or more diagnostic subtasks; assigning an ordinal number to each DTC independent of time based on the order in which the DTC occurred at the vehicle; and wirelessly transmitting to a central facility the plurality of DTCs along with the ordinal numbers assigned to each DTC.

Claims

1. A method of managing diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) generating at a vehicle a plurality of DTCs output from one or more diagnostic subtasks;

(b) assigning an ordinal number to each DTC independent of time based on the order in which the DTC occurred at the vehicle; and

(c) wirelessly transmitting to a central facility the plurality of DTCs along with the ordinal numbers assigned to each DTC.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of capturing a segment of data from a vehicle sensor in a sensor buffer and storing the segment of data when a DTC is generated.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of obtaining the ordinal number from an ordinal buffer.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of maintaining data received from a vehicle sensor in a sensor buffer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises comparing data received from a vehicle sensor with a known range of vehicle data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of linking two or more diagnostic subtasks together, wherein the diagnostic subtasks are modular.

7. A method of managing diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) generating at a vehicle a plurality of DTCs output from one or more diagnostic subtasks;

(b) storing each DTC of the plurality of DTCs at the vehicle along with a condition that caused each DTC;

(c) assigning an ordinal number that is independent of time to each stored DTC and condition; and

(d) wirelessly transmitting to a central facility the plurality of DTCs and their corresponding conditions along with the assigned ordinal numbers.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of capturing a segment of data that represents the condition from a vehicle sensor in a sensor buffer and storing the segment of data when a DTC is generated.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of obtaining the ordinal number from an ordinal buffer.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of maintaining data received from a vehicle sensor in a sensor buffer.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of comparing data received from a vehicle sensor with a known range of vehicle data.

12. The method of claim 7, further comprising the step of linking two or more diagnostic subtasks together, wherein the diagnostic subtasks are modular.

13. A system of managing diagnostic trouble codes (DTCs) in a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle telematics unit comprising a processor, computer-readable memory, and an antenna, wherein the vehicle telematics unit;

receives vehicle operational data from one or more vehicle sensor modules;

generates a plurality of DTCs that are output from one or more diagnostic subtasks carried out using the processor;

assigns an ordinal number to each DTC independent of time based on the order in which the DTC occurred; and

wirelessly transmits to a central facility the plurality of DTCs along with the ordinal number assigned to each DTC via the antenna.

14. The system of claim 13, further comprising an ordinal buffer for providing the ordinal number.

15. The system of claim 13, further comprising a sensor buffer for capturing a segment of the vehicle operational data.