REMOTELY CONTROLLING A VEHICLE TELEMATICS UNIT

• US 20150133108A1
• Filed: 11/13/2013
• Published: 05/14/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company), GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company), GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Ahmed, Wahaj, Sauerbrey, Steven S., Mathieson, Kier M., Chim, Huong T.
• Granted Patent: US 9,420,405 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/420
• 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 84/12 WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]

Abstract

A method and a system for providing control of a vehicle telematics unit using a mobile device. The method carried out by the system includes the steps of: determining a mobile device is configured to control a vehicle telematics unit; receiving at a call center a vehicle telematics unit (VTU) command from the mobile device instructing the telematics unit to provide vehicle data using short range wireless communication (SRWC); sending the VTU command from the call center to the telematics unit; and transmitting via SRWC the vehicle data.

Claims

1. A method of controlling a vehicle telematics unit using a mobile device, comprising the steps of:

(a) determining that a mobile device is configured to control a vehicle telematics unit;

(b) receiving at a call center a vehicle telematics unit (VTU) command from the mobile device instructing the telematics unit to provide vehicle data using short range wireless communication (SRWC);

(c) sending the VTU command from the call center to the telematics unit; and

(d) transmitting via SRWC the vehicle data.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises:

(a1) providing to a user of the vehicle a user account at a remote server, the user account have validating data associated therewith;

(a2) providing to the user an application software for installation on the mobile device; and

(a3) validating that the mobile device is associated with the user account after receiving the validating data from the mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein validating data includes a username and password.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising (a4):

receiving an instruction via the user account enabling remote commands from the mobile device, wherein the instruction is received via a remote computer or the mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle data includes current hotspot credential data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the vehicle hotspot credential data includes a wireless local area network (WLAN) password.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the vehicle hotspot credential data includes at least one of a WLAN name, an internet protocol (IP) address, mask data, gateway data, and a media access control (MAC) address.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein data communicated via SRWC between the mobile device and the telematics unit is encrypted according to a private key infrastructure.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein data communicated via cellular transmission either between the mobile device and the call center or between the telematics unit and the call center is encrypted.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein a vehicle carrying the telematics unit does not include a vehicle multi-tainment unit (VMU) capable of receiving telematics services via the telematics unit.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising step (e):

receiving from the mobile device updated vehicle hotspot credential data.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising step (f):

changing the access credential data of the telematics unit using the updated hotspot credential data.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the updated hotspot credential data is received and stored at the remote server in the user account.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the updated hotspot credential data is received at the telematics unit from the call center.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:

instructions executable by a mobile device, wherein the instructions include;

generating a vehicle telematics unit (VTU) command, wherein the VTU command includes instructing a telematics unit to broadcast vehicle data via short range wireless communication (SRWC); and

providing the VTU command to the telematics unit, wherein the instructions include sending the VTU command first to a remote facility which will then send the VTU command to the telematics unit.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further include:

enabling receipt of user-selectable credential data at the mobile device, wherein the credential data is associated with a wireless hotspot functionality of the telematics unit.