MANAGING DEVICES WITHIN A VEHICULAR COMMUNICATION NETWORK

• US 20180278546A1
• Filed: 05/25/2018
• Published: 09/27/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies General IP (Singapore) PTE Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Yousefi, Nariman, Kim, Yongbum, Walley, John, Chen, Sherman (Xuemin), Diab, Wael William, Ilyadis, Nicholas
• Granted Patent: US 10,778,608 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60L 50/00 Electric propulsion with power supplied within the vehicle with power supply from force of nature, e.g. sun or wind, B60L8/00; for monorail vehicles, suspension vehicles or rack railways B60L13/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/023 for transmission of signals between vehicle parts or subsystems
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/03 for supply of electrical power to vehicle subsystems or for circuit arrangements for charging batteries H02J7/00
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0315 using multiplexing techniques multiplexing for transmission of signals G08C15/00; multiplexing for electrical communication in general H04J
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 19/03 characterised by material, e.g. composite B60R19/18 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/26 Power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof for memories G11C
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4022 using switching circuits, e.g. switching matrix, connection or expansion network G06F13/4009 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 7/76 Arrangements for rearranging, permuting or selecting data according to predetermined rules, independently of the content of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0866 the electronic data carrier being a digital video recorder in combination with video camera
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/16 Anti-collision systems road vehicle drive control systems for predicting or avoiding probable or impending collision otherwise than by control of a particular sub-unit B60W30/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/10 Current supply arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/46 Interconnection of networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/56 Packet switching systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2433 Allocation of priorities to traffic types
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/6275 : based on priority
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/76 : using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation requested by the user or requested by the network in response to changing network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/821 : Prioritising resource allocation or reservation requests
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 : Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 : Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 19/102 : characterised by the element, parameter or selection affected or controlled by the adaptive coding
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/181 : for receiving images from a plurality of remote sources
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 7/183 : for receiving images from a single remote source
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 24/08 : Testing, supervising or monitoring using real traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 28/08 : Load balancing or load distribution transferring a connection for handling the traffic H04W36/22; wireless traffic scheduling H04W72/12
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 : for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/46 : for vehicle-to-vehicle communication [V2V]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/02 : Selection of wireless resources by user or terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/541 : using the level of interference
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/56 : based on priority criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/02 : Terminal devices
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 : in wireless communication networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/18 : Network protocols supporting networked applications, e.g. including control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A system for determining the servicing needs of a vehicle. In various embodiments, the system includes a remote server and a vehicle control module of the vehicle. The vehicle control module includes a first communication interface to enable communications with at least one vehicle device via a network fabric of the vehicle. The vehicle control module is configured to receive status data, from the vehicle device, relating to a performance status or operational status of the vehicle. The vehicle control module further includes a second communication interface that enables wireless communications with the remote server. The wireless communications include sending status data to the remote server. The remote server is configured to receive and interpret the status data to determine if the vehicle requires service, and send a response to the vehicle. When service is required, the response may cause the vehicle to provide a service indication.

Claims

1-20. -20. (canceled)

21. A vehicle control module including:

a processing module;

a first communication interface coupled to the processing module to enable communications, via a network fabric, between the vehicle control module and at least one vehicle device within a vehicle, the vehicle control module configured to receive vehicle status data from the at least one vehicle device; and

a second communication interface coupled to the processing module, the second communication interface configured to enable the vehicle control module to wirelessly communicate with a remote server,

wherein the processing module is configured to;

determine, based at least in part on the vehicle status data, if the vehicle is in need of service; and

in response to a determination that the vehicle is in need of service, send an indication that the vehicle is in need of service to the remote server via the second communication interface.

22. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the processing module is further configured to:

determine, based at least in part on the vehicle status data from the at least one vehicle device, if the at least one vehicle device is damaged or failing; and

in response to a determination that the at least one vehicle device is damaged or failing, send an indication to the remote server, via the second communication interface, that the at least one vehicle device is damaged or failing.

23. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the processing module is further configured to determine that the vehicle is in need of service in response to receiving vehicle status data indicating that data consumption by the at least one vehicle device deviates from an expected level of data consumption.

24. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the processing module is further configured to determine that the vehicle is in need of service in response to receiving vehicle status data indicating that power consumption by the at least one vehicle device deviates from an expected level of power consumption.

25. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the second communications interface is coupled to one or more wireless transceivers to support wireless communications with the remote server.

26. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the vehicle control module further comprises:

a third communication interface;

a digital-to-analog converter coupled to the third communication interface; and

an actuator coupled to the digital-to-analog converter.

27. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the vehicle control module comprises at least one of:

one or more processing modules;

an electronic control unit (ECU);

or

a vehicle assembly.

28. The vehicle control module of claim 21, wherein the at least one vehicle device includes a sensor, the vehicle control module further comprising:

an analog-to-digital converter coupled to the first communication interface, the analog-to-digital converter configured to convert analog data from the sensor into digital data.

29. A system for determining servicing needs of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a remote server; and

a vehicle control module including;

a processing module;

a first communication interface to enable communications, via a network fabric, between the vehicle control module and at least one vehicle device within a vehicle; and

a second communication interface to enable the vehicle control module to communicate with the remote server,

wherein the processing module is configured to;

receive from the at least one vehicle device, via the first communication interface, vehicle status data relating to at least an operational status of the vehicle; and

send the vehicle status data to the remote server via the second communication interface,

and wherein the remote server is configured to;

receive the vehicle status data;

determine if the vehicle is in need of service based on the received vehicle status data; and

in response to a determination that the vehicle is in need of service, send responsive data indicating that the vehicle is in need of service.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the responsive data further includes data for use in scheduling a service appointment.

31. The system of claim 29, wherein the second communications interface is coupled to one or more wireless transceivers to support wireless communications with the remote server, wherein the wireless communications are compliant with a cellular or Long Term Evolution (LTE) wireless communication protocol.

32. The system of claim 29, wherein the second communications interface is coupled to a wireless gateway, the wireless gateway supporting a diagnostic port for communicating with the remote server.

33. The system of claim 29, wherein the remote server is configured to determine that the vehicle is in need of service in response to receiving vehicle status data indicating that data consumption by the at least one vehicle device deviates from an expected level of data consumption.

34. The system of claim 29, wherein the remote server is configured to determine that the vehicle is in need of service in response to receiving vehicle status data indicating that power consumption by the at least one vehicle device deviates from an expected level of power consumption.

35. The system of claim 29 wherein the responsive data further configures the vehicle to display a service indication.

36. The system of claim 35, further comprising:

a Bluetooth transceiver coupled to the network fabric, the Bluetooth transceiver supporting communications with a portable device to display the service indication.

37. The system of claim 29, wherein the at least one vehicle device includes one or more of:

a sensor;

an actuator;

an electronic control unit (ECU);

or

a control device.

38. A server for remotely monitoring servicing needs of a vehicle, the server comprising:

a communication interface; and

a processing module coupled to the communication interface, the processing module configured to;

receive, via the communication interface, status data from a control module of the vehicle, the status data relating to an operational status of a device of the vehicle;

determine if the vehicle is in need of service based on the received status data; and

in response to a determination that the vehicle is in need of service, send responsive data to the vehicle via the communication interface, the responsive data including an indication that the vehicle is in need of service.

39. The server of claim 38, wherein the responsive data further includes data for use in scheduling a service appointment.

40. The server of claim 38, wherein the responsive data further configures the vehicle to display a service indication.