Vehicle locating and communicating method and apparatus
First Claim
1. A system for communicating with a vehicle using a cellular telephone network, comprising:
- a position locating receiver on the vehicle operable to receive geographic location data from a position locating system, the geographic location data providing a vehicle location;
a host controller remotely disposed from the vehicle and operable to receive the geographic location data transmitted from the vehicle, the host controller comprising a database containing a roamer number of a particular cellular telephone system in the cellular telephone network serving an area including the vehicle location, the host controller further comprising a communications device coupled to the cellular telephone network and operable to initiate a telephone call to the vehicle using the roamer number; and
a cellular telephone on the vehicle and coupled to the cellular telephone network, the cellular telephone operable to receive the telephone call initiated at the host controller.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for locating and communicating with vehicles is provided, including at least one mobile cellular unit connected to at least one microprocessor and installed within a vehicle. The microprocessor interrogates the mobile cellular unit to obtain location information from an overhead message stream transmitted from cellular telephone transmitter sites. The location is displayed on a display located in the vehicle or the microprocessor periodically instructs the mobile cellular unit to initiate a call to a host controller and, upon receipt of transmitting instructions from the host controller, transmits the location information for display on a screen connected to the host controller.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A system for communicating with a vehicle using a cellular telephone network, comprising:
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a position locating receiver on the vehicle operable to receive geographic location data from a position locating system, the geographic location data providing a vehicle location; a host controller remotely disposed from the vehicle and operable to receive the geographic location data transmitted from the vehicle, the host controller comprising a database containing a roamer number of a particular cellular telephone system in the cellular telephone network serving an area including the vehicle location, the host controller further comprising a communications device coupled to the cellular telephone network and operable to initiate a telephone call to the vehicle using the roamer number; and a cellular telephone on the vehicle and coupled to the cellular telephone network, the cellular telephone operable to receive the telephone call initiated at the host controller. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for communicating with a vehicle equipped with a cellular telephone comprising:
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a first database operable to store a vehicle location received from the vehicle; a second database operable to store a plurality of roamer numbers associated with a plurality of cellular telephone systems, each cellular telephone system serving a predetermined area; a processor coupled to the first database and the second database, the processor operable to retrieve the vehicle location stored in the first database and to retrieve from the second database a roamer number of a cellular telephone system serving a predetermined area that includes the retrieved vehicle location; and a communications device coupled to the processor and operable to initiate a telephone call to the vehicle using the retrieved roamer number. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for communicating with a vehicle equipped with a cellular telephone comprising:
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receiving a vehicle location report from the vehicle at a remote site, the vehicle location report comprising a vehicle location; interrogating a database at the remote site to obtain a roamer number of a particular cellular telephone system serving an area including the vehicle location; and initiating a telephone call from the remote site to the vehicle using the roamer number. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification