Remote vehicle programming system

• US 5,717,387 A
• Filed: 06/07/1995
• Issued: 02/10/1998
• Est. Priority Date: 01/19/1990
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Visteon Global Technologies Incorporated (Visteon Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Prince (Wellman Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Zeinstra, Mark L., Suman, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Holloway, III, Edwin C.
• Application Number:
  US08/484,321
• Time in Patent Office: 979 Days
• Field of Search: 340/825.31, 340/825.44, 340/825.22, 340/825.69, 340/825.72, 340/426, 379/56, 379/57, 379/59, 367/197, 307/10.1, 307/10.2, 180/287
• US Class Current: 701/36
• 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 25/00 Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles locks for vehicles E05B77/00-E05B85/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00222 by more than one push button
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00793 by Hertzian waves
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00825 remotely by lines or wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00984 fob
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00182 operated with unidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00817 where the code of the lock can be programmed

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vehicle accessory control system that includes a receiver for receiving paging signals including a unique vehicle address and a reprogramming signal. The control system responds to the reprogramming signal by reprogramming a vehicle accessory control program used to determine how to specifically control a vehicle accessory.

Claims

1. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

a plurality of electrically operated vehicle accessories;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving paging signals from a land-based paging transmitter, wherein the paging signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said plurality of vehicle accessories, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a plurality of sensed conditions,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said plurality of vehicle accessories in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to sensed conditions received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a paging signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls the operation of at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories.

2. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the control program to selectively change a sensed condition to which said control means is responsive when controlling a particular one of said vehicle accessories.

3. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the control program to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls one of said vehicle accessories in response to a particular sensed condition.

4. The system as defined in claim 3, wherein a particular sensed condition includes a vehicle operator initiated activation signal and said reprogramming means reprograms the control program to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls one of said vehicle accessories in response to a vehicle operator initiated activation signal.

5. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the control program by modifying a data structure used by the control program in determining the manner by which to control said vehicle accessories.

6. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said control program includes a plurality of dormant routines each relating to an operation for at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories, wherein said reprogramming means activates a selected dormant routine in response to a reprogramming signal corresponding to the selected dormant routine.

7. The system as defined in claim 6, wherein said reprogramming means activates a selected dormant routine by setting a flag related to the selected dormant routine.

8. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein said control program includes a plurality of active routines each relating to an operation for one of said plurality of vehicle accessories, wherein said reprogramming means deactivates a selected active routine in response to a reprogramming signal corresponding to the selected active routine.

9. The system as defined in claim 8, wherein said reprogramming means deactivates a selected active routine by resetting a flag related to the selected active routine.

10. The system as defined in claim 1, wherein at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories is a display for displaying information supplied by said control circuit, and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which said display displays the supplied information.

11. The system as defined in claim 1 and further including a display communicatively coupled to said control circuit for displaying information to the vehicle operator indicating that a vehicle accessory has been reprogrammed.

12. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated vehicle accessory;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving paging signals from a land-based paging transmitter, wherein the paging signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said vehicle accessory;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said vehicle accessory in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a paging signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change a sensed condition to which said control means is responsive when controlling said vehicle accessory.

13. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory includes a plurality of door locks and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which said door locks are controlled to respond to a detected speed of the vehicle by locking said door locks when the vehicle reaches a predetermined speed.

14. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory includes a radio having a volume control and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which the radio volume control responds to a speed of a vehicle by increasing the volume of said radio as the speed of the vehicle increases.

15. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory includes automatic windows and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which the automatic windows respond to a rain sensor by raising said windows when said rain sensor senses rain.

16. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory is an automatic sunroof and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which the automatic sunroof responds to a rain sensor by closing said sunroof when said rain sensor senses rain.

17. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory is a warning indicator and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which said warning indicator responds to a speed of the vehicle by activating said warning indicator when the vehicle reaches a predetermined speed.

18. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory is a horn and said reprogramming means reprograms said horn to honk in response to the locking of all the vehicle doors following a locking signal transmitted from a remote keyless entry transmitter.

19. The system as defined in claim 12, wherein said accessory includes headlamps and said reprogramming means reprograms said headlights to turn off when a detected vehicle battery voltage is below a predetermined level.

20. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated vehicle accessory;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving paging signals from a land-based paging transmitter, wherein the paging signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said vehicle accessory;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said vehicle accessory in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a paging signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls said vehicle accessory in response to a particular sensed condition.

21. The system as defined in claim 20, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the control program to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls one of said vehicle accessories in response to a vehicle operator initiated activation signal.

22. The system as defined in claim 20, wherein said accessory include headlamps and said reprogramming means reprograms the time at which said headlamps are turned off after a vehicle ignition is turned off.

23. The system as defined in claim 20, wherein said accessory is a rear window defroster and said reprogramming means reprograms the time period during which said rear window defroster remains on after being activated.

24. The system as defined in claim 20, wherein said accessory includes door locks and said reprogramming means reprograms said door locks not to lock in response to an actuation of a door lock switch if a key is in the vehicle'"'"'s ignition.

25. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated display;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving paging signals from a land-based paging transmitter, wherein the paging signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said display;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said display in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a paging signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively reprogram the manner in which said display displays supplied information.

26. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the language of the information to be displayed on said display.

27. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms the measurement units for parameters to be displayed on said display.

28. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said display is an instrument display panel including a plurality of displayed gauges for displaying vehicle parameters, and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which said gauges are configured on said instrument display panel.

29. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said display is a radio display on a radio and said reprogramming means reprograms the default display information which said radio displays on said radio display upon initial activation.

30. The system as defined in claim 25, wherein said display is a message screen of an accessory and said reprogramming means reprograms the manner in which said accessory displays information by reconfiguring said message screen.

31. The system as defined in claim 25 and further including a plurality of displays coupled to said control circuit, wherein said reprogramming means reprograms which information is to be displayed on each of said displays.

32. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

a plurality of electrically operated vehicle accessories;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving transmitted signals from a land-based transmitter, wherein the transmitted signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said plurality of vehicle accessories, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a plurality of sensed conditions,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said plurality of vehicle accessories in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to sensed conditions received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a transmitted signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls the operation of at least one of said plurality of vehicle accessories.

33. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated vehicle accessory;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving transmitted signals from a land-based transmitter, wherein the transmitted signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said vehicle accessory;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said vehicle accessory in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a transmitted signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change a sensed condition to which said control means is responsive when controlling said vehicle accessory.

34. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated vehicle accessory;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving transmitted signals from a land-based transmitter, wherein the transmitted signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said vehicle accessory;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said vehicle accessory in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a transmitted signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively change the manner in which said control means controls said vehicle accessory in response to a particular sensed condition.

35. A vehicle accessory control system comprising:

an electrically operated display;

a receiver to be located in a vehicle for receiving transmitted signals from a land-based transmitter, wherein the transmitted signals include an address uniquely identifying the vehicle and a reprogramming signal for reprogramming the operation of said display;

a control circuit communicatively coupled to said receiver and to said vehicle accessory, said control circuit including;

an input interface for receiving information regarding a sensed condition,

a memory for storing a control program,

control means coupled to said input interface and said memory for controlling the operation of said display in accordance with the control program stored in said memory in response to a sensed condition received from said input interface,

reprogramming means for selectively reprogramming the control program in response to the detection of a transmitted signal including an address identifying the vehicle and said reprogramming signal, to selectively reprogram the manner in which said display displays supplied information.