Wireless diagnostic system and method for monitoring vehicles
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance, comprising the steps of:
- retrieving data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s performance through the vehicle'"'"'s OBD or OBD-II connector according to a communication protocol at a predetermined time interval with a data collector/router comprising;
i) an electrical connector that connects to the OBD or OBD-II connector;
ii) a microprocessor configured to retrieve and transmit data at the predetermined time interval, and iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
wirelessly transmitting the data with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer; and
analyzing the data with the host computer.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A method and apparatus for remotely characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance is described. The method features the steps of: i) generating data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s performance with at least one microcontroller disposed within the vehicle; ii) transferring the data through an OBD, OBD-II or equivalent electrical connector to a data collector/router that includes a microprocessor and an electrically connected wireless transmitter; iii) transmitting a data packet representing the data with the wireless transmitter over an airlink to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer; and iv) analyzing the data packet with the host computer to characterize the vehicle'"'"'s performance.
625 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s performance through the vehicle'"'"'s OBD or OBD-II connector according to a communication protocol at a predetermined time interval with a data collector/router comprising;
i) an electrical connector that connects to the OBD or OBD-II connector;
ii) a microprocessor configured to retrieve and transmit data at the predetermined time interval, and iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
wirelessly transmitting the data with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer; and
analyzing the data with the host computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A system for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance comprising:
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a data collector/router comprising;
an electrical connector configured to connect to the vehicle'"'"'s OBD or OBD-II connector;
a microprocessor in electrical contact with the electrical connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval; and
a wireless transmitter configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network;
a first computer system comprising a processor configured to receive the data from the network; and
a second computer system configured to analyze the data. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance comprising a data collector/router comprising:
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an electrical connector configured to connect through the vehicle'"'"'s OBD or OBD-II connector;
a microprocessor in electrical contact with the electrical connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval; and
a wireless transmitter configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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31. A system for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance comprising a data collector/router comprising:
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an on-board diagnostic connector configured to connect to a serial connector located in the vehicle'"'"'s interior;
a microprocessor in electrical contact with the on-board diagnostic connector, the microprocessor configured to retrieve data generated by the vehicle at a predetermined time interval;
a wireless transmitter integrated in the data collector/router configured to receive the data from the microprocessor and wirelessly transmit it to a network; and
a housing containing the microprocessor and the wireless transmitter. - View Dependent Claims (32, 33, 34)
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35. A method for sending data to an electrical system in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
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generating with a host computer data that affects at least one microcontroller disposed within the electrical system of the vehicle;
wirelessly transmitting the data from the host computer to a wireless communications system and then to a data collector/router disposed in the vehicle, the data collector/router comprising;
i) an electrical connector that connects to an OBD or OBD-II connector and comprises electrical connections for multiple vehicle models;
ii) a microprocessor, and iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
receiving the data with the wireless transmitter;
sending the data from the wireless transmitter to the microprocessor;
processing the data with the microprocessor to generate processed data; and
transmitting the processed data through the electrical connector to the microcontroller disposed within the vehicle'"'"'s electrical system.
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36. A method for characterizing a vehicle'"'"'s performance, comprising the steps of:
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retrieving data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s performance through an OBD or OBD-II connector at a predetermined time interval with a data collector/router comprising;
i) an electrical connector that connects to the OBD or OBD-II connector and comprises electrical connections for multiple vehicle models;
ii) a microprocessor, and iii) a wireless transmitter in electrical contact with the microprocessor;
generating data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s location with a global positioning system disposed within the vehicle;
wirelessly transmitting a first set of data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s performance with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer;
wirelessly transmitting a second set of data representative of the vehicle'"'"'s location with the wireless transmitter to a wireless communications system and then to a host computer;
analyzing the first and second sets of data with the host computer to generate analyzed data; and
displaying the analyzed data on one or more web pages accessible on the internet.
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Specification