Vehicle tracking unit having a self diagnostic mode and related methods
First Claim
1. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
- a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle tracking unit may include a vehicle position determining device, a wireless communications device, and a controller cooperating with the wireless communications device and the vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station. Furthermore, the vehicle tracking unit may also include at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to the controller, and the controller may include a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices. The controller may be switch able to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested, and results thereof may be indicated by the at least one local diagnostic indicator.
101 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
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a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switchable to a diagnostic mode wherein at least one output driver circuit is tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A vehicle tracking unit comprising:
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a vehicle position determining device;
a wireless communications device;
a controller cooperating with said wireless communications device and said vehicle position determining device for sending vehicle position information to a monitoring station; and
at least one local diagnostic indicator connected to said controller;
said controller comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices and being switch able to a diagnostic mode wherein at least some of the plurality of output driver circuits are sequentially tested and results thereof are indicated by said at least one local diagnostic indicator. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method for performing diagnostics on a vehicle tracking unit comprising a plurality of output driver circuits for respective vehicle devices, the method comprising:
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switching the vehicle tracking unit to a diagnostic mode;
testing at least one of the output driver circuits when the vehicle tracking unit is switched to the diagnostic mode; and
indicating results from the testing using at least one local diagnostic indicator. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification