Handheld computer based system for collection, display and analysis of engine/vehicle data
First Claim
1. An vehicle data system for processing and displaying vehicle data transmitted through a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol, comprisinga. a handheld computer including a memory for storing operating system software adapted to operate said handheld computer in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol, a handheld microprocessor for executing the operating system software and an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus and which is connected to said handheld microprocessor to allow the vehicle data when properly formatted to pass into said handheld computer;
- and b. an adapter for creating a data pathway between the bus connector and said external data port including i. a data port connector for connection with said external data port of said handheld computer, ii. a bus compatible connector for connection with the bus connector, iii. a battery power supply separate from the power supply for said handheld computer and for the data bus, and iv. an adapter microprocessor supplied with power from said battery power supply and connected via the data pathway with said bus compatible connector for protocol conversion of the data received from the vehicle bus for processing by said handheld computer and supplied to said handheld computer through said data port connector, wherein the signal levels of the vehicle data appropriate for transmission by the vehicle bus and for processing by said handheld computer are respectively different and wherein said adapter includes level adjustment means for converting the signal levels of the vehicle data to the appropriate levels as the vehicle data passes between the vehicle bus and said handheld computer.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A novel and improved engine data system for collecting, displaying and analyzing engine/vehicle data is provided. The system have advantageously results in a more effective, convenient, portable and low cost method of monitoring and processing vehicle data. The vehicle data system includes a handheld computer containing operating system software adapted to operate the handheld computer in accordance with a data protocol different from a vehicle bus protocol and a handheld microprocessor for executing the operating system software. The system importantly includes an adapter for creating a data pathway between a vehicle bus connector and an external data port provided on the handheld computer which is physically incompatible with the engine bus connector. The adapter includes a data port connector for connection with the external data port, a bus compatible connector for connection with the engine bus connector, a battery power supply separate from the power supply of the handheld compuer and an adapter microprocessor powered by the battery power supply and connected via the data pathway with the bus compatible connector for protocol conversion of the data received from the engine bus. An engine data adapter system for creating a data pathway between the engine data bus and the handheld computer while determining the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and adding message identifiers to the engine data so as to minimize the required data processing by the handheld computer.
199 Citations
75 Claims
-
1. An vehicle data system for processing and displaying vehicle data transmitted through a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol, comprising
a. a handheld computer including a memory for storing operating system software adapted to operate said handheld computer in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol, a handheld microprocessor for executing the operating system software and an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus and which is connected to said handheld microprocessor to allow the vehicle data when properly formatted to pass into said handheld computer; - and
b. an adapter for creating a data pathway between the bus connector and said external data port including i. a data port connector for connection with said external data port of said handheld computer, ii. a bus compatible connector for connection with the bus connector, iii. a battery power supply separate from the power supply for said handheld computer and for the data bus, and iv. an adapter microprocessor supplied with power from said battery power supply and connected via the data pathway with said bus compatible connector for protocol conversion of the data received from the vehicle bus for processing by said handheld computer and supplied to said handheld computer through said data port connector, wherein the signal levels of the vehicle data appropriate for transmission by the vehicle bus and for processing by said handheld computer are respectively different and wherein said adapter includes level adjustment means for converting the signal levels of the vehicle data to the appropriate levels as the vehicle data passes between the vehicle bus and said handheld computer. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 66, 67, 68)
a. a flexible cable having said bus compatible connector at one end and a cable connector at the other end, and b. an adapter housing capable of being affixed to said handheld computer when said data port connector is connected to said external data port, said adapter housing including a cable compatible connector for engagement with said cable connector to complete the data pathway between the data bus and said adapter microprocessor. -
3. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 1, wherein the data bus transfers data messages containing information regarding the engine and wherein said adapter microprocessor operates to convert the vehicle data between the bus protocol and the data protocol of said handheld computer.
-
4. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 3, wherein said adapter microprocessor determines the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and said adapter microprocessor further operates to add message identifiers to the vehicle data conveyed to said handheld computer through said external data port.
-
5. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 4, wherein said handheld computer includes application software for permitting detection of said message identifiers added to the vehicle data by said adapter microprocessor.
-
6. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 5, wherein the vehicle bus operates in accordance with a J1587 protocol.
-
7. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 5, wherein the vehicle bus operates in accordance with a J1939 protocol.
-
8. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 5, wherein the data protocol of said handheld computer is an RS232 data link.
-
9. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 6, wherein the vehicle bus employs a J1708 data link.
-
10. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 4, wherein the message identifier includes a delimiting header block having a synchronization sequence and a message length.
-
11. The vehicle data system as defined in claim 5, wherein the application software within said handheld computer operates to synchronize with the messages received from said adapter employing the header block added by said adapter.
-
66. The vehicle data system defined in claim 1, wherein said operating system software for said handheld computer is a PALM™
- operating system 2.0 or higher.
-
67. The vehicle data system defined in claim 6, wherein the engine bus employs a CAN 2.0B data link.
-
68. The vehicle data system defined in claim 1, further including application configuration software for creating a customized database of selected vehicle parameters based on a specific vehicle application.
- and
-
12. An vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising:
-
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. an adapter microprocessor included in the data pathway between the data bus and the handheld computer, said adapter microprocessor being mounted within said adapter housing, c. adapter memory for storing adaptor software for implementation by said microprocessor to perform the functions of the adapter system including protocol conversion of vehicle data transferred between the data bus and the handheld computer, d. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, and e. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, wherein said adapter microprocessor operates to convert the vehicle data between the bus protocol and the data protocol of said handheld computer by determining the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and said adapter microprocessor further operates to add message identifiers to the vehicle data conveyed to the handheld computer through said external data port, whereby the amount of processing that the handheld computer is required to undertake for data monitoring and extraction from the data bus is minimized, wherein the signal levels of the vehicle data appropriate for transmission by the vehicle bus and for processing by said handheld computer are respectively different and wherein the adapter system further includes level adjustment means for converting the signal levels of the vehicle data to the appropriate levels as the vehicle data passes over the data pathway between the vehicle bus and the handheld computer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59)
a. storing trip information as a record identified by serial number, unit ID, and upload time., b. storing fault information as a record identified by serial number, unit ID, and upload time, c. storing data plate information as a record identified by serial number, unit ID, and upload time, d. storing manual forms information as a record identified by serial number, unit ID, and entry time, e. making data stored on the handheld computer available for upload to a personal computer, f. making data stored on the handheld computer available for review using the handheld computer, g. allowing the user to delete data a single record at a time, and h. storing textual description of PIDs, faults, and units.
-
-
57. The vehicle data adapter system as defined in claim 12, further including conduit software for transferring data to and from the handheld computer and a personal computer.
-
58. The vehicle data adapter system as defined in claim 57, wherein the conduit software is a Windows DLL™
- that is called by a Palm™
HotSync™
manager during the handheld computer synchronization events whereby said conduit software transfers data acquired from the handheld computer to the personal computer where it can then be further analyzed.
- that is called by a Palm™
-
59. The vehicle data adapter system as defined in claim 58, wherein said conduit software includes one or more of the following features:
-
a. a mechanism which allows for the installation of said conduit software on a personal computer, b. a mechanism which supports the un-installation of the conduit software from a person computer, c. a mechanism that date/time stamps all records stored on the personal computer, d. a mechanism that writes data plate information to a comma-separated file which is not stored under a given users'"'"' specific directory, e. a mechanism that writes engine vehicle data to a comma-separated file which is not stored under a given users'"'"' specific directory, f. a mechanism that writes engine fault data to a comma-separated file which is not stored under a given users'"'"' specific directory, g. a mechanism for appending trip or fault incoming data to the respective output file if it already exists without overwriting existing data, and h. a mechanism for creating a file when an output file does not exist.
-
-
60. A method for creating a data pathway between (1) a data bus on an electronically controlled engine having a first electrical power source which data bus operates in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey multi-byte data messages of varying length and (2) a handheld computer having a second electrical power source separate from the first which operates in accordance with a data protocol which buffers received bytes of data for access by application software without keeping track of when the bytes are received thereby losing indications of the start and stop of multi-byte data messages, comprising
a. interconnecting the data bus and the handheld computer to form the data pathway external to both the data bus and the handheld computer to allow multi-byte data messages of varying length to pass between the handheld computer and the data bus, b. intercepting the messages conveyed on the data pathway from the data bus to the handheld computer at a point external to the data bus and the handheld computer, c. buffering the data contained in the intercepted messages external to the data bus and the handheld computer, d. processing the buffered data to determine the start and stop of messages received from the data bus, e. adding message identifiers to the buffered data as the messages are conveyed to the handheld computer to identify the start and stop of each message, f. performing steps (b) through (e), and g. unpacking data messages received from the handheld computer and scheduling the data messages for transmission to the vehicle bus whenever a complete message is present and the bus has been inactive for the required amount of time based on the priority of the message.
-
69. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. an adapter microprocessor included in the data pathway between the data bus and the handheld computer, said adapter microprocessor being mounted within said adapter housing, c. adapter memory for storing adaptor software for implementation by said microprocessor to perform the functions of the adapter system including protocol conversion of vehicle data transferred between the data bus and the handheld computer, d. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, e. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, and f. data link software for monitoring selected information, wherein said adapter microprocessor operates to convert the vehicle data between the bus protocol and the data protocol of said handheld computer by determining the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and said adapter microprocessor further operates to add message identifiers to the vehicle data conveyed to the handheld computer through said external data port, whereby the amount of processing that the handheld computer is required to undertake for data monitoring and extraction from the data bus is minimized.
-
70. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. an adapter microprocessor included in the data pathway between the data bus and the handheld computer, said adapter microprocessor being mounted within said adapter housing, c. adapter memory for storing adaptor software for implementation by said microprocessor to perform the functions of the adapter system including protocol conversion of vehicle data transferred between the data bus and the handheld computer, d. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, e. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, and f. an application software for causing the handheld computer to function to provide one or more of the following functions: - display engine operating conditions, display related vehicle information, display fault information and to allow for change of data and for managing the data storage structure,
wherein said adapter microprocessor operates to convert the vehicle data between the bus protocol and the data protocol of said handheld computer by determining the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and said adapter microprocessor further operates to add message identifiers to the vehicle data conveyed to the handheld computer through said external data port, whereby the amount of processing that the handheld computer is required to undertake for data monitoring and extraction from the data bus is minimized.
- display engine operating conditions, display related vehicle information, display fault information and to allow for change of data and for managing the data storage structure,
-
71. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. an adapter microprocessor included in the data pathway between the data bus and the handheld computer, said adapter microprocessor being mounted within said adapter housing, c. adapter memory for storing adaptor software for implementation by said microprocessor to perform the functions of the adapter system including protocol conversion of vehicle data transferred between the data bus and the handheld computer, d. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, e. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, and f. a conduit software for transferring data to and from the handheld computer and a personal computer, wherein said adapter microprocessor operates to convert the vehicle data between the bus protocol and the data protocol of said handheld computer by determining the start and stop of messages received from the data bus and said adapter microprocessor further operates to add message identifiers to the vehicle data conveyed to the handheld computer through said external data port, whereby the amount of processing that the handheld computer is required to undertake for data monitoring and extraction from the data bus is minimized.
-
73. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising:
-
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, and c. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, wherein the signal levels of the vehicle data appropriate for transmission by the vehicle bus and for processing by said handheld computer are respectively different and wherein the adapter system further includes level adjustment means for converting the signal levels of the vehicle data to the appropriate levels as the vehicle data passes over the data pathway between the vehicle bus and the handheld computer.
-
-
74. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus, comprising:
-
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, and c. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, wherein the system further comprises data link software for monitoring selected information.
-
-
75. A vehicle data adapter system for creating a data pathway between a bus connector of a data bus on an electronically controlled engine operating in accordance with a predetermined bus protocol to convey data messages and a handheld computer which operates in accordance with a data protocol which is different from the vehicle bus protocol wherein the handheld computer includes an external data port which is physically incompatible with the bus connector of the data bus comprising:
-
a. an adapter housing external to the handheld computer, b. a data port connector for connecting the data pathway with the external data port of the handheld computer to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the handheld computer, and c. a bus compatible connector for connecting the data pathway with the bus included in the data pathway for connection with the bus connector of the vehicle bus to allow vehicle data to be transferred to and from the vehicle bus, wherein the system further includes application software for causing the handheld computer to function to provide one or more of the following functions;
display engine operating conditions, display related vehicle information, display fault information and to allow for change of data and for managing the data storage structure.
-
Specification