Securely calculating and storing vehicle odometer data
First Claim
1. In a vehicle that includes a current engine, a first electronic control unit associated with the current engine, and a second electronic control unit that is communicatively connected to the first electronic control unit, a method of calculating an official vehicle odometer value that represents a total distance traveled by the vehicle, the method comprising:
- maintaining a current engine offset in a memory of the second electronic control unit, wherein the current engine offset represents the total distance traveled by the vehicle calculated as a sum of one or more previous engine offsets and a difference between an official engine odometer value of the one or more previous engines and an engine odometer value of the current engine;
receiving the engine odometer value from the first electronic control unit, wherein the engine odometer value represents the total distance traveled by the vehicle using the current engine; and
calculating an official vehicle odometer value to determine if the engine odometer value is tampered, wherein the official vehicle odometer value is based on a summation of the engine odometer value received from the first electronic control unit and the current engine offset maintained in the memory of the second electronic control unit.
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Abstract
Aspects of the present invention are directed at securely calculating and storing odometer data associated with a vehicle. In accordance with one embodiment, a method is provided that checks the integrity of odometer data being received from a vehicle'"'"'s engine. More specifically, the method includes receiving a first and second engine odometer values for an engine. Then, these odometer values are compared to determine whether data indicative of tampering was received. In this regard, if data indicative of tampering was received, aspects of the present invention adjust the official vehicle odometer value to account for the tampering.
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Citations
11 Claims
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1. In a vehicle that includes a current engine, a first electronic control unit associated with the current engine, and a second electronic control unit that is communicatively connected to the first electronic control unit, a method of calculating an official vehicle odometer value that represents a total distance traveled by the vehicle, the method comprising:
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maintaining a current engine offset in a memory of the second electronic control unit, wherein the current engine offset represents the total distance traveled by the vehicle calculated as a sum of one or more previous engine offsets and a difference between an official engine odometer value of the one or more previous engines and an engine odometer value of the current engine; receiving the engine odometer value from the first electronic control unit, wherein the engine odometer value represents the total distance traveled by the vehicle using the current engine; and calculating an official vehicle odometer value to determine if the engine odometer value is tampered, wherein the official vehicle odometer value is based on a summation of the engine odometer value received from the first electronic control unit and the current engine offset maintained in the memory of the second electronic control unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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Specification