Vehicle system and method for preparing an in-vehicle device

• US 7,701,658 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2007
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: Gerneral Motors LLC
• Inventors: Mauti, Thomas K. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mullen; Thomas J
• Application Number:
  US11/693,133
• Publication Number:
  US 20080238642A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,118 Days
• Field of Search: 340/436, 340438-440, 340/669, 701/36, 360/69, 360/75, 714/1, 714/100, 381/86
• US Class Current: 360/69
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental

Abstract

A method for preparing an in-vehicle device includes monitoring a communication bus for one or more messages. The method also includes determining if at least one of the one or more messages corresponds with a message in a list of messages indicative of a change in vehicle state. Data is extracted from the at least one message that corresponds with the message in the list of messages. A signal is transmitted to the in-vehicle device based on the extracted data. A vehicle system that implements the method is also disclosed herein.

Claims

1. A method for preparing an in-vehicle device, the method comprising:

monitoring a communication bus for one or more messages;

determining if at least one of the one or more messages corresponds with a message in a list of messages indicative of a change in a vehicle state;

extracting data from the at least one message that corresponds with the message in the list of messages; and

transmitting a signal to the in-vehicle device based on the extracted data;

wherein the in-vehicle device is a multimedia system, an audio system, or combinations thereof, and wherein in response to receiving the transmitted signal, the in-vehicle device parks a hard drive head, stops a hard drive platter, stops a compact disc player motor, stops a digital video disc player motor, stops a compact disc player laser mechanism, stops a digital video disc player laser mechanism, or combinations thereof.

2. The method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:

sensing data indicative of a vehicle state;

processing the sensed data via at least one sensor module;

formulating, at the at least one sensor module, the at least one message based on the sensed data; and

transmitting the at least one message to the communication bus.

3. The method as defined in claim 2 wherein the at least one sensor module is selected from an anti-lock braking system, a collision notification module, and combinations thereof.

4. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the monitoring of the communication bus is accomplished via a bus message listener operatively connected to a multimedia system, an audio system, or combinations thereof.

5. The method as defined in claim 4 wherein prior to determining if the at least one message corresponds with the message in the list of messages, the method further comprises transmitting the list of messages to the bus message listener via an in-vehicle telematics unit.

6. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein the data is indicative of at least one of wheel slip, brake application status, engine torque status, steering wheel angle, rollover status, chassis status, speed status, or combinations thereof.

7. The method as defined in claim 1 wherein determining if the at least one message corresponds with the message in a list of messages includes comparing content of the at least one message with content of each message in the list of messages.

8. A vehicle system, comprising:

a first unit for sensing a vehicle state, generating data indicative of the sensed vehicle state, and processing the data indicative of the vehicle state;

a communication bus coupled to the first unit; and

a second unit coupled to the communication bus including a device with a park mode and an operating mode, wherein the second unit activates the park mode in response to a signal received from the first unit indicating that the vehicle state has changed.

9. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the vehicle state is selected from wheel slip, brake application status, engine torque status, steering wheel angle, rollover status, chassis status, speed status, and combinations thereof.

10. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the first unit includes:

a sensor for sensing the data; and

a sensor module for receiving the sensed data from the sensor, for processing the received data, and for formulating one or more messages based on the received data.

11. The system as defined in claim 10 wherein the sensor module is selected from an anti-lock braking system, a collision notification module, and combinations thereof.

12. The system as defined in claim 10 wherein the sensor is selected from a vehicle collision sensor, a vehicle pre-collision sensor, accelerometers, inclinometers, gyroscopes, magnetic compasses, and combinations thereof.

13. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the communication bus is selected from a system bus, an audio bus, and combinations thereof.

14. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the device is a multimedia system, an audio system, or combinations thereof.

15. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the device includes a hard drive.

16. The system as defined in claim 8 wherein the second unit further includes a bus message listener operatively connected to the device and to the communication bus.

17. The system as defined in claim 16, further comprising an in-vehicle telematics unit operatively connected to the bus message listener.

18. The system as defined in claim 17 wherein the in-vehicle telematics unit is in operative communication with a call center.

19. A vehicle system, comprising:

at least one sensor for sensing a vehicle state and generating data indicative of the vehicle state;

at least one sensor module for receiving the sensed data from the at least one sensor, for processing the received data, and for formulating one or more messages based on the received data;

a communication bus for receiving the one or more messages;

a bus message listener for monitoring the one or more messages received by the communication bus, for determining if at least one of the one or more messages corresponds with a message in a list of messages indicative of a change in vehicle state, and for extracting the data from the at least one message that corresponds with the message in the list of messages; and

an in-vehicle device with a park mode and an operating mode, the in-vehicle device configured to enter park mode upon receiving from the bus message listener a signal indicating that the vehicle state has exceeded a predetermined threshold or is outside a predetermined range.