Multi-user motor vehicle telemetric system and method
First Claim
1. A multi-user motor vehicle telemetric system, comprising:
- (a) one or more central hosts connected to a communications network, each central host being associated with one or more users of the system;
(b) one or more gateways connected to the communications network, the communications network enabling the transfer of data between the gateways and the central hosts;
(c) one or more vehicle interface units (VIUs), each placed within a vehicle having access to sensors in the vehicle for collecting vehicle related data, each VIU having means for communication over a wireless link to gateways designated to be accessed by said each VIU when the VIU of the vehicle is within a transmission range of one of said designated gateways, and wherein each VIU is associated with one or more of the users;
(d) each central host having means for selecting gateways for collecting data from each VIU which is associated with the users that the central host is associated with;
(e) each central host having means allowing each user to specify the data to be collected from its associated VIUs through a data collection profile which is stored in the central host and the selected gateways;
(f) each gateway having means for recognizing the association between central hosts and VIUs belonging to the same user; and
(g) each VIU having a means for collecting the data, which is required to be collected according to a combined data collection profile for all users associated with said each VIU.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A multi-user vehicle telemetric system comprises vehicle interface units (VIUs), wireless gateways, and one or more central hosts. The VIU in a vehicle collects data over the OBD-II bus and stores the data in the form of DataPoint Records (DPRs) in an on-board non-volatile (e.g. flash) memory. When the VIU is within wireless range of a gateway, it establishes a WiFi (802.11b) connection with the gateway, and submits stored DPRs to the gateway, to be stored in permanent storage at the gateway. Although the DPRs are stored in permanent storage on the gateway, they are deleted from permanent storage on the gateway after they are successfully uploaded to the central hosts. The gateways are shared, and communicate with the central hosts over a wide area network (WAN). When a gateway has gathered new DPRs from a VIU, it submits these to selected central hosts. The central hosts collect vehicle data for a plurality of users, each user being assigned a central host exclusively, or sharing a central host with other users. Each of the VIUs may be exclusively accessed by a single user or a number of users, and the shared gateways forward DPRs from a VIU only to the central hosts of the users which are authorized to access the VIU.
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Citations
31 Claims
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1. A multi-user motor vehicle telemetric system, comprising:
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(a) one or more central hosts connected to a communications network, each central host being associated with one or more users of the system; (b) one or more gateways connected to the communications network, the communications network enabling the transfer of data between the gateways and the central hosts; (c) one or more vehicle interface units (VIUs), each placed within a vehicle having access to sensors in the vehicle for collecting vehicle related data, each VIU having means for communication over a wireless link to gateways designated to be accessed by said each VIU when the VIU of the vehicle is within a transmission range of one of said designated gateways, and wherein each VIU is associated with one or more of the users; (d) each central host having means for selecting gateways for collecting data from each VIU which is associated with the users that the central host is associated with; (e) each central host having means allowing each user to specify the data to be collected from its associated VIUs through a data collection profile which is stored in the central host and the selected gateways; (f) each gateway having means for recognizing the association between central hosts and VIUs belonging to the same user; and (g) each VIU having a means for collecting the data, which is required to be collected according to a combined data collection profile for all users associated with said each VIU. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 30, 31)
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18. A vehicle interface unit (VIU) for a multi-user motor vehicle telemetric system, comprising one or more central hosts connected to a communications network, each central host being associated with one or more users of the system, one or more gateways connected to the communications network, the communications network enabling the transfer of data between the gateways and the central hosts, the VIU being placed within a vehicle and having access to sensors in the vehicle for collecting vehicle related data, the VIU further having means for communication over a wireless link to gateways to be accessed by the VIU when the VIU of the vehicle is within a transmission range of one of said gateways, and wherein each VIU is associated with one or more of the users, each central host having means allowing each user to specify the data to be collected from its associated VIUs through individual data collection profiles which are stored in the central host and the gateways and forming a combined data collection profile forwarded to the VIU, the VIU comprising:
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(a) means for storing the combined data collection profile; and (b) means for collecting the data required to be collected from the vehicle according to the combined data collection profile for all users associated with said VIU. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for collecting vehicle performance data in a multi-user motor vehicle telemetric system, comprising one or more central hosts connected to a communications network, each central host being associated with one or more users of the system, one or more gateways connected to the communications network, the communications network enabling the transfer of data between the gateways and the central hosts, one or more vehicle interface units (VIUs), each placed within a vehicle having access to sensors in the vehicle for collecting vehicle related data, each VIU having means for communication over a wireless link to gateways designated to be accessed by said each VIU when the VIU of the vehicle is within a transmission range of one of said designated gateways, and wherein each VIU is associated with one or more of the users, the method comprising:
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(a) at each central host, selecting gateways for collecting data from each VIU which is associated with the users that the central host is associated with; (b) at each central host specifying for each user the data to be collected from its associated VIUs through data collection profiles which are stored in the central host and the selected gateways; (c) at each gateway determining the association between central hosts and Vius belonging to the same user; and (d) at each VIU, collecting the data required to be collected according to a combined data collection profile for all users associated with said each VIU. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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Specification