Communication system including telemetric device for a vehicle connected to a cloud service

• US 8,624,758 B2
• Filed: 03/23/2011
• Issued: 01/07/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mavizon, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Mavizon, LLC
• Inventors: Ingram, Marc, Ee, Wooyong
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US13/070,444
• Publication Number:
  US 20110234427A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,021 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995.1, 340/992, 340/993, 340/995.25, 340/988, 340/426.19, 701/32.4, 701/29.1, 701/400
• US Class Current: 340/995.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/244 Grouping and aggregation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24575 using context
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/024 Guidance services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services

Abstract

A telemetric device for a vehicle includes a location determining device arranged to determine the vehicle'"'"'s location and a transmitting device arranged to continuously or nearly continuously transmit location data concerning the vehicle in real-time or near real-time. The transmission of the location data is not based on a condition of the vehicle and is without prompting by a user.

Claims

1. A telemetric device for a vehicle, comprising:

a location determining device arranged to determine a location of the vehicle; and

a transmitting device arranged to transmit location data concerning the vehicle at a transmission frequency between about ten times per second and about once every four minutes and wherein the transmission of the location data is not based on a condition of the vehicle and is without prompting by a user.

2. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device is arranged to communicate with a wireless device.

3. The telemetric device according to claim 2, wherein the wireless device is one of a cell phone and a tablet computer.

4. The telemetric device according to claim 2, wherein the telemetric device directly communicates with the wireless device.

5. The telemetric device according to claim 2, wherein the telemetric device communicates with the wireless device via a cellular network and the internet.

6. The telemetric device according to claim 1, and further comprising a display device.

7. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the location determining device is a GPS device.

8. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting device communicates through a cellular network interface.

9. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device is connected to the diagnostic system of the vehicle.

10. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein at least a portion of data transmitted by the transmitting device is encrypted.

11. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the transmitting device is arranged to transmit data when the vehicle is turned off.

12. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein data transmitted by the transmitting device is transmitted with a variable transmission frequency.

13. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein data transmitted by the transmitting device includes data indicating the condition of the vehicle.

14. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle is one of a car, a truck, a train, a plane, a motorcycle, a bus, a recreational vehicle, and a boat.

15. The telemetric device according to claim 1, and further comprising at least one cellular network interface, a TCP/IP interface, VOIP interface, and an interface that uses one or more of OBD, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and RF.

16. A communication system, comprising:

a telemetric device according to claim 1 connected to a vehicle; and

a cloud service connected to the telemetric device via the internet.

17. The communication system according to claim 16, wherein the telemetric device and the cloud service are also connected via a public switched telephone network.

18. The communication system according to claim 16, wherein the telemetric device is connected to a media content provider via the internet.

19. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device continuously searches for a device or an object within a predetermined radius of the telemetric device.

20. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device discovers modes of communication with a device or an object in real-time or near real-time.

21. The telemetric device according to claim 20, wherein the telemetric device detects data packets in the vehicle to discover the modes of communication.

22. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device simultaneously searches for a device or an object and communicates with one or more of the following:

the vehicle;

at least one device connected to the telemetric device; and

at least one object connected to the telemetric device.

23. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device performs one or more of the following, without any prompting by a user:

compress and decompress data;

encrypt decrypt data; and

convert and translate data into and from a binary format.

24. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device detects changes in an exterior of the vehicle and transmits a notification to a user if a change in the exterior of the vehicle has occurred.

25. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device bidirectionally communicates with one or more of the following:

the vehicle;

at least one device connected to the telemetric device; and

at least one object connected to the telemetric device.

26. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device continuously or nearly continuously streams data without any prompting by a user.

27. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein, if the telemetric device detects that a window of the vehicle is broken or that there is movement within the vehicle at a time when there should not be any movement within the vehicle, then the telemetric device transmits a notification concerning the window or the movement within the vehicle.

28. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device updates firmware stored in the telemetric device.

29. The telemetric device according to claim 1, wherein the telemetric device provides new firmware to be installed on one or more of the following:

the vehicle;

at least one device connected to the telemetric device; and

at least one object connected to the telemetric device.

30. A telemetric device for a vehicle, comprising:

a location determining device arranged to determine a location of the vehicle; and

a transmitting device arranged to transmit location data concerning the vehicle, wherein the transmission of the location data is not based on a condition of the vehicle and is without prompting by a user, and wherein data transmitted by the transmitting device is transmitted with a transmission frequency that is changed based on data volume limitations of a network to which the telemetric device is connected.

31. A communication system, comprising:

a telemetric device according to claim 30 connected to a vehicle; and

a cloud service connected to the telemetric device via the internet.

32. A telemetric device for a vehicle, comprising:

a location determining device arranged to determine a location of the vehicle; and

a transmitting device arranged to transmit location data concerning the vehicle, wherein the transmission of the location data is not based on a condition of the vehicle and is without prompting by a user, and wherein, if the telemetric device senses that the vehicle has not moved after a fixed period of time, then the telemetric device reduces an update frequency of the telemetric device.

33. A communication system, comprising:

a telemetric device according to claim 32 connected to a vehicle; and

a cloud service connected to the telemetric device via the internet.

34. A telemetric device for a vehicle, comprising:

a location determining device arranged to determine a location of the vehicle; and

a transmitting device arranged to transmit location data concerning the vehicle, wherein the transmission of the location data is not based on a condition of the vehicle and is without prompting by a user, and wherein, if the telemetric device detects that the telemetric device is connected to a network that handles high data volume, then the telemetric device increases an update frequency of the telemetric device.

35. A communication system, comprising:

a telemetric device according to claim 34 connected to a vehicle; and

a cloud service connected to the telemetric device via the internet.