Communicating statuses of vehicles

• US 8,902,082 B2
• Filed: 10/11/2011
• Issued: 12/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: V Track Id, Inc.
• Original Assignee: V Track Id, Inc.
• Inventors: Roesner, Bruce B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout, Brent
• Application Number:
  US13/271,021
• Publication Number:
  US 20130088345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,148 Days
• Field of Search: 340/901, 340/904, 340/905, 340/936, 340/928
• US Class Current: 340/928
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07749 the record carrier being capable of non-contact communication, e.g. constructional details of the antenna of a non-contact smart card
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 19/07758 arrangements for adhering the record carrier to further objects or living beings, functioning as an identification tag

Abstract

In some implementations, a method for wirelessly communicating with the processor of a vehicle includes receiving, from a status module in a vehicle, a value for a dynamic attribute of the vehicle. The value for the dynamic attribute is wirelessly transmitted, from the vehicle, to a Radio Frequency (RF) reader.

Claims

1. A system for wirelessly communicating with a processor of a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle processor connected to a plurality of status modules in a vehicle, a transceiver, and a dashboard of the vehicle and configured to receive, from the status modules, values for dynamic attributes of the vehicle and notify a driver of the vehicle of one or more of the values of the dynamic attributes through the vehicle dashboard, wherein the vehicle processor and the plurality of status modules are embedded in a vehicle computer system;

an antenna;

the transceiver connected to the antenna and the processor and configured to wirelessly communicate at least one of the values for the dynamic attributes to roadside Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) readers;

an RFID module connected to the antenna in parallel with the transceiver and configured to wirelessly communicate with the roadside RFID readers; and

a converter connected to the transceiver and the vehicle processor and configured to convert between serial data and parallel data.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is configured to demodulate and modulate a carrier signal.

3. The system of claim 2, further comprising:

a demodulator configured to demodulate the carrier signal; and

an amplifier connected to the demodulator and configured to amplify wirelessly communications.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of status modules include a sensor configured to detect the value for the dynamic attribute.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of status modules includes at least one of an odometer, a Global Positioning System (GPS), or a speedometer.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver includes a plurality of antennas each of the antennas configured to communicate using a different frequency.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive, from the RFID reader, a notification for a user of the vehicle of one or more conditions.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the notification indicates that the at least one of the values for the dynamic attributes violates one or more criteria, and the processor further configured to automatically notify the user in response to at least the violation.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the notification comprises at least one of an audio notification or a visual notification.

10. A method for wirelessly communicating with a processor of a vehicle, comprising:

receiving, from a vehicle processor connected to a plurality of status modules in a vehicle, a transceiver, an antenna and a dashboard of the vehicle, values for dynamic attributes of the vehicle, wherein the vehicle processor and the plurality of status modules are embedded in a vehicle computer system;

notifying a driver of the vehicle of one or more of the values of the dynamic attributes through the vehicle dashboard;

converting from parallel data to serial data prior to wirelessly transmitting the value to an RFID reader;

wirelessly transmitting, by the transceiver in the vehicle, at least one of the values for the dynamic attributes to the Radio Frequency Identifier (RFID) reader; and

wirelessly communicating, by an RFID module in the vehicle, with the RFID reader, the RFID module connected to the antenna in parallel with the transceiver.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving a baseband signal from the vehicle processor of the vehicle identifying the at least one of the values of the dynamic attributes; and

modulating the baseband signal to a RF signal identifying the at least one of the values of the dynamic attributes.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the baseband signal comprises a first baseband signal, further comprising:

wirelessly receiving an RF signal from the RFID reader;

demodulating the received signal to a second baseband signal; and

amplifying the second baseband signal.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one of the values comprises a signal from a sensor included in the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the sensor comprises at least one of an odometer, a Global Positioning System (GPS), or a speedometer.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein the RFID reader comprises a first RF reader, and the value is transmitted using a first frequency, the method further comprising communicating with a second RF reader using a second frequency different from the first frequency.

16. The method of claim 10, receiving, from the RFID reader, a notification for a user of the vehicle of one or more conditions.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the notification indicates that the at least one of the values for the dynamic attributes violates one or more criteria, the method further comprising automatically notifying the user in response to at least the violation.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the notification comprises at least one of an audio notification or a visual notification.