Methods, program products, and systems relating to vehicular garage door control systems
First Claim
1. A method performed in conjunction with a vehicular garage door control system including an in-vehicle Garage Door Opener (GDO) signal generator, a camera, a wireless receiver, and a controller operatively coupled to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator, to the camera, and to the wireless receiver, the method comprising:
- receiving, at the controller via the wireless receiver, a request signal originating from a remote electronic device requesting actuation of a GDO unit that, when actuated, moves a garage door between open and closed positions;
in response to receipt of the request signal, supplying a command signal from the controller to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator commanding the in-vehicle GDO signal generator to generate a GDO actuation signal requesting actuation of the GDO unit;
after generation of the GDO actuation signal by the in-vehicle GDO signal generator, receiving, at the controller, a picture or streaming video feed of an area in front of or behind the vehicle, as captured by the camera; and
transmitting the picture or streaming video feed from the controller to the remote electronic device for presentation on a display thereof.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of method performed in conjunction with a vehicular garage door control system are provided, as are embodiments of a vehicular garage door control system and a program product executed by a smartphone in communicating with such a garage door control system. The vehicular garage door control system may include an in-vehicle Garage Door Opener (GDO) signal generator, a wireless receiver, and a controller. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving, at the controller via the wireless receiver, a request signal originating from a remote electronic device requesting actuation of a GDO unit that, when actuated, moves a garage door between open and closed positions. In response to receipt of the request signal, a command signal is supplied from the controller to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator commanding the in-vehicle GDO signal generator to generate a GDO actuation signal requesting actuation of the GDO unit.
41 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method performed in conjunction with a vehicular garage door control system including an in-vehicle Garage Door Opener (GDO) signal generator, a camera, a wireless receiver, and a controller operatively coupled to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator, to the camera, and to the wireless receiver, the method comprising:
-
receiving, at the controller via the wireless receiver, a request signal originating from a remote electronic device requesting actuation of a GDO unit that, when actuated, moves a garage door between open and closed positions; in response to receipt of the request signal, supplying a command signal from the controller to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator commanding the in-vehicle GDO signal generator to generate a GDO actuation signal requesting actuation of the GDO unit; after generation of the GDO actuation signal by the in-vehicle GDO signal generator, receiving, at the controller, a picture or streaming video feed of an area in front of or behind the vehicle, as captured by the camera; and transmitting the picture or streaming video feed from the controller to the remote electronic device for presentation on a display thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15)
-
-
12. A vehicular garage door control system for use in conjunction with a keyfob and a garage door opener (GDO) unit utilized to move a garage door between open and closed positions, the vehicular garage door control system comprising:
-
an in-vehicle GDO signal generator configured to generate a garage door actuation signal recognized by the GDO unit; a Remote Keyless Entry (RKE) module including a wireless receiver configured to receive a wireless signal from keyfob requesting actuation of the GDO unit; and a controller operatively coupled to the in-vehicle GDO signal generator and to the wireless receiver of the RKE module, the controller commanding the in-vehicle GDO signal generator to generate a garage door actuation signal when the wireless receiver receives a wireless request signal from the keyfob requesting actuation of the GDO unit; wherein the controller identifies the wireless signal originating from the keyfob requesting actuation of the GDO unit based upon the pattern or duration of a signal transmitted from the keyfob when an input dedicated to a different type of function is actuated by a user of the keyfob.
-
-
13. A program product executable by a smartphone configured to communicate with a vehicular garage door control system over a wireless network, the program product comprising:
-
a smartphone software application comprising computer-readable instructions to; generate on a display of the smartphone a virtual control enabling a user to request generation of a garage door opener (GDO) actuation signal by the vehicular garage door control system to open or close a garage door; determine when the virtual control has been selected; when the virtual control has been selected, transmit a request signal over the wireless network to the vehicular garage door control system requesting generation of the GDO actuation signal; receive from the vehicular garage door control system a picture or streaming video feed of an area in front of or behind the vehicle, as captured by a camera included in the vehicular garage door control system; and display the picture or streaming video feed on the display of the smartphone to enable the user to determine the position of the garage door; and non-transitory computer-readable media bearing the smartphone software application. - View Dependent Claims (14, 16)
-
Specification