Portable device and method for querying a vehicle network

• US 9,417,078 B1
• Filed: 10/19/2015
• Issued: 08/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Seibert Williams Glass, Llc
• Original Assignee: Seibert Williams Glass, Llc
• Inventors: Seibert, Joseph J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Olszewski, John R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Wiltey, Nicholas K
• Application Number:
  US14/886,863
• Time in Patent Office: 302 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/02 Registering or indicating driving, working, idle, or waiting time only apparatus forming part of taximeters G07B13/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/08 Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0858 wherein the data carrier is removable

Abstract

A portable controller device having an OBD-II port interface and a microcontroller that interacts with a vehicle network through the interface, including programming for querying successively the vehicle network for parameters, for retrieving values for the parameters. The parameters are monitored by querying repeatedly a predetermined or random pattern of PIDs, and inferring a vehicle journey status by comparing the responses to the querying against a predetermined set of inferring response or parameter values, such as (1) the absence of a response to query of a monitoring parameter, (2) a zero value, and (3) a non-changing, non-zero value. A confirming parameter that satisfies the comparison is further queried successively a plurality of times within a predefined term, against the same inferring response or parameter values, and, if satisfied, the vehicle journey is identified as ‘ended’.

Claims

1. A portable controller device including an interface that plugs into an On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle, and a microcontroller that interacts with a network of the vehicle through the interface, including programming to configure the controller for a monitoring mode, while a vehicle journey status is ‘

underway’

, where the controller queries a predetermined monitoring parameter on the network, and compares the response or parameter value returned by the network to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter against a predetermined inferring response or parameter value that includes an absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, and that when the returned response or parameter value is the absence of a response by the network to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, the vehicle journey that was ‘

underway’

is inferred to have changed to ‘

ended’

, and the predetermined monitoring parameter is defined as a candidate parameter.

2. The portable controller device according to claim 1 where the predetermined inferring response or parameter value further includes a zero value.

3. The portable controller device according to claim 1 where the predetermined inferring response or parameter value further includes an identical non-zero value.

4. The portable controller device according to claim 1 where the predetermined monitoring parameter includes a plurality of predetermined monitoring parameters.

5. The portable controller device according to claim 4, where the plurality of predetermined monitoring parameters include a first predetermined monitoring parameter selected from the group consisting of RPM, Vehicle Speed, and RUNTIME, and an additional one or more predetermined monitoring parameter selected from the group consisting of the PIDs listed in Table A.

6. The portable controller device according to claim 5, where:

(i) the predetermined monitoring parameter is RPM and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for RPM includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter, a zero value, and an identical non-zero value;

(ii) a first additional one or more predetermined monitoring parameter is Vehicle Speed and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for Vehicle Speed includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter, and an identical non-zero value; and

(iii) a second additional one or more predetermined monitoring parameter is RUNTIME and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for RUNTIME includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter, and a zero value.

7. The portable controller device according to claim 1, where the predetermined monitoring parameter is selected from the group consisting of the PIDs listed in Table A.

8. The portable controller device according to claim 1, further including programming to configure the controller for a confirming mode, where the controller is configured to query the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, and to compare the response to the query of the candidate parameter with the inferring response or parameter value that confirms that the vehicle journey has changed to ‘

ended’

.

9. The portable controller device according to claim 5, further including programming to configure the controller for a confirming mode, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, and compares the response with the predetermined inferring response or parameter value, to confirm that the vehicle journey has changed to ‘

ended’

.

10. The portable controller device according to claim 9, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially a pre-defined plurality of times.

11. The portable controller device according to claim 9, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially a plurality of times within a predefined time period.

12. The portable controller device according to claim 11, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially the plurality of times within three seconds.

13. The portable controller device according to claim 12, where the controller queries within one second.

27. The portable controller device according to claim 1, where the device further includes a network interface chip or a transceiver.

29. The portable controller device according to claim 8, further including a transmitter for broadcasting the determined status of the journey as ‘

ended’

, or an alarm signal generator means to emit an alarm or warning signal, in response to the determined status of the journey as ‘

ended’

.

14. A method for inferring that a vehicle having a vehicle journey status of ‘

underway’

has ‘

ended’

, comprising in a monitoring mode the steps of;

a) querying continuously a predetermined monitoring parameter on a network of the vehicle;

b) comparing a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter against a predetermined inferring response or parameter value that infers that the vehicle journey has changed to ‘

ended’

, the predetermined inferring response or parameter value comprising an absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter; and

c) inferring that the vehicle having a vehicle journey status of ‘

underway’

has ‘

ended’ and

identifying the predetermined monitoring parameter as a candidate parameter, if the response to the query of the monitoring parameter is the absence of a response to query of the predetermined monitoring parameter.

15. The method according to claim 14 where the predetermined inferring response or parameter value further includes a zero value.

16. The method according to claim 14 where the predetermined inferring response or parameter value further includes an identical non-zero value.

17. The method according to claim 14 where the step of querying includes querying of the predetermined monitoring parameter and an additional one or more predetermined monitoring parameters.

18. The method according to claim 17, where the predetermined monitoring parameter is selected from the group consisting of RPM, Vehicle Speed, and RUNTIME, and the additional one or more predetermined monitoring parameter is selected from the group consisting of the PIDs listed in Table A.

19. The method according to claim 18, where:

(i) the predetermined monitoring parameter is RPM and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for RPM includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter, a zero value, and an identical non-zero value;

(ii) a first additional predetermined monitoring parameter is Vehicle Speed and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for Vehicle Speed includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter, and an identical non-zero value; and

(iii) a second additional predetermined monitoring parameter is RUNTIME and the predetermined inferring response or parameter value to the query for RUNTIME includes an absence of a response to the query of the monitoring parameter and a zero value.

20. The method according to claim 14, where the predetermined monitoring parameter is selected from the group consisting of the PIDs listed in Table A.

21. The method according to claim 14, further including in a confirming mode, the further steps of:

d) querying the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, to return a sequence of responses for the candidate parameter;

e) comparing the sequence of responses with the inferring response or parameter value; and

f) confirming that the journey status has ‘

ended’

when the sequence of responses are the predetermined inferring response or parameter value.

22. The method according to claim 19, further including, in a confirming mode, the steps of:

d) querying the candidate parameter sequentially within a predefined term, to return a sequence of responses for the candidate parameter;

e) comparing the sequence of responses with the inferring response or parameter value; and

f) confirming that the journey status has ‘

ended’

when the sequence of responses are the predetermined inferring response or parameter value.

23. The method according to claim 22, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially a pre-defined plurality of times.

24. The method according to claim 22, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially a plurality of times within a predefined time period.

25. The method according to claim 24, where the controller queries the candidate parameter sequentially a plurality of times within three second.

26. The method according to claim 25, where the controller queries within one second.

28. The method according to claim 14, further including the step of providing a vehicle having a vehicle journey status of ‘

underway’

, where the vehicle includes a vehicle of a make and model that complies with OBD-II standards, and where the vehicle is selected from the group consisting of a vehicle with an internal combustion engine, a hybrid vehicle, and a start/stop-equipped vehicle.