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Telematics system, methods and apparatus for two-way data communication between vehicles in a fleet and a fleet management system

  • US 9,635,518 B2
  • Filed: 09/29/2014
  • Issued: 04/25/2017
  • Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2014
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A system for controlling the operational mode of vehicles in a vehicle fleet, comprising:

  • a plurality of fleet vehicles, each vehicle with a make and model each including a telematics control unit, said telematics control unit including a processor to execute computer readable code embedded on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium, a connection to the OBD II port of the vehicle to enable the control unit to receive vehicle sensor data and actuate a plurality of vehicle devices, a connection to a vehicle access device, and a cellular modem enabling transmission of vehicle data and receipt of programming via cellular networks;

    wherein each telematics control unit is programmed for proper operation for the specific make and model of the vehicle in which it is installed;

    further wherein each telematics control unit is programmed with at least one of a plurality of available vehicle operational modes, said plurality of vehicle modes comprising a vehicle rental mode and a vehicle sharing mode, wherein at least some vehicle operations permitted or prohibited by the telematics control unit while in vehicle rental mode differ from operations permitted or prohibited, respectively, while in vehicle sharing mode;

    a fleet management system including a processor for receiving data from fleet vehicle telematics control units, associating each telematics unit and the data received therefrom with a specific fleet vehicle, and if the telematics vehicle specific programming on a particular telematics control unit does not match the make and model of the specific vehicle, transmitting vehicle specific programming matching the make and model of the specific vehicle to the associated particular telematics control unit;

    an application module associated with the fleet management system enabling the remote selection of a desired vehicle operational mode for a particular telematics control unit in a particular fleet vehicle from said plurality of available vehicle operational modes, wherein selection of a vehicle operational mode different from the vehicle operational mode with which the particular telematics control unit is programmed causes the fleet management system to transmit new programming associated with the selected operational mode from the management system to the particular telematics control unit in the selected fleet vehicle, such that, after transmission of the new programming, the selected vehicle and its particular telematics control unit may be operated in accordance with such selected operational mode without removal of the particular telematics control unit from the selected vehicle.

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