METHOD FOR MAKING VEHICLE-RELATED DATA AVAILABLE TO AN AUTHORIZED THIRD PARTY

• US 20080119983A1
• Filed: 11/22/2006
• Published: 05/22/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors Corporation (Motors Liquidation Co. GUC Trust)
• Inventors: Drwencke, Shawn, Inbarajan, Krishnaraj, Feilla, Luc, Grau, Thomas P.
• Granted Patent: US 7,917,253 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C

Abstract

A method for obtaining vehicle-related data from a vehicle equipped with a telematics unit and making that data temporarily available to a third party that has been approved by an authorized user, such as the vehicle owner. This enables the authorized user to decide which third parties, if any at all, are to receive vehicle-related data so that they may take advantage of any promotions or other services that are offered by the third parties. The vehicle-related data is preferably maintained on a temporary basis so that after the occurrence of an event, such as the expiration of a predetermined period of time or after the authorized third party has already accessed the vehicle-related data, the data is deleted.

Claims

1. A method for making vehicle-related data available to an authorized third party, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving vehicle-related data from a telematics unit that is located in a vehicle;

(b) storing the vehicle-related data in a first database;

(c) storing at least a portion of the vehicle-related data in a second, temporary database, wherein authorization has been given by an authorized user which enables an authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database;

(d) enabling the authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database; and

thereafter

(e) deleting the accessed vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises obtaining the vehicle-related data from one or more vehicle electronic modules (VEMs) located in the vehicle, before performing step (a).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises assigning a priority level to the vehicle-related data based on the type of data that it is, before performing step (a).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises wirelessly receiving the vehicle-related data from the telematics unit at a call center over a wireless carrier system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (b) further comprises storing the vehicle-related data in a first database that is a customer database including both vehicle-related data and customer-related data.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises tagging the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database so that it is identified as being available to the authorized third party, before performing step (c).

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises utilizing one or more business rule(s) to determine which portion of the vehicle-related data is to be stored in the second database, before performing step (c).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the business rule(s) are at least partially developed with input from the authorized user.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) further comprises enabling the authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database by notifying the authorized third party that vehicle-related data is available for retrieval, and then verifying the authorized third party when they attempt to retrieve the vehicle-related data.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein step (d) further comprises sending the authorized third party a password for accessing the vehicle-related data that is available for retrieval.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) further comprises enabling the authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database by sending the accessed vehicle-related data to the authorized third party.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) further comprises deleting the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database after an expiration associated with that portion of vehicle-related data occurs.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein step (e) further comprises deleting the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database after the authorized third party has accessed that portion of vehicle-related data.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the second database includes at least one piece of data selected from the list consisting of:

a vehicle mileage, a vehicle location, a vehicle history, a diagnostic trouble code (DTC), an engine oil life reading, emissions data, and a tire pressure, and a vehicle identification number (VIN).

15. A method for making vehicle-related data available to an authorized third party, comprising the steps of:

(a) storing vehicle-related data in a customer database;

(b) storing at least a portion of the vehicle-related data in a third party database, wherein authorization has been given by an authorized user which enables an authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database;

(c) alerting the authorized third party that the vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database is available;

(d) enabling the authorized third party to access at least some of the vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database; and

(e) deleting the accessed vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database in response to at least one of the following events;

(i) an expiration of time, and

(ii) an access of the vehicle-related data by the authorized third party.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises obtaining the vehicle-related data from one or more vehicle electronic modules (VEMs) located in the vehicle and wirelessly receiving the vehicle-related data from a telematics unit at a call center over a wireless carrier system, before performing step (a).

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises assigning a priority level to the vehicle-related data based on the type of data that it is, before performing step (a).

18. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises tagging the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database so that it is identified as being available to the authorized third party, before performing step (b).

19. The method of claim 15, wherein the method further comprises utilizing one or more business rule(s) to determine which portion of the vehicle-related data is to be stored in the third party database, before performing step (b).

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the business rule(s) are at least partially developed with input from the authorized user.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein step (c) further comprises sending the authorized third party a password for accessing the portion of vehicle-related data that is available for retrieval.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database includes at least one piece of data selected from the list consisting of:

a vehicle mileage, a vehicle location, a vehicle history, a diagnostic trouble code (DTC), an engine oil life reading, emissions data, and a tire pressure, and a vehicle identification number (VIN).

23. A method for making vehicle-related data available to an authorized third party, comprising the steps of:

(a) transmitting vehicle-related data approved by an authorized user from a telematics unit that is located in a vehicle to a call center over a wireless carrier system;

(b) storing the vehicle-related data in a customer database that includes both vehicle-related data and customer-related data;

(c) utilizing one or more business rule(s) that are at least partially developed with input from the authorized user to determine which vehicle-related data will be stored in a third party database;

(d) storing a portion of the vehicle-related data in the third party database;

(e) alerting the authorized third party that the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database is available, wherein authorization has been given to enable the authorized third party to access the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database;

(f) enabling the authorized third party to access the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database; and

(g) deleting the portion of vehicle-related data that is stored in the third party database once the data is accessed by the authorized third party or once an expiration associated with that portion of the vehicle-related data expires, whichever occurs first.