Method for generating a vehicle identifier

• US 20100070107A1
• Filed: 09/14/2009
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: HTI IP LLC (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Berkobin, Eric, Berkobin, Alex, Kalinadhabhotla, Deep
• Granted Patent: US 8,812,172 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

Upon initial boot-up, a telematics device receives a PID map in response to a PID map request. The TCU may send multiple PID map requests for different mode and PID combinations over a vehicles communication bus, and then may append each received PID map to the already-received PID maps. The multiple PID maps appended to one another form a composite bit value, or composite PID map. The composite PID map is processed according to a hash algorithm, resulting in a pseudo-VIN. Upon subsequent boot-ups of the TCU, the TCU sends the multiple PID map requests over the vehicle'"'"'s bus and generates a pseudo VIN to following the same steps as it did at initial boot-up. The TCU compares the currently generated pseudo-VIN to the initial pseudo VIN; if it determines a mismatch, it sends a notification to an interested third party that indicates improper usage of the TCU.

Claims

1. A method for identifying a vehicle based on equipment installed on it, comprising:

receiving bits, generated by one, or more, of a plurality of devices installed on the vehicle, in response to a PID map request;

processing the received bits according to an algorithm that transforms the received bits into a result representative of the bits received in response to the PID map request; and

storing the representative result from the algorithm to a memory.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising using the stored representative result from the algorithm as a basis for determining the identity of the vehicle.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising comparing the representative result from a subsequent iteration to the representative result from an initial iteration of the method and determining that the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the bits received in the subsequent iteration did not generate the bits in the initial iteration if the representative results from the initial and subsequent iterations do not match.

4. The method of claim 3 further comprising notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the subsequent representative result did not generate the initial representative result.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the vehicle identified by the initial iteration is owned, or operated, by a customer of the interested party.

6. The method of claim 3 further comprising notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the subsequent representative result also generated the initial representative result.

7. A telematics control unit configured to perform a method for identifying a vehicle based on equipment installed on it, the method comprising:

receiving bits, generated by one, or more, of a plurality of devices installed on the vehicle, in response to a PID map request;

processing the received bits according to an algorithm that transforms the received bits into a result representative of the bits received in response to the PID map request; and

storing the representative result from the algorithm to a memory.

8. The telematics control unit of claim 7 further configured to perform the step of using the stored representative result from the algorithm as a basis for determining the identity of the vehicle.

9. The telematics control unit of claim 7 further configured to perform the steps of comparing the representative result from a subsequent iteration to the representative result from an initial iteration of the method and determining that the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the bits received in the subsequent iteration did not generate the bits in the initial iteration if the representative results from the initial and subsequent iterations do not match.

10. The telematics control unit of claim 9 further configured to perform the step of notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the subsequent representative result did not generate the initial representative result.

11. The telematics control unit of claim 7 wherein the vehicle identified by the initial iteration is owned, or operated, by a customer of the interested party.

12. The telematics control unit of claim 9 further configured to perform the step of notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device that generated the subsequent representative result also generated the initial representative result.

13. The telematics control unit of claim 9 further configured to perform the step of disabling itself if the representative results from the initial and subsequent iterations do not match.

14. A server configured to communicate with a telematics control unit, the server configured to perform a method for identifying a vehicle based on equipment installed on it, the method comprising:

receiving bits, generated by one, or more, of a plurality of devices installed on the vehicle, in response to a PID map request;

processing the received bits according to an algorithm that transforms the received bits into a result representative of the bits received in response to the PID map request; and

storing the representative result from the algorithm to a memory.

15. The server of claim 14 further configured to perform the step of using the stored representative result from the algorithm as a basis for determining the identity of the vehicle.

16. The server of claim 14 further configured to perform the steps of comparing the representative result from a subsequent iteration to the representative result from an initial iteration of the method and determining that the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the bits received in the subsequent iteration did not generate the bits in the initial iteration if the representative results from the initial and subsequent iterations do not match.

17. The server of claim 16 further configured to perform the step of notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the subsequent representative result did not generate the initial representative result.

18. The server of claim 14 wherein the vehicle identified by the initial iteration is owned, or operated, by a customer of the interested party.

19. The server of claim 16 further configured to perform the step of notifying an interested party if the same vehicle'"'"'s device, or devices, that generated the subsequent representative result also generated the initial representative result.

20. The server of claim 16 further configured to perform the step of disabling a telematics control unit of the vehicle that generated the subsequent interation if the representative results from the initial and subsequent iterations do not match.