SMART MODEM DEVICE FOR VEHICULAR AND ROADSIDE APPLICATIONS

• US 20100182163A1
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Concaten Inc.
• Original Assignee: Iwapi Incorporated
• Inventors: Rennie, Christopher J., Groeneweg, Kevin K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,120,473 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/905
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

A method and system are provided in which maintenance vehicles collect information from sensors and operators, forward the collected information to a server, and, in response, receive maps and operator instructions.

Claims

1-21. -21. (canceled)

22. A method, comprising:

(a) receiving over a wireless cellular network, from a plurality of snow maintenance vehicles and by a server, a plurality of sets of collected information, each of the collected sets of information comprising a snow maintenance vehicle physical location and at least one of weather and road conditions in an area of the respective snow maintenance vehicle;

(b) processing, by the server, the received collected information to (i) provide a map associated with a physical location of a selected snow maintenance vehicle and (ii) determine an instruction for an operator of the selected snow maintenance vehicle; and

(c) providing, over the wireless cellular network, the map and an operator instruction to the selected snow maintenance vehicle of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles, wherein the map is visually displayed to the operator and wherein the operator instruction to the selected snow maintenance vehicle operator comprises one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the map is displayed to the operator by, by a touch screen monitor, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, and an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, wherein the physical location is a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

)-based location, wherein the GPS-based location is received by the modem from a GPS module, wherein the GPS-based location is a current and/or recorded snow maintenance vehicle physical location, and wherein each of the sets of collected information comprise a unique identifier associated with the respective modem, the unique identifier being different from a modem IP address.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the map is generated from the plurality of sets of collected information and wherein the map depicts snow maintenance vehicle physical locations of each of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles and the at least one of weather and road conditions in an area of each snow maintenance vehicle.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the map comprises an icon for each of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles, a respective map location of each icon depicting a physical location of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle, and wherein each icon is associated with text information describing a state of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the state of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle comprises at least one of a snow maintenance vehicle identifier, direction of snow maintenance vehicle travel, snow maintenance vehicle speed, status of a GPS signal from the snow maintenance vehicle, and timestamp of last data update for the snow maintenance vehicle.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein an appearance of the icon denotes a corresponding one of a plurality of different possible states of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle with differing icon appearances corresponding to differing snow maintenance vehicle states.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the appearance is color and wherein the color indicates that the snow maintenance vehicle is one of active, inactive, and out-of-wireless range.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the map provides a trace route for each of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles.

30. The method of claim 22, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface, wherein the map is provided, over the wireless cellular network, in a markup language format, wherein the at least one of weather conditions and road conditions is weather conditions, and wherein the weather conditions comprise a plurality of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, wind chill, and precipitation type.

31. The method of claim 22, wherein the map is provided, over the wireless cellular network, in a markup language format, wherein the at least one of weather conditions and road conditions is road conditions, and wherein the road conditions comprise one or more of icy, slushy, snow-packed, frosty, wet, and dry.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein the snow maintenance vehicle state comprises a plurality of a snow plow setting, a mixture of material being applied to a selected surface, and an amount of material being applied to the selected surface.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein the snow maintenance vehicle state comprises video images of the snow maintenance vehicle'"'"'s exterior environment.

34. A method, comprising:

(a) sending, over a wireless cellular network, from an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of a modem of a selected snow maintenance vehicle, and to a server, a set of collected information, the set of collected information comprising a physical location of the selected snow maintenance vehicle, at least one of weather and road conditions in an area of the selected snow maintenance vehicle, and a unique identifier associated with the modem, the unique identifier being different from the modem IP address;

(b) receiving, at the modem and from the server, a map and an operator instruction based on the set of collected information;

(c) displaying, to the operator, the map; and

(d) providing, to the operator, the operator instruction, the operator instruction comprising one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein the map is displayed to the operator by a touch screen monitor, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, and an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, wherein the physical location is a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

)-based location and wherein the GPS-based location is received by the modem from a GPS module and wherein the GPS-based location is a current and/or recorded snow maintenance vehicle physical location.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein the map is generated from the set of collected information and wherein the map depicts snow maintenance vehicle physical locations of each of a plurality of snow maintenance vehicles, including the selected snow maintenance vehicle, and the at least one of weather and road conditions in an area of each snow maintenance vehicle.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the map comprises an icon for each of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles, a respective map location of each icon depicting a physical location of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle, and wherein each icon is associated with text information describing a state of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein the state of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle comprises at least one of snow maintenance vehicle identifier, direction of snow maintenance vehicle travel, snow maintenance vehicle speed, status of a GPS signal from the snow maintenance vehicle, and timestamp of last data update for the snow maintenance vehicle.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein an appearance of the icon denotes a corresponding one of a plurality of different possible states of the corresponding snow maintenance vehicle with differing icon appearances corresponding to differing snow maintenance vehicle states.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the appearance is color and wherein the color indicates that the snow maintenance vehicle is one of active, inactive, and out-of-wireless range.

41. The method of claim 36, wherein the map provides a trace route for each of the plurality of snow maintenance vehicles.

42. The method of claim 34, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface, wherein the map is provided, over the wireless cellular network, in a markup language format, wherein the at least one of weather conditions and road conditions is weather conditions, and wherein the weather conditions comprise a plurality of temperature, humidity, wind speed, wind direction, wind chill, and precipitation type.

43. The method of claim 34, wherein the map is provided, over the wireless cellular network, in a markup language format, wherein the at least one of weather conditions and road conditions is road conditions, and wherein the road conditions comprise one or more of icy, slushy, snow-packed, frosty, wet, and dry.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the snow maintenance vehicle state comprises a plurality of snow plow setting, mixture of material being applied to a selected surface, and amount of material being applied to the selected surface.

45. The method of claim 39, wherein the snow maintenance vehicle state comprises video images of the snow maintenance vehicle'"'"'s exterior environment.

46. The method of claim 34, further comprising:

(d) in response to engine shut off, delaying, by a DC voltage regulator and sequencer, termination of power to the modem to enable orderly initiation of modem shut down.

47. A method, comprising:

(a) receiving, from an operator of a snow maintenance vehicle, information comprising a plurality of a current weather condition, a current road condition, a snow plow setting, a mixture of material being applied to a road surface, and an amount of material being applied to the road surface;

(b) obtaining a physical location of the snow maintenance vehicle;

(c) determining that at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a Quality of Service (“

QoS”

) parameter is not acceptable;

(d) buffering the received information when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable;

(e) when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is acceptable, sending, by the modem, from an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the modem, and over a cellular network, the received information and physical location to an electronic address associated with a remote server;

(f) in response to sending the received information and physical location, receiving, by the modem and from the remote server, an instruction to the snow maintenance vehicle operator, the instruction comprising one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the information is received from the operator via a touch screen monitor, wherein the IP address is received, by the modem from a domain name server of a cellular network, wherein the physical location is a set of location coordinates received from a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) sensor, and wherein the determining step (c) comprises;

(C1) forwarding, by the modem, a query to an IP address of the domain name server and applying the following rules;

(C2) when a response is received from the domain name server, determining that the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is acceptable; and

(C3) when no response is received from the domain name server, determining that the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable.

49. The method of claim 48, wherein the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable and further comprising:

(C4) determining, by the modem, whether a communications initiation application is configured for a persistent connection and applying the following rules;

(C5) when the communications initiation application is configured for a persistent connection, allowing, by the modem, the communications initiation application to reestablish a connection with the server; and

(C6) when the communications initiation application is not configured for a persistent connection, resetting logic and related parameters required for access to the wireless network to effect reestablishment of the connection with the server.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the modem sends, along with the received information, a unique identifier associated with the snow maintenance vehicle, the unique identifier being different from the modem IP address.

51. The method of claim 47, wherein a combination DC voltage regulator and sequencer provide key on/off functionality with delayed power-on to provide extended minimal voltage drain upon start and delayed power-off to provide extended session status with restart and/or orderly shut-down of the modem and whatever functionality is then active.

52. The method of claim 47, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, and an alarm based on a difference in road conditions and wherein the modem is programmable, comprises an operating system, and provides markup language interfaces for the transfer and receipt of information and instructions.

53. The method of claim 47, wherein the modem comprises a connection manager to establish wireless connections and a connection monitor to monitor at least one network state parameter, the network state parameter being one or more of a signal strength over the cellular network, packet loss, jitter, and latency and, when the at least one network state parameter is not acceptable, to disconnect the connection.

54. The method of claim 47, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface and wherein the modem comprises a filter operable to remove duplicated information and send only information that has changed since a prior transmission and/or information outside of set or calculated parameters.

55. A snow maintenance vehicle, comprising:

a user interface operable to receive, from a snow maintenance vehicle operator, information comprising a plurality of a current weather condition, a current road condition, a snow plow setting, a mixture of a material being applied to a road surface, and an amount of the material being applied to the road surface; and

a modem operable to;

(a) obtain a physical location of the snow maintenance vehicle;

(b) determine that at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a Quality of Service (“

QoS”

) parameter is not acceptable;

(c) buffer the received information when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable;

(d) when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is acceptable, send, from an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the modem and over a cellular network, the received information and physical location to an electronic address associated with a remote server; and

(d) in response to sending the received information and physical location, receive, at the modem IP address, and from the remote server, an instruction to the snow maintenance vehicle operator, the instruction comprising one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.

56. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein the user interface is a touch screen monitor, wherein the IP address is received, by the modem from a domain name server of a cellular network, wherein the physical location is a set of location coordinates received from a Global Positioning System (“

GPS”

) sensor, and wherein the determining operation (b) comprises;

(B1) forwarding, by the modem, a query to an IP address of the domain name server and applying the following rules;

(B2) when a response is received from the domain name server, determining that the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is acceptable; and

(B3) when no response is received from the domain name server, determining that the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable.

57. The vehicle of claim 56, wherein the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable and further comprising:

(B4) determining whether a communications initiation application is configured for a persistent connection and applying the following rules;

(B5) when the communications initiation application is configured for a persistent connection, allowing the communications initiation application to reestablish a connection with the server; and

(B6) when the communications initiation application is not configured for a persistent connection, resetting logic and related parameters required for access to the wireless network to effect reestablishment of the connection with the server.

58. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein the modem sends, along with the received information, a unique identifier associated with the snow maintenance vehicle, the unique identifier being different from the modem IP address.

59. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein a combination DC voltage regulator and sequencer provides key on/off functionality with delayed power-on to provide extended minimal voltage drain upon start and delayed power-off to provide extended session status with restart and/or orderly shut-down of the modem and whatever functionality is then active.

60. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, and an alarm based on a difference in road conditions and wherein the modem is programmable, comprises an operating system, and provides markup language interfaces for the transfer and receipt of information and instructions.

61. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein the modem comprises a connection manager to establish wireless connections and a connection monitor to monitor at least one network state parameter, the network state parameter being one or more of a signal strength over the cellular network, packet loss, jitter, and latency and, when the at least one network state parameter is not acceptable, to disconnect the connection.

62. The vehicle of claim 55, wherein the operator instruction comprises one or more of a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface and wherein the modem comprises a filter operable to remove duplicated information and send only information that has changed since a prior transmission and/or information outside of set or calculated parameters.

63. A method, comprising:

(a) while a snow maintenance vehicle is in operation, periodically sending, over a wireless cellular network, from an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of a modem of the snow maintenance vehicle, and to a server, a set of collected information, the set of collected information comprising a physical location of the snow maintenance vehicle, at least one of weather and road conditions in an area of the snow maintenance vehicle, and a unique identifier associated with the modem, the unique identifier being different from the modem IP address; and

(b) in response to engine shut off of the snow maintenance vehicle, delaying, by a DC voltage regulator and sequencer, termination of power to the modem to enable orderly initiation of modem shut down.

64. The method of claim 63, further comprising:

(b) receiving, at the modem and from the server, a map and an operator instruction based on the set of collected information;

(c) displaying, to the operator, the map; and

(d) providing, to the operator, the operator instruction, the operator instruction comprising one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.

65. A snow maintenance vehicle, comprising:

a user interface operable to receive, from a snow maintenance vehicle operator, information comprising a plurality of a current weather condition, a current road condition, a snow plow setting, a mixture of a material being applied to a road surface, and an amount of the material being applied to the road surface; and

a modem operable to obtain a physical location of the snow maintenance vehicle and provide collected information, comprising the physical location and the plurality of a current weather condition, a current road condition, a snow plow setting, a mixture of a material being applied to a road surface, and an amount of the material being applied to the road surface, to a remote server; and

a combination DC voltage regulator and sequencer provides key on/off functionality with delayed power-on to provide extended minimal voltage drain upon start and delayed power-off to provide extended session status with restart and/or orderly shut-down of the modem and whatever functionality is then active.

66. The snow maintenance vehicle of claim 65, wherein the modem is further operable to:

determine that at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a Quality of Service (“

QoS”

) parameter is not acceptable;

buffer the collected information when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is not acceptable;

when the at least one of a received signal strength from a cellular network and a QoS parameter is acceptable, send, from an Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) address of the modem and over a cellular network, the collected information to an electronic address associated with the remote server; and

in response to sending the collected information, receive, at the modem IP address, and from the remote server, an instruction to the snow maintenance vehicle operator, the instruction comprising one or more of a dispatch command, an alarm based on a temporal trend in weather conditions, an alarm based on a difference in weather conditions, an alarm based on a temporal trend in road conditions, an alarm based on a difference in road conditions, a snow plow setting, a mixture of materials being applied to a road surface, and an amount of materials being applied to the road surface.