Portable automobile diagnostic tool
First Claim
1. A portable automobile diagnostic tool comprising:
- a microcontroller for receiving information from an automotive computer of a vehicle under test;
a flash memory coupled to said microcontroller for storing information on automobile codings for a plurality of automobiles, said flash memory being writeable for updating said automobile codings and wherein automobile codes stored in said flash memory are compressed;
a keypad coupled to said microcontroller for entering operations of the portable automobile diagnostic tool;
a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) coupled to said microcontroller for storing information received from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test; and
a display coupled to said microcontroller for displaying information received from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable automotive diagnostic tool (30) for receiving information from an automotive computer of a vehicle. The portable automotive diagnostic tool (30) is battery powered. The portable automotive diagnostic tool (30) comprises a microcontroller (31), a display (32), a keypad (33), a flash memory (34), a SRAM (35), a battery backup circuit (36), a ROM (37), a UART (38), and a port (39). Automotive codes for configuring the portable automotive diagnostic tool (30) are stored in flash memory (34). The automotive codes are compressed to increase storage to the flash memory (34). The flash memory (34) is non-volatile and retains the automotive codes when power is removed. The automotive codes are updated by writing new automotive codes to the flash memory (34). Information or data received from an automotive computer is stored in SRAM (35). The battery backup circuit (36) powers the SRAM (35) to maintain the information to be taken to a different location when the power is turned off.
173 Citations
25 Claims
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1. A portable automobile diagnostic tool comprising:
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a microcontroller for receiving information from an automotive computer of a vehicle under test; a flash memory coupled to said microcontroller for storing information on automobile codings for a plurality of automobiles, said flash memory being writeable for updating said automobile codings and wherein automobile codes stored in said flash memory are compressed; a keypad coupled to said microcontroller for entering operations of the portable automobile diagnostic tool; a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) coupled to said microcontroller for storing information received from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test; and a display coupled to said microcontroller for displaying information received from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for operating an automobile diagnostic tool, the method comprising:
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coupling the automobile diagnostic tool to an automotive computer of a vehicle under test; selecting an automobile make and model corresponding to said vehicle under test; finding an automobile coding stored in memory corresponding to said vehicle under test; decompressing said automobile coding corresponding to said selected automobile make and model; configuring the automobile diagnostic tool with said decompressed automobile coding to receive information from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test; and receiving information from said automotive computer of said vehicle under test. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An automobile diagnostic tool for receiving information from an automotive computer of a vehicle under test, the automobile diagnostic tool comprising:
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a microcontroller for interfacing with the automotive computer of the vehicle under test; a flash memory responsive to said microcontroller for storing automobile codings for a plurality of automobiles, said automobile codings being stored in a compressed format in said flash memory; a keypad coupled to said microcontroller for entering operations of the automobile diagnostic tool; a Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) responsive to said microcontroller for storing data from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test; a battery backup circuit coupled to said SRAM for providing power to said SRAM when power is turned off to the automobile diagnostic tool; and a display for displaying information received from said automobile computer of said vehicle under test. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A method for storing information on automobile codes in an automobile diagnostic tool, the method comprising the steps of:
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compressing automobile codes; and storing compressed automobile codes in memory. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25)
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Specification