Wide area wireless system for access into vehicles and fleets for control, security, messaging, reporting and tracking

• US 6,049,269 A
• Filed: 04/03/1996
• Issued: 04/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 04/03/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Eckehard Maruhn, Telectronics Incorporated, YASMINE & MAURO GIBELLINI
• Original Assignee: Telectronics Incorporated
• Inventors: Kasparian, Kaspar A., Byrd, Joseph E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hopsass, Jeffery A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pope, Daryl C.
• Application Number:
  US08/626,809
• Time in Patent Office: 1,469 Days
• Field of Search: 379/44, 379/57, 379/63, 364/424.045, 340/311.1, 340/426, 340/425.5, 340/825.44, 340/539, 367/10.2, 367/10.3
• US Class Current: 340/426.21
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 2325/205 Mobile phones
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/04 operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/102 a signal being sent to a remote location, e.g. a radio signal being transmitted to a police station, a security company or the owner
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/33 of global position, e.g. by providing GPS coordinates
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data

Abstract

A new add-on vehicular system is capable of responding to large area or nation-wide commands over paging networks, to remotely foil the unauthorized use or theft of a vehicle or a fleet automobile or a group of fleet vehicles, as well as to help the recovery of stolen vehicles. The preferred embodiment of the system comprises a paging receiver and decoder, a microcontroller with embedded programmable software and memory and a vehicular systems control interface. The system does not require central monitoring systems, or portable controls or vehicular user set controls or portable key chain controls or keypads or cellular phones or separation of vehicular transceivers from owner carried transceivers to activate the system. In a second embodiment, a two-way radio paging approach is employed in the system to expand its capabilities and to additionally provide remotely controlled transmission of data from vehicles, including data pertaining to the position coordinates of the vehicle.

Claims

1. A vehicular communication and control system for providing communication, security and theft getaway foiling capabilities for individual vehicles and fleets, said system operating over radio paging and messaging networks accessible to the general public and government, and employing the addressing and messaging routines, paging data signals and coverage range of said radio networks, said system comprising:

(a) a communication portion of said communication and control system including a radio frequency unit with a receiver for receiving paging data signals over said radio paging networks and a decoder with auxiliary memory for decoding said paging data signals received by said receiver, said receiver receiving the data signals including a pager address and message employing said addressing and messaging routines, and said message containing a personal identification portion and an action mode portion, said decoder decoding and verifying said pager address and affecting storage of said message containing personal identification and action mode portions of said message in said auxiliary memory;

(b) a program and data processing portion including a microcontroller with non-volatile memory and programmable software including programmed personal identification information and preprogrammed action modes, each action mode corresponding to a plurality of coordinated and interactive preprogrammed instructions, including a plurality of instructions for communicating, security and theft getaway foiling, said microcontroller having means for interacting with said communication portion, with said programmable software, and with said non-volatile memory, to provide processing and verification of said personal identification and action mode message portions and if said personal identification message portion is identical to said programmed personal identification information and if said action mode is identical to a preprogrammed action mode to then provide said plurality of corresponding preprogrammed instructions to said vehicular communication and control system, including instructions for communication, security and theft getaway foiling; and

(c) a control portion of said vehicular communication and control system including a multi-controller assembly for controlling multiple vehicular systems, said multicontroller assembly directly interacting with said multiple vehicular systems independently of the vehicle serial bus, body computer and multiplexers, and said control portion interacting with said program and data processing portion to enable security and theft getaway foiling per said preprogrammed instructions.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said multi-controller assembly includes a relay bank.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said multi-controller assembly includes a solid-state control device bank.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said paging data signals are in POCSAG format.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said communication, security and theft getaway foiling instructions include instructions for coordinated activation of a vehicular loudhailer preprogrammed with stored messages.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of coordinated and interactive preprogrammed instructions include communication, security and theft getaway foiling instructions for sensing and control of the vehicle ignition system status interactively coordinated with said plurality of communication, security and theft foiling instructions.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein said plurality of coordinated and interactive preprogrammed instructions include communication, security and theft getaway foiling instructions for the programmed control of the vehicle engine fuel supply coordinated interactively with said plurality of communication, security and theft getaway foiling instructions.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said preprogrammed instructions include instructions for causing coordinated and interactive communication, security and theft getaway foiling actions, including flashing of the vehicle lights in a programmed pattern, intermittent patterned sounding of the vehicle horn, activation of a vehicular loudhailer with stored announcement, sensing and control of the vehicle engine ignition system and progressive diminishing of the engine fuel supply according to preprogrammed software instructions.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said preprogrammed instructions include instructions for causing coordinated and interactive combinations of SOS pattern flashing of the vehicle lights, SOS intermittent sounding of the vehicle horn, activation of a vehicular loudhailer with stored announcement, sensing and control of the vehicle engine ignition system interactive, coordinated, and progressive disabling of the vehicle engine fuel supply according to preprogrammed software instructions.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said message of said paging data signals includes reset mode signals, factory test mode signals and initialization mode signals for said vehicular communication and control system.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vehicular communication and control system operates over a super high frequency band paging and messaging network.

12. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said vehicular communication and control system operates over a narrowband personal communication services network.

44. The system of claim 1, wherein said personal identification portion of said message identifies a group of vehicles through the use of an initial portion of the personal identification message containing characters that are common to that group of vehicles, and a special string of repetitive characters that designate that a group communication is in process for said group, wherein said group communication is responded to by all the vehicles in said group.

45. The system of claim 44, wherein said personal identification portion further comprises a non-common personalized string of special characters for a specific vehicle in said group.

46. The system of claim 1, wherein the coverage range of said radio networks is one of a wide area paging and messaging network or a nationwide coverage paging network.

47. The system of claim 1, wherein said messaging routines of said paging and messaging networks includes:

an address and a message dialed from a public telephone, wherein the message comprises a string of characters having a first portion that represents a personal identification and a second portion that represents an action mode; and

wherein said paging data signals of the receiver are decoded and verified by said decoder and said personal identification and action mode message containing the personal identification and action mode data are stored by said decoder in said auxiliary memory for communication to the program and data processing portion of said vehicular communication and control system.

48. The system of claim 1, further comprising a transfer element for transferring security and theft foiling instructions from said programmable software to said control portion of said vehicular system.

49. The system of claim 1, further comprising means for confirming the proper programming of a personal ID received from a telephone.

13. A vehicular communication and control system for providing communication, security and theft getaway foiling capabilities for individual vehicles and fleets, said system operating over two-way radio paging and messaging networks accessible to the general public and government, and employing the addressing and messaging routines, paging data signals, messaging and coverage range of said radio networks, said system comprising:

(a) a communication portion of said vehicular communication and control system including a radio frequency unit with a paging and messaging transceiver having a receiver, transmitter and a decoder with auxiliary memory, said receiver for receiving paging and messaging data signals and said transmitter for transmitting paging and messaging data signals over the radio paging and messaging networks;

said paging and messaging transceiver interacting with addressing and messaging routines to receive and transmit said data signals including messaging said data signals upon reception including address data and message data, said data containing a personal identification portion and an action mode portion, said decoder decoding and verifying said address data and affecting storage of said data signals containing said personal identification and action mode portions in said auxiliary memory, and upon transmission transmitting messages and data;

(b) a program and data processing portion including a microcontroller with non-volatile memory and programmable software including programmed personal identification information and a plurality of preprogrammed action modes, each action mode corresponding to a plurality of coordinated and interactive preprogrammed instructions, including a plurality of instructions for communicating, security and theft getaway foiling, said microcontroller having means for acquiring data from additional data sources, processing said data from additional data sources according to preprogrammed software instructions and interacting with said communication portion to control and communicate said data from additional data sources, with said microcontroller further interacting with said programmable software, and with said non-volatile memory, to provide processing and verification of received personal identification and action mode message portions and if said personal identification message portion is identical to said programmed personal identification information and if said action mode is identical to a preprogrammed action mode to then provide said plurality of corresponding preprogrammed instructions to said vehicular communication and control system, including instructions for communicating, security and theft getaway foiling; and

(c) a control portion of said vehicular communication and control system including a multicontroller assembly for controlling multiple vehicular systems, said multi-controller assembly directly interacting with multiple vehicular systems independently of the vehicles serial bus, computer and multiplex systems, and said control portion interacting with said program and data processing portion to enable security and theft getaway foiling in accordance with said preprogrammed instructions.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein said multi-controller assembly includes a relay bank.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein said multi-controller assembly includes a solid-state control device bank.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein said communicating of said data from additional data sources includes communicating of data related to vehicle position coordinates.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein said communicating of said data from additional data sources includes communicating data signals from a global positioning system data source.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein said paging and messaging data signals include reset mode signals, factory test mode signals and initialization mode signals for said vehicular communication and control system.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein said preprogrammed software instructions include instructions for causing coordinated and interactive combinations of preprogrammed SOS pattern flashing of the vehicle lights, preprogrammed SOS intermittent sounding pattern of the vehicle horn, the activation of a vehicular loudhailer with stored announcement, the sensing and control of the vehicle engine ignition system and interactive and coordinated, progressive disabling of the vehicle engine fuel supply according to preprogrammed software instructions.

20. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said data from said additional data sources is data from a mobile terminal.

21. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said vehicular communication and control system operates over a super high frequency band paging and messaging network.

22. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein said radio paging and messaging networks is a narrow band personal communication services network.

50. The system of claim 13, wherein said personal identification portion of said data signals identifies a group of vehicles through the use of an initial portion of the personal identification message containing characters that are common to that group of vehicles, and a special string of repetitive characters that designate that a group communication is in process for said group, wherein said group communication is responded to by all the vehicles in said group.

51. The system of claim 13 wherein the coverage range of said paging and messaging networks is a wide area coverage in the case of a wide area paging and messaging network and nationwide coverage in the case of a nationwide coverage paging and messaging network, said coverage range determining the range over which said communication, security and theft getaway is communicated with said vehicular communication and control system.

52. The system of claim 13, wherein the coverage range of said paging and messaging networks is a wide area coverage in the case of a wide area paging a messaging network or nationwide coverage in the case of a nationwide coverage paging and messaging network.

53. The system of claim 13, wherein said messaging routines of said paging and messaging networks includes:

an address and a message entered from a public telephone, wherein the message comprises a string of characters having a first portion that represents a personal identification and a second portion that represents an action mode; and

wherein said address data signals of the receiver are decoded and verified by said decoder and said message data signals including the personal identification and action mode data signals are stored by said decoder in said auxiliary memory for communication to the program and data processing portion of said vehicular communication and control system.

54. The system of claim 13, further comprising a transfer element for transferring security and theft foiling instructions from said programmable software to said control portion of said vehicular system.

55. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for receiving ancillary data from ancillary data producing systems in the vehicle, and storing and processing said ancillary data as said data from additional sources and interacting with said communication portion, program and data processing portion and control portion.

56. The system of claim 13, further comprising means for confirming the proper programming of a personal ID received from a telephone.

57. The system of claim 51, wherein said preprogrammed software instructions include instructions for causing coordinated and interactive communication, security and theft getaway foiling actions, including flashing of the vehicle lights in a preprogrammed pattern, intermittent sounding of the vehicle horn in a preprogrammed pattern, the activation of a vehicular loudhailer with stored announcement, sensing and control of the vehicle engine ignition system and progressive diminishing of the engine fuel supply according to preprogrammed software instructions.

23. A vehicular communication and control system comprising:

(a) a communication portion for communication of a signal containing data and a message having an identification portion and an action portion over a paging and messaging network accessible to the general public;

(b) a decoder for decoding said signal containing said data and message received over said paging and messaging network;

(c) a vehicle interface for selectively controlling various vehicular functions on a sequenced basis such that the overall disablement of the vehicle in motion occurs on a progressive basis;

(d) a processor for processing said signal containing said data and message and providing instructions to operate the vehicular communication and control system; and

(e) programmable instructions to operate said vehicular communication and control system.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said vehicle interface includes a solid state control device bank.

25. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said communication portion is a receiver.

26. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said communication portion is a paging and messaging receiver.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 wherein said processor interacts with said communication portion and said vehicle interface.

28. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said programmable instructions is programmable software instructions.

29. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said communication portion and said decoder receive and decode the addressing and messaging routines and paging data signals of said paging and messaging network.

30. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said processor is connected to said decoder internally.

31. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said processor includes an (EEPROM) electrically erasable programmable read-only memory unit.

32. The apparatus of claim 27 wherein said processor includes a (RAM) random access memory unit.

33. The apparatus of claim 28 wherein said programmable software instructions include instructions to said vehicle interface for theft getaway foiling.

34. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said communication portion is a transceiver.

35. The apparatus of claim 34 wherein said processor interacts with said communication portion and said vehicle interface.

36. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said programmable instructions is programmable software instructions.

37. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said communication portion employs the addressing and messaging routines and data signals of a two-way paging and messaging network.

38. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said transceiver is a paging and messaging transceiver.

39. The apparatus of claim 35 wherein said processor and said communication portion have external data input means.

40. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein said external data input means is used to input GPS data on the position of the vehicle for processing by said processor and communicating by said communication portion.

41. The apparatus of claim 39 wherein said external data input means has means for data input from a mobile terminal.

42. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said vehicular communication and control system operates over a super high frequency band paging and messaging network.

43. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said communication portion operates over a narrowband personal communication services network.