Vehicle rearview mirror and a vehicle control system incorporating such mirror
First Claim
1. A vehicle rearview mirror comprising a mirror housing containing a variable reflectivity mirror unit and a microcontroller for controlling the reflectivity of the mirror unit, said microcontroller being adapted to connect to a vehicle control network which is operable to control a plurality of accessories of the vehicle, said microcontroller encompassing a node of said vehicle control network, said microcontroller being operable to at least one of receive signals from and transmit signals to at least one of said accessories via said vehicle control network.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle control system comprises an industry standard CAN network with a number of nodes distributed around the vehicle for controlling corresponding parts of the vehicle. One such node is located in the housing of the vehicle interior rearview mirror and directly controls the reflectivity of an electro-optic mirror unit, in accordance with the state of at least one ambient light sensor and a remote keyless entry device. The node also communicates via an ISO9141 interface with a number of slave controllers such as a sun-roof control module mounted adjacent a sun-roof and a roof control module mounted in a roof housing. By this means the UCM exercises indirect control of the sun-roof in accordance with the state of a switch, and exercises indirect control of various lamps GEN1, GEN2, FLL and FRL in the roof housing in accordance with the state of switches Gen, FL and FR mounted in the roof housing or, in the case of the lamps GEN1 and GEN2, when a vehicle door is opened.
276 Citations
46 Claims
- 1. A vehicle rearview mirror comprising a mirror housing containing a variable reflectivity mirror unit and a microcontroller for controlling the reflectivity of the mirror unit, said microcontroller being adapted to connect to a vehicle control network which is operable to control a plurality of accessories of the vehicle, said microcontroller encompassing a node of said vehicle control network, said microcontroller being operable to at least one of receive signals from and transmit signals to at least one of said accessories via said vehicle control network.
- 15. A vehicle control system comprising a rearview mirror assembly having a rearview mirror housing and a variable reflectivity mirror unit housed in said mirror housing, said control system further including a first microcontroller mounted in the mirror assembly for controlling the reflectivity of the mirror unit, a second microcontroller mounted in the vehicle outside the mirror assembly and connected to the first microcontroller, and at least one first accessory at said mirror assembly and at least one second accessory remote from said mirror assembly, at least one of said first and second microcontroller encompassing a vehicle control network node of a vehicle control network and being operable to control at least one of said first and second accessories via said vehicle control network.
- 27. A vehicle control system comprising a vehicle control network controlling a plurality of functions of the vehicle, the said vehicle control network having a vehicle control network node located in a rearview mirror assembly of the vehicle, said node controlling at least one function of the mirror assembly, said node being connected to and cooperatively operable with at least one other control node of said vehicle control network which is located remote from the mirror assembly.
- 34. A vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror housing containing a variable reflectivity mirror unit, said assembly including a microcontroller which is operable to control the reflectivity of the mirror unit and to communicate with at least one other accessory of the vehicle, said microcontroller being adapted to connect to a vehicle control network which is operable to control a plurality of functions of the vehicle, said microcontroller encompassing a node of said vehicle control network.
- 39. A vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror housing containing a variable reflectivity mirror unit, said mirror assembly including a microcontroller which is operable to control the reflectivity of the mirror unit and to communicate with at least one other accessory of the vehicle, said microcontroller being adapted to connect to a vehicle control network which is operable to control a plurality of functions of the vehicle, said microcontroller encompassing a node of said vehicle control network, wherein said other accessory comprises at least one of a remote keyless entry accessory, a vehicle sun roof accessory, an alarm accessory, at least one illumination device, a seat belt warning device, a battery level indicator, a vehicle tire indicator, a blind spot warning system, a global positioning system, a safety warning system, a rain sensor, a vehicle compass, a temperature sensor, a garage door opening system, an occupancy detection system, an intrusion detection system, a telephone system, and an emergency rescue system and wherein said microcontroller is operable to communicate with said other accessory via said vehicle control network.
- 42. A vehicle rearview mirror assembly comprising a mirror housing containing a mirror unit, said mirror assembly including a microcontroller which is operable to communicate with at least one other accessory of the vehicle, said microcontroller being adapted to connect to a vehicle control network which is operable to control a plurality of functions of the vehicle, said microcontroller encompassing a node of said vehicle control network, wherein said other accessory comprises at least one of a remote keyless entry accessory, a vehicle sun roof accessory, an alarm accessory, at least one illumination device, a seat belt warning device, a battery level indicator, a vehicle tire indicator, a blind spot warning system, a global positioning system, a safety warning system, a rain sensor, a vehicle compass, a temperature sensor, a garage door opening system, an occupancy detection system, an intrusion detection system, a telephone system, and an emergency rescue system, wherein said microcontroller is operable to communicate with said other accessory via said vehicle control network and wherein said other accessory is positioned remote from said vehicle rearview mirror assembly.
Specification