Reconfigurable universal trainable transmitter

• US 6,556,681 B2
• Filed: 08/26/1998
• Issued: 04/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/26/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lear Corporation EEDS and Interiors Incorporated (Lear Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Lear Corporation
• Inventors: King, Joseph David
• Primary Examiner(s): Hayes, Gail
• Assistant Examiner(s): Seal, James
• Application Number:
  US09/140,022
• Publication Number:
  US 20020067826A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,707 Days
• Field of Search: 380/247, 380/270-273, 380/274, 380/52, 380/44, 713/194
• US Class Current: 380/270
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00769 with data transmission performed by wireless means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00857 where the code of the data carrier can be programmed
• CPC Class Codes: G08C 19/28 using pulse code

Abstract

A trainable transmitter comprises a transmitter, code-generation circuitry and a removable, plug-in data module. The data module includes information necessary for generating a code for a specific security system, such as a garage door opener. Preferably, the data includes a cryptographic algorithm and the frequency at which the wireless signal is to be generated. The code-generation circuitry accesses the data in the data module to generate a code, which is then transmitted by the transmitter. A variety of data modules are provided. A user installs a data module which corresponds to the security system to be accessed.

Claims

1. A trainable transmitter comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting a code in a wireless signal to a remote receiver; and

a read-only data module removably connected to said transmitter to be carried by said transmitter during normal use, said data module including data necessary to generate said code, said trainable transmitter generating said code based on said data without receiving said data from the remote receiver.

2. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data includes a cryptographic algorithm.

3. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data includes a frequency at which the wireless signal should be transmitted.

4. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data module is ROM.

5. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data module is removably secured to said trainable transmitter.

6. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said transmitter includes code-generation circuitry circuitry for generating said code to be transmitted by said transmitter based upon said data in said data module.

7. The trainable transmitter of claim 6, further including tamper detection circuitry, said trainable transmitter disabling said code-generation based upon detection of tampering with said trainable transmitter by said tamper detection circuitry.

8. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data module is mounted remotely from said transmitter.

9. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said transmitter is mounted in a vehicle.

10. The trainable transmitter of claim 8, wherein said data module is installed in a remote location in the vehicle from the transmitter.

11. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data module stores a plurality of cryptographic algorithms.

12. The trainable transmitter of claim 1, wherein said data module stores said data for a plurality of wireless communication systems.

13. A read-only data module for a trainable transmitter comprising:

a read-only computer storage medium for storing data necessary for generating a code for a security system, wherein said data module is removably connected to the trainable transmitter and is carried by the transmitter during normal use, and wherein the trainable transmitter generates the code without receiving said data from the security system.

14. The data module of claim 13, wherein said data includes a cryptographic algorithm.

15. The data module of claim 13, wherein said data includes a frequency at which a wireless signal including the code is to be transmitted to the security system.

16. The data module of claim 13, wherein said storage medium is a ROM.

17. The data module of claim 13, further including a connector for providing electrical connection to a transmitter included in the trainable transmitter.

18. The data module of claim 13, wherein said data includes a plurality of cryptographic algorithms.

19. A trainable transmitter comprising:

a transmitter for transmitting a wireless signal to a remote receiver;

a ROM data module removably connected to said transmitter and carried by said transmitter during normal use, said data module for storing a cryptographic algorithm; and

code-generation circuitry for generating a code, to be transmitted in the wireless signal by said transmitter, based upon said cryptographic algorithm stored in said data module without receiving said cryptographic algorithm from the remote receiver.

20. The trainable transmitter of claim 19, further comprising:

a plurality of said ROM data modules, each for storing a different cryptographic algorithm.

21. A method for generating a wireless signal including the steps of:

a) selecting a read-only data module containing a cryptographic algorithm for generating a digital code for a security system from among a plurality of read-only data modules each having a different cryptographic algorithm;

b) removably connecting the data module selected in said step a) to code-generation circuitry during normal operation of said method, where each of said plurality of data modules is removably connectable to the code-generation circuitry;

c) generating a digital code based upon the cryptographic algorithm in the selected data module in the code-generation circuitry without obtaining data necessary for generating the digital code from the security system; and

d) transmitting the digital code in a wireless signal.