Technique for effectively providing maintenance and information to vehicles

• US 6,754,485 B1
• Filed: 08/23/2000
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Silver State Intellectual Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: American Calcar, Inc.
• Inventors: White, Philip E., Obradovich, Michael L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Trost, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): EWART, JAMES D
• Application Number:
  US09/622,869
• Time in Patent Office: 1,399 Days
• Field of Search: 455/96, 455/99, 455/345, 455/414, 455/422, 455/426, 455/466, 455/507, 455/556, 455/557, 455/412.2, 340/7.52, 340/7.31, 340/7.35, 340/286.14, 340/425.5, 340/426, 340/438, 340/457, 340/825.72, 340/825.52, 340/86.01, 340/994, 340/995, 340/988
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3697 Output of additional, non-guidance related information, e.g. low fuel level G01C21/3679 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0261 based on user location
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/137 the indicator being in the form of a map
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/205 Indicating the location of the monitored vehicles as destination, e.g. accidents, stolen, rental
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1845 broadcast or multicast in a specific location, e.g. geocast protocols for adapting network applications to user terminal location H04L67/52; services specially adapted for wireless communication networks making use of the location of users or terminals H04W4/02
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/1895 for short real-time information, e.g. alarms, notifications, alerts, updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/222 using geographical location information, e.g. messages transmitted or received in proximity of a certain spot or area
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/48 Message addressing, e.g. address format or anonymous messages, aliases
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/025 for remote control or remote monitoring of applications
• 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 67/52 specially adapted for the location of the user terminal
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/02 Services making use of location information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 : Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

In an automobile, communications to and from the automobile are in the form of messages. Such messages are referred to as “electronic car-mail” or “C-mail” messages as each message has a destination or origination address which includes an identifier, e.g., a vehicle identification number (VIN), identifying the automobile. The message may be delivered to the automobile from a remote server through a communications network, e.g., the Internet. One such message may contain a recall notice to the automobile. Another message may contain just-in-time map information for navigation, depending on the current location of the automobile. Yet another message may contain advertising information concerning selected entities, e.g., restaurants, gas stations, department stores, etc., also depending on the current location of the automobile. The messages transmitted from the automobile to the remote server may contain, e.g., GPS information identifying the location of the automobile, dynamic data furnished by sensors in the automobile for analysis, an odometer reading and a speedometer reading for records, etc.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating maintenance of vehicles, comprising:

electronically sending, to vehicles, messages about a faulty condition of the vehicles, the messages including identifiers of the vehicles, respectively;

searching a database for data concerning correction of the faulty condition of the vehicles based on the identifiers, the data being contributed by one or more vehicle service providers;

determining, based on the data, identifiers of a subset of the vehicles which has not had the faulty condition corrected; and

performing one or more actions based on the identifiers of the vehicles in the subset.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the messages comprise addresses containing the respective identifiers of the vehicles to which the messages are electronically sent.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein at least one of the respective identifiers includes at least part of a vehicle identification number (VIN).

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the messages are electronically sent via the Internet.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the messages comprise recall notices.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more actions include sending repeated messages to the vehicles in the subset.

7. A method for providing map information to a vehicle in a predictive manner, comprising:

receiving data concerning at least one of a current location, speed and heading direction of a vehicle, wherein a frequency of receipt of the data is a function of at least the speed of the vehicle;

predicting based on the data a location of the vehicle at a future time; and

providing, to the vehicle, information concerning a map corresponding to the predicted location.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the current location data is formatted in accordance with a GPS technique.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the data is associated with an identifier of the vehicle.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the identifier includes at least part of a VIN.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the data is received via the Internet.

12. The method of claim 7 wherein the information concerning the map is provided via the Internet.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the information concerning the map is provided to the vehicle based on an address associated with the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the address includes an identifier of the vehicle.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the identifier includes at least part of a VIN.

16. A system for facilitating maintenance of vehicles, comprising:

a mechanism for electronically sending, to vehicles, messages about a faulty condition of the vehicles, the messages including identifiers of the vehicles, respectively;

an interface for searching a database for data concerning correction of the faulty condition of the vehicles based on the identifiers, the data being contributed by one or more vehicle service providers; and

a processor for determining, based on the data, identifiers of a subset of the vehicles which has not had the faulty condition corrected, one or more actions being performed based on the identifiers of the vehicles in the subset.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the messages comprise addresses containing the respective identifiers of the vehicles to which the messages are electronically sent.

18. The system of claim 17 wherein at least one of the respective identifiers includes at least part of a VIN.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein the messages are electronically sent via the Internet.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein the messages comprise recall notices.

21. The system of claim 16 wherein the one or more actions include sending repeated messages to the vehicles in the subset.

22. A system for providing map information to a vehicle in a predictive manner, comprising:

an interface for receiving data concerning at least one of a current location, speed and heading direction of a vehicle, wherein a frequency of receipt of the data is a function of at least the speed of the vehicle;

a processor for predicting based on the data a location of the vehicle at a future time; and

an output device for providing, to the vehicle, information concerning a map corresponding to the predicted location.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the current location data is formatted in accordance with a GPS technique.

24. The system of claim 22 wherein the data is associated with an identifier of the vehicle.

25. The system of claim 24 wherein the identifier includes at least part of a VIN.

26. The system of claim 22 wherein the data is received via the Internet.

27. The system of claim 22 wherein the information concerning the map is provided via the Internet.

28. The system of claim 27 wherein the information concerning the map is provided to the vehicle based on an address associated with the vehicle.

29. The system of claim 28 wherein the address includes an identifier of the vehicle.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the identifier includes at least part of a VIN.