Systems and methods for configuring and operating a wireless control system in a vehicle for activation of a remote device

• US 8,311,490 B2
• Filed: 12/24/2008
• Issued: 11/13/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gentex Corporation
• Original Assignee: Johnson Controls Technology Company (Johnson Controls International plc)
• Inventors: Witkowski, Todd R., Shearer, Carl, Geerlings, Steven L., Klaver, Thomas D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent
• Assistant Examiner(s): WOO, KUO-KONG
• Application Number:
  US12/344,082
• Publication Number:
  US 20100159846A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,420 Days
• Field of Search: 455/41.2, 455/419, 455/70, 455/556, 455/420, 340/442, 340/12.23
• US Class Current: 455/70
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 11/01 electric
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00928 for garage doors
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00857 where the code of the data carrier can be programmed

Abstract

Control systems for mounting in a vehicle and for transmitting a signal to a receiver associated with a device for opening or closing a movable barrier when the receiver receives an authorized signal are provided.

Claims

1. A control system for mounting in a vehicle and for transmitting a signal to a receiver associated with a device for opening or closing a movable barrier when the receiver receives an authorized signal, the control system comprising:

a transmitter;

memory storing a first set of messages for including with transmissions to the receiver from the transmitter;

an interface configured to receive a second set of messages from at least one of a portable electronic device and a remote system, wherein the second set of messages comprises a plurality of messages;

a circuit configured to provide the second set of messages to the memory for storage; and

a user input interface configured to receive an indication of user input from a user interface element and to provide the indication to the circuit;

wherein the circuit is configured to determine whether to provide;

(a) at least one message of the first set of messages, or

(b) at least one message of the second set of messages,

from the memory to the transmitter for transmission to the receiver in response to the indication received from the user input interface, wherein the determination is based on whether the second set of messages is associated with a supported transmission scheme of the transmitter, wherein the circuit determines to provide the at least one message of the first set of messages when the second set of messages is not associated with a supported transmission scheme of the transmitter;

wherein the first and second set of messages comprise at least one of rolling code messages and fixed code messages.

2. The control system of claim 1, further comprising:

wherein the interface is a receiver for receiving a signal from an original portable transmitter, wherein the original portable transmitter is pre-configured to send an authorized signal to the receiver;

wherein the circuit is configured to identify a characteristic associated with the received signal and to use the characteristic in the determination regarding which of the first and second sets of messages stored in memory to use in providing the at least one message to the transmitter when the indication is received from the user input interface.

3. The control system of claim 1, wherein the interface is a USB interface configured to connect to a portable electronic device with a USB connector.

4. The control system of claim 1, wherein the interface is a transceiver configured for receiving wireless communications from the remote system and/or the portable electronic device.

5. The control system of claim 4, wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate according to at least one of a Bluetooth specification, an IEEE 802.11 specification, a WiFi specification, a WiMax specification, a cellular phone specification, and a ZigBee specification.

6. The control system of claim 1, wherein the interface is at least one of a remote keyless entry receiver and an RF receiver associated with a tire pressure monitoring system;

and

wherein the portable electronic device is at least one of a mobile phone, a key fob, and a personal digital assistant.

7. The control system of claim 1, wherein the circuit is configured to reprogram logic of the circuit based on update information received from the interface;

wherein the interface is a memory card reader.

19. The control system of claim 1, wherein the determination is not based on an input received from a user.

20. The control system of claim 1, wherein the determination is not based on the success or failure of a transmission from the transmitter.

8. A control system for mounting in a vehicle and for transmitting a signal to a remote receiver associated with a device for opening or closing a movable barrier when the remote receiver receives an authorized signal, the control system comprising:

a transmitter;

memory storing a plurality of identifiers, each identifier associated with a different possible remote receiver manufacturer, each different possible remote control system manufacturer associated with at least one message, an algorithm for generating a message, or at least one message and an algorithm for generating a message;

an interface for receiving an identifier; and

a control circuit configured to compare the received identifier to one or more of the plurality of identifiers stored in memory and to cause the transmitter to transmit, based on the comparison, at least one message associated with the manufacturer based on the at least one message stored in memory, the algorithm for generating a message, or the at least one message and the algorithm for generating the message;

wherein the control circuit is configured to transmit a plurality of different messages associated with the manufacturer indicated by the received identifier during a process of training the control system to send authenticated transmissions to the remote receiver.

9. The control system of claim 8, wherein the control circuit configures itself for future operation to output a legacy message associated with the manufacturer indicated by the received identifier.

10. The control system of claim 8, wherein the interface is configured to receive input from a user interface at which a user can indicate the manufacturer of their remote control system.

11. The control system of claim 8, wherein the interface comprises receiving circuit configured to receive an indication of the manufacturer of the remote receiver from a remote source, wherein the remote source is at least one of a portable electronic device, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, and a remote server.

12. The control system of claim 11, wherein the remote server is associated with a web site configured to determine the identifier of the remote receiver utilizing a graphical user interface displayed to the user.

13. The control system of claim 8, wherein the interface is a speech recognition system provided in the vehicle, wherein the control circuit is configured to cause a vehicle audio system and/or an electronic display to prompt the user for information regarding the receiver.

14. The control system of claim 8, wherein the interface comprises a user interface;

wherein the interface is configured to receive an indication of a manufacturer via the user interface.

15. The control system of claim 14, wherein the interface further comprises at least one display element configured to provide display output to the user that indicates the user'"'"'s currently selected remote receiver manufacturer and/or model.

16. The control system of claim 15, wherein the at least one display element is an LED and the interface is configured to blink the LED to indicate the user'"'"'s currently selected receiver.

17. The control system of claim 8, wherein the interface is at least one of:

(a) a connection to a receiver associated with a vehicle remote keyless entry system,

(b) a connection to a receiver associated with a tire pressure monitoring system,

(c) a connection to a transceiver configured for use with a hands-free communication module,

(d) a connection to a mobile phone module, and

(e) a connection to a transceiver for communicating with a home network.

18. A control system for mounting in a vehicle and for transmitting a signal to a receiver associated with a device for opening or closing a movable barrier when the receiving device receives an authorized signal, the receiving device associated with an original transmitter, the control system comprising:

a receiver configured to receive and recognize a discrete identifier message from the original transmitter before or after a data message;

a circuit configured to be provided the discrete identifier message and configured to analyze the discrete identifier message to determine a manufacturer of the remote control system;

an input from a user interface for receiving a command to transmit a control signal to the receiving device;

a transmitter for transmitting control signals to the receiving device;

wherein the circuit is configured to cause the transmitter to transmit a first control signal based on the manufacturer in response to a first command received at the input;

wherein the circuit is configured to cause the transmitter to transmit a second control signal based on the manufacturer, and having a different transmission scheme relative to the first control signal, in response to a second command received at the input;

wherein the circuit is configured to receive an indication from the user at the input to indicate whether the first control signal or the second control signal caused the device for opening or closing a movable barrier to respond; and

wherein the circuit configured itself for future transmissions to the receiving device based on the received indication.