General Motors Patent Applications

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR IN-VEHICLE FUNCTION CONTROL

Granted: May 22, 2014
Application Number: 20140142805
A method and a system for in-vehicle function control are disclosed herein. In an example of the method, an in-vehicle controller recognizes that a predetermined driver is operating a vehicle. The in-vehicle controller receives data from at least one vehicle system, the data being indicative of a driving behavior of the predetermined driver. The in-vehicle controller compares the data with any of i) positive metrics or ii) negative metrics to categorize the driving behavior. In response…

MOBILE TERMINATING PACKET CONNECTION

Granted: May 15, 2014
Application Number: 20140133392
A method of establishing a packet data connection includes accessing a Domain Name Server (DNS) to obtain an Internet Protocol (IP) address of a vehicle telematics unit; initiating a mobile-terminated packet data connection with the vehicle telematics unit using the IP address of the vehicle telematics unit; and establishing the mobile-terminated packet data connection when the vehicle telematics unit determines that a hostname representing an IP address of a third party initiating the…

OWNER SELECTABLE AND CONTEXT ADJUSTABLE DRX TIMING

Granted: May 15, 2014
Application Number: 20140133374
A method is provided for user customization and context-based adjustment of a discontinuous reception (DRx) schedule for a telematics-equipped vehicle. The method includes receiving, by a telematics unit of the vehicle, user input of DRx schedule information; determining, by the telematics unit, that ignition of the vehicle has been switched off; determining, by the telematics unit, an applicable DRx schedule from a plurality of DRx schedules, wherein the plurality of DRx schedules are…

MULTIMODE ACQUISITION FOR A WIRELESS DEVICE

Granted: May 8, 2014
Application Number: 20140128072
A method of re-attempting to wirelessly connect a vehicle telematics unit with a wireless carrier system includes detecting that a primary retry method has failed; and carrying out a secondary retry method that: determines whether the vehicle telematics unit will communicate using a first radio access technology (RAT) or a second RAT; re-attempts a cellular connection with one or more base stations using a first RAT attachment procedure when it is determined that the vehicle telematics…

Statistical Data Learning Under Privacy Constraints

Granted: May 1, 2014
Application Number: 20140122385
A computer-implemented method is provided for statistical data learning under privacy constraints. The method includes: receiving, by a processor, a plurality of pieces of statistical information relating to a statistical object and aggregating, by the processor, the plurality of pieces of statistical information so as to provide an estimation of the statistical object. Each piece of statistical information includes an uncertainty variable, the uncertainty variable being a value…

METHOD FOR TEACHING AN AFTERMARKET ACCESSORY COMPONENT, AND AN AFTERMARKET ACCESSORY COMPONENT CONFIGURED TO LEARN

Granted: April 17, 2014
Application Number: 20140108306
A method for teaching an aftermarket accessory component how to actuate a vehicle function is disclosed herein. The aftermarket accessory component is configured to monitor communications across a vehicle bus. The method includes, but is not limited to, sampling message traffic transmitted across the vehicle bus while the vehicle function is not actuated. The method further includes setting filters in the aftermarket accessory component based on the sampled message traffic. The method…

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR IDENTIFYING WIRING OF A TELEMATICS SYSTEM

Granted: April 10, 2014
Application Number: 20140097959
Methods and systems are provided for detecting a power line of a telematics unit is incorrectly wired. In one example, a system includes a first module that evaluates at least one of a validity of a global positioning system and a powered on status of the telematics unit. A second module determines that the power line of the telematics unit is incorrectly wired based on the at least one of the validity of a global positioning system and the powered on status.

FULLY AUTHENTICATED CONTENT TRANSMISSION FROM A PROVIDER TO A RECIPIENT DEVICE VIA AN INTERMEDIARY DEVICE

Granted: March 13, 2014
Application Number: 20140075198
A method, system, and computer readable medium containing programming for handling fully authenticated transmission of video or other data (content) from a provider to a recipient device via an intermediary device. An inner envelope containing the content and/or security features is prepared and digitally signed using a private cryptographic key. The signed inner envelope is then included in a second, outer envelope which may also include some or all of the content. The outer envelope is…

VEHICLE-INCIDENT DETECTION METHOD AND SYSTEM

Granted: March 13, 2014
Application Number: 20140074315
A vehicle-incident detection method is disclosed herein. Vehicle data is received at a cloud computing system from a vehicle, where the vehicle data is generated by the vehicle in response to an initial detection of a vehicle-related event. After receiving the data, the cloud computing system requests additional vehicle data from the vehicle. The additional vehicle data is generated by the vehicle at a time subsequent to the initial detection of the vehicle-related event. The additional…

PROVIDING VEHICLE OPERATING INFORMATION USING A WIRELESS DEVICE

Granted: March 6, 2014
Application Number: 20140067152
A method of collecting vehicle operating information using a wireless device includes the steps of communicatively linking a wireless device located within a vehicle to a vehicle telematics unit; receiving vehicle data at the wireless device from the vehicle telematics unit using the link; recording the received vehicle data at the wireless device; detecting that the wireless device is no longer present in the vehicle; and wirelessly transmitting the recorded vehicle data to a central…

AUTOMATED VEHICLE INTRUSION DEVICE

Granted: January 30, 2014
Application Number: 20140031005
A method of identifying abnormal activity within a communication system between one or more vehicles and a wireless carrier system. The method may include receiving a first record from a wireless carrier system or a call center. It may further include automatically receiving a second record from a data logger via a vehicle telematics unit. The second record may be a data upload record and includes information pertaining to a wireless connection that includes an event type (mode) and a…

SENDER-RESPONSIVE TEXT-TO-SPEECH PROCESSING

Granted: January 16, 2014
Application Number: 20140019135
A method of speech synthesis including receiving a text input sent by a sender, processing the text input responsive to at least one distinguishing characteristic of the sender to produce synthesized speech that is representative of a voice of the sender, and communicating the synthesized speech to a recipient user of the system.

METHOD OF COMMUNICATING BETWEEN A VEHICLE AND A TELEMATICS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number: 20130337801
A method of communicating between a vehicle and a telematics subscription service includes wirelessly linking a vehicle telematics unit to a session initiation protocol (SIP) proxy server; placing a telephone call from the vehicle telematics unit that is received by the SIP proxy server via the wireless link; establishing a SIP connection between the vehicle telematics unit and a telematics subscription service using the SIP proxy server in response to the placed telephone call; and…

PREVENTING GENERATION OF SPURIOUS SIGNALS DURING TRANSMISSION

Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number: 20130337782
A system and method for data communication over a cellular communications network that allows the transmission of digital data over a voice channel connection using a vocoder that prevents the generation of spurious signals during transmission. The method utilizes a signaling waveform which varies in amplitude, frequency, phase, or combination thereof without exhibiting periodic nullities.

CALL CENTER BASED ZONED MICROPHONE CONTROL IN A VEHICLE

Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number: 20130337762
A method and system for providing call center emergency services to one or more occupants of a vehicle having a plurality of listening zones within a passenger compartment of the vehicle. The method involves detecting a potential emergency condition, sending an emergency notification to a call center, receiving a listening zone control signal identifying at least one of a plurality of listening zones in the vehicle, and supplying audio received from the identified listening zones(s) to…

METHOD OF GENERATING ANTHROPMORPHIC VEHICLE IMAGES

Granted: December 19, 2013
Application Number: 20130335449
A method of generating anthropomorphic vehicle images for a vehicle owner is shown that includes providing a plurality of anthropomorphic vehicle images on a visual display for a vehicle owner to select; receiving a selection of an anthropomorphic vehicle image from the vehicle owner using a wireless device; obtaining vehicle data using one or more vehicle sensors located on the vehicle; altering at least a portion of the selected anthropomorphic vehicle image based on the accessed…

RESOLVING IP ADDRESSES IN A WIRELESS ENVIRONMENT

Granted: December 12, 2013
Application Number: 20130329634
A method of anonymously resolving Internet Protocol (IP) addresses using a distributed network includes defining a virtual geographic area that comprises a micro dynamic domain name server (MDDNS); wirelessly receiving at a central facility a geographic attribute of a telematics unit; determining at the central facility that the telematics unit is within the virtual geographic area using the received geographic attribute; and transmitting an IP address of a host telematics unit in the…

AFTERMARKET MODULE ARRANGEMENT AND METHOD FOR COMMUNICATING OVER A VEHICLE BUS

Granted: December 5, 2013
Application Number: 20130321134
An aftermarket module arrangement for installation into a vehicle having a vehicle bus and an electric power source is disclosed herein. The arrangement includes, but is not limited to, a module configured to communicatively couple with the vehicle bus and to electrically couple with the electric power source via a first electric power line, and further configured to engage in power line communications over the first electric power line. The arrangement further includes an aftermarket…

DEVICE-VEHICLE INTEROPERABILITY VERIFICATION METHOD

Granted: November 21, 2013
Application Number: 20130309977
A device-vehicle interoperability verification method is disclosed herein. Vehicle information is obtained by a mobile communications device, and this vehicle information pertains to a vehicle within which the device is being used or is going to be used. The vehicle information and device identification information is transmitted from the device to a server. The transmission occurs in response to a command generated by an application resident on the device, which includes computer…

METHOD OF COMMUNICATING BETWEEN A VEHICLE AND A TELEMATICS SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE

Granted: November 21, 2013
Application Number: 20130310010
A method of communicating between a vehicle and a telematics subscription service includes initiating a call from a vehicle telematics unit to a telematics subscription service via a wireless carrier system; accessing a vertical service code telephone number that is associated with the telematics subscription service and stored at a vehicle carrying the vehicle telematics unit; establishing a call between the vehicle telematics unit and the telematics subscription service using the…