Determining availability of a cellular connection between a vehicle and a vehicle backend system
Granted: November 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10492234
A vehicle backend system and a method of using the backend system to determine availability of a cellular connection between the backend system and a vehicle prior to the backend system attempting to establish the cellular connection. The method includes: determining at the backend system that a vehicle service is to be provided to the vehicle; based on the determination, transmitting from the backend system to a wireless service provider (WSP) or a WSP server a query associated with the…
Configurable in-vehicle teletypewriter (TTY) functionality
Granted: October 22, 2019
Patent Number:
10455076
A system and method of carrying out a teletypewriter (TTY) call at a vehicle, the method being carried out by vehicle electronics of the vehicle, wherein the method includes: receiving a TTY configuration request at the vehicle electronics of the vehicle; configuring the vehicle to operate based on the TTY configuration request, wherein the configuring includes storing TTY configuration data at the vehicle; receiving a telephone call initiation request at the vehicle, the telephone call…
Aggregating vehicle-related big data
Granted: October 15, 2019
Patent Number:
10447773
A private computer network associated with a vehicle data service center and a method of aggregating vehicle data using the private computer network. The method includes the steps of: receiving from a first subscriber vehicle one or more upload messages at a load balancing computer (LBC), wherein each of the one or more upload messages comprise unencrypted data; based on the unencrypted data, selecting at the LBC at least one telematics server of a telematics server farm to send the one…
Obtaining vehicle positions based on positional trigger events
Granted: August 27, 2019
Patent Number:
10393881
A system and method to obtain vehicle positional information as it is traveling. The method of generating a vehicle path includes obtaining a first position of a vehicle; monitoring an occurrence of a positional trigger event; after the occurrence of the positional trigger event, obtaining a second position of the vehicle; and transmitting the first and second positions to a storage device wherein the first and second positions form the path. The disclosure also provides for a system to…
Vehicle telematics unit power management
Granted: August 13, 2019
Patent Number:
10383059
A system and method of power management of a telematics unit in a vehicle is provided. An exemplary method includes determining that the vehicle is unpowered; determining that the vehicle is in a fringe region of a cellular network; and based the determining steps, entering a power-saving mode at the telematics unit.
Time ordered message serializer
Granted: August 13, 2019
Patent Number:
10382348
A system and method for processing a plurality of vehicle messages, wherein the method comprises: receiving a plurality of vehicle messages from a plurality of vehicles; generating a key n-tuple including a key and a time indicator for each of the vehicle messages; storing each of the vehicle messages in a data structure that comprises a priority queue for each key; storing each of the key n-tuples in a timer queue; obtaining a key n-tuple from the timer queue; recalling a vehicle…
Vehicle email notification system and method
Granted: August 6, 2019
Patent Number:
10373400
A vehicle email notification system and method in which triggers are used to initiate the generation and transmission of email messages that provide diverse types of dynamic vehicle information to the owner or other authorized subscriber. The email notifications are triggered by different events, some of which are independent of the vehicle (e.g., a 30 day trigger to provide the subscriber with a monthly vehicle status report), and others of which occur at the vehicle, such as a mileage…
Controlling vehicle functionality based on geopolitical region
Granted: July 9, 2019
Patent Number:
10343695
A method and system of controlling vehicle functionality based on a geopolitical region of the vehicle, the method including the steps of: monitoring a geographical location of the vehicle; resolving the geographical location of the vehicle to a geopolitical region in which the vehicle is located; obtaining permitted vehicle function information for the geopolitical region in which the vehicle is located; and disabling or enabling one or more vehicle functions based on the obtained…
Dynamic updating of route eligibility for semi-autonomous driving
Granted: July 9, 2019
Patent Number:
10347125
A system and method for communicating with a plurality of vehicles. The method includes receiving route information from a plurality of telematics units installed into each of the vehicles. The information may be collected as the vehicles are traveling along a vehicle route. The method further includes determining an eligibility of the vehicle route for use with a semi-autonomous driving system of the vehicles from at least the received route information. The method may also include…
Method and apparatus for classifying LIDAR data for object detection
Granted: July 9, 2019
Patent Number:
10346695
A method and apparatus for classifying light detection and ranging sensor data are provided. The method includes transforming sensor data of the LIDAR into point cloud data, selecting a cell including a subset of the point cloud data, dividing the selected cell into a plurality of voxels, calculating a difference of gradients for the plurality of voxels, performing a first pass on the plurality of voxels to identify voxels that contain an object based the difference of gradients,…
Managing licensed and unlicensed communications using cellular protocols
Granted: June 18, 2019
Patent Number:
10327149
A system and method of identifying licensed and unlicensed communications over a cellular protocol includes: wirelessly transmitting a communication session request from a wireless device to a wireless carrier system using the LTE cellular protocol; receiving a response at the wireless device from the wireless carrier system indicating that the wireless carrier system is providing a communication session using a licensed communications frequency band or an unlicensed communications…
Method of generating a navigation-based route for a vehicle
Granted: June 18, 2019
Patent Number:
10323951
A method of generating a navigation-based route for a vehicle. The method includes: determining route information from a starting point to a destination using a navigation unit associated with the vehicle, wherein the route information includes one or more route segments; determining that one or more of the route segments wholly or partially overlap a toll zone; obtaining traffic information for at least some of the route segments ahead of the vehicle; and when the traffic information…
Modified cellular protocol selection
Granted: June 11, 2019
Patent Number:
10321372
A system and method of regulating attachment between a cellular wireless device and a wireless carrier system includes: attaching a vehicle telematics unit to a cellular base station using a long-term evolution (LTE) cellular protocol; detecting that the vehicle telematics unit is able to carry out voice communications but unable to send short message service (SMS) messages using the attached cellular base station; ending cellular communications between the vehicle telematics unit and…
Providing vehicle system module updates
Granted: June 11, 2019
Patent Number:
10318269
A communication system that includes a backend system and a vehicle. A method of using the communication system to remotely provide system module updates for the vehicle. The method includes: generating at a vehicle backend system an electronic message (e-mail) that includes an update for a vehicle system module (VSM) in the vehicle; storing the e-mail at a mail cache server, the cache server being associated with the backend system; and when the vehicle becomes associated with a backend…
Direct air interface control of telematics unit network access device by operations control center
Granted: March 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10244024
A method, implemented at a server of an operations control center of a telematics service provider, for transmitting commands to a network access device, is described. The method involves creating one or more command data packets, each comprising a payload and control information, the control information identifying an AT command air interface. The method further involves transmitting, by the server, the command data packets to the network access device via the AT command air interface,…
Navigation system including automatic suppression of navigation prompts for known geographic areas
Granted: February 26, 2019
Patent Number:
10215582
A navigation system is described that is configured to carry out selectively suppressing audio turn-by-turn instructions on the navigation system. The navigation system maintains a step n-gram table for an identified entity. Each entry in the step n-gram table includes a navigation step n-gram identification, and a count value. The navigation system generates a turn-by-turn direction for the identified entity that includes a step n-gram identification, a description of a navigation…
Remotely triggering calls to a PSAP
Granted: January 8, 2019
Patent Number:
10178709
A method of connecting a vehicle telematics unit with a public safety access point (PSAP) includes wirelessly calling a central facility using the vehicle telematics unit that generates a reason to contact the PSAP; determining a reason to contact the PSAP during the wireless call; and receiving a computer-readable command at the vehicle telematics unit from the central facility that directs the vehicle telematics unit to end the wireless call and locally place an emergency call.
Vehicle event detection and classification using contextual vehicle information
Granted: December 18, 2018
Patent Number:
10157321
A method and system for detecting vehicle events and classifying them based on contextual vehicle information. The method includes detecting a vehicle event using vehicle movement data, and then obtaining and analyzing contextual vehicle information associated with the vehicle event. The contextual vehicle information may be indicative of an external condition that led to the vehicle event, such as an object in the vehicle's path, that helps classify the vehicle event for purposes of…
Electronic glovebox for a vehicle
Granted: December 11, 2018
Patent Number:
10154094
A method and a system for providing access to a cloud computer from a vehicle. The method carried out by the system includes providing at least one client (e.g., an e-glovebox device). The method also includes configuring a cloud server to allow access to one or more clients and accessing the cloud server using the e-glovebox. The access may include uploading one or more data members to the cloud server. The access may also include downloading one or more data members from the cloud…
Optimizing vehicle recharging to limit use of electricity generated from non-renewable sources
Granted: November 6, 2018
Patent Number:
10121158
Methods and systems for maximizing the proportion of renewable energy relative to the total energy used during the charging of electrically powered vehicles are described. The methods and systems contemplate the acquisition, by a TSP, of data pertaining to the renewable energy mixture, i.e. the ratio of energy produced from renewable sources to energy produced from non-renewable sources, of the energy provided by one or more utility companies. Renewable energy mixture forecasts and…
