Vehicle email notification with regional-specific content
Granted: March 23, 2010
Patent Number:
7684910
A vehicle email notification system and method in which regional-specific information such as seat belt laws and dynamic vehicle information such as remaining oil life is obtained and incorporated into periodic email messages that are sent to the owner or other authorized subscriber. The regional-specific information is determined based on residence information for the vehicle, such as its garaged address. The email notifications are triggered by different events, some of which are…
Automated speech recognition using normalized in-vehicle speech
Granted: March 9, 2010
Patent Number:
7676363
A speech recognition method includes the steps of receiving speech in a vehicle, extracting acoustic data from the received speech, and applying a vehicle-specific inverse impulse response function to the extracted acoustic data to produce normalized acoustic data. The speech recognition method may also include one or more of the following steps: pre-processing the normalized acoustic data to extract acoustic feature vectors; decoding the normalized acoustic feature vectors using as…
Method for user information transfer
Granted: March 2, 2010
Patent Number:
7672665
A method for transferring user specific information from a first vehicle in a mobile communication system to a second vehicle in the mobile communication system includes retrieving user specific information from the vehicle using a wireless connection, transferring the retrieved information to the second vehicle, and deactivating the user specific information in the first vehicle.
Method and system for determining traffic information traffic profiles
Granted: March 2, 2010
Patent Number:
7672774
A method of determining traffic information for a mobile vehicle includes receiving a plurality of service requests at a call center from a telematics unit via a wireless connection. The service request includes time, date, and vehicle location data. A database of the received service requests is compiled. A plurality of eligible service requests is determined based on the time and date of the received service requests in the database. A traffic profile is determined based on a…
System and method for large route data handling within a telematics communication system
Granted: February 2, 2010
Patent Number:
7657368
The present invention provides a method of operating a telematics enabled mobile vehicle communication system. The method includes receiving a navigation request at a service provider from a telematics unit. The navigation request includes current location information of the telematics unit, destination information, and telematics unit memory capacity information. The method further includes producing navigation instructions based on the received navigation request. The navigation…
Control of engine torque reduction at upshift initiation
Granted: January 26, 2010
Patent Number:
7651440
An improved control for an automatically shiftable transmission upshift, wherein the engine output torque and on-coming clutch pressure are coordinated during the shift based on an inverse dynamic model of the transmission to achieve a desired output torque trajectory. At the initiation of an upshift, the engine torque is commanded to decrease in a ramp-like or sloping fashion to and engine output torque value calculated using the dynamic model. This ramp-like or sloping decrease…
Automatic communication of subscription-specific messages to a telematics equipped vehicle
Granted: January 19, 2010
Patent Number:
7650229
A method of automatically communicating subscription-specific messages to a telematics-equipped vehicle includes the following steps: a) establishing a trigger and a message associated with the trigger; b) setting the trigger; c) monitoring for the occurrence of one or more conditions that satisfy the trigger; and d) determining that the one or more conditions have occurred and, if so, then; e) accessing the message associated with the trigger; and f) playing the message.
Method and system for monitoring and retrieving device usage
Granted: December 22, 2009
Patent Number:
7636626
A method and system for monitoring and retrieving device usage for a device at a vehicle including storing a vehicle data record in the telematics unit, monitoring the device usage for device data, storing the device data at the vehicle, requesting the telematics unit to upload the device data, and transmitting the device data from the telematics unit to a remote location. At least one of the monitoring and the requesting is performed in accordance with the vehicle data record.
Dynamic tuning of hands-free algorithm for noise and driving conditions
Granted: December 15, 2009
Patent Number:
7634095
A method of tuning a hands-free system in a mobile vehicle, the method including receiving a plurality of vehicle condition inputs, creating a noise parameter based on the vehicle condition inputs and adjusting a noise suppression algorithm of the hands-free system based on the created noise parameter.
System and method for data storage and diagnostics in a portable communications device interfaced with a telematics unit
Granted: December 1, 2009
Patent Number:
7627406
A method of performing vehicle diagnostics including receiving diagnostic information from at least one electronic module of a vehicle at a portable communication device from a telematics unit via a short-range wireless connection, storing the received diagnostic information in a memory in the portable communication device to form a recent-history vehicle database, performing a diagnostic analysis based on the recent-history vehicle database and sending the received diagnostic…
Branched fluid channels for improved fluid flow through fuel cell
Granted: November 17, 2009
Patent Number:
7618734
A flow field geometry formed in a separator plate of a fuel cell includes a plurality of straight inlet legs including a first lateral inlet leg laterally offset from a first inlet leg and a dividing junction associated with each of the plurality of straight inlet legs. The dividing junction divides a straight inlet leg into a plurality of branched legs. A number of a first set of branched legs associated with the first lateral inlet leg is greater than a number of a set of branched legs…
Automatic communication of personalized messages to a telematics equipped vehicle
Granted: November 10, 2009
Patent Number:
7616943
A method of automatically communicating personalized messages to a telematics-equipped vehicle includes the following steps: (a) creating a personalized message; (b) defining playback instructions for playing the personalized message; (c) generating a trigger based on the defined playback instructions; (d) setting the trigger; (e) monitoring for the occurrence of one or more conditions that satisfy the trigger; and (f) determining that the one or more conditions have occurred and, if so,…
Speedy delivery of communication to a vehicle
Granted: October 20, 2009
Patent Number:
7606908
An apparatus, method, and a computer program on a computer readable medium are provided for speedy delivery of a communication for a customer from a server to a client vehicle communication unit (VCU) installed in a vehicle of the customer, by establishing a connection between the server and the client VCU, and acquiring an ignition status from the client VCU as an indication of whether the customer is available in the vehicle for receiving the communication. The communication may be…
Metallic reagent
Granted: October 6, 2009
Patent Number:
7598204
A reagent suitable for use as a catalyst comprises a first metal species substrate having a second reduced metal species coated thereon, the second reduced metal species being less electropositive than the first metal. Methods of manufacture are also provided.
System and method of billing for minutes shared between a portable wireless communication device and a telematics unit
Granted: October 6, 2009
Patent Number:
7599680
A method of tracking short-range wireless communication in a vehicle. The method includes tracking a total usage time of a short-range wireless connection between a telematics unit and a portable wireless communication device, sending the tracked total usage time from the telematics unit to a call center via a wireless connection and generating a usage bill at the call center based on the total usage time.
Pre-connection system readiness for receiving voice and data commands
Granted: October 6, 2009
Patent Number:
7599690
A pre-connection readiness system employs a telematics unit and a telematics call center. The telematics unit receives and stores pre-connection user information prior to a connection between the telematics unit and the telematics call center. The telematics unit and the telematics call center exchange the pre-connection user information subsequent to the connection between the telematics unit and the telematics call center.
Telematics unit and method for operating
Granted: October 6, 2009
Patent Number:
7599843
A method of operating a telematics unit comprising the steps of: first operating the telematics unit in a logistical support mode containing a first set of operations assisting tracking of at least one of (a) the telematics unit and (b) a vehicle containing the telematics unit through storage and travel; and second operating the telematics unit in a customer service mode containing a second set of operations supporting a customer associated with the vehicle, wherein the first set of…
PEM fuel cell assembly formed of modular sub-assemblies
Granted: September 29, 2009
Patent Number:
7595126
A method for forming a fuel cell assembly including the pre-final-assembly step of forming a plurality of fuel cell sub-assembly modules, each module including a predetermined number of individual fuel cell repeating units, for example, ten. Each module may be leak and performance tested and certified prior to inclusion in the final fuel cell stack, thus limiting potential rework to only an individual module and only before assembly of the final stack. Preferably, each module is…
Management of nametags in a vehicle communications system
Granted: September 29, 2009
Patent Number:
7596370
A method for managing user nametags for a vehicle communications system, the method including receiving a nametag transfer request at a call center from a source, determining a target vehicle associated with the source based on the request and modifying a source nametag data file based on an acoustic profile of the target vehicle, wherein the source nametag data file is one of an audio file and a text file.
Method for controlling a remote monitoring device
Granted: September 29, 2009
Patent Number:
7596439
A method of controlling a remote monitoring device from a vehicle includes sending a command signal from a telematics unit via a wi-fi connection to the remote monitoring device and receiving data from the remote monitoring device via a wi-fi connection at the telematics unit. The data is sent to a destination via a wireless network.
