Status-assisted communications with a vehicle
Granted: July 25, 2017
Patent Number:
9716927
A method of sending data from a central facility to a vehicle includes transmitting a vehicle identifier to a status server from a central facility located apart from the status server; obtaining at the central facility one or more vehicle status variables corresponding to the transmitted identity of the vehicle from the status server; and initiating a direct transmission of packet data from the central facility to the vehicle based on the content of the obtained vehicle status…
Network-coordinated DRx transmission reduction for a network access device of a telematics-equipped vehicle
Granted: July 25, 2017
Patent Number:
9716758
A system for reduction of discontinuous-receive (DRx) transmissions for a network access device (NAD) of a telematics unit of a telematics-equipped vehicle includes: the telematics unit, configured to determine whether vehicle ignition of the telematics-equipped vehicle is on or off, the telematics unit further comprising the NAD, the NAD being configured to communicate with a network entity to perform a periodic updating procedure; the network entity, configured to communicate with the…
Secure SMS messaging
Granted: July 11, 2017
Patent Number:
9706372
A mobile vehicle communications system and a method of sending one or more secure short message service (SMS) messages using that system. The method includes the steps of: (a) determining at a sender a data quantity associated with zero or more proprietary data parcels (PDPs) to send within one or more SMS messages; (b) configuring an encrypted payload of each of the one or more configured SMS messages to carry the total number of PDPs, wherein when the size of the payload would result…
Remote telematics unit band control with dynamic memory
Granted: July 11, 2017
Patent Number:
9705992
A system and method of remotely changing use of a cellular protocol at a vehicle includes: storing, in a network access device (NAD) at the vehicle, identities of one or more cellular bands that provide cellular service according to an up-to-date cellular protocol; wirelessly receiving at the vehicle a computer-readable instruction that deactivates the up-to-date cellular protocol; and in response to the computer-readable instruction, the vehicle: obtains the identities of the cellular…
Text-to-speech processing based on network quality
Granted: July 11, 2017
Patent Number:
9704477
A method is disclosed that provides text-to-speech (TTS) functionality to a telematics unit of a telematics-equipped vehicle. The method includes: receiving text content to be played back by an audio system of the telematics-equipped vehicle; determining, by a processor, a TTS rendering process to be used for the text content from a plurality of TTS rendering processes, wherein the plurality of TTS rendering processes include local TTS rendering using a local TTS engine at the…
Provisioning automotive SIM cards without removal from vehicle
Granted: July 4, 2017
Patent Number:
9699587
A system and method are provided for re-provisioning a telematics unit of a telematics-equipped vehicle for wireless services. The re-provisioning process includes: connecting a computing device to an on-board diagnostics interface of the telematics-equipped vehicle; accessing a subscriber identification card of the telematics unit via the on-board diagnostics interface; requesting subscription information from a subscriber credentials server via a network connection; receiving the…
Method of detecting the opening of closed roads
Granted: July 4, 2017
Patent Number:
9696169
The described principles provide a method and system for identifying a potentially closed road based on reroute requests, and of accommodating the potential road closure while continuing to test the road status periodically via routing decisions and rerouting requests. While the optimal route assumes that the potentially closed road is open, a replacement route is defined assuming that the potentially closed road is closed. A fraction of users are sent along the optimal route, and if a…
Method of communicating vehicle messages using short message system messages
Granted: May 23, 2017
Patent Number:
9659499
A system and method for communicating reportable vehicle events via SMS messages. The method carried out by the system includes storing a user-provided contact at a vehicle, monitoring a plurality of vehicle conditions, detecting that one of the vehicle conditions has become a reportable vehicle condition, and sending a short-message service (SMS) message to the stored contact based on the determination, wherein the SMS message includes information associated with the reportable vehicle…
Method of detecting a vehicle tire theft
Granted: May 16, 2017
Patent Number:
9649895
A system and method for detecting a missing vehicle tire and notifying a user of the vehicle about a potential vehicle tire theft. The method carried out by the system involves detecting that a tire is missing from a vehicle using a vehicle tire pressure monitoring (TPM) system and thereafter providing a notification of the missing tire via a wireless communication sent from a telematics unit on the vehicle. The wireless communication can be sent automatically by the telematics unit in…
Automated, targeted diagnostic probe using a vehicle telematics unit
Granted: May 9, 2017
Patent Number:
9645971
A system and method for providing diagnostic assistance to a driver of a vehicle when calling a call center following a diagnostic warning being displayed on the vehicle instrument panel. Upon establishing the call, indicator data representative of the warning is automatically sent to the call center where it is used to select one or more diagnostic tests targeted to particular vehicle systems associated with the warning. The test is carried out at the vehicle and the resulting…
Fast estimation of UTC time in a mobile device using GNSS
Granted: May 9, 2017
Patent Number:
9645247
A method is described for estimating the coordinated universal time (UTC). The method involves receiving, by a satellite navigation receiver, signals broadcast by a global navigation satellite service (GNSS) satellite. The signals encode a first time of week (TOW) value. The method also involves estimating a first week number (WN) value and a first relationship between the UCT and a reference time of an onboard clock of the GNSS satellite (OFFSET) from time parameter values stored at a…
Parking garage environment detection and EHPE determination for vehicular navigation
Granted: May 9, 2017
Patent Number:
9644970
Implementations of the present invention contemplate obtaining a more accurate estimated horizontal position error (EHPE) under conditions in which the telematics unit of a vehicle cannot receive GNSS signals. In particular, the invention contemplates determining that a vehicle is entering a parking garage and obtaining a more accurate estimated horizontal position error (EHPE) of the vehicle in the parking garage when GNSS signals are unavailable.
Configuring a vehicle to receive content data
Granted: April 25, 2017
Patent Number:
9634892
A communication system and methods of using the communication system is described. One method includes configuring a telematics unit in a vehicle with at least one access point name (APN). The steps of the method include: configuring the telematics unit with a default APN prior to a legal transfer of possession of the vehicle; and thereafter, activating the telematics unit for the provision of content data in connection with the legal transfer of possession of the vehicle, wherein the…
Providing TTY services in a vehicle
Granted: April 4, 2017
Patent Number:
9614913
A method and a system for providing TTY services in a vehicle. The method may be carried out by the following steps: (a) providing a vehicle telematics unit configured to receive calls according to a first telecommunication standard and a second telecommunication standard, wherein the second telecommunication standard is newer than the first; (b) receiving an indication that a vehicle user desires to use a TTY device at the vehicle; (c) in response to step (b), switching to the first…
Control of wireless communication channels for a vehicle telematics unit
Granted: March 28, 2017
Patent Number:
9607449
A vehicle telematics system and a method for controlling access to a plurality of wireless communication channels between the telematics system and on-board vehicle systems and mobile communications devices is provided. The telematics system includes one network interface connected to a telecommunications network and another network interface connected to one or more on-board vehicle systems and mobile communications devices to permit the on-board vehicle systems and communications…
Dynamic DHCP for Wi-Fi connectivity in a vehicle
Granted: February 28, 2017
Patent Number:
9584470
A system and a method using the system for wireless communication using a vehicle telematics unit, including the steps of: prior to a vehicle telematics unit establishing a network connection, assigning a temporary internet protocol (IP) address having a short-term lease duration to a mobile device to permit communication between the telematics unit and the mobile device; and if the network connection is not established prior to the expiration of the short-term lease duration, renewing…
Cellular handoff by wireless devices
Granted: February 21, 2017
Patent Number:
9578580
A system and method of controlling a wireless device communicating with a cellular communications system includes: establishing a cellular connection between the wireless device and a first cell tower; detecting, at the wireless device, a reference signal received power (RSRP) measurement of a signal broadcast by the first cell tower; increasing an RSRP threshold used by the wireless device by adding an offset value to the RSRP threshold; determining whether the detected RSRP measurement…
Providing cellular data to a vehicle over different data channels
Granted: February 21, 2017
Patent Number:
9576474
A method and a system for providing vehicle services to at least one communication device located at a vehicle via a vehicle telematics unit. The method carried out by the system includes the steps of: receiving a request at the vehicle telematics unit for first vehicle services from a first communication device located at a vehicle; associating a first identifier with the first communication device; and providing the first vehicle services to the first communication device, wherein the…
Sender-responsive text-to-speech processing
Granted: February 14, 2017
Patent Number:
9570066
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.
Resolving IP addresses in a wireless environment
Granted: February 14, 2017
Patent Number:
9572022
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…
