Remote Monitoring, Configuring, Programming and Diagnostic System and Method for Vehicles and Vehicle Components

Abstract

A system and method for monitoring, configuring, programming and/or diagnosing operation of at least one vehicle includes an on-board unit disposed on the vehicle to send and receive data corresponding to at least one vehicle operating characteristic, a plurality of modular applications, each application having an associated function that processes the data corresponding to said at least one vehicle operating characteristic obtained via the on-board unit, and an interface that allows selection among the plurality of modular applications to create a customized system.

1 - 44  (Cancelled)  
   
   
       45 . A system comprising: 
 at least one application program operable to originate to and terminate from a target unit electronic messages; 
 at least one transport module for exchanging with the target unit the electronic messages originated to and terminated from the at least one application program, the at least one transport module adapted to provide connectivity to the target unit via at least one of a plurality of networks; and  
   a communication framework adapted to select one of the at least one transport module based on dynamic-delivery policies, and in turn, to pass between the selected at least one transport modules and the application program the electronic messages originated to and terminated from the target unit.    
   
   
       46 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the at least one application program specifies delivery parameters for carrying out electronic messaging with the target unit.  
   
   
       47 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein each of the plurality of networks is of a different communication format type, wherein each of the at least one transport module abstracts parameters indicative of one of the different communication format types to provide connectivity to the target unit via at least one of the plurality of networks, and wherein when the communication framework selects one of the at least one transport module of a given communication format type based on dynamic-delivery policies, it passes between the selected one of the at least one transport module and the application program the electronic messages originated to and terminate from the target unit according to the communication format corresponding to the given communication format type.  
   
   
       48 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the communication framework includes a multi-part message manager adapted to disassemble messages from the application program and reassemble incoming messages received across one of the plurality of networks from the target unit.  
   
   
       49 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the wireless communication framework is adapted to determine which of the plurality of networks are available to the target, and wherein the wireless communication framework is adapted to select the one or more of the plurality of transport modules that corresponds to the plurality of networks that are available to the target.  
   
   
       50 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the communication framework includes a message storage manager adapted to store the message until the message has been successfully transferred or delivered.  
   
   
       51 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of networks is a wireless network.  
   
   
       52 . A method for effectuating messaging between a computer and a target unit, the method comprising: 
 providing a computer including an application program and a communication framework;    dispatching the message from the application program to the communication framework;    processing the message in the communication framework to select at least one of a plurality of transport modules based dynamic-delivery processes, each of the plurality of transport modules being configured to connect to a respective one of a plurality of networks to establish messaging across the respective one of the plurality of networks; and    dispatching the message across a respective one of the networks to the target unit via the selected at least one of the plurality of transport modules.    
   
   
       53 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein the step of processing the message in the communication framework includes: 
 identifying a priority assigned to the message by the application program; and    selecting the transport module based on the priority assigned by the application program.    
   
   
       54 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the step of processing the message further comprises: 
 selecting at least one transport module corresponding to a reliable network when the priority of the message is high; and    selecting at least one transport module corresponding to a low cost network when the priority of the message is low.    
   
   
       55 . The method of  claim 53 , further comprising: 
 selecting a first of the least one the transport module that corresponds to a low cost network when the priority of the message is mix processing;    attempting to dispatch the message through the low cost network over a predetermined time period;    selecting a second of the at least one transport module that corresponds to a higher-cost network if the message is unable to be dispatched through the low cost network by a completion of the predetermined time period; and    dispatching the message across the higher-cost network.    
   
   
       56 . The method according to  claim 53 , further comprising: 
 batching the message with a plurality of other messages when the priority of the message is batch priority; and    dispatching the message in the dispatching step when a predetermined number of the other messages are batched with the message.    
   
   
       57 . The method of  claim 53 , wherein the step of processing the message further comprises: 
 determining which of the plurality of networks are available to the target unit; and    selecting at least one of the plurality of transport modules in the processing the message step that corresponds to one of the available networks.    
   
   
       58 . The method of  claim 53 , further comprising the steps of: 
 maintaining the message in a storage area hosted by the communication framework when the message is unable to be transmitted to the target unit; and    transmitting the message to the target unit when the target unit is available for transmission.    
   
   
       59 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising: 
 disassembling the message into a plurality of chunks during the step of processing the message; and    transmitting the plurality of the chunks to the target unit during the step of dispatching.    
   
   
       60 . The method of  claim 59 , wherein the step of disassembling comprises: 
 disassembling the message into a first predetermined chunk size if an available message size of the network corresponding to the selected transport module is greater than a prescribed size; and    disassembling the message into a second predetermined chunk size if the available message size of the network corresponding to the selected transport module is less than the prescribed size.    
   
   
       61 . The method of  claim 59 , further comprising maintaining a record of what portion of the plurality of chunks has been sent to the target unit.  
   
   
       62 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising: 
 receiving a disassembled message in the communication framework across one of the plurality of networks from the target unit;    reassembling chunks of the disassembled message to form an assembled message; and    transmitting the assembled message to the application program.    
   
   
       63 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising: 
 determining if the message is to be sent using reliable delivery in the step of processing the message;    dispatching the message without requiring an acknowledgement when the message is to be sent using non-reliable delivery; and    requiring an acknowledgement from the target unit to verify receipt of the message after the dispatching step when the message is to be sent using reliable delivery.    
   
   
       64 . The method of  claim 52 , further comprising: 
 assigning an order to the message, by the application program, with respect to at least one other message to form a plurality of prioritized messages in a priority order;    maintaining the message in the communication framework until all of the plurality of prioritized messages are received in the communication framework; and    dispatching each of the prioritized messages according to the priority order.    
   
   
       65 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein the network is a wireless network.  
   
   
       66 . The method of  claim 52 , wherein the network is a satellite network.  
   
   
       67 . A method for effectuating messaging between a first unit and a second unit, the method comprising the steps of: 
 providing the first unit including a first plurality of application programs and a first communication framework, the first communication framework adapted to provide messaging capabilities for each of the first plurality of application programs;    providing the second unit including a second plurality of application programs and a second communication framework, the second communication framework adapted to provide messaging capabilities for each of the second plurality of application programs;    dispatching a message from one of the first application programs to the first communication framework;    processing the message with the first communication framework;    dispatching the message from the first communication framework to the second communication framework via a network;    processing the message with the second communication framework; and    dispatching the message to one of the second application programs.    
   
   
       68 . The method of  claim 67 , wherein the step of processing the message with the first communication framework further comprises selecting at least one of a plurality of transport modules corresponding to the network based on dynamic-delivery policies, each of the plurality of transport modules configured to connect to a respective one of a plurality of networks to establish messaging across the respective one of the plurality of networks.  
   
   
       69 . The method of  claim 68 , wherein the step of processing the message in the first communication framework includes: 
 identifying a priority assigned to the message by the application program;    selecting at least one transport module corresponding to a reliable network when the priority of the message is high; and    selecting the transport module corresponding to a low cost network when the priority of the message is low.    
   
   
       70 . The method of  claim 69 , further comprising: 
 selecting a first of the plurality of transport modules that corresponds to a low cost network when the priority of the message is mix processing;    attempting to dispatch the message through the low cost network over a predetermined time period;    selecting a second of the plurality of transport modules that corresponds to a reliable network when the message is unable to be dispatched through the low cost network by a completion of the predetermined time period; and    dispatching the message across the reliable network.    
   
   
       71 . The method of  claim 68 , wherein the step of processing the message further comprises: 
 determining which of the plurality of networks are available to the target unit; and    selecting at least one of the plurality of transport modules in the processing the message with the first communication framework step to correspond to one of the available networks.    
   
   
       72 . The method of  claim 67 , further comprising: 
 maintaining the message in a storage area hosted by the first communication framework when the message is unable to be transmitted to the second unit; and    transmitting the message to the second unit when the second unit is available for transmission.    
   
   
       73 . The method of  claim 67 , further comprising: 
 disassembling the message into a plurality of chunks during the step of processing the message with the first communication framework;    dispatching the disassembled message to the second unit in the dispatching step; and    reassembling the disassembled message in the step of processing the message by the second communication framework.    
   
   
       74 . The method of  claim 73 , further comprising: 
 disassembling the message into a first predetermined chunk size if an available message size of the network corresponding to the selected transport module is greater than a prescribed size; and    disassembling the message into a second predetermined chunk size if the available message size of the network corresponding to the selected transport module is less than the prescribed size.    
   
   
       75 . The method according to  claim 67 , further comprising: 
 determining if the message is to be sent using reliable delivery in the step of processing the message with the first communication framework;    dispatching the message without requiring an acknowledgement when the message is to be sent using non-reliable delivery; and    requiring an acknowledgement from the target unit to verify receipt of the message after the dispatching step when the message is to be sent using reliable delivery.    
   
   
       76 . The method according to  claim 67 , further comprising: 
 assigning an order to the message, by the first application program, with respect to at least one other message to form a plurality of prioritized messages in a priority order;    maintaining the message in the first communication framework until all of the plurality of prioritized messages are received in the first communication framework; and    dispatching each of the prioritized messages according to the priority order in the dispatching step.    
   
   
       77 . The method according to  claim 67 , wherein the processing in the processing step includes formatting the message for the one of the second plurality of application programs.  
   
   
       78 . A computer system comprising: 
 an application program means;    a plurality of transport module means for connecting to a respective one of a plurality of network means, the plurality of network means for providing a transport medium for sending and receiving electronic messaging to a target unit; and    a communication framework means for selecting one of the transport module means based on dynamic-delivery policies.    
   
   
       79 . The computer system of  claim 78 , wherein the communication framework means includes a multi-part message manager means for disassembling messages from the application program means and reassembling incoming messages received from the target unit.  
   
   
       80 . The system of  claim 45 , wherein the system is operable to monitor, configure, program and/or diagnosis at least one vehicle, and wherein the system further comprises: 
 a plurality of modular applications, each application having an associated function that processes the data corresponding to said at least one vehicle operating characteristic obtained via the target unit; and    an interface that allows selection among the plurality of modular applications to create a customized system.