Internet-based system for monitoring vehicles

Abstract

The invention provides a method for monitoring a vehicle that features the steps of: 1) generating a data packet including vehicle data retrieved from the vehicle using a wireless appliance; 2) transmitting the data packet over an airlink with the wireless appliance so that the data packet passes through a network and to a host computer system; 3) processing the data packet with the host computer system to generate a set of data; and 4) displaying the set of data on a web page hosted on the internet.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for monitoring a vehicle with a vehicle computer device located in the vehicle, comprising:
 (a) acquiring, by a vehicle computer device connected to an engine control unit (ECU) of a vehicle via an OBD or OBD-II connector, vehicle data comprising numerical diagnostic data or location-based data associated with the vehicle; 
 (b) processing, by the vehicle computer device connected to the ECU of the vehicle via the OBD or OBD-II connector, the vehicle data according to a mathematical algorithm to generate derived diagnostic or location information that is at least in part derived from the acquired vehicle data, and wherein the derived diagnostic information has a meaning distinct from the acquired vehicle data; 
 (c) formatting, by the vehicle computer device connected to the ECU of the vehicle via the OBD or OBD-II connector, the derived diagnostic or location information for display on an application running on a host computer device, wherein the application can provide an interface for presenting information associated with the vehicle, wherein the interface includes at least one of an icon and or a data field associated with derived diagnostic information indicative of the vehicle's emissions performance, of the vehicle; and 
 (d) wirelessly transmitting, by a cellular modem included in the vehicle computer device connected to the ECU of the vehicle via the OBD or OBD-II connector and via an internet, the derived diagnostic information in a communication to the host computer device, 
 the derived diagnostic information for a first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a first temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed, and 
 the derived diagnostic information for a second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a second temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed,
 the first temporal interval or mileage interval being simultaneous with and different than the second temporal interval or mileage interval. 
 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the application includes a browser. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the processing further includes extracting information representative of at least one of the following vehicle parameters from the received vehicle data: numerical data, an alphanumeric text message, and or a vehicle identification number. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the numerical diagnostic data includes at least one of the following numerical parameters: diagnostic trouble codes, vehicle speed, fuel level, fuel pressure, miles per gallon, engine RPM, mileage, oil pressure, oil temperature, tire pressure, tire temperature, engine coolant temperature, intake-manifold pressure, engine performance tuning parameters, alarm status, accelerometer status, cruise-control status, fuel injector performance, spark-plug timing, and or a status of an anti-lock braking system. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the host computer device is one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless smartphone, or a personal computer. 
     
     
       6. A vehicle computer device, located in a vehicle, configured to perform a method, the method comprising:
 a cellular modem; 
 a connector that connects to an OBD or OBD-II connector of a vehicle; and 
 a processor to:
 (a) acquiringacquire vehicle data comprising numerical diagnostic data or location-based data associated with the vehicle via the OBD or OBD-II connector of the vehicle; 
 (b) processingprocess the vehicle data according to a mathematical algorithm to generate derived diagnostic or location information that is at least in part derived from the acquired vehicle data, and wherein the derived diagnostic information has a meaning distinct from the acquired vehicle data; 
 (c) formattingformat the derived diagnostic or location information for display on an application running on a host computer device, wherein the application can provide an interface for presenting information associated with the vehicle, wherein the interface includes at least one of an icon and or a data field associated with derived diagnostic information indicative of the vehicle's emissions performance, of the vehicle; and 
 (d) wirelessly transmitting transmit, using the cellular modem, the derived diagnostic information in a communication via an internet to the host computer device,
 the derived diagnostic information for a first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a first temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed, and 
 the derived diagnostic information for a second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a second temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed,
 the first temporal interval or mileage interval being simultaneous with and different than the second temporal interval or mileage interval. 
 
 
 
 
     
     
       7. The method vehicle computer device of  claim 6 , wherein the application includes a browser. 
     
     
       8. The method vehicle computer device of  claim 6 , wherein the processor, when processing the vehicle data, is to:
 wherein the processing further includes extractingextract information representative of at least one of the following vehicle parameters from the receivedvehicle data: numerical data, an alphanumeric text message, andor a vehicle identification number. 
 
     
     
       9. The method vehicle computer device of  claim 6 , wherein the numerical diagnostic data includes at least one of the following numerical parameters: diagnostic trouble codes, vehicle speed, fuel level, fuel pressure, miles per gallon, engine RPM, mileage, oil pressure, oil temperature, tire pressure, tire temperature, engine coolant temperature, intake-manifold pressure, engine performance tuning parameters, alarm status, accelerometer status, cruise-control status, fuel injector performance, spark-plug timing, and or a status of an anti-lock braking system. 
     
     
       10. The method vehicle computer device of  claim 6 , wherein the host computer device is one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital, assistant (PDA), a wireless smartphone, or a personal computer. 
     
     
       11. A graphical user interface running on a host computer device for displaying derived diagnostic or location information corresponding to a vehicle wherein the derived diagnostic or location information displayed by the graphical user interface includes diagnostic or location information wirelessly transmitted by, a vehicle computer device coupled to the vehicle to acquire diagnostic and location vehicle data generated thereby, and wherein the vehicle computer device processes the diagnostic or location vehicle data according to a mathematical algorithm, and wherein the information comprises at least one of vehicle status reports and vehicle service recommendations to generate the derived information so that it has a meaning distinct from the acquired diagnostic and location vehicle data,
 wherein the graphical user interface includes at least one of an icon and data field associated with derived information indicative of the vehicle's emissions.   
     
     
       12. The graphical user interface of  claim 11  wherein the displayed graphical user interface includes a web browser. 
     
     
       13. The graphical user interface of  claim 11 , wherein the graphical user interface is configured for displaying information formatted according to at least one wireless access protocol (WAP). 
     
     
       14. The graphical user interface of  claim 11 , wherein the host computer device is one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless smartphone, or a personal computer. 
     
     
       15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions, the instructions comprising:
 one or more instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a vehicle computer device connected to an engine control unit (ECU) of a vehicle via an OBD or OBD-II connector, cause the one or more processors to:
 acquire vehicle data comprising numerical diagnostic data associated with the vehicle via the OBD or OBD-II connector of the vehicle; 
 process the vehicle data according to a mathematical algorithm to generate derived diagnostic information that is at least in part derived from the vehicle data, and wherein the derived diagnostic information has a meaning distinct from the vehicle data; 
 format the derived diagnostic information for display on an application running on a host computer device, wherein the application can provide an interface for presenting information associated with the vehicle, wherein the interface includes at least one of an icon or a data field associated with derived diagnostic information indicative of emissions performance of the vehicle; and 
   wirelessly transmit, using a cellular modem included in the vehicle computer device, the derived diagnostic information in a communication via an internet to the host computer device,
 the derived diagnostic information for a first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a first temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed, and 
 the derived diagnostic information for a second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed being monitored and wirelessly transmitted at a second temporal interval or mileage interval set based on the second diagnostic problem to be diagnosed,
 the first temporal interval or mileage interval being simultaneous with and different than the second temporal interval or mileage interval. 
 
   
     
     
       16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the application includes a browser. 
     
     
       17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the one or more instructions, that cause the one or more processors to process the vehicle data, cause the one or more processors to:
 extract information representative of at least one of the following vehicle parameters from the vehicle data: numerical data, an alphanumeric text message, or a vehicle identification number.   
     
     
       18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the numerical diagnostic data includes at least one of the following numerical parameters: diagnostic trouble codes, vehicle speed, fuel level, fuel pressure, miles per gallon, engine RPM, mileage, oil pressure, oil temperature, tire pressure, tire temperature, engine coolant temperature, intake-manifold pressure, engine performance tuning parameters, alarm status, accelerometer status, cruise-control status, fuel injector performance, spark-plug tinting, or a status of an anti-lock braking system. 
     
     
       19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the host computer device is one of a cellular telephone, a personal digital, assistant (PDA), a wireless smartphone, or a personal computer. 
     
     
       20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first temporal interval or mileage interval is a temporal interval, and
 the derived diagnostic information for the first diagnostic problem to be diagnosed is wirelessly transmitted by the cellular modem a plurality of times each minute based on the temporal interval to provide the derived diagnostic information to the host computer device in real-time.   
     
     
       21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the first temporal interval or mileage interval is a mileage interval.