Mobile control apparatus
Vehicle maintenance-related services are provided from a server over a wide area network, such as the Internet. Under one method, a server that is accessible over the wide area network through a wireless communication link is provided. Then, in a vehicle, an apparatus is provided to collect, over a data bus in the vehicle, data relating to an operation of the vehicle. The data received from the data bus is then communicated to the server over the wireless communication link. Based on the data received at the server, the maintenance-related services is then initiated. The operation data of the vehicle can be collected from various subsystems of the vehicle, such as a brake sub-system, an engine sub-system and various sensors located at various subsystems of the vehicle. Under one mode of operation, the data collected from these subsystems are reported to the server at pre-determined time intervals. In one embodiment, the apparatus of the invention includes a positioning apparatus for determining a location of said vehicle from received ranging signals. Such signals can be received from a global position system (GPS) or a ranging system based on triangulation, such as those used in cellular telephone systems.
1. A mobile control apparatus, comprising:
a position circuit for receiving ranging signals over a first wireless link from a positioning system and for providing a position of said mobile position apparatus;
a communication interface for maintaining a wireless link for communicating with a server on a wide area network;
a peripheral interface to a peripheral device, said interface provided to transfer control information between said peripheral device and said mobile control apparatus;
a controller for executing a program that (1) control operations of said position circuit, said communication interface, and said peripheral interface; and (2) transfers said position and said control information to said server; and
a memory for storing said program.
2. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said communication interface comprises a modem capable of operating in a cellular telephone system.
3. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said position circuit comprises a down-converter for a global position system (GPS).
4. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said position circuit determines said position based on triangulation of ranging signals.
5. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said peripheral interface comprises an industry standard bus interface.
6. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said memory comprises a non-volatile portion and a volatile portion.
7. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein said position circuit comprises a radio frequency front-end circuit and a signal processing circuit.
8. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 7 , wherein said radio frequency front-end circuit and said signal processing circuit are provided as application-specific integrated circuits.
9. A mobile control apparatus as in claim 8 , wherein said controller comprises a general-purpose microprocessor.