Multi-protocol vehicle diagnostic interface device and method

1. A multi-protocol vehicle diagnostic interface device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory communicating with said processor and containing indicators of vehicle operational parameters from which a user may select to set up different ones of multiple filters;

a communication module communicating with said processor; and

a plurality of protocol bus modules supporting different multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols and having said multiple filters for set up in correspondence with the indicators of user-selected parameters;

wherein said processor is configured to control said memory and modules to cooperate with one another to

find the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol out of multiple supported vehicle diagnostic protocols,

define the indicators corresponding to user-selected parameters by saving user-initiated filter setups,

read data regarding user-selected parameters from a vehicle diagnostic communication port according to the filter setups,

prior to pushing the data to the communication module, modify the data depending on the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol found to form vehicle messages regarding the user selected parameters, the vehicle messages being modified to have a unified format with a similar frame or frames regardless of the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol found,

push the vehicle messages having said unified format to the communication module where the vehicle messages are wrapped in output messages having a unified structure, and

output the output messages to an external communication device.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols supported by said bus controller modules include J1708; J1939; OBDII CAN—11 bit ID/500 kBaud,—29 bit ID/500 kBaud,—11 bit ID/250 kBaud and—29 bit ID/250 kBaud; ISO 9141; ISO 14230—(fast initialization) and—(slow initialization); and J1850—VPW and—PWM.

3. The device of claim 1 wherein said multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols supported by said bus controller modules include at least J1708 and J1939.

4. The device of claim 3 wherein said processor can read data concurrently from said bus modules supporting said J1708 and J1939 protocols.

5. The device of claim 1 wherein said bus modules contain at least two sets of filters.

6. The device of claim 5 wherein one set of filters are regular filters in each of which only one message can be saved.

7. The device of claim 5 wherein one of said sets of filters are extended filters in each of which up to five packets of a multi-packet message can be saved.

8. A multi-protocol vehicle diagnostic interface device, comprising:

a processor;

a memory communicating with said processor and containing indicators of vehicle operational parameters from which a user may select to set up different ones of multiple filters;

a communication module communicating with said processor;

a calculation module communicating with said processor; and

a plurality of protocol bus modules supporting different multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols and having multiple filters for set up in correspondence with the indicators of user-selected parameters;

wherein said processor is configured to control said memory and modules to cooperate with one another to

find the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol out of multiple supported vehicle diagnostic protocols,

define the indicators corresponding to user-selected parameters by saving user-initiated filter setups,

read data regarding user-selected parameters from a vehicle diagnostic communication port according to the filter setups,

make calculations of the user-selected parameters,

modify vehicle messages regarding the calculations to form vehicle messages having a unified format with a similar frame or frames regardless of the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol found;

push said vehicle messages having said unified format to the communication module where said vehicle messages are wrapped in output messages having a unified structure; and

output the output messages to an external communications device.

9. The device of claim 8 wherein said multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols supported by said bus controller modules include J1708; J1939; OBDII CAN—11 bit ID/500 kBaud,—29 bit ID/500 kBaud,—11 bit ID/250 kBaud and—29 bit ID/250 kBaud; ISO 9141; ISO 14230—(fast initialization) and—(slow initialization); and J1850—VPW and—PWM.

10. The device of claim 8 wherein said multiple vehicle diagnostic protocols supported by said bus modules include at least J1708 and J1939.

11. The device of claim 10 wherein said processor can read data concurrently from said bus modules supporting said J1708 and J1939 protocols.

12. The device of claim 8 wherein said bus modules contain at least two sets of filters.

13. The device of claim 12 wherein one set of filters are regular filters in each of which only one message of a single packet can be saved.

14. The device of claim 12 wherein one set of filters are extended filters in each of which up to five packets of a multi-packet message can be saved.

15. The device of claim 8 wherein one of said sets of filters are internal filters which are used for data calculation.

16. A multi-protocol vehicle diagnostic interface method, comprising:

finding the correct vehicle onboard computer diagnostic protocol out of different multiple supported vehicle diagnostic protocols;

defining the indicators corresponding to different user-selected multiple vehicle operational parameters by saving user-initiated filter setups;

reading data regarding the user-selected parameters from a vehicle diagnostic communication port according to the filter setups;

prior to pushing the data to a communication module, modifying the data depending on the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol found to form vehicle messages regarding the user-selected parameters, the vehicle messages being modified to have a unified format with a similar frame or frames regardless of the correct vehicle diagnostic protocol found;

pushing the vehicle messages having said unified format to the communication module where said vehicle messages are wrapped in output messages having a unified structure; and

outputting the output messages to an external communication device.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising the step of making a calculation, in a multi-protocol vehicle diagnostic interface device, of at least one of trip odometer, trip fuel consumption, trip engine hours, fuel rate and battery voltage.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein said defining includes selecting by a user from a database the addresses of different ones of vehicle operational parameters to be set up in different ones of filters of multiple supported protocols.

19. The device of claim 1 , wherein said processor is configured to modify the data by modifying just a header thereof.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein modifying the data is performed by modifying just a header thereof.