Vehicle event recorder systems and networks having integrated cellular wireless communications systems
Vehicle event recorder systems are arranged to be in constant communication with remote servers and administrators via mobile wireless cellular networks. Vehicle event recorders equipped with video cameras capture video and other data records of important events relating to vehicle use. These data are then transmitted over special communications networks having very high coverage space but limited bandwidth. A vehicle may be operated over very large region while maintaining continuous communications connections with a remote fixed server. As such, systems of these inventions may be characterized as including a mobile unit having: a video camera; a microprocessor; memory; an event trigger; and mobile wireless transceivers, and a fixed network portion including: mobile wireless cellular network, a protocol translation gateway, the Internet and an application-specific server.
1. A vehicle event recorder system configured to couple with a vehicle, the system comprising:
a camera configured to acquire visual information representing a vehicle environment, the vehicle environment including spaces in and around an interior and an exterior of the vehicle;
one or more vehicle systems transducers configured to generate output signals conveying vehicle usage information, the one or more vehicle systems transducers forming at least part of an on-board databus system, the vehicle usage information including information related to one or more of a drive-train, a transmission, an engine, brakes, or lights of the vehicle;
a managed loop memory configured to electronically store information;
a buffer memory configured to electronically store information;
a transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit information to a remotely located server via a cellular communication network; and
a microprocessor configured to:
effectuate storage of the visual information and the vehicle usage information in the managed loop memory;
responsive to physical anomaly event triggers, transfer the visual information and the vehicle usage information electronically stored by the managed loop memory to the buffer memory in detailed complete datasets that correspond to individual physical anomaly event triggers;
compress and/or parse the detailed complete datasets into abbreviated datasets such that the abbreviated datasets comprise less bytes of data than the detailed complete datasets;
effectuate storage of the abbreviated datasets in the buffer memory, and
facilitate wireless transmission of the detailed complete datasets and the abbreviated datasets via the transceiver,
wherein transmission of the abbreviated datasets is prioritized over the detailed complete datasets such that
a high priority individual abbreviated dataset associated with a single vehicle physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted instantly via the cellular communication network, and then
a lower priority individual detailed complete dataset associated with the same physical anomaly event trigger event is transmitted responsive to a higher bandwidth link becoming available.
2. The vehicle event recorder of claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is configured such that the single physical anomaly event trigger is associated with one or more of a vehicle accident, swerving, or hard braking.
3. The vehicle event recorder of claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is configured such that the lower priority individual detailed complete dataset includes visual information and vehicle usage information from before and after the single physical anomaly event trigger.
4. The vehicle event recorder of claim 1 , wherein the microprocessor is configured to facilitate transmission of one or more of the detailed complete datasets or the abbreviated datasets to the remotely located server via the transceiver responsive to electronic requests from the remotely located server.
5. A method for transmitting information from a vehicle event recorder system to a remotely located server, the vehicle event recorder system including a managed loop memory and a buffer memory both configured to store information, the vehicle event recorder system configured to couple with a vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring visual information representing a vehicle environment, the vehicle environment including spaces in and around an interior and an exterior of the vehicle;
generating output signals conveying vehicle usage information, the vehicle usage information including information related to one or more of a drive-train, a transmission, an engine, brakes, or lights of the vehicle;
effectuating storage of the visual information and the vehicle usage information in the managed loop memory;
responsive to physical anomaly event triggers, transferring the visual information and the vehicle usage information electronically stored by the managed loop memory to the buffer memory in detailed complete datasets that correspond to individual physical anomaly event triggers;
compressing and/or parsing the detailed complete datasets into abbreviated datasets such that the abbreviated datasets comprise less bytes of data than the detailed complete datasets;
effectuating storage of the abbreviated datasets in the buffer memory, and
facilitating wireless transmission of the detailed complete datasets and the abbreviated datasets to the remotely located server via a cellular communication network,
wherein transmission of the first abbreviated datasets is prioritized over the detailed complete datasets such that a high priority individual abbreviated dataset associated with a single physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted instantly via the cellular communication network, and then
a lower priority individual detailed complete dataset associated with the same physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted responsive to a higher bandwidth link becoming available.
6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the single physical anomaly event trigger is associated with one or more of a vehicle accident, swerving, or hard braking.
7. The method of claim 5 , wherein the lower priority individual detailed complete dataset includes visual information and vehicle usage information from before and after the first physical anomaly event trigger.
8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising facilitating transmission of one or more of the detailed complete datasets or the abbreviated datasets to the remotely located server responsive to electronic requests from the remotely located server.
9. A vehicle event recorder system configured to couple with a vehicle, the system comprising:
a camera configured to acquire visual information from a vehicle environment, the vehicle environment including spaces in and around an interior and an exterior of the vehicle;
one or more vehicle systems transducers configured to generate output signals conveying vehicle usage information, the one or more vehicle systems transducers forming at least part of an on-board databus system, the vehicle usage information including information related to one or more of a drive-train, a transmission, an engine, brakes, or lights of the vehicle;
an electronic memory configured to electronically store information;
a transceiver configured to wirelessly transmit information to a remotely located server via a cellular communication network; and
a microprocessor configured to:
effectuate storage of the visual information and the vehicle usage information in the electronic memory in detailed complete datasets that correspond to individual physical anomaly event triggers;
compress and/or parse the detailed complete datasets into abbreviated datasets such that the abbreviated datasets comprise less bytes of data than the detailed complete datasets; and
facilitate the wireless transmission of the detailed complete datasets and the abbreviated datasets via the transceiver;
wherein transmission of the abbreviated datasets is prioritized over the detailed complete datasets such that a high priority individual abbreviated dataset associated with a single physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted instantly via the cellular communication network, and then
a lower priority individual detailed complete dataset associated with the same physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted responsive to a higher bandwidth link becoming available.
10. The vehicle event recorder of claim 9 , wherein the microprocessor includes a download module configured to determine the amount of available bandwidth in the cellular communication network and facilitate transmission of the datasets to the remote server via the transceiver based on the determination and the amount of data bytes in the datasets.
11. A method for transmitting information from a vehicle event recorder system to a remotely located server, the vehicle event recorder system configured to couple with a vehicle, the method comprising:
acquiring visual information from a vehicle environment, the vehicle environment including spaces in and around an interior and an exterior of the vehicle;
generating output signals conveying vehicle usage information, the vehicle usage information including information related to one or more of a drive-train, a transmission, an engine, brakes, or lights of the vehicle;
effectuating electronic storage of the visual information and the vehicle usage information in detailed complete datasets that correspond to individual physical anomaly event triggers;
compressing and/or parsing the detailed complete datasets into abbreviated datasets such that the abbreviated datasets comprise less bytes of data than the detailed complete datasets; and
facilitating wireless transmission of the detailed complete datasets and the abbreviated datasets to the remotely located server via a cellular communication network;
wherein transmission of the abbreviated datasets is prioritized over the detailed complete datasets such that a high priority individual abbreviated dataset associated with a single physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted instantly via the cellular communication network, and then
a lower priority individual detailed complete dataset associated with the same physical anomaly event trigger is transmitted responsive to a higher bandwidth link becoming available.