Granted Patent B2

US 12,229,092 · App. 17/084,086 · Granted Feb 18, 2025

Inventors: Alexey Sukhov (Georgetown, CA); Cristian Frincu (Vancouver, CA); Darren Marc Lohmann Beams (Oakville, CA)

Assignee: Geotab Inc.

G06F16/215G06F16/2365

Abstract

Claims (56)

1. A system for extrapolating a status of a vehicle, the system comprising:

a vehicle tracking device configured to be located at the vehicle, the vehicle tracking device comprising:

a vehicle tracking device sensor; and

an interface layer configured to receive data from at least one of: a sensor of the vehicle, an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle, and a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver at the vehicle;

wherein at least one of the vehicle tracking device sensor, the sensor of the vehicle, the ECU, and the GPS transceiver is configured to obtain a set of data describing a property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle, wherein the set of data includes at least one data dimension and a time dimension, the vehicle tracking device further comprising:

a memory in data communication with the sensor of the vehicle tracking device and the interface layer, the memory configured to receive and store the set of data describing the property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle;

a controller in data communication with the sensor of the vehicle tracking device, the interface layer, and the memory, the controller configured to:

receive the set of data describing the property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle from one or more of: the vehicle tracking device sensor, the interface layer, and the memory,

determine whether a data logging trigger is satisfied, and

when the data logging trigger is satisfied, perform a dataset simplification algorithm on the set of data to generate a simplified set of data,

wherein the controller is configured to determine whether the data logging trigger is satisfied by determining that a recently obtained point in the set of data differs from a corresponding predicted point predicted by the controller, the corresponding predicted point predicted using extrapolation based on previously saved points included in one or more previously generated simplified sets of data by an amount of extrapolation error that is limited by an upper bound that is fixed as the data is collected over time, and

wherein the upper bound is stored by the controller and is determined based on a deviation of at least some of the previously saved points from an overall trend of the previously saved points, the deviation measured in only a single data dimension of the at least one data dimension without consideration of a deviation in the time dimension from the overall trend;

a communication interface in data communication with the controller and the memory, the communication interface configured to receive the simplified set of data from the controller and transmit the simplified set of data;

the system further comprising a server at a location remote from the vehicle, the server configured to:

determine or modify the upper bound and communicate the upper bound to the communication interface of the vehicle tracking device;

receive the simplified set of data from the communication interface of the vehicle tracking device; and

extrapolate the status of the vehicle based on the simplified set of data in response to a status request.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to indicate the upper bound on extrapolation error.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the server is configured to provide an indication of the extrapolated status of the vehicle and an indication of the upper bound on extrapolation error to an end user device.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of data includes a target set of data that is recorded over time, and determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied involves determining that a recently obtained point in the target set of data is distant, along the data dimension of the target set of data, from a trend line running through the target set of data, in excess of a threshold trigger value.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the set of data includes a target set of data that is recorded over time, and determining whether the data logging trigger is satisfied involves:

(i) defining a trend line through one or more previously obtained points in the target set of data;

(ii) determining whether the recently obtained point is distant, along the data dimension of the target set of data, from the trend line, in excess of a threshold trigger value; and

(iii) if the recently obtained point is distant, along the data dimension, from the trend line, in excess of the threshold trigger value, determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein:

the set of data includes a target set of data that includes a plurality of data streams recorded over time; and

determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied involves determining that a recently obtained point is distant, along the data dimension of the target set of data, from a trend line running through the target set of data, in excess of a threshold trigger value that corresponds to the data dimension.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the simplified set of data is generated so that interpolation error within the simplified set of data is limited by an upper bound that is fixed across the simplified set of data.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the interface layer is configured to receive the data from the ECU and/or the sensor of the vehicle directly.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the interface layer is configured to receive the data from the ECU and/or the sensor of the vehicle via a controlled area network (CAN) through a communication port of the vehicle.

10. A method of extrapolating a status of a vehicle, the method comprising:

determining or modifying, by a server at a location remote from the vehicle, an upper bound on an amount of extrapolation error, the upper bound determined based on a deviation of at least some previously saved data points from an overall trend of the previously saved data points included in one or more previously generated simplified sets of data, the deviation measured in only a single data dimension of at least one data dimension without consideration of a deviation in a time dimension from the overall trend;

transmitting the upper bound from the server to a communication interface of a vehicle tracking device;

obtaining a set of data describing a property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle by at least one of: an electronic control unit (ECU) of the vehicle, a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver at the vehicle, a sensor of the vehicle, and a sensor of the vehicle tracking device at the vehicle, wherein the set of data includes the at least one data dimension and the time dimension;

receiving the upper bound and the set of data describing the property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle by a controller of the vehicle tracking device;

determining, by the controller of the vehicle tracking device, whether a data logging trigger is satisfied by determining that a recently obtained point in the set of data describing the property, state, or operating condition of the vehicle differed from a corresponding predicted point predicted by the controller, the corresponding predicted point predicted using extrapolation based on the previously saved data points by an amount of extrapolation error that is limited by the upper bound;

when the data logging trigger is satisfied, performing a dataset simplification algorithm on the set of data to generate a simplified set of data;

transmitting the simplified set of data by the communication interface of the vehicle tracking device;

receiving the simplified set of data at the server;

receiving, by the server, a request for a status of the vehicle; and

extrapolating, by the server, the status of the vehicle based on the simplified set of data in response to the request.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising indicating the upper bound on extrapolation error.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising providing an indication of the extrapolated status of the vehicle and an indication of the upper bound on extrapolation error to an end user device.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data includes a target set of data that is recorded over time, and determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied involves determining that a recently obtained point in the target set of data is distant, along a data dimension of the target set of data, from a trend line running through the target set of data, in excess of a threshold trigger value.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the data includes a target set of data that is recorded over time, and determining whether the data logging trigger is satisfied involves:

(i) defining a trend line through one or more previously obtained points in the target set of data;

(ii) determining whether the recently obtained point is distant, along a data dimension of the target set of data, from the trend line, in excess of a threshold trigger value; and

(iii) if the recently obtained point is distant, along the data dimension, from the trend line, in excess of the threshold trigger value, determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein:

the data includes a target set of data that includes a plurality of data streams recorded over time; and

determining that the data logging trigger is satisfied involves determining that a recently obtained point is distant, along a data dimension of the target set of data, from a trend line running through the target set of data, in excess of a threshold trigger value that corresponds to the data dimension.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the simplified set of data is generated so that interpolation error within the simplified set of data is limited by an upper bound that is fixed across the simplified set of data.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the set of data comprises receiving the set of data from the ECU and/or the sensor of the vehicle directly.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the set of data comprises receiving the set of data from the ECU and/or the sensor of the vehicle through a communication port of the vehicle via a controlled area network (CAN).

19. The system of claim 1 , wherein the interface layer comprises at least one of an interface for the GPS transceiver, an interface for the sensor of the vehicle, and an interface for a communication port of the vehicle, and wherein the sensor of the vehicle tracking device comprises at least one of an accelerometer and a temperature sensor.

20. The method of claim 10 , wherein receiving the set of data by a controller of the vehicle tracking device comprises receiving the set of data through an interface layer of the vehicle tracking device, the interface layer comprising at least one of an interface for the GPS transceiver, an interface for the sensor of the vehicle, and an interface for a communication port of the vehicle, and wherein the sensor of the vehicle tracking device comprises at least one of an accelerometer and a temperature sensor.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (3)

References Cited (164)

Cited By (1)

US 12,488,635