Granted Patent B2

US 12,585,774 · App. 18/666,534 · Granted Mar 24, 2026

Inventor: Tom Funk (Littleton, CO)

Assignee: Centurylink Intellectual Property LLC

G06F21/566G06F21/568G06F21/85G07C5/008G07C5/0808G07C5/0816H04L63/1416H04W12/122H04W12/128H04W24/08H04W76/30H04L67/12H04W4/70

Abstract

Claims (46)

1 . A method, comprising:

monitoring, with a portable device in communication with one or more computing systems of a vehicle via an on-board diagnostics (“OBD2”) data link connector (“DLC”) port, wireless communications between at least one vehicle computing system of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle and at least one device external to the vehicle;

monitoring, with the portable device via the OBD2 DLC port, one or more vehicle sensor data from one or more vehicular sensors tracking operational conditions of the vehicle;

monitoring, with the portable device via the OBD2 DLC port, one or more operator input sensor data from one or more operator input sensors tracking operator input by an operator of the vehicle;

analyzing, with the portable device, at least one of the monitored wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle or a combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised;

based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised, alerting the operator of the vehicle regarding the vehicle operation being compromised, using the portable device via a user interface; and

initiating, with the portable device, one or more remediation operations,

wherein analyzing the combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data comprises analyzing, with the portable device, the one or more vehicle sensor data and the one or more operator input sensor data to determine whether the one or more vehicle sensor data indicates operational conditions of the vehicle that are inconsistent with the corresponding one or more operator input sensor data.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more computing systems of the vehicle comprise at least one of an electronic control unit (“ECU”), an electronic control module (“ECM”), an electronic throttle control (“ETC”) system, an electronic stability control (“ESC”) system, a variable-assist power steering system, an automatic steering system, an anti-lock braking system (“ABS”), or a vehicular computing node.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more vehicular sensors comprise at least one of one or more accelerator pedal position sensors, one or more engine speed sensors, one or more engine air flow sensors, one or more air-fuel mixture sensors, one or more vehicle speed sensors, one or more cruise control switch sensors, one or more brake pedal position sensors, one or more brake actuator sensors, one or more vehicle traction sensors, one or more vehicle stability sensors, one or more vehicle body motion sensors, or one or more steering angle sensors.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is an Internet of Things (“IoT”)-capable vehicle and the at least one device external to the vehicle comprises at least one IoT-capable device, wherein the wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle comprises machine-to-machine IoT communications.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the portable device is an IoT gateway through which all IoT communications pass, wherein initiating the one or more remediation operations comprises, based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised by the at least one device external to the vehicle via the machine-to-machine IoT communications and based on the operator action comprising disconnecting the portable device from the OBD2 DLC port, disrupting, with the portable device, communication between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle.

6 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

in response to the operator reconnecting the portable device into the OBD2 DLC port, establishing, with the portable device, communication between the at least one vehicle computing system and one or more telematics sources.

7 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the portable device is an IoT gateway through which all IoT communications pass, wherein the portable device comprises a block-wireless-communications button, wherein initiating the one or more remediation operations comprises, based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised by the at least one device external to the vehicle via the machine-to-machine IoT communications and based on the operator action comprising depressing the block-wireless-communications button on the portable device, disrupting, with the portable device, communication between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the portable device comprises a restore button, wherein initiating the one or more remediation operations comprises, based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised by the at least one device external to the vehicle via the wireless communications and based on the operator action comprising depressing the restore button on the portable device, restoring, with the portable device, settings and configurations for at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors, wherein the settings and configurations for the at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors comprise one of factory settings and configurations or previously saved settings and configurations.

9 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

encrypting, with the portable device, the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data; and

storing, with the portable device, the encrypted one or more vehicle sensor data and the encrypted one or more operator input sensor data in a local data storage device of the portable device;

wherein encrypting and storing the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data are performed either before or after analyzing the at least one of the monitored wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle or the combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein encrypting the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data comprises encrypting, with the portable device, the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, using one or more cryptographic protocols or techniques comprising AES symmetric-key algorithm, Diffie-Hellman key exchange, SHA-1 hash function, forward secrecy, deniable authentication, or malleable encryption.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing the at least one of the monitored wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle or the combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised comprises detecting, with the portable device, whether the wireless communications comprises at least one of one or more viruses, one or more electronic intrusion attempts, or one or more other malicious software and blocking, with the portable device, the at least one of one or more viruses, one or more electronic intrusion attempts, or one or more other malicious software from infecting the at least one vehicle computing system via the wireless communications.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting, with the portable device, whether at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors comprises at least one of one or more viruses, one or more electronic intrusion attempts, or one or more other malicious software; and

removing, with the portable device, the at least one of one or more viruses, one or more electronic intrusion attempts, or one or more other malicious software from the at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors.

13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

validating, with the portable device, firmware of at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors.

14 . A portable device, comprising:

an on-board diagnostics (“OBD2”) data link connector (“DLC”) in communication with one or more computing systems of a vehicle via an OBD2 DLC port of the vehicle;

at least one processor;

a data storage device; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium communicatively coupled to the at least one processor, the non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer software comprising a set of instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, causes the portable device to:

monitor, via the OBD2 DLC port, wireless communications between at least one vehicle computing system of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle and at least one device external to the vehicle;

monitor, via the OBD2 DLC port, one or more vehicle sensor data from one or more vehicular sensors tracking operational conditions of the vehicle;

monitor, via the OBD2 DLC port, one or more operator input sensor data from one or more operator input sensors tracking operator input by an operator of the vehicle;

analyze at least one of the monitored wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle or a combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised;

based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised, alert the operator of the vehicle regarding the vehicle operation being compromised; and

initiate one or more remediation operations,

wherein analyzing the combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data comprises analyzing, with the portable device, the one or more vehicle sensor data and the one or more operator input sensor data to determine whether the one or more vehicle sensor data indicates operational conditions of the vehicle that are inconsistent with the corresponding one or more operator input sensor data.

15 . The portable device of claim 14 , further comprising:

a restore button;

wherein initiating the one or more remediation operations comprises, based on a determination that vehicle operation has been compromised by the at least one device external to the vehicle via the wireless communications and based on the operator action comprising depressing the restore button on the portable device, restoring settings and configurations for at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors, wherein the settings and configurations for the at least one of the one or more computing systems of the vehicle, the one or more vehicular sensors, or the one or more operator input sensors comprise one of factory settings and configurations or previously saved settings and configurations.

16 . The portable device of claim 14 , wherein the set of instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, further causes the portable device to:

encrypt the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data; and

store the encrypted one or more vehicle sensor data and the encrypted one or more operator input sensor data in the data storage device of the portable device;

wherein encrypting and storing the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data are performed either before or after analyzing the at least one of the monitored wireless communications between the at least one vehicle computing system and the at least one device external to the vehicle or the combination of the monitored one or more vehicle sensor data and the monitored one or more operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (6)

References Cited (297)