Portable device and method for querying a vehicle network

摘要

A portable controller device having an OBD-II port interface and a microcontroller that interacts with a vehicle network through the interface, including programming for querying successively the vehicle network for parameters, for retrieving values for the parameters. The parameters are monitored by querying repeatedly a predetermined or random pattern of PIDs, and inferring a vehicle journey status by comparing the responses to the querying against a predetermined set of inferring response or parameter values, such as (1) the absence of a response to query of a monitoring parameter, (2) a zero value, and (3) a non-changing, non-zero value. A confirming parameter that satisfies the comparison is further queried successively a plurality of times within a predefined term, against the same inferring response or parameter values, and, if satisfied, the vehicle journey is identified as ‘ended’.

主权项

1. A portable controller device including an interface that plugs into an On-Board Diagnostic II (OBD-II) port of a vehicle, and a microcontroller that interacts with a network of the vehicle through the interface, including programming to configure the controller for a monitoring mode, while a vehicle journey status is ‘underway’, where the controller queries a predetermined monitoring parameter on the network, and compares the response or parameter value returned by the network to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter against a predetermined inferring response or parameter value that includes an absence of a response to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, and that when the returned response or parameter value is the absence of a response by the network to the query of the predetermined monitoring parameter, the vehicle journey that was ‘underway’ is inferred to have changed to ‘ended’, and the predetermined monitoring parameter is defined as a candidate parameter.