A plug-in communication device for a motor vehicle

摘要

Apparatus 122 suitable for transferring data (e.g. its location and information about the dynamic behaviour) from a motor vehicle 105 to a remote data processing system 60, the apparatus comprising a plug-in device having an integral electrical connector 121 for connecting the device to an electric power outlet (e.g. cigarette lighter 13 or on-board diagnostics (OBD) port 31) on the vehicle; means (e.g. GPS) to provide current vehicle location data; and means 50 to provide a long-range or short-range communication link (e.g. GSM, Bluetooth, WiFi, WiMax or ZigBee) between the plug-in device and the remote data processing system. In some embodiments a single plug-in device 122 is used and in others two communicating plug-in devices 122, 30 are used. The device may comprise an accelerometer and a memory storing a unique identity mark.