System and method for implementing added services for OBD2 smart vehicle connection

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12013944-B2
Application number	US-202217969421-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 19, 2022
Priority date	Aug 2, 2016
Publication date	Jun 18, 2024
Grant date	Jun 18, 2024

Abstract

Novel tools and techniques might provide for implementing Internet of Things (“IoT”) functionality, and, in particular embodiments, implementing added services for OBD2 connection for IoT-capable vehicles. In various embodiments, a portable device (when connected to an OBD2 DLC port of a vehicle) might monitor wireless communications between a vehicle computing system(s) and an external device(s), might monitor vehicle sensor data from vehicular sensors tracking operational conditions of the vehicle, and might monitor operator input sensor data from operator input sensors tracking input by a vehicle operator. The portable device (or a server) might analyze either the monitored wireless communications or a combination of the monitored vehicle sensor data and the monitored operator input sensor data, to determine whether vehicle operation has been compromised. If so, the portable device (or the server) might alert the operator of the vehicle via a user interface, and might initiate one or more remediation operations.

First claim

What is claimed is:

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 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, and
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.

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 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.

5. The method of claim 1 , 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.

6. The method of claim 1 , 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.

7. The method of claim 1 , 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 wireless 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 by jamming all wireless communications within at least one set of telecommunications frequency ranges to and from 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

Assignees

• Centurylink Ip Llc

Inventors

• Funk Tom

Classifications

• H04W12/128

  Anti-malware arrangements, e.g. protection against SMS fraud or mobile malware · CPC title

• H04W12/122

  Counter-measures against attacks; Protection against rogue devices · CPC title

• H04W24/08

  Testing, {supervising or monitoring} using real traffic · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• H04L63/1416

  Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection · CPC title