Vehicle connectivity using a desired access point name

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016309527-A1
Application number	US-201514686073-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 14, 2015
Priority date	Apr 14, 2015
Publication date	Oct 20, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A communication system and method of using the communication system to determine whether to maintain a connection between a wireless carrier system and a telematics unit in a vehicle. The method includes the steps of: providing a connection request between the vehicle and the wireless carrier system (WCS), wherein the connection request includes a first connectivity identifier; receiving a connection response from the WCS indicating a vehicle-WCS connection, wherein the connection response includes a second connectivity identifier; based on receiving the connection response, determining at the telematics unit whether to maintain the vehicle-WCS connection using the first and second connectivity identifiers; and when the telematics unit determines to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection, then carrying out one or more actions to terminate the vehicle-WCS connection.

First claim

1 . A method of determining whether to maintain a connection between a wireless carrier system and a telematics unit in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
providing a connection request between the vehicle and the wireless carrier system (WCS), wherein the connection request includes a first connectivity identifier; receiving a connection response from the WCS indicating a vehicle-WCS connection, wherein the connection response includes a second connectivity identifier; based on receiving the connection response, determining at the telematics unit whether to maintain the vehicle-WCS connection using the first and second connectivity identifiers; and when the telematics unit determines to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection, then carrying out one or more actions to terminate the vehicle-WCS connection.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first connectivity identifier includes a public access point name (APN) for use with at least one application service provider (ASP).

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, when the second connectivity identifier includes the same public APN, then the telematics unit determines to maintain the vehicle-WCS connection.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein the second connectivity identifier is a private APN for use with a vehicle backend system, wherein the telematics unit determines to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection based on a difference between the public APN and the private APN.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the connection response included the private APN due to a prior de-activation event of a subscriber account at the WSC, wherein the subscriber account is associated with the vehicle telematics unit.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the prior de-activation event included deleting data associated with at least a portion of the subscriber account.

7 . The method of claim 2 , wherein, when the second connectivity identifier includes a WCS message indicating that the public APN is not being used in the vehicle-WCS connection, then the telematics unit determines to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the WCS message is a cause code.

9 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the WCS message is associated with a prior de-activation event of a subscriber account at the WSC, wherein the subscriber account is associated with the vehicle telematics unit.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the prior de-activation event included deleting data associated with at least a portion of the subscriber account.

11 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing diagnostic data associated with the disconnection request.

12 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising initiating a reconnection attempt cycle, wherein the reconnection attempt cycle includes providing a second connection request following a predetermined period.

13 . A method of determining whether to maintain a connection between a wireless carrier system and a telematics unit in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
providing a connection request between the vehicle and the wireless carrier system (WCS), wherein the connection request includes a public access point name (APN); receiving a connection response from the WCS indicating a vehicle-WCS connection, wherein the connection response includes a private APN; in response to receiving the connection response, determining at the telematics unit to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection based on receiving the private APN in the connection response instead of the public APN; and carrying out one or more actions to terminate the vehicle-WCS connection.

14 . The method of claim 13 , wherein the WCS message is associated with a prior de-activation event of a subscriber account at the WSC, wherein the subscriber account is associated with the vehicle telematics unit.

15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the prior de-activation event included deleting data associated with at least a portion of the subscriber account.

16 . A method of determining whether to maintain a connection between a wireless carrier system and a telematics unit in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:
providing a connection request between the vehicle and the wireless carrier system (WCS), wherein the connection request includes a public access point name (APN); receiving a connection response from the WCS indicating a vehicle-WCS connection, wherein the connection response includes a WCS message; in response to receiving the connection response, determining at the telematics unit to not maintain the vehicle-WCS connection when the WCS message indicates that the vehicle-WCS connection is not associated with the public APN; and carrying out one or more actions to terminate the vehicle-WCS connection.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the WCS message is a cause code.

18 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the WCS message is associated with a prior de-activation event of a subscriber account at the WSC, wherein the subscriber account is associated with the vehicle telematics unit.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the prior de-activation event included deleting data associated with at least a portion of the subscriber account.

Assignees

• Gen Motors Llc

Inventors

• Chen Bonnie
• Droste Scott T

Classifications

• 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

• H04W8/20

  Transfer of user or subscriber data · CPC title

• H04W76/10

  Connection setup · CPC title

• H04W76/38

  triggered by timers · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title