User-controlled availability of vehicle connectivity

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021122312-A1
Application number	US-201916665544-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 28, 2019
Priority date	Oct 28, 2019
Publication date	Apr 29, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods, systems, and vehicles are provided for user-controlled availability of vehicle connectivity in various embodiments. In one exemplary embodiment, a plurality of sensors are configured to generate sensor data pertaining to a motor of a vehicle and pertaining to user inputs for a user of the vehicle; and a telematics system has a processor that is configured to at least facilitate: (i) determining, from the sensor data, whether the motor is turned off; (ii) determining, from the sensor data, whether a user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode; and (iii) operating the telematics unit, using one or more adjusted values instead of one or more default values for communicating with a remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
determining, from sensor data obtained via one or more sensors, whether a motor of a vehicle having a telematics unit is turned off; determining, from the sensor data, whether a user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode; and operating the telematics unit, using one or more adjusted values instead of one or more default values for communicating with a remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, from the sensor data, wherein the motor has been turned back on; and operating the telematics unit, using one or more default values instead of the one or more adjusted values for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned back on.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the step of operating the telematics using the one or more adjusted values further comprises operating the telematics unit in an enhanced coverage mode, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in the energy conservation mode; and the step of operating the telematics using the one or more default values further comprises operating the telematics unit in a standard coverage mode, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned back on.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining, from the sensor data, a requested duration of time for which the user requests connectivity to the telematics unit; and calculating the adjusted values based on the requested duration of time, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested duration of time.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the step of calculating the adjusted time comprises calculating one or more discontinuous reception intervals for the telematics unit for communicating with the remote server while the telematics unit remains in an extended discontinuous reception energy saving mode of operation, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested duration of time; and the step of operation the telematics unit using the one or more adjusted values comprises operating the telematics unit, using the one or more calculated discontinuous reception intervals, for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the step of calculating the adjusted time comprises calculating one or more timers for time periods in which the remote server may communicate with the telematics unit while the telematics unit remains in an extended dormant state of operation, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested duration of time; and the step of operation the telematics unit using the one or more adjusted values comprises operating the telematics unit, using the one or more calculated timers, for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein:
the step of calculating the adjusted time comprises calculating a T3324 active timer for the telematics unit monitoring for communications from the remote server; and the step of operation the telematics unit using the one or more adjusted values comprises operating the telematics unit, using the calculated T3324 active timer, for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein:
the step of calculating the adjusted time comprises calculating a T3412 extended timer or T3512 timer for the telematics unit monitoring for communications from the remote server; and the step of operation the telematics unit using the one or more adjusted values comprises operating the telematics unit, using the calculated T3412 extended timer or T3512 timer, for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

9 . A system comprising:
a plurality of sensors disposed onboard a vehicle having a motor and a telematics unit, and configured to generate sensor data pertaining to a motor of the vehicle and user inputs for a user of the vehicle; and a processor coupled to the plurality of sensors and configured to at least facilitate:
determining, from the sensor data, whether the motor is turned off;
determining, from the sensor data, whether a user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode; and
operating the telematics unit, using one or more adjusted values instead of one or more default values for communicating with a remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

10 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least facilitate:
determining, from the sensor data, wherein the motor has been turned back on; and operating the telematics unit, using one or more default values instead of the one or more adjusted values for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned back on.

11 . The system of claim 9 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least facilitate:
determining, from the sensor data, a requested duration of time for which the user requests connectivity to the telematics unit; and calculating the adjusted values based on the requested duration of time, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested duration of time.

12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least facilitate:
calculating one or more discontinuous reception intervals for the telematics unit for communicating with the remote server while the telematics unit remains in an extended discontinuous reception energy saving mode of operation, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested duration of time; and operating the telematics unit, using the one or more calculated discontinuous reception intervals, for communicating with the remote server, when it is determined that both the motor for the vehicle is turned off and the user has requested that the telematics unit operate in an energy conservation mode.

13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to at least facilitate:
calculating a T3324 active timer for communications between the telematics unit and the remote server while the telematics unit remains in an extended dormant state of operation, such that sufficient energy is conserved so that the user maintains connectivity to the telematics unit for the requested d

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Aminikashani Mohammadreza
• Droste Scott T
• George David

Classifications

• G07C5/008

  communicating information to a remotely located station (transmission systems for measured values G08C) · CPC title

• G07C5/0841

  Registering performance data (recording measured values G01D; information storage G11B) · CPC title

• H04W4/38

  for collecting sensor information · CPC title

• H04W4/40 Primary

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• B60R25/24 Primary

  using electronic identifiers containing a code not memorised by the user · CPC title