US 2,005,273,218 · Filed 2005-03-17
The Wireless Sensor Network That Lets Cars Talk Back
Imagine your car's sensors could beam information to you wirelessly without any physical wires or plugs. This patent describes a system where multiple antennas point at different sensors inside your vehicle and ping them with radio signals to collect real-time data about how the car is running — all wirelessly and without the driver ever lifting a finger.
The plain-English version
What it protects
The claim covers a wireless system architecture where directional antenna elements are arranged to transmit radio frequency signals toward vehicle sensors and receive return signals back. What's protected here is the specific method of controlling these antenna elements — either by switching them on and off sequentially to query sensors one at a time, or by transmitting simultaneously while using delay lines in the circuitry to space out the return signals in time so they don't interfere with each other. The patent essentially locks down the mechanical and electronic arrangement of this interrogation system.
Why it matters
This patent represents an early approach to wireless vehicle diagnostics and telematics — the technology that eventually became foundational to modern connected cars. By eliminating the need for physical wiring harnesses between sensors and control modules, wireless RF systems reduce weight, cost, and manufacturing complexity in vehicles. The ability to query multiple sensors simultaneously or sequentially without mechanical switching opened pathways for future in-vehicle networks and remote diagnostics that manufacturers like General Motors and others pursued in the 2000s and beyond.
Real-world use
When your car's diagnostic system checks engine temperature, tire pressure, or battery health without you plugging in a code reader, wireless sensor interrogation technology like this patent describes is part of that capability.
Original USPTO abstract
System for obtaining information about a vehicle or a component therein includes sensors arranged to generate and transmit a signal upon receipt and detection of a radio frequency (RF) signal and a multi-element, switchable directional antenna array. Each antenna element is directed toward a respective sensor and transmitter RF signals toward that sensor and receive return signals therefrom. A control mechanism controls transmission of the RF signals from the antenna elements, e.g., causes the antenna elements to be alternately switched on in order to sequentially transmit the RF signals and receive the return signals from the sensors or cause the antenna elements to transmit the RF signals simultaneously and space the return signals from the sensors via a delay line in circuitry from each antenna element such that each return signal is spaced in time in a known manner without requiring switching of the antenna elements.
Patent details
- Publication number
- US 2,005,273,218
- Filing date
- 2005-03-17
- Grant date
- Application — not yet granted
- Assignee
- Automotive Technologies International, Inc.
- Inventor(s)
- BREED DAVID S., DUVALL WILBUR E., JOHNSON WENDELL C.
- CPC class
- G07C5/008
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