Two Key OnStar Telematics Technologies: GPS and Remote Diagnostics
OnStar has built an aggressive research and development program designed to position the company for the future and to help the company maintain its leadership edge in telematics. Part of this investment strategy includes filing for patents to protect OnStar's intellectual property. OnStar's patent activity follows GM's long tradition of generating patents, and through its patent program, OnStar is living up to GM's standards of innovation.
Many departments within OnStar contribute to the intellectual property effort, including engineering, IT, new business, the Advanced Technology Group and the wireless group.
OnStar's research and development efforts and resulting patents ultimately improve OnStar's service and the customer's experience with OnStar. OnStar's patent activity falls into several categories, including safety, vehicle diagnostics, voice recognition, vehicle navigation and wireless infrastructure.
Two Key OnStar Technologies: GPS and Remote Diagnostics
How GPS Works
Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite technology works by measuring how long it takes a radio signal from a satellite to reach a vehicle, and then calculating distance using that time.
Radio waves travel at the speed of light, which is 186,000 miles per second. Both the satellite and the GPS receiver in the vehicle are generating the same signal, called a pseudo-random code. OnStar can calculate the time by comparing how late the satellite's pseudo-random code is compared to the receiver's. That time difference is then multiplied by 186,000 miles per second, giving a vehicle's distance from one satellite. To get the most accurate vehicle location, OnStar uses the measurement from four satellites.
GPS satellites are launched into very precise orbits and are constantly monitored by the Department of Defense to measure their altitude, position and speed. For improved accuracy, OnStar uses a 6-channel receiver. And because pseudo-random code is a timing code, with very little information, an antenna measuring about 1 1/2 inches square is enough to pick up the signal.
GPS FACTS
How Remote Diagnostics Works
OnStar's remote diagnostic service is designed to trouble-shoot an engine problem or offer a trip check while the driver is on the move.
OnStar is able to interrogate more than 400 system codes that cover the vehicle's engine and powertrain systems, the antilock brake system and the air bag system. These codes, ranging from transmission fluid temperature to engine misfire, fuel injector malfunction to engine over-temperature protection, represent more than half of all service and repair incidents that a customer may encounter.
Here's how OnStar's remote diagnostics works:
Drivers who feel more investigation is necessary can ask the advisor to further interrogate the vehicle. The advisor can then send a coded signal to the vehicle that checks the status of functions that operate with the warning light and check the related functions that do not have a warning light. The vehicle then sends the advisor a list of codes that report on specific areas within the engine and powertrain systems, the antilock brake system or the air bag system.
The advisor can then advise the driver of the actions needed, which may include turning off the car immediately and waiting for roadside assistance, scheduling a service appointment at a dealership as soon as possible or getting the problem checked during the next regular maintenance visit.