DESC:FIELD OF DISCLOSURE

The present disclosure relates to acquisition and transfer of data.

More particularly, the present disclosure relates to acquisition and transfer of data from sensors to an audio channel of a mobile device.

BACKGROUND

Data acquisition is typically the process of sampling signals that measure real world physical conditions and converting the resulting samples into digital values that can be processed by electronic systems. Data acquisition systems typically include products and/or processes used to collect information for operational analysis.

Data acquisition begins with measuring of a physical property such as temperature, light intensity, gas/fluid pressure, gas/fluid flow, force and the like. The measurement of the physical property is typically carried out by using sensors specially designed to measure the particular property, such as temperature sensors, light sensors, pressure sensors, speed sensors, motion sensors and the like. These sensors measure the property and produce corresponding electrical signals, typically analog signals that are converted into digital signals/data before being processed.

With advancements in electronic technologies, data acquisition systems employing mobile phones as a means to process data are being developed. In these systems, the sensor signals are transferred to a mobile phone for processing. Various wired and wireless methods are used to transfer the signals to the mobile phone. Typically, the sensor signals are digitized into packets referred to as digital data, encrypted by analog/digital signal encryption methods and then transferred to the mobile phone using wireless communication protocols such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Near Field Communication (NFC), USB and the like. However digital data transmission results in a finite time gap between discrete packets. Furthermore, a synchronization/authentication process referred to as handshaking between a device transferring the data and the mobile phone is necessary before transferring the data to the mobile phone which hampers continuous data transmission. Mobile phone based data acquisition systems currently prevalent require mobile phones to be compatible with Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/NFC/USB features which are not necessarily available in all types of mobile phones. Furthermore, the implementation of wireless communication protocols increases the system complexity as well as results in high power consumption. Moreover, use of Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/NFC/USB and other such sophisticated protocols increase the cost of the system.

A major application of data acquisition systems is automotive electronics. Several endeavours have been made in this field. For instance, US20130162421 discloses an information communication system consisting of a vehicle portable device that conducts wireless communication with a vehicle, and a mobile terminal that conducts near-field wireless communication with the vehicle portable device. US7313467 discloses a system and method for in-vehicle communication wherein information relating to vehicle components is obtained by sensors and wirelessly transmitted to a processor. US20050090279 discloses communication system for a vehicle, wherein Bluetooth communications protocol is employed for wireless communication between a transceiver provided within the vehicle and a cellular phone. US6662642 discloses a vehicle wireless sensing and communication system wherein sensors located on the vehicle provide information about the vehicle which is transmitted to a processing device in the vehicle using wireless radio frequency transmission. US7082359 discloses a vehicle monitoring system wherein sensors provided on the vehicle for monitoring the vehicle components wirelessly transmit information to a diagnostic module on the vehicle, whereupon the information is transmitted via a cellular telephone coupled to the diagnostic module, to remote service centre situated at a dealer. However use of wireless communication protocols as disclosed in each of the aforementioned prior art, increases system complexity and results in high power consumption which puts extra load on the vehicle’s battery.

Hence there is a need for a simple data acquisition system which can be implemented using any mobile device, consumes less power and at the same time is cost effective.

OBJECTS

Some of the objects of the present disclosure aimed to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative are listed herein below.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a simple and versatile system that can acquire and transfer data to a wide variety of mobile devices.

Another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system that uses minimal hardware for data acquisition and transfer.

Still another object of the present disclosure is to provide a system that consumes less power while acquiring and transferring data.

Yet another object of the present disclosure is to provide a cost effective system for data acquisition and transfer.
One more object of the present disclosure is to provide a system for data acquisition and transfer that can be installed in a wide variety of vehicles.

Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will be more apparent from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.

SUMMARY

The present disclosure envisages a system for vehicle data acquisition and transfer.
Typically in accordance with the present disclosure, the system for vehicle data acquisition and transfer comprises a plurality of sensors configured to sense at least one condition relative to said vehicle and provide sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions, wherein the sensed signals are analog signals and digital signals. The system also comprises a separator cooperating with the plurality of sensors to receive the sensed signals and separate sensed analog signals from sensed digital signals. A transceiver receives and separately transmits these sensed analog signals and sensed digital signals. The sensed analog signals are received and converted into digital data by an analog to digital converter cooperating with the transceiver. This digital data is fed to a microcontroller by the analog to digital converter along with the sensed digital signals by the transceiver. A frequency shift keying module is provided within the microcontroller and is configured to process the received digital signals and digital data to generate frequency modulated data. The system includes a signal conditioning module cooperating with the frequency shift keying module to receive the frequency modulated data. The signal conditioning module includes a digital to analog converter configured to convert the frequency modulated data into analog data signal having audio frequency range. This converted analog data signal having audio frequency range is then provided to a low pass filter which is configured to eliminate the noise from the analog data signal to obtain frequency modulated noiseless audio signal. An audio connector cooperating with the signal conditioning module receives the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and transmits the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to a mobile device. The mobile device includes a decoder that is configured to decode the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to obtain values of the sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.
In accordance with the present disclosure, there is provided a method for vehicle data acquisition and transfer, the method includes following steps of:
• sensing at least one condition relative to said vehicle with the help of plurality of sensors and providing sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions, wherein said sensed signals are analog signals and digital signals;
• receiving said sensed signals and separating sensed analog signals from sensed digital signals;
• transmitting separately the sensed analog signals and the sensed digital signals;
• receiving and converting the sensed analog signals to digital data;
• receiving the sensed digital signals and the digital data and processing the received signals and data to generate frequency modulated data;
• receiving the frequency modulated data and converting said frequency modulated data into analog data signal having audio frequency range;
• receiving said analog data signal and eliminating the noise from the analog data signal to obtain frequency modulated noiseless audio signal;
• transmitting said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal; and
• receiving the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and decoding said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to obtain values of said sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYNG DRAWINGS

The system of the present disclosure will now be described with the help of the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 illustrates a schematic representation of a vehicle data acquisition and transfer system of the present disclosure; and

Figure 2 illustrates a flow diagram of the working of the system of figure 1 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

Data acquisition systems using mobile phones as a means to process data typically use wireless communication protocols/means such as Bluetooth/Wi-Fi/NFC/USB to transfer data to the mobile phones. As a result mobile phones used in such data acquisition systems need to be compatible with these wireless communication features which are not necessarily available in all types of mobile phones. Furthermore, the implementation of wireless communication protocols/means increases the system complexity, results in high power consumption and increases the cost of the system.

Data acquisition is employed in automotive electronics to study vehicle behaviour. Connected vehicle systems currently prevalent in the market use standard data communication means such as Control Area Network (CAN) bus for collecting data from all the sensors. This data is then processed and transferred on a user’s mobile phone, typically via Bluetooth. However, use of Bluetooth and other such wireless communication protocols, besides being expensive and increasing system complexity, results in high power consumption which puts extra load on the vehicle’s battery.

Thus to overcome these aforementioned limitations, the present disclosure envisages a system that acquires and transfers data from analog and digital sensors to a mobile device via an audio/microphone jack on the mobile device. The audio jack acts as a channel to transfer data collected by the sensors to the mobile device wherein the data is further processed by an application on the mobile device and the sensor values are decoded and displayed on the mobile device. The mobile device used in the present disclosure can be any handheld device selected from the group consisting of cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), palmtop, laptop and the like. The mobile device must essentially have an audio connector jack to enable transfer of values sensed by the sensors over audio cables. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the audio connector has a 3.5mm audio connector jack that can be easily connected to the mobile device.

The system of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawing. The embodiment does not limit the scope and ambit of the disclosure. The description relates purely to the examples and preferred embodiment of the disclosed method and its suggested applications.

The embodiment herein and the various features and advantageous details thereof are explained with reference to the non-limiting embodiments in the following description. Descriptions of well-known components and processing techniques are omitted so as to not unnecessarily obscure the embodiments herein. The examples used herein are intended merely to facilitate an understanding of ways in which the embodiments herein may be practiced and to further enable those of skill in the art to practice the embodiments herein. Accordingly, the examples should not be construed as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 illustrates a vehicle data acquisition and transfer system 100. The system 100 comprises a plurality of sensors 102 which include both analog as well as digital sensors thereby making the system 100 versatile. The plurality of sensors 102 sense at least one condition relative to a vehicle and provide sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions. The plurality of sensors 102 are selected from a group consisting of sensors that measure conditions relative to a vehicle including vibration, weather, moisture, humidity, flow, fluid velocity, position, angle, displacement, distance, speed, acceleration, pressure, force, density, level, temperature, proximity and the like. As the system 100 includes both analog and digital sensors, the plurality of sensors 102 provide sensed signals that are combination of analog signals and digital signals. For interfacing the plurality of sensors 102 simultaneously, Time Division Multiplexing is used wherein a predefined time interval is allotted to provide to a separator 104, every signal corresponding to each sensor. The separator 104 present in the system 100 then separates the sensed analog signals from the sensed digital signals by incorporating signal processing techniques. In one embodiment, the technique of source separation using independent component analysis is used to separate the sensed analog and digital signals. In another embodiment, a predefined frequency is allotted at the beginning of each sine wave analogous to the start bit in digital data transmission in order to distinguish different sensed signals. In yet another embodiment, the separator 104 includes a high pass filter or a bandpass filter for separation of analog and digital signals. A transceiver 106 then transmits the sensed analog signals to an analog to digital converter 108 and transmits the sensed digital signals to a microcontroller 110. The analog to digital converter 108 converts the sensed analog signals into digital data and provides this digital data to the microcontroller 110. The microcontroller 110 thus receives a continuous train of signals with different sensed data interleaved between the signals. The microcontroller 110 includes a frequency shift keying module 112 which processes the sensed digital signals and the digital data received by the microcontroller 110 and generates frequency modulated data. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, the microcontroller 110 is a low power 16-bit microcontroller. The system 100 also includes a signal conditioning module 114 which receives the frequency modulated data. The signal conditioning module 114 further includes a digital to analog converter 116 that converts the frequency modulated data into analog data signal having audio frequency range and provides this analog data signal having audio frequency range to a low pass filter 118 present in the signal conditioning module 114. The low pass filter 118 eliminates the noise from the analog data signal to obtain frequency modulated noiseless audio signal. An audio connector 120 present in the system 100 transmits the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to a mobile device 122. The mobile device 122 includes a decoder 124 which decodes the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal received by the mobile device 122 to obtain values of the sensed conditions relative to said vehicle. In one embodiment of the present disclosure, a standard 3.5 millimeter (mm) audio connector can be connected to any mobile device 122. Thus, the use of the standard audio connector drastically reduces the system cost and makes the system universal. Typically the mobile device 122 is a readily available generic Operating System (OS), such as an android OS, based handheld devices.

Referring to accompanying drawings, Figure 2 illustrates a flow diagram of the working of the system 100 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The plurality of sensors present in the system sense at least one condition relative to a vehicle and provide sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions 202. These signals are checked if they are analog or digital in nature 204. If the sensed signals are analog in nature, they are converted into digital data 206. If the sensed signals are digital in nature they are passed onto a microcontroller. The microcontroller receives and processes the sensed digital signals and the digital data 208. This processed data is then conditioned and converted into audio signals 210 which are analog signals having audio frequency. These audio signals are transmitted to a mobile device (via a 3.5mm audio connector) 212. The mobile device receives and decodes the audio signals to obtain values corresponding to signals received from sensors and displays it on the display of the mobile device 214.
In accordance with another embodiment, the mobile device uploads the sensor signal values on cloud. A module in the mobile device implements a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) method to calculate the frequency of the received signal. The calculated frequency is then co-related with the sensors to provide values corresponding to the signals received from the sensors. In accordance with one embodiment the mobile device application implements a Cooley-Tukey FFT method.

The system of the present disclosure can be implemented using any low cost mobile device having an audio connector/jack. The use of microcontroller provides a distinct advantage in that the microcontroller can be adapted to implement different methods customized as per requirements. Another advantage of the method of data transfer implemented by the system of the present disclosure is the use of 3.5 mm audio connector/jack provides which makes the system completely universal and can be implemented using any mobile device thereby making the system versatile.

The key features of the system of the present disclosure in accordance with an embodiment are listed herein below.
• FSK method is employed to transfer sensor signals to the mobile phone whereupon the mobile phone implements Cooley-Tukey FFT method to process the received signals.
• Sound waves in the audible frequency range are used in data transmission thereby enabling multiple sensors to be interfaced in the system by multiplexed data capture using addition of weighted frequency shift keyed sine waves in the analog sound domain.
• Wired communication using 3.5 mm audio jack of the mobile phone is implemented.
• Sound wave interference based encryption is used.
• Data is transferred using frequency shift keyed sound waves which enables continuous data acquisition in analog domain.
• Compatibility with all mobile devices due to use of 3.5 mm audio jack, thereby drastically reducing the overall cost of the system.
• Minimal hardware comprising sensors, a microcontroller and a mobile phone is used thereby eliminating the need of any protocol based devices and considerably reducing the complexity by doing processing in the phone.
• Low power microcontroller is used which significantly reduces power consumption.

The data acquisition and transfer system of the present provides an ultra-low cost connected vehicle technology which can be installed on a wide variety of vehicles to provide a user with enhanced user experience. Furthermore, the system can enable the user to have remote assistance to vehicle maintenance.

TECHNICAL ADVANCEMENTS

The technical advancements offered by the system of the present disclosure include the realization of:

• a versatile system that can acquire and transfer data to a wide variety of mobile devices;
• a system that uses minimal hardware for data acquisition and transfer;
• a system that consumes less power while acquiring and transferring data;
• a cost effective system for data acquisition and transfer;
• a system for data acquisition and transfer that can be installed in a wide variety of vehicles.

Throughout this specification the word “comprise”, or variations such as “comprises” or “comprising”, will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other element, integer or step, or group of elements, integers or steps.

The use of the expression “at least” or “at least one” suggests the use of one or more elements or ingredients or quantities, as the use may be in the embodiment of the invention to achieve one or more of the desired objects or results.

Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like that has been included in this specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the invention as it existed anywhere before the priority date of this application.

The numerical values mentioned for the various physical parameters, dimensions or quantities are only approximations and it is envisaged that the values higher/lower than the numerical values assigned to the parameters, dimensions or quantities fall within the scope of the invention, unless there is a statement in the specification specific to the contrary.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of the embodiments as described herein. ,CLAIMS:1. A system for vehicle data acquisition and transfer, said system comprising:
i. a plurality of sensors configured to sense at least one condition relative to said vehicle and provide sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions, wherein said sensed signals are analog signals and digital signals;
ii. a separator cooperating with said plurality of sensors to receive said sensed signals and separate sensed analog signals from sensed digital signals;
iii. a transceiver cooperating with the separator to receive and separately transmit the sensed analog signals and the sensed digital signals;
iv. an analog to digital converter cooperating with the transceiver to receive and convert the sensed analog signals to digital data;
v. a microcontroller configured to receive the sensed digital signals from the transceiver and the digital data from the analog to digital converter, a frequency shift keying module provided within the microcontroller, said frequency shift keying module configured to process the received signals and data to generate frequency modulated data;
vi. a signal conditioning module cooperating with the frequency shift keying module to receive the frequency modulated data, said signal conditioning module comprising:
• a digital to analog converter configured to convert said frequency modulated data into analog data signal having audio frequency range; and
• a low pass filter cooperating with the digital to analog converter to receive said analog data signal having audio frequency range and configured to eliminate the noise from the analog data signal to obtain frequency modulated noiseless audio signal;
vii. an audio connector cooperating with the signal conditioning module to receive the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and configured to transmit said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal; and
viii. a mobile device cooperating with the audio connector to receive the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal, a decoder provided within the mobile device, said decoder configured to decode said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to obtain values of said sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mobile device includes a display configured to display the values of said sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mobile device calculates frequency of said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and co-relates the calculated frequency with the conditions sensed by the plurality of sensors to obtain corresponding sensed values.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said mobile device is selected from the group of handheld devices consisting of cell phone, personal digital assistant (PDA), palmtop, laptop and the like.

5. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said microcontroller is customized based on user requirement.

6. A method for vehicle data acquisition and transfer, said method comprising steps of:
• sensing at least one condition relative to said vehicle with the help of plurality of sensors and providing sensed signals corresponding to the sensed conditions, wherein said sensed signals are analog signals and digital signals;
• receiving said sensed signals and separating sensed analog signals from sensed digital signals;
• transmitting separately the sensed analog signals and the sensed digital signals;
• receiving and converting the sensed analog signals to digital data;
• receiving the sensed digital signals and the digital data and processing the received signals and data to generate frequency modulated data;
• receiving the frequency modulated data and converting said frequency modulated data into analog data signal having audio frequency range;
• receiving said analog data signal and eliminating the noise from the analog data signal to obtain frequency modulated noiseless audio signal;
• transmitting said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal; and
• receiving the frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and decoding said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal to obtain values of said sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.
7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said method includes a step of displaying the values of said sensed conditions relative to said vehicle.

8. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein said method includes a step of calculating frequency of said frequency modulated noiseless audio signal and co-relating the calculated frequency with the conditions sensed by the plurality of sensors to obtain corresponding sensed values.