Claims
- 1. For use with a vehicle comprising a plurality of operational systems monitored by an on-board monitor for collecting vehicle operational information, wherein the on-board monitor is in selective communication with a remote site, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) creating a plurality of files containing the vehicle operational information; (b) selecting the high priority files from among the plurality of files; (c) merging at least two of the high priority files; and (d) transmitting the high priority files to the remote site.
- 2. The method of claim 1 wherein the vehicle is a railroad locomotive.
- 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the remote site is a monitoring and diagnostic center where the vehicle operational information is analyzed.
- 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the step (c) further comprises compressing the high priority files.
- 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the high priority files are related to a vehicle fault.
- 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the high priority files are pertinent to a vehicle condition requiring immediate attention.
- 7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:
(e) merging at least two of the lower priority files, wherein the merged files have the same priority rank; and (f) transmitting the merged lower priority files to the remote site.
- 8. For use with a vehicle comprising a plurality of operational systems monitored by an on-board monitor for collecting vehicle operational information, wherein the on-board monitor is in selective communication with a remote site, said method comprising the steps of:
(a) creating a plurality of files containing the vehicle operational information, wherein each one of the plurality of files is assigned a priority rank; (b) selecting the high priority files from among the plurality of files; (c) merging at least two of the high priority files; (d) transmitting the high priority files to the remote site; (e) selecting the next lower priority files from among the plurality of files; (f) merging at least two of the next lower priority files; (g) transmitting the next lower prior files to the remote site; and (h) continuing to select, merge, and transmit files in descending order of priority until all of the plurality of files have been transmitted to the remote site.
- 9. For use with a vehicle comprising a plurality of operational systems, an on-board monitor for collecting vehicle operational information, wherein said on-board monitor is in selective communication with a remote site, said on-board monitor comprising:
a first module for creating a plurality of files containing the vehicle operational information; a second module for selecting the high priority files from among the plurality of files; a third module for merging at least two of the high priority files; and a transmitter for transmitting the high priority files to the remote site.
- 10. The on-board monitor of claim 9 wherein the vehicle is a railroad locomotive.
- 11. The on-board monitor of claim 9 wherein the third module merges and compresses the high priority files.
- 12. An article of manufacture comprising:
a computer program product comprising a computer-usable medium having a computer-readable code therein for use with a vehicle comprising a plurality of operational systems monitored by an on-board monitor for collecting vehicle operational information, wherein the on-board monitor is in selective communication with a remote site, said article of manufacture comprising:
a computer-readable program code module for creating a plurality of files containing the vehicle operational information; a computer-readable program code module for selecting the high priority files from among the plurality of files; a computer-readable program code module for merging at least two of the high priority files; and a computer-readable program code module for transmitting the high priority files to the remote site.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application filed on Oct. 28, 1999 and assigned Application No. 60/162,294.
Provisional Applications (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60162294 |
Oct 1999 |
US |
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09697251 |
Oct 2000 |
US |
Child |
10179648 |
Jun 2002 |
US |