Vehicular Component Authentication via Electronic Tags
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Solution Overview
Problem
In densely populated urban areas, vehicles often operate with substandard or missing components, leading to air pollution and safety concerns due to the substitution of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) parts with lower-quality aftermarket components, which can affect the performance and safety of both gasoline and electric vehicles.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of electronic data storage devices containing authentication information, physically coupled to vehicle components, which communicate with an on-board or remote system to validate the suitability of these components against defined criteria, ensuring only authorized and compatible parts are used, thereby inhibiting or permitting vehicle systems' operation based on their authenticity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If manufacturer or OEM parts are replaced with lower cost aftermarket replacement parts, then vehicle operating cost is reduced, but component quality and safety performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary authentication of components before allowing vehicle operation. Electronic tags are read during vehicle startup or at defined intervals, and the control system validates component authenticity against stored criteria before permitting the vehicle to operate, preventing substandard components from being used
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors component authentication status through electronic tags and provides feedback to the control system. When substandard components are detected, the system provides feedback by inhibiting vehicle operation or alerting the user, creating a closed-loop control that maintains component quality
2Ease of operation
If critical environmental or safety components are removed to keep vehicle operational, then vehicle operability is maintained, but safety and environmental compliance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary checks to verify the presence and authenticity of critical safety and environmental components before allowing vehicle operation. The control system reads electronic tags from components such as catalytic converters and safety interlocks, and only permits operation when these components are authenticated as present and genuine
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors the status of critical components through electronic tags and provides feedback to control vehicle operability. When critical components are missing or substandard, the system provides feedback by preventing vehicle operation, ensuring safety and environmental compliance is maintained
3Reliability
If electronic authentication systems are implemented to verify component authenticity, then component suitability is ensured, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The authentication functionality is extracted from the main vehicle control system and implemented as separate electronic tags on individual components. This modular approach allows the authentication system to be added without significantly complicating the core vehicle control architecture, as each component carries its own authentication data independently
Solution Approach 2:
The electronic tag system serves multiple functions: it provides component identification, authenticity verification, and compatibility checking through a single unified approach. The control system uses the same authentication mechanism for various types of components (drivetrain, exhaust, safety devices), reducing the need for component-specific verification systems
Data Source
AI summary
Manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers provide vehicles that include various components and systems that operate to provide safe, environmentally conscious transportation compliant with local, state, and federal requirements. Each of the components or systems may include a nontransitory storage media containing data indicative of an authentication code specific to the respective component or system. Authentication data may be communicated from each of the nontransitory storage media on a vehicle to a control system where the authentication data is compared to one or more defined criteria. If the one or more criteria confirm the validity of the authentication data supplied by the components or systems, full operation of one or more vehicular systems is permitted. If the one or more criteria fail to confirm the validity of the authentication data supplied by the components or systems, the operation of at least one vehicular system is at least partially inhibited.