Patent Abstract:
A method for providing vehicle configurations, the providing of at least one vehicle configuration is a function of a local position of the vehicle.

Full Description:
RELATED APPLICATION INFORMATION 
     The present application claims priority to and the benefit of German patent application no. 10 2013 204 727.4, which was filed in Germany on Mar. 18, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a method for providing vehicle configurations according to the definition of the species in the independent claims. Modern vehicles, particularly sports cars, are frequently subject to legal provisions which clearly reduce the performance of the internal combustion engine, for example. These legal provisions often do not apply, however, for operation on private territory. For that reason, sports cars are frequently offered with two different operating modes, one normal operating mode which distinguishes itself by all settings of the vehicle conforming to the law, and a sports mode which distinguishes itself by the settings, such as characteristic curves of an engine control, not being tied to legal specifications. In this case, a prerequisite for operating in the sports mode is that the vehicle is located on nonpublic territory, such as a private racetrack. 
     BACKGROUND INFORMATION 
     German document DE 2004 020 110 A1 discusses a method for adjusting the travel behavior of motor vehicles. In this context, completely independent controls are provided, for one thing, for use in daily street traffic, and for another thing when travel is on racetracks. The so-called sports mode is activated by the driver, in this case, via a corresponding operating element. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     By contrast, the method according to the present invention, having the features of the independent claims, has the advantage that providing vehicle configurations is the function of a local position of the vehicle. Consequently,it may be ensured that providing legally nonconforming vehicle configurations takes place only if the local position of the vehicle permits it. 
     Advantageous further refinements of, and improvements to the method set forth in the independent claim are made possible by the measures delineated in the dependent claims. 
     It is advantageous if the vehicle configurations provided are configurations that are not permitted in public road traffic. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the vehicle configurations provided are configurations for control units, particularly an engine control, a transmission control, a wheel-suspension control and/or a control of an electronic stability program, since these vehicle configurations may be quickly converted. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the vehicle configurations are provided when the localization of the vehicle yields the fact that the vehicle is located on a territory that is not to be assigned to public road traffic. Consequently, it may be ensured that no violation of the law issues from possibly providing vehicle configurations not conforming to the law. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the localization of the vehicle is undertaken via a radio-based localization method, since in that manner the localization is able to take place in automatic fashion. 
     It is advantageous if the radio-based localization method is a satellite navigation method and/or a terrestrial radio localization method. Thus, components already present in the vehicle may be used for the position finding. 
     It is particularly advantageous if the terrestrial radio position finding method is a method which recognizes the position of the vehicle on a territory that is not assigned to public road traffic, in that the vehicle passes an area in which the radio position finding is undertaken, particularly by an RFID chip. 
     It is of advantage if the territory, that is not assignable to public road traffic, is a racetrack. 
     Of further advantage is a computer program that is developed to carry out each step of the method according to the present invention. 
     Additionally advantageous is an electronic storage medium on which the corresponding computer program is stored, as well as an electronic control unit which includes the electronic storage medium. 
     An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is explained in detail below, with reference to the accompanying drawings. The figures show: 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a schematic illustration of a vehicle and a racetrack according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a schematic representation of the method according to the present invention, according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  shows a schematic illustration of a vehicle and a racetrack according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows a schematic representation of the method according to the present invention, according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Two exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be explained in greater detail below on the basis of the drawings. 
       FIG. 1  shows a schematic representation of a vehicle  10  and a racetrack  40  according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     Vehicle  10  has an internal combustion engine  20  and an engine control  25 . Furthermore, there is a satellite navigation unit  15  on the vehicle, such as a GPS module, which, via a radio connection, is in connection to one or more navigation satellites  30  and thus enables the position finding of the vehicle, in a manner known to one skilled in the art. Racetrack  40  is located in a positioning area  50 , which is distinguished in that racetrack  40  is completely within positioning area  50  and within positioning area  50  there are no roads assigned to public road traffic. 
       FIG. 2  shows a schematic representation of the method according to the present invention, according to a first specific embodiment. 
     After the start, in step  100 , the position of vehicle  10  is determined using the satellite navigation method, in the manner known to one skilled in the art. Step  110  is carried out after that. 
     In step  110  it is checked whether the position of vehicle  10  is located in the public area or not. In this context, public area at this point means the validity of a certain legislation, such as an exhaust gas legislation or a road traffic ordinance, such as the StVO that applies in Germany. In an analogous fashion, in this connection, an area that is not assigned to the validity of a certain legislation, such as an exhaust gas legislation or the StVO, is not designated as a public area. The assignment of the position of vehicle configuration to the public or the non-public area takes place, for example, in that the position of vehicle  10  is compared to a data bank in which positioning area  50  is stored, Since positioning area  50  marks an outer limit of the non-public area, a vehicle that is located within positioning area  50  is located in the non-public area, This procedure has the advantage that even in the case of changes in racetrack  40 , the data bank in which positioning area  50  is stored, does not have to be updated, and it may consequently be ensured that the position of vehicle  10  is able to be assigned to a public or a non-public area. If the test shows that vehicle  10  is not located in the public area, the system continues with step  120 . If the test of the position shows that vehicle  10  is located in the public area, the system continues with step  130 . 
     In step  120 , vehicle configurations are loaded by the engine control unit, which correspond to operation of vehicle  10  in a non-public area. Such an operation may be an operation of vehicle  10  in a sports mode. In this context, operation in sports mode may include, for instance, certain characteristic curves of an engine control, certain configurations for a transmission control, certain configurations for an electronic stability program, etc. After that, the system returns to step  100 . 
     In step  130 , those vehicle configurations are loaded which conform to the law, and are therefore suitable for the operation of the vehicle in a public area, that is, having the validity of, for instance, an exhaust gas legislation or a road traffic ordinance. The program subsequently returns to a step  100 . 
     The present, first exemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention is thus run through again and again in a loop. The first exemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention is terminated by a signal which indicates the shutting down of internal combustion engine  20  and engine control unit  25 , triggered by the operation of a switching arrangement or by the operation of an ignition key, for example. 
       FIG. 3  shows a schematic representation of a vehicle  10  and a racetrack  40  according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     In this context, vehicle  10  has a RFID reader  18  that is known to one skilled in the art, and racetrack  40  has two RFID chips  42  and  44 , which are positioned in a borderline area  52  between the public and the non-public area, so that RFID chips  42  and  44  are detected and read out when vehicle  10  passes from the public into the non-public area, or vice versa. In this context, RFID chip  44  is located closer to the racetrack than RFID chip  42 , so that when vehicle  10  passes from the public into the non-public area, first RFID chip  42  and, thereafter in time, RFID chip  44  is detected by RFID reader  18 . 
       FIG. 4  shows a schematic representation of the method according to the present invention, according to the second specific embodiment. 
     In step  200 , information is loaded from a memory, which is located in engine control unit  25 , for example, as to whether the vehicle is located in a public or a non-public area. This information may be stored, for instance, in the form of a flag or a binary value. If the vehicle is located in the public area, the system continues with step  131 . If the vehicle is located in the non-public area, the system continues with step  121 . 
     In step  121 , the vehicle configurations according to the sports mode are loaded. In addition, it is stored in a memory in the engine control unit that the vehicle is located in the non-public area, for instance, by setting a corresponding flag. Step  220  is carried out after that. 
     In step  220 , RFID reader  18  attempts to detect RFID chips  42  and  44 . With the aid of the sequence of detecting the two RFID chips  42  and  44 , RFID reader  18  is not only able to determine the passing of the corresponding area by vehicle  10 , but also the direction of the passing. If it is detected that the two RFID chips are being detected in the sequence of first chip  44  and then chip  42 , it is concluded that the vehicle is leaving the non-public area, such as the racetrack. Step  131  is carried out after that. If it is not detected with the aid of the RFID chips that the vehicle is leaving the non-public area, step  121  is repeated subsequently to step  220 . 
     In step  131 , vehicle configurations are loaded which correspond to operation of vehicle  10  in a public area. This is, for example, about configurations which are carried out according to legislation such as exhaust gas legislation or a road traffic ordinance. In addition, it is stored in a memory in the engine control unit that the vehicle is located in the public area, for instance, by setting a corresponding flag. Step  210  is carried out after that. 
     In step  210 , RFID reader  18  searches for signals of RFID chips  42  and  44 . With the aid of the sequence of detecting the two RFID chips  42  and  44 , RFID reader  18  is not only able to determine the passing of the corresponding area by vehicle  10 , but also the direction of the passing. If, with the aid of the sequence of the signals of RFID chips  44  and  42 , it is concluded that the passing of borderline area  52  is taking place from the public into the non-public space, step  121  is carried out subsequently to step  210 . If it cannot be concluded that the passing is from the public into the non-public space, step  131  is repeated. 
     The present, second exemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention is thus run through again and again in a loop. The second exemplary embodiment of the method according to the present invention is terminated by a signal which indicates the shutting down of internal combustion engine  20  and engine control unit  25 , triggered by the operation of the switching arrangement or by the operation of an ignition key, for example.

Technology Classification (CPC): 1