Patent ID: 8583319

Claim:
A system for monitoring connectivity status of a mobile data terminal to a vehicle, comprising: a vehicle tracking device having an odometer monitor defined in a data processor of said vehicle tracking device and the value of a preset maximum distance of a vehicle defined in the data processor; a vehicle information bus of the vehicle being connected to said vehicle tracking device and operable to communicate successive odometer update values from the vehicle to said odometer monitor; and a mobile data terminal connected to the vehicle and to said vehicle tracking device and operable to communicate successive timed poll events to said odometer monitor; said odometer monitor being a software module operable to: listen for arrival of the successive timed poll events; listen for arrival of and store each of the successive odometer update values that corresponds to arrival of each of the successive timed poll events; compare next odometer update values to last stored odometer update values; calculate the distances between the compared odometer update values; make a determination of connectivity status of said mobile data terminal relative to the vehicle based on whether or not successive values of the calculated distances increase to above the value of the defined preset maximum distance; and report the connectivity status to said mobile data terminal.