Patent ID: 7613190

Claim:
A method for sending a record from an external diagnostic device through a switch fabric of a vehicle communication network, the switch fabric including a plurality of nodes joined by communication links for transmission of data packets therebetween, wherein the external diagnostic device is connected to the switch fabric of the vehicle communication network, and wherein the record comprises message data, the method comprising the steps of: generating from the record, at the external diagnostic device, a first data packet comprising a first message identification, a first sequence number, and a plurality of first data elements, the plurality of first data elements containing at least a first portion of the message data in the record, wherein the message data in the record is larger than a packet size limitation of the switch fabric of the vehicle communication network, and wherein the first data packet containing the first portion of the message data in the record is within the packet size limitation of the switch fabric of the vehicle communication network; generating from the record, at the external diagnostic device, a second data packet comprising a second message identification, a second sequence number, and a plurality of second data elements, the plurality of second data elements containing at least a second portion of the message data in the record, wherein the second data packet containing the second portion of message data in the record is within the packet size limitation of the switch fabric of the vehicle communication network; transmitting the first data packet and the second data packet from the external diagnostic device to a target node in the switch fabric of the vehicle communication network; and receiving the first data packet and the second data packet at the target node and assembling at least the first portion of the message data and the second portion of the message data based on the first and second message identifications and the first and second sequence numbers.