Patent ID: 8892271

Claim:
A method for transferring data or software to a data storage device on a vehicle and which data storage device provides data or software for use or operation of at least one component of the vehicle, comprising: determining, during movement of the vehicle, when a condition relating to transmission of data or software to the vehicle is satisfied, the condition being whether the data storage device in the vehicle has current data or software for use or operation of a component of the vehicle, the step of determining when the condition is satisfied comprising: receiving via a communication system on the vehicle and in response to transmission of requests via the communication system to infrastructure separate and apart from the vehicle, an indication of a version of the data or software available for transmission to the data storage device from infrastructure; and comparing, using a processor on the vehicle, the received indication of the version of the data or software available for transmission to the data storage device to a corresponding indication of the version of data or software currently in the data storage device to determine whether the data or software currently in the data storage device is the same as or more current than the data or software available for transmission to the data storage device; and when the condition is determined not to be satisfied, receiving the data or software available for transmission to the data storage device in the vehicle using the communication system on the vehicle and including the received data or software as a substitution for the corresponding currently existing data or software in the data storage device, the data or software available for transmission to the data storage device in the vehicle being received by the data storage device while the data storage device is on the vehicle.