Secondary communication bus for a modified vehicle

A method for modifying a vehicle having a first data communication network configured to enable communication of a first plurality of signals encoded using a first protocol among a first plurality of modules, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the vehicle with a second data communication network configured to enable communication of a second plurality of signals encoded using a second protocol among a second plurality of modules, wherein the second protocol is different from the first protocol;
• and,
• coupling a gateway module of the second data communication network to the first data communication network, wherein the gateway module is configured to:
• receive the first plurality of signals;
• recode at least one of the first plurality of signals into a recoded signal using the second protocol;
• and communicate the recoded signal through the second data communication network to the second plurality of modules.

A method for modifying a first vehicle and a second vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

• providing the first vehicle, the first vehicle having a first vehicle OEM data communication network configured to enable communication of first plurality of signals encoded using a first vehicle OEM protocol among a plurality of first vehicle OEM modules;
• providing the second vehicle, the second vehicle having a second vehicle OEM data communication network configured to enable communication of a second plurality of signals encoded using a second vehicle OEM protocol among a plurality of second vehicle OEM modules, the first vehicle OEM protocol being different from the second vehicle OEM protocol;
• providing the first vehicle with a first gateway module and a first vehicle aftermarket data communication network, the first gateway module coupling the first vehicle aftermarket data communication network to the first vehicle OEM data communication network, wherein the first gateway module is configured to receive the first plurality of signals, recode at least one of the first plurality of signals into a first recoded signal, and transmit the first recoded signal;
• providing the second vehicle with a second gateway module and a second vehicle aftermarket data communication network, the second gateway module coupling the second vehicle aftermarket data communication network to the second vehicle OEM data communication network, wherein the second gateway module is configured to receive the second plurality of signals, recode at least one of the second plurality of signals into a second recoded signal, and transmit the second recoded signal;
• providing a plurality of aftermarket modules, wherein the plurality of aftermarket modules are compatible with both the first recoded signal and the second recoded signal.