Vehicle locating and communicating method and apparatus

A method for locating a vehicle equipped with a cellular transceiver coupled with a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a plurality of cellular telephone systems, the method comprising:

• receiving at the cellular transceiver a system identification number emitted by a serving cellular telephone system operating in an area including the location of the vehicle;
• transmitting at the cellular transceiver the received system identification number;
• receiving at a remote host controller the system identification number transmitted by the cellular transceiver;
• and
• interrogating a first memory at the remote host controller in response to the transmitted system identification number to determine the location of the vehicle.

A method for communicating using a vehicle equipped with a cellular transceiver coupled to a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a plurality of cellular telephone systems, the method comprising:

• receiving at the cellular transceiver a system identification number emitted by a serving cellular telephone system operating in an area including the location of the vehicle;
• comparing the received system identification number to a list of authorized system identification numbers identifying authorized cellular telephone systems, the list of authorized system identification numbers being stored in a first memory on the vehicle;
• interrogating a second memory on the vehicle in response to the received system identification number to retrieve a dialing method to initiate a call in the serving cellular telephone system;
• and
• initiating a call from the vehicle using the retrieved dialing method.

A system for locating vehicles using a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a plurality of cellular telephone systems, comprising:

• a cellular telephone in at least one vehicle that reads a system identification number emitted by a serving cellular telephone system operating in an area including the location of the vehicle;
• a first memory that stores a list of authorized system identification numbers identifying authorized cellular telephone systems;
• a microprocessor disposed on the vehicle and coupled to the first memory and the cellular telephone, the microprocessor receives the system identification number read by the cellular telephone, the microprocessor interrogates the first memory in response to the system identification number to determine if the cellular telephone is authorized to receive service from the serving cellular telephone system;
• wherein the cellular telephone transmits the received system identification number if authorized;
• and
• a remote host controller in communication with the cellular network, the remote host controller receives the System identification number transmitted by the cellular telephone, the remote host controller comprising a first database containing geographical coordinates corresponding to system identification numbers for cellular telephone systems in cellular network, the remote host controller determines a graphic location of the vehicle in response to an interrogation of the first database with the system identification number of the serving cellular telephone system transmitted by the cellular telephone.

A method for locating a vehicle equipped with a cellular transceiver using a cellular network, the cellular network comprising a plurality of cellular telephone systems, the method comprising:

• receiving at the cellular transceiver a system identification number emitted by a serving cellular telephone system operating in an area including the location of the vehicle;
• comparing at the vehicle the received system identification number to a list of authorized system identification numbers identifying authorized cellular telephone systems, the list of authorized system identification numbers being stored in a first memory on the vehicle;
• transmitting the System identification number if the received system identification number matches a number in the list of authorized system identification numbers;
• receiving at a remote host controller through the cellular network the transmitted system identification number:
• and
• interrogating a first memory at the remote host controller in response to the transmitted system identification number to determine the location of the vehicle.