SE1650113A1 - Method and system for preventing theft of a unit from a vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

Method (300) and control unit (240) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by database establishment. The method (300) comprises: storing (301) an identification reference of the unit (110) in a first database (250), associated with an identification reference of the vehicle (100); inquiring (302) a vehicle owner, upon replacing the unit (110) of the vehicle (100), if the reason for replacement is theft of the previous unit (110), and when the previous unit (110) is stolen: determining (303) the identification reference of the stolen unit. (110), based on the identification reference of the vehicle (100) stored in the first database. (250); and storing (304) the identification reference of the stolen unit (110) in a second database (260), associated with an indication of theft.(Publ. Fig. 2)

Description

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PREVENTING THEFT OF A UNIT FROM A VEHICLE TECHNICAL FIELD This document discloses methods and a control unit. More particularly, methods and a con-trol unit are described, for preventing theft of a unit from a vehicle by establishing and usingdatabase stored information, related to the unit.

BACKGROUND Vehicles are often equipped with valuable equipment, which form desirable targets forthieves. Some examples of such equipment, or unit, may be e.g. headlights, radio, navigator, communication device, CD player, computer, entertainment unit, sensor units, etc.

The vehicles as herein discussed may comprise a means for transportation in broad sensesuch as e.g. a truck, a bus, a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a boat, an aircraft, a train, etc.

Some such valuable equipment such as e.g. headlights may be rather complex products,comprising a multitude of parts and expensive electronics such as e.g. processing means.This makes such equipment attractive for thieves and they are often stolen when the vehicleis parked, as the headlights are easily accessible for the thief and may not be protected bythe vehicle alarm.

A vehicle without headlights is not allowed to be driven. Thus, in case of theft, the vehiclehas to be kept stationary until new headlights have been mounted. Thereby the vehicleowner not only has to buy new headlights, but also take the risk of having the transportationdelayed. ln the cases of public transportation and/ or carriage of goods, a delay may beassociated with penalties, besides the lost goodwill and additional costs for driver salary.

Yet another problem with the above mentioned valuable equipment is that such equipmentis often counterfeited. The counterfeited equipment typically may be made with lower qualitythan the original equipment, which often leads to malfunction and may thereby endangertraffic safety. However, it may be difficult for an average driver or vehicle owner to distinguishbetween a counterfeit equipment and an original equipment, in particular when the installa- tion is made at a workshop. lt would also be desired to spot places which are in particular affected by theft and possiblywarn drivers from parking at these places and/ or put the attention of the local police depart-ment to such parking places.

Document WO 2014072783 relates to protection of a lighting device in a vehicle. Informationidentifying the vehicle in which the lighting device is installed is stored in a memory in thelighting device. Identification of the vehicle is collected from the vehicle when being installedat the workshop and compared with the stored value in a control unit in the lighting device.When these identification references do not correspond, the functionality of the lighting de- vice is terminated, partly or entirely.

However, this approach has several disadvantages. For example, the thief having stolen thelighting device also has access to the memory wherein the vehicle identification is stored.Thereby he/ she can manipulate, exchange or remove the memory and/ or the control unit,e.g. erase the memory and make the lighting device behave as a new (not previously utilised)lighting device. Further, the disclosed solution does not prevent the workshop from mountinga counterfeit lighting device, not having the identification control mechanism. Neither is itpossible to detect where equipment often is stolen, or to detect non-authorised workshops making incorrect installations.

On the other hand, the above described solution will prevent the vehicle owner/ driver frome.g. replacing a lighting device of a first vehicle in his/ her vehicle fleet, with a lighting devicefrom another vehicle, e.g. in case of theft and an urgent transport of the first vehicle. Thismay also affect the goodwill of the vehicle producing company, in the eyes of the vehicle OWFIGF.

Document US 7230349 also concerns protection of a lighting device in a vehicle. A ballastcircuit is energising the lighting device having an anti-theft operating mode. An identificationreference from the vehicle is retrieved and compared with the identification reference of thelighting device. When these identification references do not correspond, the functionality ofthe lighting device is terminated, partly or entirely.

The provided solution has the same disadvantages as previously mentioned concerning theother document.

Also document US 20090122571 concerns a “smart” lighting device in a vehicle. Also ac-cording to this solution, a control unit is comprised in the housing of the lighting device. Thecontrol unit stores a unique activation data/ security code. This is compared to the corre-sponding activation data/ security code received from a unit enable device. ln case the codesdo not correspond, the lighting device is disabled.

Also this solution has the same disadvantages as the previously mentioned solutions, as theintelligence all lies in the lighting device and when the lighting device is stolen, there is no security mechanism at all.

Consequently, there is a requirement for improvements of vehicle equipment.

SUMMARY lt is therefore an object of this invention to solve at least some of the above problems andprovide a solution for preventing theft of a unit from a vehicle.

According to a first aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method for pre-venting theft of a unit from a vehicle by database establishment. The method comprisesstoring an identification reference of the unit in a first database, associated with an identifi-cation reference of the vehicle. Further the method comprises inquiring a vehicle owner,upon replacing the unit of the vehicle, if the reason for replacement is theft of the previousunit. When the previous unit is stolen, the method further comprises determining the identi-fication reference of the stolen unit, based on the identification reference of the vehicle storedin the first database. Also, the method furthermore comprises storing the identification refer-ence of the stolen unit in a second database, associated with an indication of theft.

According to a second aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control unit forpreventing theft of a unit from a vehicle by database establishment. The control unit is con-figured to store an identification reference of the unit in a first database, associated with anidentification reference of the vehicle. Further, the control unit is configured to inquire a ve-hicle owner, upon replacing the unit of the vehicle, if the reason for replacement is theft ofthe previous unit. The control unit is additionally configured to determine the identificationreference of the stolen unit, based on the identification reference of the vehicle stored in thefirst database, when the previous unit is stolen. Also, the control unit is configured to storethe identification reference of the stolen unit in a second database, associated with an indi-cation of theft.

According to a third aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a method forfor preventing theft of a unit from a vehicle by using database stored information. The method comprises extracting an identification reference of the unit from the vehicle. Further the method comprises checking if the extracted identification reference is stored in a second database, associated with an indication of theft. The method also comprises outputting in-formation stating that the unit is stolen when the extracted identification reference is detectedin the second database associated with the indication of theft.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention, this objective is achieved by a control unit forpreventing theft of a unit from a vehicle by using database stored information. The controlunit is configured to extract an identification reference of the unit from the vehicle. Furtherthe control unit is configured to check if the extracted identification reference is stored in asecond database, associated with an indication of theft. ln addition, the control unit is fur-thermore configured to output information stating that the unit is stolen when the extractedidentification reference is detected in the second database associated with the indication oftheft.

Thanks to the described aspects, theft of vehicle parts becomes less attractive for thieves,as reprogramming is required for making stolen vehicle parts functional. Further, as the sto-len vehicle parts are registered in a central database and thus becomes traceable as stolen,they become less attractive for someone to buy. Furthermore, it becomes possible to re-motely disable functionality of the stolen unit, partly or entirely, when the theft is detected.This will most likely further discourage anyone from purchasing such stolen unit. ln addition,geographical positions of places where units have been stolen may be collected in a data-base. This collected information may be used for warning drivers from parking their vehiclesat such places. lt also becomes possible to detect which workshops that are trying to installstolen vehicle parts. Consequently, theft of vehicle parts becomes less attractive. ln addition,counterfeit units could be detected and their mounting may be avoided. Furthermore, work-shops trying to install stolen or counterfeit units may be spotted.

Other advantages and additional novel features will become apparent from the subsequentdetailed description.

FIGURES Embodiments of the invention will now be described in further detail with reference to theaccompanying figures, in which: Figure 1A illustrates a vehicle and units according to an embodiment of the invention;Figure 1B illustrates a vehicle and units according to an embodiment of the invention;Figure 2 illustrates a system according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 3 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a first method; Figure 4 is an illustration depicting a system according to an embodiment; and Figure 5 is a flow chart illustrating an embodiment of a second method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the invention described herein are defined as methods and a control unit,which may be put into practice in the embodiments described below. These embodimentsmay, however, be exemplified and realised in many different forms and are not to be limitedto the examples set forth herein; rather, these illustrative examples of embodiments are pro-vided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete.

Still other objects and features may become apparent from the following detailed description,considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. lt is to be understood, however,that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition ofthe limits of the herein disclosed embodiments, for which reference is to be made to theappended claims. Further, the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and, unless oth-enivise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and pro-cedures described herein.

Figure 1A illustrates a scenario with a vehicle 100 comprising a unit 110. The unit 110 maycomprise e.g. headlights, lighting device, radio, navigator, communication device, CD player,media player, computer, camera, entertainment unit, radar, sensor units, etc. The unit 110may be any kind of device having a unique Identification reference value (ID), e.g. stored ina computer memory in the unit 110. The unit 110 may be mounted exterior or interior to thevehicle 100.

The vehicle 100 may comprise e.g. a truck, a bus, a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, a boat, anaircraft, a train, an elevator or any other similar vehicle type or other means of conveyance.

Further, the vehicle 100 may be driver controlled or a driverless autonomously controlledvehicle in different embodiments. However, for enhanced clarity, the vehicle 100 is subse-quently described as having a driver.

Figure 1B illustrates a scenario similar to, or identical with the one already illustrated inFigure 1A, previously discussed, as seen from an above perspective.

According to some embodiments, an identification reference (ID) of the unit 110, such as aserial number or other unique identification reference of the unit 110, is extracted from theunit 110, e.g. from a computer memory in the unit 1 10, and stored in a first external database,associated with an identification reference of the vehicle 100. This may be made e.g. during production of the vehicle 100 when mounting the unit 1 1 0, or during final testing of the vehicle100. Further, a second database may be established for storing IDs of stolen units 110.Thereby, stolen units 110 may be detected and identified. Also, functionalities of the unit 110(or of the vehicle 100 having the stolen unit 110 installed) may be turned off or reduced.However, this is further explained and illustrated in Figure 2.

Figure 2 illustrates a system 200 for preventing theft of a unit 110 from a vehicle 100 byusing database stored information. The unit 110 may comprise a processor 115 and a uniqueID.

The vehicle 100 comprises a monitoring unit 210. The monitoring unit 210 in the vehicle 100may communicate with the processor 115 in the unit 110, e.g. over a communication bus.Such as e.g. a Controller Area Network (CAN) bus, a Media Oriented Systems Transport(MOST) bus, or similar. However, the datalink may alternatively be made over a wirelessconnection comprising, or at least be inspired by wireless communication technology suchas Wi-Fi, Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UI\/IB), Bluetooth(BT), Near Field Communication (NFC), Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID), optical com-munication such as lnfrared Data Association (lrDA) or infrared transmission to name but a few possible examples of wireless communications in some embodiments.

Further, the system 200 may comprise a diagnostic tool 220 in a workshop 230. Such diag-nostic tool 220 may comprise e.g. Scania Diagnose and Programmer 3 (SDP3) or similarprogram. When the vehicle 100 is situated at the workshop 230, the diagnostic tool 220 mayextract the unit ID from the processor 115 of the unit 110, via the monitoring unit 210 of thevehicle 100. Also, an identity reference of the vehicle 100 may be extracted, e.g. from amemory in the vehicle 100.

Additionally, the system 200 also comprises a control unit 240. The control unit 240 mayobtain the extracted unit ID from the processor 115 of the unit 110 and/ or the diagnostic tool220 of the workshop 230. The control unit 240 may be comprised in the vehicle 100, oralternatively be external to the vehicle 100.

The control unit 240, further has access to a first database 250. The first database 250 storesan identification reference of the unit 110, associated with an identification reference of thevehicle 100. These identification references may be generated and/ or stored e.g. when fab-ricating the vehicle 100, at the factory.

When the unit 110 of the vehicle 100 is exchanged, or non-present, the vehicle owner ordriver of the vehicle 100 may be asked if the reason for the exchange is that the previousunit 110 has been stolen. This question/ information may be provided over any arbitrary userinterface, such as a computer at the workshop 230; the vehicle owners mobile device; agraphical user interface in the vehicle 100, etc. lf the reason for the exchange is that the previous unit 110 has been stolen, the identityreference of the previous unit 110 is stored in a second database 260, associated with anindication of theft. The indication may be implicit (i.e. all lDs stored in the second database260 belongs to stolen units 110). ln case the identity reference of the previous unit 110 in the second database 260 appearsin a check by the diagnostic tool 220 in the workshop 230, an alert message may be issuedand presented to the staff of the workshop 230. Thereby, mounting of stolen units 110 isprevented and can be avoided.

Further, the vehicle 100 may comprise a navigator or positioning device, based on a satellitenavigation system such as the Navigation Signal Timing and Ranging (Navstar) Global Po-sitioning System (GPS), Differential GPS (DGPS), Galileo, GLONASS, or the like. The vehi-cle 100 may also comprise means for communication via a wireless communication inter-face, e.g. any of the previously mentioned, or at least partly based on or inspired by radioaccess technologies such as, e.g., 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long TermEvolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Netvvork (E-UTRAN), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA), etc. lt thereby becomes possible to detect and register the geographical position where the unit110 is stolen from the vehicle 100. ln some embodiments, the geographical position of thevehicle 100 may be determined by the positioning device when the connection between theunit 110, or the processor 115 of the unit 110, and the monitoring unit 210 is lost. The deter-mined geographical position may then be sent via wireless communication to the control unit240, for storage in a third database 270.

This information may be collected from a plurality of vehicles 100 and the geographical indi-cations may be collected in the third database 270, possibly together with an identificationreference of the unit 110 and/ or the vehicle 100. By combining the identification referencesstored in the second database 260 (comprising lDs of stolen units 110) with the geographical positions stored in the third database 270, geographical positions where units 110 are stolenmay be determined.

Based on the geographical positions stored in the third database 270, a (visual) presentationof zones which are in particular affected by theft may be made. This information may bedistributed to e.g. the police, or to vehicle owners/ drivers. Further, in some embodiments, awarning may be emitted when a vehicle 100 is approaching such zone, discouraging thedriver from stopping the vehicle 100 there.

As many vehicles 100 comprise positioning devices and means for wireless communication,various data and information may be transmitted from the vehicle 100 to the vehicle externalcontrol unit 240, such as e.g. identification reference of the unit 110 and/ or the vehicle 100.A check may then be made by parsing and comparing the collected identification referenceof the unit 110 with identification references of stolen units registered in the third database270. ln case the collected identification reference of the unit 1 10 is stored in the second database260, the control unit 240 may remotely disable certain functions of the unit 110, and/ or thevehicle 100. ln case the unit 110 comprises headlights, the vehicle headlights may be setinto safe mode, i.e. main beam may be disabled. ln case the unit 110 comprises radio, nav-igator, communication device, CD player, computer, camera, entertainment unit, radar, and/ or sensor units (or similar), the unit 110 may be completely disabled.

The driver of the vehicle 100 then has to drive to the workshop 230 to exchange the unit 110.

Thereby, it becomes more difficult for any thief to sell the stolen units 110, as reprogrammingis required in order to make the stolen units 110 operational. This makes stolen units 110less attractive. Further, information may be compiled concerning which places are most af-fected by thieves, which information may be fon/varded to police authorities, and/ or warndrivers from parking at such places. Furthermore, information may be compiled concerningworkshops 230 having tried to mount units 110 having been reported as stolen.

Figure 3 illustrates an example of a method 300 for preventing theft of a unit 110 from avehicle 100 by database establishment.

The vehicle 100 may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, such as a truck, a bus,a car, a motorcycle, a boat, an aeroplane, a train or other similar vehicle.

The unit 110 may comprise e.g. headlights, lighting device, radio, navigator, communicationdevice, CD player, computer, camera, entertainment unit, radar, sensor units, etc. The unit110 may comprise a unique identification reference, e.g. stored in a local memory and ex-tractable by a processor 115 in the unit 110. ln some embodiments, the unit 110 may comprise headlights of a truck, trailer or bus. ln order to be able to establish the database correctly, the method 300 may comprise anumber of steps 301-307. However, some of these steps 301-307 may be performed solelyin some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step 305-307. Further, the described steps 301 -307 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering sug-gests. The method 300 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 301 comprises storing an identification reference of the unit 110 in a first database 250,associated with an identification reference of the vehicle 100.

The respective identification references may be stored in the first database 250 e.g. whenthe unit 110 is mounted into the vehicle 100, or when a final test of the vehicle 100 beforedelivery is made.

Step 302 comprises inquiring a vehicle owner/ driver, upon replacing the unit 110 of thevehicle 100, if the reason for replacement is theft of the previous unit 110.

Steps 303-305 may be performed only when the previous unit 110 is declared stolen by the vehicle owner/ driver. ln case the replacement of the unit 110 is made for other reasons than theft, such as e.g.malfunction or damage due to an accident, no further steps may be made according to someembodiments.

Step 303 comprises determining the identification reference of the stolen unit 110, based onthe identification reference of the vehicle 100 stored in the first database 250.

The identification reference of the stolen unit 110 is stored in the first database 250, associ-ated with the identification reference of the vehicle 100. Thereby the identification referenceof the stolen unit 110 may be extracted.

Step 304 comprises storing the identification reference of the stolen unit 110 in a seconddatabase 260, associated with an indication of theft.

The association with theft may be implicit in some embodiments.

Step 305 which only may be comprised in some embodiments, comprises detecting when aconnection between the unit 110 and a monitoring unit 210 of the vehicle 100 is interrupted.

This moment when the connection is interrupted may be considered the moment when theunit 110 is stolen, in case the driver/ vehicle owner later reports the unit 110 as stolen.

Step 306 which only may be comprised in some embodiments wherein step 305 has beenperformed, comprises determining geographical position of the vehicle 100 when the inter-rupted connection is detected 305.

The geographical position may be determined by a positioning device in the vehicle 100,based on e.g. GPS or similar.

Step 307 which only may be comprised in some embodiments wherein step 305 and 306have been performed, comprises storing the determined 306 geographical position in a thirddatabase 270.

Figure 4 illustrates an embodiment of a system 200 for preventing theft of a unit 110 from avehicle 100 by using database stored information. The system 200 aims at preventing theftof a unit 110 from a vehicle 100 by using database stored information.

The system 200 comprises a control unit 240, configured to perform at least some of thepreviously described steps according to the method 300 described above and illustrated inFigure 3.

The control unit 240 aims at preventing theft of a unit 110 from a vehicle 100 by databaseestablishment. The control unit 240 is configured to store an identification reference of theunit 110 in a first database 250, associated with an identification reference of the vehicle100. Further the control unit 240 is configured to inquire a vehicle owner, upon replacing theunit 110 of the vehicle 100, if the reason for replacement is theft of the previous unit 110.Additionally, the control unit 240 is also configured to determine the identification referenceof the stolen unit 110, based on the identification reference of the vehicle 100 stored in thefirst database 250, when the previous unit 110 is stolen. Further the control unit 240 is also 11 configured to store the identification reference of the stolen unit 110 in a second database260, associated with an indication of theft.

Furthermore, in some embodiments, the control unit 240 may be configured to obtain geo-graphical position of the vehicle 100 when an interrupted connection betvveen the unit 110and a control unit 240 of the vehicle 100 is interrupted. Also, the control unit 240 may beconfigured to store the obtained geographical position in a third database 270.

Further, in some alternative embodiments, the control unit 240 may be configured to extractan identification reference of the unit 110 from the vehicle 100. in addition, the control unit240 may also be configured to check if the extracted identification reference is stored in asecond database 260, associated with an indication of theft. ln addition, the control unit 240may be further configured to output information stating that the unit 110 is stolen when theextracted identification reference is detected in the second database 260 associated with theindication of theft. ln some embodiments, the control unit 240 may also be configured to disable a functionalityof the vehicle 100 when detecting the extracted identification reference of the unit 110 in thesecond database 260 associated with the indication of theft.

The control unit 240 may furthermore be additionally configured to output information con-cerning the stored geographical positions in the third database 270.

Further the system 200 also comprises a first database 250 configured to store an identifi-cation reference of the unit 110, associated with an identification reference of the vehicle100.

The system 200 further comprises a second database 260 for preventing theft of the unit 110from the vehicle 100, wherein the second database 260 is configured to store an identifica-tion reference of a stolen unit 110, associated with an indication of theft.

Figure 5 illustrates an example of a method 500 for preventing theft of a unit 110 from avehicle 100 by using database stored information. The database information may have beenestablished according to the previously described method 300 for database establishment, in some embodiments.

The vehicle 100 may be any arbitrary kind of means for conveyance, such as a truck, a bus,a car, a motorcycle, a boat, an aeroplane, a train or other similar vehicle. 12 The unit 110 may comprise e.g. headlights, lighting device, radio, navigator, communicationdevice, CD player, computer, camera, entertainment unit, radar, sensor units, etc. The unit110 may comprise a unique identification reference, e.g. stored in a local memory and ex-tractable by a processor 115 in the unit 110. ln some embodiments, the unit 110 may comprise headlights of a truck, trailer or bus. ln order to be able to establish the database correctly, the method 500 may comprise anumber of steps 501-505. However, some of these steps 501-505 may be performed solelyin some alternative embodiments, like e.g. step 504-505. Further, the described steps 501-505 may be performed in a somewhat different chronological order than the numbering sug-gests. The method 500 may comprise the subsequent steps: Step 501 comprises extracting an identification reference of the unit 110 from the vehicle100.

The extraction may be made from a memory in the unit 110, and provided over a wireless interface.

Step 502 comprises checking if the extracted 501 identification reference is stored in a sec-ond database 260, associated with an indication of theft.

The indication may be implicit, i.e. the mere presence of the identification reference in thesecond database 260 may be regarded as an indication of theft. ln some embodiments, a check may also be made if the identification reference is stored inthe first database 250, i.e. if the same identification reference is used repeatedly, which maybe a sign of counterfeit (i.e. that the same identification reference is copied on to severalunits 110).

Step 503 comprises outputting information stating that the unit 110 is stolen when the ex-tracted 501 identification reference is detected in the second database 260 associated with the indication of theft.

The information may be outputted or presented at a display at the workshop 230, at a displayin the vehicle 100, at a mobile device of the vehicle driver/ owner etc. 13 Step 504 which only may be comprised in some embodiments, when the identification ref-erence of the unit 110 is stored in the second database 260 associated with the indication oftheft, comprises disabling a functionality of the unit 110, and/ or vehicle 100, when the ex-tracted 501 identification reference of the unit 110 is detected in the second database 260associated with the indication of theft. lt thereby becomes possible to remotely disable some or all functionality of the unit 110, oreven of the vehicle 100 when the unit 110 installed in the vehicle 100 is determined to be astolen unit 110, and/ or a counterfeit product. ln case the unit 110 comprises headlights, they may be remotely set into safety mode, disa-bling full light and/ or parking light, for example. Another option may be to disable anotherfunctionality of the vehicle 100 than provided by the stolen unit 110, such as i.e. disable theradio when the headlights are stolen etc.

Step 505 which only may be comprised in some embodiments, may comprise outputtinginformation concerning the stored geographical positions in the third database 270.

This information may be outputted e.g. to (a subset of) vehicle drivers, police authorities etc.

The previously described control unit 240, as illustrated in Figure 4 may according to someembodiments comprise a processor 420 for performing various computations, required forperforming the method 300 according to at least some of the previously described steps 301 -307 and/ or the method 500 according to at least some of the previously described steps501-505. Such processor 420 may comprise one or more instances of a processing circuit,i.e. a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a processing unit, a processing circuit, a processor, anApplication Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a microprocessor, or other processing logicthat may interpret and execute instructions. The here utilised expression “processor” maythus represent a processing circuitry comprising a plurality of processing circuits, such as,e.g., any, some or all of the ones enumerated above.

Furthermore, the control unit 240 may comprise a memory 425 in some embodiments. Theoptional memory 425 may comprise a tangible, physical device utilised to store data or pro-grams, i.e., sequences of instructions, on a temporary or permanent basis. According tosome embodiments, the memory 425 may comprise integrated circuits comprising silicon-based transistors. The memory 425 may comprise e.g. a memory card, a flash memory, aUSB memory, a hard disc, or another similar volatile or non-volatile storage unit for storingdata such as e.g. ROIVI (Read-Only l\/lemory), PROIVI (Programmable Read-Only Memory), 14 EPROIVI (Erasable PROIVI), EEPROIVI (Electrically Erasable PROIVI), etc. in different embod- iments.

The control unit 240 also comprises an input unit 410, for receiving signals and data frome.g. a diagnostic tool 220 in a workshop 230; a first database 250; a second database 260and/ or a third database 270, in various embodiments.

Also the control unit 240 further comprises an output unit 430. The output unit 430 may beconfigured for receiving signals and data from e.g. a diagnostic tool 220 in a workshop 230;a first database 250; a second database 260 and/ or a third database 270, in various em-bodiments.

The previously described steps 301 -307 and/ or steps 501-505 to be performed by the con-trol unit 240 may be implemented through the one or more processors 420 within the controlunit 240, together with computer program product for performing at least some of the func-tions of the steps 301-307 and/ or steps 501-505. Thus a computer program product, com-prising instructions for performing the steps 301-307 and/ or steps 501 -505 in the control unit240 may perform the method 300 comprising at least some of the steps 301-307 and/ or themethod 500 comprising at least some of the steps 501-505 for preventing theft of a unit 110from a vehicle 100, when the computer program is loaded into the one or more processors420 of the control unit 240.

The computer program product mentioned above may be provided for instance in the formof a tangible data carrier carrying computer program code for performing at least some ofthe steps 301-307 and/ or steps 501-505 according to some embodiments when beingloaded into the one or more processors 420 of the control unit 240. The data carrier may be,e.g., a hard disk, a CD ROIVI disc, a memory stick, an optical storage device, a magneticstorage device or any other appropriate medium such as a disk or tape that may hold ma-chine readable data in a non-transitory manner. The computer program product may further-more be provided as computer program code on a server and downloaded to the control unit 240 remotely, e.g., over an Internet or an intranet connection.

The terminology used in the description of the embodiments as illustrated in the accompa-nying drawings is not intended to be limiting of the described methods 300/ 500; the controlunit 240 and/ or the system 200. Various changes, substitutions or alterations may be made,without departing from invention embodiments as defined by the appended claims.

As used herein, the term "and/ or" comprises any and all combinations of one or more of theassociated listed items. The term “or” as used herein, is to be interpreted as a mathematicalOR, i.e., as an inclusive disjunction; not as a mathematical exclusive OR (XOR), unless ex-pressly stated otherwise. ln addition, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are to be inter-preted as “at least one", thus also possibly comprising a plurality of entities of the same kind,unless expressly stated othen/vise. lt will be further understood that the terms "includes","comprises", "including" or "comprising", specifies the presence of stated features, actions,integers, steps, operations, elements, or components, but do not preclude the presence oraddition of one or more other features, actions, integers, steps, operations, elements, com-ponents, or groups thereof. A single unit such as e.g. a processor may fulfil the functions ofseveral items recited in the claims. The mere fact that certain measures are recited in mutu-ally different dependent claims does not indicate that a combination of these measures can-not be used to advantage. A computer program may be stored/ distributed on a suitablemedium, such as an optical storage medium or a solid-state medium supplied together withor as part of other hardware, but may also be distributed in other forms such as via Internet or other Wired or wireless communication system.

Claims (14)

1. A method (300) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by databaseestablishment; which method (300) comprises: storing (301) an identification reference of the unit (110) in a first database (250),associated with an identification reference of the vehicle (100); inquiring (302) a vehicle owner, upon replacing the unit (1 10) of the vehicle (100), ifthe reason for replacement is theft of the previous unit (110), and when the previous unit(110) is stolen: determining (303) the identification reference of the stolen unit (110), based on theidentification reference of the vehicle (100) stored in the first database (250); and storing (304) the identification reference of the stolen unit (110) in a second data-base (260), associated with an indication of theft.

2. The method (300) according to claim 1, further comprising: detecting (305) when a connection between the unit (110) and a monitoring unit(210) of the vehicle (100) is interrupted; determining (306) geographical position of the vehicle (100) when the interruptedconnection is detected (305); storing (307) the determined (306) geographical position in a third database (270).

3. A control unit (240) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by data-base establishment; wherein the control unit (240) is configured to: store an identification reference of the unit (1 10) in a first database (250), associatedwith an identification reference of the vehicle (100); inquire a vehicle owner, upon replacing the unit (110) of the vehicle (100), if thereason for replacement is theft of the previous unit (110); and when the previous unit (110)is stolen: determine the identification reference of the stolen unit (110), based on the identifi-cation reference of the vehicle (100) stored in the first database (250); and store the identification reference of the stolen unit (110) in a second database (260),associated with an indication of theft.

4. The control unit (240) according to claim 3, wherein the control unit (240) is config-ured to: obtain geographical position of the vehicle (100) when an interrupted connectionbetween the unit (110) and a control unit (240) of the vehicle (100) is interrupted; and store the obtained geographical position in a third database (270). 17

5. A method (500) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by usingdatabase stored information; which method (500) comprises: extracting (501) an identification reference of the unit (110) from the vehicle (100); checking (502) if the extracted (501) identification reference is stored in a seconddatabase (260), associated with an indication of theft; and outputting (503) information stating that the unit (110) is stolen when the extracted(501) identification reference is detected in the second database (260) associated with theindication of theft.

6. The method (500) according to claim 5, further comprising, when the identificationreference of the unit (110) is detected in the second database (260), associated with theindication of theft: disabling (504) a functionality of the vehicle (100).

7. The method (500) according to any of claim 5 or claim 6, further comprising:outputting (505) information concerning the stored geographical positions in thethird database (270).

8. A control unit (240) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by usingdatabase stored information; wherein the control unit (240) is configured to: extract an identification reference of the unit (110) from the vehicle (100); check if the extracted identification reference is stored in a second database (260),associated with an indication of theft; and output information stating that the unit (110) is stolen when the extracted identifica-tion reference is detected in the second database (260) associated with the indication oftheft.

9. The control unit (240) according to claim 8, further configured to: disable a functionality of the vehicle (100) when detecting the extracted identificationreference of the unit (110) in the second database (260) associated with the indication oftheft.

10. The control unit (240) according to any of claim 8 or claim 9, further configured to:output information concerning the stored geographical positions in the third data-base (270).

11. The control unit (240) according to any of claims 3 - 4 or claims 8 - 10, wherein theunit (110) is a headlamp unit of the vehicle (100). 18

12.cording to any of claims 1-2, or a method (500) according to any of claims 5-7 when the A computer program comprising program code for performing a method (300) ac- computer program is executed in a computer.

13.wherein the second database (260) is configured to store an identification reference of a A second database (260) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100),stolen unit (110), associated with an indication of theft.

14. database stored information, comprising:a control unit (240) according to any of claims 3-4 or claims 8-11; A system (200) for preventing theft of a unit (110) from a vehicle (100) by using a first database (250) configured to store an identification reference of the unit (1 10),associated with an identification reference of the vehicle (100); anda second database (260) according to claim 13.