Secondary-connected device companion application control of a primary-connected device

• US 10,123,155 B2
• Filed: 01/20/2016
• Issued: 11/06/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 01/20/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Livio, Inc. (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Livio, Inc. (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Grover, Joey Ray, Dickow, Justin, Smereka, Scott, Fischer, Joel J., Byrne, John, Maylone, Corey
• Primary Examiner(s): Lu, Zhiyu
• Application Number:
  US15/002,058
• Publication Number:
  US 20170208422A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,021 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/005 Discovery of network devices, e.g. terminals

Abstract

A vehicle may display a user interface of an application based on command information received from a primary-connected device, and send the command information to a secondary-connected device providing an auxiliary user interface. The vehicle may also forward a command message received based on user input to the auxiliary user interface to the application of the primary-connected device. The vehicle may also access paired device data to confirm that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application; and forward the user input to the primary-connected device if the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a display of a vehicle; and

a processor of the vehicle, programmed to

access paired device data to determine which mobile device is a primary-connected device and which is a secondary-connected device,

send, to the display, a user interface of an application executed by the primary-connected device based on command information received from the primary-connected device,

send the command information to the secondary-connected device to cause the secondary-connected device to display an auxiliary user interface corresponding to the user interface, and

forward a command message received from the secondary-connected device based on user input to the auxiliary user interface to the application of the primary-connected device if the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a memory storing the paired device data; and

a wireless transceiver,

wherein the processor is further programmed to

using the wireless transceiver, detect mobile devices located within the vehicle; and

access the paired device data to determine which detected mobile device is the primary-connected device.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

access the paired device data to determine capabilities of the secondary-connected device; and

send the command information to the secondary-connected device if the secondary-connected device is authorized to receive the command information.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the capabilities of the secondary-connected device include permission to view the user interface of the application.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the capabilities of the secondary-connected device include permission to view the user interface of the application and permission to command the application.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

access the paired device data to determine capabilities of another secondary-connected device; and

send the command information to the other secondary-connected device if the other secondary-connected device is authorized to receive the command information.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

access the paired device data to confirm that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application; and

forward the command message from the secondary-connected device to the application of the primary-connected device responsive to confirmation that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the command information is smart device link (SDL) protocol information, and the command message is an SDL command.

9. A method executed by a processor of a vehicle comprising:

accessing paired device data to determine which mobile device is a primary-connected device and which is a secondary-connected device;

providing a user interface of an application executed by the primary-connected device to a display of the vehicle based on command information received from the primary-connected device;

sending, to a secondary-connected device, the command information to cause the secondary-connected device to display an auxiliary user interface corresponding to the user interface;

receiving a command message from the secondary-connected device responsive to input to the auxiliary user interface of the secondary-connected device; and

forwarding the command message to the primary-connected device if the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising forwarding, by the vehicle, command input from the secondary-connected device to the application of the primary-connected device.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising sending command input from the secondary-connected device over a local area network to the application of the primary-connected device.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising accessing the paired device data to determine whether the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the primary-connected device and the secondary-connected device are smartphones.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

accessing the paired device data to determine capabilities of the secondary-connected device; and

routing the command information to the secondary-connected device if the capabilities indicate that the secondary-connected device is authorized to receive the command information.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

accessing the paired device data to determine capabilities of another secondary-connected device; and

routing the command information to the other secondary-connected device if the capabilities indicate that the other secondary-connected device is authorized to receive the command information.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising instructions of a connection hub application that, when executed by a processor of a computing platform of a vehicle, cause the computing platform to:

send, to a display of the vehicle, a user interface of an application executed by a primary-connected device based on command information received from the primary-connected device;

send, to a secondary-connected device, the command information received from a primary-connected device to cause the secondary-connected device to display an auxiliary user interface corresponding to the user interface;

receive a command message from the secondary-connected device responsive to input to the auxiliary user interface of the secondary-connected device;

access the paired device data to confirm that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application; and

forward the command message to the primary-connected device if the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.

17. The medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause the computing platform to send, to another secondary-connected device, the command information received from the primary-connected device to cause the other secondary-connected device to display a second auxiliary user interface corresponding to the user interface.

18. The medium of claim 16, further comprising instructions to cause the computing platform to:

access the paired device data to confirm that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application; and

forward the command message from the secondary-connected device to the application of the primary-connected device responsive to confirmation that the secondary-connected device is authorized to command the application.