Shared control of vehicle functions

• US 10,180,682 B2
• Filed: 02/23/2017
• Issued: 01/15/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 02/23/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DIRECTV, LLC (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Rasmussen, Matthew, Porudominsky, Harry, Tague, Kevin, Sakihama, Dean
• Primary Examiner(s): Hilgendorf, Dale W
• Application Number:
  US15/441,172
• Publication Number:
  US 20180239349A1
• Time in Patent Office: 691 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60H 1/00735 Control systems or circuits characterised by their input, i.e. by the detection, measurement or calculation of particular conditions, e.g. signal treatment, dynamic models
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0011 associated with a remote control arrangement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/08 for authentication of entities cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication H04L9/32
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

Control of functions associated with a vehicle can be shared between a vehicle operator and a communication device and associated user. The communication device can comprise a control component used to facilitate controlling or sharing control of certain functions associated with the vehicle. The functions can relate to vehicle operation, navigation system, climate control system, media system, or other functions. The communication device can be in the vehicle or can be remotely located from the vehicle. The control component can communicate with a vehicle control system of the vehicle to gain access rights to certain control functions to facilitate controlling certain functions of the vehicle. In instances where vehicle control is shared with more than one communication device, the vehicle control system or vehicle operator, which can be a device or a person, can resolve any conflicts between control requests or commands received from the communication devices.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

connecting, by a system comprising a processor, a first device associated with a first user identity to a second device of the system, wherein the system is integrated with a vehicle, wherein the system is employed to control a first function associated with operation of the vehicle in connection with a movement of the vehicle, and wherein the connecting the first device to the second device facilitates sharing, with the first device by the system, the control of the first function;

controlling, by the system, the first function associated with the operation of the vehicle based on control information received from the first device, wherein the control information relates to the operation of the vehicle; and

based on the control information, determining whether an adjustment to a travel route, on which the vehicle is to travel, conflicts with a destination time for the vehicle to arrive at a travel destination of a second user identity determined to be associated with being inside the vehicle, wherein a result of the determining whether the adjustment to the travel route conflicts with the destination time is used to facilitate determining whether the adjustment to the travel route is to be implemented.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, the control information from the first device, wherein the control information relates to controlling the movement of the vehicle, and wherein the controlling the first function comprises controlling the first function to control the movement of the vehicle in response to the receiving of the control information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the connecting the first device comprises connecting the first device with the second device of the system via a wireless communication connection based on a wireless communication technology, wherein the control information relates to controlling a speed of the vehicle, wherein the controlling the first function comprises controlling the first function to control the speed of the vehicle in response to the receiving of the control information, wherein a defined location inside of the vehicle comprises a group of controls for controlling the operation of the vehicle, wherein the group of controls are integrated with the vehicle, wherein an area is located outside of the defined location inside of the vehicle, and wherein the first device is determined to be located in the area.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is located inside the vehicle, and wherein the connecting further comprises connecting the first device to the second device via a communication network of the vehicle.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first device is located outside of the vehicle, and wherein the connecting further comprises connecting the first device to the second device via a communication network associated with the vehicle.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, authentication information from the first device;

authenticating, by the system, the first user identity based on a comparison of the authentication information with stored authentication information associated with an account of the first user identity;

authenticating, by the system, the first device based on an identification number associated with the first device; and

granting, by the system, control rights to the first user identity and the first device based on the authenticating of the first user identity and the authenticating of the first device, wherein the control rights comprise a control right to control the first function associated with the operation of the vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the system, a first request to control a second function associated with the vehicle from the first device;

receiving, by the system, a second request to control the second function from a third device associated with the second user identity;

determining, by the system, that there is a conflict between the first request and the second request; and

resolving, by the system, the conflict based on a defined control criterion.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

determining, by the system, a first rank associated with the first user identity based on first control rights granted to the first user identity;

determining, by the system, a second rank associated with the second user identity based on second control rights granted to the second user identity; and

determining, by the system, that the first request has priority over the second request, in response to determining that the first rank is higher than the second rank, wherein the resolving comprises resolving the conflict to grant the first request and deny the second request based on the first rank having priority over the second request.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

facilitating, by the system, a negotiation regarding the first request and the second request between the first device and the third device, wherein the resolving comprises resolving the conflict to grant the first request and deny the second request based on a negotiation result of the negotiation.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the first function relates to a member of a group comprising an accelerator, a brake, a gear, a steering mechanism, a navigation system, a climate control system, a media system, a display screen, a door lock, a window control, a light, a seat control, a moonroof, a sunroof, and a convertible roof, of the vehicle.

11. A system, comprising:

a processor; and

a memory that stores executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising;

associating a first device associated with a first user identity with a second device of the system, wherein the system is associated with a vehicle, wherein the system facilitates control of a function associated with the vehicle, and wherein the associating the first device with the second device facilitates sharing, with the first device by the system, the control of the function;

controlling the function associated with the vehicle based on control data received from the first device, wherein the control data relates to the function; and

determining whether a modification of a travel route that the vehicle is to travel conflicts with a destination time for the vehicle to reach a destination of a second user identity associated with a user entity determined to be located inside the vehicle, wherein a result of the determining whether the modification of the travel route that the vehicle is to travel conflicts with the destination time is utilized to facilitate determining whether the travel route is to be modified, wherein the modification is determined based on the control data.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the operations further comprise:

adjusting a parameter associated with the function in response to the control data received from the first device to facilitate the controlling of the function associated with the vehicle.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the function relates to movement of the vehicle, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the control data from the first device, wherein the control data relates to controlling the movement of the vehicle; and

modifying a parameter relating to the movement of the vehicle based on the control data to facilitate the controlling of the movement of the vehicle.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the function relates to navigation of the vehicle, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the control data from the first device, wherein the control data relates to the navigation of the vehicle; and

determining the travel route that the vehicle is to travel based on the control data.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to determining that the modification of the travel route will not conflict with the destination time, determining that the travel route is to be modified based on the control data.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the function relates to a climate control component of the vehicle, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the control data from the first device, wherein the control data relates to controlling a climate condition of the vehicle; and

modifying a parameter of the climate control component based on the control data to facilitate the controlling of the climate condition.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the function relates to a media component of the vehicle, and wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the control data from the first device, wherein the control data relates to media that is requested by the first user identity; and

in response to the control data, presenting the media via the media component.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the vehicle is a member of a group comprising an automobile, a bus, a plane, a train, a boat, and a ship.

19. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, facilitate performance of operations, comprising:

communicatively connecting a first device associated with a first user identity to a second device associated with a vehicle control system of a vehicle, wherein the vehicle control system facilitates control of a function associated with the vehicle, and wherein the communicatively connecting the first device to the second device facilitates sharing, with the first device by the vehicle control system, the control of the function with the vehicle control system; and

controlling the function associated with the vehicle based on control information received from the first device, wherein the control information relates to the function; and

based on the control information, determining whether a change to a travel route, on which the vehicle is to travel, conflicts with a destination time for the vehicle to arrive at a destination associated with a second user identity determined to be associated with being within a defined proximity to the vehicle, to facilitate determining whether the travel route is to be changed.

20. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 19, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving the control information from the first device, wherein the control information relates to an adjustment of a parameter associated with the function;

determining whether the adjustment of the parameter associated with the function is permissible based on a control right associated with the first user identity; and

in response to determining that the adjustment of the parameter is permissible, adjusting the parameter associated with the function based on the control information to facilitate the controlling of the function associated with the vehicle.