Method for data communication in a vehicle and data communication device

• US 10,284,700 B2
• Filed: 10/02/2015
• Issued: 05/07/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Original Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Inventors: Scholz, Lars, Fesefeldt, Martin, Wuschke, Martin
• Primary Examiner(s): Eng, George
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gao, Jing
• Application Number:
  US14/873,395
• Publication Number:
  US 20160028868A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,313 Days
• Field of Search: 455434
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40006 Architecture of a communication node current supply arrangements H04L12/10; intermediate storage or scheduling H04L49/90
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4135 using bit-wise arbitration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4625 Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• 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: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface

Abstract

A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle includes transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first data protocol being used for this purpose, in which an arbitration occurs. The data communication device converts the data, and the data communication device transmits the converted data via a data link to the mobile device. A second data protocol is used in the data transmission from the in-vehicle data communication device to the mobile device, in which no arbitration occurs. A data communication device by which the method of the invention may be implemented is also described.

Claims

1. A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,

filtering, by the data communication device, the data such that only data relevant to the mobile device remains;

converting, by the data communication device, the filtered data into a data format for an asynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second data protocol in which no arbitration occurs, and

transmitting, by the data communication device, the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, the second data protocol being used;

wherein, after a data link is established between the mobile device and the data communication device, specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the mobile device is received by the data communication device, and specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device is transmitted to the mobile device, the specification data of the mobile device and the specification data of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device determining a compatibility of the hardware and/or software of the data communication device, the in vehicle device, and the mobile device.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data link between the data communication device and the mobile device is a serial point-to-point connection.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the data in the second data protocol are transmitted in packets, a length of a data packet being greater than 8 bytes and smaller than 255 bytes.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein in the data transmission from the data communication device to the mobile device, an authentication code is transmitted to the mobile device.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

encrypting the data transmission between the data communication device and the mobile device.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the data communication device, data from the mobile device according to the second protocol.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the data received by the data communication device from the mobile device is audio data.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the data received by the data communication device from the mobile device allows for control of audio output from the mobile device.

9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the data received by the data communication device from the mobile device allows for control of audio output from in-vehicle device.

10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the data received by the data communication device from the mobile device is specification information of the mobile device.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting audio data from the mobile device to the data communication device, and

acoustically outputting the audio data by the data communication device.

12. A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,

converting, by the data communication device, the data into a data format for an asynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second data protocol in which no arbitration occurs, and

transmitting, by the data communication device, the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, the second data protocol being used;

wherein the data bus of the vehicle is a controller area network bus, the data communication device converts the data received via the controller area network bus into an intermediate data format, and the mobile device converts the data received from the data communication device into the data format for the asynchronous serial interface.

13. A method for data communication in a vehicle between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, the method comprising:

transmitting, by the in-vehicle device, data via a data bus of the vehicle to an in-vehicle data communication device, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,

filtering, by the data communication device, the data such that only data relevant to the mobile device remains;

converting, by the data communication device, the filtered data into an intermediate data format, and

transmitting, by the data communication device, the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, an intermediate data protocol being used in which no arbitration occurs;

converting, by the mobile device, the data into a second data format, a second data protocol being used in which no arbitration occurs;

wherein, after a data link is established between the mobile device and the data communication device, specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the mobile device is received by the data communication device, and specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device is transmitted to the mobile device, the specification data of the mobile device and the specification data of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device determining a compatibility of the hardware and/or software of the data communication device, the in vehicle device, and the mobile device.

14. A data communication device in a vehicle for data communication between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, comprising:

a first interface adapted for receiving data from the in-vehicle device via a data bus of the vehicle, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,

a filter adapted for filtering the data such that only data relevant to the mobile device remains;

a converter adapted for converting the filtered data into a data format for an asynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second data protocol in which no arbitration occurs, and

a second interface adapted for transmitting the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, the second data protocol being used;

wherein, after a data link is established between the mobile device and the data communication device, specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the mobile device is received by the data communication device, and specification data reflecting hardware and/or software of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device is transmitted to the mobile device, the specification data of the mobile device and the specification data of the data communication device and the in-vehicle device determining a compatibility of the hardware and/or software of the data communication device, the in vehicle device, and the mobile device.

15. The data communication device according to claim 14, wherein the data communication device comprises a radio.

16. A data communication device in a vehicle for data communication between an in-vehicle device and a mobile device coupled with the vehicle, comprising:

a first interface adapted for receiving data from the in-vehicle device via a data bus of the vehicle, a first data protocol being used in which an arbitration occurs,

a converter adapted for converting the data into a data format for an asynchronous serial interface, for transmission via a second data protocol in which no arbitration occurs, and

a second interface adapted for transmitting the converted data via a data link to the mobile device, the second data protocol being used;

wherein the data bus of the vehicle is a controller area network bus, the converter converts the data received via the controller area network bus into an intermediate data format, and the mobile device converts the data received from the data communication device into the data format for the asynchronous serial interface.