Pre-transit and post-transit facilitation of in-vehicle services

• US 10,290,043 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2014
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kwivo, LLC
• Original Assignee: Kwivo, LLC
• Inventors: Heron, Alexandra Kathleen, Silva, Julio Toro, Mendis, Manimeldura Janaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Casey, Alexis M
• Application Number:
  US14/291,841
• Publication Number:
  US 20140279219A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,810 Days
• Field of Search: 705 268
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/08 Logistics, e.g. warehousing, loading or distribution; Inventory or stock management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0633 Lists, e.g. purchase orders, compilation or processing

Abstract

An approach to facilitating provisioning of in-vehicle services is provided. Trip-identifying information may be obtained from a user-provided device. The trip-identifying information may identify a trip that is to occur on the vehicle. A list of in-vehicle services, which are available for the trip on the vehicle, may be determined based on the trip-identifying information. The list of in-vehicle services may be provided to the user-provided device. A selection of at least one in-vehicle service that is to be provided during the trip may be received from the user-provided device. A request for the at least one in-vehicle service may be generated based on the selection.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating provisioning of content items by an in-vehicle computer system on a vehicle, the method being implemented by a computer system that includes one or more physical processors executing one or more computer program instructions which, when executed, perform the method, the method comprising:

obtaining, by the computer system, trip-identifying information relating to a passenger that is associated with a user-provided device, wherein the trip-identifying information identifies a trip that is to occur on the vehicle;

determining, by the computer system, based on the trip-identifying information, a list of content items that are available for the trip;

providing, by the computer system, the list of content items to the user-provided device;

receiving, by the computer system, from the user-provided device, a selection of at least one content item;

determining, by the computer system, that a current time is within a predetermined pre-boarding time period associated with the trip; and

causing, by the computer system, the at least one content item to be provided to the user-provided device before a predetermined boarding time responsive to the selection and based on the determination that the current time is within the predetermined pre-boarding time period associated with the trip,

wherein the at least one content item is pre-loaded onto the user-provided device before the predetermined boarding time but is not accessible for playback at the user-provided device until at least the predetermined boarding time, and

wherein playback access of the at least one content item via the user-provided device is enabled based on a determination that a current time has at least reached the predetermined boarding time.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the trip-identifying information comprises at least one of a carrier identifier that identifies a carrier, a trip identifier that identifies the trip, or a passenger identifier that identifies the passenger.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of content items comprises at least one of video content, audio content, image content, an electronic book, a game, an advertisement, or an application.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the computer system comprises an intermediary computer device located at a facility for boarding of the vehicle, wherein the list of content items is provided to the user-provided device via the intermediary computer device, and wherein the selection of the at least one content item is received at the intermediary computer device.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle comprises an airplane, the trip comprises a flight, and the list of content items comprises content items available via an in-flight server during the flight.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one content item is not stored in a memory of the in-vehicle computer system at a time of the request for the at least one content item, the method further comprising:

determining, by the computer system, whether the at least one content item is available at the in-vehicle computer system in response to the request for the at least one content item; and

causing, by the computer system, based on a determination that the at least one content item is not available at the in-vehicle computer system, the at least one content item to be provided to the in-vehicle computer system via a network such that the at least one content item is stored at the memory of the in-vehicle computer system before a boarding time associated with the trip.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein playback access of the at least one content item via the user-provided device is enabled based on a determination that the user-provided device is at a predefined location.

5. A system for facilitating provisioning of content items by an in-vehicle computer system on a vehicle, the system comprising:

one or more physical processors programmed with one or more computer program instructions which, when executed, cause the one or more physical processors to;

obtain trip-identifying information relating to a passenger that is associated with a user-provided device, wherein the trip-identifying information identifies a trip that is to occur on the vehicle;

determine, based on the trip-identifying information, a list of content items that are available for the trip;

provide the list of content items to the user-provided device;

receive, from the user-provided device, a selection of at least one content item;

determine that a current time is within a predetermined pre-boarding time period associated with the trip; and

cause the at least one content item to be provided to the user-provided device before a predetermined boarding time responsive to the selection and based on the determination that the current time is within the predetermined pre-boarding time period associated with the trip,

wherein the at least one content item is pre-loaded onto the user-provided device before the predetermined boarding time but is not accessible for playback at the user-provided device until at least the predetermined boarding time, and

wherein playback access of the at least one content item via the user-provided device is enabled based on a determination that a current time has at least reached the predetermined boarding time.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the trip-identifying information comprises at least one of a carrier identifier that identifies a carrier, a trip identifier that identifies the trip, or a passenger identifier that identifies the passenger.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the list of content items comprises at least one of video content, audio content, image content, an electronic book, a game, an advertisement, or an application.

8. The system of claim 5, wherein the system comprises an intermediary computer device located at a facility for boarding of the vehicle, wherein the list of content items is provided to the user-provided device via the intermediary computer device, wherein the selection of the at least one content item is received at the intermediary computer device.

12. The system of claim 5, wherein the vehicle comprises an airplane, the trip comprises a flight, and the list of content items comprises content items available via an in-flight server during the flight.

13. The system of claim 5, wherein the at least one content item is not stored in a memory of the in-vehicle computer system at a time of the request for the at least one content item, wherein the one or more physical processors are further caused to:

determine whether the at least one content item is available at the in-vehicle computer system in response to the request for the at least one content item; and

cause, based on a determination that the at least one content item is not available at the in-vehicle computer system, the at least one content item to be provided to the in-vehicle computer system via a network such that the at least one content item is stored at the memory of the in-vehicle computer system before a boarding time associated with the trip.

14. The system of claim 5, wherein playback access of the at least one content item via the user-provided device is enabled based on a determination that the user-provided device is at a predefined location.