Limiting distraction from in-vehicle portable devices
First Claim
1. An apparatus comprising:
- a wireless access point (AP) to facilitate communications within a vehicle via a first type of wireless communications link; and
at least one processor configured to, when in operation;
receive a message from a portable device via a wireless interface of a plurality of wireless interfaces for use in providing communications within the vehicle via a second type of wireless communications link that has a shorter range than the first type of wireless communications link, wherein at least two of the plurality of wireless interfaces are associated with different user types of a plurality of user types, and wherein the message is indicative that the portable device seeks access to the wireless AP; and
determine a level of access to the wireless AP to grant to the portable device based on which of the plurality of wireless interfaces received the message.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a technique for managing communications of portable devices within a vehicle through an in-vehicle router system. The in-vehicle router system includes a plurality of out-of-band interfaces used to determine a user type associated with a portable device used to manage a connection with a wireless access point. The out-of-band interface receives a query from a portable device via a first communication link. The query includes identifying information of the portable device and a request for network credentials to a second communication link with a wireless access point. A user type is determined based on a location of the out-of-band interface and a unique identifier. Network credentials associated with the determined user type are retrieved. The network credentials are provided to the portable device via the first communication link. Access to the second communication link is restricted based on the user type and/or vehicle status information.
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Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus comprising:
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a wireless access point (AP) to facilitate communications within a vehicle via a first type of wireless communications link; and at least one processor configured to, when in operation; receive a message from a portable device via a wireless interface of a plurality of wireless interfaces for use in providing communications within the vehicle via a second type of wireless communications link that has a shorter range than the first type of wireless communications link, wherein at least two of the plurality of wireless interfaces are associated with different user types of a plurality of user types, and wherein the message is indicative that the portable device seeks access to the wireless AP; and determine a level of access to the wireless AP to grant to the portable device based on which of the plurality of wireless interfaces received the message. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An in-vehicle router system comprising:
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a wireless access point (AP) to facilitate communications via a first communications link; and at least one processor configured to, when in operation; receive a message from a portable device by a wireless interface of a plurality of wireless interfaces via a second communications link, the message being indicative that the portable device seeks access to the wireless AP, wherein the second communications link has a shorter range than the first communications link, and wherein at least two of the plurality of wireless interfaces are associated with different user types of a plurality of user types; and determine a level of access to the wireless AP to grant to the portable device based on which of the plurality of wireless interfaces received the message. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. A method comprising:
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receiving a message via a short-range wireless interface from a portable device, the short-range wireless interface among a plurality of wireless interfaces within a vehicle, the plurality of wireless interfaces including a first type of wireless interface and short-range wireless interfaces that have a shorter range than the first type of wireless interface, each of the short-range wireless interfaces being associated with a user type of a plurality of user types, wherein the message is indicative that the portable device seeks access to an in-vehicle wireless network; and determining a level of access to the in-vehicle wireless network to grant to the portable device based on the short-range interface associated with the user type that received the message. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification