METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PASSENGER PROFILES

• US 20080061988A1
• Filed: 08/31/2006
• Published: 03/13/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/31/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola, Inc. (Motorola Solutions, Inc.)
• Inventors: Perdomo, Jorge L., Mock, Von A., Fernandez, Isabel M., Fernandez, Juan C.
• Granted Patent: US 7,508,300 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/573.1
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2040/0872 Driver physiology
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0075 Automatic parameter input, automatic initialising or calibrating means
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/123 indicating the position of vehicles, e.g. scheduled vehicles; Managing passenger vehicles circulating according to a fixed timetable, e.g. buses, trains, tramstransmission of navigation instructions to vehicles G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: H04H 20/62 for transportation systems, e.g. in vehicles

Abstract

The invention concerns a method (200) and system (100) for providing a passenger profile. The method can include the steps of receiving (212) one or more passengers having mobile units (112) in a vehicle (110) in which at least some of the mobile units have been programmed with passenger profiles and receiving (214) the passenger profiles from the mobile units. The method can also include the step of informing (216) at least the driver of the vehicle of the passenger profiles once the passenger profiles are received. As an example, setting one or more parameters of the vehicle can be based on the received passenger profiles. In addition, setting the parameters of the vehicle based on the received passenger profiles may restrict the operation of the vehicle in a predefined manner.

Claims

1. A method of providing a passenger profile, comprising:

receiving one or more passengers having mobile units in a vehicle, wherein at least some of the mobile units have been programmed with passenger profiles;

receiving the passenger profiles from the mobile units; and

informing at least the driver of the vehicle of the passenger profiles once the passenger profiles are received.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising setting one or more parameters of the vehicle based on the received passenger profiles.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein setting the parameters of the vehicle based on the received passenger profiles restricts the operation of the vehicle in a predefined manner.

4. The method according to claim 2, wherein the parameters include a maximum speed of the vehicle, a restriction on the use of portable electronic devices by the driver, a preferred or recommended travel route, a restricted area of travel, an enablement of a landmark notification signal or an enablement of a threshold variance signal.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein receiving the passenger profiles from the mobile units comprises receiving the passenger profiles wirelessly through a Bluetooth transmission or an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.15.4 standard transmission.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein informing the driver of the vehicle of the passenger profiles comprises signaling a mobile unit of the driver or a communication system of the vehicle with the passenger profiles.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein informing the driver of the vehicle of the passenger profiles comprises broadcasting at least a portion of the passenger profiles over an audio system of the vehicle or a display unit of the vehicle.

8. A method of generating a passenger profile, comprising:

programming a mobile unit of a passenger of a vehicle with one or more settings that are associated with vehicular travel to create the passenger profile;

wherein a driver of the vehicle will be informed of at least a portion of the passenger profile when the mobile unit comes within a predetermined range of the vehicle.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the passenger profile will restrict the operation of the vehicle in a predefined manner.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the passenger profile includes a maximum speed of the vehicle, a restriction on the use of portable electronic devices by the driver, a preferred or recommended travel route, a restricted area of travel, an enablement of a landmark notification signal or an enablement of a threshold variance signal.

11. A mobile unit for generating a passenger profile, comprising:

a user interface that receives one or more settings that are associated with vehicular travel of a passenger and form the passenger profile;

a transceiver; and

a processor coupled to the transceiver, wherein the processor is programmed to cause the transceiver to transmit at least a portion of the passenger profile when a user of the mobile unit becomes a passenger of a vehicle such that a driver of the vehicle is made aware of the passenger profile.

12. The mobile unit according to claim 11, further comprising a memory for storing the passenger profile.

13. The mobile unit according to claim 11, wherein following the transmission of the passenger profile, the passenger profile will set one or more parameters of the vehicle.

14. The mobile unit according to claim 11, wherein the parameters include a maximum speed of the vehicle, a restriction on the use of portable electronic devices by the driver, a preferred or recommended travel route, a restricted area of travel, an enablement of a landmark notification signal or an enablement of a threshold variance signal.

15. The mobile unit according to claim 11, wherein the transceiver is a Bluetooth transceiver or an IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver.

16. A vehicle control system for receiving one or more passenger profiles, comprising:

a transceiver that receives the passenger profiles within a predetermined range of the vehicle, wherein the passenger profiles are associated with passengers of the vehicle; and

a notification unit that informs a driver of the vehicle of at least a portion of the passenger profiles.

17. The system according to claim 16 further comprising a processor coupled to the transceiver that is programmed to set one or more parameters of the vehicle based on the passenger profiles.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein setting the parameters of the vehicle based on the passenger profiles restricts the operation of the vehicle in a predefined manner.

19. The system according to claim 17, wherein the parameters include a maximum speed of the vehicle, a restriction on the use of portable electronic devices by the driver, a preferred or recommended travel route, a restricted area of travel, an enablement of a landmark notification signal or an enablement of a threshold variance signal.

20. The system according to claim 16, wherein the notification unit includes a speaker or a display.

21. The system according to claim 16, wherein the transceiver and notification unit are integrated into the vehicle or a mobile unit carried by the driver.