SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE FOR DEVELOPING IN-VEHICLE SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS

• US 20080177554A1
• Filed: 01/22/2007
• Published: 07/24/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/22/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Original Assignee: Ford Motor Company
• Inventors: Reyna, Emily, Srinivasan, Hari, Watson, David Leslie, Whitaker, Matthew
• Granted Patent: US 8,161,454 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 3/113 for determining or recording eye movement
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/18 for vehicle drivers or machine operators
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/76 Adapting program code to run in a different environment; Porting

Abstract

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a software architecture encoded on a computer readable medium is disclosed. The software architecture can be utilized for developing in-vehicle software applications for installation and execution on an in-vehicle computer system. The software architecture includes a number of vehicle application program interfaces (APIs) for accessing vehicles systems or data and for developing in-vehicle software applications; and a number of policy restrictions underlying the vehicle APIs for restricting the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being developed.

Claims

1. A software architecture encoded on a computer readable medium, the software architecture for developing in-vehicle software applications for installation and execution on an in-vehicle computer system, the software architecture comprising:

a number of vehicle application program interfaces (APIs) for accessing vehicles systems or data and for developing in-vehicle software applications; and

a number of policy restrictions underlying the vehicle APIs for restricting the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being developed.

2. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of policy restrictions restrict the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being executed on the in-vehicle computer system.

3. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of vehicle APIs includes a driver behavior detection API for detecting the driver attention load under current driving conditions and a vehicle data access API for accessing vehicle data.

4. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of vehicle APIs includes a driver identification API for identifying a vehicle driver and Internet connectivity API for providing connectivity to the Internet during vehicle usage.

5. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of safety standards.

6. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) policy restrictions.

7. The software architecture of claim 1, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of user policy restrictions.

8. An electronic method for developing in-vehicle software applications from a vehicle software architecture encoded on a computer readable medium, the electronic method comprising:

providing a vehicle software architecture including a number of vehicle application program interfaces (APIs) for accessing vehicles systems or data and for developing in-vehicle software applications, and a number of policy restrictions underlying the vehicle APIs for restricting the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being developed;

receiving an in-vehicle software application implementing the software architecture;

installing the in-vehicle software application in an in-vehicle computer system; and

enforcing the number of policy restrictions during execution of the in-vehicle software application on the in-vehicle computer system.

9. The electronic method of claim 8, wherein the providing step includes providing the software architecture on a non-vehicle computer.

10. The electronic method of claim 9, wherein the non-vehicle computer is a personal computer of a vehicle user.

11. The electronic method of claim 8, further comprising defining the number of policy restrictions for use with the in-vehicle computer architecture.

12. The electronic method of claim 11, wherein the defining step is carried out by a vehicle OEM.

13. The electronic method of claim 8, further comprising developing the in-vehicle software application based on the vehicle software architecture.

14. The electronic method of claim 13, wherein the developing step is carried out by a vehicle user.

15. The electronic method of claim 14, wherein during the developing step, the vehicle user has access to real-time data residing on the vehicle of the user for aiding in development of the in-vehicle software application.

16. A software architecture encoded on a computer readable medium, the software architecture for developing in-vehicle software applications for installation and execution on an in-vehicle computer system, the software architecture comprising:

a number of vehicle application program interfaces (APIs) for accessing vehicles systems or data and for developing in-vehicle software applications, the number of vehicle APIs including a driver behavior detection API for detecting the level of driver attention load under current driving conditions, a vehicle data access API for accessing vehicle data, a driver identification API for identifying a vehicle driver, and an Internet connectivity API for providing connectivity to the Internet during vehicle usage; and

a number of policy restrictions underlying the vehicle APIs for restricting the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being developed.

17. The software architecture of claim 16, wherein the number of policy restrictions restrict the level of access to vehicle systems and data while the in-vehicle software application is being executed on the in-vehicle computer system.

18. The software architecture of claim 16, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of original equipment manufacturer (OEM) policy restrictions.

19. The software architecture of claim 16, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of user policy restrictions.

20. The software architecture of claim 16, wherein the number of policy restrictions include a number of safety standards.