IN-VEHICLE COMMUNICATION DEVICE WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING

• US 20110196969A1
• Filed: 02/08/2010
• Published: 08/11/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/08/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Original Assignee: PACCAR Incorporated
• Inventors: Cullum, Matthew A., Binns, Erik M., Mays, Wesley M., Tarte, Christopher
• Granted Patent: US 9,060,381 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/41422 located in transportation means, e.g. personal vehicle arrangements specially adapted for transportation systems in broadcast systems H04H20/62
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/4788 communicating with other users, e.g. chatting arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/06 Selective distribution of broadcast services, e.g. multimedia broadcast multicast service [MBMS]; Services to user groups; One-way selective calling services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/08 Trunked mobile radio systems

Abstract

Generally described, aspects of the disclosed subject matter are directed to managing communications from a mobile device. In accordance with one embodiment, a method for establishing a communication session with a contact is provided. The method includes causing information about at least one contact associated with the user to be displayed on the mobile device and receiving input to initiate a communication session with the contact. Then, if the identified contact is associated with a CB radio, a CB based communication session is established in which audio is transmitted and received from the mobile device using a CB radio communication unit. On the other hand, if the identified contact is associated with a remote device capable of performing data-based communications, a data-based communication session is established and which data is transmitted and received in accordance with IP-based protocols.

Claims

1. An apparatus operative to communicate using wireless communication protocols and CB radio frequencies, comprising:

a processor;

a citizens band radio unit for transmitting and receiving audio over CB radio frequencies;

a network interface for performing communications with a remote device using wireless communication protocols at a data link layer of a network;

a computer-readable media having computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, causes the apparatus to;

exchange audio data with a remote CB radio using the citizen band radio unit; and

establish a network session with a remote device in which data-based communications are exchanged over the network interface.

2. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

a display unit that includes a touch sensitive layer which recognizes input applied directly to the surface of the display unit; and

a video controller that receives and decodes an incoming video stream over the network interface and causes the video stream to be rendered on a display.

3. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the network interface includes communication circuitry that permits wireless communications in accordance with IEEE 802.11 standards.

4. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the network interface includes communication circuitry that permits wireless communications in accordance with IEEE 802.16 standards.

5. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the network interface includes communication circuitry that permits wireless communications with a Dedicated Short Range Communication System.

6. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, further comprising an audio controller that receives and decodes an incoming audio stream over the network interface and causes an output device to play the audio stream.

7. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein different types of communication sessions are managed by a communication platform that is bundled and installed as a standalone application.

8. The apparatus as recited in claim 1, wherein the computer-readable media includes additional instructions that causes the apparatus to:

receive one or more messages describing the availability of a contact to participate in a network session;

cause information to be displayed that identifies the communication status of the contact; and

receive input to establish a communication session with the contact.

9. A social networking application configured to perform a method that allows a user of a mobile device to establish a communication session with a contact, the method comprising:

causing information about at least one contact to be displayed on the mobile device;

receiving input to initiate a communication session with the contact;

if the identified contact is associated with a CB radio, establishing a CB-based communication session with the identified contact in which audio is transmitted and received by the mobile device using a citizens band radio unit;

if the identified contact is associated with a remote device capable of performing data-based communications;

causing a message to be formulated and transmitted to the remote device requesting that the contact participate in a data-based communication session; and

if the request is accepted, establishing a data-based communication session in which data is transmitted and received at the network layer in accordance with the Internet protocol.

10. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein causing information about at least one contact to be displayed on the mobile device includes receiving a message that describes the availability of a contact to participate in a network session.

11. The method as recited in claim 9, further comprising broadcasting a message from the mobile device that describes the availability of the user to participate in a communication session.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the message is broadcast over a defined geographic radius that may be configured by the user.

13. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein causing a message to be formulated and transmitted to the remote device includes establishing a vehicle-to-network communication session in which the message is transmitted to a computing device.

14. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein causing a message to be formulated and transmitted to the remote device includes establishing a vehicle-to-vehicle communication session in which the message is transmitted over a local area network connection.

15. The method as recited in claim 9, wherein real-time audio and video are transmitted between remote devices during the data-based communication session.

16. A computer-readable medium having computer-executable components for performing communications, comprising:

a user interface component configured to display information and obtain input from a user;

a social networking application operative to cause the user interface to display information that describes the availability of a contact to participate in a communication session; and

a communication platform for managing different types of communication sessions on behalf of applications that execute on the mobile device including the social networking application;

wherein the social networking application is further configured to receive input to initiate a communication session and cause the communication platform to establish communication session with a remote device.

17. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the communication session created by the communication platform is one type of communication session selected from:

a vehicle-to-network communication session in which data that is exchanged between remote devices is routed over the Internet; and

a vehicle-to-vehicle communication session in which data is transmitted directly between the remote devices.

18. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 17, wherein a range in which data is transmitted between the remote devices in a vehicle-to-vehicle communication session is extended by a radio system that utilizes a fixed infrastructure to store and forward received messages.

19. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the communication platform executes on one of the following types of devices:

a computer, a mobile phone, an in-vehicle navigation/entertainment device, and a CB radio.

20. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 16, wherein the communication platform is further configured to cause audio data to be exchanged with a remote CB radio using a citizen band radio unit.