APPLICATION STATE AND ACTIVITY TRANSFER BETWEEN DEVICES

• US 20110275358A1
• Filed: 05/04/2010
• Published: 11/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Faenger, Jens
• Granted Patent: US 8,494,439 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/420
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/24 Transfer of terminal data

Abstract

A method of operating a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system includes running an application on one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system. It is sensed that the personal electronic device has been, or soon will be, moved into or out of a proximity of the in-vehicle infotainment system. Information regarding a state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system is transferred to the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system. An application is selected for the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system. The selected application is used to replicate the state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system on the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system.

Claims

1. A method of operating first and second electronic devices, the method comprising the steps of:

running an application on the first electronic device;

collecting user inputs, application and system states, and content of databases on the first electronic device;

transferring information regarding a state of the first electronic device to the second electronic device;

selecting an application for the second electronic device; and

using the selected application to replicate the state of the first electronic device on the second electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first electronic device comprises one of a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the second electronic device comprising an other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising the further step of sensing that the personal electronic device has been, or soon will be, moved into or out of a proximity of the in-vehicle infotainment system, the sensing step comprises sensing:

that the personal electronic device has been moved into or out of a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system; and

/or

an indication that the personal electronic device will be moved into or out of a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system within approximately thirty seconds.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the transferred information includes at least one of:

an identity of the application;

inputs that a user has entered into the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

input elements of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system that received entered inputs;

at least one time stamp associated with at least one of the entered inputs;

or

an identification of a field of the application into which the inputs have been entered.

4. The method of claim 1 comprising the further step of analyzing the transferred information in order to determine an activity being performed by a user.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the selecting step is dependent upon the determined activity being performed by the user.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting step is dependent upon the transferred information.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the application is configured to enable at least one of:

web browsing;

exchanging emails, text messages or instant messages;

listening to radio stations; and

GPS navigation.

8. The method of claim 1 comprising the further steps of:

using HTML with attached Javascript to encode state and activity information related to the first electronic device;

transferring the encoded state and activity information to the second electronic device; and

displaying and interacting with the transferred information by using a web browser on the second electronic device if no other suitable application is available.

9. A method of operating a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising the steps of:

running an application on the personal electronic device;

collecting user inputs, application and system states, and content of databases on the personal electronic device;

transferring information regarding a state of the personal electronic device to the in-vehicle infotainment system, the transferring being performed in response to the automatically sensing step;

selecting an application for the in-vehicle infotainment system, the selecting being dependent upon the transferred information; and

using the selected application to replicate the state of the personal electronic device on the in-vehicle infotainment system.

10. The method of claim 9 comprising the further step of automatically or indirectly sensing that the personal electronic device has been, or soon will be, carried into a vehicle that includes the in-vehicle infotainment system, the automatically or indirectly sensing step including at least one of:

receiving a signal from a vehicle door unlock sensor;

receiving a signal from a vehicle seat occupancy sensor;

detecting a known RFID tag, Bluetooth ID, or WiFi address of the personal electronic device or the in-vehicle infotainment system;

receiving a beacon signal from the personal electronic device or the in-vehicle infotainment system;

receiving a signal from a vehicle ignition sensor;

or

receiving a signal from a seat adjustment assembly.

11. The method of claim 9 comprising the further step of downloading the selected application from an on-line store.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the transferred information includes at least one of:

an identity of the application;

inputs that a user has entered into the personal electronic device;

input elements of the personal electronic device that received entered inputs;

at least one time stamp associated with at least one of the entered inputs;

or

an identification of a field of the application into which the inputs have been entered.

13. The method of claim 9 comprising the further step of analyzing the transferred information in order to determine an activity being performed by a user, the selecting step being dependent upon the determined activity being performed by the user.

14. The method of claim 9 wherein the selecting step is dependent upon the transferred information.

15. The method of claim 9 wherein the application is configured to enable at least one of:

web browsing;

exchanging emails, text messages or instant messages;

listening to radio stations; and

GPS navigation.

16. A method of operating a personal electronic device and an in-vehicle infotainment system, the method comprising the steps of:

running an application on one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

displaying information regarding the running of the application on a display screen of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

positioning the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system such that the display screen of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system is disposed within a field of view of an optical sensor of an other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

using the optical sensor to capture at least one image of the display screen;

analyzing the captured image to thereby extract information regarding a state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system;

selecting an application for the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system, the selecting being dependent upon the extracted information; and

using the selected application to replicate the state of the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system on the other of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system.

17. The method of claim 16 comprising the further step of recognizing text content and/or objects on the display screen.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the optical sensor comprises a video camera.

19. The method of claim 16 comprising the further step of using the optical sensor to search for an identification tag, a bar code, or a specific image on the one of the personal electronic device and the in-vehicle infotainment system.

20. The method of claim 16 comprising the further step of analyzing the captured image in order to determine an activity being performed by a user.

21. The method of claim 20 wherein the selecting step is dependent upon the determined activity being performed by the user.