METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR PROVIDING A WIRELESS AUTOMOBILE KEY SERVICE

• US 20120164989A1
• Filed: 12/22/2010
• Published: 06/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Xiao, Hong, Moshrefi, Afshin, Turner, Andre, Wang, Dongchen
• Granted Patent: US 8,737,913 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/414.1
• CPC Class Codes: E05B 2047/0095 Mechanical aspects of locks controlled by telephone signals, e.g. by mobile phones electronic locks G07C9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00563 using personal physical data of the operator, e.g. finger prints, retinal images, voicepatterns
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

Systems and methods for providing a wireless automobile key service are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes detecting whether the mobile device is connected to the automobile over a first network, launching a wireless automobile key service application on the mobile device when it is detected that the mobile device is connected to the automobile over the first network, and receiving, via the application from an operator of the automobile using the mobile device, a request to issue a command to the automobile. The method further includes determining whether the requested command is a first command or a second command. The method further includes when the requested command is a first command, sending, from the mobile device to a server over a second network, a request to issue the first command to the automobile. The method also includes when the requested command is a second command, sending, from the mobile device to the sever over the second network, a request to issue the second command to the automobile, and receiving, at the mobile device from the server over the second network, status information associated with the automobile.

Claims

1. A method for commanding an automobile using a mobile device, comprising:

detecting whether the mobile device is connected to the automobile over a first network;

launching a wireless automobile key service application on the mobile device when it is detected that the mobile device is connected to the automobile over the first network;

receiving, via the application from an operator of the automobile using the mobile device, a request to issue a command to the automobile;

determining whether the requested command is a first command or a second command;

when the requested command is a first command, sending, from the mobile device to a server over a second network, a request to issue the first command to the automobile; and

when the requested command is a second command;

sending, from the mobile device to the sever over the second network, a request to issue the second command to the automobile; and

receiving, at the mobile device from the server over the second network, status information associated with the automobile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first network includes a personal area network (PAN) and the second network a cellular network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the application is a mobile application configured to execute within a mobile operating environment on the mobile device.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first automobile command is a command to unlock a door of the automobile, and the second automobile command is a command to start the automobile.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising, when the requested automobile command is the command to start the automobile, sending, from the mobile device to the server over the second network, a request to customize settings of at least one system of the automobile based on a profile associated with the operator.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the at least one system includes at least one of a climate control system, an audio system, an operator comfort control system, and operator awareness control system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information associated with the automobile includes at least one of automobile health information, maintenance information, and insurance information.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising alerting the operator via the mobile device based on at least one of the received automobile health information, maintenance information, and insurance information.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving input includes:

displaying, on the mobile device, a user interface including at least one user interface element, the user interface element corresponding to the request to issue a command to the automobile; and

receiving input from the operator via the at least one graphical user interface element.

10. A method for commanding an automobile, comprising:

connecting the automobile, a communication device, and a server via a network;

receiving, by the server over the network, a request from an operator of the automobile using the communication device to issue a command to the automobile;

determining whether the request is to issue a first automobile command or a second automobile command;

when the request is to issue the first automobile command, sending, by the server over the network, the first automobile command to the automobile; and

when the request is to issue the second automobile command;

sending, by the server over the network, the second automobile command to the automobile; and

sending, to the terminal device over the network, status information associated with the automobile.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network includes at least one of a cellular network and the Internet.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the request includes at least one of an operator ID associated with the operator, a mobile ID associated with the communication device, an automobile ID associated with the automobile, and a command ID associated with the requested automobile command.

13. The method of claim 11, further including:

determining, by the server and based on at least one of the operator ID, the mobile ID, and the automobile ID, whether the operator, the automobile, or both the operator and the automobile are associated with a wireless automobile key service account; and

sending the first automobile command or the second automobile command only when it is determined that the operator, the automobile, or both the operator and the automobile are associated with a wireless automobile key service account.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the first automobile command includes a command to unlock a door of the automobile and the second command includes a command to start the automobile.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising when the request is to start the automobile:

identifying an operator profile stored at the server, the operator profile defining customized settings of at least one system of the automobile; and

sending a command to the automobile over the network to customize the settings of the at least one system of the automobile based on the operator profile.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one system onboard the automobile includes at least one of a climate control system, an audio system, an operator comfort system, and operator awareness system.

17. The method of claim 10, wherein receiving a request includes:

serving a web page to the communication device including at least one user interface element corresponding to the request to issue the automobile command; and

receiving, by the server over the network, an indication of the operator selecting the at least one graphical user interface element.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein the status information associated with the automobile includes at least one of automobile health information, maintenance information, and insurance information.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising alerting the operator via the mobile device based on at least one of the automobile health information, maintenance information, and insurance information.

20. An automobile system, comprising:

a personal area network (PAN) communication module on the automobile and configured to connect to a mobile device over a PAN;

a cellular network communication module on the automobile and configured to;

connect to a server over a cellular network; and

receive, from the server over the cellular network, an automobile command associated with a system onboard the automobile; and

a control module associated with the system onboard the automobile and configured to execute the automobile command.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the system onboard the automobile includes a climate control system, an audio system, an operator comfort system, or an operator awareness system.