SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CELL PHONE RESTRICTION

• US 20120221169A1
• Filed: 01/31/2012
• Published: 08/30/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: Miller, Thomas Lee, Bennie, Brian, Hatton, David Anthony, Elliott, Doron M.
• Granted Patent: US 10,145,960 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/027 using movement velocity, acceleration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/40 for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

In at least one embodiment, a vehicle system comprising a vehicle communication module is provided. The vehicle communication module is configured to receive first global positioning system (GPS) data indicative of a location of a vehicle and to receive a first signal indicative of the vehicle being in a drive state. The vehicle communication module is further configured to transmit the first GPS data to an occupant communication device (OCD) in response to the first signal to restrict at least a portion of the operation of the OCD and to reduce power consumption of the OCD.

Claims

1. A vehicle system comprising:

a vehicle communication module configured to;

receive first global positioning system (GPS) data indicative of a location of a vehicle;

receive a first signal indicative of the vehicle being in a drive state; and

transmit the first GPS data to an occupant communication device (OCD) in response to the first signal to restrict at least a portion of the operation of the OCD and to reduce power consumption of the OCD.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein the first signal corresponds to one of speed of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined speed and transmission status of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in a non-park mode.

3. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle communication module is further configured to transmit the first GPS data to the OCD in response to the first signal such that the OCD disables one or more switches thereon.

4. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle communication module is further configured to transmit the first GPS data to the OCD at a predetermined frequency.

5. The system of claim 4 wherein the predetermined frequency corresponds to three times per second.

9. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle communication module is further configured to transmit a second signal indicative of a requested operation of the OCD and to receive a third signal indicative of a notification that the OCD cannot perform the requested operation to notify a driver.

6. The system of 1 wherein the OCD includes an internal GPS to provide second GPS data indicative of the location of the OCD prior to receiving the first GPS data.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein the OCD performs at least one of navigation, geofencing and breadcrumbing with the second GPS data.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein the OCD receives the first GPS data to perform the at least one of navigation, geofencing and the breadcrumbing.

10. A system for restricting operation of an occupant communication device (OCD), the system comprising:

a communication module positioned within a vehicle and being configured to communicate with the OCD, the OCD for interfacing with an internal global positioning system (GPS) therein to provide first global positioning system (GPS) data indicative of a location of the OCD, the communication module being further configured to;

receive second GPS data indicative of a location of the vehicle;

receive a first signal indicative of the vehicle being in a drive state; and

transmit the second GPS data to the OCD in response to the first signal such that the OCD utilizes the second GPS data to provide the location of the OCD.

11. The system of claim 10 wherein the communication module is further configured to transmit the second GPS data to the OCD such that the OCD disables switches thereon.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the communication module is further configured to transmit the second GPS data to the OCD to reduce power consumption of the OCD.

13. The system of claim 10 wherein the first signal corresponds to one of speed of the vehicle exceeding a predetermined speed and transmission status of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in a non-park mode.

14. The system of claim 10 wherein the communication module is further configured to transmit the first GPS data to the OCD at a predetermined frequency.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the predetermined frequency corresponds to three times per second.

16. The system of claim 10 wherein the OCD receives the first GPS data to perform at least one of navigation, geofencing and the breadcrumbing.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the OCD receives the second GPS data to perform the at least one of the navigation, geofencing and the breadcrumbing.

18. A method comprising:

providing a communication module within a vehicle for communicating with an occupant communication device (OCD), the OCD for interfacing with an internal global positioning system (GPS) therein to provide first GPS data indicative of a location of the OCD;

receiving, at the communication module, second GPS data indicative of a location of the vehicle;

determining, at the communication module, that the vehicle is in a drive state; and

transmitting the second GPS data to the OCD to provide the location of the OCD if the vehicle is in the drive state.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein transmitting the second GPS data to the OCD further comprises transmitting the second GPS data to the OCD such that the OCD disables switches thereon.

20. The method of claim 18 wherein transmitting the second GPS data to the OCD further comprises transmitting the second GPS data to the OCD to reduce power consumption of the OCD.