VEHICLE COMFORT SYSTEM FOR USING AND/OR CONTROLLING VEHICLE FUNCTIONS WITH THE ASSISTANCE OF A MOBILE DEVICE

• US 20140200765A1
• Filed: 03/06/2014
• Published: 07/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Original Assignee: Volkswagen AG
• Inventors: WAELLER, Christoph
• Granted Patent: US 9,499,173 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0098 Details of control systems ensuring comfort, safety or stability not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/202 by remote control
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/3822 specially adapted for use in vehicles H04B1/3827 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/282 based on user interaction within the home receiver circuitry for displaying additional information being controlled by a remote control apparatus H04N21/42204
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• 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: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/04 based on user or terminal location or mobility data, e.g. moving direction, speed

Abstract

Vehicle with a comfort system having: a vehicle controller device, via which different vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions can be controlled; at least one vehicle communication device for exchanging data via wireless communication; a plurality of identification modules arranged in the vehicle that comprise an identification code readable in the vicinity of the identification modules, each identification code being assigned to an installation location of the identification module. The vehicle controller device is designed to set up a communication connection to a mobile device via the vehicle communication device to receive, via the communication connection, an identification code read out by the mobile device and, via the mobile device and the mobile communication connection, to allow or prohibit control or usage of individual or all vehicle functions and/or systems selectively on the basis of the received identification code.

Claims

1. A vehicle with a comfort system comprising:

a vehicle control device via which different vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions are controllable;

at least one vehicle communication device for exchanging data via wireless communication; and

an identification module arranged in the vehicle and has an identification code readable in a vicinity of the identification module, the identification code being assigned to a particular installation location of the identification module,

wherein the vehicle control device is adapted to set up a communication connection to a mobile device via the vehicle communication device, to receive via the communication connection an identification code read out by the mobile device, and, via the mobile device and the mobile communication connection, to allow or prohibit control or use of individual or all vehicle functions and/or systems selectively depending on the received identification code.

3. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle control device comprises an authorization device that, depending on the transmitted identification code, controls an authorization for actuating and/or operating the vehicle functions and/or vehicle systems and for a back-transmission of data of the vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions to the mobile device.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, at the installation locations, holders are arranged or formed for receiving the mobile device, on or in which the identification modules are arranged.

5. The vehicle according to claim 4, wherein the holder comprises one or more elastic elements in or between which the mobile device is accommodated.

6. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the identification modules in each case comprise at least one RFID chip.

7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle communication device and mobile device communication unit are designed for wireless communication, a Bluetooth interface, or WLAN interfaces.

8. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein at least one holder is designed such that the mobile device that is placed in the holder and that comprises a digital camera with a detection aperture on an opposite side from a display area of a display device acquires the environment of the vehicle via the digital camera, and wherein the program code is designed to bring about an acquisition of the environment via the digital camera and displays on the display area an augmented reality of the environment of the vehicle with the aid of data transmitted via the communication connection of the vehicle control device.

2. A comfort system for a vehicle comprising:

a vehicle control device via which different vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions are controllable;

at least one wireless vehicle communication device for exchanging data with a mobile device;

a plurality of identification modules are arranged in the vehicle that have a readable identification code, which is assigned to a particular installation location of the identification module; and

a computer program product having a program code executable in a program-controlled processing unit of a mobile device, which comprises an identification module reader for reading out the identification codes from the identification modules, at least one input device for acquiring user input, at least one output device, and a mobile device communication unit, each of which are controllable via the program-controlled processing unit,

wherein the program code controls the identification module reader in order to acquire with it the identification code of one of the identification modules in an acquisition range of the identification module reader,

wherein, in the event that an identification code is acquired, a wireless communication connection is set up for exchanging data with the vehicle control device via the mobile device communication unit and the vehicle communication device, and

wherein, depending on the acquired identification code and/or the data exchanged via the communication connection different functionalities of the vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions for a user are provided via at least one output device and/or at least one input device.

9. A computer program product for a vehicle-related comfort system, the computer program product comprising:

program code executable in a program-controlled processing unit of a mobile device, which comprises an identification module reader for reading out the identification codes from identification modules, at least one input device for acquiring user input, at least one output device, and a mobile device communication unit, each of which are controllable via the program-controlled processing unit,

wherein the program code controls the identification module reader in order to acquire with it the identification code of one of the identification modules in an acquisition range of the identification module reader, in the event that an identification code is acquired, to set up a wireless communication connection for exchanging data with a vehicle control device via the mobile device communication unit and a vehicle communication device and depending on the acquired identification code and/or the exchanged data to provide different functionalities of the vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions of the vehicle for a user via the at least one output device and/or the at least one input device.

10. A computer program product having a program code configured to control an identification module reader so that it reads out continuously or at intervals an identification code of the identification module or the module located in an acquisition range, and provision of the functionalities of the vehicle systems and/or vehicle functions is ended as soon as the reading out fails or a change in the identification code is detected.