MESSAGING FOR MOBILE DEVICES USING VEHICLE DCM

• US 20160073240A1
• Filed: 09/08/2014
• Published: 03/10/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 09/08/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Helm, Sean L.
• Granted Patent: US 9,369,852 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements
• 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

Disclosed are computing devices, systems, and methods for messaging for mobile devices using a vehicle data communications module (DCM). A computing device associated with a vehicle can receive an incoming message sent to a driver'"'"'s mobile device using a Bluetooth connection with the mobile device. The message can be presented to the driver over the vehicle'"'"'s audio system using text-to-speech processing. The driver can compose an outgoing message as a reply, such as using speech-to-text processing, which can be sent to a remote server to forward to the intended third-party recipient. If the third party replies to the outgoing message directly, the remote server can receive the reply and forward it to the vehicle computing device. All related messages can be presented to the driver as a single thread or conversation.

Claims

1. A computing device for a vehicle comprising:

one or more processors for controlling the operations of the computing device; and

a memory for storing data and program instructions used by the one or more processors, wherein the one or more processors are configured to execute instructions stored in the memory to;

receive, from a mobile device using a local data connection, a first incoming message originating from a remote sender;

send, to a server computer using a data communications module, an outgoing message for distribution to a remote recipient in response to the first incoming message;

receive, from the server computer using the data communications module, a second incoming message originating from the remote recipient;

determine a logical grouping comprising at least the first incoming message and the second incoming message; and

present the logical grouping to a driver of the vehicle.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the local data connection is a short-range wireless data connection.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message is composed using a speech-to-text processing module.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using a text-to-speech processing module.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using an interactive display.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the computing device.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the driver.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the local data connection is a short-range wireless data connection.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message is composed using a speech-to-text processing module.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using a text-to-speech processing module.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using an interactive display.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the computing device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the driver.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the local data connection is a short-range wireless data connection.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message is composed using a speech-to-text processing module.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using a text-to-speech processing module.

19. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first incoming message and the second incoming message is presented to the driver using an interactive display.

20. The system of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the computing device.

21. The system of claim 1, wherein the outgoing message includes a unique identifier associated with the driver.

8. A computer-implemented method for a vehicle comprising:

receiving, from a mobile device using a local data connection, a first incoming message originating from a remote sender;

sending, to a server computer using a data communications module, an outgoing message for distribution to a remote recipient in response to the first incoming message;

receiving, from the server computer using the data communications module, a second incoming message originating from the remote recipient;

determining a logical grouping comprising at least the first incoming message and the second incoming message; and

presenting the logical grouping to a driver of the vehicle.

15. A system comprising:

a server computer; and

a computing device associated with a vehicle in communication with the server computer;

wherein the computing device is configured to;

receive, from a mobile device using a local data connection, a first incoming message originating from a remote sender;

send, to a server computer using a data communications module, an outgoing message for distribution to a remote recipient in response to the first incoming message;

receive, from the server computer using the data communications module, a second incoming message originating from the remote recipient;

determine a logical grouping comprising at least the first incoming message and the second incoming message; and

present the logical grouping to a driver of the vehicle.