CONTROLLING VEHICLE SYSTEMS WITH MOBILE DEVICES

• US 20160214621A1
• Filed: 01/26/2015
• Published: 07/28/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman International Industries Incorporated (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Vedantam, Shyam, Sundaram, Vishnu, Baalu, Arvin
• Granted Patent: US 9,610,957 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/11 Instrument graphical user interfaces or menu aspects
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/135 Joysticks
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/1438 Touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/148 Instrument input by voice
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/165 Videos and animations
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/176 Camera images
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/48 Sensors
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/573 Mobile devices controlling vehicle functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/586 Wired data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/5911 Bluetooth
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/691 Housings
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/774 on or in the centre console
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/782 on the steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/22 Display screens
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/80 Arrangements for controlling instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/81 : for controlling displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 : Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 11/00 : Arrangements for holding or mounting articles, not otherwise provided for
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/08 : Interaction between the driver and the control system
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• 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

Embodiments are disclosed for an in-vehicle system and methods of controlling vehicle systems with a mobile device in communication with the in-vehicle system. In one embodiment, an in-vehicle system includes a display device and an interface system communicatively connected to one or more vehicle sensors. The interface system may be configured to receive sensor signals from the one or more vehicle sensors, transmit the sensor signals to a mobile device, receive control signals from the mobile device, and transmit the control signals to a target vehicle system, the control signals responsive to the one or more vehicle sensors.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle system comprising:

a display device; and

an interface system communicatively connected to one or more vehicle sensors, the interface system configured to;

receive sensor signals from the one or more vehicle sensors,

transmit the sensor signals to a mobile device,

receive control signals from the mobile device, and

transmit the control signals to a target vehicle system, the control signals responsive to the one or more vehicle sensors.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the display device and the interface system do not include an operating system.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface system is communicatively connected to the display device and configured to receive display signals from the mobile device and transmit the display signals to the display device.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the display device is communicatively connected directly to the mobile device and configured to receive display signals directly from the mobile device without a processor processing the received display signals.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the display device is configured to display a static image when the interface system is not connected to a mobile device.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the static image is an image saved in a storage device, the storage device being communicatively connected to the display device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein a vehicle includes a storage structure for receiving the mobile device, the storage structure having an integrated connector providing a communication link to the interface system.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the interface system is further configured to receive user input from one or more control elements physically and permanently positioned on a vehicle and transmit the received user input to the mobile device.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more control elements include at least one of a steering wheel control, a control element integrated in an instrument panel of the vehicle, and a microphone.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein the display device includes a touch screen and the one or more control elements includes the touch screen.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the sensor signals are received from a Controller-Area Network (CAN) bus of a vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the target vehicle system includes a speaker system of a vehicle.

13. A method of controlling vehicle systems of a vehicle with a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving, at an in-vehicle interface system, sensed data from one or more vehicle sensors;

transmitting the received sensed data from the in-vehicle interface system to the mobile device;

receiving, at the in-vehicle interface system, display instructions from the mobile device;

transmitting the display instructions to a display integrated within the vehicle;

receiving, at the in-vehicle interface system, control instructions from the mobile device, the control instructions being generated based on the sensed data; and

transmitting the control instructions to a target vehicle system of the vehicle.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein receiving the sensed data from the one or more vehicle sensors includes receiving the sensed data from a Controller-Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle, and where transmitting the received sensed data includes transmitting the received sensed data without any processor of the vehicle with an operating system processing the received sensed data, and where transmitting the received display instructions includes transmitting the received display instructions without any processor of the vehicle with an operating system processing the received display instructions.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein transmitting the control instructions to the target vehicle system of the vehicle includes transmitting the control instructions to the target vehicle system via a Controller-Area Network (CAN) bus of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving user input from a touch screen of the display, and wherein the received display instructions are responsive to, via the mobile device, each of the sensed data and the user input received at the touch screen of the display, the received display instructions not generated by any processor integrated in the vehicle with an operating system.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving user input from a control element of the vehicle via a Controller-Area Network (CAN) bus, and wherein the display instructions are generated based upon one or more of the sensed data, the user input received at the control element of the vehicle, and information received from a remote service communicatively connected to the mobile device via a network.

18. An in-vehicle computing system comprising:

a display device integrated into a vehicle; and

an interface system communicatively connected to one or more vehicle sensors, one or more in-vehicle control elements, and a mobile device, the interface system configured to;

receive, at the interface system, user input data from one or more of the in-vehicle control elements;

transmit the received user input data from the interface system to the mobile device, bypassing any processor in the vehicle;

receive, at the interface system, display instructions from the mobile device, the display instructions including adjustments to an image displayed on the display device based on the received user input data;

transmit the display instructions to the display device while bypassing any processor in the vehicle;

receive, at the interface system, control instructions from the mobile device; and

transmit the control instructions to a target vehicle system of the vehicle.

19. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 18, wherein the interface system is further configured to receive sensed data via an interconnect of the vehicle, and wherein the display instructions include adjustments to an image displayed on the display device based on the received sensed data.

20. The in-vehicle computing system of claim 18, wherein the interface system is further configured to receive sensed data via an interconnect of the vehicle, and wherein the control instructions are generated based on the received sensed data.