BEHAVIOR-BASED DISTRACTING APPLICATION DETECTION ON VEHICLES

• US 20170097857A1
• Filed: 10/02/2015
• Published: 04/06/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 10/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: YANG, Yafei, CAI, Liang, GUO, Xu
• Granted Patent: US 9,836,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3024 where the computing system component is a central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0488 using a touch-screen or digitiser, e.g. input of commands through traced gestures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/40 Business processes related to the transportation industry shipping G06Q10/083
• 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

Techniques for operating a computer system for a vehicle are provided. An example method according to these techniques includes observing usage of at least one component of the computer system by an application to generate an application usage log for the application, deriving behavior vectors from the application usage log, determining whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to one or more application safety rules, and limiting execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on status information associated with the vehicle.

Claims

1. A method for operating a computer system for a vehicle, the method comprising:

observing usage of at least one component of the computer system by an application to generate an application usage log for the application;

deriving behavior vectors from the application usage log;

determining whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to one or more application safety rules; and

limiting execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on status information associated with the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein deriving the behavior vectors from the application usage log comprises calculating a behavior value for each of a plurality of behavior parameters associated with usage of the computer system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which a user touches a touchscreen of the computer system while interacting with the application.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which a display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a predetermined period of time.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises an amount of audio or visual content output over a predetermined period of time.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which information is presented.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information associated with the vehicle is indicative of a speed of the vehicle, and wherein limiting the execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on the status information associated with the vehicle comprises limiting the execution of the application responsive to the status information associated with the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold speed.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving updates to the one or more application safety rules via a wireless connection of the computer system.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to the one or more application safety rules further comprises:

sending information about the application to a trusted network entity for analysis; and

receiving information from the trusted network entity indicative of whether the application is a distracting application.

10. A computer system for a vehicle, the computer system comprising:

means for observing usage of at least one component of the computer system by an application to generate an application usage log for the application;

means for deriving behavior vectors from the application usage log;

means for determining whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to one or more application safety rules; and

means for limiting execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on status information associated with the vehicle.

11. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the means for deriving the behavior vectors from the application usage log comprise means for calculating a behavior value for each of a plurality of behavior parameters associated with usage of the computer system.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which a user touches a touchscreen of the computer system while interacting with the application.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which a display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a predetermined period of time.

14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises an amount of audio or visual content output over a predetermined period of time.

15. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises a frequency at which information is presented.

16. The computer system of claim 10, wherein the status information associated with the vehicle is indicative of a speed of the vehicle, and wherein the means for limiting the execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on the status information associated with the vehicle comprises limiting the execution of the application responsive to the status information associated with the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold speed.

17. The computer system of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving updates to the one or more application safety rules via a wireless connection of the computer system.

18. The computer system of claim 10, wherein determining whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to the one or more application safety rules further comprises:

sending information about the application to a trusted network entity for analysis; and

receiving information from the trusted network entity indicative of whether the application is a distracting application.

19. A computer system for a vehicle, the computer system comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory, the at least one processor being configured to;

observe usage of at least one component of the computer system by an application to generate an application usage log for the application;

derive behavior vectors from the application usage log;

determine whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to one or more application safety rules; and

limit execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on status information associated with the vehicle.

20. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor being configured to derive the behavior vectors from the application usage log is configured to calculate a behavior value for each of a plurality of behavior parameters associated with usage of the computer system.

21. The computer system of claim 20, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises at least one of:

a frequency at which a user touches a touchscreen of the computer system while interacting with the application,

a frequency at which a display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a first predetermined period of time,

a frequency at which the display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a second predetermined period of time, and

a frequency at which information is presented.

22. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the status information associated with the vehicle is indicative of a speed of the vehicle, and wherein the at least one processor being configured to limit the execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on the status information associated with the vehicle is configured to limit the execution of the application responsive to the status information associated with the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold speed.

23. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

receive updates to the one or more application safety rules via a wireless connection of the computer system.

24. The computer system of claim 19, wherein the at least one processor being configured to determine whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to the one or more application safety rules is further configured to:

send information about the application to a trusted network entity for analysis; and

receive information from the trusted network entity indicative of whether the application is a distracting application.

25. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium, having stored thereon computer-readable instructions for operating a computer system of a vehicle, comprising instructions configured to cause the computer system to:

observe usage of at least one component of the computer system by an application to generate an application usage log for the application;

derive behavior vectors from the application usage log;

determine whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to one or more application safety rules; and

limit execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on status information associated with the vehicle.

26. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to derive the behavior vectors from the application usage log comprise instructions configured to cause the computer system to calculate a behavior value for each of a plurality of behavior parameters associated with usage of the computer system.

27. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 26, wherein the plurality of behavior parameters comprises at least one of:

a frequency at which a user touches a touchscreen of the computer system while interacting with the application,

a frequency at which a display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a first predetermined period of time,

a frequency at which the display of the computer system changes by more than a threshold amount over a second predetermined period of time, and

a frequency at which information is presented.

28. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the status information associated with the vehicle is indicative of a speed of the vehicle, and wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to limit the execution of the application responsive to determining that the application is a distracting application and based on the status information associated with the vehicle comprise instructions configured to cause the computer system to limit the execution of the application responsive to the status information associated with the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is moving faster than a threshold speed.

29. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions configured to cause the computer system to:

receive updates to the one or more application safety rules via a wireless connection of the computer system.

30. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 25, wherein the instructions configured to cause the computer system to determine whether the application is a distracting application by comparing the behavior vectors to the one or more application safety rules further comprise instructions configured to cause the computer system to:

send information about the application to a trusted network entity for analysis; and

receive information from the trusted network entity indicative of whether the application is a distracting application.