Vehicle computer system
First Claim
1. A vehicle computer system comprising:
- a housing of a size suitable to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard;
a computer mounted within the housing;
an open platform operating system executing on the computer, the operating system being configured to support multiple applications that are supplied by a vehicle user;
a faceplate attached to the housing; and
a peripheral device contained in the faceplate and compatibly connected to the computer, the operating system managing the peripheral device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle computer system has a housing sized to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard or other appropriate location, a computer mounted within the housing, and an open platform operating system which executes on an open hardware architecture computer. The open platform operating system supports multiple different applications that can be supplied by a vehicle user. For instance, the operating system can support applications pertaining to entertainment, navigation, communications, security, diagnostics, and others. The computer has one or more storage drive (e.g., CD drive, floppy disk drive, cassette player, or hard disk drive) which permits the vehicle user to download programs from a storage medium (e.g., CD, diskette, cassette, or hard disk) to the computer. In the described implementation, the computer has two independent processors. One processor, which runs the operating system, is mounted in a stationary base unit of the housing and the other processor is mounted to a faceplate which is detachable from the base unit. When the faceplate is attached, the first processor provides the primary control over all operating systems (i.e., entertainment, navigation, communications, security, diagnostics, and others) and the faceplate processor is subservient. When the faceplate is detached, it forms a portable RF device with the faceplate processor providing radio and communications capabilities.
-
Citations
46 Claims
-
1. A vehicle computer system comprising:
-
a housing of a size suitable to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard; a computer mounted within the housing; an open platform operating system executing on the computer, the operating system being configured to support multiple applications that are supplied by a vehicle user; a faceplate attached to the housing; and a peripheral device contained in the faceplate and compatibly connected to the computer, the operating system managing the peripheral device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A vehicle computer system comprising:
-
a housing of a size suitable to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard, the housing having first and second support structures that can be physically connected to, or separated from, one another; a first processing unit mounted to the first support structure of the housing to provide first processing and control capabilities; a second processing unit mounted to the second support structure of the housing to provide second processing and control capabilities; a busing subsystem to electrically interconnect the first and second processing units when the first and second support structures are physically connected to one another; and the first processing unit, the second processing unit, and the busing subsystem being arranged within the housing so that the vehicle computer system conforms to a form factor for mounting in the vehicle dashboard. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
-
-
15. An vehicle computer system comprising:
-
a housing having a base unit and a faceplate; a support module mounted to the base unit, the support module having a communications bus and first and second interfacing slots to provide access to the communications bus; a first processor mounted to the faceplate to form a faceplate module, the faceplate module being compatibly connected to the first interfacing slot of the support module; a computer module having a second processor, the computer module being compatibly connected to the second interfacing slot of the support module; and the communications bus electronically interconnecting the faceplate module, the computer module, and the support module. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
-
-
32. A vehicle entertainment/communication system comprising:
-
a base unit of a size suitable to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard; a faceplate detachably connected to the base unit; an entertainment player; a processor mounted to the faceplate to form a faceplate module, the processor being configured to control the entertainment player when the faceplate module is attached to the base unit; and an RF receiver provided in the faceplate module and operatively coupled to the processor, the faceplate module being operable as a portable RF receiving device to receive RF signals when the faceplate module is detached from the base unit. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35)
-
-
36. A vehicle computer system comprising:
-
a housing of a size suitable to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard; a computer mounted within the housing; a graphical display monitor separate and remotely located from the housing, but electrically coupled as a peripheral to the computer, the computer controlling graphical data output to the graphical display monitor; and the graphical display monitor having an automatic override switch that is activated when the display is viewable by the driver to prevent display of non-driving related information. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
-
-
42. A portable RF electronics device for use in conjunction with a vehicle entertainment system, the vehicle entertainment system having a base unit sized to be mounted in a vehicle dashboard and a player mounted in the base unit, the portable RF electronics device comprising:
-
a faceplate having a physical coupling assembly which enables the faceplate to be attached to or detached from the base unit of the vehicle entertainment system; a processor mounted to the faceplate to form a faceplate module, the faceplate module having an electrical interface which compatibly couples to an interface on the base unit to permit data communication from the faceplate module to the player, the processor being configured to control the player device when the faceplate module is electrically coupled to the base unit; and an RF receiver provided in the faceplate module and operatively coupled to the processor, the faceplate module being operable as a portable RF receiving device to receive RF signals when the faceplate module is physically detached from the base unit. - View Dependent Claims (43, 44, 45, 46)
-
Specification