Information communication system and method applicable to in-vehicle networking architecture

• US 6,182,171 B1
• Filed: 06/05/1998
• Issued: 01/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Takada, Masayuki, Akatsuka, Takeshi, Ueno, Takashi, Wong, Ricardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Ray, Gopal C.
• Application Number:
  US09/092,055
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 710/100, 710/129, 710/1, 710/5, 710/62, 710/72, 709/208, 709/223, 709/253, 714/39, 714/40, 714/819, 340/933, 340/146.2, 340/825.52, 370/257, 370/419, 370/906, 365/129, 713/400, 731/16, 359/118, 359/154, 307/10.1, 307/9.1, 307/38, 701/1, 701/36
• US Class Current: 710/100
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40032 Details regarding a bus interface enhancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/403 with centralised control, e.g. polling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle

Abstract

In information communication system and method applicable to an in-vehicle networking architecture, at least one first electronic equipment which is enabled to serve another electronic equipment with its function and at least one second electronic equipment which is enabled to make use of a function which another electronic equipment serves are connected to a common communication bus (network). An equipment managing apparatus connected to the common communication bus stores a function serving information representing the function that the first electronic equipment can serve and a making-use-of function information representing the function of which the second electronic equipment can make use. If both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other, the second electronic equipment makes use of the function of the first electronic equipment.

Claims

1. An information communication system, comprising:

a function serving electronic-equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to serve another electronic equipment with at least one function that the function serving electronic equipment has;

a making-use-of function electronic equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to make use of at least one function that another electronic equipment has;

a common communication bus to which the function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function are enabled to be connected; and

an equipment managing apparatus which is enabled to be connected to the common communication bus and including a storage block for storing a function serving information representing the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve and a making-use-of function information representing the function of which the making-use-of function electronic equipment is enabled to make use, and a comparing block for comparing the function serving information stored in the storage block with the making-use-of function information stored in the storage block so as to determine whether both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other, the equipment managing apparatus allowing the making-use-of function electronic equipment to make use of the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve when determining that both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other.

2. An information communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the equipment managing apparatus further comprises:

a connection detecting block for detecting whether an electronic equipment is newly connected to the common communication bus; and

a connection determining block for determining whether the newly connected electronic equipment is a new function serving electronic equipment or a new making-use-of function electronic equipment when the connection detecting block detects that the electronic equipment is newly connected.

3. An information communication system as claimed in claim 2, wherein, when the connection determining block determines that the newly connected electronic equipment is the new function serving electronic equipment, the comparing block of the managing apparatus compares the function serving information on the newly connected function serving equipment with the making-use-of function serving information on the already connected making-use-of function electronic equipment.

4. An information communication system as claimed in claim 3, wherein, when the comparing block determines that both contents of the function serving information on the newly connected function serving equipment and the making-use-of function information on the making-use-of function electronic equipment are coincident with each other, the equipment managing apparatus allows the already connected making-use-of function equipment to make use of the function which the newly connected function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve.

5. An information communication system as claimed in claim 2, wherein, when the connection determining block determines that the newly connected electronic equipment is the new making-use-of function electronic equipment, the equipment managing apparatus compares the making-use-of function information on the newly connected making-use-of function electronic equipment with the function serving information on the already connected function serving electronic equipment so as to determine whether both contents of the making-use-of function information on the newly connected making-use-of function electronic equipment and the function serving information on the already connected function serving electronic equipment are coincident with each other.

6. An information communication system as claimed in claim 5, wherein, when the comparing block of the equipment managing apparatus determines that both contents of the making-use-of function information on the newly connected making-use-of function electronic equipment and the function serving information on the function serving electronic equipment are coincident with each other, the managing apparatus allows the newly connected making-use-of function electronic equipment to make use of the function which the already connected function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve.

7. An information communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the equipment managing apparatus further includes:

a disconnection detecting block for detecting whether either one of the electronic pieces of equipment is disconnected from the common communication bus and a disconnection determining block for determining whether one of the electronic pieces of equipment which is disconnected from the common communication bus is the function serving electronic equipment or the making-use-of function electronic equipment.

8. An information communication system as claimed in claim 7, wherein, when the disconnection determining block determines that the disconnected electronic equipment is the function serving electronic equipment, the comparing block of the equipment managing apparatus compares the function serving information on the disconnected function serving electronic equipment with the making-use-of function information on the connected making-use-of function electronic equipment so as to determine whether both contents of the function serving information on the disconnected function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function information on the connected making-use-of function electronic equipment are coincident with each other.

9. An information communication system as claimed in claim 8, wherein, when both contents of the function serving information on the disconnected function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function information on the connected making-use-of function electronic equipment are coincident with each other, the equipment managing apparatus inhibits the connected making-use-of function electronic equipment from making use of the function which the disconnected function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve.

10. An information communication system as claimed in claim 7, wherein, when the disconnection determining block determines that the disconnected electronic equipment is the making-use-of function electronic apparatus, the comparing block of the equipment managing apparatus compares the function serving information on the connected function serving electronic equipment with the making-use-of function information on the disconnected making-use-of function electronic equipment so as to determine whether both contents of the function serving information on the connected function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function information on the disconnected making-use-of function electronic equipment are coincident with each other.

11. An information communication system as claimed in claim 10, wherein, when both contents of the function serving information on the connected function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function information on the disconnected making-use-of function electronic equipment are coincident with each other, the equipment managing apparatus inhibits the connected function serving electronic equipment from serving the function with which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve the disconnected making-use-of function electronic equipment.

12. An information communication system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the function serving information is transmitted from the function serving electronic equipment to the common communication bus in a predetermined information format with the function serving information added thereto and the making-use-of function information is transmitted to the common communication bus in the predetermined information format with the function serving information added thereto.

13. An information communication system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the predetermined information format is constituted by a command (address, argument [, argument [, argument - - - ]]).

14. An information communication system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the common communication bus is extended within an automotive vehicle and wherein the function serving electronic equipment includes a first monitor of a wide screen with a front occupant seat positioned dial switch and a second monitor of a normal screen with a rear occupant seat positioned joystick switch and the making-use-of function electronic equipment includes a car navigation system and a mobile telephone with an adapter for the automotive vehicle and the information format in which the first monitor transmits the function serving information is resource(address, monitor_ wide, switch_dial);

the information format in which the second monitor transmits the function serving information is resource(address,monitor_normal, switch_joystick);

the information format in which the car navigation system transmits the making-use-of function information is search(address,switch_dial, monitor_wide); and

the information format in which the mobile telephone transmits the making-use-of function information is search(address,switch_—

10 key, switch_joystick, monitor_normal).

15. An information communication system as claimed in claim 14, wherein each of the first and second monitors transmits function serving information in the predetermined information format to the equipment managing apparatus via a common communication bus connected thereto to store the corresponding function serving information in the predetermined information format into the storage block and each of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone transmits the making-use-of function information in the predetermined information format via the communication bus connected thereto to the equipment managing apparatus to store the making-use-of function information in the predetermined information format into the storage block, the comparing block of the equipment managing apparatus compares argument portions of the function serving information transmitted from each of the first and second monitors with those of the making-use-of function information transmitted from each of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone so as to determine whether both argument portions are coincident with each other, and the equipment managing apparatus transmits a registration instruction information to a corresponding one of the navigation system and the mobile telephone to register the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor into its making-use-of function electronic equipment source list describing the equipment whose at least one function is made use of.

16. An information communication system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the equipment managing apparatus transmits the registration instruction information to the car navigation system to register the first monitor into its making-use-of function electronic equipment source list describing the electronic equipment whose at least one function is made use of and transmits the registration instruction information to the mobile telephone to register the second monitor into its making-use-of function electronic equipment source list and wherein the car navigation system is enabled to make use of a wide monitor function and a dial switch function that the first monitor serves and the mobile telephone is enabled to make use of a joystick switch function and a normal monitor function that the second monitor serves.

17. An information communication system as claimed in claim 16, wherein, when the first monitor is disconnected from the common communication bus, the equipment managing apparatus searches for the making-use-of function information having the same arguments as those of the disconnected first monitor stored in the storage block and transmits a deletion instruction information to the car navigation system which makes use of the functions of the first monitor to delete the first monitor from the making-use-of function electronic equipment source list of the car navigation system.

18. An information communication system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the common communication bus is extended within an automotive vehicle, wherein the function serving electronic equipment includes a first monitor with a front occupant seat positioned dial switch and a second monitor with a rear occupant seat positioned joystick switch and the making-use-of function electronic equipment includes a car navigation system and a mobile telephone with an adapter for the automotive vehicle, wherein each of the first monitor and the second monitor transmits large classification data of the functions which the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor is enabled to serve as the function serving information via the common communication bus to store the large classification data of the functions into the storage block and each of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone transmits the large classification data of the functions of which the corresponding one of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone is desired to make use as the making-use-of function information to store the large classification data into the storage block, wherein the equipment managing apparatus tells each of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone that the function to be desired to be made use of by the corresponding one of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone is provided in the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor when both of the large classification data of the functions to be served by the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor and of the functions to be desired to be made use of by the corresponding one of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone are coincident with each other, wherein each of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone makes an inquiry of whether a detailed function is provided in the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor to the corresponding one of the fist monitor and the second monitor when the large classification data of the function to be served by the corresponding one of the first monitor and the second monitor is coincident with that to be desired to be made use of by the corresponding one of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone, wherein each of the first monitor and second monitor returns an answer on the inquiry to the corresponding one of the car navigation system and the mobile telephone, and wherein each or either of the car navigation system or the mobile telephone registers each or either of the first monitor or the second monitor into its making-use-of function equipment source list describing the equipment whose function is desired to be made use of when the answer of the inquiry of the detailed function is positive.

19. An information communication system, comprising:

a function serving electronic equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to serve another electronic equipment with at least one function that the function serving electronic equipment has;

a making-use-of function electronic equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to make use of at least one function that another electronic equipment has;

a common communication bus to which the function serving electronic equipment and the making-use-of function are enabled to be connected; and

equipment managing apparatus which is enabled to be connected to the common communication bus and including storage means for storing a function serving information representing the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve and a making-use-of function information representing the function of which the making-use-of function electronic equipment is enabled to make use, and comparing means for comparing the function serving information stored in the storage means with the making-use-of function information stored in the storage means so as to determine whether both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other, the equipment managing apparatus allowing the making-use-of function electronic equipment to make use of the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve when determining that both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other.

20. An information communication method, comprising the steps of:

connecting a function serving electronic equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to serve another electronic equipment with at least one function that the function serving electronic equipment has to a common communication bus;

connecting a making-use-of function electronic equipment which is so arranged and constructed as to be enabled to make use of at least one function that another electronic equipment has to the common communication bus;

connecting an equipment managing apparatus to the common communication bus;

storing a function serving information representing the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve and a making-use-of function information representing the function of which the making-use-of function electronic equipment is enabled to make use into a storage block of the equipment managing apparatus;

comparing the function serving information stored in the storage block with the making-use-of function information stored in the storage block so as to determine whether both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other; and

allowing the making-use-of function electronic equipment to make use of the function which the function serving electronic equipment is enabled to serve when determining that both contents of the function serving information and the making-use-of function information are coincident with each other at the comparing step.