Method and device for displaying driver information on a common driver information display

• US 6,597,367 B2
• Filed: 12/29/2000
• Issued: 07/22/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/30/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Geisler, Thomas
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phu K.
• Application Number:
  US09/751,500
• Publication Number:
  US 20010024208A1
• Time in Patent Office: 935 Days
• Field of Search: 345/629, 345/419, 345/630, 345/632, 345/633, 345/636
• US Class Current: 345/629
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles

Abstract

A method and a device for the graphic display of driver information in a motor vehicle, the driver information, originating from various individual devices that are linked to each other via a bus, being able to be depicted using a graphical user interface as the foreground on a background of a common driver information display. A corresponding α-channel is generated in advance in each case using an image processing device, it being assigned to the partial graphics to be inserted, and, together with the corresponding partial graphic bitmap, it being stored in a memory provided in each case in the individual device in question. The result in a superimposition is a correct antialiasing of the partial graphics inserted in front of any background.

Claims

1. A method for providing a graphic display of driver information in a motor vehicle, the driver information originating from a plurality of individual devices linked to each other via a bus, and the driver information being depicted as a foreground on a background of a common driver information display including a graphical user interface, the method comprising the steps of:

performing a plurality of preselected calculating operations of a predetermined calculation regime in an external image processing device;

storing a partial graphic bitmap corresponding to the driver information to be depicted and including associated α

-channels and corresponding results of the plurality of preselected calculating operations conducted in advance in a corresponding one of the plurality of individual devices;

transmitting the partial graphic bitmap required in a specific case along with corresponding ones of the associated α

-channels from the plurality of individual devices via the bus to the common driver information display;

combining the partial graphic bitmap required in the specific case and the background of the graphical user interface of the common driver information display, taking into account the corresponding associated α

-channels according to the predetermined calculating regime; and

depicting a total result on the graphical user interface of the common driver information display.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

performing a filtering of a supersampling of the partial graphic bitmap.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising the steps of:

from the partial graphic bitmap, generating graphic double images, in which color picture elements of the supersampling of the partial graphic bitmap that are assigned to a background of the partial graphic bitmap are configured as black picture elements; and

configuring color picture elements that are not assigned to the background of the partial graphic bitmap as white picture elements.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the steps of:

generating gray-key images that are assigned to the partial graphic bitmap by filtering the supersampling of the corresponding graphic double images; and

assigning to each picture element of the gray-key images a corresponding α

-value for specifying a gray tone.

5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of:

storing the partial graphic bitmap having the corresponding associated α

-channels in a respective one of the plurality of individual devices in a compressed format.

6. A device for performing a graphic display of driver information in a motor vehicle, the driver information originating from a plurality of individual devices that are linked to each other via a bus, and the driver information being depicted as a foreground on a background of a common driver information display including a graphical user interface, the device comprising:

a memory arranged in each one of the plurality of individual devices and for storing a partial graphic bitmap corresponding to the driver information to be depicted, the partial graphic bitmap including associated α

-channels and corresponding results of a plurality of predetermined calculating operations of a preestablished calculation regime performed in advance in a corresponding one of the plurality of individual devices;

a transmission device arranged in each one of the plurality of individual devices and for transmitting the partial graphic bitmap required in each case along with corresponding ones of the associated α

-channels from the plurality of individual devices via the bus to the common driver information display;

a calculating device arranged in the common driver information display and for combining the partial graphic bitmap required in each case and the background of the graphical user interface of the common driver information display, taking into account the corresponding associated α

-channels according to the preestablished calculation regime; and

a display device arranged in the common driver information display and for depicting a total result on the graphical user interface of the driver information display.

7. The device according to claim 6, further comprising:

an arrangement for performing the plurality of predetermined calculating operations of the preestablished calculating regime in advance in an image processing device and, together with the partial graphic bitmap and respective ones of the associated α

-channels, for storing the plurality of predetermined calculating operations in the memory of the corresponding individual device.

8. The device according to claim 7, further comprising:

an arrangement for storing the partial graphic bitmap having the corresponding associated α

-channels in the memory of the corresponding individual device in a compressed format.