Transfer of at least one personal setting of a vehicle

• US 7,283,902 B2
• Filed: 07/14/2006
• Issued: 10/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: Heider, Andreas, Stauner, Thomas, Saad, Alexandre, Schroeder, Astrid
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli; Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US11/486,029
• Publication Number:
  US 20070038345A1
• Time in Patent Office: 459 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/49
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel

Abstract

A method is provided for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, especially for a driver, who changes the vehicle. To transfer the vehicle settings that are known to the driver as true to the original as possible from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, thus without falsifying the subjective impression, first personalization data indicating the personal first setting is exported from the first vehicle in the original form or in a modified form in a first step and is imported into the second vehicle in a second step. The second personalization data are formed based on the imported data; and a personal setting is carried out with the second personalization data in the second vehicle, wherein the model and/or the accessories of the first and second vehicle may be identical or different.

Claims

1. A method for transferring at least a first personal setting from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the method comprising the acts of:

exporting first personalization data indicating the first personal setting from the first vehicle in one of an original and modified forms, the first personalization data having dynamic personalization rules;

importing the first personalization data into the second vehicle;

forming second personalization data based on the imported first personalization data;

causing a personal setting to be set dynamically in the second vehicle using the second personalization data and the imported dynamic personalization rules, whereby at least one of a model and accessories of the first and the second vehicle are identical or different.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first personalization data is converted into a vehicle-independent data format, and further wherein the causing of the personal setting to be set in the second vehicle occurs using the data in the vehicle-independent data format.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the first personalization data is exported from the first vehicle in a form permitting the model of the first vehicle to be recognized, and further wherein the causing of the personal setting to be set in the second vehicle occurs with the aid of the data in the form that permits the model of the first vehicle to be recognized.

4. A system for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, wherein the system implements the method according to claim 2.

5. A computer program product for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the computer program product including a computer readable medium containing a computer program that implements the method according to claim 2.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first personalization data is exported from the first vehicle in a form permitting the model of the first vehicle to be recognized, and further wherein the causing of the personal setting to be set in the second vehicle occurs with the aid of the data in the form that permits the model of the first vehicle to be recognized.

7. A system for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, wherein the system implements the method according to claim 6.

8. A computer program product for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the computer program product including a computer readable medium containing a computer program that implements the method according to claim 6.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of exporting the first personalization data further comprises the act of at least one of encoding and signing the exported first personalization data.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the encoding and signing are performed using a public-key method.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the first personalization data are combined with other personalization data into one group, the one group being then jointly at least one of encoded and signed.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first personalization data are combined with other personalization data into one group, the one group being then jointly at least one of encoded and signed.

13. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the acts of:

retrieving the first personalization data from at least one of a first controller of the first vehicle and a first central database provided in the first vehicle, prior to the exporting act; and

feeding the second personalization data formed based on the first personalization data to at least one of a second controller of the second vehicle and a second central database provided in the second vehicle.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of forming the second personalization data is performed using at least one of a table, a matrix, and an allocation specification, which factors into account the model of the first and second vehicles, which models need not be identical.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first personal setting is a personal setting for a driver who changes from the first vehicle to the second vehicle.

16. A system for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, wherein the system implements the method according to claim 1.

17. A computer program product for transferring at least a first personal setting of a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the computer program product including a computer readable medium containing a computer program that implements the method according to claim 1.

18. A method for transferring at least a first personal setting from a first vehicle to a second vehicle, the method comprising the acts of:

incorporating rules for dynamic personalization of the first vehicle in first personalization data;

exporting the first personalization data indicating the first personal setting from the first vehicle;

importing the first personalization data into the second vehicle;

forming second personalization data based on the imported first personalization data; and

causing a personal setting to be dynamically set in the second vehicle using the imported dynamic personalization rules of the second personalization data.

19. The method according to claim 18, further comprising the acts of generating rules for dynamic personalization having a conditional expression related to data of at least one of the vehicle, environment and driver, and a vehicle function executable in response to a result of the conditional expression.

20. The method according to claim 18, further comprising the acts of interpreting the rules for dynamic personalization in the first vehicle to be applicable in the second vehicle.