Scalable vehicle processing system

• US 7,577,740 B2
• Filed: 05/07/2004
• Issued: 08/18/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/08/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Harman Becker Automotive Systems GmbH (Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.)
• Inventors: Kuhn, Thomas, Kuz, Volker, Behrens, Ralph
• Primary Examiner(s): Neurauter, Jr.; George C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Fearer; Mark D
• Application Number:
  US10/841,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20050027787A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 709/225, 709/200, 370/406
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/1101 Session protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 65/765 intermediate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/08 Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion

Abstract

A vehicle processing system exchanges data through a vehicle entertainment and information system, a service gateway, and a content provider. The vehicle processing system requests data from the content provider through a service gateway. The service gateway generates and transmits a downstream service packet to the vehicle entertainment and information system. The content provider may include a packet generation subsystem that forms the downstream data packets. The subsystem may encode the data and embed a data identifier that may identify the data format of the downstream data packets.

Claims

1. A method for exchanging data between a vehicle entertainment and information system and a content provider comprising:

installing a service gateway that converts a communication protocol;

in response to a data request to the content provider by the vehicle entertainment and information system, forming a downstream service packet identifying a first data format of service data to the data request, the vehicle entertainment and information system which has sent the data request, and content of the service data and including information that associates the service data with the data request;

compressing the downstream service packet to tokenize a tag defined by a markup language into a number where compressing comprises generating a mapping list that maps the number to the tag; and

receiving the downstream service packet at the service gateway where the received downstream service packet comprises the mapping list and a tokenized payload;

processing the downstream data format at the service gateway comprising;

converting the downstream data packet to have the second data format upon determination that the second data format is compatible with the vehicle entertainment and information system;

transmitting the downstream service packet having the second data format to the vehicle entertainment and information system;

generating an upstream service packet at the vehicle entertainment and information system, the upstream service packet identifying a selected data format used by the vehicle entertainment and information system, the vehicle entertainment and information system and content of the upstream service packet;

transmitting the upstream data packet to the content provider by the service gateway where the selected data format of the upstream data packet at the interface to the content provider corresponds to the first data format of the downstream data packet; and

where the first data format includes a standard format and the second and the selected data formats include one of the standard format and a proprietary format.

2. The method according to claim 1 further comprising:

decoding the downstream data packet in the first data format which is received from the content provider at the service gateway;

encoding the downstream service packet in the second data format at the service gateway, where the first and the second data formats are different.

3. The method according to claim 1 further comprising detecting a data format identifier embedded in the downstream data packet received from the content provider.

4. The method according to claim 1 where the first data format is based on an eXtensive Markup Language (“

XML”

) and one of the second and the selected data formats includes the proprietary format.

5. The method according to claim 1 where compressing the downstream data packet comprises compressing the downstream data packet exclusively at the service gateway or the content provider.

6. The method according to claim 1 where the second and the selected data formats include a text format.

7. The method according to claim 1 where the downstream data packet comprises a first tag indicative of downstream and the upstream data packet comprises a second tag indicative of upstream where the first tag and the second tag are compressed into the number.

8. A service gateway that exchanges data with a content provider and a vehicle entertainment and information system comprising:

a receiver that receives a first downstream data packet from the content provider,

where in response to a data request from the vehicle entertainment and information system, the first downstream data packet identifies a first data format of service data in response to the data request, the vehicle entertainment and information system which has sent the data request, and content of the service data and includes information that associates the service data with the data request,

where the first downstream data packet comprises a tag which is defined by a markup language and compressed to be tokenized into a number and the first downstream data packet farther comprises a mapping list that maps the number to the tag and a tokenized payload;

a decision device operable to;

detect a data format identifier embedded in the first downstream data packet; and

determine whether the data format identifier represents a compatible format with the vehicle entertainment and information system;

a conversion device operable to convert the first data format of the first downstream data packet according to the second data format in response to the determination that the vehicle entertainment and information system is compatible with the second data format; and

a packet generator operable to generate a second downstream service packet in a second data format subsequent to the conversion of the first downstream data packet where the second data format is compatible with the vehicle entertainment and information system;

a transmitter operable to transmit the first downstream service packet, or alternatively, the second downstream service packet to the vehicle entertainment and information system;

where the receiver receives an upstream service packet according to a third data format, the upstream service packet identifying the third data format used by the vehicle entertainment and information system, the vehicle entertainment and information system, and content of the upstream service packet; and

where the first data format includes a standard format and the second and the third data formats include one of the standard format and a proprietary format; and

where the third data format of the upstream data packet at an interface of the service gateway to the content provider corresponds to the first data format of the downstream data packet.

9. A vehicle data processing system comprising:

a vehicle entertainment and information system operable to;

send a data request to a content provider; and

generate an upstream service packet in response to a request from the content provider where the upstream service packet identifies a selected data format used by the vehicle entertainment and information system, the vehicle entertainment and information system, and content of the upstream service packet;

a client-side service gateway for receiving the requested data from the content provider and for generating and transmitting a downstream service packet to the vehicle entertainment and information system where the service gateway detects different data formats between the content provider and the vehicle entertainment and information system, the different data formats including a first data format being transparent to the vehicle entertainment and information system and a second data format and the selected data format being transparent to the content provider, the client-side service gateway comprising;

a receiver operable to receive the downstream service packet from the content provider in response to the data request and the upstream service packet;

a processor operable to analyze the downstream service packet to determine whether conversion of the different data formats is needed and compress the downstream service packet to tokenize the tag into a number and the downstream service packet further comprises a mapping list that maps the number to the tag and a tokenized payload;

a packet generator that generates a resulting downstream service packet subsequent to the determination by the processor as to whether or not the conversion of the different data formats is needed; and

a transmitter that transmits the resulting downstream service packet to the vehicle entertainment and information system;

where the downstream service packet identifies the first data format, the vehicle entertainment and information system which has sent the data request, a selected session, content of service data in response to the data request, information that associates the data request with the service data;

where the first data format includes a standard format and the second and the selected data formats include one of the standard format and a proprietary format;

where the selected data format of the upstream service packet at an interface to the content provider corresponds to the first data format of the downstream data packet.

10. The vehicle processing system according to claim 9 where the service gateway forwards the downstream service packet received from the content provider to the vehicle entertainment and information system when no format differences are detected.

11. The vehicle processing system according to claim 9, where the processor is operable to compress the tag into the number exclusively at the service gateway.

12. The vehicle processing system according to claim 9, where the data request comprises a destination for a navigation service and the downstream service packet further comprises a start mode tag indicative of an immediate start of the navigation service, a save mode tag indicative of storing the destination, and a destination tag indicative of destination information.

13. The vehicle processing system according to claim 9, where the first data format comprises an eXtended Markup Language (“

XML”

) and the processor generates no error when the tag is not correctly construed, thereby preventing service disruption.

14. The vehicle processing system according to claim 13, where the start mode tag, the save mode tag and the destination tag are tokenized into the number.