In-vehicle handsfree apparatus

• US 8,190,214 B2
• Filed: 02/18/2009
• Issued: 05/29/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 02/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Suzuki, Hideaki, Kakehi, Tooru, Abeta, Takehiro, Kimura, Yousuke, Okayasu, Takafumi
• Primary Examiner(s): Karikari, Kwasi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rideout, William F
• Application Number:
  US12/378,709
• Publication Number:
  US 20090209296A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,196 Days
• Field of Search: 455/88, 455/556.1, 455/567, 455/569.1, 455/569.2, 455/575.9
• US Class Current: 455/567
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/56 Arrangements for indicating or recording the called number at the calling subscriber's set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/575 Means for retrieving and displaying personal data about calling party
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/663 Preventing unauthorised calls to a telephone set
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 19/048 Arrangements providing optical indication of the incoming call, e.g. flasher circuits
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 9/04 involving a separate line for each pair of parties
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 92/08 between user and terminal device

Abstract

An in-vehicle handsfree apparatus establishes a handsfree profile connection with at least two cellular phones. It may be determined that a first cellular phone and a second cellular phone are receiving incoming calls at the same time, or that while a first cellular phone is calling, a second cellular phone is receiving an incoming call. In such a case, based on attributes (for example, a holder or intended use) of the first and second cellular phones, a notice manner of information on incoming call or information on telephone call is differentiated, for instance, in regard to a background color of a display window.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle handsfree apparatus comprising:

a handsfree connection section configured to establish a handsfree communication protocol connection with a plurality of cellular phones simultaneously;

a storage section configured to store attributes of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously; and

a control section configured to determine whether an incoming call is being received by a cellular phone included in the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously;

the control section being further configured to,

when it is determined that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, at least two cellular phones are receiving individual incoming calls,

cause a notice section to give notice of incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in individual notice manners, the individual notice manners being differentiated from each other based on individual attributes stored in the storage section with respect to the at least two cellular phones,

cause the notice section not to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the second cellular phone,

when, of the at least two cellular phones receiving the incoming calls, a first cellular phone has an attribute of a first ordered classification and an other cellular phone has an attribute of a second ordered classification.

2. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a clock portion configured to clock times and dates,

the storage section being further configured to store intended uses as the attributes of the cellular phones,

the control section being further configured to,

when it is determined that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, the at least two cellular phones are receiving individual incoming calls,

cause the notice section to give notice of (i) the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual notice manners, the individual notice manners being differentiated from each other based on comparison between, with respect to the at least two cellular phones, (i) times and dates clocked by the clock portion and (ii) the intended uses stored in the storage section.

3. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a connection clock time detection portion configured to detect a connection clock time when the handsfree connection section establishes a handsfree communication protocol connection with a cellular phone,

the storage section being further configured to store, as the attribute of the cellular phone, the connection clock time detected by the connection clock time detection portion,

the control section being further configured to,

when it is determined that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, the at least two cellular phones are receiving individual incoming calls,

cause the notice section to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual notice manners, the individual notice manners being differentiated from each other based on connection clock times stored in the storage section with respect to the at least two cellular phones.

4. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1,

a connection times detection portion configured to count a number of times relative to the handsfree communication protocol connection with respect to a cellular phone established by the handsfree connection section,

the storage section being further configured to store, as the attribute of the cellular phone, the number of times, relative to the handsfree communication protocol connection, counted by the connection times detection portion,

the control section being further configured to,

when it is determined that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, the at least two cellular phones are receiving individual incoming calls,

cause the notice section to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual notice manners, the individual notice manners being differentiated from each other based on the number of times relative to the handsfree communication protocol connection stored in the storage section with respect to the at least two cellular phones.

5. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1,

the notice section being further configured to include a display device,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in individual display manners being differentiated from each other to thereby differentiate the individual notice manners from each other.

6. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 5,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual display manners being differentiated from each other in background colors or character colors.

7. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 5,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual display manners being differentiated from each other in display positions.

8. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 5,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in the individual display manners being differentiated from each other in lighting patterns or blinking patterns.

16. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates a holder of the each of the cellular phones;

when the holder of the cellular phones is determined to be a driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the holder of the cellular phone is determined to be other than the driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

20. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates an intended use of the cellular phones;

when the intended use of the cellular phones is determined to be a business use, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the intended use of the cellular phone is determined to be a personal user, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

9. An in-vehicle handsfree apparatus comprising:

a handsfree connection section configured to establish a handsfree communication protocol connection with a plurality of cellular phones simultaneously;

a storage section configured to store attributes of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously; and

a control section configured to determine whether a cellular phone included in the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously is in a calling state or in an incoming call receiving state,

the control section being further configured to,

when it is determined that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, one cellular phone is in an incoming call receiving state and an other cellular phone is in a calling state,

cause a notice section to give notice of (i) calling information relative to the one cellular phone and (ii) incoming call information relative to the other cellular phone, in respective notice manners relative to the one cellular phone and the other cellular phone, the respective notice manners being differentiated from each other based on an attribute of the one cellular phone and an attribute of the other cellular phone, the attributes being stored in the storage section with respect to the one cellular phone and the other cellular phone,

cause the notice section not to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the other cellular phone,

when the one cellular phone has an attribute of a first ordered classification and the other cellular phone has an attribute of a second ordered classification.

10. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 9,

the notice section being further configured to include a display device,

the control section being further configured to

cause the display device to display the notice of the calling information and the incoming call information in the respective display manners being differentiated from each other to thereby differentiate the respective notice manners from each other.

11. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 10,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the calling information and the incoming call information in the respective display manners being differentiated from each other in background colors or character colors.

12. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 10,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the calling information and the incoming call information in the respective display manners being differentiated from each other in display positions.

13. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 10,

the control section being further configured to cause the display device to display the notice of the calling information and the incoming call information in the respective display manners being differentiated from each other in lighting patterns or blinking patterns.

17. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 9, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates a holder of the each of the cellular phones;

when the holder of the cellular phones is determined to be a driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the holder of the cellular phone is determined to be other than the driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

21. The in-vehicle handsfree apparatus according to claim 9, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates an intended use of the cellular phones;

when the intended use of the cellular phones is determined to be a business use, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the intended use of the cellular phone is determined to be a personal user, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

14. A method for an in-vehicle handsfree apparatus for a vehicle to give notice of states of a plurality of cellular phones with which a handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, the method comprising:

storing attributes of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously;

determining that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, at least two cellular phones are receiving individual incoming calls;

causing a notice section to give notice of incoming call information relative to the at least two cellular phones in individual notice manners, the individual notice manners being differentiated from each other based on individual attributes stored in the storage section with respect to the at least two cellular phones, and

causing the notice section not to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the second cellular phone,

when, of the at least two cellular phones receiving the incoming calls, a first cellular phone has an attribute of a first ordered classification and an other cellular phone has an attribute of a second ordered classification.

18. The method according to claim 14, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates a holder of the each of the cellular phones;

when the holder of the cellular phones is determined to be a driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the holder of the cellular phone is determined to be other than the driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

22. The method according to claim 14, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates an intended use of the cellular phones;

when the intended use of the cellular phones is determined to be a business use, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the intended use of the cellular phone is determined to be a personal user, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

15. A method for an in-vehicle handsfree apparatus for a vehicle to give notice of states of a plurality of cellular phones with which a handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, the method comprising:

storing attributes of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously;

determining that, of the cellular phones with which the handsfree communication protocol connection is established simultaneously, one cellular phone is in an incoming call receiving state and an other cellular phone is in a calling state; and

causing a notice section to give notice of (i) calling information relative to the one cellular phone and (ii) incoming call information relative to the other cellular phone, in respective notice manners relative to the one cellular phone and the other cellular phone, the respective notice manners being differentiated from each other based on an attribute of the one cellular phone and an attribute of the other cellular phone, the attributes being stored in the storage section with respect to the one cellular phone and the other cellular phone, and

causing the notice section not to give notice of the incoming call information relative to the other cellular phone,

when the one cellular phone has an attribute of a first ordered classification and the other cellular phone has an attribute of a second ordered classification.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates a holder of the each of the cellular phones;

when the holder of the cellular phones is determined to be a driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the holder of the cellular phone is determined to be other than the driver of the vehicle, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.

23. The method according to claim 15, wherein:

the stored attribute of the cellular phone indicates an intended use of the cellular phones;

when the intended use of the cellular phones is determined to be a business use, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the first ordered classification;

when the intended use of the cellular phone is determined to be a personal user, the attribute of the cellular phone is defined as the second ordered classification.