Method of transferring data between vehicle and portable terminal and interface device therefor

• US 8,255,586 B2
• Filed: 05/11/2010
• Issued: 08/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Choi, Sung Up
• Primary Examiner(s): Tsai, Henry
• Assistant Examiner(s): Shyu, Jing-Yih
• Application Number:
  US12/777,537
• Publication Number:
  US 20100293303A1
• Time in Patent Office: 840 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 710/16
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/14 Direct-mode setup
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/245 from a network towards a terminal

Abstract

A method of transferring data between a vehicle and a portable terminal and an interface device therefor are provided. According to the method and the device, compatibility can be maintained by normalizing data transfer interface between the vehicle and various portable terminals and an image taken inside or outside the vehicle can be provided to the portable terminal. In addition, interface enabling data communication with a device having an additional function such as an automobile black box can be provided.

Claims

1. A method of transferring data between a vehicle and a portable terminal, the method comprising:

detecting connection of the portable terminal to the vehicle;

checking an identification (ID) of the portable terminal;

determining whether the portable terminal comprises interface enabling data

transfer;

setting a module necessary for the data transfer when the portable terminal is determined to comprise the interface; and

starting the data transfer,

wherein the vehicle comprises a controller that controls the detecting, the checking, the determining by checking an existence of the communication interface of the portable terminal, the setting, and the starting the data transfer by designating a channel to be used for data transfer and by initializing the channel,

wherein the data is obtained from sensors installed in the vehicle and then stored in a memory directly through a communication unit, and

wherein if the checking determines that the identification of the portable terminal is not authenticated, the controller performs a control operation to provide an application enabling the data transfer to the portable terminal.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising, if the portable terminal is determined not to have the interface enabling the data transfer, providing an application enabling the data transfer to the portable terminal.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the setting the module comprises setting at least one module selected from an image module, a sensor module, and a car network module.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising designating a channel to be used for the data transfer, wherein the designating the channel comprises initializing the channel.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the starting the data transfer comprises converting the data using a transmission control protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP).

6. An interface device for transferring data between a vehicle and a portable terminal, the interface device comprising:

an image interface module, implemented on a computer, which transmits an image taken inside or outside the vehicle to the portable terminal;

a sensor interface module which transmits sensor data from at least one sensor installed in the vehicle to the portable terminal;

a car network interface module which transmits at least one between car system data and multimedia system data to the portable terminal; and

a controller which checks identification of the portable terminal, designates a channel to be used for the data transfer, and controls the data transfer between the vehicle and the portable terminal by initializing the channel,

wherein the data is obtained from sensors installed in the vehicle and then stored in a memory directly through a communication unit, and

wherein if the controller determines that the identification of the portable terminal is not authenticated, the controller performs a control operation to provide an application enabling the data transfer to the portable terminal.

7. The interface device of claim 6, wherein the controller controls the interface device to transfer the data using at least one module selected from the image interface module, the sensor interface module, and the car network interface module based on the identification of the portable terminal or a type of the data.

8. A method of transferring data between a vehicle and a portable device, the method comprising:

detecting the data for transfer when the portable device is connected to the vehicle via an interface unit;

checking an identification (ID) of the portable device;

determining by the interface unit a communication protocol from the plurality of communication protocols for the transmission of data from a source to a memory based on format protocol of the data for transfer; and

determining by the interface unit an interface module from a plurality of interface modules for the transmission of data from the vehicle to the portable device based on data content type, and

wherein the vehicle comprises a controller that controls the detecting, the checking, the determining by checking an existence of the communication interface of the portable terminal, and the data transfer by designating a channel to be used for data transfer and by initializing the channel,

wherein the data is obtained from sensors installed in the vehicle and then stored in a memory directly through a communication unit, and

wherein if the checking determines that the identification of the portable terminal is not authenticated, the controller performs a control operation to provide an application enabling the data transfer to the portable terminal.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the data content type comprises image data, sensor data, and car network data, and wherein each type of content has a respective dedicated interface module.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein each transfer rate provided by the plurality of interface modules is different from each other and wherein the car network data comprises data output from electronics in the vehicle and data output from an electronic control unit.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein:

the plurality of communication protocols comprise controlled area network protocol, local interconnect network data protocol, serial communication data protocol, FlexRay data protocol, and media oriented systems transport communication protocol, and

the data for transfer is converted to a TCP/IP protocol for transmission to the portable device.

12. The method of claim 8, further comprising wherein the memory is provided in the vehicle and is partitioned into sections that correspond to each of the plurality of the communication protocols.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the interface unit is implemented in a form of at least one slot, shuttle, or a base station.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the portable device is connected to the vehicle via a wired communication line.

15. An interface apparatus for facilitating transfer of data between a portable device and a vehicle, the interface apparatus comprising:

a processor executing software modules comprising;

an image interface module which obtains image data from a memory and transmits the obtained data to the portable device;

a sensor interface module which obtains sensor data from a memory and transmits the obtained data to the portable device;

a car network interface module which obtains electronics data provided to the memory from electronic units in the vehicle and transmits the obtained data to the portable device; and

a controller which checks identification of the portable terminal, designates a channel to be used for the data transfer, and controls the data transfer between the vehicle and the portable terminal by initializing the channel,

wherein the image interface module, the sensor interface module, and the car network interface module are each dedicated to a respective type of data, and

wherein the data is obtained from sensors installed in the vehicle and then stored in a memory directly through a communication unit, and

wherein if the controller determines that the identification of the portable terminal is not authenticated, the controller performs a control operation to provide an application enabling the data transfer to the portable terminal.

16. The interface apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the interface apparatus is a base station.

17. The interface apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the interface apparatus is at least one slot for insertion of the portable device.

18. The interface apparatus according to claim 17, wherein the at least one slot comprises a plurality of slots, each of which is dedicated to a respective module selected from the image interface module, the sensor interface module, and the car interface module.