Vehicle alarm customization systems and methods

• US 8,441,344 B2
• Filed: 07/28/2009
• Issued: 05/14/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Milch, Randal S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Swarthout, Brent
• Application Number:
  US12/510,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20110029875A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,386 Days
• Field of Search: 340/425.5, 340/426.1, 340/426.17, 340/426.2, 340/426.34, 340/438, 715/727, 711/100, 711/E12.001, 381/86, 700/18, 701/36, 709/215, 710/13
• US Class Current: 340/425.5
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 25/104 characterised by the type of theft warning signal, e.g. visual or audible signals with special characteristics

Abstract

Vehicle alarm customization systems and methods are disclosed. An exemplary method includes a vehicle alarm customization system providing a user interface configured to facilitate end-user customization of a vehicle alarm, receiving an end-user selection of an audio content instance via the user interface, accessing data representative of the audio content instance, and customizing the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the audio content instance in response to a vehicle alarm trigger event.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing, by a vehicle alarm customization system, a user interface on a vehicle provided display, the user interface configured to facilitate end-user customization of a vehicle alarm and to allow the user to access data representative of an audio content instance via a network;

receiving, by the vehicle alarm customization system via the user interface, an end-user selection of the audio content instance;

accessing, by the vehicle alarm customization system, data representative of the audio content instance via the network; and

customizing, by the vehicle alarm customization system, the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the audio content instance in response to a vehicle alarm trigger event, the customizing including automatically selecting one or more vehicle alarm models based on information associated with a vehicle type, the information received when a vehicle communicates with a component of the vehicle alarm customization system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the customizing of the vehicle alarm comprises:

causing data representative of the at least part of the audio content instance to be stored to a memory device of the vehicle alarm; and

causing the at least part of the audio content instance stored to the memory device of the vehicle alarm to be associated with the vehicle alarm trigger event in the vehicle alarm.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the customizing of the vehicle alarm comprises causing a default alarm audio content instance to be replaced with the at least part of the audio content instance in a memory device of the vehicle alarm.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the customizing of the vehicle alarm comprises:

detecting an audio content requirement of the vehicle alarm; and

modifying the at least part of the audio content instance to conform to the audio content requirement of the vehicle alarm.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the modifying of the at least part of the audio content instance comprises at least one of:

converting the at least part of the audio content instance from one data format to another data format; and

resizing the at least part of the audio content instance to fit within a memory space requirement of the vehicle alarm.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the customizing of the vehicle alarm comprises transmitting data representative of the at least part of the audio content instance from the vehicle alarm customization system to the vehicle alarm over the network for storage in a memory device of the vehicle alarm.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data representative of the at least part of the audio content instance is transmitted, via the network, from an end-user audio content access device on which the vehicle alarm customization system is at least partially implemented to a vehicle in which the vehicle alarm is installed.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the end-user audio content access device comprises a mobile phone; and

the network comprises a local wireless connection between the vehicle and the mobile phone.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the audio content instance comprises a ringtone accessible by the mobile phone.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the accessing of the data representative of the audio content instance comprises one of:

requesting and receiving, by the vehicle alarm customization system, the data representative of the audio content instance from a local data storage facility of the end-user audio content access device; and

requesting and receiving, by the vehicle alarm customization system, the data representative of the audio content instance from a network data storage facility via the network.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the network comprises a mobile phone data network.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the accessing of the data representative of the audio content instance comprises a vehicle within which the vehicle alarm customization system is at least partially implemented requesting and receiving the data representative of the audio content instance from a network data storage facility via the network, wherein the network is a wireless network.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the vehicle alarm customization system via the user interface, an end-user selection of the vehicle alarm trigger event;

wherein the customizing of the vehicle alarm comprises mapping the at least part of the audio content instance to the vehicle alarm trigger event in alarm settings of the vehicle alarm based on the end-user selection of the audio content instance and the end-user selection of the vehicle alarm trigger event.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the vehicle alarm customization system via the user interface on the vehicle provided display, an end-user selection of another audio content instance;

accessing, by the vehicle alarm customization system, data representative of the another audio content instance; and

customizing, by the vehicle alarm customization system, the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the another audio content instance in response to another vehicle alarm trigger event.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein:

the vehicle alarm trigger event comprises an unauthorized vehicle access event; and

the another vehicle alarm trigger event comprises a vehicle locating event.

16. The method of claim 1, tangibly embodied as computer-executable instructions on at least one computer-readable medium.

17. A system comprising:

a vehicle alarm installed in a vehicle and configured to detect a vehicle alarm trigger event and sound an alarm in response to the vehicle alarm trigger event;

a user interface facility that provides a user interface on a vehicle provided display, the user interface configured to facilitate end-user customization of the vehicle alarm and receives, via the user interface, user input indicating an end-user selection of an audio content instance to be accessed via a network;

an audio content access facility that accesses data representative of the audio content instance from a data storage facility via the network; and

a vehicle alarm customization facility that interfaces with the vehicle alarm and customizes the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the audio content instance as the alarm in response to the vehicle alarm trigger event, the customizing including automatically selecting one or more vehicle alarm models based on information associated with a vehicle type, the information received when a vehicle communicates with a component of the vehicle alarm customization system.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein at least one of the user interface facility, the audio content access facility, and the vehicle alarm customization facility is implemented on a vehicle device installed in the vehicle.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the audio content access facility is implemented on an end-user audio content access device configured to communicate with the vehicle via the network, the network comprising a local connection.

20. The system of claim 17, wherein the audio content access facility is implemented on a network device configured to communicate with the vehicle via the network, the network comprising a wireless network.

21. A system comprising:

a vehicle alarm installed in a vehicle and configured to detect a vehicle alarm trigger event and sound an alarm in response to the vehicle alarm trigger event;

a user interface on a vehicle provided display, the user interface configured to facilitate end-user customization of the vehicle alarm and to allow the user to access an audio content instance via a local wireless connection;

a mobile phone configured to communicate with the vehicle via the local wireless connection and to

receive, via the local wireless connection, an end-user selection of the audio content instance selected by the end user with the user interface on the vehicle provided display,

access data representative of the audio content instance via the local wireless connection, and

interface with the vehicle via the local wireless connection to customize the vehicle alarm to sound at least part of the audio content instance as the alarm in response to the vehicle alarm trigger event, the customizing including automatically selecting one or more vehicle alarm models based on information associated with a vehicle type, the information received when the vehicle communicates with the mobile phone via the local wireless connection.

22. The system of claim 21, further comprising a ringtone server accessible by the mobile phone via a mobile phone data network, wherein the audio content instance comprises a ringtone provided by the ringtone server.