Vehicle information system with customizable user interface

• US 8,688,320 B2
• Filed: 01/11/2011
• Issued: 04/01/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Faenger, Jens
• Primary Examiner(s): Tarcza, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): MYHRE, KEVIN C
• Application Number:
  US13/004,800
• Publication Number:
  US 20120179325A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,176 Days
• Field of Search: 701/31.4, 701/537, 701/36, 340/500, 340/901, 340/905
• US Class Current: 701/36
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/186 Displaying information according to relevancy
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/186 Displaying Information according to relevancy
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/589 Wireless
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/29 Instruments characterised by the way in which information is handled, e.g. showing information on plural displays or prioritising information according to driving conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, an information system located within a vehicle includes a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions to implement a web browser, a data communication module, and a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, and the data communication module, the controller configured to execute the web browser to receive a plurality of data elements, identify a respective content type for each of the plurality of data elements, assign a relevance level to each of the plurality of data elements based on the respective identified content type, compare the assigned relevance to a predetermined relevance threshold; and generate a user interface using at least one of the plurality of data elements based upon the comparison.

Claims

1. An information system located within a vehicle comprising:

a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions that implement a web browser;

a data communication module;

a plurality of vehicle sensors, each sensor being configured to generate a signal corresponding to a system within the vehicle; and

a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, the data communication module, and the plurality of vehicle sensors, the controller configured to;

execute the programmed instructions stored in the data storage device to implement the web browser;

receive through the web browser a plurality of data elements from a server external to the vehicle;

identify a first data element in the plurality of data elements corresponding to a graphical display element in a web page with reference to semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements;

identify a second data element in the plurality of data elements corresponding to a graphical input button element in the web page with reference to the semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements;

identify an operating condition of the vehicle with reference to the signals generated by the plurality of sensors; and

generate with the web browser a user interface that includes a graphical depiction of the web page in which the first data element is present, the second data element is absent, and a user interface control disabling user input to the web page in response to the identified operating condition of the vehicle indicating the vehicle is in motion.

2. The system of claim 1, the controller being further configured to:

receive the plurality of signals from the plurality of sensors in a first format;

convert the signals from the first format to a second format using a predetermined document structure that is compatible with a web application;

execute the programmed instructions stored in the data storage device to implement a code execution engine with the web browser;

download executable programmed instructions for implementing the web application from the external server;

execute with the code execution engine of the web browser the downloaded executable programmed instructions for implementing the web application to process the signals in the second format, the first format for the sensor signal being incompatible with the web browser and the second format being compatible with the web browser.

3. The system of claim 2, the controller being further configured to:

identify the first data element in the web page with reference to a uniform resource locator associated with the plurality of data elements.

4. The system of claim 2, the controller being further configured to:

identify the first data element in the web page with reference to text content of the first data element in the plurality of data elements.

5. The system of claim 1, the controller being further configured to:

generate the graphical display with reference to a set of user interface configuration data.

6. The system of claim 5, the controller being further configured to:

receive the user interface configuration data from a mobile electronic device.

13. The system of claim 1, the controller being further configured to:

modify at least one of a position and size of a graphical depiction of the first data element to adjust a layout of the user interface.

14. The system of claim 1, the controller being further configured to:

identify another operating condition of the vehicle with reference to another plurality of signals from the sensors; and

generate with the web browser another user interface that includes a graphical depiction of the web page in which the first data element is present, the second data element is present, and a user interface control that enables user input to the web page in response to the identified operating condition of the vehicle indicating the vehicle is parked.

7. An information system located within a vehicle comprising:

a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions to implement a web browser having a code execution engine;

a plurality of vehicle sensors, each sensor being configured to generate a signal corresponding to a system within the vehicle;

a data communication module; and

a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, the plurality of vehicle sensors, and the data communication module, the controller configured to;

execute the programmed instructions stored in the data storage device to implement the web browser having the code execution engine;

receive a plurality of signals generated by the plurality of vehicle sensors in a first format, identify the vehicle system corresponding to each of the signals, and generate vehicle sensor data in a second format, the first format not being compatible with the web browser implemented by the controller and the second format being compatible with the web browser implemented by the controller;

receive through the data communication module executable programmed instructions for implementing a web application;

execute with the code execution engine of the web browser the executable programmed instructions for implementing the web application;

receive through the web browser a plurality of data elements from a server external to the vehicle;

identify a first data element in the plurality of data elements corresponding to a graphical display element in a web page with reference to semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements;

identify a second data element in the plurality of data elements corresponding to a graphical input button element in the web page with reference to the semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements;

identify an operating condition of the vehicle with reference to the vehicle sensor data in the second format; and

generate with the web browser a user interface that includes a graphical depiction of the web page in which the first data element is present, the second data element is absent, and a user interface control that disables user input to the web page in response to the identified operating condition of the vehicle indicating that the vehicle is in motion.

8. The system of claim 7, the controller being further configured to:

receive a set of user interface configuration data; and

generate the user interface in a format corresponding to the received set of user interface configuration data.

9. The system of claim 8, the controller being further configured to:

receive the set of user interface configuration data from a mobile electronic device.

10. The system of claim 7, the controller being further configured to:

identify the first data element with reference to semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements.

11. The system of claim 7, the controller being further configured to:

identify the first data element with reference to a uniform resource locator associated with one of the data elements in the plurality of data elements.

12. The system of claim 7, the controller being configured to:

identify that the second data element corresponds to the input button with reference to text content of at least one data element in the plurality of data elements.