Passenger casted content to infotainment system

• US 9,326,089 B2
• Filed: 06/24/2014
• Issued: 04/26/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 06/24/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Xia, Lily, Pelly, Nicholas Julian
• Primary Examiner(s): TISSOT, ADAM D
• Application Number:
  US14/312,883
• Publication Number:
  US 20150373479A1
• Time in Patent Office: 672 Days
• Field of Search: 701/2, 701/36, 701/538, 455/39, 455/41.2
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/164 Infotainment
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/197 Blocking or enabling of input functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/55 Remote control arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/573 Mobile devices controlling vehicle functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/164 Infotainment
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/197 Blocking or enabling of input functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/52 Control of displays
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/55 Remote controls
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/573 Mobile devices controlling vehicle functions
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/10 Input arrangements, i.e. from user to vehicle, associated with vehicle functions or specially adapted therefor
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/28 characterised by the type of the output information, e.g. video entertainment or vehicle dynamics information; characterised by the purpose of the output information, e.g. for attracting the attention of the driver
• 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 35/80 Arrangements for controlling instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/81 for controlling displays
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72463 to restrict the functionality of the device
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/724631 by limiting the access to the user interface, e.g. locking a touch-screen or a keypad
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 : for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/70 : Services for machine-to-machine communication [M2M] or machine type communication [MTC]
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/80 : Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication

Abstract

A projected architecture system may include a first device, associated with a driver of a vehicle, which drives the display of content on the infotainment screen of the vehicle. A passenger in the motor vehicle may have a second device that the passenger can utilize to transmit an instruction to the first device. The instruction may cause the display of the infotainment system to be altered. The passenger may, for example, utilize the second device to cast a point of interest or navigation direction to the infotainment display via the first device. Thus, the driver does not need to search, browse, and/or view functions and/or content on the infotainment system'"'"'s display and can concentrate on operating the vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, by a processor of a first mobile device, a safety condition of a vehicle;

disabling, by the processor, at least one function of the first mobile device associated with a driver of the vehicle and connected to an infotainment system of the vehicle, based on the determined safety condition;

receiving, by the processor, a request from a second mobile device to provide an instruction to the first mobile device;

determining, by the processor, that the second mobile device has permission to provide the instruction to the first mobile device;

receiving, by the processor, the instruction from the at least one second device; and

controlling the infotainment system according to the instruction received from the second mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating, by the first mobile device, a sharing mode that grants an ability to control at least one application on the first mobile device to at least one user with the second mobile device.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving an indication of the at least one user.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising receiving an indication of the second mobile device.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising emitting a feedback by at least one of the vehicle and the first mobile device that indicates the instruction provided by the second mobile device was received by the first mobile device.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication that a display has been controlled based on the instruction received from the second mobile device.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an indication to the second mobile device that the instruction was received from the second mobile device.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the infotainment system is a standalone device configured to be separated from the vehicle during use of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the instruction is selected from the group consisting of:

a URL, an address, a location, an application launch, a point of interest, and a user interface command.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving, by the first mobile device, a request from the second mobile device to access at least one of a function and a computer readable memory of the first mobile device.

11. A method, comprising:

sending a credential to a first mobile device, by a second mobile device associated with a passenger of a vehicle, that the first mobile device uses to authenticate the second mobile device to the first mobile device, wherein the first mobile device is connected to the vehicle and is responsible for driving a display of an infotainment system and wherein the first mobile device is associated with a driver of the vehicle;

receiving, by the second mobile device, an indication that the second mobile device is authenticated to the first mobile device, the indication including a display of a notice that indicates that the first mobile device is in proximity to the second mobile device;

sending an instruction to the first mobile device, wherein the instruction causes the first mobile device to control the display of the infotainment system based on the instruction.

12. A system, comprising:

a first mobile device associated with a driver of a vehicle, comprising a display and a processor, wherein the first mobile device is configured to be connected to the vehicle and is responsible for driving a display of an infotainment system, the processor configured to;

determine a safety condition of the vehicle;

disable at least one function of the first mobile device based on the safety condition;

receive a request from a second mobile device to provide an instruction to the first mobile device;

determine that the second mobile device has permission to provide the instruction to the first mobile device;

receive the instruction from the second mobile device; and

control a display of the infotainment system based on the instruction received from the second mobile device.

13. The system of claim 12, the processor further configured to activate a sharing mode that grants an ability to control at least one application on the first mobile device to at least one user with the second mobile device.

14. The system of claim 13, the processor further configured to receive an indication of the user.

15. The system of claim 13, further configured to receive an indication of the second mobile device.

16. The system of claim 12, the processor further configured to emit a feedback by at least one of the vehicle and the first mobile device that indicates the instruction provided by the second mobile device was received by the first mobile device.

17. The system of claim 12, the processor further configured to provide an indication that the display has been adjusted based on the instruction received from the second mobile device.

18. The system of claim 12, the processor further configured to provide an indication to the second mobile device that the instruction was received.

19. The system of claim 12, wherein the infotainment system is a standalone device that can be separated from the vehicle during use of the vehicle.

20. The system of claim 12, wherein the instruction is selected from the group consisting of:

a URL, an address, a location, an application launch, a point of interest, and a user interface command.

21. The system of claim 12, the processor further configured to receive, by the first mobile device, a request from the second mobile device to access at least one of a function and a computer readable memory of the first mobile device.