Vehicle head unit priority

• US 9,467,179 B2
• Filed: 01/27/2014
• Issued: 10/11/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company), GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: General Motors LLC (General Motors Company), GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Pal, Dipankar, Thanayankizil, Lakshmi, Gerlach, Jonathan L., Alam, Muhammad Fahad
• Primary Examiner(s): Taha, Shaq
• Application Number:
  US14/164,721
• Publication Number:
  US 20150215954A1
• Time in Patent Office: 988 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 1/086 Portable receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/005 Moving wireless networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 88/08 Access point devices

Abstract

A system and a method using that system that provides multi-tainment services in a vehicle. The method includes the steps of providing a vehicle telematics unit having wireless hotspot functionality; connecting the telematics unit via short range wireless communication (SRWC) to a vehicle multi-tainment unit (VMU) and at least one mobile device; identifying the VMU connection at the telematics unit; and providing the VMU with wireless hotspot data priority over the at least one mobile device.

Claims

1. A method of providing multi-tainment services in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) operating a telematics unit in the vehicle as a short range wireless communication (SRWC) wireless hotspot;

(b) receiving at a telematics unit in the vehicle an identifier from a vehicle multi-tainment unit (VMU) in the vehicle;

(c) establishing a priority data channel between the telematics unit and the VMU based on the identifier and establishing between the telematics unit and at least one mobile device a secondary data channel via the SRWC wireless hotspot; and

(d) providing data to the VMU via the priority data channel according to a first through-put demand and providing data to the at least one mobile device via the secondary data channel according to a second through-put demand, wherein, if first and second through-put demands exceed a through-put capacity that can be provided by the telematics unit, then providing from the telematics unit the first through-put demand before providing the second through-put demand.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is a media access control (MAC) address.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the SRWC wireless hotspot operated by the telematics unit is a Wi-Fi protocol.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifier is received by the telematics unit over a wired vehicle connection, and wherein the priority data channel between the telematics unit and the VMU is established via the SRWC wireless hotspot.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the telematics unit has a predetermined total wireless hotspot data through-put.

6. A method of providing multi-tainment services in a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) providing a telematics unit having wireless hotspot functionality;

(b) connecting the telematics unit via short range wireless communication (SRWC) to a vehicle multi-tainment unit (VMU) and at least one mobile device;

(c) identifying the VMU connection at the telematics unit; and

(d) providing the VMU with wireless hotspot data priority over the at least one mobile device,

wherein the telematics unit has a predetermined total wireless hotspot data through-put, and wherein step (d) further comprises;

(d1) providing to the VMU demanded VMU wireless hotspot data at a first rate;

(d2) receiving from the at least one mobile device a request for demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data; and

(d3) determining an unused portion of the total wireless hotspot data through-put.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

when the unused portion is greater than zero, then either;

(d4) providing to the at least one mobile device the demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data at a second rate;

or

(d5) at least temporarily inhibiting step (d4).

8. The method of claim 7, wherein either the first rate is the same as the second rate, or the second rate is slower than the first rate.

9. The method of claim 6, further comprising performing step (d) for a plurality of mobile devices.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein step (d) further comprises:

(d1) providing to the at least one mobile device demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data at a first rate;

(d2) receiving from the VMU a request for demanded VMU wireless hotspot data; and

(d3) determining an unused portion of the total wireless hotspot data through-put.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

when the unused portion is greater than zero, then;

(d4) determining whether the unused portion of the total wireless hotspot data through-put is sufficient to provide the VMU the demanded VMU wireless hotspot data at a second rate, wherein the second rate is either equal to or faster than the first rate;

(d5) when the unused portion is sufficient, providing VMU the demanded VMU wireless hotspot data at the second rate; and

(d6) when the unused portion is not sufficient, then either;

decreasing the first rate of demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data to the at least one mobile device;

or

inhibiting, at least temporarily, the providing of demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data to the at least one mobile device; and

when the unused portion is zero, then either

decreasing the first rate of demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data to the at least one mobile device;

or

inhibiting, at least temporarily, the providing of demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data to the at least one mobile device.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein when the telematics unit is providing wireless hotspot data to both the VMU and the at least one mobile device and when the demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data increases affecting the second rate of wireless hotspot data to the VMU, then either:

inhibiting, at least temporarily, the providing of demanded mobile device wireless hotspot data to the at least one mobile device, or

decreasing the first rate.

13. A method of providing wireless hotspot data from a vehicle telematics unit to devices in or near a vehicle, comprising the steps of:

(a) receiving at the telematics unit a unique identifier from a vehicle multi-tainment unit (VMU) in the vehicle;

(b) using short range wireless communication (SRWC), establishing a first hotspot session between the telematics unit and the VMU, wherein the telematics unit is capable of providing wireless hotspot functionality having a predetermined total wireless hotspot data bandwidth;

(c) using SRWC, establishing a second hotspot session between the telematics unit and a mobile device in or near the vehicle; and

(d) based on the unique identifier, granting at the telematics unit data priority to the first hotspot session by providing data to the VMU at a data rate higher than data provided to the mobile device via the second hotspot session.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising ceasing to provide data to the mobile device when a through-put demand of the VMU approaches or equals the predetermined total wireless hotspot data bandwidth.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein based on the unique identifier, the VMU communicates with the telematics unit using SRWC over a priority data channel.