Method for off-loading driver wireless activities to passengers via the vehicle wireless interface

• US 9,479,907 B2
• Filed: 09/03/2014
• Issued: 10/25/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2014
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Denso International America Incorporated (DENSO Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Denso International America Incorporated (DENSO Corporation)
• Inventors: Nespolo, Martin, Golsch, Kyle, Varughese, Sibu, Upmanue, Vikas, Zhang, Yu, McBride, Justin, Daman, Laith, Horvath, Cary, Krzyzak, Thomas Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jabr, Fadey
• Assistant Examiner(s): Martinez Borrero, Luis A
• Application Number:
  US14/475,643
• Publication Number:
  US 20150223032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 783 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/2, 701/36, 701/117, 701/119, 701/70, 701/101, 701/49, 701/51, 701/23, 701/22, 701/26, 701/28, 455/411, 455/418, 455/39, 455/563, 455/68, 455/78
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• 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 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72436 for text messaging, e.g. short messaging services [SMS] or e-mails
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/12 Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements

Abstract

A smart device interface for a vehicle. The smart device interface includes a transmitter/receiver and a controller. The transmitter/receiver is configured to communicate with a first smart device of a driver and a second smart device of a passenger. The controller is configured to permit the passenger to perform tasks on behalf of the driver using the second smart device. The tasks include responding to messages received by the first smart device of the driver, entertainment system operation, and navigation system operation.

Claims

1. A smart device interface for a vehicle comprising:

a transmitter/receiver configured to communicate with a first smart device of a driver and a second smart device of a passenger; and

a controller including non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium and configured to;

permit the passenger to perform tasks on behalf of the driver using the second smart device, including responding to messages received by the first smart device of the driver, entertainment system operation, and navigation system operation;

notify the driver that the first smart device of the driver has received a message;

inquire of the driver whether the driver would like to respond to the message received by the first smart device or transfer the message to the second smart device of the passenger;

accept an input from the driver requesting that the message be transferred to the passenger for response, and transmit an instruction to respond to the message to the second smart device of the passenger, when the driver delegates responding to the message to the passenger; and

accept a response to the message directly from the driver using the first smart device, when the driver does not delegate responding to the message to the passenger.

2. The smart device interface of claim 1, further comprising:

a first reader configured to read a first identification code of the first smart device to pair the first smart device with the controller; and

a second reader configured to read a second identification code of the second smart device to pair the second smart device with the controller.

3. The smart device interface of claim 1, wherein:

the passenger is a first passenger, and the transmitter/receiver is configured to communicate with a third smart device of a second passenger;

the controller is configured to notify the driver that the first smart device of the driver has received a message;

the controller is configured to accept an input from the driver requesting that the message be transferred to at least one of the first passenger or the second passenger for response; and

the controller is configured to transmit an instruction to respond to the message to the at least one of the first passenger or the second passenger selected, thereby excluding any passenger not selected.

4. The smart device interface of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to notify the driver by way of a heads-up display that the first smart device of the driver has received a message.

5. The smart device interface of claim 1, further comprising an RFID reader at each passenger seat of the vehicle configured to read an identification code of the second smart device to pair the second smart device with the controller.

6. The smart device interface of claim 1, wherein the first smart device and the second smart device are each smart phones.

7. The smart device interface of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control an entertainment system of the passenger cabin to play music from the second smart device.

8. The smart device interface of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to control a display of the passenger cabin to display navigation information in response to commands from the second smart device.

9. A vehicle smart device interface comprising:

a vehicle display configured to notify a driver that a first mobile smart device of the driver has received a message; and

a controller including non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium and configured to;

transfer the message from the first mobile smart device of the driver to a second mobile smart device of a passenger for the passenger to respond to the message on behalf of the driver;

notify the driver that the first mobile smart device of the driver has received a message;

inquire of the driver whether the driver would like to respond to the message received by the first mobile smart device or transfer the message to the second mobile smart device of the passenger;

accept an input from the driver requesting that the message be transferred to the passenger for response, and transmit an instruction to respond to the message to the second mobile smart device of the passenger, when the driver delegates responding to the message to the passenger; and

accept a response to the message directly from the driver using the first mobile smart device, when the driver does not delegate responding to the message to the passenger.

10. The vehicle smart device interface of claim 9, wherein the vehicle display is a heads-up display of the driver.

11. The vehicle smart device interface of claim 9, further comprising a vehicle transmitter/receiver configured to transmit data to, and receive data from, both the first mobile smart device and the second mobile smart device.

12. The vehicle smart device interface of claim 9, further comprising a plurality of readers mounted throughout a passenger cabin of the vehicle configured to read device identification information from the first mobile smart device and the second mobile smart device to pair the first and the second mobile smart devices with the controller.

13. A method for transferring operation of tasks to a passenger of a vehicle comprising:

pairing a first mobile smart device of a driver with a smart device interface of the vehicle, the pairing of the first mobile device performed by a controller including non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium configured to perform the pairing of the first mobile smart device;

pairing a second mobile smart device of a passenger with the smart device interface of the vehicle, the pairing of the second mobile smart device performed by the controller configured to perform the pairing of the second mobile smart device;

notifying the driver that the first smart device of the driver has received a message, the notifying performed by the controller configured to perform the notifying;

inquiring of the driver whether the driver would like to respond to the message received by the first smart device or transfer the message to the second smart device of the passenger, the inquiring performed by the controller configured to perform the inquiring;

accepting an input from the driver requesting that the message be transferred to the passenger for response, the accepting performed by the controller configured to perform the accepting;

transmitting with a transmitter/receiver an instruction to respond to the message to the second smart device of the passenger, and transferring control of tasks from the driver to the passenger for the passenger to control using the second mobile smart device, the transfer performed by the controller when the driver delegates control of the tasks to the passenger, the transferred tasks including entertainment system operation and navigation system operation; and

accepting control inputs directly from the driver using the first mobile device for control of the tasks when the driver does not delegate control of the tasks to the passenger, the control inputs accepted by the controller.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

pairing the first mobile smart device using a first RFID reader mounted in a passenger cabin of the vehicle; and

pairing the second mobile smart device using a second RFID reader mounted in the passenger cabin;

wherein the pairing of the first mobile smart device and the pairing of the second mobile smart device is performed by the controller.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the passenger is a first passenger, and further comprising:

pairing a third mobile smart device of a second passenger with the smart device interface of the vehicle, the pairing of the third mobile smart device performed by the controller configured to perform the pairing of the third mobile smart device; and

transferring the task of responding to messages received by the first mobile smart device of the driver to at least one of the second mobile smart device or the third mobile smart device by the controller configured to perform the transferring.

16. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting a music playlist from the second mobile smart device to an entertainment system of the vehicle with the transmitter/receiver.

17. The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting navigation information from the second mobile smart device to a navigation system of the vehicle with the transmitter/receiver, and displaying the navigation system information on a display of the vehicle.