Systems and methods for communicating notices within a vehicle using a mobile device

• US 10,568,148 B2
• Filed: 02/09/2017
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America Incorporated (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Ishihara, Mikiya, Li, Yi, Ebe, Kazutoshi
• Primary Examiner(s): Feild, Joseph H
• Assistant Examiner(s): Point, Rufus C
• Application Number:
  US15/428,394
• Publication Number:
  US 20180211527A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09626 where the origin of the information is within the own vehicle, e.g. a local storage device, digital map
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/6091 including a wireless interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/026 using orientation information, e.g. compass
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 76/10 Connection setup

Abstract

System, methods, and other embodiments described herein relate to controlling a mobile device to provide notices within a vehicle. In one embodiment, a method includes, in response to an electronic signal indicating an occurrence of an event associated with the vehicle, identifying whether a mobile device is actively in use by a passenger of the vehicle. The method further includes determining a viewing orientation for a display of the mobile device by analyzing state information from the mobile device about a present mode of operation for the display in relation to a relative alignment with the vehicle. The method also includes controlling the mobile device to display the notice according to the viewing orientation by wirelessly instructing the mobile device to render the notice on the display as a function of the viewing orientation to display the notice relative to an alignment between the vehicle and the mobile device.

Claims

1. An indication system of a vehicle, comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory communicably coupled to the one or more processors and storing;

an orientation module including instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to, in response to an electronic signal indicating an occurrence of an event associated with the vehicle, identify whether a mobile device is actively in use by a passenger of the vehicle, wherein the event is an incident associated with the vehicle for which the passenger is to be notified, and

wherein the orientation module includes instructions to, when the mobile device is in active use, determine a viewing orientation for a display of the mobile device by analyzing state information from the mobile device about a present mode of operation for the display in relation to a relative alignment with the vehicle; and

a notice module including instructions that when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to control the mobile device to display a notice according to the viewing orientation by wirelessly instructing the mobile device to render the notice on the display as a function of the viewing orientation to display the notice relative to an alignment between the vehicle and the mobile device.

2. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the orientation module further includes instructions to determine the viewing orientation by querying the mobile device to cause one or more sensors of the mobile device to provide the state information in response to the querying, wherein orientation module includes instructions to determine the viewing orientation by identifying whether the mobile device is oriented in (i) a landscape mode or (ii) a portrait mode, and whether the mobile device is facing (i) a side panel of the vehicle, (ii) a front section of the vehicle, or (iii) a rear section of the vehicle, and

wherein the viewing orientation indicates a relative alignment between a direction in which the display of the mobile device is facing and a direction of travel of the vehicle.

3. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the orientation module further includes instructions to query sensors of the mobile device include a global position system (GPS) sensor, an accelerometer, and a compass, and wherein the orientation module includes instructions to query the sensors by activating the sensors of the mobile device using a remote procedure call.

4. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the orientation module further includes instructions to identify whether the mobile device is actively in use by retrieving information from a registration table that identifies connected devices in the vehicle and requesting that the mobile device provide an indication about a present activity state, and

wherein the mobile device is actively in use when the present activity state indicates that the mobile device is currently displaying entertainment content to the passenger, and a line-of-sight of the passenger is directed to the mobile device.

5. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the orientation module further includes instructions to identify whether the mobile device is actively in use by determining whether the vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode, and

wherein the orientation module further includes instructions to determine the viewing orientation by refining a determination of the viewing orientation using (i) a current position of a seat associated with the passenger, and (ii) a position of the mobile device within a passenger compartment of the vehicle as triangulated according to wireless signals from the mobile device.

6. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the notice module further includes instructions to control the mobile device to display the notice by selectively illuminating a portion of the display that corresponds with a relative location of the event in relation to the vehicle and the viewing orientation of the mobile device, wherein the occurrence of the event is a turning of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, a handover from an autonomous mode to a manual mode, or a navigation event of the vehicle.

7. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the notice module further includes instructions to control the mobile device to display the notice by controlling the mobile device to pre-empt content on the display of the mobile device to render the notice instead of the content, and wherein the notice module further includes instructions to control the display by illuminating a portion of the display that is a corner that corresponds with a direction of the event.

8. The indication system of claim 1, further comprising:

a wireless access point configured to, prior to the occurrence of the event, establish a connection with the mobile device by creating a relationship with the mobile device for the mobile device to access at least one resource through the wireless access point,

wherein the wireless access point is configured to register the mobile device in a registration table that identifies active devices in use within the vehicle when establishing the connection.

9. The indication system of claim 1, wherein the passenger is a driver of the vehicle, wherein the mobile device is a smartphone, and wherein the orientation module includes instructions to determine the viewing orientation by determining a location of the mobile device within a passenger compartment of the vehicle by using characteristics associated with the mobile device to triangulate the location.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause the one or more processors to:

in response to an electronic signal indicating an occurrence of an event associated with a vehicle, identify whether a mobile device is actively in use by a passenger of the vehicle, wherein the event is an incident associated with the vehicle for which the passenger is to be notified;

when the mobile device is in active use, determine a viewing orientation for a display of the mobile device by analyzing state information from the mobile device about a present mode of operation for the display in relation to a relative alignment with the vehicle; and

control the mobile device to display a notice according to the viewing orientation by wirelessly instructing the mobile device to render the notice on the display as a function of the viewing orientation to display the notice relative to an alignment between the vehicle and the mobile device.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions to cause the one or more processors to determine the viewing orientation include instructions to query the mobile device to cause one or more sensors of the mobile device to provide the state information in response to the querying, wherein the instructions to cause the one or more processors to determine the viewing orientation include instructions to identify whether the mobile device is oriented in (i) a landscape mode or (ii) a portrait mode, and whether the mobile device is facing (i) a side panel of the vehicle, (ii) a front section of the vehicle, or (iii) a rear section of the vehicle, and

wherein the viewing orientation indicates a relative alignment between a direction in which the display of the mobile device is facing and a direction of travel of the vehicle.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions to cause the one or more processors to identify whether the mobile device is actively in use include instructions to retrieve information from a registration table in the vehicle that identifies connected devices and to request that the mobile device provide an indication about a present activity state, and

wherein the mobile device is actively in use when the present activity state indicates that the mobile device is currently displaying content to the passenger, and a line-of-sight of the passenger is directed to the mobile device.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 10, wherein the instructions to cause the one or more processors to control the mobile device to display the notice include instructions to selectively illuminate a relevant portion of the display that corresponds with a relative location of the event in relation to the vehicle and the viewing orientation of the mobile device, wherein the occurrence of the event is a turning of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, a handover from an autonomous mode to a manual mode, or a navigation event of the vehicle.

14. A method of providing notifications within a vehicle, comprising:

in response to an electronic signal indicating an occurrence of an event associated with the vehicle, identifying whether a mobile device is actively in use by a passenger of the vehicle, wherein the event is an incident associated with the vehicle for which the passenger is to be notified;

when the mobile device is in active use, determining a viewing orientation for a display of the mobile device by analyzing state information from the mobile device about a present mode of operation for the display in relation to a relative alignment with the vehicle; and

controlling the mobile device to display a notice according to the viewing orientation by wirelessly instructing the mobile device to render the notice on the display as a function of the viewing orientation to display the notice relative to an alignment between the vehicle and the mobile device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein determining the viewing orientation includes querying the mobile device to cause one or more sensors of the mobile device to provide the state information in response to the querying, wherein determining the viewing orientation includes identifying whether the mobile device is oriented in (i) a landscape mode or (ii) a portrait mode, and whether the mobile device is facing (i) a side panel of the vehicle, (ii) a front section of the vehicle, or (iii) a rear section of the vehicle, and

wherein the viewing orientation indicates a relative alignment between a direction in which the display of the mobile device is facing and a direction of travel of the vehicle.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying whether the mobile device is actively in use includes retrieving information from a registration table in the vehicle that identifies connected devices and requesting that the mobile device provide an indication about a present activity state, and

wherein the mobile device is actively in use when the present activity state indicates that the mobile device is currently displaying content to the passenger, and a line-of-sight of the passenger is directed to the mobile device.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein identifying whether the mobile device is actively in use includes determining whether the vehicle is operating in an autonomous mode, and

wherein determining the viewing orientation includes refining a determination of the viewing orientation by using (i) a current position of a seat associated with the passenger, and (ii) a position of the mobile device within a passenger compartment of the vehicle as triangulated according to wireless signals from the mobile device.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein controlling the mobile device to display the notice includes selectively illuminating a relevant portion of the display that corresponds with a relative location of the event in relation to the vehicle and the viewing orientation of the mobile device, wherein the occurrence of the event is a turning of the vehicle, a braking of the vehicle, a handover from an autonomous mode to a manual mode, or a navigation event of the vehicle.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein controlling the mobile device to display the notice includes pre-empting content on the display of the mobile device to display the notice instead of the content, and wherein controlling the display includes illuminating a portion of the display that is a corner that corresponds with a direction of the event.

20. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

prior to the occurrence of the event, establishing, by an access point of the vehicle, a connection with the mobile device, wherein establishing the connection includes creating a relationship between the access point and the mobile device for the mobile device to access at least one resource through the access point, and

wherein establishing the connection includes registers the mobile device in a registration table that identifies active devices in use within the vehicle.