In-vehicle services through attendant devices, user-provided devices, and/or an in-vehicle computer system

• US 10,616,087 B2
• Filed: 03/26/2018
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kwivo, LLC
• Original Assignee: Kwivo, LLC
• Inventors: Heron, Alexandra Kathleen, Silva, Julio Toro, Mendis, Manimeldura Janaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilles, Jude Jean
• Application Number:
  US15/935,252
• Publication Number:
  US 20180287921A1
• Time in Patent Office: 743 Days
• Field of Search: 709224, 709233, 709219, 709204, 709238
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/0015 Arrangements for entertainment or communications, e.g. radio, television
• CPC Class Codes: B64D 11/00155 Individual entertainment or communication system remote controls therefor, located in or connected to seat components, e.g. to seat back or arm rest
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/104 Peer-to-peer [P2P] networks
• 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: H04W 4/42 for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/48 for in-vehicle communication
• CPC Class Codes: Y02T 50/40 Weight reduction

Abstract

An approach to facilitating in-vehicle services through attendant devices, user-provided devices, and/or an in-vehicle computer system is provided. In one implementation, one or more communication sessions with the in-vehicle computer system may be facilitated by an attendant device. Passenger information relating to one or more passengers of a vehicle and service information relating to one or more services to be provided to the one or more passengers may be obtained by the attendant device from the in-vehicle computer system via the one or more communication sessions. The passenger information and the service information may be provided by the attendant device. An indication that at least one service is in progress or is complete is received by the attendant device.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating in-flight services through an on-board computer system of an airplane that communicates with one or more passenger-provided devices and with one or more attendant devices, wherein passenger-provided devices on a flight are provided by passengers on that flight, the method being implemented on the on-board computer system that includes one or more physical processors, the method comprising:

facilitating, by the on-board computer system, one or more communication sessions between one or more attendant devices and one or more passenger-provided devices;

receiving, by the on-board computer system, a request from a passenger-provided device;

providing, by the on-board computer system, the request to the one or more attendant devices;

receiving, by the on-board computer system, acknowledgement information from a first attendant device of the one or more attendant devices, wherein the acknowledgement information comprises an indication that a first attendant associated with the first attendant device will provide a service associated with the request; and

providing, by the on-board computer system, the acknowledgement information to the passenger-provided device.

2. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices, passenger information relating to passengers on the flight and service information indicating one or more services that may be provided to the passengers on the flight.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the passenger information comprises one or more of history information, preference information, or status information associated with the passengers on the flight.

4. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the on-board computer system, an indication that the service associated with the request is in progress or complete.

5. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the on-board computer system from a second attendant device of the one or more attendant devices, an indication that the service associated with the request is complete; and

providing, by the on-board computer system to the first attendant device, the indication that the service is complete.

6. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the on-board computer system from the passenger-provided device, an indication that the service associated with the request is complete; and

providing, by the on-board computer system to the first attendant device, the indication that the service is complete.

7. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

obtaining, by the on-board computer system, passenger information for passengers on the flight, wherein the passenger information includes an indication of the seat location for each passenger on the flight and an indication of at least one passenger of the passengers on the flight associated with each of the one or more passenger-provided devices;

identifying, by the on-board computer system, a seat location associated with the request received from the passenger-provided device based on the passenger information; and

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices with the request, an indication of the seat location associated with the request.

8. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

obtaining, by the on-board computer system, passenger information for passengers on the flight, wherein the passenger information includes an indication of the seat location for each passenger on the flight and an indication of at least one passenger of the passengers on the flight associated with each of the one or more passenger-provided devices;

identifying, by the on-board computer system, a passenger associated with the request received from the passenger-provided device based on the passenger information; and

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices with the request, information identifying the passenger associated with the request.

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, and wherein the preference information is based on one or more previous passenger service requests of passengers on the flight during one or more previous flights taken by the passengers, the method further comprising:

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices with the request, the preference information for the passenger associated with the passenger-provided device.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, and wherein the status information indicates at least one of a seat class status or a frequent flyer status for each of the passengers on the flight, the method further comprising:

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices with the request, the status information for the passenger associated with the passenger-provided device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, the method further comprising:

providing, by the on-board computer system to the one or more attendant devices with the request, history information about one or more previous passenger service requests of the passenger during one or more previous flights taken by the passenger.

12. The method of claim 1, the method further comprising:

receiving, by the on-board computer system from at least one of the one or more attendant devices, a message to be provided to each of the one or more passenger-provided devices; and

causing, by the on-board computer system, the message to be provided via each of the one or more passenger-provided devices.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein facilitating the one or more communication sessions between the one or more attendant devices and the one or more passenger-provided devices comprises:

facilitating, by the on-board computer system, the one or more communication sessions without an Internet connection.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more passenger-provided devices and the one or more attendant devices comprise mobile devices, and wherein the computer system is programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with different types of mobile devices.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more attendant devices include one or more wireless mobile devices that are programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with the computer system and that are further capable of other general wireless device functionalities, and wherein the one or more passenger-provided devices include one or more wireless mobile device that are programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with the computer system and that are further capable of other general wireless device functionalities.

16. An in-flight system for facilitating in-flight services through an on-board computer system of an airplane that communicates with one or more passenger-provided devices and with one or more attendant devices, wherein passenger-provided devices on a flight are provided by passengers on that flight, the system comprising:

an on-board computer system comprising one or more physical processors programmed with one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more physical processors, cause the on-board computer system to;

facilitate one or more communication sessions between one or more attendant devices and one or more passenger-provided devices;

receive a request from a passenger-provided device;

provide the request to the one or more attendant devices;

receive acknowledgement information from a first attendant device of the one or more attendant devices, wherein the acknowledgement information comprises an indication that a first attendant associated with the first attendant device will provide a service associated with the request; and

provide the acknowledgement information to the passenger-provided device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

provide to the one or more attendant devices passenger information relating to passengers on the flight and service information indicating one or more services that may be provided to the passengers on the flight.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the passenger information comprises one or more of history information, preference information, or status information associated with the passengers on the flight.

19. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

receive an indication that the service associated with the request is in progress or complete.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

receive from a second attendant device of the one or more attendant devices an indication that the service associated with the request is complete; and

provide to the first attendant device the indication that the service is complete.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

receive from the passenger-provided device an indication that the service associated with the request is complete; and

provide to the first attendant device the indication that the service is complete.

22. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

obtain passenger information for passengers on the flight, wherein the passenger information includes an indication of the seat location for each passenger on the flight and an indication of at least one passenger of the passengers on the flight associated with each of the one or more passenger-provided devices;

identify a seat location associated with the request received from the passenger-provided device based on the passenger information; and

provide to the one or more attendant devices with the request an indication of the seat location associated with the request.

23. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

obtain passenger information for passengers on the flight, wherein the passenger information includes an indication of the seat location for each passenger on the flight and an indication of at least one passenger of the passengers on the flight associated with each of the one or more passenger-provided devices;

identify a passenger associated with the request received from the passenger-provided device based on the passenger information; and

provide to the one or more attendant devices with the request information identifying the passenger associated with the request.

24. The system of claim 18, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, and wherein the preference information is based on one or more previous passenger service requests of passengers on the flight during one or more previous flights taken by the passengers, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

provide to the one or more attendant devices the preference information for the passenger associated with the passenger-provided device with the request.

25. The system of claim 18, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, and wherein the status information indicates at least one of a seat class status or a frequent flyer status for each of the passengers on the flight, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

provide to the one or more attendant devices the status information for the passenger associated with the passenger-provided device with the request.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the service associated with the request comprises a service that a passenger associated with the passenger-provided device seeks from an attendant on the vehicle, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

provide to the one or more attendant devices history information about one or more previous passenger service requests of the passenger during one or more previous flights taken by the passenger with the request.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

receive from at least one of the one or more attendant devices a message to be provided to each of the one or more passenger-provided devices; and

cause the message to be provided via each of the one or more passenger-provided devices.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein to facilitate the one or more communication sessions between the one or more attendant devices and the one or more passenger-provided devices, the on-board computer system is further programmed to:

facilitate the one or more communication sessions without an Internet connection.

29. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more passenger-provided devices and the one or more attendant devices comprise mobile devices, and wherein the computer system is programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with different types of mobile devices.

30. The system of claim 16, wherein the one or more attendant devices include one or more wireless mobile devices that are programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with the computer system and that are further capable of other general wireless device functionalities, and wherein the one or more passenger-provided devices include one or more wireless mobile device that are programmed with one or more computer program instructions for communicating with the computer system and that are further capable of other general wireless device functionalities.