VEHICLE INFORMATION SYSTEM WITH CUSTOMIZABLE USER INTERFACE

• US 20120179325A1
• Filed: 01/11/2011
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/11/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Faenger, Jens
• Granted Patent: US 8,688,320 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/31.4
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/186 Displaying information according to relevancy
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2360/589 Wireless data transfers
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/00 Instruments specially adapted for vehicles; Arrangement of instruments in or on vehicles
• 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 35/85 Arrangements for transferring vehicle- or driver-related data

Abstract

In accordance with one embodiment, an information system located within a vehicle includes a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions to implement a web browser, a data communication module, and a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, and the data communication module, the controller configured to execute the web browser to receive a plurality of data elements, identify a respective content type for each of the plurality of data elements, assign a relevance level to each of the plurality of data elements based on the respective identified content type, compare the assigned relevance to a predetermined relevance threshold; and generate a user interface using at least one of the plurality of data elements based upon the comparison.

Claims

1. An information system located within a vehicle comprising:

a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions to implement a web browser;

a data communication module; and

a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, and the data communication module, the controller configured to execute the web browser to;

receive a plurality of data elements;

identify a respective content type for each of the plurality of data elements;

assign a relevance level to each of the plurality of data elements based on the respective identified content type;

compare the assigned relevance to a predetermined relevance threshold; and

generate a user interface using at least one of the plurality of data elements based upon the comparison.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

at least one vehicle sensor configured to generate a signal corresponding to at least one operating condition of the vehicle, wherein the controller is further operatively coupled to the at least one vehicle sensor.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to identify an operating condition of the vehicle, and the predetermined relevance threshold is based on the identified operating condition of the vehicle.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to:

identify an operating condition of the vehicle;

configure the web browser to generate the user interface with the at least one of the plurality of data elements using a visual display based on a first identified operating condition of the vehicle; and

configure the web browser to generate the user interface with the at least one of the plurality of data elements using an audio output based on a second identified operating condition of the vehicle.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to:

identify an operating condition of the vehicle;

configure the web browser to generate a first layout of the at least one of the plurality of data elements based on a first identified operating condition of the vehicle; and

configure the web browser to generate a second layout of the at least one of the plurality of data elements based on a second identified operating condition of the vehicle, the second layout omitting a data element generated in the first layout.

6. The system of claim 2, wherein the controller is further configured to:

implement a software module configured to receive the signal generated by the at least one vehicle sensor in a first format;

identify the at least one vehicle sensor based on the data received in the first format; and

generate a data record corresponding to the vehicle sensor data in a second format.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the web browser is configured to identify at least one respective content type based on semantic data associated with the plurality of data elements.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the web browser is configured to identify a respective content type based on a uniform resource locator associated with the plurality of data elements.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the web browser is configured to identify at least one content type based on text content of at least one of the plurality of data elements.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the system is configured to receive a set of user interface configuration data, and the controller is configured to generate a user interface layout based on the configuration data.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the system is configured to receive the user interface configuration data from a mobile electronic device.

12. An information system located within a vehicle comprising:

a data storage device configured to store programmed instructions to implement a web browser;

at least one vehicle sensor configured to generate a signal including vehicle sensor data corresponding to at least one operating condition of the vehicle;

a data communication module; and

a controller operatively coupled to the data storage device, the at least one vehicle sensor, and the data communication module, the controller configured to;

implement a web browser;

implement a software module configured to receive the signal generated by the at least one vehicle sensor in a first format, identify the type of data in the signal, and generate a data record corresponding to the vehicle sensor data in a second format;

receive data corresponding to a web application using the data communication module;

operate the web browser to execute the web application; and

provide the data record to the web application.

13. The system of claim 12 further comprising:

a first set of user interface configuration data stored in the data storage device; and

a second set of user interface configuration data stored in the data storage device,

wherein the controller generates a first user interface format based on the first set of user interface configuration data when a first format identifier is received by the controller, and the controller generates a second user interface format based on the second set of user interface configuration data when a second format identifier is received by the controller.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the controller is further configured to:

identify an operating condition of the vehicle;

generate a first user interface based on the first user interface format and a first identified operating condition; and

generate a second user interface based on the first user interface format and a second identified operating condition.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the system is configured to receive a set of user interface configuration data, and the controller is further configured to generate user interface data in a format based on the received set of user interface configuration data.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the system is further configured to receive the set of user interface configuration data from a mobile electronic device.

17. The system of claim 15, further comprising a set of stored user interface configuration data stored in the data storage device, wherein the controller is further configured to:

identify an operating condition of the vehicle;

generate a first user interface based on the received user interface format and a first identified operating condition; and

generate a second user interface based on the stored user interface format and a second identified operating condition.

18. The system of claim 12, wherein the controller is further configured to:

receive a plurality of data elements from an external server;

identify a respective content type for each of the plurality of data elements;

assign a respective relevance level to each of the plurality of data elements based on the respective identified content type;

compare the assigned respective relevance to a predetermined relevance threshold; and

generate a user interface using at least one of the plurality of data elements based upon the comparison.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to identify at least one of the respective content types based on semantic data associated with a respective one of the plurality of data elements.

20. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to identify at least one of the respective content types based on a uniform resource locator associated with a respective one of the plurality of data elements.

21. The system of claim 18, wherein the controller is configured to identify at least one of the respective content types based on text content of at least one data element in a respective one of the plurality of data elements.