In-vehicle integrated information system

• US 6,434,450 B1
• Filed: 10/19/1998
• Issued: 08/13/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Vetronix Corp (Robert Bosch GmbH)
• Original Assignee: Diversified Software Industries, Inc. (Nexiq Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Dils, Gregory A., Lash, J. Jay, Stahlberg, Ronald E., Griffin, James C. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): PIPALA, EDWARD J
• Application Number:
  US09/175,834
• Time in Patent Office: 1,394 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/29, 701/30, 701/31, 701/35, 701/36, 340/901, 340/905, 340/425.5, 340/500, 340/825.36, 345/112, 345/113, 345/115, 345/116, 345/117, 345/156, 345/335
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 2370/155 Virtual instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/213 Virtual instruments
• CPC Class Codes: B60K 35/60 Instruments characterised by their location or relative disposition in or on vehicles arrangements of lighting devices on dashboards B60Q3/10
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0232 for measuring vehicle parameters and indicating critical, abnormal or dangerous conditions
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/037 for occupant comfort , e.g. for automatic adjustment of appliances according to personal settings, e.g. seats, mirrors, steering wheel
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

An in-vehicle information system having a programmable multi-purpose display is described. The system receives and manages information from a variety of sources including both in-vehicle and off-vehicle applications. The system dynamically displays real-time information to a driver within the standard line-of-sight of the driver. The information is selectively displayed to the driver based on predefined trigging conditions. The system integrates disparate technologies a manner that does not degrade driving performance and safety.

Claims

1. An information system for a vehicle, the information system

integrating information from multiple sources on a single in-vehicle display, the information system comprising:

a display located in the line of sight of an operator of the vehicle, the display presenting information to an operator; and

computer executable instructions for receiving information from a plurality of sources and for selectively presenting the information to the operator on the display wherein the information presented to the operator at a particular time depends on one or more predefined trigger conditions to prevent dangerous uses.

2. The information system of claim 1, wherein the display is located in a dashboard of the vehicle in place of an instrument cluster.

3. The information system of claim 1, wherein information presented on the display comprises dynamic objects associated with one or more of the multiple sources and wherein the dynamic objects presented at a particular time are interchangeable.

4. The information system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources is an in-vehicle system.

5. The information system of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources is an off-vehicle system.

6. The information system for the vehicle of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources is a user interface presented on the display.

7. The information system for the vehicle of claim 6, further comprising multi-function programmable switches operatively connected to the user interface for selecting information.

8. The information system for the vehicle of claim 1, further comprising an additional programmable display for presenting information to a non-operator of the vehicle.

9. A method of managing information available to an operator of a vehicle from a variety of sources, the method comprising:

initializing at least one new screen by dynamically creating the at least one new screen and displaying the at least one new screen on a display device;

receiving data from at least one of the sources;

standardizing the data to a predetermined format;

filtering the data so that only the data used by a current configuration of a display system will be retained;

storing the data in a data store; and

selectively displaying the data on the display device in the vehicle based on one or more predefined trigger conditions, wherein at least one old screen is capable of destroying itself to free memory.

10. A method of managing information according to claim 9, where the acts are performed in the order recited.

11. A computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for causing a computer to perform a method of presenting information from multiple applications on a dynamic in-vehicle display, the method comprising:

upon a maintenance triggering condition, receiving maintenance data from one of the multiple applications;

prioritizing the maintenance data to determine if a new screen is to be presented on the display;

switching between a normal execution mode and a system maintenance mode; and

updating a current screen presented on the display when at least one maintenance triggering condition indicates to do so.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 11, wherein the act of prioritizing the data further comprises tracking the current screen and determining if a maintenance triggering condition is met.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the maintenance triggering condition is user-defined.

14. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein the maintenance triggering condition is based on the maintenance data.

15. An intelligent vehicle system comprising:

an in-vehicle information system for receiving information from a plurality of sources, integrating the information, and dynamically displaying the information to a driver based on one or more predefined trigger conditions, wherein the trigger conditions include trigger conditions to prevent dangerous uses; and

a server for providing information to the in-vehicle information system.

16. The intelligent vehicle system of claim 15, wherein the server provides information for a particular geographic region.

17. The intelligent vehicle system of claim 15, wherein the server provides information to the in-vehicle information system in response to a request from the in-vehicle information system.

18. The intelligent vehicle system of claim 15, wherein the server broadcasts information to the in-vehicle information system.

19. A vehicle comprising:

an in-vehicle information system for receiving information from a plurality of sources and selectively displaying the information to a driver based on one or more predefined trigger conditions to prevent dangerous uses, wherein the information from the plurality of sources is displayed on a centrally located display; and

an in-vehicle browser for presenting information to the driver and receiving requests from the driver.

20. The vehicle as recited in claim 19, wherein one of the predefined trigger conditions operates to prevent the driver from using the in-vehicle browser while driving.

21. A computerized method of presenting information from multiple applications on a dynamic in-vehicle display, the method comprising:

receiving data from one of the multiple applications;

prioritizing the data to determine if a new screen is to be presented on the display;

if the new screen is needed, initializing the new screen by dynamically creating the new screen and displaying the new screen on a display device, wherein an old screen is capable of destroying itself to free memory; and

updating a current screen presented on the display when at least one triggering condition indicates to do so.

22. The method of presenting information as claimed in claim 21, wherein the act of prioritizing the data further comprises tracking the current screen and determining if a triggering condition is met.

23. An integrated information system for a vehicle, the integrated information system comprising:

a display located in the vehicle, the display presenting information to a user according to personal preferences; and

a computer readable medium having computer executable instructions stored thereon, the computer executable instructions for receiving information from a plurality of sources and for selectively presenting the information to the user on the display wherein the information presented to the user at a particular time depends on one or more predefined trigger conditions, including trigger conditions for personal preferences.

24. The integrated information system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources is a voice recognition system.

25. The integrated information system of claim 23, wherein at least one of the plurality of sources is an input device selected from the group consisting of a button, a switch, a knob, a dial, a mouse, a touch pad, and a touch screen display.

26. The integrated information system of claim 23, wherein the user is a passenger in the vehicle.

27. The integrated information system of claim 23, wherein the user is an operator of the vehicle.

28. The integrated information system of claim 27, further comprising one or more additional displays for use by a passenger in the vehicle.

29. The integrated information system of claim 28, wherein the one or more additional displays provide information from at least one of the plurality of sources selected from the group consisting of a satellite TV system, a keyboard, a video game, a video cassette recorder and a digital video disk.

30. The information system as recited in claim 23, wherein the plurality of personal preferences include settings for driver seat position.

31. The information system as recited in claim 23, wherein the plurality of personal preferences include settings for mirror position.

32. The information system as recited in claim 23, wherein the plurality of personal preferences include display settings for the display.

33. An information system for a vehicle, the information system integrating information from multiple sources on a single in-vehicle display, the information system comprising:

a display located in the line of sight of an operator of the vehicle, the display presenting information to the operator, the information comprising graphics that are dynamic in appearance and are received from one or more of a plurality of sources; and

computer executable instructions for receiving information from the plurality of sources and for selectively presenting the information to the operator on the display wherein the information presented to the operator at a particular time depends on one or more predefined trigger conditions to prevent dangerous uses.