Tracking a wireless device using a seamless handoff between a vehicle and a mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10536815-B2
Application number	US-201715618096-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 8, 2017
Priority date	Jun 8, 2017
Publication date	Jan 14, 2020
Grant date	Jan 14, 2020

Abstract

Method and apparatus are disclosed for tracking a wireless device using a seamless handoff between a vehicle and a mobile device. An example vehicle includes internal and external antennas, a sensor, and an infotainment head unit with a display. The infotainment head unit tracks, using the external antenna, a wireless-enabled object exterior to the vehicle. The infotainment head unit also determines a location of the mobile device associated with the vehicle based on the sensor and the internal and external antennas. Additionally, when the mobile device exits the vehicle, the infotainment head unit automatically transitions tracking information to the mobile device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
an infotainment head unit with a display and antennas configured to:
display a real-time map including directions to a wireless-enabled object exterior to the vehicle;
determine a location of a mobile device associated with the vehicle, wherein the antennas comprise internal and external antennas, wherein to determine the location of the mobile device, the infotainment head unit is configured to compare a first signal strength between the mobile device and the internal antenna and a second signal strength between the mobile device and the external antenna; and
responsive to the mobile device exiting the vehicle:
transition tracking information to the mobile device; and
determine, based on the second signal strength becoming greater than the first signal strength, on-foot directions from the vehicle to the wireless-enabled object.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , further including a sensor, wherein the infotainment head unit is configured to determine a location of the mobile device based on the sensor and the antennas.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a seat weight sensor, and wherein the infotainment head unit is configured to automatically determine the on-foot directions in response to the seat weight sensor indicating that a driver seat is not occupied.

4. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the sensor is a door position sensor, and wherein the infotainment head unit is configured to automatically determine the on-foot directions in response to the door position sensor indicating that a driver door is open.

5. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the infotainment head unit is configured to determine a location of the wireless-enabled object.

6. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein to determine the location of the wireless-enabled object, the infotainment head unit is configured to retrieve location information from a message broadcast by the wireless-enabled object.

7. The vehicle of claim 5 , wherein to determine the location of the wireless-enabled object, the infotainment head unit is configured to estimate the location of the wireless-enabled object based on signal strength values of a message exchanged with the wireless-enabled object.

8. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein transitioning the tracking information to the mobile device causes the mobile device to display an interface to track the wireless-enabled object.

9. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the infotainment head unit with the display and the antennas estimates the projected path of the wireless-enabled object based at least in part on a trajectory of the moving wireless-enabled object, past location information of the moving wireless-enabled object, and relative importance to streets in an area at which the wireless-enabled object is located.

10. A method to track a wireless-enabled object with a vehicle and a mobile device comprising:
determining directions to the wireless-enabled object exterior to the vehicle using at least one external antenna of the vehicle;
displaying, via a display of the vehicle, the directions;
determining, with a processor of the vehicle, a location of the mobile device associated with the vehicle based on at least one internal antenna of the vehicle and the at least one external antenna by comparing a first signal strength between the mobile device and the at least one internal antenna and a second signal strength between the mobile device and the at least one external antenna; and
responsive to the mobile device exiting the vehicle:
automatically transitioning tracking information to the mobile device; and
automatically determining, based on the second signal strength becoming greater than the first signal strength, on-foot directions from a location at which the mobile device has exited the vehicle to the wireless-enabled object.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein determining the location of the mobile device includes determining the location of the mobile device based on a sensor, the at least one internal antenna, and the at least one external antenna.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor is a seat weight sensor.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the sensor is a door position sensor.

14. The method of claim 10 further including determining the location of the wireless-enabled object.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the location of the wireless-enabled object includes retrieving location information from a message broadcast by the wireless-enabled object.

16. The method of claim 14 , wherein determining the location of the wireless-enabled object includes estimating the location of the wireless-enabled object based on signal strength values of the received message exchanged from the wireless-enabled object.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein when the mobile device exits the vehicle and an indication to continue tracking is received, continuing to track the wireless-enabled object via the vehicle after automatically transitioning the tracking information to the mobile device.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Mcnabb David
• Van Wiemeersch John Robert

Classifications

• H04W64/006

  with additional information processing, e.g. for direction or speed determination · CPC title

• H04W4/40 Primary

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• G01C21/26

  specially adapted for navigation in a road network · CPC title

• H04W84/005

  Moving wireless networks · CPC title

• H04W4/029 Primary

  Location-based management or tracking services · CPC title