Systems and methods for displaying visual content in an automobile stopped at a traffic light

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10957192-B2
Application number	US-201916536927-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 9, 2019
Priority date	Aug 9, 2019
Publication date	Mar 23, 2021
Grant date	Mar 23, 2021

Abstract

Exemplary embodiments described in this disclosure are generally directed to systems and methods for displaying visual content in an automobile. In an exemplary implementation, an onboard computer of an automobile receives wireless signals from a roadside unit located near the traffic intersection. The wireless signals provide information about how much time is remaining before a traffic light turns from a red state to a green state. The onboard computer uses this information to display visual content on an infotainment system in the automobile as long as the automobile is in a stopped condition. The onboard computer stops displaying the content before the traffic light turns green. In one case, the wireless signals transmitted from the roadside unit include a Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) signal and a traffic intersection map that provides details about a topography of the traffic intersection.

First claim

That which is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by an onboard computer of an automobile, a first wireless signal comprising timing information about a first traffic light that is located at a traffic intersection;
verifying, by the onboard computer, that the automobile is in a stopped condition; and
executing, by the onboard computer and based on the timing information and verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, one or more operations on at least one of an infotainment system located in the automobile or a personal device carried by an occupant of the automobile, wherein executing the one or more operations comprises:
displaying, based on verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, a first object on a display screen of the at least one of the infotainment system or the personal device;
discontinuing displaying the first object based on a determination that a brake is released; and
displaying a second object on the display screen.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless signal is a Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) signal and the one or more operations includes displaying at least one of a text message, a safety alert message, a notification, an image, an icon, or an advertisement upon the display screen, wherein each of the text message, the safety alert message, the notification, the image, the icon, and the advertisement is assigned a priority level, and wherein the advertisement is assigned a lower priority level than at least the safety alert message.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the at least one of the text message, the safety alert message, the notification, the image, the icon, or the advertisement is contained in a second wireless signal received by the onboard computer of the automobile.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the second wireless signal is an infrastructure-to-vehicle (I2V) message transmitted by at least one of a roadside unit that is configured to operate using a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) protocol or a server computer configured to operate using a cellular communications protocol.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the timing information about the first traffic light comprises information about an amount of time remaining before the first traffic light transitions to a green state and wherein the first wireless signal further includes a traffic intersection map that provides details about a topography of the traffic intersection at which the automobile is in the stopped condition.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:
utilizing, by the onboard computer, the traffic intersection map and the information about the amount of time remaining before the first traffic light transitions to the green state to discontinue displaying of the at least one of the text message, the safety alert message, the notification, the image, the icon, or the advertisement upon the display screen of the at least one of the infotainment system or the personal device before the first traffic light transitions to the green state.

7. A method comprising:
receiving, by an onboard computer of an automobile, a first wireless signal comprising information about an amount of time remaining before a traffic light transitions to a green state;
verifying, by the onboard computer, that the automobile is in a stopped condition; and
utilizing, by the onboard computer, based on verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, the amount of time remaining to execute one or more operations;
executing, by the onboard computer, the one or more operations, wherein executing the one or more operations comprises:
displaying, based on verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, a first object on a display screen of a device located in the automobile;
discontinuing displaying the first object based on a determination that the information about the amount of time remaining before the traffic light transitions to the green state; and
displaying a second object on the display screen.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first wireless signal is a Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) signal and the one or more operations includes displaying an object upon the display screen.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the device located in the automobile is an infotainment system and the object displayed upon the display screen of the infotainment system includes at least one of a text message, a safety alert message, a notification, an image, an icon, or an advertisement, wherein each of the text message, the notification, the image, the icon, and the advertisement is assigned a priority level, and wherein the advertisement is assigned a lower priority level than at least the safety alert message.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
utilizing, by the onboard computer, the information about the amount of time remaining before the traffic light transitions to the green state to discontinue displaying of the object upon the display screen of the device before the traffic light transitions to the green state.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:
discontinuing, by the onboard computer, displaying of the object upon the display screen of the device prior to an expiry of a time window provided by a countdown timer operating in accordance with the amount of time remaining before the traffic light transitions to the green state.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first wireless signal is a Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) signal and the method further comprises:
receiving, by the onboard computer, a second wireless signal comprising at least one of a text message, a safety alert message, a notification, an image, an icon, or an advertisement;
determining, by the onboard computer, that the automobile is in the stopped condition in one of a first lane or a second lane of a multi-lane road;
displaying, by the onboard computer, the at least one of the text message, the safety alert message, the notification, the image, the icon, or the advertisement upon the display screen, if the automobile is in the stopped condition in the first lane; and
withholding, by the onboard computer, displaying of the at least one of the text message, the safety alert message, the notification, the image, the icon, or the advertisement upon the display screen, if the automobile is in the stopped condition in the second lane.

13. A system comprising:
an onboard computer located in an automobile, the onboard computer comprising:
at least one memory that stores computer-executable instructions; and
at least one processor configured to access the at least one memory and execute the computer-executable instructions to at least:
receive a first wireless signal comprising timing information about a first traffic light that is located at a traffic intersection;
verify that the automobile is in a stopped condition; and
execute, based on the timing information and based on verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, one or more operations upon an infotainment system located in the automobile, wherein executing the one or more operations comprises:
displaying, based on verifying that the automobile is in the stopped condition, a first object on a display screen of the infotainment system;
discontinuing displaying the first object based on a determination that a brake is released; and
displaying a second object on the display screen.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the first wireless signal includes a Signal Phase and Timing (SPaT) signal that provides the timing information about the first traffic light and further includes a traffic intersectio

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc
• Ford Global Tech L L C

Inventors

• Bandi Krishna
• Ibrahim Samer
• Ortman Richard

Classifications

• H04W4/44

  for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H] · CPC title

• H04W4/42 Primary

  for mass transport vehicles, e.g. buses, trains or aircraft · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title

• G06F3/04817

  using icons (graphical or visual programming using iconic symbols G06F8/34) · CPC title

• G08G1/096783 Primary

  where the origin of the information is a roadside individual element · CPC title