In-vehicle detection of a charge-only connection with a mobile computing device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11381950-B2
Application number	US-201916716702-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 17, 2019
Priority date	Dec 17, 2019
Publication date	Jul 5, 2022
Grant date	Jul 5, 2022

Abstract

An example method includes identifying, by a mobile computing device, short-range wireless communication signals that are associated with a vehicle computing system; determining, by the mobile computing device, based on the short-range wireless communication signals, that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system; identifying, by the mobile computing device, an electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the vehicle, wherein the electrical connection is provided by an electrical cable that connects a port of the mobile computing device to a port of the vehicle; determining, by the mobile computing device, that the electrical connection is a charge-only connection, wherein the charge-only connection enables an electrical charging or discharging of the mobile computing device but prohibits any data transfer between the mobile computing device and the vehicle computing system; and outputting, by the mobile computing device, a notification indicative of the charge-only connection.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
identifying, by a mobile computing device, one or more short-range wireless communication signals that are associated with a vehicle computing system of a vehicle;
determining, by the mobile computing device, based on the one or more short-range wireless communication signals, that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system;
responsive to determining that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system, identifying, by the mobile computing device, an electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the vehicle, wherein the electrical connection is provided by an electrical cable that connects a port of the mobile computing device to a port of the vehicle;
determining, by the mobile computing device, whether the electrical connection is a charge-only connection, wherein the charge-only connection enables an electrical charging or discharging of the mobile computing device but prohibits any data transfer between the mobile computing device and the vehicle computing system; and
responsive to determining that the electrical connection is the charge-only connection, outputting, by the mobile computing device, a notification indicative of the charge-only connection.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
after identifying the one or more short-range wireless communication signals, establishing, by the mobile computing device, a short-range wireless connection with the vehicle computing system of the vehicle;
receiving, by the mobile computing device via the short-range wireless connection with the vehicle computing system, a unique identifier of the vehicle computing system; and
identifying, by the mobile computing device based on the unique identifier, the vehicle computing system,
wherein determining that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system occurs responsive to the mobile computing device identifying the vehicle computing system.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the electrical connection is the charge-only connection comprises:
periodically monitoring, by the mobile computing device, a state of the electrical connection provided by the electrical cable that connects the port of the mobile computing device to the port of the vehicle; and
determining, by the mobile computing device, based on the state of the electrical connection, that no data can be transmitted to or received from the vehicle computing system via the electrical connection.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the port of the vehicle comprises a port of the vehicle computing system, and wherein identifying the electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the vehicle comprises one or more of:
determining, by the mobile computing device, that the mobile computing device is electrically charging or discharging via the electrical connection provided by the electrical cable that connects the port of the mobile computing device to the port of the vehicle computing system; or
determining, by the mobile computing device, that a status of the port of the mobile computing device indicates the electrical connection to the port of the vehicle computing system via the electrical cable.

5. The method of claim 1 ,
wherein the port of the mobile computing device comprises a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port of the mobile computing device,
wherein the port of the vehicle comprises a USB port of the vehicle computing system, and
wherein the electrical cable comprises a USB cable.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining that the electrical connection is a charge-only connection comprises determining, by the mobile computing device, at least one of (i) that the port of the vehicle is a charge-only port; or (ii) that the electrical cable is a charge-only cable.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the notification indicative of the charge-only connection comprises outputting, by the mobile computing device and after a threshold period of time after determining that the electrical connection is the charge-only connection has elapsed, an error message indicative of the charge-only connection.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the port of the vehicle comprises a port of the vehicle computing system, and wherein outputting the notification indicative of the charge-only connection comprises outputting, by the mobile computing device and for display, a message to suggest at least one of (i) plugging the electrical cable into a different port of the vehicle computing system, or (ii) using a different electrical cable in connecting the port of the mobile computing device to the port of the vehicle.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein outputting the notification indicative of the charge-only connection comprises sending, by the mobile computing device and to the vehicle computing system via a short-range wireless connection, data that is indicative of the charge-only connection.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to determining that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system, and before identifying the electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the vehicle, outputting, by the mobile computing device and for display, an instructional message to attach the electrical cable from the port of mobile computing device to the port of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
responsive to determining that the electrical connection is a data connection rather than a charge-only connection, sending, by the mobile computing device and to the vehicle computing system via the data connection, application data for display at the vehicle computing system.

12. A mobile computing device, comprising:
at least one processor; and
at least one computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to:
identify one or more short-range wireless communication signals that are associated with a vehicle computing system of a vehicle;
determine, based on the one or more short-range wireless communication signals, that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system;
responsive to determining that the mobile computing device is proximate to the vehicle computing system, identify an electrical connection between the mobile computing device and the vehicle, wherein the electrical connection is provided by an electrical cable that connects a port of the mobile computing device to a port of the vehicle;
determine whether the electrical connection is a charge-only connection, wherein the charge-only connection enables an electrical charging or discharging of the mobile computing device but prohibits any data transfer between the mobile computing device and the vehicle computing system; and
responsive to determining that the electrical connection is the charge-only connection, output a notification indicative of the charge-only connection.

13. The mobile computing device of claim 12 , wherein the instructions stored on the at least one computer-readable storage device further cause the at least one processor to:
after identifying the one or more short-range wireless communication signals, establish a short-range wireless connection with the vehicle computing system of the vehicle;
receive, via the short-range wireless connection with the vehicle computing system, a unique identifier of the vehicle computing system; and
identify, based on the unique identifier, the vehicle computing system,
wherein the instructions stored on the

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Viswanathan Sriram
• Krakowiak Lukasz Pawel
• Feng Dan
• Koh Eugene

Classifications

• H02J7/685

  using connection detecting circuits (H02J7/68 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/48

  for in-vehicle communication · CPC title

• G06F13/4068

  Electrical coupling · CPC title

• G07C2209/63

  Comprising locating means for detecting the position of the data carrier, i.e. within the vehicle or within a certain distance from the vehicle · CPC title

• G06F13/38 Primary

  Information transfer, e.g. on bus (G06F13/14 takes precedence) · CPC title