System and method for scheduling a video conference in an autonomous vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016205146-A1
Application number	US-201614987923-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 5, 2016
Priority date	Jan 12, 2015
Publication date	Jul 14, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A system, a multi-user scheduling unit comprised in the system, and corresponding methods are described for scheduling a video conference call for at least one autonomous vehicle. The system provides a means of scheduling such a call for various participants while minimizing driver interaction or need for attention while a vehicle is in a manual driving mode.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A system for scheduling a video conference call for at least one autonomous vehicle, the system comprising:
a plurality of vehicle scheduling units, each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units for use in a respective vehicle, each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units configured to estimate an autonomous driving time in which the respective vehicle will be in an autonomous driving mode; each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units further configured to send the respective autonomous driving time to a multi-user scheduling unit; the multi-user scheduling unit configured to receive the autonomous driving time from each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units and store the received autonomous driving time in a central memory unit; and the multi-user scheduling unit further configured to determine a time for a video conference for at least one vehicle associated with a respective vehicle scheduling unit based on a calling request and information related to participants for the video conference call which are situated in respective vehicles, the information retrieved from the central memory unit.

2 . A multi-user scheduling unit for scheduling a video conference call for at least one autonomous vehicle, the multi-user scheduling unit comprising:
a receiving unit configured to receive, from each of a plurality of vehicle scheduling units, each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units in a respective vehicle, an autonomous driving time in which the respective vehicle will be in an autonomous driving mode; a scheduling unit configured to store the received autonomous driving times in a central memory unit; the scheduling unit further configured to schedule a video conference call for at least one respective vehicle based on a calling request and information related to participants for the video conference call which are situated in respective vehicles, the information retrieved from the central memory unit; and a transmitting unit configured to send a result of the scheduling to all participants for the video conference call.

3 . The multi-user scheduling unit of claim 2 wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive, from the plurality of vehicle scheduling units, a time and a date of a scheduled video conference wherein a respective vehicle comprises a participant, and the scheduling unit is further configured to store the time and date of the scheduled video conference in the central memory unit.

4 . The multi-user scheduling unit of claim 2 wherein the scheduling unit is further configured to schedule the video conference call based on a calendar of at least one participant for the video conference.

5 . The multi-user scheduling unit of claim 2 wherein the calling request is a request received from at least one participant for an incoming or outgoing video conference call, or the calling request is based on a scheduled conference call comprised in a calendar of at least one participant.

6 . The multi-user scheduling unit of claim 2 wherein the receiving unit is further configured to receive an updated autonomous driving time from a respective vehicle whose driving route has been altered, and the scheduling unit is further configured to store the updated autonomous driving time in the central memory unit.

7 . A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored program instructions for scheduling a video conference call for at least one autonomous vehicle, the instructions for execution by one or more processors of a computer system and comprising instructions for:
receiving, from each of a plurality of vehicle scheduling units, each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units in a respective vehicle, an autonomous driving time in which the respective vehicle will be in an autonomous driving mode; storing the received autonomous driving times in a central memory unit; scheduling a video conference call for at least one respective vehicle based on a calling request and the autonomous driving time of all participants for the video conference call which are situated in respective vehicles; and transmitting a result of the scheduling to all participants for the video conference call.

8 . The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the program instructions further comprise instructions for:
receiving, from the plurality of vehicle scheduling units, a time and a date of a scheduled video conference wherein a respective vehicle comprises a participant; and
storing the time and date of the scheduled video conference in the central memory unit.

9 . The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein scheduling the video conference call is further based on a calendar of at least one participant for the video conference.

10 . The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the calling request is a request received from at least one participant for an incoming or outgoing video conference call, or the calling request is based on a scheduled conference call comprised in a calendar of at least one participant.

11 . The computer readable medium of claim 7 wherein the program instructions further comprise instructions for:
receiving an updated autonomous driving time from a respective vehicle whose driving route has been altered; and
storing the updated autonomous driving time in the central memory unit.

12 . A method for scheduling a video conference call for at least one autonomous vehicle, the method comprising:
receiving, from each of a plurality of vehicle scheduling units, each of the plurality of vehicle scheduling units in a respective vehicle, an autonomous driving time in which the respective vehicle will be in an autonomous driving mode; storing the received autonomous driving times in a central memory unit; scheduling a video conference call for at least one respective vehicle based on a calling request and the autonomous driving time of all participants for the video conference call which are situated in respective vehicles; and transmitting a result of the scheduling to all participants for the video conference call.

13 . The method of claim 12 further comprising:
receiving, from the plurality of vehicle scheduling units, a time and a date of a scheduled video conference call wherein a respective vehicle comprises a participant; and
storing the time and date of the scheduled video conference call in the central memory unit.

14 . The method of claim 12 wherein the scheduling of the video conference call is further based on a calendar of at least one participant for the video conference.

15 . The method of claim 12 wherein the calling request is a request received from at least one participant for an incoming or outgoing video conference call, or the calling request is based on a scheduled conference call comprised in a calendar of at least one participant.

16 . The method of claim 12 further comprising:
receiving an updated autonomous driving time from a respective vehicle whose driving route has been altered; and
storing the updated autonomous driving time in the central memory unit.

Assignees

• Volvo Car Corp

Inventors

• Sugioka Ichiro
• Lawler Matthew
• Kauppi Kari
• Dromi Aric
• Sakellariou Nick

Classifications

• H04L65/1066 Primary

  Session management · CPC title

• H04L65/403

  Arrangements for multi-party communication, e.g. for conferences (data switching systems for conference H04L12/18; arrangements for connecting several subscribers to a common circuit, i.e. affording conference facilities H04M3/56; television conferencing systems H04N7/15) · CPC title

• H04N21/6181

  involving transmission via a mobile phone network (arrangements for providing broadcast or conference services to substation in data switching networks in combination with wireless systems H04L12/189; wireless uplink channel access H04W74/004) · CPC title

• H04N21/4788

  communicating with other users, e.g. chatting {(arrangements for providing for computer conferences, e.g. chat rooms, to substation in data switching networks H04L12/1813; distributed application using peer-to-peer [P2P] networks H04L67/104)} · 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