Automobile network to communicate with multiple smart devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2017195324-A1
Application number	US-201614988333-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jan 5, 2016
Priority date	Jan 5, 2016
Publication date	Jul 6, 2017
Grant date	—

Abstract

Embodiments are directed towards establishing a network between mobile devices, an automobile head unit, and a plurality of automobile accessories. A user utilizes a user interface on a mobile device to send an accessory access request to the head unit. The head unit receives the request and determines if the mobile device is authentic. If authentic, the head unit determines if the mobile device has the proper permissions to perform the requested access of the accessory. If permitted, the head unit generates and sends control commands to the accessory or obtains the requested accessory data and provides it to the mobile device.

First claim

1 . A method, executing on a head unit of an automobile, to network user mobile devices and accessories in the automobile, comprising:
establishing a network connection with each of a plurality of user mobile devices; receiving a request from a user mobile device of the plurality of user mobile devices to access a selected accessory within the automobile; determining if the user mobile device is authentic; in response to the user mobile device being authentic, determining one or more permissions of the user mobile device, wherein the one or more permissions include one or more operations that the user mobile device is authorized to perform with the selected accessory; and executing, based on the one or more permissions, an action in response to the request.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the action in response to the request includes:
sending another request to the selected accessory for data in response to the request received from the user mobile device; receiving a response from the selected accessory with the requested data; and providing the requested data to the user mobile device.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the action in response to the request includes:
caching data from the selected accessory prior to receiving the request from the user mobile device; and providing the cached data to the user mobile device in response to receiving the request.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the action in response to the request includes:
generating a command to control an operating parameter of the selected accessory based on the request; and sending the command to the selected accessory for execution by the selected accessory.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein executing the action in response to the request includes:
generating a message for another user mobile device of the plurality of user mobile devices based on the request; and sending the message to the other user mobile device.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected accessory is one of an automobile body accessory, an infotainment accessory, or a wireless accessory.

7 . A head unit of an automobile, comprising:
a memory for storing instructions; and a processor that executes the instructions to:
establish a network connection with a mobile computing device;
receive data from an accessory of a plurality of accessories in the automobile;
confirm that the mobile computing device is permitted to receive the data from the accessory;
modify the data for transmission to the mobile computing device by encrypting the data to be accessible by the mobile computing device; and
send the modified data to the mobile computing device for display of the data.

8 . The head unit of claim 7 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to:
receive a request from the mobile computing device to access the data from the accessory, wherein the data is sent to the mobile computing device in response to receiving of the request from the mobile computing device.

9 . The head unit of claim 7 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to:
cache the data from the accessory; in response to a change in the data, send the data to the mobile computing device.

10 . The head unit of claim 7 , wherein the processor executes further instructions to:
receive a request from the mobile computing device to access another accessory; confirm that the mobile computing device is permitted to access the other accessory; generate a command to control an operating parameter of the other accessory based on the request; and send the command to the other accessory for execution by the other accessory.

11 . The head unit of claim 7 , wherein the plurality of accessories in the automobile include automobile body accessories and infotainment accessories.

12 . A system, comprising:
an accessory of an automobile; and a head unit of the automobile, the head unit including:
a memory for storing instructions; and
a processor that executes the instructions to:
establish a network connection with each of a plurality of user devices;
receive a request from a user device of the plurality of user devices to access the accessory;
determine if the user device is permitted to access the accessory; and
initiate, in response to the request, a signal that controls an operational parameter of the accessory.

13 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the accessory is an application stored in the memory of the head unit and the processor executes additional instructions to control the operational parameter of the accessory.

14 . The system of claim 12 , the further comprising:
another accessory of the automobile; and wherein the processor of the head unit executes additional instructions to:
cache data from the other accessory in the memory;
receive another request from another user device of the plurality of user devices to access the other accessory;
determine if the other user device is permitted to access the other accessory; and
send the cached data to the other user device in response to receiving of the other request.

15 . The system of claim 12 , wherein the processor of the head unit executes further instructions to:
receive data from the accessory; and send the data to the user device independent of the request from the user device.

Assignees

• Xevo Inc

Inventors

• Yamamoto Shin

Classifications

• H04L67/12 Primary

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

• H04W12/08

  Access security · CPC title

• H04W12/06

  Authentication · CPC title

• H04W76/14

  Direct-mode setup · CPC title

• H04W76/15

  Setup of multiple wireless link connections · CPC title