Apparatus and method of software implementation between a vehicle and mobile device

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9361090-B2
Application number	US-201414162861-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 24, 2014
Priority date	Jan 24, 2014
Publication date	Jun 7, 2016
Grant date	Jun 7, 2016

Abstract

A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the mobile device. The VCS also includes a VCS software stack configured to interact with a mobile device software stack and a processor configured to receive a message from the mobile device indicating a version of the mobile device software stack. The processor is also configured to determine if the VCS needs an update to the VCS software stack based at least upon the version of the mobile device software stack, download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server, update the VCS to include the updated VCS software stack, and communicate with the mobile device utilizing the updated VCS software stack.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising:
a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device located in the vehicle;
a VCS software stack configured to interact with a mobile device Bluetooth profile;
a processor configured to:
receive a message from the mobile device located in the vehicle indicating a version of the mobile device Bluetooth profile;
determine memory space availability to download and install an update to the VCS software stack including an update to a vehicle Bluetooth profile;
determine if the VCS needs an update to the VCS software stack based at least upon the version of the mobile device Bluetooth profile;
download an update to the VCS software stack from an off- board server;
update the VCS to include the updated software stack including at least an update to the vehicle Bluetooth profile;
communicate with the mobile device utilizing at least the updated vehicle Bluetooth profile.

2. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the processor further is configured to download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server utilizing the mobile device.

3. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server utilizing a long-range wireless transceiver in communication with the VCS.

4. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server utilizing the wireless transceiver in communication with the mobile device.

5. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the message from the wireless transceiver also includes information regarding a manufacturer of the mobile device or information regarding an operating system of the mobile device.

6. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the VCS software stack facilitates communication between a Bluetooth profile and a human machine interface layer.

7. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the VCS software stack is located in a HCI layer.

8. A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with one or more mobile devices, comprising:
a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device located in the vehicle;
a VCS Bluetooth profile configured to interact with a mobile device Bluetooth profile;
a processor configured to:
receive a message from the mobile device located in the vehicle indicating a version of the Bluetooth profile;
determine if the VCS needs an update to the VCS Bluetooth profile based at least upon the version of the mobile device Bluetooth profile;
determine if sufficient memory space is available to download and install the update to the VCS Bluetooth profile;
download a software update to the VCS Bluetooth profile from an off-board server, the software update including additional features specific to the mobile device located in the vehicle;
update the VCS to include the software update;
communicate with the mobile device utilizing the updated VCS Bluetooth profile.

9. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 8 , wherein the processor is further configured to output a notification to insert an external memory device when sufficient memory space is not available to download and install the update to the VCS Bluetooth profile.

10. The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of claim 8 , wherein the message from the wireless transceiver includes information regarding a manufacturer of the mobile device or an operating system of the mobile device.

11. A method of a vehicle computer system communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle, comprising:
receiving a MD Bluetooth profile version from-the MD;
determining memory space availability for an update of a vehicle Bluetooth profile;
downloading and installing the update of the vehicle Bluetooth profile from an off-board server based upon the MD Bluetooth profile version and memory space availability;
communicating with the MD utilizing the updated vehicle Bluetooth profile.

12. The method of a vehicle computer system communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle Bluetooth profile is located in a HCI layer.

13. The method of a vehicle computer system communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle Bluetooth profile facilitates communication between a Bluetooth profile and a human machine interface layer.

14. The method of a vehicle computer system communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle of claim 11 further comprises receiving a message indicating information regarding a manufacturer of the MD or an operating system of the MD.

15. The method of a vehicle computer system) communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle of claim 11 further comprises outputting a notification to insert an external memory device when sufficient memory space is not available to download and install the update of the vehicle Bluetooth profile.

16. The method of a vehicle computer system communicating with a mobile device (MD) in a vehicle of claim 11 further comprises outputting a notification to that a network connection error is present when no connection is available to download the update.

Assignees

• Ford Global Tech Llc

Inventors

• Elzein Hadi

Classifications

• 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

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• H04W4/50

  Service provisioning or reconfiguring · CPC title

• H04B1/3822

  specially adapted for use in vehicles (H04B1/3827 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H04W4/80

  Services using short range communication, e.g. near-field communication [NFC], radio-frequency identification [RFID] or low energy communication · CPC title