EP3411967A1

EP3411967A1 - Method for proposing alternative radio transmitters

Info

Publication number: EP3411967A1
Application number: EP17701276.2A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Simon Gerlach; Dirk Oschlies; Klaus Schwemmer
Original assignee: Volkswagen AG
Current assignee: Volkswagen AG
Priority date: 2016-02-02
Filing date: 2017-01-10
Publication date: 2018-12-12
Also published as: WO2017133866A1; DE102016208765A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for proposing alternative radio transmitters (S2, S3, S4) in a vehicle (10), having the steps of identifying local interferences of the reception of a radio transmitter (S1); determining program characteristics (32) of the radio transmitter (S1), said program characteristics (32) being provided using a method according to one of the aforementioned claims; identifying receivable alternative radio transmitters (S2, S3, S4); comparing the program characteristics (32) of the radio transmitter (S1) with program characteristics (32) of the receivable alternative radio transmitters (S2, S3, S4); and proposing at least one alternative radio transmitter (S2), wherein the similarity between the program characteristics (32) of the alternative radio transmitter and the program characteristics (32) of the radio transmitter (S1) has at least one defined threshold. The aim of the invention is to allow similar radio transmitters to be quickly and easily provided in the event of reception interference of a radio transmitter.

Description

description

Method for proposing alternative radio stations

The invention relates to a method for providing program features of

Radio stations, a method for proposing alternative radio stations, and a vehicle having a receiver for receiving radio stations.

Radio stations are only available in limited areas. On longer trips you often leave the broadcasting area and can no longer hear the corresponding channels. In these areas, the user does not know the current station landscape and has to manually search for another radio station that suits his taste. This not only affects the currently playing station, but also the radio stations are affected by the problem. If you have stored on this one transmitter and is no longer within reach of the corresponding station, so this can no longer be played and you have to look for alternatives.

EP 0 907 265 A2 discloses an RDS radio receiver with alternative frequency memory based on a program type identifier, also referred to as PTY.

DE 10 201 1055 280 A1 discloses a terrestrial and Internet radio radio system in which user preference data representing a plurality of user preferences relating to audio output is supported in an automated station search.

The invention is based on the object to provide a way to at

Receiving impairments of a radio station to provide similar radio stations quickly and easily.

This object is achieved by a method according to claim 1, a method according to claim 5 or a vehicle according to claim 10.

The inventive method for providing program features of

Radio Stations, includes the steps:

Searching the broadcast content of radio stations for program features;

Storing the program features associated with the respective radio stations; and Providing the program features.

The inventive method has the advantage that instead of the specific transmitter

In a sense, the style of the radio stations is mapped and made available via the program features. This allows for new applications such as content-related

Station search or a content-related comparison of stations. Based on

Program features can be very accurately characterized radio stations and then searched.

It can be provided that one, several or all of the following

Program features are used:

Genre of music titles;

Length of the music tracks;

Release date of the music tracks;

performers;

composer;

Number of language contributions;

Length of language contributions;

Keywords of the language contributions;

Number of messages;

Length of the news;

Number of traffic news;

Duration of the traffic news;

Number of commercials;

Duration of commercials;

Language used for the music tracks, the language contributions, the news, the

Traffic news and / or commercials.

It details the broadcast content of radio stations, such as music content, music style, title length, number of language contributions, content, such as

Keywords of language contributions, time of publication of the recorded music. From this, a profile can optionally be formed for each transmitter. For example, the above criteria are applied to each piece and then analyzed, evaluated, and / or averaged over a certain period of time, for example, a day, an hour, or a recurring trip, for example, from and / or to work. Subsequently, transmitter profiles be compared in order to achieve the highest possible degree of similarity. The transmitter with the highest degree of similarity is taken as a suggestion.

A database can be associated with the radio stations and their respective ones

Program features are created and provided. This allows alternative stations to be identified quickly. The creation of the database can be done decentralized in the vehicles and / or centrally in a backend of the vehicle manufacturer or a service provider.

The database may be located in a backend of a service provider and / or in a mobile radio receiver. Rather than finding similar stations via an online service, this can also be done through a database stored locally in the vehicle or through a hybrid solution in which both are used together. For example, without an Internet connection, the use of the local database and with an Internet connection, the use of the online service may be provided. The sending of the location or the position of the vehicle is optional in both cases. It can be used in the backend to create a map of the reception areas of the transmitters. Instead of a single pair of the position and the field strength or quality of reception, a chain of several such pairs can be sent to make such a map faster and more precise. This chain or row is detected along the route of the vehicle and passed on. The information is stored in the map and / or in the database for quick assignment. As a mobile radio receiver in particular vehicles such as cars or commercial vehicles are considered here but also other mobile devices that are suitable for radio reception, such as mobile phones, smartwatches, tablets and the like.

The inventive method for proposing alternative radio stations in one

Vehicle includes the steps:

Identifying local impairments to the reception of a radio station;

Determining program features of the radio station, the program features being provided by a method according to any one of the preceding claims;

Identifying receivable alternative radio stations;

Comparing the program features of the radio station with program features of the receivable alternative radio stations; and

Proposing at least one alternative radio station whose program features have a similarity of at least one defined limit to the program features of the radio station. The method according to the invention has the advantage that, instead of the specific transmitters, the style of the radio station memories and the current transmitter can be taken to other vehicles via an online service and the non-receivable radio stations can be replaced by transmitters that are as similar as possible. The user thus finds a station memory landscape again, which corresponds to its known as far as possible, and does not have to perform a manual channel search itself. The same advantages are found when leaving the transmitter range of a transmitter to propose the driver in this situation as sensible alternative stations and / or switch directly to an alternative station. The term propose may include an optical and / or audible message and also includes a direct switchover of a transmitter.

The defined limit value can be assigned to a driver profile, wherein a plurality of driver profiles may be present. The user can also, for example, depending on the occasion or

Mood, specify different user profiles, for example, on the car, via smartphone or on a computer. These user profiles may prefer or block certain channels. The criteria of the sender profiles can also be weighted differently depending on the user profile. In this way, the flexibility in handling transmitters is increased.

Provision may be made for the transmitter of the driver stored at first use of a new vehicle to be taken into account and for the stored transmitters to carry out the steps of the method for proposing alternative radio stations in a vehicle, the proposed alternative radio stations being assigned to radio station stores of the new vehicle. If vehicles are equipped with the function that a user or driver can take his personal settings into other vehicles, for example via an online service or a digital key, the operation can be improved as described. Assuming you take the stored in a private car radio stations and the last playing radio station as such a personal attitude in a rental car in another city or another country, then you will not be able to use them there and would have to manually search other stations, the just as your own taste. This search and possibly also the occupancy of the radio station memory can now be automated, which greatly relieves the driver. The alternative transmitters can be stored in a driver profile for that city or country. At the same time, the service ensures that these alternative broadcasters are not replayed via the online service in the private car and overwrite the previously stored stations. Here, an automated solution for taking sender preferences is proposed.

It can further be provided that with the same similarity of the program features the transmitter is selected with better reception. In this way, the number of required switching or change to new channels can be minimized, which reduces the technical complexity and energy consumption and increases the listening experience. The better reception can also be considered in the direction of a planned route.

It can also be provided that the current position and / or the planned travel route of the vehicle are taken into account in the selection of the receivable alternative radio stations. In particular, the consideration of the planned route, that is the planned future movement of the vehicle

The vehicle according to the invention comprises a receiving device for receiving

Radio stations and is adapted to perform the method described above for providing program features of radio stations and / or the previously described method for proposing alternative radio stations. The same advantages and modifications apply as described above. Vehicles are particularly suitable for carrying out the method, since radio is traditionally received here and the vehicles needed

Components such as a receiver, a screen for display or the like have mostly installed.

Further preferred embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the remaining, mentioned in the dependent claims characteristics.

The various embodiments of the invention mentioned in this application are, unless otherwise stated in the individual case, advantageously combinable with each other.

The invention is described below in embodiments with reference to the associated

Drawings explained. Show it:

Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a vehicle;

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of a program of a radio station with

Program features of radio stations; and Figure 3 is a schematic representation of a method for proposing alternative

Radio station in a vehicle.

FIG. 4 shows a vehicle 10 according to the invention, here a passenger car. As vehicles also commercial vehicles and two-wheelers are considered. The vehicle 10 includes a

Receiving device 12 for receiving a radio signal, wherein the radio signal is transmitted from a transmitter S1. The vehicle 10 further includes a communication device 14 for communicating with a service 16. The service 16 may be provided by a manufacturer of the vehicle 10 and / or a service provider. The service 16 includes, for example, a back end 18. The back end 18 may comprise, for example, a database, in particular a sender database and / or a database with program features of the sender, as well as one or more servers.

The vehicle 10 further includes a position sensitive media player such as an infotainment unit 20 for displaying a received radio signal and other types of media. Optionally, the vehicle 10 has a navigation system 22.

The infotainment unit 20, the receiving device 12, the communication device 14 and the navigation system 22 are signal-conducting connected to a control unit or a computing unit 24. The arithmetic unit 24 is adapted to the infotainment unit 20, the

Receiving device 12, the communication device 14 and the navigation system 22 to control. The elements of the vehicle 10 shown individually may be arranged in a single element or in fewer elements than shown. For example, the infotainment unit 20 and the navigation system 22 may be included in one unit. Likewise, more than one control unit or a computing unit 24 may be provided, so that functions are executed distributed.

The vehicle 10 is adapted to the method for providing

Program features of radio stations according to one of claims 1 to 4 and the

Method for proposing alternative radio transmitters in a vehicle according to one of Claims 4 to 9. The method for providing program features of radio stations using vehicles will first be described below. It is also possible to evaluate the transmitters in the central backend 18, to store the results there and then to provide the vehicles via the service 16 and / or via a download into the vehicle. The method of providing program features of radio stations will be described by way of example with reference to FIG. The example of FIG. 2 shows a program 26 broadcast by a transmitter S1 with a piece of music 28 and a voice contribution 30 in a temporal progression. The broadcast program 26 may also be referred to as transmitted content.

The broadcast program 26 is analyzed over a period of time such as a day, a week, a repetitive trip to work, for example, or even continuously. In this case, on the one hand, a temporal or percentage evaluation of transmitted content such as pieces of music 28 and speech contributions 30 are made and on the other hand, the individual program components are examined for their content. Thus, for example, program features 32 such as length, genre, title etc. are extracted from the music piece 28 and program features 32 such as keywords, language used, etc., are extracted from the speech contribution. The program features 32 are then stored, for example, in a database of the backend 18 so that vehicles 10 can access them.

The method for proposing alternative radio stations in a vehicle 10 will now be described with reference to FIG. The vehicle 10 moves away from the transmitter S1 to a transmitter S2. The vehicle 10 is still located in a transmission range 34 of the transmitter S1 and already in a transmission range 36 of the transmitter S2 or in proximity to the transmission range 36. This may be the vehicle 10 by measuring the reception strength of the signal of the transmitters S1 and S2 or via suitable map data determine. So local

Impairments of the reception of the radio station S1 are identified.

Then program features 32 of the radio station S1 or of its program 26 are determined. This determination may be made directly in the vehicle 10 on the current program or the program features 32 may be taken from the database created as described above. This can be done via a call by means of the service 16 or the query of a local copy of the database in the vehicle 10. Instead of a database, it is also possible to use other memory structures or concepts which permit an assignment of transmitters to program features 32.

Next, receivable alternative radio stations are identified, here in this example the radio stations S2, S3 and S4. Now, a comparison of the program features 32 of Radio station S1 with program features 32 of the receivable alternative radio stations S2, S3 and S4. All or individual program features 32 of the radio station S1 can be used. For example, via a profile of a user of the vehicle 10, certain program features 32 may be considered, suppressed, or prioritized.

Then proposing at least one alternative radio station S2, whose

Program features 32 have a similarity of at least one defined threshold with the program features 32 of the radio station S1. The limit is intended to be able to identify and suggest a very similar transmitter even if the program features do not match completely, which in practice is very rare. The threshold may be, for example, a percentage, for example in the range of 60 to 100 percent, preferably 75 percent or more. The limit can also be weights or

Prioritizations of individual program features 32 include, so as to allow a more accurate mapping of the listening needs of the user. Here in this example, the

Program features 32 of the radio station S2 best match those of the radio station S1, so that the radio station S2 is proposed. Proposing may include displaying the alternative radio station S2 in the infotainment unit 20 or an automatic radio

Switching the transmitter to be.

In the following two typical applications are described in which the method is advantageously used.

The first use case describes a scenario for taking personal settings into another vehicle, such as a rental car in another city or country.

When the driver registers in the vehicle 10, for example manually or by an intelligent key, the vehicle 10 transmits currently receivable stations, for example, each with RDS-ID (Radio Data System, radio data system) with their field strength and the current position of the vehicle 10 and The backend 18 compares these transmitters with those stored in a user profile of the driver

Radio station memories and the selected station.

Are the selected sender in the user profile and / or the stored there

Radio station memory from the vehicle 10 currently not receivable, so are based on the database on the basis of the program features 32 to the currently receivable stations wanted as similar stations. For the same similarity, it is preferred to select transmitters with good reception. For this purpose, information about the current field strength is used and / or the location of the vehicle 10 is compared with a database for regional availability of the transmitter.

Compared to the vehicle 10, the online service 16 reports as part of the user profile both the original transmitter and the proposed alternative transmitter and the

Vehicle 10 presents this in a suitable form to the user.

The following can be provided for the current station: If the current station is in the user profile "A Info", the most similar station is automatically selected (for example "B Info"). Optionally, the reason for the station selection can be displayed to the user, for example via a pop-up popup. Alternatively, the user can see the sorted list of similar radio stations and be prompted to select an alternative station. That an alternative station plays it can be indicated to him that the station name A Info is now displayed as "B Info (instead of A Info)". As soon as the sender A Info is receivable again, the system informs him about this and, if necessary, switches back to the sender A Info, which can be done automatically or after user confirmation.

For radio station memory, the following may be provided: on the

Radio station memory previously stored in user profile "C" now reads "D (instead of C)". If this station memory is activated, D is played. Alternatively, the radio station memory previously stored in user profile "C" will continue to use the same designation and will then be specially marked, for example, in color or via an additional text, to indicate that the station is currently unavailable Station is selected, the sorted list of similar radio stations is displayed to the user and he is prompted to select an alternative station.As soon as the station C is again receivable, the system informs him about this and, if necessary, switches back to the station C, which automatically or after user confirmation If no new station is tuned in or saved to a radio station memory, the user profile will continue to store the original channel (ie station C) .The letters identifying the stations are here chosen as proxies. or read aloud.

A second application describes leaving the transmission range of the current one

Radio stations while driving. Whenever the field strength of the current radio station S1 or a transmitter stored on a radio station memory falls below a certain level for a predetermined duration, then the vehicle 10 transmits an identification or identifier of the relevant transmitter S1, all other currently receivable transmitters, for

Example by RDS-ID with their field strength and the current location or the route of the vehicle to the back end 18. The service 16 or the backend 18 checks based on a database which of the other currently receivable stations is as similar as possible to the currently selected station and provides either a list of alternative transmitters, for example sorted by similarity and acceptability, or a single alternative transmitter. The list or the alternative transmitter will be in the vehicle as in the first

Use case treated and presented.

The procedure in the second use case 2 can also be used repeatedly in succession, if more transmission ranges are left. So, because of the transfer of the user settings to another car in another region (first use case) or by leaving the receive range (second use case), the current sender has already been a substitute transmitter (for example "B Info (instead of A Info)") and again the transmission range of the substitute transmitter B Info is left, whereby the original transmitter A Info is still not receivable, then an alternative substitute transmitter is determined which is as similar as possible to the originally selected transmitter, eg E-Info is played and " E Info (instead of A Info) "is displayed. As soon as the original transmitter A Info can be received again, the system switches back to A Info as usual.

Rather than finding similar stations via an online service, this can also be done through a database stored locally in the vehicle or through a hybrid solution in which both are used together. Thus, without Internet connection, use of the local database and Internet connection using the online service. The sending of the place is optional in both cases. It can be used in the backend 18 for the creation of a map of the reception areas of the transmitter. In particular, in the second application, instead of a single pair of location and field strength, a sequence or string of pearls of several such pairs can be sent to create such a map faster and more accurate.

For the purposes of the invention, a similarity is used between radio stations for finding alternative radio stations when leaving the transmission range of a radio station

Radio station by driving the vehicle or in transmitting settings to other vehicles. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

vehicle

a vehicle

b vehicle

c vehicle

receiving set

communicator

service

backend

infotainment unit

navigation system

computer unit

program

piece of music

Post language

program feature

transmission range

Transmitter range

transmitter

Claims

claims

1 . A method of providing program features (32) from radio stations (S1, S2, S3, S4), comprising the steps of:

Searching the broadcast content of radio stations (S1, S2, S3, S4)

Program features (32);

- Store the respective radio stations (S1, S2, S3, S4) associated

Program features (32); and

Providing the program features (32).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that one, several or all of the following program features (32) are used:

- genre of music titles (28);

- length of the music tracks (28);

Publication date of the music titles (28);

performers;

composer;

- Number of language contributions (30);

Length of language contributions (30);

- Keywords of the language contributions (30);

Number of messages;

Length of the news;

Number of traffic news;

Duration of the traffic news;

Number of commercials;

Duration of commercials;

- Language used for the music titles (28), the language contributions (30), the news, the traffic news and / or advertisements.

3. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a database with the radio stations (S1, S2, S3, S4) and the respective associated program features (32) is created and provided.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the database in a

Backend (18) of a service provider and / or arranged in a mobile radio receiver.

5. A method for proposing alternative radio stations (S2, S3, S4) in a vehicle (10), comprising the steps of:

Identifying local impairments to the reception of a radio station (S1); Determining program features (32) of the radio station (S1), wherein the

Program features (32) have been provided with a method according to any one of the preceding claims;

Identifying receivable alternative radio stations (S2, S3, S4);

Compare the program features (32) of the radio station (S1) with

Program features (32) of the receivable alternative radio stations (S2, S3, S4); and

- proposing at least one alternative radio station (S2) whose

Program features (32) have a similarity of at least one defined limit with the program features (32) of the radio station (S1).

6. The method according to claim 5, characterized in that the defined limit value is associated with a driver profile, wherein a plurality of driver profiles may be present.

7. The method of claim 5 or 6, characterized in that at a first use of a new vehicle (10) stored transmitter of the driver are taken into account and that for the stored transmitter, the steps of claim 5 are performed, the proposed alternative radio station (S2, S3, S4) are allocated to radio station memories of the new vehicle (10).

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that at the same similarity of the program features (32) of the transmitter (S2) is selected with better reception.

9. The method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the current position and / or the planned route of the vehicle (10) in the selection of receivable alternative radio stations (S2, S3, S4) are taken into account.

Vehicle having a receiver (12) for receiving radio transmitters (S1, S2, S3, S4), characterized in that the vehicle (10) is adapted to provide the method for providing program features (32) from radio transmitters (S1, S1, S2). S2, S3, S4) according to one of claims 1 to 4 and / or the method for proposing alternative radio transmitters (S2, S3, S4) according to one of claims 5 to 9.