RU2574355C2 - Methods and apparatus for remote activation of application - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: physics, computer engineering.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to the remote activation of applications. A method of activating an application comprises steps of establishing communication between a vehicle computer system and a remote device using an interface protocol; sending a query from the vehicle computer system to the remote device to determine the applications available on the remote device that are capable of interacting with the vehicle computer system; selecting, at the vehicle computer system, applications from the determined available applications for interaction; sending an instruction from the vehicle computer system to an agent on the remote device, the instruction including an indication that the selected application is to be activated; and receiving a confirmation, at the vehicle computer system, that the application has been activated.

EFFECT: efficient activation of an application.

8 cl, 5 dwg

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Illustrative embodiments of the invention generally relate to methods and devices for remotely activating an application.

State of the art

The development of modern communication systems and / or computer systems of vehicles allows them to interact to a large extent with remote (i.e. not part of the vehicle's computer system) devices. Such devices include, but are not limited to, cell phones, PDAs, GPS devices, remote servers, wireless routers, smartphones, medical devices, personal health protection and prevention devices, tablet personal computers, laptops, etc.

In some cases, for example, when using the FORD SYNC system, the remote device can be used as an intermediate means of communication for transmitting a signal to a remote network. Despite the fact that a remote (or mobile) device is used to transmit such a signal, it can also be made with the possibility of further interaction with the computer system of the vehicle.

Using an application programming interface (API), applications running on a mobile device can interact with a vehicle’s computer system. For example, a program selectively playing music in digital format on a mobile device can be used to play music through vehicle speakers using an interface with the vehicle’s computer system.

As you know, if a person drives a vehicle, then it is safer for the driver to interact with devices that most free his hands. Accordingly, the driver can interact with the vehicle computer system through a microphone or voice commands. This prevents, to a large extent, the driver’s attention from the road to activate the necessary function.

In the same way, interaction with a mobile device can be carried out using a headset and without it. As you know, if commands are spoken by the driver for several devices, then the devices can go astray without knowing who the driver is talking to. Also, even if a driver wants a specific application on a mobile device to interact with a vehicle, it is likely that the application will not be able to interact with a vehicle until the driver actually activates it on a mobile device.

On some mobile devices, applications are constantly running in the background (at least partially), while on other devices it may be necessary to activate applications. If there is no possibility of activating the application on the device using the headset, then the driver will have to be distracted from the road and manually activate the desired application to interact with the vehicle’s computer system.

Disclosure of invention

In a first explanatory embodiment, a method for activating an application includes establishing a connection between a transport computing system and a remote device using an interface protocol. The method also includes sending a request from the transport computing system to a remote device to determine applications and / or services available on the remote device that can communicate with the transport computing system.

After determining the applications, the method comprises selecting in the vehicle computer system an application or service from the specific available applications and / or services for interaction. The method also includes sending a command from the vehicle computing system to an agent on the remote device, which includes an indication that the selected application or service is intended or intended to be activated.

Finally, the method also includes receiving confirmation from the vehicle computer system of the activation of the application or service.

In a second explanatory embodiment, on a computer-readable storage medium (for example, inter alia, a hard disk, RAM, ROM, DVD-ROM, CD-ROM, disk, flash memory, etc.), commands are stored for activating the application. When processing commands, the vehicle computer system must perform steps including sending a request from the vehicle computer system to the remote device in order to determine the applications and / or services available on the remote device that can communicate with the vehicle computer system.

The system must also select an application or service for interaction from among the defined existing applications and / or services. Next, the vehicle computing system sends a command to the agent on the remote device, which includes an indication of the activation of the application or service.

Finally, the system should receive confirmation of the activation of the application or service.

In a third explanatory embodiment, a method for activating an application includes obtaining, in a vehicle computer system, a list of applications available on a remote device for interacting with a vehicle computer system.

In addition, this method includes determining the fact that one of the applications is necessary for activation. The method also includes sending a command from the vehicle computer system to an agent running on a remote device indicating that one of the applications needs to be activated.

Finally, the method includes receiving confirmation in the vehicle computer system of activation of one of the applications.

Brief Description of the Drawings

1 shows an exemplary configuration of a vehicle computing system used with explanatory embodiments.

Figure 2 shows an exemplary process for compiling a list of applications available on a mobile device.

Figure 3 shows an example of a search process for a list of applications on a mobile device from a remote device.

Figure 4 shows an example of a process for determining / installing an agent.

5 shows an exemplary application activation process.

The implementation of the invention

1 shows an exemplary configuration of a transport computer system 1 for a vehicle 31. A vehicle equipped with a vehicle computing system may have a visual external interface 4 located in the vehicle. The user can also interact with the interface if it is equipped with, for example, a touch screen. In another embodiment, the interaction occurs by pressing buttons, speech, and speech synthesis.

In the embodiment 1 of the implementation shown in FIG. 1, the central processor 3 controls at least some part of the vehicle computing system. The processor installed in the vehicle allows offline processing of commands and subprograms. In addition, the processor is connected to a constant 5 and non-constant 7 storage devices. In this embodiment, the read-only memory is random access memory (RAM), and the read-only memory is a hard disk or flash memory.

The processor is also equipped with several input devices of various types that allow the user to interact with the processor. In this embodiment, a microphone 29, an auxiliary input 25 (for input 33), a USB input 23, a GPS input 24, and a BLUETOOTH input 15 are provided. An input switch 51 is also provided that allows the user to switch between various input devices. The signal from the microphone input and auxiliary connector is converted from analog to digital form using the Converter 27 before transmitting to the processor.

System output devices include, but are not limited to, display 4, speaker 13, or stereo output. The speaker is connected to amplifier 11 and receives a signal from processor 3 through a digital-to-analog converter 9. Output can also be made to a remote BLUETOOTH device, such as a personal navigation device (PNU) 54, or a USB device, such as a transport navigation device 60, using a bi-directional the data stream shown as 19 and 21, respectively.

In one embodiment, the system 1 uses a BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 to communicate 17 with a mobile device 53 (e.g., cell phone, smartphone, PDA, etc.) of the user. The mobile device can then be used to communicate 59 with the network 61 outside the vehicle 31 through, for example, communication 55 with the cell tower 57 (or satellite). In some embodiments, tower 57 may be a WiFi access point.

An exemplary communication between a mobile device and a BLUETOOTH transceiver is represented by signal 14.

The establishment of communication between the mobile device 53 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 15 can be given a command using the button 52 or using a similar input. Accordingly, a command is sent to the processor that communication will be established between the built-in BLUETOOTH transceiver and the mobile device.

Data transfer between the processor 3 and the network 61 can be carried out using a data plan, using the data with voice method or using two-tone signals (DTMF), which are in accordance with mobile device 53. Alternatively, it may be desirable Provide an integrated modem 53 with antenna 18 for transmitting 16 data between processor 3 and network 61 via a voice channel. The mobile device 53 can then be used to establish a connection 59 with the network 61 outside the vehicle 31, for example, by establishing a connection 55 through the tower 57 of the cellular network. In some embodiments, modem 63 may establish a connection 20 to tower 57 for communication with network 61. By way of non-limiting example, modem 63 may be a USB modem of a cellular network, and communication 20 may be a cellular connection.

In one embodiment, the processor is equipped with an operating system including an application programming interface for communicating with modem software. The modem software can access the built-in module or firmware of the BLUETOOTH transceiver to populate wireless communications with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as on mobile devices).

In another embodiment, the mobile device 53 includes a modem for voice or broadband data. In an embodiment with data transmission using the “data with voice” method, frequency division multiplexing can be used when the owner of the mobile device can talk using the device during data transfer. In other cases, when the user does not use the device, data transfer may occupy the entire bandwidth (from 300 kHz to 3.4 kHz in one example).

If a data plan is associated with a user's mobile device, then it is possible that such a data plan provides broadband transmission, and the system can use a wider band (speeding up data transfer). In another embodiment, the mobile device 53 is replaced by a cellular communication device (not shown) that is installed in the vehicle 31.

In yet another embodiment, the mobile device 53 may be a local wireless network (LAN) capable of communicating, for example (inter alia) with an 802.11 g network (i.e., Wi-Fi) or a WiMAX network.

In one embodiment, the incoming data may pass through the mobile device using the “data with voice” method or tariff plan through the built-in BLUETOOTH transceiver and arrive at the vehicle’s built-in processor 3. When transmitting certain intermediate data, for example, the data can be stored on a hard disk or other storage medium 7 as long as this information is needed.

Additional devices that can interact with the vehicle include a personal navigation device 54 having, for example, a USB connection 56 and / or antenna 58;

or a transport navigation device 60 having a USB connector 62 or other connection; an integrated GPS device 24 or a remote navigation system (not shown) having the ability to connect to a network 61.

In addition, the processor can communicate with several auxiliary devices 65. These devices can be connected via a wireless 67 or cable 69 connection. Alternatively, or alternatively, the central processor may connect to the vehicle-mounted wireless router 73 using the WiFi transceiver 71. This may allow the central processor to connect to remote networks within range of the local router 73.

When using some mobile devices, existing applications may not establish interaction with the vehicle’s computer system, unless these applications are already running. Since the transfer of attention from the road to the activation of the application can be dangerous and / or inconvenient for the driver, the means of activating the application using the vehicle's computer system and / or voice commands from the driver are provided in the embodiments so that the driver does not distract from the control.

In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the vehicle computer system recognizes applications on the mobile device that can interact with the vehicle computer system. In this embodiment, this occurs when using the service discovery protocol (SDP) BLUETOOTH records. Other records and / or indexes may also be used that provide similar information in combination with other implementations.

In this embodiment, applications are downloaded to a mobile device by a user. When an application is added to the device, it can be detected 201 and added to the list of available applications as a service record 203.

In this embodiment, the service record contains a list of attributes associated with this service. Additional services 207 can be added to the record, or index construction stops 209 in the absence of applications.

After indexing the list of available services, it can be searched using a remote device using the BLUETOOTH protocols. One illustrative example of this is shown in FIG.

In this embodiment, the vehicle computer system first determines if there is a connection with the remote device 301. After the connection is established, the vehicle computer system determines one or more attributes by which to search 303. For example, in this embodiment, the system searches for a record of services that have an attribute indicating compatibility with a particular vehicle computing system.

Services records can also query for other application attributes. You can query for more than one attribute. For example, you can also request compatible programs that can play music. Using a query, you can search for any attribute or combination of attributes in a service record,

The vehicle computing system can compose a request and send it 305 to the mobile device 307. In addition, if the mobile device can compose a request, then the required attribute (s) can be sent to the compilation device. In any case, the request is intended to return information about the services available on the mobile device that are compatible with the vehicle’s computer system.

In yet another embodiment, a copy of the service record can be sent to the vehicle computer system to perform local requests. In this example, a copy of the service record can even be saved locally, so that when the vehicle’s computer system interacts with a specific mobile device, it already contains a record of what programs are available on that device. In this example, you may need to assign or have a version of the attribute associated with the service record so that the vehicle computer system can quickly check for a new version on the mobile device.

The request is made using a service record, and a list of corresponding service records 309 is compiled. Such a list of service records (or an appropriate set of information) can be returned to the computer system of the vehicle 311 so that the system knows which applications are available on the remote device for interaction . At this point, the vehicle’s computer system presumably has a list of services available on the mobile device.

In a further embodiment, the mobile device is a device of this type when the application on the mobile device needs to be launched before it becomes possible to interact with the computing system of the vehicle. An example of such an interaction is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the vehicle’s computer system can remotely issue a command to activate the necessary service so that the user does not have to manually interact with the mobile device to launch the necessary application.

In this embodiment, the vehicle computing system checks for the presence of an agent on the mobile device 401. The agent in this embodiment is a program that can instruct another application to be activated on the mobile device. An agent can be permanently installed on a mobile device or it can be downloaded / activated using a vehicle's computer system when it is necessary to establish interaction with a mobile device (or at each synchronization of communication between the system and the device, etc.).

If there is no agent 401 in the device, the vehicle computer system downloads the agent to the remote device 403 (similar steps and checks can be carried out to determine, for example, whether the agent is active and / or to activate an agent of the "available but not active" type).

If the agent is present / active, then the vehicle computer system sends a request to activate a specific application 405. In this case, the request is an activation request, although in other examples, the vehicle computer system can send a request for interaction with a specific service.

When an agent receives a request from the vehicle’s computer system, it can determine which application on the remote device needs to be activated 407. Then, using the device’s own procedures, the agent can activate the necessary application 409 to interact with a pending request (or in response to an activation request) . After the application is launched on the mobile device, the interaction between the vehicle’s computing system and the mobile device continues as planned.

In this embodiment, control is transferred to the vehicle computer system after activating the application 411. In another example, however, the vehicle computer system can continue to send messages through the agent program.

Using such a system, the entire indexing / launching procedure can remain completely transparent to the driver. Figure 5 shows an embodiment of the interaction of the driver with the computer system of the vehicle in a transparent mode. In this example, all the driver knows about the interaction is that the requested function performs the requested service.

In this illustrative example, the driver transmits the request to the computer system of the vehicle 501. In this case, it is a voice request for a music service called PANDORA. It should be noted that this is just one illustrative example showing the application’s capabilities with respect to several services.

In fact, the requested service in this case - PANDORA - is installed in the mobile device, and not in the system itself, and is in touch with the vehicle’s computer system. Accordingly, the vehicle computing system may issue a command to launch the application from the mobile device. This action is possible if the vehicle’s computer system has the ability to run the application, or if the application is already running. The user can also launch the application manually, but this can be dangerous while driving, and it is advisable to avoid this if possible.

After receiving a 501 service request from the driver, the system checks for the PANDORA service using the internal log (created in this case when the mobile device first interacted with the vehicle’s computer system). In other non-limiting examples, when polling a mobile device for the first time, indexing may be performed.

If the PANDORA application is available 503, then the system continues to activate. However, if PANDORA is absent, the system can once again check the service record 505. If after checking the service record it is confirmed that the application is not available, the driver may be notified 507 and attempts to activate the service will stop.

If the PANDORA application is available, the vehicle computer system sends the appropriate command to the agent in the mobile device 509. The agent receives the command and, if PANDORA is not yet activated 511, activates PANDORA 513. An activation warning and interaction between the vehicle computer system are issued to the vehicle computer system funds and PANDORA may continue as required 515.

In yet another embodiment, the vehicle computing system may compile a list of compatible applications on a mobile device and read / display this list to the user.

For example, after an application on a mobile device provides a list of applications to a vehicle’s computer system via BLUETOOTH or another form of wireless communication, the system can determine which of these applications is compatible with the vehicle’s computer system (assuming that the application issuing the list of applications is still did not determine this). The vehicle computing system may then provide a list of available applications so that the user knows which applications are currently available.

In yet another embodiment, the processes running in the vehicle’s computer system can dynamically run certain applications in accordance with, for example, the user's software environment. For example, applications may have trigger conditions associated with them. If one of these conditions is met, the vehicle computing system could activate the application or facilitate its launch. In one example, if the user has a low gasoline level and a gas station is nearby, then an application can be launched that displays the local price, average gas price, etc.

In another embodiment, the computing system communicates with the mobile device, helping the application running on the mobile device to determine which applications can be running on that particular computing system of the vehicle.

For example, if an application requires a 4-inch navigation screen and the vehicle is not equipped with such a display, then a remote activating application may indicate that such an application is not available in this session.

If the connection is interrupted (for example, if the battery is dead on the mobile device and the driver needs to connect it to the power source and reactivate the device), you can use this communication procedure to restore the previous connection. In at least one embodiment, the vehicle computing system may record a sudden interruption and automatically restore service and communication after power is connected to the device and available for interaction.

Claims (8)

1. A method of activating an application in which
establish communication of the computer system of the vehicle with a remote device using the interface protocol,
send a request from the vehicle computing system to the remote device to determine applications available on the remote device capable of interacting with the vehicle computing system,
in the vehicle computer system, select applications from certain available applications for interaction,
sending a command from the vehicle’s computer system to the application agent on the remote device, including an indication that the selected application needs to be activated, and
receive confirmation in the vehicle computer system of the activation of the specified application. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the interface protocol is a wireless protocol. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the wireless protocol is a BLUETOOTH protocol. 4. The method according to claim 1, in which the request is performed using the SDP BLUETOOTH protocol. 5. The method according to claim 1, in which the command is sent to the selected application, the agent application activating the selected application based on the detection of the fact that the computer system of the vehicle sent the command to the selected application. 6. The method according to p. 1, in which the command is a command sent to the agent - the application to activate the selected application. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the request is performed using a user protocol. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the confirmation is established by the response to a command sent from the selected application to the vehicle computer system.

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