DE102019203236A1 - Arrangement and method for operating a remote application - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an arrangement with a vehicle (10) and an external device (30) with a remote application installed on it, which is designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle (10) and / or to control at least one vehicle function. The vehicle (10) is designed to send out a first message (N1) at regular intervals. The external device (30) is designed, when there is a communication link between the vehicle (10) and the external device (30), to receive and process the first messages (N1) sent out by the vehicle (10), whereby the reception a first message (N1) triggers the execution of a task of the remote application, even if the remote application is running in the background on the external device (30) when the first message (N1) is received.

Description

The invention relates to an arrangement and a method for operating a remote application, in particular a remote application for a vehicle.

Vehicles nowadays are connected to a variety of external devices by means of a communication link, e.g. Bluetooth connection, connected. For example, a remote application can be executed on an external device (e.g. smartphone) which can display various vehicle data to the vehicle user and which allows the vehicle user to make various settings on the vehicle from the external device.

With some operating systems, which are common for external devices such as smartphones, it is not possible for an application to become active on its own and to execute code when the application is running on the device in the background. As a result, it is not possible for the application to carry out a wide variety of tasks while it is in background mode.

The object of the invention is to provide an arrangement and a method which enable a remote application to carry out tasks even when the remote application is in background mode.

This object is achieved by an arrangement according to claim 1 and a method according to claim 10.

The arrangement according to the invention has a vehicle and an external device with a remote application installed thereon, the remote application being designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle and / or to control at least one vehicle function. The vehicle is designed to send out a first message at regular intervals. The external device is designed, if there is a communication connection between the vehicle and the external device, to receive and process the first messages sent by the vehicle, the receipt of a first message triggering the execution of a task of the remote application, even if the remote application is running in the background on the external device when the first message is received.

The communication connection can be a connection according to a Bluetooth standard or a Bluetooth low-energy standard.

Nowadays, many external devices are connected to the user's vehicle via Bluetooth or Bluetooth Low-Energy.

The external device can be a mobile phone, tablet, SmartWatch, laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA).

Such devices are often carried by users and connected to a vehicle of the user via a communication link.

The remote application can be designed to switch to a background mode if it has not been actively executed for a certain period of time and has been displayed on the screen of the external device.

This prevents too many applications from running at the same time. This can reduce the power consumption of the external device. It can also prevent other applications that are actively running from being executed too slowly because the device is busy executing other applications.

The vehicle can be designed to refrain from sending the next first message if a second message was sent from the vehicle to the external device within a certain period of time before the planned time of sending the next first message.

This can prevent too many messages from being sent over the communication link at the same time or at short intervals, and the communication link possibly being overloaded by too many messages and being blocked.

The external device can be designed to detect, if no first message has been received from the vehicle for a certain period of time, that there is no longer a communication connection to the vehicle.

The external device can assume that the vehicle will send out the first messages at regular intervals. If no more first messages are received from the vehicle, this is usually an indication that the communication link no longer exists and that the messages sent can therefore not be received by the external device.

The vehicle can be, for example, a car, truck, tractor, bus, train, motorcycle, airplane, or ship.

In principle, the arrangement can be used for any type of vehicle.

The remote application can be designed to display whether the vehicle is completely locked, to display whether the doors of the vehicle are closed, to display whether the windows of the vehicle are closed, to display whether the hood of the vehicle is closed, to display whether the trunk of the vehicle is displayed are closed to indicate whether the lights of the vehicle are switched off, to display a current total mileage of the vehicle, to display a current tank level of the vehicle, to display a current AdBlue level of the vehicle, to display a current DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) level of the vehicle, a display the current oil level of the vehicle, display a remaining range of the vehicle, display a remaining time until the next inspection of the vehicle, display a remaining time until the next oil change of the vehicle, display warning messages, locate the vehicle, technical data of the driving display stuff and / or display equipment of the vehicle.

This means that important data and status messages from the vehicle are displayed quickly and clearly to the user, even if the vehicle is not in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle.

The receipt of a first message in the external device can trigger the generation of a push message on the external device.

Such a push message can act as an external trigger, which enables the application to execute code for a certain period of time, even if it is currently in background mode.

One method includes executing a remote application installed on an external device in the foreground or in the background, the remote application being designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle and / or to control at least one vehicle function. The method further comprises sending out a first message from a vehicle at regular intervals, receiving the first messages sent out by the vehicle in the external device when there is a communication link between the vehicle and the external device, processing the received first messages in the external device and, in response to the receipt of a first message in the external device, the execution of a task of the remote application, even if the remote application is running in the background at the time of receipt of the first message on the external device.

• 1 beispielhaft ein Fahrzeug und ein externes Gerät,
• 2, 2A, beispielhaft eine Anzeige auf einem Display eines externen 2B, 2C Gerätes,
• 3 beispielhaft ein externes Gerät,
• 4 beispielhaft eine Anordnung mit einem Fahrzeug und einem externen Gerät gemäß einer Ausführungsform
• 5 beispielhaft in einem Ablaufdiagram ein Verfahren gemäß einer Ausführungsform.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the figures of the drawing. It shows:

• 1 for example a vehicle and an external device,
• 2 , 2A , an example of a display on a display of an external 2 B , 2C Device,
• 3 for example an external device,
• 4th an example of an arrangement with a vehicle and an external device according to an embodiment
• 5 by way of example in a flow chart a method according to an embodiment.

1 shows a vehicle 10 with a control unit 20th . The control unit 20th can be in or on the vehicle 10 be arranged at any suitable location. The control unit 20th can use a portable external device 30th establish a wireless connection. The wireless connection can for example be a connection according to a valid Bluetooth standard, for example the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) standard. Any other wireless connection that is suitable for data from the vehicle 10 to the external device 30th or from the external device 30th to the vehicle 10 however, transferring is also possible.

The vehicle 10 can be any type of vehicle, such as a car, truck, tractor, bus, train, motorcycle, airplane, ship, or the like.

Bluetooth is an internationally standardized data interface. Using Bluetooth, for example, data or files can be exchanged between two communication devices or music and speech can be transmitted. Bluetooth devices transmit at a frequency of 2.4 GHz and enable data transmission with a short range of usually less than 50m. Various Bluetooth standards are currently known, for example Bluetooth 1.0 and 1.0B 1999, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR 2004, Bluetooth 4.0 2009, Bluetooth 4.1 2013, Bluetooth 4.2 Smart 2014 or Bluetooth 5 2016. It does not matter which one is used in the present invention Standard the control unit 20th and the external device 30th communicate with each other. In order to enable communication, however, it is usually necessary for two Bluetooth-enabled communication devices between which a connection is to be established to communicate using the same standard. However, some of the standards are also compatible with one another.

Bluetooth devices usually use a relatively large amount of electricity. However, power consumption is usually critical, especially in vehicles or the associated external devices (e.g. smartphones). Therefore, so-called Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) devices are increasingly found in vehicles and external devices. Bluetooth Low Energy is also often referred to as Bluetooth Smart. BLE is based on classic Bluetooth technology, but has a significantly lower power consumption and is usually cheaper. When using BLE in an external device 30th thus becomes the battery of the external device 30th (or the smartphone or, in general, electronic device) less stressed than with conventional Bluetooth devices.

To receive the from the control unit 20th sent signals must be the external device 30th within a certain radius around the vehicle 10 , or around the control unit 20th because Bluetooth or BLE signals only have a limited range.

This radius can be, for example, 10m or 50m, depending on the selected transmission standard. However, these are only examples. The range can also be greater or smaller, depending on the wireless connection used, the signals and antennas used.

The portable external device 30th can be, for example, a mobile phone, smartphone, tablet, SmartWatch, laptop or personal digital assistant (PDA). Any other suitable external device is also possible. On the external device 30th For example, a common operating system such as iOS or Android can run.

On the external device 30th a remote application can be installed, which enables various parameters of the vehicle 10 to monitor and control. Many automobile manufacturers nowadays offer such remote applications. With remote applications, for example, the current state of the vehicle 10 be checked, in particular whether the vehicle 10 fully locked, the doors, windows, bonnet and trunk are closed, and the lights are off. A current total mileage of the vehicle can often also be used 10 on the external device 30th as well as a tank level, AdBlue, DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) or oil level, the remaining range in km and the remaining time until the next inspection or the next oil change. In most cases, warning messages can also be displayed. Also a location of the vehicle 10 is often possible. Many applications also show important contacts to be contacted in the event of a malfunction or an accident, such as the responsible car dealership. Alternatively or in addition, many other parameters of the vehicle that are of interest to a user can be used 10 (e.g. technical data, equipment, etc.) are displayed.

Control of various vehicle functions using a remote application is also often possible. Often the vehicle can 10 for example, can be unlocked or locked via the application, or open windows can be closed and lights switched off.

In order to always be able to display all relevant parameters updated to the user in the application and to be able to execute all functions, it is usually necessary for the application to periodically process various tasks and update data. For example, it may be necessary to regularly query the current vehicle status and save it in a database or on an external server (backend).

With many operating systems on external devices 30th such as smartphones or tablets are used (e.g. iOS), an application changes to a background mode when the application is not on the screen of the external device 30th is displayed and executed. This is further explained using 2 explained in more detail.

2A shows an example of an external device 30th (e.g. smartphone) with a screen 31 . A first application App1 is executed and displayed on the screen. The first application App1 is therefore in the foreground. In 2 B a second application App2 is executed and on the screen 31 of the device 30th and is in the foreground. The first application App1 is in the example from 2 B thus in the background (is executed in the background). 2C shows an external device 30th at which on the screen 31 no application is open and running. Rather, a start screen is displayed. A large number N of tiles (App1, ..., AppN) are displayed on the home screen. An associated application can be started by touching one of the tiles (App1, ..., AppN). Also in the in 2C The example shown, the first application App1 is executed in the background.

As described above, many operating systems run applications in the background, or they are in background mode when they are not on the screen 31 displayed and actively executed. This should help reduce the power consumption of the device 30th to reduce. Running too many applications at the same time would drastically reduce battery life. If there is an application in Background, however, it cannot perform many tasks, especially many periodic tasks. Shortly after an application has switched to background mode, it may still be able to finish and complete tasks that have been started for a short time. As a rule, however, new or periodically recurring tasks can no longer be carried out.

When an application is in the background, code execution is only possible if a trigger causes it to be executed. However, such a trigger cannot be generated by the application itself.

As exemplified in 3 therefore, according to one embodiment, messages N1 to the device 30th sent. In the device 30th can such a message N1 can be used as an external trigger which enables the application to become active in the background and execute code. After receiving a message N1 For example, the application can be allowed to execute code for a defined period of time. This defined time is often only a few seconds, e.g. <10s or <5s. However, this can be sufficient for a remote application to carry out regularly required tasks.

A message N1 can for example be a push message P1 on the device 30th generate which on the device 30th is displayed and used as an external trigger, causing code to run. However, this is only an example; it is generally not absolutely necessary to have a push message P1 is generated. The device 30th can the message N1 received, and the application App1 can process the message internally and cause one or more corresponding tasks to be carried out.

According to one example, a wireless communication link (eg Bluetooth) can be used with the device 30th connected vehicle one or more messages N1 send out to start performing required tasks. This is exemplified in 4th shown. For example, the vehicle 10 as long as a communication link with the device 30th consists of periodic news N1 send out which of the device 30th received and processed by the application App1 and used as an external trigger.

According to one example, a vehicle is transmitting 10 a message once a second N1 out. However, this is just an example. It is also possible that the vehicle N1 news N1 sends out at shorter or longer intervals than 1s. So the distance t _N1 between two messages N1 be exactly 1s, <1s or> 1s. As the news N1 regularly from the vehicle 10 are sent out, these can also be referred to as heartbeat messages.

In this way, the remote application App1 The data provided are updated regularly as long as there is a data connection between the vehicle 10 and the device 30th consists.

Often used by the vehicle 10 additional messages to the device for various reasons 30th sent. For example, the vehicle 10 Vehicle status messages to the device 30th send. These additional messages are in addition to the heartbeat messages N1 sent. To avoid that the transmission channel through the regular heartbeat messages N1 A heartbeat message can be blocked so that additional messages may no longer be sent N1 exposed when the vehicle 10 an additional message to the device for other reasons 30th sends. For example, a heartbeat message N1 can only be sent if neither a heartbeat message has been sent within a certain previous period N1 yet another message from the vehicle 10 to the device 30th was sent. This specific preceding time period t can be, for example, 1s, <1s or> 1s. For example, the length of the specific preceding time period t can be derived from the distance t _N1 between two heartbeat messages N1 depend.

For example, a heartbeat message is always sent every 1s (t _N1 = 1s) N1 sent, can send a heartbeat message N1 be suspended if a message was sent within a period t of 1 s before the corresponding sending time (0 <t <1s). For example, a heartbeat message is always sent every 2 seconds N1 sent (t _N1 = 2s), a heartbeat message can be sent N1 suspended if a message was sent within a period t of 2s before the corresponding sending time (0 <t <2s), etc.

Receives the device 30th no messages for a certain period of time t _x N1 from the vehicle 10 , this can be seen as a sign that the communication link between the vehicle 10 and the device 30th was interrupted. The specific time period t _x can be greater than the interval t _N1 between two heartbeat messages N1 (t _x > t _N1 ). The vehicle 10 sends messages N1 These messages can still be sent from the device without an existing communication connection 30th can no longer be received. If the application App1 determines that there is no communication link to the vehicle 10 the application can react accordingly, for example. For example, various elements of the App1 application can be deactivated. These can be UI elements (User Interface), for example.

The invention was based on the example of a Bluetooth connection or BLE connection between vehicles 10 and device 30th described. However, this is just an example. In principle, the invention can be used for many different wireless communication links.

Referring to 5 a method is described. The method includes the execution of a remote application installed on an external device in the foreground or in the background (step 501 ), the remote application being designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle and / or to control at least one vehicle function. The method also includes the sending of a first message at regular intervals from a vehicle (step 502 ). The method further includes receiving the first messages sent out by the vehicle in the external device (step 503 ) if there is a communication link between the vehicle and the external device. The first messages received are processed in the external device (step 504 ) and, in response to the receipt of a first message in the external device, a task of the remote application is carried out, even if the remote application is running in the background at the time of receipt of the first message on the external device (step 505 ).

List of reference symbols

10

vehicle

20th

Control unit

30th

external device

31

Display

App1

Remote application

AppN

Applications

N1

first message

Claims (10)

Arrangement with a vehicle (10); and an external device (30) with a remote application (App1) installed on it, which is designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle (10) and / or to control at least one vehicle function, the vehicle (10) being designed to to send out a first message (N1) at regular intervals (t _N1 ), the external device (30) is designed to do so when there is a communication link between the vehicle (10) and the external device (30) which is provided by the vehicle (10 ) to receive and process sent out first messages (N1), the receipt of a first message (N1) triggering the execution of a task of the remote application (App1), even if the remote application (App1) at the time of receiving the first Message (N1) on the external device (30) is executed in the background. Arrangement according to Claim 1 wherein the communication connection is a connection according to a Bluetooth standard or a Bluetooth low-energy standard. Arrangement according to Claim 1 or 2 , wherein the external device (30) is a mobile phone, tablet, SmartWatch, laptop or Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the remote application is designed to switch to a background mode if it has not been actively executed for a certain period of time and has been displayed on the screen of the external device (30). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle (10) is designed, if within a certain period (t) before the planned time of sending the next first message (N1) a second message from the vehicle (10) to the external Device (30) was sent to refrain from sending the next first message (N1). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the external device (30) is designed to detect that there is no communication connection to the vehicle (10) if no first message (N1) has been received from the vehicle (10) for a certain period of time (t _x ) Vehicle (10) is longer. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the vehicle (10) is a car, truck, tractor, bus, train, motorcycle, airplane or ship. Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the remote application is designed to display at least one of whether the vehicle (10) is completely locked; indicate whether the doors of the vehicle (10) are closed; indicate whether the windows of the vehicle (10) are closed; indicate whether the hood of the vehicle (10) is closed; indicate whether the trunk of the vehicle (10) are closed; indicate whether the lights of the vehicle (10) are off; display a current total mileage of the vehicle (10); display a current tank level of the vehicle (10); display a current AdBlue level of the vehicle (10); display a current DEF (Diesel Exhaust Fluid) level of the vehicle (10); display a current oil level of the vehicle (10); display a remaining range of the vehicle (10); display a remaining time until the next inspection of the vehicle (10); display a remaining time until the next oil change of the vehicle (10); Display warning messages; locate the vehicle (10); display technical data of the vehicle (10); and display equipment of the vehicle (10). Arrangement according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the receipt of a first message (N1) in the external device (30) triggers the generation of a push message on the external device (30). A method comprising: executing a remote application (App1) stored on an external device (30) in the foreground or in the background, the remote application (App1) being designed to display at least one parameter of the vehicle (10) and / or at least control a vehicle function; a first message ( _N1 ) is transmitted from a vehicle (10) at regular intervals (t _N1 ); Receiving the first messages (N1) sent out by the vehicle (10) in the external device (30) when there is a communication link between the vehicle (10) and the external device (30); Processing the received first messages (N1) in the external device (30); and in response to the receipt of a first message (N1) in the external device (30), executing a task of the remote application (App1), even if the remote application (App1) at the time of receiving the first message (N1) is running in the background on the external device (30).

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