GB2621316A

GB2621316A - An intelligent system and method for communicating with a motor vehicle

Info

Publication number: GB2621316A
Application number: GB2210809.6A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Gansel Simon; Marshall Chet; Pratt Jeffrey
Original assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Current assignee: Mercedes Benz Group AG
Priority date: 2022-07-25
Filing date: 2022-07-25
Publication date: 2024-02-14
Also published as: DE102023002976A1; GB202210809D0

Abstract

A method of remotely activating or deactivating a vehicle function (e.g. opening a door), including defining a reachability model 16 for the vehicle 12 and a computer (e.g. server, cloud, backend 20) external to the vehicle 12; receiving a user request 22 for enabling or disabling the vehicle function; determining an availability of the vehicle 12 to communicate with the computer 20 based on the reachability model 16; and if the vehicle is available for communication, transmitting one or more activation or deactivation signals 48 to the vehicle 12 for enabling or disabling the vehicle function. User request 22 may be from a mobile device 28. The signal 48 may be transmitted only if the vehicle is reachable according to the reachability model 16. The availability state may be predicted based on vehicle events of the vehicle 12. Second aspect: method of defining a reachability model 16 for an availability state of vehicle 12 to communicate with the computer 20, by collating and analysing vehicle events from multiple vehicles (36, fig 2).

Description

An intelligent system and method for communicating with a motor vehicle

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The invention relates to the field of automobiles. More specifically, the invention relates to a method for communicating with a motor vehicle using an intelligent logic. The invention also relates to a method for predicting an outcome of a connection request to a motor vehicle as well as a reachability model for a motor vehicle. Furthermore, the invention relates to a corresponding computer program product as well as to a corresponding intelligent reachability system.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

[0002] According to the state-of-the-art, signals for example activation or deactivation signals, are sent to a motor vehicle without fully knowing if the motor vehicle is reachable. This results in a high frequency of unreachable vehicle failures, wasted calls to the motor vehicle, wasted communication between systems and unhappy customers. Therefore, there is a need to understand when the motor vehicle is reachable before sending such signals to the motor vehicle.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0003] It is an object of the invention to provide methods, a computer program product as well as a system, by which a more efficient way of communicating with a motor vehicle is realized.

[0004] This object is solved by methods, a computer program product, as well as a system according to the independent claims. Advantageous forms of configurations are presented in the dependent claims.

[0005] One aspect of the invention relates to a method for enabling or disabling, in particular for activating or deactivating, a service to operate a functional device of a motor vehicle by a reachability system. A reachability model for a communication between a communication device of the motor vehicle and an electronic computing device external to the motor vehicle is present. A user input for enabling or disabling a service to operate the functional device is detected. Depending on the reachability model and a current availability state of the communication device, signals necessary to activate or deactivate the user input for operating the functional device of the motor vehicle such as activation/deactivation payloads (JSON/XML), acknowledgements, communication stack settings, pings, etc. are transmitted to the communication device. However, other information necessary for updating or proper functioning of the motor vehicle could be transmitted to the communication device as well. Alternatively, the reachability system may be triggered without an explicit input from the user. For example, when there is a need to update a certain functional device of the motor vehicle due to changes to regulations in a certain country or updating a software module for proper functioning of a functional device etc. [0006] Therefore, only if the motor vehicle is reachable, signals are transmitted to the motor vehicle, which equates to successful activations or deactivations. Therefore, an intelligent reachability system is provided, which results in efficient activations or deactivations in the motor vehicle. The reachability system triggers vehicle communication based upon vehicle events which indicates a successful activation or deactivation of a service or a successful connection with the vehicle.

[0007] In particular, the user input is to activate or deactivate a service that may be available in the motor vehicle, for example, services like remote opening of doors of the motor vehicle or climatization of the motor vehicle. The communication between the motor vehicle and the electronic computing device is to enable such services requested by the user.

[0008] According to an embodiment, the user input is provided by the user using an application on a user device such as a smartphone or a laptop or a computer. The user input may be provided by a dealership at the time of purchase of the motor vehicle or when the user is at a service center via established processes. The user input may be provided using an interface of the motor vehicle. For example, the user may have a mobile device and a corresponding application for activating/de-activating certain services to operate functional devices of the motor vehicle. The user may be external or internal to the motor vehicle. The user may for example activate a service for remote opening of doors which is an example of a functional device of the motor vehicle. Another example of user input may be when there is a need to update a functional device of the motor vehicle due to changes to regulations in a certain country which may not involve an explicit user input from the vehicle owner.

[0009] In another embodiment, the electronic computing device is a central electronic computing device or a backend server or a private, public, or hybrid cloud or an application or a service hosted by any of the above. The user input may be, for example, transmitted from a mobile device to a customer management system at a electronic computing device. Alternatively, the user input may be transmitted from a back-end service to a customer management system at the electronic computing device. After determining whether an update is necessary, the update signals may be transmitted from the customer management system to an activator at the electronic computing device which comprises of a reachability model. According to an availability state of the motor vehicle, signals necessary to activate a service intended by the user input for operating a functional device of the motor vehicle are then transmitted from the activator to a communication device of the motor vehicle. The communication device of the motor vehicle then sends an activation status indicating whether or not the activation of the service was successful to a status reconciler at the electronic computing device. The status reconciler communicates with the customer management system to verify the activation or deactivation status with the user input.

[0010] In another embodiment, signals necessary to activate or deactivate the user input for operating the functional device of the motor vehicle are only transmitted to the communication device if the communication device is available at least according to the reachability model. Therefore, a high frequency of unreachable motor vehicle failures, wasted calls to the motor vehicle, and wasted communication between systems and an unhappy user is prevented.

[0011] In another embodiment, the availability state of the communication device is predicted depending on vehicle events such as vehicle registration signals indicating that a Telemafics Control Unit (TCU) is online and currently communicating, vehicle GPS signals to determine if a vehicle is in a location with/without cellular connectivity, signals/outputs from other services indicating an online status, license creation information, signals from the vehicle or components on the vehicle itself such as \degree of the rear axle steering sensor indicating an online status, vehicle characteristics such as a Telematics Control Unit (TCU) type, a Head Unit (HU) type, a status of the functional device etc. Therefore, the intelligent reachability system consumes signals and events from other available services and normalizes these signals into a common data schema. This data is used to inform, calculate, and predict the availability state of the motor vehicle based on vehicle events. There is no limit or scope to the events or combinations of events that may be used.

[0012] Another aspect of the invention relates to a method for defining a reachability model and a computer implemented program product for predicting the availability state of a communication device of a motor vehicle by an electronic computing device. Vehicle events from a plurality of motor vehicles regarding vehicle characteristics such as door lock status, vehicle position (GPS), TCU/HU type or status, TCU/HU connection status, ignition status, Mobile Network Operator (MNO) signal strength, etc. may be collected. A machine learning algorithm of the electronic computing device will ingest vehicle characteristics data, analyses historical data, identifies conditions during which a vehicle may be typically available for an activation or deactivation of a service, and predicts the availability state of a communication device of a motor vehicle. The reachability model is defined using the prediction provided by the machine learning algorithm for each service.

[0013] In another embodiment, the data from the plurality of motor vehicles for use by the intelligent reachability model is selected from a plurality of data that are indicative of events of the motor vehicle. Data which is determined to be not relevant for predicting the availability state of the communication device may not be used. Therefore, an efficient way for defining the reachability model is presented.

[0014] In another embodiment, the reachability model is additionally defined by using a statistical probability model of the electronic computing device. Therefore, an efficient reachability model is generated by the electronic computing device.

[0015] In particular, the methods are computer-implemented methods. Therefore, another aspect of the invention relates to a computer program product comprising program code means for performing a method according to the first aspect and/or according to the second aspect of the invention. Another aspect of the invention therefore relates to a computer-readable storage medium for performing a method according to the first aspect of the invention and/or to the second aspect of the invention.

[0016] Furthermore, the invention relates to a reachability system for operating a functional device of a motor vehicle, comprising at least one electronic computing device, wherein the reachability system is configured for performing a method according to the first aspect of the invention and/or to the second aspect of the invention.

[0017] The electronic computing device therefore comprises means, for example processors or integrated circuits for performing the methods.

[0018] Advantageous forms of configurations of the methods are to be regarded as advantageous forms of configurations of the computer program product as well as of the reachability system. The reachability system therefore comprises means for performing the methods.

[0019] Further advantages, features, and details of the invention derive from the following description of preferred embodiments as well as from the drawings. The features and feature combinations previously mentioned in the description as well as the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the figures and/or shown in the figures alone can be employed not only in the respectively indicated combination but also in any other combination or taken alone without leaving the scope of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0020] The novel features and characteristic of the disclosure are set forth in the appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this disclosure, illustrate exemplary embodiments and together with the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. The same numbers are used throughout the figures to reference like features and components. Some embodiments of system and/or methods in accordance with embodiments of the present subject matter are now described below, by way of example only, and with reference to the accompanying figures.

[0021] The drawings show in: [0022] Fig. 1 a schematic block diagram according to an embodiment of the method; and [0023] Fig. 2 another schematic block diagram according to an embodiment of the method.

[0024] In the figures the same elements or elements having the same function are indicated by the same reference signs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0025] In the present document, the word "exemplary" is used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration". Any embodiment or implementation of the present subject matter described herein as "exemplary" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments.

[0026] While the disclosure is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawing and will be described in detail below. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the disclosure to the particular forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the disclosure is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the disclosure.

[0027] The terms "comprises", "comprising", or any other variations thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion so that a setup, device or method that comprises a list of components or steps does not include only those components or steps but may include other components or steps not expressly listed or inherent to such setup or device or method. In other words, one or more elements in a system or apparatus preceded by "comprises" or "comprise" does not or do not, without more constraints, preclude the existence of other elements or additional elements in the system or method.

[0028] In the following detailed description of the embodiment of the disclosure, reference is made to the accompanying drawing that forms part hereof, and in which is shown by way of illustration a specific embodiment in which the disclosure may be practiced. This embodiment is described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the disclosure, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The following description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0029] Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram according to an embodiment of a method. In particular, Fig. 1 shows a method for activating or deactivating a service to operate a functional device 10 of a motor vehicle 12 by a reachability system 14. A reachability model 16 is present in an activator 44 for a communication between a communication device 18 of the motor vehicle 12 and an electronic computing device 20 external to the motor vehicle 12. A user input 22 from a user 24 is detected for activating or deactivating a service to operate the functional device 10 at a customer management system 42. A user input 22 may also be provided to the customer management system 42 from a backend service 54 when an update to the functional device 10 of the motor vehicle 12 is needed for non-end-user related reasons. Based on the user input 22 the customer management system 42 determines if an update to the functional device 10 of the motor vehicle is needed and generates an update signal 32 which is provided to the activator 44. Depending on the reachability model 16, a current availability state 26 of the communication device 18 is determined. An activation or deactivation signal 48 necessary to activate or deactivate the service to operate the functional device 10 of the motor vehicle 12 are transmitted to the communication device 18. The communication device 18 of the motor vehicle provides an activation status 30 to a status reconciler 46 indicating a successful activation or deactivation of the service. The status reconciler 46 sends an acknowledgement 50 to the customer management system 42. The customer management system 42 sends a confirmation 52 to the user 24 or to the backend service 54 from which the user input 22 was initiated.

[0030] According to Fig. 1 the user input 22 may be provided by a mobile device 28, for example a mobile phone, of the user 24 and/or the user input 22 is detected by any means external to the motor vehicle 12 such as at a dealership or service center. Alternatively, the user input 22 may be provided by a backend service 54 when an update to the functional device 10 of the motor vehicle 12 is needed for non-end-user related reasons. Alternatively, the user input 22 may be provided by using an interface of the motor vehicle 12.

[0031] Furthermore Fig. 1 shows, that the electronic computing device 20 may be configured as a central electronic computing device and/or as a backend server or a private, public, or hybrid cloud or an application or a service hosted by any of the above.

[0032] The activation or deactivation signals 48 are only transmitted to the communication device 18 if the communication device 18 is reachable at least according to the reachability model 16.

[0033] Furthermore, the availability state 26 of the communication device 18 is predicted depending on vehicle events of the motor vehicle 12 such as a current position of the motor vehicle 12 and/or a signal strength between the electronic computing device 20 and the communication device 18 and/or other parameters or combinations of such parameters.

[0034] In particular, Fig. 1 shows that the reachability system 14, which may be called an intelligent reachability system, uses machine learning algorithms on vehicle events to analyze and determine the availability state 26 of the communication device 18. The reachability system 14 triggers vehicle communications based upon such vehicle events, which indicate successful activation or deactivation of a service or which indicate that the communication device of the motor vehicle is online. The availability state 26 may also be shared with other electronic computing devices, which need to know the availability state of the vehicle.

[0035] The reachability system 14 may use activation status 30 from the motor vehicle 12, as one of the vehicle events to determine the availability state 26 of the motor vehicle 12.

[0036] As an example, a user 24 may want to activate a service to operate a functional device for example doors of a motor vehicle 12. A user input 22 from the user 24 is detected for activating the service to operate doors at a customer management system 42. Based on the user input 22 the customer management system 42 determines if an update to the functional device 10 of the motor vehicle 12 is needed and generates an update signal 32 which may be provided to the activator 44. Depending on a reachability model 16 a current availability state 26 of the communication device 18 is determined and activation signals 48 necessary to activate the service to operate doors of the motor vehicle 12 are transmitted to the communication device 18. The communication device 18 of the motor vehicle provides an activation status 30 to a status reconciler 46 indicating a successful activation of the service. The status reconciler 46 sends an acknowledgement 50 to the customer management system 42. The customer management system 42 sends a confirmation 52 to the user 24 from which the user input 22 may be initiated.

[0037] Fig. 2 shows another schematic block diagram according to an embodiment of the invention. In particular, Fig. 2 shows a method for defining the reachability model 16 for the availability state 26 of the communication device 18 of the motor vehicle 12. Collecting vehicle events 34 of a plurality of motor vehicles 36 concerning an availability state 26 of each of the motor vehicles is performed. Defining the reachability model 16 by analyzing the vehicle events 34 concerning the availability state 26 by using a machine learning algorithm 38 of the activator 44 at the electronic computing device 20 is performed. The electronic computing device 20 comprises another communication device 40, wherein the plurality of motor vehicles 36 sends the vehicle events 34 to this communication device 40. Furthermore, the reachability model 16 may be additionally defined by using a statistical probability model.

[0038] In particular, the reachability model 16 consumes vehicle events 34 from other services and normalizes these signals into a common data schema. Machine learning algorithms 38 such as statistical probability models may be used to inform, calculate, and predict the availability state 26 of each of the motor vehicles 36 based on event type, vehicle location, signal strength, or furthermore. There is no limit or scope to the vehicle events 34 that may be consumed. Therefore, any vehicle event 34 may be qualified as an event in the system that has relevance to determining the availability state 26 of the motor vehicle. Vehicle events may include but not limited to an active internet connection, traveling at high speeds on a major interstate, or that doors were locked on the motor vehicle 12 or historical activation data. Using the vehicle events 34, the reachability model 16 determines which vehicle event may mean a successful activation by calculating the probability of success. Thus, the reachability model 16 may increase the chances of communication with the motor vehicles 36.

[0039] Vehicle events 34 from the motor vehicles 36 consists of all events that may be received for every vehicle every day around the world. This vehicle events 34 includes but is not limited to data from a plurality of motor vehicles regarding vehicle characteristics such as door lock status, vehicle position (GPS), Telematics Control Unit (TCU) status, TCU/Head Unit (HU) connection status, ignition status, Mobile Network Operator (MNO) signal strength, or furthermore. Activation or de-activation signals 48 sent to the motor vehicles 36 may consist of activation payloads, deactivation payloads, acknowledgement, communication stack settings, pings, other information necessary for updating or proper functioning of the motor vehicle or furthermore.

[0040] The machine learning algorithm 38 takes multiple inputs such as the service being activated or deactivated, vehicle events such as TCU type, vehicle's location, and any vehicle event indicating a successful connection with the motor vehicles 36 to determine probability of success. The calculated probability may be used to trigger service activations.

[0041] The communication between the electronic computing device 20 and the communication device 40 takes place over MQTT (Fastpath) https connections or SMS connections or equivalent services. The motor vehicles 36 communicate to the electronic computing device 20 via an infrastructure gateway and an event based communication model. The reachability system 14 sends signals to the motor vehicles 36 to activate or deactivate services. The communication method to use in each activation will be specified when a connection request is sent to the communication device 18 of the motor vehicle 36.

[0042] The machine learning algorithm 38 may be able to calculate and determine which vehicle events 34 from the motor vehicles 36 result in a connection success per each service. The reachability model 16 may be able to create a reachability map for use by the electronic computing device 20 to know the availability state 26 of each motor vehicle 12. The reachability model 16 may also share trigger messages generated for each connection request via a pub/sub model to be consumed by other services wanting to establish a connection with the motor vehicles 36. There may be a schema presented to cache, monitor, and understand which motor vehicles 36 need activations or deactivations.

[0043] The reachability system 14 may keep a record of activation for each vehicle identification number (VIN) to use as a source of truth in case of an error in the status reconciler 46.

Reference Signs functional device 12 motor vehicle 14 reachability system 16 reachability model 18 communication device electronic computing device 22 user input 24 user 26 availability state 28 mobile device activation status 32 update signals 34 vehicle events 36 plurality of motor vehicles 38 machine learning algorithm further communication device 42 customer management system 44 activator 46 status reconciler 48 activation/deactivation signals ackowledgement 52 confirmation 54 backend service

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method for activating or deactivating a service to operate a functional device (10) of a motor vehicle (12), the method performed by a reachability system (14), and comprises the steps of: -defining a reachability model (16) for a communication between a communication device (18) of the motor vehicle (12) and an electronic computing device (20) external to the motor vehicle (12); -detecting a user input (22) that requests enabling or disabling the service to operate the functional device (10); -determining, based on the reachability model (16), an availability of the communication device (18) of the motor vehicle (12) to communicate with the electronic computing device (20); and -in response to a determination that the communication device is available to communicate with the electronic computing device, transmitting one or more activation signals (48) or deactivation signals to the communication device (18) for enabling or disabling the service to operate the functional device (10) of the motor vehicle (12) depending on an availability state (26) of the communication device (18) as determined by the reachability model.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the user input (22) is detected by a mobile device (28) of a user (24) and/or the user input (22) is detected by the motor vehicle (12) and/or is detected external to the motor vehicle (12).
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the electronic computing device (20) is a central electronic computing device (20) and/or the electronic computing device (20) is a backend server and/or electronic computing device (20) is a private, public, or hybrid cloud and/or electronic computing device (20) is a service.
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the one or more activation signals (48) or deactivation signals are only transmitted to the communication device (18) if the communication device (18) is reachable by the electronic computing device at least according to the reachability model (16).
The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the availability state (26) of the communication device (18) is predicted depending on one or more vehicle events of the motor vehicle (12).
6. A method for defining a reachability model (16) for an availability state (26) of a communication device (18) of a motor vehicle (12) by an electronic computing device (20), comprising the steps of: - collecting vehicle events (34) of a plurality of motor vehicles (36); - analyzing vehicle events (34); and - defining the reachability model (16) for use by the electronic computing device (20) to connect to the communication device (18) of a motor vehicle (12).
7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle events (34) are selected from a plurality of vehicle events of the motor vehicles (36) that are indicative of a successful activation or deactivation of a service.
The method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the reachability model (16) is defined by using a statistical probability model of the electronic computing device (20).
A computer program product comprising program code means for performing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and/or any one of claims 6 to 8.
10. A reachability system (14) for operating a functional device (10) of a motor vehicle (12), comprising at least one electronic computing device (20), wherein the reachability system (14) is configured for performing a method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 and/or any one of claims 6 to 8.