Patent Application
20080215240
This patent application relates to integrating graphical user interfaces.
In-vehicle entertainment systems and portable navigation systems sometimes include graphical displays, touch-screens, physical user-interface controls, and interactive or one-way voice interfaces. They may also be equipped with telecommunication interfaces including terrestrial or satellite radio, Bluetooth®, WiFi®, or WiMax®, GPS, and cellular voice and data technologies. Entertainment systems integrated into vehicles may have access to vehicle data, including speed and acceleration, navigation, and collision event data. Navigation systems may include databases of maps and travel information and software for computing driving directions. Navigation systems and entertainment systems may be integrated or may be separate components.
In general, this patent application describes a method that comprises integrating elements of a first graphical user interface into a second graphical user interface to produce a combined graphical user interface. The first graphical user interface is for a portable navigation system and the second graphical user interface is for a vehicle media device. The method further comprises controlling the vehicle media device and the portable navigation system through the combined graphical user interface. The method may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
The method may include displaying the combined graphical user interface on the vehicle media device. The first graphical user interface may comprise at least one icon and the method may comprise incorporating the at least one icon into the combined graphical user interface. The first graphical user interface may comprise at least one function and the method may comprise incorporating the at least one function into the combined graphical user interface. The combined user interface may provide access to both the vehicle media device and the portable navigation system. The combined graphical user interface may incorporate navigation data and/or vehicle information that are transmitted from the portable navigation system. The combined graphical user interface may comprise display characteristics associated with the vehicle media device.
The combined graphical user interface may be displayed on the portable navigation system. The combined graphical user interface may be displayed on the vehicle media device using pre-stored bitmap data residing on the vehicle media device. The combined graphical user interface may be displayed on the vehicle media device using bitmap data transmitted from the portable navigation system.
This patent application also described a method that comprises mapping first control features of a portable navigation system to second control features of a vehicle media device, and using the second control features to control a graphical user interface that is displayed on the vehicle media device. The graphical user interface comprises first user interface elements of the portable navigation system and second user interface elements of the vehicle media device. The first control features may comprise elements of a human-machine interface for the portable navigation system and the second control features may comprise elements of a human-machine interface for the vehicle media device. The method may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
At least one of the second control features may comprise a soft button on the graphical user interface. At least one of the second control features may comprise a concentric knob, which includes an outer knob and an inner knob. The outer knob and the inner knob are for controlling different functions via the graphical user interface.
The second control feature may comprise displaying a route view, a map view, or a driving view. Data for those views may be received at the vehicle media device from the portable navigation system.
This patent application also describes a vehicle media device that comprises a display device to display a graphical user interface, a storage device to store instructions that are executable, and a processor to execute the instructions to integrate elements of a first graphical user interface into a second graphical user interface to produce a first combined graphical user interface. The first graphical user interface is for a first portable navigation system and the second graphical user interface is for the vehicle media device. The instructions are executable to control the first portable navigation system and the vehicle media device through the first combined graphical user interface. The vehicle media device may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
The first combined graphical user interface may be displayed on the vehicle media device. The first graphical user interface may comprise at least one icon and the processor may execute instructions to incorporate the at least one icon into the first combined graphical user interface. The processor may execute instructions to map first control features of the first portable navigation system into second control features of the vehicle media device.
The vehicle media device may be capable of integrating elements of a third graphical user interface into the second graphical user interface to form a second combined graphical user interface. The third graphical user interface may be for a second portable navigation system. The vehicle media device may be capable of controlling the second portable navigation system and the vehicle media device through the second combined graphical user interface.
This patent application also describes an integrated system comprised of a portable navigation system and a vehicle media device. The integrated system may include an integrated user interface that controls both the portable navigation system and the vehicle media device. In the integrated system, the vehicle media device may comprise a microphone, the portable navigation system may comprise voice recognition software, and the integrated system may be capable of transmitting voice data from the microphone to the voice recognition software. The integrated system may also include one or more of the following features, either alone or in combination.
The portable navigation system may be capable of interpreting the voice data as commands and sending the commands to the vehicle media device. The portable navigation system may be capable of interpreting the voice data as commands and processing the commands on the navigation device.
The portable navigation system may comprise a microphone and the vehicle media device may comprise voice recognition software. The integrated system may be capable of transmitting voice data from the microphone to the voice recognition software. The vehicle media device may be capable of interpreting the voice data as commands and sending the commands to the portable navigation system. The vehicle media device may be capable of interpreting the voice data as commands and processing the commands on the vehicle media device.
The vehicle media device may be capable of receiving traffic data from a broadcasted signal. The integrated system may be capable of transferring the traffic data to the portable navigation system for use in automatic route calculation.
The vehicle media device may be capable of notifying the navigation system that a collision has occurred. The portable navigation system may be capable of sending an emergency number and a verbal notification to the vehicle media device for making an emergency call. The emergency call may be made hands-free.
The vehicle media device may be configured with a backup camera. The integrated system may be capable of transmitting a backup camera signal to the portable navigation system for display.
The vehicle media device may be configured to receive Global Positioning System (GPS) signals. The vehicle media device may be configured to use the GPS signals to calculate latitude or longitude data. The integrated system may be capable of passing the latitude or longitude data to the portable navigation system.
The vehicle media device may comprise a proximity sensor, which is capable of detecting the proximity of a user's hand to a predetermined location, and of generating an input to the vehicle media device. The integrated system may cause the portable navigation system to generate a response based on the input from the proximity sensor. The response generated by the portable navigation system may be presented on the integrated user interface as a “zooming” icon.
The integrated system may identify the type of the portable navigation system when the portable navigation system is connected to the vehicle media device and use stored icons associated with the type of the portable navigation system.
Any of the foregoing methods may be implemented as a computer program product comprised of instructions that are stored on one or more machine-readable media, and that are executable on one or more processing devices. The method(s) may be implemented as an apparatus or system that includes one or more processing devices and memory to store executable instructions to implement the method(s).
The details of one or more examples are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Further features, aspects, and advantages will become apparent from the description, the drawings, and the claims.
In-vehicle entertainment systems and portable navigation systems each have unique features that the other generally lacks. One or the other or both can be improved by using capabilities provided by the other. For example, a portable navigation system may have an integrated antenna, which may provide a weaker signal than an external antenna mounted on a roof of a vehicle to be used by the vehicle's entertainment system. In-vehicle entertainment systems typically lack navigation capabilities or have only limited capabilities. When we refer to a navigation system in this disclosure, we are referring to a portable navigation system (PND), which is separate from any vehicle navigation system that may be built-in to a vehicle. An entertainment system refers to an in-vehicle entertainment system. An entertainment system may provide access to, or control of, other vehicle systems, such as a heating-ventilation-air conditioning (HVAC) system, a telephone, or numerous other vehicle subsystems. Generally speaking, the entertainment system may control, or provide an interface to, systems that are entertainment and/or non-entertainment related. A communications system that can link a portable navigation system with an entertainment system can allow either system to provide services to, or receive services from, the other device.
To this end, described herein is a system that integrates elements of an entertainment system and a navigation system. Such a system has advantages. For example, it allows information to be transmitted between the entertainment system and the navigation system, e.g., when one system has information that the other system lacks. In one example, a navigation system may store its last location when the navigation system is turned-off. However, the information about the navigation system's last location may not be reliable because the navigation system may be moved while it is off. Thereafter, when the navigation system is first turned-on, it has to rely on satellite signals to determine its current location. The process of acquiring satellite signals to obtain accurate current location information often takes five minutes or more. On the other hand, a vehicle entertainment system may have accurate current location information readily available, because a vehicle generally does not move when it is not operational. The entertainment system may provide the navigation system with this information when the navigation system is first turned-on, thereby enabling the navigation system to function without waiting for its satellite signals. The vehicle entertainment system may store its last location before the vehicle is turned off. When the vehicle is later started, it can provide this information immediately to the navigation system. A vehicle entertainment system may be equipped with global positioning system capability for tracking its current position. At any time when a portable navigation device is connected to the vehicle, the vehicle entertainment system may provide its current location information to the navigation system. The navigation system can use this information until it acquires satellite signals on its own, or it could rely solely on the location information provided from the vehicle.
An integrated entertainment and navigation system, such as those described herein, also can provide “dead reckoning” when the navigation system loses satellite signals, e.g., when the navigation system is in a tunnel or is surrounded by tall buildings. Dead reckoning is a process of computing a current location based on vehicle data, such as speed, longitude, and latitude. When the navigation system loses communication with a satellite, an integrated system can obtain the vehicle data from the vehicle via the entertainment system interface, compute the current location of the vehicle, and supply that information to the navigation system. Alternatively, if the navigation system has the capability, the vehicle can provide data from the vehicle sensors to the navigation system, and the navigation system can use this data to perform dead reckoning until satellite signals are re-acquired. The vehicle sensor data can be continuously provided to the navigation system, so that the navigation system can use satellite signals and vehicle data in combination to improve its ability to track the vehicle current location.
An integrated system also allows a driver to focus on only one screen, instead of dividing attention between two (or more) screens. For example, an integrated system may display navigation information (maps, routes, etc.) on the screen of the entertainment system. An integrated system may also overlay the display of information about an audio source over a view of a map, thereby providing a combined display of information from two separate systems, one of which is not permanently integrated into the vehicle.
Navigation and entertainment systems can include both graphical user interfaces and human-machine user interfaces.
In general, a graphical user interface (GUI) is an interface that is often displayed on a screen and that contains elements, such as menus and icons. A menu may include a list of items that a user can browse through in order to select a particular item. A menu item can be, e.g., an icon or a string of characters, or both. Generally speaking, an icon is a graphic symbol associated with a menu item or a functionality.
A human-machine user interface refers to the physical aspect of a system's user interface. A human-machine user interface can contain elements such as switches, knobs, buttons, and the like. For example, an on/off switch is an element of the human-machine user interfaces of most systems. In an entertainment system, a human-machine user interface may include elements such as a volume control knob, which a user can turn to adjust the volume of the entertainment system, and a channel seeking button, which a user can press to seek the next radio station that is within range. One or more of knobs may be a concentric knob. A concentric knob is an inner knob nested inside an outer knob, with the inner knob and the outer knob controlling different functions.
A navigation system is often controlled via a touch-screen graphical user interface with touch-sensitive menus. An entertainment system is often controlled via physical buttons and knobs. For example, a user may press a button to select a pre-stored radio station. A user may turn a knob to increase or decrease the volume of a sound system. An integrated system, such as those described herein, could be less user-friendly if the controls for its two systems were to remain separate. For example, an entertainment system and a navigation system may be located far from each other. A driver may have to stretch out to reach the control of one system or the other.
Thus, the integrated system described herein also integrates elements of the graphical and human-machine interfaces of its two systems, namely the entertainment and navigation system. Accordingly, the user interface of an integrated system may be a combination of portions of the graphical user interface and/or human-machine user interface elements from both the entertainment system and the navigation system.
Elements contained in a user interface of a system that are used to control that system are referred to herein as control features. To integrate user interfaces of a navigation system and entertainment system, some functions on the navigation system that are activated using the control features of the navigation system will be chosen and activated using control features of the entertainment system. This is referred to as “mapping” in this application. During a mapping process, elements of the user interface of the navigation system may be mapped to the elements of the user interface of the entertainment of the same modality or different modalities. For example, a button press on the navigation system may be translated to a button press on the entertainment system, or it could be translated to a knob rotation. If both the navigation system and the entertainment system have a touch screen interface, then the mapping may be similar for most elements (touch screen to touch screen). But, there may still be some differences. For example, the touch screen in the entertainment system may be larger than the touch screen of the navigation system, and it may accommodate more icons on the display. Also, some touch functions on the navigation system may still be mapped to some other modality on the entertainment system human-machine user interface, such as a button press on the entertainment system.
Referring to
The communications interfaces 110 may be connected to at least one antenna 113, which may be a multifunctional antenna capable of receiving AM, FM, satellite radio, GPS, Bluetooth, etc., transmissions. The head unit 106 also has a user interface 112, which may be a combination of a graphics display screen 114, a touch screen sensor 116, and physical knobs and switches 118, and may include a processor 120 and software 122. Proximity sensor 143 (shown in
In some examples, the navigation system 104 includes a user interface 124, navigation data 126, a processor 128, navigation software 130, and communications interfaces 132. The communications interface may include GPS, for finding the system's location based on GPS signals from satellites or terrestrial beacons, a cellular interface for transmitting voice or data signals, and a Bluetooth®, WiFi®, or WiMax® interface for communicating with other electronic devices, such as wireless phones.
In some examples, the various components of the head unit 106 are connected as shown in
In some examples, some parts of the interface 112 may be physically separate from the components of the head unit 106.
The processor may receive inputs from individual devices, such as a gyroscope 148 and backup camera 149. The processor may exchange information via a gateway 150 with an information bus 152, and process signal inputs from a variety of sources 155, such as vehicle speed sensors or the ignition switch. Whether particular inputs are direct signals or are communicated over the bus 152 will depend on the architecture of the vehicle 100. The vehicle may be equipped with at least one bus for communicating vehicle operating data between various modules. There may be an additional bus for entertainment system data. The head unit 106 may have access to one or more of these busses. A gateway module in the vehicle (not shown) may convert data from a bus that is not available to the head unit 106 to a bus that is available to the head unit 106. The head unit 106 may be connected to more than one bus and may perform the conversion function for other modules in the vehicle. The processor may also exchange data with a wireless interface 159. This can provide connections to media players or wireless telephones, for example, which may be inside of, or external to, the vehicle. The head unit 106 may also have a wireless telephone interface 110b built-in. Any of the components shown as part of the head unit 106 in
As noted above, the connection from the entertainment system 102 to the navigation system 104 may be wireless. As such, the arrows between various parts of the entertainment system 102 and the connector 160 in
The various components of the navigation system 104 may be connected as shown in
The connector 162 may be a set of standard cable connectors, a customized connector for the navigation system 104 or a combination of connectors.
A graphics processor (GPU) 172 may be used to generate images for display through the user interface 124 or through the entertainment system 102. Alternatively, video processing could be handled by the main processor 128, and the images may be output through the connector 162 by the processor 128. The processor 128 may also include digital/analog converters (DACs and ADCs) 166, or these functions may be performed by dedicated devices. The user interface 124 may include an LCD or other video display screen 174, a touch screen sensor 176, and controls 178. In some examples, video signals, such as from the backup camera 149, are passed directly to the display 174 via connector 162 or wireless interface 132a. A power supply 180 regulates power received from an external source 182 or from an internal battery 720. The power supply 180 may also charge the battery 720 from the external source 182. Connection to external source 182 may also be available through connector 162. Communication line 138 that connects connector 162 and user interface 124 may be used as a backup camera signal line to pass the backup camera signals to the navigation system. In this way, images of the backup camera of the entertainment system can be displayed on the navigation system's screen.
In some examples, as shown in
The navigation system 104 can use the data 203 for improving its calculation of the vehicle's location, for example, by combining the vehicle's own speed readings 208 with those derived from GPS signals 204a, 204b, or 206, or the navigation system's own GPS signals 132b (shown in
The navigation system 104 may exchange, with the entertainment system 102, data including video signals 220, audio signals 222, and commands or information 224, which are collectively referred to as data 202. Power for the navigation system 104, for charging or regular use, may be provided from the entertainment system's power supply 156 to the navigation system's power supply 180 through connection 225. If the navigation system's communications interfaces 132 include a wireless phone interface 132a and the entertainment system 102 does not have one, the navigation system 104 may enable the entertainment system 102 to provide hands-free calling to the driver through the vehicle's speakers 226 and a microphone 230. The microphone and speakers of the navigation system may be used to provide hands free functionality. The vehicle entertainment system speakers and microphone may be used to provide hands free functionality. Alternatively, some combination thereof may be used, such as using the vehicle speakers and the navigation system's microphone (e.g., for cases where the vehicle does not have a microphone). The audio signals 222 carry the voice data from the driver to the wireless phone interface 132a in the navigation system and carry any voice data from a call back to the entertainment system 202. The audio signals 222 can also be used to transfer audible instructions such as driving directions or voice recognition acknowledgements from the navigation system 104 to the head unit 106 for playback on the vehicle's speakers 226 instead of using a built-in speaker 168 in the navigation system 104.
The audio signals 222 may also be used to provide hands-free operation from one device to another. In one example, components of hands-free system 232 may include a pre-amplifier for a microphone, an amplifier for speakers, digital/analog converters, logic circuitry to route signals appropriately, and signal processing circuitry (for, e.g., equalization, noise reduction, echo cancellation, and the like). If the entertainment system 102 has a microphone 230 for either a hands-free system 232 or other purpose, it may receive voice inputs from microphone 230 and relay them as audio signals 222 to the navigation system 104 for interpretation by voice recognition software on the navigation system and receive audio responses 222, command data and display information 224, and updated graphics 220 back from the navigation system 104. Alternatively, the entertainment system 102 may also interpret the voice inputs itself, using its own voice recognition software which may be a part of software 122, to send control commands 224 directly to the navigation system 204. If the navigation system 104 has a microphone 170 for either a hands-free system 236 or other purposes, its voice inputs can be interpreted by voice recognition software which may be part of software 130 on the navigation system 104 and may be capable of controlling aspects of the entertainment system by sending control commands 224 directly to the entertainment system 102. In some examples, the navigation system 104 also functions as a personal media player (e.g., an MP3 player), and the audio signals 222 may carry a primary audio program to be played back through the vehicle's speakers 226. In some examples, the navigation system 104 has a microphone 170 and the entertainment system 102 includes voice recognition software. The navigation system may receive voice input from microphone 170 and replay that voice input as audio signals to the entertainment system. The voice recognition software on the entertainment system interprets the audio signals as commands. For example, the voice recognition software, may decode commands from the audio signals. The entertainment system may send the commands to the navigation system for processing or process the commands itself.
In summary, voice signals are transmitted from one device that has a microphone to a second device that has voice recognition software. The device that has the voice recognition software will interpret the voice signals as commands. The device that has the voice recognition could send command information back to the other device, or it could execute a command itself.
The general concept is that the vehicle entertainment system and the portable system can be connected by the user, and that there is voice recognition capability in one device (any device that has voice recognition will generally have a microphone built into it). Upon connecting the two devices, voice recognition capability in one device is made available to the other device. The voice recognition can be in the portable device, and it can made available to the vehicle when connected, or the voice recognition can be in the vehicle media system, and be made available to the portable device.
In some examples, the head unit 106 can receive inputs on its user interface 116 or 118 and relay these to the navigation system 104 as commands 224. In this way, the driver only needs to interact with one device, and connecting the navigation system 104 to the entertainment system 102 allows the entertainment system 102 to operate as if it included navigation features.
The navigation system 104 may be used to display images from the entertainment system 102, for example, from the backup camera 149 or in place of using the head unit's own screen 114. Such images can be passed to the navigation system 104 using the video signals 220. This has the advantage of providing a graphical display screen for a head unit 106 that may have a more-limited display 114. For example, images from the backup camera 149 may be relayed to the navigation system 104 using video signals 220 and, when the vehicle is put in to reverse, as indicated by a direct input 154 or over the vehicle bus 152 (
In cases where the entertainment system 102 does include navigation features, the navigation system 104 may be able to supplement or improve on those features, for example, by providing more-detailed or more-current maps though the command and information link 224 or by offering better navigation software or a more powerful processor. In some examples, the head unit 106 may be equipped to transmit navigation service requests over the command and information link 224 and receive responses from the navigation system's processor 128. In some examples, the navigation system 104 can supply software 130 and data 126 to the head unit 106 to use with its own processor 120. In some examples, the entertainment system 102 may download additional software to the navigation system, for example, to update its ability to calculate location based on the specific information that vehicle makes available.
By providing navigation data through the entertainment system, it is possible to mount the navigation system in a location—even locations that are not that visible to the driver—and still use the navigation system. Connections (e.g., interfaces, data formats, and the like) between the navigation system and the entertainment system may be standard or proprietary. A standard connection may allow navigation systems from various manufacturers to work in a vehicle without customization. If the navigation system uses a proprietary connection, the entertainment system 102 may include software or hardware that allows it to interface with such a connection.
Referring now to
The image may be provided by the navigation system in several forms including a full image map, difference data, or vector data. For a full image map, as shown in
The image may also be transmitted as bitmap data, as shown in
In a similar fashion, as shown in
When an image is being transmitted from the navigation system 104 to the head unit 106, the amount of bandwidth required may dominate the connections between the devices. For example, if a single USB connection is used for the video signals 220, audio signals 222, and commands and information 224, a full video stream may not leave any room for control data. In some examples, as shown in
Entertainment system 102 may include software that can do more than relay the navigation system's interfaces through the entertainment system. The entertainment system 102 may include software that can generate an integrated user interface, through which both the navigation system and the entertainment system may be controlled. For example, the software may incorporate one or more elements from the graphical user interface of the navigation system into a “native” graphical user interface provided by the entertainment system. The result is a combined user interface that includes familiar icons and functions from the navigation system, and that are presented in a combined interface that has roughly the same look and feel as the entertainment system's interface.
The following describes integrated user interfaces generated by an entertainment system and displayed on the entertainment system. Integrated interfaces, however, may also be generated by the navigation system 104 and displayed on the navigation system. Alternatively, integrated interfaces may be generated by the navigation system and displayed on the vehicle entertainment system, or vice versa,
There are numerous types of navigation systems on the market, each offering different functionalities and different user interfaces. The differences may be in both their graphical user interfaces and human-machine user interfaces. The content of an integrated interface will depend, to a great extent, on the features available from a particular navigation system. In order to construct a combined interface, in this example, software in the vehicle entertainment system first identifies the type (e.g., brand/model) of navigation system that is connected to the entertainment system. Here, identification is performed via a “handshake” protocol, which may be implemented when the navigation systems and entertainment system are first electrically connected. In this context, an electrical connection may include a wired connection, a wireless connection, or a combination of the two. Identification may also be performed by a user, who provides the type information of the navigation system manually to the vehicle entertainment system.
During the initial handshake protocol, information about the connected navigation system is transmitted to the entertainment system. Such information may be transmitted through communication interfaces between the entertainment system and the navigation system, such as those described above. The transmitted information may include type information, which identifies the type, e.g., brand/model/etc. of the navigation system. The type information may be coded in an identifier field of a message having a predefined format. In this example, processor 120 of the entertainment system uses the obtained type information to identify the navigation system, and to generate an integrated user interface based on this identification. The processor 120 can generate graphical portions of the user interface either using pre-stored bitmap data or using data received from the navigation system, as described in more detail below.
Each type of device may have a user interface functional hierarchy. That is, each device has certain capabilities or functions. In order to access these, a user interacts with the device's human-machine interface. The designers of each navigation system have chosen a way to organize navigation system functions for presentation to, and interaction with, a user. These navigation system functions are associated with corresponding icons. The entertainment system has its own way of organizing its functions for presentation to, and interaction with, a user. The functions of the navigation system may be integrated into the entertainment system in a way that is consistent with how the entertainment system organizes its other functions, but also in a way that takes advantage of the fact that a user of the navigation system will be familiar with graphics that are typically displayed on the navigation system.
Because the human-machine interface of the entertainment system may be different from that of the navigation system, the organizational structure of navigation functions may be modified when integrated into the entertainment system. Some aspects, and not others, may be modified, depending on what is logical, and on what provides a beneficial overall experience for the user. It is possible to determine, in advance, how to change this organization, and to store that data within the entertainment system, so that when the entertainment system detects a navigation system and determines what type of system it is, the entertainment system will know how to perform the organizational mapping. This process may be automated.
By way of example, it may be determined that a high level menu, which has five icons visible on a navigation system, makes sense when integrated with the entertainment system. Software in the entertainment system may obtain those icons and display them on a menu bar so that the same five icons are visible. In some examples, the case may be that the human-machine interfaces for choosing the function associated with an icon are different (e.g., a rotary control vs. a touch screen), but the menu hierarchies for the organization of functions are the same. However, at a different place in the navigation system menu structure, it may be determined that the logical arrangement of available functions provided by the navigation system is not consistent with a logical approach of the entertainment system and, therefore, the entertainment system may organize the functions differently. For example, the entertainment system could decide that one function provided is not needed or desired, and simply not present that function. Alternatively, the entertainment system may decide that a function more logically belongs at a different point in its hierarchy, and move that function to a different point in the vehicle entertainment system user interface organization structure. The entertainment system could decide to remove whole levels of a hierarchy, and promote all of the lower level functions to a higher level. The point is, the organizational structure of the navigation system can be remapped to fit the organizational structure of the entertainment system in any manner. This is done so that, whether the user is interacting with the navigation system, phone, HVAC, audio system, or the like, the organization of functions throughout those systems is presented in as consistent a fashion as possible.
To help reduce confusion when a user switches between use of the navigation system on its own and use within the vehicle, the entertainment system uses the graphics that are associated with particular functions in the navigation system and associates them with the same functions when controlled by the entertainment system user interface.
The main navigation menu 301 also contains a side menu 306, which includes various menu items, in this case: settings, quick settings, phone, and traffic. The functions associated with these menu items, which relate, e.g., to initiating a phone call or retrieving setting information, are also associated with corresponding icons, as shown in
Navigation system icons 307, 308, and 309 are menu items that are at a same hierarchical level. More specifically, the menu items are part of a hierarchical menu, which may be traversed by selecting a menu item at the top of the hierarchy, and drilling-down to menu items that reside below.
In
In the combined interface of
The menu items of
When mapping icons from the navigation system user interface screen shown in
As explained above, the human-machine interface refers to the physical interface between the human operating a system and the device functionality. In this context, the navigation system human-machine interface has one set of controls. Most navigation system human-machine interface's are touch screens, although they may also have buttons, microphone (for voice input), or other controls. The vehicle entertainment system also has a human-machine interface with a second set of controls. The controls of the vehicle system may be the same, similar, or different than those of the navigation system.
Mapping the human-machine interfaces may be conceptualized using a Venn diagram with two circles. One circle represents the set of human-machine interface controls for the navigation system, and one circle represents the set of controls for the vehicle system. The circles can either be completely separated, have a region of intersection, or be completely overlapping. The sizes of the circles can differ depending on the number of controls of each system. Within the circles, there are a number of discrete points representing each control that is available. What is done here is to map one set of controls to another on a context-sensitive basis. For example, in certain system states, a series of icons on a touch screen may be mapped to a series of circles with associated icons that can be scrolled through by rotating one of the concentric knobs. For example, in block 421 in
The fact that there are different controls can be beneficial. For example, referring to a user interface screen 331 of
In some cases, it has been determined that certain functions should be associated with a button (a soft button or a programmable function button), rather than one of the circle elements that scrolls with a rotary control. For example, the “settings” function represented by the wrench icon of
Some aspects of the organizational structure of the human-machine user interface elements may be altered so as to provide a better overall experience for the user. In some examples, the menu structure of a navigation system may be logically inconsistent with the corresponding menu structure of the entertainment system. The hierarchical structure of the navigation system may be re-organized. The relative level associated with a menu item may be changed. A lower level menu item may be moved to a higher level, or vice versa.
In some examples, menu items associated with navigational features may be mapped onto a concentric knob provided on the entertainment system. Generally, the outer knob and the inner knob of a concentric knob are associated with different levels of a hierarchy. For example, a concentric knob may be configured to move to a previous/next item when the outer knob is turned, to display a scroll list when the inner knob is turned, and to actuate a control functionality when the knob is pressed. When the system is at the navigation level of the “trip info” display view, shown as 410 in
In some examples, the entertainment system 102 can support more than one portable navigation system. For example, a user may disconnect the first navigation system connected to the entertainment system 102 and connect a different portable navigation system. The entertainment system may be able to generate a second integrated user interface using the elements of the user interface of the second portable navigation system and control the second portable navigation system through the second integrated user interface.
In some examples, the entertainment system 102 can support more than one portable system at the same time (e.g., two portable navigation systems, a portable navigation system and an MP3 player, a portable navigation system and a mobile telephone, a portable navigation system and a personal digital assistant (PDA), an MP3 player and a PDA, or any combination of these or other devices). In this case, the entertainment system 102 may be able to integrate elements of (e.g., all or part of) the user interfaces of two (or more) such devices into its own user interface in the manner described herein. The entertainment system 102 may generate a combined user interface to control the portable navigation system and the other device(s) at the same time in the manner described herein.
Audio from the navigation system 104 and entertainment system 102 may also be integrated into the entertainment system. The navigation system may generate audio signals, such as a voice prompt telling the driver about an upcoming turn, which are communicated to the entertainment system 102 through audio signals 222 as described above. At the same time, the entertainment system 102 may generate continuous audio signals, such as music from the radio or a CD. In some examples, a mixer in the head unit 106 determines which audio source takes priority, and directs the prioritized audio signals to speakers 226, e.g., to a particular speaker. A mixer may be a combiner that sums audio signals to form a combined signal. The mixer may also control the level of each signal that is summed. When a navigation voice prompt comes in, the audio signals can be routed in different ways with their levels adjusted so that the navigation voice prompt will be more audible to vehicle occupants.
As indicated above, a mixer has the capability of directing a signal to a specific speaker. For example, when a turn is coming up, and the navigation system 104 sends an announcement via audio signals 222 (see
As earlier discussed, the head unit 106 incorporates software 122. A portion of the software 122 of the head unit 106 is a user interface application 928 that causes the processor 120 to provide the user interface 112 through which the user interacts with the head unit 106. Another portion of the software 122 is software 920 that causes the processor 120 to interact with the navigation system 104 to provide the navigation system 104 with vehicle data such as speed data, and to receive visual and other data pertaining to navigation for display on the screen 114 to the user. Software 920 includes a communications handling portion 922, a data transfer portion 923, an image decompression portion 924, and a navigation and user interface (UI) integration portion 925.
As also earlier discussed, the navigation system 104 incorporates software 130. A portion of the software 130 is software 930 that causes the processor 128 to interact with the head unit 106 to receive the navigation input data and to provide visual elements and other data pertaining to navigation to the head unit 106 for display on the screen 114. Another portion of the software 130 of the navigation system 104 is a navigation application 938 that causes the processor 128 to generate those visual elements and other data pertaining to navigation from the navigation input data received from the head unit 106 and data it receives from its own inputs, such as GPS signals. Software 930 includes a communications handling portion 932, a data transfer portion 933, a loss-less image compression portion 934, and an image capture portion 935.
As previously discussed, each of the navigation system 104 and the head unit 106 are able to be operated entirely separately of each other. In some embodiments, the navigation system 104 may not have the software 930 installed and/or the head unit 106 may not have the software 920 installed. In such cases, it would be necessary to install one or both of software 920 and the software 930 to enable the navigation system 104 and the head unit 106 to interact.
In the interactions between the head unit 106 and the navigation system 104 to provide a combined display of imagery for both navigation and entertainment, the processor 120 is caused by the communications handling portion 922 to assemble GPS data received from satellites (perhaps, via the antenna 113 in some embodiments) and/or other location data from vehicle sensors (perhaps, via the bus 152 in some embodiments) to assemble navigation input data for transmission to the navigation system 104. As has been explained earlier, the head unit 106 may transmit what is received from satellites to the navigation system 104 with little or no processing, thereby allowing the navigation system 104 to perform most or all of this processing as part of determining a current location. However, as was also explained earlier, the head unit 106 may perform at least some level of processing on what is received from satellites, and perhaps provide the portable navigation unit 104 with coordinates derived from that processing denoting a current location, thereby freeing the portable navigation unit 104 to perform other navigation-related functions. Therefore, the GPS data assembled by the communications handling portion 922 into navigation input data may have already been processed to some degree by the processor 120, and may be GPS coordinates or may be even more thoroughly processed GPS data. The data transfer portion 923 then causes the processor 120 to transmit the results of this processing to the navigation system 104. Depending on the nature of the connection established between the navigation system and the head unit 106 (i.e., whether that connection is wireless (including the use of either infrared or radio frequencies) or wired, electrical or fiber optic, serial or parallel, a connection shared among still other devices or a point-to-point connection, etc.), the data transfer portion 923 may serialize and/or packetize data, may embed status and/or control protocols, and/or may perform various other functions required by the nature of the connection.
Also in the interactions between the head unit 106 and the navigation system 104, the processor 120 is caused by the navigation and user interface (U) integration portion 925 to relay control inputs received from the user interface (UI) application 928 as a result of a user actuating controls or taking other actions that necessitate the sending of commands to the navigation system 104. The navigation and UI integration portion relays those control inputs and commands to the communications handling portion 922 to be assembled for passing to the data transfer portion 923 for transmission to the navigation system 104.
The data transfer portion 933 causes the processor 128 to receive the navigation input data and the assembled commands and control inputs transferred to the navigation system 104. The processor 128 may further perform some degree of processing on the received navigation input data and the assembled commands and control inputs.
The processor 128 is then caused by the navigation application 938 to process the navigation input data and to act on the commands and control inputs. As part of this processing, the navigation application 938 causes the processor 128 to generate visual elements pertaining to navigation and to store those visual elements in a storage location 939 defined within storage 164 (as shown in
Other implementations are within the scope of the following claims and other claims to which the applicant may be entitled. Elements of different implementations described herein may be combined to form different implementations not specifically described.
This patent application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/750,822 (filed May 18, 2007 and titled Integrating Navigation Systems), which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/612,003 (filed Dec. 18, 2006 and titled Integrating Navigation Systems). This application hereby claims priority to U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 11/750,822 and 11/612,003. U.S. patent applications Ser. Nos. 11/612,003 and 11/750,822 are hereby incorporated by reference into this patent application as if set forth herein in full.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11750822 | May 2007 | US |
| Child | 11935374 | US | |
| Parent | 11612003 | Dec 2006 | US |
| Child | 11750822 | US |
