Patent Application
20160044519
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a system and method for supporting a mobile device using more than one network connectivity option and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for providing a flexible network connectivity manager that accommodates different types of network connectivity options and that selects a desired connectivity option for one or more mobile devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Cell phones have become increasingly sophisticated in recent years, and are now commonly used for email, internet access, various special-purpose applications, and, of course, their utility as a phone. Cell phones with such capabilities are often referred to as smartphones. Smartphones are typically designed to allow wireless Local Area Network (wireless LAN, also known as WiFi) or other wireless communications to be used for all applications except actual cell phone calls. However, in the absence of WiFi or other wireless communication channels, the cellular communication network is used to deliver data for all applications on demand.
Because of the wealth of applications supported by smartphones, many modern vehicles now support seamless integration of one or more smartphones with the vehicles' infotainment systems. For example, a smartphone could be used to stream music from an internet radio service to be played over a vehicle's audio system, or the smartphone could access an internet-based video-sharing site and display the videos on the vehicle's rear-seat entertainment screen. Many vehicles support integration of smartphones using wireless communication technologies, such as Bluetooth and WiFi, within the vehicle.
Other types of electronic devices are also frequently used in vehicles. Such devices include tablet-type computers and ebook readers, laptop computers, MP3 music players, gaming devices and others. Some of these devices may have cellular communications capability, while others do not. However, many such devices have some sort of wireless communication capability—such as Bluetooth or WiFi—which allow the devices to transfer files and data when network services are available. These devices may also have hardwire-connection data transfer capability, such as a universal serial bus (USB).
While applications such as Apple CarPlay and Android Auto provide a way to use a vehicle display to project the screen of an electronic device in the vehicle, such as a smartphone, there is a need in the art for a way to determine the best connectivity option that is available between the vehicle and the smartphone to ensure the best quality projection possible.
In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, a system and method is disclosed for supporting mobile device connectivity with a vehicle. A mobile device is provided that includes at least one connectivity option for connecting to a communications channel of the vehicle. A flexible connectivity module that includes a controller is programmed to determine if there is at least one matching communication channel between the mobile device and the vehicle such that the mobile device and the vehicle may be in communication with each other. The controller selects the optimal connectivity option if there is more than one of the matching communication channels available and monitors the selected connectivity option and changes or modifies the selected connectivity option if a predetermined interference threshold is achieved.
Additional features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
The following discussion of the embodiments of the invention directed to a system and method that determines the best communication path to facilitate data transfer to provide screen projection from an electronic device to a display on a vehicle is merely exemplary in nature, and is in no way intended to limit the invention or its applications or uses. For example, while a vehicle environment is described herein, other environments for screen replication may be used.
As stated above, electronic devices that are capable of being connected to a vehicle's information and entertainment (infotainment system) is known to those skilled in the art, for the sake of simplicity, all electronic devices in the following discussion will be referred to as smartphones, but it is to be understood that the methods and systems described herein are applicable to any suitable electronic device.
The reverse control channel 16 includes a User Input Back Channel (UIBC) 44 and an Audio Back Channel (ABC) 46 to allow a user to provide commands via, for example, touchscreen events or button push events using the UIBC 44 and/or microphone events using the ABC 46. A Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) at box 48 controls streaming media servers in a manner known to those skilled in the art. The smartphone 22 and/or 24 features from the box 14 as well as user features of the vehicle 10 from the box 16 use a TCP/UDP at box 18 that delivers files from one location to another in a manner known to those skilled in the art, and is a core protocol of the IP at box 20. The flexible connectivity module 26 includes a connectivity manager 50 that determines the best connection to use between an electronic device, such as the smartphone 22 and/or 24, and a vehicle infotainment system that includes a display in the vehicle 10, such as the display 30. When operating in a server-client mode 52, the connectivity manager 50 utilizes USB tethering 54 or a WiFi tethering 56. The USB tethering 54 includes a plug-in communications link that uses a USB connection. The WiFi tethering includes a communication link with one device being used as a router and the other devices connecting thereto.
When the connectivity manager 50 is operating in a peer-to-peer mode 58, the connectivity manager utilizes a WiFi direct connection 60 or a WiFi Tunneled Direct Link Setup (TDLS) connection 62. The WiFi direct connection 60 could also include peer-to-peer negotiated connections such as Bluetooth. The WiFi TDLS connection 62 includes an intermediary connection such as a phone as a hotspot or a vehicle as the hotspot. As is described in more detail below, the connectivity manager 50 determines the most optimal way to utilize the connections 54, 56, 60 and 62. The connections 54, 56, 60 and 62 are merely exemplary in nature, other communications/medium such as WiGig and other wireless communications may be used. Content streams may use, by way of example, the USB tethering 54 and in parallel microphone input or output may use the WiFi direct connection 60. In addition, as is described in more detail below, data streams that are routed by the connectivity manager 50 may be re-routed by the connectivity manager as needed.
If matching technology between the connectivity options of the vehicle 10 and the connectivity options of the smartphone 24 are found at decision diamond 82, the algorithm selects a preferred interface at box 84. In determining what interface is preferred, the algorithm considers rule-based input at box 86 and/or a user selection upon user prompting at box 88. Some examples of rule-based inputs are user ranking, cost function, etc. Any suitable rule-based input may be used.
For example, when the smartphone 24 and the vehicle 10 connectivity options are scanned, the following table may result:
Table 1 shows four different connectivity options (WiFi Direct, WiFi TDLS, WiFi Tethering and USB) are possible, but only two of the possible options are found on both the vehicle 10 and the smartphone 24 (WiFi Direct, USB). In this example, the algorithm takes into consideration rule-based selection and user preference and determines that channel 11 at 24 megabytes using WiFi Direct is the preferred interface. The preferred interface is determined for the data that flows between the vehicle 10 and the smartphone 24, and may vary for different data. For example, audio/video from the smartphone 24 may use USB tethering as the preferred interface, where microphone input may use WiFi Direct at the preferred interface. The algorithm may determine the preferred interface for each of the data boxes 32-42 of the forward audio/video channel at the box 14 and for each of the boxes 44-48 of the reverse control channel at the box 16 to deliver using the most efficient communication path for the data.
Once the preferred interface is selected at the box 84, parameter exchange occurs at box 90 and a session is established at box 92. Once the session is established at the box 92, the screen of the smartphone 24 is projected to the vehicle display 30. The session is monitored at box 96 and the algorithm determines if there is a performance failure at decision diamond 98. If no, the algorithm returns to the box 94 and continues to project the screen of the smartphone 24 to the vehicle display 30. If there is a performance failure, the algorithm returns to the box 84 and selects a new preferred interface. For example, if the smartphone 24 is connected using WiFi Direct as the preferred interface, and a second passenger with a second smartphone 22 enters the vehicle, the WiFi in the smartphone 24 may interfere with the WiFi direct preferred interface between the vehicle 10 and the smartphone 24. If interference occurs that causes a predetermined performance degradation, a performance failure is detected by the algorithm at decision diamond 98 and the preferred interface may be re-selected at the box 84. For example, to correct the interference, WiFi direct may still be used but the chosen operational parameters, for example, frequency range, may be changed to prevent interference between the smartphones 22 and 24. Thus, a new session of the WiFi preferred interface may be created for the smartphone 24 to compensate for the presence of the smartphone 22. Alternatively, the new preferred interface could result in switching from WiFi to USB for the smartphone 24 at the box 84.
Using the algorithm above, high-quality video and screen replication of the smartphone 24 to the display 30 may be achieved using the optimal qualified physical medium, i.e., connection that is available and not simply a user selected connection as is known to those skilled in the art.
As will be well understood by those skilled in the art, the several and various steps and processes discussed herein to describe the invention may be referring to operations performed by a computer, a processor or other electronic calculating device that manipulate and/or transform data using electrical phenomenon. Those computers and electronic devices may employ various volatile and/or non-volatile memories including non-transitory computer-readable medium with an executable program stored thereon including various code or executable instructions able to be performed by the computer or processor, where the memory and/or computer-readable medium may include all forms and types of memory and other computer-readable media.
The foregoing discussion disclosed and describes merely exemplary embodiments of the present invention. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from such discussion and from the accompanying drawings and claims that various changes, modifications and variations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.
