Channel selection interface for a vehicle

1. A channel selection system for a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle; and

a processor onboard the vehicle, the processor being configured to:

determine a number of available channels for a user, each of the available channels having an associated channel number;

divide the determined number of available channels for the user by a predetermined number of sectors, whereby an even allocation of available channels within the sectors is determined, the predetermined number of sectors being a whole number that is less than the number of available channels, the predetermined number of sectors being fixed;

determine a plurality of channel markers, the channel markers separating the predetermined number of sectors, each of the channel markers corresponding to a channel number of one of the available channels, a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a first pair of neighboring channel markers being different than a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a second pair of neighboring channel markers, each of the plurality of channel markers bounding at least one of the sectors; and

cause a graphical representation of a channel selector to be presented on a display located in a cabin of the vehicle for driver and front passenger access, the channel selector including the plurality of channel markers, the available channels being evenly distributed across the predetermined number of sectors, a plurality of channels being associated with each sector.

2. The channel selection system as recited in claim 1 , wherein the predetermined number of sectors includes four sectors.

3. The channel selection system as recited in claim 2 , wherein the plurality of channel markers includes four channel markers.

4. The channel selection system as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of channel markers are represented by a channel number.

5. The channel selection system as recited in claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of channel markers are represented by a corresponding channel number for an associated tunable service identifier for satellite radio.

6. A system for a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle;

a processor located onboard the vehicle, the processor being configured to:

determine a number of available satellite radio channels for a user, each of the available satellite radio channels having an associated channel number;

divide the determined number of available satellite radio channels for the user by a predetermined number of sectors, whereby an even allocation of available satellite radio channels within the sectors is determined, the predetermined number of sectors being a whole number that is less than the number of available channels, the predetermined number of sectors being fixed; and

determine a plurality of channel markers to separate the sectors, the channel markers corresponding to the channel number of one of the available satellite radio channels; and

a display located onboard the vehicle for driver and front passenger access, the display being operatively connected to the processor, the processor being further configured to:

cause a satellite radio channel selector to be presented on the display, the satellite radio channel selector including the plurality of channel markers, the available channels being evenly distributed across the predetermined number of sectors, each of the channel markers being represented by one of: a corresponding channel number or a channel number for an associated tunable service identifier, a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a first pair of neighboring channel markers being different than a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a second pair of neighboring channel markers, a plurality of channels being associated with each sector, each of the plurality of channel markers bounding at least one of the sectors.

7. The system as recited in claim 6 , wherein each of the sectors includes a number of tunable service identifiers divided by the number of sectors in the plurality of sectors.

8. The system as recited in claim 7 , wherein the channel selection interface includes a plurality of channel markers which separate the plurality of sectors.

9. The system as recited in claim 8 , wherein the predetermined number of sectors includes three sectors.

10. The system as recited in claim 9 , wherein the plurality of channel markers includes four channel markers.

11. The system as recited in claim 6 , further including a touch pad or a touch screen operatively connected to the processor, whereby a user interacts with the satellite radio channel selector via the touch pad or touch screen.

12. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein a swiping motion on the touch pad or the touch screen is utilized to select a desired channel.

13. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein a motion on the touch pad or the touch screen is utilized to select one of a plurality of channel markers that separate the predetermined number of sectors.

14. The system as recited in claim 11 , wherein the satellite radio channel selector is rendered as a bar.

15. The system as recited in claim 14 , wherein a selection slider is moved along the bar in response to a gesture on the touch pad or the touch screen.

16. A satellite radio channel selection system for a vehicle, comprising:

a vehicle;

a display located onboard the vehicle, the display being a part of a vehicle head unit located in a cabin of the vehicle;

a processor located onboard the vehicle, the processor being operatively connected to the display, the processor being configured to:

determine a number of available satellite radio channels for a user, each of the available satellite radio channels having an associated channel number;

divide the determined number of available satellite radio channels for the user by a predetermined number of sectors, whereby an even allocation of available satellite radio channels within the sectors is determined, the predetermined number of sectors being a whole number that is less than the number of available channels, the predetermined number of sectors being fixed;

determine a plurality of channel markers to separate the sectors, the channel markers corresponding to the channel number of one of the available satellite radio channels; and

cause a satellite radio channel selector to be presented on the display, the satellite radio channel selector including the plurality of channel markers, the available channels being evenly distributed across the predetermined number of sectors, each of the channel markers being represented by one of: a corresponding channel number or a channel number for an associated tunable service identifier, a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a first pair of neighboring channel markers being different than a numerical gap between the channel numbers of a second pair of neighboring channel markers, a plurality of channels being associated with each sector, each of the plurality of channel markers bounding at least one of the sectors; and

a user interface located in a cabin of the vehicle for driver and front passenger access, the user interface being operatively connected to the processor, the user interface being configured to receive user inputs to cause a satellite radio channel tuner selector to select a desired channel or channel marker, the user interface including a touch pad, a touch screen, or a roller.