Systems and methods for in-vehicle network controlled media-synchronized light show
View Patent ↗In one embodiment, the in-vehicle network controller sends instructions, via a communication signal, to the lighting network wherein the lighting network is synchronized with a media source by using a communication protocol which controls features of the lighting network such as timing, fading, color, intensity, and enable/disable.
1. An in-vehicle lighting system comprising:
an in-vehicle lighting network, including a network addressable light element;
an ambient lighting module (ALM) coupled to the in-vehicle lighting network;
an infotainment center coupled to the ALM and configured to control the network addressable light element through the ALM and in-vehicle lighting network; and
a body control module (BCM) coupled to the ALM and configured to control the network addressable light element through the ALM and in-vehicle lighting network.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network addressable light element is individually addressed.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network addressable light element is addressed in a group.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the network addressable light element includes a network module configured to receive and perform an instruction from the ALM.
5. The system of claim 4 , wherein the infotainment center is configured to read the instruction from a media source and communicate the instruction to the ALM.
6. The system of claim 4 , wherein the infotainment center is configured to generate the instruction and communicate the instruction to the ALM.
7. A method for forming an in-vehicle lighting system comprising:
providing an in-vehicle lighting network, including a network addressable light element;
providing an ambient lighting module (ALM) coupled to the in-vehicle lighting network and configured to transmit a first instruction to the network addressable light element through the in-vehicle lighting network; and
providing an infotainment center coupled to the ALM and configured to transmit a second instruction to the network addressable light element through the ALM and in-vehicle lighting network.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first instruction and second instruction address the network addressable light element individually.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the first instruction and second instruction address the network addressable light element in a group.
10. The method of claim 7 further including providing a body control module (BCM) configured to provide the first instruction to the ALM.
11. The method of claim 7 , further including configuring the infotainment center to read the second instruction from a media source.
12. The method of claim 7 , further including configuring the infotainment center to generate the second instruction by processing a media source in real-time.
13. The method of claim 7 , further including configuring the ALM to override the second instruction with the first instruction.
14. A method of controlling an in-vehicle lighting system, comprising:
providing an in-vehicle lighting network including an addressable light element;
connecting an infotainment center to the in-vehicle lighting network; and
transmitting an instruction from the infotainment center to the addressable light element, wherein the instruction includes an address.
15. The method of claim 14 , further including:
providing an ambient light module (ALM), wherein the infotainment center is connected to the in-vehicle lighting network through the ALM; and
configuring the ALM to override the instruction.
16. The method of claim 14 , further including transmitting the instruction using an in-vehicle network protocol.
17. The method of claim 16 , further including using local interconnect network (LIN), controller area network (CAN), FlexRay, or Ethernet as the in-vehicle network protocol.
18. The method of claim 14 , further including providing a network module on the addressable light element.
19. The method of claim 18 , further including executing the instruction on the addressable light element with the network module.
20. The method of claim 18 , further including:
receiving the instruction with the network module; and
comparing the address of the instruction to an address of the addressable light element.