IP Library › Granted Patent US 11,554,669
Granted Patent B2
US 11,554,669 · App. 17/009,139 · Granted Jan 17, 2023

Dedicated digital experience communication bus

Inventor: Mahinthan Veluppillai (Windsor, CA)
Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC
B60K35/00B60R16/023G06F13/36G06F16/2379G06F21/31G07C5/02B60K2370/152B60K2370/157B60K2370/16G06Q50/30
View Patent ↗
Loading inventors, assignments & file history…
Monitor This Case
Get email alerts when status or documents change.
Order Certified Copies
Most orders are placed with the USPTO same day — all within 24 business hours.
Order via The Patent Place →
Pre-filled with this patent's details
Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,554,669
App. No.
17/009,139
Granted
Jan 17, 2023
Kind
B2
Abstract

Techniques for communication between modules of a digital experience platform of a vehicle system are described. The vehicle system may be a ridesharing vehicle with a seat display module at each seat and an auxiliary display module that operates at a vehicle level. The seat display modules and the auxiliary display module communicate across a digital experience communication bus of the vehicle system. The seat display modules and the auxiliary display module change states based on conditions within the vehicle and convey system state updates across the communication bus to update a stored state of each display module vehicle-wide.

Claims (47)

1. A vehicle system, comprising:

one or more seat display modules;

a vehicle communication bus; and

an auxiliary display module including a processor and a storage, connected to the one or more seat display modules via the vehicle communication bus, the auxiliary display module programmed to:

change a system state of the auxiliary display module from a system not ready (SNR) state to a system ready (SR) state in response to receiving an activation signal;

generate a mission packet in response to changing to the SR state, the mission packet including contents for display at the one or more seat display modules;

generate ride profile data for a passenger and content for delivery to the one or more seat display modules;

change a system state of the auxiliary display module to a ride active (RA) state in response to generating the ride profile data; and

convey, in response to changing the system state of the auxiliary display module, a status update across the vehicle communication bus to the one or more seat display modules, the status update indicating the auxiliary display module has entered a different system state and the status update instructing a change in a system state of the one or more seat display modules based on the system state of the auxiliary display module.

2. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display module is further programmed to provide content to the one or more seat display modules based on the system state of the one or more seat display modules.

3. The vehicle system of claim 1 wherein the auxiliary display module is further programmed to provide content to the one or more seat display modules based on the system state of the auxiliary display module.

4. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display module is further programmed to designate one seat display module of the one or more seat display modules as a primary module, the primary module enabled to control one or more vehicle-wide systems.

5. The vehicle system of claim 4 , wherein the one or more vehicle-wide systems comprise an audio system or an environmental conditioning system of the vehicle system.

6. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display module is configurable between an advertisement mode, a gaming mode, a normal mode, and a pool mode while the auxiliary display module is in the RA state.

7. The vehicle system of claim 1 , wherein the auxiliary display module is further programmed to communicate with one or more additional vehicle systems via a gateway of the vehicle system.

8. A vehicle system, comprising:

an auxiliary display module;

a vehicle communication bus; and

one or more seat display modules each including a processor and a storage, connected to the auxiliary display module via the vehicle communication bus, the one or more seat display modules programmed to:

change a system state of the one or more seat display modules from a system not ready (SNR) state to a mission ready (SR) state in response to receiving an activation signal;

receive a mission packet from the auxiliary display module in response to receiving a power-on signal, the mission packet including contents for display by the one or more seat display modules;

access user profile data associated with a particular user of each of the one or more seat display modules;

change the system state of the one or more seat display modules to ride active (RA) state in response to accessing the user profile data; and

convey, in response to changing the system state of the one or more seat display modules, a status update across the vehicle communication bus to the auxiliary display module, the status update indicating the one or more seat display modules have changed the system state and the status update instructing a change in a system state of another of the one or more seat display modules based on the system state of the one or more seat display modules.

9. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein receiving the activation signal comprises authenticating a user associated with one of the one or more seat display modules.

10. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more seat display modules are further programmed to provide content on a display based on the user profile data.

11. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more seat display modules are further programmed to receive content from the auxiliary display module and present the content from the auxiliary display module on a display.

12. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more seat display modules are communicatively coupled with a remainder of the one or more seat display modules such that content is shareable between the one or more seat display modules when the one or more seat display modules are in a same state.

13. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein each of the one or more seat display modules are communicatively coupled with a computing system external to the vehicle system such that content is shareable between the computing system and the one or more seat display modules while in the RA state.

14. The vehicle system of claim 8 , wherein the one or more seat display modules are each configurable between an advertisement mode, a gaming mode, a normal mode, a fullscreen mode, and a pool mode while the one or more seat display modules are in the RA state.

15. A vehicle system, comprising:

an auxiliary display module;

a vehicle communication bus; and

one or more seat display modules communicatively coupled to the auxiliary display module via the vehicle communication bus, the one or more seat display modules comprising:

a user interface;

a processor; and

a memory having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

change a system state of the seat display module based on an activation signal;

access user data associated with a user of the one or more seat display modules;

convey system state update information via the vehicle communication bus to the auxiliary display module;

receive, from the auxiliary display module, system state information of the auxiliary display module via the vehicle communication bus; and

change a system state of the seat display module based on the system state information of the auxiliary display module.

16. The vehicle system of claim 15 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to authenticate a user identity.

17. The vehicle system of claim 16 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor to convey a signal to activate operation of one or more subsystems of the vehicle system.

18. The vehicle system of claim 16 , wherein the vehicle system is disabled until the user identity is authenticated via the seat display module.

19. The vehicle system of claim 15 , wherein the seat display module is configurable between a system not ready state, a mission ready state, a login ready state, and a ride active state.

20. The vehicle system of claim 19 , wherein the seat display module is configurable between a pool mode, an advertisement mode, a normal mode, a fullscreen mode, and a gaming mode while in the ride active state.

Assignments (1)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 1, 2020
From: VELUPPILLAI, MAHINTHAN
To: FORD GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
Reel/Frame 053659/0403 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20220063402A1 · Mar 3, 2022
Cited By (1)
US 12,685,942