KR20250077163A - Mobile Device Interoperable with Car Disply - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body including a housing, and an interface unit which transmits image data and audio data of the main body to a vehicle display and receives a control signal of the vehicle display, wherein the main body includes a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data with the vehicle display, a microphone unit for collecting a user's voice, a memory unit in which a mobile OS and at least one application are stored, a control unit for generating the image data and the audio data based on the control signal of the vehicle display transmitted from the interface unit and the user's voice collected from the microphone unit, a power supply unit for receiving power from a battery of the vehicle from the interface unit and supplying it to the main body, and an RF unit for connecting to a network.

Description

{Mobile Device Interoperable with Car Display}

The disclosed subject matter relates to vehicle infotainment, and more specifically to a mobile device capable of interfacing with a vehicle display.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims of this application and their inclusion in this section is not an admission that they are prior art.

The infotainment system of a vehicle is a term that combines information and entertainment, and refers to a system that allows drivers and passengers to use and enjoy various functions in the vehicle. The infotainment system provides functions such as navigation, music and media playback, call functions, smartphone app integration, and vehicle software upgrades. These various functions provide drivers and passengers with an enjoyable experience while using the vehicle, while also helping to ensure safe driving. In addition, recent smartphone integration functions such as Android Auto and Apple CarPlay have enabled more diverse apps and services to be used on the vehicle’s infotainment system, further improving the user experience.

Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are technologies that connect smartphones to cars, allowing you to safely use various functions such as mobile phones, music, navigation, and messaging while driving. These two technologies provide convenience and safety to drivers by linking smartphones to the car's information and entertainment system. However, Android Auto and CarPlay have the problem of restricting the use of some apps when using smartphone apps.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 10-2024-0084461 (July 7, 2014)

The disclosed content aims to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a mobile device that is installed with an OS (Operating System) that can be linked with a vehicle display and executes various applications, and is connected to an external device so that a user can check various information of the external device while driving.

A mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure includes a main body including a housing, and an interface unit which transmits image data and audio data of the main body to a vehicle display and receives a control signal of the vehicle display, wherein the main body includes a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data with the vehicle display, a microphone unit for collecting a user's voice, a memory unit in which a mobile OS and at least one application are stored, a control unit for generating the image data and the audio data based on the control signal of the vehicle display transmitted from the interface unit and the user's voice collected from the microphone unit, a power supply unit for receiving power from a battery of the vehicle from the interface unit and supplying it to the main body, and an RF unit for connecting to a network.

The above RF section includes a communication module having at least one mobile communication method among 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, and other mobile communication methods, and an RF module for transmitting and receiving RF signals.

The above main body may further include a GPS unit capable of measuring a location. As an example, the above main body may further include an external device connection unit for communicating with an external device.

The above memory section is characterized by storing an application that can transmit a control signal to the external device and receive and display information from the external device.

A mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is based on a mobile OS and can operate with a vehicle display, thereby enabling installation and use of various apps like a smartphone.

By controlling various external devices including an external device connection unit and receiving information from external devices and displaying it on the vehicle display, it is possible to provide the driver with information necessary for driving convenience, vehicle maintenance, or accident handling during driving.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects described above, and should be understood to include all effects that can be inferred from the detailed description of the present invention or the composition of the invention described in the claims.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
Figure 2 is a usage state diagram of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main body of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an RF section of a mobile device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
FIG. 5 is a connection configuration diagram of a mobile device with an external device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Hereinafter, the embodiments disclosed in this specification will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings. Regardless of the drawing symbols, identical or similar components will be given the same reference numerals and redundant descriptions thereof will be omitted. The suffixes "module" and "part" used for components in the following description are assigned or used interchangeably only for the convenience of writing the specification, and do not have distinct meanings or roles in themselves. In addition, when describing the embodiments disclosed in this specification, if it is determined that a specific description of a related known technology may obscure the gist of the embodiments disclosed in this specification, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the attached drawings are only intended to facilitate easy understanding of the embodiments disclosed in this specification, and the technical ideas disclosed in this specification are not limited by the attached drawings, and should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and technical scope of the present invention.

Terms including ordinal numbers, such as first, second, etc., may be used to describe various components, but the components are not limited by the terms. The terms are used only to distinguish one component from another.

In this application, it should be understood that terms such as “comprises” or “have” are intended to specify the presence of a feature, number, step, operation, component, part or combination thereof described in the specification, but do not exclude in advance the possibility of the presence or addition of one or more other features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts or combinations thereof.

In this specification, the term 'unit' includes a unit realized by hardware, a unit realized by software, and a unit realized using both. In addition, one unit may be realized using two or more pieces of hardware, and two or more units may be realized by one piece of hardware.

Below, a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 2 is a usage state diagram of a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As can be seen from the example of FIG. 1, a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is composed of a main body (100) and an interface unit (200).

The main body (100) includes a housing. The housing serves to protect the interior of the main body (100) and is generally made of a plastic material, but is not limited thereto. The main body (100) is a type of circuit board that includes at least one CPU and at least one memory. A mobile OS (Operating System) and one or more applications are stored in the main body (100).

The interface unit (200) is a data cable equipped with a type of data connector that transmits and receives data from the vehicle display (10). The data connector may be of USB-A, USB-B, or USB-C type, but is not limited thereto. The interface unit performs the function of transmitting image data and audio data of the main body (100) to the vehicle display (10) and receiving control signals of the vehicle display (10).

The control signal of the vehicle display (10) means that when a user wants to perform an application stored in the main body (100) on the vehicle display (10), he/she clicks on the corresponding application UI (User Interface) or clicks on the menu to be performed on the corresponding application. If the vehicle display (10) has a touch screen function, a signal in which the user directly touches the application UI on the screen or the menu on the corresponding application with his/her finger can become the control signal of the vehicle display (10).

The image data and audio data of the main body (100) are image data and audio data generated by performing an application of the main body (100), and the vehicle display (10) receives the image data and audio data and displays the corresponding image and audio on the vehicle display (10).

As can be seen from the example of FIG. 2, the mobile device (900) according to the embodiment of the present disclosure is connected to and operated by a vehicle interface (20). The vehicle interface (20) may typically be of USB-A, USB-B, or USB-C type, and the interface unit (200) of the mobile device (900) according to the embodiment of the present disclosure may be equipped with a data connector of the same type that can be connected to the vehicle interface (20).

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a main body (100) of a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an RF unit (160) of a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

As can be seen from the example of Fig. 3, the main body (100) includes a communication unit (110), a microphone unit (120), a memory unit (130), a control unit (140), a power unit (150), and an RF unit (160). As described above, the main body (100) is a type of circuit board including at least one CPU and at least one memory, and the components described above may be implemented in the form of software or hardware depending on the component.

The communication unit (110) transmits image data and audio data to the vehicle display (10) through the interface unit (200) and transfers the control signal received from the vehicle display (10) to the control unit (140) described below. The control unit (140) processes the control signal and then generates image data and audio data and transmits them to the vehicle display (10). The method of communicating with the vehicle display (10) may be a vehicle Ethernet and TCP/IP network such as CAN (Controller Area Network), LIN (In-Vehicle Serial Network), MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport), or BroadR-Reach.

The microphone unit (120) collects the user's voice. When an application with a voice recognition function is executed, the user's voice is collected and transmitted to the control unit (140) described later, and the control unit (140) processes the user's voice based on the collected voice and then generates image data and voice data and transmits the collected voice data to the vehicle display (10). Examples of applications with a voice recognition function include navigation, Google Assistant, Naver Clover, etc.

The memory unit (130) stores the mobile OS and application programs. The memory unit (130) may be a type of flash memory, but is not limited thereto. In addition, user data generated by the application may also be stored in the memory unit (130). The mobile OS may be Android OS or IOS, but is not limited thereto. The application programs may be navigation, phone, YouTube, music, and the like, but are not limited thereto.

The control unit (140) is a type of CPU that reads the mobile OS and application programs stored in the memory unit (130) and executes the programs. The control unit (140) processes the control signal of the vehicle display (10) and the user's voice collected from the microphone unit (120) to generate image data and voice data, and transmits them to the communication unit (110), and the communication unit (110) transmits them to the vehicle display (10) through the interface unit (200).

The power supply unit (150) is a type of converter that receives battery power from the vehicle through the interface unit (200) and converts it into power that can be consumed by the main body (100).

The RF unit (160) has a function of connecting to an external network. The external network may be a mobile communication network such as 4G, 5G, or a future mobile communication method, or may be a short-range Wi-Fi network. As can be seen in the example of Fig. 4, the RF unit (160) includes a communication module (162) and an RF module (164).

The communication module (162) is equipped with the corresponding mobile communication method to connect to the aforementioned external network. The communication module (162) may generally be a system chipset implementing the corresponding mobile communication protocol.

The RF module (164) converts a baseband signal received from the communication module (162) into an RF signal to be transmitted to the mobile communication network in order to connect to an external mobile communication network, and receives an RF signal from the external mobile communication network, converts it into a baseband signal, and then transmits it to the communication module (162).

The main body (100) may include a GPS unit (170). GPS is an abbreviation for Global Positioning System and is a positioning system used worldwide. GPS is a technology that provides accurate location information anywhere on the Earth through satellites. The GPS unit (170) is a type of GPS receiver and is used to determine the location of a vehicle.

FIG. 5 is a connection configuration diagram of a mobile device (900) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure with an external device (30).

As can be seen in FIG. 3, the main body (100) may further include an external device connection unit (180) for communicating with an external device (30). As can be seen in the example of FIG. 5, the external device (30) may include, but is not limited to, a black box, a HUD (Heads-Up Display), an OBD (On-Board Diagnostics) terminal connection device, or a taxi meter.

The external device connection unit (180) supports communication methods such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Z-wave, and acts as a host. The external device (30) supports at least one of the aforementioned communication methods and acts as a terminal. The memory unit (130) can transmit a control signal to the external device (30) and store an application for the external device (30) that can receive and display information from the external device (30).

As an example, when a user clicks to run an application for an external device (30) on a vehicle display (10), a corresponding control signal is transmitted to a communication unit (110) through an interface unit (200), and the communication unit (110) transmits the control signal to a control unit (140). The control unit (140) processes the received control signal and then generates image data and audio data for running the corresponding application, and transmits the processed data to the communication unit (110). The communication unit (110) transmits the image data and audio data to the vehicle display (10) through the interface unit (200), and the vehicle display (10) executes the corresponding application.

When the application is executed, the control unit (140) transmits a signal for connecting to the external device (30) to the external device connection unit (180), and the external device connection unit (180) is connected to the external device (30) using a communication method supported by the external device (30).

The external device (30) transmits information data of the external device (30) to the external device connection unit (180), and the information data of the external device (30) is transmitted to the control unit (140) and the communication unit (110), and is transmitted to the vehicle display (10) through the interface unit (200). Accordingly, the vehicle display (10) displays information of the external device (30) on the application.

If the external device (30) is a HUD, it can transmit information necessary for driving to the user so that the user can safely check it while driving. Information necessary for driving may include vehicle speed, map level, etc.

When the external device (30) is an OBD terminal connection device , the external device (30) connected to the OBD terminal of the vehicle monitors the status and performance information of the vehicle in real time and displays it on the vehicle display (10), thereby allowing the user to safely check the information required for vehicle diagnosis, and thereby has the advantage of maintaining vehicle maintenance and performance optimization.

If the external device (30) is a black box, it is possible to record and store incidents and accidents that occur during vehicle driving through connection to the black box, and provide a function to check this information on the vehicle display (10) when necessary.

If the external device (30) is a taxi meter, taxi fare information can be displayed on the vehicle display (10), so that the display of the taxi meter can be replaced by the vehicle display (10). This allows the taxi meter to be made compact, which is advantageous for the appearance of the vehicle interior.

It can be understood that the disclosed content can be connected and utilized with various external devices (30) in addition to the external device (30) of the above-described embodiment.

The disclosed content is merely an example, and various modifications and implementations can be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the claims claimed in the patent, so the scope of protection of the disclosed content is not limited to the specific embodiments described above.

10: Vehicle Display
20: Vehicle Interface
30: External Device
100: Body
110: Communications Department
120: Microphone section
130: Memory section
140: Control Unit
150: Power supply
160: RF Department
162: Communication module
164: RF module
170: GPS section
180: External device connection
200: Interface section
900: Mobile devices

Claims (6)

a body including a housing; and
An interface unit for transmitting image data and audio data of the above main body to a vehicle display and receiving a control signal of the vehicle display;
The above body
Communication unit for transmitting and receiving data with the vehicle display;
A microphone section that collects the user's voice;
A memory area where a mobile OS and at least one application are stored;
A control unit that generates the image data and the voice data based on the control signal of the vehicle display transmitted from the interface unit and the user's voice collected from the microphone unit;
A power supply unit that receives power from the vehicle's battery from the interface unit and supplies it to the main body; and
A mobile device comprising an RF portion for connecting to a network.
In claim 1,
The above RF section
A communication module having at least one mobile communication method among 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi, and other mobile communication methods; and
A mobile device characterized by including an RF module for transmitting and receiving RF signals.
In claim 1,
A mobile device characterized in that the main body further includes a GPS unit capable of measuring a location.
In claim 1,
A mobile device, characterized in that the main body further includes an external device connection unit for communicating with an external device.
In claim 4,
A mobile device characterized in that the memory section stores an application that can transmit a control signal to the external device and receive and display information from the external device.
In claim 4 or 5,
A mobile device characterized in that the external device is at least one of a black box, a HUD, an OBD terminal connection device, and a taxi meter.

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