US20170267170A1 - Geofencing Application for Driver Convenience - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle computer system, comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device. The vehicle computer system further comprises a processor configured to output an alert to a driver of a vehicle indicating a location of a hazardous area when the vehicle is in a pre-defined distance from a boundary of a geo-fence of the driver defining the hazardous area, and activate a vehicle function addressing the hazardous area based upon the vehicle entering a boundary of the geo-fence.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD
• The illustrative embodiments generally relate to utilizing features of a vehicle computer system for geofencing.
BACKGROUND
• The addition of vehicle information and infotainment systems to vehicles provides a wealth of entertainment and information delivery options for vehicle occupants. Through on-board resources and remote connections, occupants can stream music and movies, receive news updates, access remote databases, obtain navigation information and perform numerous other tasks that used to require a secondary computing system, such as a smart phone or PC with a wireless network card.
• Using the onboard system, drivers can communicate with off board, cloud-based resources and access any information useful for driving or travel. Certain software add-ons allow users to be smart-routed to recommended stopping points, obtain coupons or deals tailored to users, and even alert emergency providers and/or user doctor's in the event of a medical emergency. Geofencing may also be utilized for vehicles to define a virtual boundary of a vehicle. Geofencing may be accomplished by utilizing GPS coordinates of a navigation system in a vehicle.
SUMMARY
• A first illustrative embodiment discloses a vehicle computer system comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device. The vehicle computer system further comprises a processor configured to output an alert to a driver of a vehicle indicating a location of a hazardous area when the vehicle is in a pre-defined distance from a boundary of a geo-fence of the driver defining the hazardous area, and activate a vehicle function addressing the hazardous area based upon the vehicle entering a boundary of the geo-fence.
• A second illustrative embodiment discloses a method comprising determining a driver of the vehicle utilizing one or more vehicle controllers and responsively receiving one or more geo-fences associated with the driver and a high-crime area along a route defined by route data. The method further comprises outputting an alert to the driver indicating a location of the high-crime area when the vehicle is within a pre-defined distance of the geo-fence, and activating a vehicle function addressing the high-crime area and in response to a request from a remote server based upon the vehicle entering a boundary of the geo-fence.
• A third illustrative embodiment discloses a vehicle computer system comprising a processor configured to, in response to identifying a driver of the vehicle and a vehicle route, establish a geo-fence corresponding to the driver and a high-crime rate area along the route, and executing commands to request a vehicle controller to activate a mechanical vehicle function addressing the area based upon entering a boundary of the geo-fence, and output an alert to the driver indicating activation of the function.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
• FIG. 1 illustrates an example block topology for a vehicle-based computing system for a vehicle.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an example block topology of a vehicle-based computing system that may be utilized in accordance with geo-fencing.
• FIG. 3 illustrates an example flow chart of the vehicle utilizing a geo-fencing application.
• FIG. 4 is an illustrative flow chart exemplifying geo-fencing updates at the vehicle computer system.
• FIG. 5 is an illustrative embodiment of a geo-fencing application output on a vehicle display.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
• As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the present invention.
• The invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which illustrative embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention, may however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Like numbers refer to elements throughout. As used herein the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
• A geo-fence refers to a radius or other virtual perimeter defined over a geographic area. Geo-fences may be defined to indicate areas in which specific types of attributes affecting drivers have been reported. For instance, geo-fences may indicate areas of elevated crime, severe weather, proximity to a destination, or other aspects relevant to the driver.
• Geo-fences may be defined based on data received from various data sources. In an example, geo-fences indicating elevated crime areas may be identified based on data received from government crime statistics servers. In another, example, geo-fences indicating weather conditions areas may be identified based on data received from weather services. In yet a further example, driver-specific geo-fences may be defined by the driver.
• The types of geo-fence may be further associated with one or more predefined actions. These actions may include actions to be automatically performed by the vehicle when the vehicle crosses the geo-fence, or actions to be performed when the vehicle reaches a predefined distance of the geo-fence. The actions may include for example, providing an alert, rolling up vehicle windows, activating one or more vehicle safety features, turning on headlights, or recommending an alternate vehicle route.
• As the geo-fences may be dynamically updated from the data sources, the predefined actions may be automatically performed for new and updated geo-fences, without requiring the driver to have prior knowledge of the types or boundaries of the geo-fenced areas.
• FIG. 1 illustrates an example block topology for a vehicle-based computing system100 (VCS) for avehicle131. An example of such a VCS100 is the FORD SYNC system manufactured by FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Avehicle131 enabled with the VCS100 may contain a visual front-end interface104 located in the vehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if it is provided, for example, with a touch sensitive screen. In another illustrative embodiment, the interaction occurs through, button presses, spoken dialog system with automatic speech recognition and speech synthesis.
• In the illustrative embodiment shown inFIG. 1, aprocessor103 controls at least some portion of the operation of theVCS100. Provided within the vehicle, the processor allows onboard processing of commands and routines. Further, the processor is connected to both non-persistent105 andpersistent storage107. In this illustrative embodiment, the non-persistent storage is random access memory (RAM) and the persistent storage is a hard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory.
• The processor is also provided with a number of different inputs allowing the user to interface with the processor. In this illustrative embodiment, amicrophone129, an auxiliary input125 (for input133), aUSB input123, aGPS input124 and a BLUETOOTHinput115 are all provided. Aninput selector151 is also provided, to allow a user to select between various inputs. Input to both the microphone and the auxiliary connector is converted from analog to digital by aconverter127 before being passed to the processor. Although not shown, these and other components may be in communication with theVCS100 over a vehicle multiplex network (such as, but not limited to, a CAN bus) to pass data to and from the VCS100 (or components thereof).
• Outputs to the system can include, but are not limited to, avisual display104 and aspeaker113 or stereo system output. The speaker is connected to anamplifier111 and receives its signal from theprocessor103 through a digital-to-analog converter109. Output can also be made to a remote BLUETOOTH device such asPND154 or a USB device such asvehicle navigation device160 along the bi-directional data streams shown at119 and121 respectively.
• In one illustrative embodiment, the VCS100 uses the BLUETOOTHtransceiver115 to communicate117 with a user's nomadic device153 (e.g., wearable device, cell phone, smart phone, PDA, tablet, a device having wireless remote network connectivity, etc.). The nomadic device (ND) can then be used to communicate159 with anetwork161 outside thevehicle131 through, for example,communication155 with acellular tower157. In some embodiments,tower157 may be a WiFi access point.
• Exemplary communication between the nomadic device and the BLUETOOTH transceiver is represented bysignal114.
• Pairing anomadic device153 and the BLUETOOTHtransceiver115 can be instructed through abutton152 or similar input. Accordingly, the CPU is instructed that the onboard BLUETOOTH transceiver will be paired with a BLUETOOTH transceiver in a nomadic device. Additionally, the vehicle can pair or connect to a Wi-Fi access point utilizing similar input.
• Data may be communicated betweenprocessor103 andnetwork161 utilizing, for example, a data-plan, data over voice, or DTMF tones associated withnomadic device153. Alternatively, it may be desirable to include anonboard modem163 havingantenna118 in order to communicate16 data betweenCPU103 andnetwork161 over the voice band. Thenomadic device153 can then be used to communicate with anetwork161 outside thevehicle131 through, for example,communication155 with acellular tower157. In some embodiments, themodem163 may establishcommunication120 with thetower157 for communicating withnetwork161. As a non-limiting example,modem163 may be a USB cellular modem andcommunication120 may be cellular communication.
• In one illustrative embodiment, the processor is provided with an operating system including an API to communicate with modem application software. The modem application software may access an embedded module or firmware on the BLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wireless communication with a remote BLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found in a nomadic device). Bluetooth is a subset of the IEEE 802 PAN (personal area network) protocols. IEEE 802 LAN (local area network) protocols include WiFi and have considerable cross-functionality with IEEE 802 PAN. Both are suitable for wireless communication within a vehicle. Another communication means that can be used in this realm is free-space optical communication (such as IrDA) and non-standardized consumer IR protocols.
• In another embodiment,nomadic device153 includes a modem for voice band or broadband data communication. In the data-over-voice embodiment, a technique known as frequency division multiplexing may be implemented when the owner of the nomadic device can talk over the device while data is being transferred. At other times, when the owner is not using the device, the data transfer can use the whole bandwidth (300 Hz to 103.4 kHz in one example). While frequency division multiplexing may be common for analog cellular communication between the vehicle and the internet, and is still used, it has been largely replaced by hybrids of Code Domain Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Domain Multiple Access (TDMA), Space-Domain Multiple Access (SDMA) for digital cellular communication. These are all ITU IMT-2000 (3G) compliant standards and offer data rates up to 2 megabytes for stationary or walking users and 385 kbs for users in a moving vehicle. 3G standards are now being replaced by IMT-Advanced (4G) which offers 100 mbs for users in a vehicle and 100 gbs for stationary users. If the user has a data-plan associated with the nomadic device, it is possible that the data-plan allows for broad-band transmission and the system could use a much wider bandwidth (speeding up data transfer). In still another embodiment,nomadic device153 is replaced with a cellular communication device (not shown) that is installed tovehicle131. In yet another embodiment, the nomadic device (ND)153 may be a wireless local area network (LAN) device capable of communication over, for example (and without limitation), an 802.11g network (i.e., WiFi, or other standards such as 802.11 a, b, n, ac, p or other future standards) or a WiMax network. The vehicle may also include its own WiFi router to connect to a wireless access point.
• In one embodiment, incoming data can be passed through the nomadic device via a data-over-voice or data-plan, through the onboard BLUETOOTH transceiver and into the vehicle'sinternal processor103. In the case of certain temporary data, for example, the data can be stored on the HDD orother storage media107 until such time as the data is no longer needed.
• Additional sources that may interface with the vehicle include apersonal navigation device154, having, for example, aUSB connection156 and/or anantenna158, avehicle navigation device160 having a USB 62 or other connection, anonboard GPS device124, or remote navigation system (not shown) having connectivity to network161. USB is one of a class of serial networking protocols. IEEE 1394 (FireWire™ (Apple), i.LINK™ (Sony), and Lynx™ (Texas Instruments)), EIA (Electronics Industry Association) serial protocols, IEEE 1284 (Centronics Port), S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format) and USB-IF (USB Implementers Forum) form the backbone of the device-device serial standards. Most of the protocols can be implemented for either electrical or optical communication.
• Further, theprocessor103 could be in communication with a variety of otherauxiliary devices165. These devices can be connected through awireless167 or wired169 connection.Auxiliary device165 may include, but are not limited to, personal media players, wireless health devices, portable computers, nomadic devices, key fobs and the like.
• Also, or alternatively, the CPU could be connected to a vehicle-basedwireless router173, using for example a WiFi (IEEE 803.111)171 transceiver. This could allow the CPU to connect to remote networks in range of thelocal router173.
• In addition to having exemplary processes executed by aVCS100 located in avehicle131, in certain embodiments, the exemplary processes may be executed by a computing system in communication with theVCS100. Such a system may include, but is not limited to, a wireless device (e.g., and without limitation, a mobile phone) or a remote computing system (e.g., and without limitation, a server) connected through the wireless device. Collectively, such systems may be referred to as vehicle associated computing systems (VACS). In certain embodiments particular components of the VACS may perform particular portions of a process depending on the particular implementation of the system. By way of example and not limitation, if a process has a step of sending or receiving information with a paired wireless device, then it is likely that the wireless device is not performing the process, since the wireless device would not “send and receive” information with itself. One of ordinary skill in the art will understand when it is inappropriate to apply particular VACS to a given solution. In all solutions, it is contemplated that at least theVCS100 located within thevehicle131 itself is capable of performing the exemplary processes.
• FIG. 2 illustrates an example block topology of aVCS100 that may be utilized in accordance with geofencing alerts. TheVCS100 may communicate with other vehicle controllers290 to identifygeofenced areas292, determine a current state of thevehicle131, and invokepredefined actions294 to assist in preparation for entering the identified geofencedareas292.
• The vehicle controllers290 may include one or more vehicle components that may be used to receivevehicle131 state information and/or commanded to performvarious vehicle131 operations. As some examples, theVCS100 may communicate with theGPS device124 to determine a current location of thevehicle131, with a tire pressure monitor (TPM) to determine tire pressure, with a fuel sensor to detect fuel levels, with oil level, battery level and battery temperature sensors to detect oil and battery state, with seatbelt monitor and occupancy sensors to determinevehicle131 occupancy. As some further examples, theVCS100 may communicate with the controllers290 to operate mechanical functions of thevehicle131, such as communicating with a door locking module to lock or unlockvehicle131 doors, with a window module to roll down or upvehicle131 windows, with a moon-roof/sun-roof module to roll down or up a roof window, and with light modules to activate or deactivatevehicle131 lights, or with a wiper controller to activate or deactivate windshield wipers. Other functions may include activating a headlight or fog lamps of a vehicle, turning on or off a window shade, or activating a tinted window function. The VCS may communicate with other modules to activate vehicle features, such as the anti-brake system (ABS), activating stability control, stiffening the suspension, or a fuel-economy feature for when the vehicle enters a high-speed geo-fenced zone.
• Thevehicle131 may utilize anomadic device153 to communicate with thecellular tower157. In another embodiment, thevehicle131 may include its own embeddedtelematics modem163 to communicate with thecellular tower157. Thenomadic device153 or the embeddedvehicle modem163 may communicate withtower157 by sendingsignals207 from thevehicle131. Thevehicle131 may sendvehicle131 data or commands to remote users or locations utilizing thecellular tower157. Furthermore, thevehicle131 may retrieve requests or other data packets that may be utilized in thevehicle131.
• Thecellular tower157 may allow thevehicle131 to communicate with a cloud server209. The cloud server209 may be an off-board server that includes database or access to other databases to retrieve dynamic content. The cloud server209 may be utilized to communicate off-board information that thevehicle131 may not otherwise be capable of accessing. For instance, the cloud server209 may allow thevehicle131 to retrieve weather data, criminal statistics, or otherinformation using signals211 transmitted between thevehicle131 and thecellular tower157. The cloud server209 may also allow thevehicle131 to communicate withinfrastructure213 remote from thevehicle131, such as a user's home or office. For instance, thevehicle131 may utilize thetower157communication signal215 to communicate with home oroffice infrastructure213. The signals communicated from thevehicle131 to theinfrastructure213 may be utilized to activate various systems in theinfrastructure213 or at another location remote from thevehicle131, as described further below.
• The geo-fencedareas292 may include virtual perimeters defining boundaries surrounding geographic areas, as well as type information indicative of attributes of the bounded area. TheVCS100 may maintain information indicative of the geo-fencedareas292, e.g., in thepersistent storage107 shown inFIG. 1, or at the off-board cloud server209. As discussed herein, the geo-fencedarea292 may be of one of three predefined types, where each type may coexist or operate as a stand-alone feature. However, it should be noted that other embodiments may include more or fewer than three types of geo-fencedarea292.
• Continuing with the example, a first type of geo-fencedarea292 may be defined as including high crime or include static data that does not change daily. TheVCS100 may utilize the navigation database with map data identifying such a high-crime area. Or, theVCS100 may be in communication with the cloud server209 to receive data defining high-crime areas, e.g., in conjunction with a navigation system. A second type of geo-fencedarea292 may be defined based on severe weather or other dynamic data that changes more frequently (e.g. hourly, daily, weekly, etc.). TheVCS100 may receive weather reports from national, local, and/or websites to determine weather conditions surrounding thevehicle131. A third type of geo-fencedarea292 may be used-defined based on a customer or driver's definition for particular criteria.
• Thepredefined actions294 may include one or more functions to be triggered by theVCS100 according to thevehicle131 location in relation to the geo-fencedareas292. TheVCS100 may maintain information indicative of thepredefined actions294, e.g., in thepersistent storage107 shown inFIG. 1.Predefined actions294 may be triggered, for example, responsive to thevehicle131 entering a geo-fencedarea292 and/or responsive to thevehicle131 reaching a predefined distance or proximity of the geo-fencedarea292.
• One or more of thepredefined actions294 may be defined according to a type of the geo-fencedarea292. For example, a first set of actions may be defined to be automatically triggered by theVCS100 responsive tovehicle131 entry or proximity to a first type of geo-fencedarea292, a second set of actions may be defined to be automatically triggered by theVCS100 responsive tovehicle131 entry or proximity to a second type of geo-fencedarea292, and a third set of actions may be defined to be automatically triggered by theVCS100 responsive tovehicle131 entry or proximity to a third type of geo-fencedarea292.
• Thepredefined actions294 may include, as some examples, providing an alert to the driver, providing an alert to a designated person outside the vehicle, rolling up windows, activating one or more safety features, turning on headlights, or requesting an action to be performed by home oroffice infrastructure213. Further aspects of thepredefined actions294 are discussed in detail below.
• FIG. 3 illustrates anexample flow chart300 of a process of thevehicle131 for performedpredefined actions294 based onvehicle131 location relative to geo-fencedareas292. In an example, the process may be performed by a geo-fencing application installed to theVCS100.
• Thevehicle131 may identify the locations of thevehicle131 and other devices at301. TheVCS100 may utilize theGPS device124 in communication with theVCS100 to identify a current location of thevehicle131. As another possibility, theVCS100 may be in communication with anomadic device153 that includes a GPS receiver integrated with thenomadic device153, where theVCS100 may be configured to communicate with thenomadic device153 to receive GPS data. Additionally or alternately, thenomadic device153 may be utilized for cell-phone triangulation or RFID to obtain or refine the location of thevehicle131.
• At303, theVCS100 may characterize the location to determine if thevehicle131 is in a geo-fencedarea292 and if so, what type. In an example, theVCS100 may utilize the location determined at301 and the stored geo-fencedarea292 data to identify a type of geo-fencedarea292, if any, in which thevehicle131 is located.
• TheVCS100 may determine if thevehicle131 is entering a geo-fencedarea292 at305. The geo-fencedarea292 may include a type one, two, or three geo-fencedarea292. TheVCS100 may compare the location data defined by GPS coordinates of thevehicle131 ornomadic device153 with the data defining the geo-fenced area. If thevehicle131 has not entered a designated area, thevehicle131 may continue to characterize the current location to identify if it is in a designated geo-fencedarea292 at303. If thevehicle131 has entered a designated geo-fencedarea292, theVCS100 may trigger one or morepredefined actions294 associated with the geo-fencedarea292.
• Upon entering a designated geo-fencedarea292, theVCS100 may identify thepredefined actions294 associated with the geo-fencedarea292. Based on the identifiedpredefined actions294, theVCS100 may trigger an alert to a driver, anothervehicle131, or another system via avehicle131 communication network or wireless communication at307. The alert may be created in accordance with thepredefined actions294 associated with the type of the geo-fencedarea292 thevehicle131 has entered into. In one example, thevehicle131 may enter a type one geo-fencedarea292 with high crime. Upon entering a geo-fencedarea292 designated with high crime, based on thepredefined actions294 an alert may be sent to the driver, the driver's parents, spouse, or other acquaintance defined by contact information. TheVCS100 may include an address book that includes names and contact information defined by a user, or be in communication with a remote server or device (e.g. mobile phone) that includes contact information of a driver or user. TheVCS100 may allow a user to define which contacts may be notified upon thevehicle131 entering each different type of geo-fenced area. TheVCS100 may send out an alert or notification to a driver's designees or contact from the address book either before entering a zone (e.g. by a pre-defined distance or pre-defined estimated time of arrival to entering the zone) or after entering a zone. TheVCS100 may also send out an alert or notification before exiting a zone (e.g. by a pre-defined distance or pre-defined estimated time of arrival before exiting the zone) or after exiting azone292. Furthermore, theVCS100 may allow a user to define a first, second, or sequential contact to alert upon entering each type of geo-fencedarea292 in case a higher-priority contact is not available. The high-crime geo-fencedarea292 may be defined by a specific threshold as related to crime statistics. The alerts for a high-crime geo-fencedarea292 may include various information, including safety check lists, information for emergency numbers (e.g., roadside service numbers, police phone numbers, etc.) and other emergency information, such as where to find an emergency kit in thevehicle131 or operation of how to use the emergency kit. The alert may be output to the display, thespeaker113, and/or thenomadic device153. Additionally, theVCS100 may output the alert to anothervehicle131 or device (e.g. nomadic device153) utilizing the cloud server209.
• In another scenario, upon entering a geo-fencedarea292 designated with a specific type of weather (e.g., type two geo-fenced area292), an alert may be tailored using thepredefined actions294 corresponding to the type two geo-fencedarea292 based upon thevehicle131 entering that geo-fencedarea292. In one example, thevehicle131 may enter a type two geo-fencedarea292 with severe weather or some specific weather. Upon entering a geo-fencedarea292 designated with a type of weather alert, an alert may be sent to the driver, the driver's parents, spouse, or other acquaintance defined by contact information. The weather may be defined by a weather broadcast or a severe weather report threshold. The alerts for weather may include various information, including driving tips related to that type of weather, information for emergency numbers (e.g., AAA numbers, police phone numbers, etc.), alternative routes to avoid the weather, or suggestions to delay the trip.
• In another scenario, upon entering a geo-fencedarea292 designated with a user-defined criteria (e.g., type three geo-fenced area292), a customized alert may be created using thepredefined actions294 corresponding to the type three geo-fencedarea292 based upon thevehicle131 entering that user-defined geo-fencedarea292. Some instances of user-defined geo-fencedareas292 may include a geo-fencedarea292 that are in pre-defined distance from a user's home, close to work, or close to a friend's house. The type three geo-fencedarea292 may be defined by a user at thevehicle131, home computer, or mobile phone. Upon entering a type three geo-fencedarea292, an alert may be sent to the driver, the driver's parents, spouse, or other acquaintance defined by contact information. The alert may notify the contact person of that location and the characterization of that location (e.g., work). The alerts may include making a phone call upon entering the geo-fenced area292 (e.g., calling home), sending a text message to a contact person (e.g., sending a text message to a spouse), or other contact. Furthermore, the alerts may output reminders or suggestions, such as a suggestion to use a local gas station upon the route going to a destination.
• TheVCS100 may also take an action based upon the specific type of geo-fencedarea292 thevehicle131 has entered at309. For example, in the scenario when the type one geo-fenced area292 (e.g., high crime) has been entered by avehicle131, theVCS100 may send a message to the vehicle controller290 to roll up the windows or to activate certain safety features (e.g., 911-assist). The commands forvehicle131 operation may be defined at theVCS100 or may be received by a remote server for processing at theVCS100. In another scenario, avehicle131 entering a type two geo-fenced area292 (e.g., severe weather) may send a request or command to the vehicle controller290 to turn on the fog lamps and specific weather protective features (e.g., traction control for snow, windshield wipers turned on, stability control, etc.). In yet another scenario, avehicle131 entering a type three geo-fenced area292 (e.g., user-defined) may have a tailored command defined by the user or by thevehicle131. One example includes theVCS100 sending a command to turn off or on a home or office's heating or air conditioner, lights, alarms, etc. Avehicle131 setting may allow a user to associate each geo-fence area292 with thevarious vehicle131 functions or other actions.
• Thevehicle131 may also provide recommendations based upon the environment of thevehicle131 as associated with the geo-fencedarea292. For example, theVCS100 may consider if a driver cannot reach a destination without stopping for fuel, and there may be a hazardous condition associated with a geo-fencedarea292 along the route. TheVCS100 may recommend refueling prior to entering the geo-fencedarea292. Thus, theVCS100 may recommend refueling prior to entering the geo-fencedarea292 by calculating the estimatedvehicle131 fuel range, the estimated distance to various boundaries of the geo-fencedarea292, and the estimated distance to various destinations. If theVCS100 calculates that refueling will likely be required due to a low fuel state within the geo-fencedarea292, theVCS100 may recommend that the user refuel before entering the geo-fencedarea292. Other recommendations may be utilized based onvehicle131 sensors and predictability of the environment of thevehicle131 as associated with the geo-fencedarea292. For example, recommendations based upon thevehicle131 entering a specific geo-fencedarea292 may include determining the tire pressure of thevehicle131 and recommend adding air to the tires, recommendations related to the windshield wipers being activated or the windshield wiper settings, determining a mobile phone's battery level and recommending charging the phone, etc.
• Thevehicle131 may also provide various recommendations based on the criteria of the geo-fencedarea292. For example, theVCS100 may always route around high weather conditions, such as severe weather, or high-crime conditions. In another instance, theVCS100 may sometimes route around certain other conditions, such as mild weather or slightly higher than normal crime conditions. Thus, in one example, theVCS100 may always avoid high-crime geo-fencedareas292 at all times, but only avoid certain other geo-fencedareas292 if a current fuel state makes it possible to stop in one of those geo-fencedareas292. A pre-defined driver profile may be used to define such geo-fencedareas292. The driver profile may be stored, as some examples, to theVCS100 or to the user'snomadic device153.
• TheVCS100 may also consider the destination of the user for determining the geo-fence. TheVCS100 may select a destination and import parameters (e.g., fence, weather, etc.) associated with avehicle131 or driver and develop geo-fencedareas292 between the location and destination. Using the geo-fencedareas292, theVCS100 may determine a route, if possible, that avoids all geo-fencedareas292 or minimizes contacts with the geo-fencedareas292. There may be alternative waypoints that may be routed around multiple geo-fencedareas292 at the beginning of guidance. TheVCS100 may provide a route specifying travel through a geo-fencedarea292, but with minimum contacts as possible to avoid those geo-fencedareas292. Thus, rather than completely avoiding the geo-fencedareas292, theVCS100 may simply minimize those contacts. TheVCS100 may maintain a map database (e.g., instorage107, to a remote server such as cloud server209) to calculate various routes to proceed to a destination. TheVCS100 may compare the driving time within a boundary of the geo-fencedareas292. TheVCS100 may compare the various routes to determine a minimum driving time.
• Upon taking the actions based on the geo-fencedarea292, theVCS100 may also allow the primary driver/customers to turn off the alert at311. If the option to set the alert off is activated, theVCS100 may ignore the alert if the appropriate driver or user has access to do so. Prior to sending an alert or taking action, theVCS100 may also notify a user that he or she has an option to cancel the action or alert. Only specific users may be allowed to turn off the alert at313. For example, theVCS100 may recognize the driver based on wireless signals indicating presence of thenomadic device153 or key fob. If the user cannot be authenticated as being the driver based on thenomadic device153 or key fob, the user cannot cancel the notifications. Thus, a teenage driver utilizing a parent's car (or another car) may not have access to turn off the alerts. TheVCS100 may determine that the driver has the approval to turn off or on the alerts for each geo-fenced area type. Furthermore, the geo-fenced area may be defined by the driver. For example, a novice driver may be requested to avoid a high-crime area, but an experienced driver may not receive such requests.
• FIG. 4 is anillustrative flow chart400 of a process for updating geo-fencedarea292 data by theVCS100. TheVCS100 may be in communication with a remote server, such as the cloud server209, for updating data flowing to theVCS100. Data packets may be sent to theVCS100 and upon being received at thevehicle131, the packets may be de-packetized to obtain relevant data and information. TheVCS100 may first determine if an update cycle is appropriate at401. TheVCS100 may utilize push notifications from a remote server or a user'snomadic device153 to determine if the update is appropriate.
• Upon establishing that an update cycle is appropriate, theVCS100 may receive a request from a user for either a manual or automatic update at403. A request for either a manual or automatic update may be presented to the user by avehicle display104,vehicle speaker113, or other type of user interface. Thenomadic device153 may also allow such a request. Thus, the user may require map data to be updated, weather information, crime information, or other information related to the geo-fence to be updated. TheVCS100 may receive data indicating which updates are available at405. Such information may include using updated government crime-rate database or updated weather report data. The data may be retrieved by theVCS100 utilizing either thenomadic device153 or by directly communicating with the cloud server209 remotely from thenomadic device153.
• TheVCS100 may determine the appropriate data pipe input for the data at407. TheVCS100 may receive information related to the update size to define the appropriate circumstances for updating the data. In one example, the data may be large in size (e.g., greater than a predefined threshold number of bytes), thus theVCS100 may wait to receive an update by utilizing a wireless connection. In another embodiment, the user may utilizenomadic devices153 in thevehicle131 to retrieve the data. The data may also be received via a connection of themodem163 to a telecommunications network. The data may be accompanied in various formats, and may be obtained in data packets that may be later de-packetized.
• TheVCS100 may receive updated statistics information at409 related to the crime rate or weather data. The information may be sent from a remote server upon determining the appropriate pipe to transmit the data through. The information may be limited to a specific region or relate to the whole map database. In one instance, the updated information may apply to the entire map database, while another update may apply to a specific region, state, city, etc. TheVCS100 may also store the updated information either on-board at thevehicle131 or off-board at a remote server at411. TheVCS100 may determine to store the information at either site based on various factors, including where thevehicle131 is located or storage capacity of theVCS100.
• Upon receiving notification of an update, theVCS100 may then determine if the updates are similar to the previous update at413. If the updates are the same or contain overlapping updates that do not require an updated based on the vehicles setting, theVCS100 will ignore the updates. If the updates are not the same, theVCS100 may update the data onto the mapping system of theVCS100 or off-board server at415. Such updates may take place during guidance or after route guidance has been completed.
• FIG. 5 is an illustrative embodiment of a geo-fencing application output on thevehicle display104. Thevehicle display104 may work in coordination with a navigation application of theVCS100, or a remote server, to include a geo-fencing application. Thedisplay104 may output a current vehicle position (CVP)501 of thevehicle131 on a map. TheCVP501 may be determined utilizing GPS coordinates andother vehicle131 sensors (e.g. accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) to show where avehicle131 is located. As thevehicle131 travels, theCVP501 will change and be updated on thedisplay104.
• Thevehicle131 may utilize a navigation application, or another application on thevehicle131,nomadic device153, or server, to navigate to adestination502. The navigation application may determine aroute503 to direct a user to thedestination502. Theroute503 may break a geo-fencedboundary505 while navigating to thedestination502. As explained above, the geo-fencedboundary505 may be calculated based on a specific driver or a location of thevehicle131 within a hazardous area, among other things. In certain embodiments, the geo-fencedboundary505 will establish a geo-fencedarea507 around a hazardous area that may include high-crime rates, severe weather conditions, or user-defined boundaries. The navigation application may determine an alternative route for the driver to be able to enter thedestination502 without breaking the geo-fencedboundary505 and avoiding a geo-fencedarea507. While alternative routes may exist that completely avoid the geo-fencedarea507, such as analternative route509, the navigation application may output an alternative route that simply minimizes the travel time within geo-fencedarea507.
• While exemplary embodiments are described above, it is not intended that these embodiments describe all possible forms encompassed by the claims. The words used in the specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various changes can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. As previously described, the features of various embodiments can be combined to form further embodiments of the invention that may not be explicitly described or illustrated. While various embodiments could have been described as providing advantages or being preferred over other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more desired characteristics, those of ordinary skill in the art recognize that one or more features or characteristics can be compromised to achieve desired overall system attributes, which depend on the specific application and implementation. These attributes can include, but are not limited to cost, strength, durability, life cycle cost, marketability, appearance, packaging, size, serviceability, weight, manufacturability, ease of assembly, etc. As such, embodiments described as less desirable than other embodiments or prior art implementations with respect to one or more characteristics are not outside the scope of the disclosure and can be desirable for particular applications.

Claims (21)

1. A system, comprising:

a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device; and

a processor programmed to:

output to a driver a vehicle low-fuel alert indicating a fuel station location in an area remote from a high-crime area in response to a vehicle reaching a pre-defined distance from a boundary of the high-crime area; and

activate a predefined vehicle safety function addressing the high-crime area based upon the vehicle entering the boundary.

2. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to determine a route to a destination that minimizes driving time within the high-crime area.

3. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the high-crime area is defined by a map database associated with a vehicle computer system.

4. (canceled)

5. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the predefined vehicle safety function includes at least one of closing a window, closing a moon-roof, activating a fog lamp, activating a window shade, or locking a door.

6. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to identify the vehicle safety function based upon a user definition of predefined actions specifying the vehicle safety function addressing the high-crime area.

7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to send a request to a remote server to activate a predefined remote safety function at a location associated with the driver and remote from the vehicle, in response to reaching the boundary of the high-crime area.

8. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the boundary of the high-crime area is configured to be defined according to data received from a remote server or adjusted by a user.

9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to receive update information from a remote server of a map database of a vehicle computer system defining the boundary.

10. A method, comprising:

determining a driver of a vehicle utilizing one or more vehicle controllers;

responsively receiving one or more geo-fences associated with the driver and a high-crime area along a route defined by route data;

outputting an alert to the driver indicating a location of the high-crime area when the vehicle is within a pre-defined distance of the geo-fence;

outputting an alert identifying a location of a fuel station in an area remote from the high-crime area based upon determining a low fuel level of the vehicle will be reached upon entering the high-crime area; and

activating a predefined vehicle function addressing the high-crime area and in response to a request from a remote server based upon the vehicle entering a boundary of the geo-fence.

11. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the one or more vehicle controllers is configured to communicate with a key fob to determine an identity of the driver.

12. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the one or more vehicle controller includes a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with a mobile device, and further comprising outputting the alert to the driver using the mobile device.

13. (canceled)

14. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the vehicle function includes at least one of automatically closing a window, closing a moon-roof, or locking a door.

15. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the geo-fence is user-defined.

16. The method ofclaim 10, wherein the vehicle function is activation of a vehicle controller associated with a type of geo-fence that the vehicle entered.

17. A system, comprising:

a processor configured to, in response to identifying a driver of a vehicle and a vehicle route, establish a geo-fence corresponding to the driver and a high-crime rate area along the route, and outputting an alert identifying a location of a fuel station in an area remote from the high-crime area based upon determining a low fuel level of the vehicle will be reached upon entering the high-crime area.

18. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to execute commands to request a vehicle controller to activate a mechanical vehicle function addressing the area based upon entering a boundary of the geo-fence, and output a vehicle-function alert to the driver indicating activation of the function.

19. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the vehicle-function alert includes an option to cancel activation of the mechanical vehicle function.

20. The system ofclaim 17, wherein the processor is further configured to execute commands to request a remote server to activate a remote function at a location associated with the driver and remote from the vehicle, in response to entering a boundary of the geo-fence.

21. The system ofclaim 18, wherein the mechanical vehicle function includes one of at least closing a window, closing a moon-roof, and locking a door

Images