System and method for managing contact information of a terminal recognized by a vehicle

Abstract

A system and method for managing contact information of a terminal identified by a vehicle, comprising: a communication unit that communicates with and identifies one or more terminals located in the vehicle, and receives information stored in the identified terminals; a connection confirmation unit that confirms, among functions provided by the vehicle's audio and video navigation (AVN) system, a function to which the terminal identified by the communication unit is connected through communication; a priority calculation unit that calculates the priority of the terminal relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal confirmed by the connection confirmation unit and the function provided by the AVN system, and generates priority list information for maintaining contact information stored in the terminal; and a contact information updating unit that downloads and stores the contact information stored in the terminal in a linked database, or deletes the contact information stored in the database, based on the priority list information generated by the priority calculation unit.

Description

[0001] Cross-citation to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0186270 filed on December 29, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field

[0003] The present disclosure relates to a system and method for managing contact information stored in a terminal recognized by a vehicle. Background Art

[0004] Generally, an audio, video, navigation (AVN) system is installed in a vehicle to play sound or video contents and drive a navigation device installed in the vehicle.

[0005] The AVN system can perform wired or wireless communication with a user terminal such as a mobile phone, a notebook computer, and a personal digital assistant (PDA) located inside a vehicle, and can transmit and receive information stored in the terminal.

[0006] The communication between the vehicle's AVN system and the user terminal mainly adopts wireless communication methods, typically Bluetooth and wireless Internet connection.

[0007] Among the services provided by the vehicle's AVN system is a hands-free function. This function allows the vehicle's AVN system to communicate with the user's mobile phone via Bluetooth, allowing the user to receive calls from the mobile phone using the AVN system and conduct conversations by calling contacts stored in the mobile phone.

[0008] In order to perform the hands-free function, the AVN system performs wireless communication with the user's mobile phone to register the corresponding mobile phone in the AVN system, receives contact information (such as phone numbers) stored in the mobile phone, and displays the phone number information on a display device of the AVN system when the hands-free function is performed.

[0009] However, in the case where the data capacity of contact information stored in the user's terminal is significantly large when the AVN system communicates with the user's terminal, the number of terminals that can be registered in the AVN system is limited by the size of data that can be registered in the AVN system. Summary of the Invention

[0010] The present disclosure is made to solve these problems and provides a system and method for managing contact information stored in a corresponding terminal based on a history of using functions provided by an audio video navigation (AVN) system inside a vehicle according to priorities of user terminals.

[0011] An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a system and method for managing contact information stored in a terminal identified by a vehicle. The system includes a communication unit that communicates with one or more terminals located in the vehicle and identifies the terminals, and receives information stored in the identified terminals. The system also includes a connection confirmation unit that confirms, among the functions provided by the vehicle's AVN system, a function to which the terminal identified by the communication unit is connected through communication. The system also includes a priority calculation unit that calculates the priority of the corresponding terminal relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal confirmed by the connection confirmation unit and the function provided by the AVN system, and generates priority list information for maintaining the contact information stored in the terminal. The system also includes a contact information update unit that downloads and stores the contact information stored in the terminal in a linked database, or deletes the contact information stored in the database, based on the priority list information generated by the priority calculation unit.

[0012] The system of the present invention includes a communication unit that communicates with one or more terminals located in a vehicle, identifies the terminals, and receives information stored in the identified terminals. The system also includes a connection confirmation unit that confirms, among the functions provided by the vehicle's audio, video, and navigation (AVN) system, the function to which the terminal identified by the communication unit is connected through communication. The system also includes a priority calculation unit that calculates the priority of the corresponding terminal relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal confirmed by the connection confirmation unit and the function provided by the AVN system, and generates priority list information for maintaining contact information stored in the terminal. The system also includes a contact information update unit that, based on the priority list information generated by the priority calculation unit, downloads and stores contact information stored in the terminal in a linked database, or deletes contact information stored in the database.

[0013] The system and method for managing contact information of terminals recognized by a vehicle, including the aforementioned configuration, can maintain as much contact information as possible stored in terminals connected to the vehicle's AVN system, based on device priority. Consequently, contact information can be provided to users by shortening the waiting time for services using contact information, thereby improving user convenience. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system for managing contact information of the present disclosure.

[0015] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method for managing contact information of the present disclosure.

[0016] Figure 3 is a detailed flow chart of the method for managing contact information disclosed herein.

[0017] Figure 4 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of recording priority list information through the method for managing contact information of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0018] Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the system and method for managing contact information of a terminal recognized by a vehicle of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] However, the disclosed drawings are provided as examples for fully conveying the spirit of the present disclosure to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present disclosure is not limited to the drawings presented below, and may also be specified in other aspects.

[0020] Unless otherwise defined, the terms used in the specification of the present disclosure have the meanings commonly understood by those of ordinary skill in the art. In the following description and drawings, in order to avoid obscuring the subject matter of the present disclosure, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations are omitted. When a part, device, element, etc. of the present disclosure is described as having a purpose or performing an operation, function, etc., the part, device or element should be considered to be "configured to" satisfy the purpose or perform the operation or function in this article.

[0021] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for managing contact information of the present disclosure.

[0022] Referring to the accompanying drawings, the system for managing contact information disclosed herein includes a communication unit 10 that communicates with one or more terminals 1 located in a vehicle, identifies the terminals 1, and receives information stored in the identified terminals 1. The system also includes a connection confirmation unit 20 that confirms, among the functions provided by the vehicle's audio-video navigation (AVN) system, the function to which the terminal 1 identified by the communication unit 10 is connected through communication. The system also includes a priority calculation unit 30 that calculates the priority of the corresponding terminal 1 relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal 1 and the AVN system function confirmed by the connection confirmation unit 20, and generates priority list information for maintaining the contact information stored in the terminal 1. The system also includes a contact information update unit 40 that, based on the priority list information generated by the priority calculation unit 30, downloads and stores the contact information stored in the terminal 1 in a linked database (DB) 50, or deletes the contact information stored in the database 50.

[0023] The terminal 1 is a terminal 1 of a user who uses the AVN system of a vehicle, and refers to terminals such as general mobile phones, smartphones, tablet computers, notebook computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and personal computers (PCs).

[0024] The communication unit 10 is a well-known wired or wireless communication unit for performing communication with the terminal 1. In one embodiment, the communication unit 10 can perform Bluetooth or wireless Internet communication, and more specifically, can be a Bluetooth communication unit as an in-vehicle short-range communication device.

[0025] Meanwhile, the system for managing contact information of the present disclosure including the aforementioned configuration may also be included as a part of an AVN system of a vehicle.

[0026] Hereinafter, a method of managing contact information performed by the system for managing contact information of the present disclosure including the aforementioned configuration is described.

[0027] Figure 2 is a flow chart of a method for managing contact information of the present disclosure.

[0028] The method for managing contact information of the present disclosure is performed by a system for managing contact information of the present disclosure, which includes a communication unit 10 that communicates with one or more terminals 1 located in a vehicle, a connection confirmation unit 20, a priority calculation unit 30, and a contact information updating unit 40.

[0029] Referring to the accompanying drawings, the method for managing contact information disclosed herein includes a connection confirmation process S1 performed by a connection confirmation unit 20 to confirm, among the functions provided by the vehicle's AVN system, a function to which a terminal 1 located in the vehicle and identified by a communication unit 10 is connected via communication. The method also includes a priority calculation process S2 performed by a priority calculation unit 30 to calculate the priority of the corresponding terminal 1 relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal 1 confirmed by the connection confirmation process S1 and the function provided by the AVN system, and to generate priority list information for maintaining the contact information stored in the terminal 1. The method also includes a contact information update process S3 performed by a contact information update unit 40 to download and store the contact information stored in the terminal 1 in a linked database 50, or to delete the contact information stored in the database 50, based on the priority list information generated by the priority calculation process S2.

[0030] The method of managing contact information of the present disclosure including the aforementioned configuration is described in more detail. Figure 3 is a detailed flow chart of the method for managing contact information disclosed herein, and shows the steps in a modified manner according to each operation. Figure 2 The method for managing contact information of the present disclosure is described in.

[0031] 1) Connection confirmation process S1

[0032] 1 , in the connection confirmation process S1 of the method for managing contact information of the present disclosure, when the user's terminal 1 is in the vehicle, the communication unit 10 starts connection with the terminal 1 registered in the AVN system of the vehicle through communication (S10).

[0033] Then, as a result of the communication connection with the communication unit 10, the connection confirmation unit 20 determines whether the terminal 1 registered in the AVN system of the vehicle is connected by communication (S11). When the terminal 1 is connected by communication, the connection confirmation unit 20 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected by communication with the hands-free function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle (S13).

[0034] However, when the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected by communication, the connection confirmation unit 20 changes the communication target to the next-order terminal ( S12 ), and starts connection by communication.

[0035] When the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the hands-free function through communication as a result of the determination in operation S13, a priority calculation start operation S20 for executing the priority calculation process S2 is performed. When the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected to the hands-free function through communication, the connection confirmation unit 20 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle through communication (S14).

[0036] When the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the contact information transmission function through communication as a result of the determination in operation S14, a priority calculation start operation S20 for executing the priority calculation process S2 is performed. When the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected to the contact information transmission function through communication, the connection confirmation unit 20 determines whether the contact information of the corresponding terminal 1 is pre-stored and exists in the AVN system of the vehicle (S15).

[0037] When the contact information of the corresponding terminal 1 is pre-stored and exists in the AVN system as a result of the determination in operation S15, a priority calculation start operation S20 for executing the priority calculation process S2 is performed. When the contact information of the corresponding terminal 1 is not pre-stored and does not exist in the AVN system, the connection confirmation unit 20 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to another application function other than the hands-free function or the contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle through communication (S16).

[0038] Herein, another application function provided by the AVN system may include, for example, a function of sending text messages or SNS messages to contacts stored in terminal 1 or a function of receiving text messages or SNS messages from contacts stored in terminal 1, as well as an audio and video streaming function of streaming and playing audio files, video files, etc. stored in terminal 1.

[0039] When the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to another application function through communication as a result of the determination of operation S16, a priority calculation start operation S20 for executing the priority calculation process S2 is performed. When the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected to another function through communication, the connection confirmation unit 20 changes the communication target to the terminal in the next order (S12) and starts the connection through communication.

[0040] 2) Priority calculation processing S2

[0041] In the priority calculation process S2 of the present disclosure, the priority calculation unit 30 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the contact information transmission function in the priority calculation start operation S20 (S21). When the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the contact information transmission function as a result of the determination, the priority calculation unit 30 determines the corresponding terminal 1 as a first-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information and generates priority list information (S22).

[0042] Then, when the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected to the contact information transmission function as a result of the determination in operation S21, the priority calculation unit 30 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the hands-free function (S23). When the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to the hands-free function as a result of the determination, the priority calculation unit 30 determines the corresponding terminal 1 as a second-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information, and generates priority list information (S24).

[0043] Then, if the corresponding terminal 1 is not connected to the hands-free function as a result of the determination in operation S23, the priority calculation unit 30 determines whether the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to another application function other than the hands-free function or the contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle (S25). If the corresponding terminal 1 is connected to another application function as a result of the determination, the priority calculation unit 30 determines the corresponding terminal 1 as a third-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information and generates priority list information (S26).

[0044] Then, the priority calculation unit 30 determines other terminals not prioritized in operations S20 to S26 among the terminals connected by communication in operation S11 as fourth priority terminals for maintaining the priority of contact information and generates priority list information (S27).

[0045] therefore, Figure 4 This example illustrates recording priority list information using the method for managing contact information disclosed herein. In the priority list information for maintaining the priority of contact information, generated as a result of the priority calculation process S2 of the present disclosure, the first priority is assigned to terminals connected to the contact information transmission function. The second priority is assigned to terminals connected to the hands-free function. The third priority is assigned to terminals connected to another application function. The fourth priority is assigned to terminals whose priorities are not determined as the first to third priorities.

[0046] 3) Contact information update processing S3

[0047] When the priority list information is generated in the priority calculation process S2, the contact information stored in the linked database 50 starts to be updated according to the corresponding priority list information (S30), and the contact information updating unit 40 searches the database 50 and determines whether the storage space for storing the contact information is insufficient (S31).

[0048] When the storage space for storing the contact information in the database 50 is not insufficient as a result of the determination of operation S31, the contact information updating unit 40 downloads the contact information from the terminal 1 connected through the communication, stores the downloaded contact information in the database 50, and updates the contact information included in the database 50 (S34).

[0049] However, if the storage space in the database 50 is insufficient as a result of the determination in operation S31, the contact information updating unit 40 determines whether to terminate the connection attempt to the terminal 1 registered in the AVN system of the vehicle in operation S11 (S32). If the connection attempt is not terminated, the operation returns to operation S30, and if the connection attempt is terminated, the contact information updating unit 40 refers to the priority list information generated in the priority calculation process S2 to delete the contact information of the terminal 1 corresponding to the last priority in the database 50 (S33). Then, the contact information updating unit 40 downloads the contact information from the corresponding terminal 1, stores the downloaded contact information in the database 50, and then updates the contact information (S34).

[0050] Therefore, the method of managing contact information disclosed herein prioritizes terminals connected to the AVN system based on the functions used by the terminals using the functions provided by the vehicle's AVN system, and updates the contact information stored in the terminals in the database based on the set priorities. This method, by utilizing the functions provided by the AVN system using the terminal's contact information, shortens standby time and improves user convenience.

Claims

1. A system for managing contact information of a terminal identified by a vehicle, the system comprising: a communication unit that communicates with one or more terminals located in the vehicle and identifies the terminals, and receives information stored in the identified terminals; a connection confirmation unit that confirms, among a plurality of functions provided by the audio video navigation (AVN) system of the vehicle, a function to which the terminal identified by the communication unit is connected by communication; a priority calculation unit that calculates a priority of the corresponding terminal relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal confirmed by the connection confirmation unit and the function provided by the AVN system, and generates priority list information for holding the contact information stored in the terminal; as well as The contact information updating unit downloads the contact information stored in the terminal and stores it in a linked database, or deletes the contact information stored in the database, according to the priority list information generated by the priority calculating unit.

2. A method for managing contact information of a terminal identified by a vehicle, the method being performed by a system for managing the contact information, the system comprising a communication unit for communicating with one or more terminals located in the vehicle, a connection confirmation unit, a priority calculation unit, and a contact information update unit, the method comprising: a connection confirmation process performed by the connection confirmation unit to confirm, among a plurality of functions provided by the audio / video navigation (AVN) system of the vehicle, a function to which the terminal located in the vehicle and identified by the communication unit is connected by communication; a priority calculation process performed by the priority calculation unit: calculating the priority of the corresponding terminal relative to other terminals based on the connection between the terminal and the function provided by the AVN system confirmed in the connection confirmation process, and generating priority list information for holding the contact information stored in the terminal; as well as The contact information updating process performed by the contact information updating unit is: downloading and storing the contact information stored in the terminal in a linked database, or deleting the contact information stored in the database, according to the priority list information generated by the priority calculation process.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The connection confirmation process includes: When the terminal of the user is in the vehicle, the communication unit starts an operation of connecting with the terminal registered in the AVN system of the vehicle through communication; the connection confirmation unit determining whether the terminal registered in the AVN system of the vehicle is connected by communication as a result of the connection with the communication unit by communication, and when the terminal is connected by communication, the connection confirmation unit determining whether the corresponding terminal is connected by communication with a hands-free function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle; an operation of performing a priority calculation start operation for executing the priority calculation process when the corresponding terminal is connected with the hands-free function through communication as a result of the determination of the operation, and an operation of determining whether the corresponding terminal is connected with a contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle through communication when the corresponding terminal is not connected with the hands-free function through communication by the connection confirmation unit; an operation of performing the priority calculation start operation for executing the priority calculation process when the corresponding terminal is connected to the contact information transmission function by communication as a result of the determination of the operation, and an operation of determining by the connection confirmation unit whether the contact information of the corresponding terminal is pre-stored and exists in the AVN system of the vehicle when the corresponding terminal is not connected to the contact information transmission function by communication; an operation of performing the priority calculation start operation for executing a priority calculation process when, as a result of the determination of the operation, the contact information of the corresponding terminal is pre-stored and exists, and an operation of determining, by the connection confirmation unit, whether the corresponding terminal is connected by communication to another application function other than the hands-free function or the contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle, when the contact information of the corresponding terminal is not pre-stored and does not exist; and When, as a result of the determination of the operation, the corresponding terminal is connected to the other application function through communication, the priority calculation start operation for executing the priority calculation processing is performed, and when the corresponding terminal is not connected to the other application function through communication, the connection confirmation unit changes the communication target to the next-order terminal and starts the operation of connecting through communication.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein: The other application function provided by the AVN system in the connection confirmation process is any one of a function of sending text messages or social networking service SNS messages to contacts stored in the terminal or receiving text messages or SNS messages from contacts stored in the terminal, and an audio and video streaming function of streaming and playing audio files and video files stored in the terminal.

5. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The priority calculation process includes: determining, by the priority calculation unit, whether the corresponding terminal is connected to a contact information transmission function, and when, as a result of the determination, the corresponding terminal is connected to the contact information transmission function, determining, by the priority calculation unit, the corresponding terminal as a first-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information, and generating the priority list information; and When, as a result of the operation, the corresponding terminal is not connected to the contact information transmission function, the priority calculation unit determines whether the corresponding terminal is connected to the hands-free function, and when, as a result of the determination, the corresponding terminal is connected to the hands-free function, the priority calculation unit determines the corresponding terminal as a second-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information, and generates the priority list information.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein: The priority calculation process further includes: when the corresponding terminal is not connected to the hands-free function as a result of the operation, determining by the priority calculation unit whether the corresponding terminal is connected to another application function other than the hands-free function or the contact information transmission function provided by the AVN system of the vehicle, and when the corresponding terminal is connected to the another application function as a result of the determination, determining by the priority calculation unit the corresponding terminal as a third-priority terminal for maintaining the priority of the contact information, and generating the priority list information; and The priority calculation unit determines other terminals, among the plurality of terminals connected by communication in the operation, for which the priorities are not determined in the operation, as fourth-priority terminals for maintaining the priority of the contact information, and generates the priority list information.

7. The method according to claim 2, wherein: The contact information update process includes: When the priority list information is generated in the priority calculation process, updating of the contact information is started, and the contact information updating unit searches the database and determines whether a storage space for storing the contact information is insufficient; When, as a result of the determination of the operation, the storage space for storing the contact information in the database is not insufficient, downloading the contact information from the terminal and storing the downloaded contact information in the database, and updating the contact information included in the database; and When the storage space in the database is insufficient as a result of the operation, it is determined whether to terminate the attempt to connect to the terminal registered in the AVN system of the operating vehicle, and when the attempt to connect is terminated, the contact information updating unit refers to the priority list information generated in the priority calculation process, deletes the contact information of the terminal corresponding to the last priority in the database, and then downloads the contact information from the corresponding terminal, stores the downloaded contact information in the database, and then updates the contact information.

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