Vehicle function control method and vehicle function control system

Abstract

The present invention provides a vehicle function control method for controlling a function installed in a vehicle, wherein a processor specifies a purchased function by referring to a database 19 for storing user IDs and purchased functions in association with each other, and validates the purchased function in a target vehicle before a use start time for using the target vehicle.

Description

Vehicle function control method and vehicle function control system

[0001] The present invention relates to a vehicle function control method and a vehicle function control system.

[0002] The vehicle arbitration system described in Patent Document 1 arbitrates multiple requests generated by applications in order to add applications and expand functions in a vehicle.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-162110

[0004] However, in the system described in Patent Document 1, when functions are expanded by adding an application, the expanded functions can only be used in the vehicle to which the application was added, which results in low convenience.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle function control method and a vehicle function control system that improve the convenience of functions added to a vehicle.

[0006] The present invention solves the above problem by identifying the purchased functions by referring to a database that stores user IDs and purchased functions in correspondence with each other, and enabling the purchased functions in the target vehicle before the start time of use of the target vehicle.

[0007] The present invention can enhance the convenience of functions added to a vehicle.

[0008] It is a block diagram showing the configuration of the vehicle function control system according to the present embodiment. It is a diagram showing a display screen of a display of the vehicle shown in Figure 1. It is a flowchart showing the procedure of a vehicle function control method executed by the vehicle function control system shown in Figure 1. It is a diagram showing a display screen of a display of a communication terminal shown in Figure 1.

[0009] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A vehicle function control system 1 shown in FIG. 1 is a cloud system that controls functions installed in a vehicle 2. The functions include, for example, a map application that provides map information and route guidance, a battery control application that manages the status of the vehicle's battery, and applications that control in-vehicle devices such as seat heaters and air conditioners. These functions are processed by a processor included in the vehicle 2 or a communication terminal 3, and provide the user with information, an operating environment for in-vehicle devices, an entertainment environment, and support tools to assist driving. A vehicle has each function as a standard function when shipped from the factory, but functions can be added or expanded according to user requests.

[0010] When adding or expanding a function, the user operates the communication terminal 3 to send an operation command for adding or expanding the function from the communication terminal 3 to the vehicle function control system 1. When adding or expanding a function, the user can also operate the in-vehicle display 21 of the vehicle 2 to send an operation command for adding or expanding the function from the communicator 23 of the vehicle 2 or the communication terminal 3 to the vehicle function control system 1. In response to the operation command, the vehicle function control system 1 then sends a control command to the communication terminal 3 to guide the user to addable or expandable functions suitable for the vehicle 2. A guide screen for the addable or expandable functions is displayed on the communication terminal 3. The user selects the function to be added or expanded on the communication terminal 3. The vehicle function control system 1 then downloads an application (software) having the selected function to the vehicle 2. The vehicle function control system 1 then performs a process (activation process) to activate the downloaded application. As a result, the function to be added or expanded is newly installed in the vehicle 2 and becomes available for use. The following describes the configurations of the vehicle function control system 1, the vehicle 2, and the communication terminal 3. In the following description, functions that are desired to be added or expanded will be collectively referred to as "additional functions."

[0011] The vehicle function control system 1 has a processor 10 and a database 19. The vehicle function control system 1 is capable of communicating with a vehicle 2 and a communication terminal 3 carried by a user of the vehicle 2 via a network 4. The vehicle function control system 1 corresponds to a server. The processor 10 is a controller that controls the entire vehicle function control system 1, and has a processing unit such as a CPU, a memory that stores a program, and the like. The processor 10 has, as functional blocks, a vehicle management unit 11, a function control unit 12, a billing management unit 13, a customer management unit 14, and a usage status analysis unit 15. Processing in the functional blocks such as the vehicle management unit 11 is performed by executing a program stored in the memory in the processing unit.

[0012] The vehicle management unit 11 manages vehicles 2, functions that can be installed on vehicles 2, and users. Vehicles 2 are personal vehicles, business vehicles, vehicles with limited usage time, etc. Vehicles 2 with limited usage time are vehicles 2 that can be rented out for a fee or free of charge, such as rental cars, and are vehicles 2 that can be rented out to an unspecified number of users. In the following explanation, vehicles 2 with limited usage time are also simply referred to as rental cars. A user is, for example, a vehicle owner who owns a personal car. A user is not limited to an individual, but may also be a corporation. The vehicle management unit 11 manages user IDs, vehicle IDs, and functions that can be installed on vehicles in association with each other in a database. The user ID is the user's personal information, and the vehicle ID is identification information for the vehicle.

[0013] The vehicle management unit 11 stores information about functions currently installed in the vehicle 2 and functions purchased by the user (hereinafter also referred to as purchased functions) and function information (application information) about additional functions in the database 19 after associating the information with the vehicle ID and user ID. The function information includes identification information (function ID) of a function that can be installed in the vehicle, the purchase date and time of the function, status information indicating whether the function is enabled or disabled, the function's usage history, and the function's available time. Note that the function information does not need to include all of this information.

[0014] The vehicle management unit 11 allocates a vehicle 2 that meets the user's preferences based on the reservation information provided when the user reserves a rental car, or determines the rental car to be rented to the user based on the user's selection. The reservation information is information entered by the user when reserving a rental car, and includes the user ID, the reserved vehicle model, the start and end times of use of the vehicle 2, the user's personal information, the departure point, etc., and may also include information regarding the rental car's usage environment (or usage conditions), such as the number of passengers in the rental car, family composition, passenger attributes (gender, age, etc.), the user's preferences (hobbies and tastes), the destination, and stopover points. Note that the reservation information does not need to include all of this information. Once the vehicle management unit 11 determines a rental car, it stores the user ID of the user using the rental car, the rental car's vehicle ID, and the reservation information in the database 19 in association with each other.

[0015] The function control unit 12 controls functions that can be installed in the vehicle 2. Functions that can be installed in the vehicle 2 include functions that have already been downloaded to the vehicle 2, functions that have not been downloaded to the vehicle 2 but have been purchased by the user, newly added functions, etc. If the user wants to add or expand a function, they can purchase an application online. Note that adding or expanding a function does not have to be paid for, and may be free of charge. When the function control unit 12 receives a command from the user or the system to install an additional function, it downloads the additional function to the vehicle 2 in accordance with the command.

[0016] For example, when a user who is a vehicle owner operates the communication terminal 3 to add a function to the vehicle (private car) 2, the communication terminal 3 outputs a control command including at least a user ID to the vehicle function control system 1 to display a guide screen for functions that can be installed. The function control unit 12 refers to the database 19 to identify a vehicle ID corresponding to the user ID and functions installed in the vehicle 2. The function control unit 12 identifies additional functions that can be installed in the vehicle 2 based on the identified vehicle ID, and the function control unit 12 transmits data for providing information about the identified additional functions to the communication terminal 3. The communication terminal 3 displays a guide screen for the additional functions identified by the function control unit 12. When the user operates the communication terminal 3 and selects an additional function to be installed, the communication terminal 3 transmits a selection command to the vehicle function control system 1. The function control unit 12 downloads the additional function selected by the user to the vehicle 2 based on the selection command.

[0017] After downloading the additional function to the vehicle 2, the function control unit 12 performs processing to enable the additional function so that the additional function can be used in the vehicle 2. The function control unit 12 can also disable (deactivate) an additional function installed in the vehicle 2. The function control unit 12 updates the function information stored in the database 19 when an additional function is installed in the vehicle 2, when an additional function is deleted from the vehicle 2, when an additional function is enabled or disabled, or when a user purchases a new additional function. This allows the function control unit 12 to manage what functions a user who has registered a user ID has purchased and in which vehicle 2 the purchased functions have been installed.

[0018] The billing management unit 13 manages payments when a user purchases a function. The customer management unit 14 manages customer information (user ID) in a database 19 in association with the vehicle ID of the vehicle 2. The usage status analysis unit 15 uses AI to analyze the usage status of the vehicle 2 based on driving data of the vehicle 2, etc.

[0019] The database 19 stores personal data indicating personal information of the user, such as a user ID, vehicle data including a vehicle ID, function data including a function usage history and function information by the user, reservation data including rental car reservation information, etc. The database 19 may also store and manage driving data of the vehicle 2, etc.

[0020] The vehicle 2 is connected to the vehicle function control system 1 and the communication terminal 3 via a network 4. The vehicle 2 includes a processor 20, an in-vehicle display 21, a storage medium 22, a communicator 23, and an in-vehicle device 24. The processor 20 is a control unit that controls the in-vehicle display 21, the storage medium 22, the communicator 23, and the in-vehicle device 24. The in-vehicle display 21 is, for example, provided on the instrument panel of the vehicle and is a touch-panel display. The in-vehicle display 21 displays a menu screen that presents functions installed in the vehicle 2. FIG. 2 is an example of the menu screen displayed on the in-vehicle display 21. As shown in FIG. 2, the in-vehicle display 21 displays icons 211 that indicate installed functions. For example, the icons 211 may be an icon indicating a call function, an icon indicating a music function, an icon indicating a map function, or the like. For example, when a user (occupant) uses the in-vehicle phone or the communication terminal 3 to make a call to an external party, the user touches the icon 211 that displays a receiver. When an additional function is installed in the vehicle 2, an icon representing the additional function is displayed on the in-vehicle display 21. The in-vehicle display 21 may also display an icon indicating a function that is not installed in the vehicle 2 but can be installed in the vehicle 2. For example, the in-vehicle display 21 displays a guide screen for installing an additional function in the vehicle 2 based on a user operation. At this time, the in-vehicle display 21 displays an icon of the newly installable additional function. When the user touches the desired icon, the processor 20 transmits a command to the vehicle function system 1 to install the additional function.

[0021] The storage medium 22 stores applications downloaded to the vehicle 2, usage history of installed functions, personal information of the user, etc. The communicator 23 transmits and receives signals to and from the vehicle function control system 1 and the communication terminal 3. The in-vehicle devices 24 include a camera that captures images inside or outside the vehicle, a seat heater, an air conditioner, a speaker, etc.

[0022] The communication terminal 3 is a terminal that can be operated by a user, and includes a display, a communication device, a processor, etc. When reserving a rental car or installing an additional function in the vehicle 2, the user may operate the communication terminal 3 to send an operation command to the vehicle function control system 1 and / or the vehicle 2.

[0023] Next, the procedure of the vehicle function control method executed by the processor 10 of the vehicle function control system 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 3. The flow shown in Fig. 3 is executed, for example, in a scenario where a purchased function installed in a personal vehicle is to be used in a rental car. Note that the initial condition of the control flow of Fig. 3 is that the user has purchased at least one additional function.

[0024] In step S1, the processor 10 acquires reservation information from the communication terminal 3. The processor 10 determines a rental car to rent to the user based on the reservation information. The reservation information includes a user ID and a start time for use of the rental car. If a rental car reservation has already been made, the processor 10 may acquire the reservation information from the database 19.

[0025] In step S2, the processor 10 refers to the database 19 to identify the purchased functions. Specifically, the processor 10 identifies the purchased functions from the function information stored in association with the user ID, based on the user ID included in the reservation information or the user ID input from the communication terminal 3. In step S3, the processor 10 transmits function data of the purchased functions to the communication terminal 3 so that a selection screen for selecting the purchased functions is displayed on the display of the communication terminal 3. The processor 10 also transmits vehicle data of the reserved rental car to the communication terminal 3. The communication terminal 3 displays a selection screen for selecting the purchased functions, as shown in FIG. 4, based on the function data and vehicle data transmitted from the processor 10.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows an example of a selection screen displayed on the communication terminal 3. The selection screen includes an image 301 of a reserved rental car, a message 302 such as "Please select an option," and selection buttons 303 to 305 for selecting purchased functions. The selection buttons 303 to 305 indicate examples of applications (apps) having purchased functions. While viewing the selection screen, the user selects a purchased function that the user wants to install in the rental car. In the example of FIG. 4, the purchased function "App A" is selected. When the user selects a purchased function and performs a confirmation operation, the communication terminal 3 transmits a selection command for the purchased function to the vehicle function control system 1.

[0027] In step S4, upon receiving the selection command, the processor 10 updates the function information contained in the database 19 based on the user ID and vehicle ID. The vehicle ID is identification information for the rental car. The processor 10 updates the function data so that the status information contained in the function information indicates that the purchased function indicated in the selection command will be used in the rental car. Note that the update of the function data may be performed after the flow of step S6, which will be described later.

[0028] In step S5, the processor 10 downloads an application having the purchased function to the rental car before the user starts using the rental car, thereby enabling the purchased function in the rental car. For example, the processor 10 communicates with the rental car a predetermined time (e.g., 10 minutes) before the user starts using the rental car and initializes data related to functions installed in the rental car. This initialization deletes data on additional functions installed by the previous user from the rental car. The processor 10 sends a command to the rental car to start downloading the purchased function. The rental car confirms that there is sufficient free space in the storage medium 22 and starts downloading the application having the purchased function. When the download is complete, the rental car sends a DL end command to the vehicle function control system 1, indicating that the download has ended.

[0029] When the processor 10 receives the DL termination command, it sends an activation command to the rental car to enable the purchased function. The processor 20 in the rental car receives the activation command and processes the downloaded data to make the application available, changing the purchased function from an invalid state (unusable state) to an valid state (usable state). As a result, the processor 10 performs activation processing on the downloaded application.

[0030] In addition, when processor 10 transmits data of an application having a purchased function to a rental car or transmits an activation command, it may also transmit history data indicating the usage history of the purchased function. The history data is a usage history of when the purchased function was used in a vehicle other than the rental car (e.g., a user's own vehicle, such as a personal car). For example, if the purchased function is a function for controlling a massage device in a seat, the usage history would indicate information such as the time of day when the massage device was used, the duration of use, the massage intensity level, and the area massaged. In other words, by transferring the history data from the personal car to the rental car, the user can receive a massage of the same intensity when using the rental car as when using the personal car. In other words, the user can use the purchased function according to their preferences without having to set it up again.

[0031] In step S6, the processor 10 disables the purchased function in the owner's vehicle. If the purchased function has been downloaded to multiple vehicles 2 to prevent simultaneous use of an application having the purchased function, the processor 10 enables the purchased function in one vehicle 2 and disables the purchased function in the other vehicles 2. The processor 10 sends a deactivation command to the owner's vehicle to disable the purchased function. When the owner's processor 20 issues the deactivation command, it changes the status of the purchased function from enabled to disabled. As a result, the processor 10 performs a process of disabling the downloaded application (deactivation process).

[0032] In step S7, the processor 10 determines whether the rental car usage time has elapsed. For example, when the rental car has been returned or when the usage time indicated in the reservation information has elapsed, the processor 10 determines that the rental car usage time has elapsed.

[0033] If the rental car's usage time has elapsed, in step S8, the processor 10 disables the purchased function in the rental car. The deactivation process flow is the same as that in step S6. When disabling a purchased function in the rental car, the processor 20 also acquires data indicating the usage history of the purchased function and / or personal information from the rental car. The usage history of the purchased function is a history of the purchased function used in the rental car while the rental car was in use. If personal information is stored in the storage medium 22 to use the purchased function in the rental car, the processor 20 may acquire the personal information and transmit it to the vehicle function control system 1. The processor 10 then stores the data indicating the usage history of the purchased function and / or personal information acquired from the rental car in the database 19. Personal function data such as the usage history is associated with a user ID and reflected in the database 19.

[0034] After disabling the purchased function, the processor 20 of the rental car deletes the data transmitted to the vehicle function control system 1. In other words, the data indicating the usage history and / or personal information of the purchased function is reflected in the database 19 and deleted from the storage medium 22 of the rental car after the rental car's usage time has elapsed.

[0035] In step S9, the processor 20 activates the purchased function in the owned vehicle. The activation process is similar to the process in step S5.

[0036] As described above, the vehicle function control system 1 according to this embodiment refers to the database 19 that stores user IDs and purchased functions in association with each other, identifies the purchased functions, and enables the purchased functions in the vehicle 2 (corresponding to the "target vehicle" of the present invention) before the start time of the vehicle 2, which the user has a limited usage time for. This allows the purchased functions to be used in a rental car, etc., thereby improving the convenience of the functions added to the vehicle.

[0037] However, if a user installs additional functions in their own vehicle and then uses another vehicle, such as a rental car, having to purchase the functions to use them in the rental car would be a significant burden on the user. While rental car companies could provide additional functions in advance in the provided vehicle, they would need to select functions tailored to the user who reserved the rental car. Furthermore, given the diversification of customer needs, selecting functions can be difficult. Furthermore, installing many additional functions in a rental car in order to cover all customer needs would result in high purchasing costs. On the other hand, limiting the additional functions installed in a rental car to those most in demand would fail to satisfy diverse customer needs. The vehicle function control system 1 of this embodiment installs purchased functions tailored to the user in a vehicle 2, such as a rental car, with limited usage time, thereby improving the convenience of additional functions and reducing the purchasing burden on vehicle providers, such as rental car companies, of purchasing functions.

[0038] The vehicle function control system 1 also acquires reservation information for the vehicle 2, including the use start time and the user ID of the vehicle 2. This allows the vehicle function control system 1 to identify a purchased function from the reservation information and enable the purchased function before the use start time indicated in the reservation information.

[0039] The vehicle function control system 1 also transmits history data indicating the usage history of the purchased functions to the vehicle 2. This allows the history data from when the functions were used in another vehicle 2, such as the vehicle's own vehicle, to be used in the vehicle 2 being used this time, thereby optimizing the functions.

[0040] Furthermore, when the usage time of the vehicle 2 has elapsed, the vehicle function control system 1 disables the purchased function in the vehicle 2. This allows the usable period of the purchased function in the vehicle 2, such as a rental car, to be matched to the usage time of the vehicle 2.

[0041] The vehicle function control system 1 also acquires data indicating the usage history and / or personal information of the purchased functions from the vehicle 2, stores the acquired data in the database 19, and deletes the data from the vehicle 2 after the usage time of the vehicle 2 has elapsed. This improves the convenience of the purchased functions. Furthermore, since no history is left in the vehicle rented for a limited time, information can be protected.

[0042] In the present embodiment, the vehicle function control system 1 determines whether the purchased function has been downloaded to the vehicle 2 before the start of use of the vehicle 2. If the purchased function has not been downloaded, the vehicle function control system 1 may download the purchased function to the vehicle 2 before the start of use of the vehicle 2. For example, in the control flow of step S5, the processor 10 determines whether the purchased function has been downloaded to the rental car. The processor 10 may obtain a list of downloaded functions from the rental car and determine whether the purchased function is included in the list of downloaded functions. Alternatively, if the database 19 stores the vehicle ID of the rental car in association with function information of the downloaded functions, the processor 10 may determine whether the purchased function has been downloaded to the rental car based on the data stored in the database 19. This eliminates the need to download application data for the purchased function after the start of use of a vehicle such as a rental car, thereby improving the convenience of the function.

[0043] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if the purchased function is a function that uses an external linked service, the vehicle function control system 1 may execute a process of logging in to the external linked service based on a login ID corresponding to the user ID before the start time of use of the vehicle 2. For example, the external linked service is a digital distribution service such as a music streaming service. Such an external linked service is available in the vehicle 2 or the communication terminal 3, and logging in is possible through authentication using a login ID and password separate from the user ID. The database 19 stores the login ID and password of the external linked service in personal information such as the user ID. Then, the processor 10 executes a process of logging in to the external linked service based on the data stored in the database 19. This improves the convenience of the function.

[0044] In the present embodiment, when a purchased function is downloaded to both the vehicle 2 and another vehicle different from the vehicle 2, the vehicle function control system 1 may accept an input to select whether the purchased function should be enabled in the vehicle 2 or in the other vehicle. For example, in the control flow of step S5, when the purchased function is downloaded to a rental car, the processor 10 sends a control command to the communication terminal 3 to display a selection screen for selecting whether the purchased function should be enabled in the rental car or the user's own vehicle before enabling the purchased function in the rental car. The user operates the communication terminal 3 to select whether the purchased function should be enabled in the rental car or the user's own vehicle. The processor 10 enables the purchased function in either the rental car or the user's own vehicle, depending on the user's selection. Note that the vehicle selection for enabling the purchased function may be, for example, a screen displayed on the display of the user's private car to confirm whether the function can be disabled, or may be performed when reserving the rental car.

[0045] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle function control system 2 vehicle 3 communication terminal 10 processor 11 vehicle management unit 12 function control unit 19 database 20 processor 21 in-vehicle display 22 storage medium 23 communication device 24 in-vehicle device

Claims

1. A vehicle function control method executed by a processor to control functions installed in a vehicle, wherein the processor refers to a database that stores, in association with each other, a user ID indicating identification information of a user and purchased functions purchased by the user, identifies the purchased functions, and enables the purchased functions in the target vehicle before a use start time at which the user uses a target vehicle with a limited usage time.

2. The vehicle function control method according to claim 1, wherein the processor acquires reservation information of the target vehicle including the use start time of the target vehicle and the user ID.

3. The vehicle function control method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the processor transmits history data indicating a usage history of the purchased functions to the target vehicle.

4. The vehicle function control method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the usage time of the target vehicle has elapsed, the processor disables the purchased functions in the target vehicle.

5. The vehicle function control method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the processor acquires data indicating a usage history and / or personal information of the purchased functions from the target vehicle, stores the acquired data in the database, and the data is deleted from the target vehicle after the usage time of the target vehicle has elapsed.

6. The vehicle function control method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processor determines whether the purchased functions have been downloaded to the target vehicle before the use start time of the target vehicle, and if not, downloads the purchased functions to the target vehicle before the use start time.

7. The vehicle function control method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when the purchased functions are functions that utilize an external cooperation service, the processor executes a process of logging in to the external cooperation service before the use start time based on a login ID corresponding to the user ID.

8. The vehicle function control method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein when the purchased functions are downloaded to both the target vehicle and another vehicle different from the target vehicle, the processor receives an input for selecting whether to enable the purchased functions in the target vehicle or the other vehicle.

9. A vehicle function control system comprising a processor that controls functions installed in a vehicle, the processor referring to a database that stores, in association with each other, a user ID indicating the identification information of a user and the functions purchased by the user to identify the purchased functions of the user, transmitting a signal including information on the purchased functions to a target vehicle with a limited usage time, and enabling the purchased functions in the target vehicle before a start time of use of the target vehicle by the user.

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