BLE Vehicle Component Service Discovery Architecture
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle systems lack seamless integration of personal devices with in-vehicle components for control and interaction, particularly in identifying and configuring zone-specific features without requiring pairing with a head unit or centralized computing platform.
Innovation Solution
Incorporating a wireless transceiver and processor to scan for advertised services, decode service identifiers for location and functionality, and generate user interfaces for controlling in-vehicle components using Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology, allowing personal devices to interact with in-vehicle components independently of their specific implementation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If personal devices are integrated with in-vehicle components using traditional pairing methods, then device connectivity is established, but the complexity of pairing with head unit increases and user convenience decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the pairing function from the head unit and relocates it to the in-vehicle components themselves. Each component (lights, climate controls, seats) independently advertises its presence and accepts connections, eliminating the need for centralized head unit pairing and reducing operational complexity for users.
Solution Approach 2:
In-vehicle components perform self-service by autonomously advertising their services through BLE and directly accepting connections from personal devices. The components independently manage their own service discovery and connection establishment without requiring head unit mediation, thereby simplifying the user experience.
2Loss of information
If in-vehicle components advertise detailed service information, then component discovery and identification improve, but the amount of data transmitted and processed increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments service information into hierarchical layers: service identifiers (UUIDs) provide basic component type information, while detailed characteristics and descriptors are only retrieved when needed. This segmentation allows efficient initial discovery with minimal data transmission, while enabling comprehensive information access when required.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary service advertisement with condensed information (service UUIDs and basic descriptors) that enables immediate component identification. Detailed service characteristics are prepared in advance but only transmitted upon request, optimizing the balance between initial discovery efficiency and detailed information availability.
Data Source
AI summary
A system may include a wireless transceiver configured to scan for advertised services; and a processor programmed to receive a service identifier of a service from the wireless transceiver, verify a name included in the service identifier indicates that the service identifier is an in-vehicle component, and decode, from the service identifier, a relative location within the vehicle, a zone controlled by the in-vehicle component, and a category of functionality of the in-vehicle component. A method may include enumerating characteristics of a service of an in-vehicle component describing configurable functions of the in-vehicle component; retrieving a control state of the in-vehicle component using a read characteristic of the service; generating a user interface of the in-vehicle component indicating the configurable functions and the control state; and updating the control state of the in-vehicle component using a write characteristic of the service responsive to user input to the user interface.