Vehicle Driver Display Fallback for Instrument Cluster Failure
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Solution Overview
Problem
In-vehicle infotainment systems face challenges in ensuring safety-critical driver information is displayed when the instrument cluster display becomes temporarily or partially inoperable, violating functional safety requirements.
Innovation Solution
The system dynamically redistributes driver content to an infotainment display, either by overlaying or displaying it concurrently with user content, adjusting aspect ratio, resolution, or screen size to ensure critical information is always visible.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the instrument cluster display is used to display driver content, then the display quality and reliability are improved, but the system becomes vulnerable to display failures that violate functional safety requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the instrument cluster display and infotainment display into a unified display system where both displays can present driver content. When the instrument cluster display fails, the system automatically transitions to displaying driver content on the infotainment display, ensuring continuous availability of safety-critical information without requiring separate redundant display systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The infotainment display is designed to serve multiple functions: displaying user content during normal operation and displaying driver content when the instrument cluster display is inoperable. This multi-functionality allows a single display device to fulfill both entertainment and safety-critical information display requirements, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliability.
2Loss of information
If the infotainment display displays both user content and driver content concurrently, then the availability of information is improved, but the display clarity and readability may deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The infotainment display divides the screen into distinct display regions: a first region for user content and a second region for driver content. This segmentation allows both types of content to be displayed simultaneously without overlapping, maintaining the readability and precision of safety-critical driver information while preserving access to entertainment content.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the infotainment display are assigned different functional qualities: the first region is optimized for user content with standard display characteristics, while the second region is specifically optimized for driver content with enhanced readability and positioning characteristics appropriate for safety-critical information.
3Reliability
If the instrument cluster display is inoperable, then the system must adapt to maintain safety, but this creates a harmful condition where driver content may not be displayed
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements a detection mechanism that identifies when the instrument cluster display becomes inoperable before this failure state compromises safety. Upon detection, the system automatically activates the infotainment display to present driver content, providing a compensatory measure that cushions against the harmful effects of the display failure and maintains functional safety compliance.
Solution Approach 2:
The infotainment display serves as an intermediary solution when the primary instrument cluster display fails. It mediates the transition from the normal display path to an alternative display path, ensuring that driver content continues to be presented to the driver without direct exposure to the harmful condition of display failure.
Data Source
AI summary
A method for dynamically displaying driver vehicle information within a vehicle is implemented by an in-vehicle computing system. The method includes detecting, by the computing system, in communication with a first display and a second display of the vehicle, that the first display is in a first state. The first display is configured to display driver content. The method further includes determining, by the computing system, a portion of the driver content to be displayed on the second display, and providing, by the computing system, and in response to the first state, at least the portion of the driver content for display on the second display.