Vehicle Radio Channel Listing Using Location and Contour Data

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing terrestrial radios require a secondary tuner to scan for available radio stations, increasing cost, size, and complexity, and the scanning process is time-consuming, leading to a poor user experience.

Innovation Solution

A media playback device updates a list of currently tunable radio stations using vehicle location and stored radio station contour data, eliminating the need for a secondary tuner and reducing scanning time by utilizing a local database.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If a secondary tuner is used to scan for available radio stations, then the radio can detect tunable channels, but the cost, size, and complexity of the system increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvechannel detection capabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the scanning function from a separate secondary tuner and integrates it into the primary tuner's processing. The primary tuner now performs both reception and scanning functions by utilizing existing hardware resources (CPU, memory, database) to store and process contour data, eliminating the need for a dedicated secondary tuner component.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The primary tuner is made multi-functional by enabling it to perform both its original function (receiving and decoding radio signals) and the additional function (scanning for available stations). The same hardware components (tuner, processor, database) are used for both purposes, making the system more versatile without adding components.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Reliability

If a secondary tuner is used to scan for available radio stations, then the radio can detect tunable channels, but the scanning process becomes time-consuming

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvechannel detection capabilityVSAvoidscanning time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The system performs preliminary action by pre-storing contour data for multiple radio stations in a database before scanning is needed. When scanning is required, the processor quickly queries this pre-organized database using the current location to immediately determine which stations are available, rather than performing time-consuming signal analysis for each station in real-time.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If existing scanning methods are used, then radio stations can be detected, but the user experience deteriorates due to long scanning time

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestation detectionVSAvoiduser experience

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS20260039406A1Radio Head Unit with Dynamically Updated Tunable Channel Listing

Publication Date: 2026.02.05 GRACENOTE INC

AI summary

In one aspect, an example method includes (i) encountering, by a media playback device of a vehicle, a trigger to update a list of currently tunable radio stations; (ii) based on encountering the trigger to update the list of currently tunable radio stations, updating, by the media playback device, the list of currently tunable radio stations using a location of the vehicle and radio station contour data stored in a local database of the media playback device; and (iii) displaying, by the media playback device, a station list using the list of currently tunable radio stations.