Vehicle Notification Control via Sender Message Directives
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Solution Overview
Problem
Configuring contact or group-specific settings on mobile devices for handling communications can be tedious and outdated, and blocked contacts may attempt to bypass these settings by repeated calls.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that allow senders to associate a type or category with incoming communications, enabling recipients to determine appropriate notification settings based on user preferences, using message directives that can be included in the communication request, provided by a server, or sent in a pre-communication message.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If contact or group-specific settings are configured on mobile devices, then notification control is improved, but device complexity and maintenance effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary to store and manage message directives associated with sender identifiers. Instead of storing complex contact-specific settings locally on each mobile device, the server acts as a centralized repository that provides notification directives to recipient devices. This reduces local device complexity while maintaining comprehensive notification control capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal notification directive system that can handle multiple types of communications (calls, texts, emails) and multiple sender categories through a single standardized directive structure. The message directives are universally applicable across different communication types and can be associated with any sender identifier, eliminating the need for separate configuration systems for different communication modalities.
2Ease of operation
If contact-specific block or ignore settings are implemented, then notification control is improved, but the settings become outdated quickly and require frequent updates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables senders to pre-associate message directives with their identifiers, specifying their preferred notification treatment in advance. These pre-configured directives are stored on the server and automatically applied when the sender communicates with the recipient, eliminating the need for recipients to continuously update contact-specific settings. The preliminary action of configuring directives at the sender端 resolves the maintenance burden on the recipient端.
Solution Approach 2:
The system establishes a feedback mechanism where notification directives are dynamically retrieved and applied based on incoming communication metadata. The recipient device queries the server for applicable directives associated with the sender identifier and automatically adjusts notification behavior accordingly. This real-time feedback loop ensures notification settings remain current without manual intervention.
3Ease of operation
If blocked contacts are ignored completely, then notification control is improved, but blocked contacts can bypass the block by making multiple calls
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms static block/ignore settings into dynamic notification directives that can specify different levels of notification suppression. Instead of binary blocked/not-blocked states, the system allows configurable directive types (e.g., do not notify, notify silently, notify with priority) that can be dynamically applied based on the sender identifier and communication type. This dynamic approach maintains reliable notification control while preventing bypass techniques through consistent directive application across multiple communication attempts.
4Ease of operation
If comprehensive contact settings are stored locally on mobile devices, then notification control is improved, but the device storage and processing requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the storage function for message directives from the recipient mobile device and relocates it to a remote server. The recipient device only retains minimal local caching for immediate use, while the comprehensive directive database resides on the server. This extraction significantly reduces device storage requirements while maintaining access to comprehensive notification control capabilities through networked retrieval.
Data Source
AI summary
A recipient communications device associated with a vehicle computing system (VCS) may be configured to receive, over a communications network, an incoming communication from a sender communications device, identify a notification type to provide based on a message directive provided by the sender device, retrieve notification settings associated with the notification type, and perform a notification of receipt of the incoming communication using a VCS user interface according to the notification settings.