Identifying and presenting information based on unique vehicle
Contents
1. VIN for the vehicle or one or more has values corresponding to the VIN 0067 At block 408 user input can be received at a user interface of the portable electronic device For example in an embodiment of the invention the user interface can include an audio interface including a microphone and the user can provide input in the form of audio e g spoken input In some embodiments the user interface can include a touch interface e g a touch screen and or control buttons and the user can provide input to the portable electronic device in the form of touch input 0068 Once the unique vehicle identifier and the user input are received at block 410 the portable electronic device can identify content based in part on the unique vehicle identifier and in part on the received user input In some embodiments the portable electronic device can use the unique vehicle identifier and or the received user input to identify and retrieve content stored in a memory e g storage device 222 of FIG 2 of the portable electronic device For example the memory can store various specifications e g replacement part identifiers a user manual year make model color etc for the vehicle as previously downloaded by the user from an Internet website associated with the vehicle s manufacturer and or from any other suitable external data source In some embodiments of the present invention upon establishing communication with the vehicle the2. more hash values corresponding to the VIN Mar 20 2014 16 The method of claim 12 further comprising receiving by the portable electronic device input from the user and identifying by the portable electronic device the content based in part on the input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier 17 The method of claim 12 further comprising determining by the portable electronic device a geo graphic location of the portable electronic device and identifying by the portable electronic device the content based in part on the geographic location and in part on the unique vehicle identifier 18 The method of claim 12 wherein the content identified by the portable electronic device is stored in a memory of the portable electronic device or stored external to the portable electronic device 19 A method for presenting vehicle specific information to a user the method comprising receiving by a portable electronic device a message trans mitted from a vehicle the message including a unique vehicle identifier receiving at a user interface of the portable electronic device user input from the user identifying by the portable electronic device content based in part on the unique vehicle identifier and in part on the user input and presenting by the portable electronic device the content to the user 20 The method of claim 19 wherein the user interface includes a display screen and wherein presenting
3. suitable programming processor 220 can provide various functionality for portable electronic device 202 For example in some embodiments processor 220 can receive a message from vehicle interface 228 the message containing a unique vehicle identifier Processor 220 can identify content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier and present the content to a user via user interface 224 Processor 220 can also be configured to receive user input e g audio input touch input and or the like from user interface 224 and can be configured to determine a geo graphic location of portable electronic device 202 As such process 220 can be configured to identify content based on the unique vehicle identifier and any suitable combination of audio input touch input geographic location etc Processor 220 may also be configured to generate output e g audio output visual output and or the like based on the identified content and to transmit the output to user interface 224 for presentment to a user Processor 220 can also execute other programs to control other functions of portable electronic device 202 including application programs that may be stored in storage device 222 0037 Network interface 226 can provide voice and or data communication capability for portable electronic device 202 In some embodiments network interface 226 can include radio frequency RF transceiver components for accessing wireless voice and or dat
4. the content to the user comprises displaying visual output to the user on the display screen 21 The method of claim 19 wherein the user interface includes a touch interface and wherein the user input includes touch input 22 The method of claim 19 wherein the user interface includes an audio interface and wherein the user input includes audio input 23 A computer readable storage medium having program code stored thereon the program code including instructions that when executed by a processor in a portable electronic device cause the processor to execute a method comprising receiving a message transmitted from a vehicle the mes sage including a unique vehicle identifier identifying content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier and presenting the content to a user 24 The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the content includes a specification for the vehicle 25 The computer readable storage medium of claim 23 wherein the specification includes one or more of a fuel type for the vehicle an oil type for the vehicle an identifier of a replacement part for the vehicle an identifier of a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a user manual for the vehicle a year of the vehicle a make of the vehicle a model of the vehicle a color of the vehicle or a year of manufacture of the vehicle
5. the manufacturer the model year the manufacturing plant and attributes of the vehicle such as make model color and or the like In some embodiments the unique vehicle identifier transmitted by vehicle 104 to portable electronic device 102 can be any data that corre sponds to one or more specifications for vehicle 104 0023 As shown in FIG 1 vehicle 104 can include a con troller 106 configured to transmit a message containing the Mar 20 2014 unique vehicle identifier and or other information to por table electronic device 102 via a connection 108 In some embodiments connection 108 can be a wireless connection and messages can be exchanged using any suitable wireless protocol For example connection 108 can be a short range wireless network and portable electronic device 102 can exchange messages with vehicle 104 using Bluetooth Blue tooth LE or any other suitable short range wireless protocol In another example connection 108 can be an advanced data network and portable electronic device 102 can exchange messages with vehicle 104 using 3G 4G EDGE WiFi e g the IEEE 802 11 family of standards or any other suitable wireless data protocol 0024 In some embodiments portable electronic device 102 can include a receptacle connector not shown for con necting to a connector not shown of vehicle 104 For example the receptacle connector of portable electronic device 102 and the connector of vehicle 104 can in
6. the vehicle For example the portable electronic device can detect a connection to the vehicle based on a voltage detected at the connector The vehicle can also request a connection via a wireless protocol e g Bluetooth WiFi and or the like and the portable elec tronic device can respond to establish a connection usable to exchange messages 0057 Upon detecting a connection the portable electronic device can communicate with the vehicle to perform a num ber of authentication steps by exchanging messages e g utilizing vehicle interface 228 and device interface 236 of FIG 2 For example the vehicle can transmit one or more messages to the portable electronic device to identify and authenticate the vehicle and or the portable electronic device can transmit one or more messages to the vehicle to identify and authenticate the portable electronic device Messages exchanged at block 302 can also relate to the respective capa bilities of the vehicle and the portable electronic device For example the portable electronic device can transmit a mes sage to the vehicle indicating that the portable electronic device is configured to accept and act on a received message US 2014 0077972 Al containing a unique vehicle identifier Similarly the vehicle can transmit a message to the portable electronic device indi cating that the vehicle is configured to generate and transmit a message containing the unique vehicle identifier Commu ni
7. user and the processor of the portable electronic device can be config ured to identify the content based in part on the audio input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier In some embodi ments the processor of the portable electronic device can be configured to generate audio output based on the identified content and present the audio output to the user via the audio interface 0009 As another example in some embodiments the user interface of the portable electronic device can include a touch interface configured to receive touch input from the user and the processor of the portable electronic device can be config ured to identify the content based in part on the touch input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier In some embodi ments the touch interface can include a display screen and the processor of the portable electronic device can be config ured to generate visual output based on the identified content and present the visual output to the user via the display screen of the touch interface 0010 Embodiments of the present invention can utilize any suitable combination of user interfaces described herein to receive user input and or to present identified content to the user 0011 In some embodiments the processor of the portable electronic device can be further configured to determine a geographic location of the portable electronic device and can identify the content based in part on the geographic locati
8. 06 Identifier 508 Receive User Input Determine Device Location 510 Identify and Retrieve Content Based on Unique 512 Vehicle Identifier User Input and Device Location 514 Present Content to User Patent Application Publication Mar 20 2014 Sheet 1 of 5 US 2014 0077972 A1 iO 110 102 FIG 1 Patent Application Publication Mar 20 2014 Sheet 2 of 5 US 2014 0077972 A1 NETWORK INTERFACE PORTABLE ELECTRONIC DEVICE 202 DEVICE VEHICLE INTERFACE 204 36 230 COMMUNICATION NODULE CONTROLLER VEHICLE SPECIFIC HARDWARE FIG 2 Patent Application Publication 302 304 306 308 310 Mar 20 2014 Sheet 3 of 5 US 2014 0077972 A1 jo iO Establish Communication with Vehicle Transmit Request for Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive Unique Vehicle Identifier Identify and Retrieve Content Based on Unique Vehicle Identifier Present Content to User FIG 3 Patent Application Publication 402 404 406 408 410 412 Mar 20 2014 Sheet 4 of 5 US 2014 0077972 A1 Establish Communication with Vehicle Transmit Request for Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive User Input Identify and Retrieve Content Based on Unique Vehicle Identifier and User Input Present Content to User End FIG 4 Patent Application Publication 502 504 506 508 510 512 514 Mar 20 2014 Sheet 5
9. US 20140077972A1 as United States a2 Patent Application Publication 10 Pub No US 2014 0077972 Al Rathi et al 43 Pub Date Mar 20 2014 54 IDENTIFYING AND PRESENTING 52 U S Cl INFORMATION BASED ON UNIQUE USPC a scecesicecezdecaptiteadeestayegbasdeate ices ds oseee decd 340 902 VEHICLE IDENTIFIER 71 Applicant APPLE INC Cupertino CA US 67 ABSTRACT 72 Inventors Shailesh Rathi San Jose CA US A portable electronic device can be used to present vehicle Robert J Walsh Sunnyvale CA US specific information to a user The portable electronic device can receive a message transmitted from a vehicle the mes 73 Assignee Apple Inc Cupertino CA US sage including a unique vehicle identifier such as vehicle identification number VIN The portable electronic device 21 Appl No 13 623 562 can identify content based at least in part on the unique 22 Filed Sep 20 2012 vehicle identifier and present the content to the user In some instances the content may be presented to the user as audio Publication Classification output and or visually on a display screen Input can also be received from the user and the portable electronic device can 51 Int Cl identify the content based in part on the received input and in G08G 1 00 2006 01 part on the unique vehicle identifier Establish Communication 502 with Vehicle Transmit Request for 504 Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive Unique Vehicle 5
10. a networks e g using cellular tele phone technology advanced data network technology such as 3G EDGE or 4G WiFi IEEE 802 11 family standards or other mobile communication technologies or any combina tion thereof components for short range wireless network ing e g using Bluetooth standards GPS receiver compo nents and or other components In embodiments of the present invention portable electronic device 202 can utilize network interface 226 to identify and retrieve content stored external to portable electronic device 202 e g from external data source 110 of FIG 1 In some embodiments network interface 226 can provide wired network connectivity e g Ethernet in addition to or instead of a wireless interface Network interface 226 can be implemented using a combina tion of hardware e g driver circuits antennas modulators demodulators encoders decoders and other analog and or digital signal processing circuits and software components 0038 Vehicle interface 228 can allow portable electronic device 202 to communicate with vehicle 204 In some embodiments vehicle interface 228 can include a connector US 2014 0077972 Al such as those used in various iPod iPhone and iPad products as well as the supporting circuitry The connector can provide connections for power and ground as well as for one or more data communication interfaces such as Universal Serial Bus USB FireWire IEEE 1394 standard and
11. about a user s scheduled appointments and events notes and or other types of information Storage device 222 can also store data objects such as specifications for vehicle 204 as described herein In some embodiments storage device 222 can also store one or more application programs to be executed by processor 220 e g video game programs personal information manage ment programs media playback programs etc 0032 User interface 224 can include input devices such as a touch pad touch screen scroll wheel click wheel dial button switch keypad microphone and or the like as well as output devices such as a display screen indicator lights speakers headphone jacks or the like together with support ing electronics e g digital to analog or analog to digital converters signal processor and or the like A user can oper ate input devices of user interface 224 to invoke the function ality of portable electronic device 202 and can view and or hear output from portable electronic device 202 via output devices of user interface 224 0033 In some embodiments user interface 224 can include a microphone including one or more acoustic to electric transducers or sensors configured to convert sounds into an electrical signal For example the microphone can be acondenser microphone an electret condenser microphone a dynamic microphone a ribbon microphone a carbon micro phone a piezoelectric microphone a fiber optic microp
12. an also relate to the respective capa bilities of the vehicle and the portable electronic device For example the portable electronic device can transmit a mes sage to the vehicle indicating that the portable electronic device is configured to accept and act on a received message containing a unique vehicle identifier Similarly the vehicle can transmit a message to the portable electronic device indi cating that the vehicle is configured to generate and transmit a message containing the unique vehicle identifier Commu nication between the portable electronic device and the vehicle can be established upon completion of the exchange of messages relating to the capabilities and authentication In some embodiments of the present invention the portable electronic device can provide a user with a notification that communication with the vehicle is established by for example providing audio output at a speaker and or visual output on a display screen of the portable electronic device 0066 Atblock 404 after communication between the por table electronic device and the vehicle is established the portable electronic device can transmit a message to the vehicle the message containing a request for a unique vehicle identifier At block 406 the vehicle can generate and transmit US 2014 0077972 Al a message to the portable electronic device the message containing the requested unique vehicle identifier For example the message can contain a
13. be uti lized as keywords in an Internet search or other external database search to locate the nearby merchants In some embodiments the portable electronic device can locate nearby merchants offering the replacement part for sale by accessing a register of merchants merchant locations and replacement part identifiers stored in the memory of the por table electronic device 0083 At block 514 the portable electronic device can present the identified content to the user via the user interface For example the portable electronic device can present visual output to the user via a display screen of the portable elec tronic device As another example the audio interface of the portable electronic device can include a speaker configured to present audio output to the user As such the portable elec tronic device can generate visual output and or audio output based on the identified content and can present the output to the user via the user interface Referring back to the above illustration once the replacement part identifier and the loca tion of the merchant offering the replacement part for sale have been identified the user can be provided with the iden tified content visually and or audibly For example the por table electronic device can present the user with visual output ona display screen and or audio output at a speaker indicating the replacement part identifier and the location of the mer chant In some embodiments of th
14. ble electronic device can run an application that may be provided for example by a vehicle manufacturer or a third party The application may generate the message requesting the unique vehicle identifier from the vehicle The application may also identify and retrieve the content based upon the unique vehicle identifier and present the content to the user via a user interface of the portable electronic device In some embodi ments the application may determine from messages received from the vehicle whether there are issues that require user action as described above and may inform the user of the issues audibly and or visually The application may also keep track of when previous services were performed and timely inform the user when the vehicle is due for a service 0088 In some embodiments the portable electronic device can utilize the unique vehicle identifier to identify and retrieve recall information for the vehicle For example the portable electronic device can periodically access an external database associated with the vehicle manufacturer e g a website or any other suitable external data source to deter mine whether a recall has been issued for the vehicle The portable electronic device may further determine whether the recall is an urgent safety recall requiring immediate repair or whether the recall need not be addressed immediately Upon retrieval of such recall information the portable electronic device can pres
15. ble electronic device can generate visual output based on the identified content and present the visual output to the user via a display screen of the portable electronic device In some embodiments the visual output can include an image of the vehicle a video of the vehicle descriptions of various specifications for the vehicle and other vehicle specific content The visual output may also include operating instructions for various vehicle features Mar 20 2014 such as an audio video interface a global positioning system seat adjustments mirror adjustments climate control and or the like 0062 Insome embodiments of the present invention upon presenting the identified content to the user the portable electronic device can be configured to receive user input relating to the identified content For example the portable electronic device can receive audio input from the user e g at a microphone the audio input requesting additional infor mation relating to the identified content such as further details additional specifications and or other information In some embodiments the portable electronic device can include a display screen that includes a touch interface For example the portable electronic device can provide the user with one or more user selectable controls e g a graphical menu drop down etc on the display screen and in response to receiving touch input from the user the portable electronic device can i
16. cation between the portable electronic device and the vehicle can be established upon completion of the exchange of messages relating to the capabilities and authentication In some embodiments of the present invention the portable electronic device can provide a user with a notification that communication with the vehicle is established by for example providing audio output at a speaker and or visual output on a display screen of the portable electronic device 0058 At block 304 after communication between the por table electronic device and the vehicle is established the portable electronic device can transmit a message to the vehicle the message containing a request for a unique vehicle identifier At block 306 the vehicle can generate and transmit a message to the portable electronic device the message containing the requested unique vehicle identifier For example the message transmitted by the vehicle can contain a VIN for the vehicle or one or more hash values correspond ing to the VIN 0059 Once the unique vehicle identifier is received at block 308 the portable electronic device can identify and retrieve content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier In some embodiments the portable electronic device can use the unique vehicle identifier to identify and retrieve content stored in a memory e g storage device 222 of FIG 2 of the portable electronic device For example the memory can store various s
17. clude a plurality of pins that can carry electrical signals e g mes sages The receptacle connector and the connector can be designed to mate with each other to physically and electri cally couple the contacts of the receptacle connector with the connector so that messages can be exchanged between vehicle 104 and portable electronic device 102 In some embodiments connection 108 as shown in FIG 1 can include a cable The cable can include a connector and a receptacle connector designed to mate with the receptacle connector of portable electronic device 102 and the connector of vehicle 104 respectively thus allowing messages to be exchanged For example vehicle 104 can transmit a message containing a unique vehicle identifier to portable electronic device 102 via the cable 0025 Upon receipt of a message containing the unique vehicle identifier from vehicle 104 via connection 108 por table electronic device 102 can identify content based at least in part on the received unique vehicle identifier In some embodiments the identified content can be stored in a memory of portable electronic device 102 The identified content can also be retrieved from external data source 110 via a wireless connection 112 in some embodiments For example external data source 110 can include a web based server computer and wireless connection 112 can include an advanced wireless data network supporting communication protocols such as 3G 4G EDGE WiFi
18. dentify retrieve and present additional informa tion relating to the identified content at the display screen as visual output and or at a speaker as audio output 0063 FIG 4 is a flow diagram of a process 400 usable by a portable electronic device e g portable electronic device 102 of FIG 1 or portable electronic device 202 of FIG 2 to identify content based on a unique vehicle identifier and user input according to an embodiment of the present invention 0064 At block 402 the portable electronic device can establish communication with the vehicle For example the portable electronic device can detect a connection to the vehicle based on a voltage detected at the connector The vehicle can also request a connection via a wireless protocol e g Bluetooth WiFi and or the like and the portable elec tronic device can respond to establish a connection usable to exchange messages 0065 Upon detecting a connection the portable electronic device can communicate with the vehicle to perform a num ber of authentication steps by exchanging messages e g utilizing vehicle interface 228 and device interface 236 of FIG 2 For example the vehicle can transmit one or more messages to the portable electronic device to identify and authenticate the vehicle and or the portable electronic device can transmit one or more messages to the vehicle to identify and authenticate the portable electronic device Messages exchanged at block 402 c
19. e g the IEEE 802 11 family of standards or any other suitable wireless data pro tocol In embodiments of the invention the identified content can be in part stored in the memory of portable electronic device 102 and in part retrieved from external data source 110 0026 In some embodiments the identified content can include a specification for vehicle 104 For example the specification can include one or more of a fuel type an oil type an identifier of a replacement part an identifier of a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a user manual a year a make a model a color a year of manufac ture and or any other information associated with vehicle 104 0027 Once the content is identified based on the unique vehicle identifier portable electronic device 102 can present the content to the user via a user interface 0028 It will be appreciated that the portable electronic device and the vehicle of FIG 1 are illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible A portable elec tronic device and or a vehicle can implement any combina US 2014 0077972 Al tion of functionality In some embodiments rather than receiving a message from the vehicle containing the unique vehicle identifier the portable electronic device can directly access various modules and or storage media of the vehicle to retrieve the unique vehicle identifier 0029 Messages can be exchanged between the portable electronic device a
20. e present invention the portable electronic device can provide the user with driving directions to the merchant by for example displaying a map on the display screen and or by providing real time driving directions as audio output at the speaker 0084 While the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments one skilled in the art will recognize that numerous modifications are possible and that features described with specific reference to one embodiment can be applied to other embodiments For example any combination of a unique vehicle identifier user input and geographic location can be utilized in various embodiments of the inven tion to identify content for presentment to a user Moreover such data can be received and processed in any suitable order 0085 In some embodiments the portable electronic device can include a voice recognition mode e g an Intel ligent Automated Assistant Such a voice recognition mode can include any operational mode of the portable electronic device wherein audio input e g a word phrase or sound provide by a user as distinguished from touch input e g touch screen button input etc can be used to access various services applications and or functionalities of the portable electronic device For example when a voice recognition mode is activated the portable electronic device can process audio input received from the user at a microphone generate audio and
21. e user and wherein the processor is further configured to receive the input from the user interface and US 2014 0077972 Al identify the content based in part on the input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier 6 The portable electronic device of claim 1 wherein the processor is further configured to determine a geographic location of the portable electronic device and identify the content based in part on the geographic loca tion and in part on the unique vehicle identifier 7 The portable electronic device of claim 1 wherein the content identified by the processor is stored in a memory of the portable electronic device or stored external to the por table electronic device 8 A portable electronic device comprising a user interface a vehicle interface configured to exchange messages with a vehicle and a processor coupled to the user interface and the vehicle interface the processor configured to receive a message from the vehicle interface the mes sage containing a unique vehicle identifier receive user input from the user interface identify content based in part on the user input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier and present the content to the user via the user interface 9 The portable electronic device of claim 8 wherein the user interface includes an audio interface and wherein the user input includes audio input 10 The portable electronic device of claim 8 wherein the us
22. eciated that the invention is intended to cover all modifications and equivalents within the scope of the following claims What is claimed is 1 A portable electronic device comprising a user interface a vehicle interface configured to exchange messages with a vehicle and a processor coupled to the user interface and the vehicle interface the processor configured to receive a message from the vehicle interface the mes sage containing a unique vehicle identifier identify content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier and present the content to a user via the user interface 2 The portable electronic device of claim 1 wherein the content includes a specification for the vehicle 3 The portable electronic device of claim 2 wherein the specification includes one or more of a fuel type for the vehicle an oil type for the vehicle an identifier of a replace ment part for the vehicle an identifier of a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a user manual for the vehicle a year of the vehicle a make of the vehicle a model of the vehicle a color of the vehicle or a year of manufacture of the vehicle 4 The portable electronic device of claim 1 wherein the unique vehicle identifier comprises a vehicle identification number VIN or one or more hash values corresponding to the VIN 5 The portable electronic device of claim 1 wherein the user interface is configured to receive input from th
23. ent the information to the user visually and or audibly 0089 In some embodiments the portable electronic device can be configured to generate and transmit messages to the vehicle the messages causing the vehicle to change its operation For example if a vehicle is stolen after a connec tion has been established with a portable electronic device the portable electronic device can send a message to the vehicle in response to user input the message causing the engine power of the vehicle to be turned off In some embodi ments the portable electronic device can be accessed remotely by another electronic device e g a tablet computer laptop computer desktop computer other portable electronic device and or the like If the vehicle is stolen after a connec tion has been established with the portable electronic device located inside the vehicle the user can communicate with the portable electronic device using another electronic device to cause the portable electronic device to send a message to the vehicle the message causing the engine power of the vehicle to be turned off Mar 20 2014 0090 Embodiments of the present invention can be real ized using any combination of dedicated components and or programmable processors and or other programmable devices The various processes described herein can be imple mented on the same processor or different processors in any combination Where components are described as being con f
24. er interface includes a touch interface and wherein the user input includes touch input 11 The portable electronic device of claim 8 wherein the user interface includes an audio interface configured to present the content to the user as audio output and wherein the processor is further configured to generate the audio output based on the content and transmit the audio output to the audio interface 12 A method for presenting vehicle specific information to a user the method comprising receiving by a portable electronic device a message trans mitted from a vehicle the message including a unique vehicle identifier identifying by the portable electronic device content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier and presenting by the portable electronic device the content to the user 13 The method of claim 12 wherein the content includes a specification for the vehicle 14 The method of claim 13 wherein the specification includes one or more of a fuel type for the vehicle an oil type for the vehicle an identifier of a replacement part for the vehicle an identifier of a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a user manual for the vehicle a year of the vehicle a make of the vehicle a model of the vehicle a color of the vehicle or a year of manufacture of the vehicle 15 The method of claim 12 wherein the unique vehicle identifier comprises a vehicle identification number VIN or one or
25. hat can be exchanged between portable electronic device 202 and any accessories connected thereto such as vehicle 204 The message format can include e g a start bit or bit sequence to indicate that what follows is a message code followed by an actual message code that can be inter preted and acted on by the recipient At least some of the message codes may have one or more associated parameters defined by the protocol and a message can include values for any such parameters in addition to the message code In some instances the protocol can further specify a behavior for a recipient in the event that a particular parameter associated with a message code is not received or in the event that an unexpected parameter is received with a message code The number of parameters can be different for different messages and in some instances a parameter may have variable length Insome embodiments the message codes can be defined such that a given message code is valid in only one direction Other message structures can also be used 0052 The accessory protocol can also define a format for the exchange of messages For instance the accessory proto col may specify that a message is sent using one or more packets each of which has a header anda payload The header provides basic information e g a start indicator length of the packet packet sequence number identifier of a session with which the packet is associated and or other informa tio
26. he control and responsively invoke functionality of vehicle 204 In some instances the invoked functionality can include sending message to and or receiving message from portable electronic device 202 0043 Communication module 232 can facilitate the com munication between controller 230 of vehicle 204 and pro cessor 220 of portable electronic device 202 In some embodiments communication module 232 can include radio Mar 20 2014 frequency RF transceiver components for wirelessly exchanging messages with portable electronic device 202 via a data network e g using cellular telephone technology advanced data network technology such as 3G EDGE or 4G WiFi IEEE 802 11 family standards or other mobile com munication technologies or any combination thereof com ponents for short range wireless networking e g using Bluetooth standards GPS receiver components and or other components In embodiments of the present invention com munication module 232 can facilitate wired communication with portable electronic device 202 Communication module 232 can be implemented using a combination of hardware e g driver circuits antennas modulators demodulators encoders decoders and other analog and or digital signal processing circuits and software components 0044 Vehicle specific hardware 234 can include any other components that may be present in vehicle 204 to enable its functionality For example in embodiments of the pre
27. he unique vehicle identifier can be a vehicle identification number VIN or one or more hash values corresponding to the VIN Using the processor the portable electronic device can identify content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier The content can be stored in a memory of the portable electronic device and or stored externally and retrieved by the portable electronic device via a network The portable electronic device can further include a user interface coupled to the processor and upon identification the content can be pre sented by the portable electronic device to a user via the user interface 0006 In some embodiments the content can include a specification for the vehicle such as a fuel type an oil type an Mar 20 2014 identifier of a replacement part an identifier of a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a user manual a year a make a model a color a year and or other specification for the vehicle 0007 In some embodiments the user interface of the por table electronic device can be configured to receive user input from the user and the processor can be configured to identify the content based in part on the user input received from the user and in part on the unique vehicle identifier received from the vehicle 0008 For example in some embodiments the user inter face of the portable electronic device can include an audio interface configured to receive audio input from the
28. hone a laser microphone a liquid microphone a MEMS micro phone and or the like In embodiments of the present inven tion the microphone can receive audio e g voice input from a user and transmit the voice input to processor 220 in the form of an electrical signal 0034 In some embodiments user interface 224 can include a speaker including one or more electroacoustic Mar 20 2014 transducers configured to produce sound in response to an electrical audio signal For example the speaker can be a full range driver a subwoofer a woofer a mid range driver a tweeter a coaxial driver and or the like In embodiments of the present invention the speaker can receive audio output generated by processor 220 and present the audio output to a user 0035 Processor 220 can include for example one or more integrated circuits such as single core or multi core micro processors and or microcontrollers executing program code to perform various functions and operations associated with portable electronic device 202 In operation processor 220 can control the operation of portable electronic device 202 In various embodiments processor 220 can execute a variety of programs in response to program code and can maintain multiple concurrently executing programs or processes At any given time some or all of the program code to be executed can be resident in processor 220 and or in storage media such as storage device 222 0036 Through
29. identify and authenticate the portable electronic device Messages exchanged at block 502 can also relate to the respective capa bilities of the vehicle and the portable electronic device For example the portable electronic device can transmit a mes sage to the vehicle indicating that the portable electronic device is configured to accept and act on a received message containing a unique vehicle identifier Similarly the vehicle can transmit a message to the portable electronic device indi cating that the vehicle is configured to generate and transmit a message containing the unique vehicle identifier Commu nication between the portable electronic device and the vehicle can be established upon completion of the exchange of messages relating to the capabilities and authentication In some embodiments the portable electronic device can pro vide a user with a notification that communication with the vehicle is established by for example providing audio output at a speaker and or visual output on a display screen of the portable electronic device 0077 Atblock 504 after communication between the por table electronic device and the vehicle is established the portable electronic device can transmit a message to the vehicle the message containing a request for a unique vehicle identifier At block 506 the vehicle can generate and transmit a message to the portable electronic device the message containing the requested unique vehicle iden
30. ies that might or might not be supported in a given accessory For example the optional message set can include simple remote messages that allow vehicle 204 to identify a function of portable electronic device 202 to be invoked remote user interface messages that can be used to obtain information related to replicating all or part of a user interface of portable electronic device 202 on vehicle 204 thereby supporting a more advanced remote control messages that allow a user to control a radio tuner in vehicle 204 by operating portable electronic device 202 and or to control a radio tuner in portable electronic device 202 by operating vehicle 204 messages that facilitate the transfer of data objects between portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 e g the transfer of a unique vehicle identifier from vehicle 204 to portable electronic device 202 and so on Any combination of optional messages can be defined in anaccessory protocol and there is no requirement that a given accessory or portable electronic device support all or even any of the optional messages 0055 FIG 3 is a flow diagram of a process 300 usable by a portable electronic device e g portable electronic device 102 of FIG 1 or portable electronic device 202 of FIG 2 to identify content based on a unique vehicle identifier accord ing to an embodiment of the present invention 0056 At block 302 the portable electronic device can establish communication with
31. igured to perform certain operations such configuration can be accomplished e g by designing electronic circuits to perform the operation by programming programmable elec tronic circuits such as microprocessors to perform the operation or any combination thereof Further while the embodiments described above may make reference to spe cific hardware and software components those skilled in the art will appreciate that different combinations of hardware and or software components may also be used and that par ticular operations described as being implemented in hard ware might also be implemented in software or vice versa 0091 Computer programs incorporating various features of the present invention may be encoded and stored on various computer readable storage media suitable media include magnetic disk or tape optical storage media such as compact disk CD or DVD digital versatile disk flash memory and other non transitory media It is understood that storage of data is distinct from propagation of data using transitory media such as carrier waves Computer readable media encoded with the program code may be packaged with a compatible electronic device or the program code may be provided separately from electronic devices e g via Internet download or as a separately packaged computer readable storage medium 0092 Thus although the invention has been described with respect to specific embodiments it will be appr
32. le electronic device can be used to present vehicle specific information to a user For example the por table electronic device can receive a message from a vehicle the message containing a unique vehicle identifier such as a VIN The portable electronic device can identify content based at least in part on the unique vehicle identifier The content can be stored in a memory of the portable electronic device In some embodiments at least a portion of the content can be stored externally e g on a web based server com puter and retrieved by the portable electronic device via a wireless network The identified content can include for example one or more specifications for the vehicle such as a user manual year make model color fuel type oil type replacement part numbers locations to purchase replacement parts and other specifications for the vehicle Upon identifi cation the content including the vehicle specifications can be presented to the user via a user interface of the portable electronic device e g a speaker display screen or the like The portable electronic device can also receive user input e g spoken audio input from the user touch input or the like and can identify the content based in part on the user input and in part on the unique vehicle identifier received from the vehicle The portable electronic device can further identify the content based on the geographic location of the device 0019 FIG 1 illu
33. lly assigned a number or code by the part manufacturer To ensure that the appropriate part is purchased the user may need to know the vehicle specific part number Moreover the user may want to know the location of a nearby merchant offering the vehicle spe cific replacement part for sale The user can locate a merchant that generally sells replacement parts but the merchant may not offer the vehicle specific replacement part for sale or may not have the required part in stock Alternatively the user can take the vehicle to a mechanic to make the repair but this can be unnecessarily time consuming and costly 0004 Many vehicles currently incorporate sophisticated computer systems including interfaces that support various communication standards such as Bluetooth WiFi 4G and the like Moreover portable electronic devices e g smart phones tablet computers media players and the like also currently incorporate interfaces that support such communi cation standards SUMMARY 0005 According to various embodiments of the present invention a portable electronic device can be used to present vehicle specific information to a user The portable electronic device can include a vehicle interface configured to exchange messages with a vehicle and a processor coupled to the vehicle interface The portable electronic device can receive a message from the vehicle the message containing a unique vehicle identifier In some embodiments t
34. m an external database associated with the vehicle manufacture e g a website or any other suitable external data source 0082 Further at block 512 the portable electronic device can use the geographic location of the device to identify and retrieve content related to the location of the device As an illustration the user input can include a request for a replace ment part identifier At block 512 the portable electronic device can use the unique vehicle identifier to retrieve the replacement part identifier stored in the memory e g as a digital version of the vehicles user manual and or stored externally and accessible via a data network for example Once the replacement part identifier is retrieved the portable electronic device can prompt or ask the user via audio and or visual output whether the user desires to know the location of a nearby merchant offering the replacement part Mar 20 2014 for sale Upon receiving confirmation from the user in the form of audio and or touch input the portable electronic device can identify and retrieve the requested merchant loca tion In some embodiments the portable electronic device can automatically search for nearby merchants i e without prompting the user The portable electronic device can locate nearby merchants offering the replacement part for sale using any suitable technique For example the geographic location of the device and the replacement part identifier can
35. me embodiments of the present invention the portable electronic device can be further configured to deter mine a geographic location of the device and content can be identified based in part upon the geographic location 0074 FIG 5 is a flow diagram of a process usable by a portable electronic device e g portable electronic device 102 of FIG 1 or portable electronic device 202 of FIG 2 to identify content based on a unique vehicle identifier user input and a geographic location of the device according to an embodiment of the present invention 0075 At block 502 the portable electronic device can establish communication with the vehicle For example the portable electronic device can detect a connection to the vehicle based on a voltage detected at the connector The vehicle may also request a connection via a wireless protocol e g Bluetooth WiFi and or the like and the portable elec tronic device can respond to establish a connection usable to exchange messages 0076 Upon detecting a connection the portable electronic device can communicate with the vehicle to perform a num ber of authentication steps by exchanging messages e g utilizing vehicle interface 228 and device interface 236 of FIG 2 For example the vehicle can transmit one or more messages to the portable electronic device to identify and authenticate the vehicle and or the portable electronic device can transmit one or more messages to the vehicle to
36. munication e g WiFi Bluetooth or other wireless protocols in addition to or instead of wired communication channels 0046 It will be appreciated that the system configurations and components described herein are illustrative and that variations and modifications are possible Portable electronic device 202 and or vehicle 204 may have other capabilities not specifically described herein 0047 Connectors at the respective interfaces 228 236 of portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 can be complementary or not as desired Where two connectors are not complementary an adapter not shown can be provided to connect the two devices While connectors may be described herein as having pins a term generally associated with conventional electronic devices having wires to connect components it is to be understood that other signal paths e g optical signaling can be substituted Further in some embodiments some or all of the connections can be wireless and connectors can be omitted where wireless interfaces are provided US 2014 0077972 Al 0048 Further while portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 are described herein with reference to particular blocks it is to be understood that these blocks are defined for convenience of description and are not intended to imply a particular physical arrangement of component parts Further the blocks need not correspond to physically distinct compo nents Blocks can be config
37. n while the payload provides all or part of the message data The packet can also include error detection or error correction codes as known in the art 0053 In some embodiments the messages can be logi cally grouped into a general message set and an optional message set Every accessory and every portable electronic Mar 20 2014 device that use the accessory protocol can be required to support at least the general message set This message set can include messages enabling portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 to identify and authenticate themselves to each other and to provide information about their respective capa bilities including which if any of the messages in the optional set each supports For example the general message set can include a message vehicle 204 can send to portable electronic device 202 to list every message in the optional set that vehicle 204 is capable of sending and every message in the optional set that vehicle 204 is capable of receiving and acting on The general message set can also include authen tication messages that portable electronic device 202 can use to verify the purported identity and capabilities of vehicle 204 or vice versa and vehicle 204 or portable electronic device 202 may be blocked from invoking certain or all of the optional messages if the authentication is unsuccessful 0054 The optional message set can include messages related to various functionalit
38. nd the vehicle using various formats and signaling techniques with details depending on the protocol utilized Examples of suitable formats and processes are described below 0030 A portable electronic device and a vehicle can be implemented as separate computing devices that communi cate via one or more interfaces to support interoperation FIG 2 is a simplified block diagram of a system 200 including a portable electronic device 202 and a vehicle 204 according to an embodiment of the present invention In this embodiment portable electronic device 202 e g implementing portable electronic device 102 of FIG 1 can provide computing communication media playback and or other capabilities Portable electronic device 202 can include a processor 220 a storage device 222 a user interface 224 a network interface 226 and a vehicle interface 228 Portable electronic device 202 can also include other components not explicitly shown such as a battery power controllers and other components operable to provide various enhanced capabilities 0031 Storage device 222 can be implemented using disk flash memory or any other non transitory storage medium or a combination of media and can include volatile and or non volatile media In some embodiments storage device 222 can store data objects such as audio files video files image or artwork files information about a user s contacts names addresses phone numbers etc information
39. nic device can use the unique vehicle identifier and or the received user input to identify and retrieve content stored in a memory e g storage device 222 of FIG 2 of the portable electronic device For example the memory can store various specifications e g replacement part identifiers auser manual year make model color etc for the vehicle as previously downloaded by the user from an Internet web site associated with the vehicle s manufacturer and or from any other suitable external data source In some embodiments of the present invention upon establishing communication with the vehicle the portable electronic device can determine if such content has been downloaded and stored in the memory If it is determined that the content is not present in the memory the portable electronic device can prompt the user to perform the download The stored content can be linked to the unique vehicle identifier and in embodiments of the invention the portable electronic device can store speci fications for a plurality of the user s vehicles each linked to the appropriate unique vehicle identifier 0081 In some embodiments of the present invention at block 512 the portable electronic device can identify and retrieve the content from an external data source e g exter nal data source 110 of FIG 1 For example in lieu of or in addition to storing the content in a memory the portable electronic device can retrieve the content fro
40. of 5 US 2014 0077972 A1 500 Establish Communication with Vehicle Transmit Request for Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive Unique Vehicle Identifier Receive User Input Determine Device Location Identify and Retrieve Content Based on Unique Vehicle Identifier User Input and Device Location Present Content to User End FIG 5 US 2014 0077972 Al IDENTIFYING AND PRESENTING INFORMATION BASED ON UNIQUE VEHICLE IDENTIFIER BACKGROUND 0001 The present disclosure relates generally to commu nication between a portable electronic device and a vehicle and more particularly to using a portable electronic device to identify and present information based on a unique vehicle identifier 0002 There are many situations where a user may want to know information about a vehicle For example if the user is operating an unfamiliar vehicle the user may want to know the location and functionality of the vehicle s user controls a recommended fuel or oil type for the vehicle or other infor mation Vehicle manufacturers often issue user manuals con taining such information Reviewing a user manual however can be quite time consuming and in some instances a user manual may not be present for the user to review 0003 A user may also want to know information about vehicle specific replacement parts A replacement part for one vehicle may not be compatible with another Conse quently replacement parts are typica
41. on and in part on the unique vehicle identifier received from the vehicle In some embodiments the identification can be fur ther based on input received from the user 0012 The following detailed description together with the accompanying drawings will provide a better understanding of the nature and advantages of the present invention BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 0013 FIG 1 illustrates a system including a portable elec tronic device a vehicle and a network according to an embodiment of the invention 0014 FIG 2 is a simplified block diagram of a system including a portable electronic device and a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention 0015 FIG 3 is a flow diagram of a process usable by a portable electronic device to identify content based on a unique vehicle identifier according to an embodiment of the present invention 0016 FIG 4 is a flow diagram of a process usable by a portable electronic device to identify content based on a unique vehicle identifier and user input according to an embodiment of the present invention 0017 FIG 5 is a flow diagram of a process usable by a portable electronic device to identify content based on a US 2014 0077972 Al unique vehicle identifier user input and a geographic loca tion of the device according to an embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION 0018 According to various embodiments of the present invention a portab
42. or universal asynchronous receiver transmitter UART The connector can provide dedicated power and ground contacts as well as some number e g four of programmable digital data contacts that can be used to implement different com munication technologies in parallel For example two pins can be assigned as USB data pins D and D and two other pins can be assigned as serial transmit receive pins e g implementing a UART interface The assignment of pins to particular communication technologies can be negotiated while the connection is being established In embodiments of the present invention the connector can also provide connec tions for audio and or video signals which may be transmit ted to or from portable electronic device 202 in analog and or digital formats Thus vehicle interface 228 can support mul tiple communication channels and a given vehicle can use any or all of these channels In some embodiments of the present invention vehicle interface 228 can support wireless communication e g via WiFi Bluetooth or other wireless protocols with vehicle 204 in addition to or instead of wired communication channels 0039 In some embodiments portable electronic device 202 can include location determining circuitry not explicitly shown such as any suitable hardware and or software for determining a geographic location of portable electronic device 202 It will be appreciated that portable electronic device 202 can dete
43. or visual output based on the received audio input and present the output to the user at a speaker and or display screen of the portable electronic device The voice recogni tion mode can be utilized in lieu of or in addition to the processing of touch input received from the user US 2014 0077972 Al 0086 Insome embodiments upon transmitting the unique vehicle identifier to the portable electronic device the vehicle can transmit messages containing further information For example messages can inform the portable electronic device of issues with the vehicle that may require user action e g that the fuel is low that the vehicle is due for a service or oil change that the brake pads are worn that the tire pressure is low and the like Upon receipt of such a message the por table electronic device can inform the user of the issue audi bly and or visually and can identify the appropriate replace ment part identifier a merchant offering the replacement part for sale a nearby gas station a nearby mechanic and or other content to the user Periodic messages can also be transmitted by the vehicle to the portable electronic device the messages containing information about the vehicle s fuel consumption driving distance and or the like As such portable electronic device can visually and or audibly present the user with infor mation regarding miles per gallon and other driving statistics 0087 In some embodiments the porta
44. pecifications e g a user manual year make model color etc for the vehicle as previously downloaded by the user from an Internet website associated with the vehicle s manufacturer and or from any other suit able external data source In some embodiments of the present invention upon establishing communication with the vehicle the portable electronic device can determine if such content has been downloaded and stored in the memory If it is determined that the content is not present in the memory the portable electronic device can prompt the user to perform the download The stored content can be linked to the unique vehicle identifier and in some embodiments of the invention the portable electronic device can store specifications for a plurality of the user s vehicles each linked to the appropriate unique vehicle identifier 0060 In some embodiments of the present invention at block 308 the portable electronic device can identify and retrieve the content from an external data source e g exter nal data source 110 of FIG 1 For example in lieu of or in addition to storing the content in a memory the portable electronic device can retrieve the content from an external database associated with the vehicle manufacturer e g a website or any other suitable external data source 0061 At block 310 the portable electronic device can present the identified content to the user via a user interface For example the porta
45. portable electronic device can determine if such content has been downloaded and stored in the memory If it is determined that the content is not present in the memory the portable electronic device can prompt the user to perform the download The stored content can be linked to the unique vehicle identifier and in embodiments of the invention the portable electronic device can store specifications for a plurality of the user s vehicles each linked to the appropriate unique vehicle identifier 0069 In some embodiments of the present invention at block 410 the portable electronic device can identify and retrieve the content from an external data source e g exter nal data source 110 of FIG 1 For example in lieu of or in addition to storing the content in a memory the portable electronic device can retrieve the content from an external database associated with the vehicle manufacture e g a website or any other suitable external data source 0070 At block 412 the portable electronic device can present the identified content to the user via the user interface For example the portable electronic device can present visual output to the user via a display screen of the portable elec tronic device As another example the audio interface of the portable electronic device can include a speaker configured to present audio output to the user As such the portable elec tronic device can generate visual output and or audio output ba
46. rmine a geographic location by any suit able technique such as by utilizing a Global Positioning System GPS cellular tower triangulation data cellular tower signal strength data wireless access point data an Internet Protocol IP address and or the like 0040 Portable electronic device 202 can also include voice recognition circuitry not explicitly shown such as any suitable hardware and or software for facilitating a voice recognition mode of portable electronic device 202 A voice recognition mode can include any operational mode of por table electronic device 202 wherein audio input e g a word phrase or sound spoken by a user as distinguished from touch input can be used to provide a user access to the various services applications stored data and or functionalities of portable electronic device 202 0041 Vehicle 204 e g implementing vehicle 104 of FIG 1 can include controller 230 communication module 232 and vehicle specific hardware 234 0042 Controller 230 can include for example one or more integrated circuits such as single core or multi core microprocessors and or microcontrollers executing program code to perform various functions associated with vehicle 204 For example controller 230 can transmit a message to portable electronic device 202 the message containing a unique vehicle identifier Where vehicle 204 incorporates a user operable control controller 230 can interpret user opera tion of t
47. sed on the identified content and can present the output to the user via the user interface 0071 To illustrate process 400 after receiving the unique vehicle identifier from the vehicle at block 408 the portable electronic device can receive user input e g audio and or touch input involving a request for the recommended fuel type for the vehicle At block 410 the portable electronic device can use the unique vehicle identifier to retrieve one or more specifications e g a digital version of the vehicle s user manual stored in a memory of the device and or stored externally and accessible via a data network for example Once the one or more specifications are retrieved the portable Mar 20 2014 electronic device can identify the recommended fuel type for the vehicle At block 412 the recommended fuel type can be presented to the user via the user interface e g as audio output at a speaker and or as visual output on a display screen of the portable electronic device 0072 Depending on the nature of the request included in the received user input at block 412 the portable electronic device can identify and present content including any suitable specification for the vehicle as described herein such as a required oil type replacement part identifiers instructions for replacing a part information regarding the location and func tionality of the vehicle s user controls and or other specifi cations 0073 In so
48. sent invention vehicle specific hardware 234 can include one or more storage devices using fixed or removable storage media a GPS receiver a power supply and or power management circuitry environmental sensors e g temperature sensor pressure sensor accelerometer chemical sensor etc and or the like It is to be understood that any type of vehicle func tionality can be supported by providing appropriate vehicle specific hardware 234 0045 Device interface 236 can cooperate with communi cation module 232 to allow vehicle 204 to communicate with portable electronic device 202 In embodiments of the present invention device interface 236 can include a connector that mates directly with a connector included in portable elec tronic device 202 such as those used in various iPod iPhone and iPad products Such a connector can be used to supply power to portable electronic device 202 and or receive power from portable electronic device 202 to send and or receive audio and or video signals in analog and or digital formats and to communicate information using one or more data communication interfaces such as USB UART and or FireWire Other connectors may also be used for example device interface 236 can incorporate a standard USB connector and can connect to vehicle interface 228 of portable electronic device 202 via an adapter cable In other embodiments of the present invention device interface 236 can support wireless com
49. strates a system 100 including a portable electronic device 102 a vehicle 104 and an external data source 110 0020 Portable electronic device 102 can be for example a media player a smart phone a personal digital assistant a tablet computer a laptop computer or any other electronic device that is portable e g easily carried by a user from place to place and capable of communicating with other devices 0021 Vehicle 104 can be any suitable transportation machinery such as an automobile a truck a bus a tractor a golf cart a go kart a motorcycle a scooter a bicycle a motorized bicycle a boat a watercraft e g a jet ski an aircraft a lawn mower a snowmobile a remote controlled device e g a remote controlled car or airplane or the like 0022 As described herein portable electronic device 102 can receive a message from vehicle 104 the message includ ing a unique vehicle identifier for the vehicle For example the unique vehicle identifier can be a VIN or one or more hash values corresponding to the VIN A VIN is typically a unique serial number used by various vehicle industries to identify individual vehicles The VIN can be assigned at the time of manufacturing and can be determined by any suitable stan dard such as FMVSS 115 ISO 3779 SAE J853 ADR 61 2 or the like Further the VIN can include 17 alpha numeric char acters for example that correspond to various specifications for the vehicle such as
50. tifier For US 2014 0077972 Al example the message can contain a VIN for the vehicle or one or more has values corresponding to the VIN 0078 At block 508 user input can be received at a user interface of the portable electronic device For example in an embodiment the user interface can include an audio interface including a microphone and the user can provide input to the portable electronic device in the form of audio input e g spoken words or phrases In some embodiments the user interface can include a touch interface e g a touch screen and or control buttons and the user can provide input to the portable electronic device in the form of touch input 0079 A geographic location of the portable electronic device can also be determined For example at block 510 the portable electronic device can utilize a GPS cellular tower triangulation data cellular tower signal strength data wire less access point data an Internet Protocol IP address and or any suitable technique for determining a geographic loca tion of the portable electronic device 0080 Once the unique vehicle identifier and the user input are received and the geographic location of the device is determined at block 512 the portable electronic device can identify content based in part on the unique vehicle identifier in part on the received user input and in part on the deter mined geographic location In some embodiments the por table electro
51. ured to perform various opera tions e g by programming a processor or providing appro priate control circuitry and various blocks might or might not be reconfigurable depending on how the initial configuration is obtained Embodiments of the present invention can be realized in a variety of apparatus including electronic devices implemented using any combination of circuitry and soft ware 0049 Vehicle interface 228 of portable electronic device 202 and device interface 236 of vehicle 204 allow portable electronic device 202 to be connected with vehicle 204 and subsequently disconnected from vehicle 204 As used herein portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 are con nected whenever a communication channel is established between their respective interfaces and disconnected when the channel is terminated Such connection can be achieved via direct physical connection e g with mating connectors indirect physical connection e g via a cable and or wire less connection e g via Bluetooth or other suitable wireless protocol 0050 In some embodiments portable electronic device 202 and vehicle 204 can communicate while connected by exchanging messages and data according to an accessory protocol The messages and data can be communicated for example using any wired or wireless transport medium pro vided by the relevant interfaces 0051 The accessory protocol can define a universe of messages t
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