US-12627389-B2 - Projection mode for vehicle receiver sources

US12627389B2US 12627389 B2US12627389 B2US 12627389B2US-12627389-B2

Abstract

Examples of the present disclosure relate to a device, method, and system for integrating a projection mode of a user mobile device with a terrestrial tuner. In an example, the system may be a vehicle including a head unit and a vehicle projection stack to operate in the head unit. The system may also include a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to the vehicle projection stack to receive a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source. The system may also include an audio driver to provide an audio signal to a vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack from a user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior.

Inventors

Shree Jaisimha
ARUN KRISHNAN PADMAKUMAR
Nicholas Cook

Assignees

Panasonic Automotive Systems America, LLC.

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20230627

Claims (18)

1 . A system in a vehicle for integrating a projection mode of a user mobile device with a terrestrial tuner, the system comprising: a head unit; a vehicle projection stack to operate in the head unit; a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to the vehicle projection stack to receive a terrestrial audio signal from a terrestrial source; and an audio driver to provide an audio signal to a vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack from a user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior; and wherein the head unit, in response to a signal received from a content application on the user mobile device, instructs the terrestrial tuner to reestablish the terrestrial signal in response to a linked service to the internet signal failing to reach an audio quality threshold at the audio driver.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the terrestrial signal is a signal from frequency modulation (FM) radio, amplitude modulation (AM) radio, simulcast radio, satellite radio, digital radio mondiale (DRM), or digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle projection stack provides radio station identification information to the user mobile device.
4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the vehicle projection stack instructs the head unit to display supplemental information provided by the user mobile device, the supplemental information corresponding to the radio station identification information provided to the user mobile device.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein a content application of the user mobile device compares a royalty cost of media being provided by the terrestrial signal and the internet signal, the vehicle projection stack to instruct the audio driver to provide a signal determined by the content application to have the lower royalty cost.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle projection stack provides metadata related to the terrestrial signal to a content application operating on the user mobile device.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the internet signal is provided by a uniform resources locator (URL) sent according to hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS).
8 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle projection stack requests a linked service to the internet signal in response to a detection that the terrestrial signal drops below a field strength threshold.
9 . A method for integrating a projection mode of a user mobile device with a terrestrial tuner, the method comprising: receiving a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source at a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to a vehicle projection stack, the vehicle projection stack operating in a head unit of a vehicle; and instructing, with the vehicle projection stack, an audio driver to provide an audio signal to a vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack from a user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior; and wherein the head unit, in response to a signal received from a content application on the user mobile device, instructs the terrestrial tuner to reestablish the terrestrial signal in response to a linked service to the internet signal failing to reach an audio quality threshold at the audio driver.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the terrestrial audio signal is a signal from frequency modulation (FM) radio, amplitude modulation (AM) radio, simulcast radio, satellite radio, digital radio mondiale (DRM), or digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio.
11 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the vehicle projection stack provides radio station identification information to the user mobile device.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle projection stack instructs the head unit to display supplemental information provided by the user mobile device, the supplemental information corresponding to the radio station identification information provided to the user mobile device.
13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein an audio quality of the terrestrial signal and the internet signal is compared on at least one of the head unit and the user mobile device, wherein the head unit instructs the audio driver to provide the audio signal determined to have higher audio quality.
14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein a content application of the user mobile device compares a royalty cost of media being provide by the terrestrial signal and the internet signal, the vehicle projection stack to instruct the audio driver to provide the audio signal determined by the content application to have lower royalty cost.
15 . A system for a vehicle with wireless communication components for integrating terrestrial tuner information, the vehicle comprising: a head unit; a processor to operate in the head unit; a vehicle projection stack to operate on the processor; a wireless communication component in the head unit to enable wireless communication to a user mobile device located inside a vehicle interior; a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to the vehicle projection stack to receive a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source; and an audio driver to provide an audio signal to the vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack through the wireless communication component connecting the head unit to the user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior; and wherein the head unit, in response to a signal received from a content application on the user mobile device, instructs the terrestrial tuner to reestablish the terrestrial signal in response to a linked service to the internet signal failing to reach an audio quality threshold at the audio driver.
16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the terrestrial signal is a signal from frequency modulation (FM) radio, amplitude modulation (AM) radio, simulcast radio, satellite radio, digital radio mondiale (DRM), or digital audio broadcasting (DAB) radio.
17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the vehicle projection stack provides radio station identification information to the user mobile device.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the vehicle projection stack instructs the head unit to display supplemental information provided by the user mobile device, the supplemental information corresponding to the radio station identification information provided to the user mobile device.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCED TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/519,619, filed on Nov. 5, 2021, which is currently under allowance, which claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/111,680, filed on Nov. 10, 2020, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties for all purposes. FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present disclosure generally relates to a method, system, and device to integrate car cabin media sources received at a terrestrial tuner with the functionality of a user device, such as a smartphone. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a number of use cases including simulcast audio, seamless content delivery from home to phone to vehicle, increasing vehicle media utility by pairing data delivery and applications from a mobile device with the terrestrial tuner of a vehicle. BACKGROUND This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present disclosure, which are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it can be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art. Vehicles can include a head unit which is a component providing a unified hardware interface for the system and may include screens, buttons and system controls for numerous integrated information and entertainment functions. Vehicles may also include a terrestrial tuner, for example, a radio antenna typically used for picking up radio station signals. Terrestrial tuners refer generally to the hardware used by a vehicle to detect land-based radio waves being broadcasting from a geographic location with enough strength to be detected and converted to audio data or other data. SUMMARY Generally, the present techniques relate to a system for integrating a projection mode of a user mobile device with a terrestrial tuner. The system may be a vehicle including a head unit and a vehicle projection stack to operate in the head unit. The system may also include a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to the vehicle projection stack to receive a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source. The system may also include an audio driver to provide an audio signal to a vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack from a user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior. The present techniques further include a method for tracking a driver location in a vehicle. The method may include receiving a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source at a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to a vehicle projection stack, the vehicle projection stack operating in a head unit of a vehicle. The method may also include instructing, with the vehicle projection stack, an audio driver to provide an audio signal to a vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack from a user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior. The present techniques also include a system for a vehicle with wireless communication components for integrating terrestrial tuner information. The system for the vehicle may include a head unit and a processor to operate in the head unit. The system for the vehicle may include a vehicle projection stack to operate on the processor as well as a wireless communication component in the head unit to enable wireless communication to a user mobile device located inside a vehicle interior. The system for the vehicle may include a terrestrial tuner communicatively coupled to the vehicle projection stack to receive a terrestrial signal from a terrestrial source. The system for the vehicle may include an audio driver to provide an audio signal to the vehicle interior where the audio signal is from at least one of the terrestrial signal and an internet signal received at the vehicle projection stack through the wires communication component connecting the head unit to the user mobile device located inside the vehicle interior. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The above-mentioned and other features and advantages of the present disclosure, and the manner of attaining them, may become apparent and be better understood by reference to the following description of one example of the disclosure in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, where: FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for integrating a terrestrial tuner into a projection mode of a user mobile device; FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example system for integrating a terrestrial tuner into a projection mode of a user mobile device; FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram o