(19) United States
`(12) Patent Application Publication (10) Pub. No.: US 2001/0025376 A1
`Knobl
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Sep. 27, 2001
`
`US 20010025376A1
`
`(54)
`
`AUDIO AND/OR VIDEO SYSTEM,
`PARTICULARLY FOR MOTOR VEHICLES
`OR HOME APPLICATIONS
`
`(75)
`
`Inventor: Karl-Heinz Knobl, Biebertal (DE)
`
`Correspondence Address:
`COHEN, PONTANI, LIEBERMAN & PAVANE
`551 Fifth Avenue, Suite 1210
`New York, NY 10176 (US)
`
`(73)
`
`Assignee: Mannesmann VDO AG
`
`(21)
`
`Appl. No.:
`
`09/748,600
`
`(22)
`
`Filed:
`
`Dec. 26, 2000
`
`(30)
`
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`
`Dec. 24, 1999
`
`(DE) ................................... .. 199 63 155.7
`
`Publication Classification
`
`Int. Cl.7 ..................................................... ..H04N 7/18
`(51)
`(52) U.S.Cl.
`.............................................................. .. 725/74
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`An audio/video system (A/V system) for motor vehicles
`includes a ring local area network, a plurality of assorted
`audio/video appliances (A/V appliances), one or more out-
`put units, a control unit, and at least one operating unit. The
`A/V appliances transmit information about their available
`audio/video presentations to the control unit via the network.
`The available A/V presentations are displayed on a display
`independently of the appliances and divided into classes.
`The result of this is an appliance-independent user interface
`on the basis of which the user can select the presentations
`independently of the appliances. The user chooses a presen-
`tation such as a radio station independently of which fre-
`quency or which A/V appliance (analog radio receiver or
`DAB receiver) is used to receive it. The control software is
`of modular design.
`
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 27, 2001 Sheet 1 of 4
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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`6
`
`5
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`4
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`7
`
`8
`
`[3
`
`DAB
`
`‘ M/F
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`Fig.
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 27, 2001 Sheet 2 of 4
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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` Output appliances:
`
`___E_____L°"d593k9’3 Passenger monitor
`Headphones
`Rear seat monitor
`
` 22
`
`20
`
`16
`
`33
`
`21
`
`14
`
`Fig. 2
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 27, 2001 Sheet 3 of 4
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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`16
`
`
`
`
`Output appliances:
`Loudspeakers
`Passenger monitor
`H Rear seat monitor
`
`
`
`Class
`Station
`Tyge
`
`PTY1
`PTY2
`
`Name
`SWR1
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`16
`
`Reports
`Titte
`
`PTY3
`
`
`
`
`Output appliances:
`Loudspeaker
`Passenger monitor
`Headphones 1
`Rear seat monitor
`Headphones 2
`
`
`
`
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`Fig 3
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`Fig 4
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`Patent Application Publication
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`Sep. 27, 2001 Sheet 4 of 4
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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`Rear monitor
`
`1
`Option
`Loudspeakers
`Headghones 1
`
`Headphones 2
`Front monitor
`
`16
`
`16
`
`
`
`Fig.5
`
`Fig.6
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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`Sep. 27, 2001
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`AUDIO AND/OR VIDEO SYSTEM, PARTICULARLY
`FOR MOTOR VEHICLES OR HOME
`APPLICATIONS
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0001]
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`[0002] The invention relates to an audio/video system
`having a plurality of assorted audio/video appliances, in
`particular for motor vehicles or for home applications.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Description of the Related Art
`
`[0004] Various audio appliances and occasionally also
`video appliances are presently used in motor vehicles today.
`These are frequently separate appliances which are not
`connected to one another and are therefore operated sepa-
`rately. Although the appliances are sometimes connected to
`one another, it is generally possible to connect only particu-
`lar appliances from a particular manufacturer to one another,
`which restricts the user severely when expanding the sys-
`tem. In the future, more audio and/or video appliances (A/V
`appliances) will be used in motor vehicles. Besides the radio
`receivers with cassette players and CD players which are
`already frequently installed in motor vehicles today, other
`A/V appliances which may be used include, by way of
`example, DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) players, DAB (Digi-
`tal Audio Broadcasting) receivers and TV tuners. In addi-
`tion,
`the number of output media may be significantly
`increased by headphone connections at the individual seats
`or by a number of displays. However, the increase in types
`of appliances that are arranged in one motor vehicle
`increases the complexity of operating these appliances and
`compatibility issues increasingly arise as more appliances
`are added. For example, radio programs may be received
`using either a conventional analog radio receiver or a digital
`DAB receiver. Therefore, the user must decide from which
`source he wants to obtain the desired audio and/or video
`presentation (A/V presentation) and to select the presenta-
`tion using the appropriate user interface.
`
`[0005] PCT Publication No. WO 99/35009 discloses a
`motor vehicle computer system having an audio entertain-
`ment system. The computer system provides an audio man-
`ager API (Application Program Interface), which permits the
`system to control the various audio sources without needing
`to know the specific hardware and implementation details.
`The computer system operates using an open operating
`system, particularly Windows CE.
`
`[0006] European Patent Publication No. EP 0 932 132 A2
`discloses a navigation system for motor vehicles which is
`linked to multimedia applications via an interface. The
`interface is likewise an API. To connect the multimedia
`
`application to the navigation system independently of the
`specific platform for the system used, appropriately suitable
`programming languages which are known per se are used
`such as, for example, Java.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`[0007] The object of the invention is to provide an audio/
`video system (A/V system) including a plurality of audio
`and/or video appliances (A/V appliances) which is simple to
`operate and allows a user to select and use a selected
`audio/visual presentation of one of the plural A/V appli-
`ances.
`
`[0008] The object of the present invention is achieved by
`an A/V system having a local area network containing a data
`network and a control bus and a plurality of nodes, a
`plurality of assorted A/V appliances respectively connected
`to the plural nodes of the local area network and designed for
`transmitting information about their available audio and/or
`video presentations (A/V presentations) via the local area
`network. The A/V presentations may, for example, include
`informative and/or entertainment presentations. The A/V
`system further includes at least one audio and/or visual
`output unit (A/V output unit) for audio and/or video signals,
`a control unit having a control program and a memory which
`stores the information about the available A/V presentations
`which have been transmitted to the control unit from the A/V
`appliances, an operating unit connected to the control unit,
`and a visual output unit which displays the information
`about the available A/V presentations independently of the
`A/V appliances, the display of information being divided
`into classes.
`
`[0009] The local area network is arranged in a motor
`vehicle or a home. The local area network includes a data
`network and a control bus.
`In addition,
`the local area
`network has nodes to which the A/V appliances may be
`connected. The local area network may advantageously be in
`the form of a ring network, more specifically an optical ring
`network. In this context, particular preference is given to an
`inherently known optical network based on the optical
`technology standards Domestic Digital Bus (D2B) or Media
`Oriented Systems Transport (MOST). The essential features
`of MOST technology are optical data transmission via
`plastic optical fibers in a ring topology with a large band-
`width which is currently 22.5 Mbit/s. Both control com-
`mands and status information are transmitted. Furthermore,
`it is possible to transmit both data streams, for example for
`audio and video applications, and data packets for graphics
`or navigation.
`
`[0010] Besides the currently available A/V appliances
`such as radio receivers, cassette players and CD players or
`CD changers which are in widespread use in motor vehicles,
`the A/V appliances contemplated by the present invention
`further include a TV tuner, a DVD, a DAB appliance, and
`any other A/V device which is installable in a moto vehicle.
`According to the present invention, the A/V appliances each
`transmit information about their available A/V presentations
`via the ring local area network. If the A/V appliance is a
`radio receiver,
`the information about
`the available A/V
`presentations includes, for example, the names of the radio
`stations which can be received and information about the
`
`presentations transmitted by the respective radio stations,
`such as news, sport reports, music, traffic reports, etc. This
`information is already being transmitted by today’s radio
`stations in the (Radio Data System) RDS message. If the
`A/V appliance is a CD player, the information about the
`available A/V presentations may include the music titles on
`an inserted audio CD.
`
`[0011] The A/V system has at least one A/V output unit
`and preferably includes a plurality of A/V output units.
`Besides the loudspeakers which are normally installed in the
`vehicle,
`the output units may include headphones at the
`individual seat positions in the motor vehicle. The individual
`headphones allow each passenger to receive an individual
`audio program. In addition, a plurality of displays may be
`provided in the motor vehicle such as, for example, a front
`
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`US 2001/0025376 A1
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`display for the front seat passenger and a rear display for the
`rear seat passengers. In conjunction with the headphones,
`various video presentations may thus also be used by the
`passengers.
`
`[0012] The central component of the A/V system accord-
`ing to the present invention is a control unit having a control
`program and a memory which stores the information about
`the available A/V presentations which have been transmitted
`from each of the A/V appliances to the control unit. At least
`one operating unit for the system is connected to the control
`unit. In addition, a visual output unit is connected to the
`control unit. The visual output unit may be one of the
`displays already mentioned above which is also used as an
`A/V output unit. However, the visual output unit may also be
`a separate display screen designed only for displaying the
`information required to operate the system. The separate
`display screen may, for example, be arranged on the at least
`one operating unit. According to the invention, the visual
`output unit displays the information about the available A/V
`presentations independently of the appliances and divides
`the information into classes. Since the display of informa-
`tion is independent of the various A/V appliances, the user
`is not required to look at each individual A/V appliance to
`select a desired A/V presentation. Instead, the user receives
`a full overview of the available A/V presentations divided
`into classes to achieve a clear mode of representation. The
`information about the class to which an A/V presentation
`belongs may be transmitted directly from the A/V appliances
`to the control unit. However, the information transmitted
`from the A/V appliances about the available A/V presenta-
`tion may also be processed further in the control unit by a
`suitable computer program. For example, a radio receiver
`may transmit the information that it has a particular station
`available which transmits traffic information. However, the
`control unit may assign traffic information to a “Reports”
`class together with other information presentations, such as
`news.
`
`In addition, an appliance may also transmit a
`[0013]
`plurality of information items about the content of an A/V
`presentation. By way of example, a radio station may be
`identified as a supplier of traffic reports, news and music.
`Accordingly, an individual A/V presentation may be repre-
`sented in different classes. Such processing of the transmit-
`ted information is also performed by the control unit.
`
`In a further embodiment, the information about the
`[0014]
`A/V presentations may be in an output form in which each
`class contains at least one subclass (i.e., option). In this
`embodiment, the classes, the options for a selected class and
`also names for the individual A/V presentations in the
`selected class and option are displayed. Both the class and
`the option are in the form of so-called prototypes, i.e. they
`can be expanded as desired. The classes may include
`“Type”, “Title” or “Station”. The options for the “Type”
`class may, for example, include “Action”, “Pop”, “Classi-
`cal”, “News” etc. The associated names of the A/V presen-
`tations may, for example, be the name of a radio station or
`the title of a CD inserted into the CD player. If the “Title”
`class is selected, the options may comprise, for example,
`“CD”, “Side A” or “Side B” or a data medium name. Names
`of the A/V presentations in this regard are title names such
`as music titles. Options which may be cited for the “Station”
`class are “Radio” or “TV”, the names of the A/V presenta-
`tions denoting the individual stations.
`
`[0015] According to the present invention, the control unit
`is used to select one of the available A/V presentations
`independently of the appliances. If a user has selected a
`particular radio station at the control unit using the “Type”
`class and the “Pop” option, the radio station is automatically
`retrieved by the control unit and is output via the audio
`output unit without the user needing to know or select the
`receiving appliance.
`
`[0016] The A/V system has a plurality of A/V output units
`for A/V signals which may be selected via the operating unit.
`Accordingly, the operator can change over from the “Loud-
`speakers” output unit to the “Headphones” output unit. If the
`A/V system has a plurality of operating units, conflicts may
`arise in which different users may choose different output
`units for the same A/V presentation or the same output unit
`for different A/V presentations. To avoid these conflicts,
`each operating unit has a priority allocated to it. A selection
`made using an operating unit having relatively low priority
`may be modified only by an operating unit having the same
`or higher priority. For example, the operating unit for the
`driver is assigned the highest priority and the operating unit
`for the front seat passenger is assigned the second highest
`priority, while the operating units for the rear seat passengers
`are assigned a relatively low priority. If the driver selects a
`station for the playback of traffic information and wants to
`have the traffic information output via the loudspeakers, then
`neither the front seat passenger nor the rear seat passengers
`can send another A/V presentation to the Loudspeakers
`output unit.
`
`[0017] The same A/V presentations may be provided by
`different A/V appliances in the overall system. The same
`music title may be available on an inserted CD and on an
`audio cassette. The same radio station may be available both
`via the analog radio receiver and via the digital DAB system.
`In this case, the user can manually select which appliance is
`to output the chosen A/V presentation via the output unit.
`However, priorities may be assigned to the A/V appliances
`themselves. In this embodiment, if the same A/V presenta-
`tion is available from a plurality of appliances,
`the A/V
`appliance with the highest priority is connected to the output
`unit. Thus, a higher priority may be allocated to the DAB
`receiver than to the analog radio receiver or a higher priority
`may be allocated to the CD player than to the cassette player
`because of the superior playback quality.
`
`the A/V system according to the
`In addition,
`[0018]
`present invention reduces the volume of the output when the
`chosen A/V presentation is being changed so that the tran-
`sition is made at a reduced volume. This is known as a “soft
`mute”. In this context, after a new selection is made, the
`volume is first reduced, the change of presentation to be
`output is then made, and finally the volume is increased back
`to the original value.
`
`[0019] The local area network for the A/V system accord-
`ing to the present invention is an open system, i.e., appli-
`ances from a wide variety of manufacturers may be inte-
`grated. To this end, the system has virtual interfaces, such as
`the known Application Program Interfaces (APIs).
`
`[0020] The control unit includes a control program with a
`plurality of service modules which are produced in a plat-
`form-independent language. In this case, the preferred pro-
`gramming language is Java and to the Java-based JiniTM
`technology from the company Sun Microsystems using
`
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`object-oriented programming methods. Java programs are
`translated by a compiler into a so-called byte code which can
`be executed using any microprocessor having a byte code
`interpreter, which provides the desired flexibility in terms of
`different A/V appliances.
`
`[0021] The control program contains a first service module
`(Provider Service) to ensure that a suitable audio or video
`appliance is selected for playing back the chosen A/V
`presentation.
`
`In addition, a second service module (Terminal
`[0022]
`Service) is arranged for selecting and managing the output
`units. A third service module (Network Service) is used to
`connect
`the network’s node addresses stipulated by the
`selection of second and third service modules,
`i.e.,
`the
`Provider Service and of the Terminal Service. In addition,
`there is a fourth service module (Rendering Service), which
`requests the operation of the other service modules. The
`control program also contains a registration module for
`registering newly connected A/V appliances.
`
`[0023] An inventive method according to the present
`invention for operating a local multimedia system having a
`plurality of assorted A/V appliances has the following
`method steps:
`
`transmitting information about available A/V pre-
`[0024]
`sentations from the A/V appliances to a control unit, the
`information including one or more classifications of the
`available A/V presentations,
`
`processing the information about the available A/V
`[0025]
`presentations into classes independently of the appliances
`using the classifications,
`
`outputting the information about the available A/V
`[0026]
`presentations which has been processed into classes inde-
`pendently of the appliances on a visual output unit,
`
`selecting an A/V output unit which is suitable for
`[0027]
`playing back the A/V presentation selected independently of
`the appliances using an operating unit,
`
`connecting the selected A/V appliance to the
`[0028]
`selected A/V output unit, and
`
`playing back the selected A/V presentation via the
`[0029]
`selected A/V output unit.
`
`[0030] The processed information about the available A/V
`presentations has, as already mentioned, a class, a subclass
`(option) and a name. In one specific embodiment, the control
`program in turn has the Provider Service module,
`the
`Terminal Service module, Rendering Service module, and
`the Network Service module already mentioned above. The
`class, option and name selected by a user are transferred to
`the Rendering Service module. The Rendering Service mod-
`ule queries the registration module for a provider (A/V
`appliance) which can play back the content of the selected
`A/V presentation. When the provider found,
`the type of
`medium and the node address of the found provider is
`supplied to the Rendering Service module. This information
`can be used to request a suitable A/V output unit via the
`Terminal Service module. Finally,
`the Network Service
`module receives the request
`to connect
`the two node
`addresses to one another.
`
`[0031] Other objects and features of the present invention
`will become apparent from the following detailed descrip-
`tion considered in conjunction with the accompanying draw-
`ings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are
`designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a
`definition of the limits of the invention, for which reference
`should be made to the appended claims. It should be further
`understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to
`scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely
`intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and proce-
`dures described herein.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`In the drawings, wherein like reference characters
`[0032]
`denote similar elements throughout the several views:
`
`[0033] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an A/V system
`having the ring network structure according to an embodi-
`ment of the present invention;
`
`[0034] FIG. 2 is a front view of an operating unit with a
`display showing a first classification;
`
`[0035] FIG. 3 is a view of the display as in FIG. 2
`showing a second classification;
`
`[0036] FIG. 4 is a view of a display as in FIG. 2 showing
`a third classification;
`
`[0037] FIG. 5 is a view of a display having a second
`appliance-independent output format; and
`
`[0038] FIG. 6 is a view of a display having a third
`appliance-independent output format.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE
`PRESENTLY PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
`
`[0039] FIG. 1 shows the structure of an A/V system
`according to the present invention. An optical network 1
`connects together a plurality of assorted A/V appliances 2-7,
`a plurality of output units 8-11 and a control unit 12, which
`are connected to nodes 13 in the optical network 1. The
`optical network 1 contains a media data network 30 which
`permits it to route data streams. In addition,
`the optical
`network 1 contains a control bus 31 for sending commands
`to the nodes 13 in the network 1. In the illustrative embodi-
`
`ment, the optical network 1 is an optical ring produced using
`Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST) standard tech-
`nology. Alternatively, other standards such as Domestic
`Digital Bus (D2B) may also be used. The A/V appliances 2-7
`provided in the illustrative embodiment are, more specifi-
`cally, a CD changer 2, an analog radio receiver 3, a DAB
`receiver 4 for digital radio reception, a cassette player 5, a
`TV receiver 6 and a DVD player 7. It should be noted that
`for purposes of this specification and claims,
`the phrase
`audio/visual
`relates to devices that output audio
`and/or video signals. The output units provided include two
`monitors 8, 9, a loudspeaker system 10 and headphones 11.
`The control unit 12 has two operating units 14, 15 connected
`to it. The operating unit 14 is connected to the control unit
`12 by a hard-wired connection and operating unit 15 is
`connected to the control unit 12 by a wireless connection. Of
`course, both operating units 14, 15 may be connected by a
`hard-wired connection or a wireless connection. The wire-
`
`less connection may be effected, for example, via an infrared
`interface or via a short-haul radio link such as the Bluetooth
`
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`method. presentation and at least one classification. For the
`CD changer 2, the title of the inserted CD and also the titles
`of the individual pieces of music and a classification for
`these pieces of music, such as “Rock”, “Pop” or “Folk
`music”, are transmitted. This information may be stored on
`the CD itself. However, the CD may also be identified by a
`key (e.g. TotalTrackTime*Tracks) and the information about
`the CD may be taken from a database.
`
`[0040] For the analog radio receiver 3 and the DAB
`receiver 4,
`the names of the received radio stations and
`identifiers for the programs broadcast by these radio stations
`are transmitted. The program contents may, for example,
`have the classification such as News, Traffic reports, Music
`etc. This information is already transmitted from transmitter
`installations to the radio receiver for the most part using the
`Radio Data System (RDS) signal.
`
`[0041] The TV receiver 6 also provides information about
`the receivable stations and their program contents. In addi-
`tion,
`television programs may also be obtained over the
`Internet, for example, together with information about pro-
`gram contents.
`
`[0042] The DVD player 7 transmits information including
`the title of a movie stored on the inserted data medium and
`
`the classification for the movie. This information may like-
`wise be stored on the storage medium itself or may be
`obtained from a database.
`
`In an alternative embodiment of the present inven-
`[0043]
`tion, classifications for individual presentations such as
`radio stations may also be stored in the control unit, which
`obviates the need for transmission of the classification in this
`
`case. In addition, not all the connected A/V appliances 2-7
`need to transmit detailed information regarding classifica-
`tions for the available A/V presentations. For example, it
`may be sufficient for the CD changer 2 to transmit the titles
`of the music such as “Title 1”, “Title 2”.
`
`[0044] The information transmitted from the A/V appli-
`ances 2-7 about the available A/V presentations is processed
`further in the control unit 12. This allows an A/V presenta-
`tion such as a radio station to be assigned to a plurality of
`classes. The classified A/V presentations are displayed on
`displays 16, 17 on the operating units 14, 15 independently
`of the appliances. The keypads 18, 19 may be used to select
`one of the A/V presentations. In addition, the output unit
`may also be chosen. This information is again transmitted to
`the control unit 12. The control unit 12 then selects one of
`
`the A/V appliances 2-7 which has the desired A/V presen-
`tation available. A desired radio station may, for example, be
`provided both via the analog radio receiver 3 and via the
`DAB receiver 4. Each of the A/V appliances is assigned a
`priority. Therefore, when the desired presentation is pro-
`vided by a plurality of the A/V appliances 2-7,
`the A/V
`appliance having the highest priority is selected. Stipulation
`of such priorities is always useful when a plurality of
`appliances have similar presentations available. In general,
`the A/V appliance expected to have the highest playback
`quality is assigned the highest priority and will be selected.
`The A/V appliance selected by the control unit 12 is then
`connected to the selected output unit. For an audio playback,
`the output unit may be the headphones 11. The program from
`the radio transmitter chosen by the operator is now trans-
`mitted from the DAB receiver 4 to the headphones 11 and is
`output via the latter, for example.
`
`[0045] A control program 32 runs the control unit 12 and
`is of modular design. The control program contains a
`module called the registration module 33, where all the
`available services of the system are registered. The services
`required are also requested in the register. If the user has
`selected an A/V presentation, then the class, the option and
`the name of this presentation are transferred to the so-called
`“Rendering Service” module 37. The Rendering Service
`module 37 asks the Provider Service module 34 for a
`
`provider, i.e., one of the A/V appliances 2-7 which can play
`back the selected A/V presentation. The A/V appliance
`which is found by the “Provider Service” module 34 sup-
`plies the type of medium and the node address to the
`Rendering Service module 37. This information is used to
`request a suitable A/V output unit via the Terminal Service
`module 35 stipulating the A/V output unit. If a plurality of
`output units are available,
`the user chooses the desired
`output which is accepted taking into account possible pri-
`orities. Finally, a further module of the control program
`called the Network Service module 36 receives a request
`from the Rendering Service module 37 to connect the two
`node addresses for the selected A/V appliance and for the
`selected output unit.
`
`[0046] The operating units 14, 15 are also used to enter the
`Start, Stop and Volume information and to forward this
`information to the appropriate A/V appliance and/or output
`unit. In the illustrative embodiment, two operating units 14,
`15 are provided. The operating unit 14 may be permanently
`installed in the vehicle and is allocated to the vehicle driver.
`
`The operating unit 15 is a remote control which may also be
`used by any of the passengers. The operating units 14, 15 are
`provided with a priority, the operating unit 14 associated
`with the vehicle driver having a higher priority than the
`operating unit 15. Requests made using the operating unit 14
`cannot be overwritten by the operating unit 15. Such a
`hierarchical arrangement of the operating units avoids con-
`flicts when selecting A/V appliances or output units.
`
`In addition, the A/V system of FIG. 1 may also
`[0047]
`include a navigation system for motor vehicles. The CD
`changer 2 may therefore also be used for reading map data
`stored on a CD.
`
`[0048] According to the present invention, the A/V pre-
`sentations are divided into classes and are displayed inde-
`pendently of the appliances for the purpose of selection. This
`can be seen in more detail from FIG. 2 which shows the
`
`operating unit 14. The display 16 shows the available classes
`“Station”, “Type”, “Reports” and “Title”. Reports may, for
`example,
`include information which is not continuously
`available,
`i.e.,
`information which is not available as a
`continuous data stream. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the
`“Reports” class has been selected. The selection of the
`“Reports” class is shown in FIG. 2 by underlining. In actual
`operating units,
`the selected class may be identified in
`various ways, for example using a different color or using a
`colored background. The display 16 shows the options
`available for the selected “Reports” class. These options are
`the “News”, “Traffic” and “Alarm”. The “Traflic” option has
`been selected in the illustrative embodiment shown. This
`
`option denotes data sources providing information about
`current traffic holdups. The column under the heading Name
`now lists the data suppliers available for the “Traffic” option.
`In the illustrative embodiment, these are three radio stations
`HR3, SWR3 and FFH. The station HR3 has been selected.
`
`Honda Exhibit 1013
`
`Page 9
`
`Honda Exhibit 1013
`Page 9
`
`

`
`US 2001/0025376 A1
`
`Sep. 27, 2001
`
`In this context, the selection is made independently of the
`appliances. That is, the user does not need to think about
`which of the available A/V appliances is used to present and
`receive the supplier of traffic reports HR3.
`
`[0049] The bottom area of the display 16 lists the available
`output units which include the vehicle’s loudspeaker system,
`headphones, a monitor on the front seat passenger’s side and
`a monitor for the rear seats. In FIG. 2, the output appliance
`chosen was the loudspeaker, and hence an audio output
`source.
`
`respective field element now being displayed. The field
`elements can be browsed by scrolling through the different
`lists of fields and selected.
`
`[0056] The invention has been explained in more detail
`with the aid of an illustrative embodiment. The person
`skilled in the art will be able to make modifications, par-
`ticularly with regard to the network specifically used or to
`the implementation of the control program in terms of
`software, without departing from the invention’s novel basic
`idea.
`
`[0050] By showing the available A/V presentations, put
`into order by class, option and name, and listing the avail-
`able output appliances, an appliance-independent user inter-
`face is created. This allows the user to operate all appliances
`using one interface so that the user does not have to tackle
`different operating concepts for the individual appliances. In
`other words, the present invention allows the various A/V
`appliances 2-7, which may be made by different manufac-
`turers, to operated as a system, not as individual compo-
`nents. In this case, a wide variaty of classes and options may
`be used as well as a wide variety of difference appliances.
`The type of A/V appliances are limited only by which can be
`connected in the overall system. The concept is implemented
`in software terms using the inherently known platform-
`independent programming language Java or another appro-
`priately suitable programming language, or using JiniTM
`technology, which is based on Java.
`
`[0051] Besides the display 16, the operating unit 14 has
`operating elements 20 to 23. The operating element 20 is for
`starting playback and the operating element 21 is for ending
`playback. Operating element 22 is for setting the volume and
`the operating element 23 may be used to indicate and select
`the selection options shown on the display 16. The operating
`element 23 may, for example, be a rotary/push-in co