Automatic configuration of self-configurable environments

Abstract

A user's portable electronic device can learn configuration preferences from a first environment, such as the user's car, and when the user visits another similar environment, such as a rented automobile, those configuration preferences can be imported into the visited environment and used to automatically configure the environment according to the imported preferences.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A system comprising:
 a configurable component of a configurable environment;   a configuration module of the configurable environment, the configuration module of the configurable environment being configured to receive a configuration variable, and instruct the configurable component of the configurable environment to configure itself according to the configuration variable; and   a configuration application of a portable consumer electronic device, the configuration application being configured to send a configuration variable to the configuration module of the configurable environment to initiate configuration of the configurable environment.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 an environment-translation module configured to translate a standard configuration variable into a configuration variable specific to the configurable environment. 
 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1  further comprising:
 an environment-translation module configured to translate a configuration variable specific to the configurable environment into a standard configuration variable. 
 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration application includes a database configured to store the configuration variable. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration application includes an environment translation module configured to translate the configuration variable between a variable specific to the configurable environment and a standard variable that is not specific to any configurable environment. 
     
     
         6 . A method executed on a portable electronic device comprising:
 storing a configuration variable on the portable electronic device;   sending the configuration variable to a configurable environment; and   instructing the configurable environment to configure itself according to the configuration variable.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 receiving by a configuration application running on the portable electronic device an identification of the configurable environment. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising:
 translating the configuration variable into a device specific configuration variable associated with the identified configurable environment. 
 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 6  further comprising:
 receiving the configuration variable from a first configurable environment before storing the configuration variable on the portable electronic device. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein a subset of a plurality of configuration variables do not require translation. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readable instructions thereon, effective for causing a computer to execute the computer-readable instructions comprising:
 receiving a configuration variable from a first configurable environment;   storing the configuration variable in a portable electronic device;   sending the configuration variable to a second configurable environment; and   instructing the second configurable environment to configure itself according to the configuration variable.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11  further comprising:
 receiving by a configuration application running on the portable electronic device an identification of the second configurable environment. 
 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12  further comprising:
 translating the configuration variable into a environment specific configuration variable associated with the identified second configurable environment. 
 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 12 , wherein a subset of a plurality of configuration variables do not require translation.