System and method of determining occupant location using connected devices

Abstract

A vehicle computing system enabling one or more processors to establish a communication connection with at least one of a plurality of handheld computing devices within a vehicle while enabling and determining infotainment control based on the location of the handheld device in the vehicle. The system may determine if the at least one of a plurality of handheld computing devices is a driver or non-driver handheld computing device based on a detected location of the communication connection. The system may determine that the at least one of a plurality of handheld computing devices is a non-driver handheld computing device based on the detected location, therefore enabling infotainment control from the non-driver handheld device. The system may determine that the at least one of a plurality of handheld computing devices is a driver handheld computing device based on the detected location, therefore limiting infotainment control from the driver handheld device.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A vehicle computing system comprising:
 a controller programed to,   in response to a wireless device communicating with the controller, recognize the wireless device as a driver or non-driver device using a seat sensor and one or more seat connections, and   in response to the wireless device being recognized as the driver device, enable a lock-out restriction for control of vehicle infotainment settings from the wireless device.   
     
     
         22 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 21 , wherein the seat sensor is a weight sensor. 
     
     
         23 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 21 , wherein the sensor is a body temperature sensor. 
     
     
         24 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 23 , wherein the controller is further programed to measure a body temperature via the body temperature sensor to detect a driver or non-driver passenger associated with the wireless device. 
     
     
         25 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more seat connections are at least one of physical connection port and a wireless transceiver. 
     
     
         26 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 25 , wherein the physical connection port is associated with a port address for a vehicle seat to identify the wireless device connected to the physical connection port as the driver or non-driver device. 
     
     
         27 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 25 , wherein the controller is further programmed to measure signal strength via the wireless transceiver to recognize the wireless device as the driver or non-driver device. 
     
     
         28 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 21 , wherein the controller is further programmed to enable control of infotainment settings in response to recognizing the wireless device as the non-driver device. 
     
     
         29 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 28 , wherein the lock-out restriction is a reduced amount of control as compared to the non-driver device to adjust current infotainment settings. 
     
     
         30 . The vehicle computing system of  claim 29  wherein the controller is further programed to allow the driver device to limit infotainment control from the non-driver device. 
     
     
         31 . A method comprising:
 in response to a request for remote infotainment control from a wireless device via an established communication link with a vehicle processor, detecting, via the vehicle processor, a location of the wireless device using a seat sensor and a seat connection; and   enabling the remote infotainment control at the wireless device if the detected location is a non-driver location based on signal measurements from the seat sensor and seat transceiver.   
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the seat sensor is at least one of a weight sensor and a body temperature sensor. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising measuring a body temperature via the body temperature sensor to detect a driver or non-driver passenger associated with the wireless device. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 31 , wherein the seat connection is at least one of a physical connection port and a wireless transceiver. 
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the physical connection port is associated with a port address for a vehicle seat to identify the wireless device connected to the physical connection port as the driver or non-driver device. 
     
     
         36 . A computer-program product embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored instructions for programming a processor, comprising instructions for:
 establishing a communication connection with a plurality of computing devices within a vehicle;   determining if at least one of the plurality of computing devices is a driver or non-driver device based on a seat connection; and   enabling a reduced amount of infotainment control for the driver device detected via the seat connection.   
     
     
         37 . The computer-program product of  claim 36 , wherein the seat connection is at least one of a physical connection port and a wireless transceiver. 
     
     
         38 . The computer-program product of  claim 37 , wherein the physical connection port is associated with a port address for a vehicle seat to identify the wireless device connected to the physical connection port as the driver or non-driver device. 
     
     
         39 . The computer-program product of  claim 36 , wherein the non-transitory computer readable medium further comprises instructions for, in response to the wireless device being detected as the non-driver device, enabling control to adjust current infotainment settings for a vehicle from the non-driver device. 
     
     
         40 . The computer-program product of  claim 36 , wherein the reduced amount of infotainment control is determined relative to infotainment control by the non-driver device.