Apparatus and Method of Software Implementation Between a Vehicle and Mobile Device

Abstract

A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the mobile device. The VCS also includes a VCS software stack configured to interact with a mobile device software stack and a processor configured to receive a message from the mobile device indicating a version of the mobile device software stack. The processor is also configured to determine if the VCS needs an update to the VCS software stack based at least upon the version of the mobile device software stack, download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server, update the VCS to include the updated VCS software stack, and communicate with the mobile device utilizing the updated VCS software stack.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate with a mobile device, comprising:
 a processor configured to:
 1.) receive a message from a wireless transceiver in communication with a mobile device, wherein the message indicates a version of the mobile device software stack; 
 2.) determine if the VCS needs an update to a VCS software stack located in memory of the VCS and configured to interact with the mobile device; 
 3.) download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server; 
 4.) update the VCS to include the updated VCS software stack. 
   
     
     
         22 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the determination is based upon the version of the mobile device software stack. 
     
     
         23 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , the processor further configured detect an error during a download cycle and output an error message on a display of the VCS. 
     
     
         24 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to download an update to the VCS software stack from an off-board server utilizing the mobile device. 
     
     
         25 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to receive a request from the mobile device download an additional VCS software stack including a unique human machine interface. 
     
     
         26 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 25 , wherein the processor is further configured to output the unique human machine interface upon downloading the additional VCS software stack. 
     
     
         27 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine if sufficient memory space is available to download the update to the VCS software stack. 
     
     
         28 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine if sufficient memory space is available to install the update to the VCS software stack. 
     
     
         29 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the processor is further configured to determine if sufficient memory space is available to download and install the update to the VCS software stack. 
     
     
         30 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 21 , wherein the message includes information regarding a manufacturer of the mobile device or information regarding an operating system of the mobile device. 
     
     
         31 . A vehicle computer system (VCS) configured to communicate ae mobile device, comprising:
 a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with the mobile device located;   a VCS software profile configured to interact with a mobile device software profile;   a processor configured to:
 1.) receive a message from the mobile device located in the vehicle indicating a version of the VCS software profile; 
 2.) determine if the VCS needs an update to the VCS software profile based at least upon the version of the mobile device software profile; 
 3.) determine if sufficient memory space is available to download and install the update to the VCS software profile. 
 4.) download a software update to the VCS software profile from an off-board server, the software update including additional features specific to the mobile device located in the vehicle; 
 4.) update the VCS to include the software update; 
 5.) communicate with the mobile device utilizing the updated VCS software profile. 
   
     
     
         32 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 31 , wherein the processor is further configured detect an error during a download cycle and output an error message on a display of the VCS. 
     
     
         33 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 31 , wherein the processor is further configured to output a notification to insert an external memory device when sufficient memory space is not available to download and install the update to the VCS software profile. 
     
     
         34 . The vehicle computer system configured to communicate with a mobile device of  claim 31 , wherein the message from the wireless transceiver includes information regarding a manufacturer of the mobile device or an operating system of the mobile device. 
     
     
         35 . A method of communicating with a mobile device (MD), comprising:
 receiving a message from the mobile device (MD) located in a vehicle indicating a version of a MD software stack;   determining if a vehicle software stack requires an update in response to the version of the MD software stack;   downloading and installing the update from an off-board server;   providing an error log of software issues to the server;   communicating with the MD utilizing the update.   
     
     
         36 . The method of communicating with a mobile device (MD) of  claim 35 , wherein the method includes outputting an error message on a display of a vehicle computer system (VCS). 
     
     
         37 . The method of communicating with a mobile device (MD) of  claim 35 , wherein the error message indicates software issues of the vehicle software stack. 
     
     
         38 . The method of communicating with a mobile device (MD) of  claim 35 , wherein the error message indicates that memory space is unavailable on the VCS. 
     
     
         39 . The method of communicating with a mobile device (MD) of  claim 35 , the method further including the step of outputting a notification to insert an external memory device when sufficient memory space is not available to download and install the update to the vehicle software stack. 
     
     
         40 . The method of communicating with a mobile device (MD) of  claim 35 , the method further including the step of outputting a notification that a network connection error is present when no connection is available to download the update.