Methods and systems for automatically pairing a personal electronic device on a transportation vehicle

Abstract

Methods and systems for a transportation vehicle are provided. For example, one method includes requesting a network connection by an electronic device to a network on a transportation vehicle; transmitting passenger information by the electronic device to a transportation vehicle computing device, after the network connection is established; verifying passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device; requesting confirmation of passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device; and enabling communication from the electronic device to a system of the transportation vehicle for managing one or more seat control functions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A machine implemented method, comprising:
 requesting a network connection by an electronic device to a network on a transportation vehicle;   transmitting passenger information by the electronic device to a transportation vehicle computing device, after the network connection is established;   verifying passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device;   requesting confirmation of passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device; and   enabling communication from the electronic device to a system of the transportation vehicle for managing one or more seat control functions.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft, the electronic device is a personal electronic device (PED), the system is an inflight entertainment system, and the network connection is a wireless connection. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the inflight entertainment system includes a plurality of seat devices, and the passenger information identifies a passenger for associating the PED with one of the seat devices in the plurality. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the transportation vehicle computing device comprises an onboard management system that stores passenger manifest data and compares the passenger information with the passenger manifest data. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising receiving confirmation of a passenger seat number by the onboard management system. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the network connection is a wireless connection. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the transportation vehicle is one of a train, a bus, a ship and a recreation vehicle. 
     
     
         8 . A non-transitory machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions for performing a method, comprising machine executable code which when executed by at least one machine, causes the machine to:
 request a network connection by an electronic device to a network on a transportation vehicle;   transmit passenger information by the electronic device to a transportation vehicle computing device, after the network connection is established;   verify passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device;   request confirmation of passenger information by the transportation vehicle computing device; and   enable communication from the electronic device to a system of the transportation vehicle for managing one or more seat control functions.   
     
     
         9 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft, the electronic device is a personal electronic device (PED), and the system is an inflight entertainment system. 
     
     
         10 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the inflight entertainment system includes a plurality of seat devices, and the passenger information identifies a passenger for associating the PED with one of the seat devices in the plurality. 
     
     
         11 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 9 , wherein the transportation vehicle computing device comprises an onboard management system that stores passenger manifest data and compares the passenger information with the passenger manifest data. 
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the machine executable code which when executed by at least one machine, further causes the machine to: receive confirmation of a passenger seat number by the onboard management system. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the network connection is a wireless connection. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory machine readable medium of  claim 8 , wherein the transportation vehicle is one of a train, a bus, a ship and a recreation vehicle. 
     
     
         15 . A system for a transportation vehicle for use with a passenger having an electronic device, the system comprising:
 a network and a computing device in communication with the network, the computing device including a memory containing a machine readable medium storing passenger manifest data and machine executable code, and a processor module coupled to the memory to execute the machine executable code to:   request a network connection by the electronic device to the network on the transportation vehicle;   transmit passenger information by the electronic device to the computing device, after the network connection is established;   verify passenger information by the computing device;   request confirmation of passenger information by the computing device; and   enable communication from the electronic device to a system of the transportation vehicle for managing one or more seat control functions.   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the transportation vehicle is an aircraft, the electronic device is a personal electronic device (PED), and the system of the transportation vehicle system is an inflight entertainment system. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the system comprises an inflight entertainment system including a plurality of seat devices, and the passenger information identifies a passenger for associating the PED with one of the seat devices in the plurality. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the computing device comprises an onboard management system that stores the passenger manifest data and compares the passenger information with the passenger manifest data. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 18 , wherein the processor further executes the machine executable code to: receive confirmation of a passenger seat number by the onboard management system. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the network connection is a wireless connection.