Description:FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[001] The present invention relates to a system for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device and a method thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[002] With the advancement in vehicle technologies, there is greater focus on enhancement of driver assistance, and on improving the overall driving experience. In a time when newer vehicles are coming up with multiple driver assistance features to ease the use of the vehicle, the two-wheeler segment is yet to witness a drastic user experience upgrade with rider assistance features. The two wheeler segment being a highly price sensitive segment, bringing in hardware to enable rider assistance using intuitive user experience could take the pricing of the vehicle beyond acceptable levels.
[003] In existing two wheelers, users rely mainly on the instrument cluster for important alerts, but possibility of missing certain alerts remain while depending on the cluster. Further, reliance on mobile phones for important alerts have the same limitation as that of the cluster since the user needs to change their point of view to look towards the mobile phone for reading the alerts. However, the growing market share of rider accessory devices or wearable devices such as smart watches or smart helmets can potentially be put to use to harness the portability and affordability of such devices, to provide the two-wheeler rider an intuitive user experience with necessary assistance during riding.
[004] In the conventional vehicles, sensor data processing takes place to generate alerts either on the cluster or the mobile device that is paired to the wearable device. Performing all the processing on the cluster itself requires the vehicle Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) to provide a larger memory and a more sophisticated processor on the cluster, which eventually results in increase in the cost of the vehicle. Existing systems that OEMs provide are designed such that the pairing is done between the cluster and the wearable device directly. Such a direct pairing of the cluster to the wearable device comes with its own security risks and possibilities of hacking of the vehicle’s wireless network or the wearable device. Further, in the process of pairing the cluster and the wearable device directly, the rider has to be constantly involved throughout the process, which is not user friendly.
[005] There also exist systems wherein the mobile device paired to the cluster device handles the processing of the sensor data from the cluster and generates the required alerts. As with the wearable device as explained above, there remain chances of tampering and hacking of the mobile device. In other existing systems wherein the processing of sensor data happens on the cluster or the mobile device, there is no provision of allowing the rider to choose as to what information the rider requires to be communicated via the wearable device. In such a case, processing and communication of all the sensor data can overload the rider with too much information, along with the processing load being heavy on the processor of the wearable device itself, thus requiring an expensive processor.
[006] Further, in the systems wherein the processing of sensor data is done on the mobile device, the mobile device has to maintain a continuous two-way communication with the wearable device and with the cluster, which leads to drainage of the battery charge of the mobile device, and leads to decrease in life of the mobile device itself.
[007] Furthermore, the conventional systems do not provide a solution for seamlessly connecting the wearable device to the cluster. In existing systems for implementation of wearable devices for rider assistance, the wearable to vehicle connection is either complicated by implementing a way of pairing that is similar to respective connected mobile applications or is completely dependent on the companion mobile application for the communication. Such a connection framework is not seamless or user friendly.
[008] Thus, there is a need in the art for a system and a method for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device, wherein the processing load on the cluster is reduced and the processing capabilities of the rider accessory device is harnessed, making the connection secure, seamless, and which addresses at least the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[009] In one aspect, the present invention relates to a system for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device. The system has a cluster device provided on the vehicle and a mobile device. The mobile device is capable of being in wireless communication with the cluster device. The rider accessory device is carried by a rider of the vehicle and is in wireless communication with the mobile device. The rider accessory device is configured for fetching pairing information corresponding to the cluster device from the mobile device. The rider accessory device securely pairs with the cluster device on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device; and generates and communicates alerts to the cluster device, on secured pairing with the cluster device.
[010] In an embodiment of the invention, the rider accessory device receives the pairing request from the cluster device, if the rider accessory device is within a predetermined range of the cluster device.
[011] In another embodiment of the invention, the rider accessory device is further configured to receive input data of one or more vehicle sensors from the cluster device. The rider accessory device processes the input data received from the cluster device and generates the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data, wherein the alerts generated by the rider accessory device are communicated to the rider of the vehicle by means of one of haptic alerts and visual alerts.
[012] In another embodiment of the invention, the rider accessory device is configured to continue to be in wireless communication with the mobile device, if the rider accessory device is not within a predetermined range from the cluster device.
[013] In a further embodiment of the invention, the system has a vehicle telematics unit for wirelessly connecting the cluster device to the mobile device. The rider accessory device is configured to fetch input data of the one or more vehicle sensors from the mobile device. Herein the mobile device receives the input data from the cluster device through the telematics unit, processes the input data received from the mobile device, and generates the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data.
[014] In a further embodiment of the invention, the rider accessory device is a wearable device configured to be worn by the rider of the vehicle. The rider accessory device has one or more onboard sensors for gauging one or more rider health parameters, and the rider accessory device is configured to process the rider health parameters and transmit the rider health parameters to the cluster device to be displayed to the rider.
[015] In a further embodiment of the invention, wherein the mobile device has an accessory application that is configured for pairing with the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device. The mobile device further has a vehicle application that is configured for pairing with the cluster device for the cluster device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device. The vehicle application is configured to be linked to the accessory application. The accessory application is configured for notifying the vehicle application on successful rider accessory device addition, and for fetching the pairing information from the vehicle application. The vehicle application is configured for notifying the cluster device on successful rider accessory device addition, and for fetching pairing information of the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to receive a pairing request from the cluster device.
[016] In a further embodiment of the invention, the mobile device has a vehicle application that is configured for pairing with the cluster device for the cluster device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device, pairing with the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device, notifying the cluster device on successful rider accessory device addition, and fetching pairing information of the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to receive a pairing request from the cluster device.
[017] In a further embodiment of the invention, the cluster device, the rider accessory device and the mobile device notify rider on the secured pairing of the rider accessory device with the cluster device.
[018] In a further embodiment of the invention, the rider chooses alerts corresponding to which parameters to be generated by the rider accessory device and only the corresponding input data is sent by the cluster device to the rider accessory device.
[019] In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device. The method has the steps of fetching, by a rider accessory device, pairing information corresponding to a cluster device of the vehicle from a mobile device, wherein the rider accessory device is in wireless communication with the mobile device and the mobile device is capable of being in wireless communication with the cluster device; securely pairing, by the rider accessory device, with the cluster device on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device; and generating and communicating alerts to the cluster device, on secured pairing with the cluster device.
[020] In an embodiment of the invention, the method has the step of receiving, by the rider accessory device, the pairing request from the cluster device, if the rider accessory device is within a predetermined range of the cluster device.
[021] In another embodiment of the invention, the method has the steps of receiving, by the rider accessory device, input data of the one or more vehicle sensors from the cluster device; processing, by the rider accessory device, the input data received from the cluster device; and generating, by the rider accessory device, the alerts for the rider in relation to processed input data, wherein the alerts generated by the rider accessory device are communicated to the rider of the vehicle by means of haptic alerts or visual alerts.
[022] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the step of continuing, by the rider accessory device, to be in communication with only the external mobile device if the rider accessory device being not within a predetermined range from the cluster device.
[023] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the steps of receiving, by the mobile device, input data of the one or more vehicle sensors from a vehicle telematics unit, wherein the telematics unit wirelessly connects the vehicle to an external cloud; transmitting, by the mobile device, the data of the one or more vehicle sensors to the rider accessory device; processing, by the rider accessory device, the input data received from the mobile device; and generating, by the rider accessory device, alerts for the rider in relation to the processed input data.
[024] In a further embodiment of the invention, wherein the rider accessory device is a wearable device configured to be worn by the rider of the vehicle, and the method has the steps of: gauging one or more rider health parameters, by one or more onboard sensors provided on the rider accessory device; processing, by the rider accessory device, the rider health parameters; transmitting, by the rider accessory device, the processed rider health parameters to the cluster device; and displaying, by the cluster device, the processed rider health parameters to the rider of the vehicle.
[025] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the steps of pairing, by a vehicle application, with the cluster device for the mobile device to be in wireless communication with the cluster device; linking, by the vehicle application, the vehicle application to an accessory application; pairing, by the accessory application, with the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device; notifying, by the accessory application, the vehicle application on successful rider accessory device addition for the accessory application to fetch the pairing information from the vehicle application; notifying, by the vehicle application, to the cluster device on successful rider accessory device addition; fetching, by the vehicle application, pairing information of the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to receive a pairing request from the cluster device.
[026] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the steps of pairing, by a vehicle application, with the cluster device for the mobile device to be in wireless communication with the cluster device; pairing, by the vehicle application, with the rider accessory device for the rider accessory device to be in wireless communication with the mobile device; and notifying, by the vehicle application, the cluster device on successful rider accessory device addition for the vehicle application to fetch the pairing information from the rider accessory device.
[027] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the step of notifying, on the cluster device, the rider accessory device and the mobile device, the rider on the secured pairing of the rider accessory device with the cluster device.
[028] In a further embodiment of the invention, the method has the step of generating alerts by the rider accessory device in correspondence to input data being sent by the cluster device to the rider accessory device, wherein the alerts corresponding to which parameters are to be generated by the rider accessory device is determined by the rider and the cluster device sends only the corresponding input data to the rider accessory device.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[029] Reference will be made to embodiments of the invention, examples of which may be illustrated in accompanying figures. These figures are intended to be illustrative, not limiting. Although the invention is generally described in context of these embodiments, it should be understood that it is not intended to limit the scope of the invention to these particular embodiments.
Figure 1 illustrates a system for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 2 illustrates the method steps involved in a method for communication between the vehicle and the rider accessory device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart of steps involved in the method for communication between the vehicle and the rider accessory device via a vehicle application and an accessory application, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figure 4 illustrates a flowchart of steps involved in the method for communication between the vehicle and the rider accessory device via a vehicle application, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
Figures 5A and 5B illustrate the method steps performed at a cluster device and a rider accessory device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[030] The present invention relates to a system and method for communication between a vehicle and a rider accessory device.
[031] Figure 1 illustrates a system 100 for communication between a vehicle 10 and a rider accessory device 130. As illustrated, the system 100 comprises a cluster device 110 or an instrument cluster provided on the vehicle 10. The cluster device 110 houses the various displays and indicators that enable a rider to operate the vehicle 10 based on the information displayed on the cluster device 110. In an embodiment, the cluster device 110 is not a general-purpose computer unit. The cluster device 110 may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/or codes that may be configured to allow the cluster device 110 to be capable of receiving input data from one or more vehicle sensors 150 that are provided on the vehicle 10, display information to a rider of the vehicle 10, and be in wireless communication at least a mobile device 110 and a rider accessory device 130.
[032] As illustrated, the system 100 further has the mobile device 120. The mobile device 120 is capable of being in wireless communication with the cluster device 110. Herein, the mobile device 120 is carried by the rider and includes one or more of a smartphone, a tablet or the like. In an embodiment, the mobile device 120 is connected to the cluster device 110 by means of a vehicle application 170 over a wireless network. The vehicle application 170 is embedded in the mobile device 120. The wireless network for communication between the mobile device 120 and cluster device 110 includes at least one of, but not limited to cell phone networks such as VoLTE, 3G and the like, Wireless Area Networks such as WiFi, or networks such as Bluetooth or similar networks. The vehicle application 170 further assists the rider in staying connected with the vehicle 10 along with offering further assistance to the rider with features such as Bluetooth enablement, navigation assistance, caller ID, last park location assistance, and sharing of ride statistics on social media platforms.
[033] The system 100 further comprises the rider accessory device 130 that is carried by the rider of the vehicle 10. The rider accessory device 130 is in wireless communication with the mobile device 120. In an embodiment, the rider accessory device 130 comprises a smartwatch or a smart helmet or a smart jacket or any like device that can be worn or carried around by the rider. The rider accessory device 130 is capable of being in wireless connection with the mobile device 120. In an embodiment, the mobile device 120 is connected to the rider accessory device 130 by means of an accessory application 160 over a wireless network. The accessory application 160 is embedded in the mobile device 120. The accessory application 160 facilitates the communication between the mobile device 120 and the rider accessory device 130, and allows the rider to control the features and configuration of the rider accessory device 130. The wireless network for communication between the mobile device 120 and rider accessory device 130 includes at least one of, but not limited to cell phone networks such as VoLTE, 3G and the like, Wireless Area Networks such as WiFi, or networks such as Bluetooth or similar networks.
[034] The present system 100 establishes communication between the cluster device 110 and the rider accessory device 130 so as to harness the capabilities of the rider accessory device 130 for staying connected to the vehicle 10 remotely.
[035] For establishing communication between the cluster device 110 and the rider accessory device 130, the rider accessory device 130 is configured for fetching pairing information corresponding to the cluster device 110 from the mobile device 120. Herein, the pairing information corresponds to address of the device, such as, the cluster device 110, rider accessory device 130, mobile device 120, etc., on the wireless network. The rider accessory device 130 is further configured for securely pairing with the cluster device 110 on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device 110. In an embodiment, this verification of the pairing request is done using the method prescribed in the accessory application 160, implemented by the mobile device 120. This means that on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request, if the pairing request is received by the rider accessory device 130, the rider accessory device 130 is configured to securely pair with the cluster device 110.
[036] Once the rider accessory device 130 is securely paired to the cluster device 110, the rider accessory device 130 is configured for generating and communicating alerts to the cluster device 110, based on which vital information is provided to the rider and the rider can make decisions on operating the vehicle based on the alerts. In this manner, it is the rider accessory device 130 instead of the cluster device 110 that generates the alerts and then sends these alerts to the cluster device 110 for displaying. This means that all the processing functions are handled by the rider accessory device 130 instead of the cluster device 110, and the cluster device 110 can be kept less sophisticated and simple, thus being more cost effective.
[037] In an embodiment of the present invention, once the rider accessory device 130 is securely paired to the cluster device 110 at the first instance, thereafter for every instance when the rider intends to operate the vehicle, the rider accessory device 130 carried by the rider will come in close range of the cluster device 110. Herein, the rider accessory device 130 receives the pairing request from the cluster device 110, if the rider accessory device 130 is within a predetermined range of the cluster device 110. If the rider accepts the request, the rider accessory device 130 is paired with the cluster device 110. This ensures seamless pairing between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110.
[038] In an embodiment, to generate and communicate alerts for the rider of the vehicle 10, the rider accessory device 130 is configured to receive input data of one or more vehicle sensors 150 from the cluster device 110. The one or more vehicle sensors 150 comprise sensors such as fuel level sensor, tyre pressure sensor, vehicle speed sensor etc. The one or more vehicle sensors 150 communicate with the cluster device 110 and provide their respective inputs to the cluster device 110. In another embodiment, the cluster device 110 receives the sensor inputs from a vehicle control unit (not shown), which directly receives and processes the data being received from the one or more vehicle sensors 150 on the vehicle 10. The cluster device 110 then communicates these inputs to the rider accessory device 130. The rider accessory device 130 on receipt of these inputs, is configured to process the input data received from the cluster device 110, and generate the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data. Herein, in an embodiment, the alerts generated are sent back to cluster device 110 for display. In another embodiment, the alerts generated by the rider accessory device 130 are communicated to the rider of the vehicle 10 by means of one of haptic alerts, audio alerts and visual alerts on the rider accessory device 130.
[039] In an embodiment of the invention, in a riding condition wherein the processing capabilities of the rider accessory device 130 need to be harnessed and the rider accessory device 130 is not within the predetermined range of the cluster device 110, the rider accessory device 130 is configured to be in continuous wireless communication with the mobile device 120. In this embodiment, the system 100 comprises a vehicle telematics unit 180. The vehicle telematics unit 180 is not a general-purpose computer unit and may include suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces and/or codes that may be configured for wirelessly connecting the mobile device 120 to the vehicle telematics unit 180 over one of a suitable cell phone network and a suitable wireless network.
[040] In this embodiment, the rider accessory device 130 is configured to fetch input data of the one or more vehicle sensors 150 from the mobile device 120. Herein, the mobile device 120 receives the input data from the cluster device 110 communicated using the vehicle telematics unit 180. Thereafter, the rider accessory device 130 is configured to process the input data received from the mobile device 120 and generate the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data as explained hereinbefore.
[041] In a further embodiment of the invention, the rider accessory device 130 is a wearable device configured to be worn by the rider of the vehicle 10. Further, since the wearable devices are mostly prominent in health and fitness related sectors, the rider accessory device 130 comprises one or more onboard sensors 190 for gauging one or more rider health parameters. The rider accessory device 130 is also configured to process the rider health parameters and transmit the rider health parameters to the cluster device 110 to be displayed to the rider. In this manner, not only alerts related to vehicle data such as fuel level, tyre pressure, vehicle speed etc are displayed to the rider, but also alerts related to health and alertness of the rider are communicated to the rider, based on which the rider can take required action.
[042] In an embodiment, the system 100 securely pairs and establishes communication between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 through the vehicle application 170 and the accessory application 160 embedded in the mobile device 120. In this embodiment, the vehicle application 170 pairs with the cluster device 110 for the mobile device 120 to be in wireless communication with the cluster device 110. Herein, the vehicle application 170 and the accessory application 160 are linked to each other by the rider. The accessory application 160 pairs with the rider accessory device 130 for the rider accessory device 130 to be in wireless communication with the mobile device 120. The accessory application 160 notifies the vehicle application 170 on successful addition of the rider accessory device 130, and the accessory application 160 fetches the pairing information from the vehicle application 170. Then the vehicle application 170 notifies to the cluster device 110 on successful addition of the rider accessory device 130, and address of the rider accessory device 130 for the rider accessory device 130 to receive pairing request from the cluster device 110.
[043] In an alternative embodiment, the system 100 securely pairs and establishes communication between the rider accessory device130 and the cluster device 110 through only a singular vehicle application 170 embedded in the mobile device 120, that is without requiring the accessory application 160. In this embodiment, the vehicle application 170 pairs with the cluster device 110 for the mobile device 120 to be in wireless communication with the cluster device 110. Further, the vehicle application 170 pairs with the rider accessory device 130 for the rider accessory device 130 to be in wireless communication with the mobile device 120. The vehicle application 170 notifies the cluster device 110 on successful addition of the rider accessory device 130 with the address of the rider accessory device 130, for the vehicle application 170 to fetch the pairing information for the rider accessory device 130 from the cluster device 110, and also for the cluster device 110 to initiate pairing request.
[044] In both the above described embodiments, the cluster device 110, the rider accessory device 130, and the mobile device 120 notify the rider on the secured pairing of the rider accessory device 130 with the cluster device 110.
[045] In a further embodiment, the system 100 is configured to allow for the rider to choose alerts corresponding to which parameters to be generated by the rider accessory device 130, and only the corresponding input data is sent by the cluster device 110 to the rider accessory device 130. This means that alerts related only to the chosen parameters are communicated to the rider, thus increasing customisation capabilities and improving the riding experience as a whole. In an embodiment, the system 100 is configured to allow the rider to choose alerts corresponding to which parameters to be generated by the rider accessory device 130, either on the cluster device 110 or on the mobile device 120.
[046] In another aspect, the present invention relates to a method 200 of communication between the vehicle and the rider accessory device 130. As referenced in Figure 2, at step 202, the cluster device 110 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 has already successfully and securely paired before. If yes, the method 200 moves to step 222 and if not, the method 200 moves to step 204 in accordance with the present invention. At step 204, the mobile device 120 checks whether the cluster device 110 is already paired with the mobile device 120. If yes, the method 200 moves to step 208. If not, at step 206, the mobile device 120 is paired with the cluster device 110 using existing mechanisms as explained hereinbefore to establish wireless communication between the mobile device 120 and the cluster device 110, after which the method 200 moves to step 208. At step 208, the mobile device 120 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is already paired with the mobile device 120. If yes, the method 200 moves to step 212. If not, at step 210, the mobile device 120 is paired with the rider accessory device 130 using existing mechanisms as explained hereinbefore to establish wireless communication between the mobile device 120 and the rider accessory device 130, after which the method 200 moves to step 212.
[047] At step 212, the rider accessory device 130 fetches pairing information corresponding to the cluster device 110 of the vehicle 10 from the mobile device 120. At step 214, the cluster device 110 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is within a predetermined range from the cluster device 110. If yes, the method 200 moves to step 216. At step 216, the pairing of the cluster device 110 with the rider accessory device 130 is initiated. In that, the rider accessory device 130 is securely paired with the cluster device 110 on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device 110. In an embodiment, the rider accessory device 130 receives the pairing request from the cluster device 110, if the rider accessory device 130 is within a predetermined range of the cluster device 110. At step 218, the rider accessory device 130 is securely paired with the cluster device 110. Thereafter, the rider accessory device 130 generates and communicates alerts as explained in method steps 300 and method steps 400 as referenced in Figure 5A and Figure 5B.
[048] If at step 214, it is determined that the rider accessory device 130 is not within a predetermined range of the cluster device 110, at step 220, the cluster device 110 informs the rider that the rider accessory device 130 is not in the range of the cluster device 110 and the method 200 terminates.
[049] Reference is made back to step 202, if the cluster device 110 checks that the rider accessory device 130 has already successfully and securely paired before, the method moves to step 222, wherein it is checked whether the rider accessory device 130 is within the predetermined range of the cluster device 110. If yes, then method 200 moves directly to step 218 wherein the rider accessory device 130 is securely paired with the cluster device 110. If at step 222, it is determined that the rider accessory device 130 is not within the predetermined range of the cluster device 110, the method moves to step 224.
[050] At step 224, the mobile device 120 establishes communication between the mobile device 120 and the rider accessory device 130, and the mobile device 120 and a vehicle telematics unit 180, and thus establishing communication between the rider accessory device 130 and the vehicle telematics unit 180. Thereafter, at step 226, the rider accessory device 130 is connected to the vehicle telematics unit 180 through the mobile device 130, after which the method 200 terminates. If at step 224, a connection cannot be established between the rider accessory device 130 and the vehicle telematics unit 180, at step 228, the mobile device 120 informs the rider that a connection between the cluster device 110 and the rider accessory device 130 cannot be established after which the method 200 terminates.
[051] Once the cluster device 110 is securely paired with the rider accessory device 130, method steps 300 are performed at the cluster device 110 as referenced in Figure 5A. At step 302, the cluster device 110 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is paired to the cluster device 110. If not, then at step 304, the cluster device 110 is paired to the rider accessory device 130 as explained above in method 200. If yes, then at step 306, the cluster device 110 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is connected to the cluster device 110. If yes, then at step 308, input data from the one or more sensors 150 as selected by the rider is received by the cluster device 110 and then transmitted to the rider accessory device 130.
[052] Once the cluster device 110 is securely paired with the rider accessory device 130, method steps 400 are performed at the rider accessory device 130 as referenced in Figure 5B. At step 402, the rider accessory device 130 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is paired to the cluster device 110. If not, then at step 404, the rider accessory device 130 is paired to the cluster device 110 as explained above in method 200. If yes, then at step 406, the rider accessory device 130 checks whether the rider accessory device 130 is connected to the cluster device 110. If yes, then at step 408, input data of the one or more vehicle sensors 150 as selected by the rider is received by the rider accessory device 130 from the cluster device 110. Thereafter, at step 410, the rider accessory device 130 generates and communicates alerts to the cluster device 110. In an embodiment, the rider accessory device 130 processes the input data received from the cluster device 110 and alerts in relation to the processed input data are generated by the rider accessory device 130. At step 410, the alerts generated by the rider accessory device 130 are communicated to the rider of the vehicle by means of haptic alerts or visual alerts. In the embodiment, wherein the rider accessory device 130 is connected to the vehicle telematics unit 180, the connection between the rider accessory module 130 and the mobile device is continued, post which the input data from the one or more vehicle sensors 150 is received by the rider accessory device 130 from the vehicle telematics device 180 via the mobile device 120. These inputs are then processed by the rider accessory device 130 based on which alerts are generated as explained above.
[053] In an embodiment, in addition to generation of alerts in relation to one or more vehicle parameters, in the present method 200, alerts in relation to rider health parameters are also generated. In this embodiment, one or more rider health parameters are gauged by one or more onboard sensors 190 provided on the rider accessory device 130. Thereafter the rider health parameters are processed by the rider accessory device 130. Thereafter, the processed rider health parameters are transmitted by the rider accessory device 130 to the cluster device 110, and the processed rider health parameters are displayed to the rider of the vehicle 10 by the cluster device 110.
[054] Reference is made to the embodiment depicted in Figure 3, wherein the illustrated steps depict the communication between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 through a vehicle application 170 and an accessory application 160 embedded in the mobile device 120, in operation. As illustrated, the rider sets the vehicle to the pairing mode on the cluster device 110. Then the rider uses the vehicle application 170 on the mobile device 120 to scan for the cluster device 110 of the vehicle 10 and initiate pairing. Then, the vehicle application 170 initiates pairing procedure with the cluster device 110, and the pairing between the cluster device 110 and the vehicle application 170 is accepted and complete. Then the rider uses the vehicle application 170 to initiate linking between the vehicle application 170 and the accessory application 160 on the mobile device 120. At the next stage, the rider sets the rider accessory device 130 to pairing mode, and the rider uses the accessory application 160 to scan for the rider accessory device 130 and initiate pairing. On scanning, the accessory application 160 sends a pairing request to the rider accessory device 130, which when accepted, completes the pairing of the rider accessory device 130 to the accessory application 160.
[055] At this stage, the accessory application 160 notifies the vehicle application 170 that a new rider accessory device 130 has been added. Post this, the vehicle application 170 shares the address of the cluster device 110 or pairing information with the accessory application 160. Also, the vehicle application 170 notifies the cluster device 110 of the addition of the new rider accessory device 130 with the cluster device 110 along with the address of the accessory device 130 or the pairing information of the accessory device 130. After this, the accessory application 160 shares the cluster device address or pairing information with the rider accessory device 130, post which the pairing between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 is initiated. The rider accessory device 130 then verifies the cluster device address, and the secure pairing between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 is accepted and completed. On this pairing, the communication between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 is established. After that, the cluster device 110 notifies the uses of the connection between accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110, and the vehicle application 170 notifies to the rider of the connection between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110, along with the indication of the rider accessory device 130.
[056] In an alternative embodiment, reference is made to the embodiment depicted in Figure 4, wherein the illustrated steps depict the communication between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110 through only a singular vehicle application 170 embedded in the mobile device 120, in operation, that is without an accessory application 160. As illustrated, the rider sets the vehicle 10 to the pairing mode on the cluster device 110. Then the rider uses the vehicle application 170 on the mobile device 120 to scan for the cluster device 110 of the vehicle 10 and initiate pairing. Then, the vehicle application 170 initiates pairing procedure with the cluster device 110, and the pairing between the cluster device 110 and the vehicle application 170 is accepted and complete, and this is notified to the rider by the cluster device 110. At the next stage, the rider sets the rider accessory device 130 to the pairing mode, after which the user scans for the rider accessory device 130 on the vehicle application 170 and initiates the pairing. After this, the vehicle application 170 sends a pairing request to the rider accessory device 130. The rider accessory device 130 then accepts this pairing request and completes the pairing between the rider accessory device 130 and the vehicle application 170, and the pairing is then notified to the rider by the vehicle application 170.
[057] At the next stage, the vehicle application 170 notifies the cluster device 110 of the addition of the new rider accessory device 130 and shares the rider accessory device address with the cluster device 110. Also, the cluster device address is shared by the vehicle application 170 with the rider accessory device 130, after which, pairing is initiated between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110. The rider accessory device 130 then verifies the cluster device address and accepts and completes the pairing on verification. Hence, a communication is established between the rider accessory device 130 and the cluster device 110, and this connection is notified to the rider by the cluster device 110 and the vehicle application 170.
[058] In an embodiment, the method 200 has an additional step wherein the rider chooses the alerts corresponding to which parameters are to be generated by the rider accessory device 130 and the only the corresponding input data being sent by the cluster device 110 to the rider accessory device 130, meaning alerts related to only the selected parameters are generated by the rider accessory device 130.
[059] Advantageously, the present invention provides a system and method for communication between the vehicle and the rider accessory device in which framework can be extended to any device that can make sense to a connected vehicle use case, such as but not limited to smart watches, helmets, riding gloves, jackets etc. The present invention provides for offloading of the processing of sensor data from the cluster device on to the rider accessory device, thus keeping the cluster device simple and cost effective. In the present invention, the vehicle application on the mobile device is already connected to the cluster device, and the accessory application is connected to the rider accessory device. The vehicle application fetches the details of the connected devices such as the rider accessory device in addition to other devices such as Bluetooth headphones, or other such devices from the corresponding applications of the connected devices on the mobile device, and initiate pairing with the rider accessory device by itself, with only permission required from the user. This makes the process of pairing seamless and hassle free because involvement of mobile device will be required only for the first instance of pairing the rider accessory device to the cluster device. All subsequent pairings of the cluster device with the rider accessory device would require no involvement from the user or the mobile device. The cluster device then offloads the data from the vehicle sensors to the rider accessory device based on the choice of the parameters made by the rider, which the rider accessory device processes and generates the alerts, such as over speeding, or collision warning, or low battery / fuel.
[060] While the existing prior art follows a conventional bonding procedure similar to the bonding procedure as used in connecting mobile phones to the vehicle. In contrast, the present invention views at connection and communication process in a broader perspective to set up a secure system and method that can be utilized to establish a connected vehicle eco system by facilitating a central device such as mobile device to manage the connection between the rider accessory device and the cluster device. The present invention provides near seamless pairing of the rider accessory device with the vehicle and also provides availability of a multi path communication for reliability, such as in cases when the direct connection between the rider accessory device and the cluster device cannot be established due to rider accessory device not being within range of the cluster device.
[061] Further, in the present invention, the offloading of processing to the rider accessory device allows for making use of all the capabilities of the rider accessory device in real time processing and generating the alerts, thereby reducing the cost of the vehicle. Offloading of the processing from the cluster device to the rider accessory device also results in saving battery power of the vehicle by reducing the power consumption of the cluster device.
[062] In addition, the present invention provides for increased security of the connection between the cluster device and the rider accessory device as the addresses of the cluster device and the rider accessory device are privately shared and not broadcasted publicly while pairing. Furthermore, overloading of the processor of the rider accessory device, and overloading of the rider with all alerts is avoided because of the choice of alerts being made by the rider. In addition, since the mobile device is not continuously involved in the two way communication between the cluster device and the rider accessory device, the life of the mobile device is also extended.
[063] While the present invention has been described with respect to certain embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modification may be made without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

List of Reference Numerals
10: Vehicle
100: System for Communication between a Vehicle and a Rider Accessory Device
110: Cluster Device
120: Mobile Device
130: Rider Accessory Device
150: One or More Vehicle Sensors
160: Accessory Application
170: Vehicle Application
180: Vehicle Telematics Unit
190: One or More Onboard Sensors
200: Method for Communication between a Vehicle and a Rider Accessory Device
, C , Claims:1. A system (100) for communication between a vehicle (10) and a rider accessory device (130), the system (100) comprising:
a cluster device (110) provided on the vehicle (10);
a mobile device (120), the mobile device (120) capable of being in wireless communication with the cluster device (110); and
the rider accessory device (130) carried by a rider of the vehicle (10) and being in wireless communication with the mobile device (120), and the rider accessory device (130) being configured for:
fetching pairing information corresponding to the cluster device (110) from the mobile device (120);
securely pairing with the cluster device (110) on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device (110); and
generating and communicating alerts to the cluster device (110), on secured pairing with the cluster device (110).

2. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rider accessory device (130) receives the pairing request from the cluster device (110), if the rider accessory device (130) being within a predetermined range of the cluster device (110).
3. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rider accessory device (130) being further configured to:
receive input data of one or more vehicle sensors (150) from the cluster device (110);
process the input data received from the cluster device (110); and
generate the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data, wherein the alerts generated by the rider accessory device (130) being communicated to the rider of the vehicle (10) by means of one of haptic alerts and audio-visual alerts.

4. The system (100) as claimed in claim 2, wherein the rider accessory device (130) being configured to continue to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120), if the rider accessory device (130) not being within a predetermined range from the cluster device (110).

5. The system (100) as claimed in claim 4, comprising a vehicle telematics unit (180) for wirelessly connecting the cluster device (110) to the mobile device (120), and the rider accessory device (130) being configured to:
fetch input data of the one or more vehicle sensors (150) from the mobile device (120), wherein the mobile device (120) receives the input data from the cluster device (110) through the vehicle telematics unit (180);
process the input data received from the mobile device (120); and generate the alerts for the rider based on the processed input data.

6. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rider accessory device (130) being a wearable device configured to be worn by the rider of the vehicle (10), and the rider accessory device (130) comprises one or more onboard sensors (190) for gauging one or more rider health parameters, and the rider accessory device (130) being configured to process the rider health parameters and transmit the rider health parameters to the cluster device (110) to be displayed to the rider.

7. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile device (120) comprises:
an accessory application (160), the accessory application (160) being configured for pairing of the mobile device (120) with the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120); and
a vehicle application (170), the vehicle application (170) being configured for pairing of the mobile device (120) with the cluster device (110) for the cluster device (110) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120), the vehicle application (170) being configured to be linked to the accessory application (160); wherein,
the accessory application (160) is configured for notifying the vehicle application (170) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130), and for fetching the pairing information from the vehicle application (170), and the vehicle application (170) is configured for notifying the cluster device (110) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130), and for fetching pairing information of the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to receive a pairing request from the cluster device (110).

8. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mobile device (120) comprises:
a vehicle application (170), wherein the vehicle application (170) is configured for:
pairing of the mobile device (120) with the cluster device (110) for the cluster device (110) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120),
pairing of the mobile device (120) with the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120),
notifying the cluster device (110) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130), and
fetching pairing information of the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to receive the pairing request from the cluster device (110).

9. The system (100) as claimed in claim 7 and 8, wherein the cluster device (110), the rider accessory device (130) and the mobile device (120) notifies rider on the secured pairing of the rider accessory device (130) with the cluster device (110).

10. The system (100) as claimed in claim 1, wherein system (100) is configured for allowing the rider to choose alerts corresponding to parameters to be generated by the rider accessory device (130) and only corresponding input data is sent by the cluster device (110) to the rider accessory device (130).

11. A method (200) of communication between a vehicle (10) and a rider accessory device (130), the method (200) comprising the steps of:
fetching, by a rider accessory device (130), pairing information corresponding to a cluster device (110) of the vehicle from a mobile device (120), wherein the rider accessory device (130) being in wireless communication with the mobile device (120), the mobile device (120) being capable of being in wireless communication with the cluster device (110);
securely pairing, by the rider accessory device (130), with the cluster device (110) on verification of the pairing information with a pairing request received from the cluster device (110); and
generating and communicating alerts to the cluster device, on secured pairing with the cluster device (110).

12. The method (200) as claimed in claim 11, comprising the step of receiving, by the rider accessory device (130), the pairing request from the cluster device (110), if the rider accessory device (130) being within a predetermined range of the cluster device (110).

13. The method (200) as claimed in claim 11, comprising the steps of:
receiving, by the rider accessory device (130), input data of the one or more vehicle sensors (150) from the cluster device (110);
processing, by the rider accessory device (130), the input data received from the cluster device (110); and
generating, by the rider accessory device (130), the alerts for the rider in relation to processed input data, wherein the alerts generated by the rider accessory device (130) being communicated to the rider of the vehicle by means of haptic alerts or audio-visual alerts.

14. The method (200) as claimed in claim 11, comprising the step of:
continuing, by the rider accessory device (130), to be in communication with only the external mobile device (120) if the rider accessory device (130) being not within a predetermined range from the cluster device (110).

15. The method (200) as claimed in claim 11, comprising the steps of:
receiving, by the mobile device (120), input data of the one or more vehicle sensors (150) from a vehicle telematics unit (180), wherein the vehicle telematics unit (180) wirelessly connects the vehicle to an external cloud;
transmitting, by the mobile device (120), the data of the one or more vehicle sensors (150) to the rider accessory device (130);
processing, by the rider accessory device (130), the input data received from the mobile device (120); and
generating, by the rider accessory device (130), alerts for the rider in relation to the processed input data.

16. The method (200) as claimed in claim 11, wherein the rider accessory device (130) being a wearable device configured to be worn by the rider of the vehicle, the method (200) comprising the steps of:
gauging one or more rider health parameters, by one or more onboard sensors (190) provided on the rider accessory device (130);
processing, by the rider accessory device (130), the rider health parameters;
transmitting, by the rider accessory device (130), the processed rider health parameters to the cluster device (110); and
displaying, by the cluster device (110), the processed rider health parameters to the rider of the vehicle.

17. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising the steps of:
pairing, by a vehicle application (170), with the cluster device (110) for the mobile device (120) to be in wireless communication with the cluster device (110);
linking, by the vehicle application (170), the vehicle application (170) to an accessory application (160);
pairing, by the accessory application (160), with the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120);
notifying, by the accessory application (160), to the vehicle application (170) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130);
fetching, by the accessory application (160), the pairing information from the vehicle application (170);
notifying, by the vehicle application (170), to the cluster device (110) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130); and
fetching, by the vehicle application (170), pairing information of the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to receive a pairing request from the cluster device (110).

18. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising the steps of:
pairing, by a vehicle application (170), with the cluster device (110) for the mobile device (120) to be in wireless communication with the cluster device (110);
pairing, by the vehicle application (170), with the rider accessory device (130) for the rider accessory device (130) to be in wireless communication with the mobile device (120); and
notifying, by the vehicle application (130), the cluster device (110) on successful addition of the rider accessory device (130) for the vehicle application (170) to fetch the pairing information from the rider accessory device (130).

19. The method as claimed in claims 17 and 18, comprising the step of notifying, on the cluster device (110), the rider accessory device (130), and the mobile device (120), the rider on the secured pairing of the rider accessory device (130) with the cluster device (110).

20. The method as claimed in claim 11, comprising the step of generating alerts by the rider accessory device (130) in correspondence to input data being sent by the cluster device (110) to the rider accessory device (130), wherein the alerts corresponding to which parameters are to be generated by the rider accessory device (130) is determined by the rider and the cluster device (110) sends only the corresponding input data to the rider accessory device (130).