Description
A system and method for integrating user interfaces
The present invention relates to integration of devices,
particularly integration of user interfaces of devices used
inside an automobile.
The number of devices being used inside an automobile is on
the rise. Many automobile drivers use PDA's, mobile phones,
GPS systems, Media players etc. Each of the devices has got
its own localized individual user interface for user
interaction. There can be multiple user interface templates
stored in these devices which are used to interact with the
user at different stages. When switching from one device to
the other or when operating two or more devices at the same
time the user is challenged with this ability to concentrate
or multitask. The operation of these devices using their
individual user interfaces consumes lots of time and effort.
It takes even longer to start operating a device, if the user
has misplaced the device somewhere inside the vehicle.
It is an object of the present invention to make the use of
multiple devices with individual user interfaces more
convenient inside an automobile.
The said object is achieved by providing a system for
simultaneously displaying at least two user interfaces of a
plurality of devices used inside a vehicle according to claim
1 and by a method according to claim 11.
The underlying idea is to integrate the individual user
interfaces of the devices into a unified single user
interface. This unified interface is then presented to the
user. The unified user interface allows the user to interact
with the devices without switching the attention between
separate user interfaces. This provides the user the

convenience of operating the interfaces from a single
location without any extra effort.
In a preferred embodiment, a user interface in the unified
user interface is activated by triggering an action. The
action could be triggered by a user. For example the user can
use his fingers on a display screen to indicate the selection
of a device or change the status of the device. The action
could even be triggered by an event. For example the ring
pulse of an incoming call in the mobile phone, can trigger
the start of an event in the interface associated with the
said device.
In a further preferred embodiment, the device module is
adapted to transmit user interface templates to the
integration module. It is important that the user interface
of each device entering into the system registers itself with
the said system. This enables the interaction module to
identify itself with the various templates.
In an alternative embodiment, the device module is adapted to
transmit associated parameters corresponding to the
operational status of the device to the integration module.
This helps the user to interact online with the devices
enabling an effective user interaction. As per the triggered
action the required parameters for enabling an interactive
user interface are exchanged between the integration module
and the device.
In an alternative embodiment, the user interface templates
are adapted to be stored in the integration module. This
enables less over head to the device module, so that it need
not send the template each time, when requested. Storing the
templates in the integration module speeds up the entire
process since the template is available locally.
In another alternative embodiment, the presentation unit
comprises a projection device and a display screen. The

projection device is used to project the integrated user
interface (UI) templates to the display screen. This enables
the user to conveniently view the projected unified user
interface.
In another alternative environment, the display screen is a
touch sensitive screen and also the display screen is adapted
to receive a user input. The touch sensitive screen enables
the easy and simple handling of the user interfaces by the
user without any other complex aid apart from the fingers.
In another alternative embodiment, the display screen is a
windshield. This enables the use of an existing part of the
vehicle and reduces the complication of mounting external
devices for display. This also provide the user to have his
attention more focused on the road even when there is a need
for operating a device by the user from inside the vehicle.
The present invention is further described hereinafter with
reference to illustrated embodiments shown in the
accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a
system for simultaneously displaying user interfaces of
devices,
FIG 2 illustrates a block diagram of a device module
registering with the integration module according to an
embodiment of the invention,
FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram of the device starting to
interact with the user based on a triggered action,
FIG 4 illustrates a block diagram of the device interacting
with the user based on a user input, and
FIG 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method for simultaneously
displaying user interfaces of devices.

FIG 1 illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a
system for simultaneously displaying user interfaces of
devices. The system 100 displaying user interfaces 24, 26, 28
corresponding to the devices 10, 12 and 14 used inside a
vehicle in a unified user interface 30. The device could be a
mobile phone, CD player, GPS device, or any other electronic
garget. Each of these devices has got a device module. Here
the device modules 11, 13, 15 are associated with the
corresponding devices 10, 12 and 14. The device module is a
component within a device that understands the signals sent
from the integration module 16 and translates them into a
command that can be understood by the device drivers. It also
communicates the device signals to the integration module 16.
This integration module 16 is responsible for communicating
with all the devices 10, 12, 14 that are brought into the
vehicle and to the presentation unit 18. The communication
between the device modules 11, 13, 15 and the integration
module 16 could be via infrared, Bluetooth, wired
communication or any other available communication mechanism.
For example, when the driver brings in a compatible device
into the car, the device finds the integration module 16 and
then introduces itself to the integration module. At the end
of the registration process the device modules receives a
DevicelD which is a unique registration token provided by the
integration module 16. The integration module 16 is adapted
to receive the device identification from the device modules
11, 13, 15 and combine the user interfaces 24, 26, 28 related
to the devices 10, 12, 14 to one unified user interface 30.
A presentation unit 18 then displays the unified user
interface 30 in a display screen 22. The presentation unit 18
is responsible for displaying the user interface stages of
various devices used inside the vehicle at a common display
area. The common display area could be a display screen or
can be a windshield of the vehicle. The common display allows

the driver to interact with all the devices through this
integrated interface. The presentation unit 18 is shown here
to have a projection device 20 and a display screen 22. The
projection device 20 projects the unified interface 30 on to
the display screen 22.
FIG 2 illustrates a block diagram 200 of a device module 11
registering with the integration module 16 according to an
embodiment of the invention. Every new device that introduces
itself to the integration module will, as part of the
registration process; send the templates 32 of all possible
user interface stages of its display also to the said
integration module. These details are communicated by the
devices to the integration module via the device module. The
device module and the integration module are equipped with
methods to interface and communicate with each other. That
means they can speak the same language or understand the same
protocol. The device module also receives a UIStatelD token
for each user interface state that was sent to the
integration module 16. Each UIStatelD within one device is
unique. The templates 32 could be subsequently stored in the
integration module. Finally the integration module 16 has
templates for all the possible user interface states for a
device. When in operation, the integration module 16
communicates the current state of the user interface of the
corresponding device to the presentation unit.
The main goal of the integration module 16 is to paint a
blended picture that integrates all the UI's of the devices
in the automobile and hand this over to the presentation unit
18 for display. At a given time there could be one UI of a
device that is active and displayed in the foreground at the
Presentation Unit's display screen 22.
Interaction between the components of the proposed solution
can be initiated by an external action on the device, for
example an incoming call to a mobile phone. It could also be
triggered by any action at the Presentation unit, for

example, the driver choosing to make a phone call using a
touch screen. The messages exchanged between the different
components of the solution remains the same in either case.
To illustrate how the components work together consider an
action at the Presentation Unit as the trigger. When a
trigger for interaction happens at the presentation unit 16,
in the form of the driver choosing to make a phone call using
a touch screen, it sends the Action ID. For example the
ActionID could be based on the type of action or its location
or both.
(ActionID = Code for type of action + Code for location of
action).
An example for this type of action could be the user tapping
or moving the finger on the display screen 22, which in this
case is a touch screen interface. The co-ordinates of the
touch screen where the action was performed correspond to the
code for the location of the action. The ActionID basically
tells the integration module 16 what action was performed and
where was it performed on the co-ordinate system of the
interface. The integration module 16 is aware of the DevicelD
and the UIStatelD.
The integration module 16 contacts the device module 11 with
the UIStatelD and the ActionlD. The device module is able to
translate the ActionID to invoke a particular function of the
device. The device module then decides what the next UI state
should be and the parameters that it should display once the
required action is initiated. These details regarding the
next UIStatelD and the parameters are sent to the integration
module 16 by the device module 11. After receiving this
information the integration module 16 creates an active
window corresponding to the UI State and this is sent to the
Presentation Unit 18 for display.

FIG 3 illustrates a block diagram of a device starting to
interact with the user based on a triggered action. The
example illustrates a simple use case - receiving a mobile
phone call through the system described above. When there is
an incoming call the device module 11 associated with the
mobile device connects itself to the integration module 16
and sends the next UIStateID that should be displayed along
with the parameters such as name and number of the person
calling. Upon receiving this information the integration
module 16 picks up the UI template corresponding to that
DevicelD and UIStatelD, processes it by adding the parameters
and the final window 33 is created. The window 33 is then
displayed on the presentation unit 22. This window displays
caller identification details 34 and allows the auto-driver
to opt to receive or decline the call by using a soft button
36 as shown. The presentation unit collects the auto-driver
response i.e. whether the driver presses accept or decline
button and sends it as parameters to the integration module.
FIG 4 illustrates a block diagram of the device interacting
with the user based on a user input. The integration module
16, in turn conveys the driver input 38 which is indicated in
FIG 4 by highlighting, to the device module 11 in the form of
an ActionlD. This ActionID code is understood and translated
to the mobile phone to accept the call function by the device
module 11. Once this is done the driver can start the
conversation as usual.
FIG 5 illustrates a flowchart of a method for simultaneously
displaying user interfaces of devices. The method involves,
receiving device identification by an integration module from
a device module associated with devices as shown in step 502.
At step 504 the interfaces related to the devices are
combined to form one unified user interface. The unified user
interface is then displayed using a presentation unit 18 as
shown in step 506.

Summarizing, the present invention introduces a system that
does the integration of user interfaces of various devices
used inside an automobile onto a common user interface to
interact with the driver of an automobile. This common user
interface could be windshield of an automobile. The
techniques and modules described by the embodiments allows
the auto-driver to interact with all the devices inside the
vehicle using a common unified user interface displayed on
the display screen or the windshield thereby greatly reducing
the time required to switch between handling devices.
Although the invention has been described with reference to
specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be
construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the
disclosed embodiments, as well as alternate embodiments of
the invention, will become apparent to persons skilled in the
art upon reference to the description of the invention. It is
therefore contemplated that such modifications can be made
without departing from the embodiments of the present
invention as defined.

Patent claims:
1. A system (100) for simultaneously displaying at least two
user interfaces (24, 26, 28) of a plurality of devices (10,
12, 14) used inside a vehicle comprising:
- a device module (11, 13, 15) associated with each device
(10, 12, 14), said device module (11, 13, 15) having a device
identification;
- an integration module (16), said integration module (16)
adapted to receive the device identification from the device
module (11, 13,15) and adapted to combine at least two user
interfaces (24, 26, 28) related to the plurality of devices
(10, 12, 14) to one unified user interface (30) ; and
- a presentation unit (18) adapted to display the unified
user interface (30).

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the user
interface (24, 26, 28) in the unified user interface (30) is
activated by triggering an action.
3. The system according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the device module (11, 13, 15) is adapted to transmit
user interface templates (32) to the integration module (16).
4. The system according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the device module (11, 13, 15) is adapted to transmit
associated parameters corresponding to the operational status
of the device (10, 12, 14) to the integration module (16).
5. The system according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the user interface templates (32) are adapted to be
stored in the integration module (16).
6. The system according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the presentation unit (18) comprises a projection
device (20). (to project the integrated UI templates to the
screen)

7. The system according to any of the preceding claims,
wherein the presentation unit (18) comprises a display screen
(22) .
8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the display
screen (22) is a touch sensitive screen.
9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the display
screen (22) is adapted to receive a user input.

10. The system according to any of the claims 7 to 9, wherein
the display screen (22) is a windshield.
11. A method for simultaneously displaying at least two user
interfaces (24, 26, 28) of a plurality of devices (10, 12,
14) used inside a vehicle comprising:

- receiving a device identification by an integration module
(16) from a device module (11, 13, 15) associated with each
device (10, 12, 14);
- combining at least two user interfaces (24, 26, 28) related
to the plurality of devices (10, 12, 14) to one unified user
interface (30); and
- displaying the unified user interface (30) using a
presentation unit (18).

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the user
interface (24, 26, 28) is activated by triggering an action.
13. The method according to any of the claims 11 or 12,
wherein the action is triggered by a user.
14. The method according to any of the claims 11 to 13,
wherein the action is triggered by an event.
15. The method according to any of the claims 11 to 14,
wherein the device module (11, 13, 15) is adapted to transmit
user interface templates (32) to the integration module (16).

16. The method according to any of the claims 11 to 15,
wherein the device module (11, 13, 15) is adapted to transmit
associated parameters corresponding to the operational status
of the device (10, 12, 14).
17. The method according to any of the claims 11 to 16,
wherein the user interface templates (32) are adapted to be
stored in the integration module (16).

The invention provides an efficient gadget management
mechanism for improved driving. The system (100)
simultaneously displaying at least two user interfaces (24,
26, 28) of a plurality of devices (10, 12, 14) used inside a
vehicle. The system comprises a device module (11, 13, 15)
associated with each device (10, 12, 14), said device module
(11, 13, 15) having a device identification. Also the system
has an integration module (16), said integration module (16)
is adapted to receive the device identification from the
device module (11, 13, 15) and adapted to combine at least
two user interfaces (24, 26, 28) related to the plurality of
devices (10, 12, 14) to one unified user interface (30) which
gets finally displayed on a presentation unit (18).