Method and apparatus for augmenting smartphone-centric in-car infotainment system using vehicle Wi-Fi/DSRC

摘要

A method and system for augmenting smartphone-centric in-car infotainment systems using Wi-Fi or DSRC communications between a vehicle and surrounding infrastructure. One or more smartphones or other electronic devices within a vehicle electronically communicate with the vehicle via a wireless protocol, such as Bluetooth, or a wired connection. The electronic devices run applications which submit requests for internet-based files or data, such as web pages, audio or video files. The vehicle brokers these requests and, using its own external wireless communications systems, such as Wi-Fi or DSRC, retrieves as many of the files or data as possible whenever internet access is available via an external wireless connection. The vehicle then provides the files or data to the requesting electronic devices. A token-based method for prioritizing the requests and rendering the data to the electronic devices is also disclosed.