Patent ID: 9694725
Date: 2017-07-04
CPC Classifications: B60N,B60R,B64D,G08C,H04L

Claim:
1. A system for pairing a personal electronic device of a passenger with a passenger seat in a vehicle, the system comprising: an on-board management system for installation in a vehicle, the on-board management system having a server and a vehicle wireless communication module configured to establish a wireless communication link with the personal electronic device, the on-board management system configured to receive pairing information from the personal electronic device via the wireless communication link, the pairing information including a passenger seat identifier identifying the passenger seat of the passenger and a personal electronic device identifier identifying the personal electronic device, the on-board management system configured to pair the personal electronic device to the passenger seat using the pairing information and to authorize the personal electronic device to control at least one passenger seat function associated with the passenger seat; and a device pairing software application stored on a non-transitory computer program carrier and configured to program the personal electronic device upon download and/or installation to receive an electronic boarding pass, access passenger seat data identifying the passenger seat from the electronic boarding pass, transmit the pairing information including the passenger seat identifier and the personal electronic device identifier to the on-board management system via the wireless communication link, and transmit a control instruction to control the at least one passenger seat function, wherein the system is further configured to authenticate the pairing of the personal electronic device to the predetermined passenger seat, the system further comprising: the device pairing software application further configured to access passenger identification data and transmit passenger identification data to the on-board management system via the wireless communication link; and the on-board management system further configured to receive and store passenger manifest data including each passenger identity associated with a respective assigned passenger seat for each passenger, receive the passenger identification data, determine the passenger identity on the passenger manifest using the passenger identification data, determine whether the assigned passenger seat matches the passenger seat associated with the passenger seat identifier, and only authorizing the personal electronic device to control the at least one passenger seat function associated with the passenger seat if the passenger seat matches the assigned passenger seat.