Abstract:
A portable terminal executing an application program for realizing a predetermined function may not require a re-input operation of setting information and may reduce a restart time of the predetermined function by way of an in-vehicle apparatus. Specifically, the in-vehicle apparatus acquires and stores the setting information from the portable terminal. When a forced termination of the application program is detected, the in-vehicle apparatus transmits the setting information to the portable terminal after the application program is restarted by the portable terminal. The setting information from the in-vehicle apparatus enables the portable terminal to perform an auto-resetting process for redefining/resetting the setting information in order to resumes the application program.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     The present application is based on and claims the benefit of priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2011-164703, filed on Jul. 27, 2011, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure generally relates to a cooperation system that includes an in-vehicle apparatus installed on a movable body and a portable terminal, where the in-vehicle apparatus and the portable terminal are communicably coupled. 
     BACKGROUND 
     In recent years, a portable terminal such as a GPS equipped smartphone having an advanced functionality substantially serves as, for example, an in-vehicle navigation apparatus for providing route guidance to a driver. In other words, as disclosed in Japanese patent document JP-A-2011-507078 (&#39;078), the portable terminal can be cooperatively used with an in-vehicle apparatus, displaying, on a display unit of the in-vehicle apparatus, a map screen generated by the portable terminal when, for example, the portable terminal is used in a vehicle and the portable terminal is coupled to an ECU of the vehicle. In such manner, the route guidance is provided to the user of the vehicle even when the in-vehicle apparatus is not equipped with a navigation function. 
     Further, the function of the portable terminal is not limited to a navigation function, as described above. For instance, the portable terminal used in the vehicle may also serve as an audio/visual player. In any case, when the ECU of the vehicle realizes a function in the above-described manner, such function is dependent on the normal operation of the portable terminal. As a result, when an application on the portable terminal crashes, the portable terminal dependent function, such as the navigation function, is terminated on the vehicle side. 
     Therefore, after a crash of the application on the portable terminal, the application needs to be resumed or restarted with various parameters and/or information inputted again for a re-execution of the application by the portable terminal, which is cumbersome for the driver/user and a may delay the activation of the function. That is, for example, after the crash of a navigation application, the user needs to input parameters, such as a destination or a waypoint, to set an execution condition of the navigation application, such as a route to the destination. Such re-inputting of the setting information and re-setting the execution condition of the application may be cumbersome for an occupant, especially for a driver of the vehicle. 
     SUMMARY 
     In an aspect of the present disclosure, a cooperation system includes a portable terminal and an in-vehicle apparatus, where the in-vehicle apparatus and the portable terminal are communicably coupled. 
     The portable terminal may execute an application program to perform a predetermined function, where setting information for executing the application program is defined. Based on an execution of the application program by the portable terminal, the in-vehicle apparatus displays, on a display unit, information transmitted from the portable terminal. 
     The in-vehicle apparatus is configured to include a setting information acquisition unit, a setting information storage unit, and a restart time transmission. The setting information acquisition unit acquires the setting information from the portable terminal when the application program is executed by the portable terminal, and the setting information storage unit stores the setting information acquired. If a forced termination of the application program is occurring, the restart time transmission unit transmits the setting information stored by the setting information storage unit to the portable terminal after the application program is restarted by the portable terminal. 
     The portable terminal is configured to include a setting information transmission unit and a reset unit. The setting information transmission unit transmits the setting information of the application program to the in-vehicle apparatus. In the event of a forced termination of the application program, the reset unit stores the setting information transmitted from the in-vehicle apparatus, and re-executes the application program in response to the restart time transmission unit of the in-vehicle apparatus. 
     Conventionally, when the forced termination of the application program occurs, the setting information may have to be inputted again via the portable terminal after the application program is restarted, because the setting information is managed by the portable terminal. Such a re-input may cause a delay in resuming the function of the portable terminal. Further, the re-input operation for re-inputting the setting information is extremely cumbersome for the driver. 
     In view of the above, in the present disclosure, the setting information set in the portable terminal is stored/backed-up to the in-vehicle apparatus in advance, or, before the crash (i.e., the forced termination) of the application program. Then, if the forced termination is determined, the stored setting information is transmitted back to the portable terminal by the in-vehicle apparatus when application program is restarted by the portable terminal. 
     In such manner, the setting information may not need to be re-inputted to the portable terminal after the application program is resumed after the forced termination. Accordingly, the restart time (i.e., a waiting time) of the function of application program is reduced, and the user is saved from the cumbersome re-input operation. 
     The in-vehicle apparatus may include a setting information request unit to request the setting information from the portable terminal. In such a case, the setting information transmission unit of the portable terminal, transmits the setting information to the in-vehicle apparatus in response to the request by the setting information request unit of the in-vehicle apparatus. In such manner, the acquisition timing of the setting information is controlled by the in-vehicle apparatus, which may ensure that the in-vehicle apparatus receives the setting information before a force termination of the application program. 
     The in-vehicle apparatus may also include a forced termination determination unit for determining whether a forced termination of the application program is occurring. For instance, the forced termination determination unit may determine a force termination is occurring when, based on the application program, the portable terminal is non-responsive. In addition, the forced termination determination unit may determine a force termination is occurring when, based on the application program, the portable terminal is non-responsive despite having an uninterrupted communication connection with the in-vehicle apparatus and/or despite having battery charge level above a critical threshold level. 
     The above description is in regards to the cooperation system, which realizes a predetermined function in the in-vehicle apparatus by the cooperation of the portable terminal. The predetermined function may thus be realized as a navigation function in such cooperation system. That is, the cooperation system may serve as a navigation system. 
     The portable terminal of the navigation system executes the application program to realize a navigation function, and the in-vehicle apparatus may display, on the display unit, a map image and current position information transmitted from the portable terminal according to the application program executed. The setting information defined during the execution of the application program may include information, such as a destination or a waypoint, and such information may not have to be re-inputted when the application program is restarted after a forced termination of the application program. 
     Further, the setting information transmission unit of the portable terminal may transmit, at a predetermined timing, the setting information to the in-vehicle apparatus. In such manner, the in-vehicle apparatus may acquire the setting information without requesting the setting information. 
     Though the above description describes the present disclosure as a navigation system, the present disclosure may also be realized as the in-vehicle apparatus, or may also be realized as the portable terminal. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description disposed with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a navigation system in of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a setting information acquisition process of an in-vehicle apparatus; 
         FIG. 3  is a flowchart of a map display process of the in-vehicle apparatus; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart of a forced termination determination process of the in-vehicle apparatus; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart of a resume process of the in-vehicle apparatus; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart of a guidance process of a smart phone. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     An embodiment of the present disclosure is described in the following with reference to the drawings 
       FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a navigation system. The navigation system includes an in-vehicle apparatus  10  disposed in a vehicle, an in-vehicle display  20  connected to an in-vehicle apparatus  10 , and a smart phone  30 . 
     The in-vehicle apparatus  10  includes an ECU control unit  11  as its main component. The ECU control unit  11  (e.g., a computer) includes a CPU with a bus line to connect to the CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an input/output, and the like. The ECU control unit  11  is electrically coupled to a Bluetooth interface (i.e., BT-IF)  12 , a USB interface (i.e., USB-IF)  13 , a vehicle speed interface (i.e., a vehicle speed IF)  14 , a gyro interface (i.e., a gyro IF)  15 , a memory unit  16  and a Global Positioning System (GPS) interface (i.e., GPS-IF)  17 . 
     The smart phone  30  includes a smart phone control unit (i.e., an SP control unit)  31  as a main component. The SP control unit  31  (e.g., a computer) includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and an input/output, as well as a bus line to connect these components, similar to the ECU control unit  11 . The SP control unit  31  is electrically coupled to a GPS receiver  32 , a memory  33 , a Bluetooth interface (i.e., BT-IF)  34 , and a display unit  35 . 
     By the configuration described above, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  and the smart phone  30  respectively perform data communication via the BT-IF  12  and the BT-IF  34  in the present embodiment. Specifically, a navigator application  33 A is installed in the memory  33  of the smart phone  30 , and a map image and a position are transmitted from the smart phone  30  to the in-vehicle apparatus  10  by the navigator application  33 A via the BT-IF  34 . In such manner, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  performs route guidance by displaying the information received on the in-vehicle display  20 . 
     The BT-IF  12  and the USB-IF  13  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  are used for data communication with the smart phone  30 . Therefore, data communication with the smart phone  30  may be performed via wireless connection, through the BT-IF  12 , and wired connection, through the USB-IF  13 . 
     The vehicle speed IF  14  is used to input vehicle speed information from other ECUs (not illustrated). The gyro IF  15  is used to input gyro information, which includes information regarding a vehicle rotation and a change of vehicle direction from the other ECUs (not illustrated). 
     The memory unit  16  is realized, for example, as a memory device or a hard disk drive (HDD). The memory unit  16  stores a setting information of the navigator application  33 A of the smart phone  30  and a map image, which is described later. 
     The GPS-IF  17  is used to input GPS information. Further, in the present embodiment, a GPS receiver  32  of the smart phone  30  is utilized for the acquisition of GPS information. That is, the GPS-IF  17  is not used for the input of the GPS information. 
     The in-vehicle display  20  is a liquid crystal display device to provide information to a user, such as a vehicle driver. The in-vehicle display  20  may display a current vehicle position as well as a map image and a guidance route. Further, though the in-vehicle display  20  is described as “connected” to the in-vehicle apparatus  10  in the present embodiment (i.e., in the above), the in-vehicle display  20  may be incorporated within or in the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . 
     The GPS receiver  32  of the smart phone  30  receives an electric wave from a GPS satellite for the acquiring a position of the smart phone  30 . In the present embodiment, the smart phone  30  is used within a vehicle, and, therefore, acquires the current position of the vehicle. 
     The memory  33  may be implemented as a non-volatile memory unit. In the memory  33 , information to be used by the navigator application  33 A is stored. Further, the map image used by the navigator application  33 A is stored in the memory  33 . 
     The BT-IF  34  establishes a communication link with the in-vehicle apparatus  10  via the BT-IF  12  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  for data transmission and reception, so that the smart phone  30  and the in-vehicle apparatus  10  are communicably coupled. 
     The display unit  35  of the smart phone  30  is a liquid crystal display to display information. Further, the display unit  35  has a touch panel integrated thereon, allowing a touch operation of the smart phone  30 . At the time of first startup of the navigator application  33 A, input of the setting information is performed through the touch panel. 
     The navigation system may be realized when the smart phone  30  is brought into the vehicle, where the smart phone  30  is executing the navigator application  33 A, and the smart phone  30  and the in-vehicle apparatus  10  are communicably coupled. In the following, a setting information acquisition process performed by the in-vehicle apparatus  10  is described. 
       FIG. 2  is a flowchart of the setting information acquisition process performed by the ECU control unit  11  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  at the time of establishing data communication after the startup of the navigator application  33 A by the smart phone  30 . 
     First, in S 100 , the process determines whether the navigator application  33 A has been executed (i.e., has been started). The process determines whether the navigator application  33 A is responsive or not by performing data communication with the smart phone  30 . When it is determined that the navigator application  33 A has been executed or has started (S 100 :YES), the process proceeds to S 110 . When it is determined that the navigator application  33 A is not starting up (S 100 :NO), the setting information acquisition process is finished without performing the subsequent processes. 
     In S 110 , the process requests the setting information from the smart phone  30 . The setting information is information that is set or defined in the smart phone  30  by a user before performing route guidance. Such setting information may include information regarding a destination, a waypoint, and/or an already-set route. 
     In S 120 , the process determines whether the setting information has been received. Specifically, the process determines whether the in-vehicle apparatus  10  has received the setting information from the smart phone  30  in response to the request of S 110 . When it is determined that the setting information has been received (S 120 :YES), the process proceeds to S 130 . When it is determined that the setting information has not been received (S 120 :NO), the process returns to S 110  to re-request the setting information. 
     In S 130 , the process stores the setting information from the smart phone  30  in the memory unit  16  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . After S 130 , the setting information acquisition process concludes itself. 
     With reference to  FIG. 3 , a map display process performed by ECU control unit  11  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  for displaying a map is described in the following. When the navigator application  33 A is initiated in the smart phone  30  and the route guidance is performed, a map image including information of the current position of the vehicle is transmitted regularly from the smart phone  30  to the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . The map display process displays a map based on the transmitted map image. 
     First in S 200 , the process determines whether a map image has been received. When it is determined that a map image has been received (S 200 :YES), the process proceeds to S 210 . When it is determined that a map image has not been received (S 200 :NO), the process proceeds to S 230 . 
     In S 210 , the process displays a map. That is, the process shows, on the in-vehicle display  20 , a map image for display. In other words, a portion of the received map image is put up on the display  20 . Such a map image includes the current position information. Therefore, the map image for display includes the current position of the vehicle. 
     In S 220 , the process stores a map to be displayed next. The map image transmitted from the smart phone  30  includes an area that is bigger than the map image for display (i.e., the map image appearing on the in-vehicle display  20 ). Therefore, the process stores, in the memory unit  16 , the map image which may be displayed in the future. In such manner, even when the map image transmission is interrupted, for example, the display of the map image can be continued for a certain period. After processing S 220 , the process proceeds to S 230 . 
     In S 230 , which comes after S 220  or comes after negative determination in S 200 , a forced termination determination process is performed by the in-vehicle apparatus  10 .  FIG. 4  is a flowchart of the forced termination determination process. The forced termination determination process is explained in the following. 
     First in S 231 , the process determines whether there is a response from the smart phone  30  based on the operation of the navigator application  33 A. During the startup time of the navigator application  33 A, data communication between the smart phone  30  and the in-vehicle apparatus  10  is performed regularly through the BT-IF  12  and BT-IF  34  (i.e., communication link). Thus, when it is determined that there is a response based on the operation of the navigator application  33 A (S 231 :YES), it is determined that a forced termination is not occurring in S 235 , and the forced termination determination process concludes itself. When it is determined that there is no response based on the operation of the navigator application  33 A (S 231 :NO), the process proceeds to S 232 . 
     The process determines, in S 232 , whether communication is interrupted. That is, the data communication through the BT-IF  12  and BT-IF  34  may be interrupted, depending on the condition of the electric wave (i.e., interruption in a communication link). Therefore, based on the signal from the BT-IF  12 , the process determines whether communication is interrupted. Note that the interruption of the communication link is not a “forced termination” of the navigator application  33 A. When it is determined that communication is interrupted (S 232 :YES), it is determined, in  235 , that a forced termination is not occurring, and the forced termination determination process concludes itself. When it is determined that communication is not interrupted (S 232 :NO), the process proceeds to S 233 . 
     The process then determines whether the battery of the smart phone  30  is in a low battery condition in S 233 . When the charge level of the battery is below a certain value (i.e., below a critical threshold), the SP control unit  31  of the smart phone  30  transmits a signal indicating a low battery condition. Note that the low battery condition is not a forced termination of the navigator application  33 A. When it is determined that the battery is in a low battery condition (i.e., critical battery charge) (S 233 :YES), it is determined in S 235  that a forced termination is not occurring, and the forced termination determination process concludes itself. When it is determined that the battery is not in a low battery condition (i.e., non-critical battery charge) (S 233 :NO), it is determined in S 234  that a forced termination is occurring, and then the forced termination determination process concludes itself. 
     Therefore, when there is no response based on the navigator application  33 A (S 231 :NO) and the communication is not interrupted (S 232 :NO) and the battery of the smart phone  30  is not low (S 233 :NO), it is determined that a forced termination of the navigator application  33 A is occurring. 
     Returning to  FIG. 3 , in S 240 , the process determines whether a forced termination is occurring. Based on  FIG. 4 , when it has been determined that a forced termination is occurring, then S 240  is affirmative (S 240 :YES) and the process performs a resume process in S 250 , and then the map display process concludes itself. When it is determined that a forced termination is not occurring (S 240 :NO), the map display process then concludes itself without performing process in S 250 . 
       FIG. 5  is a flowchart of the resume process of S 250  performed by the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . 
     First in S 251 , the process determines whether the navigator application  33 A has restarted or not. When the forcedly terminated navigator application  33 A has restarted, a signal indicating such situation is transmitted from the SP control unit  31  of the smart phone  30 . Thus, when it is determined that the navigator application  33 A has restarted (S 251 :YES), the process proceeds to S 252 . When it is determined that the navigator application  33 A has not restarted (S 251 :NO), the process proceeds to S 254 . 
     In S 252 , which comes after the restart of the navigator application  33 A, the process retrieves/reads the setting information from the memory unit  16 . That is, the process begins to read the setting information that was stored in S 130  of the setting information acquisition process of  FIG. 2 . The setting information includes information, such as, a destination, a waypoint, and/or a guidance route, which was defined before the occurrence of the force termination as described above. 
     In S 253 , the process transmits the setting information that it retrieved in S 252  to the smart phone  30 . In such manner, the smart phone  30  is enabled to acquire the setting information after the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A from the in-vehicle apparatus  10 , where the setting information is information set/defined before the occurrence of the forced termination. After S 253 , the resume process concludes itself. 
     In S 254 , which comes after no-restarting of the navigator application  33 A, the process begins to read the map image. Specifically, the process begins to read the map image, which was stored in S 220  of the map display process of  FIG. 3 . 
     In S 255 , the already-read map image is processed. For example, the process changes a color of the map image, or the process makes a new map image, which includes a text message superposed on the original map image. In other words, the processed map image is used to clearly show that the image is a temporary one, in case of the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A, which disables the regular transmission of the map image from the smart phone  30 , thereby leading to the use of pre-stored map image that has been read in S 254 . That is, for the purpose of emphasizing that the navigator application  33 A is currently not usable, the color of the map image may be changed, or a warning message such as “Application is forcedly terminated. The displayed map is a pre-stored one, and may be different from a current version. Wait for a moment.” may be inserted in the map image. 
     In S 256 , the process displays the map image. That is, the process displays, on the in-vehicle display  20 , the processed map image processed in S 255 . 
     Then, in S 257 , the process calculates the current position. That is, the process calculates/estimates, by using a dead-reckoning navigation, the current position of the vehicle based on the current position of the vehicle before the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A (i.e., a pre-forced-termination current poison), by utilizing vehicle speed information that is provided by the vehicle speed IF  14  and gyro information that is provided by the gyro IF  15 . 
     Then, in S 258 , the process displays the current position calculated in S 257  in a superposing manner on the map. Since such a display of the current position is only temporary, the user is warned that the displayed map image is a temporary one based on a different display mode that is different from the normal display mode during a normal operation of the smart phone  30 . That is, for example, the map image may have a different color that is different from the normal color used at a time of the normal operation of the smart phone  30 . The map image may also have a different size from the normal size, or may have a different display manner, such as a blinking display or the like. For example, some object on the map displayed in a blinking manner at the normal operation time may be displayed in a non-blinking manner in this case. 
     After processing S 258 , the process returns to S 251  to repeat the process. 
     With reference to  FIG. 6 , a guidance process performed by the smart phone  30  is described in the following. The guidance process is performed by the SP control unit  31  based on the operation of the navigator application  33 A. 
     The process determines, first in S 300 , whether the setting information has been received. The process in S 300  corresponds to S 253  of  FIG. 5 . When the navigator application  33 A is forcedly terminated, the setting information such as a destination and the like is transmitted from the in-vehicle apparatus  10  to the smart phone  30 . Then, if it is determined that the setting information has been received (S 300 :YES), the process performs an automatic setting process for setting the setting information in S 330 , and the process proceeds to S 340 . When it is determined that the setting information has not been received (S 300 :NO), the process performs a manual setting process for setting the setting information in S 310 , and the process proceeds to S 320 . 
     The process determines, in S 320 , whether a guidance start instruction is provided by a user. When it is determined that the guidance start instruction is provided (S 320 :YES), the process proceeds to S 340 . When it is determined that the guidance start instruction is not provided (S 320 :NO), the process returns to S 310 . 
     In S 340 , the process transmits guidance information. That is, the process transmits guidance information, such as the guidance sound, from the smart phone  30  to the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . 
     Then, in S 350 , the process determines whether a transmission request for requesting a transmission of the setting information exists. This process corresponds to S 110  of  FIG. 2 . When it is determined that the transmission request for requesting the transmission of the setting information exists (S 350 :YES), the process transmits the setting information to the in-vehicle apparatus  10  in S 360 , and the process proceeds to S 370 . When it is determined that no transmission request of the setting information exists (S 350 :NO), the process proceeds to S 370  without performing process of S 360 . 
     The process then determines, in S 370 , whether the smart phone  30  is in a low battery condition (e.g., the charge level of the battery is below a critical threshold). When it is determined that the smart phone  30  is in a low battery condition (S 370 :YES), the process notifies the in-vehicle apparatus  10  that the smart phone  30  is in a low battery condition in S 380 , and the process proceeds to S 390 . When it is determined that the smart phone  30  is not in the low battery condition (S 370 :NO), the process proceeds to S 390  without performing process of S 380 . 
     In S 390 , the process transmits the map image. That is, the process transmits the map image including the current position of the vehicle. By such process, the current position and the map image are regularly transmitted to the in-vehicle apparatus  10 , and it leads to an affirmative determination in S 200  of  FIG. 3 . At such time of transmission of the map image from the smart phone  30  to the vehicle, the scope of the transmitted map image is broader than the map image for the display on the in-vehicle display  20 . Therefore, based on the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle, the transmitted map image from the smart phone  30  may cover a larger area extending in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The traveling direction of the vehicle may be calculated based on the transition of the current vehicle position. In such manner, the map image on the traveling direction side, which may be used to display a map in the future even at a time of interruption of data communication between the smart phone  30  and the in-vehicle apparatus  10 , can be stored in the vehicle in advance for a greater area and/or with a higher accuracy of map display. When the process of S 390  is finished, the process returns to S 340   
     The advantageous effects of the navigation system in the present embodiment are described in the following. 
     In the present embodiment, the ECU control unit  11  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  requests the setting information from the smart phone  30  ( FIG. 2 , S 110 ), and, in response, the SP control unit  31  of the smart phone  30  transmits the setting information to the in-vehicle apparatus  10  ( FIG. 6 , S 350 :YES, then S 360 ). When the ECU control unit  11  receives the setting information from the smart phone  30  ( FIG. 2 , S 120 :YES), the process stores the setting information (S 130 ). 
     By performing the forced termination determination process ( FIG. 3 , S 230  to  FIG. 4 ), the ECU control unit  11  may determine that a forced termination of the navigator application  33 A is taking place ( FIG. 3  S 240 :YES), and the process performs the resume process ( FIG. 3  S 250  to  FIG. 5 ). In the resume process, after the restart of the navigator application  33 A ( FIG. 5 , S 251 :YES), the setting information stored in the memory unit  16  is retrieved (S 252 ), and the setting information is transmitted to the smart phone  30  (S 253 ). In such manner, when the SP control unit  31  receives the setting information from the in-vehicle apparatus  10  ( FIG. 6 , S 300 :YES), the process performs the automatic setting process for setting the setting information (S 330 ). 
     In other words, in the present embodiment, the process requests the setting information from the smart phone  30  in advance ( FIG. 2 , S 110 ), and stores the setting information that has been transmitted from the smart phone  30  in the in-vehicle apparatus  10  in advance (S 130 ). When the process determines a forced termination is occurring ( FIG. 3 , S 240 :YES), the process waits for the restart of the navigator application  33 A ( FIG. 5 , S 251 ), and transmits the stored setting information to the smart phone  30  (S 252 , then S 253 ). 
     Therefore, the cooperation system, or the navigation system in the present embodiment, does not require the user to re-enter the setting information to the smart phone  30  after the navigator application  33 A resumes operation, thereby decreasing a wait time to restart the route guidance. In other words, due to the reduction of the manual input of the setting information at the time of restart of the navigator application  33 A, the system allows the user to have a secure and hassle-free continuation of the route guidance by using the smart phone  30 . 
     Further, in the present embodiment, the ECU control unit  11  of the in-vehicle apparatus  10  displays the map image which has regularly been transmitted to the in-vehicle display  20  from the smart phone  30  ( FIG. 3 , S 200 :YES, then S 210 ). Further, by pre-storing in the memory unit  16  the map image that may be used to display the map in the future (S 220 ), such pre-stored map image is read (S 254 ) and is used to display the map (S 356 ) during a time between the forced termination and the resuming the operation of the navigator application  33 A ( FIG. 5 , S 251 :NO). Therefore, the map image is continuously displayed during the resuming operation of the navigator application  33 A, preventing the interruption of the route guidance due to the forced termination of the application  33   a.    
     During the continuous display of the map image per the resume process, the map image is processed (S 255 ) in the course of reading the image from the memory unit  16  (S 254 ) in the present embodiment. Specifically, the map color is changed or the map image may have the superimposed message displayed thereon. In such manner, the user can readily/easily understand that the map image is a temporary one while the navigator application  33 A is restarted to resume operation after the forced termination, thereby improving convenience of the user. 
     Further, before or while the navigator application  33 A restarts to resume operation after the forced termination ( FIG. 5 , S 251 :NO), the current position of the vehicle is calculated (S 257 ) and is displayed together with the map image (S 258 ), until the navigator application  33 A recovers from the forced termination. Specifically, based on the current position of the vehicle prior to the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A, the vehicle speed information provided through the vehicle speed IF  14  and the gyro information provided through the gyro IF  15  are considered to calculate the current position of the vehicle by the dead-reckoning navigation ( FIG. 5 , S 257 ). Therefore, an estimated/temporary current position is continuously displayed at the time of forced termination of the navigator application  33 A, thereby providing the user a rough estimation of the current position of the vehicle and improving the user&#39;s convenience. 
     The display of such estimated current position is accompanied by a warning for the user/viewer, since the display of the estimated current position is only temporary. Specifically, the display of the estimated current position may be in a different display mode from a display of the current position during a normal operation of the navigator application  33 A. For example, the display of the estimated current position may have a different color, a different side, a blinking display that is usually non-blinking, or the like, clearly showing a temporary and a non-normal operation of the device. Therefore, the display of the estimated current position indicates to the user that the displayed position of the vehicle may not be the actual vehicle position, since the position displayed is estimated and is not from the navigator application  33 A of the smart phone  30 . As a result, confusion related to whether the displayed position is the actual position is prevented, and safety during the restart of the navigator application  33 A of the smart phone  30  is improved. Further, after the restart and normal operation of the navigator application  33 A, the display mode is switched when the estimated position is replaced with the actual position to further prevent confusion of the user, thereby further improving to safety. 
     Further, in the present embodiment, when there is no response based on the navigator application  33 A (S 231 :NO) and the communication link (i.e., coupling) is not interrupted (S 232 :NO) and the battery has a charge level above a critical threshold (S 233 :NO), is the in-vehicle apparatus  10  determines that a forced termination of the navigator application  33 A is occurring. Therefore, the forced termination of the application program is adequately determined. 
     In an alternate configuration, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  may determine a forced termination of the navigator application  33 A is occurring when the smart phone  30  is non-responsive despite uninterrupted communication coupling with the smart phone  30 , or when the smart phone  30  is non-responsive despite a battery charge of the smart phone  30  being above a critical charge threshold. 
     Further, the following naming convention may be used in the claims: the smart phone  30  may be provided as “a portable terminal”; the navigator application  33 A may be provided as “an application program”; the in-vehicle display  20  may be provided as “an in-vehicle display”; and the in-vehicle apparatus  10  and the smart phone  30  may be provided as “a navigation system” and “a cooperation system”. The navigation function realized by the in-vehicle apparatus  10  and the smart phone  30  may be provided as “a predetermined function” in the cooperation system in claims. 
     Further, S 110  of  FIG. 2  of the present embodiment may be provided as “a setting information request unit” in claims, and S 120  and S 130  may be provided as “a setting information storage unit” in claims. Also, S 231  to S 235  of  FIG. 4  may be provided as “a forced termination determination unit” in claims, and S 251  to S 253  of  FIG. 5  may be provided as “a restart time transmission unit” in claims. Further, S 350  and S 360  of  FIG. 6  may be provided as “an information transmission unit” in claims, and S 300  and S 330  may be provided as “a reset unit” in claims. Furthermore, S 200  and S 210  of  FIG. 3  may be provided as “a map image display unit” in claims, S 220  of  FIG. 3  and S 251 , S 255  to S 258  of  FIG. 5  may be provided as “a prefetch map image display unit” in claims. 
     Although the present disclosure has been fully described in connection with the preferred embodiment thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be noted that various changes and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art. 
     For instance, in the present embodiment, the current position of the vehicle is estimated until the navigator application  33 A recovers from the forced termination ( FIG. 5 , S 251 :NO) based on the pre-forced-termination current position, the vehicle speed information, and the gyro information, and determined by the dead reckoning navigation (S 257  of  FIG. 5 ). However, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  may use, as a temporary current position, a current position transmitted from the navigator application  33 A immediately before the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A. Such a position provides an estimated current position, which may be helpful for a user. Alternatively, until the navigator application  33 A resumes operation from the forced termination ( FIG. 5 , S 251 :NO), the current position may not be displayed on the in-vehicle display  20 . 
     In the present embodiment, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  requests the setting information from the smart phone  30  ( FIG. 2 , S 110 ), and the smart phone  30  transmits the setting information in response ( FIG. 6 , S 350 :YES, then S 360 ). However, the smart phone  30  may transmit the setting information to the in-vehicle apparatus  10  at a scheduled timing. For example, when it is determined that the guidance start instruction is provided in S 320  of  FIG. 6  (S 320 :YES), the setting information may be transmitted automatically. In such manner, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  may receive the setting information without specifically requesting it. 
     In the present embodiment, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  performs the forced termination determination process (S 230 ) in the map display process (see  FIG. 3 ). However, the smart phone  30  may determine the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A. For example, the navigator application  33 A may notify the in-vehicle apparatus  10  about the forced termination of the navigator application  33 A itself, immediately before the forced termination. 
     In the present embodiment, a navigation function of the smart phone  30  is realized in the in-vehicle apparatus  10 . However, the in-vehicle apparatus  10  may realize various applications of the smart phone  30 , such as an audio function. For example, when the in-vehicle apparatus  10  realizes the audio function of the smart phone  30 , a play list of music pieces to be played back may be pre-stored in the in-vehicle apparatus  10  as the setting information. 
     Such changes and modifications are to be understood as being within the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.