Patent Publication Number: US-2018039475-A1

Title: User-created audio station

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/370,498 filed on Aug. 3, 2016, which the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The disclosure relates to an infotainment system for a motor vehicle. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Currently, in-vehicle infotainment units allow users to choose the music they want by selecting the audio source. The user needs to choose between AM/FM radio, satellite radio, internet radio, USB, SD, CD, iPod, and other such media sources. All browsing for songs, genre selection, search, and listening is done after source selection. There is no provision for the user to select the genre/artist he wants to listen to, regardless of the source. 
     Internet radio applications such as Pandora allow user to provide an artist name and pull songs from the application&#39;s database sequentially. Apple Radio, Amazon Music and other such media applications also allow the user to listen to a specific genre station. Songs of that particular genre are played to the user. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention may enable an in-vehicle infotainment system user to create his own audio station by selecting a genre, artist, etc. that he wants to listen to, regardless of the audio source. For example, in response to the user selecting “Pop” as the genre and creating an audio station, all Pop genre songs from all different sources (e.g., AM/FM radio, satellite radio, internet radio, universal serial bus (USB), secure digital (SD) card, compact disc (CD), iPod, and other such media sources) are streamed to the user, one after another. If the current source does not play the required genre, then a different source is searched for the genre and played automatically. If the user skips a song, then another song from another source may be played to the user. There may be a pre-stored or predetermined order of source search sequence, which may or may not be defined by the user. For example, a user may have preferred search order, such as satellite radio, iPod, and then FM radio, which he may store in the system, and which may be executed by the system when performing a search. The user may practically have access to an almost unlimited number of songs in the selected genre for listening, as all the different source pools of songs are combined together. 
     A novel feature of the invention may be the unique way that it combines songs from various different audio sources and filters out undesired songs, providing the user with songs in the category he wants. 
     In one embodiment, the invention comprises a user-created audio station arrangement for a motor vehicle, including a plurality of sources of audio content. A user interface enables a human user to input a preference for a type of audio content to be played by an audio system of the motor vehicle. An electronic processor is communicatively coupled to the sources of audio content and to the user interface. The electronic processor receives the preference for a type of audio content from the user interface. The electronic processor searches the sources of audio content for audio content of the type preferred by the human user. 
     In one embodiment, the invention comprises a method of operating an audio system of a motor vehicle, including providing a plurality of sources of audio content. A human user is enabled to engage a user interface to input a preference for a type of audio content to be played by an audio system of the motor vehicle. The preference for a type of audio content is received from the user interface. The sources of audio content are automatically searched for audio content of the type preferred by the human user. 
     In one embodiment, the invention comprises a motor vehicle including a loudspeaker, a plurality of sources of audio content, and a user interface enabling a human user to indicate a preference for a type of audio content to be played by an audio system of the motor vehicle. An electronic processor is communicatively coupled to the loudspeaker, to the sources of audio content, and to the user interface. The electronic processor receives the preference for a type of audio content from the user interface, and searches the sources of audio content for audio content of the type preferred by the human user. The searching is in a sequential order specified by the user via the user interface. The electronic processor causes the audio content of the type preferred by the human user to be played on the loudspeaker. 
     An advantage of the present invention is that it enables the user to choose and listen to a favorite program type or genre without having to select a source of the content. Music from all available sources may be consolidated or pooled by the system to effectively provide a single source. However, the user may also select the order of the individual sources in which the desired content is retrieved from. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       A better understanding of the present invention will be had upon reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of a user-created audio station arrangement of the present invention for a motor vehicle. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of another embodiment of a user-created audio station arrangement of the present invention for a motor vehicle. 
         FIG. 3  is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method of the present invention for enabling a user to create an audio station. 
         FIG. 4  is a flow chart of one embodiment of a method of the present invention for operating an audio system of a motor vehicle. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  illustrates a motor vehicle  10  including a user-created audio station arrangement  12  of the present invention. Arrangement  12  includes a user interface  14 , an electronic processor  16 , a loudspeaker  18 , and audio sources  20   1 ,  20   2 , . . .  20   n . User interface  14  may include a display screen, a keyboard, a dial, pushbuttons, a microphone, etc. Sources  20  may include AM/FM radio, satellite radio, internet radio, universal serial bus (USB), secure digital (SD) card, compact disc (CD), iPod, and other such media sources. 
     During use, a user selects via user interface  14  a musical genre and/or musical artist that he would like to hear. He may also specify a sequential order of sources  20  in which pieces of music (e.g., songs) of the selected genre/artist may be retrieved from sources  20 . Upon retrieving pieces of music of the selected genre/artist from sources  20 , processor  16  may audibly play the music on loudspeaker  18 . 
       FIG. 2  illustrates another embodiment of a user-created audio station arrangement  212  of the present invention for a motor vehicle. The user may employ arrangement  212  to create a genre-based music play list for an audio system. Pieces of music of a user-selected genre or program type (PTY) in block  222  may be retrieved from various audio sources, including digital AM radio  224 , FM radio  226 , which may also be digital, a compact disc  228 , a universal serial bus  230 , satellite radio  232 , and internet radio  234 , for example. 
     User-created audio station arrangement  212  may enable a user to select, from multiple sources, songs or a station of a particular genre or program type. For example, if the user is interested in Pop type music, then the user selects the Pop genre. Internally, arrangement  212  queries the database in the form of sources  224 ,  226 ,  228 ,  230 ,  232  and  234  and plays the content from the stations that broadcast Pop music, or from other sources that include Pop music. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates one embodiment of a method  300  of the present invention for enabling a user to create an audio station for use within a motor vehicle. Method  300  includes infotainment unit processing (step  302 ), which may include receiving a user-selected genre or program type (step  304 ). For example, a user may enter an identification of his preferred musical genre, musical artist or program type (e.g., top 40 Pop hits, jazz, etc.) into arrangement  12  via user interface  14 . 
     Next, in step  306 , it is determined whether there is a piece of music of the user-selected category in the current audio source. For example, if the user is currently listening to a talk radio format on digital AM radio from source  224 , and he indicates that he would like to listen instead to something in the category of jazz music, then processor  16  may search the text information broadcasted by the available digital AM radio stations to ascertain whether any of the text information states that the associated digital AM radio station is broadcasting jazz music. If not, then in step  308  another audio source is searched. For example, processor  16  may randomly pick one of the other audio sources  226 ,  228 ,  230 ,  232  or  234  to search for jazz music. Alternatively, a sequential order in which the audio sources are to be searched may be predetermined and stored in the order of: decreasing audio quality; decreasing reliability; decreasing or increasing time since the source was last listened to; increasing time required to search the source for the desired music; decreasing likelihood of having the particular, desired category of music; decreasing total number of songs available; or decreasing percentage of time that content from the audio source has been listened to within the motor vehicle within a previous particular time period. Alternatively, the user may specify a sequential order in which audio sources  224 ,  226 ,  228 ,  230 ,  232  and  234  are to be searched. After the next audio source is searched in step  308 , operation returns to step  306 . However, if it is determined in step  306 , that there is indeed a piece of music of the user-selected category in the current audio source, then that piece of musical content of the user-selected category is played for the user (step  310 ). Operation then returns to step  304 . 
       FIG. 4  illustrates one embodiment of a method  400  of the present invention for operating an audio system of a motor vehicle. In a first step  402 , a plurality of sources of audio content are provided. For example, audio sources  20   1 ,  20   2 , . . .  20   n  may be provided in motor vehicle  10 . Next, in step  404 , a human user is enabled to engage a user interface to input a preference for a type of audio content to be played by an audio system of the motor vehicle. For example, a user may select via user interface  14  a musical genre and/or musical artist that he would like to hear. 
     In a next step  406 , the preference for a type of audio content is received from the user interface. For example, processor  16  may receive the user&#39;s selected musical genre and/or musical artist from user interface  14 . 
     In a final step  408 , the sources of audio content are automatically searched for audio content of the type preferred by the human user. For example, processor  16  may automatically search audio sources  20   1 ,  20   2 , . . .  20   n  for pieces of music associated with the user&#39;s selected musical genre and/or musical artist. 
     The foregoing description may refer to “motor vehicle”, “automobile”, “automotive”, or similar expressions. It is to be understood that these terms are not intended to limit the invention to any particular type of transportation vehicle. Rather, the invention may be applied to any type of transportation vehicle whether traveling by air, water, or ground, such as airplanes, boats, etc. 
     The foregoing detailed description is given primarily for clearness of understanding and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom for modifications can be made by those skilled in the art upon reading this disclosure and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.