Method and system for performing programmatic actions based upon vehicle appropximate locations

Abstract

A system for communicating between networked applications and vehicles that includes a vehicle response server and a vehicle response agent. The vehicle response server can manage communications between at least one vehicle and at least one application remotely located from the vehicle, wherein the application can provide activation contexts to the vehicle. The vehicle response agent can be disposed in the vehicle. The vehicle response agent can receive the activation contexts and determine event occurrences based in part upon the activation contexts and in part upon a location of the vehicle relative to previously defined geographical boundaries specified by the vehicle response server.

1 . A computer-implemented method for facilitating communications between at least one vehicle and at least one application remotely located from the vehicle based on vehicle approximate locations, the method comprising the steps of:
 defining by a vehicle response server a plurality of geographical boundaries for a region;   associating a plurality of applications linked to the vehicle response server with particular ones of the geographical boundaries;   conveying activation contexts and associated actions for the contexts from the applications to the vehicle response server;   as a vehicle having a vehicle response agent travels, determining a geographical boundary in which the vehicle resides;   conveying activation contexts of applications associated with the determined geographical boundary from the vehicle response server to the vehicle within the determined geographical boundary, wherein different activation contexts are actuated as the vehicle travels from one geographical boundary to another;   determining by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle an occurrence of a context event specified by an activation context based upon vehicle state information;   conveying by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle to an application associated with the activation context via the vehicle response server vehicle-specific information responsive to the occurrence of the context event; and   performing by the application at least one programmatic action responsive to receiving the vehicle-specific information.   
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle response server imposes a geographical boundary constraint upon the activation context received from the at least one remotely located application before conveying the activation context to the vehicle response agent within the vehicle. 
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 administratively modifying the defined geographical boundaries within the vehicle response server; and   conveying the modified geographical boundaries to the vehicle response agent within the vehicle, thereby automatically and dynamically changing conditions for the occurrence of the context event.   
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle response agent within the vehicle receives different activation contexts from different applications, wherein each of the different applications is bound by the geographical boundaries so that context events are only actuated when the vehicle is located within a geographical boundary corresponding to a geographical boundary to which the application that conveyed the associated activation context is bound. 
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the vehicle-specific information includes a context indication from the vehicle response agent within the vehicle to the application that conveyed the activation context that triggered the occurrence. 
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the context indication includes at lest one value obtained from a vehicle sensor of the vehicle. 
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the vehicle sensor indicates a level of fluid within the vehicle. 
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein data conveyed between the vehicle response agent within the vehicle and the different applications are conveyed to the vehicle response server before being conveyed to an intended destination, where the vehicle response server is a communication intermediary between the vehicle response agent within the vehicle and the different applications. 
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein data is exchanged between the vehicle response agent within the vehicle and the vehicle response server and between the vehicle response server and the different applications utilizing a standardized vehicle response language specifically designed for vehicle-based information exchanges. 
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle response server includes a geofencing application, wherein the programmatic action performed by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle alerts the geofencing application when the vehicle travels from one of the geographical boundaries to another. 
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle response server includes a traffic mapping application, wherein the programmatic action performed by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle provides a speed of the vehicle and a location of the vehicle to the traffic mapping application. 
   
   
       12 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the vehicle response server includes a Web browser through which a vehicle tracking application is accessed, wherein the vehicle response agent within the vehicle provides location information to the vehicle tracking application. 
   
   
       13 . A computer-implemented system for facilitating communications between at least one vehicle and at least one application remotely located from the vehicle based on vehicle approximate locations, the system comprising:
 a vehicle response server configured to manage communications between the at least one vehicle and at least one application remotely located from the vehicle, including:
 define a plurality of geographical boundaries for a region; 
 associate a plurality of applications linked to the vehicle response server with particular ones of the geographical boundaries; 
 receive activation contexts and associated actions for the contexts from the applications; 
 determine a geographical boundary in which a vehicle resides; and 
 convey activation contexts of applications associated with the determined geographical boundary from the vehicle response server to the vehicle within the determined geographical boundary, wherein different activation contexts are actuated as the vehicle travels from one geographical boundary to another; 
   a vehicle response agent disposed in the vehicle configured to
 determine an occurrence of a context event specified by an activation context based upon vehicle state information; and 
 convey to an application associated with the activation context via the vehicle response server vehicle-specific information responsive to the occurrence of the context event; and 
 wherein the application performs at least one programmatic action responsive to receiving the vehicle-specific information. 
   
   
   
       14 . The system of  claim 13 , the vehicle response agent further comprising:
 a context processor configured to translate said activation contests into vehicle-specific conditions for the event occurrences;   a communication engine configured to wirelessly exchange digitally encoded information with the vehicle response server; and   a sensor monitor configured to receive vehicle sensor input and correlate the vehicle sensor input to the vehicle specific conditions.   
   
   
       15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the vehicle response server and the vehicle response agent utilize a vehicle response language that includes data types and functions specifically defined for obtaining and processing vehicle sensor input. 
   
   
       16 . A machine-readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:
 defining by a vehicle response server a plurality of geographical boundaries for a region;   associating a plurality of applications linked to the vehicle response server with particular ones of the geographical boundaries;   conveying activation contexts and associated actions for the contexts from the applications to the vehicle response server;   as a vehicle having a vehicle response agent travels, determining a geographical boundary in which the vehicle resides;   conveying activation contexts of applications associated with the determined geographical boundary from the vehicle response server to the vehicle within the determined geographical boundary, wherein different activation contexts are actuated as the vehicle travels from one geographical boundary to another;   determining by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle an occurrence of a context event specified by an activation context based upon vehicle state information;   conveying by the vehicle response agent within the vehicle to an application associated with the activation context via the vehicle response server vehicle-specific information responsive to the occurrence of the context event; and   performing by the application at least one programmatic action responsive to receiving the vehicle-specific information.   
   
   
       17 . The machine-readable storage of  claim 16 , wherein the in-vehicle device receives different activation contexts from different applications, wherein each of the different applications is bound by the geographical boundaries so that context events are only actuated when the vehicle is located within a geographical boundary corresponding to a geographical boundary to which the application that conveyed the associated activation context is bound. 
   
   
       18 . The machine-readable storage of  claim 17 , the step of performing at least one previously determined programmatic action further comprises the step of:
 conveying a context indication from the in-vehicle device to the application that conveyed the activation context that triggered the occurrence.