FIG. 1 provides a block diagram of an exemplary interface system
100 that includes touch-screen display
101 and is suitable for use with the invention. In system
100, display
101 is coupled to a system controller
103. Controller
103 includes a graphical processing unit (GPU)
105, a central processing unit (CPU)
107, and memory
109. CPU
107 and GPU
105 may be separate or contained on a single chip set. Memory
109 may be comprised of flash memory, a solid-state disk drive, a hard disk drive, or any other memory type or combination of memory types. Controller
103 is coupled to a variety of different vehicle subsystems, including the vehicle subsystem controls and vehicle subsystem monitors that are to be accessed and/or viewed on display
101. Exemplary subsystems include audio subsystem
111, climate control subsystem
113, navigation subsystem
115, drive train monitoring subsystem
117, charging subsystem
119, mobile phone subsystem
121, vehicle camera subsystem
123, vehicle set-up subsystem
125 and web browser subsystem
127. Vehicle set-up subsystem
125 allows general vehicle operating conditions to be set, conditions such as seat position, moon roof or sun roof position/operation, internal and external lighting, windshield wiper operation, etc. Preferably a mobile telecommunications link
129 is also coupled to controller
103, thereby allowing the controller to obtain updates, interface configuration profiles, and other data from an external data source (e.g., manufacturer, dealer, service center, web-based application, remote home-based system, etc.). Mobile telecommunications link
129 may be based on any of a variety of different standards including, but not limited to, GSM EDGE, UMTS, CDMA2000, DECT, and WiMAX.