Position based personal digital assistant

• US 20010018663A1
• Filed: 04/30/2001
• Published: 08/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/1996
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: David J. Cowl, James M. Janky, John F. Schipper, William O. Dussell
• Original Assignee: David J. Cowl, James M. Janky, John F. Schipper, William O. Dussell
• Inventors: Dussell, William O., Cowl, David J., Janky, James M., Schipper, John F.
• Granted Patent: US 6,411,899 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/11 wherein the cooperating elements are pseudolites or satellite radio beacon positioning system signal repeaters
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/41 Differential correction, e.g. DGPS [differential GPS]
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0009 Transmission of position information to remote stations involving assistance data G01S5/0236
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A task description is stored in a database accessible by a mobile computer system. The mobile computer system receives positioning information corresponding to its geographic location and indexes the database based on the positioning information when the information indicates that the mobile computer system is in a geographic location that facilitates completion of a task associated with the task description. The database may be resident in the mobile computer system or accessible in other ways, for example, via the Internet. The task description preferably includes a geocode which corresponds to the geographic location at which completion of the task may be facilitated. The task description may also include textual, voice or other message which can be displayed and/or played back to a user. The positioning information may be obtained from a GPS satellite, a GLONASS satellite or a pseudolite. The mobile computer system may be a portable unit, such as a PDA, or integrated within a vehicle.

Claims

1. A computer assisted method of scheduling tasks, comprising the steps of:

storing a task description in a database, said database being accessible by a mobile computer system;

receiving at said mobile computer system positioning information corresponding to the geographic location of said mobile computer system; and

indexing said database based on said positioning information so as to retrieve said task description when said position information indicates that said mobile computer system is in a geographic location that is within a selected range of a location at which a task associated with said task description may be performed.

2. The computer assisted method of

claim 1

wherein said database is resident in said mobile computer system.

3. The computer assisted method of

claim 1

wherein said database is accessible via the Internet.

4. The computer assisted method of

claim 1

wherein said task description includes a geocode, said geocode corresponding to said geographic location.

5. The computer assisted method of

claim 4

wherein said task description further includes a textual message and said step of storing a task description comprises the steps of:

entering said textual message at a user terminal associated with said database;

associating said textual message with said geocode to produce said task description; and

saving said task description in said database.

6. The computer assisted method of

claim 5

wherein said positioning information is received from one or more sources of pseudorandom sequence signals containing information indicative of the location of said one or more sources.

7. The computer assisted method of

claim 6

wherein at least one of said sources is a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite.

8. The computer assisted method of

claim 6

wherein one of said sources is a pseudolite.

9. The computer assisted method of

claim 6

wherein one of said sources is a GLONASS satellite.

10. The computer assisted method of

claim 5

wherein said positioning information is received from a GPS receiver.

11. The computer assisted method of

claim 5

wherein said step of receiving positioning information comprises:

collecting positioning signals at an antenna associated with said mobile computer system;

downconverting said positioning signals from an RF frequency to an IF frequency to generate downconverting positioning signals; and

extracting from said downconverting positioning signals said positioning information.

12. The computer assisted method of

claim 11

wherein said positioning information comprises a latitude and a longitude.

13. The computer assisted method of

claim 12

further comprising the step of alerting a user that said mobile computer system is in said geographic location after said step of indexing.

14. The computer assisted method of

claim 13

wherein said step of alerting comprises playing out a voice message through a voice synthesizer associated with said mobile computer system.

15. The computer assisted method of

claim 13

wherein said step of alerting comprises displaying an alert message on a display associated with said mobile computer system.

16. The computer assisted method of

claim 13

wherein said mobile computer system is integrated in a vehicle.

17. The computer assisted method of

claim 16

wherein said step of alerting comprises playing out a voice message through an audio system associated with said vehicle.

18. The computer assisted method of

claim 16

wherein said step of alerting comprises displaying an alert message on a graphical display system associated with said vehicle.

19. The computer assisted method of

claim 18

wherein said graphical display system includes a heads up display and said alert message is displayed on said heads up display.

20. The computer assisted method of

claim 13

wherein said step of alerting comprises displaying said textual message on a display associated with said mobile computer system.

21. A computer assisted method of using a geocoded database, comprising the steps of:

transporting a mobile computer system to a first location having first geographic coordinates at a first time;

receiving and processing at said mobile computer system a first set of RF signals including pseudorandom sequences containing information indicative of the location of a source of said first set of RF signals to derive said first geographic coordinates;

associating said first geographic coordinates with a descriptor indicative of said first location in a database so as to form a geocoded entry in said database; and

associating a task to be accomplished at said first location with said geocoded entry in said database.

22. The computer assisted method of

claim 21

further comprising the steps of:

transporting said mobile computer system to a second location having second geographic coordinates at a second time;

receiving and processing at said mobile computer system a second set of RF signals including pseudorandom sequences containing information indicative of the location of a source of said second set of RF signals to derive said second geographic coordinates;

analyzing said second geographic coordinates to determine whether said second location is within a predetermined range of said first location; and

alerting a user of said mobile computer system of said task if said second location is within said predetermined range of said first location, otherwise not alerting said user of said task.

23. The computer assisted method of

claim 22

wherein said step of alerting comprises displaying an alert message on a display associated with said mobile computer system.

24. The computer assisted method of

claim 23

wherein said alert message comprises a text message descriptive of said task and said step of displaying comprises scrolling said text message on said display.

25. The computer assisted method of

claim 22

wherein said step of alerting comprises playing back a voice message descriptive of said task through voice synthesizing means associated with said mobile computer system.

26. The computer assisted method of

claim 25

wherein said voice synthesizing means includes a vehicle audio system.

27. A mobile computer system, comprising:

a location determination unit configured to receive and process RF signals including pseudorandom sequences indicative of the location of a source of said RF signals to derive a set of location coordinates corresponding to the location of said mobile computer system;

a database coupled to said location determination unit including location coordinates indicative of a location of interest; and

a database interface configured to access said database according to the location of said mobile computer system.

28. A mobile computer system as in

claim 27

wherein said database is stored on a computer readable media.

29. A mobile computer system as in

claim 28

wherein said computer readable media is a disk.

30. A mobile computer system as in

claim 28

wherein said computer readable media is a CD-ROM.

31. A mobile computer system as in

claim 28

wherein said computer readable media is an EPROM.

32. A mobile computer system as in

claim 28

wherein said database further includes a task descriptor associated with said location coordinates indicative of said location of interest.

33. A mobile computer system as in

claim 32

wherein said task descriptor comprises a text message.

34. A mobile computer system as in

claim 32

wherein said task descriptor comprises a voice message.

35. A mobile computer system as in

claim 27

wherein said location determination unit comprises a GPS server configured to provide said location coordinates to said database interface across a computer bus interconnecting said GPS server and said database interface.

36. A mobile computer system as in

claim 35

wherein said database interface comprises a microprocessor configured to access said database.

37. A mobile computer system as in

claim 36

wherein said mobile computer system is integrated in a vehicle.

38. A mobile computer system as in

claim 37

wherein said database includes a task descriptor associated with said location coordinates.

40. A computer readable media as in

claim 35

wherein said data structure further comprises a task description associated with said location reference.

39. A computer readable media on which is stored a data structure, said data structure comprising a location reference and an associated geocode, said geocode representing a geographic location of said location reference.

41. A computer assisted method of scheduling a task, comprising the steps of:

storing, over a period of time, commute information indicative of a regularly travelled route of a vehicle, said commute information comprising one or more position information entries, each position information entry derived from positioning information received from a GPS receiver;

storing one or more vehicle stop entries for said vehicle, each vehicle stop entry being associated with a location at which a task is performed, each vehicle stop entry including positioning information received from said GPS receiver;

associating with said vehicle stop entries, task descriptions, each task description being indicative of a task capable of being accomplished at a location associated with an associated vehicle stop entry; and

retrieving one of said task descriptions using first positioning information received from said GPS receiver when said first positioning information indicates that said vehicle will be in a first location within a predefined range of one of said locations associated with one of said vehicle stop entries,

wherein said first positioning information is used in conjunction with said commute information to determine that said vehicle will be in said first location.