Integrated journey planner
First Claim
1. A method of providing journey information to a user, the method comprising:
- receiving unique location reference information identifying the start and end locations of the user-defined journey;
considering at least some possible predetermined pairs of access points to a transport network of a single mode of transport, the access points being at different locations than the start and end locations;
selecting those pairs of access points which minimise a selection factor between the start and end locations and the access points respectively;
generating an information request containing a selected pair of access points and sending the request to a knowledge store holding information regarding the single mode of transport; and
constructing a travel option for the user specified journey from the response received from the knowledge store.
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Abstract
An integrated journey planner, or Comparison Navigator™, for providing travel information for a user specified journey comprises means for deconstructing a user enquiry specifying the journey into a plurality of information requests, each specifying a part of the journey using a single mode of transport, such as rail, car or coach. The Navigator also comprises means for sending each request to an appropriate one of a plurality of local and on-line databases, which each hold travel information regarding a different mode of transport. Further means are provided for reconstructing the responses to the requests received from the plurality of local and on-line databases into at least one multi-modal travel option, for the user specified journey, incorporating different modes of transport. Usually, the multi-modal travel option incorporates timetable travel information such as train timetables and non-timetable travel information. The Navigator can also implement uni-modal point to point travel where the user can specify any geographical location and a mode of transport with the most suitable terminals and services being determined.
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Citations
80 Claims
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1. A method of providing journey information to a user, the method comprising:
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receiving unique location reference information identifying the start and end locations of the user-defined journey;
considering at least some possible predetermined pairs of access points to a transport network of a single mode of transport, the access points being at different locations than the start and end locations;
selecting those pairs of access points which minimise a selection factor between the start and end locations and the access points respectively;
generating an information request containing a selected pair of access points and sending the request to a knowledge store holding information regarding the single mode of transport; and
constructing a travel option for the user specified journey from the response received from the knowledge store. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26)
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23. A system for providing journey information to a user, the system comprising:
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input means for receiving unique location reference information identifying the start and end locations of the user-defined journey;
means for considering at least some possible predetermined pairs of access points to a transport network of a single mode of transport, the access points being at different locations than the start and end locations;
selection means for selecting those pairs of access points which minimise a selection factor between the start and end locations and the access points respectively;
requesting means for generating an information request containing a selected pair of access points and sending the request to a knowledge store holding information regarding the single mode of transport; and
constructing means for constructing a travel option for the user specified journey from the response received from the knowledge store.
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27. A method of determining a unique location reference from user-specified location name, the method comprising:
- reading a user-specified location name;
interpreting the user-specified location name by finding the closest matches thereto from pre-stored location names having predetermined unique location references associated therewith;
accessing demographic data regarding the closest matches from a geographic/demographic database of the predetermined location references; and
ranking the closest matches in order of the demographic size of each possible match.
- reading a user-specified location name;
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28. An integrated journey planner for providing travel information for a user specified journey:
- the journey planner comprising;
means for deconstructing a user enquiry specifying the journey into a plurality of information requests, each specifying a part of the journey using a single mode of transport;
means for sending each request to an appropriate one of a plurality of knowledge stores, each store holding travel information regarding a different mode of transport, and means for reconstructing the responses to the requests received from the plurality of knowledge stores into at least one multi-modal travel option, for the user specified journey, incorporating different modes of transport. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62)
- the journey planner comprising;
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63. A method of providing integrated journey travel information between two user selected locations, the method comprising:
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deconstructing a user enquiry specifying the two locations into a plurality of requests each specifying part of the journey using a single mode of transport;
sending each request to an appropriate one of a plurality of knowledge stores, each store holding travel information regarding a different mode of transport; and
reconstructing the responses to the requests received from the plurality of knowledge stores into at least one journey option, between the two user selected locations, incorporating different modes of transport.
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64. A method of providing integrated journey travel information for a user specified journey;
- the method comprising;
sending a plurality of requests, each representing part of the journey, to a plurality of knowledge stores, said stores providing timetabled and non-timetabled information regarding different modes of transport; and
reconstructing the responses to the requests received from the plurality of knowledge stores into at least one multi-modal transport option, for the user specified journey, incorporating timetabled and non-timetabled modes of transport.
- the method comprising;
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65. A method of determining a route between start and end map locations, the method comprising:
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searching a network of nodes, representing road data at a plurality of geographic road locations and neighbouring locations, in a recursive manner to establish a route between the nodes representing the start and the end locations; and
traversing the selected route from the end node to the start node optimising the route selection along the route from each intermediate node to the end node. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79)
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80. A road network routing engine for determining a route between start and end map locations, the routing engine comprising:
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a search engine for searching a network of nodes, representing road data at a plurality of geographic road locations and neighbouring locations, in a recursive manner to establish a route between the nodes representing the start and the end locations; and
optimising means for traversing the selected route from the end node to the start node optimising the route selection along the route from each intermediate node to the end node.
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Specification