Navigation system
First Claim
1. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server, the user unit comprising:
- means for storing location data identifying the current location of the user unit;
means for generating a sequence of audio tones representative of the current location of the user unit in dependence upon the stored location data; and
means for transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to said remote navigation server;
the remote server comprising;
means for receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said user unit representative of the current location of said user unit;
means for processing the received sequence of audio tones to determine the current location of the user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said user unit further comprises means for encoding said stored location data representative of the current location of the user unit so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated by said generating means are the same; and
wherein said processing means of said remote server is operable to perform a decoding corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed by said encoding means of said user unit, to determine the current location of the user unit.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A navigation guidance system is provided which gives direction information from a remote server to a mobile user unit for guiding the user from their current location. The user unit may be a mobile telephone, PDA or the like. A navigation query is transmitted from the user to the remote server. A GPS receiver or the like is provided so that the current location of the mobile unit can also be determined and provided to the remote server. Based on the information received from the user, the server determines appropriate route guidance information and sends this back to the user. In a preferred form of the invention, the data is transmitted between the user unit and the remote server using DTMF tones which are encoded so that no two consecutive tones are identical.
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Citations
76 Claims
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1. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the user unit comprising: -
means for storing location data identifying the current location of the user unit;
means for generating a sequence of audio tones representative of the current location of the user unit in dependence upon the stored location data; and
means for transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to said remote navigation server;
the remote server comprising;
means for receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said user unit representative of the current location of said user unit;
means for processing the received sequence of audio tones to determine the current location of the user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said user unit further comprises means for encoding said stored location data representative of the current location of the user unit so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated by said generating means are the same; and
wherein said processing means of said remote server is operable to perform a decoding corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed by said encoding means of said user unit, to determine the current location of the user unit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 48, 54, 55, 68, 69)
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43. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the remote server comprising: -
means for generating a sequence of audio tones representative of a control command for the user unit;
means for transmitting said generated sequence of audio tones to said user unit;
means for receiving an indication of the current location of the user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
the user unit comprising;
means for receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said remote navigation server corresponding to said control command;
means for processing the received audio tones to determine the control command transmitted from said remote navigation server; and
means for controlling the operation of said user unit in dependence upon the received control command;
wherein said remote navigation server comprises means for encoding said control command so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated by said generating means are the same; and
wherein said processing means of said user unit is operable to perform a decoding corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed by said encoding means of said remote navigation server, to determine the transmitted control command. - View Dependent Claims (49, 56)
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44. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the user unit comprising: -
means for receiving a sequence of audio tones transmitted from said remote navigation server, which audio tones represent a request for the user unit to transmit location information indicative of a current location of the user unit;
means for processing the received audio tones to determine the request transmitted from said remote navigation server;
means for generating, in response to the determined request, a sequence of audio tones representative of the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to said remote navigation server;
the remote server comprising;
means for generating said sequence of audio tones representative of a request for the user unit to transmit said location information;
means for transmitting said generated sequence of audio tones to said user unit;
means for receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said user unit representative of the current location of the user unit;
means for processing the received sequence of audio tones to determine the current location of the user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said generating means of said user unit and said generating means of said remote server are operable to generate said sequences of audio tones with periods of silence between consecutive audio tones; and
wherein the generating means of the user unit is operable to generate said sequence of audio tones having periods of silence between consecutive audio tones which are different to the periods of silence between the audio tones generated by said generating means of said remote server. - View Dependent Claims (50, 57)
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45. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the user unit comprising: -
means for receiving position data from a positioning unit, the position data including data defining the longitude and latitude of the user unit on the surface of the earth at a current time point;
means for receiving a request for a subset of the received position data identifying a portion of the longitude and/or latitude of the current position of the user unit;
means for filtering the received position data in dependence upon the received request to generate said subset of said position data identifying a non-unique longitude and/or a non-unique latitude of said current position; and
means for transmitting said filtered position data to said remote server;
the remote server comprising;
means for transmitting a request for a subset of the position data identifying the current position of the user unit on the earth'"'"'s surface;
means for receiving the filtered position data transmitted from said user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the received filtered position data; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit. - View Dependent Claims (51, 58)
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46. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the user unit comprising: -
means for receiving position data from a positioning unit;
means operable to generate a plurality of different message types for transmission to said remote navigation server, each message type including a different subset of said received position data; and
means for transmitting messages to said remote server;
the remote server comprising;
means for receiving messages transmitted from said user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the received messages; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said user unit has a first mode of operation in which it is operable to transmit a stream of different message types to said remote navigation server; and
a second mode of operation in which selected message types are transmitted to said remote navigation server in dependence upon a request for the selected message type received from said remote navigation server. - View Dependent Claims (52, 59, 60, 61)
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47. A navigation guidance system comprising a user unit and a remote navigation server,
the user unit comprising: -
means for storing location data identifying the current location of the user unit;
means for transmitting said location data to said remote server; and
means for receiving navigation guidance information from the remote server;
the remote server comprising;
means for receiving said location data transmitted from said user unit;
means for determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
means for transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said user unit further comprises means for inhibiting the transmission of said location data to said remote server; and
wherein said remote server is operable to transmit a validation signal to said user unit for deactivating said inhibiting means. - View Dependent Claims (53)
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62. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the user unit;
storing location data identifying the current location of the user unit;
generating a sequence of audio tones representative of the current location of the user unit in dependence upon the stored location data; and
transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to the remote navigation server;
at the remote navigation server;
receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said user unit representative of the current location of the user unit;
processing the received sequence of audio tones to determine the current location of the user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein the method further comprises the step of encoding, at said user unit, said stored location data representative of the current location of the user unit so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated in said generating step are the same; and
wherein said processing step performed at said remote navigation server performs a decoding corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed in said encoding step at said user unit, to determine the current location of the user unit.
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63. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the remote server;
generating a sequence of audio tones representative of a control command for the user unit;
transmitting said generated sequence of audio tones to said user unit;
receiving an indication of the current location of the user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
at the user unit;
receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said remote navigation server corresponding to said control command;
processing the received audio tones to determine the control command transmitted from said remote navigation server; and
controlling the operation of said user unit in dependence upon the received control command;
wherein the method further comprises the step of encoding, at said remote navigation server, said control command so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated in said generating step are the same; and
wherein said processing step performed at said user unit performs a decoding corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed in said encoding step at said remote server, to determine the transmitted control command.
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64. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the user unit;
receiving a sequence of audio tones transmitted from said remote navigation server, which audio tones represent a request for the user unit to transmit location information indicative of a current location of the user unit;
processing the received audio tones to determine the requests transmitted from said remote navigation server;
generating, in response to the determined request, a sequence of audio tones representative of the current location of the user unit; and
transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to said remote navigation server;
at the remote navigation server;
generating said sequence of audio tones representative of a request for the user unit to transmit said location information;
transmitting said generated sequence of audio tones to said user unit;
receiving said sequence of audio tones transmitted from said user unit representative of the current location of the user unit;
processing the received sequence of audio tones to determine the current location of the user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to the user unit;
wherein said generating step performed at said user unit and said generating step performed at said remote server generate said sequences of audio tones with periods of silence between consecutive audio tones; and
wherein the generating step of said user unit generates said sequence of audio tones having a period of silence between consecutive audio tones which is different to the period of silence between the audio tones generated in said generating step at said remote server.
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65. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the user unit, receiving position data from a positioning unit, the position data including data defining the longitude and latitude of the user unit on the surface of the earth at a current time point;
receiving a request for a subset of the received position data identifying a portion of the longitude and/or latitude of the current position of the user unit;
filtering the received position data in dependence upon the received request to generate said subset of said position data identifying a non-unique longitude and/or a non-latitude of said current position; and
transmitting said filtered position data to said remote server;
at the remote server;
transmitting a request for a subset of the position data identifying the current position of the user unit on the earth'"'"'s surface;
receiving the filtered position data transmitted from said user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the received filtered position data; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit.
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66. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the user unit;
receiving position data from a positioning unit;
generating a plurality of different message types for transmission to said remote navigation server, each message type including a different subset of said received position data; and
transmitting messages to said remote server;
at the remote server;
receiving messages transmitted from said user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the received messages; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein said user unit has a first mode of operation in which during said transmitting step, said user unit transmits a stream of different message types to said remote navigation server; and
a second mode of operation in which said transmitting step transmits a selected message type to said remote server in dependence upon a request for the selected message type received from the remote server.
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67. A navigation guidance method using a user unit and a remote navigation server, the method comprising the steps of:
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at the user unit;
storing location data identifying the current location of the user unit;
transmitting said location data to said remote server; and
receiving navigation guidance information from the remote server;
at the remote server;
receiving said location data transmitted from said user unit;
determining navigation guidance information in dependence upon the current location of the user unit; and
transmitting the determined navigation guidance information to said user unit;
wherein the method further comprises the step of, at said user unit, inhibiting the transmission of said location data to said remote server; and
deactivating the inhibiting step upon the receipt of a validation signal transmitted from said remote server; and
, at said remote server, the step of transmitting said validation signal to said user unit.
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70. A signalling system comprising first and second signalling devices,
the first signalling device comprising: -
means for receiving data for transmission to the second signalling device;
means for generating a sequence of audio tones representative of the data to be transmitted to said second signalling device; and
means for transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to said second signalling device;
the second signalling device comprising;
means for receiving the sequence of audio tones transmitted from said first signalling device; and
means for processing the received audio tones to recover said data;
wherein said first signalling device further comprises means for encoding said received data so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated by said generating means are the same; and
wherein said processing means of said second signalling device is operable to perform a decoding operation corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed by said encoding means of said first signalling device, to recover said data.
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71. A signalling system comprising first and second signalling devices each comprising:
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means for storing data for transmission to the other signalling device;
means for generating a sequence of audio tones representative of the data to be transmitted to the other signalling device;
means for transmitting the generated sequence of audio tones to the other signalling device;
means for receiving a sequence of audio tones transmitted from the other signalling device; and
means for processing the received audio tones to recover the data transmitted from the other signalling device;
wherein said first signalling device further comprises means for encoding said data for transmission to the second signalling device so that no two consecutive audio tones within said sequence of audio tones generated by said generating means are the same; and
wherein said processing means of said second signalling device is operable to perform a decoding operation corresponding to the inverse of the encoding performed by said encoding means of said first signalling device, to recover the data transmitted from said first signalling device.
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72. An apparatus for calculating a checksum value for a message comprising a sequence of characters, the apparatus comprising:
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means for receiving the sequence of characters for which a checksum value is to be calculated;
means for assigning a unique value to each unique character in the message;
means for combining the value assigned to a first character of the message with an initial value of said checksum to output a current checksum value;
means for processing the or each remaining character in the sequence comprising;
i) means for applying said current checksum value to a predetermined monotonic function to generate a modified checksum value; and
ii) means for combining the value assigned to a current character of the sequence of characters being processed with the modified checksum value, to output a new current checksum value; and
means for determining the checksum value for the message from the current checksum value output by said processing means after processing a last character of the message. - View Dependent Claims (73, 74, 75, 76)
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Specification