Vehicle information system
First Claim
1. A method for guiding a vehicle through a road network from a starting location to a destination, the method comprising:
- transmitting a specification of the destination to a server; and
receiving from the server a specification of a planned route through the road network to the destination.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle information system which includes an in-vehicle system 105 and a centralized server system 120. The in-vehicle system communicates with the server system using a wireless communication link 110, such as over a cellular telephone system. A position system, such as a set of GPS satellites 140, provides positioning signals that are used by the in-vehicle systems, and optionally by the centralized server system to increase the accuracy of position estimates. In one version of the system, an operator specifies a destination to an in-vehicle system which validates the destination. The in-vehicle system transmits specification of the destination to a server system 125 at the centralized server. The server system computes a route to the destination and transmits the computed route to the in-vehicle system. The in-vehicle system guides the operator along the route. If the in-vehicle system detects that the vehicle has deviated from the planned route, it replans a new route to the destination using an in-vehicle map database.
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Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method for guiding a vehicle through a road network from a starting location to a destination, the method comprising:
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transmitting a specification of the destination to a server; and
receiving from the server a specification of a planned route through the road network to the destination. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A method for guiding a vehicle comprising:
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transmitting a specification of a location to a server; and
receiving from the server a map that includes a specification of the a network in the vicinity of the specified location.
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9. Software recorded on a computer readable medium for causing an in-vehicle computer to perform the functions of:
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sending a specification of a destination to a server;
accepting from the server a specification of a planned route through a road network to the destination; and
accepting from the server a map that includes a specification of the road network in the vicinity of the planned route.
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10. A method for providing navigation information to a vehicle comprising:
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receiving from a vehicle a specification of a destination;
determining a planned route on a road network to the destination;
transmitting to the vehicle a specification of the planned route; and
transmitting to the vehicle a map that includes a specification of the road network in the vicinity of the planned route.
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11. A method for tracking a vehicle comprising:
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receiving a reference signal from a positioning system;
computing position data related to the location of the vehicle using the received reference signal;
transmitting the position data to a server;
receiving from the server position correction data;
determining estimated coordinates of the vehicle including combining data computed from the received reference signal and the position correction data. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14)
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15. Software recorded on a computer readable medium for causing an in-vehicle computer to perform the functions of:
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receiving a reference signal from a positioning system;
computing position data related to the location of the vehicle using the received reference signal;
transmitting the position data to a server;
receiving from the server position correction data;
determining estimated coordinates of the vehicle including combining data computed from the received reference signal and the position correction data.
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16. An in-vehicle navigation system comprising:
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a positioning system receiver for receiving reference signals from a positioning system;
a wireless communication interface for accepting data signals from a server; and
a processor coupled to the positioning system and to the wireless communication system, wherein the onboard computer is programmed to perform the functions of accepting reference data from the positioning system receiver, determining position data from the reference data, providing the position data to the wireless communication interface for transmission to the server, accepting position correct data from the communication interface, and determining estimated coordinates for the vehicle from the reference data and the accepted position correction data. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A method for tracking a vehicle comprising:
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receiving a specification of a first location, the specification including coordinates of the first location;
determining when the vehicle is at the first location;
computing first position data using a reference signal received from a positioning system at the time at which the vehicle was determined to be at the first location;
computing position correction data using the first position data and the coordinates of the first location;
computing second position data using a reference signal received from the positioning system at a second time subsequent to the time at which that the vehicle was determined to be at the first location;
determining coordinates of the vehicle at the second time including combining the correction data and the second position data. - View Dependent Claims (19)
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20. Software recorded on a computer readable medium for causing an in-vehicle computer to perform the functions of:
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receiving a specification of a first location, the specification including coordinates of the first location;
determining when a vehicle is at the first location;
computing first position data using a reference signal received from a positioning system at the time at which the vehicle was determined to be at the first location;
computing position correction data using the first position data and the coordinates of the first location;
computing second position data using a reference signal received from a positioning system at a second time subsequent to the time at which that the vehicle was determined to be at the first location;
determining coordinates of the vehicle at the second time including combining the correction data and the second position data.
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21. A vehicle navigation system comprising:
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a positioning system receiver for receiving reference signals from a positioning system;
a first storage for holding a specification of a first location, the specification including coordinate of the first location;
a second storage for holding position correction data;
a vehicle sensor for sensing motion of the vehicle; and
a processor coupled to the positioning system receiver, to the first and the second storage, and to the vehicle sensor, and programmed to perform the functions of determining when the vehicle is at the first location using signals from the vehicle sensor, accepting first reference data related to the location of the vehicle at the time at which the vehicle was determined to be at the first location from the positioning system receiver, computing position correction data using the first reference data and the coordinates of the first location, and determining coordinates of the vehicle at a second time subsequent to the time at which that the vehicle was determined to be at the first location using the computed position correction data.
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22. A method for detecting when a vehicle deviates from a planned route comprising:
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tracking a first estimated position of the vehicle using signals from a positioning system that are received at the vehicle;
tracking a second estimated position of the vehicle using an estimate of the distance traveled along the planned route;
detecting that the vehicle has deviated from the planned route when the first estimated position and the second estimated position differ by at least a tolerance distance. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. Software recorded on a computer readable medium for causing an in-vehicle computer to perform the functions of:
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tracking a first estimated position of a vehicle using signals from a positioning system that are received at the vehicle;
tracking a second estimated position of the vehicle using an estimate of the distance traveled along the planned route;
detecting that the vehicle has deviated from the planned route when the first estimated position and the second estimated position differ by at least a tolerance distance.
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26. A vehicle tracking system comprising:
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a first position estimator including a positioning system receiver, for determining a first estimate of the vehicle'"'"'s location determined using information received from the positioning system receiver;
storage for a planned route;
a second position estimator coupled to a vehicle motion sensor and to the storage for the planned route, for determining a second estimate of the vehicle'"'"'s location using information received from the vehicle sensor and the planned route; and
an off-route detector coupled to the first position estimator and to the second position estimator, for comparing the first estimate of the vehicle'"'"'s position and the second estimate of the vehicle'"'"'s position.
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Specification