PROVIDING NAVIGATION DIRECTIONS

• US 20080046170A1
• Filed: 07/05/2006
• Published: 02/21/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/05/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: DeGrazia, Bradley Richard
• Granted Patent: US 7,774,132 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/202
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence

Abstract

In one embodiment, a navigation system provides navigation directions within particular locations within a facility, such as within a corporate campus, airport, resort, building, etc. The navigation system may respond to navigation requests for different types of facility target destinations such as a location, a person, a movable item, an event, or a condition. Different location resources can be accessed depending on the type of requested target destination. For example, an employee database may be used to locate an office within the facility associated with navigation request that contains an employee name. A natural voice communication scheme can be used to access to the navigation system through a larger variety of networks and communication devices.

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to;

access a navigation request from a mobile network device identifying a dynamic navigation objective;

determine a location of the dynamic navigation objective;

determine a location of the mobile network device with respect to the dynamic navigation objective; and

generate directions from the location of the mobile network device to the location of the dynamic navigation objective for communication to the mobile network device.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the processors are operable when executing the instructions to determine the location of the dynamic navigation objective and the location of the mobile network device with respect to a particular facility.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processors are operable when executing the instructions to determine the location of the dynamic navigation objective by identifying a person, a movable object, or a meeting associated with the dynamic navigation objective.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processors are operable when executing the instructions to determine the location of the dynamic navigation objective by communicating with a security access system or a wireless network that interconnects computers located within the facility.

5. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processors are operable when executing the instructions to determine the location of the mobile network device with respect to the dynamic navigation objective by associating an Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tag corresponding to the mobile network device with an RFID terminal located inside the structure.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the directions comprise one or more voice commands that are playable by the mobile network device independently of any natural language decoders.

7. An apparatus, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors comprising instructions executable by the processors, the processors operable when executing the instructions to;

generate a navigation request in response to input from a user for communication to one or more servers from a mobile network device of the user, the navigation request identifying a dynamic navigation objective of the user; and

access directions from a location of the mobile network device to a location of the dynamic navigation objective generated by the one or more servers in response to the navigation request for presentation to the user.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the location of the mobile network device and the dynamic navigation objective relate to a particular facility.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the directions are arranged to guide the user from a floor of a building within the facility to another floor that is above or below the floor.

10. A method comprising:

accessing a navigation request from a mobile network device identifying a dynamic navigation objective;

determining a location of the dynamic navigation objective;

determining a location of the mobile network device with respect to the dynamic navigation objective; and

generating directions from the location of the mobile network device to the location of the dynamic navigation objective for communication to the mobile network device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein determining the location of the dynamic navigation objective and the location of the mobile network device is with respect to a particular facility.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein determining the location of the dynamic navigation objective is by identifying a person, a movable object, or a meeting associated with the dynamic navigation objective.

13. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

accessing an employee office location directory for the person or a conference room location directory for the meeting to determine the location of the dynamic navigation objective; and

comparing the location of the dynamic navigation objective and the location of the mobile network device to a facility map.

14. The method of claim 12 further comprising sending one or more Media Resource Control Protocol (MRCP) communications over a packet switched network to translate the navigation request before generating the directions.

15. The method of claim 12 further comprising automatically sending course corrections in real time over a same connection that was used to access the navigation request.

16. The method of claim 12 wherein determining a location of the mobile network device with respect to the dynamic navigation objective includes first communicating with a Global Positioning System (GPS) to identify a longitudinal and latitudinal position of the user location and then comparing the longitudinal and latitudinal position with a facility map to produce a pinpointed user location within the facility.

17. A method, comprising:

generating a navigation request in response to input from a user for communication to one or more servers from a mobile network device of the user, the navigation request identifying a dynamic navigation objective of the user; and

accessing directions from a location of the mobile network device to a location of the dynamic navigation objective generated by the one or more servers in response to the navigation request for presentation to the user.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the location of the mobile network device and the dynamic navigation objective relate to a particular facility.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein the facility is a multi-floor facility and the directions are arranged to guide the user from a floor of a building within the facility to another floor that is above or below the floor.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein the directions include indications of where to turn inside the facility and descriptions of reference points located inside the facility.