System and Method for Hybrid Off-Board Navigation

• US 20100030466A1
• Filed: 07/31/2009
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/01/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Environmental Systems Research Institute Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Environmental Systems Research Institute Incorporated
• Inventors: Crowder, Matt, Somerville, Kerry, Yagrich, Bert, Rogers, Jeff, Chaffin, Matthew, Pearlman, Richard
• Granted Patent: US 8,909,466 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles

Abstract

A system, method and apparatus for hybrid off-board vehicle navigation are disclosed. In the system, a multi-stop route package is created and sent from a route server to a navigation device. The route package can include a collection of vehicle attributes and corresponding road restrictions for guiding the vehicle towards its destination. The server can optionally push the route package to the vehicle in an email message or other stored communication. When an off-route condition is detected, the navigation device can send a route request to the server that includes the vehicle attributes and the corresponding road restrictions. The server can respond with a partial route correction that is determined based on the vehicle attributes and road restrictions.

Claims

1. A method of off-board navigation, comprising:

receiving at a navigation device routing information relating to a route from a starting point to a destination, the routing information being determined externally to the navigation device and comprising vehicle attributes;

storing the routing information at the navigation device;

guiding the vehicle towards the destination based on the routing information;

detecting an off-route condition in which the vehicle has departed from the route;

sending a route request message comprising the vehicle attributes from the navigation device to a server;

detecting the availability of a response from the server to the route request message;

if the response is detected as being available, obtaining a route correction from the response and updating a portion of the route at the navigation device based on the route correction.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the routing information comprises road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

if the response from the server is not available, determining a local route correction at the navigation device,

guiding the vehicle based on the local route correction,

detecting when the vehicle has returned to the route, and

guiding the vehicle towards the destination based on the routing information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the local route correction comprises:

comparing a current position of the vehicle to a position on the route;

calculating a partial route from the current position of the vehicle to the position on the route; and

inserting the partial route into the routing information.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the partial route is calculated based on the vehicle attributes and road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting the availability of a stored communication comprising the routing information at the server;

downloading the stored communication from the server to the navigation device; and

obtaining the routing information from the stored communication at the navigation device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the stored communication comprises an email message.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing a route database of the server via a messaging interface; and

retrieving the route correction from the route database.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising converting the routing information to an internal format of the navigation device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a message from the server with updated vehicle attributes corresponding to a change in a condition of the vehicle; and

storing the updated vehicle attributes at the navigation device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the vehicle attributes include at least one of a vehicle height, a vehicle weight, and a hazardous materials indicator.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the response comprises an XML document.

13. A navigation device, comprising:

a network interface configured to receive from a source external to the navigation device route data relating to a route, the route data comprising vehicle attributes of a vehicle associated with the navigation device;

a memory configured to store the route data;

a positioning module configured to determine a current position of the vehicle in relation to the route;

a display configured to provide route guidance to a user of the navigation device; and

a routing engine configured to determine the route guidance according to the route data and to detect an off-route condition based on the current location of the vehicle, the routing engine further configured to send a route request message comprising the vehicle attributes from the navigation device to a server via the network interface,

the routing engine configured to detect the availability of a response from the server to the route request message, to obtain route correction information from the response when the response from the server is available, and to update the route data at the vehicle navigation device based on the route correction information.

14. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the route data comprises road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes, and the routing engine includes the road restrictions in the route request message.

15. The navigation device of claim 13, further comprising a map database, and wherein the routing engine is configured to generate a local route correction based on the current position of the vehicle and information from the map database when the response from the server is not available, and wherein the routing engine determines the route guidance based on the local route correction until the vehicle returns to the route and thereafter determines the route guidance based on the route data.

16. The navigation device of claim 15, wherein the routing engine generates the local route correction according to the vehicle attributes and road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes.

17. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the routing engine is configured to determine the availability at the server of a stored communication comprising the route data, to download the stored communication from the server to the navigation device, and to extract the route data from the stored communication at the navigation device.

18. The navigation device of claim 17, wherein the stored communication comprises an email message.

19. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the routing engine is configured to convert the route data to an internal format of the navigation device and to store the converted route data in the memory.

20. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the routing engine is configured to receive a message from the server comprising updated vehicle attributes corresponding to a change in a condition of the vehicle, and to store the updated vehicle attributes in the memory.

21. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the vehicle attributes include at least one of a vehicle height, a vehicle weight, and a hazardous materials indicator.

22. The navigation device of claim 13, wherein the response from the server comprises an XML document.

23. A computer readable storage medium having instructions encoded thereon which, when executed by a processor, perform steps of:

receiving at a navigation device route data relating to a pre-calculated route from a starting point to a destination, the route data including route geometry, stops, and vehicle attributes;

storing a copy of the vehicle attributes in a memory of the navigation device;

guiding the vehicle based on the pre-calculated route towards the destination;

detecting an off-route condition in which the vehicle has departed from the pre-calculated route;

sending a route request message comprising the stored vehicle attributes to a server over a network;

detecting the availability of a response from the server to the route request message; and

if the response from the server is available, obtaining route correction information from the response, and updating a portion of the pre-calculated route based on the route correction information.

24. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the route data comprises road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes, and the road restrictions are added to the route request message.

25. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions for performing steps of:

if the response is not available, generating a local route correction at the navigation device;

guiding the vehicle based on the local route correction;

detecting when the vehicle has returned to the pre-calculated route; and

guiding the vehicle towards the destination based on the pre-calculated route.

26. The computer readable storage medium of claim 25, further comprising instructions for generating the local route correction based on the vehicle attributes and road restrictions corresponding to the vehicle attributes.

27. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions for performing steps of:

determining the availability of the route data at the server;

if the route data is available, downloading the route data from the server and parsing the route data at the navigation device to obtain the route geometry, stops, and vehicle attributes.

28. The computer readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein the route data comprises an email message sent by the server.

29. The computer readable storage medium of claim 23, further comprising instructions for performing steps of:

comparing a current position of the vehicle to a position on the pre-calculated route;

calculating a partial route from the current position of the vehicle to the position on the pre-calculated route; and

inserting the partial route into the pre-calculated route.

30. A route server, comprising:

a network interface configured for data communication with a plurality of vehicles, each vehicle being associated with a collection of attributes; and

a processor configured to receive route data comprising attributes of a first vehicle, and to send the route data to a navigation device associated with the first vehicle via the network interface absent a request from the navigation device.

31. The route server of claim 30, wherein the route data comprises road restrictions corresponding to the attributes.

32. The route server of claim 30, further comprising a map database having routing information and road restrictions, and wherein the processor is configured to receive a route request from the first vehicle, to determine a route correction based on the routing information and vehicle attributes obtained from the route request, and to transmit via the network interface a data file comprising the route correction to the navigation device associated with the first vehicle.

33. The route server of claim 30, wherein the processor is configured to receive updated attributes for the first vehicle via the network interface and to send the updated attributes to the navigation device associated with the first vehicle absent a request from said navigation device.

34. The route server of claim 30, wherein the attributes of the first vehicle include at least one of a vehicle height, a vehicle weight, and a hazardous materials indicator.