PORTABLE NAVIGATION DEVICE POINT OF INTEREST SELECTION BASED ON STORE OPEN PROBABILITY

• US 20100250118A1
• Filed: 03/24/2009
• Published: 09/30/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NNG LLC
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Marzorati, Mauro, Bansal, Ravi Prakash, O'Connell, Brian Marshall, Walker, Keith Raymond
• Granted Patent: US 8,204,675 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/204
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network

Abstract

A probability that a selected point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions is determined. In response to receiving a mailing address of a selected candidate point of interest and a calculated estimated time of arrival, it is determined whether the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in a data storage device. In response to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in the data storage device, a percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival is assigned based on utility usage data and a confidence level associated with the utility usage data stored in the data storage device. The percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions is sent via the network.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method in a navigation system for determining a probability that a point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at an estimated time of arrival, the computer implemented method comprising:

responsive to receiving a mailing address of a selected candidate point of interest and a calculated estimated time of arrival at the selected candidate point of interest from a portable navigation device via a network, determining by a server device whether the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in a data storage device;

responsive to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in the data storage device, assigning by the server device a percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival based on utility usage data and a confidence level value associated with the utility usage data stored in the data storage device, wherein the confidence level value weights the utility usage data; and

sending by the server device the percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival to the portable navigation device via the network.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is not stored in the data storage device, assigning by the server device a zero percent probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining by the server device an identification of a utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address;

determining by the server device whether the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest provides telemetry of utility usage data;

responsive to determining that the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest does provide telemetry of utility usage data, requesting by the server device the utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

receiving by the server device the utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

assigning by the server device a confidence level value of high to the received utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest; and

storing by the server device the received utility usage data and the assigned confidence level value in the data storage device.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest does not provide telemetry of utility usage data, determining by the server device an identification of a neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address;

determining by the server device whether the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest provides telemetry of utility usage data;

responsive to determining that the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest does provide telemetry of utility usage data, requesting by the server device the utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

receiving by the server device the utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest via the network; and

assigning by the server device a confidence level value of medium to the received utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest does not provide telemetry of utility usage data, determining by the server device an identification of a grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address;

requesting by the server device the utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

receiving by the server device the utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest via the network; and

assigning by the server device a confidence level value of low to the received utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating by the portable navigation device a list of candidate points of interest based on criteria input by a user;

determining by the portable navigation device whether the portable device is able to receive real time point of interest data via the network;

responsive to determining that the portable navigation device is able to receive real time point of interest data via the network, calculating by the portable navigation device an estimated time of arrival at each of the candidate points of interest based on global positioning system data;

sending by the portable navigation device a mailing address for each of the candidate points of interest and the calculated estimated time of arrival at each of the candidate points of interest to the server device via the network;

receiving by the portable navigation device percentage probabilities that each of the candidate points of interest are accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival from the server device via the network;

ranking by the portable navigation device the list of candidate points of interest based on the received percentage probabilities that each of the candidate points of interest are accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival; and

displaying by the portable navigation device the ranked list of candidate points of interest on a display device for use by the user.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the portable navigation device is one of a global positioning system unit, a personal digital assistant, or a cellular telephone.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the utility usage data indicates an amount of usage of one or more utilities by a particular point of interest, and wherein the one or more utilities are at least one of an electric utility and a gas utility.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the data storage device stores temperature data for the selected candidate point of interest, and wherein the temperature data is obtained from a temperature measuring device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network.

10. An apparatus, comprising:

a bus system;

a storage device connected to the bus system, wherein the storage device includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, wherein the processing unit executes the set of instructions to determine whether a mailing address of a selected candidate point of interest is stored in a data storage device in response to receiving the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest and a calculated estimated time of arrival at the selected candidate point of interest from a portable navigation device via a network;

assign a percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival based on utility usage data and a confidence level value associated with the utility usage data stored in the data storage device in response to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in the data storage device, wherein the confidence level value weights the utility usage data; and

send the percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival to the portable navigation device via the network.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the processing unit executes a further set of instructions to assign a zero percent probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival in response to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is not stored in the data storage device.

12. A computer program product stored on a computer usable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied thereon for determining a probability that a selected point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at an estimated time of arrival, the computer program product comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine whether a mailing address of a selected candidate point of interest is stored in a data storage device in response to receiving the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest and a calculated estimated time of arrival at the selected candidate point of interest from a portable navigation device via a network;

computer usable program code configured to assign a percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival based on utility usage data and a confidence level value associated with the utility usage data stored in the data storage device in response to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is stored in the data storage device, wherein the confidence level value weights the utility usage data; and

computer usable program code configured to send the percentage probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival to the portable navigation device via the network.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to assign a zero percent probability that the selected candidate point of interest is accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival in response to determining that the mailing address of the selected candidate point of interest is not stored in the data storage device.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine an identification of a utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address;

computer usable program code configured to determine whether the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest provides telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to request the utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network in response to determining that the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest does provide telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to receive the utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

computer usable program code configured to assign a confidence level value of high to the received utility usage data from the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest; and

computer usable program code configured to store the received utility usage data and the assigned confidence level value in the data storage device.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine an identification of a neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address in response to determining that the utility metering device at the selected candidate point of interest does not provide telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to determine whether the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest provides telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to request the utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest via the network in response to determining that the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest does provide telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to receive the utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest via the network; and

computer usable program code configured to assign a confidence level value of medium to the received utility usage data from the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to determine an identification of a grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest based on the received mailing address in response to determining that the neighboring utility metering device near the selected candidate point of interest does not provide telemetry of utility usage data;

computer usable program code configured to request the utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest via the network;

computer usable program code configured to receive the utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest via the network; and

computer usable program code configured to assign a confidence level value of low to the received utility usage data from the grid utility metering device for the selected candidate point of interest.

17. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising:

computer usable program code configured to generate by the portable navigation device a list of candidate points of interest based on criteria input by a user;

computer usable program code configured to determine by the portable navigation device whether the portable navigation device is able to receive real time point of interest data via the network;

computer usable program code configured to calculate by the portable navigation device an estimated time of arrival at each of the candidate points of interest based on global positioning system data in response to determining that the portable navigation device is able to receive real time point of interest data via the network;

computer usable program code configured to send by the portable navigation device a mailing address for each of the candidate points of interest and the calculated estimated time of arrival at each of the candidate points of interest to a server device via the network;

computer usable program code configured to receive by the portable navigation device percentage probabilities that each of the candidate points of interest are accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival from the server device via the network;

computer usable program code configured to rank by the portable navigation device the list of candidate points of interest based on the received percentage probabilities that each of the candidate points of interest are accessible to customers for commercial transactions at the calculated estimated time of arrival; and

computer usable program code configured to display by the portable navigation device the ranked list of candidate points of interest on a display device for use by the user.

18. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the portable navigation device is one of a global positioning system unit, a personal digital assistant, or a cellular telephone.

19. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the utility usage data indicates an amount of usage of one or more utilities by a particular point of interest, and wherein the one or more utilities are at least one of an electric utility and a gas utility.

20. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the data storage device stores temperature data for the selected candidate point of interest, and wherein the temperature data is obtained from a temperature measuring device at the selected candidate point of interest via the network.