NAVIGATION SYSTEM DESTINATION ENTRY

• US 20120135747A1
• Filed: 11/30/2010
• Published: 05/31/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations Incorporated (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Seder, Thomas A., Szczerba, Joseph F., Lenneman, John K., Mathieu, Roy J., Evenson, Shelley
• Granted Patent: US 8,774,833 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application

Abstract

A system and method for entering a destination into a navigation system, usually a vehicle navigation system, that reduces the cognitive load on the vehicle user over known systems. The method includes contacting the destination by any suitable and available manner, such as by a cell phone provided on or in the vehicle, through the internet, through an ad-hoc network, etc., where information concerning the GPS location of the destination is sent back to the navigation system and is displayed on the navigation system screen. If the destination is accurate, the vehicle driver can select that destination, such as by touching an icon on the screen, which would allow the destination entry process to be performed while the vehicle was moving.

Claims

1. A method for entering a destination into a navigation system, said method comprising:

transmitting a message from the navigation system to an object at the destination;

receiving the message by the object at the destination and determining that the message is asking for a signal identifying the destination;

transmitting the signal identifying the location of the object back to the navigation system;

displaying the location on a screen; and

selecting the location as the destination.

2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the object is a cellular telephone and the messages are cellular telephone calls between the navigation system and the object.

3. The method according to claim 1 wherein transmitting the message from the navigation system to an object includes using a cellular telephone at the navigation system'"'"'s location to transmit a cellular telephone call to the object.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the message accesses the internet to determine the location of the destination.

5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the signal includes GPS coordinates of the location of the object.

6. The method according to claim 1 wherein the object is part of an ad-hoc internet group.

7. The method according to claim 1 wherein the object is part of a geo-spacial web.

8. The method according to claim 1 wherein transmitting and receiving the messages includes transmitting and receiving the messages wirelessly.

9. The method according to claim 1 wherein the navigation system is on a vehicle.

10. A method for entering a destination into a vehicle navigation system, said method comprising:

using a cellular telephone on the vehicle to call a cellular telephone at the destination;

receiving the cellular telephone call by the cellular telephone at the destination and determining that the call is asking for GPS coordinates of the destination;

sending the GPS coordinates of the destination to the cellular telephone at the navigation system;

displaying the destination on a screen that is part of the navigation system; and

selecting the display on the screen as the destination.

11. The method according to claim 10 wherein the destination is displayed as an icon on the screen.

12. A system for entering a destination into a navigation system, said system comprising:

means for transmitting a message from the navigation system to an object at the destination;

means for receiving the message by the object at the destination and determining that the message is asking for a signal identifying the destination;

means for transmitting the signal identifying the location of the object back to the navigation system;

means for displaying the location on a screen; and

means for selecting the location as the destination.

13. The system according to claim 12 wherein the object is a cellular telephone and the messages are cellular telephone calls between the navigation system and the object.

14. The system according to claim 12 wherein the means for transmitting the message from the navigation system to an object uses a cellular telephone at the navigation system'"'"'s location to transmit a cellular telephone call to the object.

15. The system according to claim 12 wherein the message accesses the internet to determine the location of the destination.

16. The system according to claim 12 wherein the signal includes GPS coordinates of the location of the object.

17. The system according to claim 12 wherein the object is part of an ad-hoc internet group.

18. The system according to claim 12 wherein the object is part of a geo-spacial web.

19. The system according to claim 12 wherein the means for transmitting and receiving the messages transmits and receives the messages wirelessly.

20. The system according to claim 12 wherein the navigation system is on a vehicle.