DRIVING DIRECTIONS WITH LANDMARK DATA

• US 20140108161A1
• Filed: 12/17/2013
• Published: 04/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Laboratories Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Cubillo, Pedro A.
• Application Number:
  US14/109,220
• Publication Number:
  US 20140108161A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/14.71
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3644 Landmark guidance, e.g. using POIs or conspicuous other objects
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0273 Determination of fees for advertising

Abstract

In one of many possible embodiments, an exemplary system includes a landmark data subsystem providing landmark data and a driving directions subsystem communicatively coupled to the landmark data subsystem. The driving directions subsystem is configured to generate driving directions in response to a request received from an access device. The driving directions include a least a subset of the landmark data, which is representative of one or more landmarks located along a route defined by the driving directions. The driving directions subsystem is further configured to provide data representative of the driving directions to the access device. In certain embodiments, the driving directions subsystem is configured to provide to the access device a selection tool enabling a user of the access device to select between displaying and hiding the landmark data.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a landmark data subsystem providing landmark data; and

a driving directions subsystem communicatively coupled to said landmark data subsystem and configured to

generate driving directions in response to a request received from an access device communicatively coupled to said driving directions subsystem, said driving directions including at least a subset of said landmark data representative of plurality of landmarks located along a route defined by said driving directions, wherein each landmark corresponds to at least one step in driving directions,

provide data representative of said driving directions to the access device,

provide to the access device a selection tool enabling a user of the access device to select between displaying and hiding said at least a subset of landmark data for each step along said route defined by said driving directions, and

provide to the access device a landmark selection tool enabling the user of the access device to select between different types of landmarks for display,

wherein the driving directions display only one landmark associated with the type selected at a time and in an order coinciding with a direction of travel along the route, and

wherein the landmark selection tool further enables a display of the plurality of landmarks via a selectable list in an order based on an advertiser priority.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said driving directions subsystem is configured to generate said driving directions by:

generating street-based driving directions in response to the request, and incorporating said at least a subset of landmark data into said street-based driving directions.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein each of said one or more landmarks has a street address located along the route.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said at least a subset of landmark data includes at least one of a textual, visual, and audible description of said one or more landmarks.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said one or more landmarks include one or more turning point landmarks and one or more status point landmarks.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein said driving directions includes one or more driving direction steps, each of said driving direction steps including a street-based driving instruction, and wherein at least a subset of said driving direction steps also includes said at least a subset of landmark data.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein said landmark data subsystem includes a directory subsystem, and wherein one or more listings stored in said directory subsystem is used to generate said landmark data.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein said landmark data includes, for each of said one or more landmarks, a landmark identifier and a street address associated with said landmark.

24. The system of claim 1, wherein the driving directions subsystem is configured to present a default landmark as the one landmark displayed, receive a user selection of a different landmark, and replace the default landmark with the different landmark selected by the user.

25. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a billing subsystem configured to receive from the driving directions subsystem instances of the subset of the landmark data being included in driving directions.

26. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a billing subsystem configured to track fees in connection with an inclusion of the subset of the landmark data in the driving directions.

27. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a billing subsystem configured to charge an advertiser for each inclusion of the subset of the landmark data associated with the advertiser in driving directions.

28. The system of claim 1, wherein the landmark data includes a set of advertiser identifiers, each advertiser identifier corresponding to and indicating a priority for each landmark of the plurality of landmarks, and wherein the advertiser priority is based on the priority indicated by the advertiser identifiers.

29. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a billing subsystem configured to

receive a set of bids, each bid corresponding to one of the plurality of landmarks, and

assign a priority value to each landmark based on a relative value of the corresponding bid to the set of bids, and

wherein the advertiser priority is based on the priority values.

6-7. -7. (canceled)

11. (canceled)

12. A system comprising:

a landmark data generator configured to use directory listings stored in a directory subsystem to generate landmark data, said landmark data representing a plurality of landmarks and including at least a landmark identifier and a street address for each of said one or more landmarks;

an access module configured to receive a request for driving directions from an access device communicatively coupled to said access module; and

a driving directions engine communicatively coupled to the access module and the landmark data generator and configured to

generate street-based driving directions in response to the request, said street-based driving directions identifying a route, and having a plurality of steps along said route, and

incorporate at least a subset of said landmark data into said street-based driving directions for at least one of said steps, said at least a subset of said landmark data being representative of at least a subset of said one or more landmarks, said street address of each said landmark included in said at least a subset of said one or more landmarks being located along said route;

said access module being configured to provide to the access device data representative of said driving directions having said at least a subset of said landmark data, a selection tool enabling a user of the access device to select between displaying and hiding at least a subset of landmark data for each step along the route, and a landmark selection tool enabling the user of the access device to select between different types of landmarks for display with the driving directions, wherein the driving directions display only one landmark of the type selected at a time and in an order coinciding with a direction of travel along the route,

a billing subsystem configured to receive from the driving directions subsystem instances of the subset of the landmark data being included in driving directions, track fees in connection with the instances, and charge an advertiser the fees for each inclusion of the subset of the landmark data associated with the advertiser in driving directions.

13-22. -22. (canceled)

23. A system comprising:

a landmark data subsystem providing landmark data; and

a driving directions subsystem communicatively coupled to the landmark data subsystem and configured to generate driving directions that include at least a subset of the landmark data representative of a plurality of landmarks located along a route defined by the driving directions and provide a landmark selection tool that allows a user to select between different types of landmarks for display, wherein the driving directions