REDUCED POWER CONSUMPTION AND IMPROVED USER EXPERIENCE WHEN NAVIGATING ALONG FAMILIAR ROUTES

• US 20150253146A1
• Filed: 03/04/2014
• Published: 09/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Qualcomm, Inc.
• Inventors: ANNAPUREDDY, Koushik, FINLOW-BATES, Keir
• Granted Patent: US 9,574,890 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3641 Personalized guidance, e.g. limited guidance on previously travelled routes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/34 Power consumption
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1694 the I/O peripheral being a single or a set of motion sensors for pointer control or gesture input obtained by sensing movements of the portable computer
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3206 Monitoring of events, devices or parameters that trigger a change in power modality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3215 Monitoring of peripheral devices
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/325 Power saving in peripheral device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/12 for acoustic communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 2203/22 for communication related to vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04K 3/415 based on motion status or velocity, e.g. for disabling use of mobile phones in a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 52/0264 by selectively disabling software applications
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 30/70 in wireless communication networks

Abstract

The disclosure generally relates to techniques that may reduce power consumption and improve user experience when using a personal navigation device or other mobile device to navigate along familiar routes or road segments. In particular, in response to a current position associated with the device corresponding to a familiar road segment (e.g., based on an index indicating how often the road segment was previously traversed), voice assistance and a display may be disabled and/or a frequency at which a receiver acquires signals to determine the current position may be reduced. Furthermore, a navigation application executing on the device may be automatically exited if the familiar road segment further includes a route destination. In other use cases, road segment familiarity and travel histories may be used in route planning, managing incoming calls or messages, and media playback, among other things.

Claims

1. A method for reducing power consumption and improving user experience when using a mobile navigation device to navigate along familiar routes, comprising:

determining a current position associated with the mobile navigation device;

determining whether the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to a familiar road segment; and

disabling voice assistance and a display on the mobile navigation device in response to determining that the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment.

2. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

reducing a frequency at which a receiver on the mobile navigation device acquires one or more signals to determine the current position associated with the mobile navigation device in response to determining that the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment.

3. The method recited in claim 2, further comprising:

using signals acquired from one or more motion sensors on the mobile navigation device to advance the current position associated with the mobile navigation device; and

enabling the voice assistance and the display on the mobile navigation device in response to the advanced current position corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment.

4. The method recited in claim 2, further comprising:

using signals acquired from one or more motion sensors on the mobile navigation device to advance the current position associated with the mobile navigation device; and

increasing the frequency at which the receiver acquires the one or more signals to determine the current position associated with the mobile navigation device in response to the advanced current position corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment.

5. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

automatically terminating a navigation application executing on the mobile navigation device in response to determining that the familiar road segment includes a final destination associated with the mobile navigation device.

6. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

storing a navigation database that includes a plurality of road segments, wherein the navigation database associates each road segment with an index that indicates a familiarity associated therewith based at least on how many times the road segment has been previously traversed; and

determining that the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment in response to the index associated therewith exceeding a predetermined threshold and a current velocity not exceeding a predefined speed limit.

7. The method recited in claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a request to plan a route associated with the mobile navigation device, wherein the request includes at least a final destination associated with the route;

determining preferred road segments that include one or more road segments traversed in one or more previous routes that did not match road segments initially included in the previous routes; and

calculating the route associated with the mobile navigation device using the navigation database, wherein the calculated route prioritizes the preferred road segments and road segments having indices that exceed the predetermined threshold.

8. The method recited in claim 6, further comprising:

associating each road segment in the navigation database with one or more dates or timestamps that indicate when the respective road segments were traversed; and

decreasing the index that indicates the familiarity associated with one or more road segments that are associated with dates or timestamps indicating that the respective road segments have not been traversed within a predetermined time period.

9. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

exiting a navigation application executing on the mobile navigation device in response to determining that the familiar road segment includes a final route destination.

10. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

determining that the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment in response to the road segment having substantially no turns for a predefined distance and in response to further determining that a current velocity does not exceed a predefined speed limit.

11. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an incoming call;

accepting the incoming call if the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment; and

rejecting the incoming call if the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment, wherein rejecting the incoming call comprises generating an autoreply message indicating an estimated time when the rejected incoming call will be returned based on an estimated travel time from the current position to a familiar road segment.

12. The method recited in claim 11, further comprising:

updating the current position associated with the mobile navigation device; and

automatically returning the rejected incoming call in response to determining that the updated current position corresponds to a familiar road segment.

13. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

storing one or more incoming messages received while the current position corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment;

displaying the stored incoming messages in response to determining that the current position corresponds to a familiar road segment or a current velocity equals zero, wherein the stored incoming messages are displayed until the current position corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment and the current velocity does not equal zero.

14. The method recited in claim 1, further comprising:

playing media via the mobile navigation device at a reduced level in response to determining that the current position associated with the mobile navigation device corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment;

updating the current position associated with the mobile navigation device; and

playing the media via the mobile navigation device at a normal level in response to determining that the updated current position corresponds to a familiar road segment.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a navigation fix unit configured to determine a current position fix; and

one or more processors configured to correlate the current position fix to a road segment and disable navigation voice assistance and a display coupled to the apparatus in response to the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponding to a familiar road segment.

16. The apparatus recited in claim 15, further comprising:

a measurement engine configured to acquire one or more satellite signal measurements, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the measurement engine to acquire the one or more satellite signal measurements at a reduced frequency in response to the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponding to the familiar road segment.

17. The apparatus recited in claim 16, further comprising:

a sensor data processor configured to acquire one or more motion measurements associated with the apparatus, wherein the navigation fix unit is further configured to advance the current position fix using the one or more motion measurements acquired via the sensor data processor, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to enable the navigation voice assistance and enable the display coupled to the apparatus in response to a road segment correlated to the advanced position fix corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment.

18. The apparatus recited in claim 16, further comprising:

a sensor data processor configured to acquire one or more motion measurements associated with the apparatus, wherein the navigation fix unit is further configured to advance the current position fix using the one or more motion measurements acquired via the sensor data processor, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to increase the frequency at which the measurement engine acquires the one or more satellite signal measurements in response to a road segment correlated to the advanced position fix corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment.

19. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to automatically terminate a navigation application executing on a navigation device in response to the familiar road segment including a final route destination.

20. The apparatus recited in claim 15, further comprising:

a sensor data processor configured to acquire one or more motion measurements associated with the apparatus, wherein the one or more motion measurements indicate at least a current velocity associated with the apparatus; and

a memory configured to store a plurality of road segments, wherein the plurality of road segments are each associated with a familiarity index based at least on how many times the road segment has been previously traversed, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine that the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponds to the familiar road segment in response to the familiarity index associated therewith exceeding a predetermined threshold and the current velocity not exceeding a predefined speed limit.

21. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine one or more preferred road segments in response to a request to plan a route to final destination and calculate the route to prioritize the preferred road segments and road segments having familiarity indices that exceed the predetermined threshold, wherein the preferred road segments include one or more road segments that were traversed in one or more previous routes and did not match road segments initially included in the previous routes.

22. The apparatus recited in claim 20, wherein the plurality of road segments stored in the memory are each further associated with one or more dates or timestamps indicating when the respective road segments were traversed, and wherein the one or more processors are further configured to decrease the familiarity index corresponding to one or more road segments that are associated with dates or timestamps indicating that the respective road segments have not been traversed within a predetermined time period.

23. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to exit a navigation application executing on a navigation device in response to the familiar road segment including a final route destination.

24. The apparatus recited in claim 15, further comprising:

a sensor data processor configured to acquire one or more motion measurements associated with the apparatus, wherein the one or more motion measurements indicate at least a current velocity associated with the apparatus, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to determine that the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponds to the familiar road segment in response to the road segment having substantially no turns for a predefined distance and the current velocity not exceeding a predefined speed limit.

25. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to detect an incoming call and determine whether to accept or reject the incoming call based on whether the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponds to the familiar road segment or an unfamiliar road segment.

26. The apparatus recited in claim 25, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to reject the incoming call in response to the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment, generate an autoreply message to indicate an estimated time when the rejected incoming call will be returned based on an estimated travel time to a familiar road segment, and automatically return the rejected incoming call in response to the navigation fix unit computing an updated position fix that correlates to the familiar road segment.

27. The apparatus recited in claim 15, further comprising:

a sensor data processor configured to acquire one or more motion measurements associated with the apparatus, wherein the one or more motion measurements indicate at least a current velocity associated with the apparatus; and

a memory configured to store one or more incoming messages that are received while the current position corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to cause the stored incoming messages to be shown on a display coupled to the apparatus in response to the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponding to a familiar road segment or the current velocity equaling zero until a road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponds to an unfamiliar road segment and the current velocity does not equal zero.

28. The apparatus recited in claim 15, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to reduce a level used to play media via an output device coupled to the apparatus in response to the road segment correlated to the current position fix corresponding to an unfamiliar road segment and restore the level used to play the media via the output device in response to the navigation fix unit computing an updated position fix that correlates to a familiar road segment.

29. A navigation device, comprising:

a display;

a navigation database that includes a plurality of road segments, wherein the navigation database associates each road segment with an index that indicates a familiarity associated therewith; and

one or more processors configured to determine whether a current position associated with the navigation device corresponds to a familiar road segment and further configured to disable voice assistance and the display in response to the current position associated with the navigation device corresponding to the familiar road segment.

30. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions recorded thereon, wherein executing the computer-executable instructions on a navigation device causes the navigation device to:

determine a current position associated with the navigation device;

determine whether the current position associated with the navigation device corresponds to a familiar road segment; and

disable voice assistance and a display on the navigation device in response to determining that the current position associated with the navigation device corresponds to the familiar road segment.