Method, system, and article of manufacture for minimizing travel time to a user selected location
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method for obtaining a travel time, comprising the steps of:
- receiving at a remote location a search category from a communication device;
identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;
computing a first travel time from the origin to a first location in the plurality of locations;
storing the first travel time and respective first location; and
transmitting the first location and the first travel time from the remote location to the communication device;
wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method, system, and article of manufacture for providing a plurality of locations having minimal travel time from a user'"'"'s location is provided. A user enters a search category into a wireless communication device. The user is then provided with a list of locations having minimal traveling time from the present user'"'"'s location. Search categories may include, for example, restaurants, theaters, grocery stores, or dry cleaning.
-
Citations
17 Claims
-
1. A method for obtaining a travel time, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving at a remote location a search category from a communication device;
identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;
computing a first travel time from the origin to a first location in the plurality of locations;
storing the first travel time and respective first location; and
transmitting the first location and the first travel time from the remote location to the communication device;
wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
-
-
10. A method for obtaining a travel time, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving at a remote location a search category from a communication device;
identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;
determining whether the search area should be expanded based upon the plurality of locations;
estimating a first travel time by dividing the distance from the origin to a first location by a maximum speed;
determining whether the estimated first travel time is less than a predetermined limit;
computing the first travel time from the origin to the first location in the plurality of locations;
storing the first travel time and respective first location;
computing a second travel time from the origin to a second location in the plurality of locations;
sorting the first travel time with the second travel time based upon ascending values;
compiling a list from the sorted first travel time and second travel time, the list including travel time and location address; and
transmitting the list from the remote location to the communication device;
wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant.
-
-
11. A method for obtaining a list of targets, comprising the steps of:
-
receiving a request for a search category from a communication device;
identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;
identifying a plurality of targets in the search category which are within the search area;
computing a travel time for at least one of the plurality of targets from the origin to the target;
sorting each of the plurality of targets for which a travel time has been computed by the respective travel time;
compiling a list of the sorted plurality of targets; and
displaying the list to a user via the communication device;
wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
Specification