Golf round data system with cellular telephone and player help features
DCFirst Claim
1. A portable golf round data system comprising:
- (a) a radiolocation receiver to receive at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined;
(b) data storage in a data collection unit for storing golf course data relating to locations of one or more golf course features;
(c) at least one processor in said data collection unit operatively connected to said radiolocation receiver and to said data storage, said processor programmed to;
1) determine said user'"'"'s current location on said golf course from said external locating signal;
2) determine a probable landing area of a golf ball as a result of the next stroke, said probable landing area comprising an area in which the golf ball is expected to land with a specified probability;
3) dynamically generate a graphical view of a selected portion of said golf course based on said user'"'"'s current location and said golf course data, said dynamically generated view including a selected portion of the golf course and a visual indication representing the probable landing area of the golf ball; and
(d) a graphic display to display said graphical view of said selected portion of said golf course.
3 Assignments
Litigations
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A portable handheld device for collecting and displaying golf round data. The data collected for each stroke includes the location, time and club used and the resulting ball position achieved. Locations on the golf course are determined by radiolocation. Data transfers between the handheld device and external storage are by direct connection or cellular telephone or some other wireless link. Before each drive or approach shot, player performance and course distance information are used to help the player choose the correct club. Putt break prediction is provided before putting strokes. Information that a stroke has been taken and which club was used can be entered manually by the player or sensed automatically from telemetry equipped golf clubs. Golf round data collected is used to produce play souvenirs, records and analyses. Any selected stroke in a round can also be replayed on a graphical display of the handheld device.
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Citations
78 Claims
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1. A portable golf round data system comprising:
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(a) a radiolocation receiver to receive at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (b) data storage in a data collection unit for storing golf course data relating to locations of one or more golf course features; (c) at least one processor in said data collection unit operatively connected to said radiolocation receiver and to said data storage, said processor programmed to; 1) determine said user'"'"'s current location on said golf course from said external locating signal; 2) determine a probable landing area of a golf ball as a result of the next stroke, said probable landing area comprising an area in which the golf ball is expected to land with a specified probability; 3) dynamically generate a graphical view of a selected portion of said golf course based on said user'"'"'s current location and said golf course data, said dynamically generated view including a selected portion of the golf course and a visual indication representing the probable landing area of the golf ball; and (d) a graphic display to display said graphical view of said selected portion of said golf course. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A cellular radiotelephone comprising:
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(a) a cellular radio transceiver to communicate with a cellular network; (b) a radiolocation receiver for receiving at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (c) data storage operatively connected to said cellular radio transceiver for storing golf course data relating to the location of-at least one golf course feature, wherein at least a portion of said golf course data is received via said cellular network from said cellular radio transceiver; (d) a processor to perform calculations based on said user'"'"'s current location and said stored golf course data to dynamically generate a graphic representation of a selected portion of the golf course including a visual representation of the probable landing area of the golf ball due to the next stoke, wherein said probable landing area comprises an area in which the golf ball is expected to land with a specified probability; and (e) a display to display said graphic representation. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A portable golf round data system comprising:
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(a) a radiolocation receiver to receive at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (b) data storage in a data collection unit for storing course data relating to locations of one or more golf course features; (c) at least one processor in said data collection unit operatively connected to said radiolocation receiver and to said data storage, said processor programmed to; 1) determine said user'"'"'s current location on a green of said golf course from said external locating signal; and 2) dynamically generate a graphical view of a selected portion of said green including the users current position on the green, the cup on the green, and a representation of the forces on a ball along a line between the user'"'"'s current position and the cup; and (d) a graphic display to display said graphical view of said selected portion of said golf course. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61)
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62. A portable golf round data system comprising:
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(a) a radiolocation receiver to receive at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (b) data storage in a data collection unit for storing course data relating to locations of one or more golf course features; (c) at least one processor in said data collection unit operatively connected to said radiolocation receiver and to said data storage, said processor programmed to; 1) determine said user'"'"'s current location on said golf course from said external locating signal; and 2) dynamically generate a graphical view of a selected portion of said golf course based on said user'"'"'s current location, said dynamically generated view including a selected portion of the course and graphic indica representing the intended path or direction of the golf ball as a result of the next stroke; and (d) a graphic display to display said graphical view of said selected portion of said golf course. - View Dependent Claims (63, 64, 65, 66, 67)
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68. A portable golf round data system comprising:
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(a) a radiolocation receiver to receive at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (b) data storage in a data collection unit for storing course data relating to locations of one or more golf course features; (c) at least one processor in said data collection unit operatively connected to said radiolocation receiver and to said data storage, said processor programmed to; 1) determine said user'"'"'s current location on a green on said golf course from said external locating signal; and 2) dynamically generate a graphical view of a selected portion of said green; and (d) a graphic display to display said graphical view of said green and a visual indication of the amount and direction that the golf ball will break on the next putt.
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69. A cellular radiotelephone comprising:
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(a) a cellular radio transceiver to communicate with a cellular network; (b) a radiolocation receiver for receiving at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a golf course can be determined; (c) data storage operatively connected to said cellular radio transceiver for storing golf course data relating to at least one golf course feature, wherein at least a portion of said golf course data is received via said cellular network from said cellular radio transceiver; (d) a processor to perform calculations based on said user'"'"'s current location and said stored golf course data to dynamically generate a graphic representation of a selected portion of the golf course including graphic indicia representing the intended path or direction of a golf ball due to the next stroke; and (e) a display to display said graphic representation. - View Dependent Claims (70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76)
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77. A cellular radiotelephone comprising:
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(a) a cellular radio transceiver to communicate with a cellular network; (b) a radiolocation receiver for receiving at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a green on a golf course can be determined; (c) data storage operatively connected to said cellular radio transceiver for storing golf course data relating to at least one golf course feature, wherein at least a portion of said golf course data is received via said cellular network from said cellular radio transceiver; (d) a processor to perform calculations based on said user'"'"'s current location on said green and said stored golf course data to dynamically generate a graphic representation of a selected portion of said green and a visual indication representing the forces on the ball; and (e) a display to display said graphic representation.
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78. A cellular radiotelephone comprising:
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(a) a cellular radio transceiver to communicate with a cellular network; (b) a radiolocation receiver for receiving at least one external locating signal from which a user'"'"'s current location on a green on a golf course can be determined; (c) data storage operatively connected to said cellular radio transceiver for storing golf course data relating to at least one golf course feature, wherein at least a portion of said golf course data is received via said cellular network from said cellular radio transceiver; (d) a processor to perform calculations based on said user'"'"'s current location on said green and said stored golf course data to dynamically generate a graphic representation of a selected portion of said green; and (e) a display to display said graphic representation and a visual indication of the amount and direction that a golf ball will break on the next putt.
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Specification