Method and system for distributed navigation and automated guidance
DCFirst Claim
1. A distributed navigation system for providing navigation information to a navigable physical object, the system comprising:
- (a) a navigation management component for managing the generation and transmission of navigation information to a navigable physical object;
(b) a navigation guidance interface component for;
(i) receiving a route definition pertaining to the navigable physical object; and
(ii) transmitting navigation information generated by the distributed navigation system to the navigable physical object controller;
(c) a guidance component for generating the navigation information for the navigable physical object;
(d) a navigation services component for providing routing information to the distributed navigation system; and
(e) a physical location sensor component for obtaining the physical location of the navigable physical object;
wherein the components of the distributed navigation system or software components distributed on a plurality of networked computers in a distributed network external to the navigable physical object; and
wherein the components of the distributed navigation system communicate among themselves through the distributed network using a computer network protocol.
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Abstract
The present invention provides for distributed navigation and route guidance using networked computing devices. A computing device may host one or more navigation functional components. The location of a navigable object is sensed and communicated to associated navigation components in a communication network. The navigation components collectively provide guidance information to a navigable object controller. A navigable object controller directs the movement of an navigable object using guidance information to keep it on a specified route. The navigable object controller interacts with the distributed navigation system through an interface, which provides the appropriate presentation of guidance information and functions for the particular type of navigable object controller (e.g., human-machine interface, or system to system). The present invention provides the structures and methods for a flexible navigation and guidance system supporting a variety of network capabilities and computing devices using the same software implementation.
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Citations
51 Claims
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1. A distributed navigation system for providing navigation information to a navigable physical object, the system comprising:
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(a) a navigation management component for managing the generation and transmission of navigation information to a navigable physical object; (b) a navigation guidance interface component for; (i) receiving a route definition pertaining to the navigable physical object; and (ii) transmitting navigation information generated by the distributed navigation system to the navigable physical object controller; (c) a guidance component for generating the navigation information for the navigable physical object; (d) a navigation services component for providing routing information to the distributed navigation system; and (e) a physical location sensor component for obtaining the physical location of the navigable physical object; wherein the components of the distributed navigation system or software components distributed on a plurality of networked computers in a distributed network external to the navigable physical object; and wherein the components of the distributed navigation system communicate among themselves through the distributed network using a computer network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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11. A method for providing navigation information for a navigable physical object by a distributed navigation system, the distributed navigation system comprising a plurality of software components distributed on a plurality of computers external to the navigable physical object and communicating via a computer network protocol, the method comprising:
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receiving a route definition pertaining to the navigable physical object; constructing a navigation route for the navigable physical object according to the route definition; generating navigation information for the navigable physical object according to the navigation route; providing the navigation information to the navigable physical object; generating predictive navigation information for the navigable physical object according to a prediction criteria; storing the predictive navigation information in a cache component; and providing the predictive navigation information from the cache component to the navigable physical object when the predictive navigation information corresponds to the physical location of the navigable physical object. - View Dependent Claims (33, 45, 51)
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23. A method for providing navigation information for a navigable physical object by a distributed navigation system, wherein the components of the distributed navigation system are software components distributed on a plurality of networked computers in a computer network external to the navigable physical object, and wherein the components of the distributed navigation system communicate among each other using a computer network protocol, the method comprising:
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(a) receiving, at a first component of the distributed navigation system, a route definition pertaining to a navigable physical object; (b) constructing, at a second component of the distributed navigation system, a navigation route for the navigable physical object according to the route definition and routing information obtained from a third component of the distributed navigation system using a network protocol; (c) sensing, at a third component of the distributed navigation system, the physical location of the navigable physical object; (d) generating, at a fourth component of the distributed navigation system, navigation information for the navigable physical object according to the physical location of the navigable physical object, the routing information, and the navigation route; and (e) transmitting the navigation information to the navigable physical object via the first component; wherein the components of the distributed navigation system are distributed on at least two networked computers in the computer network external to the navigable physical object. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34, 35, 36)
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37. A method for providing navigation information for a navigable physical object by a distributed navigation system, comprising:
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(a) receiving a route definition pertaining to the navigable physical object by a navigation guidance interface component of the distributed navigation system and transmitting the route definition to a navigation management component of the distributed navigation system; (b) constructing, using the navigation management component, a navigation route for the navigable physical object according to the route definition and routing information, wherein the routing information is obtained from a navigation services component of the distributed navigation system, the routing information comprising; (i) mapping and geocoding guidance information obtained from a mapping and geocoding services component of the distributed navigation system; and (ii) point-of-interest guidance information obtained from a point-of-interest component of the distributed navigation system; and (c) sensing the physical location of the navigable physical object with a physical location sensor of the distributed navigation system and transmitting the physical location to a guidance component of the distributed navigation system; (d) generating navigation information for the navigable physical object, using a guidance component, according to the physical location of the navigable physical object, the routing information, and the navigation route; and (e) transmitting the navigation information to the navigable physical object through the navigation guidance interface; wherein the components of the distributed navigation system are distributed on a plurality of networked computers in a computer network external to the navigable physical object, and wherein the components of the distributed navigation system communicate via a computer network protocol. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions which, when executed on a plurality of computers in a computer network, carry out the method comprising:
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(a) receiving, at a first component of the distributed navigation system, a route definition pertaining to a navigable physical object; (b) constructing, at a second component of the distributed navigation system, a navigation route for the navigable physical object according to the route definition and routing information from a third component of the distributed navigation system; and (c) sensing, at a third component of the distributed navigation system, the physical location of the navigable physical object; (d) generating, at a fourth component of the distributed navigation system, navigation information for the navigable physical object according to the physical location of the navigable physical object, the routing information, and the navigation route; and (e) transmitting the navigation information to the navigable physical object via the first component; wherein the components of the distributed navigation system are distributed on a plurality of computers in the computer network external to the navigable physical object, and communicate among each other using a computer network protocol.
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50. A computer-readable medium having computer-readable instructions which, when executed on a plurality of computers in a computer network, carry out the method comprising:
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(a) receiving a route definition pertaining to the navigable physical object by a navigation guidance interface component of the distributed navigation system and transmitting the route definition to a navigation management component of the distributed navigation system; (b) constructing, using the navigation management component, a navigation route for the navigable physical object according to the route definition and routing information, wherein the routing information is obtained from a navigation services component of the distributed navigation system, the routing information comprising; (i) mapping and geocoding guidance information obtained from a mapping and geocoding services component of the distributed navigation system; and (ii) point-of-interest guidance information obtained from a point-of-interest component of the distributed navigation system; (c) sensing the physical location of the navigable physical object with a physical location sensor component of the distributed navigation system; (d) generating navigation information for the navigable physical object, using a guidance component, according to the physical location of the navigable physical object, the routing information, and the navigation route; and (e) transmitting the navigation information to the navigable physical object through the navigation guidance interface; wherein the components are distributed on the plurality of computers in the computer network, external to the navigable physical object, and communicate among each other using a computer network protocol.
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Specification