System and method for automatically providing vehicle navigation information

• US 7,386,393 B2
• Filed: 09/21/2006
• Issued: 06/10/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Original Assignee: Bayerische Motoren Werke AG
• Inventors: Haas, Felix, Zabel, Jeff
• Primary Examiner(s): Hellner; Mark
• Application Number:
  US11/525,610
• Publication Number:
  US 20080077317A1
• Time in Patent Office: 628 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/201, 701/202, 701/209, 340/995.19
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096894 where input is assisted by the navigation device, i.e. the user does not type the complete name of the destination, e.g. using zip codes, telephone numbers, progressively selecting from initial letters

Abstract

Users are provided with the option of having destination information, such as a street address and/or destination phone number, obtained from online mapping services, transmitted to their vehicle'"'"'s navigation system. In certain embodiments, the user may logon to an online vehicle server to provide information necessary to identify their respective vehicle. Once the target vehicle is identified, the destination information may be transmitted to this vehicle by the vehicle server, after which the vehicle'"'"'s navigation and communication system may be automatically populated with the received destination information.

Claims

1. A method for vehicle navigation comprising the acts of:

receiving, by a vehicle manufacturer server, destination information over a network from an online source in response to a user request to automatically send the destination information to a vehicle;

receiving, by the vehicle manufacturer server, user identification information over the network;

identifying said vehicle from a vehicle database of said vehicle manufacturer server based on the user identification information; and

sending the destination information to an in-vehicle navigation system of the vehicle.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the destination information comprising sending the destination information to the in-vehicle navigation system over a secure vehicle manufacturer connection.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said destination information comprises at least one of a street address, GPS coordinates, telephone number and destination description.

4. The method of claim 3, where said street address comprises one or more of a street name, a street number, a city, a country and a zip code.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving user identification information comprises:

receiving login information over the network;

authenticating the login information; and

preparing, in response to said authenticating, the destination information for transmission to the in-vehicle navigation system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving a vehicle identification number based on said user identification information.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying the destination information on a display of the vehicle;

receiving a user selection of the destination information; and

populating a destination field of an in-vehicle navigation system with the destination information based on the user selection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving destination information over a network from the online source comprises receiving the destination information from an Internet mapping service server.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user request is made via a graphical user interface of the online source over the network.

19. The method of claim 1, where the vehicle manufacturer server is maintained by a third party on behalf of a vehicle manufacturer of said vehicle.

10. A system for vehicle navigation comprising:

an in-vehicle navigation system in a vehicle coupled to a network;

a vehicle manufacture server in communication with the in-vehicle navigation system, the vehicle manufacture server configured to,

receive destination information over a network from an online source in response to a user request to automatically send the destination information to the vehicle;

receive user identification information over the network;

identify said vehicle from a vehicle database of said vehicle manufacture server based on the user identification information; and

send the destination information to the in-vehicle navigation system of the vehicle.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manufacturer server is further configured to send the destination information to the in-vehicle navigation system over a secure vehicle manufacturer connection.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein said destination information comprises at least one of a street address, GPS coordinates, telephone number and destination description.

13. The system of claim 12, where said street address comprises one or more of a street name, a street number, a city, a country and a zip code.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manufacturer server is further configured to,

receive the user identification information in the form of login information over the network;

authenticate the login information; and

prepare the destination information for transmission to the vehicle in response to login information being authenticated.

15. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manufacturer server is further configured to retrieve a vehicle identification number based on said user identification information.

16. The system of claim 10, wherein the in-vehicle navigation system is configured to,

display the destination information on a display of the vehicle;

receive a user selection of the destination information; and

populate a destination field of the in-vehicle navigation system with the destination information based on the user selection.

17. The system of claim 10, wherein the online source is an Internet mapping service server.

18. The system of claim 10, wherein the user request is made via a graphical user interface of the online source over the network.

20. The system of claim 10, where the vehicle manufacturer server is maintained by a third party on behalf of a vehicle manufacturer of said vehicle.

21. A system for vehicle navigation comprising:

an in-vehicle navigation system in a vehicle;

a vehicle manufacturer server having a secure connection with the in-vehicle navigation system, wherein the vehicle manufacturer server is configured to,

receive destination information over a network from an online mapping server in response to a user request to automatically send the destination information to the vehicle;

receive user identification information over the network;

identify a vehicle identification number (VIN) corresponding to said vehicle from a vehicle database of said vehicle server based on the user identification information; and

send the destination information to the in-vehicle navigation system of the vehicle as a secure vehicle manufacturer communication.