Method for the transmisson of location-related information

• US 7,920,872 B2
• Filed: 12/20/2003
• Issued: 04/05/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tomtom Global Content B.V (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: Robert Bosch GmbH
• Inventors: Kersken, Ulrich, Hessling, Matthias, Hahlweg, Cornelius
• Primary Examiner(s): Appiah; Charles N.
• Assistant Examiner(s): AJIBADE AKONAI, OLUMIDE
• Application Number:
  US10/540,419
• Publication Number:
  US 20060156338A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,663 Days
• Field of Search: 455/457, 455405-409, 4554141-4144, 4554561-4566, 340/988, 340/989, 340/990, 340/991, 340/995.1, 340/995.11, 340/995.12, 340/995.17, 340/995.18, 340/995.19, 701/200, 701/201, 701/202, 701/203, 701/204, 701/205, 701/206, 701/207, 701/208, 701/117, 701/209, 701/118
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network

Abstract

The supplementary location-related information which may be included in a digital map of the receiver is transmitted in such a way that the location-related information may be downloaded from an Internet page.

Claims

1. A method for transmitting location-related information from a transmitter to a receiver, the method comprising:

downloading the location-related information onto the receiver from an Internet page, the location-related information including a linear object formed by at least one line segment;

dividing the linear object into a first set of equidistant coordinate points, wherein a traffic route network stored within a digital map of the receiver is divided into a second set of equidistant coordinate points;

for at least one point within the first set of points and for a plurality of potential displacement values, calculating the total number of points in the second set of points that lie within a predetermined radius of the at least one point after the linear object has been shifted according to each displacement value;

selecting the displacement value corresponding to the greatest of the calculated totals;

matching a portion of the traffic route network to the linear object by decoding the linear object in accordance with the selected displacement value; and

updating the digital map with the decoded linear object.

2. The method of claim 1, the location-related information being offered on an Internet portal of a service provider in return for payment.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

selecting a link to an Internet page of an information provider to reach the Internet page of a service provider having the location-related information; and

providing payment by the information provider to the service provider for the download of the location-related information.

4. The method of claim 3, the payment amount being calculated as a function of a data set of the location-related information.

5. The method of claim 1, the provision of the location-related information on the Internet page being financed at least partially by advertising.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein for an encoding of objects in a traffic route network, the object to be encoded being provided with at least one coordinate chain which at least partially lies on traffic routes which are also included in the receiver'"'"'s database, and which includes characteristic properties of parts of the traffic route network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein for a decoding, the coordinate chain of an encoded object is compared to the receiver'"'"'s database, the at least one coordinate chain is assigned to the similar part of the traffic route network if similarities are present, and the non-assigned parts of the at least one coordinate chain are connected to the traffic routes of the receiver'"'"'s database according to the geometric position of the assigned part.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a data packet to be transmitted separately includes both location information and descriptive information, and the data packet has assignment information for assigning at least one part of the location information to at least one part of the descriptive information.

9. A navigation device comprising:

a digital road map; and

a receiving arrangement to receive location-related information which can be downloaded from an Internet page and included in the digital road map, the navigation device being configured to perform the following;

download the location-related information onto the receiving arrangement from an Internet page, the location-related information including a linear object formed by at least one line segment;

divide the linear object into a first set of equidistant coordinate points, wherein a traffic route network stored within the digital road map is divided into a second set of equidistant coordinate points;

for at least one point within the first set of points and for a plurality of potential displacement values, calculate the total number of points in the second set of points that lie within a predetermined radius of the at least one point after the linear object has been shifted according to each displacement value;

select the displacement value corresponding to the greatest of the calculated totals;

match a portion of the traffic route network to the linear object by decoding the linear object in accordance with the selected displacement value; and

update the digital road map with the decoded linear object.

10. The navigation device of claim 9, wherein reception occurs via a connection to a device having an Internet connection.

11. The navigation device of claim 9, wherein the location-related information is read in from a transportable storage medium.

12. The navigation device of claim 9, wherein the location-related information is received in a data packet that separately includes both location information and descriptive information, and that has assignment information for assigning at least one part of the location information to at least one part of the descriptive information.

13. The navigation device of claim 12, wherein reception occurs via a connection to a device having an Internet connection.