Method and system for receiving and sending navigational data via a wireless messaging service on a navigation system

• US 8,102,281 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2010
• Issued: 01/24/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ohki, Eric Shigeru
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phung
• Application Number:
  US12/749,108
• Publication Number:
  US 20100184453A1
• Time in Patent Office: 666 Days
• Field of Search: 340/995.19, 340/539.13, 340/990, 340/995.1, 340/995.17, 340/426.19, 455/569.2, 455/569.1, 701/211, 701/213
• US Class Current: 340/995.19
• 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 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

A system and method are provided for receiving navigational data via a wireless messaging service on a navigation system. The system and method provide a way to send requests for destination information via the wireless messaging service and capture navigational data from the responsive message received, such as addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses, and then utilize that data for navigational routing, generation of telephone calls, emailing and the like, from the vehicle'"'"'s navigation system. A wireless device can be paired with the navigation system over a Bluetooth® communication link, wherein the navigation system periodically polls the wireless device for newly received messages. In one embodiment, the NAVI displays icons on a map that correspond to the extracted addresses from the messages received in relation to the vehicle'"'"'s current location. The icons can be shown in a plurality of visual formats to distinguish previously viewed locations from newly received ones.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, at a navigation device within a vehicle, input from a user requesting information regarding a point of interest;

obtaining, by the navigation device, a latitude and a longitude of a particular location, the particular location being either a current location of the vehicle or a location along a predetermined travel route;

transmitting, by the navigation device, a request for the information regarding the point of interest to a remote service, the request including data representing at least part of the input received from the user, and the latitude and the longitude of the particular location;

receiving, by the navigation device in response to the transmitting, a response to the request for the information from the remote service, the response including address information of at least one point of interest that nearly satisfies the request for the information when the remote service fails to identify any points of interest within a first predefined distance of the particular location that match data included in the request for the information; and

providing, by the navigation device on a display device, information regarding a location of the at least one point of interest that nearly satisfies the request for the information based on the address information in the received response.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the transmitting a request for information regarding the point of interest to a remote service further comprises;

wirelessly transmitting the request for information to a mobile device within a direct communication range of a hands-free device that communicates with the navigation device, the mobile device being configured to receive the request for information and transmit the request for information to the remote service, and

the receiving the response to the request for information from the remote service further comprises;

wirelessly receiving, by the navigation device, the response to the request for information transmitted from the mobile device, within the direct communication range of the hands-free device that communicates with the navigation device, the mobile device having received the response to the request transmitted from the remote service.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein wireless communications between the navigation device and the mobile device occur over a Bluetooth®

connection.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the request for the information and the response to the request for the information are short message service messages.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the address information of the at least one point of interest that nearly satisfies the request for the information, included in the response, is located a same distance from the particular location or closer to the particular location than any other points of interest that nearly satisfy the request for information.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

calculating, by the navigation device, a route from the particular location to one of the at least one point of interest; and

displaying at least a portion of the calculated route on a displayed map.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether the received response includes a telephone number of the at least one point of interest; and

calling, initiated by the navigation device, the telephone number included in the response.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

permitting a user to select one of a plurality of phone numbers via a user interface of the navigation device, when the received response includes the plurality of phone numbers, wherein

the navigation device initiates a telephone call to the selected one of the plurality of phone numbers.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, by the navigation device, an address included in the address information.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, by the navigation device, a plurality of addresses included in the address information;

permitting a user to select one of the displayed plurality of addresses via a user interface of the navigation device;

calculating, by the navigation device after the user selects the one of the displayed plurality of addresses, a route from the particular location to the selected one of the plurality of addresses; and

displaying, by the navigation device, a map showing at least a portion of the calculated route.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the navigation device, a format of the received response from among a plurality of formats; and

associating an address in the received response with a phone number in the received response or the phone number with the address based on the determined format.

12. A method of providing a point of interest messaging service, the method comprising:

receiving, at a computing device providing the point of interest messaging service, a first message including a request for information with respect to a point of interest, the request for information including a latitude and a longitude of a particular location and data regarding a desired point of interest;

identifying, by the computing device, any points of interest within a first predefined distance of the particular location that match the data regarding the desired point of interest; and

transmitting a second message, by the computing device to a sender of the first message when the identifying has successfully identified at least one point of interest, the second message including a response to the request for information which includes the requested information for the at least one point of interest that matches the data regarding the desired point of interest, the at least one point of interest being located a same distance as, or closer to, the particular location than others of any of the identified points of interest; and

when the identifying fails to identify any points of interest, performing;

identifying, by the computing device, any points of interest that match the data within a second predefined distance of the particular location, the second predefined distance being larger than the first predefined distance; and

transmitting a third message, when the identifying has successfully identified at least one point of interest that matches the data within the second predefined distance, the third message being transmitted by the computing device to a sender of the first message, the third message including a response to the request for information which includes the requested information for the identified at least one point of interest, within the second predefined distance, that matches the data regarding the desired point of interest, the at least one point of interest within the second predefined distance being located a same distance as, or closer to, the particular location than others of any of the identified points of interest.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein when the identifying any points of interest that match the data within a second predefined distance of the particular location fails to identify any points of interest, performing:

transmitting, by the computing device to the sender of the first message, a fourth message indicating that no points of interest could be found.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the at least one point of interest included in the response to the request for information is determined based on the received latitude and the received longitude of the particular location and a location of the at least one point of interest.

15. An apparatus for use in a vehicle, the apparatus comprising:

a transceiver;

a display unit;

a processor operatively coupled to the transceiver and the display unit, and

a memory operatively coupled to the processor, the memory comprising executable code for the processor to;

receive input from a user requesting information regarding a desired point of interest,

transmit a request for the information regarding the desired point of interest to a remote service, the request including data representing at least part of the input received from the user and a latitude and a longitude of a current location of the vehicle,

receive a response to the request for the information from the remote service, the response including address information of at least one point of interest that nearly satisfies the request for the information when the remote service fails to identify any points of interest within a first predefined distance of the current location of the vehicle that match data included in the request for the information,

calculate a route from the current location of the vehicle to an address included in the address information, and

guide the vehicle along the route by displaying a map showing the current location of the vehicle and at least a portion of the calculated route.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the executable code is further for the processor to:

extract a phone number, related to the at least one point of interest, from the response, and

initiate a telephone call to the phone number extracted from the response.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the executable code is further for the processor to automatically calculate the route from the current location of the vehicle to the address included in the address information.

18. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the executable code is further for the processor to:

extract a plurality of phone numbers, related to the at least one point of interest, from the response,

provide a user interface for a user to select one of the plurality of extracted phone numbers, and

initiate a telephone call to the selected one of the plurality of extracted phone numbers.

19. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the memory further comprises executable code for the processor to:

receive a second input from a user requesting news information or weather information,

transmit a second request for the news information or the weather information to a remote service,

receive a response to the second request, which includes the news information or the weather information, from the remote service, and

present the news information or the weather information to the user.

20. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein:

the input received from the user includes a place name related to the desired point of interest,

the data included in the request for information transmitted to the remote service includes a representation of the place name related to the desired point of interest, and

the address in the received address information is related to the place name.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein the address related to the place name is within the first predefined distance of the current location of the vehicle or a second predefined distance of the current location of the vehicle.