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

• US 8,193,951 B2
• Filed: 06/14/2011
• Issued: 06/05/2012
• 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:
  US13/159,525
• Publication Number:
  US 20110244888A1
• Time in Patent Office: 357 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, a newly received message originating from a web service at a remote location, the web service including a search engine;

determining, by the navigation device, whether an address is included in the message; and

allowing, by the navigation device, a route from a location of the vehicle to the address to be requested when the determining determines that the address is included in the message.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the received message is received by the navigation device in response to a request message requesting information regarding a point of interest, and

the received message includes at least one address related to information about the point of interest.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the allowing, by the navigation device, a route from a location of the vehicle to the address to be requested when the determining determines that the address is included in the message further comprises:

enabling a route button on a display of the navigation device such that selecting the route button causes the navigation device to calculate and display a route to the address.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, by the navigation device, a telephone number included in the message; and

allowing, by the navigation device, a call to be initiated by the navigation device to the telephone number included in the message when the navigation device detects the telephone number in the message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the calling of the telephone number included in the message further comprises:

calling the telephone number via a hands-free telephone system in communication with the navigation device.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the allowing, by the navigation device, a call to be initiated by the navigation device to the telephone number included in the message when the navigation device detects the telephone number in the message further comprises:

enabling a call button on a display of the navigation device such that selecting the call button causes the navigation device to initiate a call to the telephone number.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

permitting a user to select one of a plurality of telephone numbers included in the message by selecting a button of the display of the navigation device until the selected one of the plurality of telephone numbers is displayed by the display of the navigation device; and

initiating a telephone call to the selected one of the plurality of telephone numbers when the call button is selected while the display of the navigation device is displaying the selected one of the plurality of telephone numbers.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving of a newly received message from a web service at a remote location further comprises:

receiving the newly received message from the web service, at the remote location, by a mobile device within a direct communication range of the vehicle, the mobile device being connected to a wireless network; and

receiving, by the navigation device, the message from the mobile device via a direct connection with the mobile device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

permitting a user to select one of a plurality of addresses included in the message by selecting a button of the display of the navigation device until the selected one of the plurality of addresses is displayed by the display of the navigation device; and

routing the vehicle to the selected one of the plurality of addresses when a route button is selected while the display of the navigation device is displaying the selected one of the plurality of addresses.

10. 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 perform a method comprising;

receiving a recently sent message originating from a web service at a remote location, the web service including a search engine,

determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message,

allowing a route from a current location of the vehicle to the address to be requested when the determining determines that the address is included in the message, and

allowing a telephone call to be initiated when the determining determines that the telephone number is included in the message.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

finding a telephone number within the message,

extracting the telephone number from the message, and

saving the telephone number in the memory.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

finding a character string in the message,

determining whether the character string is a seven digit numeric string or has a format of “

###*####”

, where “

#”

represents a number and “

*”

represents “

-“

, “

.”

, “

(”

, ”

)“

, or a space,

saving the character string as a seven digit phone number when the determining determines that the character string is the seven digit numeric string or has the format of “

###*####”

,

determining whether the character string is a ten digit numeric string or has a format of any one of “

###*###*###”

, “

*###*###*###”

, and “

*###**###*###”

, and

saving the character string as a ten digit phone number when the character string is determined to be a ten digit numeric string or has the format of any one of the “

###*###*###”

, the “

*###*###*###”

, and the “

*###**###*###”

.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

deleting, from the message, each character string determined to include a telephone number,

determining whether a current character string includes a zip code,

when the current character string is determined to include a zip code, performing;

saving the zip code in the memory, and

moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string,

determining whether the current character string matches a state from a list of states,

when the current character string matches a state from the list of states, performing;

saving the state in the memory,

limiting a city list to include only cities included within the state, and

moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string, when the current character string fails to match a state from the list of states, performing;

limiting the city list to include only cities included within a state correlated with the zip code when the zip code was previously saved, and

limiting the city list to include only cities included within a state in which the vehicle is currently located when the zip code was not previously saved.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

determining whether the current character string is a city by determining whether the current character string matches a city included in the city list,

when the current character string is determined to be the city, performing;

storing the city in the memory,

limiting a street list to only streets within the city,

moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string, when the current character string is determined not to be the city, performing;

limiting the street list to only streets within the city correlated with the zip code when the zip code was previously saved, and

limiting the street list to only streets within the city in which the vehicle is currently located when the zip code was not previously saved.

15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

determining whether the current character string matches a street name included in the street list,

when the current character string matches a street name included in the street list, performing;

storing the street name in the memory,

limiting a street number list to only street numbers located on a street having the street name, and

moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string, when the current character string fails to match any street name included in the street list, performing;

moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string,

determining whether the step of determining whether the current character string matches a street name included in the street list has been performed a predetermined number of consecutive times, and

when the step of determining whether the current character string matches a street name included in the street list has not been performed the predetermined number of consecutive times, performing;

repeating the step of determining whether the current character string matches a street name included in the street list.

16. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

determining whether the current character string matches a street number included in the street number list, and

when the current character string is determined to match a street number included in the street number list, performing;

sending a complete address to an onboard vehicle navigation system for possible routing.

17. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the determining whether an address or a telephone number is included in the message further comprises:

determining whether the current character string is a street direction indicator, and

when the current character string is determined to be a street direction indicator, performing;

storing the street direction indicator in the memory, and moving back one character string such that the current character string becomes a character string immediately preceding the current character string.

18. An in-vehicle navigation system comprising:

a transceiver;

a display unit;

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

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

receiving a message originating from a web service at a remote location, the web service including a search engine, the message including information about a place, the message being received in response to a request about the place sent to the web service,

displaying the received message via the display unit,

detecting whether the received message includes at least one address,

when the received message is detected to include the at least one address, performing;

enabling a route selection icon or button of a human machine interface for selection by a user,

receiving an indication of a selection of the route selection icon or button from the user,

displaying an address of the at least one address via the display unit in response to the receiving an indication of a selection of the route selection icon or button by a user,

receiving, via the human machine interface, a request from the user for routing to the displayed address, and

calculating a route to the displayed address and displaying the route via the display unit in response to the receiving a request from the user for routing to the displayed address.

19. The in-vehicle navigation system of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting whether the received message includes only one address,

prompting the user regarding whether a next address is to be viewed when the received message is detected not to include only one address, and

displaying the next address included in the received message when the user responds to the prompting by indicating that the next address is to be viewed.

20. The in-vehicle system of claim 18, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting whether the received message includes at least one telephone number,

when the received message is detected to include the at least one telephone number, performing;

enabling a call selection icon or button of a human machine interface for selection by a user,

receiving an indication of a selection of the call selection icon or button from the user,

displaying a telephone number of the at least one telephone number via the display unit in response to the receiving an indication of a selection of the call selection icon or button by a user,

receiving, via the human machine interface, a request from the user to call the displayed telephone number, and

placing a telephone call to the displayed telephone number in response to receiving the request from the user to call the displayed telephone number.

21. The in-vehicle navigation system of claim 20, wherein the method further comprises:

detecting whether the received message includes only one telephone number,

prompting the user regarding whether a next telephone number is to be viewed when the received message is detected not to include only one telephone number, and

displaying the next telephone number included in the received message when the user responds to the prompting by indicating that the next telephone number is to be viewed.