Electronic system and method for personal navigation

• US 8,630,798 B2
• Filed: 03/31/2011
• Issued: 01/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Motorola Mobility LLC (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Inventors: Hani, Mohammad Bani, Ady, Rog, Forest, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US13/076,919
• Publication Number:
  US 20120253663A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,020 Days
• Field of Search: 701/408, 701/412, 701/433, 701/468, 701/469, 701/431, 701/480, 342/357.02, 455/556.1
• US Class Current: 701/408
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/005 with correlation of navigation data from several sources, e.g. map or contour matching G01C21/30 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/47 the supplementary measurement being an inertial measurement, e.g. tightly coupled inertial
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0072 Transmission between mobile stations, e.g. anti-collision systems

Abstract

An electronic system for providing personal navigation assistance to a user includes a first mobile electronic device having a first GPS module for generating first GPS data and an INS module for generating INS data, and a second mobile electronic device having a second GPS module for generating second GPS data. A wireless communication link allows for communication of data between the first electronic device and the second electronic device. A processor combines the first GPS data, the second GPS data, and the INS data to produce calculated location data indicative of the location of a user at each of a plurality of times. An output component provides personal navigation assistance to a user based on the calculated location data, such as audio instructions.

Claims

1. An electronic system for providing personal navigation assistance to a user, the electronic system comprising:

a first mobile electronic device having a first GPS module for generating first GPS data and an INS module for generating INS data, wherein the first electronic device is a headset;

a second mobile electronic device having a second GPS module for generating second GPS data, wherein the second electronic device is a phone;

a wireless communication link for communicating data between the first electronic device and the second electronic device;

a processor for combining the first GPS data, the second GPS data, and INS data to produce calculated location data indicative of the location of a user at each of a plurality of times;

wherein the processor is a component of one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device; and

an output component for providing personal navigation assistance to a user based on the calculated location data.

2. The electronic system of claim 1, wherein the output component includes a speaker of the first electronic device for providing audio directions to a user to maintain a desired route, and wherein alerts are provided when deviations occur.

3. The electronic system of claim 1, wherein the second electronic device includes a display screen for displaying the location data on a map.

4. The electronic system of claim 1, wherein the processor includes an extended Kalman filter.

5. The electronic system of claim 1, wherein the wireless communication link is implemented as a wireless local area network.

6. An electronic system for tracking the location of a user, the system comprising:

a first mobile electronic device having a first GPS module for generating first GPS data and an INS module generating INS data, wherein the first electronic device is a headset;

a second mobile electronic device having a second GPS module for generating second GPS data and operable to create a desired route in response to user input, wherein the second electronic device is a phone;

a wireless communication link for transmitting the desired route between the first electronic device and the second electronic device;

a processor for combining the first GPS data and INS module data to produce calculated location data indicative of the location of a user at each of a plurality of times; and

an output component of the first electronic device for providing personal navigation assistance based on the calculated location data and based on the desired route, wherein the personal navigation assistance is in the form of audio directions to a user to maintain the desired route, and wherein alerts are provided when deviations occur,

wherein the processor is for determining an accuracy of at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data and providing a control instruction to turn off at least one of the first GPS module and the second GPS module based on the determined accuracy.

7. The electronic system of claim 6, wherein the second electronic device includes a display screen for displaying the location data on a map.

8. The electronic system of claim 6, wherein the processor includes an extended Kalman filter.

9. The electronic system of claim 6, wherein the wireless communication link is implemented according to a Bluetooth or WiFi protocol.

10. The electronic system of claim 6, wherein the calculated location data also takes into account the second GPS data.

11. An electronic system for providing personal navigation assistance to a user, the electronic system comprising:

a first electronic device having a first GPS module generating first GPS data and an INS module generating INS data;

a second electronic device having a second GPS module generating second GPS data;

a wireless communication link for transmitting data between the first electronic device and the second electronic device;

a processor for determining an accuracy of at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data and providing a control instruction to turn off at least one of the first GPS module and the second GPS module based on the determined accuracy, the processor for determining calculated location data indicative of the location of a user at each of a plurality of times using at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data; and

an output component for providing personal navigation assistance to a user based on the calculated location data.

12. The electronic system of claim 11, wherein the processor is a component of the second electronic device and includes an extended Kalman filter for combining the INS module data with at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data to produce the calculated location data.

13. The electronic system of claim 11, wherein the first electronic device is a headset, and the personal navigation assistance is in the form of audio directions to a user to maintain a desired route.

14. The electronic system of claim 13, wherein the second electronic device includes a display screen for displaying the location data on a map, and wherein alerts are provided when deviations occur.

15. A method for providing personal navigation assistance to a user, the method comprising:

providing a first mobile electronic device having a first GPS module generating first GPS data and an INS module generating INS data, and a second mobile electronic device having a second GPS module generating second GPS data, with a wireless communication link for communicating data between the first electronic device and the second electronic device;

in a processor, combining the INS data with at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data to produce calculated location data indicative of the location of a user at each of a plurality of times;

providing personal navigation assistance to a user based on the calculated location data; and

determining a GPS accuracy of at least one of the first GPS data and the second GPS data and limiting the combining to GPS data from only one of the first electronic device and the second electronic device if the determined accuracy is above a predetermined threshold.

16. The method of claim 15, further including determining, by the second electronic device, a desired route to be displayed on a map on a display screen, and wherein the providing personal navigation assistance to a user includes providing audio directions to a user by the first electronic device.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first mobile electronic device is a headset, wherein the second mobile electronic device is a phone, and wherein alerts are provided when deviations occur.