System and method for dynamic navigational route selection

• US 20050273250A1
• Filed: 05/18/2004
• Published: 12/08/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 05/18/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Agilent Technologies, Inc.
• Inventors: Hamilton, Bruce, Liu, Jerry
• Application Number:
  US10/847,817
• Publication Number:
  US 20050273250A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/200
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096791 where the origin of the information is another vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice

Abstract

A navigation system and method factors into its routing decisions information pertaining to transient delays encountered from time to time, one example of such a transient delay is accident information obtained from currently available broadcast traffic flow sources. The system can also factor in historically available traffic delay data based on time of day or other parameters. The navigation system keeps track of the routes traveled by the vehicle (or user) and the times of transit of such routes. When a user requests a route based upon given end-points, the navigation system can use its own stored historical data, as well as currently available traffic delay data, to calculate and announce a given route.

Claims

1. A vehicle navigation system, said system comprising:

a navigation route indicator for presenting to a user a travel route based upon the fastest anticipated transit time between a set of points;

a receiver for accepting data pertaining to current average speeds within an area encompassed by said set of points; and

a processor for determining a particular route having the fastest anticipated transit time from among a plurality of possible routes matching said set of points, said anticipated transit time being determined, at least in part, from said accepted data.

2. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 wherein said navigation system further comprises:

a global positioning system receiver.

3. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 wherein said system further comprises a display for showing where said user is at various points in time.

4. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 further comprising:

means for determining average actual speeds between often utilized end-points, said determined speeds having associated with them a time of day for which said determined speeds are valid.

5. The vehicle navigation system of claim 4 further comprising:

a memory; and

wherein said current speeds are stored in said memory.

6. The vehicle navigation system of claim 5 wherein said speeds are associated with a time of day.

7. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 wherein said current average speeds are defined in terms of traffic delays.

8. The vehicle navigation system of claim 7 wherein said data pertaining:

to current average speeds is derived from at least one of the following data sources;

radio broadcasts of traffic delays;

e-mails directed to said navigation system;

the Internet;

measured average transit speed data for given route segments;

cell phone, wireless broadcast from other vehicles, wireless broadcasts from data collection points.

9. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 wherein said processor is further operable for utilizing an actual known transit time between said set of points to determine a given route if said actual known transit time is faster than said anticipated fastest transit time.

10. The vehicle navigation system of claim 1 wherein said processor is further operable for accepting updated information during the course of a transit between said given set up points and, based, at least in part, on said accepted updated information, modifying a determined route.

11. A method of determining the fastest anticipated transit time in a roadway navigation system;

said method comprising;

accepting from a user at least one end-point to define a navigation route having the least transit time for said user;

factoring anticipated transit times between said end-points for each possible navigation route with historically available transit times between said end-points for each possible navigation route and with available data pertaining to currently known traffic delays between said end-points for each possible navigation route; and

based on said factoring, communicating a navigation route having the least transit time between said endpoints.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

adjusting said communicated navigation route for the time of day for such transit.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein said historically available transit times between said end-points is obtained from past transits of said navigation route by said user.

14. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

modifying from time to time said communicated navigation route based upon data pertaining to currently known traffic delays between said end-points along said communicated navigation route.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein said currently known traffic delays are in terms of average speeds on route segments between said end-points.

16. The method of claim 13 wherein said currently known traffic delays are in terms of transit time between points within said end-points.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein said past transits of said navigation route are portable with respect to said user.

18. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

when said historically available transit time for the same time of day is slower than the currently known actual anticipated transit time, substituting said slower time for the currently known actual anticipated time for the historically available transit time in deriving a communicated navigation route.

19. The method of claim 11 wherein said communicating comprises:

displaying said navigation route to a user together with a graphical representation of a map showing the progress of said user along said graphically represented map.

20. The method of claim 19 wherein said progress of said user is determined by a global positioning system.

21. A vehicle navigation system operable for displaying a user'"'"'s current position superimposed on a graphically represented map, said system comprising:

means for establishing routes to be traveled by said user, said routes based on a fastest transit time between various points; and

means for adjusting said routes based upon transient data received by said navigation system from time to time.

22. The vehicle navigation system of claim 21 wherein said routes are the sum of route segments and wherein said fastest time is calculated from transit times for each such route segment.

23. The vehicle navigation system of claim 22 wherein each said route segment transit time is calculated from measured actual sub-route transit times.

24. The vehicle navigation system of claim 22 wherein said transit data is generated by other vehicles traveling said route segments.