Method, system, and article of manufacture for minimizing travel time to a user selected location

• US 6,915,204 B1
• Filed: 06/01/2000
• Issued: 07/05/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/01/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Webraska, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Webraska, Inc.
• Inventors: Heideman, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Thu V.
• Application Number:
  US09/588,096
• Time in Patent Office: 1,860 Days
• Field of Search: 701117-120, 701200-203, 701207-209, 701212-213, 701/225, 340988-996, 342454-458
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance

Abstract

A method, system, and article of manufacture for providing a plurality of locations having minimal travel time from a user'"'"'s location is provided. A user enters a search category into a wireless communication device. The user is then provided with a list of locations having minimal traveling time from the present user'"'"'s location. Search categories may include, for example, restaurants, theaters, grocery stores, or dry cleaning.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining a travel time, comprising the steps of:

receiving at a remote location a search category from a communication device;

identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;

computing a first travel time from the origin to a first location in the plurality of locations;

storing the first travel time and respective first location; and

transmitting the first location and the first travel time from the remote location to the communication device;

wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

computing a second travel time from the origin to a second location in the plurality of locations; and

,

sorting the first travel time and second travel time by ascending order.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the search category is restaurants and the first location is a first restaurant.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the search category is gas stations and the first location is a gas station.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of expanding the search area.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

determining whether a preselected number of locations have respective travel times computed.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

estimating the first travel time by dividing a distance from the origin to the first location by a maximum speed; and

,

determining whether the estimated first time is less than a predetermined limit.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the identifying step includes searching a database for a plurality of locations within a selected geographical area.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the communication device is a cellular telephone.

10. A method for obtaining a travel time, comprising the steps of:

receiving at a remote location a search category from a communication device;

identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;

determining whether the search area should be expanded based upon the plurality of locations;

estimating a first travel time by dividing the distance from the origin to a first location by a maximum speed;

determining whether the estimated first travel time is less than a predetermined limit;

computing the first travel time from the origin to the first location in the plurality of locations;

storing the first travel time and respective first location;

computing a second travel time from the origin to a second location in the plurality of locations;

sorting the first travel time with the second travel time based upon ascending values;

compiling a list from the sorted first travel time and second travel time, the list including travel time and location address; and

transmitting the list from the remote location to the communication device;

wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant.

11. A method for obtaining a list of targets, comprising the steps of:

receiving a request for a search category from a communication device;

identifying a plurality of locations in the search category which are within a search area, wherein the search area is determined based upon selected potential pathways located around an origin, the potential pathways being selected based upon characteristics of each of the potential pathways, including but not limited to speed limit, number of turns, and potential traffic congestion;

identifying a plurality of targets in the search category which are within the search area;

computing a travel time for at least one of the plurality of targets from the origin to the target;

sorting each of the plurality of targets for which a travel time has been computed by the respective travel time;

compiling a list of the sorted plurality of targets; and

displaying the list to a user via the communication device;

wherein the communication device is one of a telephone and a personal digital assistant.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the search category is restaurants.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the search category is gas stations.

14. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of modifying the search area.

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising the step of:

estimating whether a travel time is less than a predetermined limit by dividing a distance from the origin to the target by a maximum speed.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the identifying step includes searching a database for a plurality of targets within the search area.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the communication device is a cellular telephone.