Determining a geographical location

• US 8,744,495 B2
• Filed: 10/28/2010
• Issued: 06/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 10/28/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Google Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Ho, Casey, Nanavati, Sharvil A., Jenson, Scott, Morrison, Jerry, Lebeau, Michael J., Mavinkurve, Sanjay, Gilbert, Fred, Dzierson, Will
• Primary Examiner(s): Bost, Dwayne
• Assistant Examiner(s): Trandai, Scott
• Application Number:
  US12/914,562
• Publication Number:
  US 20110165890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,314 Days
• Field of Search: 455/456.1, 455/457
• US Class Current: 455/457
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/265 constructional aspects of navigation devices, e.g. housings, mountings, displays G01C21/3688 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3608 using speech input, e.g. using speech recognition
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3661 Guidance output on an external device, e.g. car radio
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1632 External expansion units, e.g. docking stations
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/266 Arrangements to supply power to external peripherals either directly from the computer or under computer control, e.g. supply of power through the communication port, computer controlled power-strips
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/3265 Power saving in display device
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/444 Spatial browsing, e.g. 2D maps, 3D or virtual spaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/638 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2200/1614 Image rotation following screen orientation, e.g. switching from landscape to portrait mode
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/04 Supports for telephone transmitters or receivers
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72412 using two-way short-range wireless interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72415 for remote control of appliances
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72454 according to context-related or environment-related conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 1/72457 according to geographic location
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/02 including a Bluetooth interface
• CPC Class Codes: H04M 2250/74 : with voice recognition means voice activated dialling H04M1/271; voice recognition algorithms G10L15/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods systems, and program products for determining a change in a mode of transportation. A change in a mode of transportation of the mobile computing device may be determined by determining that a speed of the mobile computing device has changed. A first geographical location is stored as a geographical location of the mobile computing device that corresponds to the change in mode of transportation. A graphical indication of the first geographical location is displayed. The graphical indication of the first geographical location is different than graphical indications for one or more other geographical locations of the mobile computing device at one or more other times. The one or more other geographical locations were not determined to correspond to a change in mode of transportation.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

determining, by a computing system, that a mode of transportation of a mobile computing device has changed, said determining being based at least in part on a determination that one or more other computing devices has previously changed its mode of transportation at a present geographical location of the mobile computing device;

storing, as a first geographical location and in response to said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed, the present geographical location of the mobile computing device; and

displaying a graphical indication of the first geographical location, wherein the graphical indication of the first geographical location is different than one or more graphical indications for one or more other geographical locations of the mobile computing device at one or more other times, wherein the one or more other geographical locations were not determined to correspond to a change in mode of transportation,

wherein an area around the present geographical location of the mobile computing device was identified by the computing system as being a location at which the one or more other computing devices previously changed its mode of transportation before the computing system received data from the mobile computing device from which the computing system determined that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device changed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed further comprises determining that a speed of the mobile computing device has changed; and

said determining that the speed of the mobile computing device has changed is performed by determining that an average speed of the mobile computing device has fallen below a first threshold speed.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the average speed is an average over at least three geographical locations of the mobile computing device as determined by the mobile computing device.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the average speed of the mobile computing device is a moving average of at least three recent speeds of the mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein said determining that the speed of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed by identifying, as the first geographical location, a geographical location of the mobile computing device at which the speed of the mobile computing device falls below a second threshold.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the first threshold matches the second threshold.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the second threshold is less than the first threshold.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the second threshold is less than 2 miles per hour and the first threshold is greater than 3 miles per hour.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, by determining that an auxiliary audio device has disconnected from the mobile computing device.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, by determining that an auxiliary audio device has connected to the mobile computing device.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, by determining that a trajectory of the mobile computing device has changed more than ninety degrees at the first geographical location.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, by determining that a geographical location of the mobile computing device has departed from a known transportation route.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, by determining that the mobile computing device has departed from all transportation routes that are known to a computing system.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, based on determining that the mobile computing device has previously changed its mode of transportation at the present geographical location of the mobile computing device.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, based on determining that the mobile computing device has vertically ascended or descended within a defined area.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, based on determining that the mobile computing device has changed from a first repeating state of motion that has first repeating characteristics to a second repeating state of motion that has second repeating characteristics, wherein the first and second repeating characteristics are different.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed is further performed, at least in part, based on determining that the mobile computing device has been physically removed from a dock in which the mobile computing device had been physically paired.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining that the mobile computing device has been physically removed from the dock includes determining that a source of electrical power for charging a rechargeable energy source on the mobile computing device has been interrupted.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein determining that the mobile computing device has been physically removed from the dock includes determining that a data communication over a physical electrical connection between the dock and the mobile computing device has been interrupted.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to determining that the one or more other computing devices has previously changed its mode of transportation at the geographical location of the mobile computing device, modifying (i) a score that is used in the determination that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed, or (ii) a threshold value that the score must achieve in order to result in the determination that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 20, further comprising determining the score, at least in part, based on an analysis of a speed of the mobile computing device.

22. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processing devices, perform operations comprising:

determining, by a computing system, that a mode of transportation of a mobile computing device has changed, said determining being based at least in part on a determination that one or more other computing devices has previously changed its mode of transportation at a present geographical location of the mobile computing device;

storing, as a first geographical location and in response to said determining that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device has changed, the present geographical location of the mobile computing device; and

displaying a graphical indication of the first geographical location, wherein the graphical indication of the first geographical location is different than one or more graphical indications for one or more other geographical locations of the mobile computing device at one or more other times, wherein the one or more other geographical locations were not determined to correspond to a change in mode of transportation,

wherein an area around the present geographical location of the mobile computing device was identified by the computing system as being a location at which the one or more other computing devices previously changed its mode of transportation before the computing system received data from the mobile computing device from which the computing system determined that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device changed.

23. A computer-implemented system comprising:

a location identifier that is programmed to determine a plurality of geographical locations of a mobile computing device at a plurality of respective times;

a transportation mode determiner that is programmed to determine a particular geographical location at which the mobile computing device switched from a first transportation mode to a second transportation mode based, at least in part, on a determination that one or more other computing devices has changed its mode of transportation at the particular geographical location of the mobile computing device;

a location repository that stores (i) the plurality of geographical locations in association with the plurality of respective times, and (ii) the particular geographical location at which the one or more other mobile computing devices determined to have changed its mode of transportation; and

a location displayer that is programmed to display a visual indication of the particular geographical location,

wherein the particular geographical location of the mobile computing device was identified by a system as being a location at which the one or more other computing devices previously changed its mode of transportation before the transportation mode determiner received data from the mobile computing device from which the transportation mode determiner determined that the mode of transportation of the mobile computing device changed.

24. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

determining, by a computing system, that a mode of transportation of a first mobile computing device has changed;

in response to determining that the mode of transportation of the first mobile computing device has changed, storing a location at which the mode of transportation of the first mobile computing device was determined to have changed;

determining that a second mobile computing device is at the stored location at which the mode of transportation of the first mobile computing device was determined to have changed; and

using the stored location at which the mode of transportation of the first mobile computing device was determined to have changed to influence a subsequent determination whether a mode of transportation of the second mobile computing device has changed.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 24, wherein:

the subsequent determination whether the mode of transportation of the second mobile computing device has changed comprises determining that the mode of transportation of the second mobile computing device has changed; and

using the stored location to influence the subsequent determination includes modifying (i) a score that is used in the determination that the mode of transportation of the second mobile computing device has changed, or (ii) a threshold value that the score must achieve in order to result in the determination that the mode of transportation of the second mobile computing device has changed.