Navigation based on direction of travel/user-defined path

• US 9,097,553 B2
• Filed: 04/20/2009
• Issued: 08/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Kurtti, Jeffery Wayne, Relyea, Donald H. Jr.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gilligan, Luke
• Assistant Examiner(s): RAPILLO, KRISTINE K
• Application Number:
  US12/426,592
• Publication Number:
  US 20100268463A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,297 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence

Abstract

A device receives global navigation satellite system coordinates associated with a mobile user device, and determines a direction of travel of the mobile user device based on the global navigation satellite system coordinates. The device creates a user-defined path based on a user-defined starting point, a user-defined destination point, and one or more user-defined intermediate points received from the mobile user device, and receives, from the mobile user device, a search request for points of interest in one of the direction of travel or along the user-defined path. The device further determines, based on the search request, one or more points of interest in the direction of travel or along the user-defined path, and provides, to the mobile user device, the determined one or more points of interest in the direction of travel or along the user-defined path.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device, global positioning system (GPS) coordinates associated with a mobile device;

determining, by the computing device, a direction of travel of the mobile device based on the GPS coordinates;

providing, by the computing device and to the mobile device, a drop-down menu to be used to input a direction in which to search for one or more points of interest;

receiving, by the computing device and from the mobile device, information identifying a selection of a forward direction, for the direction, from the drop-down menu,

the information identifying the selection of the forward direction including a search request for the one or more points of interest,

the search request including a request for the one or more points of interest to be within a first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction of the direction of travel and for the one or more points of interest to be within a second distance from the mobile device that is a radius from the forward direction of the direction of travel, and

the first distance being different from the second distance;

comparing, by the computing device, the search request to a database of points of interest;

generating, by the computing device, search results associated with points of interest based on the comparing;

filtering, by the computing device, the search results to one or more search results associated with the one or more points of interest that are within the first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction of the direction of travel and within the second distance from the mobile device that is the radius from the forward direction of the direction of travel; and

providing, to the mobile device and based on the one or more search results, information regarding the one or more points of interest.

2. The method of claim 1,

where receiving the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device comprises:

receiving, at a first time, first GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device, and

receiving, at a second time, second GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device,

the second time being different from the first time, and

where determining the direction of travel of the mobile device comprises;

determining the direction of travel of the mobile device based on the first GPS coordinates and the second GPS coordinates.

3. The method of claim 1, where the search request comprises a search associated with one or more of:

stores,

restaurants,

gas stations,

hospitals,

hotels,

motels,

amusement parks,

historical sites,

police stations,

airports, or

train stations.

4. The method of claim 1, where the mobile device comprises one or more of:

a radiotelephone,

a personal communications system (PCS) terminal,

a personal digital assistant (PDA),

a laptop computer,

a global positioning system (GPS) navigation device, or

an in-vehicle GPS navigation system.

5. A method comprising:

receiving, by a computing device and via a global positioning system (GPS) navigation application of a mobile device,

a user-defined starting point associated with a path to be navigated by a user associated with the mobile device,

a user-defined destination point associated with the path, and

one or more user-defined intermediate points provided between the user-defined starting point and the user-defined destination point;

creating, by the computing device, a user-defined path based on the user-defined starting point, the user-defined destination point, and the one or more user-defined intermediate points;

providing the user-defined path to the mobile device;

providing, to the mobile device, a user interface that includes a drop-down menu used to input a direction in which to search the one or more points of interest;

receiving, from the mobile device, information identifying a selection of a forward direction, for the direction, from the drop-down menu,

the information identifying the selection of the forward direction including a search request for the one or more points of interest,

the search request including a request for the one or more points of interest to be within a first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction and for the one or more points of interest to be within a second distance from the mobile device that is a radius from the user-defined path, and

the first distance being different from the second distance;

comparing, by the computing device, the search request to a data structure of points of interest;

generating, by the computing device, search results associated with points of interest based on the comparing;

filtering, by the computing device, the search results to one or more search results associated with the one or more points of interest that are within the first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction and within the second distance from the mobile device that is the radius from the user-defined path; and

providing, to the mobile device and based on the one or more search results, information regarding the one or more points of interest.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device traversing the user-defined path; and

determining a direction of travel of the mobile device based on the GPS coordinates, and

the one or more points of interest being in the forward direction of the direction of travel.

7. The method of claim 6,

where receiving the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device comprises:

receiving, at a first time, first GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device, and

receiving, at a second time, second GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device,

the second time being different from the first time, and

where determining the direction of travel of the mobile device comprises;

determining the direction of travel of the mobile device based on the first GPS coordinates and the second GPS coordinates.

8. The method of claim 5, where the search request comprises a search associated with one or more of:

stores,

restaurants,

gas stations,

hospitals,

hotels,

motels,

amusement parks,

historical sites,

police stations,

airports, or

train stations.

9. The method of claim 5, where the mobile device comprises one or more of:

a radiotelephone,

a personal communications system (PCS) terminal,

a personal digital assistant (PDA),

a laptop computer,

a global positioning system (GPS) navigation device, or

an in-vehicle GPS navigation system.

10. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving information associated with the user-defined path; and

providing, to the mobile device, the information associated with the user-defined path.

11. The method of claim 10, where receiving the information associated with the user-defined path comprises one or more of:

receiving mileage information associated with the user-defined path,

receiving directional information associated with the user-defined path,

receiving traffic information associated with the user-defined path, or

receiving construction information associated with the user-defined path.

12. The method of claim 5, where providing the user-defined path comprises:

providing the user-defined path to the mobile device when the user is navigating the user-defined path.

13. A device comprising:

a processor to;

receive a user-defined starting point associated with a path to be navigated by a user associated with a mobile device,

receive a user-defined destination point associated with the path,

create a user-defined path based on the user-defined starting point and the user-defined destination point,

provide the user-defined path to the mobile device,

receive global positioning system (GPS) coordinates associated with the mobile device traversing the user-defined path,

provide, to the mobile device, a mechanism to be used to input a direction in which to search for one or more points of interest;

receive, from the mobile device, information identifying a selection of a forward direction, as the direction, from the mechanism,

the information identifying the selection of the forward direction including a search request for the one or more points of interest,

the search request including a request for the one or more points of interest to be within a first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction and within a second distance from the mobile device that is a radius from the user-defined path, and

the first distance being different from the second distance,

compare the search request and the GPS coordinates to a data structure of points of interest,

generate search results associated with points of interest based on the comparing,

filter the search results to one or more search results associated with the one or more points of interest that are within the first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction and within the second distance from the mobile device that is the radius from the user-defined path, and

provide, to the mobile device, and based on the one or more search results information regarding the one or more points of interest.

14. The device of claim 13, where the processor is further to:

determine a direction of travel of the mobile device based on the GPS coordinates,

the one or more points of interest being in the forward direction of the direction of travel.

15. The device of claim 14,

where, when receiving the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device, the processor is to:

receive, at a first time, first GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device, and

receive, at a second time, second GPS coordinates of the GPS coordinates associated with the mobile device,

the second time being different from the first time, and

where, when determining the direction of travel of the mobile device, the processor is to;

determine the direction of travel of the mobile device based on the first GPS coordinates and the second GPS coordinates.

16. The device of claim 13, where the search request comprises a search associated with one or more of:

stores,

restaurants,

gas stations,

hospitals,

hotels,

motels,

amusement parks,

historical sites,

police stations,

airports, or

train stations.

17. The device of claim 13, where the processor is further to:

receive information associated with the user-defined path, and

provide, to the mobile device, the information associated with the user-defined path.

18. The device of claim 17, where the information associated with the user-defined path comprises one or more of:

mileage information associated with the user-defined path,

directional information associated with the user-defined path,

traffic information associated with the user-defined path, or

construction information associated with the user-defined path.

19. The device of claim 13, where, when providing the user-defined path, the processor is to:

provide the user-defined path to the mobile device when the user is navigating the user-defined path.

20. A method comprising:

providing, by a mobile device and for display in a global positioning system (GPS) navigation application, an option to perform a search for one or more points of interest;

identifying, by the mobile device, a selection of the option to perform the search for the one or more points of interest;

providing, by the mobile device and for display, a drop-down menu to input a direction in which to search for the one or more points of interest based on the selection of the option to perform the search for the one or more points of interest;

receiving, by the mobile device, information identifying a selection of a forward direction, for the direction, from the drop-down menu;

providing, by the mobile device, a search request for the one or more points of interest based on the selection of the forward direction,

the search request including a request for the one or more points of interest to be within a first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction of a user-defined path or a direction of travel of the mobile device and within a second distance from the mobile device that is a radius from the user-defined path or from the direction of travel of the mobile device,

the search request being compared to a database of points of interest to generate search results associated with points of interest, and

the search results associated with points of interest being filtered to one or more search results associated with the one or more points of interest;

receiving, by the computing device, the one or more search results; and

providing, by the mobile device and for display, information regarding the one or more points of interest based on the one or more search results.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving a starting point defined by a user of the mobile device;

receiving an ending point defined by the user;

determining the user-defined path based on the starting point and the ending point; and

providing, for display, an indication of the user-defined path,

the forward direction being a forward direction of the user-defined path.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving information identifying a type of the one or more points of interest,

the search request including the information identifying the type of the one or more points of interest.

23. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, for display, information identifying a selection an option requesting for the one or more points of interest to be along only the user-defined path,

the search request including the request for the one or more points of interest to be within the first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction of the user-defined path and for the one or more points of interest to be within the second distance from the mobile device that is the radius from the direction of travel.

24. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

receiving, for display, information identifying a selection an option requesting for the one or more points of interest to be along only the direction of travel,

the search request including the request for the one or more points of interest to be within the first distance from the mobile device in the forward direction of the direction of travel and for the one or more points of interest to be within the second distance from the mobile device that is the radius from the direction of travel.

25. The method of claim 20, where providing the information regarding the one or more points of interest comprises:

providing, for display, first information identifying a point of interest of the one or more points of interest, and

providing, for display, second information identifying a distance from the mobile device to the point of interest along the user-defined path or in the direction of travel.