Abstract:
A method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user via a telematics unit comprises reading geo-coded route data from a removable medium at the telematics unit, the geo-coded data comprising a list of location and events associated with respective actions. The system senses the vehicle location and event status during the course of a trip. If the vehicle location matches a vehicle location listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that location and if a sensed event status indicates the occurrence of an event listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that event.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to automated route guidance and more particularly to a system for executing prescribed actions based on geo-coded data linking actions to events and locations. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Cars and other vehicles are popular forms of transportation for business and commerce purposes, but are also increasingly used as tools for entertainment and leisure. For example, traveling by car is a favorite past time in the United States, and road trips are often accompanied by touring along the way. For example, a party traveling from Connecticut to New Jersey may travel by way of New York to visit famous sites such as the Empire State Building or the Statue of Liberty. Most automobiles that feature navigation systems also have communication facilities to allow real time updating of navigation activities such as route directions. However, some systems do not include communications facilities, or the user does not wish to use such facilities because of cost or other considerations. 
     Moreover, while navigation instructions with respect to both roads and sites can be useful, there is presently a difficulty in allowing a third party to track the progress of the driver. For example, a parent of a teenager may wish to observe the progress of the teenager in driving from point A to point B, or may wish to at least have some way of knowing that the trip was safely and successfully made. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Examples of the invention offer a method of providing route guidance to a vehicle user via a telematics unit comprises reading geo-coded route data from a removable medium at the telematics unit, the geo-coded data comprising a list of location and events associated with respective actions. The system senses the vehicle location and event status during the course of a trip. If the vehicle location matches a vehicle location listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that location and if a sensed event status indicates the occurrence of an event listed in the geo-coded route data, the system executes an action associated in the list with that event. 
     In other aspects of the invention a computer-readable medium is given for providing the route guidance, and in a further example a system of providing route guidance is disclosed. Further aspects of the invention will be appreciated from the description herein. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic view of an example communication system within which the present invention optionally may be implemented; 
         FIG. 2  is system schematic according to an example implementation; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram illustrating a process of providing route guidance in accordance with an exemplary implementation; 
         FIG. 4  is a data diagram illustrating a route and associated locations and events in accordance with an exemplary implementation; and 
         FIG. 5  is a data diagram showing an example set of geo-coded data in accordance with the disclosed principles. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Before describing the invention in detail, an exemplary environment in which the invention may operate will be described. It will be appreciated that the described environment is for purposes of illustration only, and does not imply any limitation regarding the use of other environments to practice the invention. 
     With reference to  FIG. 1  there is shown an example of a communication system  100  that may be used with the present method and generally includes a vehicle  102 , a wireless carrier system  104 , a land network  106  and a call center  108 . It should be appreciated that the overall architecture, setup and operation, as well as the individual components of a system such as that shown here are generally known in the art. Thus, the following paragraphs simply provide a brief overview of one such exemplary information system  100 ; however, other systems not shown here could employ the present method as well. 
     Vehicle  102  is preferably a mobile vehicle such as a motorcycle, car, truck, recreational vehicle (RV), boat, plane, etc., and is equipped with suitable hardware and software that enables it to communicate over system  100 . Some of the vehicle hardware  110  is shown generally in  FIG. 1  including a telematics unit  114 , a microphone  116 , a speaker  118  and buttons and/or controls  120  connected to the telematics unit  114 . Operatively coupled to the telematics unit  114  is a network connection or vehicle bus  122 . Examples of suitable network connections include a controller area network (CAN), a media oriented system transfer (MOST), a local interconnection network (LIN), an Ethernet, and other appropriate connections such as those that conform with known ISO, SAE, and IEEE standards and specifications, to name a few. 
     The telematics unit  114  is an onboard device that provides a variety of services through its communication with the call center  108 , and generally includes an electronic processing device  128  one or more types of electronic memory  130 , a cellular chipset/component  124 , a wireless modem  126 , a dual antenna  160  and a navigation unit containing a GPS chipset/component  132 . In one example, the wireless modem  126  is comprised of a computer program and/or set of software routines executing within processing device  128 . 
     The telematics unit  114  provides too many services to list them all, but several examples include: turn-by-turn directions and other navigation-related services provided in conjunction with the GPS based chipset/component  132 ; airbag deployment notification and other emergency or roadside assistance-related services provided in connection with various accident and or collision sensor interface modules  156  and sensors  158  located throughout the vehicle. Infotainment-related services where music, Web pages, movies, television programs, video games and/or other content is downloaded by an infotainment center  136  operatively connected to the telematics unit  114  via vehicle bus  122  and audio bus  112 . In one example, downloaded content is stored for current or later playback. 
     Again, the above-listed services are by no means an exhaustive list of all the capabilities of telematics unit  114 , as should be appreciated by those skilled in the art, but are simply an illustration of some of the services that the telematics unit is capable of offering. It is anticipated that telematics unit  114  include a number of known components in addition to those listed above. 
     Vehicle communications preferably use radio transmissions to establish a voice channel with wireless carrier system  104  so that both voice and data transmissions can be sent and received over the voice channel. Vehicle communications are enabled via the cellular chipset/component  124  for voice communications and a wireless modem  126  for data transmission. In order to enable successful data transmission over the voice channel, wireless modem  126  applies some type of encoding or modulation to convert the digital data so that it can communicate through a vocoder or speech codec incorporated in the cellular chipset/component  124 . Any suitable encoding or modulation technique that provides an acceptable data rate and bit error can be used with the present method. Dual mode antenna  160  services the GPS chipset/component and the cellular chipset/component. 
     Microphone  116  provides the driver or other vehicle occupant with a means for inputting verbal or other auditory commands, and can be equipped with an embedded voice processing unit utilizing a human/machine interface (HMI) technology known in the art. Conversely, speaker  118  provides verbal output to the vehicle occupants and can be either a stand-alone speaker specifically dedicated for use with the telematics unit  114  or can be part of a vehicle audio component  154 . In either event, microphone  116  and speaker  118  enable vehicle hardware  110  and call center  108  to communicate with the occupants through audible speech. The vehicle hardware also includes one or more buttons or controls  120  for enabling a vehicle occupant to activate or engage one or more of the vehicle hardware components  110 . For example, one of the buttons  120  can be an electronic push button used to initiate voice communication with call center  108  (whether it be a live advisor  148  or an automated call response system). In another example, one of the buttons  120  can be used to initiate emergency services. 
     The audio component  154  is operatively connected to the vehicle bus  122  and the audio bus  112 . The audio component  154  receives analog information, rendering it as sound, via the audio bus  112 . Digital information is received via the vehicle bus  122 . The audio component  154  provides AM and FM radio, CD, DVD, and multimedia functionality independent of the infotainment center  136 . Audio component  154  may contain a speaker system, or may utilize speaker  118  via arbitration on vehicle bus  122  and/or audio bus  112 . 
     The vehicle accident and/or collision detection sensor interface  156  are operatively connected to the vehicle bus  122 . The accident sensors  158  provide information to the telematics unit via the accident and/or collision detection sensor interface  156  regarding the severity of a vehicle collision, such as the angle of impact and the amount of force sustained. 
     Vehicle sensors  162 , connected to various sensor interface modules  134  are operatively connected to the vehicle bus  122 . Example vehicle sensors include but are not limited to gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers, emission detection and/or control sensors, and the like. Example sensor interface modules  134  include power train control, climate control, and body control, to name but a few. 
     Wireless carrier system  104  is preferably a cellular telephone system or any other suitable wireless system that transmits signals between the vehicle hardware  110  and land network  106 . According to an example, wireless carrier system  104  includes one or more cell towers  138 , base stations and/or mobile switching centers (MSCs)  140 , as well as any other networking components required to connect the wireless system  104  with land network  106 . A component in the mobile switching center may include a remote data server  180 . As appreciated by those skilled in the art, various cell tower/base station/MSC arrangements are possible and could be used with wireless system  104 . For example, a base station and a cell tower could be co-located at the same site or they could be remotely located, and a single base station could be coupled to various cell towers or various base stations could be coupled with a single MSC, to but a few of the possible arrangements. Preferably, a speech codec or vocoder is incorporated in one or more of the base stations, but depending on the particular architecture of the wireless network, it could be incorporated within a Mobile Switching Center or some other network components as well. 
     Land network  106  can be a conventional land-based telecommunications network that is connected to one or more landline telephones and connects wireless carrier network  104  to call center  108 . For example, land network  106  can include a public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or an Internet protocol (IP) network, as is appreciated by those skilled in the art. Of course, one or more segments of the land network  106  can be implemented in the form of a standard wired network, a fiber or other optical network, a cable network, other wireless networks such as wireless local networks (WLANs) or networks providing broadband wireless access (BWA), or any combination thereof. 
     Call Center (OCC)  108  is designed to provide the vehicle hardware  110  with a number of different system back-end functions and, according to the example shown here, generally includes one or more switches  142 , servers  144 , databases  146 , live advisors  148 , as well as a variety of other telecommunication and computer equipment  150  that is known to those skilled in the art. These various call center components are preferably coupled to one another via a network connection or bus  152 , such as the one previously described in connection with the vehicle hardware  110 . Switch  142 , which can be a private branch exchange (PBX) switch, routes incoming signals so that voice transmissions are usually sent to either the live advisor  148  or an automated response system, and data transmissions are passed on to a modem or other piece of equipment  150  for demodulation and further signal processing. The modem  150  preferably includes an encoder, as previously explained, and can be connected to various devices such as a server  144  and database  146 . For example, database  146  could be designed to store subscriber profile records, subscriber behavioral patterns, or any other pertinent subscriber information. Although the illustrated example has been described as it would be used in conjunction with a manned call center  108 , it will be appreciated that the call center  108  can be any central or remote facility, manned or unmanned, mobile or fixed, to or from which it is desirable to exchange voice and data. 
     Although the illustrated system of  FIG. 1  includes communications facilities for communicating between the telematics unit  114  and a facility such as a call center or server for providing navigation assistance, some systems do not include communications facilities, or the user does not wish to use such facilities because of cost or other considerations. Moreover, while navigation instructions with respect to both roads and sites can be useful, there is still presently no convenient and efficient way to allow a third party to track the progress of the trip. For example, a parent of a teenage driver may wish to observe the progress of the teenager and/or may wish to have some way of knowing that the trip was safely and successfully made. 
     In an example of the disclosed principles, a system is provided for allowing a user to obtain directions and other route and navigation information. In a further aspect, geo-actionable information is provided both for the benefit of the driver and for the benefit of a third party.  FIG. 2  is a schematic view of system for implementing the disclosed principles. The illustrated system  200  includes a personal computer  202  or other computing device with communication facilities and a server  204 , linked to the personal computer  202  via a network  206 . Network  206  may be the Internet or other network, and may comprise one or more types of network link such as hard wire, wireless, packetized, etc. 
     A removable media unit  208  is associated with the personal computer  202  by the user of the personal computer  202 . The removable media unit  208  is a flash drive or “thumb drive” in an implementation, but may alternatively be another type of human tangible computer-readable medium such as a magnetic or optical disc, etc. In overview, the user of the personal computer  202  is able to locate and download geo-relevant information over the network  206  on the server  204 . The geo-relevant information may be downloaded to the removable media unit  208  directly or may be downloaded first to the personal computer  202 , and from there be transferred to the removable media unit  208 . 
     The personal computer preferably holds and runs an application for selecting and configuring the geo-relevant information so as to provide a desired sequence of way points or destinations as well as to provide actionable data tied to vehicle location or vehicle-related events. For example, a user may wish to set actions associated with trip initiation (e.g., when the vehicle is located at the starting point and an ignition event is detected), reaching of the trip destination (e.g., when the vehicle is located at the destination point), and vehicle events such as collision or user warnings or notifications (out of gas, oil low, engine over temperature, etc.), departure from a specified route, etc. 
     When the user has downloaded all necessary route information and actionable data to the removable media unit  208 , they remove the removable media unit  208  from the personal computer  202  and transfer it to their vehicle  102  via the vehicle telematics unit  114 . From this point forward, as the vehicle location changes and vehicle events occur, the route directions and actionable data respond as they have been configured. 
     The flow chart of  FIG. 3  illustrates in greater detail a process of providing user-tailored guidance and actionable data in accordance with the disclosed principles. At stage  301  of the process  300 , the user inserts the removable media unit  208  into the personal computer  202 . The user then locates desired route guidance, e.g., on the server  204  at stage  303 . At stage  305 , the user downloads the route guidance to the personal computer  202  for processing and storage. The route guidance may be, in an example, a set of audio segments associated with geographic cues or location. For example, an audio segment discussing the history of Niagara Falls would be associated with the location of Niagara Falls, so as to automatically play when the vehicle location matches that of Niagara Falls. 
     Using an application running on the personal computer  202  in an example, the user edits and configures the retrieved data at stage  307 . For example, the user may remove or rearrange waypoints, change a destination, etc. At stage  309 , the user employs the application to set actionable data such as trip outset notification to a third party, trip destination arrival notification to a third party, collision notification contact information, etc. Third party notifications may be issued via phone, email, or other suitable contact means, and the user preferably inputs such information as is necessary at stage  309 . 
     Once the data has been configured, it is loaded onto the removable media unit  208  from the personal computer  202  in stage  311  if not already on the removable media unit  208 , and the user removes the removable media unit  208  from the personal computer  202  in stage  313 . The user inserts the removable media unit  208  into the telematics unit  114  at stage  315 , e.g. at the outset of a trip. An application running on the telematics unit  114  reads the contents of the removable media unit  208  at stage  317  and begins to execute geo-coded features such as providing information on sites, providing directions, and sending specified notifications. The information is preferably provided in audio format for the convenience of the driver, although other formats may be used instead depending upon user preference. 
       FIG. 4  is a route schematic showing an example route and provided geo-coded actions along the route in accordance with geo-coded data as shown in  FIG. 5 . The trip  400  begins at the Start Point  401 . Per the geo-coded data shown in  FIG. 5 , the action “Notify MOM” is executed at this stage of the trip  400 . As the trip progresses to Elm Lake  402 , the telematics unit  114  plays elmlake.wav, which may be an information segment regarding the lake. 
     Moving on to Niagara Falls  403 , the action “Play niagara.wav” is executed. Continuing the trip  4 , as the vehicle  102  arrives in New York City  404 , the telematics unit plays nycintro.wav per the geo-coded instructions of  FIG. 5 . On the way from New York  404  to Sally&#39;s house  406 , the vehicle collides and the collision sensors are triggered. This causes the action corresponding to the “Collision” event to be executed, namely “Notify MOM, Notify INSURER.” Everybody is fine, and the trip  400  continues on to its conclusion at Sally&#39;s house  406 . At this point, the telematics unit executes the geo-coded action corresponding to the location Sally&#39;s house  406 , e.g., “Notify MOM, Notify Sally.” 
     It will be appreciated that a new system for providing and playing geo-coded audio has been disclosed. All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each reference were individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and were set forth in its entirety herein. 
     The use of the terms “a” and “an” and “the” and similar referents in the context of describing the invention (especially in the context of the following claims) are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising,” “having,” “including,” and “containing” are to be construed as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning “including, but not limited to,”) unless otherwise noted. Recitation of ranges of values herein are merely intended to serve as a shorthand method of referring individually to each separate value falling within the range, unless otherwise indicated herein, and each separate value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually recited herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language (e.g., “such as”) provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention. 
     Preferred embodiments of this invention are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the invention. Variations of those preferred embodiments may become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors expect skilled artisans to employ such variations as appropriate, and the inventors intend for the invention to be practiced otherwise than as specifically described herein. Accordingly, this invention includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the invention unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.