Computer aided game apparatus

A computer aided game apparatus is disclosed for tracking location and distance on a golf course, recommending club selection, recording golfer performance statistics, receiving notification via a pager, and playing infomercials during the course of a golf game. The apparatus has a processor connected to a memory which is suitably supports a geographic information system (GIS), a player performance database, and an infomercial database. The apparatus has a global positioning receiver which operates in conjunction with the GIS for indicating the current position of the golfer. The GPS receiver is connected to the processor which in turn drives a convenient, intuitive touch screen display. The apparatus has a pager which allows for direct contact with the golfer. To support data networking, the microprocessor is also connected to one or more interface ports, including an infra-red port, a parallel port, a serial port, and a PCMCIA port. Through the interface ports, the microprocessor can maintain, update, or back-up data stored in the memory. Typically, data not already present on the memory are downloaded from a central computer before each game is played. At the end of each game, statistics generated during the game are uploaded into the central computer system for archival purposes. As the game progresses, the apparatus of the present invention integrates the distance computation, the recording of the golfer performance, and the suggesting of proper club selection based on distance and past performance. Further, the apparatus of the present invention preserves statistics for each golfer for long term analysis. Additionally, the apparatus of the present invention can also support infomercials from the golf course operators to entertain and educate the golfers while generating supplemental advertising revenues for the course operators.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to a computer-aided game apparatus, and more 
particularly, to an apparatus for providing information and for assisting 
a golfer during the progress of the game. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
As one of the fastest growing sports worldwide, the game of golf is played 
by using one or more clubs to drive a golf ball as close as possible to a 
pin. Although this process appears simple on the surface, the physics 
associated with the game of golf provide a good test of a person's 
coordination where physical strength must be coordinated with timing, 
touch, and strategy. Along with the physical skills involved with the 
correct driving of the ball, the game of golf involves the visual and 
mental estimation of the distance of the ball position to the green. For 
instance, the golfer needs to know the distance which the ball is to 
travel and the effect of existing conditions for which he or she must 
compensate to acquire the desired shot. Further, the golfer needs to 
skillfully select an appropriate club which is related the distance over 
which the ball is to be driven. The uncertainty as to the distance 
remaining to the green and the uncertainty as to how far the golfer 
normally hits the ball with a given club, coupled with other effects like 
wind, lies and rough, make the club selection process a challenging one. 
Variations in a golfer's swing, body alignment, grip, and tempo, when 
combined with wind, weather, trees, hills, sand and water, make golfing 
challenging both physically as well as mentally. 
Because the mental judgments regarding the club selection, the swing, and 
other strategic considerations in playing golf are made from past 
experiences, rookie golfers typically select incorrect clubs for shots 
and/or make inappropriate swings, resulting in diminished results. In 
contrast, when professional golfers reach a tournament course, they 
carefully study the tees, greens and hazards to plan the game strategy. 
One of the key aspects is knowing yardage from various points on the 
course to the green, and yardage to various hazards, such as water, 
vegetation or sand traps. The yardage information enables the golfer to 
plan ball placement strategy and select the proper clubs for given 
distances. A knowledge of the distances, combined with prior experience, 
allows proper club selection and allows the golfer to formulate a hole 
management plan so as to result in victory. 
In response to the above-mentioned challenges in playing golf, a number of 
devices have been developed to improve the golfer's game. Quite often, 
golf enthusiasts playing at a new course are unfamiliar with the course 
topography. To accommodate these golfers, course operators usually provide 
maps, typically as part of a score card, which illustrates the layout of 
the course and the respective hazards. The conventional score cards are 
usually pocket sized cards with a grid for keeping track of different 
golfers scores for each hole. Some score cards also have information 
concerning rules, etiquette, tee-to-green distance for each tee box 
available, par for the hole, and a graphical map for the course depicting 
the layout of each hole, including any obstacles and hazards in symbolic 
form. 
The conventional score card typically also lists the yardage, par value, 
and the handicap for each hole in a golf course. Further, the score card 
also provides a place for the golfer to enter various statistics such as 
the number of strokes taken on a hole by each golfer in a group after the 
play of the hole has been completed. During the game, each golfer records 
on the score card the number of times required to hit a golf ball from one 
of the tee boxes into the cup on the putting green for each hole. After 
all of the holes in the course are completed, the golfer tallies the 
scores for each hole and records a total score for the course. Thus, the 
information recorded on such a score card consists of the total strokes 
required for each hole and for the entire course. 
Although the course map provided in the score cards may indicate dog-legs, 
water hazards, bunkers, and areas out of bounds, these score cards are 
inconvenient to use in that, if the golfer is not at the tee or at the 
green, the score cards cannot tell him his current location and the 
remaining distance to the pin. To supplement the information provided in 
the score cards, the courses usually include distance markers placed at 
various locations along the course. 
To further assist the user in measuring distances between golfers and 
landmarks on a golf course, a number of solutions have been developed. One 
solution uses books containing yardage calculations to determine the 
distance between the ball and a green or a hazard on the hole being 
played. Yardage books are more accurate than guessing the distance based 
on a visual inspection. However, one drawback to the use of yardage books 
is the fact that the book must be prepared prior to the round of golf. 
Further, this solution requires the golfer to consult maps and to make "on 
the spot" distance calculations, which at times can be difficult. 
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,537, issued on Sep. 14, 1993 to Andrew 
T. Barber, a number of manual and automatic devices for assisting a 
golfer's performance on a golf course have been developed over the years. 
These devices generally include range finder type devices which are 
capable of measuring, with varying degrees of accuracy, the distance to a 
given object such as a pin. Some prior art devices rely on visually 
sighting the pin, while others require the pin to act as a receiver or a 
transmitter of location information. Additionally, other systems rely on 
developing a golf course coordinate system with linear accelerators to 
track a golfer's movement along the course. Yet other systems require the 
golf course to install tracking sensors below the fairway turf. Further, 
positional tracking devices may include mobile computers which contain 
digitized map representations of the playing field. These devices may 
include a global positioning system (GPS) receiver arranged to receive a 
global earth position information and a processing system for correlating 
the global earth position to the golfer's location and determine 
distances. However, these devices cannot provide in an integrated manner 
the ability to (1) accurately and continuously track the golfer's position 
anywhere on the golf course, including the golfer-to-pin or 
golfer-to-hazard distance; (2) keep a complete, long term recording of 
individual golfer performance accessible in a nationwide manner; (3) 
suggest an optimal club selection based on up to date measured distance 
and performance data, regardless of the golfer's proximity to his home 
city; (4) provide a system which minimizes the installation cost and while 
maximizing rental and advertising revenues for the golf course operators; 
and (5) provide user friendly, touch screen game tracking apparatus. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A computer aided game apparatus is disclosed for tracking location and 
distance on a golf course, recommending club selection, recording golfer 
performance statistics, receiving notification via a wireless transceiver, 
and playing infomercials during the course of a golf game. The apparatus 
has a processor connected to a memory which is suitably supports a 
geographic information system (GIS), a player performance database, and an 
infomercial database. The GIS contains reference coordinates for the holes 
and hazards on the golf course, while the player performance database 
stores past performance information for each golfer. The infomercial 
database provides useful tips to the golfers and recommends products sold 
by the course operator which improve the playing performance of the 
golfers. The apparatus has a global positioning receiver which operates in 
conjunction with the GIS for indicating the current position of the 
golfer. The GPS receiver is connected to the processor which in turn 
drives a convenient, intuitive touch screen display. The apparatus has a 
pager which allows for direct contact with the golfer. To support data 
networking, the microprocessor is also connected to one or more interface 
ports, including an infra-red port, a parallel port, a serial port, and a 
PCMCIA port. 
Through the interface ports, the microprocessor can maintain, update, or 
back-up data stored in the memory. Typically, data not already present on 
the memory are downloaded from a central computer before each game is 
played. At the end of each game, statistics generated during the game are 
uploaded into the central computer system for archival purposes. As the 
game progresses, the apparatus of the present invention integrates the 
distance computation, the recording of the golfer performance, and the 
suggesting of proper club selection based on distance and past 
performance. Further, the apparatus of the present invention preserves 
statistics for each golfer for long term analysis. Additionally, the 
apparatus of the present invention can also support infomercials from the 
golf course operators to entertain and educate the golfers while 
generating supplemental advertising revenues for the course operators. 
These capabilities are integrated into a portable and easy to use 
computer-aided-game apparatus of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 is a plan view of an illustrative golf course providing the 
environmental background for a first embodiment of the present invention. 
The game is usually played on a 9 or 18 hole golf course with a variety of 
golf clubs for striking a golf ball different distances. Each hole of a 
golf course includes a tee box having a number of different tee markers, a 
fairway, rough, a putting green and a pin located in a cup on the putting 
green, among others. It may also include various hazards such as sand 
traps, water, bunkers, trees, etc. 
In FIG. 1, a golf course C is provided to entertain a golfer 10. The 
perimeter of the golf course C has a plurality of plants and shrubs 50 
through 58. The plants and shrubs 50 through 58 exist for landscaping 
purposes. They provide privacy for the players and also present potential 
hazards for an unlucky golfer, should he or she swing in the wrong 
direction. In FIG. 1, a golfer 10 begins his or her golf game at a tee box 
20. After teeing off, the golfer 10 must traverse across a fairway 21 
which is filled with obstacles, including a shrub 31. In FIG. 1, the 
fairway 21 has a creek 23 flowing between lakes 22A and 22B. After 
successfully hitting the golf ball across the creek 23, the golfer crosses 
the stream via a bridge 24. Once he crosses over the bridge 24, he faces a 
number of additional hazards, including the sand traps 25, 26, 27 and 28. 
After navigating through the sand traps, the golfer must also insure that 
he does not hit his ball into lakes 29 and 30. Additionally, a number of 
plants and shrubs 32, 33, 34 and 35 are provided as traps for the less 
fortunate golfer. Further, rock hills 36 and 37 present further challenges 
for the golfer 10. After the golfer 10 successfully navigates across the 
hazards, he finally reaches a green 40 containing a cup 45 with a pin 46 
which highlights the ultimate goal of the game. 
In the present invention, the plan view of the golf course is preferably a 
graphical representation of the golf course C as captured by a photograph 
obtained from a high resolution camera in a satellite orbiting over the 
course or from a plane flying over the course. This aerial representation 
is digitized and the resulting data may be stored as a bitmap file or 
compressed into a vector file using a suitable raster to vector converter. 
The resulting data is stored in a GIS database known to those skilled in 
the art. The mapping of the location of the golfer into the actual spot on 
the golf course using a stylus or using a GPS receiver will be discussed 
below. 
Turning now to FIG. 2, the mobile microcomputer aspect of the present 
invention is shown. In FIG. 2, a microprocessor, or central processing 
unit (CPU) 100 is provided to process golf game data. The CPU 100 is 
preferably a single chip microcomputer with on-chip peripherals. While CPU 
100 is a complex instruction set computer (CISC) chip, the invention 
contemplates that the CPU 100 can be one of the commercially available 
reduced instruction set computer (RISC) chips which are known to be of 
generally higher performance than CISC chips. 
The CPU 100 is connected via a bus 101 to a read only memory/random access 
memory (ROM/RAM) 102. The ROM portion of the ROM/RAM combination 102 
preferably contains the basic operating system as well as the geographical 
information system (GIS) and the database application software for the 
apparatus of the present invention, while the RAM portion of the 
combination 102 is utilized as a scratch-pad memory. Preferably, the 
ROM/RAM combination 102 is of sufficient capacity to store the data 
associated with the GIS and the databases. The CPU 100 is also connected 
to a clock 104 which is preferably a real-time clock for providing time 
information to the apparatus. Alternatively, the clock 104 can simply 
provide a regular clock pulses to, for example, an interrupt port of the 
CPU 100 which can count the clock pulses to provide a time function. 
To receive positioning information, the CPU 100 is connected to a global 
positioning system (GPS) receiver 108 which preferably operates with the 
NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite Timing and Ranging) or the Iridium system. 
The GPS receiver 108 is connected to an antennae 106. The GPS is an 
absolute positioning system capable of providing accurate three 
dimensional position information. The GPS satellite constellation 
comprises 24 satellites distributed throughout six orbital planes equally 
spaced around the equator and inclined at an angle of 55.degree.. The 
satellites orbit in an approximate altitude of 11,000 nautical miles and 
have an orbital period of 12 sidereal hours such that signals from at 
least 4 GPS satellites can be received at any point on or above the 
earth's surface at any point in time. 
The GPS receivers determine position by simultaneously receiving signals 
from at least four satellites. The satellites signals contain information 
on each satellites instantaneous position. Further, the satellite 
transmitters modulation scheme uses a pseudo random code. This code 
provides a time stamp that is synchronized with an atomic time clock at 
the satellite master control station in Colorado Springs, Colo. By 
measuring the difference between the internal clock and the time stamp 
imbedded in the satellite signal, GPS receivers can calculate their 
distance from the satellite. The receivers combine this distance with the 
satellite position information to calculate a spherical surface 
representing the receivers possible locations. Using information from four 
satellite simultaneously, the receivers can reduce the location 
possibilities to a single point in three space and eliminate any error in 
the receivers internal clock. 
Although the preferred embodiment uses a single GPS receiver which is 
capable of determining absolute positioning in terms of latitudinal, 
longitudinal and attitudinal coordinates, when extreme accurate distance 
information is required, systems utilizing GPS technology to provide 
highly accurate differential positioning can be utilized to determine the 
relative position between the receivers in real time. This method is much 
more accurate than the absolute positional sensing since the errors 
associated with the absolute position are substantially cancelled when one 
absolute position is subtracted from a second absolute position, provided 
that the measured distances is small compared to the distances between the 
receivers and the satellites. 
The CPU 100 is also connected to a pager unit 109 which receives radio 
signals coming from the antenna 106. The pager 109 allows messages to be 
transmitted to the golfer when he or she is playing on the course and not 
easily accessible. When messages are transmitted to the pager unit 109 via 
the paging service providers, the CPU 100 is interrupted and displays one 
or more messages to the golfer. In this manner, the computer aided game 
apparatus allows the golfer to enjoy golf and yet still be accessible in 
emergencies. To provide audible feedbacks to the golfer, the CPU 100 is 
connected to an audio amplifier 120, which is in turn connected to a 
speaker 122. 
Additionally, the CPU 100 is connected to a keypad 110 for receiving 
predetermined user inputs. For communications to and from other computer 
systems, the CPU 100 is connected to a plurality of input/output (I/O) 
ports, including a PCMCIA port 112, a serial port 114, a parallel port 
116, and an infrared port 118. 
The PCMCIA port 112 provides a relatively high speed bus for adding 
peripherals, including mass storage devices or a non-volatile memory 
module of sufficient capacity to store a GIS or databases. However, the 
mass storage device can be eliminated by providing a sufficient amount of 
RAM in the ROM/RAM combination 102 to store the user application programs 
and data. In that case, the RAM portion can be provided with a backup 
battery to prevent the loss of data even when the apparatus of the present 
invention is turned off. Alternatively, the RAM portion of the ROM/RAM 
combination 102 can be a non-volatile flash electrically erasable ROM 
(flash ROM) such that the backup battery is not needed. In addition to 
being able to accept data storage devices, the PCMCIA port 112 can also 
accept a PCMCIA-based GPS receiver or pager, in the event that the GPS 
receiver 108 and the pager 109 is not bundled with the computer aided game 
apparatus to reduce cost. 
The serial port 114 and parallel port 116 can be used to connect the CPU 
100 to external devices, as is conventional. Similar to the serial and 
parallel ports 114 and 116, the infrared port 118 can be used for outgoing 
information or for incoming information from other computers or devices. 
The use of the infra-red port 28 prevents the hassles associated with 
connecting wires to the serial or parallel port. The infrared port 118 
preferably conforms to the IRDA standard. The IRDA specifications provide 
guidelines for link access, link management and for the physical transfer 
of data bits. The link access mechanism provides guidelines for the 
software which looks for other machines to connect or to sniff, to 
discover other machines, to resolve addressing conflicts, and to initiate 
a connection, to transfer data, and to cleanly disconnect. The link access 
standard specifies a frame and byte structure of the infrared packets as 
well as the error detection methodology for the infrared communication. 
The IRDA specifications for operating distance, viewing angle, optical 
power, data read, and noise immunity enable physical interconnectivity 
between various brands and type of equipment, such as the personal 
computer 150 and mobile unit 140. 
The storage capacity provided by either the ROM/RAM combination 102 and/or 
the PCMCIA solid state mass storage device discussed above is used to 
support the mapping information in the GIS and the 
entertainment/educational information in the infomercial database. At the 
most basic level, the GIS database includes all major golf course features 
and landmarks and other critical features such as the pin and the hazards 
with their geographic coordinates. The geographic tags on the features and 
landmarks allow the apparatus of the present invention to quickly map the 
GPS receivers position indication to the Cartesian (i.e., X and Y) 
coordinates of the location and display them on a touchscreen display 130. 
The placement of the GIS on a removable module such as a PCMCIA data 
storage device has an advantage in that the golfer can simply record 
statistics on his or her own data storage device which could be simply 
removed at the end of the game and plugged into the new computer aided 
game apparatus during the next game, regardless of whether the golfer is 
playing at his or her usual golf course or another golf course, as long as 
the golf courses operate a compatible golf game database management 
system. 
The use of the touch screen display 130 allows the golfer to enter data in 
a quick and convenient manner, in contrast to keyboard-only systems. The 
touchscreen display assembly 130 of the computer aided game apparatus is 
both an input and an output device. When operating as an output device, 
the touchscreen display assembly 130 receives data from the processor 100 
via the bus 101 and displays the data on a suitable screen. The screen for 
the display assembly 130 is preferably a liquid crystal display (LCD) of 
the type commercially available from a variety of vendors such as the 
displays available from Scriptell Corporation of Columbus, Ohio. The input 
device of the touchscreen display assembly 130 is preferably a thin, clear 
membrane which covers the LCD display and which is sensitive to the 
position of a pointer 138 on its surface. The pointer 138 could be a 
stylus such as the tip of a pen, a golf tee, a golf club or a human 
finger. With such a structure, the membrane of the touchscreen display 
assembly 130 can serve as an input "tablet." Commercially available 
combination display assemblies such as the aforementioned assemblies are 
available from Scriptel Corporation, Sharp, and others. 
The membrane touch screen system is manufactured using an indium-tin-oxide 
(ITO) compound which is spattered onto LCD protective glass to form a 
transparent, resistant coating with a linear voltage drop across it. A 
second, conducted ITO layer covers the under side of a mylar membrane. The 
two ITO layers are sandwiched together, separated only by microsphere 
spaces or ink dots. When a stylus or finger presses the mylar ITO coating, 
which acts as a flexible contact against the resistive layer, a voltage is 
picked up which varies with their position of the contact point. To 
protect the soft mylar surface of membrane systems against damage by 
moisture, dirt, scratching, and exposure to the environment, the apparatus 
has a thin, weather-proofing encapsulation to cover the electronics. 
Although membrane technology is utilized in the preferred embodiment, 
resistive technology could be utilized as well. In resistive touch screen 
technology, a metal tip stylus connected by a conductive wire to a system 
and a glass surface coated on top with a slightly resistive conductive 
material, such as ITO, is provided. A linear voltage drop is applied to 
the ITO surface oscillating between the X and Y dimensions. The metal tip 
stylus, in contact with the surface, acts as a probe reading the voltage 
wherever it touches. The voltage is proportional to the stylus position on 
the surface. Alternatively, a number of technologies are available which 
offer digital pen and finger touch technologies: active pen 
electromagnetic, passive pen electromagnetic, corded electrostatic and 
cordless electrostatic and that the present invention contemplates that 
these input technologies are interchangeable. 
During operation, information is input into the computer aided game 
apparatus by depressing the appropriate areas on the screen of the display 
assembly 130. Information concerning the location of the depression on the 
screen of the display assembly 130 is input into the CPU 100. Typically, 
the display assembly 130 converts the human input into Cartesian 
coordinates of a pixel of the screen of the display assembly 130 according 
to the position of the depression. The CPU 100 then processes the data 
under the control of the operating system software and applications stored 
in the ROM/RAM combination device 102 or the mass storage device or solid 
state memory module plugged into the PCMCIA port 112. The CPU 100 then 
produces data which is transferred to the display assembly 130 to produce 
the appropriate images on the screen portion of the display assembly 130. 
Turning now to FIG. 2A, the host computer system supporting the computer 
aided game apparatus of the present invention is disclosed. In FIG. 2A, 
the apparatus 140 is docked to a personal computer 150 via a number of 
different options, including the PCMCIA port 112, the serial port 114 and 
the parallel port 116. The apparatus 140 and the computer 150 can also be 
docked optically via the infrared port 118. The personal computer 150 is 
preferably a high performance microcomputer such as a Pentium.RTM. based 
IBM compatible personal computer system or a Power PC.RTM. based Macintosh 
personal computer. 
The personal computer 150 is also connected to a high quality printer 152, 
and archival tape backup tape 154, and a hard drive 156 for large capacity 
data storage. Further, the personal computer 150 is connected to a modem 
158 for communication over a wide line 160. At the other end of the 
telephone line 160, a modem 162 is connected to the telephone line 160 at 
one end and at the other end connected to a remote computer 164. The modem 
devices 158 and 162 and the line 160 are part of a wide area network 
where, in the event the local personal computer 150 does not store one or 
more parameters requested by the apparatus 140, the personal computer 150 
can access the remote computer 164 over the telephone line 160 using 
modems 158 and 162. Such accessibility allows the golfer to download his 
or her game statistics, regardless of the golf player's home. 
Turning now to FIG. 3, a routine to perform the power-on self test 
function, as stored in the ROM portion of the combination of the ROM/RAM 
102, is disclosed. From step 200, the routine checks to see if the ROM in 
the ROM/RAM combination 102 good. If the CHECKSUM of the ROM 102 is good, 
the routine proceeds to do a memory check on the RAM portion of the 
ROM/RAM 102 combination in step 202. Next, if the RAM is good in step 202, 
the routine checks the content of the data storage device, if one is 
plugged in the PCMCIA port 112, in step 204 by running a checksum on the 
data stored therein. If the checksum test on the PCMCIA-based storage 
device is good, the routine checks the functionality of the 
parallel/serial and infrared ports in step 206. The system also checks the 
touchscreen functionality in step 208 before it checks the real time clock 
in step 210. The routine of FIG. 3 also performs a functional check of the 
global positioning system in step 212. If the ROM fails the checksum 
process in step 200, or if the RAM memory was defective in step 202, or if 
the content of the PCMCIA data storage card is corrupted, or if the 
parallel, serial or infrared ports fail, or if the touch screen fails in 
steps 208, or the real time clock fail in step 210, or the GPS device 
fails in step 212, the routine proceeds to step 214 where an error is 
indicated before the system gracefully shuts-down. The computer aided game 
apparatus thus ensures its integrity before allowing the golfer to record 
information, thereby preventing possible data corruptions. 
Turning now to FIG. 4, the initialization process for using the golf game 
tracking device of the present invention is disclosed. Upon checking into 
the golf course, the user powers up the apparatus. After performing the 
power-on self test, the system requests the course selection to be made in 
step 220. After the course selection has been entered by the user, the 
system checks to see if the selected course exists in the local database 
in step 222. In the event the course does not exist in the local database, 
the system then checks into a national database to see if the course 
exists there in step 224. If the selected course exists neither in the 
local database or in the national database, an error message is displayed 
in step 226 and the routine loops back to step 220 to request the user 
enter a proper course. From step 222, if the selected course exists in the 
local database, the routine loads the course topographical data into the 
memory 102 of the golf game tracking device. Also, from step 224, if a 
course exists in the national database, the data is retrieved in step 230 
and loaded into the memory 102. From step 228, the routine requests the 
next golfer identification in step 232. From step 232, the golfer 
identification is checked and if the golfer data exists in the database in 
step 234, the statistics for the golfer are loaded into the memory 102 in 
step 246. Alternatively, if the golfer is not in the database already, the 
routine checks to see if the data for the golfer exists in the national 
database in step 236. If so, the routine retrieves the golfer's statistics 
from the national database in step 242 and loads the golfer's statistics 
into memory 102 in step 246. Alternatively, from step 236, the routine 
creates a new golfer record in step 238 and requests the golfer to enter a 
new identification and various personal statistics such as handicap, and 
club compensation in step 240. From step 234, 242, or 240, the current 
golfer data is stored in the memory 102 of the apparatus of the present 
invention in step 246. In step 248, the routine checks to see if 
statistics for all golfers have been entered. If not, the routine loops 
back to step 232 to request the next golfer identification. Alternatively, 
from step 248, if statistics for all golfers for this particular game have 
been entered, the routine then initializes the global positioning system 
parameters in step 250, if the global positioning system has been 
installed as a resource through the apparatus of the present invention. 
Next, in step 252, the system initializes the game by clearing the scores 
and the various data structures. Next, in step 254, in the event that the 
golf course operator wishes to use the ability of the present invention to 
broadcast commercials, the commercial is loaded into the memory 102 of the 
apparatus in step 254. At this stage, the apparatus of the present 
invention is properly initialized and statistics particular to each golfer 
is properly downloaded into the memory 102. 
Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 5A, the operation of the apparatus of the 
present invention on the golf course is disclosed. In step 500, before the 
game is started, the routine resets the current hole statistics to the 
starting hole. Next, in step 502, the user selects the golfer as the 
current golfer. Next in step 504, the routine retrieves data for the 
current golfer from the memory 102. From step 504, the routine displays 
the golf course hole map on the touch screen display 130. The touch screen 
display 130 also shows the ball position, the target hole, the distance 
from ball to hole, a short score card, a stroke count, a club pallet for 
displaying the choices available to the golfer. In steps 508, the user 
enters the shot destination and selects the desired ball flight 
trajectory. In step 510, the routine displays the distance from the ball 
to shot destination and a club recommendation based on this distance, the 
golfer's past statistics, and other factors which may be entered 
externally such as the wind condition, among others. From step 510, the 
user selects a club and, after the shot, enters the actual ball flight 
trajectory. In step 514, the routine increments the ball stroke count. 
Next, in step 516, the routine checks to see if the current ball position 
is on the green or not. If not, the routine checks to see if the ball has 
entered a penalty area in step 520. If yes, the routine increments the 
ball stroke count before continuing to step 524. If no, in step 524, the 
ball position is refreshed. Next the routine loops back to 502. From step 
516, if the golfer is on the green, the routine checks to see if all 
golfers are on the green in step 518 (FIG. 5A). If no, the routine loops 
back to step 502. If yes, in step 526, the routine displays the map of the 
green, the ball position, the hole, and the short score card, then 
initializes the putt count. Then in step 528, the routine selects the next 
golfer based on who is farthest from the hole and displays this distance. 
The putt count is incremented in step 530. In step 532, the routine checks 
to see if the ball is in the hole. If not, the ball position is refreshed 
in step 534 before the routine loops back to step 528. If yes, the routine 
checks to see if all golfers are in the hole in step 536. If no, the 
routine loops back to step 528. If yes, the routine checks to see if this 
hole is the final hole in step 538. If no, the hole count is incremented 
in step 540 and the routine loops back to step 502. If yes, the routine 
prints the score cards, the shot and statistics, and uploads the data into 
the local database when the apparatus of the present invention is docked 
with the personal computer of the club house in step 290. The thus 
disclosed apparatus allows golfers to conveniently and easily record and 
display scores of one or more golfers and record and display the number of 
strokes as well as putts taken on each hole, the yardage obtained on each 
stroke, and the like. Further, accumulated information is stored in the 
device and can be uploaded into a computer for archival purposes. The 
archived data may be subsequently utilized to evaluate the skill of the 
golfer to provide further help in the selection of a club for a particular 
shot, or for further improvements in golf techniques. In the event that 
the infomercial option is enabled by the golf course operator, the routine 
can display in the background various commercials or infomercials or 
alternatively, improvement techniques which can be provided as a 
background for the golfer's enjoyment. 
Turning now to FIG. 6, the routine to display the map of the course hole or 
the green is disclosed. In step 300, the routine receives the current 
coordinate of the ball. In the embodiment with the global positioning 
system, the CPU 100 queries the GPS receiver 108 for longitudinal, 
latitudinal, and attitudinal coordinates of the apparatus of the present 
invention. Although the current coordinates of the apparatus are not the 
precise coordinates of the ball, the position of the apparatus of the 
present invention is a very close approximate to that of the ball. To 
further improve the accuracy of the ball position, the user may enter then 
offsets in step 300 to adjust for the difference between the position of 
the apparatus and the ball. In the event that a global positioning system 
is not available, the user can indicate the current coordinate of the ball 
using the touch screen. In this event, the user can scroll around the map 
of the golf course hole and zoom in as appropriate to indicate the precise 
location of the ball by depressing the appropriate area on the screen. 
Next, in step 302, the routine retrieves the coordinates of the hole from 
the data in memory 102. Further, in step 302, the difference in position 
between the hole and ball is computed. Next, in step 304, the routine 
computes the projection scale so that the map could be zoomed up 
appropriately to show a close-up view of the relevant portion of the map 
addressing the ball and the hole. Next, in step 306, the routine applies a 
projection scale to display the scale map of the course. In this manner, 
the present invention can zoom in on the appropriate map of the golf 
course so that the golfer can have a better indication of his playing 
environment. 
Turning now to FIG. 7, the routine to alert the golfer of an incoming page 
is disclosed. From step 700, the routine checks to see if an Incoming Page 
interrupt has been received. If not, the routine continues without 
notifying the golfer. If an Incoming Page interrupt has been received, the 
routine in step 704 checks to see if the golfer is interacting with the 
input device. If the golfer is interacting with the input device, the 
routine, in step 706, enters a temporary sleep mode. Then the routine 
loops back to step 704 to again check on golfer interaction. If the golfer 
is not interacting with the input device, the routine proceeds to step 708 
where the golfer is notified of the message using a number of techniques 
known to those skilled in the art. The golfer is notified of an incoming 
message using a number of means such as beeping, vibrating, or flashing a 
symbol on the display. 
Turning now to FIG. 8, the routine for displaying an infomercial is 
disclosed. In FIG. 8, from step 750, the routine checks to see if a 
Periodic Timer interrupt has been received. If not, the routine continues 
without displaying the infomercial. If a Periodic Timer interrupt has been 
received, the routine in step 752 checks to see if the golfer is 
interacting with the input device. If the golfer is interacting with the 
input device, the routine will continue without displaying the 
infomercial. If the golfer is not interacting with the input device, the 
routine in step 754 increments the infomercial count and in step 756 
displays the Infomercial in forms known to those skilled in the art. The 
form of the infomercial includes a video presentation, display of an 
image, or an audio presentation. 
Turning now to FIG. 9, the routine to update the national database is 
disclosed. Upon the completion of a round of golf, the golfer returns the 
mobile apparatus M to the club house. At the club house, the information 
collected by the mobile apparatus M concerning the particulars of the 
round just completed are uploaded to the local golf club database system 
located on the personal computer 150. Next, the local golf course computer 
contacts the national database in step 312 using a number of techniques 
known to those skilled in the art. The local computer may communicate with 
the national computer using a number of means such as the Internet or over 
the telephone system using a modem. Next, in step 314, after the local 
computer has logged in to the national database, the golfer's accounts are 
uploaded into the national database in step 314. Upon receipt of the 
user's accounts and statistics associated with the user, the national 
computer determines whether or not the golf course that the user has 
recently played on exists in the user's account in step 316. If not, data 
about the course is created in the user's accounts in step 318. From step 
316 or 318, the national computer adds statistics generated during the 
game to the user's account on that particular course in step 320. Next, 
the user's new handicap is generated in step 322 and the user's statistics 
are generated in step 324. These statistics and computations are saved in 
step 326 before the national computer is completed with the national 
upload process. At this stage, statistics regarding a golfer's performance 
is stored in a national database which is available regardless of a 
golfer's presence at his home base or not. The golfer can download the 
most recent statistics the next time he plays a round of golf. 
Turning now to FIG. 10, a representative data structure for the statistics 
saved for each game for each golfer is shown. During the game, the data 
structure is temporarily stored in the ROM/RAM memory 102 for each golfer. 
At the end of the game, this data structure is transmitted from the mobile 
apparatus M into the personal computer 150 over a plurality of media, 
including the infrared port 118, the parallel port 116, the serial port 
114, or the PCMCIA port 112. 
The data structure of FIG. 10 includes a record header 330 which includes 
certain basic information about the record such as the length, the type of 
data, the type of encoding, among others. The header 330 is connected a 
data structure 340, which can include a number of elements, or fields. As 
shown in FIG. 10, a list of representative elements or fields include: 
total number of strokes, number of strokes per hole, club used on each 
shot, distance of each shot, average distance of shots with each club, 
number of times each club used, long shot for each club, short for each 
club, fairways hit in regulation, number and percentage of shots in 
fairway, greens hit in regulation, number of bunkers hit, number of 
bogeys, number of birdies, number of eagles, number of bunkers hit, 
numbers of saves, number of shots per bunker, number of shots out of 
bounds, number of greenies, number of putts, average number of putts, 
location of each shot, number of times each club used, brand of clubs, 
brand of balls, brand of shoes, course location, course statistics. At the 
end of the data structure, an end of record indicator 350 is provided 
which signifies that this is the last element of the current data record. 
The next record would have another header, a series of elements or fields, 
and another end of record marker or indicator. Thus, because the data 
structure storing the game statistics are pre-defined, the data captured 
in each golfer's game can be easily transported from the mobile apparatus 
to the local personal computer 150 at the golf course and ultimately to 
the remote computer 164 which stores data for all golfers on a national 
basis. 
While the golf club statistics and selection device of the present 
invention has been disclosed in connection with golf courses only, it 
should be appreciated that the movement measuring advantages of the device 
can be used in any system were the coordinates of relevant objects have 
been predetermined. That is, the device could easily be used for private 
hunting reserves to determine distances to shelters, food, cash, etc. 
Further, the apparatus of the present invention can be used in conjunction 
with other sports such as skiing, bicycling, among other sports which 
cover a relatively large area. 
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become 
apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates. 
Thus, while the golf club statistics and selection device of the present 
invention has been disclosed in connection with golf courses only, it 
should be appreciated that the movement measuring advantages of the device 
can be used in any system were the coordinates of relevant objects have 
been predetermined. That is, the device could easily be used for private 
hunting reserves to determine distances to shelters, food, cash, etc. 
Further, the apparatus of the present invention can be used in conjunction 
with other sports such as skiing, bicycling, among other sports which 
cover a relatively large area. 
The foregoing disclosure and description of the invention are illustrative 
and explanatory thereof, and various changes in the size, shape, 
materials, components, circuit elements, wiring connections and contacts, 
as well as in the details of the illustrated circuitry and construction 
and method of operation may be made without departing from the spirit of 
the invention.