Patent Publication Number: US-2009234578-A1

Title: Vehicle location and navigation system

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to vehicle location and navigation in the context of Fleet Tracking or Telematics, or Automatic Vehicle Location and in particular providing in-vehicle navigation assistance towards remotely selected destinations. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     It is known in the art of Fleet Tracking or Telematics to provide Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL). Typically a vehicle is fitted with a GPS receiver and a communications device which sends the vehicle location back to a central location (server) along with information such as vehicle speed and heading. In such systems information can also be sent back to the device in the vehicle, including text messages, which can be displayed for the user to read. Typically such messages might include a destination selected by a user at the server or a server client. 
     GPS-based vehicle navigation devices are well known. Such devices typically allow a user to select a destination and the device will then calculate a route from the current vehicle location to the destination and provide (orally and visually) instructions to reach the destination. 
     It would be desirable to provide a system which combines the functionality of both fleet tracking and navigation devices as described above to thereby produce in-vehicle destination routing for destinations selected remotely, for example, from the server. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,748,318 (Arrivalstar Inc) discloses an advance notification system which notifies users of the impending arrival of a vehicle, for example, an overnight package delivery vehicle, at a particular vehicle stop. The system generally includes an on-board vehicle control unit (VCU) for each vehicle and a base station control unit (BSCU) for sending messages to user computers in order to inform the users when the vehicle resides at a certain predefined time period, distance, prior stop, and/or location point from the vehicle stop. Moreover, vehicle tracking, the BSCU, a computer network (e.g., the Internet), and software located on a user computer may be combined in a plurality of configurations for launching and communicating a message of the impending arrival of a particular vehicle before it arrives. Significantly, the computer message is to advise of the impending arrival and preferably will exhibit a distinctive display and/or sound on the recipient computer so that the recipient is informed of the message. The VCU sends vehicle location and/or stop information to the BSCU. The BSCU compares the vehicle route stop list with route management software, then determines when to send an impending arrival message by preferences, normally chosen by the system operator or a user preparing to receive the advance notification message. The user computer displays information associated with the impending arrival of a vehicle in the form of the name of the vehicle, when the vehicle has finished a previous delivery, the miles before a stop, the time before arriving, and/or an actual location of a vehicle when a vehicle reaches a certain point/place. Additionally, other addressable communication devices could be used in place of or in addition to the computer message, such as personal pagers, mobile telephones, television box de-scramblers, etc. Users may also contact the computer site and/or computer address for impending arrival information. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,760,742 (Trimble Navigation Ltd) discloses an integrated geographic information and automatic position locating system. In one embodiment, a communication link is provided between a vehicle and at least one base station. A vehicle position tracking system, coupled to a vehicle to be monitored, is connected to the communication link. Likewise, a geographic mapping system also disposed within the vehicle is connected to the communication link. The vehicle position tracking system and the geographic mapping system are housed in a portable data terminal. The portable data terminal is removably placed into a docking station located within the vehicle. The integrated vehicle position tracking system and geographic mapping system function both when placed in the docking station, and when removed from the docking station. Thus, the present invention provides a mobile integrated vehicle position tracking system and the geographic mapping system integrated into a portable data terminal. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the communication link provided between the vehicle and at least one base station can be accessed and utilized even when the portable data terminal is not located within the docking station. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,973 (Concord Inc) discloses a location system for a vehicle moving within an area at a selected speed and in a selected direction. A heading sensor provides a heading signal representing the direction of movement of the vehicle. A speed sensor provides a speed signal based on available reference signals representing the speed of the vehicle. A storage device stores initial position data representing a selected initial position of the vehicle and checkpoint data representing a navigation checkpoint location. A database stores a plurality of records which each include geographic information data representing selective aspects of the area. A processor estimates a current position signal representing an estimated current position of the vehicle based on values of the heading signal, values of the speed signal, the initial position signal, and on previous values of the current position signal. Values of the current position signal correspond to records stored in the data base. A correction device selectively corrects the current position signal based on selected position inputs which indicate an approximate vehicle position relative to the navigation checkpoint location. An alerting device obtains an alerting signal indicating that the vehicle has reached a selected region within the area based on the current position signal and the geographic information data. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,373,430 (Gamin Corporation) discloses a portable GPS/radio unit that communicates over a wireless radio network with at least one other unit which is transmitting radio signals over the network indicative of that unit&#39;s location. The GPS/radio unit comprises a GPS receiver for receiving satellite signals from a plurality of satellites, a radio receiver for receiving the radio signals transmitted by the other unit, a processor for calculating the unit&#39;s location as a function of the received satellite signals and for identifying the location of the other unit based on the received radio signals, and a display for indicating the location of the other unit. The display may indicate the respective locations of multiple units and may also display unique identifiers for each of the units. A system and method for indicating the location of one portable GPS/radio unit on the display of another portable GPS/radio unit involves at least two such units communicating with one another over a wireless radio network. 
     WO2004/059996 (Nokia Corporation) discloses methods of providing services in dependence on the geographical location of mobile terminals in a cellular network. Mobile communication terminals for use with a cellular network are able to receive or provide services in dependence of their geographical position obtained through interaction with the cellular network. 
     None of these prior art systems integrate the functionality of AVL systems with in vehicle navigation systems. 
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system which goes some way to achieving the above mentioned desideratum, overcoming any disadvantages in the prior art or which at least provide the public with a useful choice. 
     Accordingly in a first aspect the invention consists in an automatic vehicle location and navigation system comprising:
         at a base location:   a server which provides vehicle position data to server clients and receives intended vehicle destinations said clients,   a first transmitter which transmits said destinations from said server, and in at least one vehicle:   a position determining means which provides an indication of the current position said at least one vehicle,   a transmitter which transmits said current position to said server,   a receiver which receives at least one desired destination for said vehicle from said server,   a navigation device which receives as inputs said at least one desired destination from said receiver and said current position from said position determining means, and       

     said navigation device configured to determine a route from said current position to said desired destination based on stored criteria. 
     In a second aspect the invention consists in a method of vehicle despatch comprising the steps of: 
     receiving locations of at least one vehicle, 
     determining at least one destination for at least one vehicle, 
     transmitting said at least one destination to said at least one vehicle, 
     displaying said destinations on a map in that vehicle, 
     calculating a route to the destination, and 
     indicating said route to the vehicle operator. 
     In a third aspect the invention consists in a vehicle mounted device for an automatic vehicle location and navigation system controlled from a central server comprising: 
     (a) a position determining means which provides an indication of the current position of the vehicle, 
     (b) a transmitter which transmits said current position to said server, 
     (c) a receiver which receives at least one desired destination for said vehicle from said server, 
     (d) a navigation device which receives as inputs said at least one desired destination from said receiver and said current position from said position determining means. 
     The invention consists in the foregoing and also envisages constructions of which the following gives examples only. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       One preferred form of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which; 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of the architecture according to one embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram of the architecture according to an alternative embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a flow diagram of the operational process according to one embodiment of creating a message with an embedded location on a client PC and sending to a remote the navigation device; 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram of an architecture of the GPS locator; 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of an architecture of the modem; 
         FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an architecture of the central server; 
         FIG. 7  is a block diagram of an architecture of the navigation device; 
         FIG. 8  is a flow diagram of an operational process of obtaining the vehicle location; 
         FIG. 9  is a flow diagram of an operational process of communications between the vehicle and the central server; 
         FIG. 10  is a flow diagram of an operational process of automatic vehicle location and client application; and 
         FIG. 11  is a flow diagram of an operational process of providing navigation assistance to the remote selected destination. 
     
    
    
     MODES FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
     An overview of the present invention can be appreciated from the embodiment shown in  FIG. 1 . The system includes a GPS based receiver or locator  100 , a central or base server  102  and a navigation device  104 . Typically the GPS based locator  100  and the navigation device  104  are fitted to a vehicle. “Vehicle” as used herein means any form of transportation, for example, pedestrian, bicycle, motor vehicle or boat. 
     In one embodiment the GPS based locator  100  is connected, via a controlling processor  103 , to a wireless modem  106  that communicates with the central server  102  via a wireless link  108  and/or via a convention network  110 . The navigation device  104 , GPS based locator  100  and wireless modem  106  are linked together, and may be physically separate devices operating together in the system, or combined together into a single device, or a lesser number of devices, without departing from the invention. 
     The central base server  102  remote from the vehicles provides the interface between a client application  111 , a database  112  and various vehicles managed by that server. Messages received from the vehicles are stored in the database  112 . Messages sent from the client  111  to vehicles are routed by the server  102 , as well as being stored in the database  112  The client application  111  provides an interface for the user at base to view vehicle locations, and to allow the user to send messages to each vehicle. In accordance with the present invention these messages will include desired destinations for each vehicle. 
     Architecture 
     GPS Locator 
     In the preferred embodiment of the present invention vehicle location is determined using a GPS locator installed in or associated with the vehicle. Other location techniques such as cellular triangulation, dead reckoning could be employed. Latitude and Longitude are preferred location attributes, although street location, altitude and/or map coordinates could also be provided. 
     GPS locators are well known in the art.  FIG. 4  shows the basic functional blocks. An external antenna  400  is provided to the vehicle in a position to allow unimpeded GPS satellite coverage. The antenna feels an RF receiver  401  which operates at a frequency of typically 1595 MHz and which provides the GPS I &amp; Q signals to a digital processor  402 . Processor  402  will, using various algorithms as are known in the art, determine position information which is provided to control processor  403 . 
     The control processor  403  sends position information as NMEA serial data via an NMEA interface to the wireless modem  106  and to the navigation device  104 . 
     Wireless Modem 
     As for conventional AVL systems the in-vehicle systems communicate to the central server by radio. Preferably a cell phone network is used, although trunked radio, satellite, line of sight microwave links, WiFi, WiMax and other IEEE 802.11 wireless systems could be used. 
     Referring to  FIG. 5  the modem is shown including a preferably external aerial  500 . The aerial  500  is connected to an RF duplexer to switch between receiver  503  and transmitter  502  which when a cell phone network is used for data communications with base will operate typically between 800-1900 MHz. The receiver  503  passes received data from base to a digital processor  504 , which in turn passes raw data to a control processor  505 . The control processor receives and provides data to an NMEA serial interface. 
     Data from the GPS locator received at the serial interface is passed through to a transmitter  502  which is connected to the aerial by the duplexer  501  on transmit. 
     In one preferred embodiment the GPS locator and modem and respective aerials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,789,013 the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     Central Server 
     Referring to  FIG. 6  the base server comprises a processor  603  with associated memory  601  and hard drive  606 ; preferably a cellular network interface  605  for data communication with managed vehicles. The file server will include a database to store map, vehicle and message data on its hard drive  606 . 
     The central server collates all the location data received from each vehicle managed by it which can be used with map data to obtain approximate street locations for each vehicle. The locations are stored in the vehicle database and are updated every time new information is received. 
     At least one client  604  is connected to the server. The client may be a separate or remote computer relative to the base server or it may be the same computer, but it is the interface for users at the base. 
     The client includes operator software and interfaces which allow a user to lookup a destination location on a map (stored in the map database) and send location data to a managed vehicle in a human and/or machine readable format. The software may be capable of selecting an appropriate vehicle to send to that location or it may be manually selected. The location data might be displayed at the vehicle although more preferably it is simply provided as data to be read by the vehicle navigation unit. 
     In one preferred embodiment the location data is generated by the user selecting from one or more points on the map. The map may be used to display a range of locations where for example there is goods to be picked up or dropped off. The client may automatically allocate a vehicle to a location depending on some criteria, for example “closest” or “quickest”. The map displayed on the client computer screen also preferably displays the current location of vehicles managed. As well as allowing destination data and messages to be sent, the client may also display messages sent to the desired locations may be automatically generated or received by the central sever, manually entered through the client, or received through a message from a vehicle. 
     The data sent to the vehicle may include data to update the vehicles devices, for example, for updating the maps stored in the navigation device. 
     Navigation Device 
     Referring to  FIG. 7  a navigation device is shown which typically includes a display  700 , keyboard  702 , speaker  704 , processor  706 , memory  708 , non-volatile storage such as removable memory cards  710 , harddrive  711 , and a serial interface  701  for connection to the modem and/or GPS locator. It may also have an interface to allow connection to a PC to allow the transfer of map data. 
     The navigation device required in the present invention will receive vehicle position data from the GPS locator and thus need not itself include a GPS receiver. It could be a personal or car navigation device as well known in the art or alternatively the navigation functionality could be provided in a PDA ( 202 ) or mobile phone ( 204 ). In any case the network connection to the other vehicle located electronics in the system could be wireless or through a hardwired cradle connection within the vehicle. 
     Operation 
     Referring to  FIG. 3  each vehicle provides its location to the server  300  and this is displayed on the client PC  301 . A desired destination for a specific vehicle is entered into the system from the client PC application  302  by clicking on a displayed map or entering an address. A vehicle may be allocated to a single destination or to multiple destinations. The destination(s) sent to the server  303  and are in turn transmitted  304  through the wireless modem to the vehicle. The navigation device  305  then determines the destination and displays it  306  and/or provides navigation instructions along the route  309  and/or saves for future use  310 . 
     Location Software 
     Referring to  FIG. 8  the process starts  800  when the vehicle ignition is energised, a certain distance travelled  802 , time has lapsed  801  or server request  803  has been received, whereby the GPS obtains the current vehicle location  804 . The GPS obtains coordinates by first running through a initiation procedure, followed by a polling period whilst attempting to acquire satellite coverage. Three or more satellites are required for an accurate location to be obtained including lat/long and altitude. The GPS provides additional information such as speed, heading, date and time which may also be used. The information is provided to the navigation device every second and is on forwarded to server as required. 
     Modem Software 
     Referring to  FIG. 9  the modem initially confirms there is a valid communication channel, for example cellular coverage. It then connects through to the central server, and allows two way communications. When requested, or as configured, the modem passes messages  900  containing the vehicle identity and status location information, text messages and other events, and sends it to the server. The messages is saved until the server confirms reception  901  to allow retransmission if necessary, and then is removed  902 . Each vehicle has a unique id to allow its information to be collated at the server. 
     The modem also receives information from the server  903  and then sends an acknowledgment  904  and check values or other data integrity measures are then verified  905  to check that the complete data transmission was received. If so, it is passed to the navigation device  906  through the serial interface. The navigation device then extracts the destination coordinate data, or other information from any messages to the vehicle and passed to the navigation device  906 . The data may be encrypted prior to transmission. 
     Client Management Software 
     Software is provided both on the server and the client, or in the configuration of  FIG. 2 , on a computer which provides both roles. Referring to  FIG. 10  the server accepts a communication link from each vehicle  1000 , and receives data including identification and location information. The data is stored in the vehicle database  1001  and correlated with the map database. 
     The client receives the map data  1003  including vehicle location, which will be cached locally  1004 . Desired destinations may be entered in at the client or otherwise appear on the map according to location  1005 . Various schemes can be provided for allocating vehicles to destinations, including manually selecting a vehicle for each destination, and automatically allocating vehicles on a closest or quickest to arrive determination. Once allocated progress towards the destination can be indicated and dynamic switching between destinations or reordering may be provided. 
     The client also provides messaging and or other direct communications with the vehicle operator. A message can be sent by clicking on a vehicle, and any received messages appear referenced to the respective vehicle. The client can produce a range of reports on vehicle activity and my replay the locations over a selected period on a map. The configuration of the in vehicle equipment may be altered by the client and sent via the modem to the vehicle. 
     Navigation Software 
     Referring to  FIG. 11  the navigation device includes functionality for navigating as is known in the art. It receives the desired destination or series of destinations  1100 , and the current location. An algorithm is then used to determine a preferred route  1101  between current location and first destination, depending on selected criteria. For example, “quickest” or “shortest”. Navigation assistance or instructions are provided at key points along the route  1102 . Optionally with multiple destinations functionality may be provided to automatically or manually reorder the destinations. If the route is deviated from the initial route the unit can recalculate the preferred route  1104 .