Patent ID: 6996089

Claim:
A method of transmitting digitally coded traffic information to drivers of vehicles traveling on a network of streets and highways, said traffic information including, if necessary, additional location information regarding changes in and additions to highway and street designations and place names, said method comprising the steps of: a) coding a traffic message in a standard format for transmission to at least one vehicle traveling on said network of streets and highways; b) when said additional location information regarding said changes in and said additions to said highway and street designations and said place names is not originally present in a memory associated with a receiver of said traffic message, providing a leading header ( 12 ) in front of said traffic message encoded in said standard format and at least one additional information portion ( 14 , 15 , 16 ) following said traffic message encoded in said standard format, said at least one additional information portion including said additional location information due to said changes and said additions to said highway and street designations and said place names, and wherein said leading header indicates that said at least one additional information portion follows said traffic message encoded in said standard format and said header includes coding information regarding coding of said at least one additional information portion; c) transmitting said traffic message encoded in said standard format together with said leading header ( 12 ) and said at least one additional information portion ( 14 , 15 , 16 ) to said at least one vehicle; d) providing said at least one vehicle with said receiver and with means for decoding said traffic message encoded in said standard format and said at least one additional information portion, said means for decoding including a location code table for correlating the highway and the street designations and the place names with location codes in said traffic message, said location code table being stored in said memory associated with said receiver; and e) decoding said traffic message encoded in said standard format and transmitted to said at least one vehicle with the help of said location code table; and f) decoding said at least one additional information portion ( 14 , 15 , 16 ) with the help of said coding information in said header.