VWGoA - Ex. 1016
`Volkswagen Group of America, Inc., Petitioner
`
`1
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 10,2008
`
`Sheet 1 of3
`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`100
`
`140
`
`A37
`
`130
`
`T
`
`1101
`
`0
`
`O
`
`O
`
`
`
`T
`
`Mapping Server
`
`120
`
`2
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 10,2008
`
`Sheet 2 of3
`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`210
`
`Fig 2O
`
`220 / 200
`
`
`
`
`
`Obtain Destination Information
`
`
`
`END PROCESS
`
`
`
`240
`
`
`
`
`
`Direct User To Vehicle Server
`
`Optionally Login to Vehicle Sewer
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`Prepare Destination Info
`For Transmission To User Vehicle
`
`280
`
`Retrieve Vehicle Identification Info
`
`3
`
`

`
`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 10,2008
`
`Sheet 3 of3
`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`Fig. 3
`
`200
`
`330
`
`Start Vehicle
`
`3 1 0
`
`320 Dest. Info
`Available?
`
`
`N°
`
`Yes
`
`Send Available Destination Info
`
`340
`
`Display Destination Options
`
`350
`
`360
`
`Dest. Option
`Selected?
`
`
`Yes
`
`NO
`
`END PROCFSS
`‘
`
`370
`
`Begin Navigation
`
`380
`
`4
`
`

`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`1
`SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR
`AUTOMATICALLY PROVIDING VEHICLE
`NAVIGATION INFORMATION
`
`FIELD OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates, in general, to vehicle navi-
`gation systems and, more particularly,
`to automatically
`providing navigational information to vehicles.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`In-vehicle navigation systems have become nearly ubiq-
`uitous in luxury vehicles and are beginning to find their way
`into the mid-priced vehicle market as well. Such systems
`incorporate a receiver for a Global Positioning System
`(GPS), which is a worldwide radio-navigation system
`formed of 24 orbiting satellites and their corresponding
`ground stations. Launched and maintained by the U.S.
`Department of Defense, these satellites send a stream of
`signals to the earth’s surface enabling a GPS receiver to
`calculate accurate positions within about 10 feet. The vehi-
`cle’s GPS receiver works in conjunction with mapping data,
`which is generally stored locally on a CD-ROM, to provide
`position-specific information to the vehicle operator. Other
`components of the in-vehicle navigation system include an
`on-board computer system which can process both speed
`and direction information received from the vehicle’s odom-
`
`eter and on-board compass.
`Although position-specific information can be very use-
`ful, in-vehicle navigation systems are most widely used for
`obtaining directions to particular destinations.
`In short,
`in-vehicle navigation systems have the ability to provide
`turn-by-tum directions
`the vehicle operator when the
`address of the desired destination is provided to the system.
`However, one significant drawback is that entering the
`desired destination information tends to be a tedious and
`
`the human-machine
`cumbersome process. For example,
`interfaces (HMIs) for many in-vehicle navigation systems
`involves a tum-knob or touch-screen input device by which
`address information may be inputted.
`Regardless of the HMI design, all in-vehicle navigation
`systems require the operator to actually know the address of
`the desired destination. This information is typically found
`using one of the many online mapping services. While
`obtaining direction information using online mapping ser-
`vice is typically an easy process, users are still required to
`either memorize the address to later input it into the in-
`vehicle navigation system, or to manually print out the
`driving directions and/or address. In either case, there is
`currently no convenience approach to first obtaining and
`then providing destination information to an in-vehicle
`navigation system from a device other than the vehicle
`navigation system itself. Accordingly, there is a need in the
`art for automatically providing navigational information to
`vehicles.
`
`BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`Systems and methods for automatically providing navi-
`gational information to vehicle are disclosed and claimed
`herein. In one embodiment, a method includes receiving
`destination information over a network from an online
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`source in response to a user request to automatically send the
`destination information to a vehicle, and receiving user
`identification information over the network. The method
`
`65
`
`also includes identifying the vehicle based on the user
`
`2
`
`identification information, and sending the destination infor-
`mation to an in-vehicle navigation system of the vehicle.
`Other aspects, features, and techniques of the invention
`will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art in view of
`the following detailed description of the invention.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a simplified system
`diagram showing the network connectivity between various
`elements of the invention;
`FIG. 2 depicts one embodiment of a process for carrying
`out one or more aspects of the invention; and
`FIG. 3 depicts another embodiment of a process for
`carrying out one or more aspects of the invention.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY
`EMBODIMENTS
`
`As will be described in more detail below, one aspect of
`the invention is to provide users with the option of having
`destination information, obtained from an online mapping
`service, automatically transmitted to their vehicle’s naviga-
`tion system. In certain embodiments, this enables the user to
`receive navigation guidance from their vehicle’s navigation
`system without undergoing the cumbersome process of
`having to program the vehicle’s navigation system.
`When implemented in software,
`the elements of the
`invention are essentially the code segments to perform the
`necessary tasks. The program or code segments can be
`stored in a processor readable medium or transmitted by a
`computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave over a
`transmission medium or communication link. As discussed
`
`herein, a “computer” or “computer system” is a product
`including circuitry capable of processing data. The computer
`system may include, but is not limited to, general purpose
`computer systems (e.g., server, laptop, desktop, palmtop,
`personal electronic devices, etc.), personal computers (PCs),
`hard copy equipment (e.g., printer, plotter, fax machine,
`etc.), banking equipment (e.g., an automated teller machine),
`and the like. In addition, a “communication link” refers to
`the medium or charmel of communication. The communi-
`
`cation link may include, but is not limited to, a telephone
`line, a modem connection, an Internet connection, a digital
`subscriber line (DSL), an Integrated Services Digital Net-
`work (“ISDN”) connection, an Asynchronous Transfer
`Mode (ATM) connection, a frame relay connection, an
`Ethernet connection, a coaxial connection, a fiber optic
`connection, satellite connections (e.g. Digital Satellite Ser-
`vices, etc.), wireless connections, radio frequency (RF)
`links, electromagnetic links, two way paging connections,
`etc., and combinations thereof.
`Referring now to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts an exemplary
`embodiment of a system 100 for carrying out the invention.
`In this embodiment, a plurality of user computers 1101-110,.
`(“110”) are coupled via a communication link with network
`130. While network 130 may include any variety of com-
`puter network, in a preferred embodiment network 130 is the
`Internet. As will be described in more detail below with
`
`reference to FIG. 2 below, user computers 110 coupled to the
`network 130 may be used to access a mapping server 120 to
`obtain a desired street address or directions to a desired
`destination. Based on a user selection,
`this destination
`information may then be passed to a vehicle server 150 via
`network 130. After the user provides the secure server 150
`with user login information, or performs some other autho-
`rization procedure, the vehicle server 150 may access user-
`
`5
`
`

`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`3
`specific vehicle information from a vehicle database 140. In
`one embodiment, the vehicle server 150 and vehicle data-
`base 170 are operated and maintained by the manufacturer
`of the user’s vehicle. In another embodiment, the vehicle
`server 150 may be a secure portal to a plurality of vehicle 5
`manufacturer’s databases. In still another embodiment, the
`vehicle server 150 may be maintained by a third-party
`contractor on behalf of a vehicle manufacturer.
`
`It should further be appreciated that the vehicle server 150
`may be a secure server in some embodiments. This is due to
`the fact that, in addition to VIN information, the vehicle
`server 150 and/or vehicle database 170 may also contain
`sensitive communication information along with the VIN
`information. This communication information may be
`usable to communicate with the vehicle’s onboard computer
`systems and, as such, should not be publicly available. Thus,
`some sort of authentication process may be required to
`access the vehicle server 150. If, however, the communica-
`tion information and/or VIN information is deemed not to be
`
`sensitive, then the login process for vehicle server 150 may
`not be necessary.
`Regardless of whether the user is first authenticated, some
`form of identification information is required in order for the
`target vehicle to be properly identified. It should be appre-
`ciated that this identification information may take virtually
`any form and should not be limited to a username/password
`scheme, or the like. In any event, once the identification
`information is received, the vehicle server 150 may use this
`information to retrieve information particular to the target
`vehicle (e.g., VIN) from the vehicle database 170,
`for
`example. Additionally, communication information specific
`to the target vehicle may also be retrieved.
`Once the vehicle has been identified and requisite com-
`munication information obtained,
`the vehicle server 150
`may then communicate with the appropriate in-vehicle navi-
`gation system 160 via the network 130, directly via com-
`munication link, or via a separate cellular network 180.
`Regardless of the form of communication, the vehicle server
`150 may provide the aforementioned destination informa-
`tion directly to the in-vehicle navigation system 160, thereby
`eliminating the need for the user to manually enter such
`information.
`
`Referring now to FIG. 2, depicted is one embodiment of
`a process for implementing the invention. In particular,
`process 200 begins with a user accessing a mapping server
`(e.g., mapping server 120) at block 210. In one embodiment,
`this may be accomplished by having the user enter a uniform
`resource locator (URL) into a browser application executing
`on the user’s computer (e.g., user computer 110), where the
`URL corresponds to a webpage of the mapping server. By
`way of providing non-limiting examples, the accessed map-
`ping server may correspond to the online mapping services
`of GoogleTM Maps, YahooTM Maps, GoYellow.de, etc. Once
`the user has accessed the mapping server, process 200 may
`proceed to block 220 where the user obtains destination
`information for a desired destination.
`
`starting and destination street
`In one embodiment,
`addresses may be entered by the user. Based on this infor-
`mation, the mapping server may then provide the user with
`a set of tum-by-tum directions in the form of text and/or
`graphics. In another embodiment, the user may not know the
`destination street address ahead of time. In this case, it may
`be necessary for the user to perform an online address
`lookup using one of the many available online services. In
`this case, the mapping server is an online address lookup
`server which provides address information based on cat-
`egory and/or name user inputs.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`4
`
`Regardless of whether the mapping server is an online
`mapping service server or an address lookup server, at block
`220 the user is provided with some form of a search result
`via a graphical user interface (GUI) of the mapping server
`which includes destination information, such as a street
`address.
`
`As previously mentioned, one aspect of the invention is to
`provide the user with a selectable option to have this
`destination information automatically sent to a particular
`vehicle. In one embodiment, this option may be presented to
`the user in the form of a link or other selectable graphic
`button displayed along with the destination address/infor-
`mation. It should of course be appreciated that the selectable
`option can be in any form and should not be limited to a link,
`button, or any other particular embodiment. Moreover, the
`location of the selectable option may similarly vary. In other
`embodiments, information from past lookups/addresses may
`be stored in the vehicle such that the user can access recent
`
`searches without having to send the addresses to the vehicle.
`Furthermore,
`this information may be useful
`to speech
`recognition systems (in contrast
`to turn-knob or touch-
`screen systems) as it would tend to improve their reliability
`by defining greater probability to already found addresses.
`Process 200 continues to block 230 where a determination
`
`is made as to whether the user has opted to send the obtained
`destination information to their vehicle. As described above,
`this determination may be based on the user selection of a
`link or button on a GUI of the mapping server. If the
`determination of block 230 indicates that the user has not
`
`selected to have the information automatically sent to his
`vehicle, process 200 ends at block 240. If, on the other hand,
`the user has elected to send the destination information to the
`
`user’s vehicle, process 200 may continue to block 250 where
`the user is directed to a vehicle server (e.g., vehicle server
`150).
`In one embodiment,
`the operation of block 250
`involves re-directing a browser application executing on the
`user’s computer to a network resource, such as a login page,
`of the vehicle server. In another embodiment, the mapping
`server may also pass the destination information to the
`vehicle server via a network connection (e.g., network 130).
`In still another embodiment, clicking/selecting the option to
`automatically send the destination information to the user’s
`vehicle may include calling a function on the vehicle server
`and passing information to it, such as GPS coordinates,
`destination name, street address information, destination
`phone number, etc.
`As previously discussed, the vehicle server may be oper-
`ated and maintained by a manufacturer of the user’ s vehicle.
`In another embodiment, the vehicle server may be a portal
`to a plurality of vehicle manufacturer’s databases.
`Once the user has accessed a GUI of the vehicle server,
`process 200 may continue to block 260 where the user
`optionally may be required to provide some login informa-
`tion (e.g., usemarne, password, etc.). Using the provided
`login information, the vehicle server may then access user-
`specific vehicle information, such as the user’s vehicle
`identification number (VIN), at block 270. In one embodi-
`ment, the vehicle server uses the retrieved vehicle informa-
`tion to identify the particular vehicle (i.e., the user’ s vehicle)
`to which the destination information should be sent.
`
`Finally, at block 280, the vehicle server may prepare/
`format the destination information for transmission to the
`
`user vehicle. While it should be appreciated that the opera-
`tion of block 280 may take on numerous forms,
`in one
`embodiment, the preparation process may include updating
`a specified webpage with the vehicle information and/or
`destination information. Alternatively, an SMS message
`
`6
`
`

`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`5
`containing the desired destination information may be gen-
`erated and queued for delivery to the vehicle. Finally, this
`operation may involved embedding an External Function-
`ality Interface (EFI) function in a Wireless Markup Lan-
`guage (WML) page. Regardless of the type of preparation
`and/or formatting applied to the destination information,
`process 200 will conclude at block 280 with the desired
`information ready to be transmitted to the vehicle.
`Referring now to FIG. 3, depicted is one embodiment of
`a process 300 for automatically navigating a user to a desired
`location utilizing destination information generated using
`process 200 of FIG. 2. Process 300 begins at block 310 with
`the starting of the user’s vehicle. At block 320, the vehicle
`makes a determination as to whether there is any available
`destination information generated by process 200. This
`determination may be made by having the vehicle make a
`query of the vehicle server (e.g., vehicle server 150) or some
`other specified online resource. For example, in one embodi-
`ment the query involves navigating to a specified webpage
`of the vehicle server using an onboard Internet browser of
`the vehicle. The specified webpage can then be checked by
`the vehicle to see if it contains destination information (e.g.,
`generated from process 200) for the querying vehicle. In this
`embodiment, a special page may be displayed in the vehicle
`HMI offering to handolf the destination information to the
`navigation system.
`Alternatively, the vehicle may query the server using an
`SMS message, whereby the vehicle server in mm sends a
`return SMS message to the vehicle containing the available
`destination information from process 200. Similarly, an
`onboard Internet browser may be used to detect an EFI link
`in a WML page sent to the vehicle or embedded in an SMS
`message. Finally, instead of an actual query, the vehicle may
`simply send a message or other indicator to the vehicle
`server that it is online and ready to receive any possible
`available destination information
`
`Continuing to refer to FIG. 3, if it is determined at block
`320 that there is no available destination information, pro-
`cess 300 ends at block 330. However, if there is available
`destination information, process 300 will continue to block
`340 where the available information is sent to the user’s
`
`vehicle. The manner in which this information is provided
`can take numerous forms, including sending the data over
`the Internet (e.g., via network 130), via a direct link between
`the vehicle server and the vehicle, or via a separate cellular
`network 160. The vehicle server may use the vehicle’s VIN
`or any other unique identifier to identify the particular
`vehicle to which the destination information should be sent.
`
`In-vehicle navigation systems (e.g., In-vehicle navigation
`system 140) utilize HMIs of varying forms and sophistica-
`tion levels. However, a common characteristic of all
`in-
`vehicle navigation system HMIs is the ability to display
`information to the vehicle’s operator. To that end,
`the
`available destination information may be displayed to the
`user at block 350. This information may include multiple
`destinations from which the user may choose.
`After the available destination information is displayed to
`the user,
`the user may select a particular destination to
`automatically populate a destination field of the in-vehicle
`navigation system. To that end, a determination is made at
`block 370 as to whether the user has selected to be guided
`to one of the available destinations. If not,
`the process
`simply ends at block 380. If so, on the other hand, the
`destination field of the vehicle’s navigation system will be
`populated with the selected information and a navigation
`operation initiated thereafter.
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`45
`
`50
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`6
`It should further be appreciated that the available desti-
`nation information may include a telephone number for a
`particular destination. In such cases, the user may be pro-
`vided with a further option to automatically call the desired
`destination. This function may be performed in addition to,
`or in place of,
`the aforementioned automatic navigation
`function.
`While the invention has been described in connection
`with various embodiments, it should be understood that the
`invention is capable of further modifications. This applica-
`tion is intended to cover any variations, uses or adaptation
`of the invention following, in general, the principles of the
`invention, and including such departures from the present
`disclosure as come within the known and customary practice
`within the art to which the invention pertains.
`What is claimed is:
`
`1. Amethod for vehicle navigation comprising the acts of:
`receiving, by a vehicle manufacturer server, destination
`information over a network from an online source in
`
`response to a user request to automatically send the
`destination information to a vehicle;
`receiving, by the vehicle manufacturer server, user iden-
`tification information over the network;
`identifying said vehicle from a vehicle database of said
`vehicle manufacturer server based on the user identi-
`fication information; and
`sending the destination information to an in-vehicle navi-
`gation system of the vehicle.
`2. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the destination
`information comprising sending the destination information
`to the in-vehicle navigation system over a secure vehicle
`manufacturer connection.
`3. The method of claim 1, wherein said destination
`information comprises at least one of a street address, GPS
`coordinates, telephone number and destination description.
`4. The method of claim 3, where said street address
`comprises one or more of a street name, a street number, a
`city, a country and a zip code.
`5. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving user iden-
`tification information comprises:
`receiving login information over the network;
`authenticating the login information; and
`preparing, in response to said authenticating, the destina-
`tion information for transmission to the in-vehicle
`
`navigation system.
`6. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving a
`vehicle identification number based on said user identifica-
`tion information.
`
`7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
`displaying the destination information on a display of the
`vehicle;
`receiving a user selection of the destination information;
`and
`
`populating a destination field of an in-vehicle navigation
`system with the destination information based on the
`user selection.
`
`8. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving destination
`information over a network from the online source com-
`
`prises receiving the destination information from an Internet
`mapping service server.
`9. The method of claim 1, wherein the user request is
`made via a graphical user interface of the online source over
`the network.
`
`10. A system for vehicle navigation comprising:
`an in-vehicle navigation system in a vehicle coupled to a
`network;
`
`7
`
`

`
`US 7,386,393 B2
`
`7
`a vehicle manufacture server in communication with the
`
`in-vehicle navigation system, the vehicle manufacture
`server configured to,
`receive destination information over a network from an
`
`online source in response to a user request to auto-
`matically send the destination information to the
`vehicle;
`receive user identification information over the net-
`work;
`identify said vehicle from a vehicle database of said
`vehicle manufacture server based on the user iden-
`tification information; and
`send the destination information to the in-vehicle navi-
`
`gation system of the vehicle.
`11. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manu-
`facturer server is further configured to send the destination
`information to the in-vehicle navigation system over a
`secure vehicle manufacturer connection.
`
`12. The system of claim 10, wherein said destination
`information comprises at least one of a street address, GPS
`coordinates, telephone number and destination description.
`13. The system of claim 12, where said street address
`comprises one or more of a street name, a street number, a
`city, a country and a zip code.
`14. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manu-
`facturer server is further configured to,
`receive the user identification information in the form of
`
`login information over the network;
`authenticate the login information; and
`prepare the destination information for transmission to the
`vehicle in response to login information being authen-
`ticated.
`
`15. The system of claim 10, wherein the vehicle manu-
`facturer server is further configured to retrieve a vehicle
`identification number based on said user identification infor-
`mation.
`
`16. The system of claim 10, wherein the in-vehicle
`navigation system is configured to,
`
`5
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`30
`
`35
`
`8
`display the destination information on a display of the
`vehicle;
`receive a user selection of the destination information;
`and
`
`populate a destination field of the in-vehicle navigation
`system with the destination information based on the
`user selection.
`
`17. The system of claim 10, wherein the online source is
`an lntemet mapping service server.
`18. The system of claim 10, wherein the user request is
`made via a graphical user interface of the online source over
`the network.
`19. The method of claim 1, where the vehicle manufac-
`turer server is maintained by a third party on behalf of a
`vehicle manufacturer of said vehicle.
`
`20. The system of claim 10, where the vehicle manufac-
`turer server is maintained by a third party on behalf of a
`vehicle manufacturer of said vehicle.
`
`21. A system for vehicle navigation comprising:
`an in-vehicle navigation system in a vehicle;
`a vehicle manufacturer server having a secure connection
`with the in-vehicle navigation system, wherein the
`vehicle manufacturer server is configured to,
`receive destination information over a network from an
`
`online mapping server in response to a user request
`to automatically send the destination information to
`the vehicle;
`receive user identification information over the net-
`work;
`identify a vehicle identification number (VIN) corre-
`sponding to said vehicle from a vehicle database of
`said vehicle server based on the user identification
`information; and
`send the destination information to the in-vehicle navi-
`
`gation system of the vehicle as a secure vehicle
`manufacturer communication.
`
`8