United States Patent [19J
`Oshizawa
`
`I lllll llllllll Ill lllll lllll lllll lllll lllll 111111111111111111111111111111111
`US005987381A
`5,987,381
`[11] Patent Number:
`[45] Date of Patent:
`Nov. 16, 1999
`
`[54] AUTOMOBILE NAVIGATION SYSTEM
`USING REMOTE DOWNLOAD OF DATA
`
`[75]
`
`Inventor: Hidekazu Oshizawa, Cupertino, Calif.
`
`[73]
`
`Assignee: Visteon Technologies, LLC, Sunnyvale,
`Calif.
`
`[21]
`
`Appl. No.: 08/816,107
`
`[22]
`
`Filed:
`
`Mar. 11, 1997
`
`[51]
`[52]
`
`[58]
`
`[56]
`
`Int. Cl.6
`..•••.••...•.•.••.•••.•••.•••••••••..••.•...•••..•. G06F 165/00
`U.S. Cl ........................... 701/209; 701i202; 701/210;
`340/990; 340/995
`Field of Search ..................................... 701/202, 207,
`701/208, 209, 210, 211; 73/178 R; 340/988,
`990, 995, 989
`
`References Cited
`
`OTHER PUBLICAI'IONS
`
`Duncan, Don, "RESCU, remote emergency satellite cellular
`unit," Proceedings of the National Technical I\lfeeting, Insti(cid:173)
`tute of Navigation 1996, E.I. Conference No. 45483, pp.
`361-366.
`Abstract, Martin, Norman, "Look to the sky automakers
`plug into automatic communication systems," Chilton's
`Automotive Industries, v. 176, No. 3, Mar. 1996, pp. 74-75.
`Abstract, Demmler, Al, "OnStar," Automotive Engineering,
`v. 104,Jun. 1996,pp. 85-86.
`Abstract, Mateja, Jim, "Safety system dials 9-1-1 for motor(cid:173)
`ists," Traffic Safet}\ v. 96, Jul./ Aug. 1996, pp. 4-5.
`Abstract, Schofield, Julie Anne, "Electronics create the
`cybercar," Design News, v. 50[51], Oct. 9, 1995, pp.
`116-118.
`
`Primary Examiner-Gary Chin
`Attorne}\ Agent, or Firm-Blakely, Sokoloff, Taylor &
`Zafman LLP
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`[57]
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`4,301,506
`4,350,970
`4,796,191
`4,812,843
`4,914,605
`4,954,958
`5,172,321
`5,177,685
`5,184,303
`5,523,950
`5,544,061
`5,745,867
`5,774,827
`5,845,227
`5,862,509
`
`11/1981 Turco ...................................... 364/436
`9/1982 von Tomkewitsch ..................... 340/23
`1/1989 Honey et al ............................ 364/450
`3/1989 Champion, III et al. ............... 340/905
`4/1990 Loughmiller, Jr. et al. ............ 364/518
`9/1990 Savage et al. .......................... 701/202
`12/1992 Ghaem et al. .......................... 340/995
`1/1993 Davis et al.
`. ........................... 364/443
`2/1993 Link ........................................ 364/449
`6/1996 Peterson .................................. 364/436
`8/1996 Morimoto et al. ...................... 701/202
`4/1998 Mills ....................................... 701/202
`6/1998 Smith, Jr. et al. ...................... 701/202
`12/1998 Peterson ... ... ............. ... ...... ...... 701/209
`1/1999 Desai et al .............................. 701/202
`
`FOREIGN PAI'ENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4/1984 European Pat. Off ..
`0123562
`8/1989 WIPO.
`WO 90/02391
`WO 92/10808 10/1991 WIPO .
`WO 92/14215
`2/1992 WIPO .
`
`A method of enabling an on-board vehicle navigation system
`to compute a route from a current position of the vehicle to
`a desired destination is provided. A user of the navigation
`system in a vehicle utilizes a cellular telephone or any other
`wireless, two-way audio communications link to contact an
`operator in a remote communications center. The user
`informs the operator of his desired destination. The operator
`in the communications center accesses a computer database
`to determine the exact location of the desired destination in
`terms of latitude/longitude, street address, or other similar
`information. The operator then causes the information speci(cid:173)
`fying the exact location to be transmitted from the commu(cid:173)
`nications center to the on-board vehicle navigation system
`over a data link. The on-board vehicle navigation system
`receives the location information and uses it to compute a
`route from the vehicle's current position to the desired
`destination.
`
`43 Claims, 4 Drawing Sheets
`
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`IPR2017-02022
`Unified EX1004 Page 1
`
`

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`

`

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`
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`
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`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Nov. 16, 1999
`
`Sheet 4 of 4
`
`5,987,381
`
`USER INITIATES 2-WAY AUDIO ~301
`COMMUNICATION WITH OPERATOR
`IN COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
`
`I
`USER COMMUNICATES DESIRED ~302
`DESTINATION TO OPERATOR
`
`'
`
`OPERATOR ACCESSES DATABASE WITH ~30 3
`DESIRED DESTINATION TO DETERMINE
`COORDINATES OF DESIRED DESTINATION
`
`I
`OPERATOR CAUSES COORDINATES AND ANY ~ 304
`SECONDARY INFORMATION TO BE TRANSMITTED
`TO ON-BOARD NAVIGATION SYSTEM
`
`'
`
`ON-BOARD NAVIGATION SYSTEM RECEIVES ~ 305
`COORDINATES AND SECONDARY INFORMATION
`{IF ANY) AND USES TO COMPUTE ROUTE
`
`I
`ON-BOARD NAVIGATION SYSTEM OUTPUTS ~ 306
`AUDIBLE NAVIGATION INSTRUCTIONS TO USER
`J
`
`(ENDJ
`
`FIG. 3
`
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`

`1
`AUTOMOBILE NAVIGATION SYSTEM
`USING REMOTE DOWNLOAD OF DATA
`
`FIELD OF TIIE INVENTION
`The present invention pertains to the field of on-board
`navigation systems for street vehicles. More particularly, the
`present invention relates to an on-board automobile naviga(cid:173)
`tion system which uses data downloaded from a remote
`transmission source.
`
`5,987,381
`
`2
`Thus, it is desirable to provide an on-board automobile
`navigation system which simplifies the process of entering a
`desired destination for the user. It is further desirable to
`reduce the cost of such a system while preserving the ability
`s of the system to provide clear, step-by-step navigation
`instructions along a computed route to guide the user to a
`selected destination.
`
`SUMMARY OF TIIE INVENTION
`
`The present invention pertains to a method of enabling an
`on-board vehicle navigation system to a compute a route
`from a current position of the vehicle to a desired destina(cid:173)
`tion. In the method, a voice transmission is received from a
`user. The voice transmission includes information identify(cid:173)
`ing the desired destination. A database is then accessed to
`determine the location of the desired destination based on
`the information identifying the desired destination. Once the
`location of the desired destination is identified, a data
`transmission is sent to the on-board navigation system. The
`data transmission includes information specifying the loca(cid:173)
`tion of the desired destination, which can be used by the
`on-board vehicle navigation system to compute the route.
`Other features of the present invention will be apparent
`from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed
`description which follows.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`10
`
`15
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`An on-board navigation system can be advantageous to a
`driver of an automobile when navigating streets in an
`unfamiliar area. Such systems are often found in rental cars
`and are becoming increasingly more available as options in
`new cars. An on-board navigation system may include a
`computer, a stored street map database, and various sensors
`to detect vehicle movement. The system is designed to
`compute a route to a selected destination and generate
`guidance instructions to guide the user along the computed 20
`route. The system may include a visual display device, such
`as a liquid crystal display (LCD), by which navigation
`information and other information are provided to the user.
`For example, the system might display a moving vehicle
`symbol on an image of a street map to indicate the move- 25
`ment of the vehicle through a given area. The system might
`also display symbolic or textual navigation instructions,
`such as a directional arrow to indicate the next turn, or the
`instruction, "Right turn on Innsbruck Drive." Visual navi(cid:173)
`gation instructions may be accompanied by audible instruc- 30
`tions generated as digitized or synthesized speech. The
`system generally includes some type of input device, such as
`push buttons, to allow the user to select a destination and
`perform various functions, such as changing the scale level
`of the map display. On-board automobile navigation systems 35
`having features such as those mentioned above are produced
`by Zexel USA Corporation, located in Sunnyvale, Calif.
`One problem with many on-board navigation systems is
`that the manner of selecting the desired destination is
`inconvenient for some users. With one existing system, the
`driver pushes buttons to select a destination from a displayed
`list of possible destinations. The user first selects a city from
`a list of cities, then selects a street name from a list of street
`names, and then selects a street number. Some people,
`however, dislike having to manually input the destination. In 45
`some cases, the user may be in a hurry and may not wish to
`be delayed by having to input the destination. Further,
`certain people are apprehensive about using even relatively
`simple electronic devices; having to manually input a des(cid:173)
`tination may tend to discourage such people from using a 50
`navigation system. Hence, it is desirable to provide an
`on-board automobile navigation system which simplifies the
`process of entering a desired destination for the user.
`Another problem with many on-board navigation systems
`is that they tend to be expensive; on-board navigation 55
`systems in new cars are still generally among the highest(cid:173)
`priced options. It is desirable, therefore, to reduce the overall
`cost of on-board navigation systems to make such systems
`more available to consumers. One significant factor in the
`cost of these systems is the visual display device and its 60
`associated hardware, which typically represent a large frac(cid:173)
`tion of the cost of the entire system (approximately 30
`percent in at least one existing system). It would
`advantageous, therefore, to reduce or eliminate costs asso(cid:173)
`ciated with these components without sacrificing the essen- 65
`tial functionality of the navigation system and without
`reducing the appeal of the system to consumers.
`
`The present invention is illustrated by way of example
`and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying
`drawings, in which like references indicate similar elements
`and in which:
`FIG. 1 illustrates an on-board automobile navigation
`system.
`FIG. 2A illustrates a configuration by which both audio
`data and non-audio data are communicated between a com(cid:173)
`munications center and an on-board automobile navigation
`system using separate channels of a single communication
`40 link.
`FIG. 2B illustrates a configuration by which audio and
`non-audio data are communicated between a communica(cid:173)
`tions center and an on-board automobile navigation system
`using separate communication links.
`FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating a routine for com(cid:173)
`puting a route between a current position and a desired
`destination using data downloaded to an on-board automo(cid:173)
`bile navigation system from a remote communications cen(cid:173)
`ter.
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`An on-board automobile navigation system is described
`which uses destination data downloaded from a remote
`transmission source. In the following description, for pur(cid:173)
`poses of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth
`in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present
`invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the
`art that the present invention may be practiced without these
`specific details. In other instances, well-known structures
`and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to
`facilitate description of the present invention.
`
`Overall System Architecture
`
`FIG. 1 illustrates an on-board automobile navigation
`system 100. The navigation system 100 includes a central
`processing unit (CPU) 110, read-only memory (ROM) 111,
`
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`5,987,381
`
`3
`random access memory (RAM) 112, and a mass storage
`medium 113, each coupled to a bus 124. The bus 124 may
`actually comprise two or more physical buses coupled
`together by various bridges and/or adapters. Also coupled to
`the bus 124 is an input/output (I/O) subsystem 126. The I/O s
`subsystem 126 includes an input subsystem 114 coupled to
`the bus 124, which provides the means for a user (e.g., a
`driver or passenger of the vehicle) to control various func(cid:173)
`tions of the navigation system 100. The I/0 subsystem 126
`also includes an audio speaker 116, which receives signals 10
`from an audio output controller 115 that is coupled to the bus
`124.
`A sensor subsystem 125 is also coupled to the bus 124 via
`an interface device 122. The sensor subsystem 125 includes
`a heading sensor 119, a distance sensor (e.g., odometer) 120,
`and a global positioning system (GPS) receiver 121, each of
`which is coupled to the interface device 122. The interface
`device 122 formats the data received from sensors 119 and
`120 and GPS receiver 121 for transmission to the CPU 110
`via the bus 124.
`Also coupled to the bus 124 is a communication interface
`128. Interface 128 provides an interface between the bus 124
`and an external communication device 172, which is dis(cid:173)
`cussed further in connection with FIG. 2.
`Various substitutions and variations may be made for
`many of the components of the navigation system 100
`within the scope of the present invention. For example, mass
`storage medium 113 may be any suitable form of non(cid:173)
`volatile storage device, including a magnetic or optical
`storage disk, e.g., a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-ROM), CD-R
`(CD-Recordable), DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or the like.
`In one embodiment, mass storage medium 113 is a PCM CIA
`(Personal Computer Memory Card International
`Association) hard drive. Further, mass storage medium 113,
`ROM 111, and RAM 112 each may represent multiple
`physical devices. The input subsystem 114 may include
`mechanical buttons, pressure- or thermal-sensitive buttons, a
`voice-activated input system, or any other suitable substi(cid:173)
`tute. Various substitutions may also be made for the sensors
`119, 120, and 121 of the sensor subsystem 125. For example,
`the GPS receiver 121 may be replaced \vith any alternative
`form of high-accuracy locating system. Also, the heading
`sensor 119 may be either an absolute heading detector, such
`as a compass, or a relative heading detector, such as a wheel
`differential angular velocity sensor. It will be recognized that
`the above-mentioned substitutions are only illustrative;
`other substitutions can be made within the scope of the
`present invention.
`It must be noted that, although many on-board navigation 50
`systems include a visual display subsystem, the system 100
`of FIG. 1 does not include such a subsystem, according to
`one embodiment of the present invention. As will be
`described below, a visual display subsystem can be omitted
`without sacrificing the performance of the navigation sys- 55
`tern. Note, however, that in alternative embodiments, a
`simple display subsystem \vith minimal functionality (e.g.
`text only display) may be included in the on-board naviga(cid:173)
`tion system 100. In that case, the display device and any
`associated hardware can be coupled to bus 24 in a manner 60
`that is well within the capabilities of those skilled in the art
`and need not be described herein.
`
`System Operation
`The on-board navigation system 100 includes a database
`of street map data, which, in one embodiment, is stored in
`mass storage medium 113. In one embodiment, streets are
`
`4
`represented in the map database as combinations of street
`segments ("links") that are interconnected at various points
`("nodes"). As the vehicle travels, the system 1 uses a
`technique called "deadreckoning" in which data from the
`heading sensor 119 and the distance sensor 120 are pro(cid:173)
`cessed to determine a change in relative position from a
`previously-computed position. Because dead-reckoning is
`subject to a certain amount of positioning error, the system
`100 uses a map-matching algorithm to periodically reduce or
`eliminate such error. The map-matching algorithm causes
`the system 100 to reference the computed dead-reckoned
`position against the stored map data and, if necessary, to
`revise the position determination accordingly (e.g., if the
`dead-reckoned position does not coincide with a street
`15 segment). In certain instances, data from the GPS receiver
`121 may be used to correct, supplement, or replace the
`position determination made using dead-reckoning and
`map-matching.
`The on-board navigation system 100, after inputting a
`20 desired destination in the manner which is described below,
`uses the stored map data to compute a route from the current
`position of the vehicle to the desired destination. Various
`techniques are known in the art for computing a route based
`on such data. As the vehicle travels, the system 100 outputs
`25 audible navigation instructions to the user via the speaker
`116 in the form of recorded (e.g., digitized) or synthesized
`speech, to guide the user along the computed route to the
`destination. Generally, an audible instruction prompts each
`significant action (i.e., each turn) that the driver must
`30 perform.
`It will be understood that many functions of the on-board
`navigation system 100 are carried out in response to its CPU
`110 executing sequences of instructions that are contained in
`memory (e.g., ROM 111, RAM 112, mass storage medium
`35 113, or a combination thereof). That is, execution of the
`sequences of instructions contained in memory causes the
`CPU 110 to perform certain steps of the present invention,
`which are described below. For example, the instructions
`may be loaded into RAM 112 for execution from ROM 111
`40 or mass storage medium 113. In other embodiments, hard(cid:173)
`wired circuitry may be used in place of, or in combination
`with, software instructions to implement aspects of the
`present invention. Thus, the present invention is not limited
`to any specific combination of hardware circuitry and
`45 software, nor to any particular source for the instructions
`executed by the navigation system 100.
`Remote Download to On-Board Navigation System
`The present invention simplifies the process of entering a
`desired destination for the user. As noted above, certain
`on-board automobile navigation systems use a display
`device to allow the user to select a destination and to present
`navigation instructions to the user. However, because a
`display device has not been included in the navigation
`system 100 (according to one embodiment), the present
`invention provides alternative means for performing these
`functions. In particular, navigation instructions are provided
`audibly via the speaker 116. It is believed that some users
`prefer audio navigation cues to visual navigation cues.
`A5 to selection of a destination, it is recognized that one
`possible approach, in the absence of a display device, would
`be to equip the navigation system with voice recognition
`capability. However, while voice recognition technology has
`improved substantially in recent years, it is believed that
`65 such technology has not yet developed to the extent neces(cid:173)
`sary to allow this information to be input vocally with
`sufficient consistency and accuracy.
`
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`5,987,381
`
`s
`
`10
`
`5
`According to the present invention, therefore, a commu(cid:173)
`nications center 150 is provided, which includes a computer
`system 165 used by a human operator, as illustrated in F1G.
`2A The computer system 165 has access to a database 174.
`The computer system 165 can be any conventional computer
`system, such as a personal computer (PC) including standard
`components such as a CPU, memory, and various 1/0
`devices. It will be understood that functions of the computer
`system 165 that are required to practice the present invention
`are generally carried out in response to the CPU (not shown)
`of the computer system 165 executing sequences of instruc(cid:173)
`tions that are contained in memory (not shown); however,
`certain functions may be implemented using hardwired
`circuitry.
`The present invention further provides for real-time, two(cid:173)
`way audio communication between a user of the on-board
`navigation system 100, which is located in a vehicle 140,
`and a human operator of the computer system 165 in the
`communication center 150. The present invention also pro(cid:173)
`vides for non-audio data communication between the com(cid:173)
`puter system 165 and the on-board navigation system 100.
`In one embodiment, both the audio and non-audio data
`communication are accomplished using a single communi(cid:173)
`cation link 161 between a communication device 171
`coupled to the computer system 165 and a communication 25
`device 172 coupled to the on-board navigation system 100.
`The link 161 includes both an audio (voice) channel and a
`non-audio (data) channel.
`The link 161 may be any suitable form of wireless
`communication link. A substantial distance may exist
`between the vehicle 140 and the communications center 150
`(i.e., many miles). Therefore, the link 161 may be a radio
`frequency (RF) link, such as a cellular telephone link,
`citizens band (CB) radio, or any other suitable type of
`wireless communication link. The link 161 may include 35
`satellites, microwave towers, or other similar devices func(cid:173)
`tioning as signal relay points, repeaters, amplifiers, and the
`like.
`In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2A, the communi(cid:173)
`cation device 171 is coupled to the computer system 165 by
`a data path 175. A headset is coupled to the communications
`device 171 and is used by the operator to input and output
`audio information to and from the communication device
`171. Communication device 171 transmits audio and non-
`audio data onto separate channels of link 161 and receives 45
`at least audio data from communication device 172. Com-
`munication device 172 is similar to device 171 and is
`coupled to the on-board navigation system 100 by data path
`177. Communication device 172 receives both audio and
`non-audio data from communication device 171. Data path
`177 is input to interface 128 (FIG. 1) to provide certain
`non-audio data to the navigation system 100, as will be
`discussed below. It will be recognized that, in various
`embodiments, communication device 172 can be an integral
`component of the on-board navigation system 100;
`similarly, communication device 171 can be an integral
`component of the computer system 165.
`The database 174 includes extensive, detailed information
`that is used for locating the user's desired destination. This
`information may include telephone directory white pages 60
`and/or yellow pages information, points of interest, etc.
`Some or all of the stored information may be obtained via a
`network (e.g., Internet) connection (not shown) between the
`computer system 165 and one or more remote service
`providers, in which case the stored information can be 65
`updated frequently and easily via the network. For example,
`telephone directory information might be obtained from a
`
`6
`World Wide Web page provided by a remote server. In
`another embodiment, the entire database 174 may be located
`on a remote server and accessed via the network.
`As will be described below, the database 174 may also
`include certain additional (secondary) information, such as
`real-time traffic information or information on crime rates in
`certain geographic areas. Such secondary information may
`also be stored in a separate database (not shown) that is
`accessible to computer system 165.
`FIG. 2B illustrates an alternative embodiment in which
`the audio channel and the non-audio channel are imple(cid:173)
`mented using separate communication links. In this
`embodiment, a communication device 181, which functions
`independently from the computer system 165, is used by the
`15 operator for voice communication with the user of the
`navigation system 100. Communication device 172 also
`functions independently from the on-board navigation sys(cid:173)
`tem 100. Hence, link 163 includes only audio data commu(cid:173)
`nication between communication device 181 and commu-
`20 nication device 172. Computer system 165 is coupled to a
`separate data communication device 180, which provides
`non-audio data communication with the on-board navigation
`system 100. Hence, link 162 includes only non-audio data
`communication between communication device 180 and the
`on-board navigation system 100. The on-board navigation
`system 100 includes a separate antenna 130 and receiver/
`decoder circuitry (not shown) suitable for receiving non(cid:173)
`audio data from communication device 180. It will be
`recognized that various other embodiments are also pos-
`30 sible.
`FIG. 3 illustrates a routine of the present invention by
`which the location of the desired destination is determined
`and a route to the desired destination is computed. Referring
`now to FIGS. 2A and 3, assume that the user of the
`navigation system 100 wishes to receive navigation assis(cid:173)
`tance. Hence, in step 301 he first uses communication device
`172 (which may be a cellular telephone) to establish two(cid:173)
`way audio communication with the operator in the commu(cid:173)
`nication center 150, who is using communication device
`40 171; the user of navigation system 100 thereby initiates the
`communication link 161. In step 302, the user states the
`desired destination to the operator. For example, the user
`may provide the name of a business as the desired destina-
`tion. In step 303, the operator uses the computer system 165
`to access the database 174 to determine the exact coordi(cid:173)
`nates of the desired destination in terms that are usable by
`the navigation system 100; for example, the navigation
`system may require that coordinates be provided in terms of
`latitude/longitude, street address, link (street segment)
`50 identifier, node (intersection) identifier, or other type of
`location information. This location information may be
`specified in terms of a unified (common) location code. It is
`envi5ioned that numerous other ways of specifying destina(cid:173)
`tion coordinates are possible. In step 304, the operator enters
`55 a command into the computer system 165 to cause the
`coordinates to be encoded and transmitted on from the
`communications center 150 to the on-board navigation sys(cid:173)
`tem 100 via the non-audio data channel of link 161.
`The transmission of the destination coordinates may be
`accompanied by transmission of certain additional
`(secondary) information, which may be used by the navi(cid:173)
`gation system 100 in computing a route. The secondary
`information may include, for example, real-time traffic
`information or information on crime rates in the areas
`surrounding the destination, the current position of the
`vehicle, and points therebetween. The secondary informa(cid:173)
`tion may be stored in, and retrieved from, database 174 or
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`from a separate database (not shown) that is accessible to
`computer system 165.
`In step 305, the on-board navigation system 100 receives
`(via data path 177) and decodes the coordinates and any
`secondary information and uses the decoded information to s
`compute a route from the current position of the vehicle 140
`to the desired destination. Computation of the route by the
`on-board system 100 tends to reduce the overall communi(cid:173)
`cation time, as compared to other possible techniques in
`which the route might be computed at a central location. 10
`Once the route is computed, the on-board navigation system
`100 initiates guidance mode and outputs audible, step-by(cid:173)
`step navigation instructions to the user in step 306 via the
`speaker 116 to guide the user to the destination. A5 the
`vehicles travels, the current position is periodically updated
`using dead-reckoning and map matching or any other suit(cid:173)
`able positioning technique.
`In another embodiment of the present invention, the route
`to the desired destination is computed by the computer
`system 165 in the communication center 150, encoded, and
`then transmitted to the on-board navigation system 100 via
`data link 161. While such an embodiment may tend to
`increase communication time, it may also serve to further
`reduce the overall cost of the navigation system 100.
`Thus, an on-board automobile navigation system has been
`described which uses destination data downloaded from a
`remote transmission source. Although the present invention
`has been described with reference to specific exemplary
`embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications
`and changes may be made to these embodiments without
`departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention
`as set forth in the claims. Accordingly, the specification and
`drav,rings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a
`restrictive sense.
`What is claimed is:
`1. A method of enabling an on-board navigation system in
`a vehicle to compute a route from a current position of the
`vehicle to a desired destination, the method comprising the
`steps of:
`receiving a voice transmission from a user, the voice 40
`transmission including information identifying the
`desired destination;
`accessing a destination database to determine the location
`of the desired destination based on the information
`identifying the desired destination; and
`sending a data transmission to the on-board navigation
`system, the data transmission including information
`specifying the location of the desired destination and
`secondary information, the secondary information
`including crime rate information, such that the infor(cid:173)
`mation specifying the location of the desired destina(cid:173)
`tion and the secondary information are usable by the
`on-board vehicle navigation system to compute the
`route from the current position of the vehicle to the
`desired destination.
`2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the location
`comprises a latitude and longitude of the desired destination.
`3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the location
`comprises a street address of the desired destination.
`4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of 60
`receiving a voice transmission from a user is carried out
`using a radio frequency (RF) link.
`5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of
`receiving a voice transmission from a user is carried out by
`cellular telephone.
`6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the secondary
`information comprises real-time traffic information.
`
`8
`7. A method of providing route information to an on-board
`automobile navigation system, the method comprising the
`steps of:
`receiving an audio transmission from a user of the
`on-board automobile navigation system, the audio
`transmission including information indicating the
`desired destination;
`determining a current position of the automobile;
`computing a route from the current position of the auto(cid:173)
`mobile to the desired destination based on a street map
`database;
`sending a non-audio data transmission to the on-board
`automobile navigation system, the non-audio data
`transmission including information identifying the
`route and secondary information, the secondary infor-
`mation in