초록 ▼

A system located in an automobile provides personalized traffic information nd route planning capabilities. This system uses equipment which is becoming standard in automobiles, such as on-board navigation systems and cellular telephones. On-board navigation systems use global positioning system (GP

A system located in an automobile provides personalized traffic information nd route planning capabilities. This system uses equipment which is becoming standard in automobiles, such as on-board navigation systems and cellular telephones. On-board navigation systems use global positioning system (GPS) satellites to position the automobile with respect to streets in a map database. As the automobile moves, the navigation system updates the location. A central database includes travel time information for each street segment and transition between street segments in the map database. Based upon the travel time information in the database, a route from a current location to a desired destination, or series of destinations, can be planned in order to have a minimum travel time. The route can be provided to the on-board navigation system, which then directs the driver in traveling the route. The cellular telephone in the automobile can be used for communicating with the central database to obtain travel times for route planning. In order to provide dynamic travel time information to the central database, each automobile in the system operates as a data collector. As various street segments are traversed, the travel time for each segment is recorded. The travel time and street segment information is periodically transferred to the central database through the cellular telephone connection. The central database then combines the travel time data from each automobile to create accurate travel time data for each street segment.

대표청구항 ▼

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A navigational system comprising:a central database including:a central memory storing a plurality of current travel times corresponding to actual travel times for vehicles traversing particular street segments which are received at the central database from vehicle trans

[ What is claimed is:] [1.] A navigational system comprising:a central database including:a central memory storing a plurality of current travel times corresponding to actual travel times for vehicles traversing particular street segments which are received at the central database from vehicle transmitters;a route planner having an input for receiving starting and ending locations and having access to the central memory and an output indicating a travel route from the starting and ending locations having a minimum travel time based upon the current travel times; anda central database transmitter for transmitting a individual travel route to each of a plurality of vehicle navigation systems; andwherein each vehicle navigation system is associated with a respective one of a plurality of vehicles and comprises:a map database having data representing locations of street segments;a positioning device for receiving GPS satellite signals and determining a location of the vehicle in relation to street segments and determining when the vehicle has traversed street segments;a timer for determining a vehicle travel time for traversal of street segments;a storage device for storing traversed street segments and corresponding vehicle travel times;a vehicle transmitter for communicating the stored traversed street segments and corresponding vehicle travel times to the central database;a receiver for receiving the travel route transmitted by the central database;a vehicle memory storing the travel route.