System and method for reducing the amount of repetitive data sent by a server to a client for vehicle navigation

Abstract

A system and method for reducing the amount of repetitive data sent by a server to a client for vehicle navigation. The system includes a computer-based vehicle unit located in a vehicle, a gateway configured to wirelessly send and receive trip information to and from the vehicle unit, and a computer-based server in communication with the gateway over a network. The vehicle unit wirelessly receives signals from a computer-based server that includes the desired navigation information in packet form. The vehicle unit includes a user interface component that presents the received navigation information and records user requests. The server processes the requests, generates a trip plan according to the navigation information and sends the generated trip plan back to the vehicle unit via a gateway when a request has been completed.

1 . A vehicle navigation method comprising:
 initiating a trip request, including trip request information;   determining vehicle coordinates;   sending vehicle coordinates and the entered trip request information to a server over a network;   generating a trip plan according to navigation information stored in a memory associated with the server, the vehicle coordinates, and the trip request information, wherein the generated trip plan includes a table of locations of the trip plan with associated navigation prompts;   sending the generated trip plan table to the vehicle over the network;   comparing present vehicle coordinates to the trip plan table; and   if, according to the comparison, the vehicle coordinates are within a threshold value from a location in the table, presenting the navigation prompt associated with the location in the table that is within the threshold value of the vehicle's location.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein trip request information includes voice instructions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein generating comprises determining a destination by interpreting the trip voice instructions by performing voice recognition processing. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the navigation prompts include voice prompts. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining if the vehicle is adhering to the trip plan, wherein determining adherence comprises:
 determining distance of the vehicle coordinates to the trip plan; and   if the vehicle coordinates are not within a threshold value from the trip plan, sending present vehicle coordinates to the server, generating a new trip plan and trip plan table based on the sent present vehicle coordinates, and sending the new trip plan table to the vehicle.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating comprises determining a destination by interpreting the trip voice instructions by performing voice recognition processing. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining if the vehicle is adhering to the trip plan, wherein determining adherence comprises:
 determining the distance of the vehicle coordinates to a trip plan location; and   if the vehicle coordinates are not within a threshold value from the trip plan location, sending present vehicle coordinates to the server, generating a new trip plan and trip plan table based on the sent present vehicle coordinates, and sending the new trip plan table to the vehicle.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein:
 retrieving comprises when a voice prompt is not previously stored at the vehicle, sending a request to the server for the non-stored voice prompt and sending the non-stored voice prompt from the server to the vehicle; and   presenting comprises presenting the sent voice prompt.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein retrieving further comprises saving the sent voice prompt according to the corresponding identifier. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising purging saved voice prompts according to a scheduled purge request. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising purging saved voice prompts according to a user purge request. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising purging saved voice prompts according to a server generated purge request. 
     
     
         13 . A vehicle navigation system comprising:
 a computer-based vehicle unit located in a vehicle for receiving and transmitting trip request information and receiving trip plan navigation information, the computer-based vehicle unit having a processor and associated memory, a user interface, a global positioning system for determining vehicle coordinates, and a radio unit;   a network configured to wirelessly send and receive trip request information to and from the vehicle unit via the radio unit; and   a computer-based server in communication with the network for receiving trip request information from the computer-based vehicle unit, generating a trip plan according to navigation information stored in a memory associated with the server and the trip request information, and sending the generated trip plan to the vehicle unit over the network.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the generated trip plan includes a table of locations of the trip plan with associated navigation prompts. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein:
 the computer-based vehicle unit compares present vehicle coordinates to the trip plan table; and   if, according to the comparison, the vehicle coordinates are within a threshold value from a location in the table, the vehicle unit presents the navigation prompt associated with the location in the table that is within the threshold value of the vehicle's location.   
     
     
         16 . A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising:
 means for initiating a trip request;   means for entering trip voice instructions;   means for determining vehicle coordinates;   means for sending vehicle coordinates and the entered voice instructions to a server over a network;   means for generating a trip plan according to vehicle navigation information stored in a memory associated with the server, the vehicle coordinates, and the trip voice instructions, wherein the generated trip plan includes a table of locations of the trip plan and each location entry in the table includes an associated voice prompt;   means for comparing present vehicle coordinates to the trip plan table; and   if, according to the comparison, the vehicle coordinates are within a threshold value from a location in the table, means for retrieving at least one of a voice prompt or voice prompt tag identifier, means for sending the retrieved at least one of a voice prompt or voice prompt tag identifier to the vehicle, and means for presenting the sent voice prompt or a previously stored voice prompt associated with the sent voice prompt tag identifier.