System And Method For Selecting And Presenting A Route To A User

Abstract

A method and system are provided for selecting and presenting a route to a user. An exemplary embodiment includes storing a plurality of associations, each association between a route taken by a user and at least one safety characteristic of the route. Received from a particular user is a request for at least one recommended route to a destination point. A query is formulated based on user specified parameters, including an origination point, the destination point, and a safety characteristic, to obtain routes taken by other users. A plurality of routes taken by other users based on a safety characteristic of the routes and related to at least one of an origin region and a destination region is retrieved from the associations. At least one recommended route is recommended to the user based on at least one of the retrieved routes that most closely matches the specified parameters.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method for selecting and presenting a route to a user comprising:
 storing on at least one of a server and a device a plurality of associations, each association between a route taken by a user and one or more safety characteristics of the route;   receiving from a particular user a request for at least one recommended route to a destination point;   formulating a query based on user specified parameters, including an origination point, a destination point, and at least one safety characteristic to obtain at least one recommended route;   retrieving, in response to the query, a plurality of routes including routes from the stored plurality of associations, the plurality of routes based on the at least one safety characteristic and related to at least one of an origin region around the origination point and a destination region around the destination point; and   presenting at least one recommended route to the particular user based on at least one of the retrieved routes that most closely matches the user specified parameters,   wherein at least one of the preceding actions is performed on at least one of the server and the device.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having a beginning route segment falling within the origin region. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having an ending segment falling within the destination region. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the plurality or routes includes at least one route having intermediate segments that pass through the origin region and the destination region. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein formulating the query further comprises: formulating the query based on route parameters, wherein the route parameters include any combination of quickness, traffic safety, road conditions, and police activity. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the at least one safety characteristic of the route includes whether the route goes through a crime-ridden part of town. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising allowing each user of the plurality of users to specify a group of users with whom the user's routes may be shared and from whom the routes may be requested. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein each association includes characteristics of the user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8  wherein characteristics of other users include demographic parameters including any combination of a name, address, sex, age, driving experience, and number of children. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein retrieving the plurality of stored routes in response to the query further comprises:
 generating, by the at least one of the server and the device, one or more candidate routes from the origin region to the destination region; and 
 assigning, by the at least one of the server and the device, weights to the generated candidate routes based in part on how much the retrieved routes overlap the one or more candidate routes; and 
 wherein presenting at least one recommended route to the particular user based on at least one of the retrieved routes that most closely matches the user specified parameters includes presenting at least one candidate route having the highest assigned weight to the particular user. 
 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10  wherein the weight assigned to a particular one of the generated candidate routes is determined by the at least one of the server and the device by:
 calculating a total distance of the candidate route; 
 calculating a total distance that at least one segment of the at least one of the retrieved routes overlaps with a corresponding segment of the candidate route; and 
 assigning a value to the weight that is equal to either of the total distance of overlapping segments, or the total distance of overlapping segments divided by the total distance of the candidate route. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10  wherein presenting to the particular user the at least one recommended route further comprises selecting at least one of the generated candidate routes having a highest weight. 
     
     
         13 . A system for selecting and presenting a route to a user comprising system components including:
 at least one route database component for storing a plurality of associations, each association between a route taken by a user and one or more safety characteristics of the route;   a routing module component coupled to the route database for receiving from a particular user a request for at least one recommended route to a destination point, wherein in response to the request, the routing module is configured to:   formulate a query based on user specified parameters, including the origination point, the destination point, and a safety characteristic, to obtain routes taken by other users;   retrieve, in response to the query, a plurality of routes taken by one or more other users including routes from the stored plurality of associations, the plurality of routes based on the at least one safety characteristic and related to at least one of an origin region around the origination point and a destination region around the destination point; and   present the at least one recommended route to the particular user based on at least one of the received routes that most closely matches the specified parameters,   wherein at least one of the system components includes at least one electronic hardware component.   
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having a beginning route segment falling within the origin region. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having an ending segment falling within the destination region. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the plurality or routes includes at least one route having intermediate segments that pass through the origin region and the destination region. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 13  wherein formulating the query further comprises: formulating the query based on route parameters, wherein the route parameters include any combination of quickness, traffic safety, road conditions, and police activity. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 13  wherein the at least one safety characteristic of the route includes whether the route goes through a crime-ridden part of town. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 13  further comprising allowing each user of the plurality of users to specify a group of users with whom the user's routes may be shared and from whom the routes may be requested. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19  wherein the specified group of users comprises a buddy list. 
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 13  wherein each association includes characteristics of the user. 
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21  wherein characteristics of other users include demographic parameters including any combination of a name, address, sex, age, driving experience, and number of children. 
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 13  wherein in retrieving the plurality of routes in response to the query, the routing module component is further configured to:
 generating, by the at least one of the server and the device, one or more candidate routes from the origin region to the destination region; and 
 assigning, by the at least one of the server and the device, weights to the generated candidate routes based in part on how much the retrieved routes overlap the one or more candidate routes; and 
 wherein presenting at least one recommended route to the particular user based on at least one of the retrieved routes that most closely matches the user specified parameters includes presenting at least one candidate route having the highest assigned weight to the particular user. 
 
     
     
         24 . The system of  claim 23  wherein the weight assigned to a particular one of the generated candidate routes is determined by the at least one of the server and the device by:
 calculating a total distance of the candidate route; 
 calculating a total distance that at least one segment of the at least one of the retrieved routes overlaps with a corresponding segment of the candidate route; and 
 assigning a value to the weight that is equal to either of the total distance of overlapping segments, or the total distance of overlapping segments divided by the total distance of the candidate route. 
 
     
     
         25 . The system of  claim 23  wherein presenting to the particular user the at least one recommended route further comprises selecting at least one of the generated candidate routes having a highest weight. 
     
     
         26 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium containing program instructions for selecting and presenting a route to a user, the program instructions for:
 storing a plurality of associations, each association between a route taken by a user and one or more safety characteristics of the route;   receiving from a particular user a request for at least one recommended route to a destination point;   formulating a query based on the request and user specified parameters, including an origination point, the destination point, and at least one safety characteristic to obtain at least one recommended route;   retrieving, in response to the query, a plurality of routes taken by other users including routes from the stored plurality of associations, the plurality of routes based on the at least one safety characteristic and related to at least one of an origin region around the origination point and a destination region around the destination point; and   presenting at least one recommended route to the particular user based on at least one of the retrieved routes that most closely matches the user specified parameters.   
     
     
         27 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 26  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having a beginning route segment falling within the origin region. 
     
     
         28 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 26  wherein the plurality of routes includes at least one route having an ending segment falling within the destination region. 
     
     
         29 . The computer-readable medium of  claim 26  wherein the plurality or routes includes at least one route having intermediate segments that pass through the origin region and the destination region.