Mobile geographic application in an automotive environment

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10230829-B2
Application number	US-201715844499-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2017
Priority date	Jun 23, 2015
Publication date	Mar 12, 2019
Grant date	Mar 12, 2019

Abstract

A server operating in a communication network includes a network interface to communicate with remote hosts and a processing hardware configured to receive, from a portable device via the network interface, an indication of a geographic location selected at the portable device, at a first time. The processing hardware is further configured to store the indication of a geographic location and the first time and subsequently receive a request for a suggested geographic location from the portable device for use with a head unit of a vehicle, at a second time. Still further, the processing hardware is configured to determine, based at least on the difference between the first time and the second time, whether the stored geographic location should be suggested, and provide a suggestion including an indication of the stored geographic location to the portable device, in response to determining that the stored geographic location should be suggested.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A server operating in a communication network, the server comprising:
a network interface to communicate with remote hosts, and
processing hardware configured to:
receive, from a portable device via the network interface, an indication of a geographic location selected at the portable device, at a first time,
store, in a non-transitory computer-readable memory, the indication of a geographic location and the first time,
subsequently to storing the indication and the first time, receive a request for a suggested geographic location from the portable device for use with a head unit of a vehicle, at a second time,
determine, based at least on the difference between the first time and the second time, whether the stored geographic location should be suggested, and
provide a suggestion including an indication of the stored geographic location to the portable device via the network interface, in response to determining that the stored geographic location should be suggested.

2. The server of claim 1 , wherein the received request for the suggested geographic location indicates that the portable device is coupled to the head unit of the vehicle.

3. The server of claim 1 , wherein the received request indicates that a user of the portable device is currently viewing information related to a geo-located business using a web browser, and wherein the processing hardware provides the suggestion in view of the information the user is currently viewing.

4. The server of claim 1 , wherein the processing hardware is further configured to determine whether the stored geographic location should be suggested further in view of a time at which the request for a suggested geographic location is received.

5. The server of claim 4 , wherein the processing hardware is configured to suggest the stored geographic location to the portable device at a certain time of day.

6. The server of claim 1 , wherein the processing hardware is configured to determine that a user of the portable device recently submitted a query for the geographic location, and wherein the processing hardware is configured to suggest the stored geographic location further in view of the query.

7. The server of claim 1 , wherein the processing hardware is configured to determine that a user of the portable device frequently drives to the geographic location, and wherein the processing hardware is configured to suggest the stored geographic location further in view of the user frequently driving to the geographic location.

8. The server of claim 1 , wherein the indication of the geographic location selected at the portable device corresponds to a one-time selection of the geographic location via a web browser, and wherein the processing hardware is configured to determine that the geographic location should be suggested when the geographic location corresponds to a geo-located business.

9. A method for providing geographic information to head units of vehicles, the method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors, an indication of a geographic location selected at a portable device, at a first time;
storing, in a computer-readable memory, the indication of a geographic location and the first time;
subsequently to storing the indication and the first time, receiving a request for a suggested geographic location for use by the portable device with a head unit of a vehicle, at a second time;
determining, based at least on the difference between the first time and the second time, whether the stored geographic location should be suggested; and
providing a suggestion including an indication of the stored geographic location to the portable device, in response to determining that the stored geographic location should be suggested.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the received request for the suggested geographic location indicates that the portable device is coupled to the head unit of the vehicle.

11. The method of claim 9 , wherein the received request indicates that a user of the portable device is currently viewing information related to a geo-located business using a web browser, and wherein the method further comprises providing the suggestion in view of the information the user is currently viewing.

12. The method of claim 9 , further comprising determining whether the stored geographic location should be suggested further in view of a time at which the request for a suggested geographic location is received.

13. The method of claim 9 , further comprising suggesting the stored geographic location to the portable device at a certain time of day.

14. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining that a user of the portable device recently submitted a query for the geographic location, and
suggesting the stored geographic location further in view of the query.

15. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
determining that a user of the portable device frequently drives to the geographic location, and
suggesting the stored geographic location further in view of the user frequently driving to the geographic location.

16. The method of claim 9 , wherein the indication of the geographic location selected at the portable device corresponds to a one-time selection of the geographic location via a web browser, the method further comprising determining that the geographic location should be suggested when the geographic location corresponds to a geo-located business.

17. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing thereon instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising:
receiving an indication of a geographic location selected at a portable device, at a first time;
storing, in a computer-readable memory, the indication of a geographic location and the first time;
subsequently to storing the indication and the first time, receiving a request for a suggested geographic location for use by the portable device with a head unit of a vehicle, at a second time;
determining, based at least on the difference between the first time and the second time, whether the stored geographic location should be suggested; and
providing a suggestion including an indication of the stored geographic location to the portable device, in response to determining that the stored geographic location should be suggested.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the received request for the suggested geographic location indicates that the portable device is coupled to the head unit of the vehicle.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , wherein the received request indicates that a user of the portable device is currently viewing information related to a geo-located business using a web browser, and wherein the method further comprises providing the suggestion in view of the information the user is currently viewing.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17 , the method further comprising determining whether the stored geographic location should be suggested further in view of a time at which the request for a suggested geographic location is received.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Pelly Nicholas Julian
• Foster Andrew

Classifications

• H04M1/724098

  Interfacing with an on-board device of a vehicle (for hands-free speaking in vehicles H04M1/6075) · CPC title

• H04M1/72412

  using two-way short-range wireless interfaces · CPC title

• H04L67/02

  based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP] · CPC title

• G01C21/362 Primary

  received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application · CPC title

• G08G1/096883 Primary

  where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA · CPC title