Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Description
TECHNIQUE FOR EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS WITH,
AND PROVISION OF GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM (GPS) BASED
ADVERTISING INFORMATION TO, AUTOMOBILES
Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a communications
technique, and more particularly to a technique for
communicating information, including advertising
information, with automobiles.
Background of the Invention
In this information age, virtually everyone is
"connected" with one another via telephone, cellular
phone, facsimile, pager, etc. In particular, because of
recent major advancements in Internet technology, many
people also utilize a personal computer (PC), notebook
computer, handheld computer, etc., with a modem to
communicate electronic mail (E-mail) with one another
over the Internet. In addition, with common web browser
software of the type of the NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR or
MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER browser installed in one such
computer, a user is able to browse, on the computer, web
pages from the world wide web (WWW), which is a graphical
subnetwork of the Internet.
Many web pages, especially those providing free
services such as search engines and other portal
services, contain paid advertisements. Some web pages
contain displayed options for providing directory
assistance. One such option may be a "Yellow Page"
option whereby a user may specify the desired product or
service, and the area in which the user wants to obtain
same. In return, the user is presented with information
concerning each location of the provider of the desired
product or service in the specified area.
To keep automobile users "wired" even while on
the road, a PC specifically designed for them, namely,
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the "AutoPC," has been introduced. The AutoPC, which may
be installed in the standard car stereo slot, comprises
well known communications and navigation technologies.
For example, the automobile users can utilize the AutoPC
to communicate E-mail and pager messages. The users can
also rely on the AutoPC to navigate with the aid of the
U.S. government's constellation of global positioning
system (GPS) satellites. In response to signals from
such satellites, in a conventional manner, the AutoPC
pinpoints the vehicle's location (in latitude and
longitude). It also detects the vehicle's speed and
direction. With geographic information stored therein,
the AutoPC is capable of verbally and visually
communicating to the user instructions for reaching the
destination.
The marriage of communications and GPS
technologies benefitting automobiles has been observed.
The resulting service is known as the "OnStar service."
This service requires that an OnStar system including a
GPS receiver, and a cellular phone be installed in an
automobile subscribing to the service. When an
automobile user calls an OnStar service representative
via the cellular phone, the system automatically
communicates the vehicle's location tracked by the GPS
receiver. The service representative may then provide
the user with directions, restaurant recommendations,
and/or roadside assistance depending on the vehicle's
location.
In addition, to obtain diagnostic information
from, and upgrade certain software in, an automobile, a
system whereby an automobile communicates, with a remote
station, data concerning the automobile is disclosed in
U.S. Patent No. 5,442,553 issued August 15, 1995 to
Parrillo. In the disclosed system, the remote station
communicates the data via a cellular phone network to the
automobile having a cellular phone connection, using the
cellular phone number to locate the automobile.
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Summary of the Invention
We have recognized that the prior art system
described above which uses the cellular phone number
assigned to a cellular phone connection in a vehicle to
locate the vehicle is disadvantageous. This stems from
the fact that the cellular phone number appertains to,
and is specifically associated with, the subscriber to
the cellular phone service, who is most likely the
current owner of the vehicle. As the cellular phone
number is used for personal communications, when the
ownership of the vehicle changes, the new owner would
most likely replace the current cellular phone number
with a new number for his/her own personal
communications. As a result, the remote station in the
prior art system can no longer locate and communicate
with the vehicle using the old cellular phone number.
Thus, the practicability of the prior art system turns on
whether the system has a record of the latest phone
numbers for locating vehicles. Even if procedures for
registration of new phone numbers are in place, the
workability of the system is undesirably subject to
compliance by the new owners with the registration
procedures.
In addition, utilizing the cellular phone
network, the remote station in the prior art system when
communicating data with multiple automobiles needs to
call one automobile at a time. Thus, such a
communication scheme is also ineffective especially when
the remote station needs to transmit the same data, e.g.,
information concerning a recall of a certain type of
automobile, to many automobiles. In that case, the
remote station needs to make multiple calls to the
respective vehicles to repeat the same data. Conversely,
utilizing the cellular phone network, a vehicle can
communicate with one remote station at a time. In the
event that the same data from the vehicle needs to be
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communicated to various stations for different analyses,
multiple calls need to be made to the respective stations
one at a time, which is undesirable.
In accordance with an aspect of the invention,
the communications between a vehicle and remote stations
or servers are realized using electronic car-mail,
referred to as "C-mail." Like a conventional E-mail
message, a C-mail message is formatted in accordance with
well known protocols, and it may be delivered by
conventional mail servers on a communications network
such as the Internet. However, unlike E-mail whose
address identifies a person for personal communications
and is analogous to the aforementioned cellular phone
number, the C-mail has an address identifying the vehicle
itself. For example, the C-mail address may be made up
of the vehicle identification number (VIN) identifying
the vehicle. Such a C-mail address remains unchanged at
least over the lifetime of the vehicle. As the C-mail
address appertains to, or specifically associated with,
the vehicle, rather than a person, e.g., the owner of the
vehicle, communications with the vehicle using C-mail is
intact throughout the lifetime of the vehicle, surviving
all changes in the ownership of the vehicle. In
addition, by taking advantage of the well known E-mail
features, the vehicle may multicast via C-mail the same
information, e.g., diagnostic information, simultaneously
to various servers on the Internet for different
analyses. Conversely, a server may multicast via C-mail
the same information, e.g., recall information,
simultaneously to selected vehicles using the
corresponding VINs as parts of their C-mail addresses.
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention, a user may utilize a car browser to browse
advertising information from a communications network,
e.g., the Internet. The advertising information is
provided in a just-in-time (JIT) fashion, whose content
is dependent upon the current location of the vehicle
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indicated by GPS coordinates.
Brief Description of the Drawing
Further objects, features and advantages of the
invention will become apparent from the following
detailed description taken in conjunction with the
accompanying drawing showing an illustrative embodiment
of the invention, in which:
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an information and
control system for use in a vehicle in accordance with
the invention;
Fig. 2 illustrates an arrangement in which a
communications subsystem in the system of Fig. 1
communicates with a remote server through a
communications network;
Fig. 3 illustrates data fields in an electronic
car-mail message in accordance with the invention
communicated by the communications subsystem;
Fig. 4 illustrates a screen containing
displayed options concerning navigation capabilities
provided by a navigation subsystem in the system of Fig.
1;
Fig. 5 illustrates a screen displaying an
electronic car-mail message;
Fig. 6 illustrates a screen containing
displayed options for accessing GPS based advertising
information in accordance with the invention;
Fig. 7 illustrates a screen displaying an
advertising page;
Fig. 8 illustrates a displayed window including
inquiries as to confidentiality of accessing certain
advertising information;
Fig. 9 illustrates a screen displaying
information concerning a restaurant-advertiser;
Fig. 10 illustrates a screen containing
restaurant menu information; and
Fig. 11 illustrates a screen containing
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information concerning favorite product/service providers
for business purposes.
Detailed Description
Fig. 1 illustrates information and control
system 100 embodying the principles of the invention for
use in a vehicle, e.g., an automobile. In accordance
with the invention, system 100 is capable of
communicating information with remote servers through a
communications network, e.g., the Internet in this
instance. As to be described hereinbelow, system 100 may
transmit information concerning the vehicle including,
e.g., diagnostic information, GPS information, etc., to
one or more servers, and receive therefrom information
including, e.g., map information, weather information,
traffic information, directory information, etc.
In a prior art system, a remote station
communicates, with a vehicle having a cellular phone
connection, data concerning the vehicle through a
cellular phone network, using the cellular phone number
assigned to the connection to locate the vehicle.
However, such a communications scheme based on the
knowledge of the cellular phone number is deficient in
that the cellular phone number appertains to, and is
specifically associated with, the subscriber to the
cellular phone service, who is most likely the current
owner of the vehicle. As the cellular phone number is
used for personal communications, when the ownership of
the vehicle changes, the new owner would most likely
replace the current cellular phone number with a new
number for his/her own personal communications. As a
result, the remote station can no longer locate and
communicate with the vehicle using the old cellular phone
number. Thus, the practicability of the prior art system
turns on whether the system has a record of the latest
phone numbers for locating vehicles. Even if procedures
for registration of new phone numbers are in place, the
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workability of the system is undesirably subject to
compliance by the new owners with the registration
procedures.
In addition, utilizing the cellular phone
network, the remote station in the prior art system when
communicating data with multiple automobiles needs to
call one automobile at a time. Thus, such a
communication scheme is also ineffective especially when
the remote station needs to transmit the same data, e.g.,
information concerning a recall of a certain type of
automobile, to many automobiles. In that case, the
remote station needs to make multiple calls to the
respective vehicles to repeat the same data. Conversely,
utilizing the cellular phone network, a vehicle can
communicate with one remote station at a time. In the
event that the same data from the vehicle needs to be
communicated to various stations for different analyses,
multiple calls need to be made to the respective stations
one at a time, which is undesirable.
In accordance with the invention, the
communications between a vehicle and remote stations or
servers are realized using electronic car-mail,
hereinafter referred to as "C-mail." Like a conventional
E-mail message, a C-mail message is formatted in
accordance with well known protocols such as the well
known mail transfer protocol and transmission control
protocol/Internet protocol (TCP/IP), and it may be
delivered by conventional mail servers on the Internet.
However, unlike E-mail whose address identifies a person
for personal communications and is analogous to the
aforementioned cellular phone number, the C-mail has an
address identifying the vehicle itself.
A typical E-mail address is in the format of
<user-id>@<domain>, e.g., "jsmith@aol.com". As is well
known, the <user-id> part before the "@" sign, e.g.,
"jsmith", identifies the E-mail user, e.g., Joe Smith.
The <domain> part after the "@" sign, e.g., "aol.com",
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identifies the access mail server, e.g., an American
Online server connected to the Internet, providing the E-
mail service for Joe Smith in this instance. However, in
accordance with the invention, a C-mail address is in the
format of <vehicle-id>@<domain>. In this instance, the
<vehicle-id> part consists of a vehicle identification
number (VIN) which identifies the vehicle to which the C-
mail address is assigned. In a conventional manner, the
VIN uniquely identifies the vehicle by its make, model,
year, etc. The <domain> part may represent a
predetermined access mail server connected to the
Internet for serving the C-mail needs of vehicles. For
illustrative purposes, the <domain> part may be
"vehicle.com" in this example.
Thus, the C-mail address of the vehicle in
question here may be "JN1CA23D4TT567890@vehicle.com",
where "JN1CA23D4TT567890" is the VIN of the vehicle.
This C-mail address is stored in memory 107 in system
100, and remains unchanged at least over the lifetime of
the vehicle. It should be noted that memory 107 here
generically represents a combination of volatile, non-
volatile and cache memories. As the C-mail address
appertains to, or specifically associated with, the
vehicle, rather than a person, e.g., the owner of the
vehicle, communications with the vehicle using C-mail is
intact throughout the lifetime of the vehicle, surviving
all changes in the ownership of the vehicle. In
addition, as described hereinbelow, by taking advantage
of the well known E-mail features, the vehicle may
multicast via C-mail the same information, e.g.,
diagnostic information, simultaneously to various servers
on the Internet for different analyses. Conversely, a
server may multicast via C-mail the same information,
e.g., recall information, simultaneously to selected
vehicles using the corresponding VINs as parts of their
C-mail addresses.
System 100 includes communications subsystem
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109 for communicating information, including C-mail, in
the vehicle. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of subsystem 109
which comprises transceiver 205, which includes, e.g., a
cellular phone, for transmitting and receiving
information via wireless communications network 213,
e.g., the well known advanced mobile phone service (AMPS)
network, digital AMPS network, personal communications
service (PCS) network, global system for mobile
communications (GSM) network, paging network, hybrid
personal communications network (HPCN), satellite
network, microwave network, milliwave network, etc.
Subsystem 109 also comprises modem 209 for modulating and
demodulating carriers carrying C-mail data to and from
data channels, e.g., cellular digital packet data (CDPD)
channels, in wireless communications network 213.
Referring back to Fig. 1, subsystem 109 is
connected via common bus 113 to other subsystems in
system 100 including, e.g., detection subsystem 111,
electronic transmission/throttle system 113, brake
subsystem 116, traction control subsystem 121, engine
subsystem 126, wheel subsystem 129, climate control
subsystem 131, auxiliary subsystem 134, clock subsystem
136, user interface 139 and navigation subsystem 141.
Subsystem interface 151 includes, e.g., an ensemble of
standard inputs/outputs (I/O's) connecting processor 103
to all of the subsystems. Under control of processor
103, combinations of the subsystems synergistically carry
out various vehicle functions.
For example, system 100 affords an adaptive
cruise control function using detection subsystem 111,
electronic transmission/throttle subsystem 113 and brake
subsystem 116. Specifically, detection subsystem 111,
which includes sonar, infrared transceiver, laser
transceiver and/or Doppler radar, measures the distance
to the vehicle just ahead. With electronic
transmission/throttle subsystem 113 and brake subsystem
116, processor 103 adjusts the vehicle's speed to keep it
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moving with the traffic flow. If the vehicle ahead
speeds up or slows down, subsystem 111 signals processor
103 to accordingly adjust the throttle or brakes to
maintain a safe distance. Other automatic driving
methodologies involving the above subsystems may be found
in copending commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application
Serial No. 08/904,855 ("the '855 application"), entitled
"Centralized Control and Management System for
Automobiles," which however are deemed to be out of the
scope of the present invention, and their description are
thus omitted here.
Traction control subsystem 121, which may be of
the type of the TRAXXAR stability control system,
includes sensors for measuring the steering wheel
position, yaw rate and lateral acceleration of the
vehicle. These sensors work with processor 103 to
controllably apply brakes at selected wheels to avoid
potential skids.
Similarly, under the control of processor 103,
engine subsystem 126 runs the engine of the vehicle at a
selected R.P.M. using a selected fuel/air mixture to
provide appropriate power for the vehicle.
Wheel subsystem 129 includes sensors for
reading tire pressures, detection of loss of tire
traction or tread, etc.
Climate control subsystem 131, which includes
thermostats and an airflow controller, controllably cools
or heats the vehicle compartment for the comfort of
passengers, and the trunk/storage to properly preserve
cargo; selects an air flow mode; sets fan speeds; enables
or disables seat heaters; selects fresh or recirculated
air; and enables or disables front and rear defrosters,
mirror defrosters and steering wheel heaters.
Through auxiliary subsystem 134, processor 103
controls the functions of the doors, windows, hood,
trunk, mirrors, air-bags, restraint devices, lights,
etc., of the vehicle.
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The above-described subsystems each include
sensors (not shown) to provide a variety of dynamic data
concerning the components associated therewith to
processor 103. Specifically, sensors in communications
subsystem 109 provides dynamic data concerning whether
transceiver 205 and modem 209 are in proper order, which
includes information concerning the level of battery
power therefor.
Sensors in detection subsystem 111 provide
dynamic data concerning whether the radars and
transceivers associated therewith are functioning
properly, which also includes information concerning the
level of battery power for such radars and transceivers.
Sensors in electronic transmission/throttle
subsystem 113 provide dynamic data concerning
transmission or the status of the transmission, as well
as the status of variables in the transmission including
fluid levels, etc.
Sensors in brake subsystem 116 provide dynamic
data concerning the wear of the brakes, status of the
emergency brake and whether all of the brakes are in
proper order.
The aforementioned sensors in traction control
subsystem 121 provide dynamic data concerning
measurements of the steering wheel position, yaw rate and
lateral acceleration of the vehicle.
Sensors in engine subsystem 126 provide dynamic
data concerning the engine R.P.M., fuel/air mixture,
emissions, pollution content, remaining life of engine
oil before the next requisite oil change, etc.
The aforementioned sensors in wheel subsystem
129 provide dynamic data concerning tire pressures, loss
of tire traction or tread, etc.
Sensors in climate control subsystem 131
provide dynamic data concerning the temperatures of the
compartment and trunk/storage, air flow mode, fan speeds,
air quality inside the compartment, and statuses of the
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front and rear defrosters, mirror defrosters and steering
wheel heater.
Sensors in auxiliary subsystem 134 which
include, among others, the odometer and speedometer which
provide dynamic data concerning the current mileage and
speed of the vehicle, respectively. Other sensors in
system 134 provide dynamic data concerning statuses of
the doors, windows, hood, trunk, mirrors, air-bags,
restraint devices, lights, etc., of the vehicle. In
particular, some of the data concerns the integrity of
the doors, windows, hood, trunk and mirrors, detection of
any physical impact on any of them as happens in a
collision, and whether or not the air-bags are ready to
function or have been deployed, etc.
In addition, clock subsystem 136 provides
processor 103 with data concerning the current time and
date. Relying on such data, processor 103 duly
synchronizes activities of system 100 and keeps track of
events. Moreover, utilizing the temporal data, processor
103 realizes planner functions such as scheduling vehicle
maintenance, etc.
It will be appreciated that the dynamic data
provided by the above-described subsystems is only for
illustrative purposes and, depending on the vehicle and
the actual components incorporated therein, additional
and/or other dynamic data may be desired. In any event,
processor 103 polls each subsystem from time to time for
the dynamic data and, based on the dynamic data, it may
issue warnings, and messages describing irregularities
through user interface 141 described below. Some
irregularities may cause processor 103 to restrict
certain vehicle operations until a corrective action
therefor is taken. As described below, processor 103
causes selected ones of the dynamic data to be
transmitted via C-mail to one or more remote servers for
analyses and records.
Presently, in the United States, about 200
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million vehicles operate on public roads. However, the
operations of the vehicles are subject to federal and
state laws. For instance, each operating vehicle needs
to meet certain legal requirements concerning safety,
emission, licensing, insurance, operational capabilities,
etc. Thus, the law enforcement is interested in
obtaining certain information about each vehicle to
determine whether the operating vehicle meets such
requirements.
In addition, many of the vehicles in the United
States are leased or financed through financial
institutions. The latter typically place liens on the
vehicles with the right to repossess them in the event of
non-payment of the underlying loans. Thus, such
financial institutions are interested in knowing the
whereabouts of the leased or financed vehicles in case of
repossession thereof.
Further, auto repair services are interested in
knowing the working history of each vehicle to be
serviced for diagnostic purposes, and the maintenance
history as to what and when previous services have been
performed on, and parts have been replaced in, the
vehicle. Similarly, potential buyers of a used vehicle
may want to have independent records of the working and
maintenance histories of the vehicle. In addition, they
may want to know whether the vehicle was involved in a
collision, whether its odometer reading is accurate, etc.
Still further, auto manufacturers and original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are interested in
obtaining data concerning components in each vehicle
manufactured thereby to determine the durability of, and
thus the appropriate warranties for, the components after
the original sale of the vehicle. Independent watch
groups are interested in such data as well for generating
reports on vehicle quality for various vehicle brands.
In fact, all of the above data of interest may
be provided via C-mail in accordance with the invention.
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Such data may be multicast by individual vehicles via C-
mail to different servers on the Internet using the well
known E-mail "carbon copy (cc:)" feature, whereby the
destination addresses of the servers can be specified.
Each server may be associated with a different entity and
compile databases for use by that entity.
Alternatively, in this instance, the data is
collected by central server 230 in Fig. 2 serving as a
data warehouse, which can be queried to extract useful
information. To that end, processor 103 composes a C-
mail message concerning the vehicle in question, and is
programmed to cause the C-mail message to be transmitted
by communications subsystem 109 to a specified mailbox in
central server 230 on Internet 250 from time to time,
e.g., periodically. Accordingly, subsystem 109
establishes a dial-up connection through wireless
communications network 213 to predetermined access server
222 which, among others, serve C-mail on Internet 250.
It should be noted at this point that server 222 may not
be the only one access server on the Internet serving C-
mail. It will be appreciated that more access servers
similar to server 222 are geographically distributed for
effective communications of C-mail.
The C-mail message composed by processor 103 is
transmitted through the established connection to server
222 where it is forwarded through Internet 250 to the
central server mailbox, according to its address, e.g.,
mail@carcentral.com, where "carcentral.com" represents
the domain associated with central server 230.
Fig. 3 illustrates different data fields in the
C-mail message as composed by processor 103.
Specifically, data field 303 contains the address of the
central server mailbox, i.e., mail@carcentral.com, to
which the C-mail message is delivered. Such an address
is stored in memory 107. Data field 307 contains the C-
mail origination address associated with the vehicle in
question, which is JNlCA23D4TT567890@vehicle.com in this
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instance as described before. Data field 311 contains
selected ones of the dynamic data provided by the
aforementioned subsystems in a predetermined format.
Data field 315 contains the date and time stamp of the C-
mail message which is provided by clock subsystem 136.
Data field 319 contains the current odometer reading of
the vehicle provided by auxiliary subsystem 134. Data
field 323 contains GPS data provided by navigation
subsystem 141 described below, indicating the current
location of the vehicle. Data field 327 contains
direction data from subsystem 141 concerning the current
direction toward which the vehicle is heading. Data
field 331 contains data concerning the current speed of
the vehicle provided by the speedometer in subsystem 134.
Upon receipt of the C-mail message, central
server 230 processes the data contained in the message,
and distributes the data into appropriate databases to
facilitate queries by different entities. Each new data
entry to the databases is identified by the VIN of the
vehicle which, as mentioned before, forms part of the C-
mail origination address.
A first database in central server 230, which
may be queried by law enforcement using queries in
accordance with the standard relational database
programming language SQL, may contain C-mail data from
the respective vehicles concerning, e.g., their emission,
pollution content, and integrity of lights, restraint
devices, etc. For example, after querying the first
database, the law enforcement may issue warnings or
summonses to the owners of violating vehicles, or even
prohibit use of such vehicles when the emission of the
vehicles does not meet a certain standard, or when the
safety of the vehicles calls into question because of a
lack of integrity of their lights, restraint devices,
etc. The law enforcement may issue such warnings or
summonses via C-mail to the violating vehicles using the
VINs, forming part of the C-mail addresses, in the
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responses to the queries.
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention, the subject vehicle includes a security
mechanism whereby the vehicle may be remotely disabled
via C-mail in case of emergency, car theft, prohibition
by law of use of the vehicle, etc. In accordance with
such a mechanism, processor 103 checks each incoming C-
mail message for a secret code for effecting disablement
of the vehicle. If such a secret code is detected,
processor 103 accordingly shuts the engine off,
preferably when the speed of the vehicle is low to avoid
an accident. The rest of the C-mail message may indicate
the cause of disablement through user interface 139
described below. In a preferred embodiment, multiple
secret codes are used to disable the vehicle, and a
particular secret code is assigned to the law
enforcement. In the event that the vehicle is disabled
because of a violation of law, having so informed by the
C-mail message, the vehicle owner needs to resolve the
violation with the appropriate law enforcement authority
before the vehicle engine is reactivated based on the
particular secret code.
A second database in central server 230, which
may be queried by financial institutions to track the
leased and financed vehicles in case of repossession, may
contain C-mail data from the respective vehicles
concerning their GPS locations coupled with the dates,
times, and heading directions and speeds corresponding to
such locations. The knowledge of the whereabouts of each
vehicle is also important when the vehicle needs to be
located in case of an emergency or accident, especially
when the user is incapacitated and unable to communicate
the current vehicle location.
A third database in central server 230, which
may be queried by auto repair services, OEMs and
independent watch groups, may contain C-mail data from
the respective vehicles concerning diagnostics of the
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working components in the vehicles provided by the above-
described subsystems. An auto insurance company may
also query the third database for data concerning, e.g.,
the speeds, and statuses of the brakes of a vehicle to
assess the driving habit of the user. Based on the data
which indicates the frequency of the vehicle's exceeding
the highway speed limit, the rate at which its brakes
wear out, etc., the insurance company determines certain
risk factors associated with the user, and the insurance
premium for his/her vehicle accordingly.
The auto repair services can also contribute to
the third database after they furnish repair, maintenance
and/or part replacements to each vehicle, thereby
supplementing the database. To that end, each auto
repair service sends an E-mail message to the central
server mailbox describing the services rendered thereby
to the vehicle. The data fields of such an E-mail
message may include (a) the destination address field
containing the address of the central server mailbox,
i.e., mail@carcentral.com in this instance, (b) the
subject matter or "re:" field containing the VIN of the
vehicle just serviced, (c) the origination address field
containing the E-mail address identifying the auto repair
service, which in this instance has been registered with
the central server, and (d) the message body field
contains data concerning the services performed on the
vehicle, any replacement of vehicle parts and
descriptions thereof, and the date and time of the
services, with an indication of whether any service or
part replacement is in response to a recall notice by an
auto manufacturer. The message body field may contain
the data in a predetermined format, which may be in code
to facilitate the data processing by central server 230
after receiving the E-mail message. Central server 230
distinguishes such an E-mail message from a C-mail
message by the origination address identifying the repair
service, which is registered and in a different format
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than a C-mail address. Upon receipt of the E-mail
message from the repair service, central server 230
extracts the data from its message body field and
incorporates the data into the third database under the
VIN provided in the subject matter field.
Thus, among other things, by querying the
supplemented third database, an auto manufacturer can
obtain the VINs of those vehicles which responded to a
recall notice issued thereby, which may have been sent
via snail mail, e.g., the United States Postal Service,
to the last known addresses of the vehicle owners of
record as in prior art. The auto manufacturer typically
maintains, on its own computer, a database of the VINs of
the vehicles sold to which the recall notice applies.
Thus, by entering the aforementioned VINs obtained from
the supplemented third database, and by elimination, the
auto manufacturer computer identifies the VINs of those
vehicles which have not responded to the recall notice.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the
auto manufacturer computer may multicast a second recall
notice via C-mail to those vehicles using the identified
VINs as parts of the C-mail "cc:" addresses. Compared
with the prior art snail mail approach whose
practicability precariously depends on the validity of
the record address of each vehicle owner who may have
moved or changed, the inventive C-mail approach is much
more effective where the recall notice in the form of C-
mail is transmitted via the Internet to the vehicle
itself, and the user in the vehicle is prompted by a user
interface in a manner described below to read the C-mail
recall notice as soon as it arrives. In fact, it is more
economical and advantageous for the auto manufacturer to
multicast the recall notice via C-mail to all of the
vehicles concerned in the first instance.
As mentioned before, the third database
supplemented by the auto repair services also catalogues
the parts of each vehicle, which were replaced by such
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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services, by their replacement dates and times, and
descriptions. In the eventual scrappage of the vehicle,
by querying the supplemented third database, the history
of each replacement part therein is known. Depending on
its history, the replacement part can be recycled,
refurbished, or properly disposed to better protect the
environment.
For used vehicle buyers, the supplemented third
database may also provide C-mail data concerning any
detection of a physical impact on the body of a vehicle,
and any deployment of air-bags therein, indicative of a
prior collision. In addition, it may include the
odometer readings of the vehicle, coupled with the dates
and times corresponding thereto. The odometer readings
are assumed accurate if they increase with time.
It should be noted that to prevent fraud or
tampering with the databases in central server 230, the
data in the E-mail or C-mail to server 230 may be
encrypted, or signed with a digital signature for
authentication purposes, in accordance with a well known
cryptographic algorithm, e.g., the RSA algorithm, digital
signature algorithm (DSA), pretty good privacy (PGP)
algorithm, etc.
It should also be noted that by using a
conventional relational database manager (not shown) in
server 230, each query against the databases therein
results in a concise report satisfying the criteria
specified in the query. In the event that any text,
graphics, pictures, audio clips and/or video clips are
attached to the C-mail or E-mail messages sent to server
230, such attachments are titled and tagged in the
databases. The report generated in response to a query
includes any relevant attachments.
Referring to Figs. 1 and 4, user interface 139
includes display 405, e.g., a liquid crystal display
(LCD), located on the dashboard of the vehicle, and a
display driver (not shown), e.g., LCD driver, for
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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processor 103 to control the display graphics on display
405. In this illustrative embodiment, interface 139 also
incorporates well-known touch-screen circuitry (not
shown). With this circuitry, the user can interact with
processor 103 by, say, touching a displayed option on
display 405. Through interface 139, processor 103
receives from the touch screen circuitry a signal
identifying the location on display 405 where it has been
touched. If such a location matches the predetermined
location of one of the displayed options, processor 103
determines that the option has been selected. With such
touch-screen and displayed option selection capabilities,
the user is able to obtain information on and control
selectable functions of the vehicle.
In this instance, interface 139 also includes
(1) a conventional speech recognizer and audio input for
the user to utter commands and responses to processor
103, and (2) a conventional speech synthesizer and audio
output for processor 103 to communicate to the user in
audio.
Of course, in addition to, or in lieu of, the
above-described touch-screen capability incorporated in
user interface 139, other well known user interface
hardware/software may be incorporated therein for
selecting displayed options on display 405. Such
hardware/software includes, e.g., dedicated or
programmable keys on the periphery of display 405; an
indicator device such as a mouse, joystick, light pen,
trackballs, touchpad, or a combination thereof; etc.
As disclosed in the aforementioned '855
application, processor 103 may cause different screens or
pages to be displayed on display 405. Each page contains
displayed options for controlling different aspects of
the vehicle functions. For example, an audio page
provides a choice of radio stations, a climate control
page provides for temperature and vent adjustments, etc.
As mentioned before, a C-mail message
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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containing data concerning current statuses of the
subject vehicle is transmitted from subsystem 109 to
server 222 on the Internet through an established
connection from time to time. The frequency of such C-
mail transmission may vary with the speed of the vehicle.
For example, such transmission may be infrequent when the
vehicle is stationary, i.e., at a zero speed, as not many
vehicular activities are going on. After each
transmission of the C-mail message from subsystem 109 to
server 222, the latter in return transmits to subsystem
109 any C-mail messages from the Internet addressed to
the vehicle through the same established connection
before it is disconnected. As soon as any such C-mail
message is received by subsystem 109, processor 103 reads
the header of the C-mail message, which indicates whether
the message contains display data for browsing and/or
non-display data to be processed by processor 103. If
processor 103 determines that the C-mail message contains
display data, it causes a pop-up C-mail indicator to be
displayed on the page that the user is currently on,
indicating that a C-mail message has arrived. For
example, one such C-mail indicator, denoted 409, appears
on the SMART NAVIGATOR page of Fig. 4, which the user is
currently on.
By touching in this instance the area of screen
405 where indicator 409 is displayed, exclusive of box
411, the user may open the C-mail message containing
display data. Fig. 5 illustrates one such C-mail message
which contains a recall notice. As shown in Fig. 5, the
notice in this instance is from ABC Auto Manufacturer to
the subject vehicle regarding a faulty air-bag deployment
mechanism therein. Under another circumstance, such a C-
mail message may contain a warning or summons from the
law enforcement, an auto insurance expiration notice from
an insurance company, etc. After reading the C-mail
message, the user has a choice to save the message in
memory 107 using SAVE option 509, or delete same using
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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DELETE option 511.
If upon seeing pop-up indicator 409, the user
decides to read the C-mail message indicated thereby
later, the user may touch the area of screen 405
corresponding to box 411 to minimize indicator 409 for
postponing the opening of the C-mail message.
As shown in Fig. 4, the SMART NAVIGATOR page
includes displayed options, e.g., NAVIGATION option 419,
WEATHER option 421, TRAFFIC option 425 and DIRECTORY
option 430. By selecting option 419 by touching same on
display 405, followed by selecting ENTER key 435, the
user is able to obtain navigation instructions to a given
destination. Specifically, the user is elicited for
information concerning the destination, any intermediate
stops, etc. Such elicitation is realized by posing
questions on display 405 and/or by uttering those
questions using a synthesized voice through the
aforementioned audio output. The user then provides
verbal responses thereto through the aforementioned audio
input. The speech recognizer in interface 139 then
recognizes and registers the responses.
Navigation subsystem 141 in Fig. 1 receives
signals from a constellation of satellites which is part
of the U.S. government's GPS. In response to these
signals, subsystem 141 pinpoints the vehicle's location
in latitude and longitude. Using map information from
sources described below, subsystem 141 provides on
display 405 a suggested route leading to the destination
specified by the user. Furthermore, based on the
knowledge of the vehicle's instantaneous speeds and
directions, subsystem 141 is capable of verbally and
visually directing the user to such a destination.
For local navigation, the above map information
may be provided from storage in the form of a compact
disk (CD). However, because of the limited capacity of
the storage, for navigation in remote areas outside the
local coverage, subsystem 141 may obtain the necessary
= CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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map information in real time via C-mail described above,
or in the form of a web page in a manner described below.
For example, as central server 230 receives C-mail
messages from the vehicle from time to time, based on the
GPS data in each message, indicating the current location
of the vehicle, server 230 determines whether map
information concerning remote areas is needed. This
determination is based on a prediction as to where the
vehicle may be during the interval between the receipt of
the present C-mail message and that of the next C-mail
message. Such a prediction is realized based on the
length of such an interval, the data concerning the
current speed and direction of the vehicle in the present
C-mail message, etc. If it is determined that any remote
area map information is needed, server 230 returns via C-
mail to system 100 map information in a just-in-time
(JIT) fashion which may be good for a predetermined
radius from the current location of the vehicle.
Alternatively, server 230 provides the map information
affording a coverage based on the above-described
prediction.
The user may select WEATHER option 421, TRAFFIC
option 425, and/or DIRECTORY option 430 in addition to
NAVIGATION option 419 on the SMART NAVIGATOR page. For
example, when option 421 is selected in addition to
option 419, followed by a selection of ENTER key 435,
subsystem 141 provides on display 405 a suggested route
to a given destination with indications indicating
weather conditions, hazards, etc., along the route, as
disclosed in the aforementioned '855 application.
Similarly, when option 425 is selected in addition to
option 419, followed by a selection of ENTER key 435,
subsystem 141 provides on display 405 a suggested route
to a given destination with indicators indicating traffic
congestions, highway warnings, etc., along the route.
When option 430 is selected in addition to option 419,
followed by a selection of ENTER key 435, processor 103
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causes a MAIN DIRECTORY page described below to be
displayed on display 405. It suffices to know for now
that after further selections by the user of additional
options on such a page, a suggested route to a given
destination with directory information concerning
selected products and/or services, e.g., restaurants, gas
stations, etc., along the route would be provided on
display 405. It should be noted that the above weather
information, traffic information and directory
information may be aggregated along the same route.
In accordance with another aspect of the
invention, the software for a car browser similar to the
well known NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR or MICROSOFT INTERNET
EXPLORER web browser is stored in memory 107 in system
100 for browsing information provided by servers
connected to Internet 250. In particular, the car
browser works compatibly with the standard hypertext
transfer protocol (HTTP), hypertext markup language
(HTML), virtual reality markup language (VRML), graphics
interchange format (GIF), JAVA applets, etc.
For example, after selection of DIRECTORY
option 430 alone or in combination with NAVIGATION option
419, followed by that of ENTER key 435 on the SMART
NAVIGATOR page of Fig. 4, processor 103 causes
communication subsystem 109 to establish a communication
connection with access server 222. Processor 103 then
causes the car browser, which is assigned an Internet
protocol (IP) address in a conventional manner, to
request directory information from a server identifiable
by a predetermined uniform resource locator (URL). For
example, the URL is "www.carcentral.com/directory" in
this instance, which identifies the aforementioned MAIN
DIRECTORY page provided by central server 230. Such a
request by the car browser including the URL and an
identity of the request originator, i.e., the car browser
IP address, is sent via the established communication
connection to access server 222, where the request in
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this instance is routed via Internet 250 to central
server 230 based on the given URL.
In response, server 230 returns a web page,
namely, the MAIN DIRECTORY page, to the car browser
according to its IP address provided in the request.
Upon receipt of the MAIN DIRECTORY page, the car browser
opens same on display 405. Fig. 6 illustrates one such
MAIN DIRECTORY page on display 405.
As shown in Fig. 6, the MAIN DIRECTORY page
includes NATIONAL option 605, REGIONAL option 607 and
INDIVIDUAL option 609. For example, a selection of
option 605 enables the user to access directory
information concerning products and/or services of
national recognition or brand obtainable within a
selected distance of the current vehicle location.
Specifically, upon detecting the selection of option 605,
the car browser causes drop down menu 615, including
RESTAURANT option 615-1, GAS STATION option 615-2, ...
and DEPARTMENT STORE option 615-N, to appear on display
405, where N represents an integer.
Without loss of generality, the user in this
instance selects RESTAURANT option 615-1. Upon detecting
such a selection, the car browser obtains the GPS
coordinates of the current vehicle location from
navigation subsystem 141, and then transmits a request
for identities of nationally known restaurants within a
selected distance, say, five miles, of the current
vehicle location indicated by the GPS coordinates just
obtained. In response, server 230 provides a RESTAURANT
ADVERTISING page based on the received GPS coordinates.
Fig. 7 illustrates one such RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page
on display 405, with the assumption that DIRECTORY option
430 was selected alone, not in combination with
NAVIGATION option 419 on the SMART NAVIGATOR page.
Otherwise if the NAVIGATION option 419 was also selected,
any navigation instructions for reaching a given
destination would appear on the RESTAURANT ADVERTISING
= CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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page as well.
As shown in Fig. 7, icon 703 indicates the
vehicle location identified by the aforementioned GPS
coordinates on a five-mile radius map. Tags 713, 715 and
719 respectively represent the nationally known
restaurants on the map. For example, tag 713 indicates
the location of McDonald's Restaurant; tag 715 indicates
the location of a Taco Bell Restaurant; and tag 719
indicates the location of an Olive Garden Restaurant.
Tags 713, 715 and 719 may incorporate the respective
restaurants' famous logos for easy recognition. In any
event, a selection of any of such tags, analogous to
conventional hyperlinks, causes the car browser to access
central server 230 for the identity of the corresponding
restaurant in audio and in text. For example, after a
selection of tag 713, based on the identity information
from server 230, the car browser causes user interface
139 to announce, "Welcome to McDonald's," and/or play a
jingle identifying McDonald's Restaurant, along with a
display of textual words identifying McDonald's
Restaurant next to tag 713.
It should be noted at this point that server
230 furnishes the directory information concerning
product/service providers based on their paid advertising
subscription. For example, for nationally known
restaurants, server 230 only provides directory
information about those restaurants which subscribe to
its directory service. Server 230 stores in a memory
therein the GPS coordinates of each subscriber
restaurant. In providing the RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page
of Fig. 7, server 230 identifies those subscriber
restaurants (e.g., the restaurants represented by tags
713, 715 and 719 in this instance), which are within the
selected distance of the vehicle location. Such a
determination is based on a comparison between the GPS
coordinates of the vehicle and those of each subscriber
restaurant stored in the server memory.
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OPTIONS key 721, BACK key 725 and FORWARD key
727 are also provided on the RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page
of Fig. 7. For example, by selecting key 721, the user
may re-define the coverage of the displayed map. Such
re-definition may be achieved by selecting a further
option for a new radius from the vehicle location, or by
pointing and dragging cross mark 733 using an indicator
device or using a finger if the user interface supports
the touch-screen capability, which is the case here.
When the user points at cross mark 733 and drags same
away from the center of display 405, the coverage is
enlarged and the displayed map is scaled up (i.e., with
the number of miles per inch going up) accordingly.
Conversely, when the user points at cross mark 733 and
drags same towards the center of display 405, the
coverage is reduced and the displayed map is scaled down
(i.e., with the number of miles per inch going down)
accordingly. By enlarging (or reducing) the coverage,
the number of restaurant tags within the coverage most
likely increases (or decreases).
By selecting key 721, the user may also specify
the frequency of updating the RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page
so that the user is informed of other restaurants on a
continual basis as the vehicle is moving. Such a
frequency may be defined in terms of time. However, in
this preferred embodiment, the frequency is defined in
terms of mileage, e.g., once every five miles from the
current vehicle location. As soon as the frequency is
specified, the car browser continually polls navigation
subsystem 141 for the current GPS coordinates of the
vehicle, and compares such coordinates with those in the
previous request to central server 230. Once it is
determined that the two sets of GPS coordinates are more
than the specified distance (e.g., five miles) apart, the
car browser issues a new request for identities of
nationally known restaurants to server 230, which
includes the current set of GPS coordinates of the
= CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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vehicle. In response to the new request, server 230
provides a fresh RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page including
any new restaurant tags on display 405.
In a conventional manner, the car browser
records the sequence of pages that the user visited or
browsed. Selection of BACK key 725 enables the user to
revisit the page (e.g., the MAIN DIRECTORY page)
immediately before the current page (e.g., the RESTAURANT
ADVERTISING page). Similarly, selection of FORWARD key
727 enables the user revisit the page immediately
following the current page. In this instance, FORWARD
key 727 is non-selectable as the page following the
RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page has not been established.
Continuing the above example, having learnt
that tag 713 represents McDonald's Restaurant, the user
may be interested in dining therein, and again selects
tag 713 to obtain further information about the
restaurant. Upon such a selection, the car browser opens
an inquiry window on display 405. As illustrated in Fig.
8, the inquiry window includes three inquiries regarding
the confidentiality of the user's selection.
Specifically, if the user regards his/her selection
confidential, the user may select box 805 to dispose of
the inquiry window. On the other hand, if the user
regards his/her selection non-confidential, the user may
select box 807, instead. Furthermore, if the user
regards his/her selection always non-confidential, and
does not want to be bothered by the inquiry window in the
future, the user may select box 809, instead.
After receiving, from the car browser, a
request for further information about McDonald's
Restaurant, and the user response to the confidentiality
inquiry, server 230 first increments a hit count of tag
713, representing McDonald's Restaurant in question, by
one. In general, server 230 keeps track of a cumulative
number of hits of each tag representing a product/service
provider-advertiser, the time and day of each hit, etc.
! CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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The resulting statistics may be used by the provider-
advertiser to measure the effectiveness of its directory
subscription, and help formulate its promotional plans.
In addition, if the user response indicates
that his/her selection of information about a
product/service provider is non-confidential, server 230
stores such a selection, the time and day of the
selection, etc., in a record identified by the IP address
of the car browser representing the user. Any other
selection by the user associated with such an IP address
is stored in the same record. The resulting database,
containing records from different users, may be utilized
by the product/service providers to develop profiles of
the consumers of their products/services. Taking
advantage of the knowledge of the consumer profiles, the
providers are able to design advertisements, commercials
and promotional campaigns more targeted to their
respective groups of consumers.
Finally, server 230 returns a RESTAURANT page
onto display 405. Fig. 9 illustrates the RESTAURANT page
containing directions to McDonald's Restaurant
represented by selected tag 703, and information
concerning the restaurant service hours, phone number,
facility, any promotion, etc. In an alternative
embodiment, this page is preceded by a commercial about
the restaurant based on a video and sound clip also
provided by server 230.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the
invention, server 230 collects digital images of
subscribers' business operations and establishments. In
this instance, one or more digital cameras are installed
in each subscriber restaurant which periodically take
pictures of the restaurant facility. The resulting
images are formatted in conventional image files, e.g.,
GIF files, by an Internet processor in the restaurant.
Illustratively, each image file includes in its header
the GPS coordinates of the restaurant, and the time that
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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the image was taken. The image time may also be embedded
in the image itself. In a conventional manner, the image
file is transmitted by the Internet processor via
Internet 250 to server 230, where the image file is
stored according to the GPS coordinates in the file
header which identify the subscriber restaurant.
VIEW key 903, NAVIGATE key 905, FAVORITE key
907, BACK key 909, FORWARD key 911, RESTAURANT WEBSITE
key 913 and RESTAURANT MENU key 915 are also provided on
the RESTAURANT page of Fig. 9. A selection of key 903
causes server 230 to furnish, on display 405, one or more
of the most recent digital images of McDonald's
Restaurant in question which are identified by its GPS
coordinates. Advantageously, by viewing the images, the
user can determine whether the facility is desirable, and
whether the restaurant would be crowded by the time the
user arrives at the restaurant, taking into consideration
a time stamp associated with each image.
A selection of NAVIGATE key 905 causes
navigation subsystem 141 to provide the user with
directions to the restaurant in a manner described
before. A selection of FAVORITE key 907 enables the user
to "bookmark" or register, in an individual registry
described below, the GPS coordinates identifying the
restaurant in question. It suffices to know for now that
the individual registry includes a personal registry and
a business registry. The user may bookmark the
restaurant's GPS coordinates in a personal (business)
registry if the restaurant is his/her favorite choice for
personal (business) purposes.
BACK key 909 and FORWARD key 911 function
similarly to above-described keys 725 and 727,
respectively. Key 913 represents a hyperlink to the
website of the restaurant. Thus, a selection of key 913
causes the car browser to open the restaurant website on
display 405. In addition, a selection of key 915 enables
the user to access the RESTAURANT MENU page, which is
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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illustrated in Fig. 10.
As shown in Fig. 10, the RESTAURANT MENU page
enumerates types of food and beverage served in the
restaurant. Each food and beverage entry may be
highlighted by selecting same. The user may order ahead
the highlighted food and beverages by selecting ORDER key
1005. Upon selection of key 1005, the car browser causes
the order information to be transmitted to server 230
which in turn transmits the information to the Internet
processor in the restaurant for processing the order.
It should be noted at this point that the
information concerning the selection of tag 713
representing McDonald's Restaurant, and any food and
beverage ordered therefrom is stored in a specified
memory space in memory 107 according to the GPS
coordinates corresponding to tag 713. In the event that
the car browser in the future receives, from server 230,
tag 713 corresponding to the same GPS coordinates, the
car browser retrieves from the specified memory space any
stored information corresponding to such GPS coordinates.
In the instant example, if the user returns via the same
route or a route close thereto, tag 713 would most likely
re-appear in the return trip. In that case, based on the
stored information corresponding to the same GPS
coordinates as tag 713, the car browser highlights tag
713 with a distinguishable color, indicating that the
restaurant associated with tag 713 may have been visited.
That is, tag 713 would be colored differently from other
tags which were not selected. Such a distinguishable
color highlight on tag 713 advantageously triggers the
user's memory about the associated restaurant, and
thereby helps him/her to decide whether or not to revisit
the restaurant. In the event that the user decides to
revisit a restaurant, and thus re-select the associated
tag, when the user comes upon selectable items on the
associated web pages which were previously selected, for
example, those food and beverages on the RESTAURANT MENU
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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page of Fig. 10 which were previously ordered, such items
are also highlighted in a distinguishable color. Again,
such a color highlight advantageously triggers the user's
memory about the selected items, and thereby helps
him/her to decide whether or not to re-select the same
items.
Returning to the MAIN DIRECTORY page of Fig. 6,
in this example, the user selects REGIONAL option 607,
instead. In accordance with still another aspect of the
invention, the REGIONAL option enables the user to access
directory information concerning regional attractions,
and products and/or services of regional recognition,
i.e., which are particularly known in the region which
the vehicle is currently in. Upon detecting such a
selection, the car browser obtains the GPS coordinates of
the current vehicle location from navigation subsystem
141, and transmits a request to server 230 for an
appropriate drop down menu which is a function of the
current vehicle location indicated by the GPS coordinates
just obtained. Upon receipt of such a request, server
230 determines what region the vehicle is currently in
based on the received GPS coordinates, and prescribes the
appropriate menu containing options of products and/or
services pertaining to the region as determined.
Continuing the example, assuming that it is
determined that the vehicle is currently within a
predetermined distance of Orlando, Florida, which is
known for various theme parks and other tourist
attractions. Accordingly, server 230 provides drop down
menu 617 which includes, e.g., THEME PARK option 617-1,
SOUVENIR option 617-2, ... and REGIONAL RESTAURANT option
617-K, where K represents an integer. Similar to a
selection of RESTAURANT option 615-1 described before, a
selection of THEME PARK option 617-1 in this instance
causes server 230 to provide a THEME PARK ADVERTISING
page (not shown) on display 405. Based on the disclosure
heretofore, it is apparent to a person skilled in the art
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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that similar to the above-described RESTAURANT
ADVERTISING page of Fig. 7, the THEME PARK ADVERTISING
page would include a map having selected coverage,
indicating thereon the current location of the vehicle
and the locations of those theme parks which subscribe to
the directory service by server 230. In addition,
similar to the above-described RESTAURANT page of Fig. 9,
any THEME PARK page (not shown) would include, e.g.,
directions to the theme park, information concerning
visiting hours and promotions, an option for viewing
digital images of the park facility, etc. Further,
similar to the above-described RESTAURANT MENU page of
Fig. 10, any ADMISSION TICKET page (not shown) would
include, e.g., information concerning admission ticket
prices and discounts, an option for ordering admission
tickets ahead, etc.
A selection of INDIVIDUAL option 609 enables
the user to access directory information concerning the
user's favorite product/service providers according to
the aforementioned individual registry. As mentioned
before, the individual registry includes a business
registry and a personal registry. Both the business
registry and the personal registry are stored in an
allotted memory space in memory 107. The business
(personal) registry contains information concerning the
user's favorite product/service providers for business
(personal) purposes, and the corresponding sets of GPS
coordinates identifying the location of such providers.
Specifically, upon selection of option 609,
drop down menu 619, including BUSINESS option 619-1 and
PERSONAL option 619-2, is provided on display 405.
Without loss of generality, in this instance BUSINESS
option 619-1 is further selected, the car browser then
retrieves from the allotted memory space the stored
business registry information and, based on the retrieved
information, presents on display 405 a BUSINESS REGISTRY
page, which is illustrated in Fig. 11.
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As shown in Fig. 11, the user's favorite
product/service provider pertaining to business are
arranged under different category options such as
COMPUTER EQUIPMENT option 1103, OFFICE SUPPLY option
1105, ... and RESTAURANT option 1109. The user may add
new favorite product/service providers to the registry by
using the FAVORITE key, e.g., FAVORITE key 907, on a web
page as described before. Alternatively, the user may
utilize an ADD key on a registry page to achieve such
addition. For example, upon selection of ADD key 1113 on
the BUSINESS REGISTRY page, the car browser issues a
request to server 230 for a directory menu containing the
identity and GPS coordinates of each product/service
provider subscribing to the directory service by server
230. After receiving such a menu, the user may select
therefrom additional favorite product/service providers
in any category. Accordingly, the BUSINESS REGISTRY page
is revised, and the GPS coordinates of those selected
providers are stored in the aforementioned allotted
memory space, along with the identities of the additional
providers.
DELETE key 1115 provides the inverse function
to ADD key 1113 and allows the user to delete out-of-
favor product/service providers from the registry page.
To access directory information concerning,
say, office supplies according to the user's business
registry, the user may select OFFICE SUPPLY option 1105
and then ENTER key 1117. In response, the car browser
issues a request to server 230 for an OFFICE SUPPLY
ADVERTISING page. Server 230 then returns onto display
405 the OFFICE SUPPLY ADVERTISING page (not shown).
Similar to the RESTAURANT ADVERTISING page of Fig. 7, the
OFFICE SUPPLY ADVERTISING page includes a map having
selected coverage, indicating thereon the current
location of the vehicle, and the locations of any of
those favorite office supply providers. In the event
that no favorite providers can be located within the
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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coverage area, server 230 searches the aforementioned
directory menu for substitute providers in that area
which may be of the same chain or franchise, or which
supply products/services of similar quality and price
range to the favorite providers. However, the tags on
the advertising page which represent the favorite
providers are highlighted in a first predetermined color,
and those representing the substitute providers are
highlighted in a second predetermined color, thereby
enabling the user to readily differentiate the favorite
providers from the substitute providers.
In the event that the user's trip is multi-
purpose, which involves obtaining different
products/services in the same trip, the user may select
multiple product/service provider options before
selecting ENTER key 1117 to aggregate the directory
information concerning providers of the different
products/services on the same ADVERTISING page. For
example, the user may select COMPUTER EQUIPMENT option
1103, in addition to OFFICE SUPPLY option 1105, before
selecting ENTER key 1117. In that case, first and second
sets of tags associated respectively with any computer
equipment providers and office supply providers, as
located, would be indicated on the ensuing ADVERTISING
page. The tags in the first set differ from those in the
second set by their shape, color or other feature to
facilitate the user's selection of the corresponding
providers.
Returning briefly to Fig. 6, a selection of
PERSONAL key 619-2 instead of BUSINESS key 619-1 as in
the above example occasions a process similar to that
described above, which however involves product/service
providers of the user's personal choice. In addition, an
ENTER key may also be used on the MAIN DIRECTORY page to
enable the user to aggregate, on the same ADVERTISING
page, directory information concerning providers of
different products/services under NATIONAL option 605
CA 02322007 2000-08-23
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and/or REGIONAL option 607.
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles
of the invention. It will thus be appreciated that those
skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous other
arrangements which embody the principles of the invention
and are thus within its spirit and scope.
For example, system 100 is disclosed herein in
a form in which various transmitter and receiver
functions are performed by discrete functional blocks.
However, any one or more of these functions could equally
well be embodied in an arrangement in which the functions
of any one or more of those blocks or indeed, all of the
functions thereof, are realized, for example, by one or
more appropriately programmed processors.
