Automobile navigation system using remote download of data

A method of providing route information to an on-board automobile navigation system, the method comprising the steps of:

• receiving an audio transmission from a user of the on-board automobile navigation system, the audio transmission including information indicating the desired destination;
• determining a current position of the automobile;
• computing a route from the current position of the automobile to the desired destination based on a street map database;
• sending a non-audio data transmission to the on-board automobile navigation system, the non-audio data transmission including information identifying the route and secondary information, the secondary information including crime rate information, wherein the information identifying the route and the secondary information are usable by the on-board automobile navigation system to determine and output a series of navigation instructions to the user.

In an on-board navigation system in an automobile, a method of determining a route from a current position of the automobile to a desired destination, the method including the steps of:

• determining the current position of the automobile;
• receiving a data transmission from a remote communication center, the data transmission including coordinates of the desired destination and additional information, the additional information including crime rate information;
• and
• using the received coordinates, the additional information and the current position of the automobile to compute the route from the current position of the automobile to the desired destination.

A method of enabling an on-board navigation system in an automobile to compute a route from a current position of the automobile to a desired destination, the method comprising the steps of:

• establishing a two-way audio link between a user of the on-board navigation system and a communications center;
• receiving at the communications center via the audio link, audio information identifying the desired destination from the user;
• accessing a destination database in the communications center to determine coordinates of the desired destination based on the audio information identifying the desired destination;
• establishing a non-audio data link between the on-board navigation system and the communications center;
• transmitting from the communications center the coordinates of the desired destination and crime rate information to the on-board navigation system via the data link;
• and
• using the on-board navigation system to compute the route from the current position of the automobile to the desired destination based on the received coordinates of the desired destination and the crime rate information.

An on-board vehicle navigation system, comprising:

• means for determining a current position of a vehicle;
• means for receiving a data transmission from a communication center, the data transmission including coordinates of a desired destination and crime rate information;
• and
• means for computing a route from the current position of the vehicle to the desired destination based on the received coordinates, the crime rate information and the current position of the vehicle.

An on-board vehicle navigation system, comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory coupled to the processor;
• a sensor subsystem coupled to the processor, wherein the processor is configured to compute a current position of the vehicle based on inputs received from the sensor subsystem and a street map database stored in the memory;
• wherein the processor is further configured to:
• receive a data transmission from a remote communication center, the data transmission including information locating a desired destination and secondary information, the secondary information including crime rate information;
• and
• compute a route from the current position of the vehicle to the desired destination based on the received data transmission and the current position of the vehicle.

An apparatus for enabling an on-board navigation system in an automobile to compute a route from a current position of the automobile to a desired destination, the apparatus comprising:

• means for establishing a two-way audio link between a user of the on-board navigation system and a communications center;
• means for receiving at the communications center audio information identifying the desired destination provided by the user;
• means for accessing a destination database in the communications center to determine a location of the desired destination based on the audio information identifying the desired destination;
• means for establishing a data link between the communications center and the on-board navigation system;
• and
• means for transmitting from the communications center the coordinates of the desired destination and crime rate information to the on-board navigation system via the data link.