(54) GEOGRAPHIC DATABASE INCLUDING
DATA INDICATING WIRELESS COVERAGE
AND METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USE
THEREOF
(75) Inventor: Lawrence M. Kaplan, Northbrook, IL (US)
(73) Assignee: Navteq North America, LLC,
Chicago, IL (US)
( * ) Notice: Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U.S.C. 154(b) by 0 days.
(21) Appl. No.: 11/487,076
(22) Filed: Jul. 14, 2006
(65) Prior Publication Data
US 2006/0259236 Al Nov. 16, 2006
Related U.S. Application Data
(62) Division of application No. 09/836,501, filed on Apr. 17, 2001, now Pat. No. 7,079,945.
(51) Int. CI.
G01C 21/30 (2006.01)
(52) U.S. CI 701/208; 701/207; 701/210;
340/988
(58) Field of Classification Search 701/200,
701/201, 202, 207, 208, 209-212; 340/988, 340/993, 995.27 See application file for complete search history.
(56) References Cited
U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
5,948,042 A 9/1999 Heimann et al 701/117
6,138,072 A 10/2000 Nagai 340/998
6,169,956 Bl 1/2001 Morimoto et al 701/209
Wireless coverage data are associated with a geographic database that contains data that represent a road network in a geographic region. The wireless coverage data indicate areas within the geographic region in which navigationrelated services or data from a navigation services provider are available wirelessly, or conversely, areas within the geographic region in which navigation-related services or data from a navigation services provider are not available wirelessly. An end user obtains the wireless coverage data. The wireless coverage data are used to indicate to the end user areas in which navigation-related services or data from the navigation services provider are available wirelessly or areas in which navigation-related services or data from the navigation services provider are not available wirelessly. The wireless coverage data may also be used to warn the end user when he/she is leaving an area in which navigationrelated services or data from the navigation services provider are available wirelessly. Data for uncovered areas can be downloaded to an end user's computing platform while the end user is still within an area in which navigationrelated data from the navigation services provider are available wirelessly.
23 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
