Method for identifying a place, and terminal and central unit therefor

US6556918B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• Mannesmann AG · DE

Inventors

• Peter Stangier · Wesseling, DE
• Ralf Kolb · Willich, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Jun 16, 1999
• Grant date: Apr 29, 2003
• Expiry date: Jun 16, 2019

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01C21/3611
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

A convenient, trouble-proof, economical identification of a place, especially for remote-controlled navigation of a vehicle through a traffic network, is made possible by a terminal unit, a central station and a method for identifying a name via the terminal unit, especially for identifying an interrogated name of a starting location or destination or current location of a route in a navigation terminal unit based on a plurality of characters which are a component of the name and are interrogated in the terminal unit as a character string. It it is determined whether or not the interrogated character string corresponds to the start of a character string contained in a list of exceptions. This latter character string being contained in a plurality of names. The user is asked to enter additional characters of the name when it is determined that the interrogated character string is contained in the exception list, while a process for unambiguous identification is introduced without further characters of the name being entered when it is determined that the interrogated character string is not contained in the exception list.