Systems and methods for dropping off a user at a destination

Abstract

A navigation system is disclosed. The system may include a transceiver and a processor. The transceiver may be configured to receive a destination location, a destination map, and information associated with a point of interest at the destination location. The processor may determine an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the destination location based on the information associated with the point of interest and the destination map. The processor may further determine a real-time location of a vehicle or user device and generate navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle or user device from the real-time location to the optimal drop-off location. The processor may further transmit the navigation instructions to the vehicle or user device.

Description

REGIONThe present disclosure relates to systems and methods for placing a user at a destination, e.g., a hotel, shopping center, a island, and / or the like.BACKGROUNDWhen a user rents a taxi to visit a hotel, a shopping center, a island, etc., there may be cases where the taxi driver can place the user at a location that may be far from the user's final destination. This may lead to inconvenience to the user, as the user may have to walk a considerable distance to reach the final destination. A similar situation may occur when the user can drive a vehicle and may not know an optimal parking space to park the vehicle in such locations.SUMMARYThe present disclosure describes a navigation system ("system") that facilitates a vehicle / taxi to place a vehicle user / occupant at an optimal drop-off location in a building, which may be, for example, a hotel or shopping center, a island, an office, a concert facility, and / or the like. The system may allow the vehicle to drop the user to a drop-off location that may be a location of interest for the user closest to the building, thereby allowing the user to conveniently reach the location of interest without having to walk a considerable distance.As a first example, if the building may be a hotel, the system may determine the optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the hotel based on a location of a hotel room that may be booked by the user. In this case, the system may capture information associated with the hotel room booked by the user (e.g., via a digital key associated with the hotel room issued to the user by the hotel) and a hotel card. The system may correlate the information associated with the hotel room and the hotel card and determine a hotel entry that may be closest to the hotel room as the user optimal drop location at the hotel.The system may further determine a real-time location of the vehicle or a user device associated with the user and may generate navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle / user device from the real-time location to the determined optimal drop-off location at the hotel. The system may further transmit the navigation instructions to the vehicle / user device to enable the vehicle to conveniently reach the optimal drop-off location.As a second example, if the building may be a shopping center or office, the system may determine the optimal drop-off location based on the location of a store or office area that the user may wish to visit. In this case, the system may determine the optimal drop-off location to minimize walking distance for the user from the drop-off location to the store / office area. The system may further determine whether an output from the shopping center / office may be different from the drop-off location. In response to determining that the exit may be different from the drop-off location, the system may generate additional navigation instructions to enable vehicle movement from the drop-off location to the exit of the shopping center / office. This may facilitate the user entering the vehicle comfortably when the user exits the shopping center / office.As a third example, if the building may be a island or concert establishment, the system may determine the optimal drop-off location based on the location of a seating area booked by or assigned to the user. In this case, the system may determine the optimal drop-off location to minimize walking distance for the user from the drop-off location to the seating area, or to minimize total travel time for the user from the real-time location to the seating area, or to ensure that the route from the drop-off location to the seating area passes a location of interest (e.g., a refresh station), etc.The system may further determine the optimal landing location based on weather conditions in a geographic area including the building, user preferences, and / or the like. The system may be further configured to generate and transmit navigation instructions to the user device to enable the user to walk / move comfortably from the drop-off location to the location of interest at the building that the user wishes to enter (e.g., the hotel room, the landing seat area, the shopping center store, etc.).The present disclosure discloses a navigation system that facilitates a vehicle / taxi to drop a user to a drop-off location that may be closest to the user's final destination, thereby minimizing the time and effort for the user to walk from the drop-off location to the final destination. The system further provides navigation instructions to the vehicle or a user device associated with the user, thereby allowing the user to conveniently reach the final destination.These and other advantages of the present disclosure are provided in detail herein.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSThe detailed description will be set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings. The use of the same reference numerals may indicate similar or identical elements. For various embodiments, elements and / or components other than those illustrated in the drawings may be used, and some elements and / or components may not be present in various embodiments. The elements and / or components in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. Throughout the disclosure, terms in the singular and plural may be used interchangeably depending on the context. FIG. 1 illustrates an environment in which techniques and structures for providing the systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented. FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a navigation system according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 3 illustrates a snapshot of a vehicle human-machine interface (MMS) displaying first navigation instructions, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 4 illustrates a snapshot of a vehicle's MMS displaying second navigation instructions, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 5 illustrates a snapshot of a user interface displaying third navigation instructions, in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of a navigation method according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTIONThe disclosure will be described in more detail hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated, and is not intended to be limiting.FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment 100 in which techniques and structures for providing the systems and methods disclosed herein may be implemented. The environment 100 may include a geographic area 102 including a plurality of buildings, a road network, and / or the like. In an example aspect, the geographic area 102 may include a building 104, which may be, for example, a hotel, a shopping center, an office building, a sports arena, or a concertory, and / or the like. The building 104 may include a plurality of entrance locations and one or more exit locations. The entrance locations may be those locations from which users may enter the building interior section, and the exit locations may be those locations from which users may exit the building interior section. In some aspects, vehicles, taxis, buses, etc. may place their occupants near one of the building entrance locations, and the occupants may then walk from the placement / entrance locations to the interior of the building 104 (e.g., via building doors).The environment 100 may further include a vehicle 106 that may travel on the road network included in the geographic area 102. The vehicle 106 may take the form of any passenger or commercial vehicle, such as a car, a work vehicle, a crossover vehicle, a truck, a vans, a minivan, a taxi, a bus, etc. Further, the vehicle 106 may be a manually driven vehicle and / or configured to operate in a fully autonomous (e.g., keyless) mode or partially autonomous mode and may include any powertrain, such as a gasoline engine, one or more electrically actuated electric motors, a hybrid system, etc. In some aspects, the vehicle 106 may be a taxi or a commercial vehicle that may place one or more users (not shown) on the building 104. In other aspects, the vehicle 106 may be a private vehicle that can drop its occupants to the building 104 and then be parked at a parking location at or near the building 104.The environment 100 may further include a navigation system 108 (or system 108) that may be communicatively coupled to the vehicle 106 (and a plurality of other vehicles located in the geographic area 102), one or more computing devices and / or infrastructure sensors associated with the building 104 (and a plurality of other buildings located in the geographic area 102), and / or the like. The system 108 may be hosted on a server and may be configured to recommend an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations associated with the building 104 to the vehicle 106 and / or a user device (shown as the user device 204 in FIG. 2 ) associated with a vehicle operator / occupant such that the vehicle 106 may drop off its occupants comfortably to the building 104. The system 108 may further generate and transmit navigation instructions to the vehicle 106 and / or the user device to conveniently enable vehicle movement (or user movement associated with the user device) towards the recommended optimal drop-off location. Example scenarios in which the system 108 determines and recommends an optimal drop-off location for the vehicle 106 and / or the user device are described below. The example scenarios described below should not be construed as limiting, and the system 108 may determine and recommend optimal drop-off locations in other scenarios not described herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.In a first example aspect, if the building 104 may be a hotel, the system 108 may obtain hotel information from the vehicle 106, an external server (shown as server 202 in FIG. 2 ), the user device, and / or the computing devices associated with the building 104 when the vehicle 106 may be travelling on the road network included in the geographic area 102, or its travel begins from a home location of a vehicle (towards the building location). In some aspects, the hotel information may include a hotel address (or "destination"), a hotel map 110 (or "destination map"), information associated with a room booked by the user / occupant of the vehicle 106 (or "information associated with a location of interest at the destination"), and / or the like. In an example aspect, the hotel address may be provided to the system 108 by the vehicle 106 and / or the user device, and the system 108 may retrieve the hotel card 110 and the information associated with the room booked by the user / occupant from the external server and / or the computing devices associated with the building 104. In other aspects, the information associated with the room booked by the user / occupant may also be provided by the vehicle 106 and / or the user device. In some aspects, the information associated with the hotel room booked by the user / occupant may be included in a digital key 112 to the hotel room output by the hotel, and the system 108 may obtain the digital key 112 from the vehicle 106, the user device, the external server, and / or the computing devices associated with the building 104. Further, the information associated with the hotel room may include, for example, a hotel room identifier or number.The hotel map 110 may include a floor map of the hotel and may include location details such as a plurality of hotel rooms, landing locations, exit locations, lobby locations, locations of stairs, elevators, etc., their respective dimensions, and / or the like. The system 108 may be configured to correlate the information associated with the hotel room and the hotel map 110 and identify / determine an optimal drop-off location for the user / occupant of the vehicle 106 based on the correlation. In some aspects, the optimal drop location may be the drop location of a plurality of hotel drop locations that may be closest to the hotel room. In response to determining the optimal drop-off location that may be closest to the hotel room, the system 108 may determine or obtain a real-time vehicle and / or user device location from the vehicle 106 and / or the user device. The system 108 may further generate navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle 106 and / or the user device from the real-time vehicle and / or user device location to the optimal drop-off location. The system 108 may then transmit the generated navigation instructions to the vehicle 106 and / or the user device, thereby allowing the vehicle 106 to conveniently reach the optimal drop-off location. In this way, the system 108 allows the vehicle 106 to seat its occupant(s) at a hotel landing location that may be closest to the occupant's room (and not at another hotel landing location), which significantly improves occupant comfort and saving occupant walking time and effort.In some aspects, the system 108 may additionally or alternatively obtain user / occupant preferences from the vehicle 106 and / or the user device and may determine the optimal drop-off location based on the user preferences. For example, if the user prefers to take stairs (as opposed to an elevator) as he walks toward the hotel room in the hotel, the system 108 may determine an optimal hotel landing location that may be closest to the hotel room and may require the user to take stairs as he walks from the landing location to the hotel room. On the other hand, if the user prefers to take the elevator while walking toward the hotel room in the hotel, the system 108 may determine an optimal hotel drop location that may be closest to the hotel room and may allow the user to take the elevator while moving from the drop location to the hotel room. The system 108 may also determine the optimal drop-off location based on other user preferences, e.g., the presence of a coffee maker and / or hotel restaurant on the way toward the hotel room, the presence of a fitness studio or the receiving switch on the way toward the hotel room, and / or the like.In further aspects, additionally or alternatively, the system 108 may obtain weather condition information associated with the geographic area 102 and / or the hotel from the external server and may determine the optimal drop-off location based on the weather condition information. For example, if the weather condition indicates that it may be raining or snowing in the geographic area 102, the system 108 may determine an optimal landing location, which may include a subside or covered upper portion (as opposed to an open landing location), such that the user / occupant may not become wet.In a second exemplary aspect, if the building 104 may be a shopping center, office, or store, the system 108 may obtain building information that may be similar to the hotel information described above. In particular, the system may acquire the building location (i.e., "destination location"), the building map (or "destination location map"), and the information associated with a location of interest at the destination location. In this case, the information associated with the location of interest may be an identifier of a store or store (e.g., a store number) that the user may wish to visit. Also in this case, the system 108 may obtain the destination, destination map, and information associated with the location of interest at the destination from one or more of the vehicle 106, the user device, the external server, and / or the computing devices associated with the building 104.Similar to the aspect described above, in this aspect as well, the system 108 may determine an optimal landing location on the building 104 such that the landing location may be closest to the location of interest (e.g., the store or store) in the building 104. Further, in this aspect, the system 108 may additionally determine whether the departure location associated with the building 104 may be different from the optimal drop-off location based on the building map (or the destination map). If the system 108 determines that the departure location may be different than the determined optimal drop-off location, the system 108 may generate a motion notification or other set of navigation instructions and transmit the motion notification to the vehicle 106 and / or the user device. The movement notification may allow the vehicle 106 and / or the user device to move from the optimal drop-off location to the origin location. In particular, the motion notification may include navigation instructions that may allow the vehicle 106 and / or the user device to move from the optimal drop-off location to the origin location. If the vehicle 106 may be located at the origin (or near the origin), the user may feel comfortable entering the vehicle 106 as the user exits the building 104.In a third example aspect, if the building 104 may be a island, sport complex, or concert establishment, the system 108 may obtain the building information that may be similar to the hotel information described above. Further, in this case, the information associated with the location of interest may be an identifier of a seating area (e.g., a seating area number) booked by or assigned to the user. Also in this case, the system 108 may obtain the building information from one or more of the vehicle 106, the user device, the external server, and / or the computing devices associated with the building 104.In this aspect, the system 108 may determine an optimal landing location on the building 104 such that the determined landing location is associated with a shortest walking distance for the user from the landing location to the booked / assigned seat. In further aspects, the determined drop-off location may be associated with a shortest travel time (vehicle travel time and user travel time) from the real-time location of the vehicle / user device to the booked / assigned seating area. In yet another aspect, the determined drop-off location may be closest to a location of interest (e.g., a refresh center / refresh station) in the building 104.In further aspects, the system 108 may determine the optimal drop-off location such that the drop-off location may be near an authority asset / station on the building 104 (e.g., near an area where the police / guardians may be located) or near an area with a highest population density on the building 104 or near an area with a maximum number of infrastructure sensors or sensor suites (e.g., cameras, microphones, etc.). The system 108 may determine such drop locations based on user preferences provided by the vehicle 106 and / or the user device.In additional aspects, when the user exits the vehicle 106 at the optimal drop-off location and begins walking towards the location of interest (e.g., the hotel room, the seating area in the landing, the store in the shopping center, etc.), the system 108 may generate navigation instructions based on the building map (or the destination map) to facilitate the user moving / walking from the drop-off location to the location of interest. The system 108 may further transmit the generated navigation instructions to the user device, which may output the navigation instructions as visual or voice commands or as haptic feedback. In this manner, the system 108 facilitates the user to conveniently reach the location of interest at the building 104.Further system details are described below in connection with FIG. 2.The vehicle 106 and the system 108 implement and / or perform operations as described herein in the present disclosure in accordance with the instruction manual and the safety policies. Additionally, any action taken by the user / occupant associated with the vehicle 106 based on the notifications / recommendations provided by the system 108 should meet all regulations specific to the location and operation of the vehicle 106 (e.g., federal, state, country, city, etc.). The notifications as provided by the system 108 should be treated as suggestions and followed only according to any rules specific to the location and operation of the vehicle 106.FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the navigation system 108 in accordance with the present disclosure. During the description of FIG. 2, reference is made to FIGS. 3-5. As described above, the system 108 may be hosted on a server (e.g., a navigation server or a server communicatively coupled to one or more navigation-based applications / systems).The system 108 may be communicatively coupled to the vehicle 106, one or more servers 202 (or a server 202), a user device 204, computing systems (not shown) associated with the building 104 via one or more networks 206 (or a network 206). The server 202 may be part of a cloud-based computing infrastructure and may be associated with and / or include a telematics service delivery network (SDN) that provides digital data services to the vehicle 106 and / or the system 108. In further aspects, the server 202 may be configured to store information associated with the building 104 (or "building information") and transmit the building information to the system 108 for storage purposes. The building information may include, for example, the building location / address, the building map (e.g., hotel map 110), and / or the like. In additional aspects, the server 202 may be configured to store user preferences associated with the user / occupant in the vehicle 106 and transmit the user preferences to the system 108 for storage purposes. In further aspects, the server 202 may be configured to obtain and transmit weather condition information associated with the geographic area 102 (including the building 104) to the system 108.The user device 204 may be associated with the vehicle operator or the user / occupant in the vehicle 106, and may be, for example, a cellular phone, a laptop, a computer, a tablet, a wearable device, or any other device having communication capabilities.Network 206 illustrates an example communication infrastructure in which the connected devices discussed in various embodiments of this disclosure may communicate. The network 206 may be and / or include the Internet, a private network, a public network, or other configuration operating using any one or more of any known communication protocols, such as transmission control protocol / Internet protocol (TCP / IP), Bluetooth ®, Bluetooth ® low energy (BLE), Wi-Fi based on Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standard, ultra-wideband (UWB), and cellular technologies such as time division multiple access (TDMA), code division multiple access (CDMA), for example, High-speed packet access (HSPDA), long-term evolution (LTE), global system for mobile communications (GSM), and fifth generation (5G), to name a few examples.The system 108 may include a plurality of entities including, but not limited to, a transceiver 208, a processor 210, and a memory 212. The transceiver 208 may be configured to transmit / receive information / data to and from external systems and devices via the network 206. For example, the transceiver 208 may be configured to receive / transmit input / information / data from and / or to the vehicle 106, the user device 204, the server 202, the computing systems associated with the building 104.The processor 210 may be arranged in communication with one or more memory devices arranged in communication with the respective computing systems (e.g., the memory 212 and / or one or more external databases not shown in FIG. 2 ). The processor 210 may use the memory 212 to store programs in code and / or to store data for performing aspects according to the disclosure. The memory 212 may be a non-transitory computer readable storage medium or a non-transitory computer readable memory storing program code that enables the processor 210 to perform operations according to the present disclosure. The memory 212 may include any one or combination of volatile memory elements (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), etc.), and may include one or more of any nonvolatile memory elements (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), flash memory, electronically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), etc.).In some aspects, the memory 212 may include a plurality of databases including, but not limited to, a building information database 214 and a user information database 216. The building information database 214 may store the building information that the system 108 may obtain from the server 202 and / or the computing systems associated with the building 104. The user information database 216 may store information associated with the user / occupant of the vehicle 106, including, but not limited to, the user preferences, the digital key 112, information associated with the location of interest (e.g., the hotel room, the landing seat area, the shopping center store, etc.) at the destination or in the building 104, and / or the like. The system 108 may receive some or all of the information associated with the user / occupant in the vehicle 106 from the user device 204, the vehicle 106, the server 202, and / or the like.In operation, the transceiver 208 may receive the building information (or destination information) and the information associated with the location of interest in the building 104 / destination when the vehicle 106 may travel toward the building 104 or may be at a home location of the vehicle. In some aspects, the transceiver 208 may receive the building information (e.g., the building address and the building map) and the information associated with the location of interest in the building 104 from one or more of the vehicle 106, the user device 204, the server 202, and / or the computing systems associated with the building 104. In response to receiving the information as described above, the transceiver 208 may transmit the information to the processor 210 and the respective storage databases for storage purposes.The processor 210 may obtain the information from the transceiver 208 and may determine an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations on the building 104 based on the information associated with the location of interest and the building map, as described above in connection with FIG. 1. In particular, the processor 210 may correlate the information associated with the location of interest and the building map to determine the optimal drop-off location. The processor 210 may further determine a real-time location of the vehicle 106 and / or the user device 204 by obtaining the real-time location from the vehicle 106 and / or the user device 204.In response to determining the optimal drop-off location and the real-time location of the vehicle / user device, the processor 210 may generate first navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle 106 or the user device 204 from the real-time vehicle / user device location to the optimal drop-off location. The processor 210 may further transmit the first navigation instructions to the vehicle 106 / the user device 204 via the transceiver 208 and the network 206 or the vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication. The vehicle 106 / user device 204 may then display the first navigation instructions and the vehicle operator may follow the instructions to drive the vehicle 106 from its real-time location to the determined optimal drop-off location. An example view of a vehicle human-machine interface (MMS) 302 displaying first navigation instructions 304 is shown in FIG. 3. In some aspects, the first navigation instructions 304 may connect the real-time vehicle location to the determined optimal drop-off location, thereby facilitating the vehicle operator to travel conveniently to the optimal drop-off location. In other aspects, if the vehicle 106 may be an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle 106 may autonomously move / drive towards the optimal drop-off location in response to receiving the first navigation instructions from the processor 210 / transceiver 208.In a first example aspect, if the building 104 may be a hotel, the information associated with the location of interest may be an identifier of a hotel room booked by the user / occupant of the vehicle 106 (e.g., a room number). In this aspect, the transceiver 208 may be further configured to receive the digital key 112 from the vehicle 106, the user device 204, the server 202, and / or the like, and the transceiver 208 may transmit 210 the digital key 112 to the processor. The digital key 112 may include the information associated with the location of interest / hotel room booked by the user, and the processor 210 may be configured to retrieve the information associated with the location of interest from the digital key 112.In this aspect, the processor 210 may determine the optimal drop-off location such that the drop-off location may be a hotel entrance closest to the hotel room. The processor 210 may determine the hotel entry / drop location closest to the hotel room by correlating the information associated with the location of interest / hotel room with the building / hotel card. In some aspects, processor 210 may further enable the computing systems associated with building 104 and / or the infrastructure sensors installed on building 104 to transmit a route to the determined optimal departure location to vehicle 106 in advance or before vehicle 106 reaches building 104 (or destination). The computing systems and / or infrastructure sensors associated with the building 104 may transmit the route to the vehicle 106 via V2I communication. In further aspects, for the entire duration of the user being in the hotel, each time the user requests a vehicle, a taxi, etc. to drop the user to the hotel, the drop location may be the location closest to the hotel room. Furthermore, if no V2I communication is available, the vehicle 106 may drop a "pin" (e.g., a location identifier) at the determined drop-off location, and the vehicle 106 may then note the route to the hotel for future trips when the vehicle 106 drops the user.The transceiver 208 may receive input associated with user / occupant preferences in the vehicle 106 from the user device 204, the server 202, the vehicle 106, and / or the like, in further aspects. The transceiver 208 may transmit the inputs associated with the user preferences to the user information database 216 for storage purposes and / or to the processor 210. In some aspects, processor 210 may determine the optimal drop-off location at hotel / building 104 based on the inputs associated with user preferences. For example, if the user prefers to take stairs (or an elevator) at the hotel, the processor 210 may determine this landing location for the user where the user may be required to take the stairs (or the elevator) as the user walks from the landing location to the hotel room booked by the user.In a second exemplary aspect, if the building 104 may be a shopping center, a store, or an office, the information associated with the location of interest may be an identifier associated with a store or office area to be visited by the user / occupant of the vehicle 106. Also in this aspect, the processor 210 may acquire the building information, the user preferences, and the information associated with the location of interest from the vehicle 106, the user device 204, the server 202, and / or the like, and the processor 210 may determine an optimal landing location at the building 104 based on the acquired information. In this case, the optimum drop-off location may be an entrance of the shopping center or office closest to the store or office area to be visited by the user.In further aspects, in this case, the processor 210 may determine a home location associated with the shopping center or office based on the building / destination map. In response to determining the drop location, the processor 210 may determine that the drop location may be different from the determined optimal drop location. In response to such a determination, processor 210 may generate a motion notification or second navigation instructions to enable vehicle or user device motion from the optimal drop-off location to the origin location. The processor 210 may then transmit the motion notification or the second navigation instructions to the vehicle 106 and / or the user device 204 via the transceiver 208. The vehicle 106 and / or the user device 204 may display the second navigation instructions in response to receiving them from the processor 210 / transceiver 208, as shown in FIG. 4. In particular, as shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle MMS 302 may display second navigation instructions 402 that may facilitate the vehicle operator driving from the departure location to the departure location. In particular, when the vehicle 106 is depositing the user at the drop-off location, the vehicle operator may use the second navigation instructions 402 to travel from the drop-off location to the departure location. If the vehicle 106 is an autonomous vehicle, the vehicle 106 may autonomously travel from the departure location to the departure location in response to receiving the motion notification or the second navigation notification from the processor 210 / transceiver 208. One of ordinary skill in the art can appreciate that if the vehicle 106 may be near the origin, the user may feel comfortable entering the vehicle 106 after leaving the building 104. In this manner, the system 108 not only facilitates the placement of the user at the optimal placement location, but also allows the user to conveniently enter the vehicle 106 after leaving the building 104.In some aspects, transceiver 208 may additionally be configured to receive weather condition information associated with geographic area 102 and / or building 104 from server 202, and processor 210 may be configured to determine the optimal landing location based on the weather condition information. For example, if the weather condition information indicates that it may rain or snow in the geographic area 102, the processor 210 may identify this drop location in the building 104, which may have a covered upper portion to prevent the user from wetting as the user exits the vehicle 106 and moves to the business / office area / hotel room in the shopping center / office / hotel.In a third example aspect, if the building 104 may be a island, an arena, a sports complex, a concert facility, a meeting center, and / or the like, the information associated with the location of interest may be an identifier associated with a seating area booked by the user / occupant of the vehicle 106. Also in this aspect, the processor 210 may acquire the building information, the user preferences, and the information associated with the location of interest from the vehicle 106, the user device 204, the server 202, and / or the like, and the processor 210 may determine an optimal landing location at the building 104 based on the acquired information. As a first example, in this case, the optimal landing location may be a landing location, from the plurality of landing locations on the building 104, that may be associated with a shortest walking distance for the user from the optimal landing location to the seating area booked by the user. As a second example, the optimal drop-off location may be a drop-off location that may be associated with a shortest travel time (including travel / travel time of the vehicle and user travel time) from the real-time vehicle / user device location to the seating area booked by the user. As a third example, the optimal drop-off location may be a drop-off location that may be closest to a location of interest (e.g., a refreshing station) in the island, as determined based on the user preferences and the building map. In other words, in this example, the user may pass the refreshing station when the user may walk from the drop-off location to the seating area booked by the user. As a fourth example, the optimal drop-off location may be a drop-off location that may provide a fastest route to a user's home when the event may be past the island (thereby minimizing the need for the user to sit in the island parking space for a long period of time). The processor 210 may determine such drop-off locations based on historical patterns of user and vehicle movements at the landing.In yet another exemplary aspect, processor 210 may determine the optimal drop-off location based on user preferences such that the drop-off location may be closest to a region having a highest population density at building 104 / destination. In this aspect, processor 210 may acquire / use telephone data (or signals from user devices located on building 104) to determine such population density area on building 104. In further aspects, the optimal drop-off location may be located in an area in the building 104 / destination where authorities are present (e.g., police, wake, etc.). In this aspect, the processor 210 may receive / utilize inputs obtained from the infrastructure sensors and / or computing systems associated with the building 104 to determine such an area in the building 104. In yet another aspect, the optimal drop-off location may be in an area in the building 104 / destination location that has a rich range of infrastructure sensors or the presence of an infrastructure sensor suite (e.g., cameras).In further aspects, the system 108 may facilitate the user to walk / move comfortably from the drop-off location to the hotel room / seating area / office area / store / store on the building 104 when the user exits the vehicle 106 at the drop-off location. In this case, the processor 210 may generate third navigation instructions to navigate the user device 204 from the optimal drop-off location to the location of interest in the building 104 based on the building / destination map. The processor 210 may then transmit, via the transceiver 208, the third navigation instructions to the user device 204 via the network 206. The user device 204 may display the third navigation instructions for user convenience, which are illustrated as third navigation instructions 502 in FIG. 5.In some aspects, the user device 204 may output the third navigation instructions audibly, visually, and / or via haptic feedback. In the latter case, the user device 204 may issue various combinations of vibrations and then subsequent pauses to provide the user with an indication of moving forward, turning right, turning left, moving the stairs or elevator up or down, and / or the like. Moreover, if the user wears an augmented reality headset, the processor 210 may transmit the third navigation instructions to the headset, which may indicate the directions / distance that the user should follow to reach the location of interest in the building 104.FIG. 6 illustrates a flowchart of an example navigation method 600 in accordance with the present disclosure. FIG. 6 may be described with continued reference to previous figures. The following process is exemplary and is not limited to the steps described below. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include more or fewer steps than shown or described herein, and these steps may include in an order that differs from the order described in the following example embodiments.The method 600 begins at step 602. At step 604, the method 600 may include obtaining, by the processor 210, the destination information (e.g., the destination / destination address and destination map) and the information associated with the location of interest at the destination / building 104. At step 606, the method 600 may include determining, by the processor 210, the optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the destination / building 104 based on the information associated with the location of interest and the destination map. At step 608, the method 600 may include determining, by the processor 210, a real-time location of the vehicle 106 or the user device 204.At step 610, the method 600 may include generating navigation instructions by the processor 210 to navigate the vehicle 106 or the user device 204 from the real-time location to the optimal drop-off location. At step 612, the method 600 may include transmitting, by the processor 210, the navigation instructions to the vehicle 106 or the user device 204.At step 614, the method 600 may end.In the foregoing disclosure, reference has been made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and illustrate specific implementations in which the present disclosure may be practiced. It should be understood that other implementations may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. References in the specification to "an embodiment," "an embodiment," etc., indicate that the described embodiment may include one(s) specific feature, structure, or characteristic, but each embodiment does not necessarily have to include that(s) specific feature, structure, or characteristic. Furthermore, such formulations do not necessarily relate to the same embodiment. Further, when a feature(s) structure, or characteristic is described in connection with one embodiment, those skilled in the art will recognize such feature(s) structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.Further, the functions described herein may optionally be performed in one or more of hardware, software, firmware, digital components, or analog components. For example, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) may be programmed to execute one or more of the systems and procedures described herein. Certain terms used throughout the specification and claims refer to specific system components. It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the components may be designated by other terms. Here, it is not intended to distinguish between components which differ according to the designation, but not in terms of their function.Also, it should be understood that the word "example" as used herein is intended to be non-exclusive and non-limiting. In particular, the word "example" as used herein indicates one of several examples, and it is understood that no undue emphasis or preference is directed to the particular example described.A computer readable medium (also referred to as a processor readable medium) includes any non-transitory (e.g., physical) medium that participates in providing data (e.g., instructions) that may be read by a computer (e.g., by a processor of a computer). Such a medium may take many forms including, without limitation, non-volatile media and volatile media. Computing devices may include computer-executable instructions, where the instructions may be executable by one or more computing devices, such as those listed above, and may be stored on a computer-readable medium.With reference to the processes, systems, methods, heuristics, etc. described herein, it should be understood that although the steps of such processes, etc. have been described as occurring according to a particular ordered sequence, such processes could be practiced with the described steps performed in an order that varies from the order described herein. Further, it should be understood that certain steps could be performed simultaneously, that other steps could be added, or that certain steps described herein could be omitted. In other words, the descriptions of processes herein are for the purpose of illustrating various embodiments and should not be construed as limiting the claims.Accordingly, it is to be understood that the foregoing description is intended to be illustrative and not restrictive. From reading the foregoing description, many embodiments and applications other than the examples provided will be apparent. The scope should be determined, not with reference to the foregoing description, but should instead be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled. It is to be understood and intended that there will be future developments in the art discussed herein, and that the disclosed systems and methods are incorporated into such future embodiments. Overall, it is to be understood that the application may be modified and varied.All terms used in the claims are intended to have their general meaning as known to those skilled in the art of the technologies described herein, unless expressly stated to the contrary herein. In particular, the use of the singular articles such as "a", "an", "the", "the", etc. is to be understood to mean one or more of the stated elements unless a claim gives an explicit limitation to the contrary. With phrases expressing conditional contexts, such as, but not limited to, "may," "could," "may," or "may possibly," it is generally intended that certain embodiments may include certain features, elements, and / or steps, while other embodiments may not include these unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise will be apparent from the context used. Thus, such phrases expressing conditional relationships are generally not intended to imply that features, elements, and / or steps are required in any way for one or more embodiments.According to an embodiment, the optimal drop-off location is a drop-off location of the plurality of drop-off locations closest to at least one of: an area having a highest population density at the destination, an area at the destination having a presence of authorities, or an area at the destination having an infrastructure sensor suite.According to an embodiment, the processor is further configured to: generate second navigation instructions to navigate the user device from the optimal drop-off location to the location of interest based on the destination map; and transmit the second navigation instructions to the user device.According to one embodiment, the processor determines the real-time location by obtaining the real-time location from the user device or the vehicle.According to the present invention, a navigation method includes: acquiring, by a processor, a destination, a destination map, and information associated with a location of interest at the destination; determining, by the processor, an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the destination based on the information associated with the location of interest and the destination map; determining, by the processor, a real-time location of a vehicle or a user device; generating, by the processor, navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle or the user device from the real-time location to the optimal drop-off location; and transmitting, by the processor, the navigation instructions to the vehicle or the user device.According to the present invention, there is provided a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to: obtain a destination, a destination map, and information associated with a location of interest at the destination; determine an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the destination based on the information associated with the location of interest and the destination map; determine a real-time location of a vehicle or user device; generate navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle or user device from the real-time location to the optimal drop-off location; and transmit the navigation instructions to the vehicle or user device.

Claims

A navigation system, comprising: a transceiver configured to receive a destination, a destination map, and information associated with a location of interest at the destination; and a processor communicatively coupled to the transceiver, the processor configured to: determine an optimal drop-off location from a plurality of drop-off locations at the destination based on the information associated with the location of interest and the destination map; determine a real-time location of a vehicle or a user device; generate first navigation instructions to navigate the vehicle or user device from the real-time location to the optimal drop-off location; and transmit the first navigation instructions to the vehicle or user device.The navigation system of claim 1, wherein the destination is a hotel and the information associated with the location of interest is an identifier of a hotel room booked by a user.The navigation system of claim 2, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive a digital key associated with the hotel room, and wherein the digital key comprises the information associated with the location of interest.The navigation system of claim 2, wherein the optimal drop-off location is a drop-off location, closest to the hotel room, of the plurality of drop-off locations.The vehicle of claim 2, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive inputs associated with user preferences, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine the optimal drop location based on the user preferences.The navigation system of claim 5, wherein the user preferences are associated with use of stairs or elevators in the hotel.The navigation system of claim 1, wherein the processor transmits the first navigation instructions to the vehicle via vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication.The navigation system of claim 1, wherein the transceiver is further configured to receive weather condition information associated with the destination, and wherein the processor is further configured to determine the optimal departure location based on the weather condition information.The navigation system of claim 1, wherein the destination is a shopping center or an office, and the information associated with the location of interest is an identifier associated with a store or office area to be visited by a user.The navigation system of claim 9, wherein the optimal drop-off location is an entrance to the shopping center or office closest to the store or office area.The navigation system of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to: determine a departure location associated with the shopping center or office based on the destination map; determine that the departure location is different from the optimal drop-off location; and transmit a motion notification to the vehicle or user device to enable vehicle motion or user device motion from the optimal drop-off location to the departure location in response to determining that the departure location is different from the optimal drop-off location.The navigation system of claim 1, wherein the destination is a island and the information associated with the location of interest is an identifier of a seating area booked by a user.The navigation system of claim 12, wherein the optimal drop-off location is a drop-off location of the plurality of drop-off locations associated with a shortest walking distance for the user from the optimal drop-off location to the seating area.The navigation system of claim 12, wherein the optimal drop-off location is a drop-off location of the plurality of drop-off locations associated with a shortest travel time from the real-time location to the seating area.The navigation system of claim 12, wherein the optimal drop-off location is a drop-off location, from the plurality of drop-off locations, closest to a location of interest in the stadia.

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