WO2009093889A1

WO2009093889A1 - Navigation device, method to be performed by such a navigation device

Info

Publication number: WO2009093889A1
Application number: PCT/NL2008/050038
Authority: WO
Inventors: Linde Van De Velde
Original assignee: Tele Atlas B.V.
Priority date: 2008-01-21
Filing date: 2008-01-21
Publication date: 2009-07-30

Abstract

The invention relates to a navigation device (ND), comprising a processor unit ( PU) hav ing access to a memory arranged to comprise a digital map database (DMD). The digital map database (DMD) comprises a plurality of locations, such as point of interests (POI). The navigation device (ND) is arranged to obtain weather information from a weather information source. The navigation device (ND) is arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database (201), b) obtain weather information for the selection (20 2), c) obtain preferred weather conditions (203), d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (204), e) output results of the comparison (210).

Description

NAVIGATION METHOD AND DEVICE

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a navigation device, a method to be performed by such a navigation device, a digital map database, a computer program that, when loaded on a computer arrangement, is arranged to perform such a method and a data carrier, comprising such a computer program.

BACKGROUND

Navigation devices are developed to help people determining a route to a specified destination. An example of such a navigation device is a navigation device to be used in a car to determine a route to a specified destination and guide a user along this route to the specified destination. This may be a portable or hand- held navigation device or a built-in navigation device. The navigation device may also be provided by a computer device arranged to run a navigation or route planning program. The computer device may be a personal computer, a laptop, a PDA, a smart phone, a car built in navigation device etc. Route planning programs are also offered via the Internet, asking the user to input a start location and a destination in return whereof the route planning program provides the user with a set of instructions and/or a map indicating the computed route.

These navigation devices use digital map databases to compute a route from a start location to a destination. Navigation devices are known that provide links to weather information. These navigation devices are arranged to receive weather information and weather forecasts, for instance for a current position or a planned destination.

US 5,913, 917 describes a method to determine a prediction of fuel or energy consumption over a chosen trip based on a number of parameters, including expected ambient weather conditions along the road.

According to WO2005/054890A2 an estimated time of arrival is computed based on the current position, velocity, distance to be travelled, and traffic and weather conditions. According to EP 1566665 the optimal route is determined comprising determining a journey time taking into account the received weather information. Since the weather conditions along a determined route influence the journey time, more precise time estimation can be obtained. It is an object to provide a navigation device and navigation method that uses weather information in a more effective way.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect there is provided a navigation device, comprising a processor unit having access to a memory arranged to comprise a digital map database, the digital map database comprising a plurality of locations, such as point of interests

(POI), where the navigation device is arranged to obtain weather information from a weather information source, the navigation device is arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database, b) obtain weather information for the selection, c) obtain preferred weather conditions, d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) output results of the comparison.

According to an embodiment action e) comprises outputting at least one location for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any.

According to an embodiment action a) is done based on events scheduled having associated preferred weather conditions and a location, and wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions.

According to an embodiment the selection from the digital map database is made by defining an area with respect to a position, such as an input position or a current position of the navigation device.

According to an embodiment the selection from the digital map database is defined as a city, region, country, zip code, address, one or more coordinate sets etc.

According to an embodiment the selection from the digital map database is made based on selection criteria input by a user, defining one or a number of locations.

According to an embodiment the selection from the digital map database is a number of locations, having associated preferred weather conditions. According to an embodiment the weather information is obtained by activating a link associated with a specific location within the selection from the digital map database.

According to an embodiment the weather information comprises at least one of current weather information, recent weather information and predicted weather information.

According to an embodiment the weather information comprise at least one of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, smog/air quality, snow, hail, snow base heights, new snow accumulations, tide times and heights, currents, thunder storm, hail, tornado's ...

According to an embodiment the digital map database comprises at least one location having preferred weather conditions and the navigation device is arranged to obtain the preferred weather conditions from the digital map database or the memory.

According to an embodiment the digital map database comprises at least one location having preferred weather conditions and the navigation device is arranged to obtain the preferred weather conditions from the digital map database or the memory or from a program/datafile on the Internet.

According to an embodiment the navigation device is arranged to obtain preferred weather conditions from input generated by a user. According to an embodiment the preferred weather conditions comprise at least one of a maximum and/or minimum temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, smog/air quality, snow, hail, snow base heights, new snow accumulations, tide times and heights, currents, thunder storm, hail, tornado's ... According to an embodiment the navigation device is further arranged to bl) obtain further information, comprising at least one of: traffic information, agenda information, context information, cl) obtain preferred further conditions, comprising at least one of: traffic conditions, agenda conditions, context conditions, dl) compare the preferred further conditions with the further conditions, and action e) comprises output results of the comparison. According to an embodiment action e) comprises outputting at least one location for which the weather information and the further information meets the preferred weather conditions and preferred conditions, if any.

According to an embodiment action a) is done based on events scheduled having associated preferred weather conditions, preferred further conditions and a location, and wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions and preferred further conditions.

According to an embodiment the context information and the context conditions relate to at least one of: current position, current time, current time of the year, current health, etc.

According to an embodiment the navigation device is further arranged to f) receive a selection of the at least one location outputted in action e) and compute navigation instructions to the selected location.

According to an embodiment the navigation device is arranged to receive preferred weather conditions in association with a location and store the preferred weather conditions in association with the location.

According to an embodiment the navigation device is arranged to receive preferred further conditions in association with a location and store the preferred further conditions in association with the location. According to an embodiment the navigation apparatus is arranged to

- receive preferred weather conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

- store the preferred weather conditions in association with the respective locations.

According to an embodiment the navigation apparatus is further arranged to

- receive preferred further conditions associated with a selection of locations, and - store the preferred further conditions in association with the respective locations.

According to an aspect there is provided a digital map database comprising a plurality of locations comprising at least one set of preferred weather conditions in association with the respective location.

According to an embodiment, the digital map database comprises preferred further conditions in association with the respective type of location, such as a type of point of interest. According to an embodiment the digital map database comprises links associated with locations to obtain weather information for the associated locations.

According to an aspect there is provided a method to be performed by a navigation device, the navigation device having access to a digital map database, the digital map database comprising a plurality of locations, such as points of interest, the method comprising a) making a selection from the digital map database, b) obtaining weather information for the selection, c) obtaining preferred weather conditions, d) comparing the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) outputting results of the comparison.

According to an embodiment the method further comprises bl) obtaining further information, comprising at least one of: traffic information, agenda information, context information, cl) obtaining further preferred conditions, comprising at least one of: traffic conditions, agenda conditions, context conditions and dl) comparing the preferred further conditions with the further conditions, and action e) comprises e) outputting results of the comparison.

According to an embodiment the method further comprises - receiving preferred weather conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

- storing the preferred weather conditions in association with the respective locations.

According to an embodiment the method further comprises

- receiving preferred further conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

- storing the preferred further conditions in association with the respective locations. According to an aspect there is provided a computer program that, when loaded on a computer arrangement, is arranged to perform any one of the methods described above. According to an aspect there is provided a data carrier, comprising a computer program according to the above..

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention will now be discussed in more detail using a number of exemplary embodiments, with reference to the drawings, which are only intended to illustrate the present invention and not to limit its scope which is only limited by the appended claims:

Figure 1 schematically depicts a navigation device according to the prior art, Figure 2a, 2b, 2c schematically depict flow diagrams according to embodiments,

Figure 3 schematically depicts a flow diagram according to an embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described above, computer based navigation devices are known. First, Fig. 1 provides a description of a possible implementation of such a navigation device ND . The navigation device ND may be formed by a personal computer, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a smart phone, a dedicated portable navigation device, a built- in car navigation device etc. Also, the functionality may be spread over a number of computers interacting with each other, for instance via the Internet.

Navigation device

Fig. 1 schematically depicts a navigation device ND in more detail. The navigation device ND may comprise a processing unit PU, arranged to communicate with an internal or external data storage carrier like a CD or DVD or a Hard Disk and various devices enabling communication with the user, generally referred to as the

Human Machine Interface (HMI). The HMI may comprise a display DI, a touch screen, a keyboard KE, a speaker SP, buttons or other units. For communication with external devices the PU may communicate via for instance an antenna AN with other computer systems via a communication network NE, such as a mobile telephone network, a GSM-network, a UMTS -network, a RF -network, (wireless) Internet etc..

The processing unit PU is shown schematically in Fig. 1, and may comprise or have access to a memory ME that may comprise computer source code, readable and executable for the processing unit, to enable it to perform arithmetical operations thus providing it with the functionality to perform the embodiments described.

The memory ME may be any combination of a Read Only Memory (ROM),

Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM) and / or the like. This memory ME may also comprise a copy of (part of) the first digital map database DMDl. The memory ME may be used as storage memory (disks) and/or processing memory (chips).

The processing unit PU may further comprise or be arranged to communicate with - input devices, such as keyboard KE, a mouse, a touch screen, speaker SP, and

- output devices, such as display DI, a printer, a speaker etc. The processing unit may further comprise or be arranged to communicate with reading devices RD to read data carriers, such as for instance floppy disks, CD ROM's, DVD's FLASH cards, USB-sticks and the like and communication devices, such as antenna AN, arranged to communicate with other computer systems via (communication) network NE , such as a mobile telephone network, a GSM-network, a UMTS-network, a RF-network, (wireless) Internet etc.

However, it should be understood that there may be provided more and/or other memories, input devices, output devices and read devices known to persons skilled in the art. Moreover, one or more of them may be physically located remote from the processor unit PU, if required. The processor unit PU is shown as one box, however, it may comprise several processor units functioning in parallel or controlled by one main processor unit PU that may be located remote from one another, as is known to persons skilled in the art. It is observed that the connections between different hardware elements may be physical connections, but one or more of these connections can be wireless.

The processing unit PU may be a computer system, but can be any signal processing system with analogue and/or digital and/or software technology arranged to perform the functions discussed here. The processing unit PU may be connected to a position device PD or several positioning devices which supply the PU with its current position or information with which it can calculate that position. The positioning system used by the positioning device PD may be of any kind. It can be a satellite based positioning system or global navigation satellite system (GNSS), such as the GPS-system, the European Galileo system, the Russian GLONASS, the Japanese QSSZ and the Chinese Beidou. The positioning system may also be a terrestrial positioning system, using beacons positioned on land or sea that transmit signals comprising information that may be used by a receiver to determine its position. Such positioning systems may also be referred to as absolute positioning systems.

The positioning system may be a relative positioning system arranged to detect relative movement, such as distance meters, odometers or inertial systems and / or any combination of the above. The positioning system may also be a combination of an absolute and a relative positioning system.

The processing unit PU further comprises or has access to a digital map database DMD. The digital map database DMD may be stored in the memory described above, or may be stored in data carriers, such as for instance floppy disks, CD ROM's, DVD's, FLASH cards, USB-sticks and the like, readable by reading devices. The processing unit PU may be arranged to display a part of the digital map database DMD based on the determined current position on display DI, whereby the part of the digital map database displayed usually comprises the current position. Also, the digital map database DMD may be used to compute a route and corresponding navigation instructions for a user to navigate from a start position or the current position to a destination position. These instructions may be communicated to the user via spoken messages (e.g. "after 200 metres, turn right") using the speaker SP and/or via visual messages (e.g. an arrow indicating a right turn) using the display DI. The processing unit PU may further be arranged to receive input from the keyboard KE, for instance indicating the start and/or destination address. Alternatively input of characters can have been realized via menu options or via the display DI which has the form of a touch screen. Alternatively, input may be made using a wand or a remote controller or input may be made via spoken word into a microphone which is arranged to communicate with the processing unit PU and where the spoken word is translated to (machine readable) text using speech recognition algorithms that are known to one skilled in the art.

The navigation device ND is further arranged to set up a communication link with a remote server. The navigation device ND may comprise at least one communication device, such as antenna AN, arranged to communicate with other computer systems via a communication network NE, such as via a mobile telephone network, a GSM-network, a UMTS -network, a RF-network, (wireless) Internet etc. It will be understood that any other kind of communication device and/or communication network NE may be used. The navigation device ND may for instance be arranged to obtain weather information from a remote weather information source WS , such as a weather information station accessible by the navigation device ND. This information may be received via a mobile connection to obtain dynamic weather information. Also, the navigation device ND may have access to traffic information, for instance from a traffic server, to obtain dynamic traffic information. Furthermore, the navigation device ND may comprise or have access to an agenda or calendar.

The navigation device ND may further be arranged to process incoming data, such as weather information, traffic information, agenda information, context information (such as current position, current time, current time of the year, current health condition, etc.) in accordance with the embodiments described.

Digital map database

The navigation device ND comprises or has access to the digital map database DMD. The navigation device ND may be arranged to show part of the digital map database DMD based on the current position using the display DI . The navigation device ND may also be arranged to provide navigation instructions from a start position (for instance the current position) to a destination position, to guide the user to the destination address using the digital map database DMD available.

It will be understood that the term digital map database as used here does not necessarily refer to a database structure in the traditional way, i.e. does not imply relational structure between the database entries or a database manager coordinating the database. The digital map database DMD as used here refers to any set of geospatial information, regardless of the exact way the information is structured.

Digital map databases DMD, also known as geospatial databases, navigation maps or electronic maps, are known in the prior art. Digital map databases DMD in common usage today may comprise a set of geospatial points and a set of vectors, representing (parts of) roads or other linear geographic objects or the boundary of an area object, connecting geospatial points. Digital map databases may contain information related to geographic location(s) of objects like roads, but also other objects with a geographic position, such as points of interest (museum, restaurant), (underground) parkings, tunnels, bridges and the like. Additional information may be comprised about these objects like street names, access restrictions, maximum allowable driving speed, bridge heights, telephone numbers of POFs etc. (POI: point of interest). In addition, digital map databases DMD may contain areas with corresponding information like administrative areas, countries, land cover units like woods and pasture areas. Also 3 dimensional representations of the terrain, of buildings or of land marks may be contained. In this application, the term digital map database DMD is used to denote all kinds of electronic and digital maps. The digital map database DMD may further also comprise information about type of environment (urban, rural, forest, agriculture) and the like.

Also, 3D digital map databases DMD may be provided comprising three dimensional information, for instance about objects such as buildings, trees, rocks, mountains, tunnels, (underground) parkings etc. Such a 3D digital map database DMD may comprise information about the position of objects including the horizontal and vertical dimensions of such objects. The 3D digital map database DMD may also comprise information about the shape of a building and its roof.

In this text the term location is used to refer to any identifiable object in the digital map database, i.e. any object comprised by digital map database DMD that may be used as a destination by the user. Examples are: point of interest (POI) , address, road, area, city, address, zip code area etc.

Embodiments

The prior art discloses navigation devices that are arranged to provide the user with weather information. However, there is no link between the weather information and preferred weather conditions, preferred locations, such as POFs, preferred activities, agenda calendar information. So, there is no recommendation or planning option.

This text refers to preferred weather conditions. This term is used to refer to preferred weather criteria that are set (e.g. by a user of the manufacturer) for a particular location and/or purpose.

The below embodiments are based on the insight that weather information accessible to the navigation device ND (e.g. provided to a user as an Internet application) can be used in a more intelligent way. Embodiments are provided wherein the weather information is used in interaction with the navigation and/or route planning functionality of the navigation device ND. Interaction with further software tools may be provided, such as an agenda. For instance, suppose a user likes wind surfing and has a number of favourite wind surfing locations (Nieuwpoort, Westende, ... ). However, wind surfing is preferably done under certain specific weather conditions, for instance over 23°C, over 4 Beaufort, wind direction NE, wave height of maximal 2 meter. Possibly, the user will take into account further conditions when planning a wind surfing trip, such as traffic information (no long traffic jams - at most half an hour of extra travel time is accepted), agenda information (no meetings scheduled), etc..

A user may not have time to check the weather conditions and the possible further conditions (traffic, agenda).

Therefore, in the embodiments a navigation device ND (e.g. provided as an Internet application) is provided that is arranged to process on a regular basis all activities that are preferred by the user with respect to the preferred weather conditions and possible further conditions.

The navigation device ND may be arranged to inform the user a few days

(depending on the length of the weather prediction) in advance in case all conditions are satisfied. In order to determine this, the navigation device ND may use weather information (current weather situation and/or weather prediction) and possibly further information, such as agenda information, traffic information etc.

Possible trips including a destination are presented by the navigation device ND as a proposal to the user. The user may be provided with the option to cancel the proposal, accept the proposal (which may automatically be put in the agenda of the user) or ask the navigation device ND to re-check and re-inform on a later moment until the day of the trip, using updated weather in formation and possible further information.

According to an example, the agenda may notify the user at an appropriate time that a trip, such as a wind surfing trip, is planned. A final check may be executed, taking into account current weather information and current further information, such as current traffic information. The navigation device ND may provide the user with navigation instructions guiding the user to the appropriate location. Also, a user who is on holiday may be in a rainy region, while at the same time good weather conditions are present or are predicted for a nearby location. The navigation device ND may check on regular time intervals if better weather conditions are present or better weather conditions are predicted in the vicinity of the current location and if so, inform the user of such places by suggesting a destination to the user.

Below a number of embodiments are described in which weather information is used by the navigation device ND to suggest a number of destinations to the user. Of course, if no destination is found, no destination is suggested. According to a further example, the navigation device ND may comprise or have access to the agenda in which events are scheduled, possibly comprising an activity, a time and date and a location. The event may further have preferred weather conditions associated with it and the navigation device ND may be arranged to check if the preferred weather conditions meet obtained weather information, i.e. weather forecast. If not, the navigation device ND may be arranged to inform the user about this, so the user is given the option to cancel the event.

Fig. 2a schematically depicts a flow diagram as may be executed by the navigation device ND according to an embodiment. As described above, the navigation device ND may comprise a processor unit PU having access to a memory arranged to comprise a digital map database DMD and the digital map database DMD may comprise a plurality of locations, including points of interest POI. The navigation device ND is arranged to obtain weather information from a weather information source. The weather information source may be a remote weather information station that is accessible by the navigation device ND via a suitable communication link, for instance via the internet.

In a first action 201 the navigation device ND makes a selection from the digital map database DMD. This selection can be made in many ways. The selection from the digital map database DMD can be made by defining an area with respect to a location in the digital map database DMD. The location may be a location that is inputted by a user, for instance by inputting an address or part of an address, or for instance a region or district. According to an alternative, the location may be a current location of the navigation device ND . Such a current location may be obtained from a position device PD or several positioning devices which supply the navigation device ND with a current location or information with which the navigation device ND can calculate the current location. The area may be a circular or rectangular shaped area surrounding the location.

Of course, any other suitable area shape may be used. The dimensions of the area may be defined by a predetermined or inputted distance (e.g. 5km, 25km or 100km) or traveling time (e.g. 1 hour by car).

The selection from the digital map database DMD may also be defined as a city, region, country, zip code, or one or more coordinates etc. that is inputted by a user. Inputting three or more coordinates defines a polygon which defines an area that may be the selection from the digital map database DMD.

According to an alternative the selection is made by using input from a user. This input may be input while performing the flow diagram of Fig. 2a or may be input on a previous moment in time and stored in the navigation device ND.

The user may for instance provide input to the navigation device ND informing the navigation device ND with selection criteria. The selection criteria may specify a number of locations, such as addresses or points of interest POFs (Rijksmuseum) and/or a number of categories of points of interest (museum). For instance, the user may input that he/she is specially interest in lakes and museums. According to such an alternative, the selection from the digital map database DMD is made based on selection criteria input by a user, defining a number of locations, such as a number of POFs and/or a number of POI-categories.

According to an alternative, the selection is made by the navigation device ND by selecting those locations which have preferred weather conditions associated with them. This preferred weather conditions stored in memory ME can be based on previous input received from a user or may be pre-stored in the navigation device ND or digital map database DMD, for instance by a manufacturer making assumptions about the preferred weather conditions for different locations, such as points of interest POFs and/or categories of points of interest POI.

According to an alternative, the selection is made by the navigation device ND by accessing an agenda and check for scheduled events that have associated preferred weather information and a location. This alternative is explained in more detail below with reference to Fig. 2c.

Of course, also a combination of the above mentioned ways to make a selection may be used, for instance by only selecting locations having associated weather conditions and are within a certain distance/travelling time from a defined location.

In a next action 202, the navigation device ND obtains weather information for the selection. This weather information may be obtained from a weather information source WS . The weather information source WS may be provided on a remote server that is accessible by the navigation device ND, by establishing a communication link via an appropriate communication network NE as described above with reference to Fig. 1.

According to an embodiment, the digital map database DMD may comprise locations, such as points of interest POI, that have associated links. The links may be an address that points to a page or other file (image, video, PDF, etc.) on a server, for instance via the Internet. The links may be activated by the navigation device ND to obtain weather information. According to this embodiment, the weather information may be obtained by activating a link comprised by the digital map database DMD associated with a specific location within the selection from the digital map database DMD. A digital map database DMD comprising such links is described in more detail below.

The weather information may comprise current weather information for the specific location. This provides the navigation device with real-time weather information, i.e. real-time with respect to the time scale of weather changes. The term current or real-time weather information as used here also encompasses weather information that is for instance a few hours (e.g. 1 hour, 2 hours or 4 hours) old.

However, the weather information may also comprise recent weather information that for instance is 12 hours, 1 day or 2 days old. So, according to an embodiment the weather information may further comprise recent weather information. The weather information may further comprise predicted weather information, also referred to as a weather forecast. This predicted weather information may comprise weather information as predicted for the coming hours or days, for instance up to 3, 5 or 10 days. So, according to this embodiment, the weather information may comprise predicted weather information.

The weather information may comprise one of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, snow, hail, fog ... According to an embodiment, the navigation device ND is arranged to communicate with dynamic weather information stored on decentralised weather information sources WS. Depending on the current location of the navigation device, the navigation device ND accesses all decentralized weather information sources WS which contain information within the selection made in action 201. According to this embodiment, the navigation device ND is arranged to select which decentralized weather information sources WS are to be accessed based on the selection made in action 201.

Of course, the decentralized weather information sources WS may also be accessible via one centralized weather information source WS. The weather information source WS may comprise a memory with locations

(such as names of cities, POFs, airports, ski resorts and the like) and related weather information.

Action 202 may be performed by connecting to the relevant remote server or servers which checks all names of main cities (> 100.000 inhabitants or city centre that is marked as a point of interest) within the selection made under action 201. This selection of cities etc. may be done by the remote server or may be done by the navigation device ND. In this last example the selection may be stored in a txt file which is send to the relevant server.

Of course, many alternative ways of obtaining weather information may be conceived. According to an alternative, a request for weather information may also be based upon (current) location information (coordinates) of the navigation device ND, for instance obtained from the position device PD.

Also, weather information may be obtained for all points of interest in the selected area, or weather information may only be obtained for only those locations and/or points of interest POI having associated preferred weather conditions, or weather information may only be obtained for locations and/or points of interest POI selected by a user. In a next action 203 the navigation device ND obtains preferred weather conditions. The preferred weather conditions may only be obtained for the selection from the digital map database DMD. The preferred weather conditions may be user- dependent and may be received as input from a user or may be retrieved from memory. The memory ME may be used to store preferred weather conditions that were previously input by a user.

It will be understood that actions 201, 202 and 203 may be closely related and may also be performed in a different order. For instance, in case that the selection from the digital map database DMD is made by selecting those locations such as points of interest or categories of points of interest POI that have associated preferred weather conditions, action 203 may be performed before action 201. Therefore, it will be understood that Fig. 2 only shows a possible embodiment and alternative embodiments may perform similar actions in a different order.

As described above with reference to action 201, the digital map database DMD may comprise at least one location having associated preferred weather conditions. The navigation device ND may be arranged to retrieve this preferred weather conditions from the digital map database. Of course, the preferred weather conditions may also be stored in memory ME separate from the digital map database DMD. According to an embodiment, the navigation device ND is arranged to receive preferred weather conditions based on input generated by a user. During the execution of the flow diagram as described with reference to Fig.'s 2a - c, the navigation device ND may ask the user to input preferred weather conditions for certain locations such as points of interest POI or categories of points of interest POI. According to this embodiment there is provided a navigation device ND arranged to obtain preferred weather conditions from input generated by a user.

The preferred weather conditions may comprise at least one of a maximum and/or minimum temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, snow, hail, fog, snow heights, thunder storm, tornado's ... It will be understood that the preferred weather conditions for a beach may be expressed as a minimum temperature, where the preferred weather conditions for a lake (for wind surfing) may be expressed as a minimum and maximum wind speed, while the preferred weather conditions for a museum may be expressed as a maximum temperature.

The preferred weather conditions may further comprise a duration requirement, such as that it should be sunny for at least the coming two days, or that there should at least be more than 4 Beaufort wind speed for the next 6 hours.

Based on the above the navigation device ND compares the preferred weather conditions with the weather information in action 204. This comparison is done only for the selection made in action 201. The comparison may be done for each location within the selection having associated preferred weather conditions. In case the selection comprises a category of points of interest POI, each point of interest POI from the category within the selection is considered.

The navigation device ND may be arranged to compare the obtained weather information to the preferred weather conditions, for instance by running a statistical program that calculates what location (e.g. city) has the highest chance of having the best weather conditions on the relevant day(s) all depending on what was initially requested by the user.

The actual computations performed by the navigation device ND (or the processor unit PU) may be done in many ways. For instance, the received weather information for the selected area (e.g. max radius of 100 km or max driving distance of 200 km or maxing driving time of 2 hours), is imported on the navigation device ND. For each location within the selected area for which weather information can be found, the weather information (hours sun shine, temperature, rain hours, humidity, wind speeds, ...) are collected. According to an alternative, only weather information is obtained for those locations having associated preferred weather conditions. The collected weather information and the preferred weather information may be put in a table. Depending on the preferred weather conditions, the navigation device ND compares the preferred weather conditions for all the relevant locations within the selected area. For instance, if in the selected area (selection of the digital map database DMD), ten relevant locations are located, the preferred weather conditions are compared to the received weather conditions for these ten locations. This may result the following table:

In action 210 the navigation device ND outputs results of the comparison performed in action 204. The output may comprise at least one location from the selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any (further explained with reference to Fig. 2b) and/or the output may comprise at least one scheduled event that does not meet the associated preferred weather conditions (further explained with reference to Fig. 2c).

In summary, Fig. 2a describes a navigation device arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database DMD (action 201), b) obtain weather information for the selection (action 202), c) obtain preferred weather conditions (action 203), d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (action 204), e) output results of the comparison, if any (action 210). Further described is a method to be performed by a navigation device ND, the navigation device ND having access to a digital map database (DMD), the digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations, the method comprising a) making a selection from the digital map database (DMD), b) obtaining weather information for the selection, c) obtaining preferred weather conditions, d) comparing the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) outputting results of the comparison, if any (action 210).

Fig. 2b shows a flow diagram in accordance with Fig. 2a, wherein action 210 comprises outputting at least one location from the selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any. In this action, the navigation device ND in facts outputs a number of suggested destinations, for instance using display DI as shown in Fig. 2b.

In summary, Fig. 2b describes a navigation device arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database DMD (action 201), b) obtain weather information for the selection (action 202), c) obtain preferred weather conditions (action 203), d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (action 204), e) output at least one location from the selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any (action 210b).

Further described is a method to be performed by a navigation device ND, the navigation device ND having access to a digital map database (DMD), the digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations, the method comprising a) making a selection from the digital map database (DMD), b) obtaining weather information for the selection, c) obtaining preferred weather conditions, d) comparing the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) outputting at least one location from the selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any (action 210b).

Fig. 2c shows a flow diagram in accordance with Fig. 2a, wherein action 210 comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the associated preferred weather conditions, if any. In this action, the navigation device ND in facts informs the user of scheduled events that may have to be cancelled because of the weather prediction, for instance using display DI as shown in Fig. 2c.

In summary, Fig. 2c describes a navigation device arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database DMD (action 201), b) obtain weather information for the selection (action 202), c) obtain preferred weather conditions (action 203), d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (action 204), e) output at least one location event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions, if any (action 210c).

Further described is a method to be performed by a navigation device ND, the navigation device ND having access to a digital map database (DMD), the digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations, the method comprising a) making a selection from the digital map database (DMD), b) obtaining weather information for the selection, c) obtaining preferred weather conditions, d) comparing the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) outputting at least one location event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions, if any (action 210c).

Fig. 3 schematically depicts a flow diagram according to a further embodiment. Fig. 3 comprises the same actions as Fig.'s 2a - c including additional actions 205, 206 and 207 which will be described below.

According to this embodiment, the navigation device ND not only takes into account weather information when suggesting a destination, but also takes into account further preferred conditions. These further conditions may relate to traffic conditions, agenda conditions, context conditions. The context conditions may relate to many conditions, such as current position, current time, current time of the year (no surfing in the winter), current health condition. The navigation device ND may have knowledge of your current health condition (low, high blood pressure etc ...). The navigation device ND may be arranged to determine or measure such context information or obtain this context information from a remote device.

According to this embodiment the navigation device is further arranged to perform action 205 in which further information is obtained, such as traffic information, agenda information, preferred activities with associated locations, maximum travelling time, although these last two may also be used in action 201 for selection of part of the digital map database DMD.

This further information may be obtained from a remote computer via a suitable communication link or from the navigation device ND itself. For instance, traffic information may be obtained from a remote traffic source. Agenda information may be obtained from a digital agenda running on the navigation device ND, or running on a same or other computer accessible by the navigation device ND.

In a next action 206, the navigation device ND may obtain preferred further conditions. These preferred further conditions may be stored in the navigation device ND in association with specific locations, such as points of interest or categories of points of interest and may be pre-stored on the navigation device ND by a manufacturer or by a user or linked by various methods in an Internet application. The preferred further conditions may also be inputted by a user upon request of the navigation device ND while executing the flow diagram.

The preferred further condition may be formulated as a traffic condition that a destination may only be suggested if there is no traffic jam on the way to that destination or no traffic jam predicted.

The preferred further condition may also be formulated as a condition that the respective location, for instance a point of interest being a ski resort, has opened for the season.

The preferred further condition may be formulated as an agenda condition that at least 4 hours free time should be available for travelling to the suggested location.

The preferred further condition may be formulated as a POI condition in that the ski resort has opened for the season, or that a museum visit is scheduled during opening hours of the museum.

In a next action 207 the preferred further conditions are compared to the further conditions.

In action 210 at least location from the first selection are output for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions and the further information meets the preferred further conditions, if any.

In summary, Fig. 3 describes a navigation device arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database DMD (action 201), b) obtain weather information for the selection (action 202), bl) obtain further information, such as traffic information, agenda information,

... (action 205) c) obtain preferred weather conditions (action 203), cl) obtain preferred further conditions associated with the first selection, such as traffic conditions, agenda conditions, ... (action 206) d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (action 204), dl) compare the preferred further conditions with the further conditions (action

207), e) output the results of the comparison.

As in Fig. 2b and 2c, action e) may also comprise

- outputting at least one location from the first selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions and the further information meets the preferred further conditions, if any (action 210);

- outputting at least one event that does not meet preferred weather conditions.

According to a further embodiment, the navigation device ND is arranged to receive a selection made by a user from the suggested locations and process this selection as a destination. The navigation device ND may process the selected location interest and load it as a destination. The navigation device ND may further compute a route and navigation instructions to the selected location as will be understood by a skilled person. So, the navigation device ND may be arranged to perform f) receive a selection of the at least one location outputted in action e) and compute navigation instructions (also referred to as directions or routing directions) to the selected location.

Below, a few further examples are provided.

Personalised proposed leisure services

According to a first example the embodiments described above may be used to find a location according to preferred activities and preferred weather conditions, calendar information and context information. The navigation device ND may be arranged to propose for instance for today or the next three following days a trip - route to a location, taking into account the complete combination of time - personal preferences (leisure preferences, POI preferences, preferred weather conditions to visit a preferred location or a combination of preferred locations), calendar information, context information and weather information. As an additional feature, the navigation device ND may be arranged to show the weather information for the suggested or selected destination on the estimated time of arrival.

So, the navigation device ND may be arranged to suggest a destination taking into account a selection or combination of: one location selection, such as a selection of one or more categories of points of interest (especially related to outdoor activities), such as o city center - for city walk o national park - out outdoor walking o lakes with water sport activities o beaches o ski resorts o hotels o - a combination of location selections (each location may have its own associated preferred weather conditions) a maximum distance or maximum travel time a single preferred weather condition for the day a combined preferred weather condition for the day - a single preferred weather condition for the next days a combined preferred weather condition for the next days.

A single preferred weather condition is one parameter (temperature > 20⁰C), where combined preferred weather conditions are two or more parameters (temperature > 20⁰C and wind direction north and wind speed 4 - 6 Beaufort). This results in a suggested destination to a location with maximum travel time or maximum amount of kilometres to drive and preferred weather conditions.

This example can be performed by a navigation device ND that is arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database DMD (action 201) based on preferred locations and maximum travel time or maximum amount of kilometres to drive, b) obtain weather information for the selection (action 202), c) obtain preferred weather conditions (action 203) in the form of single or combined preferred weather conditions for the (next) day(s), d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (action 204), e) output the results of the comparison. Again, action e) may also comprise - outputting at least one location from the first selection for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions and the further information meets the preferred further conditions, if any (action 210);

Find weather

According to a second example the embodiments described above may be used to find a location according to preferred weather conditions. For instance, when on a rainy holiday, the navigation device ND may be arranged to search for a sunny location.

So, the navigation device ND may be arranged to suggest a destination (action 210) based on a current position or a selected position and an amount of maximum number of kilometres to drive or a maximum travelling time (defining a selection of the digital map database, action 201), that is sunny, on the condition that the sun is shining there at least the coming 2 days (according to preferred weather conditions including duration requirement, action 203). So, according to this example, a user may "ask" the navigation device: "Navigate me to a location where complete weekend is sunny with max driving distance of 200 km" .

Accordingly, the navigation device ND may be arranged to find

- the shortest route to a sunny beach, - the fastest route to a sunny - good snow covered - ski resort,

- the shortest route to a lake with wind conditions of 4 to 5 Beaufort,

- fastest route a national park, with sunny weather forecast for next 2 days,

- fastest route to nearest tornado (for tornado watchers).

Asking for the shortest or fastest route may be done by adding a maximum travelling distance or time to the query to make a selection from the digital map database, including an indication of what type of locations (e.g. category of points of interests POI) are wanted (action 201). The query further comprises preferred weather conditions (action 203). With this information, the navigation device ND is able to perform actions 201 - 210.

A single location may comprise one or more sets of preferred weather conditions, for instance a location on the beach may comprise a first set of preferred weather conditions for sun-bathing and a second set of preferred weather conditions for windsurfing. These two sets of preferred weather conditions may be opposite.

So, the navigation device ND may be arranged to suggest a destination (action 210) based on a current position or a selected position and an amount of maximum number of kilometres to drive or a maximum travelling time (defining a selection of the digital map database, action 201), that is sunny, on the condition that the sun is shining there at least the coming 2 days (according to preferred weather conditions including duration requirement, action 203).

Best weather According to an alternative, the navigation device ND may be arranged to select a a number of best weather locations. By comparing different sets of preferred weather locations of different locations with the respective weather information, a selection of locations can be made having relatively the best predicted weather conditions. See for instance the table below, which is a copy of the table used above, with an additional row.

In this case, two locations (Westende, North Sea) meet the preferred weather conditions. However, since the predicted temperature at the North Sea is better than in Westende, the location North Sea will be ranked higher than the location Westende. With better is meant that the weather information for the North Sea further overshoots the threshold defined by the preferred weather conditions. So, the North Sea is ranked higher not because the predicted temperature is higher (23°C > 21⁰C), but because 23°C for the North Sea overshoots the threshold of 20⁰C with 3⁰C, where 21⁰C for Westende only overshoots the threshold of 21°C with just 1°C.

By applying such comparison algorithms, different locations can be compared, and the navigation device ND may be arranged to output a top ten or the like to the user.

In the example provided above with reference to the table, the preferred weather conditions for the two locations where the same, but it will be understood that the same comparison may be applied with respect to locations having different associated preferred weather locations.

According to an alternative, the preferred weather conditions are pre-stored and set at a remote server. This allows the user to contact the server to obtain for instance a top ten of best weather locations.

User input

According to an embodiment there is provided a navigation device ND, wherein the navigation device ND is arranged to

- store the preferred weather conditions in association with the respective locations. The navigation device ND is arranged to receive preferred weather conditions in association with a location and/or a type of location (museums) and store the preferred weather conditions in association with the location and/or the type of location.

According to an embodiment there is provided a navigation device, wherein the navigation apparatus is further arranged to - receive preferred further conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

- store the preferred further conditions in association with the respective locations. The navigation device is arranged to receive preferred further conditions in association with a location, for instance a point of interest and/or a type of point of interest and store the preferred further conditions in association with the location.

Of course, this information may be stored locally but may also be stored on a remote server or the like.

The navigation device ND may be arranged to receive the preferred weather and/or further conditions from a user via input devices such as keyboard, touch screen or via the input output device from a remote computer or from a reading device RD.

The navigation device ND may be arranged to store the preferred weather and/or further conditions in memory ME as part of the digital map database DMD or as separate data file that can be used in combination with the digital map database. The preferred weather and/or further conditions may also be stored at a remote memory, for instance at a server.

The preferred weather conditions and/or the preferred further conditions may also be stored in a digital map database DMD or a separate file by a manufacturer and distributed as such.

Therefore, according to an embodiment there is provided a digital map database DMD comprising preferred weather conditions in association with a location, such as a point of interest and/or a type of point of interest. Furthermore there is provided a digital map database DMD comprising preferred further conditions in association with a location, such as a point of interest and/or a type of point of interest.

Of course, a location may have more than one set of preferred weather conditions associated with it. For instance, a beach may have a first set of preferred weather conditions for sun bathing (temperature is greater than 20⁰C) and may have a second set of preferred weather conditions for surfing (wind is between 4 - 6 Beaufort). Also a mountain resort may have a first set of preferred weather conditions for hiking and a second set of preferred weather conditions for skiing.

The navigation device ND may be arranged to allow a user to make a selection of locations and preferred weather conditions. Furthermore, the user may indicate a maximum travel time or travel distance. Based on these input parameters, the navigation device ND is arranged to compute an area of interest and to select relevant locations located in the area of interest. The navigation device ND is then arranged to create a table comprising all city names (taken from the address labels of the locations) of the selected locations. This table is sent to the weather source WS together with a XML request to obtain weather information for these cities (day, minimum temperature, maximum temperature, rainfall, snow conditions, hours of sun, wind conditions...).

The weather source WS returns an xml request with the requested weather information for each city in the table.

The navigation device is arranged to compare the weather information to the preferred weather conditions, for instance as explained above with reference to the table.

Existing tools may be used for this action. Internet tools are available which can be used for an implementation into a users navigation device. Such a tool can help with simplifying the graphic representation and preparation of meteo data.

The comparison may result in a top list (e.g. top 10 list) of cities where the weather information (forecast) equals or matches the preferred weather conditions. The navigation device ND then transforms this top 10 list into the related original locations and shows the location on the digital map database or in a list allowing the user to select (click) a location to show details about the weather information for the selected location. The user is further enabled to select a location as destination for which the navigation device ND will compute a route.

Extended digital map database

According to an alternative, locations are given an additional attribute, i.e. a link to a weather source. This may be locations that are selected by a user as favourites, or locations selected by a manufacturer of a digital map database DMD.

Allowing the user to select the locations provides a very flexible system and allows the user to tailor the tool according to his/her preferences.

Letting the manufacturer select the locations has the advantage that the manufacturer can make sure that weather information is indeed available for the selected locations where a user may select a location that is too small to be recognized by the weather source WS.

So, according to an embodiment there is provided a digital map database DMD comprising a plurality of locations comprising preferred weather conditions in association with a location, such as a point of interest and/or a type of point of interest, and possibly further comprising preferred further conditions in association with the locations. Also, a digital map database is provided, wherein the digital map database comprises links associated with locations to obtain weather information for the associated locations.

The additional information regarding preferred weather conditions and/or links or references to weather information may be comprised in the digital map database DMD in many different ways. The digital map database may for instance be formed by superposition of different data layers, where a first data layer may for instance comprise locations, roads and objects and the like, where a second data layer may comprise address information. According to an embodiment, a weather data layer may be added comprising the preferred weather data and/or weather information or links to sources of weather information. The different data layers may function independently, but may also be linked to allow interaction. In another embodiment, the various data and information may not be provided as layers but constructed into a Virtual Database using for instance a linking mechanism such as a Universal Location Reference Object. This is for instance further explained in filed patent application "METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR CREATING UNIVERSAL LOCATION REFERENCING OBJECTS (ULROs)", Application number: 11/271,436 and filing date: November 10, 2005. Also incorporated by reference is filed patent application "SYSTEM AND

METHOD FOR PROVIDING A VIRTUAL DATABASE ENVIRONMENT AND GENERATING DIGITAL MAP INFORMATION", Application number: 11/742,937 and filing date: May 1, 2007, describing a system and method to create virtual maps in a dynamic, run-time fashion.

Computer program

The methods described above may be performed by a navigation device formed as a computer device. Therefore, there is also provided a computer program that, when loaded on a computer arrangement, is arranged to perform any one of the methods described. Also provided is a data carrier, comprising such a computer program.

This computer program may be executed by two or more computers interacting with each other. The computer program may be exectued by a first computer, being a server, and a second computer, being a personal computer or the like, interacting via an Internet connection. In fact also further computers may be involved, for instance providing agenda information, traffic information, weather information etc. So, the computer program may be made accessible to a user in the form of an Internet application.

Further remarks

In this text some actions are attributed to the processor unit PU and some are attributed to the navigation device ND. However, it will be understood that this is an irrelevant difference as actions performed by the navigation device ND may be performed by the processor unit PU and actions performed by the processor unit PU are performed by the navigation device ND comprising the processor unit PU.

Furthermore, the term Navigation Device ND is used here generically. It will be understood that an Internet application or the like may be used which does not have a position determining device. It will be further understood that the invention does not in all cases need a current position to provide its output nor does it need a device that has positioning determination or routing capabilities to offer the basic output. The embodiments as described here may be provided to an end user by a local navigation device or personal computer or the like, but may be also be provided as an Internet tool. Also, a combination of these two possibilities is possible. Furthermore, it will be understood that the term "location" not only refers to actual points, but may also refer to countries, areas, lakes, rivers, cities, addresses, etc. For the purpose of teaching the invention, preferred embodiments of the method and devices of the invention were described. It will be apparent for the person skilled in the art that other alternative and equivalent embodiments of the invention can be conceived and reduced to practice without departing from the true spirit of the invention, the scope of the invention being only limited by the annexed claims.

Claims

1. Navigation device (ND), comprising a processor unit (PU) having access to a memory arranged to comprise a digital map database (DMD), the digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations, such as point of interests (POI), where the navigation device (ND) is arranged to obtain weather information from a weather information source, the navigation device (ND) is arranged to a) make a selection from the digital map database (DMD), b) obtain weather information for the selection, c) obtain preferred weather conditions, d) compare the preferred weather conditions with the weather information, e) output results of the comparison.

2. Navigation device according to claim 1, wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one location for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any.

3. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein action a) is done based on events scheduled having associated preferred weather conditions and a location, and wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions.

4. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the selection from the digital map database (DMD) is made by defining an area with respect to a position, such as an input position or a current position of the navigation device.

5. Navigation device according to any one of the claims 1 - 3, wherein the selection from the digital map database (DMD) is defined as a city, region, country, zip code, address, one or more coordinate sets etc.

6. Navigation device according to any one of the claims 1 - 3, wherein the selection from the digital map database (DMD) is made based on selection criteria input by a user, defining one or a number of locations .

7. Navigation device according to any one of the claims 1 - 3, wherein the selection from the digital map database (DMD) is a number of locations, having associated preferred weather conditions.

8. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the weather information is obtained by activating a link associated with a specific location within the selection from the digital map database (DMD).

9. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the weather information comprises at least one of current weather information, recent weather information and predicted weather information.

10. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the weather information comprise at least one of temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, smog/air quality, snow, hail, snow base heights, new snow accumulations, tide times and heights, currents, thunder storm, hail, tornado's ...

11. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the digital map database comprises at least one location having preferred weather conditions and the navigation device (ND) is arranged to obtain the preferred weather conditions from the digital map database (DMD) or the memory for instance from a program or datafile on the Internet.

12. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the navigation device ND is arranged to obtain preferred weather conditions from input generated by a user.

13. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the preferred weather conditions comprise at least one of a maximum and/or minimum temperature, wind speed, wind direction, air pressure, precipitation, humidity, rain, fog, smog/air quality, snow, hail, snow base heights, new snow accumulations, tide times and heights, currents, thunder storm, hail, tornado's ...

14. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the navigation device (ND) is further arranged to bl) obtain further information, comprising at least one of: traffic information, agenda information, context information, cl) obtain preferred further conditions, comprising at least one of: traffic conditions, agenda conditions, context conditions, dl) compare the preferred further conditions with the further conditions, and action e) comprises output results of the comparison.

15. Navigation device according to claim 14, wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one location for which the weather information and the further information meets the preferred weather conditions and preferred conditions, if any.

16. Navigation device according to claim 15, wherein action a) is done based on events scheduled having associated preferred weather conditions, preferred further conditions and a location, and wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions and preferred further conditions.

17. Navigation device according to any one of the claims 14 - 16, wherein the context information and the context conditions relate to at least one of: current position, current time, current time of the year, current health, etc

18. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the navigation device (ND) is further arranged to f) receive a selection of the at least one location outputted in action e) and compute navigation instructions to the selected location.

19. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the navigation device (ND) is arranged to receive preferred weather conditions in association with a location and store the preferred weather conditions in association with the location.

20. Navigation device according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the navigation device (ND) is arranged to receive preferred further conditions in association with a location and store the preferred further conditions in association with the location.

21. Navigation apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the navigation apparatus is arranged to

22. Navigation apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the navigation apparatus is further arranged to

- receive preferred further conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

- store the preferred further conditions in association with the respective locations.

23. Digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations comprising at least one set of preferred weather conditions in association with the respective location.

24. Digital map database according to claim 23 comprising preferred further conditions in association with the respective type of location, such as a type of point of interest.

25. Digital map database according to any one of the claims 23 - 24, wherein the digital map database comprises links associated with locations to obtain weather information for the associated locations.

26. Method to be performed by a navigation device ND, the navigation device ND having access to a digital map database (DMD), the digital map database (DMD) comprising a plurality of locations, such as points of interest (POI), the method comprising a) making a selection from the digital map database (201), b) obtaining weather information for the selection (202), c) obtaining preferred weather conditions (203), d) comparing the preferred weather conditions with the weather information (204), e) outputting results of the comparison (210).

27. Method according to claim 26, wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one location for which the weather information meets the preferred weather conditions, if any.

28. Method according to claim 26, wherein action a) is done based on events scheduled having associated preferred weather conditions and a location, and wherein action e) comprises outputting at least one event that does not meet the preferred weather conditions.

29. Method according to claim 28, wherein the method further comprises bl) obtaining further information, comprising at least one of: traffic information, agenda information, context information (205), cl) obtaining further preferred conditions, comprising at least one of: traffic conditions, agenda conditions, context conditions (206) and dl) comparing the preferred further conditions with the further conditions (207), and action e) comprises e) outputting results of the comparison.

30. Method according to any one of the claims 26 - 29, wherein the method further comprises

- receiving preferred weather conditions associated with a selection of locations, and

31. Method according to claim 30, wherein the method further comprises

- storing the preferred further conditions in association with the respective locations.

32. Computer program that, when loaded on a computer arrangement, is arranged to perform any one of the methods according to claims 26 - 31.

33. Data carrier, comprising a computer program according to claim 32.