Trimble Navigation Limited

William O Dussell

James M Janky

John F Schipper

David J Cowl

A task description is stored in a database accessible by a mobile computer system. The mobile computer system receives positioning information corresponding to its geographic location and indexes the database based on the positioning information when the information indicates that the mobile computer system is in a geographic location that facilitates completion of a task associated with the task description. The database may be resident in the mobile computer system or accessible in other ways, for example, via the Internet. The task description preferably includes a geocode which corresponds to the geographic location at which completion of the task may be facilitated. The task description may also include textual, voice or other message which can be displayed and/or played back to a user. The positioning information may be obtained from a GPS satellite, a GLONASS satellite or a pseudolite. The mobile computer system may be a portable unit, such as a PDA, or integrated within a vehicle.

Position based personal digital assistant

Apparatus for determining the present location of, or time of observation by, an observer in the vicinity of the Earth's surface. The apparatus provides a Satellite Positioning System (SATPS), such as GPS or GLONASS, in a portable device or card that is built to the I.E.E.E. PC/104 Standard, which is a variation of the I.E.E.E. P996 Standard for personal computer buses. The PC/104/SATPS Card includes an SATPS antenna to receive (and frequency downconvert, if necessary) SATPS signals from one or more SATPS satellites, a microprocessor programmed to receive the SATPS signals from the antenna and to perform calculations to determine the spatial location of the antenna and/or the time of observation by the antenna. The PC/104/SATPS Card has a buffer and a format translator to compensate for SATPS signal latency and for differences in SATPS signal arrival rate and PC/104 signal processing rate and/or to translate signals from SATPS format to whatever format the microprocessor uses. The PC/104/SATPS Card optionally has a keyboard, pen-and-tablet or other information entry means, optionally includes an information transfer module for transferring information from the PC/104/SATPS Card to another electronic apparatus for further signal processing or for display of the location of, or time of observation by, the antenna, and optionally includes a display module for displaying the location of, or time of observation by, the antenna in a visually perceptible manner on the card itself.

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Pescadero, CA, United States of America

William O Dussell