Method and apparatus for predicting destinations

1. A computer-implemented method of predicting a destination of a user of a mobile device, comprising:

selecting a plurality of geographic locations as a group of possible destinations based on a first location of the mobile device;

determining a route from the first location to each of the geographic locations of the group of possible destinations according to one or more route planning criteria and digital map data; and

updating the group of possible destinations based upon: (i) a second location of the mobile device; (ii) and a change in an attribute of a route between the second location and each geographic location of the group of possible destinations,

wherein the updating comprises: removing one or more geographic locations from the group of possible destinations in response to the attribute indicating that the mobile device is travelling away from those geographic locations; and adding one or more geographic locations to the group of possible destinations based upon the second location of the mobile device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attribute is one of a journey time or distance of the route to each geographic location in the group of possible destinations.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the removal of one or more geographic locations from the group of possible destinations is in response to the journey time exceeding a predetermined time from a lowest encountered journey duration.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the updating comprises determining a probability associated with each geographic location of the group of possible destinations based on the change in the attribute and a sum of all attributes of the geographic locations of the group, wherein the probability is indicative of the respective geographic location being proximal to the user's actual destination.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more geographic locations are selected according to a predetermined distance from the first location.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more geographic locations are added to the group of possible destinations according to a predetermined distance from the second location.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising displaying on a display device an indication of each of the geographic locations of the group of possible destinations.

8. The method of claim 7 , comprising displaying on the display device a representation of the digital map data including the indication of each of the geographic locations and an indication of one or more road segments forming the route to each geographic location.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the location of the mobile device is determined by a location determining module arranged to receive global navigation satellite signals.

10. An apparatus arranged to predict a destination of a user, comprising: a processor; and a memory, accessible to the processor, storing digital map data representative of a geographic region, wherein the processor is arranged to:

select a plurality of geographic locations as a group of possible destinations based on a first location of a mobile device;

determine a route from the first location to each of the geographic locations of the group of possible destinations according to one or more route planning criteria and the digital map data; and

update the group of possible destinations based upon: (i) a second location of the mobile device; (ii) and a change in an attribute of a route between the second location and each geographic location of the group of possible destinations,

wherein the updating comprises: removing one or more geographic locations from the group of possible destinations in response to the attribute indicating that the mobile device is travelling away from those geographic locations; and adding one or more geographic locations to the group of possible destinations based upon the second location of the mobile device.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the attribute is one of a journey time or distance of the route to each geographic location in the group of possible destinations.

12. The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the removal of one or more geographic locations from the group of possible destinations is in response to the journey time exceeding a predetermined time from a lowest encountered journey duration.

13. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the updating comprises determining a probability associated with each geographic location of the group of possible destinations based on the change in the attribute and a sum of all attributes of the geographic locations of the group, wherein the probability is indicative of the respective geographic location being proximal to the user's actual destination.

14. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more geographic locations are selected according to a predetermined distance from the first location.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the one or more geographic locations are added to the group of possible destinations according to a predetermined distance from the second location.

16. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the processor is arranged to display on a display device a representation of the digital map data including an indication of each of the geographic locations and an indication of one or more road segments forming the route to each geographic location.

17. The apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the apparatus is a server computer, and wherein the server computer is arranged to receive trace data from one or more mobile devices and to determine the location of each mobile device therefrom.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising computer software operable, when executed on a computing device, to cause one or more processors to perform the method of claim 1 .

19. The method of claim 1 , comprising periodically receiving updates to the digital map data and recalculating the route to each of the possible destinations using the updated digital map data.

20. An apparatus arranged to predict a destination of a user, comprising:

a processor;

a memory, accessible to the processor, storing digital map data representative of a geographic region; and

a display device;

wherein the processor is arranged to:

select a plurality of geographic locations as a group of possible destinations based on a first location of a mobile device, wherein the plurality of geographic locations are within a predetermined area around the first location;

determine a route from the first location to each of the geographic locations of the group of possible destinations according to one or more route planning criteria and the digital map data;

display on the display device an indication of each of the geographic locations of the group of possible destinations;

update the group of possible destinations based upon: (i) a second location of the mobile device and (ii) a change in an attribute of a route between the second location and each geographic location of the group of possible destinations, wherein the attribute is a journey time and/or distance of the route, wherein the updating comprises: removing one or more geographic locations from the group of possible destinations in response to the attribute indicating that the mobile device is travelling away from those geographic locations; and adding one or more geographic locations to the group of possible destinations based upon the second location of the mobile device, wherein the one or more added geographic locations are within a predetermined area around the second location; and

display on the display device an indication of each of the geographic locations of the updated group of possible destinations.