A system for providing position-related information to a mobile user includes
a
mobile unit and a central site server. The mobile unit includes circuitry for determining
present position information from position signals which may emanate from, for
example, GPS satellites. The mobile unit further includes circuitry for establishing
a wireless bidirectional communications link with the central site server via a
terrestrial network, which may be accessed via a cellular telephone network. The
central site server includes circuitry for receiving the present position information
from the mobile unit. A table stored at the central site server includes different
response information in correspondence with possible positions of the mobile unit.
The response information may further be in correspondence with user preferences.
The central site server uses the received present position information to retrieve
corresponding response information from the table, and sends the retrieved response
information to the mobile unit via the bidirectional communications link. The mobile
unit further includes circuitry, such as a loudspeaker, for supplying the response
information to the mobile user. In another aspect of the invention, communications
between the mobile unit and the central site server are encrypted. Furthermore,
the mobile unit may include components for preventing position information from
being supplied to the loudspeaker, thereby eliminating distracting noise from being
presented to the user.