Universal Navigation: Concept and Algorithms

Advances in key technologies such as mobile devices (in particular, cell phones), wireless, geo-positioning, Internet and Web services are paving the way for the emergence of Universal NAVIgation Technology (UNAVIT). Unlike modern navigation technology which supports mainly standard navigation functions, operates mostly outdoors (some indoors), and lacks features for people with special needs, UNA VIT is intended to provide navigation services via cell phones anywhere, anytime, and for any user including those with specific needs and preferences. To address the features of UNAVIT, an infrastructure that includes such components as MetaNav, NavKiosks, and navigation Web services is presented. In this paper, we introduce the concept of UNAVIT and discuss its key algorithms to meet the unique UNAVIT´s features.