Intersection display method, and map display unit and recording medium for realizing the method

• US 20010012981A1
• Filed: 02/01/2001
• Published: 08/09/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yamashita, Atsushi, Hamada, Hiroyuki, Sakamoto, Kiyomi, Ata, Teruaki
• Granted Patent: US 6,424,911 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3626 Details of the output of route guidance instructions traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0272 comprising means for registering the travel distance, e.g. revolutions of wheels measuring distance traversed on the ground by vehicles, e.g. using odometers G01C22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0274 using mapping information stored in a memory device navigation using map-matching G01C21/30
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/0278 using satellite positioning signals, e.g. GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G05D 1/028 using a RF signal

Abstract

On receipt of route information, map data in an area near the route is read S11. One intersection existing on the route is extracted from the read map data, and intersection-connected links connected to the intersection are extracted S12. The road widths from the center line to the right and left sides are specified for the intersection-connected links based on attribute data such as the actual road width of the intersection-connected links S13. New lines are drawn for all the intersection-connected links by translating the line representing the intersection-connected link as the center line rightward and leftward by the specified road widths, to determine right and left side lines of the intersection-connected link S14.

Based on the thus-generated width-imparted intersection-connected links, an intersection shape is generated S15. This processing is repeated for all the intersections concerned S16. This makes it possible to generate and display intersection shapes based on a road network map having a degree of scale higher than a town map.

Claims

1. An intersection display method for generating and displaying an intersection shape by use of map data including a road network, the method comprising the steps of:

reading from said map data an intersection node representing an intersection and intersection-connected links representing roads connected to the intersection node, constituting the road network;

generating an intersection shape at the intersection node and width-imparted intersection-connected links, based on said intersection node and said intersection-connected links; and

displaying said intersection shape together with other information for guidance notification.

2. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and determining lines extending orthogonal to said intersection-connected links at positions outside the cross points with respect to said intersection node; and

determining cross points between said lines and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon as the intersection shape.

3. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

determining new points by shifting said cross points as the vertexes of said polygon by a predetermined distance along said side lines crossing at the respective vertexes outward with respect to said intersection node, and connecting the new points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

4. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, as the intersection shape.

5. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, determining cross points between the circle and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

6. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, further comprising, after the step of generating an intersection shape, the steps of:

processing the intersection-connected links, including reading information on accessories of said intersection-connected links from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection-connected links with reference to said intersection shape; and

processing the intersection, including reading information on accessories of said intersection node from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection shape with reference to said intersection shape,

wherein said step of processing the intersection-connected links includes deleting portions of the accessories extending along roads (such as center lines, lanes, side strips, and sidewalls) that overlap the intersection shape.

7. The intersection display method according to

claim 6

, wherein, when said map data includes information that two of said intersection-connected links connected to the intersection are major roads, said step of processing the intersection includes connecting center lines and lanes belonging to the two major roads among said deleted center lines and lanes belonging to the intersection-connected links smoothly, to generate a center line and lanes in the intersection shape.

8. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein the step of generating an intersection shape relates to generation of an intersection shape on a route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover searched based on said map data, and the step further comprises the steps of:

generating a vehicle path along a predetermined position on said width-imparted intersection-connected links through which the route runs; and

deleting a portion of the vehicle path that overlaps said intersection shape and connecting remainders of the vehicle path in the areas other than the intersection shape separated by the deletion smoothly, to generate a vehicle path in said intersection shape.

9. The intersection display method according to

claim 1

, wherein, when said map data includes information on a stop line of said intersection-connected link, said step of displaying the intersection shape includes generating the distance from the position of a vehicle to the stop line as the distance from the position of the vehicle to a coming intersection, in the generation of notification information for guidance of the vehicle based on said map data, said intersection shape, and the route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover searched based on said map data.

10. A map display unit for displaying a map for guidance, comprising:

a map data storage part for storing map data including a road network;

a route search part for searching a route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover based on said map data;

a vehicle position detection part for detecting the position of a vehicle mounting the unit on said map data;

an intersection shape generation part for reading an intersection node representing an intersection and intersection-connected links representing roads connected to the intersection node constituting said road network, and generating width-imparted intersection-connected links and an intersection shape at the intersection node based on the intersection node and the intersection-connected links;

a guidance part for generating notification information for guidance of the vehicle based on said map data, said intersection shape, and said route searched; and

an output part for outputting said notification information via map display or any other medium.

11. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein said intersection shape generation part performs the operation of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of a road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points between inner ones of said side lines for every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and determining lines extending orthogonal to said intersection-connected links at positions outside the cross points with respect to said intersection node; and

determining cross points between said lines and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon as the intersection shape.

12. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein said intersection shape generation part performs the operation of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

determining new points by shifting said cross points as the vertexes of said polygon by a predetermined distance along said side lines crossing at the respective vertexes outward with respect to said intersection node, and connecting the new points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

13. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein said intersection shape generation part performs the operation of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, as the intersection shape.

14. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein said intersection shape generation part performs the operation of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, determining cross points between the circle and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

15. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein, said intersection shape generation part further performs the operation of:

reading information on accessories of said intersection-connected links from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection-connected links with reference to said intersection shape, after the generation of the intersection shape;

reading information on accessories of said intersection node from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection shape with reference to said intersection shape, after the generation of the intersection shape; and

deleting portions of the accessories extending along roads (such as center lines, lanes, side strips, and sidewalls) that overlap the intersection shape.

16. The map display unit according to

claim 15

, wherein, when said map data includes information that two of said intersection-connected links connected to the intersection are major roads, said intersection shape generation part connects center lines and lanes belonging to the two major roads among said deleted center lines and lanes belonging to the intersection-connected links smoothly, to generate a center line and lanes in the intersection shape.

17. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein said intersection shape generation part generates an intersection shape on a route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover searched based on said map data, and further performs the operation of:

generating a vehicle path along a predetermined position on said width-imparted intersection-connected links through which the route runs; and

deleting a portion of the vehicle path that overlaps said intersection shape and connecting remainders of the vehicle path in the areas other than the intersection shape separated by the deletion smoothly, to generate a vehicle path in said intersection shape.

18. The map display unit according to

claim 10

, wherein, when said map data includes information on a stop line of said intersection-connected link, said guidance part generates the distance from the position of the vehicle to the stop line as the distance from the position of the vehicle to a coming intersection.

19. A recording medium containing an intersection display method for generating and displaying an intersection shape by use of map data including a road network recorded as a computer-executable program, the program at least executing the steps of:

reading from said map data an intersection node representing an intersection and intersection-connected links representing roads connected to the intersection node, constituting the road network;

generating an intersection shape at the intersection node and width-imparted intersection-connected links, based on said intersection node and said intersection-connected links; and

displaying said intersection shape together with other information for guidance notification.

20. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and determining lines extending orthogonal to said intersection-connected links at positions outside the cross points with respect to said intersection node; and

determining cross points between said lines and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon as the intersection shape.

21. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

determining new points by shifting said cross points as the vertexes of said polygon by a predetermined distance along said side lines crossing at the respective vertexes outward with respect to said intersection node, and connecting the new points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

22. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, as the intersection shape.

23. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein said step of generating an intersection shape comprises the steps of:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center, determining cross points between the circle and said side lines, and connecting the ross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected inks to form a new polygon as the intersection shape.

24. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein the program further executes, after the step of generating an intersection shape, the steps of:

processing the intersection-connected links, including reading information on accessories of said intersection-connected links from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection-connected links with reference to said intersection shape; and

processing the intersection, including reading information on accessories of said intersection node from said map data, and generating shapes of the accessories and determining the positions of the accessories in said intersection shape with reference to said intersection shape,

wherein said step of processing the intersection-connected links includes deleting portions of the accessories extending along roads (such as center lines, lanes, side strips, and sidewalls) that overlap the intersection shape.

25. The recording medium according to

claim 24

, wherein, when said map data includes information that two of said intersection-connected links connected to the intersection are major roads, said step of processing the intersection includes connecting center lines and lanes belonging to the two major roads among said deleted center lines and lanes belonging to the intersection-connected links smoothly, to generate a center line and lanes in the intersection shape.

26. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein the step of generating an intersection shape relates to generation of an intersection shape on a route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover searched based on said map data, and the step further comprises the steps of:

generating a vehicle path along a predetermined position on said width-imparted intersection-connected links through which the route runs; and

deleting a portion of the vehicle path that overlaps said intersection shape and connecting remainders of the vehicle path in the areas other than the intersection shape separated by the deletion smoothly, to generate a vehicle path in said intersection shape.

27. The recording medium according to

claim 19

, wherein, when said map data includes information on a stop line of said intersection-connected link, said step of displaying the intersection shape includes generating the distance from the position of a vehicle to the stop line as the distance from the position of the vehicle to a coming intersection, in the generation of notification information for guidance of the vehicle based on said map data, said intersection shape, and the route from a departure point to a destination or a stopover searched based on said map data.

28. A data recording medium containing recorded computer-readable data, the data comprising:

data on an intersection node representing an intersection constituting a road network;

data on intersection-connected links representing roads connected to said intersection node constituting the road network; and

data on an intersection shape corresponding to said intersection node, generated based on said intersection node and said intersection-connected links.

29. The data recording medium according to

claim 28

, wherein said intersection shapes is a polygon formed by:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points between inner ones of said side lines for every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and determining lines extending orthogonal to said intersection-connected links at positions outside the cross points with respect to said intersection node; and

determining cross points between said lines and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links.

30. The data recording medium according to

claim 28

, wherein said intersection shape is a polygon formed by:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a provisional polygon; and

determining new points by shifting said cross points as the vertexes of the provisional polygon by a predetermined distance along said side lines crossing at the respective vertexes outward with respect to said intersection node, and connecting the new points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links.

31. The data recording medium according to

claim 28

, wherein said intersection shape is a predetermined circle formed by:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links; and

generating the predetermined circle including said polygon with said intersection node as a center.

32. The data recording medium according to

claim 28

, wherein said intersection shape is a polygon formed by:

generating a width-imparted intersection-connected link by specifying a road width of each of said intersection-connected links based on information associated with the intersection-connected link, and drawing side lines representing edges of the road on the right and left sides of said intersection-connected link based on the specified road width;

sorting the positions of said intersection-connected links based on the bearings at which the intersection-connected links are connected to said intersection node;

determining cross points each between inner ones of said side lines of every two adjacent ones of said width-imparted intersection-connected links, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links to form a provisional polygon; and

generating a predetermined circle including said provisional polygon with said intersection node as a center, determining cross points between the circle and said side lines, and connecting the cross points in the order of said sorted intersection-connected links.