Facility search apparatus and method

• US 20060020373A1
• Filed: 06/29/2005
• Published: 01/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 07/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Abe, Koichi
• Granted Patent: US 7,536,416 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096894 where input is assisted by the navigation device, i.e. the user does not type the complete name of the destination, e.g. using zip codes, telephone numbers, progressively selecting from initial letters

Abstract

A server stores facility information about a plurality of facilities to be searched for, in association with categories representing the facilities, and performs a search to determine whether or not each category contains any facility located within a predetermined area including the search point. A navigation system displays, based on search results from the server, the categories serving as search conditions in a manner such that whether or not there is any facility within each category is identifiable. For example, an image representing a category may be set not to be displayed when there is no facility within the category. Thus, based on the display status of each category, the user can identify whether or not there is any facility within each category at the time when categories to be searched are displayed.

Claims

1. A facility search apparatus comprising:

a facility-information storing unit for storing facility information about a plurality of facilities to be searched for, in association with categories representing the facilities;

a search-point identification unit identifying the location of a search point;

an in-category-facility search unit performing a search to determine whether or not a category contains any facility located within a predetermined area including the search point; and

a category display unit displaying, based on search results from the in-category-facility search unit, categories serving as search conditions in a manner such that whether or not there is a facility within the predetermined area for each category is identifiable.

2. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a facility-list display unit displaying, when a category is selected from the categories displayed by the category display unit, a list of the descriptions of facilities under the selected category; and

a facility-information display unit displaying, when a facility is selected from the list displayed by the facility-list display unit, detailed information about the selected facility.

3. The facility search apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the facility-information display unit displays a map image of the area around the selected facility.

4. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category display unit displays images representing the categories in different colors according to whether or not there is any facility within each category.

5. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category display unit displays images representing the categories in different colors according to the number of facilities within each category.

6. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category display unit displays the categories in such a manner that the number of facilities within each category is visually identifiable.

7. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category display unit sets an image representing a category not to be displayed when there is no facility under the category.

8. The facility search apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the expansion of a search area is requested after the categories are displayed by the category display unit, the in-category-facility search unit expands the area of a search for determining whether or not there is any facility within each category and performs the search again.

9. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the category display unit displays images representing the categories in different colors according to the distance from the search point to a facility within each category.

10. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an area to be searched by the in-category-facility search unit is within a predetermined distance in a straight line from the search point.

11. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an area to be searched by the in-category-facility search unit is within a predetermined longitudinal and latitudinal distance from the search point.

12. The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the search-point identification unit and the category display unit are included in a terminal device that the user can operate;

and the facility-information storing unit and the in-category-facility search unit are included in a server connected via a communication line to the terminal device.

13. The facility search apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the terminal device is installed in a vehicle and the server is placed outside the vehicle.

14. The facility search apparatus according to claim 13, wherein a communication line connecting the terminal device and the server is a switched line using a mobile phone.

15. The facility search apparatus according to claim 14, wherein communication between the terminal device and the server via the communication line is charged for in proportion to line connection time.

16. A facility search apparatus comprising:

a facility-information storing unit for storing facility information about a plurality of facilities to be searched for, in association with categories representing the facilities;

a search-point identification unit identifying the location of a search point;

an in-category-facility search unit performing a search to determine whether or not a category contains any facility located within a predetermined area including the search point;

a category display unit displaying, based on search results from the in-category-facility search unit, categories serving as search conditions in a manner such that whether or not there is a facility within the predetermined area for each category is identifiable;

a facility-list display unit displaying, when a category is selected from the categories displayed by the category display unit, a list of the descriptions of facilities under the selected category; and

a facility-information display unit displaying, when a facility is selected from the list displayed by the facility-list display unit, detailed information about the selected facility.

17. The facility search apparatus according to claim 16, wherein the category display unit displays images representing the categories in different colors according to at least one of whether or not there is any facility within each category, and the number of facilities within each category.

18. A facility search method comprising:

identifying the location of a search point;

performing a search to determine whether or not a category contains any facility located within a predetermined area including the search point; and

displaying, based on the search results, the categories serving as search conditions in a manner such that whether or not there is a facility within the predetermined area for each category is identifiable.

19. The facility search method according to claim 18, wherein an image representing a category is set not to be displayed when there is no facility within the category.

20. The facility search method according to claim 19, wherein when the expansion of a search area is requested after the categories are displayed, the area of a search for determining whether or not there is a facility within a category is expanded and the search is performed again.