Navigation system

• US 20070005242A1
• Filed: 06/22/2006
• Published: 01/04/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/01/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Denso IT Laboratory, Inc. (DENSO Corporation)
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation, Denso IT Laboratory, Inc. (DENSO Corporation)
• Inventors: Kato, Seiji, Mizuno, Nobuhiro, Hara, Kosuke, Iwasaki, Hirotoshi, Oumi, Masanori, Suzuki, Takamitsu
• Granted Patent: US 7,788,030 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/343 Calculating itineraries, i.e. routes leading from a starting point to a series of categorical destinations using a global route restraint, round trips, touristic trips travelling salesman problem G06Q10/04; optimisation of routes G06Q10/047
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3605 Destination input or retrieval
• 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 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard

Abstract

A navigation system for providing a destination of a trip and for use in a vehicle includes a position detector for detecting a current position of the vehicle, a condition detector for detecting a combination of a plurality of predetermined vehicle conditions when the vehicle is stopping at a stop location, a first determination unit for determining that the stop location is one of a stop-by place of the trip and the destination of the trip based on the combination of the plurality of the predetermined vehicle conditions detected by the condition detector, a storage unit for storing at least the destination of the trip based on a determination result by the first determination unit and an information provision unit for providing destination information regarding the trip at least based on the destination stored in the storage unit.

Claims

1. A navigation system for providing information on a destination of a trip and for use in a vehicle comprising:

a position detector for detecting a current position of the vehicle;

a condition detector for detecting a combination of a plurality of predetermined vehicle conditions when the vehicle is stopping at a stop location;

a first determination unit for determining that the stop location is one of a stop-by place of the trip and the destination of the trip based on the combination of the plurality of the predetermined vehicle conditions detected by the condition detector;

a storage unit for storing at least the destination of the trip based on a determination result by the first determination unit; and

an information provision unit for providing destination information regarding the trip at least based on the destination stored in the storage unit.

2. The navigation system as in claim 1,

wherein the first determination unit determines that the stop location is one of the stop-by place of the trip and the destination of the trip based on the combination of the plurality of the predetermined vehicle conditions including an operation condition of a parking brake, an ON/OFF condition of an accessory switch, a stopping time at the stop location, an open/close condition of a door, and an increase/decrease of a number of occupants in the vehicle.

3. The navigation system as in claim 2,

wherein the first determination unit adopts a variable criterion regarding the stopping time at the stop location based on a type of a facility existing in a proximity of the stop location.

6. The navigation system as in claim 1 further comprising:

a second determination unit for determining whether the stop location determined as the destination of the trip by the first determination unit is identical to one of destination entries stored in the storage unit,

wherein the storage unit stores a total number of visits in association with the one of destination entries in the storage unit based on the determination by the second determination unit when the stop location is identical to at least one of the destination entries in the storage unit.

7. The navigation system as in claim 6,

wherein the second determination unit determines whether the stop location of the vehicle is identical to one of the destination entries in the storage unit at least based on an accuracy of vehicle position detected by the position detector and a distance of the stop location from the destination stored in the storage unit.

8. The navigation system as in claim 7,

wherein the second determination unit determines whether the stop location of the vehicle is identical to one of the destination entries in the storage unit based on at least one of additional conditions including a time condition of stopping of the vehicle at the stop location, a geographical feature of the stop location and a facility on the stop location.

10. The navigation system as in claim 1,

wherein the storage unit stores the destination entries in association with the time conditions of stopping of the vehicle at the destinations, and

the information provision unit provides the destination information regarding the trip based on a correlation between the time of a current trip of the vehicle and the time conditions in association with the destination in the storage unit.

11. The navigation system as in claim 1,

wherein the storage unit stores the stop-by place determined by the first determination unit, and

the information provision unit provides information on the stop-by place expected in the trip to the destination based on the stop-by place stored in the storage unit.

12. The navigation system as in claim 11 further comprising:

a third determination unit for determining whether the stop location determined as the stop-by place by the first determination unit is identical to one of stop-by place entries in the storage unit,

wherein the storage unit stores a total number of visits in association with the one of stop-by place entries in the storage unit based on the determination by the third determination unit when the stop location is identical to at least one of the stop-by place entries.

13. The navigation system as in claim 12,

wherein the third determination unit determines whether the stop location of the vehicle is identical to one of the stop-by place entries in the storage unit at least based on an accuracy of vehicle position detected by the position detector and a distance of the stop location from the stop-by place stored in the storage unit.

14. The navigation system as in claim 13,

wherein the third determination unit determines whether the stop location of the vehicle is identical to one of the stop-by place entries in the storage unit based on at least one of additional conditions including a time condition of stopping of the vehicle at the stop location, a geographical feature of the stop location and a facility on the stop location.

4. A navigation system for providing information on a destination of a round trip and for use in a vehicle comprising:

a position detector for detecting a current position of the vehicle;

a timer unit for measuring a time of stopping at a stop location in the round trip that starts and ends at a same place;

a first determination unit for distinguishing the stop location that has a longest stopping time in the round trip from other stop locations in the round trip and determining the distinguished stop location as the destination of the round trip when the vehicle is stopping at a plurality of the stop locations in the round trip;

a storage unit for storing at least the destination of the round trip based on a determination result by the first determination unit; and

an information provision unit for providing destination information regarding the round trip at least based on the destination stored in the storage unit.

9. The navigation system as in claim 4,

wherein the timer unit measures the time of stopping of the vehicle at each of the stop locations respectively, and

the timer unit determines that a certain stop location is a start point of the trip based on statistics that the certain stop location has the longest stopping time among the stop locations.

5. A navigation system for providing information on a destination of a round trip and for use in a vehicle comprising:

a position detector for detecting a current position of the vehicle;

a timer unit for measuring a time of stopping at a stop location in the round trip that starts and ends at a same place;

a first determination unit for determining the stop location as one of the destination of the round trip and a stop-by place in the round trip that includes only one stop location, wherein the first determination unit determines the stop location as the destination on condition that a ratio between the time of stopping at the stop location to a total trip time is greater than a predetermined value when the vehicle has stopped at only one stop location in the round trip;

a storage unit for storing at least the destination of the round trip based on a determination result by the first determination unit; and

an information provision unit for providing destination information regarding the round trip at least based on the destination stored in the storage unit.