CONDITION-DEPENDENT ICON GENERATION FOR VEHICULAR INFORMATION TERMINALS

• US 20070171093A1
• Filed: 10/02/2006
• Published: 07/26/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 12/07/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Original Assignee: LG Electronics, Inc. (LG Corporation)
• Inventors: JANG, Yong
• Granted Patent: US 7,564,376 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 340/936
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096758 where no selection takes place on the transmitted or the received information
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

In condition-dependent icon generation for a vehicular information terminal, a strength of a signal indicative of vehicle location information is measured, a road speed limit is determined based upon the vehicle location information, and vehicle speed information is received. Indicators are selected based upon the strength of the signal, the road speed limit, and the vehicle speed information, an icon is generated based upon the selected indicators, and the icon is displayed.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

measuring a strength of a signal, the signal being indicative of vehicle location information;

determining a road speed limit based upon the vehicle location information;

receiving vehicle speed information;

selecting indicators based upon the strength of the signal, the road speed limit, and the vehicle speed information;

generating an icon based upon the selected indicators; and

displaying the icon.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising comparing the vehicle speed information to the road speed limit, wherein selecting the indicators further comprises:

selecting a first vehicle speed indicator if the vehicle speed information exceeds the road speed limit, and

selecting a second vehicle speed indicator if the vehicle speed information is below the road speed limit.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first vehicle speed indicator is a first color inner shape indicator, and the second vehicle speed indicator is a second color inner shape indicator.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing upper and lower signal strength thresholds, wherein selecting the indicators further comprises:

selecting a first signal strength indicator if the strength of the signal is less than the lower signal strength threshold,

selecting a second signal strength indicator if the strength of the signal is between the lower signal strength threshold and the upper second signal strength threshold, and

selecting a third signal strength indicator if the strength of the signal exceeds the upper signal strength threshold.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first signal strength indicator is a first color outer circle indicator, the second signal strength indicator is a second color outer circle indicator, and the third signal strength indicator is a third color outer circle indicator.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising storing a road speed limit threshold, wherein selecting the indicators further comprises:

selecting a first speed limit indicator if the road speed limit is below the road speed limit threshold, and

selecting a second speed limit indicator if the road speed limit exceeds the road speed limit threshold.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first speed limit indicator is a triangle-shaped inner shape indicator, and the second speed limit indicator is an arrow-shaped inner shape indicator.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying a map based upon the vehicle location information, wherein the icon is displayed over the map.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein at least two of the indicators have different shapes, sizes, and/or colors.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein the road speed limit threshold is based upon a local highway road speed limit.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising outputting a guide voice based upon the icon.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the icon represents a vehicle.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is a global positioning system (“

GPS”

) signal.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the signal is an inertial reference system (“

IRS”

) signal.

15. A device comprising:

a storage medium configured to store indicators;

a receiving unit configured to receive a signal indicative of vehicle location information;

a controller configured to measure a strength of the signal, to determine a road speed limit based upon the vehicle location information, to receive vehicle speed information, to select indicators based upon the strength of the signal, the road speed limit, and the vehicle speed information, and to generate an icon based upon the selected indicators; and

a screen display unit configured to display the icon.

16. The device of claim 15, further comprising a voice output unit configured to output a guide voice based upon the icon.

17. The device of claim 15, wherein the storage medium is further configured to store a map, and wherein the screen display unit is further configured to display the map.

18. The device of claim 15, wherein the receiving unit is an antenna receiving global positioning system (“

GPS”

) signals.

19. The device of claim 15, wherein the receiving unit receives an inertial reference system (“

IRS”

) signal.

20. A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, the product comprising instructions to be performed by a computer, the instructions operable to cause the computer to:

measure a strength of a signal, the signal being indicative of vehicle location information;

determine a road speed limit based upon the vehicle location information;

receive vehicle speed information;

select indicators based upon the strength of the signal, the road speed limit, and the vehicle speed information;

generate an icon based upon the selected indicators; and

display the icon.