IN-VEHICLE NAVIGATION DEVICE AND PARKING SPACE GUIDING METHOD

• US 20090198443A1
• Filed: 01/29/2009
• Published: 08/06/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Alpine Electronics Incorporated (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Noboru
• Application Number:
  US12/361,862
• Publication Number:
  US 20090198443A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/210
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3605 Destination input or retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3685 the POI's being parking facilities

Abstract

An in-vehicle navigation device includes a display unit, a storage unit which stores detailed map data of a shopping mall, a position detection unit which detects the current position of a vehicle, and a control unit which, when the destination is set to a facility in the shopping mall, detects a parking section close to the facility as a recommended parking section, and which, when the vehicle is determined to have entered and left the recommended parking section, provides, via the display unit, guidance advising the return of the vehicle to the recommended parking section. When the vehicle is determined to have entered the shopping mall, the control unit may display a detailed map of the shopping mall on a display screen of the display unit, and may display the recommended parking section in a different manner from the manner in which the other parking sections are displayed.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle navigation device which searches for a route to a destination and guides a vehicle along the route, the in-vehicle navigation device comprising:

a display unit;

a storage unit which stores detailed map data of a shopping mall;

a position detection unit which detects the current position of the vehicle; and

a control unit which, when the destination is set to a facility in the shopping mall, detects a parking section close to the facility as a recommended parking section, and which, when the vehicle is determined to have entered and subsequently left the recommended parking section on the basis of the current position of the vehicle and the map data, provides, via the display unit, guidance directing the return of the vehicle to the recommended parking section.

2. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1,

wherein, when the vehicle is determined to have entered the site of the shopping mall on the basis of the detected current position of the vehicle and the map data, the control unit displays a detailed map of the shopping mall on a display screen of the display unit, and displays the recommended parking section in a different manner from the manner in which the other parking sections are displayed.

3. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1,

wherein, when a doorway closest to the facility out of a plurality of doorways of a building that includes the facility is determined to be a recommended doorway, the recommended parking section is a parking section closest to the recommended doorway.

4. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a parking lot information acquisition unit which acquires parking lot availability information,

wherein, when the information indicating the absence of a parking space in the recommended parking section is acquired via the parking lot information acquisition unit, the control unit determines a parking section that is located next to the recommended parking section and sets the parking section located next to the recommended parking section to be a new recommended parking section.

5. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 4,

wherein, when a doorway closest to the facility out of a plurality of doorways of a building that includes the facility is determined to be a recommended doorway, a doorway the next closest to the facility after the recommended doorway is determined to be a new recommended doorway, and the new recommended parking section is a parking section closest to the new recommended doorway.

6. A parking space guiding method performed by an in-vehicle navigation device which searches for a route to a destination in a shopping mall on the basis of map data, the parking space guiding method comprising:

detecting, when the destination is set to a facility in the shopping mall, a parking section closest to the facility from among a plurality of parking sections as a recommended parking section;

displaying, when a vehicle is determined to have entered the site of the shopping mall, a detailed map of the shopping mall, and displaying the recommended parking section in a different manner from the manner in which the other parking sections are displayed; and

providing, when the vehicle is determined to have entered and subsequently left the recommended parking section, guidance directing the return of the vehicle to the recommended parking section.

7. The parking space guiding method according to claim 6,

wherein, when a doorway closest to the facility out of a plurality of doorways of a building that includes the facility is determined and set as a recommended doorway, the recommended parking section is a parking section closest to the recommended doorway.

8. The parking space guiding method according to claim 6, further comprising:

acquiring parking lot availability information; and

displaying, when the information indicating the absence of a parking space in the recommended parking section is acquired, a parking section located next to the recommended parking section as a new recommended parking section.

9. The parking space guiding method according to claim 8, wherein, when a doorway closest to the facility out of a plurality of doorways of a building that includes the facility is determined and set to be a recommended doorway, a doorway the next closest to the facility after the recommended doorway is determined to be a new recommended doorway, and the new recommended parking section is a parking section closest to the new recommended doorway.

10. A parking space guiding method performed by an in-vehicle navigation device which searches for a route to a destination in a shopping mall on the basis of map data, the parking space guiding method comprising:

determining a parking section, from among a plurality of parking sections associated with a shopping mall, that is closest to the destination inside of the shopping mall to be an initial recommended parking section;

receiving information regarding the availability of parking spaces in the plurality of parking sections associated with the shopping mall;

determining whether a parking space in the initial recommended parking section is available based on the information received, and if no parking space is available in the initial recommended parking section, determining a replacement parking section that is the next closest to the destination having an available parking space; and

displaying the replacement parking section on a map of the shopping mall such that a vehicle may be directed to an available parking space that is closest to the destination.

11. The parking space guiding method of claim 10, wherein the replacement parking section is determined as a function of the location of a recommended doorway of the shopping mall.

12. The parking space guiding method of claim 10, the method further comprising determining a doorway from among a plurality of doorways associated with the shopping mall that is the closest to the destination.

13. The parking space guiding method of claim 12, the method further comprising displaying the doorway closest to the destination in a manner that distinguishes the doorway closest to the destination from other doorways associated with the shopping mall.

14. The parking space guiding method of claim 10, the method further comprising displaying the replacement parking section in a manner that distinguishes the replacement parking section from other parking sections associated with the shopping mall.

15. The parking space guiding method of claim 14, the method further comprising displaying and emphasizing, on a map of the shopping mall, a recommended doorway to the shopping mall that is closest to the destination.