Route Search System

• US 20090254267A1
• Filed: 09/14/2006
• Published: 10/08/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MEL NavIP LLC (Ni, Wang & Massand, PLLC)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Arita, Hidekazu, Ohi, Makoto
• Granted Patent: US 8,265,867 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality

Abstract

A route search system includes a map data storing means 2 storing a roadmap data containing, as the attribute of a road, whether the road is a road located within a flat-rate pay area where a fixed fare is charged on a mobile unit regardless of the number of times the mobile unit enters the area if the entries are made within a fixed time period; a flat-rate pay area transit recording means 4b, when the current position detected by a position detecting means 1 comes to a road in the flat-rate pay area represented by the attribute of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means, storing that the mobile unit has transited the flat-rate pay area; an input means 3 inputting whether to permit transit across the flat-rate pay area; and a route calculating means 4a, when it is inputted by the input means that the transit thereof is not permitted, if the flat-rate pay area transit recording means stores that the mobile unit has transited the flat-rate pay area, calculating the optimum route to the destination within routes also containing roads located within the flat-rate pay area on the basis of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means.

Claims

1. A route search system comprising:

a map data storing means which stores a roadmap data containing, as the attribute of a road, whether the road is a road located within a flat-rate pay area where a fixed fare is charged on a mobile unit transiting the area regardless of the number of times the mobile unit transits the area within a fixed period of time;

a position detecting means which detects the current position of the mobile unit;

a flat-rate pay area transit recording means which stores that the mobile unit has transited the flat-rate pay area, when the current position detected by the position detecting means came to a road located within the flat-rate pay indicated by the attribute of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means;

an input means which inputs whether to permit the transit of the flat-rate pay area; and

a route calculating means which calculates the optimum route to the destination within routes also including roads within the flat-rate pay area on the basis of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means, when it is inputted by the input means that the transit of the flat-rate pay area is not permitted and further if the flat-rate pay area transit recording means stores that the mobile unit has transited the flat-rate pay area.

2. The route search system according to claim 1, wherein when the current position detected by the position detecting means deviates from the previously-calculated optimum route not containing roads within the flat-rate pay area, and comes to a road within the flat-rate pay area, the route calculating means recalculates the optimum route to the destination within routes also including roads within the flat-rate pay area on the basis of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means.

3. The route search system according to claim 1, having a plurality of operation modes for calculating the optimum routes, respectively, according to the conditions of route search which are separately set,

wherein in the case where it is stored in the flat-rate pay area transit recording means that the mobile unit has transited the flat-rate pay area within a fixed period of time by operating in the first operation mode, even if it is inputted by the input means that the transit of the flat-rate pay area is not permitted upon operating in the second operation mode, the route calculating means calculates the optimum route to the destination within routes also including roads within the flat-rate pay area on the basis of the roadmap data stored in the map data storing means.

4. The route search system according to claim 1, further comprising an external information acquiring means which acquires the charging information of the flat-rate pay area from outside,

wherein the route calculating means calculates the optimum route to the destination according to the charging information acquired by the external information acquiring means.