NAVIGATION SYSTEM AND LANE INFORMATION DISPLAY METHOD

• US 20100017117A1
• Filed: 12/03/2007
• Published: 01/21/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/23/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Auto Tech Group LLC
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Nishibashi, Kumi, Irie, Takashi, Komatsu, Naomiki, Akashi, Yoshiki
• Granted Patent: US 8,467,962 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3658 Lane guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B

Abstract

A navigation system includes a lane information acquiring unit 27 for acquiring both the number of lanes of a road which forms an intersection, and lane information which defines a road branching off from each of the lanes, a lane direction determining unit 28 for determining the direction of each of the lanes on the basis of both the lane information acquired by the lane information acquiring unit, and a road attribute of an incoming road coming into the intersection and a road attribute of an outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road attributes of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in map data acquired by a map data acquiring unit, and a lane information display unit 29 for displaying the direction of each of the lanes determined by the lane direction determining unit with an arrow.

Claims

1. A navigation system comprising:

a map data acquiring unit for acquiring map data including a road attribute added to a road;

a lane information acquiring unit for acquiring both a number of lanes of a road which forms an intersection, and lane information which defines a road branching off from each of the lanes;

a lane direction determining unit for determining a direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired by said lane information acquiring unit, and a road attribute of an incoming road coming into the intersection and a road attribute of an outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road attributes of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired by said map data acquiring unit; and

a lane information display unit for displaying the direction of each of the lanes determined by said lane direction determining unit with an arrow.

2. The navigation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the lane direction determining unit determines the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired by said lane information acquiring unit, and a road type added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road type added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road types of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired by said map data acquiring unit.

3. The navigation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the lane direction determining unit determines the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired by said lane information acquiring unit, and a road class added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road class added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road classes of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired by said map data acquiring unit.

4. The navigation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the lane direction determining unit determines the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired by said lane information acquiring unit, and a road name or a road number added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road name or a road number added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road names or road numbers of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired by said map data acquiring unit.

5. The navigation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the lane direction determining unit determines the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of a number of lanes of the incoming road coming into the intersection and a number of lanes of the outgoing road extending from the intersection, which are shown by the lane information acquired by the lane information acquiring unit.

6. The navigation system according to claim 1, characterized in that the lane direction determining unit determines the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired by said lane information acquiring unit, and a number of outgoing roads extending from the intersection which is shown by the map data acquired by the map data acquiring unit.

7. A lane information display method comprising:

a map data acquisition step of acquiring map data including a road attribute added to a road;

a lane information acquiring step of acquiring both a number of lanes of a road which forms an intersection, and lane information which defines a road branching off from each of the lanes;

a lane direction determining unit for determining a direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired in said lane information acquiring step, and a road attribute of an incoming road coming into the intersection and a road attribute of an outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road attributes of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired in said map data acquiring step; and

a lane information display step of displaying the direction of each of the lanes determined in said lane direction determining step with an arrow.

8. The lane information display method according to claim 7, characterized in that the lane direction determining step is the one of determining the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired in the lane information acquiring step, and a road type added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road type added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road types of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired in the map data acquiring step.

9. The lane information display method according to claim 7, characterized in that the lane direction determining step is the one of determining the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired in the lane information acquiring step, and a road class added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road class added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road classes of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired in the map data acquiring step.

10. The lane information display method according to claim 7, characterized in that the lane direction determining step is the one of determining the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired in the lane information acquiring step, and a road name or a road number added to the incoming road coming into the intersection and a road name or a road number added to the outgoing road extending from the intersection, the road names or road numbers of the incoming and outgoing roads being included in the map data acquired in the map data acquiring step.

11. The lane information display method according to claim 7, characterized in that the lane direction determining step is the one of determining the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of a number of lanes of the incoming road coming into the intersection and a number of lanes of the outgoing road extending from the intersection, which are shown by the lane information acquired in the lane information acquiring step.

12. The lane information display method according to claim 7, characterized in that the lane direction determining step is the one of determining the direction of each of the lanes on a basis of both the lane information acquired in the lane information acquiring step, and a number of outgoing roads extending from the intersection which is shown by the map data acquired in the map data acquiring step.