NAVIGATION APPARATUS
First Claim
1. A navigation apparatus in a vehicle traveling a predetermined road that includes, in an identical traffic direction, (i) a general lane having an exit into an other road and (ii) a special lane having no exit into an other road, the general lane and the special lane having a plurality of transfer permit points, at each of which the vehicle is only allowed to transfer between the general lane and the special lane,the navigation apparatus comprising:
- an information storage section configured to store transfer permit point information which is associated with a node of a plurality of nodes, the transfer permit point information indicating (i) a number of transfer permit points, which are ahead of the node in the traffic direction and (ii) relative positional information indicating a positional relation between the transfer permit point and the node;
a present position specification section configured to specify a present position of the vehicle;
a guide section configured to provide a user with a navigational guide; and
a control circuit configured to execute a predetermined navigation process based on the transfer permit point information stored in the information storage section and the present position specified by the present position specification section,the control circuit being further configured to, in the predetermined navigation process,(i) determine whether there is existing more than one transfer permit point ahead of the present position in the traffic direction between a nearest node, which is a node nearest from the present position, and a branch node, which is a node at which the vehicle exits from the predetermined road to an other road,(ii) calculate, when it is determined that there is existing more than one transfer permit point, an entry distance up to a nearest transfer permit point, which is a transfer permit point nearest to the present position among the more than one transfer permit point existing between the nearest node and the branch node, using the relative positional information corresponding to the nearest transfer permit point,(iii) determine whether the calculated entry distance is within a predetermined distance range, and(iv) provide information regarding the nearest transfer permit point via the guide section, when it is determined that the calculated entry distance is within the predetermined distance range.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
In a navigation apparatus, HOV information related to a high-occupancy vehicle lane or carpool lane is added into node data of a node as a part of the node data in map data. The HOV information of all nodes in a highway in a guide route is acquired from the map data to calculate the total number of transfer permit points. When it is determined that a guide for HOV is possible based on the calculated total number of transfer permit points, and then it is determined that an entry distance from the present position to a nearest transfer permit point is in a predetermined range suitable for an entrance guide into the carpool lane, the entry distance is determined to be suitable for the entrance guide into the carpool lane. Thereby the entrance guide into the carpool lane is provided.
31 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A navigation apparatus in a vehicle traveling a predetermined road that includes, in an identical traffic direction, (i) a general lane having an exit into an other road and (ii) a special lane having no exit into an other road, the general lane and the special lane having a plurality of transfer permit points, at each of which the vehicle is only allowed to transfer between the general lane and the special lane,
the navigation apparatus comprising: -
an information storage section configured to store transfer permit point information which is associated with a node of a plurality of nodes, the transfer permit point information indicating (i) a number of transfer permit points, which are ahead of the node in the traffic direction and (ii) relative positional information indicating a positional relation between the transfer permit point and the node; a present position specification section configured to specify a present position of the vehicle; a guide section configured to provide a user with a navigational guide; and a control circuit configured to execute a predetermined navigation process based on the transfer permit point information stored in the information storage section and the present position specified by the present position specification section, the control circuit being further configured to, in the predetermined navigation process, (i) determine whether there is existing more than one transfer permit point ahead of the present position in the traffic direction between a nearest node, which is a node nearest from the present position, and a branch node, which is a node at which the vehicle exits from the predetermined road to an other road, (ii) calculate, when it is determined that there is existing more than one transfer permit point, an entry distance up to a nearest transfer permit point, which is a transfer permit point nearest to the present position among the more than one transfer permit point existing between the nearest node and the branch node, using the relative positional information corresponding to the nearest transfer permit point, (iii) determine whether the calculated entry distance is within a predetermined distance range, and (iv) provide information regarding the nearest transfer permit point via the guide section, when it is determined that the calculated entry distance is within the predetermined distance range. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A navigation apparatus in a vehicle,
the navigation apparatus comprising: -
a present position detection section configured to detect a present position of the vehicle; a map data storage section configured to store road map data including node information and link information; and a route guide section configured to retrieve a guide route from a present position to a destination based on the road map data stored in the map data storage section, and execute a navigational guide along the retrieved guide route, wherein; the node information contained in the map data storage section contains relative positional information indicating a relative position between a node and a predetermined permit road section nearest from the node, wherein the vehicle is only allowed via the predetermined permit road section to transfer between (i) one lane of a plurality of lanes in a predetermined road and (ii) an other lane of the plurality of lanes in the predetermined road; and the route guide section provides a navigational guide towards the predetermined permit road section based on the relative positional information and the present position detected by the present position detection section. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for a predetermined navigational process in a navigation apparatus in a vehicle traveling a predetermined road that includes, in an identical traffic direction, (i) a general lane having an exit into an other road and (ii) a special lane having no exit into the other road, the general lane and the special lane having a plurality of transfer permit points, at each of which the vehicle is only allowed to transfer between the general lane and the special lane,
the navigation apparatus including: -
a map data storage section configured to store road map data; a present position specification section configured to specify a present position of the vehicle; a guide section configured to provide a user with a navigational guide; and a control circuit executing the method for the predetermined navigation process, the method comprising; providing, into the map data, transfer permit point information which is associated with a node of a plurality of nodes, the transfer permit point information indicating (i) a number of transfer permit points, which are ahead of the node in the traffic direction and (ii) relative positional information indicating a positional relation between the transfer permit point and the node; determining whether there is existing more than one transfer permit point ahead of the present position in the traffic direction between a nearest node, which is a node nearest from the present position, and a branch node, which is a node at which the vehicle exits from the predetermined road to the other road; calculating, when it is determined that there is existing more than one transfer permit point, an entry distance up to a nearest transfer permit point, which is a transfer permit point nearest to the present position among the more than one transfer permit point existing between the nearest node and the branch node, using the relative positional information corresponding to the nearest transfer permit point; determining whether the calculated entry distance is within a predetermined distance range; and providing information regarding the nearest transfer permit point via the guide section, when it is determined that the calculated entry distance is within the predetermined distance range. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18)
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Specification