Vehicle navigation system and method for setting direction labels for connecting roads
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A navigation system comprising:
- a display unit which displays a guide map of at least a reference road intersection and a reference connecting road connected to said reference road intersection;
a determination unit which determines a direction label corresponding to a location outside said guide map but which location will be encountered if said reference connecting road is traveled, the direction label being determined by searching for a series of road intersections and connecting roads extending from said reference connecting road; and
a control unit which effects the display of said direction label.
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Abstract
When a vehicle is within a predetermined distance from an intersection during the execution of navigation operations, a navigation system displays an enlarged guide map of the same intersection. The guide map shows direction labels that are set for roads that are connected to a road to be approached by the vehicle. The direction labels are set for the connecting roads by tracking the connecting roads and by determining appropriate direction labels following a predetermined procedure. For example, names of tollgates, names of stations, names of special facilities, names of administrative units, names of highways or the like may be set as direction labels.
85 Citations
34 Claims
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1. A navigation system comprising:
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a display unit which displays a guide map of at least a reference road intersection and a reference connecting road connected to said reference road intersection; a determination unit which determines a direction label corresponding to a location outside said guide map but which location will be encountered if said reference connecting road is traveled, the direction label being determined by searching for a series of road intersections and connecting roads extending from said reference connecting road; and a control unit which effects the display of said direction label. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 14, 19)
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12. A navigation system comprising:
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a storage unit which stores map data that includes data corresponding to a reference connecting road connected to a reference road intersection and data corresponding to a direction label of said reference connecting road, said direction label being determined by searching for connecting roads extending from said reference connecting road; a display unit which displays a guide map of said reference road intersection and said reference connecting road based on said map data, said direction label corresponding to a location outside of said guide map but which location will be encountered if said connecting road is traveled; and a control unit which effects the display of said reference connecting road and the display of said direction label when the vehicle comes into a predetermined distance from said reference road intersection. - View Dependent Claims (13, 15)
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16. A map data generation system comprising:
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a map database which stores data corresponding to a connecting road connected to a reference road intersection and data corresponding to a set of direction labels, said connecting road including a plurality of road intersections; and a data generation unit which determines an optimal direction label for said connecting road among said set of direction labels based on a relationship of said connecting road with a direction of entry of a vehicle into said connecting road, said optimal direction label corresponding to a location outside of said guide map but which location is within a predetermined distance from one of said road intersections and will be encountered if said connecting road is taken, and said data generating unit storing mapping data that relates said optimal direction label with said connecting road. - View Dependent Claims (17)
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18. A map generation method comprising:
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retrieving connecting road data corresponding to a connecting road connected to a reference road intersection to which a vehicle is moving and retrieving direction label data of a set of direction labels from a map storage device; and determining an optimal direction label of said connecting road from among said set of direction labels based on direction of entry of a vehicle into said connecting road, said optimal direction label corresponding to a location outside of said guide map but which location will be encountered if said connecting road is taken. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A navigation system comprising:
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a display unit which displays a guide map of a reference road intersection and a reference connecting road connected to said reference road intersection; a determination unit which determines a direction label corresponding to a direction a vehicle would travel if the vehicle were to enter said reference connecting road, said direction label being an object which is located ahead of said reference connecting road and away from said reference road intersection and being determined by searching for a series of connecting roads extending from said reference connecting roads through road intersections; and a control unit which controls the display of said guide map and said direction label of said connecting road, wherein said display unit displays all reference connecting roads connected to said reference road intersection, and wherein said control unit only displays said direction labels of said connecting roads that allow entry of said vehicle. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A method to assist in navigating a moving object comprising:
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indicating a present position of a vehicle on a display map; displaying a reference road intersection and a reference connecting road extending from the reference road intersection when the vehicle approaches the reference road intersection; searching for a predetermined object located along a series of connecting roads which are not displayed in an enlarged map of the reference road intersection, the reference connecting roads extending from the reference connecting road through respective road intersections, the predetermined object being searched with respect to each of the connecting roads and the road intersections; and indicating on the enlarged map a direction label indicative of the predetermined object to indicate that the vehicle will encounter the predetermined object if the vehicle travels the reference connecting roads. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30, 31, 32)
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33. A vehicular navigation method comprising:
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indicating a present position of a vehicle on a displayed map; displaying a reference road intersection and a reference connecting road extending from the reference intersection when the vehicle approaches the reference intersection; searching for a plurality of predetermined objects located along a series of connecting roads not displayed and extending from the reference connecting road through respective road intersections, the predetermined objects having different search priority levels and being searched with respect to each of the connecting roads and the road intersections from an object which has a highest search priority level; and indicating a direction label indicative of one of the predetermined objects found first in the searching, thereby indicating that the vehicle will encounter the predetermined object if the vehicle travels the reference connecting roads. - View Dependent Claims (34)
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Specification