Communications navigation system, and navigation base apparatus and navigation apparatus both used in the navigation system

• US 6,314,369 B1
• Filed: 07/01/1999
• Issued: 11/06/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Equos Research
• Original Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Equos Research
• Inventors: Ito, Yasuo, Sugawara, Takashi, Kitano, Satoshi, Gorai, Naoki
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US09/345,479
• Time in Patent Office: 859 Days
• Field of Search: 701/209, 701/210, 701/213, 701/207, 701/208, 701/200, 701/201, 701/102, 340/988, 340/990, 340/993, 340/995, 455/32.1, 714/746-749, 375/222, 345/335, 382/239, 370/480, 370/401, 370/252, 370/215
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/34 Route searching; Route guidance
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096866 where the complete route is shown to the driver
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice

Abstract

In a communications navigation system, data is transmitted and received between a navigation base apparatus provided at a navigation base and each of a plurality of navigation apparatuses provided in moving bodies such as vehicles using communication. A determining section of the navigation base apparatus determines untraveled route portion by comparing user'"'"'s information stored in a user information storage with information of a recommended route provided by a route search section. The navigation base apparatus extracts necessary route/guidance information for untraveled route portion determined by the determining section from route/guidance data stored in a database, and then transmits the extracted route/guidance data to the navigation apparatus identified by the identification information. The route/guidance information may be transmitted to the navigation apparatus in the form of segmented data. In this way, it becomes possible for the navigation apparatus to extract only the route/guidance information needed by the user from the route/guidance data stored in the database.

Claims

1. A communications navigation system in which data communications are transmitted and received between a navigation base apparatus provided at a navigation base and each of a plurality of navigation apparatuses provided in moving bodies such as vehicles,

wherein at least one navigation apparatus of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses includes:

(a) transmitting means for transmitting, to the navigation base apparatus, at least current position data for a current position of one moving body on which the one navigation apparatus is mounted, destination data indicating a destination thereof and identification data identifying the one navigation apparatus,

(b) receiving means for receiving data from the navigation base apparatus, and

(c) route guidance means for providing route guidance using the data received from the navigation base apparatus; and

wherein the navigation base apparatus includes;

(a) route/guidance information storage means which stores route/guidance information therein;

(b) route search means for searching to determine a recommended route based on the current position data and the destination data received from the one navigation apparatus;

(c) determination means for determining, based on the identification data received from the one navigation apparatus, necessary route/guidance information that a user of the one navigation apparatus needs to have with regard to the recommended route,

wherein the navigation base apparatus extracts route/guidance data corresponding to the necessary route/guidance information determined by the determination means from the route/guidance information stored in the route/guidance information storage means, and then transmits the extracted route/guidance data to the navigation apparatus identified by the identification data; and

segmented data producing means for producing segmented data by dividing the extracted route/guidance data geographically into a plurality of data segments which link together geographically in series along the recommended route, for transmission of the extracted route/guidance data in the form of said plurality of data segments to the one navigation apparatus, each data segment containing route/guidance data for a geographical part of the recommended route and being independently usable in the one navigation apparatus for route guidance.

2. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the determination means of the navigation base apparatus includes user information storage means which stores:

items of identification information identifying the respective navigation apparatuses and

user'"'"'s information for determining the necessary route/guidance information for respective users of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses, each item of identification information being associated in storage with user'"'"'s information for a user of the one navigation apparatus identified by the item of identification information,

wherein the determination means determines the necessary route/guidance information for the respective user by referring to the user'"'"'s information stored in the user information storage means.

3. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least one navigation apparatus further includes data storage means for storing predetermined route/guidance data, data integrating means for integrating the route/guidance data received from the navigation base apparatus with the predetermined route/guidance data stored in the data storage means, and wherein the route guidance means provides the route guidance using the integrated route/guidance data.

4. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the navigation base apparatus transmits to the one navigation apparatus the plurality of data segments sequentially in an order beginning with a data segment for that portion of the recommended route which is closest to the one moving body.

5. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the navigation base apparatus checks to determine whether or not each data segment is successfully transmitted from the navigation base apparatus to the one navigation apparatus and when the navigation base apparatus determines that a data segment has not been successfully transmitted to the one navigation apparatus, the navigation base apparatus retries to transmit that data segment determined not to have been successfully transmitted.

6. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein responsive to completion of reception of at least one data segment from the navigation base apparatus, said route guidance means provides guidance for a part of the recommended route corresponding to the received at least one data segment.

7. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the navigation base apparatus performs data compression for each data segment before transmission of that data segment to the one navigation apparatus.

8. A communications navigation system in which data communications are transmitted and received between a navigation base apparatus provided at a navigation base and each of a plurality of navigation apparatuses provided in moving bodies such as vehicles,

wherein at least one navigation apparatus of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses includes:

(a) transmitting means for transmitting, to the navigation base apparatus, at least current position data for a current position of one moving body on which the one navigation apparatus is mounted, destination data indicating a destination thereof and identification data identifying the one navigation apparatus;

(b) receiving means for receiving data from the navigation base apparatus, and

(c) route guidance means for providing route guidance using the data received from the navigation base apparatus; and

wherein the navigation base apparatus includes;

(a) route/guidance information storage means which stores route/guidance information therein;

(b) route search means for searching to determine a recommended route based on the current position data and the destination data received from the one navigation apparatus; and

(c) determination means for determining, based on the identification data received from the one navigation apparatus, necessary route/guidance information that a user of the one navigation apparatus needs to have with regard to the recommended route,

said determination means comprising;

(i) user information storage means which stores items of identification information identifying the respective navigation apparatuses and user'"'"'s information for determining the necessary route/guidance information for respective users of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses, each item of identification information being associated in storage with user'"'"'s information for a user of the navigation apparatus identified by the item of identification information; and

(ii) untraveled route portion determining means for determining an untraveled route portion which is a part of the recommended route on which the one moving body has not yet traveled, based on the user'"'"'s information stored in the user'"'"'s information storage means;

(d) extracting means for extracting only route/guidance data for the untraveled route portion determined by the untraveled route portion determining means from the route/guidance information stored in the route/guidance information storage means as the necessary route/guidance information; and

(e) transmitting means for transmitting the extracted route/guidance data to the one navigation apparatus identified by the identification data.

9. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the navigation base apparatus divides the route/guidance data for the untraveled route portion into a plurality of segments for transmitting to the one navigation apparatus.

10. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 8, wherein the user information storage means includes traveled route information storage means which stores information concerning traveled routes that the one moving body has traveled in the past, the information concerning the traveled routes being stored as the user'"'"'s information,

wherein the untraveled route portion determining means determines the untraveled route portion by comparing the traveled route information stored in the traveled route information storage means with the recommended route.

11. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the navigation base apparatus produces the traveled route information based on route/guidance data that has been transmitted from the navigation base apparatus to the navigation apparatus in the past.

12. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the navigation base apparatus produces the traveled route information based on route information which has been received from the navigation apparatus, the traveled route information including information concerning all routes that the one moving body has ever traveled.

13. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the untraveled route portion determining means determines a portion of the recommended route as the untraveled route portion only in the case where the traveled route information shows that the moving body has not yet traveled on the portion of the recommended route more than a predetermined number of times.

14. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the navigation apparatus further includes:

data storage means for storing predetermined route/guidance data; and

data integrating means for integrating the route/guidance data received from the navigation base apparatus with the predetermined route/guidance data stored in the data storage means, said route guidance means providing the route guidance using the integrated route/guidance data produced by the data integrating means.

15. A communications navigation system in which data communications are transmitted and received between a navigation base apparatus provided at a navigation base and each of a plurality of navigation apparatuses provided in moving bodies such as vehicles, wherein

at least one navigation apparatus of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses includes:

(a) transmitting means for transmitting, to the navigation base apparatus, at least current position data for a current position of the one moving body on which the one navigation apparatus is mounted, destination data indicating a destination thereof and identification data identifying the one navigation apparatus;

(b) receiving means for receiving data from the navigation base apparatus and

(c) route guidance means for providing route guidance using data received from the navigation base apparatus,

and wherein the navigation base apparatus includes;

(a) route/guidance information storage means which stores route/guidance information therein;

(b) route search means for searching to determine a recommended route based on the current position data and the destination data received from the navigation apparatus;

(c) extracting means for extracting route/guidance data for the recommended route produced by the route search means, the route guidance data being used by the route guidance means in the navigation apparatus to provide the route guidance to a user of the one navigation apparatus; and

(d) segmented data producing means for dividing the extracted route/guidance data geographically into a plurality of data segments which link together geographically in series along the recommended route, each of said data segments containing route/guidance data for a geographical part of the recommended route which is specified by a road number or road name;

wherein the navigation base apparatus transmits the route/guidance data in the form of said plurality of data segments to the one navigation apparatus identified by the identification data, in which each data segment is independently utilizable by said route guidance means navigation apparatus to provide the route guidance.

16. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the navigation base apparatus transmits to the one navigation apparatus the plurality of data segments sequentially in an order beginning with a data segment for that portion of the recommended route which is closest to the one moving body.

17. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the navigation base apparatus checks to determine whether or not each data segment is successfully transmitted from the navigation base apparatus to the one navigation apparatus and when the navigation base apparatus determines that a data segment has not been successfully transmitted to the one navigation apparatus, the navigation base apparatus retries to transmit that data segment determined not to have been successfully transmitted.

18. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 15, wherein responsive to completion of reception of at least one data segment from the navigation base apparatus, said route guidance means provides guidance for a part of the recommended route corresponding to the received at least one data segment.

19. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the navigation base apparatus performs data compression for each data segment before transmission of that data segment to the one navigation apparatus.

20. A communications navigation system in which data communications are transmitted and received between a navigation base apparatus provided at a navigation base and each of a plurality of navigation apparatuses provided in moving bodies such as vehicles, wherein

at least one navigation apparatus of the plurality of the navigation apparatuses includes:

(a) transmitting means for transmitting, to the navigation base apparatus, at least current position data for a current position of the one moving body on which the one navigation apparatus is mounted, destination data indicating a destination thereof and identification data identifying the one navigation apparatus; and

(b) receiving means for receiving data from the navigation base apparatus; and

(c) route guidance means for providing route guidance using data received from the navigation base apparatus,

and wherein the navigation base apparatus includes;

(a) route/guidance information storage means which stores route/guidance information therein;

(b) route search means for searching to determine a recommended route based on the current position data and the destination data received from the navigation apparatus;

(c) extracting means for extracting route/guidance data for the recommended route produced by the route search means, the route guidance data being used by the route guidance means in the navigation apparatus to provide the route guidance to a user of the one navigation apparatus; and

(d) segmented data producing means for dividing the extracted route/guidance data geographically into a plurality of data segments which link together geographically along the recommended route, each data segment containing route/guidance data for a geographical part of the recommended route which is defined by two adjacent intersections;

wherein the navigation base apparatus transmits the route/guidance data in the form of said plurality of segments to the one navigation apparatus identified by the identification data in which each data segment is independently used by the route guidance means to provide the route guidance.

21. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the navigation base apparatus transmits to the one navigation apparatus the plurality of data segments sequentially in an order beginning with a data segment for that portion of the recommended route which is closest to the one moving body.

22. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the navigation base apparatus checks to determine whether or not each data segment is successfully transmitted from the navigation base apparatus to the one navigation apparatus and when the navigation base apparatus determines that a data segment has not been successfully transmitted to the one navigation apparatus, the navigation base apparatus retries to transmit that data segment determined not to have been successfully transmitted.

23. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 20, wherein responsive to completion of reception of at least one data segment from the navigation base apparatus, said route guidance means provides guidance for a part of the recommended route corresponding to the received at least one data segment.

24. The communications navigation system as claimed in claim 20, wherein the navigation base apparatus performs data compression for each data segment before transmission of that data segment to the one navigation apparatus.