Route searching device

• US 6,438,490 B2
• Filed: 04/27/1999
• Issued: 08/20/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Clarion Co., Ltd. (Faurecia SA)
• Original Assignee: Xanavi Informatics Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ohta, Kazutaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Chin, Gary
• Application Number:
  US09/300,606
• Publication Number:
  US 20010047242A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,211 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/202, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 701/117, 731/78.R, 340/988, 340/990, 340/994, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/210
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09

Abstract

A processor calculates an estimated travel time required to travel from a current point to a destination or a passing point on a route on the basis of a travel time represented by traffic-jam information for a traffic-jam place which is represented by the traffic-jam information received by a traffic information receiver, and on the basis of a traffic-jam time calculated on the basis of map data for the other places; accordingly, the travel time required can be calculated in consideration of traffic-jam conditions.

Claims

1. An apparatus for estimating a travel time needed to travel from a current position to a destination or a point on a recommendable route, comprising:

storing means for storing map data representing a road map, said map data comprising link data pieces, each of which represents a link between nodes on a road on the road map and has a travel estimation time of the link;

receiving means for receiving traffic jam information representing a traffic jam place and a travel estimation time of the traffic jam place by communication;

travel time estimating means for estimating a travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route; and

display means for displaying the estimated travel time;

wherein said travel time estimating means obtains link data pieces representing a route from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route, obtains a traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained, obtains a non-traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is not located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained, and calculates the sum of the traffic jam travel estimation time and the non-traffic jam travel estimation time as the travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route, and

wherein the non-traffic jam travel estimation time is obtained in such a manner that, as to each of the link data pieces thus obtained, a ratio of a length of a section where traffic jam place is located on a link represented by the link data piece to a length of the link is calculated, a first intermediate time obtained by multiplying a travel time of the link data piece by the ratio is calculated, a second intermediate time obtained by subtracting the first intermediate time from the travel time of the link data piece is calculated, and the sum of the second intermediate times of the link data pieces thus obtained is calculated as the non-traffic jam travel estimation time.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein

said travel time estimating means calculates a traffic jam rate of the traffic jam travel estimation time to the estimated travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route, and

said display means displays the traffic jam with the estimated travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein

said link data piece has a road type, and

the second intermediate time is obtained by subtracting the first intermediate time from the travel time of the link data piece and then multiplying the subtraction result by a weight according to a road type of the link data piece.

4. A method for estimating a travel time needed to travel from a current position to a destination or a point on a recommendable route, comprising steps of:

storing map data representing a road map, said map data comprising link data pieces, each of which represents a link between nodes on a road on the road map and has a travel estimation time of the link;

receiving traffic jam information representing a traffic jam place and a travel estimation time of the traffic jam place by communication;

obtaining link data pieces representing a route from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route;

obtaining a traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained;

obtaining a non-traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is not located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained;

calculating the sum of the traffic jam travel estimation time and the non-traffic jam travel estimation time to obtain the travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route; and

displaying the calculated travel time;

wherein the non-traffic jam travel estimation time is obtained in such a manner that, as to each of the link data pieces thus obtained, a ratio of a length of a section where traffic jam place is located on a link represented by the link data piece to a length of the link is calculated, a first intermediate time obtained by multiplying a travel time of the link data piece by the ratio is calculated, a second intermediate time obtained by subtracting the first time from the travel time of the link data piece is calculated, and the sum of the second intermediate times of the link data pieces thus obtained is calculated as the non-traffic jam travel estimation time.

5. A medium for storing a program which is read out and executed by a computer, wherein said program makes said computer execute steps of:

storing map data representing a road map, said map data comprising link data pieces, each of which represents a link between nodes on a road on the road map and has a travel estimation time of the link;

receiving traffic jam information representing a traffic jam place and a travel estimation time of the traffic jam place by communication;

obtaining link data pieces representing a route from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route;

obtaining a traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained;

obtaining a non-traffic jam travel estimation time needed to pass through a section where traffic jam place is not located on the route represented by said link data pieces thus obtained;

calculating the sum of the traffic jam travel estimation time and the non-traffic jam travel estimation time to obtain the travel time needed to travel from the current position to the destination or the point on the recommendable route; and

displaying the calculated travel time;

wherein the non-traffic jam travel estimation time is obtained in such a manner that, as to each of the link data pieces thus obtained, a ratio of a length of a section where traffic jam place is located on a link represented by the link data piece to a length of the link is calculated, a first intermediate time obtained by multiplying a travel time of the link data piece by the ratio is calculated, a second intermediate time obtained by subtracting the first time from the travel time of the link data piece is calculated, and the sum of the second intermediate times of the link data pieces thus obtained is calculated as the non-traffic jam travel estimation time.