Navigation system

• US 6,600,993 B1
• Filed: 11/08/2000
• Issued: 07/29/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Inventors: Nagaki, Koichi, Kaneko, Michihiro, Yamauchi, Keiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Donnelly, Arthur D.
• Application Number:
  US09/707,964
• Time in Patent Office: 993 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/207, 701/208, 701/209, 701/210, 701/211, 340/990, 340/995, 342/375, 386/125
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments

Abstract

A navigation system is provided with: a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body; a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium; a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon; a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position; a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device.

Claims

1. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device.

4. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the controlling device controls the navigation operation on the basis of the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device if the map data necessary to the navigation operation is stored on the nonvolatile storage device, and on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium if the map data necessary to the navigation operation on the recording medium is readable and is not stored on the nonvolatile storage device.

5. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the nonvolatile storage device has a map data storing area which stores the transmitted map data.

6. The navigation system according to claim 5, wherein the navigation system further comprising a map data deleting device for deleting part of the map data stored on the map data storing area in accordance with a predetermined condition if the map data storing area becomes full at the transmitting of the map data by the transmitting device.

2. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device,

wherein the nonvolatile storage device has a faster access time than the reading device.

3. The navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the nonvolatile storage device is provided with a hard disc device.

7. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device,

wherein the transmitting device transmits the map data every time when the movable body moves a predetermined distance.

8. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device,

wherein block map data is recorded on the recording medium every block unit into which the entire map is divided, the reading device reads the map data from the recording medium in the block map data unit, the nonvolatile storage device stores and reads the map data in the block map data unit.

9. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein the block map data unit is an area having two parallel sides in an east-west direction and two parallel sides in a north-south direction.

10. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein the transmitting device determines whether the block map data as an object of transmitting is stored on the nonvolatile storage device, and transmits only block map data which is not stored on the nonvolatile storage.

11. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area comprising a plurality of block units on the basis of the block unit including the present position.

12. The navigation system according to claim 11, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to the area having a broader portion in a forward side of a travelling direction.

13. The navigation system according to claim 8, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area comprising a plurality of block units, which is overlapped with an optimum route from the present position to a destination.

14. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a communicating device for communicating with an external source to the movable body to obtain map data;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for obtaining the map data from the external of the movable body through the communicating device and transmitting the obtained map data to the nonvolatile storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device.

15. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for being loaded with a recording medium on which map data is recorded and reading the map data from the loaded recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

an operating device for providing an instruction to eject the recording medium loaded in the reading device;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the map data from the recording medium through the reading device and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device when the instruction to eject is provided by the operating device;

an eject controlling device for controlling an ejecting operation of the recording medium from the reading device after the transmitting operation is completed by the transmitting device; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the stored map data on the nonvolatile storage device after the recording medium is ejected from the reading device.

16. The navigation system according to claim 15, wherein the nonvolatile storage device has a faster access time than the reading device.

17. The navigation system according to claim 16, wherein the nonvolatile storage device is provided with a hard disc device.

18. The navigation system according to claim 16, wherein the nonvolatile storage device has a map data storing area which stores the transmitted map data.

19. The navigation system according to claim 16, wherein the navigation system further comprising a notifying device for notifying an executing status of transmitting by the transmitting device.

20. The navigation system according to claim 19, wherein the notifying device notifies a guide message to select continuing or quitting of the navigation operation when the instruction to eject is provided by the operating device, the operation device further provides;

an instruction to continue or quit the navigation operation corresponding to the guide message, the transmitting device transmits the map data when the instruction to continue the navigation operation is provided by the operation device, the controlling device quits the navigation operation when the instruction to quit the navigation operation is provided by the operation device.

21. The navigation system according to claim 19, wherein the notifying device notifies a warning to induce loading of the recording medium in the reading device if an necessary map data is not stored on the nonvolatile storage device while the navigation operation is executed on the basis of the map data stored on the nonvolatile storage device, the transmitting device transmits the necessary map data if the recording medium is loaded in the reading device in accordance with the warning, the controlling device quits the navigation operation if the recording medium is not loaded in the reading device.

22. The navigation system according to claim 21, wherein the notifying device notifies the warning repeatedly predetermined times if the recording medium is not loaded in the reading device despite of the warning, the controlling device quits the navigation operation if the recording medium is not loaded in the reading device after the warning is notified the predetermined times.

23. The navigation system according to claim 15, wherein block map data is recorded on the recording medium every block unit into which the entire map is divided, the reading device reads the map data from the recording medium in the block map data unit, the nonvolatile storage device stores and reads the map data in the block map data unit.

24. The navigation system according to claim 23, wherein the transmitting device determines whether the block map data as an object of transmitting is stored on the nonvolatile storage device, and transmits only block map data which is not stored on the nonvolatile storage.

25. The navigation system according to claim 23, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area comprising a plurality of block units on the basis of the block unit including the present position.

26. The navigation system according to claim 23, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area comprising a plurality of block units, which is overlapped with an optimum route from the present position to a destination.

27. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for being loaded with a recording medium on which map data is recorded and reading the map data from the loaded recording medium;

a nonvolatile storage device for storing the map data thereon;

an operating device for providing an instruction to transmit the map data from the reading device to the nonvolatile storage device;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position; and

a transmitting device for reading the map data from the recording medium through the reading device and transmitting the read map data to the nonvolatile storage device when the instruction to transmit is provided by the operating device.

28. The navigation system according to claim 27, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area selected on the basis of the present position.

29. The navigation system according to claim 27, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area around a designated point or a designated area by a user.

30. The navigation system according to claim 27, wherein the object of transmitting by the transmitting device is set to an area around an optimum route from the present point to a destination.

31. The navigation system according to claim 30, wherein the operation device provides an instruction to seek an optimum route to a designated destination, the transmitting device transmits the map data when seeking of the optimum route is completed.

32. A navigation system comprising:

a present position detecting device for detecting a present position of a movable body;

a reading device for reading map data recorded on a recording medium;

a readable/writable storage device for storing the map data thereon;

a selecting device for selecting an area as an object to be transmitted in accordance with the present position;

a transmitting device for reading the recorded map data corresponding to the area from the recording medium and transmitting the read map data to the readable/writable storage device at a predetermined timing; and

a controlling device for controlling a navigation operation to assist the movable body in traveling on the basis of the recorded map data on the recording medium and the stored map data on the readable/writable storage device.