Car navigation system and storage medium

• US 6,604,048 B2
• Filed: 08/08/2001
• Issued: 08/05/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Aisin AW Company Limited (Aisin Corp.)
• Inventors: Kato, Shinichi, Ishida, Akira
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US09/923,335
• Publication Number:
  US 20020019700A1
• Time in Patent Office: 727 Days
• Field of Search: 701/208, 701/210, 701/211, 701/213, 340/995, 342/357.08, 342/357.13
• US Class Current: 701/213
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/42 Determining position

Abstract

A vehicle navigation system and storage medium for determining an estimated position of a vehicle. The system and storage medium comprises at least an input unit, a present position detection unit, a storage unit, a central processing unit, an information transmission/reception unit and an output unit. Information concerning route guidance is input, as is present position detected information, and stored such that calculation of an estimated position of a vehicle may be generated based on a variety of conditions such as vehicle speed history, elevation angle of a satellite position relative to the vehicle, and penalty values attributed to the types of roads traveled.

Claims

1. A car-navigation system for determining an estimated position of a vehicle, comprising:

reception means for receiving positioning satellite information, wherein the positioning satellite information comprises at least one electric wave from a plurality of positioning satellites;

vehicle speed detection means for detecting the speed of a vehicle;

at least one storage means for storing the received positioning satellite information and detected vehicle speed information;

calculation means for calculating a variation in the number of electric waves received from the plurality of positioning satellites; and

estimated position determination means for determining the estimated position of a vehicle;

wherein the estimated position determination means judges whether the vehicle has passed a tollgate based on the variation in the number of electric waves received from the plurality of positioning satellites calculated by the calculation means and the vehicle speed information stored in the storage means.

2. The car-navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the calculation means calculates the variation in the number of electric waves received from the plurality of positioning satellites and the variation in the amount of vehicle speed, and the estimated position determination means judges whether the vehicle has passed the toll gate by determining the estimated position of the vehicle based on the calculated variation in the number of electric waves received from the plurality of positioning satellites and the calculated variation in the amount of vehicle speed.

3. The car-navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the storage means further stores at least one past estimated position of the vehicle and the estimated position determination means judges that the vehicle has gotten off an expressway, when a stored past estimated position is an expressway and the present estimated position is determined as having passed a tollgate.

4. The car-navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the storage means further stores at least one past estimated position of the vehicle and the estimated position determination means judges that the vehicle has gotten onto an expressway, when a stored past estimated position is an ordinary road and the present estimated position is determined as having passed a tollgate.

5. A car-navigation system for estimating whether a vehicle travels an upper or lower road of a multilayer road, comprising:

means for allocating comparison coefficients to a plurality of judgment conditions; and

means for estimating whether a vehicle travels on the upper or lower road of a multilayer road based on a sum of comparison coefficients, wherein at least one of the plurality of judgment conditions relates to a positioning satellite.

6. A car-navigation system for estimating whether a vehicle travels an upper or lower road of a multilayer road, comprising;

means for allocating comparison coefficients to a plurality of judgment conditions; and

means for estimating whether a vehicle travels on the upper or lower road of a multilayer road based on a stun of comparison coefficients, wherein at least one of the plurality of judgment conditions relates to a history of vehicle speed.

7. A car-navigation system for determining the estimated position of a vehicle, comprising:

reception means for receiving at least one electric wave from a plurality of positioning satellites; and

control means for allocating comparison coefficients based on an angle of elevation to the received satellite, and judging the estimated position of a vehicle based on a sum of the comparison coefficients.

8. A car-navigation system for determining an estimated position of a vehicle, comprising:

a first judgment means for judging expressway predominant as the estimated position;

a second judgment means for judging ordinary road predominant as the estimated position; and

control means for determining the vehicle estimated position based on the judgment results of the first and second judgment means.

9. The car-navigation system according to claim 8, wherein

the control means calculates a penalty value based on the judgment results of the first and second judgment means, and determines the vehicle estimated position by adding the calculated penalty value to the penalty value of a candidate road.

10. The car-navigation system according to claim 9, wherein

the first judgment means comprises a plurality of judgment means;

and

the control means calculates a total coefficient from comparison coefficients allocated to the plurality of judgment means, and calculates the penalty value from the total coefficient.

11. The car-navigation system according to claim 9, wherein

the second judgment means comprises a plurality of judgment means;

and

the control means calculates a total coefficient from comparison coefficients allocated to the plurality of judgment means, and calculates the penalty value from the total coefficient.

12. A storage medium having a built-in program for determining an estimated position of a vehicle, comprising:

a first judgment for judging expressway predominant as the estimated position;

a second judgment for judging ordinary road predominant as the estimated position; and

a built-in program for determining the vehicle estimated position based on the judgment results of the first and second judgments.