Map display terminal and map display method

• US 6,647,336 B1
• Filed: 07/27/2000
• Issued: 11/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Innovations Ltd Hong Kong (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Iwata, Shinichiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Pipala, Edward
• Application Number:
  US09/627,231
• Time in Patent Office: 1,202 Days
• Field of Search: 701/207, 701/212, 701/208, 701/209, 701/213, 340/988, 340/990, 340/991, 340/993, 340/995
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A map display apparatus and a map display method facilitate detection of relationship between the destination (current position) and the peripheral condition even when a detailed map is to be displayed on the narrow display area. The map display terminal displays a particular position, a current position, a destination, on a map by deriving the current position on the basis of a position information from a satellite. The map display apparatus has first means for displaying a wide area map having smaller reduced scale than a detailed map and centered at said current position upon displaying said detailed map centered at said current position.

Claims

1. A map display method that displays maps of a current position on a map display terminal and derives said current position from a Global Positioning System (GPS), the method, comprising:

initially displaying a wide area map; and

automatically magnifying said wide area map in a step-by-step manner to display at each step a magnified map until a most highly magnified map is displayed,

wherein map displays of said wide area map, said magnified map, and said most highly magnified map are centered on said current position.

2. A map display method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising:

downloading map display information of said most highly magnified map from a server.

3. A map display method as set forth in claim 2, further comprising:

communicating between said map display terminal and said server through a portable radio telephone network.

4. A map display method as set forth in claim 3, further comprising:

communicating between said portable map display terminal and said server through a packet network.

5. A map display method as set forth in claim 1, wherein a number of steps by which said wide area map is automatically magnified in a step-by-step manner is determined by a geographic position corresponding to said current position of said map display terminal.

6. A map display method as set forth in claim 1, wherein after initially displaying said wide area map, said automatically magnifying is performed without operator interaction.

7. A map display method that displays maps of a current position on a map display terminal and derives said current position from a Global Position System (GPS), the method, comprising:

initially displaying a wide area map;

automatically magnifying said wide area map in a step-by-step manner to display at each step a magnified map until a most highly magnified map is displayed; and

downloading map display information of said most highly magnified map from a server,

wherein said automatically magnifying said wide area map in a step-by-step manner depends upon progress of said downloading map display information of said most highly magnified map information.

8. A map display method as set forth in claim 7, wherein automatically magnifying said wide area map includes determining an expansion ratio for each step on a basis of a ratio of scale values of said wide area map and said most highly magnified map, and a number of steps.

9. A storage medium for storing a map display control program that displays maps of a current position on a map display terminal and derives said current position from a Global Positioning System (GPS),

wherein said map display control program initially displays a wide area map and automatically magnifies said wide area map in a step-by-step manner to display at each step a magnified map until a most highly-magnified map is displayed, and

wherein map displays of said wide area map, said magnified map, and said most highly magnified map are centered on said current position.

10. A storage medium for storing a map display control program as set forth in claim 9 wherein a number of steps by which said wide area map is automatically magnified in a step-by-step manner is determined by a geographic position corresponding to said current position of said map display terminal.

11. A storage medium for storing a map display control program as set forth in claim 9 wherein after initially displaying said wide area map, said automatically magnifying is performed without operator interaction.

12. A map display terminal for displaying a current position of said map display terminal on map displays by deriving said current position from a Global Positioning System (GPS), said map display terminal, comprising:

a read-only memory (ROM) including map display information for a wide area map;

a central processing unit (CPU);

a display block including a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an LCD controller under control of said CPU that initially displays said wide area map, automatically magnifies said wide area map in a step-by-step manner to display at each step a magnified map until a most highly magnified map is displayed, and centers map displays of said wide area map, said magnified map, and said most highly magnified map on said current position; and

a GPS block including a GPS radio receiver and a GPS decoder that derives said current position.

13. A map display terminal as set forth in claim 12 further comprising a communication block including a radio telephone transceiver that communicates with a server to obtain map display information of said most highly magnified map.

14. A map display terminal as set forth in claim 13 further comprising a random access memory (RAM), wherein said CPU initiates a demand of said server via said communication block to download display information of said most highly magnified map into said RAM.

15. A map display terminal as set forth in claim 14 wherein said communication block includes a radio telephone transceiver that communicates with said server through a packet network to obtain map display information of said most highly magnified map.

16. A map display terminal as set forth in claim 12 wherein a number of steps by which said wide area map is automatically magnified in a step-by-step manner by said CPU is determined by a geographic position corresponding to said current position as determined by said CPU block.

17. A map display terminal as set forth in claim 12 wherein after initially displaying said wide area map, said automatically magnifying is performed without operator interaction.