Recommended route calculation method and navigation apparatus

• US 7,463,976 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2004
• Issued: 12/09/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/28/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: AutoNavigare LLC
• Original Assignee: Xanavi Informatics Corporation (Hitachi, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Nomura, Takashi
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi H.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Broadhead; Brian J
• Application Number:
  US10/832,417
• Publication Number:
  US 20040215390A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,687 Days
• Field of Search: 701/209, 701/211, 701/202, 340/995.27
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles

Abstract

A recommended route calculation method for calculating a recommended route from a current position to a destination based upon map data constituted of nodes and links, includes steps of: extracting attribute data of a link from data related to the links, the attribute data indicating characteristics of the link; judging whether or not the extracted attribute data of the link match attribute data having been input; and processing so that selectability of the link as a part of the recommended route is raised, when judging that the extracted attribute data of the link match the attribute data having been input.

Claims

1. A recommended route calculation method for calculating a recommended route from a current position to a destination, comprising:

displaying a list of roads sorted based upon an attribute of road;

identifying a road specified by a user among the displayed roads;

setting a predetermined point of the identified road as a waypoint; and

calculating the recommended route from the current position to the destination via the set waypoint.

8. A navigation apparatus, comprising:

a control device executing a recommended route calculation method according to claim 1.

2. A recommended route calculation method for calculating a recommended route from a current position to a destination, comprising:

displaying a list of roads sorted based upon an attribute of road;

identifying a road specified by a user among the displayed roads; and

processing so that selectability of a road, an attribute of which matches an attribute of the identified road, is raised when calculating the recommended route from the current position to the destination.

9. A navigation apparatus, comprising:

a control device executing a recommended route calculation method according to claim 2.

3. A recommended route calculation method for calculating a recommended route from a current position to a destination based upon map data constituted of nodes and links comprising steps of:

extracting attribute data of a link from data related to the links, the attribute data indicating characteristics of the link;

judging whether or not the extracted attribute data of the link match attribute data having been input;

processing so that selectability of the link as a part of the recommended route is raised, when judging that the extracted attribute data of the link match the attribute data having been input;

selecting a range determined in correspondence to the start point and the destination;

determining links contained in the range;

extracting attribute data included in the determined links; and

bringing up a display of the extracted attribute data included in the determined links at a display device, wherein

the attribute data having been input is attribute data having been input based upon the display.

4. A recommended route calculation method according to claim 3, wherein:

the extracted attribute data to be displayed at the display device are sorted in correspondence to the characteristics of each of the determined links.

5. A recommended route calculation method for calculating a recommended route from a current position to a destination based upon map data constituted of nodes and links, comprising steps of:

extracting attribute data of a link from data related to the links, the attribute data indicating characteristics of the link;

judging whether or not the extracted attribute data of the link match attribute data having been input;

processing so that selectability of the links as a part of the recommended route is raised, when judging that the extracted attribute data of the link match the attribute data having been input; and

displaying the calculated recommended route, wherein;

when displaying the calculated recommended route, a part of the recommended route corresponding to the link with the attribute data matching the input attribute data is displayed in a display mode different from a display mode adopted to display the rest of the recommended route.

6. A recommended route calculation method according to claim 5, wherein:

when displaying the calculated recommended route at the display device, the part of the recommended route corresponding to the link with the attribute data matching the input attribute data is displayed together with a mark indicating the meaning of the input attribute data.

7. A recommended route calculation method according to claim 6, wherein:

the mark is an icon adopting a display mode corresponding to a type of attribute data.