Vehicle navigation apparatus and method of searching for and displaying neighborhood facilities
First Claim
1. A vehicle navigation apparatus with a searching range having directivity comprising:
- a display unit for providing guidance information through a screen;
an information input unit for entering information designated by a user;
a storage unit for storing map information including information about facilities; and
a controller for controlling the input and output of information to and from said display unit, said information input unit, and said storage unit,wherein, while a map image is displayed on the screen of said display unit with reference to said map information, when a desired searching direction viewed from a base point on the map image is designated by the user, said controller searches across said map information for facilities located within a searching range having a predetermined shape and directed in the designated searching direction, and displays a list of the searched facilities on the screen of said display unit, and wherein, while the same searching direction continues to be designated by the user, said controller enlarges the searching range in stages according to the duration of the designation and searches for facilities included in the corresponding searching range at every stage of enlargement, to display the list of searched facilities on the screen of said display unit in real time.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicle navigation apparatus and a method of searching for and displaying a neighborhood facility are provided for enabling an effective search for a neighborhood facility with a searching range having a directivity according to a user'"'"'s intention. The vehicle navigation apparatus comprises a display unit, an information input unit for entering information designated by a user, a storage unit for storing map information including information about facilities, and a controller for controlling information sent to or from these components. While a map image is displayed on a screen of the display unit based on the map information, a base point for search and a genre of a facility of interest for search are designated by the user, and a desired searching direction viewed from the search base point is also designated. At this time, the apparatus searches across the map information for facilities which belong to the designated genre and which are located in the designated searching direction to display a result of the search in a list.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A vehicle navigation apparatus with a searching range having directivity comprising:
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a display unit for providing guidance information through a screen; an information input unit for entering information designated by a user; a storage unit for storing map information including information about facilities; and a controller for controlling the input and output of information to and from said display unit, said information input unit, and said storage unit, wherein, while a map image is displayed on the screen of said display unit with reference to said map information, when a desired searching direction viewed from a base point on the map image is designated by the user, said controller searches across said map information for facilities located within a searching range having a predetermined shape and directed in the designated searching direction, and displays a list of the searched facilities on the screen of said display unit, and wherein, while the same searching direction continues to be designated by the user, said controller enlarges the searching range in stages according to the duration of the designation and searches for facilities included in the corresponding searching range at every stage of enlargement, to display the list of searched facilities on the screen of said display unit in real time. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of searching for and displaying neighborhood facilities in a vehicle navigation apparatus with a searching range having directivity, the apparatus comprising a map database that stores map information including information about facilities, and having a function of searching for facilities located within a surrounding area of a vehicle position when displaying a map image on a screen of a display device, the method comprising the steps of:
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when a base point for the search and a genre of the facility of interest for the search are designated by a user and then a desired searching direction viewed from said search base point is further designated by the user, searching for facilities located within a searching range having a predetermined shape and directed in said designated searching direction from among facilities belonging to the designated genre across said map database; and displaying a list of the searched facilities on the screen of said display device, the method further comprising, while the same searching direction continues to be designated by the user, enlarging the searching range in stages according to the duration of the designation, and searching for facilities included in said searching range at every stage of enlargement to display the list of the searched facilities on the screen of said display device in real time. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method of searching for and displaying facilities in a vehicle navigation apparatus with a searching range having directivity, comprising:
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receiving a designation of a base point for a search; receiving a designation from a user of a searching direction; searching for facilities located within a searching range having a predetermined shape and directed in said designated searching direction as viewed from said designated base point; and displaying on a display device at least one facility found as a result of said search, wherein said search is conducted substantially within a predefined sector shape oriented in said designated searching direction, and at least one dimension of said sector shape is enlarged in stages according to the duration that said searching direction continues to be designated by the user.
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Specification