Display based on location information

• US 7,548,814 B2
• Filed: 03/27/2006
• Issued: 06/16/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sisvel International S.A. (Fineur International S.A.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications USA Incorporated (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Camp, William O. Jr., Jendbro, Magnus, Pantalone, Brett Anthony
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Dalena
• Application Number:
  US11/388,978
• Publication Number:
  US 20070225904A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,177 Days
• Field of Search: 701/212, 701/208, 345/663, 345/665, 345/662, 382/276, 382/279, 382/298, 340/990, 340/995.14, 340/995.15
• US Class Current: 701/212
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/367 Details, e.g. road map scale, orientation, zooming, illumination, level of detail, scrolling of road map or positioning of current position marker

Abstract

A method may include obtaining location information associated with a device, determining a focal point for a map based on the location information, displaying the focal point on the map, and decreasing a detail or a scale on the map as a radial distance from the focal point increases.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

obtaining location information associated with a device;

determining a focal point for a map, displayed by a display associated with the device, based on the location information;

displaying, via the display, the focal point on the map;

decreasing, via a processor associated with the device, a detail or a scale on the map as a radial distance from the focal point increases;

determining a field of view for the map based on a velocity of the device;

adjusting, via the processor, the focal point to a point on the map based on the velocity; and

adjusting, via the processor, the field of view for the map based on the velocity and the adjusted focal point.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, via the display, the focal point at a center of the map.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting, via the processor, the focal point to a location on the map other than a center of the map.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

adjusting, via the processor, the focal point to a point on the map further based on an orientation of the device.

5. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

adjusting, via the processor, the focal point to a point on the map further based on a user inputted location.

6. The method of claim 1, where decreasing the detail or the scale comprises one of:

decreasing the detail or the scale on the map continuously as the radial distance from the focal point increases;

decreasing the detail or the scale on the map in discrete steps as the radial distance from the focal point increases;

decreasing the detail or the scale on the map logarithmically as the radial distance from the focal point increases;

or

decreasing the detail or the scale on the map exponentially as the radial distance from the focal point increases.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying, via the display, a direction to a point of interest outside a viewing area of the map.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the focal point for the map based on a location of the device as determined through a global position system (GPS).

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining the field of view for the map further based on an orientation of the device.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the field of view for the map further based on an orientation of the device.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining the focal point for the map further based on user input.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adjusting, via the processor, a feature of the map based on a user controlled map scaling.

13. A device comprising:

means for obtaining location information associated with the device;

means for determining a focal point for a map based on the location information;

means for displaying the map;

means for displaying the focal point on the map;

means for decreasing a detail or a scale on the map as a radial distance from the focal point increases;

means for determining a field of view for the map based on a velocity of the device;

means for adjusting the focal point to a point on the map based on the velocity; and

means for adjusting the field of view for the map based on the velocity and the adjusted focal point.

14. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

means for displaying the focal point at a center of the map.

15. The device of claim 13, further comprising:

means for displaying the focal point at a location on the map other than a center of the map.

16. A device comprising:

a location information gatherer to obtain location information associated with the device; and

a processor to;

determine a focal point for a map based on the location information,

display the map,

display the focal point on the map,

decrease a detail or a scale on the map as a radial distance from the focal point increases,

determine a field of view for the map based on a velocity of the device,

adjust the focal point to a point on the map based on the velocity, and

adjust the field of view for the map based on the velocity and the adjusted focal point.

17. The device of claim 16, where the location information gatherer includes at least one of:

a global positioning system (GPS) unit to determine a location or a velocity of the device,

a compass to determine an orientation of the device, or

a Doppler unit to determine the velocity of the device.

18. The device of claim 17, where, when determining the focal point for the map, the processor is configured to determine the focal point based on the location received from the GPS unit.

19. The device of claim 17, where, when determining the focal point for the map, the processor is configured to determine the field of view for the map based on the orientation received from the compass.

20. The device of claim 17, where, when determining the focal point for the map, the processor is configured to determine the field of view for the map based on the velocity received from one of the GPS unit or the Doppler unit.

21. The device of claim 17, where, when displaying the focal point on the map, the processor is configured to adjust the focal point to a point on the map further based on the orientation received from the compass.

22. The device of claim 17, where, when displaying the focal point on the map, the processor is configured to adjust the focal point to a point on the map based on the velocity received from the Doppler unit.

23. The device of claim 17, where, when displaying the focal point on the map, the processor is configured to adjust the focal point to a point on the map further based on a user inputted location.

24. The device of claim 16, where, when determining the focal point for the map, the processor is configured to determine the focal point further based on a user inputted location.

25. The device of claim 16, where, when displaying the focal point on the map, the processor is configured to display the focal point at a center of the map.

26. The device of claim 16, where, when displaying the focal point on the map, the processor is configured to display the focal point at a location on the map other than a center of the map.

27. The device of claim 16, where, when decreasing the detail or the scale on the map, the processor is configured to one of continuously, discretely, logarithmically, or exponentially decrease the detail or the scale on the map as the radial distance from the focal point increases.

28. A device comprising:

a memory to store instructions; and

a processor to execute the instructions to;

obtain location information associated with the device,

determine a focal point for a map based on the location information,

display the map,

display the focal point on the map,

decrease a detail or a scale on the map as a radial distance from the focal point increases,

determine a field of view for the map based on a velocity of the device,

adjust the focal point to a point on the map based on the velocity, and

adjust the field of view for the map based on the velocity and the adjusted focal point.