Pedestrian navigation system, information delivery server, and program

• US 7,702,457 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2005
• Issued: 04/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/15/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Navitame Japan Co., Ltd., Navitime Japan Co. Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Navitime Japan Co. Ltd.
• Inventors: Tojo, Hiroshi, Matsunaga, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu; Yonel
• Application Number:
  US11/632,146
• Publication Number:
  US 20070233372A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,742 Days
• Field of Search: 701200-202, 701/209, 701/205
• US Class Current: 701/209
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/005 including pedestrian guidance indicator
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096816 where the complete route is transmitted to the vehicle at once
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09685 where the complete route is computed only once and not updated
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096883 where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A pedestrian navigation system, an information delivery server, and a program for naturally guiding (such as speech-guiding) the user of a portable terminal at an intersection are disclosed. An information delivery server includes a map database containing data such as nodes including paths constituting intersections, links, and costs of the links, a path seeking section, an intersection path judging section for detecting a path passing through an intersection from guidance paths which the path seeking section has sought, a guidance point determining section which determines a guidance point for path guidance, a guidance data creating section which determines a guidance pattern of path guidance according to the guidance point, and a data delivering section for delivering map data, guidance path data, and guidance data to a portable terminal. The guidance point determining section selects a specific node out of all the nodes constituting intersections as a guidance point.

Claims

1. A pedestrian navigation system comprising:

an information delivery server; and

a portable terminal connected to said information delivery server via a network;

said information delivery server comprising;

a map database that stores nodes and links, including paths constituting intersections, and cost of each link as data;

a path seeking section;

an intersection path judging section that, on the basis of combinations of link lengths of passage patterns composed of multiple links having differing lengths, detects a passage path for an intersection from the guidance paths found by said path seeking section;

a guidance point determining section that determines a guidance point for path guidance;

a guidance data creating section that determines a guidance pattern for path guidance that is suited to the guidance point; and

a data delivery section that delivers map data, guidance path data and guidance data to said portable terminal; and

said guidance point determining section selecting a particular node as a guidance point from all nodes constituting an intersection, on the basis of the passage pattern detected by said intersection path judging section.

2. The pedestrian navigation system according to claim 1, wherein:

said information delivery server further comprises a passage pattern database that stores;

passage patterns that express paths for passage through intersections as patterns of multiple links of differing lengths constituting each of said passage paths;

guidance points suited to said passage patterns; and

guidance patterns for guiding along paths using said guidance points;

said guidance point determining section detects the passage pattern for a path passing through an intersection and determines the guidance points by referencing said passage pattern database; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting guidance patterns for the guidance points in accordance with said passage pattern.

3. The pedestrian navigation system according to claim 1, wherein:

said information delivery server comprises a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths;

said guidance point determining section analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection and identifies, from among pedestrian crossings constituting the intersection, a pedestrian crossing ingress node that is a way in to the intersection on the guidance path, and an egress node that is an way out from the intersection, and determines said two nodes as guidance points; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

4. The pedestrian navigation system according to claim 1, wherein:

said information delivery server comprises a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths;

said guidance point determining section analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection, judges the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, sequentially detects the nodes and links of the passage path, starting from said ingress node, and determines particular nodes as guidance points in accordance with said detection results; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

5. The pedestrian navigation system according to claim 4, wherein:

said guidance point determining section determines the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, detects the nodes from said ingress node up to the egress node, and, if the passage path'"'"'s egress link is connected to a pedestrian crossing via the pedestrian crossing'"'"'s way-in node, determines said ingress node as a first guidance point and, depending on relative angles of the ingoing link and outgoing link with the intersection egress node, determines said egress node as a second guidance point; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

6. The pedestrian navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein:

if guidance data created by said guidance data creating section does not contain a left/right turn guidance pattern as guidance for a path through an intersection, the guidance data for said intersection is deleted.

7. An information delivery server constituting a component of a pedestrian navigation system including an information delivery server and a portable terminal connected to said information delivery server via a network,

said information delivery server comprising:

a map database that stores nodes and links, including paths that constitute intersections, and cost of each link as data;

a path seeking section;

an intersection path judging section that, on the basis of combinations of link lengths of passage patterns composed of multiple links having differing lengths, detects a passage path for an intersection from the guidance paths found by said path seeking section;

a guidance point determining section that determines a guidance point for path guidance;

a guidance data creating section that determines a guidance pattern for path guidance that is suited the guidance point; and

a data delivery section that delivers map data, guidance path data and guidance data to said portable terminal; and

said guidance point determining section selecting a particular node as a guidance point from all nodes constituting an intersection, on the basis of the passage pattern detected by said intersection path judging section.

8. The information delivery server according to claim 7, wherein:

said information delivery server further comprises a passage pattern database that stores;

passage patterns that express paths for passage through intersections as patterns of multiple links of differing lengths constituting each of said passage paths;

guidance points suited to said passage patterns; and

guidance patterns for guiding along paths using said guidance points;

said guidance point determining section detects a passage pattern for a path passing through an intersection and determines the guidance points by referencing said passage pattern database; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting guidance patterns for the guidance points in accordance with said passage pattern.

9. The information delivery server according to claim 7, wherein:

said information delivery server comprises a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths;

said guidance point determining section analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection and identifies, from among pedestrian crossings constituting the intersection, a pedestrian crossing ingress node that is a way in to the intersection on the guidance path, and the egress node that will is a way out from the intersection, and determines said two nodes as guidance points; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

10. The information delivery server according to claim 7, wherein:

said information delivery server comprises a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths;

said guidance point determining section analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection, judges the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, sequentially detects the nodes and links of the passage path, starting from said ingress node, and determines particular nodes as guidance points in accordance with said detection results; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

11. The information delivery server according to claim 10, wherein:

said guidance point determining section determines the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, detects the nodes from said ingress node up to the egress node, and, if the passage path'"'"'s egress link is connected to a pedestrian crossing via the pedestrian crossing'"'"'s way-in node, determines said ingress node as a first guidance point and, depending on relative angles of the ingoing link and outgoing link with the intersection egress node, determines said egress node as a second guidance point; and

said guidance data creating section creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

12. The information delivery server according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein:

if guidance data created by said guidance data creating section does not contain a left/right turn guidance pattern as guidance for the path through an intersection, the guidance data for said intersection is deleted.

13. A program that enables a computer constituting an information delivery server, said information delivery server comprising:

a map database that stores nodes and links, including paths constituting intersections, and cost of each link as data;

a path seeking section;

intersection path judging section that, on the basis of combinations of link lengths of passage patterns composed of multiple links having differing lengths, detects a passage path for an intersection from the guidance paths found by said path seeking section;

a guidance point determining section that determines a guidance point for path guidance;

a guidance data creating section that determines a guidance pattern for path guidance that is suited to the guidance point; and

a data delivery section that delivers map data, guidance path data and guidance data to said portable terminal;

said information delivery server being a component of a pedestrian navigation system in which a portable terminal is connected via a network, to execute processing as a guidance point determining section that selects a particular node as a guidance point from all nodes constituting an intersection, on the basis of the passage pattern detected by said intersection path judging section.

14. The program according to claim 13, wherein:

said computer constitutes said information delivery server further comprising a passage pattern database that stores passage patterns that express paths for passing through intersections using patterns of multiple links of differing lengths constituting each of said passage paths, guidance points suited to the passage patterns, and guidance patterns for guiding along paths using said guidance points, and

said program enables said computer to execute;

processing as said guidance point determining section that detects a passage pattern for a path passing through an intersection, and determines guidance points by referencing said passage pattern database; and

processing as said guidance data creating section that creates guidance data by setting a guidance pattern for the guidance points in accordance with said passage pattern.

15. The program according to claim 13, wherein:

said computer constitutes said information delivery server further comprising a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths, and

said program enables said computer to execute;

processing as said guidance point determining section that analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection and identifies, from among pedestrian crossings constituting the intersection, a pedestrian crossing way-in node that is a way in to the intersection on the guidance path, and an egress node that is a way out from the intersection, and determines such two nodes as guidance points; and

processing as said guidance data creating section that creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, by referencing said guidance pattern database.

16. The program according to claim 13, wherein:

said computer constitutes said information delivery server further comprising a guidance pattern database that stores guidance patterns for guiding along paths,

said program enables said computer to execute;

processing as said guidance point determining section that analyzes nodes and links constituting a path for passage through an intersection, judges the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, sequentially detects the nodes and links of the passage path, starting from said ingress node, and determines particular nodes as guidance points in accordance with said detection results; and

processing as said guidance data creating section that creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

17. The program according to claim 16, wherein:

said program enables said computer constituting said information delivery server to execute;

processing as said guidance point determining section that determines the intersection'"'"'s ingress node and egress node, detects the nodes from said ingress node up to the egress node, and, if the passage path'"'"'s egress link is connected to a pedestrian crossing via the pedestrian crossing'"'"'s way-in node, determines said ingress node as a first guidance point and, depending on relative angles of the ingoing link and outgoing link with the intersection egress node, determines said egress node as a second guidance point; and

processing as said guidance data creating section that creates guidance data by setting said guidance points, and guidance patterns suited to said guidance points, via referencing of said guidance pattern database.

18. The program according to any one of claims 13 to 17, wherein:

said program enables said computer constituting said information delivery server to execute;

deleting guidance data for an intersection if said guidance data created by said guidance data creating section does not contain a left/right turn guidance pattern as guidance for the path through said intersection.