Navigation system providing route guidance in multi-lane road according to vehicle lane position

• US 7,899,617 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2006
• Issued: 03/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Kawakami, Hidehiko, Ogawa, Michima
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kong, Sze-Hon
• Application Number:
  US11/355,011
• Publication Number:
  US 20060184321A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,839 Days
• Field of Search: 701/210
• US Class Current: 701/210
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• 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 21/3658 Lane guidance

Abstract

A navigation system for a vehicle determines a recommended route to a destination among a plurality of possible routes to the destination based on total profile values of the plurality of possible routes. The navigation system guides the vehicle to the destination along the recommended route. Here, navigation system determines whether an upstream side section of one of the plurality of possible routes is located on a multi-lane road in a specific condition. The navigation system determines whether an exit road and an entrance road are connected to the multi-lane road on a common side of the multi-lane road. The navigation system sets an amount of increase to be reflected into the total profile value of the one of the plurality of possible routes based on determination results.

Claims

1. A navigation system for a vehicle, comprising:

multi-branch point determining means for determining whether a navigation point of a multi-lane road along a first recommended route to a destination is a temporal branch lane navigation point depending on whether a temporal branch road branches from the first recommended route at the navigation point or branches from the multi-lane road at a point located on a downstream side of the navigation point with a reference distance from the navigation point, the temporal branch road inevitably merging with the first recommended route;

first recommended route lane navigating means for guiding the vehicle to a first recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on the first recommended route at a first spot located along the multi-lane road on an upstream side of the navigation point when the multi-branch point determining means determines that the navigation point is the temporal branch lane navigation point;

lane determining means for determining whether a current lane, on which the vehicle drives, is the first recommended route lane at a second spot located along the multi-lane road between the first spot and the navigation point; and

second recommended route lane navigating means for guiding the vehicle to a second recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on a second recommended route to the destination when the lane determining means determines that the current lane is not the first recommended route lane, wherein

the second recommended route travels along the multi-lane road and exits the multi-lane road along the temporal branch road.

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

when the lane determining means determines that the current lane is not the first recommended route lane of the multi-lane road, the lane determining means determines whether the current lane is the second recommended route lane or closer to the second recommended route lane than to the first recommended route lane; and

when the lane determining means determines that the current lane is the second recommended route lane or closer to the second recommended route lane than to the first recommended route lane, the second recommended route lane navigating means guides the vehicle to the second recommended route lane based on the second recommended route to the destination.

3. The navigation system according to claim 2,

the first recommended route used by the first recommended route lane navigating means has less merge points.

4. A program embodied in a computer readable medium, the program includes:

a multi-branch point determining code segment that determines whether a navigation point of a multi-lane road along a first recommended route to a destination is a temporal branch lane navigation point depending on whether a temporal branch road branches from the first recommended route at the navigation point or branches from the multi-lane road at a point located on a downstream side of the navigation point with a reference distance from the navigation point, the temporal branch road inevitably merging with the first recommended route;

a first recommended route lane navigating code segment that guides a vehicle to a first recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on the first recommended route to a destination at a first spot located along the multi-lane road on an upstream side of the navigation point when the multi-branch point code segment determines that the navigation point is the temporal branch lane navigation point;

a lane determining code segment that determines whether a current lane, on which the vehicle drives, is the first recommended route lane at a second spot located along the multi-lane road between the first spot and the navigation point; and

a second recommended route lane navigating code segment that guides the vehicle to a second recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on a second recommended route to the destination when the lane determining code segment determines that the current lane is not on the first recommended route lane, wherein;

the second recommended route travels along the multi-lane road and exits the multi-lane road along the temporal branch road a second branch road.

5. A method, used in a vehicle navigation system, for navigating a vehicle, comprising:

determining whether a navigation point of a multi-lane road along a first recommended route to a destination is a temporal branch lane navigation point depending on whether a temporal branch road branches from the first recommended route at the navigation point or branches from the multi-lane road at a point located on a downstream side of the navigation point with a reference distance from the navigation point, the temporal branch road inevitably merging with the first recommended route;

guiding the vehicle to a first recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on the first recommended route to a destination at a first spot located along the multi-lane road on an upstream side of the navigation point when it is determined that the navigation point is the temporal branch lane navigation point;

determining whether a current lane, on which the vehicle drives, is the first recommended route lane at a second spot located along the multi-lane road between the first spot and the navigation point; and

guiding the vehicle to a second recommended route lane of the multi-lane road based on a second recommended route to the destination when it is determined that the current lane is not the first recommended route lane in the determining of whether the current lane is the first recommended route lane, wherein

the second recommended route travels along the multi-lane road and exits the multi-lane road along the temporal branch road.