Navigation system and display method of road network on the same system

• US 8,244,465 B2
• Filed: 12/26/2007
• Issued: 08/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/09/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MEL NavIP LLC (Ni, Wang & Massand, PLLC)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Arita, Hidekazu
• Primary Examiner(s): Hellner, Mark
• Application Number:
  US12/523,980
• Publication Number:
  US 20100082233A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,693 Days
• Field of Search: 701/417, 701/429, 701/442, 701/455
• US Class Current: 701/417
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

A control section 1, according to a map scale designated by a user via an input section 2, draws on its internal drawing memory, roads including its own-vehicle position obtained by a position information acquiring section 4 and display elements including city centers (display elements representing a city and indicating the representative position of the city each) or facilities. If the own-vehicle position and the display elements including the city centers or facilities are displayed in isolation on the display section 7, the control section calculates the route from the own-vehicle position to the display elements under the condition recommended by the navigation or under the condition the user designates, and draws the route produced as a result of the route calculation on the drawing memory.

Claims

1. A navigation system comprising:

a map data storage section for storing map data together with attributes and classes of the map data, the map data being composed of roads necessary for a route search and display elements including city centers and facilities, and the city centers being a display element each representing a city and indicating a representative position of the city, wherein the attributes are indicative of whether or not each of the roads should be displayed for each of a plurality of map scales;

a display section for displaying the map data;

an input section for inputting an instruction from a user; and

a control section for carrying out;

a procedure of calculating a route between an own-vehicle position and a destination represented by one of the display elements, the destination being instructed via the input section,

in accordance with one of the plurality of map scales instructed via the input section, a procedure of displaying a map on the display section by;

selecting the roads indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale, and by selecting the display elements based on ranks,

further selecting each of the roads that is part of the calculated route but not indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale, and

displaying the selected roads and the selected display elements on the display selection as part of the map.

2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

the control section displays each selected road not indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale on the display section in a fashion different from the other selected roads.

3. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the route calculation is performed between the own-vehicle position and one of the selected display elements, and the route calculation is performed under a condition recommended by navigation or under a condition which is designated by the user and is input from the input section.

4. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

the route calculation is performed between an endpoint of one of the roads, which is indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the instructed map scale and the own-vehicle position, the route calculation being performed under a condition recommended by navigation or under a condition which is designated by the user and is input from the input section.

5. A display method of a road network in a navigation system having a map data storage section for storing map data, which is composed of roads necessary for a route search and display elements including city centers and facilities, together with attributes and classes of the map data, the attributes being indicative of whether or not each of the roads should be displayed for each of a plurality of map scales, the navigation system also having a position information acquiring section for obtaining position information on a vehicle, a control section including a drawing memory, an input section for inputting an instruction from a user, and a display section for displaying the map data, the display method of the road network in the navigation system comprising:

calculating a route between an own-vehicle position and a destination represented by one of the display elements, the destination being instructed by the user via the input section;

drawing, according to one of a plurality of map scales designated by the user via the input section, a map on the drawing memory by;

selecting the roads indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to a designed map scale, the selected roads including an own-vehicle position obtained by the position information acquiring section,

drawing the selected roads and one or more of the display elements on the drawing memory;

further selecting each of the roads that is part of the calculated route produced as a result of the route calculation, but not indicated by the attributes as being displayable according to the designated map scale, on the drawing memory; and

displaying the road network drawn on the drawing memory on the display section.

6. The display method of the road network in the navigation system according to claim 5, wherein:

the route is calculated when a road connecting between the own-vehicle position and the display elements including the city centers would be displayable based on the attributes with a break; and

the route is calculated between the endpoint of the road with the break and the own-vehicle position, under a condition recommended by navigation or a condition which is designated by the user and is acquired via the input section.