Position display apparatus

• US 8,332,142 B2
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Issued: 12/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ROHM Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: ROHM Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Tanaka, Masahide
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas
• Assistant Examiner(s): MARC-COLEMAN, MARTHE Y
• Application Number:
  US11/963,216
• Publication Number:
  US 20080154499A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,817 Days
• Field of Search: 701/212, 701/200, 701/207, 701/213, 701/1, 701/400, 701/431, 701/410, 701/482, 455/456.1, 455/556.1, 455/435.1, 340/903, 340/995.1, 340/995.18, 342/357.08
• US Class Current: 701/431
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3647 Guidance involving output of stored or live camera images or video streams
• 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: G01C 21/3673 Labelling using text of road map data items, e.g. road names, POI names

Abstract

A position display apparatus for own position and a position of an outside apparatus has: a position acquiring part adapted to acquire a first information indicative of the own position; a wireless communication part adapted to receive a second information indicative of the position of the outside apparatus; a map display adapted to display the own position and the position of the outside apparatus on a common map in response to the first information and the second information; and a controller adapted to control the map display in response to the first information and the second information so that the common map covers both the own position and the position of the outside apparatus on the map display.

Claims

1. A position display apparatus for own position and a position of an outside apparatus comprising:

a position acquiring part adapted to acquire first information indicative of the apparatus'"'"' own position;

a wireless communication part adapted to receive second information indicative of the position of the outside apparatus;

a map display adapted to display the apparatus'"'"' own position and the position of the outside apparatus on a common map in response to the first information and the second information; and

a judging part adapted to judge in advance an approaching impossibility of establishing communication between the position display apparatus and the outside apparatus based on both the first information and the second information wherein the judging part is adapted to judge the approaching impossibility while the communication is still established and the second information is actually received, the judging part judging the approaching impossibility based on the actually received second information.

2. The position display apparatus according to claim 1 further comprising a controller adapted to control the map display in response to the first information and the second information so that the common map covers both the apparatus'"'"' own position and the position of the outside apparatus on the map display.

3. The position display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controller includes a sub-controller adapted to modify the scale of the common map for any one of the own position and the position of the outside apparatus not to stray from the common map on the map display.

4. The position display apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the controller includes a scrolling part adapted to scroll the common map for any one of the own position and the position of the outside apparatus not to stray from the common map on the map display.

5. The position display apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the controller further includes a sub-controller adapted to modify the scale of the common map for any one of the own position and the position of the outside apparatus not to stray from the common map on the map display with a room for the scroll left.

6. The position display apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a map offering part adapted to offer the common map to the map display.

7. The position display apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a unificating part adapted to unify the data format of the own position and the position of the outside apparatus to display them on the map display.

8. The position display apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a detector adapted to display whether or not the wireless communication part can receive the position of the outside apparatus.

9. The position display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an informing part adapted to inform that the wireless communication part can receive the position of the outside apparatus.

10. The position display apparatus according to claim 1, the judging part is adapted to judge the impossibility in consideration of the geographic factor between the own position and the position of the outside apparatus.

11. The position display apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the judging part is adapted to judge a possibility of poor radiowave environment caused by the geographic factor intervening the own position and the position of the outside apparatus even when the distance between the own position and the position of outside apparatus will not exceed the communication range limit.

12. The position display apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a warning part adapted to warn in case the distance between the position display apparatus and the outside apparatus will exceed the communication range in response to the output signal from the judging part.

13. A position display apparatus for own position and a position of an outside real apparatus comprising:

a position acquiring part adapted to acquire first information indicative of the apparatus'"'"' own position;

a wireless communication part adapted to receive second information indicative of the actual position of the outside real apparatus;

a map display adapted to display the apparatus'"'"' own position and the actual position of the outside real apparatus on a common map in response to the first information and the second information, wherein the display of the position of the outside real apparatus automatically disappears or appears based on an extent to which confirmation of the position of the outside real apparatus is needed; and

a judging part adapted to judge automatically in response to the actual first information whether the actual position of the outside real apparatus based on the second information is to appear or disappear on the map display.

14. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a selector adapted to select whether or not to display the position of the outside apparatus on the map display.

15. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising an informing part adapted to inform that the outside apparatus is demanding to display the position of the outside apparatus on the map.

16. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, further comprising a display control part adapted to vary the manner of displaying the own position and the position of the outside apparatus on a common map in response to whether or not the position display apparatus is preceding the outside apparatus.

17. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the judging part is adapted to judge automatically whether or not the second information is to be confirmed in response to both the first information and the second information.

18. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the map display is adapted to display the actual position of the outside real apparatus in addition to the own position on the common map in automatic response to the judging part.

19. The position display apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the judging part is adapted to judge automatically whether or not the second information is to be confirmed in response to a place on the map at which the apparatus locates represented by the first information.

20. The position display apparatus according to claim 19, wherein the judging part is adapted to judge automatically that the second information is to be confirmed if the apparatus passes a turning point of the load on the map and the outside real apparatus follows.