Route guiding system and method thereof

• US 8,452,531 B2
• Filed: 08/29/2009
• Issued: 05/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/04/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: MiTAC International Corporation (MiTAC Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: MiTAC International Corporation (MiTAC Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Lo, Wei-Yi
• Primary Examiner(s): Chen, Shelley
• Application Number:
  US12/550,370
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198507A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,368 Days
• Field of Search: 701/209
• US Class Current: 701/416
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence

Abstract

The present invention discloses a route guiding system and a method thereof. The route guiding system in accordance with the present invention determines whether a user is approaching a crossway point based on the user'"'"'s current position. In case the user is determined to approach a crossway point, other crossway points having a road connecting to this crossway point and scenic spots along such crossway points are searched from the electronic map. Finally, such roads connecting to these crossway points and relevant information concerning these scenic spots are displayed. In this fashion, the user can move randomly for promenade along the streets according to the scenic spot information displayed on the route guiding system without specifically setting any destination.

Claims

1. A route guiding system for guiding a user to select a movement path, the route guiding system comprising:

a display module;

a data storage module storing an electronic map and data concerning a plurality of scenic spots, the electronic map comprising data for a plurality of roads as well as a plurality of crossway points located between the plurality of roads, wherein each of those scenic spots is a general point of an interest or a spot where a scenery is visible;

a positioning module providing position data of the user;

a crossway point determining module determining whether the user is approaching to a first crossway point among the plurality of crossway points based on the position data and the electronic map, and in case the user is determined as getting near to the first crossway point, the crossway point determining module determines a plurality of second crossway points, each having a road connecting to the first crossway point; and

a process module searching for the scenic spots located between the first crossway point and each of the second crossway points from the data storage module, and driving the display module to display the first crossway point, the roads between the first crossway point and each of the second crossway points as well as relevant information about the scenic spots found from the search results, wherein the process module records the position data, and calculates the movement speed of the user based on the recorded position data, the process module determines the number of scenic spots to be displayed based on the movement speed of the user, and guides the user to select the road between the first crossway point and one of the second crossway points as the movement path according to the number of scenic spots of each of the roads displayed, such that there is no need to preset a destination in the route guiding system.

2. The route guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the positioning module comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) module, an electronic compass or a gyroscope.

3. The route guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the data of the scenic spots comprise names, properties or levels of the scenic spots.

4. The route guiding system according to claim 3, further comprising an input module for allowing the user to input the properties of the scenic spots to be displayed, and the process module performing search operations based on the properties of the scenic spots inputted by the user.

5. The route guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the relevant information about the searched scenic spots comprises the number of searched scenic spots.

6. The route guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the process module determines the scenic spot to which the user is approaching based on the position data, and generates a prompt signal comprising the data about the scenic spot to which the user is approaching.

7. The route guiding system according to claim 1, wherein the process module records the road chosen by the user to move along, and predicts a destination of the user based on the road chosen.

8. A route guiding method for guiding a user to select a movement path, the route guiding method comprising the following steps:

providing an electronic map and data concerning a plurality of scenic spots, wherein each of those scenic spots is a general point of an interest or a spot where a scenery is visible;

acquiring position data of the user by using a positioning module;

determining whether the user is approaching a first crossway point in the electronic map;

determining a plurality of second crossway points, each having a road connecting to the first crossway point based on the electronic map in case the user is determined as approaching the first crossway point;

searching for the scenic spots located between the first crossway point and each of the second crossway points;

displaying the first crossway point, the roads between the first crossway point and each of the second crossway points, as well as relevant information about the scenic spots found from the search results;

recording the position data, and calculating the movement speed of the user based on the recorded position data;

determining the number of scenic spots to be displayed based on the movement speed of the user; and

guiding the user to select the road between the first crossway point and one of the second crossway points as the movement path according to the number of scenic spots of each of the roads displayed, such that there is no need to preset a destination in the route guiding method.

9. The route guiding method according to claim 8, wherein the positioning module comprises a Global Positioning System (GPS) module, an electronic compass or a gyroscope.

10. The route guiding method according to claim 8, wherein the data of the scenic spots comprises names, properties or levels of the scenic spots.

11. The route guiding method according to claim 10, further comprising allowing the user to input the properties of the scenic spots to be displayed, and performing search operations based on the inputted properties of the scenic spots.

12. The route guiding method according to claim 8, wherein the relevant information about the searched scenic spots comprises the number of searched scenic spots.

13. The route guiding method according to claim 8, further comprising determining the scenic spot to which the user is approaching based on the position data, and generating a prompt signal comprising the data about the scenic spot which the user is approaching.

14. The route guiding method according to claim 8, further comprising recording the road chosen by the user to move along, and predicting a destination of the user based on the road chosen.