Dynamic routing

• US 8,571,787 B2
• Filed: 12/06/2006
• Issued: 10/29/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 12/06/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.), Sony Mobile Communications AB (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Jendbro, Magnus
• Primary Examiner(s): Amin, Bhavesh V
• Application Number:
  US11/567,306
• Publication Number:
  US 20080140309A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,519 Days
• Field of Search: 340/660, 345/660
• US Class Current: 701/400
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3614 through interaction with a road map, e.g. selecting a POI icon on a road map
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0969 having a display in the form of a map

Abstract

An apparatus and method for providing navigation information via electronic equipment includes dynamically displaying a first route from a current location to a desired location; and dynamically displaying a second route to at least one point of interest. The first route is automatically displayed at a first zoom level, and the second route is automatically displayed at a second zoom level, wherein the first and second zoom levels are independent of one another. The apparatus and method can further use electronic equipment to identify at least one point of interest along a planned route, including comparing a user selected characteristic to at least one characteristic of a plurality of potential points of interest, said potential points of interest being within a predetermined range of the planned route; and identifying as a point of interest any of the plurality of potential points of interest that have at least one characteristic that satisfies the user selected characteristic.

Claims

1. A method for providing navigation information via electronic equipment, comprising:

dynamically displaying a first planned route from a current location to a desired location; and

dynamically displaying a second planned route to at least one point of interest, wherein the first planned route is automatically displayed at a first zoom level, and the second planned route is automatically displayed at a second zoom level, said first and second zoom levels being independent of one another.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the second planned route includes displaying the second planned route from the current location to the at least one point of interest.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first planned route includes computing the first planned route from the current location to the desired location, and wherein displaying the second planned route includes computing the second planned route from the current location to the at least one point of interest.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein computing the first and second planned routes includes using a server to compute the first and second planned routes.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first and second planned route includes creating a first display area for displaying the first planned route, and creating a second display area for displaying the second planned route, said first display area being different from said second display area.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first and second planned route includes alternately displaying the first planned route and the second planned route.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the second planned route includes displaying the second planned route in a different color than the first planned route.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

entering or selecting a characteristic of the at least one POI; and

using said characteristic to identify the at least one point of interest.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein entering or selecting the characteristic includes using criteria that describes a property of goods and/or services offered at the at least one point of interest.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

entering, as a logical expression, a characteristic of the at least one POI; and

using said characteristic to identify the at least one point of interest.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein entering or selecting the characteristic includes using at least one of a name of the at least one point of interest, a good and/or service offered at the at least one point of interest, or a price of the good and/or service offered at the at least one point of interest.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one point of interest is a plurality of points of interest, and wherein displaying the second planned route includes displaying a planned route to a primary point of interest of the plurality of points of interest, and when a relationship between the current location and a location of the primary point of interest does not satisfy a predetermined criteria, displaying a planned route to at least one alternate point of interest of the plurality of points of interest.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the predetermined criteria is at least one of the current location being within a predetermined distance of the primary point of interest, or a current bearing being within a predetermined direction of the primary point of interest.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying the first and/or second planned route includes displaying at least one of textual and/or graphical data that corresponds to the at least one point of interest.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein displaying graphical data includes using at least one of different colors or graphical shapes to represent the at least one point of interest.

16. An electronic equipment, comprising:

a display screen;

a dynamic routing circuit operative to dynamically provide a first planned route from a current location to a desired location at a first zoom level, and to dynamically provide a second planned route from the current location to at least one point of interest at a second zoom level, wherein the first and second zoom settings are independent of one another; and

a display circuit operatively coupled to the display and the dynamic routing circuit, said display circuit operative to receive and to display the first and second planned route on the display screen.

17. The electronic equipment of claim 16, wherein the dynamic routing circuit is operative to compute the first planned route from the current location to the desired location, and compute the second planned route from the current location to the at least one point of interest.

18. The electronic equipment of claim 16, wherein the display circuit is operative to display the first planned route in a first display area, and to display the second planned route in a second display area, said first display area being different from said second display area.

19. The electronic equipment of claim 16, wherein the dynamic routing circuit alternately provides the first and second planned route to the display circuit.

20. The electronic equipment of claim 16, wherein the dynamic routing circuit is operative to identify the at least one point of interest based on a user specified characteristic.

21. The electronic equipment of claim 16, wherein the electronic equipment is a mobile telephone.

22. A computer program embodied on a computer readable storage medium for providing navigation information via electronic equipment, comprising:

code that dynamically displays a first planned route from a current location to a desired location; and

code that dynamically displays a second planned route to at least one point of interest, wherein the first planned route is automatically displayed at a first zoom level, and the second planned route is automatically displayed at a second zoom level, said first and second zoom levels being independent of one another.