Navigation device and method

• US 8,914,224 B2
• Filed: 01/09/2008
• Issued: 12/16/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TomTom Navigation B.V (TomTom NV)
• Original Assignee: TomTom International BV (TomTom NV)
• Inventors: Geelen, Pieter, Wesselius, Kees
• Primary Examiner(s): Danneman, Paul
• Application Number:
  US12/007,377
• Publication Number:
  US 20080228386A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,533 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 701/117
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/20 Instruments for performing navigational calculations G01C21/24, G01C21/26 take precedence
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence

Abstract

This invention relates to a navigation device (200) comprising: a processor (210) that is configured to generate a navigation map of a local environment (497); and a display (240) controllable by said processor (200) to display said navigation map and any markers (489) that relate to marked locations within said local environment (497); characterized in that the navigation device (200) further comprises: an indicator generation module (490) for generating an indicator (491) for each of any marked locations outside of said local environment, said processor (210) being responsive to said indicator generation module (490) to control said display (240) to display any generated indicators (491) in said navigation map (497).

A method of generating a navigation map and a computer program are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A navigation device comprising:

a processor that is configured to generate a navigation map of a local environment;

an input device connected to said processor and configured to receive instructions from a user to display the location of points of interest;

a display controllable by said processor and configured to display said navigation map and location markers for any of said points of interest within said local environment; and

an indicator generation module for generating an indicator for one or more of said points of interest outside of a displayed navigation map,

said processor being responsive to said indicator generation module to control said display to display said navigation map and display any said location markers and any said generated indicators on said navigation map;

wherein the indicator generation module is configured to populate the indicator with a plurality of information elements comprising;

a representation of the distance between a reference point on said displayed navigation map and the location of the point of interest; and

an icon representative of the type of the point of interest.

2. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said distance is computed as a straight-line distance between said reference point and said location of said point of interest outside of said displayed navigation map.

3. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said reference point is a central location of said displayed navigation map.

4. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said indicator generation module is configured to determine, from the position of the point of interest outside said displayed navigation map, the angular orientation of said point of interest with respect to said reference point on said displayed navigation map.

5. A navigation device according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of information elements further comprise a pointer that points towards the point of interest that is outside of the displayed navigation map thereby to indicate the angular orientation of the point of interest with respect to the reference point on said displayed navigation map.

6. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said representation of distance comprises a numerical representation corresponding to the number of miles or kilometres between said reference point and said point of interest that is outside of the displayed navigation map.

7. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said indicator generation module is configured to generate an indicator that overlies said displayed navigation map.

8. A navigation device according to claim 7, wherein said indicator is at least partly transparent so that the underlying map may be viewed therethrough.

9. A navigation device according to claim 8, wherein a degree of transparency of said indicator is user defined.

10. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to control the display to display said indicator at a position superimposed on the navigation map that indicates the direction, relative to a center of said map, in which the point of interest that is outside the displayed navigation map lies.

11. A navigation device according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to control the display to display said indicator at a peripheral edge of said displayed navigation map that is closest to the point of interest that is outside of the displayed navigation map.

12. A navigation device according to claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to control the display to change the position at which the indicator is displayed if, on generation of a new map for a new local environment, the direction of the point of interest with respect to a reference point of the new map has changed.

13. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to control the display to display said indicator in such a manner that it does not interfere with any other items currently displayed on said displayed navigation map.

14. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said indicator is not displayed if the location of said point of interest is more than a predetermined distance from said reference point on said displayed navigation map.

15. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is operable to generate a new map of a new local environment.

16. A navigation device according to claim 15, further comprising:

an antenna, and

a receiver for receiving data signals via said antenna,

wherein said processor is configured to determine from said received data signals, a current location of said navigation device and the map generated by the processor is of a local environment that includes said current position, and

said processor is configured to periodically repeat the determination of said current position and to generate said new map if a determined location for said navigation device should differ from said previously determined current position.

17. A navigation device according to claim 15, wherein said processor is responsive to user input to generate a new map of a new local environment.

18. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said distance is computed along an optimal travel route between said reference point and said location of said point of interest outside of said displayed navigation map.

19. A navigation device according to claim 1, wherein said input device is further configured to receive input for user generated points of interest.

20. A method of displaying a navigation map on a display of a navigation device, the method comprising:

a processor generating a navigation map of a local environment;

said processor receiving information from a user on an input device of the navigation device to display the location of points of interest;

said processor determining whether said local environment includes any of said points of interest, and retrieving location markers for display for any of said points of interest determined to be within said local environment;

said processor determining whether there are any of said points of interest outside of said local environment;

said processor generating an indicator for display for one or more of said points of interest that are determined to be outside of a displayed navigation map; and

said processor displaying said navigation map and displaying any said location markers and any said indicators on said navigation map;

wherein the step of generating an indicator comprises populating the indicator with a plurality of information elements comprising;

a representation of the distance between a reference point on said displayed navigation map and said point of interest; and

an icon representative of the type of the point of interest.

21. A non-transitory computer readable data storage medium having computer software stored thereon, said computer software comprising one or more software modules operable, when executed in an execution environment, to cause a processor to:

generate a navigation map of a local environment;

receive instructions from a user on an input device of the navigation device to display the location of points of interest;

determine whether said local environment includes any of said points of interest, and retrieve location markers for display for any of said points of interest determined to be within said local environment;

determine whether there are any of said points of interest outside of said location environment;

generate an indicator for display for one or more of said points of interest that are determined to be outside of a displayed navigation map; and

control a display to display said navigation map and display any said location markers and any said indicators on said navigation map;

wherein the step of generating an indicator comprises populating the indicator with a plurality of information elements comprising;

a representation of the distance between a reference point on said displayed navigation map and said point of interest; and

an icon representative of the type of the point of interest.

22. A portable navigation device (PND) comprising:

an antenna;

a receiver operatively coupled to said antenna for receiving GPS data signals from a plurality of satellites;

a memory for storage of map data and points of interest data, said points of interest data defining the location of points of interest;

an interface that is user operable for the input of a start location and a destination location and configured to receive instructions from a user to display the location of points of interest;

a processor operatively coupled to said interface, said receiver and said memory, said processor being configured to;

receive said GPS data signals from said receiver and to process said GPS data signals to determine a current position of said PND in a local environment,

to generate from map data retrieved from said memory a navigation map of the local environment in which said PND current position is located, and

to calculate, from map data retrieved from said memory, a route between said start location and said destination location;

an indicator generation module controllable by said processor to generate an indicator for any of said points of interest for which the associated points of interest data from said memory indicates that the location of said points of interest is outside of a displayed navigation map; and

a display operatively coupled to said processor and controllable by said processor to display;

said navigation map,

a visual representation of said route,

a location marker for any of said points of interest for which the associated points of interest data from said memory indicates that the location of said points of interest is within said local environment; and

any said indicators on said navigation map;

wherein said generating an indicator comprises populating the indicator with a plurality of information elements comprising;

a representation of the distance between said current location of said PND and said point of interest; and

an icon representative of the type of the point of interest.