Navigation apparatus

• US 9,939,285 B2
• Filed: 01/21/2010
• Issued: 04/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/02/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Yamazaki, Satoshi, Amano, Kaori
• Primary Examiner(s): Danneman, Paul
• Application Number:
  US12/691,626
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,001 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/10 Map spot or coordinate position indicators; Map reading aids optical projection apparatus per se G03B

Abstract

A navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: map display means that displays a map on the basis of map data in a database that stores the map data, facility type information about the type of the facility and facility information about the facility; route guidance means that searches for a guide route from the current position of a navigation apparatus to a specified destination on the basis of the map data and performs route guidance; selection means that searches the database for a facility to be displayed on the map on the basis of selection conditions defined by the facility type information, the travelling direction of the navigation apparatus and a distance from the guide route to the facility; and display control means that controls the map display means so that the map display means displays the obtained facility along with its facility information on the map.

Claims

1. A navigation apparatus comprising:

map display means that displays a map including a road and a facility on the basis of map data in a database that stores map data, facility type information regarding the type of the facility and facility information regarding the facility;

route guidance means that searches for a guide route from the current position of the navigation apparatus to a specified destination on the basis of the map data and performs route guidance from the current position of the navigation apparatus to the destination on the map on the basis of the obtained guide route;

selection means that searches the database for a facility to be displayed on the map on the basis of selection conditions defined by the facility type information, a current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and a distance from the guide route to the facility, wherein a portion of the selection conditions are preset by a user prior to searching by the selection means, and the selection means determines, as the searched-for facility, a facility that satisfies the preset portion of the selection conditions, is located in the current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and is located less than a maximum threshold distance from the current position of the navigation apparatus; and

display control means that controls the map display means so that the map display means displays the facility obtained by the selection means along with its facility information on the map.

2. A navigation apparatus comprising:

a map display section configured to display a map including a road and a facility on the basis of map data in a database that stores the map data, facility type information about the type of the facility and facility information about the facility;

a route guidance section configured to search for a guide route from the current position of the navigation apparatus to a specified destination on the basis of the map data and perform route guidance from the current position of the navigation apparatus to the destination on the map on the basis of the obtained guide route;

a selection section configured to search the database for a facility to be displayed on the map on the basis of selection conditions defined by the facility type information, a current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and a distance from the guide route to the facility, wherein a portion of the selection conditions are preset by a user prior to searching by the selection section, and the selection section determines, as the searched-for facility, a facility that satisfies the preset portion of the selection conditions, is located in the current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and is located less than a maximum threshold distance from the current position of the navigation apparatus; and

a display control section configured to control the map display section so that the map display section displays the facility obtained by the selection section along with its facility information on the map,

wherein the map display section, the route guidance section, the selection section, and the display control section are each implemented via at least one processor.

3. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the display control section displays the facility obtained by the selection section on the map with the use of a symbol corresponding to the type of the facility.

4. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the display control section further comprises a list display section that displays the facility information about the facility obtained by the selection section on the list.

5. The navigation apparatus according to claim 4, wherein

the list display section displays on the list the facility information about the facility nearest to the current position of the navigation apparatus among facilities displayed on the map by the display control section.

6. The navigation apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising

a calculation section configured to calculate the distance from the current position of the navigation apparatus to the nearest facility, wherein

the list display section displays the facility information about the nearest facility as well as the distance calculated by the calculation section on the list, and

the calculation section is implemented via at least one processor.

7. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein

the selection conditions are defined not only by the facility type information, the travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route and the distance from the guide route, but also by time information that is information about a time period during which a user visits the facility.

8. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein, in the state of route guidance to the destination performed by the route guidance section being stopped,

the selection section searches the database for a facility to be displayed on the map on the basis of selection conditions defined by the facility type information, the travelling direction of the navigation apparatus on the road where the navigation apparatus is travelling, and a distance to the facility from the road where the navigation apparatus is travelling;

and

the display control section displays the facility obtained by the selection section on the map.

9. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the selection section searches for and automatically determines the facility to be displayed on the map, without any input operation for the search being performed by the user.

10. The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the selection section searches for and automatically determines the facility to be displayed on the map, on the basis of the present selection conditions without any additional user input operation for the search.

11. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that, when executed by a navigation apparatus, causes the navigation apparatus to perform a method, the method comprising:

displaying a map including a road and a facility on the basis of map data in a database that stores the map data, facility type information about the type of the facility and facility information about the facility;

searching for a guide route from the current position of the navigation apparatus to a specified destination on the basis of the map data and performing route guidance from the current position of the navigation apparatus to the destination on the map on the basis of the obtained guide route;

searching the database for a facility to be displayed on the map on the basis of selection conditions defined by the facility type information, a current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and a distance from the guide route to the facility, wherein a portion of the selection conditions are preset by a user, and the searched-for facility is determined as a facility that satisfies the preset portion of the selection conditions, is located in the current travelling direction of the navigation apparatus along the guide route, and is located less than a maximum threshold distance from the current position of the navigation apparatus; and

displaying the searched-for facility along with its facility information on the map.