Driving plan producing device and method, and navigation apparatus

• US 6,975,938 B2
• Filed: 06/10/2002
• Issued: 12/13/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Original Assignee: Pioneer Corporation
• Inventors: Yamashita, Motoyuki, Kodama, Yasuteru, Odagawa, Satoshi, Takayanagi, Motohiko
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran, Dalena
• Application Number:
  US10/164,596
• Publication Number:
  US 20020188399A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,282 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/208, 701/211, 701/206, 701/207, 701/213, 701/202, 701/209, 701/200, 701/210, 340/988, 340/990
• US Class Current: 701/202
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3461 Preferred or disfavoured areas, e.g. dangerous zones, toll or emission zones, intersections, manoeuvre types, segments such as motorways, toll roads, ferries
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0962 having an indicator mounted inside the vehicle, e.g. giving voice messages

Abstract

A drive plan producing device includes a contents database for storing associated data including geographical point names for a plurality of contents, a base contents determining unit which determines base contents used in a drive plan producing process based on an input by a user, a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving, and a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user. Based on the input by the user, certain contents are determined as base contents. The base contents are used as a base for the production of the drive plan. By referring to the contents database, the geographical point name associated with the base contents is obtained, and it is determined as the candidate place and presented to the user. The user can select a drive plan by selecting one of the candidate places.

Claims

1. A drive plan producing device comprising:

a contents reproducing unit which reproduces at least one of audio and video contents selected by a user;

a contents database which stores associated data including geographical point names for each of the audio and video contents;

a base contents determining unit which determines the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user.

2. The drive plan producing device according to claim 1, further comprising;

a receiving unit which receives a drive condition inputted by the user; and

an extracting unit which extracts only the candidate place that satisfies the drive condition inputted by the user.

3. The drive plan producing device according to claim 2, wherein the drive condition includes a driving time that the user inputs.

4. The drive plan producing device according to claim 2, wherein the drive condition includes at least one of a condition relating to a driving history of a user'"'"'s car and a condition relating to taste of the user.

5. The drive plan producing device according to claim 1, wherein the contents database stores abstract point names associated with the contents, wherein the drive plan producing device further comprises a point table describing correspondences between the abstract point names and the geographical point names, and wherein the candidate place determining unit obtains the geographical point name corresponding to the abstract point name associated with the base contents from the point table and includes the geographical point name thus obtained to the candidate places.

6. The drive plan producing device according to claim 1, wherein the contents database stores artist names associated with the contents, wherein the drive plan producing device further comprises an artist database which stores artists and geographical points associated with the artists, and wherein the candidate place determining unit obtains the geographical points corresponding to the artist associated with the base contents from the artist database and includes the geographical points thus obtained to the candidate places.

7. The drive plan producing device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a tour plan table representing correspondences between the candidate places and tour plans preset for areas around the candidate places, and

a unit which obtains the tour plan corresponding to the candidate place determined by the candidate place determining unit from the tour plan table and including the tour plan into the candidate places.

8. The dive plan producing device according to claim 1, further comprising a unit which produces a tour plan including a plurality of candidate places, that exist in a predetermined range, out of the plurality of candidate places determined by the candidate place determining unit, and which represents the tour plan thus produced to the user.

9. The drive plan producing device according to claim 1, wherein the base contents determining unit determines the contents, that the contents reproducing unit is reproducing when the user inputs a drive plan producing instruction, as the base contents.

10. A navigation apparatus comprising:

a drive plan producing device;

a unit which receives a designation of one candidate place by a user and which searches for a route to the designated candidate place; and

a unit which provides the user with a route guidance according to the searched route, wherein the drive plan producing device comprises;

a contents reproducing unit which reproduces at least one of audio and video contents selected by a user;

a contents database which stores associated data including geographical point names for each of the audio and video contents;

a base contents determining unit which determines the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user.

11. An on-vehicle electronic system comprising:

a drive plan producing device;

a contents reproducing unit which reproduces at least one of audio and video contents selected by a user,

wherein the drive plan producing device comprises;

a contents database which stores associated data including geographical point names for each of the audio and video contents;

a base contents determining unit which determines the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user.

12. A drive plan producing method to be executed by a navigation device having a contents database for storing associated data including geographical point names for a plurality of audio and video contents, the method comprising the steps of:

reproducing at least one of the audio and video contents selected by a user;

determining the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

referring to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

presenting the determined candidate place to the user.

13. The drive plan producing method according to claim 12, wherein the base contents determining unit determines the contents, that the contents reproducing unit is reproducing when the user inputs a drive plan producing instruction, as the base contents.

14. A program storage device readable by a computer, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the computer to control the computer to function as a drive plan producing device comprising:

a contents reproducing unit which reproduces at least one of audio and video contents selected by a user;

a contents database which stores associated data including geographical point names for each of the audio and video contents;

a base contents determining unit which determines the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user.

15. The program storage device according to claim 14, wherein the base contents determining unit determines the contents, that the contents reproducing unit is reproducing when the user inputs a drive plan producing instruction, as the base contents.

16. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave and representing a series of instructions which cause a computer to function as a drive plan producing device comprising:

a contents reproducing unit which reproduces at least one of audio and video contents selected by a user;

a contents database which stores associated data including geographical point names for each of the audio and video contents;

a base contents determining unit which determines the one of the audio and video contents selected by the user as base contents used in a drive plan producing process;

a candidate place determining unit which refers to the contents database to determine the geographical point name associated with the base contents as a candidate place of driving; and

a presenting unit which presents the determined candidate place to the user.

17. The computer data signal according to claim 16, wherein the base contents determining unit determines the contents, that the contents reproducing unit is reproducing when the user inputs a drive plan producing instruction, as the base contents.