Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Navigation – Employing position determining equipment
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-12
2004-04-27
Nguyen, Thu V. (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Navigation
Employing position determining equipment
Reexamination Certificate
active
06728635
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems for updating landmarks to be used for navigation, and navigation devices equipped in the systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to landmark update systems and navigation devices capable of keeping the most current landmark information for route guidance performed through the use thereof.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional type of navigation device typically equipped in a vehicle generally guides a driver by indicating, by name, at which intersection he/she is supposed to make a turn, or how far the intersection is from the vehicle. The issue here is, the driver may not easily find the indicated intersection on a display when his/her vehicle is far therefrom. Also, if guided as “XX meters left to the intersection”, the driver may not intuitively grasp the actual distance to the intersection. Therefore, the driver may find it difficult to estimate in advance the rough location of the intersection. As such, guidance by the conventional navigation device is often found difficult to follow.
To get around such a problem, the recent type of navigation device displays various facilities located around the intersection, and makes use of those as landmarks when guiding vehicles. For example, guidance is made as “take a right turn at the post office, go straight till the gas station reached, and then take a left turn there”.
As to those landmarks, information thereabout is required to be always accurate in route guidance, and is usually stored in media such as CDs and DVDs.
The issue here is, those landmarks do not remain the same, and for example, a gas station may move, be closed, or any other new gas station may be opened. In order to catch up with such changes, the medium having landmark information stored therein needs to be frequently replaced with another. However, such frequent replacement is practically difficult in terms of cost and time for manufacturers who have been so far doing the replacement, and consequently the reliability of the landmark information in the conventional navigation device becomes low.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, in order to easily keep landmark information always accurate for route guidance by navigation devices, an object of the present invention is to provide landmark update systems and navigation devices capable of easily deriving, at the time of route guidance, landmark information which is appropriately maintained by companies and retail shops who are to be displayed as landmarks.
The present invention has the following features to attain the object above.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to a landmark update system for updating, to be the latest, landmark information which is displayed together with a route for route guidance. The landmark update system comprises a navigation device, a landmark server, and a retailer terminal. The navigation device performs route guidance through the use of landmark information which is determined as the latest based on incoming landmark information over a first communications line. The retailer terminal registers the latest landmark information to a landmark server by communicating with the landmark server over a second communications line. The landmark server communicates with the navigation device over the first communications line, and offers the latest landmark information which is registered. Further, to the landmark server over the first communications line, the navigation device transfers cumulative information which includes information about a landmark used during the route guidance. Based on the cumulative information transferred over the first communications line and information about the navigation device from which the cumulative information is transferred, the landmark server generates compilation data obtained by subjecting the cumulative information to a compilation process, and transfers the compilation data to the corresponding retailer terminal over the second communications line.
As described above, in the first aspect, in order to easily keep landmark information always accurate for route guidance by navigation devices, provided are landmark update systems and navigation devices capable of easily deriving, at the time of route guidance, landmark information which is appropriately maintained by companies and retail shops who are to be displayed as landmarks.
According to a second aspect, further to the first aspect, the retailer terminal refers to the compilation data transferred over the second communications line, and generates and registers new landmark information in a predetermined case.
As described above, in the second aspect, the retailer terminal determines the advertising effect by referring to the compilation data, and in a predetermined case, automatically generates and registers any new landmark information.
According to a third aspect, in further to the first aspect, the cumulative information includes the number of times a specific landmark is displayed to a user on the navigation device, and point information in which the user's visit to the displayed landmark is scored.
As described above, in the third aspect, the cumulative information includes the number of times a specific landmark is displayed and its point. Therefore, by utilizing such information, the retailer terminal can know the advertising effect of the landmark.
According to a fourth aspect, further to the first aspect, the landmark information includes location information which indicates the location of a landmark, shape information which specifies the landmark by shape for display, and additional information which is displayed to the user together with the landmark.
As described above, in the fourth aspect, the landmark information includes additional information together with any other essential information for landmark display. Therefore, by using the additional information as companies' advertisements, for example, the companies can have the merit of maintaining the landmark information, and the cost taken therefor can be reduced, whereby the frequency of updating the landmark information can be also reduced.
According to a fifth aspect, further to the fourth aspect, the landmark information further includes a display condition which indicates a predetermined condition for displaying the additional information.
As described above, in the fifth aspect, by changing conditions for displaying the additional information, any commercial information which is currently considered optimum is selected, for display, from those others covering various needs of the retail shops and companies represented as the landmarks.
According to a sixth aspect, further to the first aspect, the navigation device comprises: a cartographic data storage section for storing cartographic data; a landmark information storage section for storing the landmark information; a location detection section for detecting the user's current location; a communications section for communicating with the landmark server over the first communications line; an output section for outputting the route guidance for display; an input section for inputting information needed at least for route search; a route selection section for selecting, responding to the information provided by the input section, a route from the user's current location detected by the location detection section on the cartographic data; a landmark information management section for managing the landmark information stored in the landmark information storage section based on the latest landmark information received from the landmark server via the communications section if there needs to update landmark information corresponding to any landmark located on the route selected by the route selection section; and a guidance section for instructing the output section to display a map based on the cartographic data read from the cartographic data storage section, to display the route on the map displayed on the output se
Ata Teruaki
Hamada Hiroyuki
Sakamoto Kiyomi
Yamashita Atsushi
Matsushita Electric - Industrial Co., Ltd.
Nguyen Thu V.
Wenderoth , Lind & Ponack, L.L.P.
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