Telecommunications – Radiotelephone system – Zoned or cellular telephone system
Reexamination Certificate
1996-12-20
2001-11-06
Legree, Tracy (Department: 2681)
Telecommunications
Radiotelephone system
Zoned or cellular telephone system
C455S457000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06314295
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a terminal unit, a position display method, an information providing system and an information providing method which are suitably applicable to an navigation system.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 17
shows an example of an arrangement of an navigation system using a prior portable terminal. A plurality of low orbiting satellites
10
A and
10
B (although two in the illustration, in general at least three low orbiting satellites) constitute a GPS (Global Positioning System) and orbit around the earth at a relatively low position. A portable terminal
11
receives radio waves emitted from the low orbiting satellites
10
A,
10
B to calculate its own present position.
FIG. 18
is an illustration of an example of an arrangement of the portable terminal
11
. In
FIG. 18
, a CPU
31
executes various processes in accordance with programs stored in a ROM
32
, and a RAM
33
stores data, programs and others necessary for the various processes the CPU implements. An input section
40
is used when the user of the portable terminal
11
inputs given instructions, and a display section
38
is composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like to display pictures such as given letters and graphic patterns. A receiving circuit
36
receives, through an antenna
35
, radio waves outputted from the low orbiting satellites
10
A,
10
B to output a demodulated signal to an arithmetic circuit
37
. The arithmetic circuit
37
operates the signal fed from the receiving circuit
36
to obtain the present position (latitude and longitude) and outputs it to the CPU
31
. A reproducing unit
39
reproduces map data recorded in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and makes the display section
38
display it. An interface
34
performs the interface processing for the arithmetic circuit
37
, the display section
38
, the reproducing unit
39
and the input section
40
.
In this example, the display section
38
displays the map data the reproducing circuit
39
reproduces from the CD-ROM, and when taking in the position information expressed with the latitude and the longitude from the arithmetic circuit
37
, the CPU
31
produces a picture of a present position indicating mark corresponding to that position and outputs the picture via the interface
34
to the display section
38
which in turn, displays the picture. Thus, the map and the present position appear on the display section
38
.
FIG. 19
shows another example of an arrangement of a navigation system. A portable terminal
20
transmits and receives radio waves to and from the nearest base stations
21
A,
21
B and gains access through a network
23
with an exchange
22
to, for example, a given database
24
.
FIG. 20
is an illustration of an example of an arrangement of the portable terminal
20
. In
FIG. 20
, a CPU
61
executes various processes in accordance with programs stored in a ROM
62
and suitably makes a RAM
63
store data or the like. An input section
67
is operated for when the user of the portable terminal
20
inputs given instructions. A reproducing unit
66
reproduces map data recorded in a CD-ROM or the like so that the map data is displayed on a display section
65
. A communication circuit
69
establishes communications with the neighboring base station of the base stations including the base stations
21
A,
21
B. An interface
64
carries out the interface processing for the reproducing unit
66
, the display section
65
, the input section
67
and the communication circuit
69
.
In this example, as well as the
FIG. 18
portable terminal
11
, the reproducing unit
66
reproduces a map from the CD-ROM and the display section
65
displays it, whereas a method of detecting the present position differs from that in the
FIG. 18
terminal
11
. That is, in this example, when establishing communication via the communication circuit
69
to the adjacent base station (for example, the base station
21
A), the CPU
61
gets an ID (IDentification) number of the base station
21
A. Since the base stations
21
A,
21
B are all equipment fixed at given locations, the positions thereof are known in advance. Accordingly, the position of the base station which is in connecting relation to the portable terminal
20
can be specified by the ID number thereof. For instance, if the RAM
63
stores a corresponding table between the ID numbers of the respective base stations and the positions of the base stations, when receiving the ID number of a base station, the CPU
61
can find the position corresponding to the ID number referring to the table the RAM
63
retains therein. In addition, the CPU
61
can make the display section
65
display the obtained position as the present position.
There is a problem which arises with any one of the conventional portable terminals, however, in that the system increases in size and cost because the reproducing unit
39
or
60
is designed to reproduce the map data. Further, in the case of the
FIG. 20
portable terminal
20
, since the RAM
63
needs to store the table representative of the corresponding relationship between the ID numbers of the respective base stations and the positions thereof, the increase in the capacity of the RAM
63
is necessary not only to increase the dimension of the portable terminal
20
but also to raise the cost thereof. Still further, in the case of the
FIG. 18
portable terminal
11
, since the arithmetic circuit
37
is made to calculate the latitude and longitude of the present position, the circuit scale of the arithmetic circuit
37
increases in size and in cost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal which is smaller in size, low in cost and convenient to carry.
For the elimination of the above-mentioned problems, a terminal unit according to the present invention comprises detection means for detecting a signal to be used for the determination of the present position, transmission means for transmitting the signal detected by the detection means to an external processing unit which determines the present position, reception means for receiving position information on the present position the external processing unit determines, and output means for combining the position information the reception means receives with map information and for outputting the combination result.
In addition, a position display method according to this invention comprises a detection step of detecting a signal for determining the present position, a transmission step of transmitting the signal detected through the detection step to an external processing unit which determines the present position, a reception step of receiving position information on the present position determined in the external processing unit, and an output step of combining the position information the reception step receives with map information to output the combination result.
Furthermore, another terminal unit according to this invention is equipped with position detection means for detecting the present position, transmission means for transmitting the present position the position detection means detects to an external processing unit, reception means for receiving map information including the present position from the external processing unit, and output means for combining the map information the reception means receives with the position information the position detection means detects and for outputting the combination result.
Furthermore, another position display method according to this invention comprises a position detection step of detecting the present position, a transmission step of transmitting the present position detected through the position detection step to an external processing unit, a reception step of receiving map information including the present position from the external processing unit, and an output step of combining the map information received through the reception step with the
Frommer William S.
Frommer & Lawrence & Haug LLP
Gelin Jean A
Kessler Gordon
Legree Tracy
LandOfFree
Terminal unit, position display method, information... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Terminal unit, position display method, information..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Terminal unit, position display method, information... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2584739