U.S. patent application number 11/907247 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-10 for navigation device and method for displaying navigation information.
Invention is credited to Simone Tertoolen.
Application Number | 20080167798 11/907247 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38753565 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080167798 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tertoolen; Simone |
July 10, 2008 |
Navigation device and method for displaying navigation
information
Abstract
A method of displaying navigation information and a navigation
device programmed with a map database and software operable to
assign a name to a country or a city or a road and display said
name on a road navigation map, operable to assign a language to a
displayed text using a user interface, and operable to
simultaneously display said name on said road navigation map as a
first text in at least one of a local language and a local
character system and as a second text in at least one of said
assigned language and a assigned character system corresponding to
said assigned language.
Inventors: |
Tertoolen; Simone;
(Amsterdam, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TOMTOM INTERNATIONAL B.V.
REMBRANDTPLEIN 35
AMSTERDAM
1017CT
omitted
|
Family ID: |
38753565 |
Appl. No.: |
11/907247 |
Filed: |
October 10, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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60879523 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879549 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879533 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879577 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879599 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879529 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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60879601 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
701/532 ;
707/E17.121 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/3697 20130101;
G08G 1/096741 20130101; G08G 1/096791 20130101; G08G 1/096716
20130101; G01C 21/3655 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/200 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/00 20060101
G01C021/00; G06F 3/14 20060101 G06F003/14 |
Claims
1. A navigation device programmed with a map database and software
operable to assign a name to a country or a city or a road and
display said name on a road navigation map, operable to assign a
language to a displayed text using a user interface, and operable
to simultaneously display said name on said road navigation map as
a first text in at least one of a local language and a local
character system and as a second text in at least one of said
assigned language and a assigned character system corresponding to
said assigned language.
2. Device according to claim 1, whereas said first text and said
second text are pooled together in a region of the display
positioned to said country or to said city or to said road.
3. Device according to claim 1, whereas said first text is
displayed larger than said second text.
4. Device according to claim 1, whereas said first text uses a
different font than said second text.
5. Device according to claim 1, whereas said first text uses a
different formatting than said second text.
6. Device according to claim 1, whereas said second text is a
translation or transcription of the first text.
7. Device according to claim 1, whereas said second text is
displayed only if the assigned language differs from the local
language or if an assigned character system differs from a local
character system.
8. Device according to claim 1, whereas the first text is hidden
depending on a zoom factor of said road navigation map or a size of
a corresponding item.
9. Device according to claim 1, whereas at least two local names of
different languages are displayed as the first text.
10. A method of displaying navigation information, the method being
deployed in a navigation device programmed with a map database and
software operable to display a current position of the device on a
road navigation map, whereas a name is assigned to a country or a
city or a road and displayed on said road navigation map, a
language is assigned to a displayed text using a user interface,
and said name on said road navigation map is simultaneously
displayed as a first text in at least one of a local language and a
local character system and as a second text in at least one of said
assigned language and a assigned character system corresponding to
said assigned language.
Description
CO-PENDING APPLICATIONS
[0001] The following applications are being filed concurrently with
the present application. The entire contents of each of the
following applications is hereby incorporated herein by reference:
A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR EARLY INSTRUCTION OUTPUT
(Attorney docket number 06P207US01) filed on even date herewith; A
NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ESTABLISHING AND USING PROFILES
(Attorney docket number 06P207US02) filed on even date herewith; A
NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR ENHANCED MAP DISPLAY (Attorney
docket number 06P207US03) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION
DEVICE AND METHOD RELATING TO AN AUDIBLE RECOGNITION MODE (Attorney
docket number 06P207US04) filed on even date herewith; NAVIGATION
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING POINTS OF INTEREST (Attorney docket
number 06P207US05) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE
AND METHOD FOR FUEL PRICING DISPLAY (Attorney docket number
06P057US06) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND
METHOD FOR INFORMATIONAL SCREEN DISPLAY (Attorney docket number
06P207US06) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND
METHOD FOR DEALING WITH LIMITED ACCESS ROADS (Attorney docket
number 06P057US07) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE
AND METHOD FOR TRAVEL WARNINGS (Attorney docket number 06P057US07)
filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR
DRIVING BREAK WARNING (Attorney docket number 06P057US07) filed on
even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR DISPLAY OF
POSITION IN TEXT READIBLE FORM (Attorney docket number 06P207US08)
filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR
EMERGENCY SERVICE ACCESS (Attorney docket number 06P057US08) filed
on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING
REGIONAL TRAVEL INFORMATION IN A NAVIGATION DEVICE (Attorney docket
number 06P207US09) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE
AND METHOD FOR USING SPECIAL CHARACTERS IN A NAVIGATION DEVICE
(Attorney docket number 06P207US09) filed on even date herewith; A
NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD USING A PERSONAL AREA NETWORK
(Attorney docket number 06P207US10) filed on even date herewith; A
NAVIGATION DEVICE AND METHOD USING A LOCATION MESSAGE (Attorney
docket number 06P207US10) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR CONSERVING POWER (Attorney docket number
06P207US11) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND
METHOD FOR USING A TRAFFIC MESSAGE CHANNEL (Attorney docket number
06P207US13) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND
METHOD FOR USING A TRAFFIC MESSAGE CHANNEL RESOURCE (Attorney
docket number 06P207US13) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION
DEVICE AND METHOD FOR QUICK OPTION ACCESS (Attorney docket number
06P207US15) filed on even date herewith; A NAVIGATION DEVICE AND
METHOD FOR DISPLAYING A RICH CONTENT DOCUMENT (Attorney docket
number 06P207US27) filed on even date herewith.
PRIORITY STATEMENT
[0002] The present application hereby claims priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn. 119(e) on each of U.S. Provisional Patent Application
Nos. 60/879, 523 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,549 filed Jan. 10,
2007, 60/879,553 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,577 filed Jan. 10,
2007, 60/879,599 filed Jan. 10, 2007, 60/879,529 filed Jan. 10,
2007, 60/879,601 filed Jan. 10, 2007, the entire contents of each
of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0003] This invention relates to a navigation device that can
display navigation information. The device finds particular
application as an in-car navigation system.
BACKGROUND
[0004] Prior art navigation devices based on GPS (Global
Positioning System) are well known and are widely employed as
in-car navigation systems. Such a GPS based navigation device
relates to a computing device which in a functional connection to
an external (or internal) GPS receiver is capable of determining
its global position.
[0005] Moreover, the computing device is capable of determining a
route between start and destination addresses, which can be input
by a user of the computing device. Typically, the computing device
is enabled by software for computing a "best" or "optimum" route
between the start and destination address locations from a map
database. A "best" or "optimum" route is determined on the basis of
predetermined criteria and need not necessarily be the fastest or
shortest route. The selection of the route along which to guide the
driver can be very sophisticated, and the selected route may take
into account existing and predicted traffic and road conditions,
historical information about road speeds, and the driver's own
preferences for the factors determining road choice. In addition,
the device may continually monitor road and traffic conditions, and
offer to or choose to change the route over which the remainder of
the journey is to be made due to changed conditions. Real time
traffic monitoring systems, based on various technologies (e.g.
mobile phone calls, fixed cameras, GPS fleet tracking) are being
used to identify traffic delays and to feed the information into
notification systems.
[0006] The navigation device may typically be mounted on the
dashboard of a vehicle, but may also be formed as part of an
on-board computer of the vehicle or car radio. The navigation
device may also be (part of) a hand-held system, such as a PDA
(Personal Navigation Device) a media player, a mobile phone or the
like. The user interacts with the navigation device to tell it the
journey they wish to make. The device selects a route for the
journey. The user may intervene in, or guide the route selection
process. The device provides visual and audible instructions to
show the user the vehicle's current position and to guide the user
along a chosen route. User interaction with the device may be by a
touch screen, by steering column mounted remote control, by voice
activation or by any other suitable method.
[0007] By using positional information derived from the GPS
receiver, the computing device can determine at regular intervals
its position and can display the current position of the vehicle to
the user. The navigation device may also comprise memory devices
for storing map data and a display for displaying a selected
portion of the map data.
[0008] Also, it can provide instructions how to navigate the
determined route by appropriate navigation directions displayed on
the display and/or generated as audible signals from a speaker
(e.g. `turn left in 100 m`). Graphics depicting the actions to be
accomplished (e.g. a left arrow indicating a left turn ahead) can
be displayed in a status bar and also be superimposed upon the
applicable junctions/turnings etc. in the map itself. It is known
to enable in-car navigation systems to allow the driver, whilst
driving in a car along a route calculated by the navigation system,
to initiate a route recalculation. This is useful where the vehicle
is faced with construction work or heavy congestion. It is also
known to enable a user to choose the kind of route calculation
algorithm deployed by the navigation device, selecting for example
from a `Normal` mode and a `Fast` mode (which calculates the route
in the shortest time, but does not explore as many alternative
routes as the Normal mode). t is also known to allow a route to be
calculated with user defined criteria; for example, the user may
prefer a scenic route to be calculated by the device. The device
software would then calculate various routes and weigh more
favourably those that include along their route the highest number
of points of interest (known as POIs) tagged as being for example
of scenic beauty.
[0009] In order to determine a route between start and destination
addresses, the navigation device uses map data. Depending on stored
or input preferences (shortest route, fastest route, scenic route,
. . . ), the navigation device computes an "optimum" route using
the stored map data. However, the "optimum" route may differ from
time to time, depending on the current situation on the road. It
may for instance depend on the amount of vehicles on certain
segments of the road, possible traffic jams, congestion, diversions
etc.
[0010] US 2002/0128770 A1 describes a system to provide a driver
with real-time information about the situation on the road. The
system uses cameras to make pictures of the earth's surface. The
cameras may be cameras positioned on the ground or may be cameras
positioned on a satellite. The server transmits (part of) a picture
to a navigation device mounted on a client's vehicle. The
navigation device is arranged to display the received picture to
allow the client to assess the situation on the road.
[0011] Known navigation devices are arranged to take into account
changing road situations and conditions. Such navigation devices
are arranged to receive information on traffic jams from a server.
This information is used by the navigation device when planning a
route or may be used to re-route an already planned route. The
information about traffic jams is for instance collected using
detection systems embedded in the road surface measuring the speed
of the passing vehicles.
[0012] EP 1 611 416 A1 describes a navigation device. The user can,
by touching the screen, task away completely form a 2D or 3D
navigation map to a menu screen which displays one or more options
that, if selected through a further touch action, initiate a
recalculation to find a detour away from the planned route.
SUMMARY
[0013] It is an object of the invention to provide a navigation
device and another object of invention to provide a method
improving orientation.
[0014] This need may be met by a navigation device and a method
according to the independent claims.
[0015] A first aspect of the invention is a navigation device. The
navigation device is programmed with a map database and software.
It is operable to assign a name to a country or a city or a road
and display said name on a road navigation map. E.g. the names of a
country, city or road, can be displayed simultaneously or
alternatively depending on a zoom factor. Preferably the current
position of the device is displayed on said road navigation map.
The term road applies also to all kinds of street, highway, lane,
way, avenue, parkway, trail, path, farm trail, etcetera.
[0016] The navigation device is operable to assign a language to a
displayed text using a user interface. E.g. the user can define the
user language selecting a corresponding button. A corresponding
character system is used. E.g. using Dutch language a Latin
character system is assigned.
[0017] Further the navigation device is operable to display said
name as a first text in at least one of a local language and a
local character system. Preferably both said local language and
said local character system is used.
[0018] A second text in at least one of said assigned language and
said assigned character system corresponding to said assigned
language is displayed.
[0019] Said first test and said second text are simultaneously
displayed on said road navigation map. In a further refinement of
the invention the first text and the second text are loaded from
the map database depending on a current view.
[0020] In a preferred embodiment entries for each city name are
stored in a table. Each translation or transcription is represented
with a language code, e.g. RUS for Cyrillic Russian and RUL for
Latinized transcripted Russian, etc. For example for Moscow the
following data are used:
TABLE-US-00001 MOCKBa RUS MOSKVA RUL MOSCOW ENG MOSKAU GER Etc.
[0021] In one exemplary embodiment said first text and said second
text are pooled together in a region of the display positioned to
said country or to said city or to said road. E.g. both texts are
displayed positioned to a center of said country or said city or
said road.
[0022] In another exemplary embodiment said first text is displayed
larger than said second text. In a further refinement said first
text uses at least one of a different font and a different
formatting than said second text. A different formatting is e.g.
underline, italic or bold.
[0023] In another exemplary embodiment said second text is a
translation of said first text into the assigned language. In
another exemplary embodiment said second text is a transcription of
the first text into said assigned character system. The translation
or transcription can be loaded from the devices own database or
from an external database, e.g. via a wireless link.
[0024] In a further refinement said second text is displayed only
if the assigned language differs from the local language. In a
further refinement said second text is displayed only if said
assigned character system of said assigned language differs from
the local character system.
[0025] In another embodiment the first text is displayed vertically
shifted relative to the second text. Preferably the second text is
displayed vertically below said first text. Both texts could be
separated by a line or another graphical item.
[0026] In another embodiment the first text is hidden depending on
a zoom factor of said road navigation map or the size of said item
the name is assigned to. E.g., if there is not enough space to
display both texts only the second text is shown.
[0027] In one embodiment of the invention at least two local names
of different languages are displayed as said first text in case
there are at least two official national languages in said local
area. For example in Belgium French and Flemish are used
concurrently on traffic signs.
[0028] Another aspect of the invention is a method of displaying
navigation information. The method is deployed in a navigation
device programmed with a map database and software operable to
display a current position of the device on a road navigation
map.
[0029] A name is assigned to a country or a city or a road and
displayed on a road navigation map. A language is assigned to a
displayed text by the user using a user interface. All texts of all
menus are displayed in the assigned language.
[0030] Said name of said country or said city or said road is
displayed as a first text in local language and as a second text in
said assigned language simultaneously on said road navigation
map.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS
[0031] These and other aspects of the present invention will become
apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments
described hereinafter. The present invention will be described with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which
[0032] FIG. 1 shows a schematic display with a map of a navigation
device; and
[0033] FIG. 2 shows another schematic display with a map of a
navigation device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0034] A Navigator software runs for instance on a touch screen
(i.e. stylus controlled) Pocket PC powered PDA device. It provides
a GPS based navigation system when the PDA is coupled with a GPS
receiver. The combined PDA and GPS receiver system is designed to
be used as an in-vehicle navigation system. The invention may also
be implemented in any other arrangement of navigation device, such
as one with an integral GPS receiver/computer/display. The
navigation device may implement any kind of position sensing
technology and is not limited to GPS; it can hence be implemented
using other kinds of GNSS (global navigation satellite system) such
as the European Galileo system. Equally, it is not limited to
satellite based location/velocity systems but can equally be
deployed using ground-based beacons or any other kind of system
that enables the device to determine its geographic location.
[0035] The Navigator software, when running on a PDA, results in a
navigation device that causes the normal navigation mode screen
shown in FIG. 1 to be displayed.
[0036] This view provides driving instructions using a combination
of text, symbols, voice guidance and a moving map. Key user
interface elements are the following:
[0037] In FIG. 1 a 3-D map 1 occupies most of the screen. The road
navigation map 1 shows the user's car 3 and its immediate
surroundings, rotated in such a way that the direction in which the
car 3 is moving is always "in front". Running across the bottom
quarter of the screen is the status bar 2. The current location of
the device, as the device itself determines using conventional GPS
location finding and its orientation (as inferred from its
direction of travel) is depicted by an arrow 3. The route
calculated by the device (using route calculation algorithms stored
in device memory as applied to map data stored in a map database in
device memory) is shown as darkened path 4 superimposed with arrows
giving the travel direction. On the darkened path 4, all major
actions (e.g. turning corners, crossroads, roundabouts etc.) can be
schematically depicted by arrows overlaying the path 4. Numbers of
motorways 5 are display adjacent to the displayed motorway. Also a
destination 8 is shown using a corresponding icon 8. Urban areas 19
are indicated using a specific color scheme.
[0038] The status bar 2 also includes at its left hand side a
schematic 6 depicting the next action (here, a roundabout). The
status bar 2 also shows the distance to the next action (i.e. the
roundabout - here the distance is 2.3 km) as extracted from a
database of the entire route calculated by the device (i.e. a list
of all roads and related actions defining the route to be taken).
Status bar 2 could also shows the name of the current road. Shown
is the estimated time before arrival 9 (here 8 minutes and 50
seconds), the actual estimated arrival time 10 (10.26) and the
distance to the destination 11 (3.5 km). The GPS signal strength is
shown in a mobile-phone style signal strength indicator 12.
[0039] In the embodiment of FIG. 1 there are two towns ahead. The
destination 11 is located in a first town. The local name 14 of
said town is written as a first text 14 "LILLE" in capital letters.
The local name 14 refers to the spelling used in the language used
in that town or country. The local name 14 is identical to the
spelling on traffic signs around that town LILLE. Therefore the
user is able to verify the information on traffic signs with the
displayed first text 14 "LILLE".
[0040] The navigation device is operable to assign a language to a
displayed text using a user interface. In the embodiment of FIG. 1
the Dutch language is assigned, using a language menu (not shown).
Normally the user knows the spelling of towns better in his/her
mother tongue. To improve the users orientation in a foreign
country, a second text 16 in said assigned language is
simultaneously displayed on said road navigation map 1. In the
embodiment of FIG. 1 the second text 16 "RIJSEL" is the Dutch name
of the town "LILLE" used in local language. In the embodiment of
FIG. 1 the first text 14 and the second text 16 are separated by a
line 15. The font of the second text 15 is smaller then the font of
the first text 14. Additionally the font or the style of the first
text 14 and the second text 16 can be different (not shown). To
display the first text 14 of the local name and the second text 16
of the assigned name both texts are loaded from a corresponding
directory of a memory device.
[0041] Also a local name of another town 13 "WATTIGNIES" is
displayed. In this case there is no translation into the assigned
language available. Not even an English translation is available,
which would be shown instead of the assigned language. Therefore
only the local name is displayed. Using the buttons 20a and 20b it
is possible to zoom in and zoom out the current view. If there is
not enough space for the first text 14 and the second text 16 on
the navigation road map 1 to show both names, only the second text
16 is shown, not the local name 14.
[0042] FIG. 2 shows another detail. The first text 17 is written in
Chinese characters. The user may not be able to read these Chinese
characters. Nevertheless these Chinese characters are useful if
verified with the local traffic signs using the same Chinese
characters. On the other hand for the user it is advantageous that
at the same time a transcription 18 of these Chinese characters is
shown on the navigation map 1. In the embodiment of FIG. 2 the
second text 18 is "HONG KONG", written in Latin letters. The user
not familiar with Chinese characters will be able to identify the
town and spell the name of the town at any time using the
navigation device with the simultaneous view of the first 17 and
second text 18. The same applies to Cyrillic letters for
example.
[0043] The actual physical structure of the device itself may be
fundamentally no different from any conventional handheld computer,
other than the integral GPS receiver or a GPS data feed from an
external GPS receiver. Hence, memory stores the route calculation
algorithms, map database and user interface software; a
microprocessor interprets and processes user input (e.g. using a
device touch screen to input the start and destination addresses
and all other control inputs) and deploys the route calculation
algorithms to calculate the optimal route. `Optimal` may refer to
criteria such as shortest time or shortest distance, or some other
user-related factors.
[0044] More specifically, the user inputs his start position and
required destination in the normal manner into the Navigator
software running on the PDA using a virtual keyboard. The user then
selects the manner in which a travel route is calculated: various
modes are offered, such as a `fast` mode that calculates the route
very rapidly, but the route might not be the shortest; a `full`
mode that looks at all possible routes and locates the shortest,
but takes longer to calculate etc. Other options are possible, with
a user defining a route that is scenic--e.g. passes the most POI
(points of interest) marked as views of outstanding beauty, or
passes the most POIs of possible interest to children or uses the
fewest junctions etc.
[0045] Roads themselves are described in the map database that is
part of Navigator (or is otherwise accessed by it) running on the
PDA as lines--i.e. vectors (e.g. start point, end point, direction
for a road, with an entire road being made up of many hundreds of
such sections, each uniquely defined by start point/end point
direction parameters).
[0046] A map is then a set of such road vectors, plus points of
interest (POIs), plus road names, plus city or country names, plus
other geographic features like park boundaries, river boundaries
etc, all of which are defined in terms of vectors. All map features
(e.g. road vectors, POIs etc.) are defined in a coordinate system
that corresponds or relates to the GPS co-ordinate system, enabling
a device's position as determined through a GPS system to be
located onto the relevant road shown in a map.
[0047] Route calculation uses complex algorithms that are part of
the Navigator software. The algorithms are applied to score large
numbers of potential different routes. The Navigator software then
evaluates them against the user defined criteria (or device
defaults), such as a full mode scan, with scenic route, past
museums, and no speed camera. The route which best meets the
defined criteria is then calculated by a processor in the PDA and
then stored in a database in RAM as a sequence of vectors, road
names and actions to be done at vector end-points (e.g.
corresponding to pre-determined distances along each road of the
route, such as after 100 meters, turn left into street x).
* * * * *