U.S. patent application number 11/907249 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-10 for search function for portable navigation device.
Invention is credited to Pieter Geelen.
Application Number | 20080167809 11/907249 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38753565 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-10 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080167809 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Geelen; Pieter |
July 10, 2008 |
Search function for portable navigation device
Abstract
A personal navigation device is set out including a display,
memory, a processor, a wireless signal receptor and a user input
receiver. The memory includes several destination identifiers
indicative of a number of recently visited destinations. A database
is also included, the database itself including digitized map data
and descriptive data identifying features represented within the
digitized map data. The personal navigation device also includes
software capable of performing navigation between a current
location determined from the wireless signals received and a
destination at least partially identified by said user input. The
software further includes a facility for displaying one or more
categories of destination which when selected causes the display of
one or more destination identifiers of the recently visited
destinations of that category in list format, and for performing a
search within the descriptive data representative of the particular
destination category in response to the user input.
Inventors: |
Geelen; Pieter; (Amsterdam,
NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TOMTOM INTERNATIONAL B.V.
REMBRANDTPLEIN 35
AMSTERDAM
1017CT
omitted
|
Family ID: |
38753565 |
Appl. No.: |
11/907249 |
Filed: |
October 10, 2007 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60879523 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879549 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879553 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879577 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879599 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879529 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
60879601 |
Jan 10, 2007 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/533 ;
707/E17.121 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08G 1/096716 20130101;
G08G 1/096791 20130101; G01C 21/3697 20130101; G01C 21/3655
20130101; G08G 1/096741 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/209 ;
701/200 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/00 20060101
G01C021/00; G06F 3/14 20060101 G06F003/14 |
Claims
1. A personal navigation device comprising a display, memory,
processing means, wireless signal reception means, and means for
receiving user input, said memory including at a plurality of
destination identifiers indicative of a number of recently visited
destinations, and one or more databases containing digitized map
data and descriptive data identifying features represented within
said digitized map data, said personal navigation device including
software capable of performing navigation between a current
location determined from said wireless signals received, and a
destination at least partially identified by said user input, said
software including a facility for displaying one or more categories
of destination which when selected causes said display of one or
more destination identifiers of said recently visited destinations
of that category in list format, and for performing a search within
the descriptive data representative of said particular destination
category in response to said user input, further comprising: means
for causing a first search to be made of said descriptive data and
a second search to be made of said destination identifiers, said
first and second search being based on user input comprising one or
more alphanumeric characters made during said display of said one
or more destination identifiers of a particular category; means for
storing results of each of said first and second searches into said
memory; and means for displaying said results in a list, said list
being available to said user for user selection of one or more of
said results.
2. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, further
comprising means for partially displaying said results, said
partial display including a control whereby a user can cause the
list to be displayed more completely on said display.
3. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, further
comprising means for displaying said results in subsets of most
recently visited destinations and of the database of the
descriptive data, the subsets being those entries which include
said user input characters.
4. The personal navigation device according to claim 3, wherein
said subsets are further listed according to most recently visited
destinations.
5. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the
software causes the display of only the results of the first search
if three or more characters are entered by the user.
6. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, further
comprising means for using said software to cause the display of
the results of the first and second searches seamlessly and
consecutively in expandable list format atop which are displayed
the destination identifiers corresponding to most recently visited
destinations from the first search followed by matching descriptive
data of the particular destination type from the database.
7. The personal navigation device according to claim 6, wherein the
displayed results from the first and second searches is scrollable
when expanded in the case where search results comprise more
destination identifiers and descriptive data than can be displayed
on the screen.
8. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, further
comprising means for storing at least one of cities, towns and
villages as destination identifiers indicative of a number of
recently visited destinations in said memory when an address,
postcode or POI within a one of these localities is selected by a
user when navigation thereto is required.
9. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, further
comprising means for maintaining destination identifiers for most
recently visited cities, towns and villages.
10. The personal navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
only a predetermined number of destination identifiers indicative
of most recently visited destination can be stored.
11. A method of operating a personal navigation device comprising a
display, memory, processing means, wireless signal reception means,
and means for receiving user input, said method comprising the
steps of: storing at least a predetermined number of destination
identifiers indicative of a number of recently visited destinations
in memory, together with one or more databases comprising digitized
map data and descriptive data identifying features represented
within said digitized map data, displaying one or more categories
of destination and causing the display of one or more destination
identifiers of the recently visited destinations of that category
in list format when selected by a user, performing a first search
of said descriptive data in response to a user input of one or more
alphanumeric characters made during the display of said one or more
destination identifiers of a particular destination category,
performing a second search of the destination identifiers, also
using the user-entered character data, and subsequently displaying
the results from both searches in list format on the display of
said device.
12. A computer program comprising computer program code means
adapted to perform all the steps of the method of claim 11, when
run on a computer.
13. The computer program of claim 12, embodied on or in a computer
readable medium.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] 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. The content of
the aforementioned is herein incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to an improved search function, and
more specifically to an improved search function for a portable
navigation device (PND) which possesses a screen for information
display and which enables user selection of one or more items
displayed thereon to provide an input for said PND.
[0003] Portable navigation devices (PNDs) typically include a
processor, memory (both ROM and RAM), a display, wireless signal
reception means, and operate under the control of a software
operating system which: [0004] provides the various navigation and
ancillary functions provided by the device, [0005] allows for user
input either through a touch-sensitive screen or other input means,
and, [0006] processes user input, along with wirelessly received
signals, to cause the display of information for simply, quickly
and effectively achieving the navigation and ancillary
functions.
[0007] In this regard, it is common for PNDs to maintain lists in
memory of the most recent destinations entered by the user and to
which navigation has previously been performed. This functionality
can extend to cities, points of interest (POIs), addresses, road
intersections, categories of any of these, and indeed any
information which the user enters which is indicative of a
destination to which navigation may subsequently be desired.
[0008] In particular, modern PNDs include digital map data, along
with one or more databases containing descriptive data identifying
every road, street, motorway, postcode, and POI appearing on the
digitally represented map. The user interface provided by the
operating system software, or a further program executing on the
operating system software, may provide a facility whereby a user
can cause a menu to be displayed including a navigation option,
which when selected provides a number of different destination
setting options. These options include selecting a city, an
intersection, an address, a POI, or in certain instances, specific
latitude and longitude coordinates, and the user interface may, for
one or more of these options, offer the facility to select from a
list of most recently visited or entered destinations, as well as a
means for entering alphanumeric characters on-screen, which may be
displayed in conjunction with an excerpt of the most recently
visited list, or may be displayed separately therefrom.
[0009] The user entry of alphanumeric characters is of course the
primary source of data for the device, as addresses, postcodes,
cities and the like are identified in the device databases by such
characters. In the case of cities, the user is typically requested
to enter the first few characters of the name of the city,
whereupon the software performs a search in the city name database
for matching names. The type of search may be a simple "begins
with" type search, in which only cities having names beginning with
the characters entered by the user are displayed, or the search may
be a more advanced search, such as a "contains" search, possibly
combined with the "begins with" search, the execution of which
provides results having city names containing (and beginning with)
the user-entered characters. Other search strategies may of course
be applicable.
[0010] This search function is performed as each character is
entered, the search results are updated accordingly, and the set of
results displayed in scrollable list format. Of course, as the
display screens of PNDs tend to be small (typically less than 20 cm
square), the portion of the screen dedicated to the display of the
list will also be small, and therefore means are also displayed on
screen which allow the user to scroll through the list, such as
simple "up" and "down" on-screen arrow buttons. Any contact the
user makes with the screen in the region of said buttons causes the
display of later or earlier items in the sorted list.
[0011] One disadvantage of this operation is that the entry of
alphanumeric characters causes immediate execution of the database
search, and the concomitant display of the results without regard
for the separate list of the most recently visited or entered
destination.
[0012] It is an object of this invention to overcome this
disadvantage.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0013] According to the present invention, there is provided a PND
comprising a display, memory, processing means, wireless signal
reception means, and means for receiving user input, said memory
including at least a predetermined number of destination
identifiers indicative of a number of recently visited
destinations, and one or more databases containing digitized map
data and descriptive data identifying features represented within
said digitized map data, said PND including software capable of
performing navigation between a current location determined from
the wireless signals received, and a destination at least partially
identified by said user input, said software including a facility
for displaying one or more destination categories which when
selected causes the display of one or more entries from a list of
the recently visited destinations of that category, and for
performing a search within the descriptive data representative of
the particular destination category in response to said user
input,
Characterized in that a user input of one or more alphanumeric
characters made during the display of said one or more most
recently visited destinations of a particular category causes a
first search to be made of the descriptive data based on the user
input, and a second search to be made of the list of most recently
visited destinations, the results from both searches being combined
for display in list format so as to be ultimately selectable by
said user.
[0014] Most preferably, the searches result in subsets of the list
of most recently visited destinations and of the database of the
descriptive data, the subsets being those entries therein which
include, or further preferably, begin with the user input
characters.
[0015] Preferably, if the user enters three or more characters, the
software reverts to the display of only information retrieved from
the database of descriptive data which includes the characters
entered.
[0016] Most preferably, the software causes the display of the
combined searches in an expandable list format atop which are
provided matching most recently visited destinations from the first
search followed by matching descriptive data of the particular
destination type from the database, said list being further
preferably scrollable when expanded in the case where the list
contains more entries than can be displayed on the screen.
[0017] In the case where there is no match between the user-entered
characters and the list of most recently visited destinations, the
software merely displays the results from the search of descriptive
data if there are matching records, or a warning if no records
match the user input characters.
[0018] In a most preferred embodiment, a new combined list is
temporarily stored in memory resulting from the union between the
results of the first and second searches.
[0019] In accordance with a second aspect of the invention there is
provided a method of operating a PND as described above, and in a
further aspect of the invention there is provided a computer
program comprising computer program code means adapted to perform
all the steps of the method, when run on a computer. Additionally,
the invention extends to a computer program when embodied on or in
a computer readable medium.
[0020] It is to be mentioned that the categories of destination
type may be any one of: POIs, street names, cities, towns,
villages, addresses, postcodes, or a combination of these, such as
"all categories", or "all cities, towns and villages".
[0021] In a particularly preferred arrangement, it may be desirable
to store the cities, towns and villages most recently visited when
an address, postcode or POI within a one of these localities is
selected by a user when navigation thereto is required. Most
preferably, only a list of most recently visited cities, towns and
villages is maintained, and subjected to a search when the user
enters one or more characters.
[0022] A specific description of the invention will now be provided
with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0023] FIGS. 1-8 show various different screen shots of the user
interface of a PND device adapted for the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] Referring firstly to FIG. 1, there is shown a first menu
screen 2. of a PND which has been caused by a user to enter a
navigation "destination entry" mode. The screen displays a number
of icons 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, some of which may be disabled depending
on current configuration of the PND, and provide a means whereby a
user can navigate simply to a pre-entered "home" destination (4), a
list of "favourite" destinations (6), a new address (8), a "recent
destination" (10) or a list of many such destinations, and a "Point
of Interest" (12) or a list thereof. FIG. 2 shows a second menu
screen 14 which results from a user selection of the "address" icon
8. As can be seen in the figure, a further set of icons 16, 18, 20,
22, 24, is displayed, allowing the entry of further information
regarding a new destination to which the user desires to navigate.
The icons have text labels "City", "Street and house number",
"Postcode", "Crossing or Intersection", and "Spoken Address"
respectively, and such labels are indicative of the data entry
required in the following user screens presented when such options
are chosen.
[0025] To illustrate the invention, the screen display 26 in FIG. 3
is that shown when the "City" icon 16 is selected. In FIG. 3, an
on-screen keyboard 28 is shown, together with an excerpt 30 of a
list of the most recently visited cities in alphabetical order, a
text entry field 32 in which alphanumeric characters typed in by
the user appear, a country indicator 34, and a control 36 which
when selected by the user causes the display of an expanded list of
most recently visited cities, as shown in FIG. 4. On the screen
display 37 shown in this Figure, scroll button controls 38, 40 are
provided to allow the user to scroll through the complete list of
most recently visited cities.
[0026] Referring to FIG. 5, a further screen shot 42 is shown where
the user has entered the characters "Li" in the text entry field by
touching the relevant portions of the screen beneath which the
control character buttons 44 "L" and 46 "I" appear. Most
preferably, the PND of the present invention employs a touch
sensitive screen to achieve this functionality.
[0027] Such action, in the prior art, would result in a single
search being performed in the database of descriptive data, and a
set of results being returned containing all cities in "The
Netherlands" (i.e. the particular country selected or displayed at
34) beginning with (or containing) the phrase "Li". This result
set, or a part of it, for example the first two entries would be
displayed in list format, in place of the previously displayed list
30 of most recently visited cities.
[0028] In accordance with the invention, two separate searches are
conducted, the first being conducted within the descriptive data
for cities, and a second search being conducted within the list of
most recently visited cities, the results of both such searches
being stored in memory, preferably adjacently and recalled for
display in a juxtaposed manner such that the results from the
second search within most recently visited cities are displayed
atop the list of results from the first search of city descriptive
data, that is other city names. The abridged or excerpted combined
list is displayed at 48 in FIG. 5, the city entry "Lievelde" being
the only city matching the search text "Li", user-entered at 32,
and the city "Lichtmis (Zwolle)" being the first of many other
cities stored in the database. This excerpted list 48 can be
expanded by pressing button 36 to display an extended list 48, as
shown in FIG. 6 and subsequently scrolled using buttons 38, 40. As
can be seen from FIG. 6, the lists appear seamless, despite the
list of most recently visited cities only including a single entry,
that is "Lievelde". The only distinction to be made, or indication
that the lists are different is that alphabetically, "Lievelde" is
not alphabetically arranged with respect to "Lichtmis (Zwolle)".
The display of such lists is however seamless.
[0029] In FIGS. 7 and 8, further screen shots are provided in which
the user-entered text in field 32 is shown as "Lie", and in
accordance with a particular aspect of the invention, the software
performs only a search of the city descriptive data stored within
the database when three or more characters are entered by the user.
Therefore, in this case, the search function carried out by the
software on the device reverts to its conventional prior art
operation. Thus, in FIG. 8 an excerpt of the list of cities
matching the text "Lie" is displayed, and this excerpted list can
be more fully display by user selection of button 36, as shown in
FIG. 8, and subsequently scrolled using button controls 38, 40.
* * * * *