U.S. patent application number 11/907250 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-24 for navigation device and method for displaying traffic information.
Invention is credited to Sjoard Aben, William Deurwaarder, Geert Hilbrandie, Rob Schuurbiers.
Application Number | 20080177471 11/907250 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 38753565 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080177471 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Deurwaarder; William ; et
al. |
July 24, 2008 |
Navigation device and method for displaying traffic information
Abstract
A method of displaying navigation information and A navigation
device comprising a receiver to receive traffic information,
whereas the device is programmed with a map database and software
that enables to display a current position of the device on a road
navigation map, the device is further programmed to be able to
display a status bar providing information about a planned route,
whereas the user can plan a first route by inputting a first
position and inputting a second position and store said first
position and said second position, the user can initiate a
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position independent from the current position, and after
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position a second route is calculated between the current position
and a destination.
Inventors: |
Deurwaarder; William;
(Rotterdam, NL) ; Hilbrandie; Geert; (Heemstede,
NL) ; Aben; Sjoard; (Alkmaar, NL) ;
Schuurbiers; Rob; (Amsterdam, NL) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TOMTOM INTERNATIONAL B.V.
REMBRANDTPLEIN 35
AMSTERDAM
1017CT
omitted
|
Family ID: |
38753565 |
Appl. No.: |
11/907250 |
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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60879553 |
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: |
701/414 ;
707/E17.121 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/3655 20130101;
G08G 1/096741 20130101; G01C 21/3697 20130101; G08G 1/096791
20130101; G08G 1/096716 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/210 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/34 20060101
G01C021/34 |
Claims
1. A navigation device comprising a receiver to receive traffic
information, whereas the device is programmed with a map database
and software that enables to display a current position of the
device on a road navigation map, the device is further programmed
to be able to display a status bar providing information about a
planned route, whereas the user can plan a first route by inputting
a first position and inputting a second position and store said
first position and said second position, the user can initiate a
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position independent from the current position, and after
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position a second route is calculated between the current position
and a destination.
2. Device according to claim 1, whereas said stored first position
or said stored second position is used as said destination for
calculating said second route.
3. Device according to claim 1, whereas the user can input a
direction of said first route between said stored first position
and said stored second position.
4. Device according to claim 1, whereas said second route is
calculated if a speed of said device exceeds a predetermined
value.
5. Device according to claim 1, whereas said second route is
calculated if a timer exceeds a predetermined value.
6. Device according to claim 1, whereas the first route is
calculated.
7. Device according to claim 1, whereas said initiating overwrites
a previous destination.
8. Device according to claim 1, whereas a previous calculated route
is maintained when displaying of said received traffic information
assigned to said first route and afterwards the previous calculated
route is the second route.
9. Device according to claim 1, whereas on start up the device
traffic information assigned to at least one of a first area around
said first stored position and a second area around said second
stored position are received.
10. A method of displaying navigation information, the method being
deployed in a navigation device programmed with a map database and
software that enables to display a current position of the device
on a road navigation map, whereas the user can plan a first route
by inputting a first position and inputting a second position and
store said first position and said second position, the user can
initiate a displaying of received traffic information assigned to
said first route between said stored first position and said stored
second position independent from the current position, and after
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position a second route is calculated between the current position
and a destination.
Description
PRIORITY STATEMENT
[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.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] This invention relates to a navigation device that can
display traffic information. The device find particular application
as an in-car navigation system.
BACKGROUND
[0003] 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.
[0004] 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.
[0005] 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.
[0006] 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.
[0007] 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).
[0008] It 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
re-calculation to find a detour away from the planned route.
SUMMARY
[0013] It is an object of the invention to provide a navigation
device and a method that provide a more comfortable access to
traffic information.
[0014] This need may be met by a navigation device and a method
according to the independent claims.
[0015] In a first aspect, there is a navigation device comprising a
receiver to receive traffic information. Examples of the receiver
are a bluetooth receiver connectable with a mobile phone or the
like wirelessly, an interface connectable with a mobile phone or
the like via a cable, or a integrated RDS-TMC receiver. The device
is programmed with a map database and software that enables to
display a current position of the device on a road navigation map.
The current position of the device is preferable derived from a
measured actual geographic position. E.g. a GPS-Signal could be
estimated to derive the current position from it.
[0016] The device is further programmed to be able to display a
status bar providing information about a planned route. The status
bar contains text and/or symbols describing the information.
[0017] The user can plan a first route by inputting a first
position and inputting a second position. E.g. the user can use a
geocoding functionality of the navigation device, inputting a
postal address (land additionally city additionally street
additionally house number) and geocoding it into a geo coordinate.
Alternatively the user can input geo coordinates directly.
Afterwards the user can store said first position and said second
position. The stored first and second position can be loaded from
the memory independently from the current position.
[0018] The user can initiate a displaying of received traffic
information assigned to said first route between said stored first
position and said stored second position with the first position
and the second position being independent from the current
position. E.g. the traffic information is a roadblock or congestion
or a delay assigned to a specific incident or a total delay
assigned to several incidences concerning the whole first route.
The traffic information is preferably a textual message and/or a
symbol assigned to a position where the incident occurs. Preferably
the user is taken to a navigation view in which traffic information
can be obtained by looking at the traffic bar. If there is no
traffic information on route, the user is informed accordingly.
[0019] After displaying of received traffic information assigned to
said first route between said stored first position and said stored
second position a second route is calculated between the current
position and a destination.
[0020] In one exemplary embodiment the user can input a direction
of said first route between said stored first position and said
stored second position. E.g. the first position is the users "home"
and the second position is at his "work". The user can choose the
direction "home" to "work" or "work" to "home" by touching a button
on a displayed menu screen.
[0021] Exemplary the destination could be derived from a previous
destination. Alternatively in one preferred embodiment of the
invention said stored first position or said stored second position
is used as said destination. Further exemplary the destination is
derived from the first position or the second position depending on
the direction the user has entered before by selecting the first
position or the second position to be to be the start and the other
to be the destination.
[0022] In one embodiment of the invention, starting to calculate
said second route is initiated by the user. Alternatively in a
preferred embodiment of the invention, said second route is
calculated automatically. In this case a user action is not
required.
[0023] In one embodiment of the invention, said second route is
calculated, if a speed of said device exceeds a predetermined
value.
[0024] In one embodiment of the invention, said second route is
calculated if a timer exceeds a predetermined value.
[0025] The condition of said predetermined speed value and said
predetermined time value are preferably combined. In a further
refinement other conditions, like a geographical distance to the
first stored position and/or the second stored position are taken
into account as well.
[0026] In one embodiment of the invention, the first route is
calculated. Alternatively the first route is input by the user
directly, using several geocoordinates.
[0027] In one embodiment of the invention, said initiating of
displaying said received traffic information overwrites a previous
destination preferably with said stored first position or said
stored second position.
[0028] In another embodiment of the invention a previous calculated
route is maintained when displaying said received traffic
information assigned to said first route. The previous calculated
route is the second route afterwards. The previous route could be
recalculated if, the current position has changed. If the current
position is unchanged the second route is calculated by loading the
route data of the previous route.
[0029] In one exemplary embodiment of the invention, on start up of
the device or on initiating by the user traffic information
assigned to at least on of a first area around said first stored
position and a second area around said second stored position are
received preferably automatically.
[0030] In a second aspect there is a method of displaying
navigation information. The method is deployed in a navigation
device programmed with a map database and software that enables to
display a current position of the device on a road navigation
map.
[0031] In a program routine it is implemented that the user can
plan a first route by inputting a first position and inputting a
second position and store said first position and said second
position.
[0032] It is further implemented that the user can initiate a
displaying of received traffic information assigned to said first
route between said stored first position and said stored second
position independent from the current position.
[0033] It is further implemented that after displaying of received
traffic information assigned to said first route between said
stored first position and said stored second position a second
route is calculated between the current position and a
destination.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE DRAWINGS
[0034] 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
[0035] FIG. 1 shows a schematic display with a map of a navigation
device;
[0036] FIG. 2 shows a schematic flow process chart of a routine
running on a navigation device;
[0037] FIGS. 3 to 5 show schematic flow process charts of
subroutines.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
[0038] 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.
[0039] 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.
[0040] This view provides driving instructions using a combination
of text, symbols, voice guidance and a moving map. Key user
interface elements are the following:
[0041] In FIG. 1 a 2-D map 1 occupies most of the screen. The map
shows the user's car and its immediate surroundings, rotated in
such a way that the direction in which the car is moving is always
"up". 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.) are schematically depicted
by arrows 5 overlaying the path 4. The status bar 2 also includes
at its left hand side a schematic 6 depicting the next action
(here, a right turn).
[0042] The status bar 2 also shows the distance to the next action
(i.e. the right turn--here the distance is 220 meters) 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 also shows the name of the current road 8, the
estimated time before arrival 9 (here 2 minutes and 40 seconds),
the actual estimated arrival time 10 (11.36 am) and the distance to
the destination 11 (1.4 Km). The GPS signal strength is shown in a
mobile-phone style signal strength indicator 12.
[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 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 co-ordinate 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).
[0048] Additionally the navigation device receives traffic
information 14, 15. They can be received using i.e. TMC (Traffic
Message Channel) or TMCpro. The traffic information 14, 15 is
assigned to the route 4 and displayed on the map 1. The example of
FIG. 1 shows as traffic incidences a roadblock 14 and congestion 15
shown as symbols and linked to a textual description.
[0049] FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of part of a program
routine running on the navigation device. With the first step 100
the routine is started, if the user presses a button i.e. "View
traffic on preferred route". In the following second step 101 it is
asked whether traffic information (RDS-TMC) is available. If
traffic information is not available the routine continues to the
subroutine 200. Otherwise, if traffic information is available the
routine continues with step 102.
[0050] In step 102 it is checked whether a preferred route is
planned. In the following description the preferred route is
referred to as the first route. E.g. for planning the first route a
first position is input and a second position is input and stored
by the user. If the route is not planned the routine continues to
the subroutine 300 for setting up route planning. Otherwise, if
traffic information is available the routine continues with step
103.
[0051] In step 103 a menu is displayed showing buttons to select
the first route including a direction. E.g. the first position is
the "home" of the user and the second position is the "work" of the
user. In step 103 the user can select the route from "home" to
"work" or vice versa.
[0052] After selecting the first route the routine continues to
step 104. In step 104 it is checked whether traffic information is
available. E.g. the routine checks whether a connection with a
RDS-TMC receiver is available. If no traffic information is
available it continues to the subroutine in step 400, updating
traffic information. Otherwise, if traffic information is
available, traffic information will be displayed in step 105. In
step 105 route statistics and information about incidents on the
route are displayed on a traffic bar.
[0053] This way of accessing the traffic information is
specifically advantageous for a regularly traveled route. The
traffic information can be retrieved prior to navigating. It is not
necessary to estimate a current position before. The traffic
situation on this first route can therefore be assessed before
driving. The user is able to view a summary of traffic information
for his device. The summary is preferably statistic information,
containing e.g. driving time, delay time, changes of congestions
over time etc.
[0054] The first route between the first position and the second
position could be input by the user directly. Alternatively the
user just inputs the first position and the second position and the
first route between the first position and the second position is
calculated.
[0055] In the following step 106 a parameter is estimated. Such
parameter could be e.g. a timer value, a speed value, a distance
value. E.g. the time since step 105 is measured. E.g. the speed of
the device (moving with the vehicle) is measured. E.g. the distance
between the current position of the device and the first position
and/or the second position is measured.
[0056] In the following step 107 the value of at least one of the
parameters is estimated to meet a condition. If the condition is
not met the routine turns back to step 106. Otherwise, if the
condition is met the routine continues to step 108. A possible
condition could be that a speed of said device exceeds a
predetermined value. Another possible condition could be that a
timer exceeds a predetermined value. Again another possible
condition could be that the device is located in a predefined area
around the first position or the second position. Several
conditions are preferably combined.
[0057] E.g. to prevent recalculation if the current position
derived from a GPS-Signal is not the same as the first position or
the second position (depending on the direction) a system with two
timers is used. A first timer counts during a preview, so that
recalculation is prevented until a first length of time (e.g. 5
minutes) has passed and unless the user is moving slower than a
predetermined speed, e.g. 8 kilometers per hour. A second timer
counts during a preview, so that recalculation is prevented until a
second length of time (e.g. 30 seconds) has passed and unless the
user is moving faster than the predetermined speed, e.g. 8
kilometers per hour. The timers are set the moment the received
traffic information along with the first route is displayed. The
length of time of each timer is preferably set depending on
receiving of a GPS-signal. In case a GPS-signal is received the
current position is estimated and compared with the first position
or the second position. The length of time of each timer is then
set depending on the distance between the current position and the
first or second position, e.g. comparing with a distance value,
e.g. 2 kilometers.
[0058] In step 108 a second route is calculated. This new route
uses the current position of the device as the start and the first
position or the second position as a destination, depending on the
direction chosen in step 103. The second route is calculated
between the start and the destination.
[0059] Assuming that the second position is the destination, the
second route will differ from the first route if, the start is not
equal to the first position. Although it might be equal the second
route is calculated and the current position is shown on the map in
step 9 using normal navigation operation of the device.
[0060] FIG. 3 shows a more detailed diagram on the subroutine 200.
First in step 201 of the subroutine it is checked whether the user
has enabled a link to download traffic information from a server
wirelessly. If the link is enabled the routine continues to step
102. If the link is not enabled step 202 follows showing a display
with buttons to start a traffic connection wizard. After
successfully setting up the link the routine continues in step
102.
[0061] FIG. 4 shows a more detailed diagram on the subroutine 300.
First in step 301 a message is displayed, that the first position
and the second position of the first route--called a "regular
route"--will follow. In step 302 a menu is prompted to input the
first position. In step 303 a menu is prompted to input the second
position. The positions can be selected from predetermined
favorites, points of interest, recent destinations or the like.
Another possibility is to estimate the first and/or second from an
address. Afterwards the routine continues with step 102.
[0062] FIG. 5 shows a more detailed diagram on the subroutine 400.
If no traffic information is available the subroutine 400 starts
with step 401 checking whether a connection with the traffic server
is available. In case the connection to the traffic server is
available the subroutine continues to step 402 checking whether the
traffic information is up to date. For this a time stamp of the
last traffic information is compared with the current time. If the
time difference between time stamp and current time exceeds a time
value, e.g. 5 minutes, the subroutine continues to step 405. If the
traffic information is up to date the routine continues with step
105.
[0063] If there is no connection to the traffic server in step 401,
the subroutine continues with step 403 setting up an appropriate
connection. If the setup of said connection is successful the
subroutine continues with step 402. Otherwise the routine ends with
step 404, displaying to the user an error message that the device
is unable to retrieve traffic information. After this a grey
traffic ball is displayed in a navigation view in order to indicate
that traffic has not been updated.
[0064] In step 405 a message and/or a symbol is displayed that an
updating process progresses. Afterwards in step 406 it is checked
whether the update process was successful. In case of a successful
update the routine continues with step 105. Otherwise a error
message will be displayed in step 404.
[0065] Various modifications and alterations of this invention will
become apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from
the scope of this invention, and it should be understood that this
invention is not to be unduly limited to the illustrative
embodiments.
* * * * *