Navigation apparatus
AssigneeMatsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
InventorsAtsushi Yamashita, Yoshiki Ueyama, Kiyomi Sakamoto, Takeshi Yagyu, Hiroyuki Hamada, Teruaki Ata
Life of this patent
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Abstract
In a navigation apparatus, a CPU searches for a plurality of routes from a starting point to a destination. These routes share the same starting point and the destination, but vary in their course along the way. Then for route selection, the CPU refers to position information provided by a locator to determine on which of the routes the user is now moving. In this manner, the navigation apparatus can automatically select one route from several derived through the route search.
Claims16
A navigation apparatus for guiding a user to a destination through the use of cartographic data, said apparatus comprising:
- a route search section for searching for a plurality of routes from a starting point to one or more of destinations by using said cartographic data, and generating route data for each of the found routes;
- a movement information generation section for generating movement information which relates to the user's movement;
- a selection section for selecting, based on the movement information generated by said movement information generation section, one or more of the route data plurally generated by said route selection section;
- a guidance data generation section for generating, based on the route data selected by said selection section and said cartographic data, guidance data for guiding the user toward the corresponding destination;
- and
- an output section for outputting an image or a sound for guiding the user toward the destination in accordance with the guidance data generated by said guidance information generation section.
A navigation method for guiding a user to a destination through the use of cartographic data, said method comprising:
- a route search step of searching for a plurality of routes from a starting point to one or more of destinations by using said cartographic data, and generating route data for each of the found routes;
- a movement information generation step of generating movement information which relates to the user's movement;
- a selection step of selecting, based on the movement information generated in said movement information generation step, one of the route data plurally generated in said route selection step;
- a guidance data generation step of generating, based on the route data selected in said selection step and said cartographic data, guidance data for guiding the user to the corresponding destination;
- and
- an output step for outputting an image or a sound for guiding the user toward the destination in accordance with the guidance data generated in said guidance information generation step.
A program for realizing, on a computer device, navigation for guiding a user to a destination through the use of cartographic data, said program comprising:
- a route search step of searching for a plurality of routes from a starting point to one or more of destinations by using said cartographic data, and generating route data for each of the found routes;
- a movement information generation step of generating movement information which relates to the user's movement;
- a selection step of selecting, based on the movement information generated in said movement information generation step, one of the route data plurally generated in said route selection step;
- a guidance data generation step of generating, based on the route data selected in said selection step and said cartographic data, guidance data for guiding the user to the corresponding destination;
- and
- an output step for outputting an image or a sound for guiding the user toward the destination in accordance with the guidance data generated in said guidance information generation step.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.