Abstract:
A method for providing road guidance information includes displaying supplemental local area information in response to a prompt by a user on a map displayed for road guidance. In another method, the method includes receiving an information request for supplemental local area information, selecting supplemental local area information conforming to the information request among obtained local area information, and displaying the selected local area information on a map for road guidance. An apparatus for providing road guidance information includes a display device, a detector configured to detect a current location of the apparatus, a storage unit storing map data, and a controller configured to read out a region from the stored map data, and to display the region on the display device as a road guidance map. The controller further displays supplemental local area information on the road guidance map in response to an external request.

Description:
[0001]    This application claims priority to the Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0006712, filed in Korea on Jan. 23, 2006, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates generally to methods and apparatuses for displaying map information for road guidance, and more particularly to methods and apparatuses for displaying supplemental local area information requested by the user. 
         [0004]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0005]    A navigation terminal is an apparatus intended for road guidance. The navigation terminal helps a user reach a destination, such as, a place new to him or appointed place of importance, without difficulty. 
         [0006]    A navigation terminal utilizes GPS (Global Positioning System) signals to determine current location information (coordinate data) based on signals transmitted independently from low-orbit satellites for GPS. The navigation terminal displays a region centered around the current location from a pre-stored map database (electronic map or map data) on a screen. A driver (or user) can easily perceive road segments to navigate (or drive through) from a currently displayed region. 
         [0007]    As shown in  FIG. 1 , a navigation terminal is equipped with a function to search for an optimal path leading to a destination set by the user and to display the path  11  on an electronic map. As shown in  FIG. 2 , also provided by the navigation terminal is a function for scaling a display at several levels to enhance perception of a driver. For example, as a display level selected by the user goes up from level  2  to level  10  as indicated by numeral  12 , the scale of a displayed electronic map is decreased accordingly so that much finer roads may be displayed. 
         [0008]    When the scaled display of an electronic map is carried out, screen display is permitted up to a level where recognition of characters associated with landmarks included already in the electronic map is not hindered. However, the displayed landmark information is very little, concerned only with salient landmarks or conventional objects such as buildings, roads, and public institutions. On the other hand, in addition to landmark information included in a current map, a driver may want to know local area information related with a region belonging to a current navigation path or outside of the current path. For instance, during road guidance to a destination, a driver may want to find a place or building assumed to be located at a current location (e.g., restaurant, theater, etc.) on a map. However, a navigation terminal as of present does not satisfy the needs of a driver as described above by providing supplemental local area information. 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0009]    An aspect of the present invention provides supplemental local area information of a current location according to user request. 
         [0010]    Another aspect of the present invention allows the user to obtain supplemental local area information of a current location by simple manipulation. 
         [0011]    A further aspect of the present invention provides rich supplemental local area information while avoiding degradation in perceptibility of individual supplemental local area information displayed on a screen. 
         [0012]    A method for providing road guidance in accordance with the present invention includes displaying supplemental local area information in response to a prompt by a user on a map displayed for road guidance. 
         [0013]    Another method for providing road guidance in accordance with the present invention includes receiving an information request for supplemental local area information, selecting supplemental local area information conforming to the information request among obtained local area information, and displaying the selected local area information on a map for road guidance. 
         [0014]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the supplemental local area information may consists of a plurality of supplemental local area information filters, each filter thereof containing a categorized supplemental local area information group. 
         [0015]    In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a selected supplemental local area information filter may replace a supplemental local area information filter displayed previously on the map. 
         [0016]    In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a selected supplemental local area information filter may be displayed being overlaid on a supplemental local area information filter displayed previously on the map. 
         [0017]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, one from a plurality of supplemental local area information filters may be selected and displayed on the map. 
         [0018]    In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a plurality of supplemental local area information filters may be displayed as being overlaid on the map at the same time. 
         [0019]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, supplemental local area information having a character string conforming to a user input condition is displayed on the map. 
         [0020]    In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, the user input condition may be a code constituting a character. 
         [0021]    In addition to the various methods method for providing road guidance, an apparatus for providing road guidance in accordance with the present invention includes a display device, a detector configured to detect a current location of the apparatus, a storage unit storing map data, and a controller configured to read out a region from the stored map data, the region being associated with the detected current, and to display the region on the display device as a road guidance map. The controller is further configured to display supplemental local area information on the road guidance map in response to an external request 
         [0022]    Further scope of applicability of the present application will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0023]    The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the present invention and wherein: 
           [0024]      FIG. 1  illustrates a screen display for road guidance provided by a navigation terminal; 
           [0025]      FIG. 2  illustrates an example where scale of a map is adjusted in various levels and a scaled map is displayed on a navigation screen; 
           [0026]      FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a navigation terminal in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0027]      FIGS. 4   a  and  4   b  illustrate configurations of supplemental local area information in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0028]      FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for displaying map information in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0029]      FIG. 6  illustrates an example where supplemental local area information is provided on a navigation screen in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention; and 
           [0030]      FIGS. 7   a  and  7   b  illustrate examples where supplemental local area information consisting of a plurality of filters is displayed on a navigation map in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0031]    Hereinafter, according to the present invention, preferred embodiments will be described in detail with reference to appended drawings. 
         [0032]      FIG. 3  illustrates a block diagram of a navigation terminal in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. 
         [0033]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , a navigation terminal  100  in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention comprises a GPS receiver  10 , a control unit  20 , a memory  30  storing an electronic map and various graphic information, a key input unit  40 , and a display unit  50 . The memory  30  has a capacity needed for building map database (electronic map or map data) and can be composed of flash ROM or EEPROM. Alternatively, an electronic map is recorded on a removable medium (e.g., optical recording medium such as CD or DVD) and a disk drive for reading out the map can be added as an element constituting a navigation terminal of  FIG. 3 . A storage means for storing an electronic map (memory  30  or optical recording medium) also stores supplemental local area information configured in accordance with the present invention. 
         [0034]      FIG. 4   a  illustrates a configuration of supplemental local area information (or neighboring area information) in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. An entry  41  of supplemental local area information includes location information  42  for displaying a particular place at the corresponding position on an electronic map (e.g., longitude and latitude information or relative location information with respect to a particular reference point), character information  43  for display, and a name of a filter  44  where the entry belongs. In addition, an entry can contain information about an icon to be displayed along with character information. Since the fact that supplemental local area information may include other elements that are not mentioned in the description of the present invention has no relevance to the spirit and scope of the present invention, omission of description on the other elements does not limit the accomplishment of the present invention.
         FIG. 4   b  illustrates an alternative configuration of supplemental local area information in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment includes a filter number  45  instead of a filter name in order to indicate a filter where an entry of supplemental local area information belongs.         
         [0036]    For the foregoing embodiments, supplemental local area information may be composed of multiple filters. For example, where supplemental local area information is categorized into groups, elements of respective groups can be distributed across multiple filters. Alternatively, a single filter can comprise the entire supplemental local area information. 
         [0037]      FIG. 5  illustrates a flow chart of one embodiment of a method for displaying map information in accordance with the present invention. The flow chart of  FIG. 5  is described in detail along with display operations of map information in accordance with the present invention, display operations being carried out by the apparatus of  FIG. 3 . 
         [0038]    The GPS receiver  10  receives signals transmitted from multiple satellites through a GPS antenna  10   a , calculates information about a current location, i.e., longitude, latitude, and altitude information (coordinate information), and provides the location information to the control unit  20 . 
         [0039]    Having identified the location, when the user (or driver) enters a destination by using the key input unit  40 , thereby issuing a request for road guidance S 10 , the control unit  20 , based on the received location information, determines current location of the user (or a car), reads a local electronic map of a region centered around current location from an electronic map of the memory  30 , and feeds the local electronic map to the display unit  50  for display S 11 . The extent of the local map displayed on a screen is determined based on a current map scale and screen resolution. The control unit  40  also searches for an optimal path from the current location to the destination and makes road segments comprising the optimal path have a different color from the others for easy identification. By using road guidance information on an electronic map as described above, the user (or driver) can easily move to a destination. 
         [0040]    While moving (or driving) to the destination, when the user requests display of supplemental local area information by using the key input unit  40  in order to find a nearby region or a place (e.g., to find a nearby convenience store or a gas station) S 20 , the control unit  20  checks whether supplemental local area information conforming to the information request exists S 30 . If the supplemental local area information exists, the control unit controls the display unit  50  so that supplemental local area information  62  belonging to a filter (or filters) relevant to the request is overlaid on a currently displayed navigation map  61 , as illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The navigation map  61  also includes the previously displayed map data overlaid with a layer of topography and conventional objects and a layer with a determined path S 31 . 
         [0041]    On the other hand, when a supplemental local area information filter or a selected supplemental local area information filter does not exist, the control unit  20  connects to a communications network (e.g., to a designated server through wireless mobile communications network when the navigation terminal  100  is equipped with a wireless communications module), downloads a selected supplemental filter or all supplemental local area information filters S 32 , and stores the filter(s) in the memory  30 , the filter(s) being displayed on a screen through the display unit  50 . For this purpose, the navigation terminal  100  stores information needed to connect to the designated server in the memory  30 . 
         [0042]    The request for supplemental local area information may correspond to a name of a supplemental local area information filter, as illustrated in  FIG. 4   a , or the request becomes a filter number of supplemental local area information, as illustrated in  FIG. 4   b . When a supplemental local area information filter consists of a single filter, the single supplemental local area information filter is readily selected and displayed in response to ‘local information’ key input instead of selection of a supplemental local area information filter. Input of a filter name or filter number adopts an input procedure that utilizes as small number of keys as possible for the key input unit  40 . For example, when ‘local information’ key is pressed, a list of filter names or filter numbers is displayed and one from among the list is selected by using a key that moves up and down or left and right. 
         [0043]    In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, an input key of ‘local information’ is prepared in the key input unit  40 . Each time the user presses the key, as illustrated in  FIG. 7   a , a supplemental local area information filter is selected sequentially and displayed on the display unit  50 , replacing a previously displayed supplemental local area information filter. 
         [0044]    In a yet another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, each time the user presses the key of ‘local information’, as illustrated in  FIG. 7   b , a supplemental local area information filter is selected sequentially and a currently selected supplemental local area information filter  71  is displayed on the display unit  50 , being overlaid with supplemental local area information of a previously selected filter  72 . 
         [0045]    In embodiments described above, each supplemental local area information filter can have a unique name, representing a property of supplemental local area information contained in the corresponding filter. For example, a filter containing supplemental local area information about nearby restaurants can have a name of ‘restaurant’. When a supplemental local area information filter is displayed being overlaid on the display unit  50 , the control unit  20  makes a name assigned to the filter displayed at a particular position in a screen. 
         [0046]    In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, even when the memory  30  is equipped with supplemental local area information composed of multiple filters, if the user enters a predefined key input or a particular key in a specific way (i.e., the case when ‘local information’ key is pressed longer than a threshold), all of supplemental local area information filters are displayed overlaid on the display unit  50  at the same time. 
         [0047]    In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, while a supplemental local area information filter being displayed overlaid on a screen through the procedure described above, a part of the displayed supplemental local area information (supplemental local area information belonging to a supplemental local area information filter occupying a highest or last overlaid layer) is selectively displayed. For example, when the user enters a character code ‘a’ through a suitable input procedure (e.g., by using keys of the key input unit  40  or by using a menu screen provided by the display unit  50 ), supplemental local area information beginning with a letter ‘a’ is retained, while the other supplemental local area information is removed from the display unit  50 . Subsequently, when the user enters a character code ‘b’, from among supplemental local area information beginning with a letter ‘a’, supplemental local area information beginning with ‘ab’ is retained, the other supplemental local area information being removed accordingly. By following the same procedure afterwards, supplemental local area information of displayed filters is processed so that only the supplemental local area information that the user has a partial knowledge is retained on a screen. According to the present embodiment, even when the user has only a partial knowledge, an object in question can be found more easily and quickly as a result of the reduced amount of displayed supplemental local area information. 
         [0048]    In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, while more than one supplemental local area information filter being displayed on a screen, when the user enters an arbitrary character code, supplemental local area information beginning with the character code throughout a filter at the topmost position and all the remaining filters below is retained, other supplemental local area information being removed. Character codes entered sequentially afterwards are processed in the same way as described above. 
         [0049]    In another embodiment in accordance with the present invention, even when a supplemental local area information filter is not displayed on the display unit  50 , if the user enters an arbitrary character code, all filters beginning with the character code stored in memory  30  are displayed overlaid on the display unit  50 . Character codes entered sequentially afterwards are processed in the same way as described above. 
         [0050]    According to an embodiment described above, when one or more supplemental local area information filters is displayed overlaid on a map and the user enters a particular key in the key input unit  40  (e.g., a key named as ‘map’), the control unit  20  makes all the supplemental local area information filters disappear from the display unit  50 . 
         [0051]    Embodiments described above can equally be applied to a road guidance function supplied to a portable terminal used for finding a route on foot as well as a car navigation terminal installed on a car. 
         [0052]    The present invention described in detail through a limited number of embodiments above helps the user (or driver) find a supplemental local area or place in question quickly and easily without the user looking or wandering around a supplemental local area during movement to a destination, thus enhancing convenience for the user. 
         [0053]    The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration. Thus, those skilled in the art may utilize the invention and various embodiments with improvements, modifications, substitutions, or additions within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following appended claims.