Abstract:
After a user inputs a source, a destination and preferences, many different routes will be generated accordingly. Some of the routes may have shorter estimated traveling times, some of the routes may have shorter traveling distances, but other routes may make use of freeways. Different kinds of routes can be indicated simultaneously and thus the user can choose an optimal route perceived by the user from the generated routes.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a route-inquiry method, and more particularly, to a route-inquiry method which generates a plurality of feasible routes according to a source and a destination.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Prior Art  
         [0004]     Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a prior art route-inquiry method  100 . The method  100  is performed as follows:  
         [0005]     Step  110 : Start;  
         [0006]     Step  120 : Input a source and a destination;  
         [0007]     Step  130 : Generating a route according to the source and the destination;  
         [0008]     Step  140 : Display the route;  
         [0009]     Step  150 : End.  
         [0010]     Generally, the route generated in step  130  is considered with the traveling distance, that is, if a user wants to travel to the destination from the source, the method  100  will generate a route with the shortest distance. However, if the user wishes to find a route with other preferences such as the shortest time, the method  100  is unable to find a corresponding route to satisfy the user&#39;s request.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0011]     The present invention provides a route-inquiry method comprising generating a plurality of feasible routes according to a source and a destination.  
         [0012]     These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]      FIG. 1  is a flowchart illustrating a prior art route-inquiry method.  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a route-inquiry method according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating indication of a plurality of routes in a map mode.  
         [0016]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating indication of the plurality of routes in  FIG. 3  in a pathway mode.  
         [0017]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating indication of the plurality of routes in  FIG. 3  in a parameter mode.  
         [0018]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating a route-inquiry device according to the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0019]     Please refer to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a flowchart illustrating a route-inquiry method  200  according to the present invention. The method  200  comprises the following steps:  
         [0020]     Step  210 : Start;  
         [0021]     Step  220 : Input a source, a destination, and optional preferences, then go to step  240 ; if only a destination is input, then go to the step  230 ;  
         [0022]     Step  230 : Detect the source;  
         [0023]     Step  240 : Generate a plurality of routes according to the source, the destination, and optional preferences;  
         [0024]     Step  250 : Input a mode selection;  
         [0025]     Step  260 : Display the plurality of routes according to the mode selection;  
         [0026]     Step  270 : End.  
         [0027]     In step  220 , a user does not have to enter the source. Instead, the route-inquiry method  200  provides the step  230  to detect the source. If the user does not enter the source, the step  230  detects the position of the user and uses the position of the user as the source. The position of the user can be detected by a Global Positioning System (GPS).  
         [0028]     In step  240 , a plurality of routes are generated, which provides the user many traveling choices. The optional preferences can include estimated traveling time, preferred roads, road condition, etc. For example, if the optional preference of shorter estimated traveling time is selected, then step  240  will generate a plurality of routes with shorter estimated traveling times. If the optional preference of preferred roads is selected, the step  240  will generate a plurality of routes each of which includes the preferred roads. If the optional preference of road condition is selected, the step  240  will generate a plurality of routes which avoid roads with traffic jam and roads under construction, etc. Further, the method  200  allows the user to select more than one optional preference. For example, the user can select the optional preferences of shorter estimated traveling time and preferred roads at the same time. In that case, step  240  will generate a plurality of routes with shorter estimated traveling times and include the preferred roads. Further if no optional preferences are selected, then step  240  will generate a plurality of routes with a predetermined preference.  
         [0029]     In step  250 , the user can choose to select a display mode. The display mode can be a map mode, a pathway mode, a parameter mode, etc. Then in step  260 , the plurality of routes are displayed according to the selected mode. If the map mode is selected, the plurality of routes generated in step  240  will be highlighted on a map with different routes highlighted in different manners such as different colors, line shapes, etc. If the pathway mode is selected, the names of pathways along each of the routes generated in step  240  will be displayed in sequence to indicate the route. If the parameter mode is selected, certain parameters such as time, distance, etc. of the plurality of routes generated in step  240  will be displayed. The combination of different modes allows the user to choose an optimal route more appropriately. If none of the modes are selected, then the plurality of routes will be displayed according to a predetermined mode.  
         [0030]     Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating indication of a plurality of routes R 1 -R 4  generated in step  240  in the map mode. As shown in  FIG. 3 , the source is A, the destination is B, and routes R 1 -R 4  are displayed in the map with different symbolic lines. Moreover, the symbolic lines can be assigned with different meanings. For example, a dashed line as shown in route R 2  can be used to indicate that it is the route with the shortest estimated traveling time. In this case, the map mode provides the user information not only routes R 1 -R 4  on the map, but information regarding to estimated traveling time. Furthermore, when the user makes a request to display only the route which is chosen, all other routes will disappear from the map.  
         [0031]     Please refer to  FIG. 4 .  FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating indication of routes R 1 -R 4  in the pathway mode. As shown in  FIG. 4 , routes R 1 -R 4  are displayed by names of pathways along each of routes R 1 -R 4 . For instance, route R 1  starts at road  1 , passes through road  2 , and finishes at road  3 . The display of routes R 1 -R 4  can be sorted by different preferences. For example, if the preference of distance is selected, then route R 1  will remain on the top list, followed by route R 3 , R 2 , and R 4  referencing to  FIG. 3 .  
         [0032]     Please refer to  FIG. 5 .  FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating indication of routes R 1 -R 4  in the parameter mode. As shown in  FIG. 5 , certain parameters such as estimated traveling time and distance of routes R 1 -R 4  are displayed. For example, route R 2  has the estimated traveling time of 1.5 hours, and the distance of 60 kilometers. If the user wants to select a route with more freeways, the user may choose route R 4  although it has a longer distance than some other routes.  
         [0033]     Please refer to  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  is a block diagram illustrating a route-inquiry device  600  of the present invention. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the route-inquiry device  600  includes an interface  610 , a central processing unit(CPU)  620 , a database  630 , and a display  640 . The interface  610  is for the user to input information such as the source, the destination and preferences. The database  630  is disposed for storing data such as different pathways. The central processing unit  620  is used to search and generate different routes for the user according to input data. The display  640  is used to display different routes generated by the central processing unit  620 .  
         [0034]     The route-inquiry device and method of the present invention provide the user many different kinds of information regarding different routes. Therefore, the user is able to choose an optimal route perceived by the user from a plurality of routes.  
         [0035]     Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.