Patent ID: 7788026

Claim:
A method for calculating and displaying, using a computer-controlled vehicle navigation system, an optimal route from a point of origin to an optimal final destination target point selected from a plurality of spatially separated final destination target points that are allocated in each case to at least one of a directed segment and a node, in a route network mapped in a memory unit as directed segments and nodes situated between the directed segments, the method comprising: using a computer controlled navigation system to perform the following: allocating a resistance value to each directed segment and each node; defining final destination target points by at least one of an index and a category; optimizing the respective route to each of the plurality of spatially separated final destination target points simultaneously as a sequence of directed segments using a stepwise backwards iterating route search algorithm, wherein in each iteration step, a route to each of the final destination target points is optimized such that the respective resistance sum for each route representing the sum of resistances of the sequence of directed segments to the respective final destination target point becomes a minimum, wherein the optimizing of the respective route to each of the plurality of spatially separated final destination target points simultaneously results in a route having a minimum sum of resistances, and wherein the route having a minimum sum of resistances represents the optimal route to the optimal final destination target point; drawing up a list of the respective route segments to the respective optimal final destination target point; displaying on a display of the navigation system the route having the minimum sum of resistances as the optimal route, after drawing up the list of the respective route segments to the respective optimal final destination target point; and presenting to a user of the vehicle navigation system the following three options: (1) retaining the optimal final destination target point and discarding other final destination target points, (2) discarding the optimal final destination target point and determining a route to another final destination target point, or (3) retaining all final destination target points so that a better route may be derived when departing from the optimal route.