WO2008056881A1

WO2008056881A1 - Method for offering multiple lane information and terminal for executing the method

Info

Publication number: WO2008056881A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/004608
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kyung Min Lee
Original assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
Priority date: 2006-11-08
Filing date: 2007-09-20
Publication date: 2008-05-15
Also published as: KR100786023B1

Abstract

A method of providing lane information and terminal for providing lane information are provided. A method of providing lane information, including: storing and maintaining, in a terminal, lane information of a road in association with a location of the road; checking, in the terminal, a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal; and displaying lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal, the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road.

Description

METHOD FOR OFFERING MULTIPLE LANE INFORMATION AND TERMINAL FOR EXECUTING THE METHOD

Technical Field The present invention relates to a method of providing lane information including information about a plurality of lanes and a terminal implementing the same, and more particularly, to a method of providing lane information including information about a plurality of lanes and a terminal with a global positioning system (GPS) function which maintains lane information of a road in association with a location of the road, and provides the lane information based on a location of the terminal as desired by a user of the terminal.

Background Art

A car navigation system is a terminal which includes a global positioning system (GPS) and automatically displays a location of vehicle. Such a car navigation system, generally referred to as a navigation, receives radio waves, transmitted by twenty four GPS satellites from about twenty thousands kilometers (km) above the ground, and displays a current location of vehicle, a shortest route to a destination, and the like, on a monitor installed in a vehicle. Components of the navigation include a compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) player, a monitor receiving antenna, and the like.

In Korea, although a car navigation system was developed in 1993, an electronic map was not developed at that time, and thus a car navigation system was not put to practical use. However, a car navigation system is now used for an optional product of vehicle, and is expected to prevent traffic jams by providing drivers real-time traffic information.

However, a driver of a vehicle, provided with route information through a car navigation system, may not receive accurate information using only a location of vehicle and a route, in a city in which lanes of road on a route constantly change. For example, when a driver suddenly desires to make a left turn or U-turn on a straight stretch of road, the driver may become confused.

To overcome the above-described disadvantages in a conventional art, lane information about a road where a user is located is provided. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of providing lane information in a conventional art.

A terminal screen 100 is an example for describing the method of providing lane information of a road where a vehicle is currently located through a terminal with a GPS function while driving. In this instance, a location of the vehicle and driving direction 101 are illustrated and a route 102 to a destination set in a terminal is illustrated in FIG. 1.

The terminal may provide the lane information 103 on the terminal screen as illustrated in FIG. 1. Specifically, the route 102 where the vehicle is required to use from among lanes of the road is displayed, and thus a driver may be provided with the lane information of the road.

However, when lanes constantly change, the method of providing lane information of a current road may not ascertain lane information of a subsequent road. Accordingly, the driver may not cope with a traffic condition.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Goals

The present invention provides a method of providing lane information and a terminal for providing lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of a road.

The present invention also provides a method of providing lane information and a terminal for providing lane information which provide lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of a current road and a subsequent road, and thereby enable a driver to cope with a traffic condition in advance while driving. The present invention also provides a method of providing lane information and a terminal for providing lane information which store and maintain lane information of a road in association with a location of the road, provide the lane information based on a location of a terminal, and thereby may provide a driver the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road on a route. Technical solutions

According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing lane information, including: storing and maintaining, in a terminal, lane information of a road in association with a location of the road; checking, in the terminal, a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal; and displaying lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal, the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road.

According to an aspect of the present invention, the displaying may include: checking a road which exists within a predetermined checking distance from the terminal from among a plurality of roads which exists on the route; and displaying lane information including information about the plurality of lanes of the road which exists within the predetermined checking distance according to a progression of the route.

According to another aspect of the present invention, the checking of the road may include: measuring a distance between the terminal and the road according to the route using the location of the road and the location of the terminal; and checking the road being separated at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, the displaying according to the progression of the route may include: activating a lane field of a split screen, which is shown by a lane information display function of the terminal through an output unit of the terminal, and displaying the lane information; and displaying a distance between the terminal and the road in association with the lane information.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a terminal for providing lane information, including: a lane information maintenance unit storing and maintaining lane information of a road in association with a location of the road; a location and route checking unit checking a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal; and a display unit displaying lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal, the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road.

Brief Description of Drawings FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method of providing lane information in a conventional art;

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing lane information according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a terminal screen in which lane information including information about a plurality of lanes is provided;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying lane information including information about a plurality of lanes with respect to a road which exists on a route according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing a method of providing lane information including information about a plurality of lanes according to an embodiment of the present invention; and FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal for providing lane information according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail by referring to the figures.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a method of providing lane information stores and maintains lane information of a road in association with a location of the road in a terminal, provides a driver lane information about a plurality of roads including a current road, a subsequent road, a subsequent road of the subsequent road, and the like, in advance based on a location of the terminal while driving, and thereby may enable the driver to easily select a subsequent lane.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing lane information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S201, a terminal for providing lane information stores and maintains lane information of a road in association with a location of the road. The lane information in association with the location of the road may be acquired via a wired/wireless network in a website associated with the terminal, and be stored and maintained in a storage unit of the terminal.

In operation S202, the terminal checks a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal. In this instance, the terminal may include a global positioning system (GPS), and the location of the terminal may be ascertained using the GPS.

In operation S203, the terminal displays lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal. In this instance, the lane information includes information about a plurality of lanes of the road. Specifically, a road where a vehicle with the terminal installed will pass is retrieved from roads which exist on the route based on the location of the terminal. The road where the vehicle will pass indicates a driving direction of the vehicle. Also, the lane information including the information about the plurality of lanes of the road is extracted based on a location of the road, and is displayed to a driver of the vehicle.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a terminal screen in which lane information including information about a plurality of lanes is provided. The terminal screen 300 displays a terminal location and driving direction 301, a route 302 to a destination, and lane information 303. In this instance, lane information 304 indicates lane information of a road 305 in which the terminal is currently located, and a distance to an intersection 306. Lane information 307 indicates lane information of a subsequent road 308 on the route 302 and a distance to an intersection 309. Also, lane information 310 indicates lane information of a subsequent road 311 of the road 308 and a distance to an intersection 312.

Accordingly, a driver may easily obtain information about which lane of the road 305 is to be used when entering the road 308 as well as information about which lane of the road 308 is to be used when entering the subsequent road 311. For example, prior to entering the road 308 from the road 305, information 'driving in a third lane of the road 308, which is a six-lane road, is preferable in order to turn right 200 meters (m) ahead on the road 308 and enter the road 311 ' may be easily obtained from the lane information 303.

As described above, the lane information including the information about the plurality of lanes, that is, lane information of a current road and lane information of a subsequent road, is provided, and thus, a driver may cope with a road condition in advance while driving. The lane information described above may be acquired by storing and maintaining the lane information of the road in association with a location of the road and providing the lane information based on a location of the terminal. An operation of displaying the lane information in operation S203 is described in greater detail with reference to FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method of displaying lane information including information about a plurality of lanes with respect to a road which exists on a route according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 4, operation S410 and operation S420 may be included in operation S203 described with reference to FIG. 2. In operation S410, the terminal checks a road which exists within a predetermined checking distance from the terminal from among a plurality of roads which exists on the route. In this instance, measuring a distance between the terminal and the road according to the route using the location of the road and the location of the terminal in operation S411 and checking the road being separated at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance in operation S412 may be included in operation S410.

The terminal measures the distance from the road which exists on the route, checks the road being separated at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance, and thereby may check the road for acquiring the lane information.

In operation S420, the terminal displays the lane information including the information about the plurality of lanes of the road which exists within the predetermined checking distance according to a progression of the route. In this instance, activating a lane field of a split screen, which is shown by a lane information display function of the terminal through an output unit of the terminal, and displaying the lane information in operation S421, and displaying a distance between the terminal and the road in association with the lane information in operation S422 may be included in operation S420.

The lane information of the road checked in operation S410 and the distance between the terminal and the road are displayed and the lane information may be provided as the example described in FIG. 3, in operation S410. Also, a user may easily select a lane which will be used in a subsequent road using the lane information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example for describing a method of providing lane information including information about a plurality of lanes according to an embodiment of the present invention. When a predetermined checking distance described in FIG. 4 is 500 m, the road 305, the road 308, and the road 311 in FIG. 3 are used for description, and a terminal is located 500 m away from the intersection 306, a road which exists within the predetermined checking distance on the route is the road 305.

Specifically, a portion of a terminal screen 510 is displayed when the predetermined checking distance is 500 m and the terminal is located 500 m away from the intersection 306. The portion of the terminal screen 510 displays lane information 511 of the current road 305 and a distance to the intersection 306.

In this instance, when a vehicle with the terminal installed drives 200 m more along the route, lane information 521 of the road 308 and a distance 522 between the terminal and the intersection 309 may be displayed in a terminal screen 520 in FIG. 5. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a distance between the intersection 306 and the intersection 309 is 200 m, and the distance 522 between the terminal and the intersection 309 is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance. Accordingly, the road 308 may be checked and displayed in the terminal in operation S410 and operation S420. A terminal screen 530 is displayed when the vehicle drives 200 m more than in the terminal screen 520 along the route. In this instance, since the terminal is separated from the road 311 at a distance 531 which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance, lane information 532 and a distance 531 with respect to the road 311 may be displayed together in the terminal screen 530. As described above, the lane information including the information about the plurality of lanes, that is, lane information of a current road and lane information of a subsequent road, is provided, and thus, a driver may cope with a road condition in advance while driving. The lane information described above may be acquired by storing and maintaining the lane information of the road in association with a location of the road and providing the lane information based on the location of the terminal.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a terminal for providing lane information according to another embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the terminal for providing lane information 600 may include a lane information maintenance unit 610, a location and route checking unit 620, and a display unit 630.

The lane information maintenance unit 610 stores and maintains lane information of a road in association with a location of the road. The lane information of the road in association with the location of the road may be acquired via a wired/wireless network in a website associated with the terminal for providing lane information 600.

The location and route checking unit 620 checks a location of the terminal for providing lane information 600 and a route set in the terminal for providing lane information 600. The terminal for providing lane information 600 may include a GPS, and the location of the terminal for providing lane information 600 may be ascertained using the GPS. That is, lane information of a desired road may be acquired using the location of the terminal and the location of the road. The location of the terminal is checked using the GPS and the location of the road is stored in the terminal for providing lane information 600.

The display unit 630 displays lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal. The lane information includes information about a plurality of lanes of the road. In this instance, the display unit 630 displaying the lane information including the information about the plurality of lanes of the road may include a road checking unit 631 and a lane display unit 632 as illustrated in FIG. 6.

The road checking unit 631 checks a road which exists within a predetermined checking distance from the terminal for providing lane information 600 from among a plurality of roads which exists on the route. In this instance, the road checking unit 631 may include a distance measurement unit and a checking unit which are not illustrated in FIG. 6. The distance measurement unit measures a distance between the terminal and the road according to the route using the location of the road and the location of the terminal. Also, the checking unit checks the road being separated from the terminal at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance.

The lane display unit 632 displays the lane information including information about the plurality of lanes of the road which exists within the predetermined checking distance according to a progression of the route. The lane display unit 632 may include a lane information display unit and a distance display unit which are not illustrated in FIG. 6. The lane information display unit activates a lane field of a split screen, which is shown by a lane information display function of the terminal for providing lane information 600 through an output device of the terminal for providing lane information 600, and displays the lane information. The distance display unit displays a distance between the terminal for providing lane information 600 and the road in association with the lane information.

Accordingly, the terminal for providing lane information 600 provides lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of a current road and a subsequent road, and thereby enables a driver to cope with a traffic condition in advance while driving.

Also, the terminal for providing lane information 600 stores and maintains lane information of a road in association with a location of the road, provides the lane information based on a location of the terminal for providing lane information 600, and thereby may provide a driver the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road on a route.

The above-described embodiment of the present invention may be recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The media and program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVD; magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described embodiments of the present invention.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Industrial Applicability

According to the present invention, a method of providing lane information and a terminal for providing lane information provide lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of a current road and a subsequent road, and thereby enable a driver to cope with a traffic condition in advance while driving.

Also, according to the present invention, a method of providing lane information and a terminal for providing lane information store and maintain lane information of a road in association with a location of the road, provide the lane information based on a location of a terminal, and thereby may provide a driver the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road on a route.

Claims

1. A method of providing lane information, comprising: storing and maintaining, in a terminal, lane information of a road in association with a location of the road; checking, in the terminal, a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal; and displaying lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal, the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the displaying comprises: checking a road which exists within a predetermined checking distance from the terminal from among a plurality of roads which exists on the route; and displaying lane information including information about the plurality of lanes of the road which exists within the predetermined checking distance according to a progression of the route.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the checking of the road comprises: measuring a distance between the terminal and the road according to the route using the location of the road and the location of the terminal; and checking the road being separated at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the displaying according to the progression of the route comprises: activating a lane field of a split screen, which is shown by a lane information display function of the terminal through an output unit of the terminal, and displaying the lane information; and displaying a distance between the terminal and the road in association with the lane information.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the terminal comprises a global positioning system (GPS), and the location of the terminal is checked using the GPS.

6. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 through 5.

7. A terminal for providing lane information, comprising: a lane information maintenance unit storing and maintaining lane information of a road in association with a location of the road; a location and route checking unit checking a location of the terminal and a route set in the terminal; and a display unit displaying lane information of a road which exists on the route based on the location of the terminal, the lane information including information about a plurality of lanes of the road.

8. The terminal of claim 7, wherein the display unit comprises: a road checking unit checking a road which exists within a predetermined checking distance from the terminal from among a plurality of roads which exists on the route; and a lane display unit displaying the lane information including information about the plurality of lanes of the road which exists within the predetermined checking distance according to a progression of the route.

9. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the road checking unit comprises: a distance measurement unit measuring a distance between the terminal and the road according to the route using the location of the road and the location of the terminal; and a checking unit checking the road being separated at the distance which is equal to or less than the predetermined checking distance.

10. The terminal of claim 8, wherein the lane display unit comprises: a lane information display unit activating a lane field of a split screen, which is shown by a lane information display function of the terminal through an output device of the terminal, and displaying the lane information; and a distance display unit displaying a distance between the terminal and the road in association with the lane information.