Abstract: Provided are navigation technologies capable of preferentially guiding a vehicle to a route of a driving lane that can be available if given conditions are met. A navigation device is provided with a storage unit adapted to store lane information including the presence or absence of a driving lane that can be available if given conditions are met (hereinafter referred to as a conditional lane), a conditional-lane determining unit adapted to determine whether a vehicle equipped with the navigation device meets the conditions for driving in the conditional lane, and a route searching unit adapted to search a recommended route to a destination, wherein said route searching unit uses lane information to preferentially search for a route which utilizes a road including the conditional lane, when the conditional-lane determining unit determines that the aforementioned conditions are met.

Abstract: Disclosed is a navigation device capable of guiding HOV lanes more intelligibly. The device comprises a storage unit that stores installation information relating to traffic lanes that become passable when predetermined conditions are satisfied (hereinafter referred to as “conditional traffic lanes”) and a guiding unit that guides entrances to the conditional traffic lanes. The guiding unit displays entrance guide images for guiding the car in which the device is installed to the entrances to the conditional traffic lanes instead of images that have been displayed until then when the position of the car approaches the entrances to the conditional traffic lanes.

Abstract: This on-vehicle map display apparatus comprises a map scale setting unit that sets a map scale, a summary map generation unit that generates a summary map by abbreviating road shapes if a map scale that is less than a predetermined scale is set by the map scale setting unit, a summary map display control unit that displays the summary map generated by the summary map generation unit upon a display monitor, a congestion information acquisition unit that acquires congestion information, and a congestion information display control unit that displays the congestion information acquired by the congestion information acquisition unit as superimposed upon the summary map displayed upon the display monitor by the summary map display control unit.

Abstract: Distribution map data for distributing a map by communication includes road data representing position information on the roads contained in a plurality of compartments and integrating name data for integrating name information for the same roads contained in the plurality of compartments without duplicating them.

Abstract: A navigation system includes: a storage unit having stored therein roadmap data, first statistical traffic information data pertaining to a first area which are created based upon a first standard related to a time applicable to the first area, and second statistical traffic information data pertaining to a second area which are created based upon a second standard related to a time applicable to the second area; a search unit that searches for a recommended route; and an estimated time of arrival calculation unit that calculates an estimated time of arrival based upon the roadmap data, the first statistical traffic information data and the second statistical traffic information data. The estimated time of arrival calculation unit executes calculation processing of the estimated time of arrival in compliance with the first standard and the second standard.

Abstract: An on-vehicle information terminal includes a traffic information obtaining unit that obtains traffic information including at least either weather information or event information through wireless communication, a decision-making unit that makes a decision, based upon at least either the weather information or the event information, as to whether or not telematics information provided by a distribution server via a mobile communication network is to be downloaded, and a download unit that downloads the telematics information via the mobile communication network if the decision-making unit has determined that the telematics information is to be downloaded.

Abstract: An on-vehicle information terminal includes a traffic information obtaining unit that obtains traffic information through wireless communication, a telematics information obtaining unit that obtains telematics information provided from a distribution server via a mobile communication network, a selection unit that selects either the traffic information or the telematics information when contents of the traffic information and contents of the telematics information are different, and a traffic condition indicating unit that indicates road traffic conditions based upon either the traffic information or the telematics information having been selected by the selection unit.

Abstract: This navigation apparatus includes a road setting unit that sets a road to be traversed between a departure point and a destination, the road being constituted by links for each of which a predetermined link cost is set, a replacement unit that replaces the links constituting the road to be traversed that has been set by the road setting unit, with a virtual link whose link cost is set to be smaller than the total of the link costs of the links for the road to be traversed, and a route search unit that searches for a recommended route from the departure point to the destination, based upon link costs set for links that constitute roads other than the road to be traversed, and the link cost set for the virtual link with which the road to be traversed has been replaced by the replacement unit.

Abstract: A map update system includes: a navigation apparatus that provides guidance from a current position to a destination having been set based upon map data stored therein and downloads various types of information requested by a user; and a providing apparatus that provides the various types of information to be downloaded at the navigation apparatus, and: the providing apparatus transmits the various types of information and update information related to an update of map data to the navigation apparatus in response to a download request transmitted from the navigation apparatus; and the navigation apparatus issues a notice related to the update of the map data based upon the update information transmitted from the providing apparatus, while downloading the various types of information.

Abstract: Route search is performed considering the fact that traffic conditions differ according to lane even for the same road. A navigation device performs route search, using link costs (link travel times) classified by lane. For example, the navigation device searches for a route having the lowest total cost to the destination, using link data that determine cost for each lane of a component link of a road on a map. A cost of a lane on which a vehicle runs to move to a next link, being the cost of any lane of the link, is used as a cost of a link on a route.

Abstract: The on-vehicle information terminal according to the present invention comprises an abridged road generating device that generates abridged roads by abridging a road map based upon map data, a road decision-making device that makes a decision as to whether or not a road is a special shape road having a predetermined special shape based upon the map data, a substituting device for substitutes a specific road shape pattern stored in memory in advance for a road determined by the road decision-making device to have a special shape and a display control device that displays at the display device an abridged map containing specific road shape patterns used to substitute for special shape roads by the substituting device and the abridged roads generated by the abridged road generating device.

Abstract: An on-vehicle navigation apparatus comprises a subject vehicle position detection unit that detects a position of a subject vehicle and a direction along which the subject vehicle is advancing, a road marker line detection unit that detects a road marker line in an image of a road captured with a camera, a map matching candidate identifying unit that identifies a road to be designated as a map matching candidate, a decision-making unit that makes a decision as to whether or not the subject vehicle is traveling on the road identified by the map matching candidate identifying unit, a map matching unit that correct the detected subject vehicle position so as to set the subject vehicle position onto the road on which the subject vehicle is determined to be traveling, and a subject vehicle position indicating unit that indicates the subject vehicle position having been corrected.

Abstract: An on-vehicle information terminal includes a current position detection unit that detects the current position of the subject vehicle, a route setting unit that sets a route from the current position of the subject vehicle detected by the current position detection unit to a destination and a display control unit that displays at a display device an enlarged map around the next guidance-requiring intersection on the route having been set by the route setting unit. The display control unit displays the enlarged map by displaying the current position and the next guidance-requiring intersection in a single screen at the display device and rendering the route between the two points as a straight line.

Abstract: This abridged map generating apparatus includes a route searching unit that searches for a plurality of routes from a departure point to a destination which has been set, an abridged map generation unit that generates an abridged map in which road shapes of the routes which are searched out by the route searching unit are simplified, based upon road map data which specifies shapes of roads by shapes of links set for each predetermined road section, and a link compactification unit that compactifies links of the routes based upon relative positional relationships of the routes before the abridged map generation unit generates the abridged map.

Abstract: An on-vehicle information terminal comprises a route search unit that searches for a plurality of routes connecting a current position to a destination and a characteristics extraction unit that extracts characteristics of each route searched by the route search unit based upon geographic names. The on-vehicle information terminal displays the characteristics of individual routes extracted by the characteristics extraction unit at a display device.

Abstract: A recommended route is searched by the use of traffic information collected in the past. A map/statistical traffic data storage device 3 stores map data including link data of respective links constituting roads on a map, and statistical data including travel time or moving speeds of the respective links determined by statistical values of traffic information collected in the past. Said statistical data is classified every condition of collection of traffic information. A navigation device searches a recommended route from a departure position to a destination by using the map data stored in the map/statistical traffic data storage device and statistical data corresponding to a day type and a weather type which constitute conditions of search, out of statistical data stored in the map/statistical traffic data storage device 3.

Abstract: This abridged map generating apparatus includes an abridged map generation unit that generates an abridged map in which a shape of a road is simplified based upon road map data, wherein the road map data specifies the shapes of the road by shapes of links set for each predetermined road section, and the abridged map generation unit generates the abridged map by simplifying a shapes of a link or link series with fixed positions of both end points of the link or link series made by lining up a plurality of the links.

Abstract: An abridged map generating apparatus includes a polygon shape data extraction unit that extracts from map data polygon shape data specifying the shape of a polygon, a polygon shape simplification unit that simplifies the shape of the polygon based upon the polygon shape data which is extracted by the polygon shape data extraction unit, and a polygon drawing unit that draws upon a map the polygon whose shape has been simplified by the polygon shape simplification unit.

Abstract: This on-vehicle map display apparatus comprises a map scale setting unit that sets a map scale, a summary map generation unit that generates a summary map by abbreviating road shapes if a map scale that is less than a predetermined scale is set by the map scale setting unit, a summary map display control unit that displays the summary map generated by the summary map generation unit upon a display monitor, a congestion information acquisition unit that acquires congestion information, and a congestion information display control unit that displays the congestion information acquired by the congestion information acquisition unit as superimposed upon the summary map displayed upon the display monitor by the summary map display control unit.

Abstract: The navigation device of the present invention has a storage device which stores map data including link data of respective links constituting roads on a map, and statistical data including travel time (moving speed) which is determined by statistical values of traffic information collected in the past, with respect to each of the links. Then, the navigation device uses for each departure time candidate, the map data and the statistical data of collection conditions corresponding to the statuses upon passing each of the route constituting links which constitute the route, so as to obtain the travel time for each of the route constituting links. Thereafter, the travel times of respective route constituting links thus obtained are summed up, and the travel time between the departure position and the destination is obtained.