The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 02, 1999
Filed:
Sep. 13, 1996
Brent L DeGraaf, Canton, MI (US);
Magellan DIS, Inc., Rochester Hills, MI (US);
Abstract
A navigation system permits the user to designate certain roads or areas to avoid when planning a route. The navigation system generally includes a database of road segments and a cost associated with the road segments, such as estimated time of travel across that road segment and estimated length of travel across that road segment. The navigation system determines a route from a selected beginning point to a desired destination by evaluating the cost of the road segments to be traveled in several potential routes and recommends the potential route having the lowest total cost. The user can selectively modify the cost of selected road segments to indicate a preference or avoidance of such roads. By increasing the cost of a road segment, the navigation system is less likely to recommend a potential route which includes that road segment. Similarly, by decreasing the cost of a selected road segment, the navigation system is more likely to recommend a potential route which includes that road segment.