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:
Apr. 23, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1999
Richard Frederick Poppen, San Jose, CA (US);
Rodney Jude Fernandez, Fremont, CA (US);
James Laurence Buxton, Redwood City, CA (US);
Tele Atlas North America, Menlo Park, CA (US);
Abstract
A system for computing a path in an electronic map (or other network) starts a pathfinding exploration in the background while the system is waiting for a request to find a path. The system automatically chooses an origin. The system's memory can be divided such that a portion of memory acts as a cache. The data for the nodes in the electronic map are loaded into the cache when needed. The system terminates the pathfinding process when a predetermined condition occurs; for example, a predetermined percentage of the cache is filled. When the system terminates the pathfinding process, the system can start a new pathfinding process from a new origin. Thus, when a user requests a path to be found, the pathfinding process begins with data already loaded in the cache.