Patent · US Expired

System and method for advanced 3D visualization for mobile navigation units

US6885939B2 · kind B2 · utility

48Cited by
24References
18Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateDec 31, 2002
Grant dateApr 26, 2005
Priority date
Expiry dateDec 31, 2022

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06T2210/61
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

A system providing three-dimensional visual navigation for a mobile unit includes a location calculation unit for calculating an instantaneous position of the mobile unit, a viewpoint control unit for determining a viewing frustum from the instantaneous position, a scenegraph manager in communication with at least one geo-database to obtain geographic object data associated with the viewing frustum and generating a scenegraph organizing the geographic object data, and a scenegraph renderer which graphically renders the scenegraph in real time. To enhance depiction, a method for blending images of different resolutions in the scenegraph reduces abrupt changes as the mobile unit moves relative to the depicted geographic objects. Data structures for storage and run-time access of information regarding the geographic object data permit on-demand loading of the data based on the viewing frustum and allow the navigational system to dynamically load, on-demand, only those objects that are visible to the user.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.