Algorithm for Optimal Path Accounted for Traffic Rules in Vehicle Navigation System

Some traffic rules make the road network include restricted routes. In order to calculate the optimal path in road network with restricted routes, the characteristics of road network with restricted routes was studied, and the corresponding mathematic model of the road network was built. The road network with restricted routes was translated into the road network without restricted routes according to the network-transforming method, which reduced the complexity of the optimal path calculation. The topological relationship of nodes and road sections in road network was expressed by adjacent node relation matrix and adjacent node weight matrix, which saved the storage space. Based on the dynamic adjacent node relation matrix and adjacent node weight matrix, the algorithm for optimal path was built, which reduced the storage space and improved the calculation efficiency. The network-transforming method and the algorithm were applied into the developed vehicle navigation system and were tested. Results indicate the network-transforming method and the studied algorithm can efficiently find right optimal path in the road network with traffic rules.