JP2003016469A - Method and device for image display, method and device for difference information management, system and program for image display, and difference information management program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an image display method which is adaptive to a navigation device, etc., and can use image information recorded on a recording medium for a long time without spoiling convenience. SOLUTION: The navigation device 2 which is mounted on a moving body 1 such as an automobile requests a difference information management server 10 to obtain difference information regarding image data displayed at a display part 3 as difference information regarding image data recorded on the recording medium 6 from a transmitting and receiving section 5 through a network 30, obtains the difference information from the difference information management server 10, and displays an image of the difference information over an image of the image data recorded on the recording medium 6 at the display part 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and system for providing difference information with respect to information provided by a recording medium, and particularly to traffic information (map information, position information of a mobile object) for a mobile object such as an automobile. , An image display method, an image display device, a difference information management method, a difference information management device, an image display system, and an image display program suitable for a navigation system that provides various information related to road conditions such as traffic congestion as traffic information) , And a difference information management program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a medium for storing electronic information data,
Optical discs are known. CD-ROM, CD-R /
RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RAM, DVD-RW
Various formats have been developed and put into practical use. Among them, if you focus on read-only media,
The DVD-ROM is a medium capable of storing higher density data than the CD-ROM, and is useful as a means for recording contents having a large amount of information such as movies, games, navigation, various databases and the like.

For example, in a car navigation system, in order to diversify the scale, three-dimensionally display a building or the like, and increase the amount of information accompanying the recording of various additional information, the conventional CD-ROM system is changed to a DVD. -The transition to the ROM system is progressing.

On the other hand, there is a service for displaying and downloading electronic information through a telecommunication line such as the Internet.

For example, Japanese Patent No. 2756483 or the like discloses a technique relating to a method of supplying advertisement information by a computer system.

[0006] Specifically, while the advertisement requester is prompted to enter the advertisement information, a map is displayed based on the map information stored in advance and the position of the advertisement target object is prompted on the map. And a step of storing the coordinates of the advertisement target object specified on the map in association with the input advertisement information one by one, while the advertisement recipient receives a map based on the map information. Along with displaying
A step of displaying the iconified advertisement object at a point corresponding to the stored coordinates of the advertisement object on the map and prompting selection of the desired advertisement object, A method for supplying advertisement information, comprising: a step of reading advertisement information associated with an advertisement target; and a step of outputting the read advertisement information to the advertisement recipient.

Further, there has been proposed a system automatic updating method for expanding the function of software and correcting defects from the outside of the information processing apparatus via a public line, a network or radio waves.

For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-333914, an information processing apparatus connected to a network or the like is not used by a user in order to execute an automatic version upgrade function at a timing that does not hinder the use of the user. At a highly probable time, the version management program is started, a new version of the execution program is received using the version number of the execution program included in the broadcast data, and the execution program stored in the device is automatically updated. It is characterized by that.

Further, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-230761, a telephone unit is provided as a communication means, and when it is instructed to obtain detailed map information, or when it is determined that the destination area has been reached. Is automatically connected to the navigation server via the telephone unit, is optimized for the shortest download time, and minimizes the chances of repeated downloads. Techniques for downloading more detailed map information are disclosed.

[0010]

However, even if a recording medium compatible with high density is used, since it is usually a read-only recording medium, information added / erased after recording (for example, a car navigation system). No addition, deletion, or change of the display object due to the completion of the actual building, road, etc.) cannot be modified, and the user will be satisfied with the situation or provided by the manufacturer. If there was a version upgrade service, it was necessary to use it and purchase the latest recording medium separately.

In the present specification, an object represents a symbol for displaying an actual building, road, river or the like as electronic data, and is generally formed as image information, and its name is given if necessary. Including text information such as. Further, the object can be specified by designating the coordinates.

Further, the recording medium storing old information is not limited to the user's cost burden as described above, but its value is lost, or the recording medium storing the latest information, if any. Compared to the above, the value is much lower, so unless it is reused in the second-hand market, etc., it will be discarded as a set.

The optical disk is a laminated body composed of a substrate, a recording layer, a protective layer, an adhesive layer and the like, and each layer is made of resin, metal, alloy or the like, and has a different composition depending on the manufacturer or the type of the recording medium. Is very difficult and expensive.

That is, since the method of using information via the recording medium is a form of individual use by a plurality of users, it is not possible to always maintain the freshness of information even though a large amount of information can be recorded. Also, there was an environmental problem at the time of disposal.

On the other hand, when downloading information using the Internet as in the above publications, etc., since the storage location of information is within a management device such as a difference information management server that is collectively managed, it is necessary to update the storage information file. It is possible to immediately update the information provided to the user and keep it up to date.

However, in order to display the information stored in the difference information management server on a personal information terminal (personal computer, portable information terminal, etc.) via the network, it is necessary to transmit the information. Since the transmission time increases in proportion to the amount of information, telephone line, ISDN
Alternatively, it takes a long time to transmit a large amount of information by a communication system such as ADSL.

In other words, it is possible to prepare information having a large amount of data as accumulated information and store it in the management device so that it can be provided, but the download time becomes a problem, and There is a problem in that the availability of information becomes unrealistic and the immediate availability of information is hindered.

On the contrary, in order to complete the transmission of desired information within the time allowed by the user, it is necessary to limit the amount of information according to the transmission speed of the communication system, and the information content itself is simplified. However, there is a problem in that the quality of the information provided is deteriorated.

Further, the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-333914 aims at avoiding the sacrifice of usability by interrupting an application being executed or restarting the system. The automatic update program is activated when the information processing apparatus is not in use.

However, in the above-mentioned map search system, car navigation system, etc., it is meaningful to confirm the latestness of the information recorded on the recording medium when using the system, and Since the above-mentioned commercially available recording medium is read-only, it is not possible to store difference information in a rewritable nonvolatile memory device as in the publication.

Further, even if a recordable or rewritable recording medium is used, the purpose is to download all the difference information. Therefore, for example, a new object in a map area being displayed on a display device such as a liquid crystal screen is displayed. Even if there is a request to download only information on buildings (for example, a building) (so-called partial download), it is not possible to flexibly respond, and eventually unnecessary files are downloaded, resulting in waste of communication time and communication cost. There is a problem.

Further, in the recording medium, a storage area for downloading must be secured in advance for downloading at a later date, and if it is too large, the cost of the recording medium will increase, and the difference information will not be recorded. There is a problem that if it is too small, it cannot be saved.

The method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-230761 is a technique relating to a method of acquiring map information using a normal car navigation system and a method of selectively using more detailed map information from the Internet depending on the case.
The two are not used at the same time.

In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a large amount of information contained in a recording medium as a result of pursuing improvement of convenience, and flexibly responds to update of the recorded information. Moreover, it aims to realize a service for providing electronic information data in consideration of environmental problems.

[0025]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the image display method of the present invention manages difference information for image data recorded on a recording medium by an external difference information management device, If necessary, the difference information management device is accessed to obtain the difference information for the image displayed on the display unit, and the image of the obtained difference information is superimposed on the image of the image data recorded on the recording medium. The feature is that it is displayed on the display unit.

According to this, the basic information is a CD-ROM.
Alternatively, since it is read from a recording medium such as a DVD-ROM,
The reading speed depends only on the performance of the reading device (for example, the performance of the optical pickup and the transmission speed of the bus, etc.),
Compared to downloading information via a network, it is faster, and because unexpected factors such as traffic do not intervene, the processing speed until the image data is extracted and finally displayed on the display unit is fast and stable. You can

Taking map information as an example, topographical information (prefectural boundaries,
Information that seems to be relatively small, such as coastline information) and road information, is recorded on a recording medium and provided to the user. Even a building, such as a national treasure, is extremely unlikely to move or disappear, so it is also possible to record information that does not require data correction as basic information on a recording medium.

[0028] In addition, such as convenience stores, restaurants, mobile phone shops, gas stations and other storefronts, storehouses inside buildings, etc., that are relatively frequently generated, deleted, and changed, and are easy to be targeted as real objects during search,
Also, for those that are likely to be created, deleted, or changed in the near future, such as old houses and houses facing the road where new road expansion work is being started or planned, external difference information management If the device provides the information via a network or the like, the latest information can be provided in real time.

As described above, since the basic information is provided by the recording medium capable of recording a large amount of information, it is possible to provide a large amount of information at high speed. Furthermore, when the information recorded on the recording medium changes, only the difference information is acquired from the external difference information management device, so the information on the recording medium does not become obsolete, and the difference Since it is not necessary to newly purchase a recording medium on which information is recorded, the recording medium once purchased can be used for a long time without impairing convenience, which is economical. As a result, frequent replacement of the recording medium is suppressed, so that the generation of the unnecessary recording medium can be reduced as much as possible and an environment-friendly method can be provided.

Also, for a maker that provides a recording medium, when the update information is appropriately small, it is not necessary to newly produce a recording medium in which the latest information is recorded. No new expenses such as advertising expenses related to notification of provision will be incurred. further,
When the contents recorded in the recording medium need to be updated, such as corrections, for example, the difference information management device that stores the difference information can download the information via a network or the like. The user who is using it does not feel inconvenient.

Further, since the image of the difference information acquired from the external difference information management device is superimposed and displayed on the image of the basic information read from the recording medium, it is possible to simply use the recording medium. Compared to the method of using the network in a time-divisional manner, the matching of the information of both parties is guaranteed, so the user collates the information of both parties and finishes the useful information by combining related parts. It is possible to provide a user-friendly system that eliminates the need for complicated and thoughtful operations.

It should be noted that what kind of content is recorded in the storage medium, is managed as difference information on the side of the difference information management device, and is downloaded via the network as necessary, and the above-mentioned record is described. As long as it comprehensively considers the merits of using the medium (= recording a large amount of information and high-speed transferability) and the merits of using the Internet (= easy to update information / immediate response), the freedom of the practitioner Is.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the image display method of the present invention has the above-mentioned configuration, wherein the difference information includes the symbol image displayed on the display unit and the image data in which the symbol is arranged. It is configured to be paired with the above coordinate information, and is characterized in that the position on the image data to be arranged is detected based on the coordinate information and the symbol image is arranged at the detected position.

According to this, since the symbol image has the coordinate information on the image data to be arranged, the position on the image data where the symbol image is to be arranged is specified by detecting the coordinate information. It becomes possible to suppress the information amount of the difference information as much as possible, and it is possible to provide the difference information through the communication line without causing stress.

Specifically, as a method of displaying the image of the difference information by superimposing it on the image of the basic image data, for example, the basic image information having only the contour information has the same size as the contour information. There is a method in which difference information (information having color information for each section) is prepared and both are simply superposed like a print. Here, the “size” is not the amount of data such as ○ × k bytes, but the vertical and horizontal sizes when two-dimensionally displayed on a display unit such as a display, and is “vertical Acm, horizontal Bcm. Or "vertical C
Pixel, horizontal D pixel ".

In this case, since the sizes of the two images are the same, they can be easily overlapped without the coordinate information. On the other hand, the size of the difference information is the basic image data. The same size is required. Therefore, when only a part of the image data is displayed and only the difference information for the displayed part of the area is acquired, that is, when only the difference information corresponding to a part of the image data is desired to be acquired, Also, after obtaining all the difference information created corresponding to the size of the image data, only a part of the difference information must be returned and displayed on the display unit if necessary.

Therefore, when the size of the image is large,
The size of the difference information is inevitably large, and therefore the amount of data itself is bloated and cannot be transmitted in a short time using a communication line or the like.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, even when the size of the image is large, the image data as the difference information has the position information to be superimposed on the image data, so that the image It can be formed to a required size regardless of the size of data.

The symbol referred to here is, for example, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional icon of a real thing such as a building.

In order to solve the above problems, the image display device of the present invention displays a reading means having a function of reading the image data recorded on the recording medium, and an image of the image data read by the reading means. For displaying the difference information for the image data recorded on the recording medium, and for acquiring the difference information for the image data displayed on the display means to the external difference information management device via the transmitting means. The difference information requesting means for requesting the difference information, the receiving means for receiving the difference information from the difference information management device, and the image of the difference information received by the receiving means superimposed on the image of the image data read by the reading means. And arithmetic processing means for performing image processing for displaying on the display means. Here, the transmitting means and the receiving means can be integrally configured as a transmitting / receiving means.

According to this, an image display device for displaying an image in accordance with the above-mentioned image display method, a reading means such as a DVD-ROM device, a display means such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display, a portable / automobile telephone, Controlling the transmitting / receiving means having a wireless function such as PHS, the optical disk reading device and the displaying means, and particularly displaying the image of the image data read from the reading means on the display means by superimposing the image of the received difference information. And an arithmetic processing means for performing image processing for the purpose.

That is, except for the arithmetic processing function of superposing the images of the received difference information and displaying them on the display means, the existing hardware is effectively used to realize the above-described image display method. Can be realized.

In order to solve the above problems, the image display device of the present invention is characterized in that, in the configuration of the image display device, the image data is map data.

According to this, a commercially available navigation device, a display means, and a transmission / reception means such as a mobile phone, an automobile telephone, a PHS, etc. are used as a basic structure, and a CPU or / and a graphic controller (graphic control) provided in the navigation device is used. The image display method described above can be realized by making a simple modification to the function of the arithmetic processing unit such as the section.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the difference information management method of the present invention accumulates difference information for image data recorded on a recording medium, and the image data displays an output request for the difference information. It is characterized in that it is accepted for each image displayed on the screen, and if there is difference information corresponding to the request, the difference information is transmitted to the request source.

In order to solve the above problem, the difference information management method of the present invention is the difference information management method, wherein the difference information includes the symbol image displayed on the display unit and the image on which the symbol is arranged. It is characterized in that the coordinate information on the data is paired.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the difference information management device of the present invention displays a storage means for accumulating difference information of image data recorded on a recording medium, and an output request for the difference information displayed by the image data. The receiving unit that receives the image displayed on the unit and the storing unit are searched for difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving unit, and if the difference information exists, the difference information is searched. It is characterized in that it has a control means for issuing an information output instruction and a transmission means for transmitting the difference information to the request source according to the instruction of the control means. Also in this case, the transmitting means and the receiving means can be integrally configured as a transmitting / receiving means.

According to these, in order to display an image according to the above-described image display method of the present invention using a general-purpose computer, the image display device is superimposed on the image data provided by the recording medium. It is possible to construct a difference information management apparatus that provides difference information (having coordinate information) to be arranged in the above manner to a user who uses the recording medium that is the requester through a communication line or the like.

That is, for example, the receiving unit receives the output request signal of the difference information transmitted from the mobile unit, in the unit of the image in which the image data is displayed on the display unit, and the control unit including the arithmetic processing unit, The storage unit that stores the difference information of the image data is searched for the difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving unit, and if the difference information exists, the output instruction of the difference information is issued. Thus, the transmitting means transmits the difference information to the request source.

Here, the request source of the difference information for transmitting the difference information can be specified by the control means from the normal information included in the received signal. The accessor is a telephone, a mobile terminal, or the like that directly has communication information such as a telephone number or IP address that has made an access. It may be an individual who has communication information.

Further, it is possible to charge the access person according to the information amount of the difference information to be output. In this case, the communication charge is added up and the communication carrier managing the communication charge later. Alternatively, the charge amount according to the present invention may be collected. As a result, the manufacturer providing the difference information can obtain a price commensurate with the accumulation of the difference information.

In order to solve the above problems, the difference information management apparatus of the present invention is the difference information management apparatus described above, wherein the difference information has coordinate information to be arranged so as to be superimposed on the image data. The receiving means receives the information designating the range of the coordinate information, and the control means searches based on the information designating the range of the coordinate information and extracts the corresponding difference information from the storage means. It is characterized by doing.

According to this, only the difference information existing within the range designated by the user using the recording medium can be selected and provided to the user. Here, the coordinate information is, for example, a meridian (X) / latitude (Y) indicated by orthogonal coordinates, and these values are not limited to the values of normal longitude / latitude (unit [degree]), If the coordinate information on the image data provided by the recording medium and the coordinate information required for arranging the difference information managed by the difference information management device have a one-to-one correspondence, they are arbitrarily determined. May be.

As a method of designating the range, by designating the coordinates of the upper left and the coordinates of the lower right, it is possible to designate a region having the coordinates on the diagonal. As a result, the rectangular area can be designated with a small amount of information. In addition,
By specifying the coordinates of a plurality of points, it is possible to specify any area, not limited to the rectangular area.

As the processing of the control means, the difference information stored in the storage means is present within the acquired range with the coordinate information provided for superposing and arranging on the image of the image data as the search target. Only the difference information to be extracted will be extracted.

In order to solve the above problems, the image display system of the present invention is characterized in that the image display device described above and the difference information management device described above are connected via a network.

As described above, by connecting the image display device and the fixedly arranged difference information management device via the network, for example, the image display device is mounted on a moving body such as a car, and the moving body is moved. Further, the difference information can be acquired from the external difference information management device by using the existing communication line including the existing wireless line such as a car phone / mobile phone and the wired line.

The image data display program of the present invention is
It is characterized in that the computer is made to execute each procedure of the image display method described above.

According to the above arrangement, the image display method of the present invention can be provided to the user by loading the image display program of the present invention into the image display device.
Further, it is possible to realize the function of the image display device of the present invention by using a calculation processing unit such as a general CPU or a graphic controller as a core.

It goes without saying that a computer-readable recording medium recording the image display program of the present invention also belongs to the scope of rights of the present invention.

The difference information management program of the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute each procedure of the difference information management method described above.

With the above arrangement, the difference information management method of the present invention can be provided to the difference information manager by loading the difference information management program of the present invention into the difference information management device.

Further, it is possible to realize the function as the difference information management apparatus of the present invention by using a general computer.

It goes without saying that a computer-readable recording medium recording the difference information management program of the present invention also belongs to the scope of rights of the present invention.

In the present invention, the difference between the image data recorded on the recording medium (by the arithmetic processing unit such as the CPU instructing the transmitting unit) and the image displayed on the display unit. The external difference information management device is requested to acquire the difference information for the data, the (reception unit) acquires the difference information from the difference information management device, and the difference information (the arithmetic processing unit such as the CPU or the graphic controller) acquires the difference information. May be characterized by a method of displaying image data which is displayed on the display unit in an overlapping manner with the image data recorded on the recording medium. Further, in this image data display method, the difference information is displayed on the display unit. The symbol and the coordinate information on the image data in which the symbol is arranged are paired to form a calculation processing unit such as a CPU or a graphic controller. Work by) detects the position of the image data to be arranged on the basis of the coordinate information may also be characterized by placing the symbol position the detected.

Further, according to the present invention, a disc reading means having a function of reading at least image data recorded on a recording medium, a display means for displaying the image data read from the disc reading means, and a recording medium are provided. A transmission unit that requests an external database server to acquire difference information for the image data displayed on the display unit, which is the difference for the recorded image data,
The image forming apparatus further includes a receiving unit that receives the difference information from the server, and an arithmetic processing unit that performs image processing for superimposing the received difference information on the image data read from the disk reading unit and displaying the image data on the display unit. It may be a display device for image data characterized by the following:
In this image data display device, the image data may be map data.

Further, according to the present invention, a step of accepting an output request of difference information with respect to image data recorded on a recording medium, a step of identifying an accessor who has issued the output request, and a determination of whether or not the difference information is accumulated. The method may be characterized by a difference information management method including a step and a step of transmitting the difference information to the accessor when the difference information is accumulated. The information may be configured by pairing a symbol and coordinate information on the image data in which the symbol is arranged.

Further, the present invention is a storage means for recording difference information which is difference with respect to image data recorded on a recording medium and has coordinate information for superposing and arranging on the image data, and the difference. A receiving unit that receives an information output request, and a control that determines whether or not the difference information stored in the storage unit is accumulated based on the reception of the output request, and outputs the information when the difference information exists Means and
It may be characterized by a difference information management device having a transmission means for transmitting the difference information to the output requester according to an instruction from the control means, and further, in this difference information management device, a reception request for receiving the difference information output request is received. The means is
The control unit may receive the information designating the range of the coordinate information, and may instruct the control unit to select and transmit the difference information belonging to the range of the coordinate information from the storage unit.

Further, the present invention may be characterized by a display system of electronic information data in which the above-mentioned image data display device and the above-mentioned difference information management device are constituted by a network.

Further, the present invention is characterized by a program for displaying image data that causes a computer to execute each step of the above-described image data display method, and also allows each step of the above-described difference information management method to be performed by the computer. The difference information management program to be executed may be a feature.

[0071]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, the case where the present invention is applied to a car navigation system that assists the movement of a moving body such as an automobile will be described as an example.

The car navigation system is mainly composed of a navigation device mounted on a moving body and displaying a map image together with the position and route of the moving body. The navigation device uses map data including information such as roads, buildings, and terrain, for example, a CD-ROM disc or a DV.
The image is read from a recording medium such as a D-ROM disk and the map image corresponding to this map data is displayed on the display unit.

(Embodiment 1) First, a first embodiment will be described.

First, the overall configuration and operation of the navigation system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, the navigation system of the present embodiment is mounted on a moving body 1 such as an automobile, and a map database is provided from a recording medium 6 such as a CD-ROM disc or a DVD-ROM disc. It is composed of the navigation device 2 and a differential information management server 10 which is connected to a network 30 such as a telephone line or the Internet and is appropriately connected to the navigation device 2.

The difference information management server 10 stores the latest information relating to map data different from the map data of the navigation device 2, more accurately, the difference information for the image data recorded on the recording medium 6. Therefore, when requested by the navigation device 2, the information is transmitted to the navigation device 2 via the network 30.

The navigation device 2 is provided with a transmission / reception unit 5 so that data communication via the network 30 is possible, and the map data provided from the recording medium 6 and the difference information management server 10 are provided. A display unit 3 for displaying the latest information (difference information) to be transmitted is provided.

In this case, for example, when the operator boarding the moving body 1 performs an operation for requesting the latest information of the map data regarding the place where the moving body 1 is currently located to the navigation device 2, the transmitting / receiving unit 5 Sends a radio signal. This radio signal is received by the nearest wireless base station 31, and is transmitted from the wireless base station 31 to a predetermined difference information management server 10 via a network 30 such as an exchange (not shown), a public line, and the Internet. When connected, the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10 are in a state capable of bidirectional data transfer.

When data can be exchanged bidirectionally, the latest information is requested from the navigation device 2,
The difference information management server 10 searches the target difference information in response to the received request from the navigation device 2 side. If the search result has difference information that can meet the request, the difference information is transmitted via the network 30. To the navigation device 2.

The navigation device 2 receives the difference information transmitted from the difference information management server 10 via the wireless base station 31 and the transmission / reception unit 5 and fetches it, and the map provided on the display unit 3 from the recording medium 6 is received. The latest information, which is the difference information, is superimposed on the data and displayed.

The configurations of the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10 that make up this navigation system and their operations will be described in detail below.

First, the structure of the navigation device 2 mounted on the moving body 1 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation device 2 includes a display unit 3 and a transmission / reception unit 5 as the above peripheral devices, an arithmetic processing unit (information processing device) 20, which is the center of the information processing device, a disk device 4, Input unit 22, various sensors 23 such as wheel speed sensor, geomagnetic sensor, gyro, GPS
The receiver 24, an in-vehicle LAN device (not shown), and a voice output / input device are provided.

The display unit 3 is a device having a soft copy function such as a liquid crystal display and a CRT, and the difference between the map data read from the recording medium 6 and the map data fetched from the external difference information management server 10 from the transmission / reception unit 5. It is for displaying information. The display unit 3 may have a function of outputting sound.

The transmission / reception unit 5 is a PHS or a mobile phone, and performs a transmission / reception operation with an external difference information management server 10 according to a control signal from the navigation device 2 and supplies the difference information of the imported map data to the navigation device 2. To do. The transmitter / receiver 5 receives traffic information such as road traffic congestion information, regulation information such as construction and traffic closures, parking lot information, and the like, which are transmitted from beacon transmitters and FM multiplex broadcasting, and beacon information about the vehicle position. It may have a function of sending to.

The disk device 4 accommodates a recording medium 6 having a map database therein, and the recording medium 6
The map data is read out more.

The arithmetic processing section 20 includes various sensors 23 and GP.
Various information output from the S receiver 24 (distance pulse data, direction detection data, angular acceleration data, position data)
The current position of the mobile unit 1 is calculated based on the above, and the map data necessary for the display of the display unit 3 is read from the disk device 4 from the obtained current position information, and the read map data is expanded into graphics. Various points such as displaying the current location mark on the display unit 3 and selecting an optimal road connecting the destination designated by the user and the current location and guiding the user using the voice input / output device or the display unit 3. It is the main processing unit.

Further, the arithmetic processing unit 20 takes in the difference information of the map data accumulated in the difference information management server 10 from the transmitting / receiving unit 5 which is a function of the present invention, and superimposes it on the map data read from the disk device 4. It is also displayed together. The detailed configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 20 will be described later with reference to FIG.

The input unit 22 is a unit that receives an instruction from the operator, and inputs a data input for setting a destination, a route, etc., a command for switching the display of the display unit 3 described later, and the like to the arithmetic processing unit. The data is input to a system control unit 210 (see FIG. 3) of 20 described later. The input unit 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes a changeover switch for switching the display mode of the display unit 3, a zoom switch for enlarging or reducing the map image displayed on the display unit 3, a joystick for moving the display area of the map data displayed on the display unit 3, a scroll key, a touch panel. Etc.

The various sensors 23 detect an angular velocity of the moving body 1 at the time of changing the direction thereof and output angular velocity data (gyro sensor), and a pulse output in accordance with rotation of a wheel provided in the moving body 1. Calculate the number of pulses per wheel revolution by counting the number of pulses of the signal,
It comprises a mileage sensor that outputs mileage data of the moving body 1 based on the number of pulses per one rotation, a geomagnetic sensor that detects the magnetic field held by the earth and detects the direction in which the moving body 1 is facing. .

The GPS receiver 24 uses the GPS (Global
Positioning System) By receiving a signal from a satellite and measuring the distance between the mobile body 1 and the GPS satellite and the rate of change of the distance with respect to three or more satellites, the current position of the mobile body 1, the traveling direction, and the traveling direction. It measures the azimuth.

FIG. 3 shows the hardware configuration of the arithmetic processing section 20. The arithmetic processing unit 20 includes a CPU 201 and a ROM 2
02, RAM 203, interface 206, disk control unit 204, and graphic control unit 207, and these devices are connected by a bus 205.

The CPU 201 executes various processes such as numerical calculation and controlling each device. A ROM (nonvolatile memory) 202 stores an operating system that controls each device, an application program for information processing, and other various data. A RAM (volatile memory) 203 stores map data and calculation data called from the recording medium 6 mounted on the disk device 4. The interface unit 206 includes the various sensors 23 and GPS described above.
The interface between the receiving device 24 and the transmitting / receiving unit 5 is performed.

These CPs connected via the bus 205
The U201, the ROM 202, the RAM 203, and the interface 206 constitute a system control unit 210 that performs the processing of the entire navigation system.

The graphic control unit 207 controls the operation of the display unit 3 based on the control data and the map data sent from the CPU 201 via the bus 205, and is a memory such as VRAM (Video RAM). And a buffer memory 208 for temporarily storing image data that can be displayed immediately. The graphic control unit 207 executes graphics drawing such as expanding vector data into pixel information at high speed and performs display control, and the buffer memory 208 stores graphics image data. These graphic control units 207
Further, the buffer memory 208 constitutes a display control unit 211 that controls the display operation of the display unit 3.

Under the control of the above-mentioned system control unit 210, the disc control unit 204 controls the disc device 4 to image map information and information such as roads, buildings and topography from the recording medium 6 and main navigation. Various control programs for controlling the system are read out.

Further, although not shown in the figure, the arithmetic processing section 20 reproduces, for example, voice data for guiding a route to a destination and is input from the outside under the control of the above-mentioned system control section 210. A voice input / output unit (not shown) for recognizing the voice is also provided.

Next, the operation of the navigation device 2 having such a configuration will be described.

When the navigation system is activated,
The system control unit 210 in the arithmetic processing unit 20 first drives the disk control unit 204 to read a control program or the like for controlling the navigation system from the recording medium 6 pre-stored in the disk device 4 to read the RAM2.
Store in 03. Then, the traveling distance data output from the traveling distance sensor is read, the traveling distance of the moving body 1 is calculated based on the read traveling distance data, and the speed of the moving body 1 is obtained based on the calculated traveling distance. Next, the angular velocity data output from the angular velocity sensor is read, the traveling direction is calculated based on the read angular velocity data, and the current position of the moving body 1 is obtained based on the traveling direction data and the traveling distance data. Furthermore, the current position of the mobile unit 1 is corrected based on the GPS positioning data and speed data output from the GPS receiving unit 24.

When the current position of the mobile unit 1 is obtained in this way, the system control unit 210 causes the display control unit 211 to operate.
The display image of the map image corresponding to the current position of the moving body 1 is displayed on the display unit 3 together with the current position of the moving body 1.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show an example of the display screen displayed on the display unit 3. FIG. 3A shows a state in which the map data recorded in the recording medium 6 is read out and displayed on the display unit 3.

Here, the operator operates the "latest information" button of the input unit 22 formed as a touch panel in the display area of the display unit 3 or the input unit 22 arranged outside the display area as a mechanical switch. By pressing the "latest information" button (neither is shown), the screen of the display unit 3 is displayed on the object which is not displayed on the map of FIG. The display will change to the form in which OBJl is added.

The object OBJl is downloaded from the difference information management server 10 by connecting the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10 via the network 30 when the operator operates the "latest information" button. It is the difference information and the latest information.

In this example, the object indicated by reference numeral OBJl is difference information, which is additionally displayed on the map data shown in FIG. The object OB
Jl has a symbol and a name on the display. In the figure, the symbol is a rectangular figure pattern, and the name is “C”.
Home ”. Further, the difference information expressing the object OBJl also has coordinate information in order to arrange the symbol and name at a desired position of the map data shown in FIG. As described above, the difference information stored in the difference information management server 10 has the symbol information, the name information, and the coordinate information indicating the position to be arranged.

Next, a method of arranging the object acquired from the difference information management server 10 at a desired position in the map data will be described.

The map data provided from the recording medium 6 has a layer structure. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, objects such as “houses”, “roads”, “rivers” ... The display control unit divides the objects classified by category into layers that match the classification, that is,
The "terrain" information is formed in the topographic layer, the "administrative world" information is formed in the administrative world layer, and so on, and these are overlaid to form a map screen.

FIG. 5 (a) schematically shows the coordinates of the map data displayed in FIG. 4 (a) on the display screen of the display unit 3. The horizontal and vertical resolutions of the display unit 3 are higher than the coordinate interval. In the figure (a), the coordinate values corresponding to the latitude and the longitude are shown by numbers, respectively, and the display screen of the display unit 3 is divided into about 7 × 10. Depending on the display size of the display unit 3, the latitude / longitude interval, and where the center of the map data displayed on the display unit 3 is, the coordinates of the displayed map data may not necessarily match the outer edge of the display area of the display unit 3. No, the same figure (a)
In, part of the latitude coordinate 8 and the longitude coordinate 11 is displayed.

Referring to FIG. 10A, the object OBJ2 having the name “Shop A” whose data is provided by the recording medium 6 has diagonal coordinates (latitude, longitude) =
They are arranged and formed at coordinates (2, 6) and (4, 8). As can be seen from the above, the size of the existing object provided by the recording medium 6 matches the size of the symbol that is the graphic pattern, and the outer edge (= The outer edge of the symbol does not have to match the boundary line of the coordinate.

The above-mentioned coordinates for dividing the display screen may be expressed in any manner as long as they are unique values. For example, it may be displayed in English or may be displayed in hexadecimal not limited to decimal. Also, alphanumeric characters may be mixed, or actual latitude / longitude information as universal information may be used. Conversely, if the object acquired from the difference information management server 10 is located on the map shown in FIG. 4A and the coordinates can be specified so that it can be arranged at a desired position, there is no particular restriction.

While the existing objects provided from the recording medium 6 are displayed in this way, the object OBJl acquired from the difference information management server 10 is
It is displayed as shown in FIG. In the figure, the alternate long and short dash line is the outer edge of the object OBJl. Here, the object OBJl has diagonal coordinates (latitude, longitude) =
They are arranged and formed at coordinates (6, 8) and (7, 9).

The symbol S of the object OBJl is
It is formed in the area indicated by the solid line in the area of the object OBJl (2 × 2 area in matrix expression). It should be noted that the outer edge of the object OBJl shown by the alternate long and short dash line is shown for the sake of easy understanding of the boundary, and there is no substance as data, and when it is displayed on the display unit 3 as shown in FIG. 4B. Not expressed.

As can be seen from the above, the object OBJl acquired from the difference information management server 10 has the outer edge of the object OBJl coinciding with the boundary line of the coordinates, and the object OBJl is formed in a size including the symbol S. ing.

That is, unlike the existing object provided by the recording medium 6, the object transmitted from the difference information management server 10 includes the symbol to be written, and the outer edge of the object matches the coordinate boundary. Thus, it is possible to arrange the symbols even when the boundaries of the symbols of the object are located between the coordinates without increasing the resolution of the coordinates.

FIGS. 6A to 6C show other examples of objects acquired from the difference information management server 10. In the figure, the latitude and longitude are indicated by broken lines, the outer edge of the object is indicated by a dashed-dotted line, and the symbol that is actually displayed is indicated by a solid line.

FIG. 13A shows the case where the symbol of the object exists in the 2 × 3 area of the display screen, and FIGS. 13B and 13C similarly show 3 ×, respectively.
The case where it exists in the area of 2 and 3 × 3 is shown.

The object information is stored in the storage unit 103 (see FIG. 11) described later in the difference information management server 10. Since such an object has coordinate information corresponding to the coordinates of the map data provided on the recording medium 6, a desired map data provided by the recording medium 6 is obtained based on the coordinate information. Can be placed in the position.

By the way, here, if the object provided by the difference information management server 10 has information in an area other than the symbol, as shown in FIG. 7, the recording medium 6 has a layer structure. When overlaying the provided map data, the existing map data will be hidden.

Therefore, in the object provided by the difference information management server 10, the portion other than the area where the symbol is formed is formed “transparently”, and the area provided with no symbol of the object is provided by the recording medium 6. It is designed not to lose the information that is displayed.
Thus, even if the present invention is applied in the case of a layer structure, existing objects formed in layers such as “road” and “terrain” under “house” can be continuously displayed transparently. You can

In addition, the positioning based on the coordinate information is performed on the object provided by the difference information management server 10.
For example, it is determined by a certain rule such as arranging the upper left corner of the object at a position specified by the coordinate information given above. Specifically, in the case of FIG. 5B, the coordinate information given to the object OBJl is (latitude, longitude) = (6, 8), and the upper left corner of the object OBJl is set as the coordinate. It is arranged to match.

As a result, the symbol S of the object OBJl can be arranged at the position astride the coordinates only with such coarse coordinate information. The name N is
It is not limited to such an example formed in the area of the symbol S, but may be arranged in the area of the object OBJl in which the symbol S does not exist.

FIG. 8 shows that when the operator of the navigation device 2 scrolls the display screen from the state of FIG. 5B, or when the moving body 1 equipped with the navigation device 2 moves, the navigation device 2 is Object OB when the display screen is automatically scrolled
The positional relationships among Jl, the coordinates, and the display unit 3 are shown.

As described above, by attaching the unique coordinate information of the map data recorded on the recording medium 6 as the attribute information to the object provided by the difference information management server 10, It is possible to change the display position of the difference information object in conjunction with scrolling.

The operation of interlocking is needless to say, but the scroll amount and scroll direction of the map data are detected by the system control unit 210 or the graphic control unit 207 in the arithmetic processing unit 20 shown in FIG. This is performed by shifting the display position of the downloaded difference information in the detected direction by the detected amount.

When there are a plurality of objects acquired from the difference information management server 10, the operation of shifting according to the scroll amount and direction may be performed individually for each corresponding object, or After forming the corresponding objects on the same layer, the layers may be targeted at once. Further, the above image processing may be performed by the RAM of the navigation device 2, or VRAM, WRAM, SGRAM suitable for image processing.
Alternatively, the buffer memory 208 may be used.

Next, the process in which the navigation device 2 acquires the latest information from the difference information management server 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

As shown in FIG. 4 (a) described above, the arithmetic processing unit 20 displays whether the latest information acquisition command is issued when the map data read from the recording medium 6 is displayed on the display unit 3. Is being monitored (Step 1, hereinafter S
1). The latest information acquisition command is a command generated by the operator pressing the “latest information” button formed on the input unit 22, and the command is detected by the arithmetic processing unit 20.

When the latest information acquisition command is detected in S1, the operation processing section 20 acquires the area information of the map data displayed on the display section 3 in S2. One method of acquiring the area information of the map data is to use the coordinate information shown in FIG. 5 (a) based on the map data to obtain the coordinate value CO at the upper left and the coordinate value CE at the lower right of the display screen. Can be used. As described above, since the coordinate value is a unique value, the area can be specified by designating CO and CE.

Next, the arithmetic processing section 20 instructs the transmitting / receiving section 5 to establish communication with the difference information management server 10 (S3). In response to this, the transmission / reception unit 5 establishes communication with the difference information management server 10 via the network 30.

When the arithmetic processing unit 20 detects that the communication with the difference information management server 10 has been established, the transmitting / receiving unit 5 sends the area information obtained in S2 together with the normal communication data. (S4). In response to this, the transmission / reception unit 5 adds the above-mentioned S
The area information obtained in 2 is also transmitted.

Next, the arithmetic processing section 20 monitors whether or not data has been received from the difference information management server 10 (S
5) If reception is detected, the process proceeds to S6, and this step is repeated until it is detected.

At S6, the arithmetic processing section 20 analyzes the received data contents and detects whether or not the object information exists. If it exists, proceed to S7. If it does not exist,
The message M as shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display unit 3 (S8), and the process ends, or the process returns to S1.

To determine whether or not the object information is present in the received data in the arithmetic processing unit 20, information indicating the presence or absence of the object information is provided at a specific location of the received data, and the data at that location is set. This is done by reading. For example, a specific bit provided for determining whether or not the object information exists is determined based on a rule of "1" when the object information exists and "0" when the object information does not exist. Alternatively,
It may be performed indirectly by comparing the size of the received data amount with the empty data. The determination can be made based on the amount of data, when the object information exists, the image data for forming the symbol is transmitted together.

Further, the message M is previously stored as data in the ROM 202 of the arithmetic processing unit 20, and if "NO" in this step, the ROM is stored.
It may be a method of displaying on the display unit 3 by reading it from 202, or a method of including it in the data sent from the difference information management server 10 and using the data. Good.

In S7, the arithmetic processing section 20 acquires the symbol information, the name information, and the coordinate information of the specific object, and arranges the symbol information and the name information at the position on the map data given by the coordinate information. The processing may be in the form of instructing a chip dedicated to image processing such as the graphic control unit 207.

When there are a plurality of difference information databases which are object information databases managed by the difference information management server 10, information for specifying the difference information database is also transmitted in S4.

That is, as the map database for providing the map data to the navigation device 2, there are two databases depending on whether the recording medium 6 for recording the map data is a CD-ROM disc or a DVD-ROM disc. If the object information cannot be shared between the two, or if the types of disks are the same recording medium 6 but the databases are formed in a plurality of format formats, for example, the "A format" is used. CD-ROM created by
Information indicating that it is a request for object information regarding a database is added and transmitted.

As a result, the type of map database possessed by each navigation device 2 is clarified, and it is possible to deal with each recording medium 6 supplied by a plurality of manufacturers in an incompatible unique format.

Next, as described above, the navigation device 2
The configuration of the difference information management server 10 that provides the object information in response to the request will be described.

The difference information management server 10 is composed of a personal computer (PC), a workstation (WS), etc., and, for example, as shown in FIG.
01, arithmetic processing unit 102, storage unit 103, input unit 10
4 and an output unit 105.

The communication unit 101 is for connecting to a public network 30 such as a public line or the Internet. In the case of a telephone line, it is composed of, for example, a modem. The communication unit 101 may have a function for connecting to a local network.

The arithmetic processing unit 102 is a unit for performing arithmetic operation on the information input from the communication unit 101 or the input unit 104, and is composed of, for example, a CPU and a memory. The memory is a memory such as a RAM for temporarily storing the processing result. Further, when the arithmetic processing is performed by software, a non-volatile memory for storing a program describing a processing procedure is prepared as the memory, or a difference information database described later is provided. A program may be stored in the storage unit 103, read from the storage unit 103 at the time of program operation, and operated in the RAM.

The storage section 103 is a section for storing the information input from the communication section 101 or the input section 104 and the calculation result performed by the calculation processing section 102, and is composed of, for example, a hard disk or an optical disk. The storage unit 103 stores object information data (difference information data) which is the latest information of the map data read by the navigation device 2 described above, an application program for executing the processing flow according to the present invention, and the like. . That is, the storage unit 103 corresponds to the recording medium of the present invention and holds a difference information database that stores the latest information of map data.

The input section 104 is, for example, a keyboard,
Mouse, pointing device, image scanner,
A bar code scanner or the like is used to input the latest information of map data.

The output unit 105 outputs the information stored in the storage unit 103 as a soft copy and a hard copy, and outputs it by a display such as a CRT or a liquid crystal for the former and for the latter. Corresponds to the printer.

Next, using the flowchart of FIG.
The operation of the difference information management server 10 having such a configuration will be described.

The arithmetic processing unit 102 monitors whether or not the latest information acquisition command is received from the navigation device 2 (S11). When the instruction is detected, the process proceeds to S12.

At S12, the navigation device 2
From the data transmitted from the navigation device 2
Area information of the map data displayed on the display unit 3 is acquired, and the presence or absence of object information existing in the area is detected from the difference information database held in the storage unit 103 such as a hard disk.

For example, if the latest information is requested while the screen shown in FIG. 4 (a) is being displayed on the display unit 3, the diagonal coordinate information is indicated by CO and CE (FIG. 5). With reference to (a), it is determined whether or not there is object information for the information formed on the recording medium 6.
If there is object information, the process proceeds to S13, and if not, the process proceeds to S14.

In S13, preparation is made to reply the corresponding object information to the requested navigation device 2. The data format to be transmitted is a pair of symbol information (name information is added as necessary) and coordinate information required when arranging the object information. For example, the coordinate information is It is the position coordinate of the upper left corner where the symbol of the object information is arranged, and the symbol information is image data created in a versatile image format such as GLF, JPEG, or bitmap, or an original format. The information is text information such as "○ △ home" and "□ ◇ restaurant". The name information may be included in the symbol information and formed as image information.

If there are a plurality of corresponding object information, 1, (coordinate information of object information 1, image information of object information 1), (position information of object information 2, image of object information 2) Information), ..., The transmission method is ruled.
As a result, on the receiving side, it is possible to distinguish each piece of object information and accurately determine the position coordinates of individual object information and the image information. Here, the first bit as “1” is for the arithmetic processing unit 20 of the navigation device 2 described above to determine whether or not the object information is present in the data received from the difference information management server 10. Is a specific bit (S5 in the flowchart of FIG. 9) indicating that the corresponding object information exists.

The coordinate information in the object information is not limited to the upper left coordinate, but may be the coordinate of the center position where the object information is arranged.

In S14, the arithmetic processing unit 102 forms "0" indicating that there is no object information in the above-mentioned specific bit in order to notify that there is no corresponding object information. In addition, a reply message M to that effect is created (see FIG. 10).

In S15, the arithmetic processing section 102 determines that
Alternatively, the communication unit 1 may reply to the data obtained in S14.
Tell 01. In the case of S14, in addition to the normal communication data, the information of a specific bit “0” indicating that the object information does not exist and the message M notifying that there is no latest information are included. In addition to the communication data, the information of a specific bit "1" indicating that the object information exists and the corresponding object information are added.

The new object provided via the network 30 may be formed based on the same display rule as the existing object provided by the recording medium 6, or may be a new object. You may form so that it can be seen at a glance.

For example, when the display color of an existing object recorded on the recording medium 6 such as a building is black, the display color of the symbol or name of the new building provided by the difference information management server 10 is also the same. Can be black,
You can use different colors to make it red.

In the former method of matching the colors of existing objects, since the information belonging to the same category of buildings is unified into the same color, it is possible to display without giving a sense of incongruity, and if the latter new objects have different colors. This method is effective for confirming the updated part quickly. In order to bring out the merit of the latter method further, the symbol of the new object or its name may be displayed in blinking. The blinking display can be achieved by controlling the display or non-display switching of the information of the layer in which the new object is formed at regular intervals.

Next, the advantages of the navigation system adopting the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 13, the timing of the action is shown above, and the change of the total amount of information that the user can enjoy using the present navigation system is shown below.

At T = T0, the recording medium 6 is manufactured, and information such as map data is recorded in the recording medium 6.
Therefore, the time is the date for confirming the contents recorded in the recording medium 6. Next, at T = T1, the recording medium 6 is distributed by sales or the like.

At T = T2 after purchase of the recording medium 6,
Even if the user accesses the difference information management server 10, since there is no object information accumulated in the difference information management server 10, the total amount of information that the user can enjoy is stored in the recording medium 6 in advance. There is no merit of the present invention, which is nothing but the amount of information I ₀ .

Next, time elapses from T = T0, and T = T
3, the difference information management server 10 registers and accumulates object information, which is difference information with respect to the basic information of the recording medium 6, in the difference information database.
It is assumed that the information amount increases by ΔI _{1 with} respect to the information amount I ₀ of the basic information stored in advance (first update).

When the user accesses the difference information management server 10 at T = T4 thereafter, I ₀ + ΔI
There is a possibility that you can enjoy only _one amount of information. However,
Not limited to the present invention, the updated information amount of ΔI ₁ is used so that almost all the functions of the application recorded in the recording medium 6 or all of the map database recorded in the recording medium 6 are not used. Indicates the maximum value, and if the amount of information given by the user is ΔI, ΔI = 0 for a user who does not use at all, and normally,
It is within the range of 0 ≦ ΔI ≦ ΔI ₀ .

Further, at T = T5, the object information accumulated in the difference information management server 10 is further updated (second update), the information amount I ₀ of the basic information and the information increased by the first update. It is assumed that the information amount further increases by + ΔI _{2 with} respect to the amount ΔI ₁ .

At T = T6 after that, the user manages the difference information
When the management server 10 is accessed, I₀+ ΔI
₁In addition to ΔI₂Only, that is, I₀+ ΔI₁
+ ΔI₂There is a possibility that you can enjoy the amount of information of. Basic information
Information amount I₀For ΔI ₁+ △ I₂Enjoy the amount of information
There is a possibility.

As described above, according to the present invention, a large amount of basic information (here, basic map data) is provided by the recording medium 6, and only update information is acquired from the network 30 such as the Internet. The basic information supplied from the recording medium 6 is superimposed and displayed.

Therefore, as compared with the method of supplying a large amount of basic information via the network 30 such as the Internet, the time required for obtaining the corresponding data from the storage location and displaying it on the display unit 3 is shorter. In addition to being able to provide the latest information by a simple and economical method, it is possible to flexibly deal with the change of information.

(Embodiment 2) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

For convenience of explanation, components having the same functions as the components shown in the drawings of the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

Here, in addition to the function of the navigation system described in the first embodiment, the map image displayed on the display unit 3 of the navigation device 2 is switched from the difference information management server 10 in accordance with the switching of the scale. A navigation system having a function of switching the display size of an object will be described.

The navigation device 2 has a function of switching the map image displayed on the front screen of the display unit 3 into, for example, four to eight stages. More specifically,
The recording medium 6 used in the navigation device 2 has 4
A plurality of pieces of map data corresponding to a plurality of map images having preset eight scales are stored. Then, when the user operates an operation switch (not shown) provided on the input unit 22 to select a desired scale,
The map data corresponding to the selected scale is read from the recording medium 6, and the map image corresponding to the map data is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 3. In this way, the navigation device 2 is capable of viewing a map of a wide area or enlarging a certain point by switching the scale of the map image stepwise.

In such a case, it is preferable to change the size or the like of the object acquired from the difference information management server 10 via the network 30 according to the scale ratio.
The following methods can be considered as specific methods.

The difference information management server 10 is prepared beforehand with objects having sizes corresponding to each of the four to eight reduction scales in accordance with the recording medium 6, and the difference information management server 10 sends the objects from the navigation device 2. Based on the scale information obtained, an object having a size commensurate with the scale is transmitted to the navigation device 2.

An object of a single size is prepared in the difference information management server 10, and when the acquired object is placed at the position on the map data given by the coordinate information, the object is Is enlarged or reduced according to the scale factor and displayed at a desired position.

In the method described above, since an image corresponding to the number of scales must be prepared for the same object, an increase in the amount of data to be stored in the difference information management server 10 cannot be avoided, but navigation Since it is not necessary to add a function to the device 2, the system is a simple and reliable method.

Since it can be realized by making some changes based on the contents described in the first embodiment, there is no need to explain it again, but in S2 of the flowchart of FIG. 9, as the information to be transmitted to the difference information management server 10, The display unit 3
Scale information of map data displayed in (scale ratio, scale)
Is also transmitted. The difference information management server 10 searches and acquires from the storage unit 103 an object having an image size created corresponding to the scale factor, and the navigation device 2
Send to.

When object information is stored in the storage unit 103, storage directories (folders) are created separately for each scale, and for example, the directory names are “object image 1/1” and “object image”. 1/2 ", ...," Object image 2 ", ..., with respect to the same object, the scale ratio is 1/1 times, 1/2 times,
By saving and arranging images of sizes corresponding to ..., Double, ... in their respective directories, the management burden on the administrator side is reduced.

On the other hand, in the above-mentioned method, although it is necessary to separately make an agreement regarding the size of the image to be stored in the difference information management server 10 and control on the side of the navigation device 2, the difference information management server 10 saves it. It is possible to reduce the amount of data to be used.

In this case, regarding the size of the image to be stored in the difference information management server 10, the image size is enlarged or
Since it will be the standard for reduction, it is necessary to clarify. For example, for all objects, 1/10,
The size corresponding to the scale factor of 000 is created and saved in the difference information management server 10 as a default size.

The navigation device 2 acquires the image information (image data and coordinate information) corresponding to the corresponding object from the difference information management server 10, and, for example, RA
It is temporarily saved in the memory such as M203.

Here, the memory is not limited to RAM, but may be a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory. By using non-volatile memory, it is not necessary to download the image once downloaded,
Costs can be eliminated in a system that charges according to the number and time of downloads, the amount of information to be downloaded, or the connection time.

For example, even if the map display system is terminated once the information about a specific object is downloaded or the map display system is unexpectedly terminated, the corresponding object information is stored in the nonvolatile memory. Can be read. An important point when saving is to save not only the image data alone but also the coordinate information indicating the position where the image data should be displayed.
Thereby, the image data can be displayed at the position indicated by the coordinate information.

Next, the arithmetic processing unit 20 acquires the scale ratio information displayed on the display unit 3 or the scale ratio information to be displayed, and the object acquired from the difference information management server 10 from the scale ratio information. Enlarge and reduce the image data of.

That is, if the scale displayed on the display unit 3 is 1 / 10,000 which is the same as the default size,
It is determined that the enlarging / reducing work is not necessary, and the image data of the acquired object is not edited and is displayed as it is at the desired position specified by the coordinate information.

On the other hand, the scale factor displayed on the display unit 3 is
When the image size is different from the default image size created and saved in the difference information management server 10, such as 120,000, the ratio is calculated first. That is, in the above case, 10,000 / 20,000 = 1/2. The arithmetic processing unit 20 performs enlarging / reducing work of the acquired image based on the calculated ratio information. A publicly known technique can be used for a specific method regarding the enlargement / reduction, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted. A method that speeds up arithmetic processing, or
A method that does not impair the image quality even if you edit with enlargement / reduction, etc.
It can be selected according to the purpose required.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the size of the object downloaded from the difference information management server 10 is adjusted according to the scale ratio to be displayed on the display unit 3 of the navigation device 2. The size of the object can be matched with other existing objects provided by the recording medium 6.

That is, it is possible to not only simply confirm that the latest information is displayed, but also to display the latest information at an accurate position, and to display detailed information (scale ratio 1/1, 0).
If the scale is low, as in (00), the relative size of this new object and other existing objects can be compared, so that the location can be specified quickly.

[0187] By the way, as the display method of the display unit 3 of the navigation device 2, in addition to the north, east, west, north and south of the top of the display screen and the south of the bottom of the display screen, the mobile unit 1 can be displayed on the top of the display screen. There is a display that is corrected and displayed so as to match the traveling direction.

In order to deal with such a case, the navigation device 2 corrects the arrangement direction of the acquired object, particularly the arrangement direction of the symbol, so as to include it in the direction of the screen displayed on the display unit 3. It has a function to do.

In this case, the symbol of the reference object to be stored in the difference information management server 10 is created with the north side facing upward.

Under the above assumptions, the navigation device 2
In the calculation processing unit 20, the azimuth above the display screen of the display unit 3 is calculated, and for example, the rotation angle from the default angle with north facing upward is calculated. Specifically, when the azimuth above the display screen is east, the rotation angle is +90.
When the azimuth above the display screen is west, the rotation angle is +270 degrees or −90 degrees.

Based on the rotation angle information thus obtained, a process of rotating the acquired symbol of the object by the rotation angle is performed, and then displayed on the map in an overlapping manner. Alternatively, the symbol of the object having the default angle may be superposed on the map having the default angle, and then the whole may be rotated by the calculated angle.

(Embodiment 3) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

For convenience of explanation, components having the same functions as the components shown in the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the navigation systems according to the first and second embodiments described above, as the objects stored in the difference information management server 10, the objects newly added to the existing objects recorded in the recording medium 6 are targeted. However, on the contrary, there may be a case where there is no structure corresponding to the existing object recorded in the recording medium 6. This includes, for example, the disappearance of houses due to demolition and road expansion work, the temporary disappearance of buildings due to renovation, and the blockade of roads due to road construction. Furthermore, an existing building may be replaced with another building.

Here, a technique capable of correcting the information of the existing object recorded in the recording medium 6 in this way will be described.

The navigation according to the present embodiment has the recording medium 6 provided in the navigation device 2 in addition to the functions of the navigation system described in the first and second embodiments.
It has a function to enable correction and display of the information of existing objects recorded in.

When modifying the existing object information recorded on the recording medium 6, it is difficult to delete the existing information. Therefore, in the present navigation system, it is preferable that the difference information management server 10 provides at least one of the symbol and the name of the building, if the building is a building, to the object information that needs to be modified. It is apparently erased depending on the arrangement of the objects.

In FIG. 14 (a), in order to express the disappearance of the existing object displayed as "Shop A" in FIG. 4 (a), for example, a symbol painted in blue (indicated by diagonal lines) is used. Has a new object OBJ4 placed on it, and
In order to express the change of the object displayed as "vacant lot" in FIG. 4A, a new object OBJ5 having a symbol including name information of "shop B" and "parking lot" is arranged thereon. It shows the state of being.

The two new objects OBJ4 and OBJ5 described above, which realize the display of FIG. 14A by superposing them on the map screen of FIG. 4A in FIG. Indicates the layer of the placed new object. In this figure, the image size of the objects OBJ4 and OBJ5 and the coordinate information in which the symbols are arranged are shown together with the coordinate information (longitude / latitude) of the map data displayed on the display unit 3 for easy understanding.

That is, if it has a layer structure, as shown in FIG. 15, it is a layer above the layer formed based on the map data provided by the recording medium 6 and the position of the existing object. By disposing the object acquired from the difference information management server 10 at the same coordinate, the disappearance of the object is realized.

Unlike the case where a new object is added to an existing object recorded on the recording medium 6 (Embodiments 1 and 2), a new object to be extinguished is expressed by "extinction". As a result, for example, a symbol filled with an opaque color is arranged at the coordinate position where the name of the existing object is arranged so that the name is not displayed transparently. Further, the symbol may be formed in an opaque color and may include a message such as "currently does not exist".

As described above, since the symbol of the new object is arranged so that the target symbol cannot be seen on the already existing map data, the symbol of the existing object and the existing object should be deleted. And the symbol of the object to be displayed do not overlap and are not displayed together.

Further, here, the display color of the symbol (including the name information) of the new object for correcting the information of such an existing object is a stimulating color such as red, or the symbol is made to blink. By displaying the information in such a manner, the "disappearance" of information can be instantly known.

For the purpose of notifying that the existing object has disappeared, in addition to arranging such a new object that covers the information of the already existing object, FIG. As shown in (a), even if a marker such as “x” indicating disappearance is formed as symbol information and displayed over the symbol (shop A in the figure) of an existing object that needs correction. Good.

FIG. 16B shows a layer of the new object in which the new object OBJ6 is arranged, which realizes the display of FIG. 16A by superposing it on the map screen of FIG. 4A. In this figure, the image size of the object OBJ6 and the coordinate information in which the symbols are arranged are shown together with the coordinate information (longitude / latitude) of the map data displayed on the display unit 3 for easy understanding.

In this case, like the new object OBJ4 shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, the symbols other than the "x" marker may be formed in an opaque color to prevent the map data from being transparent. Yes, or only the marker part such as “x” is formed in an opaque color, and the other part (in the area shown by the one-dot chain line in the figure) is formed in a transparent color, and the map data provided by the recording medium 6 is transmitted It can also be displayed.

The method described in this embodiment is as follows.
It can also be used to indicate a road that has been closed for a certain period of time due to road construction, etc., and to maximize the distributability of information by the network 30 even for road information that has been temporarily changed. it can.

(Embodiment 4) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0209] For convenience of explanation, constituent elements having the same functions as those of the constituent elements shown in the drawings of the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

Here, a method applicable when the content of the information displayed on the display unit 3 can change frequently or depending on a certain frequency will be described.

In the road display, for example, left turn, left turn allowed, straight ahead, right turn / straight ahead, right turn, and lane restrictions such as bidirectional / one-way traffic may be changed as traffic congestion relief measures. Recording such information on the recording medium 6 is effective as long as it is not changed, but if there is a change, it is meaningless, and the lane is relied on old information. May be dangerous to the selected driver.

In order to deal with such a situation, in the navigation system of the present embodiment, in addition to the functions of the navigation system described in the first to third embodiments, there is a possibility that the recording medium 6 may change. Information that is not suitable to be recorded is provided via the network 30 and has a function of displaying it in a form of being folded into the information recorded in the recording medium 6.

For example, basic road information is provided by the recording medium 6, and lane information of the road is provided by the network 3.
It is provided as difference information from the difference information management server 10 via 0. More specifically, in the case where the lane display is at a valid scale and the information including the intersection is displayed on the display unit 3, the navigation device 2 provides the difference information indicating the unique information of the intersection that specifies the intersection. It is transmitted to the management server 10.

The unique information for identifying the intersection is transmitted, for example, by inputting the intersection displayed on the display 3 to the input unit 2 including a touch panel formed in the display area of the display 3.
The intersection is specified by operating and selecting 2, and the unique information of the intersection is transmitted.

As the unique information, longitude / latitude information indicating the position of an intersection or a unique serial number can be considered. When the longitude / latitude information is used as the unique information of the intersection, the actual longitude / latitude may be used, or as shown in FIG. May be. Since the method using the actual longitude / latitude information is absolute information, it has an advantage that it can be used in a unified manner even if the navigation devices 2 are different systems. On the other hand, the method of using the information created by virtually uniquely allocating the information requires a prior agreement between the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10, but the creator of the navigation device 2 or the difference information management server Since the 10 managers or their community can arbitrarily allocate them, there is no need to consider harmony with other makers of the navigation device 2, and there is an advantage that the time required to establish the system can be shortened.

Further, the unique information of the intersection is not limited to the above coordinate information and serial number, but is, for example, "k00133".
It is also possible to assign single and non-overlapping discrimination information to the intersection such as 0 "and transmit the information.

In short, between the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10 owned by the user, if the object (intersection here) specified by the user can be correctly recognized by the difference information management server 10, the transmission contents There are no particular restrictions.

As a method for the difference information management server 10 to transmit the difference information regarding an intersection upon receiving a request from the navigation system, as shown in FIGS. 17 (a) and 17 (b), the already displayed screen is displayed. Alternatively, the screen related to the intersection information may be displayed, or in the case of a dual screen such as a left-right layout, the screen that is already displayed is reduced to either the left screen or the right screen. However, the screen related to the intersection information may be displayed on another screen. Further, in the latter case, similar to the method of the above-described embodiment, the information in which the scale or the like is adjusted may be displayed in a form of being superimposed on the information recorded in the recording medium 6.

Note that FIG. 17 (a) shows an intersection information screen formed of existing objects in the map data, and FIG. 17 (b) shows the difference information displayed over the intersection information screen. The layer in which the object of the instruction information transmitted from the management server 10 is formed is shown, and the figure (c) shows the intersection display screen in which the figure (b) is superimposed on the figure (a).

According to the method of switching screens, detailed information can be provided by enlarged display or the like, so that lane information can be easily recognized quickly. On the other hand, in the method of displaying the screen that has already been displayed, there is no need to display a new screen, so the screen that is already displayed will not disappear even if it is temporary, and Information can always be displayed without changing the scale and the like. In other words, because the screen does not change,
It does not give a driver a burden of recognition.

In addition to the above, as information suitable for the functions described in the present embodiment, information on residents existing in a building, information on expressway tolls, information on speed limits, and time difference. The type of signal / blinking signal can be considered.

(Embodiment 5) Another embodiment of the present invention will be described.

For convenience of explanation, constituent elements having the same functions as those of the constituent elements shown in the drawings of the above-described embodiments are designated by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In addition to the functions of the navigation system described in the first to fourth embodiments, the navigation system of the present embodiment concentrates the latest information held in the difference information management server 10 by specifying the area. It has a function to display.

That is, in the navigation system of each of the above-described embodiments, the newly created or disappeared object information is distributed from the difference information management server 10 in the specific area displayed on the display unit 3. Although the target of the object information is shown in FIG.
As shown in (a), information of a specific area and information for narrowing search (here, information type such as private house, restaurant, etc.) are input by the input unit 22, and the information is input. The difference information management server 10 may send the update information of the corresponding area in a list, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 18 (b), as a search result, it becomes possible to know, for each restaurant, coordinate information indicating its type and position, and whether it is a newly generated one or a previously existing one. There is.

In such an update information providing method, the information acquired from the difference information management server 10 via the network 30 is text data, so the download time is shortened as compared with the case of downloading including image information. In addition, since the user can instantly obtain the number of updated and necessary object information, it should be used only by the existing navigation system based on the result, or It is possible to determine whether or not the technique according to the present invention described in the first embodiment or the like should be used together.

For example, when using the service according to the present invention, if the charge is made according to the number of downloaded objects or the amount of information, it is very effective because the necessity of displaying the update information can be confirmed in advance.

Further, by selecting the record shown in FIG. 16B by the input unit 22, the corresponding information on the map as the basic information provided by the recording medium 6 is obtained by the method described in the first embodiment. It is also possible to superimpose and display the objects. Alternatively, if the diagram (b) is expressed in a document format such as HTML, separately,
By forming a map database provided on the Internet as a link, it is possible to shift to a mode of using the database.

It should be noted that throughout the present invention, the recording medium 6
The first purpose is to use the data stored in the storage medium for as long as possible, but if providing the user with comfortable usability as the total service is the highest priority, it is stored in the recording medium 6. It is desirable to encourage the data to be transferred to the recording medium 6 in which the latest information is recorded when the number of newly created objects, the disappearance of existing objects, etc. becomes extremely large.

The difference information management server 10 also makes such a determination.
For example, it is judged whether or not the download amount of the difference information has reached the specified value for one request, and if it is equal to or larger than the specified value, the “currently used CD-ROM
The information is quite outdated. We recommend upgrading to the latest recording medium. ] And other warning messages are also sent. On the side of the navigation device 2,
By displaying the warning message, the user of the navigation device 2 can be notified.

As another method, when the communication between the navigation device 2 and the difference information management server 10 is established, the arithmetic processing unit 101 of the difference information management server 10 uses the unique information of the navigation device 2 or a telephone call. The navigation device 2 or the user of the navigation device 2 is specified by acquiring the number or the IP address in communication, and this is stored in the storage unit 103 as log information.
Alternatively, the frequency of downloading the object information is monitored for each user. Then, when the number of downloads of a certain value or more is reached, the processing of transmitting the above warning message may be performed.

According to this, compared with the method of judging whether the download amount of the difference information has reached the specified value for one request, although the access frequency is low,
Since it is possible to exclude an accessor who happens to access an area with a large number of update information, it is possible to more accurately identify an operator who feels inconvenience in usability or is beginning to feel, and to notify the operator. Can give useful advice.

The above processing is not limited to the arithmetic processing unit 102 of the difference information management server 10 and can be performed by the arithmetic processing unit 20 of the navigation device 2.

Further, an object of the present invention is to supply a recording medium 6 on which a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-mentioned respective embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus, and a computer (or C) of the system or apparatus.
It is needless to say that this can be achieved by reading and executing the program code stored in the recording medium 6 by the PU or MPU).

In this case, the program code itself read from the recording medium 6 realizes the function of each of the embodiments described above, and the recording medium 6 storing the program code constitutes the present invention. Become.

The recording medium 6 storing this program code does not need to be provided with the database of map data which is the above-mentioned reference information. Recording medium 6 storing a program code that realizes a central part of the invention for effectively utilizing a database of map data
May be different.

As the recording medium 6 for supplying the program code, for example, a floppy disk, a hard disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic tape,
A non-volatile memory card or the like can be used.

The program code may be downloaded from another computer system to the RAM 203 of the navigation device 2 via a transmission medium such as a communication network. Further, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by executing the program code read by the computer, but also the OS (operating system) running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code.
Needless to say, this also includes the case where the above process performs a part or all of the actual process and the function of the above-described embodiment is realized by the process.

Further, after the program code read from the recording medium 6 is written in the memory provided in the function expansion board inserted in the computer or the function expansion unit connected to the computer, the program code is instructed. It goes without saying that a case where the CPU or the like included in the function expansion board or the function expansion unit performs a part or all of the actual processing based on this and the processing realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is also included. .

When the present invention is applied to the recording medium 6,
The recording medium 6 stores the program code corresponding to the flowchart described above.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments,
Various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims.

[0242]

As described above, according to the image display method of the present invention, the difference information with respect to the image data recorded on the recording medium is managed by an external difference information management device, and the difference information is stored as necessary. It is possible to access the management device to acquire the difference information for the image displayed on the display unit, and superimpose the acquired image of the difference information on the image of the image data recorded on the recording medium and display the image on the display unit. It has a feature.

According to this, the basic information is the CD-ROM.
Alternatively, since it is read from a recording medium such as a DVD-ROM,
The reading speed depends only on the performance of the reading device (for example, the performance of the optical pickup and the transmission speed of the bus, etc.),
Compared to downloading information via a network, it is faster, and because unexpected factors such as traffic do not intervene, the processing speed until the image data is extracted and finally displayed on the display unit is fast and stable. You can

As described above, since the basic information is provided by the recording medium capable of recording a large amount of information, it is possible to provide a large amount of information at high speed. Furthermore, when the information recorded on the recording medium changes, only the difference information is acquired from the external difference information management device, so the information on the recording medium does not become obsolete, and the difference Since it is not necessary to newly purchase a recording medium on which information is recorded, the recording medium once purchased can be used for a long time without impairing convenience, which is economical. As a result, frequent replacement of the recording medium is suppressed, so that the generation of the unnecessary recording medium can be reduced as much as possible and an environment-friendly method can be provided.

Also, for a maker who provides a recording medium, when the update information is appropriately small, it is not necessary to newly produce a recording medium in which the latest information is recorded. No new expenses such as advertising expenses related to notification of provision will be incurred. further,
When the contents recorded in the recording medium need to be updated, such as corrections, for example, the difference information management device that stores the difference information can download the information via a network or the like. The user who is using it does not feel inconvenient.

Further, since the image of the difference information acquired from the external difference information management device is superimposed and displayed on the image of the basic information read from the recording medium, it is possible to simply use the recording medium. Compared to the method of using the network in a time-divisional manner, the matching of the information of both parties is guaranteed, so the user collates the information of both parties and finishes the useful information by combining related parts. It is possible to provide a user-friendly system that eliminates the need for complicated and thoughtful operations.

As described above, in the image display method of the present invention, in the above image display method, the difference information is
The symbol image displayed on the display unit and the coordinate information on the image data on which the symbol is arranged are paired, and the position on the image data to be arranged is detected based on the coordinate information. The symbol image is arranged at the detected position.

According to this, since the symbol image has the coordinate information on the image data to be arranged, the position on the image data where the symbol image is to be arranged is specified by detecting the coordinate information. It becomes possible to suppress the information amount of the difference information as much as possible, and it is possible to provide the difference information through the communication line without causing stress.

The image display device of the present invention, as described above,
A reading unit having a function of reading the image data recorded on the recording medium, a display unit for displaying an image of the image data read by the reading unit, and difference information with respect to the image data recorded on the recording medium. The difference information requesting means for requesting the acquisition of the difference information for the image data displayed on the display means to the external difference information management device via the transmitting means, and receiving the difference information from the difference information management device. And a calculation processing means for performing image processing for superimposing the image of the difference information received by the receiving means on the image of the image data read by the reading means and displaying the image on the display means. It is characterized by that.

According to this, the image display device for displaying an image in accordance with the above-mentioned image display method includes a reading means such as a DVD-ROM device, a display means such as a CRT or a liquid crystal display, a mobile phone, an automobile telephone, Controlling the transmitting / receiving means having a wireless function such as PHS, the optical disk reading device and the displaying means, and particularly displaying the image of the image data read from the reading means on the display means by superimposing the image of the received difference information. And an arithmetic processing means for performing image processing for the purpose.

That is, except for the arithmetic processing function of performing the image processing for superimposing the images of the received difference information and displaying them on the display means, the existing hardware is effectively utilized to realize the above-described image display method. Can be realized.

The image display device of the present invention, as described above,
In the configuration of the image display device, the image data,
It is characterized by being map data.

According to this, a commercially available navigation device, a display means, and a transmission / reception means such as a mobile phone, an automobile telephone, or a PHS are used as a basic structure, and a CPU or / and a graphic controller (graphic control) provided in the navigation device is used. The image display method described above can be realized by making a simple modification to the function of the arithmetic processing unit such as the section.

As described above, the difference information management method of the present invention accumulates the difference information for the image data recorded on the recording medium, and the output request for the difference information is displayed on the display unit. It is characterized in that the difference information is received in image units, and if there is difference information corresponding to the request, the difference information is transmitted to the request source.

According to this, in order to display an image according to the above-described image display method of the present invention using a general-purpose computer, the image display device is superimposed on the image data provided by the recording medium. It is possible to construct a difference information management apparatus that provides difference information (having coordinate information) to be arranged in the above manner to a user who uses the recording medium that is the requester through a communication line or the like.

That is, for example, the receiving means receives the output request signal of the difference information transmitted from the mobile body, in the unit of the image in which the image data is displayed on the display section, and the control means including the arithmetic processing means, The storage unit that stores the difference information of the image data is searched for the difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving unit, and if the difference information exists, the output instruction of the difference information is issued. As a result, the transmitting unit can transmit the difference information to the request source.

As described above, the difference information management method of the present invention is the same as the difference information management method.
It is characterized in that the symbol image displayed on the display unit and the coordinate information on the image data in which the symbol is arranged are paired.

According to this, as described above, the symbol can be arranged at a desired position on the image data based on the coordinate information by the function of the arithmetic processing section.

As described above, the difference information management device of the present invention stores the difference information of the image data recorded on the recording medium and the output request of the difference information on the display unit of the image data. The receiving unit that receives in units of images to be displayed and the storing unit search for difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving unit, and output the difference information when the difference information exists. It is characterized by having a control means for giving an instruction and a transmitting means for transmitting difference information to a request source according to an instruction of the control means. Also in this case, the transmitting means and the receiving means can be integrally configured as a transmitting / receiving means.

According to this, in order to display an image in accordance with the above-described image display method of the present invention using a general-purpose computer, the image display device is superimposed on the image data provided by the recording medium. It is possible to construct a difference information management apparatus that provides difference information (having coordinate information) to be arranged in the above manner to a user who uses the recording medium that is the requester through a communication line or the like.

That is, for example, the receiving means receives the output request signal of the difference information transmitted from the moving body, and the control means composed of the arithmetic processing means receives the image data in units of images displayed on the display section. The storage unit that stores the difference information of the image data is searched for the difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving unit, and if the difference information exists, the output instruction of the difference information is issued. As a result, the transmission unit can transmit the difference information to the request source.

As described above, the difference information management apparatus of the present invention is the difference information management apparatus described above, wherein the difference information has coordinate information to be arranged so as to be superimposed on the image data. The receiving means receives the information designating the range of the coordinate information, and the control means searches based on the information designating the range of the coordinate information and extracts the corresponding difference information from the storage means. It has a feature.

According to this, only the difference information existing within the range designated by the user who is using the recording medium can be selected and provided to the user. As the processing of the control means, for the difference information stored in the storage means,
Only the difference information existing within the acquired range is extracted with the coordinate information provided for overlapping and arranging with the image of the image data as the search target.

As described above, the image display system of the present invention is characterized in that the image display device described above and the difference information management device described above are connected via a network.

As described above, by connecting the image display device and the fixedly arranged difference information management device via the network, for example, the image display device is mounted on a moving body such as a car, and the moving body Further, the difference information can be acquired from the external difference information management device by using the existing communication line including the existing wireless line such as a car phone / mobile phone and the wired line.

The image data display program of the present invention is
It is characterized in that the computer is made to execute each procedure of the image display method described above.

With the above arrangement, the image display method of the present invention can be provided to the user by loading the image display program of the present invention into the image display device.
Further, it is possible to realize the function of the image display device of the present invention by using a calculation processing unit such as a general CPU or a graphic controller as a core.

It goes without saying that a computer-readable recording medium recording the image display program of the present invention also belongs to the scope of rights of the present invention.

The difference information management program of the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute each procedure of the difference information management method described above.

According to the above arrangement, the difference information management method of the present invention can be provided to the difference information manager by loading the difference information management program of the present invention into the difference information management device.

Further, it is possible to realize the function as the difference information management apparatus of the present invention by using a general computer.

It goes without saying that a computer-readable recording medium recording the difference information management program of the present invention also belongs to the scope of rights of the present invention.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an overall configuration of a navigation system that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device that constitutes the navigation system.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an arithmetic processing unit of the navigation device.

4A and 4B are both explanatory diagrams showing an example of map data displayed on the display unit of the navigation device when the navigation function of the present invention is applied.

5A and 5B are explanatory diagrams showing a method of arranging an object on map data.

FIGS. 6A to 6C are explanatory diagrams showing examples of objects provided by a difference information management server via a network.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a layer configuration of map data displayed on a display unit of the navigation device.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing a change of the display screen when the map data displayed on the display unit of the navigation device is scrolled in an arbitrary direction, and from the state of FIG.
The display screen when scrolling is shown.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for implementing the navigation function of the present invention in the navigation device.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a message screen displayed on the display unit of the navigation device when the navigation function of the present invention is applied and there is no update information.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the difference information management server.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of the difference information management server.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view for explaining an advantage of the present invention, showing the relationship between the access timing from the navigation device to the difference information management server and the information that the user of the navigation device can enjoy. is there.

14A and 14B both show the case where the navigation function of the present invention is applied, in which an object provided by the difference information management server, which is displayed on the display unit of the navigation device, is obtained from the recording medium. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the screen which corrected the provided object.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between a layer structure of map data provided by a recording medium and a layer formed by objects provided by a difference information management server.

16 (a) and 16 (b) both show the case where the navigation function of the present invention is applied, in which the object provided by the difference information management server, which is displayed on the display unit of the navigation device, is from the recording medium. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the screen which corrected the provided object.

17 (a) to 17 (c) are diagrams each showing a case where the navigation function of the present invention is applied, in which an object provided by the difference information management server, which is displayed on the display unit of the navigation device, is recorded by a recording medium. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the screen superimposed on the provided data.

18A is an explanatory diagram showing an example of an initial screen displayed on the display unit when the navigation device makes an inquiry to the difference information management server, and FIG. 18B is an example of a response screen thereof. FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 moving body 2 Navigation device (image display device) 3 Display unit (display means) 4 Disk device (reading means) 5 Transmitter / receiver (transmitter, receiver) 6 recording media 10 Difference Information Management Server (Difference Information Management Device) 20 arithmetic processing unit (arithmetic processing means) 30 network 102 arithmetic processing unit (control means)

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G09G 5/36 510 G09G 5/36 510B 5/377 520M F term (reference) 2C032 HB02 HB05 HB22 HB25 HC08 HC14 HC26 HD03 HD29 5B050 AA08 AA10 BA17 CA06 CA07 CA08 EA19 FA02 FA13 FA19 GA08 5B057 AA13 AA16 CA12 CA16 CA17 CB12 CB16 CC03 CE08 CG01 5B075 KK02 ND08 NK07 QM10 QP05 UU14 5C082 AA00 CB01 CA86 CA42 CA12 BB01 CA42 CA12

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. An external difference information management device manages difference information for image data recorded on a recording medium,
If necessary, the difference information management device is accessed to obtain the difference information for the image displayed on the display unit, and the image of the obtained difference information is superimposed on the image of the image data recorded on the recording medium. An image display method characterized by displaying on a display unit. 2. The difference information is composed of a symbol image displayed on a display unit and coordinate information on the image data in which the symbol is arranged, and the difference information is arranged based on the coordinate information. The image display method according to claim 1, wherein a position on the image data to be processed is detected, and the symbol image is arranged at the detected position. 3. A reading unit having a function of reading image data recorded on a recording medium, a display unit for displaying an image of the image data read by the reading unit, and an image recorded on the recording medium. Difference information requesting means for requesting acquisition of difference information for image data displayed on the display means to the external difference information management device via transmission means, and the difference information management device Calculation for performing image processing for superimposing the image of the difference information received by the receiving unit on the image of the image data read by the reading unit and displaying the image on the display unit. An image display device comprising: a processing unit. 4. The image display device according to claim 3, wherein the image data recorded on the recording medium is map data. 5. Difference information for image data recorded on a recording medium is accumulated, and an output request for the difference information is accepted for each image displayed on the display unit.
A difference information management method characterized in that, when there is difference information corresponding to a request, the difference information is transmitted to a request source. 6. The difference information is formed by pairing a symbol image displayed on a display unit and coordinate information on the image data in which the symbol is arranged. Difference information management method described in. 7. Storage means for accumulating difference information of image data recorded on a recording medium; receiving means for receiving an output request for the difference information in units of images in which the image data is displayed on a display unit; Control means for searching the storage means for difference information corresponding to the output request received by the receiving means, and for instructing output of the difference information when the difference information exists, and an instruction of the control means According to the above, the difference information management device is provided with a transmitting unit that transmits the difference information to the request source. 8. The difference information has coordinate information for arranging the image data so as to be superimposed on the image data, and the receiving means receives information designating a range of the coordinate information, and the control means. 9. The difference information management device according to claim 7, wherein the difference information management device extracts the corresponding difference information from the storage means by searching based on information designating a range of the coordinate information. 9. An image display device according to claim 3 and claim 7.
An image display system characterized by being connected to the difference information management device according to (1) through a network. 10. An image display program for causing a computer to execute each procedure of the image display method according to claim 1. 11. A difference information management program for causing a computer to execute each procedure of the difference information management method according to claim 5. 12. A computer-readable recording medium on which the image display program according to claim 10 is recorded. 13. A computer-readable recording medium in which the difference information management program according to claim 11 is recorded.