JP2004343313A - On-vehicle terminal, and apparatus and method for providing vehicle information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide detailed information related to the contents of radio broadcasting to occupants of a vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: An on-vehicle apparatus mounted on the vehicle 100 transmits at least a request command of acquiring radio detailed information and the frequency information of the radio broadcasting to an information center 200. The information center 200 receiving the request command of acquiring radio detailed information particularizes a broadcast station of the radio broadcasting on the basis of the frequency information of radio broadcasting, searches the radio detailed information of the particularized broadcast station, and transmits the searched radio detailed information to the on-vehicle apparatus. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle terminal that provides various information to an occupant, a vehicle information providing apparatus that provides various information to an in-vehicle terminal, and a vehicle information providing method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There is known a channel selection control device of a broadcast receiving device that allows a user to view desired program contents while traveling outside a broadcasting area of a broadcasting station that is usually receiving, if the name of the local station that is receiving the broadcasting is known ( Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-118478 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional channel selection control device, the user can view the desired program content even while traveling outside the broadcast area of the broadcasting station that is usually receiving, but detailed information of the broadcast that the occupant is listening to while traveling the vehicle, for example, It was not possible to know information such as the broadcast station, program name, and music title.
[0005]
The present invention provides an in-vehicle terminal, a vehicle information providing device, and a vehicle information providing method capable of providing detailed information of a radio broadcast to an occupant.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
(1) An information providing apparatus for a vehicle according to the present invention receives at least frequency information of a radio broadcast transmitted from an in-vehicle terminal and current position information of a vehicle on which the in-vehicle terminal is mounted, and receives the received frequency information and the current position of the vehicle. Based on the position information, a radio broadcast station corresponding to the frequency is specified from information on the radio broadcast stations stored in the storage means in advance. Thereafter, the detailed radio information of the specified radio broadcast station is searched from the storage means, and the searched detailed radio information is transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal which has transmitted the frequency information of the radio broadcast.
(2) The in-vehicle terminal according to the present invention includes a current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and a command when the occupant issues an acquisition request command for detailed information (radio detailed information) of the radio broadcast received by the audio equipment. Operating means to be operated, frequency information obtaining means for obtaining frequency information of a radio broadcast being received by the audio device when the operating means is operated, and at least the obtained frequency information and a radio detail information obtaining request command. It is characterized by comprising transmitting means for transmitting to the information center, and receiving means for receiving radio detailed information transmitted from the information center.
(3) The method for providing information for a vehicle according to the present invention is a method for providing an acquisition request command for detailed information (radio detailed information) of a radio broadcast being listened to by an occupant, current vehicle position information, and radio broadcast frequency information. From to the information center. The information center identifies a radio broadcast station corresponding to the frequency based on the frequency information of the radio broadcast transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal and the current position information of the vehicle, and transmits the detailed radio information of the identified radio broadcast station to the frequency. The information is transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal that has transmitted the information.
[0007]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the information provision apparatus for vehicles, an in-vehicle terminal, and the information provision method for vehicles by this invention, the occupant of a vehicle can know the detailed information of the radio broadcast listening inside a vehicle in a vehicle.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing how information is exchanged between a vehicle 100 equipped with an in-vehicle terminal according to the present invention and an information center 200 constituting a vehicle information providing apparatus according to the present invention. The information center 200 includes a server 210 and a radio database 220, and an antenna 230 for performing wireless communication with the vehicle 100 is connected to the server 210. The information center 200 is connected to a plurality of radio broadcast stations (stations A to D) via the Internet N1. The radio database 220 stores information on radio broadcasts such as AM broadcasts and FM broadcasts in various regions. FIG. 2 shows an example of information stored in the radio database 220.
[0009]
As shown in FIG. 2, the radio database 220 includes at least a broadcast station table including information on broadcast stations and a radio detailed information table including detailed broadcast contents of the radio. The broadcast station table includes information on broadcast station names, broadcast frequencies, and locations of broadcast stations in various regions. The information included in the broadcast station table can be updated to the latest information, but the content does not change frequently, so the update frequency is low. On the other hand, the radio detailed information table includes information such as a program name at a certain time, the content of the program, the name of a song of music on air, and the name of an artist (singer, performer, etc.) for each broadcasting station. In this specification, information included in the broadcast station table and information included in the radio detailed information table are referred to as radio detailed information. An example of the radio detailed information table shown in FIG. 2 shows information on the contents of a program every minute. Since the information included in the radio detailed information table changes in accordance with the change in time, the latest information is obtained from each broadcasting station connected via the Internet N1 and is constantly updated to the latest information. Keep it.
[0010]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an in-vehicle terminal according to the present invention. The in-vehicle terminal according to one embodiment includes an in-vehicle device 1, an audio unit 2, a speaker 3, a display 4, a microphone 5, and a switch device 6. The on-vehicle device 1 includes a CPU 1a, a ROM 1b, and a RAM 1c, as well as a GPS sensor 7 and a communication interface 8 for connecting to and communicating with the mobile phone 10.
[0011]
The audio unit 2 is connected to an antenna (not shown) and receives a radio broadcast such as an AM broadcast or an FM broadcast. By operating a switch (not shown) provided in the audio unit 2, the occupant can adjust the reception frequency of the radio broadcast to an arbitrary FM broadcast or AM broadcast frequency, or use an automatic channel selection function of the audio unit 2. Thereby, FM broadcast and AM broadcast can be received. The received radio broadcast is output from the speaker 3. Note that the audio unit 2 and the on-vehicle device 1 are connected by CAN communication, and high-speed data communication with high reliability is possible.
[0012]
The microphone 5 is used when the occupant inputs a voice command. The occupant can input a predetermined voice command through the microphone 5 when issuing a request for acquiring detailed radio information to the information center 200. The switch device 6 includes a plurality of switches, and is operated by an occupant when, for example, issuing a request for acquiring detailed radio information to the information center 200. In the present embodiment, in consideration of the fact that switch device 6 is operated even while vehicle 100 is running, only a single button (switch) included in switch device 6 is pressed, and a request to acquire radio detailed information is issued. Can be issued. The GPS sensor 7 acquires current position information of the vehicle, that is, latitude information and longitude information, based on radio waves received from GPS satellites.
[0013]
The CPU 1a of the on-vehicle device 1 operates the switch device 6 to request the acquisition of radio detailed information, for example, when the occupant wants to know the program name of the radio or the title of the music that the occupant is currently listening to. Do. First, the current position information of the vehicle is obtained from the GPS sensor 7, and then the frequency information of the on-air radio broadcast is obtained from the audio unit 2. Then, the current position information of the vehicle acquired from the GPS sensor 7 and the frequency information of the radio broadcast acquired from the audio unit 2 are added to an identification number (channel number) indicating a request for acquiring detailed radio information, and The information is transmitted to the information center 200 via the telephone 10.
[0014]
The information center 200 has various types of information programs (channels) for distribution to the vehicle-mounted device 1. Information programs include, for example, programs that provide information such as traffic information, weather information, sports news, and general news. Therefore, on the in-vehicle device 1 side, when downloading certain information, it is necessary to specify the information program (channel), and when requesting acquisition of radio detailed information, a request for acquiring radio detailed information is required. Is transmitted to the information center 200.
[0015]
The information center 200 that has received the request for obtaining the detailed radio information detects the detailed radio information and transmits it to the in-vehicle device 1 by a method described later. The in-vehicle device 1 outputs the received detailed radio information from the speaker 3 and causes the display 4 to display the information. The vehicle-mounted device 1 has a TTS (Text to speech) function in order to output radio detailed information as text data from the speaker 3. The received radio detailed information may be stored in the RAM 1c and displayed on the display 4 when the occupant desires, for example, when the vehicle stops.
[0016]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment showing the contents of the processing performed in the vehicle-mounted device 1 and the processing performed in the information center 200. The processing of steps S1 to S3 is performed by the CPU 1a of the vehicle-mounted device 1, and the processing of steps S10 to S90 is performed by the server 210 of the information center 200.
[0017]
The process starting from step S1 is started when the occupant operates the switch device 6 in order to obtain detailed radio information. In step S <b> 1, a radio detail information acquisition request signal is transmitted to the information center 200 via the mobile phone 10 connected to the vehicle-mounted device 1. That is, the in-vehicle device 1 stores a telephone number for calling the information center 200, and when the switch device 6 is operated, the in-vehicle device 1 calls the mobile phone 10 to the information center 200. The command to call is issued. As described above, the signal transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the information center 200 includes the identification number (channel number) indicating a request for acquiring detailed radio information, current vehicle position information, and radio frequency information. Have been.
[0018]
In step S10, the server 210 of the information center 200 determines whether a request signal for acquiring detailed radio information has been received from the vehicle-mounted device 1. If it is determined that the radio detail information acquisition request signal has been received, the process proceeds to step S20, and if it is determined that it has not been received, the process waits in step S10 until it is received. In step S20, the contents of the user's request are confirmed based on the identification number (channel number) included in the received radio detailed information acquisition request signal. As described above, a unique number is assigned to the identification number (channel number) for each information program prepared by the information center 200, so that the server 210 transmits the identification number transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1. And confirms the contents of the user's request based on.
[0019]
In step S30, the current position of the vehicle is specified based on the current position information of the vehicle included in the received radio detail information acquisition request signal. The current position information of the vehicle transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 includes the latitude information and the longitude information of the vehicle. The server 210 specifies the current position of the vehicle based on the latitude information and the longitude information. When the current position of the vehicle is specified, the process proceeds to step S40.
[0020]
In step S40, the occupant of the vehicle 100 equipped with the in-vehicle device 1 determines whether the occupant of the vehicle 100 is on the basis of the frequency information of the radio broadcast included in the reception request signal for the detailed radio information and the current position of the vehicle specified in step S30. Search for the broadcast station you are listening to. As described above, since the radio database 220 stores the broadcast station table including the information on the broadcast station, the server 210 searches the broadcast station table and transmits the broadcast station table from the vehicle-mounted device 1. A search process is performed for a broadcast station that matches the frequency of the radio broadcast and whose current position of the vehicle corresponds to the location.
[0021]
In step S50, it is determined whether or not the broadcast station has been specified as a result of the broadcast station search process performed in step S40. If a broadcast station that matches the frequency of the radio transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 exists in the broadcast station table, the process proceeds to step S60. If the broadcast station cannot be identified, the process proceeds to step S90. In step S90, an error signal indicating that the broadcast station could not be specified is transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 1, and the process according to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 ends.
[0022]
In step S60, the current date and time and the request item from the vehicle-mounted device 1 are specified. Here, the current date and time is the date and time when the server 210 is performing the process of step S60, and the request item is, for example, the title of music that is being played on the air on the radio. In step S70 following step S60, data corresponding to the requested item is searched based on the broadcast station searched in step S40, the current date and time specified in step S60, and the requested item. As described above, since the radio database 220 stores the radio detailed information table, the server 210 specifies the data corresponding to the requested item by searching the radio detailed information table. At this time, the data exists at the specified current date and time due to the difference between when the onboard unit 1 transmits the acquisition request signal for the detailed radio information and when the server 210 performs the process of searching for the data corresponding to the request item. If not (for example, a commercial is being provided), the data at the time closest to the specified current date and time is specified. When the data corresponding to the request item is specified, the process proceeds to step S80.
[0023]
In step S80, data such as the song title of the music specified in step S70 (radio detailed information) is transmitted to the in-vehicle device 1 that has transmitted the radio detailed information acquisition request signal. When the data is transmitted to the on-vehicle device 1 in step S80, the processing performed on the information center 200 side ends.
[0024]
In step S2, the vehicle-mounted device 1 determines whether or not the radio detailed information transmitted by the information center 200 in step S80 has been received via the mobile phone 10. If it is determined that the radio detailed information has not been received, the process waits in step S2 until it is received, and if it is determined that it has been received, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the detailed radio information received in step S2 is presented to the occupant, and the processing performed on the vehicle-mounted device 1 ends. For the presentation to the occupant, the radio detailed information, which is text data, is converted into voice output data by the TTS function of the vehicle-mounted device 1, and voice output is performed from the speaker 3, and characters are displayed on the display 4.
[0025]
Note that, in order to ensure safety, the configuration may be such that the received radio detailed information is not displayed on the display 4 and only the sound output from the speaker 3 is performed while the vehicle is running. In this case, the received detailed radio information is stored in the RAM 1c of the vehicle-mounted device 1, and when the vehicle stops, the detailed radio information stored in the RAM 1c is displayed on the display 4 based on the operation of the switch device 6 by the occupant. You may make it.
[0026]
According to the vehicle information providing apparatus (information center 200) in one embodiment, when at least the current position information of the vehicle and the frequency information of the radio broadcast transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 1 are received, the received frequency information and the vehicle The radio station corresponding to the frequency is specified based on the current position information and the information on the radio station stored in the radio database 220 in advance. Then, the detailed radio information of the specified radio broadcast station is searched from the radio database 220, and the searched detailed radio information is transmitted to the on-vehicle device 1 which has transmitted the frequency information of the radio broadcast. Thereby, the occupant of the vehicle 100 equipped with the in-vehicle device 1 can acquire the detailed information of the radio broadcast being listened to at a timing desired by the occupant.
[0027]
Further, according to the on-vehicle terminal according to the embodiment, the frequency information of the radio broadcast and the current position information of the vehicle are transmitted to at least the information center 200 together with the acquisition request command of the detailed information of the radio broadcast received by the audio unit 2. By doing so, radio detailed information is acquired from the information center 200. Thereby, the occupant of the vehicle 100 equipped with the in-vehicle device 1 can acquire the detailed information of the radio broadcast being listened to at a timing desired by the occupant.
[0028]
In the in-vehicle terminal according to one embodiment, the operating means operated when the occupant issues a command to request the acquisition of detailed radio information includes a switch device 6 for realizing a one-push operation of the occupant, or a voice command input of the occupant. Therefore, the occupant can issue a command with a simple operation even during driving. In addition, since the radio detailed information acquired from the information center 200 is output by voice from the speaker 3, the driver can grasp the radio detailed information while concentrating on driving.
[0029]
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, the detailed radio information table stored in the radio database 220 has been described as including the program name, program content, music title, and artist name, but includes information such as the personality of the program and the name of the guest. You may be able to do it. Also, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the title of the music included in the detailed radio information is transmitted to the in-vehicle device 1 has been described, but all information included in the detailed radio information, that is, the program name, The content, song title, and artist name may be transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 1.
[0030]
Further, although the on-vehicle device 1 and the audio unit 2 have been described as being different from each other, the on-vehicle device 1 may have a function of receiving a radio broadcast such as an FM broadcast or an AM broadcast. Further, the radio broadcast is not limited to the AM broadcast and the FM broadcast described above, but includes all wireless transmissions using radio waves in a radio frequency band. The present invention is not limited to radio broadcasting, and a configuration may be adopted in which, when a television broadcast is received, a broadcast station name, a program name, and the like of the television broadcast are acquired from the information center 200.
[0031]
When the in-vehicle device 1 transmits a request signal for acquiring detailed radio information to the information center 200, the mobile phone 10 is used to use the data mode of the mobile phone communication network, but a packet communication network may be used. .
[0032]
The correspondence between the components of the claims and the components of the embodiment is as follows. That is, among the components of the vehicle information providing apparatus, the server 210 and the antenna 230 constitute a receiving unit and a transmitting unit, the radio database 220 constitutes a storing unit, and the server 210 constitutes a specifying unit and a searching unit. Among the components of the in-vehicle terminal, the switch device 6 is an operation unit, the in-vehicle device 1 is a frequency information acquisition unit, the in-vehicle device 1 and the mobile phone 10 are a transmission unit and a reception unit, and the GPS sensor 7 is a current position detector. The speaker 3 and the display 4 constitute the presentation means. Note that each component is not limited to the above configuration as long as the characteristic functions of the present invention are not impaired.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state in which information is exchanged between a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle device according to the present invention and an information center. FIG. 2 is a broadcast station table stored in a radio database and a radio detailed information table. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of an in-vehicle device according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an embodiment showing the contents of processing performed by the on-vehicle device and processing performed by the information center.
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle apparatus, 1a ... CPU, 1b ... ROM, 1c ... RAM, 2 ... Audio unit, 3 ... Speaker, 4 ... Display, 5 ... Microphone, 6 ... Switching device, 7 ... GPS sensor, 8 ... Communication interface, 10 … Mobile phone, 100… vehicle, 200… information center, 210… server, 220… radio database, 230… antenna

Claims (7)

Receiving means for receiving at least the frequency information of the radio broadcast transmitted from the vehicle-mounted terminal and the current position information of the vehicle equipped with the vehicle-mounted terminal,
Storage means for storing information on radio broadcast stations and detailed broadcast contents of radio broadcasts (hereinafter referred to as radio detailed information);
Based on the frequency information and the current position information of the vehicle received by the receiving means, from among the detailed radio information stored in the storage means, a specifying means for specifying a radio broadcast station corresponding to the frequency,
Searching means for searching for the radio detailed information of the radio broadcasting station specified by the specifying means from the storage means;
A transmitting unit that transmits the detailed radio information searched by the searching unit to an in-vehicle terminal that has transmitted the frequency information of the radio broadcast. The vehicle information providing device according to claim 1,
The information providing device for a vehicle, wherein the detailed radio information includes at least one of a radio broadcast station name, a program name, a program content, a music song name, and an artist name. The vehicle information providing device according to claim 1 or 2,
The information acquisition device for vehicles, wherein the information on the radio broadcast station and the detailed radio information stored in the storage means are updated to the latest information. Current position detecting means for detecting the current position of the vehicle,
Operation means operated when the occupant issues an acquisition request command for detailed information of radio broadcasting received by the audio equipment (hereinafter referred to as radio detailed information);
Frequency information acquisition means for acquiring frequency information of a radio broadcast being received by the audio device when the operation means is operated,
Transmitting means for transmitting a current position information of the vehicle detected by the current position detecting means, frequency information acquired by the frequency information acquiring means, and an acquisition request command of the radio detailed information to an information center;
A receiving means for receiving the radio detailed information transmitted from the information center; The vehicle-mounted terminal according to claim 4,
The in-vehicle terminal, wherein the operating means is at least one of a switch for realizing a one-push operation of the occupant and a voice command input means for realizing a voice command input of the occupant. The in-vehicle terminal according to claim 4 or 5,
An in-vehicle terminal further comprising: a presentation unit that presents radio detailed information received by the reception unit to an occupant. Transmitting the current position information of the vehicle, an acquisition request command for detailed information of a radio broadcast being listened to by an occupant (hereinafter, referred to as radio detailed information), and transmitting at least the frequency information of the radio broadcast from an onboard terminal to an information center
The information center specifies a radio broadcast station corresponding to the frequency based on the current position information of the vehicle and the frequency information of the radio broadcast transmitted from the on-board terminal, and displays radio detailed information of the specified radio broadcast station. A method for providing information for a vehicle, comprising transmitting the acquisition request command to the in-vehicle terminal that has transmitted the command.

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