JP2007212836A - Information acquisition device, information display device, information acquiring method, and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a recording medium, an information acquisition device, an information display device, an information acquiring method, and an information acquisition processing program that can mitigate the burden of update of address information and can acquire the optimal address information regardless of versions of a map database and a POI (Point Of Interest) database. <P>SOLUTION: Disclosed is the recording medium having a plurality of administrative boundary polygons indicating boundaries of a plurality of administrative districts on a map, the map database which stores address information corresponding to the respective administrative districts, and the POI database which stores a plurality of POI data representative of contents of a plurality of spots on the map, each of the POI data being mapped to one of the administrative boundary data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present application includes a first database storing a plurality of administrative boundary data indicating boundaries of a plurality of administrative divisions on a map, and address names (address information) corresponding to the administrative divisions, and a plurality of data on the map The present invention relates to a technical field such as an apparatus and a method for acquiring information using a second database that stores a plurality of POI (Point Of Interest) data indicating the contents of the point.

  Conventionally, in navigation devices and map display devices, a map is displayed on the display screen, and the names of facilities such as restaurants, hotels, gas stations, parks, etc. This is displayed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  There are various known ways of holding a database in such a map display device, but a map database for storing map data necessary for displaying the map, and facilities as contents of a plurality of points on the map In general, a POI database that stores a plurality of POI data indicating the above is separated.

  FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of a conventional map database, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of a conventional POI database.

  In the example of FIG. 1A, the map data in the map database 101 includes, for example, a plurality of administrative boundary data (hereinafter referred to as “administrative boundary polygons”) A, B, C and address names corresponding to the respective administrative divisions are included. Further, the map data includes, for example, road data indicating roads and shape data indicating shapes such as a plan view of a river, a mountain, or a building. On the other hand, in the example of FIG. 1B, each POI data in the POI database 102 includes, for example, the POIID for identifying each POI data, the name of the facility at the point, and the coordinates (latitude and longitude (or altitude) of the point. ) On the map corresponding to), the telephone number of the facility, and the address name of the facility.

When a navigation device or the like uses such a database, the navigation device or the like acquires (reads out) map data from the map database 101, and maps the administrative division, roads, buildings, and the like to the map and the administrative division. A corresponding address name is displayed, predetermined POI data is acquired from the POI database 102, and the name and address name of the facility at each point are displayed.
JP 2002-323337 A

  However, as described above, in the case where the map database and the POI database are separated, for example, when the address name is changed due to merger or absorption of wards, groups, cities, towns, villages (for example, X ward) And Y ward merged into the name XY ward), it is necessary to change the address name stored in the map database and the address name stored in the POI database. There was a problem that the renewal work is a burden on the renewer. In particular, there may be a very large number of facilities to be updated in the POI database. In such a case, an additional burden is placed on the updater.

  Furthermore, the address names in the map database and the POI database may be updated synchronously, but may be updated at different timings. In this case, version differences occur between the two databases, and address names in both databases are matched. There is a problem that cannot be achieved. In particular, when the map database and the POI database are different administrators, the problem becomes more prominent.

  Therefore, in the present application, it is possible to reduce the burden of updating address information by solving such a problem, and obtain the optimum address information regardless of the version of the map database and the POI database. It is an object to provide a recording medium, an information acquisition device, an information display device, an information acquisition method, and an information acquisition processing program that can be used.

  In order to solve the above problems, the invention of the recording medium according to claim 1 stores a plurality of administrative boundary data indicating boundaries of a plurality of administrative divisions on a map, and address information corresponding to the administrative divisions. And a second database for storing a plurality of POI (Point Of Interest) data indicating the contents of a plurality of points on the map, wherein each of the POI data is , It is associated with any one of the administrative boundary data.

  Invention of Claim 3 is an information acquisition apparatus which acquires the address information corresponding to the said location using the said database in the recording medium of Claim 1, Comprising: The said POI used as the acquisition object of the said address information Point identification means for identifying data; administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying administrative boundary data corresponding to the specified POI data; and the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data as the first database. And address information acquisition means for acquiring the address information.

  The invention according to claim 7 is an information acquisition method for acquiring address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 1, wherein the POI that is the acquisition target of the address information. Identifying the data; identifying the administrative boundary data corresponding to the identified POI data; obtaining the address information corresponding to the identified administrative boundary data from the first database; It is characterized by providing.

  The invention of the information acquisition processing program according to claim 9 is a computer that acquires the address information corresponding to the point using the database in the recording medium according to claim 1, and is the acquisition target of the address information. A point specifying means for specifying POI data; an administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying administrative boundary data corresponding to the specified POI data; and the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data. It is made to function as an address information acquisition means acquired from a database.

  The invention of the recording medium according to claim 11 is characterized in that the information acquisition processing program according to claim 9 or 10 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present application will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment described below is an embodiment when the present application is applied to a search process in a navigation system that is mounted on a vehicle as a moving body and guides the movement of the vehicle by a map display, voice, or the like. is there.

  First, with reference to FIG.2 and FIG.3, the structure and function of the navigation system which concern on this embodiment are demonstrated.

  2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration example of the navigation system according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of the map database according to the present embodiment. (B) is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of the POI database according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation system S according to the present embodiment includes one or more navigation devices (an example of an information acquisition device and an information display device) 1 each mounted on a vehicle. The distribution server 3 is connected to the distribution server 3 via the network 2 such as the Internet or a dedicated line. Further, the master map database server 4 and the master POI database server 5 are connected to the distribution server 3 via a dedicated line or the like. It has become.

  Each of the distribution server 3, the master map database server 4, and the master POI database server 5 is configured by a server computer, and includes a recording medium such as a hard disk for storing necessary data and the like.

  A master map database 40 as a first database is constructed on the hard disk in the master map database server 4, and a master POI database 50 as a second database is built on the hard disk in the master POI database server 5. Has been built.

  In the master map database 40, as shown in FIG. 3A, map data necessary for displaying a map on a display screen in a display unit 12 to be described later in each navigation device 1, that is, a plurality of maps on the map. Map data including a plurality of administrative boundary polygons A, B, and C indicating the boundaries of the administrative divisions and address names corresponding to the respective administrative divisions are accumulated based on the same data structure as before. Further, although not shown, the map data includes, for example, road data indicating roads and shape data indicating shapes such as a plan view of a river, a mountain, or a building.

  Each administrative boundary polygon A, B, C defines coordinates (X, Y) (for example, coordinates (latitude and longitude (or altitude)) corresponding to coordinate information on the map that determines each administrative division. , The coordinates of dots (pixels) on the display screen)), and the surface (color data) and line data on the administrative division. In addition, reference numeral 51 in the example of FIG. 3A conceptually represents the size and positional relationship on the display screen between the administrative boundary polygons (polygons) A, B, and C.

  On the other hand, in the master POI database 50, as shown in FIG. 3B, as a content of a plurality of points on the map used for displaying a map on the display unit 12 and guiding the movement of the vehicle. A plurality of POI data indicating facilities and the like (one example of POI) is accumulated, and each POI data includes POIID, the name of the facility at the point, and coordinates (latitude and longitude (or altitude) as coordinate information of the point) The coordinates (X, Y) on the map corresponding to (for example, the coordinates of dots (pixels) on the display screen) and the telephone number of the facility are included. The point is not limited to one point (dot), but may be a predetermined range (for example, upper left corner coordinates (X1, Y1) -lower right corner coordinates (X3, Y3)). .

  By the way, each POI data in the master POI database 50 does not include an address name as address information as in the prior art, and each POI data is associated with any administrative boundary polygon. More specifically, each POI data is associated with an administrative boundary polygon made up of a set of coordinates, etc., based on the coordinate information that it contains (broken line 52 in FIGS. 3A and 3B). Thus, the address name corresponding to the administrative boundary polygon is used as the facility address name in each POI data.

  The distribution server 3 reads the map data as map data Smap from the master map database 40 at a predetermined timing (for example, when updated by the updater), and any one of the navigation devices 1 via the network 2. In addition, the POI data is read as POI data Spoi from the master POI database 50 and distributed to any one of the navigation apparatuses 1 via the network 2.

  The contents of each of the master map database 40 and the master POI database 50 are updated to the latest ones as appropriate by an administrator who manages the databases. However, the map data Smap and the POI data Spoi are not necessarily the same. It is not always distributed at the same timing, and may be updated and distributed at completely different times. In particular, when the administrator of the master map database server 4 and the administrator of the master POI database server 5 are different, one data may be updated and distributed, but the other data may not be updated. These databases 40 and 50 are used for updating map data in a map database 16 (to be described later) in each navigation device 1 and POI data in the POI database 17.

  On the other hand, each navigation device 1 that receives the distribution of the map data Smap and the POI data Spoi from the distribution server 3 has the same configuration as each other. Specifically, as shown in FIG. An audio output unit 11 including a speaker and the like, a display unit 12 including a liquid crystal display, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit (not shown), a speed sensor, a distance sensor, an acceleration sensor, a current position calculation unit, a destination setting and a route It is distributed from the distribution server 3 and the navigation processing unit 13 including a search unit, the disk drive 14 configured to be loaded with the optical disk DK, the operation unit 15 as input means including operation buttons or a remote control device, and the like. A map database 16 as a first database for storing the map data Smap Control including a POI database 17 as a second database for accumulating POI data Spoi distributed from the distribution server 3, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. Part 18.

  The interface 10, audio output unit 11, display unit 12, navigation processing unit 13, disk drive 14, operation unit 15, map database 16, POI database 17, and control unit 18 exchange data with each other via a bus 19. Is configured to be possible.

  In this configuration, the map data Smap and the POI data Spoi distributed via the distribution server 3 are stored in the map database 16 and the POI database 17 via the interface 10 and the bus 19, respectively. The map data and the POI data in the POI database 17 are updated. Although the map database 16 and the POI database 17 are not shown, they are constructed on a hard disk, for example, and the map data Smap and POI data Spoi are written or read by the hard disk drive.

  In addition, the navigation processing unit 13 uses the information obtained from the GPS receiving unit and each sensor to cause the navigation device 1 to perform a guidance operation corresponding to the operation performed by the user in the operation unit 15. The position calculation unit calculates the current position of the vehicle on which the navigation device 1 is mounted, and performs a route search process from the current position to the set destination (the destination specified by the user in the operation unit 15). To execute route guidance processing.

  In addition, the control unit 18 reads and executes a program (including the information acquisition processing program of the present application) stored in the ROM, for example, thereby executing various processes while performing overall control of the navigation device 1. . For example, the control unit 18 uses one or both of the map data stored in the map database 16 and the POI data stored in the POI database 17 to generate a map for display, etc. Is executed to control the display unit 12 to output the generated map image data.

  Further, the control unit 18 gives an instruction to execute a route search process and a route guidance process to the navigation processing unit 13 in accordance with an instruction (instruction signal) input via the operation unit 15, and the processing result is expressed as a voice. Control is performed so that the audio output unit 11 and the display unit 12 output data, image data including a map, character data, and the like, respectively. As a result, the voice output unit 11 synthesizes a voice (so-called guidance voice) necessary for the guidance operation using the voice data, and emits the sound from a speaker (not shown) while being updated as the vehicle moves, for example. In addition, the display unit 12 displays a map, a symbol of a spot, and the like corresponding to the image data while being updated in accordance with the movement of the vehicle, for example. Note that the route search process and the route guidance process may be executed by the control unit 18.

  Further, the control unit 18 functions as a point specifying unit, an administrative boundary data specifying unit, a coordinate information acquiring unit, an address information acquiring unit, an address information display unit and the like of the present application, and according to an instruction signal output from the operation unit 15. Map search processing and POI search processing are executed, and in such processing, as described later, using the map data and the POI data, the address name of a certain place is searched and acquired. It is displayed on the display unit 12 (or set as a destination).

  Furthermore, the control unit 18 functions as address information update means and the like, and uses the map data Smap and POI data Spoi distributed via the distribution server 3 and received, the map data in the map database 16 and the POI. The POI data in the database 17 is updated.

  The map data Smap, POI data Spoi, and the like are recorded in advance on a recording medium such as the optical disk DK and provided to the user instead of being distributed from the distribution server 3, and the optical disk is controlled under the control of the control unit 18. The map data in the map database 16 and the POI data in the POI database 17 may be updated by being read from the DK by the disk drive 14.

  The program (including the information acquisition processing program of the present application) executed by the control unit 18 is distributed from the distribution server 3 to the navigation device 1 via the network 2 or the like and stored in the hard disk for execution, or It may be recorded in advance on a recording medium such as the optical disc DK, provided to the user, and read from the optical disc DK by the disc drive 14 and executed.

  Next, the POI search process in the navigation device 1 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing POI search processing in the control unit 18 of the navigation device 1. This process is started, for example, when the user operates the operation unit 15 and inputs a POI search activation instruction.

  When the POI search process is started, the control unit 18 first waits for input of, for example, a search keyword from the user (step S1), and the search keyword (for example, “shop”) is input from the operation unit 15. Then (step S1: Y), the control unit 18 refers to the POI database 17 and stores one or a plurality of POI data (POI data from which address information is acquired) having a name including the input search keyword. The coordinates (for example, “X1, Y1”), name, telephone number, etc. included in the identified POI data are acquired (stored in a predetermined area of the RAM) (step S3). ). Note that a search result list, which will be described later, in which the name and telephone number acquired here are described may be immediately displayed on the display screen of the display unit 12.

  Next, the control unit 18 refers to the map database 16 and identifies the administrative boundary polygon having the coordinates (including the coordinates) indicated in the acquired coordinate information (that is, the coordinates (or coordinate string)). Calculate which administrative boundary polygon in the map data) (step S4) (the administrative boundary polygon corresponding to the POI data specified in step S2 is specified), and correspond to the specified administrative boundary polygon The address name to be acquired is acquired from the map database 16 (step S5).

  When a plurality of POI data is specified in step S2, the corresponding administrative boundary polygon is specified for each POI data.

  Next, the control unit 18 described the name (for example, AAA store) and the telephone number acquired in step S3 in association with the address name (for example, Tokyo X-ku ...) acquired in step S5. A search result list is generated, and the list is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 12 (step S6), and the process ends. In this way, the user can browse the address name of the facility or the like corresponding to the search keyword input by the user.

  When the user selects one address name acquired in step S5 and displayed on the search result list in step S6 by operating the operation unit 15, the selected address name is displayed in the navigation processing unit 13. It will be set as the destination.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the navigation device 1 has, for example, a plurality of administrative boundary polygons indicating boundaries of a plurality of administrative divisions on a map, and address names corresponding to the respective administrative divisions on a hard disk. A map database 16 for storing at least a POI database 17 for storing a plurality of POI data indicating facilities and the like as contents of a plurality of points on the map. The navigation apparatus 1 can use the address name corresponding to the administrative boundary polygon in the map database 16 as the address name of the facility at a certain point. That is, the navigation device 1 specifies the POI data from which the address name is to be acquired from the POI database 17, then specifies the administrative boundary polygon corresponding to the specified POI data, and corresponds to the specified administrative boundary polygon. The address name to be acquired can be acquired from the map database 16 and used for display, destination setting, and the like.

  Therefore, it is possible to reduce the address name data capacity from the POI database 17 as compared with the conventional case. Furthermore, there is a change in the address name due to, for example, merger or absorption of wards, groups, cities, towns and villages. In this case, only the address name stored in the master map database 40 needs to be updated, and the update burden on the master POI database 50 can be reduced.

  FIG. 5A is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of the map database after the address name is updated, and FIG. 5B is a diagram showing an example of the structure (contents) of the POI database at that time. It is. In the example of FIG. 5 (A), an example in which the Tokyo X ward and Y ward in FIG. 3 (A) are merged and the address name is changed to XY ward is shown.

  Such an update is first performed by the administrator of the master map database 40, and the updated map data Smap is distributed from the distribution server 3 to the navigation device 1 via the network 3 (or the optical disk DK or the like). The map data (address name in the map data) stored in the map database 16 is updated by the control unit 18 (FIG. 3A). In this example, the POI data related to “AAA store” to be associated with the administrative boundary polygon B is associated with the administrative boundary polygon A in the example of FIG. 5A). As described above, in the case of an address change, only the updated map data Smap may be distributed via the network 2 or recorded on a recording medium such as the optical disk DK, and provided. Can be drastically reduced, and when it is distributed via the network 2, the distribution time can be shortened and the load on the network can be reduced (the number of facilities etc. whose address names are changed can be increased). There are great benefits.

  In particular, when so-called differential update is performed, there is a further merit.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conceptual diagram of conventional differential update. The example in FIG. 6 is an example in which the Tokyo X ward and the Y ward merge and the address name is changed to the XY ward. However, in the case of differential update, not only the address name to be updated, but also the update target Information such as the name, telephone number, and coordinates is extracted from the original data as difference data, and the extracted difference data is distributed to the navigation device 1. According to this embodiment, in the case of an address change, difference data is not extracted and distributed, so the amount of data can be further reduced (in addition to the address change, for example, names of facilities, etc.) In the case of a change, the difference data does not include a column of address names, so the amount of data can be compressed).

  Further, in the present embodiment, the coordinate information is included in the POI data so that the coordinate information is associated with the administrative boundary polygon, and the navigation device 1 stores the POI data from which the address name is acquired. After specifying from the POI database 17, the coordinates included in the specified POI data are acquired from the POI database 17, the administrative boundary polygon having the acquired coordinates is specified, and the address corresponding to the specified administrative boundary polygon Since the name is acquired from the map database 16, the POI data and the administrative boundary polygon can be associated more easily and accurately. The association between POI data and administrative boundary polygons may be performed by a method other than coordinates.

  Furthermore, even if the updates in the master map database 40 and the master POI database 50 are not synchronized, and there is a version difference between the two databases, it is possible to avoid that address names in both databases cannot be matched. , You can get and display the best address name (in other words, display the old address name if the address name is old, and display the new address name if the address name is new, so as not to cause a conflict) It is possible to prevent the user from feeling uncomfortable with the version difference.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the present application is applied to the navigation system has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, a map display system including a map server and a client (such as a personal computer), You may apply with respect to the map display apparatus which consists of a stand-alone type personal computer etc.

(A) is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the conventional map database, (B) is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the conventional POI database. It is a block diagram which shows the example of an outline structure of the navigation system which concerns on this embodiment. (A) is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the map database which concerns on this embodiment, (B) is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the POI database which concerns on this embodiment. 4 is a flowchart showing POI search processing in a control unit 18 of the navigation device 1. It is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the map database after an address name is updated, (B) is a figure which shows the structure (contents) example of the POI database at that time. It is a figure which shows the conceptual diagram of the difference update in the past.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 2 Network 3 Distribution server 4 Master map database server 5 Master POI database server 10 Interface 11 Audio | voice output part 12 Display part 13 Navigation processing part 14 Disk drive 15 Operation part 16 Map database 17 POI database 18 Control part
19 Bus 40 Master map database 50 Master POI database S Navigation system

Claims (11)

  A first database that stores a plurality of administrative boundary data indicating boundaries of a plurality of administrative divisions on a map, address information corresponding to each of the administrative divisions, and a plurality that indicates contents of a plurality of points on the map And a second database for storing POI (Point Of Interest) data, wherein each POI data is associated with any one of the administrative boundary data. Recording media to be used. The recording medium according to claim 1,
Each of the administrative boundary data is composed of coordinate information indicating coordinates on a map, which determines the administrative division.
Each of the POI data includes coordinate information indicating coordinates on the map of the point,
The recording medium, wherein the POI data is associated with the administrative boundary data by the coordinate information included in the POI data. An information acquisition device that acquires address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 1,
Point identification means for identifying the POI data to be acquired from the address information;
Administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying administrative boundary data corresponding to the specified POI data;
Address information acquisition means for acquiring the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data from the first database;
An information acquisition device comprising: An information acquisition device that acquires address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 2,
Point identification means for identifying the POI data to be acquired from the address information;
Coordinate information acquisition means for acquiring coordinate information included in the specified POI data from the second database;
Administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying the administrative boundary data having the coordinates indicated in the acquired coordinate information;
Address information acquisition means for acquiring the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data from the first database;
An information acquisition device comprising: In the information acquisition device according to claim 3 or 4,
An information acquisition apparatus, further comprising address information update means for updating address information stored in the first database in accordance with an instruction input via the input means. An information display device comprising the information acquisition device according to any one of claims 3 to 5,
An information display device comprising address information display means for displaying the acquired address information. An information acquisition method for acquiring address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 1,
Identifying the POI data from which the address information is to be acquired;
Identifying administrative boundary data corresponding to the identified POI data;
Obtaining the address information corresponding to the identified administrative boundary data from the first database;
An information acquisition method comprising: An information acquisition method for acquiring address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 2,
Identifying the POI data from which the address information is to be acquired;
Acquiring coordinate information included in the identified POI data from the second database;
Identifying the administrative boundary data having the coordinates shown in the acquired coordinate information;
Obtaining the address information corresponding to the identified administrative boundary data from the first database;
An information acquisition method comprising: A computer that acquires address information corresponding to the point using the database in the recording medium according to claim 1,
Point identification means for identifying the POI data to be acquired from the address information;
Administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying administrative boundary data corresponding to the specified POI data; and
An information acquisition processing program causing an address information acquisition unit to acquire the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data from the first database. A computer for acquiring address information corresponding to the location using the database in the recording medium according to claim 2,
Point identification means for identifying the POI data to be acquired from the address information;
Coordinate information acquisition means for acquiring coordinate information included in the specified POI data from the second database;
Administrative boundary data specifying means for specifying the administrative boundary data having the coordinates indicated in the acquired coordinate information; and
An information acquisition processing program causing an address information acquisition unit to acquire the address information corresponding to the specified administrative boundary data from the first database.   11. A recording medium in which the information acquisition processing program according to claim 9 is recorded so as to be readable by a computer.

Images