JP2007214757A - Information processing system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately inform a user of a radio terminal mounted on a vehicle that the reception sensitivity of the radio terminal becomes worse owing to an environment outside the vehicle in such a case. <P>SOLUTION: A control unit 2 in a car navigation device 1 detects the reception sensitivity of a mobile phone 10 and when the detected reception sensitivity is lower than a previously set reference level, the control unit stores the current travel area of the vehicle as a deficient reception sensitivity area in a reception state history database in sequence and also displays the deficient reception sensitivity area which is thus stored in the top layer of a map picture displayed on a display device 5a. Further, the control unit 2 initializes the stored data when the vehicle travels in an area wherein the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is equal to or higher than the previously set reference level and the area is stored as deficient reception sensitivity area data in the reception state history database. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle information processing system including a map display device capable of displaying a current position of a host vehicle on a map screen.

Conventionally, as seen in, for example, Patent Document 1, the signal strength of a received signal for a wireless terminal (for example, a portable communication device typified by a mobile phone or a notebook computer equipped with a wireless LAN) mounted on a vehicle is There has been provided a system for notifying the user of the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal by detecting and displaying the reception sensitivity information regarding the signal strength on a display unit.
JP 2003-110580 A

  When a wireless terminal such as a mobile phone or a TV receiver is used in a running vehicle, the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal becomes a problem, but the cause of the deterioration in the reception sensitivity is the environment outside the vehicle (especially If it is at the current position of the vehicle, it is desirable to notify the user of the wireless terminal to that effect. However, in the conventional system, since there is no function for notifying that the cause of the deterioration of the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal is the environment outside the vehicle, it is difficult for the user to accurately grasp the situation where the reception sensitivity is deteriorated in this way. There was a problem of becoming.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when the reception sensitivity of a wireless terminal mounted on a vehicle has deteriorated due to the environment outside the vehicle, this fact is accurately notified to the user of the wireless terminal. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle information processing system.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal mounted on the vehicle is detected by the reception sensitivity detection means, and the vehicle is a reference in which the detection sensitivity by the reception sensitivity detection means is preset. When the vehicle travels in an area below the level, the storage control means identifies the area based on the detection output of the position detection means provided in the map display device, and the identification result is used as insufficient reception sensitivity area data. The data are sequentially stored in the storage means. That is, data indicating a region where the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal is insufficient is collected according to the traveling of the host vehicle. The map display device displays the area indicated by the reception sensitivity deficient area data collected in this way on the map screen displayed on the display device. Therefore, such a display accurately informs the user of the wireless terminal that the reception sensitivity of the wireless terminal mounted on the vehicle has deteriorated due to the environment outside the vehicle (particularly the current position of the vehicle). become able to.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the host vehicle travels in a region where the reception sensitivity detected by the reception sensitivity detection unit is equal to or higher than a preset reference level, the region is stored as reception sensitivity deficiency region data in the storage unit. When stored, the stored data is initialized. Therefore, since the reception sensitivity deficient area data can be maintained in the latest state according to the actual situation, the reliability of the data is improved. In addition, since the situation in which the storage data of the storage means increases without any darkness is prevented, the storage capacity of the storage means can be used effectively.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the host vehicle is traveling in a region indicated by the reception sensitivity deficient region data, that is, a region in which the wireless terminal cannot be used, the reception executed in the map display device. Based on the display operation of the guide route to the possible area (the area where the wireless terminal can be used) or the guidance operation to the receivable area, the host vehicle can be quickly moved to the area where the wireless terminal can be used. Therefore, it is very useful for the user.

(First embodiment)
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of the entire system by a combination of functional blocks. In FIG. 1, a car navigation device 1 (corresponding to a map display device) mounted on a vehicle stores a control unit 2 (corresponding to reception sensitivity detection means and storage control means) having a navigation control function, and a map database. The hard disk device 3 (corresponding to storage means) is included. The hard disk device 3 has a sufficient storage capacity so that various data other than the map database can be stored.

  Although not specifically shown in the figure, the control unit 2 is configured mainly with a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM storing a control program, a RAM for a working area, an I / O interface, and the like. In addition, it includes a position detector (corresponding to position detecting means) including a GPS receiver to which the GPS antenna 2a is connected and a gyro sensor, a speech recognition circuit, a speech synthesis circuit, and the like.

  The control unit 2 includes various signals (operation signals, image data signals, reception signals, etc.) between the audio system 4 mounted on the vehicle, the display unit 5 and the digital broadcast receiver 6 (corresponding to a wireless terminal). Is exchanged through the in-vehicle LAN 7. The control unit 2 is connected to an analog broadcast receiver 8 (corresponding to a wireless terminal), a voice input microphone 9 and various vehicle sensors (not shown) (vehicle speed sensor, acceleration sensor, inclination sensor, etc.) A mobile phone 10 (corresponding to a wireless terminal) can be connected. The audio system 4 is provided with a plurality of speakers 4a (only one is shown) and a multi-continuous CD changer 4b. The display unit 5 includes a display device 5a made of, for example, a color liquid crystal panel, and an operation unit. 5b is provided. In addition, the connection between the control unit 2 and the mobile phone 10 may be configured using Bluetooth (registered trademark).

  The control unit 2 is configured to execute well-known car navigation control using the display device 5a and the audio system 4 of the display unit 5 based on an operation command input from the operation unit 5b or a voice command input from the microphone 9. It has become. That is, at the time of this car navigation control, a map display function for displaying a map screen on the display device 5a using the map data acquired from the map database in the hard disk device 3, and a pointer indicating the current vehicle position are displayed on the map screen. A current position display function, a route search function for calculating a guide route from the departure point to the destination, a route guide function for displaying the calculated guide route superimposed on the map screen and performing a voice guidance operation related to the vehicle traveling direction, Phone number search function, postal code search function, search function using unique code such as map code (registered trademark), 50 sound search function, genre search function, nearest facility search function, destination registration function, point registration function Are configured to execute processing related to a wide variety of support functions, etc., but directly related to the gist of the present invention. As the function, the wireless terminal (digital broadcast receiver 6, an analog broadcast receiver 8, the cellular phone 10) receiving sensitivity management function for is set.

Therefore, the reception sensitivity management function will be described below with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
FIG. 2 schematically shows the contents of a control routine including processing for realizing the above-described reception sensitivity management function among the contents of control by the control unit 2. However, in FIG. 2, for the sake of simplification of explanation, the processing for the reception sensitivity management function related to the mobile phone 10 will be described as an example. However, other wireless terminals (digital broadcasting receiver 6, analog broadcasting) will be described. The reception sensitivity management function related to the receiver 8) can be realized by the same processing.

  In the control routine shown in FIG. 2, first, it is determined whether or not the mobile phone 10 is connected (step A1), and in the unconnected state, after executing the map screen update processing routine A2 related to car navigation control. Return to Step A1.

  On the other hand, when the cellular phone 10 is connected, data indicating the reception sensitivity is acquired from the cellular phone 10 (step A3), and the current position data of the vehicle is obtained from a position detector (not shown). Obtain (step A4).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the acquired reception sensitivity is good (for example, whether or not the reception sensitivity is equal to or higher than a preset threshold value) (step A5). If the reception sensitivity is not good (when the reception sensitivity is less than the threshold value), the current vehicle position is stored as a reception sensitivity deficient area in the reception state history database built in the hard disk device 3. Is determined (step A6).

  If “NO” is determined in step A6, after executing step A7 for storing the current vehicle position as a reception sensitivity deficient region, the process proceeds to a map screen update / specific region drawing processing routine A8. If "YES" is determined in step S7, the process jumps to step A7 and proceeds to the processing routine A8.

  In the map screen update / specific area drawing processing routine A8, the map screen being displayed on the display device 5a is updated to the one corresponding to the current vehicle position, and the map screen is stored in the hard disk device 3 in the reception state history. When the reception sensitivity insufficiency region indicated by the database is included, the reception sensitivity insufficiency region is displayed on the map screen. Note that the display layer for such a reception sensitivity deficient area is assigned as the uppermost layer of the map screen. For example, the deficiency of the reception sensitivity area does not hinder the display content of the map screen, for example, a dotted line, a network. It will be displayed using a hanger.

  After executing the map screen update / specific area drawing processing routine A8, it is determined whether or not the connection state of the mobile phone 10 is continued (step A9). The process is re-executed, and when the connection state is released, the process returns to step A1.

  Accordingly, after the mobile phone 10 is connected to the control unit 2, the connection sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is reduced until the connection of the mobile phone 10 is released ("NO" is determined in step A9). Are in a good state (until “YES” is determined in step A5), steps A3, A4, A7, and A8 are repeatedly executed. The operation of storing the reception sensitivity deficient area in the reception status history database of FIG. 6 and the updating of the map screen and the drawing operation of the reception sensitivity deficient area are continuously executed.

  On the other hand, when “YES” is determined in step A5 (when the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is good), the current vehicle position acquired in step A3 is a reception sensitivity deficiency region in the reception state history database. It is determined whether it is in the area stored as (step A10). If "YES" is determined here, after executing step A11 for executing the correction process of initializing the region corresponding to the current vehicle position among the reception sensitivity deficient regions stored in the reception state history database. The process proceeds to the map screen update process routine A2, but if it is determined “NO”, the history data correction process step A11 is jumped to and the process proceeds to the map screen update process routine A2.

  Accordingly, when the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is improved when the host vehicle actually travels in the reception sensitivity deficient region stored in the reception state history database, the correction process of the reception state history database is performed. Will be done.

  In the map screen update processing routine A2, when the reception sensitivity deficient area indicated by the reception state history database is included in the updated map screen range, the reception sensitivity deficiency area is displayed. Is. Moreover, when the own vehicle enters the above-mentioned reception sensitivity deficient region, it is good also as a structure which alert | reports that with an audio | voice (for example, the synthetic | combination audio | voice from the speaker 4a). Further, the display operation of the reception sensitivity deficient area on the map screen can be selectively turned on / off based on the user's operation (for example, operation through the operation unit 5b, operation by voice command through the microphone 9). It may be.

  In short, according to the configuration of the present embodiment described above, the control unit 2 constituting the backbone of the car navigation device 1 detects the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 and the detected reception sensitivity is not good (reception sensitivity). Is less than a preset reference level), the traveling area of the host vehicle at that time is sequentially stored in the reception state history database built in the hard disk device 3 as a reception sensitivity deficient area. Become. That is, data indicating a region where the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is insufficient is collected according to the traveling of the host vehicle. Further, the control unit 2 displays the area indicated by the reception sensitivity deficient area data collected in this way on the uppermost layer of the map screen displayed on the display device 5a. Therefore, it is indicated to the user of the mobile phone 10 that the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 mounted on the vehicle is deteriorated due to the environment outside the vehicle (particularly the current position of the vehicle). It will be possible to report accurately.

In this case, when the own vehicle travels in a region where the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 is equal to or higher than a preset reference level, the control unit 2 stores the region as reception sensitivity deficient region data in the reception state history database. If it has been done, the stored data is initialized. In other words, if the reception sensitivity of the mobile phone 10 has been improved in the area once stored as the reception sensitivity deficient area, the correction process of the communication status history database will be performed. As a result, the reliability of the data can be improved. Further, since the situation in which the storage data of the hard disk device 3 increases without any darkness is prevented, the storage capacity of the hard disk device 3 can be used effectively.
As described above, the display processing of the reception sensitivity deficient area related to the digital broadcast receiver 6 and the analog broadcast receiver 8, which are other wireless terminals, is also performed in the same manner as described above.

(Second Embodiment)
FIG. 3 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, only portions different from the first embodiment will be described.
That is, the second embodiment is obtained by partially changing the control routine (FIG. 2) in the first embodiment. Specifically, in FIG. 3, after executing the map screen update / specific area drawing processing routine A8, for example, the speaker 4a indicates that the area where the vehicle is currently traveling is an area where communication is not possible. Is notified by outputting a synthesized voice (step A12), and then a route search routine A13 is executed.

  In the route search routine A13, a map database is searched to select a communicable area closest to the current position (communicable area related to the mobile phone 10), and a route to the communicable area is searched. After this search, a guide route to the communicable area is displayed on the map screen (step A14). If the data related to the communicable area is not prepared in the map database, the route search routine A13 performs the procedure of searching for the nearest mobile phone base station and calculating the communicable area through the base station. A configuration in which a route search is performed may be used.

  After the execution of step A14, if necessary, that is, if there is a route guidance start request based on a command (an operation command by the operation unit 5b or a voice command through the microphone 9) from the user side, the above is displayed. Voice guidance along the guidance route is started (step A15), and thereafter, the processing after step A9 is executed.

  According to the present embodiment configured as described above, when a call with the mobile phone 10 becomes necessary while the own vehicle is traveling in an area where the mobile phone 10 cannot make a call, the own vehicle is promptly brought to the call-enabled area. It can be moved. As a result, for example, when the vehicle is in an area where communication is impossible, it is convenient when it is necessary to make an emergency call, which is very useful for the user.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and for example, the following modifications or expansions are possible.
The reception sensitivity insufficiency region related to the mobile phone 10 (and the digital broadcast receiver 6 and the analog broadcast receiver 8) is displayed on the map screen. However, the reception sensitivity insufficiency region related to another wireless terminal is displayed. Of course, it is also good. Further, the guidance function to the callable area related to the mobile phone 10 as in the second embodiment may be applied to the guidance function to the broadcast radio wave receivable area related to the digital broadcast receiver 6 or the analog broadcast receiver 8. It ’s good.

  The map information necessary to display the map screen is acquired from the map database in the hard disk device 3, but such map information is acquired from the map database constructed outside via wireless communication means. It is good also as composition to do.

Functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention Flow chart showing reception sensitivity management function FIG. 2 equivalent diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1 is a car navigation device (map display device), 2 is a control unit (reception sensitivity detecting means, storage control means), 3 is a hard disk device (storage means), 5 is a display unit, 5a is a display device, and 6 is a digital broadcast receiver. 8 is an analog broadcast receiver (corresponding to a wireless terminal), and 10 is a mobile phone (wireless terminal).

Claims (3)

A display device capable of displaying a map screen and a position detection means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle are configured to display the map screen on the display device based on the map information acquired from the map database. In an information processing system for a vehicle having a map display device capable of displaying the current position of the host vehicle on the vehicle,
A data rewritable storage means;
Reception sensitivity detection means for detecting reception sensitivity of a wireless terminal mounted on the host vehicle;
When the host vehicle travels in an area where the reception sensitivity detected by the reception sensitivity detection means is less than a preset reference level, the area is specified based on the detection output of the position detection means, and the identification result is received. Storage control means for sequentially storing in the storage means as insufficient sensitivity area data;
With
The information processing system for a vehicle, wherein the map display device executes a control for displaying an area indicated by reception sensitivity deficient area data stored in the storage means on the map screen.   The storage control means stores, when the host vehicle travels in an area where the detection reception sensitivity by the reception sensitivity detection means is equal to or higher than a preset reference level, that area is stored as insufficient reception sensitivity area data in the storage means. 2. The vehicle information processing system according to claim 1, wherein control for initializing the stored data is performed. In the map database, data indicating a receivable area related to the wireless terminal is stored,
The map display device performs a guide route display operation to the receivable region or a guidance operation to the receivable region when the host vehicle is traveling in the region indicated by the lack of reception sensitivity region data. The vehicle information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle information processing system is configured to be capable of being configured.

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