JP4704210B2 - Information providing apparatus and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information to a moving body, and more particularly to an apparatus that provides information by predicting a destination of a moving body.

  At present, various technologies for providing appropriate information according to a user's situation in a mobile terminal such as a car navigation device or a mobile phone have been proposed. At that time, in order to provide more appropriate information, contrivances such as changing the information to be provided depending on the user's situation and changing the timing of providing the information have been made. For example, it has been practiced to filter and provide only information on shops near the current position of the mobile body from a large amount of shop information. In addition, destination information of a moving object such as a destination, a transit point, and a passing point is also important information that affects information provision. For example, by providing information related to the destination such as the route to the destination or parking information near the destination according to the destination input in advance by the user, or the store on the route to the destination Information and traffic jam information are provided to mobiles. However, since it is burdensome for the user to input a destination, a method for the apparatus to predict the destination has been conventionally used.

  Conventionally, as a method for predicting a destination, there is a method of using a history of actual movement of a moving body (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In this technique, a plurality of travel destination candidates that can be travel destinations are calculated from the travel history of the vehicle and stored in a travel history data memory, and the vehicle is traveling in a state where the travel destination is not set. When one of the travel destination candidates is estimated as the travel destination from the current travel path of the vehicle and the frequency at which each travel destination candidate has been reached via the travel path in the past, the travel route plan Is to do.

In addition, a method has been proposed in which a traffic flow ratio from the current location to the destination is measured, and the information providing device installed on the road uses the value to predict the destination and perform filtering of information provision (for example, , See Patent Document 2). This technology measures the ratio of the OD traffic volume from the start point (O) to the end point (D), and the end point through which the mobile body that passes through the start point often passes is likely to pass when the current mobile body passes through the start point. Predict.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-83678 JP 2000-293790 A

  However, the movement destination prediction using the movement history disclosed in Patent Document 1 has a problem that the movement destination is not predicted until the movement history is sufficiently accumulated. Furthermore, there is a problem that a place that is not accumulated in the movement history is not predicted as a movement destination.

  Further, in the destination prediction based on the traffic flow ratio measurement disclosed in Patent Document 2, it is difficult to measure the degree of traffic flow arrival, and both the start point and the end point must be measurement points such as an optical beacon installation point. There is a problem. That is, unless the current location and the destination of the moving object are both measurement points, the destination cannot be predicted. However, optical beacons are still only installed on some major roads throughout the country. For this reason, there is a problem that the destination cannot be predicted until it passes through at least one traffic flow measurement point.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of such problems, and does not require a movement history and does not require the moving body to pass through the traffic flow measurement point, and predicts the moving destination of the moving body. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus or the like that can provide information related to a predicted destination.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information providing apparatus according to the present invention is an information providing apparatus that predicts a destination of a moving body and provides the moving body with information on the predicted destination, and detects traffic volume. A traffic volume detection location accumulating means for accumulating the direction of traffic volume at a plurality of traffic volume detection locations that are points to be associated with information identifying the traffic volume detection location, and a current location acquisition for acquiring the current position of the mobile object Means for calculating the direction from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit, and stored in the traffic detection location storage unit A part or all of the detected traffic volume is selected as a destination candidate, and the direction calculated by the direction calculating means and the traffic in the traffic volume detected area for the selected traffic destination Quantity A traffic direction detection point is calculated, a traffic volume detection location where the calculated direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range is specified, and the specified traffic volume detection location is the destination of the moving object or the direction of the destination A destination predicting unit that predicts the destination, and an information providing unit that acquires and presents information on the destination or the direction of the destination predicted by the destination predicting unit.

  Thus, in the present invention, the destination is predicted by using the traffic volume at a predetermined point. Conventionally, in order to measure traffic flow between two points, both points are measurement points, and information between the two points needs to be linked such as collating the measurement ID. Therefore, the destination can be predicted simply by measuring the number of cars passing through a predetermined point in a predetermined direction. Since there is a high possibility that a moving object will pass through a point with a large amount of traffic, there is a high possibility that a moving object that receives information from this information providing apparatus will pass. For this reason, a destination can be predicted even if traffic flow information from the current location is not obtained.

  In the present invention, information on the direction of traffic is also used. Information on the direction of traffic can be easily obtained from road position information using lane information, even if it is not directly measured. By using the direction of traffic volume, it is possible to perform prediction using the traffic volume in the direction according to the current position of the moving object, so that it is possible to predict the destination with higher accuracy.

  The present invention can be realized not only as such an information providing apparatus, but also as an information providing method using a processing unit constituting the information providing apparatus as a step, or as a program for causing a computer to execute the step. Also, it can be realized as a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM on which the program is recorded.

  According to the present invention, a movement history is not required, and the moving body does not need to pass the traffic flow measurement point, and the moving destination of the moving body is predicted, and information related to the predicted moving destination is provided. . That is, even if there is no history of the destination, the destination can be predicted by using the traffic volume information. Then, according to the predicted destination, it is possible to provide a route to the destination, provide the destination, store information on the route, traffic information, traffic jam information, and filter provided information.

  Also, by predicting the destination, it is possible to control the timing of information provision, such as providing information at a point most convenient for the user in the route from the current location to the destination.

  Therefore, a convenient information providing device is realized by a simple method, and the practical value of the present invention is very high in today's mobile vehicles such as car navigation devices and mobile phones.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. An information providing apparatus in a typical embodiment of the present invention is as follows.

  A first information providing apparatus according to the present invention is an information providing apparatus that predicts a moving destination of a moving body and provides information related to the predicted moving destination to the moving body. A traffic volume detection location accumulation means for accumulating the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location in association with the information for identifying the traffic detection location, a current location acquisition means for obtaining a current position of a mobile object, and the current location Direction calculation means for calculating the direction from the current position acquired by the acquisition means to the traffic volume detection location accumulated in the traffic volume detection location storage means, and the traffic volume stored in the traffic volume detection location storage means A part or all of the detected locations are selected as destination candidates, and the direction calculated by the direction calculating means and the direction of traffic volume at the traffic amount detected locations for the selected destination candidate traffic volume detection locations. Calculate direction difference A destination prediction unit that identifies a traffic detection location where the calculated direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range, and predicts the specified traffic detection location as the destination of the mobile or the direction of the destination; And information providing means for acquiring and presenting information relating to the destination predicted by the destination prediction means or the direction of the destination. As a result, the destination of the mobile object is predicted using the traffic volume at the current location and the traffic detection location, and information on the predicted destination is provided. A convenient information providing device that does not need to pass through the flow measurement point is realized.

  Here, for example, the destination prediction unit is within a certain distance from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit from among the traffic detection locations stored in the traffic detection location storage unit. The traffic detection location is selected as the destination candidate, and the information providing apparatus further includes a distance from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition means to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage means. Distance calculation means for calculating the traffic volume, the traffic volume detection area accumulation means further accumulates the magnitude of traffic volume for the plurality of traffic volume detection areas, and the destination prediction means has the direction difference in advance. Of the traffic detection locations within the predetermined threshold range, the distance calculated by the distance calculation means is small, and the traffic volume stored in the traffic detection location storage means is large. traffic Select detection area, it is preferable to predict the selected traffic amount detection areas as the destination of the movable body.

  The second information providing apparatus of the present invention is further characterized in that the information providing apparatus further stores map information storing means for storing map information, map information stored in the map information storing means, and the traffic volume detection location storing means. And a traffic volume detection location position calculating means for calculating a location range in which the location of the traffic volume detection location can be changed using information specifying the traffic volume detection location stored in A traffic detection position change means for changing the position of the traffic detection position within a position range calculated by the range calculation means and closest to the current position acquired by the current position acquisition means; The direction calculating means calculates the direction based on the position changed by the traffic volume detection location changing means, and the distance calculation means is a position changed by the traffic volume detection location changing means. Based on, and calculates the distance. As a result, the position of the traffic detection location is unified, and the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

  In the third information providing apparatus of the present invention, the information providing apparatus further includes a route from a current position acquired by the current position acquiring unit to a traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulating unit. A circuitousness calculating means for calculating a circuitousness indicating the degree of circuitousness of the vehicle, and the destination predicting means further determines a circuitousness of a route to the traffic detection location calculated by the circuitousness calculating means. If the value is larger than the value, the traffic volume detection location is excluded from the destination candidates. As a result, the destination is predicted in consideration of the circuitousness, and the destination prediction accuracy is improved.

  According to a fourth information providing apparatus of the present invention, the information providing apparatus further uses the map information accumulating means for accumulating the map information, and the current location acquiring means using the map information accumulated in the map information accumulating means. On the recommended route calculation means for calculating a recommended route from the current position acquired in step S3 to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage means, and on the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation means, By determining whether there is a traffic detection location other than the traffic detection location where the recommended route has been calculated, a redundancy indicating whether there is a redundant traffic detection location is calculated. When the redundancy calculated by the redundancy calculation means and the redundancy calculated by the redundancy calculation means indicate that there is a redundant traffic volume detection location, the traffic volume detection location is excluded from the destination candidates. To do. This eliminates the selection of a redundant destination as a candidate, thereby improving the prediction accuracy of the destination.

  Further, in the fifth information providing apparatus of the present invention, the destination prediction means calculates an evaluation value indicating the probability of prediction for the traffic volume detection location predicted as the destination, and the calculated evaluation value is predetermined. When the determined criteria are satisfied, the prediction of the destination is repeated with the traffic volume detection location as the current position of the moving body. Thereby, since the prediction of the destination is repeated, a destination close to the actual destination is predicted.

  Further, according to a sixth information providing apparatus of the present invention, the traffic volume detection location accumulating unit further includes, for the plurality of traffic volume detection locations, type information including information on whether or not the traffic volume detection location is a road. And the destination prediction means determines whether or not the traffic volume detection location is a road by referring to the type information stored in the traffic volume detection location storage means. In this case, the prediction is repeated with the traffic volume detection location as the current position of the mobile object. As a result, the type of traffic detection location is taken into account. For example, if it is a point on the road, the prediction of the destination is further repeated, and the destination near the destination is predicted.

  Further, the seventh information providing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the information providing apparatus further includes a destination presentation means for presenting a destination predicted by the destination prediction means, and a movement presented by the destination presentation means. A destination selection unit that receives a selection instruction from the user for the destination, and the information providing unit acquires and presents information about the destination corresponding to the selection instruction received by the destination selection unit. . As a result, the destination is presented as a destination candidate, and the destination setting by the user is simplified.

  Further, the eighth information providing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that the information providing apparatus is further configured based on the similarity between the position of the plurality of traffic detection points and the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic detection point. If it is determined that the composite availability determination means and the composite availability determination means can be combined, it is possible to combine the traffic volume at the plurality of traffic detection areas. Synthesizing means for changing the magnitude of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection area by synthesizing the magnitude of the traffic volume, and the destination predicting means includes a magnitude of the traffic volume synthesized by the synthesizing means. The traffic volume detection location is selected using the distance. As a result, the traffic volume at similar traffic volume detection sites is synthesized, so that it is possible to predict the destination with high accuracy reflecting the actual traffic state.

  In the ninth information providing apparatus according to the present invention, the information providing apparatus is further acquired by a traffic volume detection density accumulation unit that accumulates a density in which the traffic volume detection area exists for each region and the current location acquisition unit. Filtering position range calculating means for calculating a position range of a traffic detection location as a destination candidate from the current location and the density of the area including the current location stored in the traffic detection location density storage means, A destination candidate filtering means for filtering a destination candidate from the traffic volume detection location stored in the traffic volume detection location storage means according to the location range calculated by the filtering location range calculation means, The predicting means includes a part or all of the traffic volume detection locations that are determined as destination candidates by filtering by the destination candidate filtering means. And selecting as the destination candidates. As a result, the destination candidate is determined in consideration of the density of the traffic detection location, so that the processing load is reduced.

  According to a tenth information providing apparatus of the present invention, the information providing apparatus further includes a traffic information storing means for storing traffic information, and a traffic detection location from the traffic information stored in the traffic information storing means. A traffic volume estimation means for estimating a traffic volume direction at the traffic volume detection area and a traffic volume volume at the traffic volume detection area, wherein the traffic volume detection area storage means includes the traffic volume It stores the information indicating the position of the traffic volume detected by the estimation means, the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detected area, and the magnitude of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detected area. . As a result, since the traffic volume is estimated from the traffic jam information, it is possible to predict the destination and provide information based on the prediction even when the actual traffic volume cannot be specified.

  The eleventh information providing apparatus according to the present invention is the information indicating the link travel time, the link length, and the link start point position and end point position for the link indicating the predetermined point on the road. Travel time storage means for storing traffic, link travel time stored in the link travel time storage means, link length, and start position and end position of the link. Traffic volume estimation means for estimating the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume and the magnitude of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the traffic volume detection location storage means was estimated by the traffic volume estimation means Information indicating the position of the traffic volume detection location, the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the magnitude of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location is accumulated. Thus, since the traffic volume is estimated from the link travel time, even when the actual traffic volume cannot be specified, it is possible to predict the destination and provide information based on the prediction.

  The twelfth information providing apparatus of the present invention further includes a predicted destination determination unit that determines the number of destinations to be predicted by the information providing apparatus, wherein the destination prediction unit includes the predicted destination number. The number of destinations is predicted by the number determined by the determining means. As a result, the number of destinations to be predicted is changed according to various situations, so that information on a plurality of destinations can be automatically obtained.

  Hereinafter, an information providing apparatus according to each embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
First, the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration diagram of an information providing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The information providing apparatus of FIG. 1 is provided in a moving body such as a car, predicts the moving destination of the moving body using the distance and direction between the current location of the moving body and the traffic acquisition location, and the predicted moving destination. This is a device that provides information related to the current location, and includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a movement destination prediction unit 105, and an information provision unit 106. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The current location acquisition unit 101 is a processing unit that acquires the current position of the mobile object, and detects the current location of the mobile object by a GPS antenna or an IC tag, communication, image recognition, or the like. For example, information on the longitude and latitude of the moving body is detected such as east longitude “134.55.59.9” and north latitude “34.5.15.6”.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 stores a detection point position of a traffic volume detection location (traffic volume detection location), a detected traffic volume, and a traffic volume direction. It is. For example, the ID “001” has a traffic detection location at the east longitude “134.5.27.7” and the north latitude “34.6.4.5”, and the direction (direction angle) “90” at the detection location. The traffic volume to “degree” indicates “400 vehicles / hour”. The direction is a true north direction angle, the true north direction is 0 degree, and the clockwise direction from the true north direction is positive. Information on the location of the traffic volume detection location and traffic volume is stored in advance in the apparatus. The latest traffic information may be obtained from VICS radio waves or network lines. The traffic detection location is also a destination candidate, and the information providing apparatus determines the destination from the traffic detection location.

  The distance calculation unit 103 calculates the distance between the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102.

  The direction calculation unit 104 calculates the direction from the position of the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 to the position of the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location storage unit 102. For example, the angle of the vector from the position of the current location to the location of the traffic volume detection location is set as the direction.

  The destination prediction unit 105 selects a part or all of the traffic volume detection location as a destination candidate, and the direction calculated by the direction calculation unit 104 and the traffic volume for the selected traffic volume detection location of the destination candidate. Calculate the direction difference from the direction of traffic volume at the detection location, identify the traffic detection location where the calculated direction difference is within the predetermined threshold range, and move the specified traffic detection location to the destination of the moving object Or, it is an example of a processing unit that predicts the direction of the destination, and in the present embodiment, the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 and the current location and traffic volume detection calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104 Based on the direction between the ground and the traffic volume accumulated in the traffic volume detection area accumulation unit 102 and the traffic volume direction, the traffic volume detection area to be the destination is predicted. The destination prediction unit 105 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, and a filtering unit 105b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  More specifically, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 105 first selects a traffic volume detection place within a certain distance from the current position as a destination candidate. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the information on the traffic volume detection location is accumulated. Of these, 10 are selected in order from the closest distance from the current location, and are selected as destination candidates as shown in FIG. In the present embodiment, the position of the traffic volume detection location is the destination candidate position, and the traffic volume direction of the traffic volume detection location is the destination orientation candidate. If there are multiple directions of traffic at the same position, each direction is regarded as a destination candidate. That is, the destination candidate is a set of position candidates and orientation candidates.

  Subsequently, the filtering unit 105b of the destination prediction unit 105 further performs filtering based on the direction between the current location and the traffic amount detection location and the direction of traffic volume in the detection value from the traffic amount detection locations that are the destination candidates. . The filtering unit 105b selects, as a destination candidate, a traffic volume detection location where the direction difference between the traffic direction and the current location-traffic detection location direction is within a threshold, for example, within a range of 90 degrees. Is removed from the destination candidates. The reason for filtering by the direction difference is that the direction in which the moving body moves from the current location to the traffic volume detection location and the direction from the traffic volume detection location tend to be similar. In particular, since the moving body tends to avoid moving in the opposite direction even a little, the direction difference is set to 90 degrees.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when filtering the traffic volume detection location “ID005 to 008 (East longitude 134.77.26.9, North latitude 34.44.49.2)”, “ID005 to 008” from the current location is filtered. The direction (direction angle) to is 110 degrees. After moving in the direction of 110 degrees to the vicinity of “ID005 to 008”, it is generally rare to pass “ID005 to 008” in the opposite direction of 270 degrees. Therefore, among the directions of traffic volume “90 degrees”, “270 degrees”, “0 degrees”, and “180 degrees” in “ID005 to 008”, the directions “90 degrees” and “180 degrees” are within a range of 110 degrees ± 90 degrees. Is selected by the filtering unit 105b. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, filtering is performed from the direction as shown in FIG. 5. In this way, by performing filtering according to the direction, it is possible to remove destination candidates that are not generally destinations, so that prediction accuracy is improved.

  If no destination candidate is selected, the number of traffic volume detection locations that are destination candidates is increased.

  Next, the filtering unit 105b of the destination prediction unit 105 has a small distance calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 out of the traffic detection locations where the direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range, and A traffic detection location with a large traffic volume is selected, and the selected traffic detection location is predicted as the destination of the moving object. That is, the travel destination is predicted based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic volume detection location. Specifically, a value obtained by dividing the amount of traffic by the distance is set as an evaluation value indicating the probability of prediction, and a value having the highest evaluation value is set as a destination. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the evaluation value for “ID002 / traffic direction 270 degrees” is 400 / 1.7, and the evaluation value for “ID003 / traffic direction 90 degrees” is 400 / 1.6. , The evaluation value for "ID005-traffic direction 90 degrees" is 900 / 2.3, the evaluation value for "ID008-traffic direction 180 degrees" is 100 / 2.3, "ID010-traffic direction" The evaluation value for “270 degrees” is 200 / 1.2, and “ID005 / traffic direction 90 degrees” having the highest evaluation value is selected as the destination. This predicts that the moving object will move in the direction of 90 degrees in the future at the location of ID005 (longitude 134.77.26.9, latitude 34.44.49.2).

Note that a plurality of candidate locations may be predicted as destinations.
The information provision unit 106 includes a provision information storage unit 106a that stores information to be provided in advance. The information provision unit 106 reads information about a destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 105 from the provision information storage unit 106a, and provides the read information as information provision. It is provided to the user through the screen and sound of the device. For example, when it is predicted that the moving body will move in the direction of 90 degrees in the future at the location of ID005, as shown in FIG. 7, the location of ID005 (East longitude 134.77.26.9, North latitude 34.4.49. 2) It is possible to provide traffic jam information and a recommended route until the vehicle passes 90 degrees. The information stored in the provided information storage unit 106a includes information acquired by the information providing unit 106 as pre-stored map information such as recommended routes and the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines. Etc. are included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The distance calculation unit 103 calculates the distance between the position of the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the position of the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 (step S802). The direction calculation unit 104 calculates the direction from the position of the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 to the position of the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulation unit 102 (step S803).

  The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 105 selects a plurality of traffic volume detection locations as destination candidates based on the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 (step S804). For example, the destination candidate determination unit 105a selects ten traffic traffic detection locations stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 in order from the closest distance from the current location.

  Then, the filtering unit 105b of the destination prediction unit 105 selects a destination candidate from the traffic detection locations that have become destination candidates based on the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location and the direction of traffic in the detected value. Sorting is performed (step S805). For example, the filtering unit 105b selects, as a destination candidate, a traffic detection location where the direction difference between the direction of traffic and the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location is within a range of 90 degrees.

  Further, the filtering unit 105b predicts a destination from the traffic volume detection destinations that are destination candidates based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic volume detection area (step S806). For example, the filtering unit 105b sets the destination with the largest evaluation value obtained by dividing the traffic volume by the distance.

  Finally, the information providing unit 106 reads information about the destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 105 from the provided information storage unit 106a, and provides the information to the user (step S807).

  Note that step S804 may be omitted. That is, the accumulated traffic detection location may be used as a destination candidate as it is.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the destination is predicted using the distance and direction between the current location and the traffic volume acquisition location, and information on the predicted destination is provided. The Therefore, a movement history is not required, and the moving body does not need to pass through the traffic flow measurement point, and the moving destination of the moving body is predicted, and information related to the predicted moving destination is provided.

  In the present embodiment, the threshold used when the destination prediction unit 105 filters destination candidates based on the difference between the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the direction of the traffic volume in the detected value is 90 degrees or the like. It was a fixed value. However, the possibility that the mobile object travels in the opposite direction depends on the distance from the departure point of the mobile object.

  Immediately after leaving the departure place, the road may move in the opposite direction due to the structural relationship of the road. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, it is assumed that the destination is in the southwest of the moving body. In this case, since it is highly likely that the moving body will pass through the shortest distance, it proceeds to the position of the traffic volume detection location ID001 in the northwest direction from the structural relationship of the road. Then, from the position of ID001, it proceeds in the south direction (180 degrees) opposite to the previous direction. In other words, the direction difference (120 degrees) between the current location and the traffic volume detection location (300 degrees) and the traffic direction of ID001 (180 degrees) is greater than 90 degrees, but should not be filtered. This is because the range of route selection through which the moving body can pass is small immediately after departure, and the correlation between the traveling direction at the planned passage location (traffic volume detection location) and the direction from the current location to the planned passage location is very low. When the distance from the departure point to the planned passage location (traffic detection location) increases, the range of route selection that the mobile body can pass is large. The correlation of the direction to the ground is also very high.

  Therefore, the direction difference threshold value may be decreased as the distance from the departure point to the destination candidate increases.

  FIG. 10 is an information providing apparatus according to Modification 1 of Embodiment 1 as described above, that is, an information providing apparatus having a function of decreasing the direction difference threshold according to the distance from the starting position to the destination candidate. FIG. This information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 1003, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 1005, an information provision unit 106, and a departure point acquisition unit 1007. The configuration of this information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment in that a departure point acquisition unit 1007 is added and a processing unit related thereto.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The departure place acquisition unit 1007 acquires the position of the departure place from which the mobile object has started moving. For example, when the moving body is a car, it is a location where the engine is last started. For example, information on the longitude and latitude of the moving body is detected such as east longitude “134.55.59.9” and north latitude “34.5.15.6”. Note that the departure place may be a place where the moving body has stopped for a predetermined time or more, or a landmark where the moving body stayed last.

  The distance calculation unit 1003 calculates the distance between the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102, and the departure location acquired by the departure location acquisition unit 1007. And the distance between the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulating unit 102 is calculated.

  The destination prediction unit 1005 is configured to calculate the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 and the distance between the departure location and the traffic detection location, and between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the direction calculation unit 104. The traffic volume detection location to be the destination is predicted based on the direction and the traffic volume accumulated in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 and the traffic volume direction. That is, as the threshold value of the direction difference, a value that monotonously decreases with respect to the magnitude of the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit 1003 is adopted, and the direction difference is within the threshold value range by comparing the direction difference with the threshold value. Identify traffic detection locations in The destination prediction unit 1005 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, and a filtering unit 1005b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  More specifically, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 1005 first sets the traffic volume detection location as the destination candidate, as in the first embodiment, and then the filtering unit 1005b The destination candidates are filtered according to the distance between the detection locations, the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location, and the direction of the traffic at the detection location. A destination candidate whose direction difference between the direction of traffic volume and the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is larger than a threshold is removed from the destination candidates. At this time, the filtering unit 1005b employs a value that decreases as the distance between the departure point and the traffic volume detection point increases as the threshold value. That is, the threshold value decreases monotonously in a broad sense with respect to the distance between the departure point and the traffic volume detection point. For example, 360 degrees is set as an initial value, and is decreased in proportion to the distance between the departure point and the traffic volume detection place, and finally becomes 30 degrees.

  Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, the destination having the largest evaluation value obtained by dividing the traffic volume by the distance is set as the destination.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  First, the departure point acquisition unit 1007 acquires a departure point by using GPS or the like (step S1100). After acquiring the current location in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the distance calculation unit 103 determines between the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102. And the distance between the position of the departure point acquired by the departure point acquisition unit 1007 and the position of the traffic detection point is calculated (step S1102).

  After the direction is calculated in the same manner as in the first embodiment and the destination candidate determination unit 105a selects the destination candidate based on the distance, the filtering unit 1005b selects the departure point from the traffic volume detection points that are the destination candidates. -Destination candidates are selected based on the distance between the traffic volume detection locations, the current location-the direction between the traffic volume detection locations, and the traffic volume direction in the detected value (step S1105). At this time, when filtering the destination candidate, the filtering unit 1005b selects, as candidates, a traffic volume detection area in which the difference between the current position and the traffic volume detection area and the traffic volume direction in the detection value is smaller than the threshold. However, as the threshold value, a value that decreases according to the distance between the departure point and the traffic volume detection point is adopted. Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S806 to S807).

  As described above, the information providing apparatus according to the first modification of the first embodiment having the function of reducing the threshold value of the direction difference according to the magnitude of the distance from the starting position to the destination candidate is a more likely destination. It is narrowed down to candidates, and accurate information can be provided.

  In the first modification of the first embodiment, the destination prediction unit 1005 is used when filtering destination candidates based on the direction difference between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the direction of traffic volume in the detected value. The threshold value was reduced according to the distance from the departure point to the destination candidate. However, the threshold value may be decreased according to the size of the distance from the departure point to the current location, not the distance from the departure point to the destination candidate. In other words, an information providing apparatus having a function of reducing the threshold of the direction difference according to the distance from the starting position to the current location may be realized as the information providing apparatus in the second modification of the first embodiment.

  In such an information providing apparatus, the direction difference threshold decreases monotonously in a broad sense with respect to the distance between the departure point and the current location. By using the distance to the current location, it is not necessary to use a different threshold for each destination candidate. Similarly, the threshold value may be decreased according to the elapsed time from the departure place to the current location or the number of right / left turns on the road. That is, the threshold value may be a monotonic decrease in a broad sense with respect to the elapsed time between the departure point and the current location or the number of left / right turns.

  That is, the movement destination prediction unit 1005 adopts a value that monotonously decreases with respect to at least one of the distance, the movement time, and the number of left / right turns calculated by the distance calculation unit 1003 as the direction difference threshold. And a threshold value may be used to identify a traffic detection location whose direction difference is within the threshold value range.

  In the first embodiment, the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location is the vector orientation from the current location to the traffic detection location. However, the direction in which the moving body actually moves differs depending on the road link structure. Therefore, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location may be calculated by referring to the link information of the road using the map information. By using the map information, it is possible to filter destination candidates according to the direction of the route through which the mobile body actually moves from the current location to the destination candidate. Therefore, since the accuracy of the direction is increased, filtering can be performed efficiently and the prediction accuracy is improved.

  FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the third modification of the first embodiment, that is, an information providing apparatus having a function of calculating a direction by calculating a recommended route from the current position and the position of the movement destination candidate. FIG. The information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 1204, a destination prediction unit 105, an information provision unit 106, a map information accumulation unit 1207, and a recommended route calculation unit. 1208. The configuration of the information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment in that a map information accumulation unit 1207 and a recommended route calculation unit 1208 are added, and processing units related thereto.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The map information accumulation unit 1207 is a hard disk or the like that accumulates road information such as road positions and link distances. For example, node positions, connection nodes, and link distances connecting the nodes are accumulated.

  The recommended route calculating unit 1208 uses the map information accumulated in the map information accumulating unit 1207, for example, the position of the road, the connection node, and the link distance information, from the position of the current location acquired by the current location acquiring unit 101 to detect the traffic volume. The recommended route to the position of the traffic detection location accumulated by the accumulation unit 102 is calculated. Specifically, the route cost of each route from the current location to the traffic detection location is calculated, and the route with the lowest cost is obtained by the Dijkstra method or the like. The route cost is, for example, the total link distance.

  The direction calculation unit 1204 calculates the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location based on the recommended route from the location of the current location calculated by the recommended route calculation unit 1208 to the location of the traffic volume detection location. Specifically, the direction of the moving body at the position of the traffic volume detection place when the moving body passes on the recommended route is the direction between the current position and the traffic volume detection place. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 13, since the direction of the moving body at the traffic volume detection position on the recommended route is 180 degrees, the direction between the current position and the traffic volume detection area is set to 180 degrees. In the example shown in FIG. 13, the final destination is in the southwest of the current location, but it is considered that the moving body normally travels in the northwest due to the structural relationship of the road and passes the traffic detection location ID001 in the south direction. At this time, the direction from the current location to the traffic detection location ID 001 is 300 degrees when calculated by the method of the first embodiment. Therefore, the direction difference from the traffic detection location ID 001 (direction 180 degrees) is 120 degrees, and the traffic detection location ID 001 is excluded from the destination candidates. However, if the method of this modification is used, since the direction from the current location to the traffic volume detection location ID 001 is 180 degrees, the direction difference is 0 degrees and is not removed from the destination candidates. That is, this method can calculate the direction in consideration of the road structure.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the third modification of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  Similar to the first embodiment, after acquiring the current location and calculating the distance, the recommended route calculation unit 1208 uses the map information stored in the map information storage unit 1207 to obtain the current location position acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101. To the recommended traffic route accumulated by the traffic detection location accumulating unit 102 is calculated (step S1403). The direction calculation unit 1204 calculates the direction from the current location to the traffic volume detection location based on the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation unit 1208 (step S1404). Specifically, the direction calculation unit 1204 sets the direction of the moving body at the position of the traffic volume detection location when the mobile body passes on the recommended route as the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location. Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S804 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the destination candidate is filtered based on the direction of the route through which the moving body actually moves from the current location to the destination candidate by using the map information. . Therefore, the accuracy of the predicted direction of movement is increased and filtering is performed efficiently, so that the prediction accuracy of the movement destination is improved.

  In addition, when the accuracy of the position of the traffic detection location acquired in this modification is sufficiently high, and there is only one direction of traffic volume for one location of the traffic detection location, or only two forward and reverse directions, The destination prediction unit 105 may set the threshold value of the direction difference used when filtering the direction to 0. This is because when the position accuracy is high and the recommended route can be limited, the direction when the moving body passes the destination candidate can be limited to one by using the map information.

  Further, in the first embodiment, the destination candidate is selected by comparing the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location with the direction of the traffic. However, the current direction of the moving body may be used instead of the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location or in addition to the orientation between the current location and the traffic detection location. That is, the information providing apparatus that predicts the destination using the current orientation may be realized as the information providing apparatus in the fourth modification of the first embodiment.

  For example, immediately after the moving object starts moving, there is a possibility that the moving object moves in the opposite direction to the destination due to the relationship between the parking lot, the road position, and the link structure. However, after a certain amount of time has passed since the start of movement, the possibility of moving in the opposite direction to the destination is low. Therefore, for example, when the distance from the starting point where the moving body starts moving to the current position is larger than a predetermined value, the current direction is used for filtering of the moving destination. Specifically, the destination candidate is removed from the destination candidate when the direction candidate of the destination candidate, that is, the direction difference between the traffic direction and the current direction is larger than a predetermined value, for example, 90 degrees. In the example shown in FIG. 15, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is 90 degrees. Therefore, if only the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is used, the destination candidate of “ID005 to 008” (East longitude 134.77.26.9, Latitude 34.44.29.2) is obtained from the orientation information. Only ID006 (270 degrees) is removed. However, in general, the moving body rarely moves in the reverse direction due to a U-turn or the like, and therefore it is impossible to pass “ID005 to 008” in a 90-degree direction. By using the current direction (270 degrees), it can be predicted that there is no destination candidate of “ID005” (90 degrees), and therefore, it can be removed from the destination candidates. Note that the current location acquisition unit 101 detects the current orientation of the moving object.

  In this way, by predicting the destination using the current direction of the moving object, destination candidates with low possibility are removed, and the accuracy of destination prediction is improved.

  In the third modification of the first embodiment, the recommended route from the current position to the destination candidate position is calculated from the map information, and the direction and destination of the moving object at the destination candidate position on the recommended route are calculated. The destination candidates are filtered by comparing the candidate orientation candidates. At this time, instead of comparing the direction at the destination candidate position, the direction at the current position may be compared. In other words, the recommended route from the current location to the destination candidate position is calculated from the map information, and the ideal moving body orientation at the current location on the recommended route and the actual moving body orientation at the current location are determined. Compare. The mobile body basically takes the shortest path. Therefore, a place where it is recommended to immediately make a U-turn is not a destination. Therefore, destination candidates are filtered according to the direction of the position of the current location on the recommended route. Thereby, prediction accuracy can be improved.

  FIG. 16 shows the information providing apparatus according to the fifth modification of the first embodiment, that is, calculates a recommended route from the current position and the destination candidate position, and predicts the destination from the ideal direction of the current position. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus provided with a function. This information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 1601, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 1604, a movement destination prediction unit 1605, an information provision unit 106, a map information accumulation unit 1207, and a recommended route calculation unit. 1208. Compared to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a current location acquisition unit 1601, a map information storage unit 1207, and a recommended route calculation unit 1208 are added. And the related processing units are different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment and the third modification, and the description will be omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The current location acquisition unit 1601 detects the current position and current orientation of the moving object by a GPS antenna or an IC tag, communication, image recognition, and the like. For example, the longitude and latitude information of the moving body and an azimuth angle such as “180 degrees” such as “134.55.59.9” east longitude and “34.5.15.6” north latitude are detected.

  The direction calculation unit 1604 uses the recommended route from the position of the current location calculated by the recommended route calculation unit 1208 to the position of the traffic detection location, and the ideal direction at the location of the current location and the location between the current location and the traffic detection location. That is, the ideal current position direction is calculated. Specifically, the direction of the moving body at the position of the traffic volume detection place when the moving body passes on the recommended route is the direction between the current position and the traffic volume detection place. Further, the direction of the moving body at the position of the current location when the moving body passes on the recommended route is set as the ideal current position direction. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, the direction of the moving body at the traffic volume detection position on the recommended route is 90 degrees, so the direction between the current position and the traffic volume detection area is 90 degrees. Moreover, since the direction of the moving body at the current position on the recommended route is 300 degrees, the ideal current position direction is set to 300 degrees.

  The destination prediction unit 1605 is configured to calculate the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 and the distance between the departure location and the traffic detection location, and between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the direction calculation unit 1604. Predict the traffic detection location as the destination based on the direction, the ideal current position, the current orientation acquired by the current location acquisition unit, the magnitude of the traffic accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulation unit 102 and the direction of the traffic . The destination prediction unit 1605 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, and a filtering unit 1605b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  More specifically, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 1605 uses the traffic volume detection location as the destination candidate, and then the filtering unit 1605b of the destination prediction unit 1605 The destination candidates are filtered based on the distance between the ground and the traffic detection location, the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location, and the direction of the traffic at the detection location. In other words, the filtering unit 1605b first removes from the destination candidates destination candidates whose direction difference between the direction of traffic volume and the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is larger than the threshold. Then, destination candidates are filtered based on the ideal current position direction and the current direction. That is, a destination candidate whose direction difference between the ideal direction and the current direction is larger than the threshold is removed from the destination candidates. The threshold is set to 0 degrees, for example. This is because if the moving destination candidate is the moving destination, the moving body can be assumed to move on the recommended route, so the current direction and the direction of the moving destination candidate also match the direction on the recommended route. . For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, for the destination candidate ID001, the direction difference between the current location and the traffic volume detection location (90 degrees) and the traffic volume direction (90 degrees) is 0 degrees (90 degrees-90 degrees). However, since the direction difference between the ideal current position direction (300 degrees) and the current direction (120 degrees) is 180 degrees (300 degrees-120 degrees), it is removed from the movement destination candidates. This is because when the moving body is heading for ID001, the current direction is usually 300 degrees. However, ID001 cannot be removed from the destination candidates unless the ideal current position direction calculated from the current direction and the recommended route is used.

  Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, the destination having the largest evaluation value obtained by dividing the traffic volume by the distance is set as the destination.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the fifth modification of the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment and the third modification, and the description will be omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 1601 acquires the current position and orientation of the moving object (step S1801). Similar to the third modification of the first embodiment, after calculating the distance and the recommended route, the direction calculating unit 1604 uses the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculating unit 1208 to determine the direction from the current location to the traffic detection location and the ideal. The current position direction is calculated (step S1804). After the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 1605 selects the destination candidate based on the distance, the filtering unit 1605b selects between the current location and the traffic amount detection location from the traffic amount detection locations that are the destination candidates. Destination candidates are selected based on the direction of traffic, the direction of traffic volume in the detected value, the ideal current position direction and the current direction of the actual moving object (step S1805). In other words, from the destination candidates, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the traffic direction in the detected value are within a certain range, and the ideal current position direction and the actual current direction of the moving object Select destination candidates that are within a certain range. Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S806 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the moving destination candidates are filtered based on the direction of the position of the current location on the recommended route, so that the prediction accuracy of the moving destination is improved.

  In the first embodiment, the destination is predicted based on the Euclidean distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location. However, the minimum route cost between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated using the map information storage unit 1207 may be used instead of the Euclidean distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location. The route cost is a cost calculated when searching for a recommended route by a car navigation device or the like, and is a cost necessary for moving the route. For example, the route cost is obtained from the travel time and travel distance of the route, the road width, the number of turns, and the minimum route cost is calculated by Dijkstra method.

  As described above, the information providing apparatus that predicts the destination using the route cost instead of the distance may be realized as the information providing apparatus in the sixth modification of the first embodiment. For example, as in the example illustrated in FIG. 19, it is assumed that there are “ID011 • traffic direction 270 degrees” and “ID012 • traffic direction 270 degrees” as traffic volume detection points. When the Euclidean distance is calculated, the “ID011 traffic direction 270 degrees” is clearly closer to the current location than the “ID012 traffic direction 270 degrees”. However, in actuality, when trying to pass ID011 in the direction of 270 degrees, it is necessary to make a large turn, and the route cost is very high, so there is a higher possibility that ID012 will pass in the direction of 270 degrees.

  Thus, by calculating the minimum path cost, it is possible to perform prediction with higher accuracy. The distance calculation unit 103 calculates the minimum route cost.

  Moreover, in this Embodiment 1, the information provision apparatus performed the information provision based on the prediction of a movement destination and the predicted movement destination with respect to a moving body. However, the information providing device may be configured by a beacon for detecting traffic and a traffic information management server, and may provide information to an information providing terminal for a mobile object such as a car navigation device.

  That is, a system having a hardware configuration in which the information providing function and the destination prediction function are separated may be realized as the information providing apparatus according to the seventh modification of the first embodiment. Thereby, since the information provision terminal does not need to predict a movement destination, there exists an advantage that it is not necessary to accumulate | store traffic.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first embodiment, the location information of the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 is used as it is, and the distance from the current location to the location of the traffic detection location is calculated. The destination was predicted. However, there are cases where the position of the traffic volume detection location can be changed by using the position of the road or the link structure. In addition, there is a case where the destination can be effectively predicted when the position of the traffic volume detection location is changed to another location.

  For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 20, the traffic detection location “ID2001, traffic direction 270 degrees, traffic volume 500 (car / hour)” at a location 1 km from the current location, traffic at a location 2 km away It is assumed that there is a volume detection place “ID2002, traffic direction 90 degrees, traffic volume 700 (unit / hour)”. When the movement destination prediction is performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the prediction destination is ID 2001 having the closest distance. However, in the example shown in FIG. 20, there is no branch until the vehicle passes through the ID 2002 in the direction of 90 degrees after traveling in the direction of 90 degrees at the intersection 2003. For this reason, the traffic volume detected by the ID 2002 is synonymous with the traffic volume traveling through the intersection 2003 in the direction of 90 degrees. However, since the traffic volume detection location ID 2002 is away from the intersection 2003, the evaluation value is lower than that of the ID 2001 when the destination is predicted. However, at the intersection 2003, since the traffic volume (ID2002) in the direction of 90 degrees is larger than the traffic volume (ID2001) in the direction of 270 degrees, the possibility of moving in the direction of 90 degrees is high. Therefore, it is possible to effectively predict the destination by changing the detected location of the ID 2002 to the position of the intersection 2003 using the road position and the link structure.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the position of the traffic detection location is changed using the position of the road and the link structure. Thereby, a movement destination can be predicted more accurately.

  FIG. 21 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the position of a traffic volume detection location using a road position and a link structure in addition to the functions of the first embodiment. Amount detection location storage unit 102, distance calculation unit 103, direction calculation unit 104, destination prediction unit 105, information provision unit 106, map information storage unit 1207, traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108, and traffic volume detection location change Part 2109 is provided. Compared to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that a map information accumulation unit 1207, a traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108, and a traffic volume detection location change unit 2109 are added. Different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment and the modifications thereof, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108 uses the traffic volume detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 and road information stored in the map information storage unit 1207, for example, the node location and connection node information. The position range in which the traffic volume is constant and the position of the traffic volume detection location can be calculated is calculated. Specifically, on the road including the traffic detection location, a range where there is no branch before and after the traffic detection location is set as a changeable position range. No branching means that there is only one direction of traffic inflow and outflow. For example, the changeable position range of the traffic detection location “ID2002” in FIG. 22 is a position range from the intersection 2003 to the intersection 2004 where the traffic volume is considered to be constant because there is no branch.

  If the road width of the branch destination road is very small, that is, less than a predetermined value, it can be assumed that there is almost no inflow or outflow of traffic, so there may be no branch. That is, the changeable position range of the traffic volume detection area is a range where there is no branch having a road width equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Similarly, there may be no branch when the branch destination road is one lane on both sides or one-way. If it can be assumed that there is almost no inflow or outflow of traffic due to branching, or if it can be assumed that the traffic volume is constant because the traffic volume of inflow or outflow is the same, it is assumed that there is no branching. You may enlarge the amount detection location changeable position range.

  The traffic volume detection location change unit 2109 determines the location of the change destination of the traffic volume detection location from the current location of the moving body acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the changeable location range calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108. decide. Specifically, the traffic volume detection location is changed from the changeable location range calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108 to a position having the shortest distance from the current location. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 23, since the position having the shortest distance from the current location is the intersection 2003, the position of the traffic detection location ID 2002 is changed to the intersection 2003.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108 can change the traffic volume detection location from the traffic volume detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 and the road information stored in the map information storage unit 1207. The position range is calculated (step S2402). For example, in a road including a traffic volume detection area, a range where there is no branch before and after the traffic volume detection area is set as a changeable position range.

  Subsequently, the traffic volume detection location change unit 2109 changes the traffic volume detection location from the current location of the moving object acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the changeable location range calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108. Is determined (step S2403). For example, the traffic volume detection location is changed from the changeable location range calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108 to a position having the shortest distance from the current location. Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S802 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the position of the traffic volume detection location is changed using the position of the road and the link structure, and the location of the traffic volume detection location is in accordance with the actual situation. As a result, the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

  In the second embodiment, the distance and direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location are changed by changing the position of the traffic volume detection location. However, the destination can be predicted more effectively by changing the direction candidate in the destination candidate, that is, the direction of traffic volume. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 25, the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location of “ID2503” is 120 degrees. Since the direction from the current location to the traffic detection location of “ID2503” is 0 degree, if filtering is performed at ± 90 degrees of 0 degrees, the traffic detection location of “ID2503” is excluded from the destination candidates. However, depending on the structure of the road, as indicated by “ID 2503” in FIG. 25, the direction temporarily proceeds in the direction of “120 degrees”, but may eventually proceed in the direction of “0 degrees”. Therefore, the destination can be effectively predicted by changing the direction of traffic volume using the road position and the link structure.

  FIG. 26 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the first modification of the second embodiment, that is, the information providing apparatus having a function of correcting the direction of traffic volume in addition to the function of the second embodiment. is there. This information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location storage unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 105, an information provision unit 106, a map information storage unit 1207, a traffic volume detection location. A position range calculation unit 2108, a traffic volume detection location change unit 2109, and a traffic volume detection location change unit 2610 are provided. Compared with the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus has a map information accumulation unit 1207, a traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108, a traffic volume detection location change unit 2109, and a traffic detection location change. The difference is that a part 2610 is added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and second embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The traffic volume detection location direction change unit 2610 is a changeable position calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit 2108 that can be taken by a moving body that passes the location accumulated in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 in a predetermined direction. The direction of traffic after change is determined using the direction of traffic in the range. The traffic direction in the changeable position range is calculated from the road information stored in the map information storage unit 1207, for example, the node position and the connection node. As the direction of the traffic volume after the change, for example, an average of the traffic direction in the changeable position range is used. For example, the changeable position range of the traffic detection location “ID2503” in FIG. 27 is a road from the intersection 2704 to the intersection 2706 passing through the corner 2705. When traveling along the intersection 2704 in the direction of 120 degrees, the direction of traffic volume for 1 km from the intersection 2704 to the corner 2705 is 120 degrees from the road structure. The traffic direction for 3 km from the turn 2705 to the intersection 2706 is 0 degrees. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 28, the average traffic direction of 30 degrees {= (1 × 120 + 3 × 0) / (1 + 3)} is set as the traffic direction of ID 2503.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the second embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and second embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As in the second embodiment, after changing the position of the traffic volume from the current location, the road information accumulated in the map information accumulation unit 1207, the position of the detection area accumulated in the traffic detection area accumulation unit 102, and the traffic volume The traffic direction is changed using the changeable position range calculated by the traffic direction detection location position range calculation unit 2108 (step S2904). For example, the average traffic direction in the changeable position range is set as the traffic direction after the change. Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S802 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, not only the position of the traffic volume detection position but also the direction of the traffic volume is corrected by using the position of the road and the link structure to be more realistic. Therefore, the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first and second embodiments, the destination is predicted based on the distance and direction from the current location to the destination candidate, the magnitude and direction of the traffic volume of the destination candidate. However, there are cases where the moving body does not proceed to a place with the highest traffic volume. When the moving destination is predicted while the moving body is moving, the moving destination can be predicted even in such a case by using the moving information from the departure of the moving body to the present. In general, the moving body does not make a detour when heading to the destination candidate, and moves to the destination candidate so that the route cost is as low as possible. For this reason, when a moving body heads for a movement destination candidate, prediction is performed by calculating how far the vehicle travels from the departure place to the present.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 30, it is assumed that the moving body has moved in the northwest direction from the departure place to the current location. In the first and second embodiments, it is predicted that the moving body will head for “ID007” having the largest traffic volume. However, when the mobile object actually heads for “ID007”, the mobile object should move in the southeast direction from the departure point to the current location. However, since the moving object makes a detour with respect to “ID007”, it is wrong to predict that it is heading toward “ID007”. Next, the traffic volume is large and “ID004” is not making a detour. It seems that they are heading. These can be discriminated by obtaining a circuitousness indicating the degree of circuitousness with respect to the destination candidate from the starting point and the current location.

  In the third embodiment, the destination is predicted using the circuitousness calculated from the route cost for the departure point, the current location, and the destination candidate position.

  FIG. 31 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment. In addition to the functions of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of predicting a destination using a circuitousness calculated based on a route cost with respect to a departure place, a current location, and a destination candidate position. , Current location acquisition unit 101, traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, route cost calculation unit 3103, direction calculation unit 104, destination prediction unit 3105, information provision unit 106, departure point acquisition unit 1007, map information accumulation unit 1207, and circuitousness A calculation unit 3109 is provided. Compared with the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus has a departure point acquisition unit 1007, a map information storage unit 1207, and a circuitousness calculation unit 3109, and the distance calculation unit 103 has a route cost. The point that the calculation unit 3103 is replaced and the processing unit related thereto are different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The route cost calculation unit 3103 calculates the route cost using road information such as node position, connection node, and link distance accumulated in the map information accumulation unit 1207. The route cost between the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the departure location acquired by the departure location acquisition unit 1007, the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 And the route cost between the departure point acquired by the departure point acquisition unit 1007 and the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 is calculated.

  Note that the orientation information may be used when calculating the route cost. That is, the route cost between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is a route cost until the vehicle passes in the direction of the traffic volume detected from the location and orientation of the current location.

  The route cost is calculated from the distance of the route between positions, the time required for traveling along the route, the road type, road regulation information, the number of right / left turns, and the like. For example, the distance of the minimum distance route between the positions is calculated by the sum of the link distances, and the route cost is obtained. For example, as shown in FIG. 30, when the current location, the departure location, the traffic detection location, and the map information are acquired, the route cost for the traffic detection location, that is, the destination candidate “ID001” is calculated. As shown, the current departure point route cost is “1 km”, the departure candidate point route cost for the destination candidate “ID001” is “6 km”, and the current candidate point route cost is “5 km”.

  Note that the route cost may be calculated in consideration of the number of right / left turns using the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, the direction of the moving body at the current location, and the direction of the moving body at the departure location. Suppose that one turn on the left and right is equivalent to a route cost of 1 km. The route cost between the departure point candidates for the destination candidate “ID001” is “9 km” (6 km + 1 km × right / left turn three times).

  The circuitousness calculation unit 3109 calculates the circuitousness from the route cost calculated by the route cost calculation unit 3103. The circuitousness is the difference between the cost of the route through which the moving body currently passes with respect to the cost of the route with the lowest cost from the departure point to the destination. Specifically, the difference between the sum of the current departure point route cost and the current candidate point route cost and the departure candidate point route cost is the circuitousness. For example, when the route cost is calculated as shown in FIG. 32, the circuitousness for the destination candidate “ID001” is the current departure point route cost “1 km” and the current candidate point route cost “5 km”. A difference “0 km” between the sum “6 km” and the route cost between departure candidate positions “6 km” is obtained.

  The destination prediction unit 3105 is configured to calculate the route cost between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the route cost calculation unit 3103, that is, between the current candidate route cost and the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the direction calculation unit 104. Direction, traffic volume of traffic detection location accumulated in traffic detection location accumulating unit 102 and direction of traffic volume, circuitousness with respect to traffic detection location as destination candidate calculated by circuitousness calculation unit 3109, Predict the traffic detection location as the destination. The destination prediction unit 3105 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines destination candidates, and a filtering unit 3105b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  For example, the movement destination candidate determination unit 105a of the movement destination prediction unit 3105 uses the traffic volume detection place as shown in FIG. 30 accumulated in the traffic volume detection place accumulation unit 102 as a movement destination candidate. Similar to the first embodiment, filtering unit 3105b further performs filtering based on the direction between the current location and the detected amount of traffic and the direction of the amount of traffic in the detected value from among the detected amount of traffic that has become a destination candidate. . For example, a traffic volume detection location whose traffic volume direction is within a range of ± 90 degrees of the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is selected as a destination candidate. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 30, filtering is performed from the direction as shown in FIG.

  Next, the filtering unit 3105b further filters the destination candidates based on the circuitousness with respect to the traffic volume detection location. A mobile body tends to move so as to reduce the route cost for movement when aiming at a destination. Therefore, the circuitousness that is the cost difference with respect to the minimum cost is also reduced. Specifically, only destination candidates whose circuitousness is a predetermined value, for example, a detour route allowable distance setting of 1 km or less for the traffic jam of the apparatus, are left as destination candidates. In the case of the destination candidate shown in FIG. 33, assuming that the circuitousness becomes as shown in FIG. 34, the circuitousness with respect to the traffic detection location of “ID001” and “ID004” is left as a destination candidate from “0 km”. . Since the circuitousness with respect to the traffic detection locations of “ID006” and “ID007” is larger than “7 km” and “1 km”, it is removed from the destination candidates.

  Next, the travel destination is predicted based on the traffic volume of the traffic volume detection location that is the travel destination candidate and the route cost from the traffic volume detection location to the current location. The destination with the highest evaluation value obtained by dividing the traffic volume by the route cost is taken as the destination. For example, as shown in FIG. 35, the evaluation value for “ID001 • traffic direction 0 °” is 50/5, and the evaluation value for “ID004 • traffic direction 180 °” is 400/4, which is the most evaluated. “ID004 / direction of traffic volume 180 degrees” having a high value is selected as the destination. This predicts that the moving body will move in the direction of 180 degrees in the future at the location of ID004.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements shown in the first embodiment.

  First, the departure point acquisition unit 1007 acquires the departure position where the moving body starts moving (step S1100). The current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The route cost calculation unit 3103 uses the road information accumulated in the map information accumulation unit 1207 to determine the route cost between the current location and the departure location, the current position and the traffic volume detection location that is the destination candidate location. The route cost and the route cost between the departure point and the traffic amount detection point as the destination candidate point are calculated (step S3602). The direction calculation unit 104 calculates the direction from the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage 102 (step S803).

  The circuitousness calculation unit 3109 calculates the circuitousness for the movement destination candidate from the route cost calculated by the route cost calculation unit 3103 (step S3604). The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 3105 identifies the destination candidate, and the filtering unit 3105b determines the direction between the current location and the traffic amount detection location from the traffic amount detection locations that are the destination candidates. A destination candidate is selected based on the direction of traffic volume in the detected value (step S805). The filtering unit 3105b selects a moving destination candidate of the moving object from the circuitousness calculated by the circuitousness calculating unit 3109 (step S3606). Further, the filtering unit 3105b predicts a destination based on the traffic volume and the route cost from the current location to the traffic volume detection location among the traffic volume detection locations that are destination candidates (step S3607).

  Finally, the information providing unit 106 reads out information related to the destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 3105 from the provided information storage unit 106a and provides the information to the user (step S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the travel destination is predicted using the circuitousness calculated based on the route cost for the departure point, the current location, and the travel destination candidate position, so the circuitousness is high. The destination, that is, the destination with low possibility is excluded, and the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

(Embodiment 4)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to third embodiments, the destination is predicted based on the magnitude of the traffic volume, the distance from the current location, and the direction from the destination candidate that is the traffic volume detection location. However, there are cases where both of A and B pass among the plurality of destination candidates A, B, and C. That is, when passing through B, there is a case where it must pass through A. In such a case, since the destination candidate of B includes passage to the destination candidate of A, the prediction accuracy may be lowered when A, B, and C are handled equally. In such a case, it is better to predict the destination from the destination candidates A and C first, and predict whether or not to pass B only when it is predicted to pass A. The prediction can be performed without being influenced by the traffic volume of B including the. Further, when predicting the destination B, information that passes through A can be used, so that the accuracy of prediction is further improved. By removing the redundant destination such as B at the time of prediction, the destination can be predicted more efficiently.

  FIG. 37 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of removing and predicting redundant travel destinations based on a road link structure in addition to the function of the first embodiment, and includes a current location acquisition unit 101, traffic volume detection Land storage unit 102, distance calculation unit 103, direction calculation unit 104, destination prediction unit 105, information provision unit 106, map information storage unit 1207, recommended route calculation unit 3708, redundancy calculation unit 3709, and redundant destination removal unit 3710 Is provided. Compared with the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus has a map information storage unit 1207, a recommended route calculation unit 3708, a redundancy calculation unit 3709, and a redundant movement destination removal unit 3710. Different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The recommended route calculation unit 3708 uses the road information accumulated in the map information accumulation unit 1207, for example, the node position, connection node, and link distance, so that the traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102 uses the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101. The recommended route for passing through the accumulated traffic detection position in the direction of traffic is calculated. Specifically, the route cost of each route from the current location to the traffic detection location is calculated, and the route with the lowest cost is obtained by the Dijkstra method or the like. The route cost is, for example, the total link distance.

  The redundancy calculation unit 3709 uses the recommended route from the current location to the traffic detection location calculated by the recommended route calculation unit 3708 to calculate redundancy indicating whether there is a redundant traffic detection location. Specifically, if there is another destination candidate, that is, another traffic detection location, in the recommended route from the current location to the traffic detection location, the traffic detection location for which the recommended route was found has redundancy. True. On the other hand, if there is no other traffic detection location, the traffic detection location for which the recommended route is obtained has a redundancy of false. For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 38, when another traffic detection location “ID003 · 90 degrees” exists in the recommended route when passing through the traffic detection location “ID022” in the direction of 0 degrees, The traffic detection location “ID022.0 degrees” has a redundancy of true.

  The redundant destination removal unit 3710 removes from the destination candidates the traffic level detection locations accumulated by the traffic level detection location storage unit 102 that the redundancy degree calculation unit 3709 has determined the redundancy as true, and sets the redundancy as false. Is determined as a destination candidate.

  The destination prediction unit 3705, between the traffic volume detection locations determined by the redundant destination removal unit 3710 as the destination candidates, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103. Based on the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance and orientation calculation unit 104, the traffic volume accumulated in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102, and the traffic volume direction, the traffic volume detection location to be the destination is determined. Predict. The movement destination prediction unit 3705 includes a movement destination candidate determination unit 3705a that determines the movement destination candidate determined by the redundant movement destination removal unit 3710 as a movement destination candidate, and one or more final movement destinations from the determined movement destination candidates. And a filtering unit 105b for sorting the images.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  After calculating the distance and direction from the current location as in the first embodiment, for each destination candidate, the recommended route calculation unit 3708 calculates a recommended route from the current location to the destination candidate (step S3904). Then, the redundancy calculation unit 3709 calculates the redundancy for the destination candidate depending on whether another destination candidate exists in the recommended route (step S3905). The redundant movement destination removing unit 3710 removes the redundant movement destination from the movement destination candidates ((step S3906). Hereinafter, the same as in the first embodiment (steps S805 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, redundant destinations are removed at the time of prediction, so that a reduction in prediction accuracy associated with such redundant destination candidates is prevented.

(Embodiment 5)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to fourth embodiments, the information providing apparatus predicts a moving destination with a short distance from the traffic information. However, the destination to be reached after passing through the predicted destination may be further predicted. In other words. A further destination is predicted using the predicted destination information.

  FIG. 40 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of recursively predicting a further destination using the predicted destination information in addition to the function of the first embodiment. , A traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a movement destination prediction unit 4005, and an information provision unit 4006. The configuration of the information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment in that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a predicted current location acquisition unit 4001 and processing units related thereto.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The predicted current location acquisition unit 4001 detects the destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 4005 as the current location. When the destination prediction unit 4005 does not predict the destination, the current location of the moving object is detected by a GPS antenna or the like. For example, information on the longitude and latitude of the moving body is detected such as east longitude “134.55.59.9” and north latitude “34.5.15.6”.

  Similar to the first embodiment, the destination prediction unit 4005 determines the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104, and the traffic. Based on the amount of traffic accumulated in the amount detection location accumulating unit 102 and the direction of traffic, the same evaluation value as in the first and second embodiments is calculated to predict the traffic detection location as the destination. . When the predicted evaluation value is more than twice the evaluation value of the other destination candidates, the predicted destination is assumed to be very reliable, and the predicted current location acquisition unit is assumed to have the predicted destination as the predicted current location. And predict the destination. For example, when it is predicted that the location of ID005 (East longitude 134.76.9, North latitude 34.44.49.2) will be 90 degrees as shown in FIG. 41, the prediction is as shown in FIG. If the current location is 90 degrees and the location of ID005 (East longitude 134.77.26.9, North latitude 34.44.49.2), the next traffic volume detection point is predicted. The destination prediction unit 4005 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, a filtering unit 105b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates, and recursively performs prediction. A repetitive control unit 4005c that performs repetitive control.

  The information provision unit 4006 has a provision information storage unit 4006a that stores information to be provided in advance. The information provision unit 4006 reads information about a destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 4005 from the provision information storage unit 4006a, and provides the read information as an information provision. It is provided to the user through the screen and sound of the device. For example, when it is predicted that the moving body will move the point of ID005 (C intersection) in the direction of 90 degrees in the future and then pass the point of ID018 (F intersection) in the direction of 180 degrees, it is shown in FIG. In this way, it is possible to provide traffic information near a distant F intersection that goes outside the screen. The information stored in the provided information storage unit 4006a includes map information such as recommended routes stored in advance, information acquired by the information providing unit 4006 as the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines, and the like. Etc. are included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  After the destination candidate determination unit 105a and the filtering unit 105b of the destination prediction unit 4005 predict the destination from the current location as in the first embodiment, the iterative control unit 4005c of the destination prediction unit 4005 It is determined whether the evaluation value is very large (step S4407). For example, when the evaluation value is 2 times or more compared to other destination candidates (yes in step S4407), the process proceeds to step S4408, and if it is less than 2 times, the prediction is terminated (step S4407). No), the process proceeds to step S4409. If the evaluation value is very high, the predicted current location acquisition unit 4007 sets the predicted destination as the current location (step S4408), and proceeds to step S802. When the evaluation value is low, the information providing unit 4006 reads information about a plurality of or a single destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 4005 from the provided information storage unit 4006a and provides it to the user (step S4409).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the destination is further predicted recursively using the predicted destination information, so that it is not limited to a range close to the current location. The destination can be predicted in a wide range.

  As in the fourth embodiment, the destination can be predicted more efficiently by removing the redundant destination in advance. Because if destination candidates A and B exist and must pass A when passing destination B, it first removes destination candidate B, predicts passing A, and then passes A This is because it can be predicted that the vehicle will pass through the information B.

  In the fifth embodiment, an evaluation value made up of the amount of traffic and the distance from the current location is used to determine whether or not to recursively predict the destination with the destination as the current location. However, the presence / absence of information related to the predicted destination may be used for this determination.

  That is, the information providing apparatus that uses the presence / absence of information related to the predicted moving destination to determine whether or not to recursively predict the moving destination as the current position is used as the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the fifth embodiment. It may be realized. When information related to the predicted destination does not exist in the provided information storage unit 4006a, the information providing unit 4006 outputs the predicted destination as the current location to the predicted current location acquisition unit 4001 and further predicts the destination. . When information related to the predicted destination exists in the provided information storage unit 4006a, the information providing unit 4006 provides information related to the destination. For example, suppose that it is predicted that the location of ID005 will move 90 degrees from the current location. At this time, when there is no information to be provided regarding the route from the current location to the location of ID005 in the provided information storage unit 4006a, the destination is further predicted using the location of ID005 as the current location. Then, it is predicted that the point of ID018 will be passed in the direction of 180 degrees, and if there is traffic information to be provided near the point of ID018 in the provided information storage unit 4006a, the information is provided.

  Thereby, a point where useful information for the user can be obtained is predicted as a destination, and the convenience of the information providing apparatus is improved.

  Further, in the fifth embodiment, when the destination is further predicted using the destination as the current location, the prediction is made using the size, direction, and distance of the traffic volume. However, there may be traffic flow information such as OD traffic volume and traffic flow ratio starting from the detection location with respect to the traffic detection location. For example, when the traffic detection location is an optical beacon, it has traffic flow information such as OD traffic, such as which beacon is likely to pass through a certain beacon. If this traffic flow information is used, a more accurate prediction is possible. Therefore, after predicting movement to a certain traffic volume detection location, the destination may be further predicted using traffic flow information starting from the predicted destination.

  That is, after predicting movement to a certain traffic volume detection location, an information providing apparatus having a function of further predicting the destination using the traffic flow information starting from the predicted destination is described in the fifth embodiment. You may implement | achieve as an information provision apparatus in the modification 2.

  Specifically, an OD traffic volume with a predicted traffic volume detection point as a start point (O) or an end point (D) with a high traffic flow ratio is predicted as a destination. Conventionally, if any beacon is not passed, a beacon passing in the future cannot be predicted. By using this embodiment, it is possible to accurately predict a beacon that will pass in the future without passing a beacon and provide traffic information between beacons.

(Embodiment 6)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to fifth embodiments, since the predicted destination is a traffic volume detection place such as a beacon or a camera on the road, in most cases, it is a passing place of the moving body and not a destination. However, even if it is a landmark such as a station or a store, it is possible to measure the traffic flowing into the store or the like by using a parking detector or camera. It is also possible to calculate the inflow traffic volume virtually based on the number of parking lots and the number of people passing through the doorway. Therefore, the destination may be predicted using the magnitude of the inflow traffic volume using the landmark as the traffic volume detection location. In this case, it is possible to predict not only the passing place but also the final destination by performing recursive prediction as in the fifth embodiment.

  FIG. 45 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of predicting a destination including an inflow traffic volume with respect to a landmark in addition to the function of the first embodiment. Unit 4502, distance calculation unit 103, direction calculation unit 104, destination prediction unit 4505, and information provision unit 4506. Compared to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, the configuration of the information providing apparatus is such that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a predicted current location acquisition unit 4001, and the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 is replaced with a traffic volume detection location storage unit 4502. And the processing unit related thereto are different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and fifth embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 46, the traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 4502 accumulates at least the detection point position where the traffic volume can be detected, the detected traffic volume size and the traffic direction, and the type of the detection location. . The type of detection location indicates whether the traffic detection location is a road that is a passage when the traffic detection location is a destination or a landmark that is a destination. For example, the ID “010” is a traffic in the detection location type “landmark”, the detection location name “Y arena”, the east longitude “134.55.59.9”, and the north latitude “34.6.4.6”. This indicates that there is a volume detection location, and the amount of traffic in the direction “inflow” at the detection location is “70 vehicles / hour”. In FIG. 46, the name of the detection place is described for convenience, but it may not actually be present. Information on the location of the traffic volume detection location and traffic volume is stored in advance in the apparatus. The latest traffic information may be obtained from VICS radio waves or network lines. The traffic detection location is also a destination candidate, and the information providing apparatus determines the destination from the traffic detection location.

  The destination prediction unit 4505 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 and the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104 and the traffic detection location storage unit 4502. In addition to the magnitude of the traffic volume and the direction of the traffic volume, the traffic volume detection location that is the destination is predicted using the type of detection location. The destination prediction unit 4505 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, a filtering unit 4505b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates, and recursively predicts. A repetitive control unit 4005c that performs repetitive control.

  For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 46, it is assumed that traffic volume detection locations are accumulated. The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 4505 selects ten of them in order from the closest distance from the current location, and sets the traffic volume detection place as shown in FIG. 47 as a destination candidate. Then, the filtering unit 4505b of the destination prediction unit 4505 selects the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location only from the traffic detection locations that are candidates for the transfer destination, where the type of the detection location is “road”. Further filtering is performed according to the direction of traffic volume in the detected value. For example, a traffic volume detection location whose traffic volume direction is within a range of ± 90 degrees of the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is selected as a destination candidate. On the other hand, the detected land type “landmark” is not subjected to filtering because the direction of traffic volume is not affected, and is used as a destination candidate as it is. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 47, filtering is performed from the direction as in the example shown in FIG.

  Next, the iterative control unit 4005c of the destination prediction unit 4505 predicts the destination based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic volume detection location. The destination with the highest evaluation value obtained by dividing the amount of traffic by the distance is taken as the destination. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 48, the evaluation value for “ID002 • traffic direction 270 °” is 400 / 1.7, and the evaluation value for “ID003 • traffic direction 90 °” is 400/1. 6. Evaluation value for "ID005-Traffic direction 90 degrees" is 900 / 2.3, Evaluation value for "ID008-Traffic direction 180 degrees" is 100 / 2.3, "S center, inflow" The evaluation value for is 30 / 0.79, the evaluation value for “Y Arena / Inflow” is 70 / 1.5, and the highest evaluation value “ID005, traffic direction 90 degrees” is selected as the destination. Is done. This predicts that the moving body will move in the direction of 90 degrees from the point of ID005 in the future.

  Note that the “landmark” evaluation value may be weighted. For example, the evaluation value is multiplied by 10 for the type of detection place “landmark”.

  When the predicted destination type “road” is the predicted destination, the destination prediction unit 4505 outputs the predicted destination to the predicted current location acquisition unit 4001 as the predicted current location because the destination is a passing location. Further, the destination is predicted. This is repeated until the destination is the destination, that is, the detected place type “landmark”.

  For example, as shown in the example shown in FIG. 49, when it is predicted that the point of ID005 is moved in the direction of 90 degrees, since the ID005 is “road”, the current location is as shown in the example shown in FIG. When it is a point of ID005 in the direction of 90 degrees, it is predicted which traffic volume detection point will move next. At this time, assuming that “V Dojokan / Inflow (Detected Land Type: Landmark)” is predicted as the destination, “V Dojokan / Inflow” has a detected land type as a landmark and is a destination. No more predictions are repeated.

  The information provision unit 4506 includes a provision information storage unit 4506a that stores information to be provided in advance. The information provision unit 4506 reads information about a destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 4505 from the provision information storage unit 4506a, and provides the read information as an information provision. It is provided to the user through the screen and sound of the device. As a result, not only the passing place but also the destination is predicted, so a recommended route to the destination is provided, and ticket information when the landmark is a concert venue is provided. Information about the mark can be provided. For example, if the moving object moves in the future at the point of ID005 (C intersection) in the direction of 90 degrees and predicts that V Dokan will be the destination, it is related to “V Dokan” as shown in FIG. Information, such as ticket information, can be provided. The information accumulated in the provided information accumulation unit 4506a includes information relating to landmarks accumulated in advance, map information such as recommended routes, and the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines. The information acquired by is included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and fifth embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 4505 selects the destination candidate based on the distance from the current location, as in the first embodiment, and then the filtering unit 4505b of the destination prediction unit 4505 becomes the destination candidate. From the detected traffic volume, a destination candidate is selected according to the type of the detected area, the direction between the current location and the detected traffic volume, and the traffic volume direction in the detected value (step S5205). After predicting the destination based on the magnitude and distance of the traffic volume, the iterative control unit 4005c of the destination prediction unit 4505 determines whether the detected destination type of the predicted destination is a landmark (step S5207). If the predicted destination type of the destination is not a landmark (No in step S5207), the process proceeds to step S4408. If it is a landmark (Yes in step S5207), the process proceeds to step S5209. If the destination is a landmark, the information providing unit 4506 reads information about a plurality or a single destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 4505 from the provided information storage unit 4506a and provides it to the user (step S5209). .

  As described above, according to the information providing device in the present embodiment, in addition to the distance and direction between the current location and the traffic detection location, the magnitude and direction of the traffic at the traffic detection location, the inflow traffic to the landmark Since the destination including the amount is predicted, a point that is highly likely to be an actual destination is added and predicted as the destination, and the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

  Note that the direction of the traffic volume may be detected even in the inflow traffic volume of the landmark, and filtering may be performed based on the direction difference between the current location and the direction of the traffic volume detection location. As a result, if there are multiple entrances to store A, such as 300 vehicles / hour in the direction of 0 degrees and 50 vehicles / hour in the direction of 180 degrees, and the traffic volume varies depending on the direction, The traffic volume in the direction different from the direction to enter the store A can be excluded. For example, if you are traveling northward from store A, you normally enter store A at a 180 degree angle when entering store A. Considering the direction at such time, it is not affected by the traffic flowing in at 0 degree.

  In the sixth embodiment, when the landmark is predicted as the destination, the evaluation value is calculated from the traffic volume and the distance from the current location. However, the evaluation value may be weighted according to landmark preference information.

  FIG. 53 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the sixth embodiment, that is, an information providing apparatus having a prediction function including preference information for landmarks. This information providing apparatus includes a predicted current location acquisition unit 4001, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 5302, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a movement destination prediction unit 5305, an information provision unit 4506, and a preference information accumulation unit 5307. Compared with the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a predicted current location acquisition unit 4001, and the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 is replaced with a traffic volume detection location storage unit 5302. The preference information storage unit 5307 is added and the processing unit related thereto is different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first, fifth, and sixth embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 54, the traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 5302 accumulates categories in addition to the detection point positions where the traffic volume can be detected, the magnitude and direction of the detected traffic volume, and the type of the detection location. To do. The category indicates the category of the landmark when the traffic detection location is a landmark. For example, the ID “010” includes the type of detection place “Landmark”, the category “Concert”, the name of the detection place “Y Arena”, the east longitude “134.5.59.9”, the north latitude “34.6.4”. .6 ”indicates that there is a traffic volume detection location, and the traffic volume to the direction“ inflow ”at the detection location is“ 70 vehicles / hour ”.

  As shown in FIG. 25, the preference information accumulation unit 5307 accumulates user evaluations for landmark categories. For example, ID “004” indicates that the evaluation weight for the category “concert” is “5”. The user inputs the preference information in advance.

  The destination prediction unit 5305 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104, and the traffic detection location storage unit 4502. In addition to the magnitude of traffic, the direction of traffic, and the type of detection location, a traffic detection location to be a destination is predicted using the category of the landmark. Specifically, after the destination candidate is filtered by the direction as in the first embodiment, the destination having the largest evaluation value obtained by multiplying the traffic volume divided by the distance and the evaluation weight is set as the destination. . The destination prediction unit 5305 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, a filtering unit 5305b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates, and a recursive prediction. A repetitive control unit 4005c that performs repetitive control.

  For example, as shown in FIGS. 54 and 55, when the traffic volume detection location information and the preference information are accumulated, the distance from the current location to the Y arena is filtered by the filtering unit 5305b as in the example shown in FIG. When the evaluation weight for the Y arena is 1.5 km, the traffic volume of the Y arena 50, and the evaluation weight of the category “concert” of the Y arena is 5, it is 5 × 70 / 1.5.

  As described above, since the destination is predicted in consideration of the preference information for the landmark, the destination prediction with high accuracy reflecting the individuality of the user is realized.

(Embodiment 7)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 7 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to sixth embodiments, the destination is predicted without using the input from the user. In the seventh embodiment, the input from the user is used to determine the movement destination. In other words, in the present embodiment, the apparatus predicts the destination and simplifies setting of the destination by the user.

  Conventionally, there are so many destination candidates for destination setting, so the user enters a phone number, searches from the map, enters the destination location directly, enters the name directly, etc. The burden was very heavy. Although there is a method of inputting from a famous landmark, a landmark of a category designated by the user, or a list of landmarks that have been visited, the number of destination candidates to be presented is very large as shown in FIG. It becomes a list with many, and it is very troublesome just to find the destination you want to enter.

  Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the apparatus filters destination candidates from the traffic information, and allows the user to select from the filtered destination candidates, thereby simplifying destination setting. When destinations are selected as destination candidates, including not only destination candidates but also destination candidates, destinations to be presented to the user by further predicting destinations using the selected passage information It is possible to reduce the number of candidates and further simplify destination setting.

  FIG. 57 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of using an input from a user to determine a destination in addition to the function of the first embodiment, and includes a predicted current location acquisition unit 5701, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 5702, A distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 5705, an information provision unit 5706, a destination presentation unit 5707, a destination selection detection unit 5708, and a destination selection unit 5709 are provided. Compared with the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 and the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 is replaced with a traffic volume detection location storage unit 5702. However, the point to which the movement destination presentation part 5707, the movement destination selection detection part 5708, and the movement destination selection part 5709 are added, and the process part relevant to it differ.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 detects the passing location detected by the movement destination selection detection unit 5708 as the current location. When the movement destination prediction unit does not detect the passing place input, the current position of the moving body is detected by a GPS antenna or the like. For example, information on the longitude and latitude of the moving body is detected such as east longitude “134.55.59.9” and north latitude “34.5.15.6”.

  As shown in FIG. 46, the traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 5702 detects the location of the detection location in addition to the detection point position where the traffic volume can be detected, the magnitude and direction of the detected traffic volume, and the type of the detection location. Accumulate names. For example, the ID “010” is a traffic in the detection location type “landmark”, the detection location name “Y arena”, the east longitude “134.55.59.9”, and the north latitude “34.6.4.6”. This indicates that there is a volume detection location, and the amount of traffic in the direction “inflow” at the detection location is “70 vehicles / hour”.

  The destination prediction unit 5705 stores the current location-traffic detection location distance calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the current location-traffic detection location direction calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104, and the traffic detection location storage unit 5702. The traffic volume detection location to be the destination is predicted using the size of the traffic volume, the direction of traffic volume, and the type of detection location. The destination prediction unit 5705 includes a destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a destination candidate, and a filtering unit 5705b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 46, it is assumed that the traffic volume detection location is stored in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 5702. Of these, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 5705 selects all those existing within a certain distance from the current location, specifically, within the map screen presented by the device, and is shown in FIG. In this way, the destination is a candidate. The filtering unit 5705b of the destination prediction unit 5705 predicts the destination in the same manner as in the sixth embodiment from the traffic volume detection locations that are candidates for the destination. However, a plurality of destinations are predicted in descending order of evaluation value, for example, five as shown in FIG. Note that the “landmark” evaluation value may be weighted. For example, the evaluation value is multiplied by 10 for the type of detection place “landmark”.

  As illustrated in FIG. 60, the movement destination presentation unit 5707 presents and selects a plurality of movement destinations predicted by the movement destination prediction unit 5705 to the user. Specifically, the name of the detection location and the position of the detection location are presented. When the type of detection location is “road”, the direction of passing, that is, the direction of traffic volume, and when the detection type is “landmark”, it may be indicated as the destination. Good.

  The destination selection unit 5709 is an input device for the user to select from a plurality of destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 5707, such as a remote controller and voice input, as shown in FIG.

  The destination selection detection unit 5708 detects the destination selected by the destination selection unit 5709 from the plurality of destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 5707. When the detected destination is a passing place, that is, when the detected place type is “road”, the detected destination is output to the predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 as the current location, and the prediction is performed again. When the detected destination is the destination, that is, when the detected destination type is “landmark”, the detected destination is set as the destination.

  The information provision unit 5706 includes a provision information storage unit 5706a that stores information to be provided in advance, reads information about the set destination from the provision information storage unit 5706a, and provides the read information to the user. For example, as shown in FIG. 60, when “C intersection / 90 ° passing” is selected from the predicted destination, and “C intersection / 90 ° passing” is set as the current location as shown in FIG. It is assumed that “G movie theater / destination” is selected from the predicted movement destination. At this time, as shown in FIG. 62, traffic congestion information on the planned route of the user from the current location to the destination “G movie theater” is displayed, and recommended route information to the destination “G movie theater” is provided. The information stored in the provided information storage unit 5706a includes map information such as recommended routes stored in advance, information acquired by the information providing unit 5706 as the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines, and the like. Etc. are included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and sixth embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted.

  After calculating the distance and direction from the current location as in the first embodiment, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 5705 calculates the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103. A plurality of traffic detection points in the terminal screen are selected as destination candidates (step S6304). As in the first embodiment, the filtering unit 5705b of the destination prediction unit 5705 selects the type of the detected location, the direction between the current location and the traffic detected location, and the detected value from the traffic detected locations that are the destination candidates. The destination candidate is selected according to the direction of traffic volume at (step S5205). Further, the filtering unit 5705b of the destination prediction unit 5705 predicts a plurality of destinations based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic volume detection location from the traffic detection locations that are the destination candidates (step) S6306).

  The destination presentation unit 5707 presents the plurality of destinations predicted by the destination prediction unit 5705 to the user together with the location and name of the destination (step S6307). In the destination selection unit 5709, the user selects a destination from the destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 5707 (step S6308). The destination selection detection unit 5708 detects a destination selected by the destination selection unit 5709 from the destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 5707 (step S6309).

  Further, the destination selection detection unit 5708 determines whether the detected destination type of the selected destination is the destination (step S6310). If the detected destination type of the selected destination is not the destination (No in step S6310), the process proceeds to step S6311. If the destination is the destination (Yes in step S6310), the process proceeds to step S6312. When the selected destination is not the destination, the predicted current location acquisition unit acquires the selected destination as the current location (step S6311) and returns to step S802. When the selected destination is a landmark, the information providing unit 5706 reads information about the selected destination detected by the destination selection detecting unit 5708 from the provided information storage unit 5706a and provides it to the user (step S6312). . Note that step S6304 may be omitted. That is, the accumulated traffic volume detection location may be used as a destination candidate as it is.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, since the input from the user is used to determine the destination, information on the destination different from the destination planned by the user is provided. Thus, a user-friendly information providing apparatus is realized.

  In the seventh embodiment, the destination candidates are landmarks that can detect the traffic volume, and filtering is performed based on the traffic volume information. However, the destination candidate may not be able to detect the traffic volume. For example, a list of landmarks that the user has visited, generally famous landmarks, landmarks that exceed a certain area, landmarks that match the user's preferences, etc., are accumulated as candidate destinations. Simplify destination setting by predicting the passing point from the traffic volume, letting the user select it, and presenting and selecting only the destination candidates at a certain distance from the finally selected passing point. Can be done. Further, the destination intended by the user may not exist in the list of destination candidates. Even in such a case, it is possible to provide route information to the passing place finally selected by the user and information of a range in which the destination is assumed to exist.

  FIG. 64 is a configuration diagram of such an information providing apparatus in Modification 1 of Embodiment 7, that is, an information providing apparatus having a function of selecting a destination from a destination list after selecting a passage destination. This information providing apparatus includes a predicted current location acquisition unit 5701, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a passage location prediction unit 6405, a passage location presentation unit 6407, a passage destination selection detection unit 6408, a purpose. A location candidate accumulation unit 6409, a destination presentation unit 6410, a destination selection detection unit 6411, an information provision unit 6412, a passing point selection unit 6413, and a destination selection unit 6414 are provided. Compared to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, the configuration of the information providing apparatus is that the current location acquisition unit 101 is replaced with a predicted current location acquisition unit 5701, and the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a passage prediction unit 6405. The points 6407 to 6411, 6413 and 6414 are added, and the processing units related thereto are different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and seventh embodiments, and the description thereof is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 65, the destination candidate accumulating unit 6409 accumulates the names and positions of the destination candidates. For example, the ID “001” indicates the destination candidate name “S center”, the east longitude “134.5.28.9”, and the north latitude “34.5.15.7”. The names and positions of destination candidates are stored in advance in the apparatus. The destination candidate is, for example, a list of landmarks having an area that is greater than or equal to a certain area.

  The passing point prediction unit 6405 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the direction calculation unit 104, and the traffic detection location storage unit 102. A traffic volume detection place that is a passing place is predicted using the magnitude of the traffic volume and the direction of the traffic volume. As with the destination prediction unit 105 of the first embodiment, for example, it is assumed that traffic volume detection locations are accumulated as shown in FIG. Among these, all those existing within a certain distance from the current location, specifically, within the map screen presented by the device, are selected, and the destination, that is, the passing location, is predicted in the same manner as in the first embodiment. However, a plurality of passing places are predicted in descending order of evaluation value, for example, three as shown in FIG. In addition, since the traffic volume detection place here is often a passing place, it is called a passing place, but may be a destination. The passing point prediction unit 6405 includes a passing point candidate determination unit 6405a that determines a passing point candidate and a filtering unit 6405b that selects one or more final passing points from the determined passing point candidate.

  The passing place presenting unit 6407 presents the user with a plurality of passing points predicted by the passing place prediction unit 6405 as shown in FIG. Specifically, the location of the detected location and the direction of traffic volume are presented. At the same time, it presents an option of “Nothing passes”.

  The passing point selection unit 6413 is an input processing unit for the user to select from a plurality of destinations presented by the passing point presenting unit 6407 as shown in FIG. 67, such as a remote controller or voice input.

  The passage destination selection detection unit 6408 detects the passage destination selected by the passage destination selection unit 6413 from the plurality of passage destinations presented by the passage point presentation unit 6407. The detected passing destination is output to the predicted current position acquisition unit 5701 as the current position, and the prediction is performed again. When the passage destination is not detected, that is, when “no passage” is selected, the prediction is terminated.

  The destination presenting unit 6410 is a destination that is finally selected by the user from the destination candidates accumulated in the destination candidate accumulating unit 6409, or a destination at a predetermined distance from the current location when none is selected. Present candidates with location and name. For example, the destination present in the screen is presented when the pass value finally selected by the user is the current location. For example, “ID005 · 90 ° passing” is selected from the predicted passing destinations as shown in FIG. 67, and “ID005 · 90 ° passing” is set as the current location as shown in FIG. 68. 69, “ID018 · 180 ° passing” is selected, and as shown in FIG. 69, “No pass” is selected from the predicted passing destination when “ID018 · 180 ° passing” is the current location. At this time, as shown in FIG. 70, the destination candidates in the screen when the point where “ID018” moves in the direction of 90 degrees as the current location are set as the current location are presented. At the same time, the option “Nowhere to go” is presented.

  The destination selection unit 6414 is an input processing unit for the user to select from a plurality of destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 6410 as shown in FIG. 70, such as a remote controller or voice input.

  The destination selection detection unit 6411 detects a destination selected by the destination selection unit 6414 from among a plurality of destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 6410, and performs destination setting. When the destination is not detected, that is, when “nowhere is the destination” is selected, the finally selected passing place is used as a substitute for the destination.

  The information provision unit 6412 has a provision information storage unit 6412a that stores information to be provided in advance, reads information about the selected passing place and the set destination from the provision information storage unit 6412a, and sends the read information to the user. provide. For example, as shown in FIG. 67, “ID005 / 90 ° passing” is selected from the predicted passing destination, and “ID005 / 90 ° passing” is assumed as the current location as shown in FIG. 68. “ID018 · 180 ° passing” is selected first, and “No Pass” is selected from the predicted passing destination when “ID018 · 180 ° passing” is the current location as shown in FIG. 69, as shown in FIG. As described above, it is assumed that “nowhere is the destination” is selected from the destination candidates when “ID018 · 180 ° passing” is the current location. At this time, as shown in FIG. 71, the traffic information on the planned route of the user who passes the passing place “ID005” from the current location in the direction of 90 degrees and “ID018” in the direction of 180 degrees is displayed. The recommended route information up to the passing place “ID018 · 180 degrees” is provided. The information stored in the provided information storage unit 6412a includes map information such as recommended routes stored in advance, information acquired by the information providing unit 6412 as the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines, and the like. Etc. are included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the seventh embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  First, the predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S7201). The distance calculation unit 103 calculates the distance between the position of the current location acquired by the predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 and the position of the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 (step S7202). The direction calculation unit 104 calculates the direction from the current location acquired by the predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage 102 (step S7203). The passage location candidate determination unit 6405a of the passage location prediction unit 6405 selects a plurality of traffic volume detection locations in the terminal screen as passage destination candidates based on the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103. (Step S7204). The filtering unit 6405b of the passing point predicting unit 6405 selects passing destination candidates from the traffic volume detection locations that have become the passing destination candidates, based on the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the direction of traffic volume at the detection location. (Step S7205). Further, the filtering unit 6405b of the passing point predicting unit 6405 predicts a plurality of passing destinations based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic detecting point among the traffic detecting points that are candidates for the passing destination (step) S7206).

  The passing place presenting unit 6407 presents the plurality of passing destinations predicted by the passing place predicting unit 6405 together with the position and direction of the passing destination to the user (step S7207). In the passing place selection unit 6413, the user selects a passing destination from the passing destinations presented by the passing place presenting unit 6407 (step S7208). The passage destination selection detection unit 6408 detects the passage destination selected by the passage point selection unit 6413 from the passage destinations presented by the passage point presentation unit 6407 (step S7209).

  Further, the passage destination selection detection unit 6408 determines whether a passage destination has been selected (step S7210). When the passage destination is selected (No in step S7210), the process proceeds to step S7211, and when no passage is selected (Yes in step S7210), the process proceeds to step S7212. When the passing destination is selected, the predicted current location acquisition unit 5701 acquires the selected passing destination as the current location (step S7211), and the process returns to step S7202. When no pass is selected, the destination presenting unit 6410 selects a destination candidate within a predetermined distance from the destination finally selected from the destination candidate accumulating unit 6409, and the position of the destination candidate. And the name are presented to the user (step S7212). In the destination selection unit 6414, the user selects a destination from the destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 6410 (step S7213). The destination selection detection unit 6411 detects the destination selected by the destination selection unit 6414 from the destinations presented by the destination presentation unit 6410 (step S7214).

  Furthermore, the destination selection detection unit 6411 determines whether a destination has been selected (step S7215). If a destination is selected (No in step S7215), the process proceeds to step S7216. If no destination is selected (Yes in step S7215), the process proceeds to step S7217. When the destination is selected, the information providing unit 6412 reads and provides information related to the selected destination from the provided information storage unit 6412a (step S7216). When the destination is not selected, the information providing unit 6412 reads out the information related to the selected passing place from the provided information storage unit 6412a and provides the information (Step 7217). Note that step S7204 may be omitted. That is, the accumulated traffic volume detection location may be used as a passing location candidate as it is.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the destination predicted by the apparatus is presented to the user and input from the user can be received, so that the user can easily set the destination. .

(Embodiment 8)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention will be described.

  In the second embodiment, the position and orientation of each traffic volume detection place are changed. However, there is a case where a destination prediction can be effectively handled by combining a plurality of traffic detection locations and treating them as a single traffic detection location. In the simplest example, in the example shown in FIG. 73, since the distance from the current location is the same for all the traffic detection locations, the ID 7304 (traffic) having a larger traffic volume than the other traffic detection locations (traffic volume 200). The amount 300) is predicted as the destination. However, in actuality, IDs 7301, 7302, and 7303 differ only in lanes, and there is a possibility that a mobile body that has passed through the current location passes through any of IDs 7301, 7302, and 7303. Further, it is considered that the distribution probability of the destination that can be taken by the mobile body that has passed IDs 7301, 7302, and 7303 is equal. Therefore, it can be assumed that the traffic volumes of IDs 7301, 7302, and 7303 are the same. Therefore, the traffic volume which advances to 90 degree | times at the intersection 7305 is the sum total of the traffic volume of ID7301, 7302, 7303, ie, 600 (= 200 + 200 + 200). Therefore, it is highly likely that the intersection 7305 travels in the direction of 90 degrees instead of the ID 7304, that is, the direction of 270 degrees.

  Similarly, in the traffic volume detection locations of IDs 7402 and 7403 in FIG. 74, there is a possibility that a mobile body that has passed the current location passes. In addition, since the positions of the traffic volume detection locations of ID7402 and ID7403 are very close to each other and the direction of traffic volume is the same, the distribution probability of the destination that can be taken by the moving body that has passed ID7402 and the movement that has passed ID7403 The distribution probability of the destination that the body can take is considered to be almost equal. Therefore, since it can be assumed that the traffic volumes of IDs 7402 and 7403 are the same, two traffic volume detection locations are combined. For example, ID7402 and ID7403 are set as the same traffic volume detection place, and the magnitude of the traffic volume is a value 600 (200 + 400) obtained by adding the traffic volume of ID7403.

  In the present embodiment, the traffic volume at the traffic detection location is synthesized using the position of the traffic detection location and the direction of the traffic volume. As a result, the destination can be effectively predicted.

  FIG. 75 is a block diagram of an information providing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment. In addition to the function of the first embodiment, this information providing device is an information providing device having a function of synthesizing the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location using the position of the traffic volume detection location and the direction of the traffic volume. The present location acquisition unit 101, the traffic detection location accumulation unit 102, the distance calculation unit 103, the direction calculation unit 104, the movement destination prediction unit 105, the information providing unit 106, the composition availability determination unit 7508, and the composition unit 7509 are provided. The configuration of the information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment in that a composition availability determination unit 7508 and a composition unit 7509 are added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  Combinability judgment unit 7508 determines the traffic volume at the plurality of traffic volume detection locations from the similarity of the location of the detection location and the direction of the traffic volume for the plurality of traffic volume detection locations stored in traffic volume detection location storage section 102. It is determined whether or not the size can be combined (combinability is possible). Specifically, for a plurality of traffic volume detection locations, the direction of traffic volume is equal to each other, and the composition is allowed when the distance between the locations of the detection locations is a predetermined value, for example, 500 m or less. For example, in FIG. 74, since the traffic volume detection locations of ID7401 and ID7403 have different traffic directions, they cannot be combined. Since the traffic volume detection locations of ID7402 and ID7403 have the same direction of traffic volume, and the distance between the detection locations is 400 m and 500 m or less, composition is allowed.

  The synthesizing unit 7509 synthesizes a plurality of traffic volume detection locations determined by the synthesizing / non-combining determining unit 7508 to be synthesized. Specifically, the traffic volume detection locations determined to be mutually compositable are treated as the same traffic volume detection location. For the traffic volume, add the traffic volume of each other. For example, as shown in FIG. 74, when it is determined that ID 7402 and ID 7403 can be combined, the traffic volume detection locations of ID 7402 and ID 7403 are treated as the same traffic volume detection location. Treating it as the same traffic detection location means that when one synthesized traffic detection location, for example, ID 7402 is predicted as a destination, the other traffic detection location ID 7403 is also assumed as a predicted destination. is there. As shown in FIG. 76, the magnitude of the traffic volume is 600 by adding the traffic volume 400 of ID7402 and the traffic volume 200 of ID7403. The detection location may be an average, may be a detection location with a large traffic volume, or may be a traffic detection location closest to the current location.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the eighth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The compositability determination unit 7508 determines whether or not it is possible to combine the plurality of traffic detection locations stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102 from the position of the detection location and the direction of traffic (step S7702). The synthesizing unit 7509 synthesizes a plurality of traffic volume detection areas determined by the synthesizing / non-combining determining unit 7508 to be combined (step S7703). Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S802 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the traffic volume of the traffic volume detection area is synthesized using the position of the traffic volume detection area and the direction of the traffic volume, and based on the synthesized traffic volume. Since the destination is predicted, the destination prediction based on the traffic volume in accordance with the actual situation is performed, and the prediction accuracy of the destination is improved.

  In the eighth embodiment, it is determined whether or not composition is possible using only the position and orientation of the traffic volume detection location. However, it may not be possible to determine whether or not the composition is possible only by the position and direction of the traffic volume detection location. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 78, the traffic volume detection locations of ID7801 and ID7802 have the same direction, and the distance between the detection locations is also close to 400 m. However, since ID7801 and 7802 are connected in series, it is considered that the traffic volume of ID7802 is detected as it is. For this reason, it is possible to effectively perform the destination prediction by removing ID 7802 far from the current location without performing the synthesis with ID 7801 and ID 7802.

  Specifically, as in the fourth embodiment, a recommended route is obtained from road information, redundant destinations are removed, and only the remaining destination candidates are used for synthesis. That is, as in the fourth embodiment, an information providing apparatus having a function of obtaining a recommended route from road information, removing redundant destinations, and using only the remaining destination candidates for synthesis is a modification of the eighth embodiment. You may implement | achieve as an information provision apparatus in Example 1.

  As a result, redundant destinations are also removed using the road position and link structure, and it is determined whether or not the traffic volume can be combined. Therefore, more accurate destination prediction is realized.

  In the eighth embodiment, whether or not the composition is possible is determined based on the Euclidean distance between the traffic volume detection area and the traffic volume detection area. However, the minimum route cost difference between the current location and the traffic volume detection location may be used instead of the Euclidean distance between the traffic volume detection location and the traffic volume detection location. That is, the similarity of the minimum route cost may be used as the similarity of the positions of the plurality of traffic detection locations in the traffic composition determination.

  The route cost is, for example, a movement distance and a sum of link distances. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 79, the traffic volume detection locations of ID 7901 and ID 7902 have a traffic volume direction equal to 270 degrees and a Euclidean distance of 100 m, which is very small. However, in order to pass ID7901 from the present location, it is necessary to make a large turn, and the situation of passing ID7901 is completely different from the situation of passing ID7902. Therefore, it is possible to effectively determine whether or not to combine by using the difference in the minimum path cost.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 79, the route cost from the current location to the traffic detection location ID 7901 is 7 km, and the route cost from the current location to the traffic detection location ID 7902 is 1 km, so the difference in route costs is 6 km. It is determined that synthesis is impossible.

  As a result, in determining whether traffic can be combined, the difference in minimum route cost from the current location is used instead of the distance, and if the difference is large, it is avoided that the traffic is combined and more realistically. The destination can be predicted.

(Embodiment 9)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention will be described.

  When the destination prediction is performed, if the distance, direction, and evaluation value from the current location are calculated at all traffic detection locations, the burden on the device is very large. Therefore, it is necessary to filter the traffic volume detection location that is a destination candidate in advance. In the first embodiment, a predetermined value, for example, 10 traffic volume detection locations, are selected as destination candidates in order of increasing distance from the current location. However, there is still a problem that the distance from the current location must be calculated in all traffic detection locations. Therefore, it is necessary to filter the destination candidates even in the previous stage of filtering by the number.

  Further, in the seventh embodiment, the entire map screen presented by the apparatus, for example, the traffic volume detection area included in the range section consisting of 134.5 to 134.8 east longitude and 34.4 to 34.7 north latitude as the destination candidate. did. Thereby, it is possible to filter destination candidates without calculating the distance from the current location. In addition, the predicted movement destination can be presented without changing the scale and display of the map screen presented to the user. However, in cities with a lot of traffic detection locations, a large number of traffic detection locations must be candidates, but in the countryside where there are few traffic detection locations, there are almost no traffic detection locations that are potential destinations. Occurs. Therefore, it is necessary to change the size of the range for filtering the destination candidates according to the number of traffic volume detection locations in the current region.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the size of the range for filtering the destination candidates is changed according to the density of the number of traffic detection locations in the current region. Thereby, a moving destination candidate can be filtered uniformly irrespective of the number of local traffic detection points.

  FIG. 80 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the ninth embodiment. In addition to the function of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the size of a range for filtering destination candidates based on the density of the number of traffic detection locations in the current region. , Current location acquisition unit 101, traffic volume detection location storage unit 102, distance calculation unit 103, direction calculation unit 104, destination prediction unit 105, information providing unit 106, traffic volume detection location density storage unit 8007, filtering position range calculation unit 8008 And a destination candidate filtering unit 8009. The configuration of this information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment in that a traffic volume detection density storage unit 8007, a filtering position range calculation unit 8008, and a destination candidate filtering unit 8009 are added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The traffic volume detection area density accumulation unit 8007 accumulates the density where the traffic volume detection area exists for each area. For example, as shown in FIG. 81, the density of the traffic detection location is accumulated for each prefecture. In the example shown in FIG. 50, the ID “001” indicates that the density of the traffic volume detection area is “0.400 (pieces / km2)” in the area “Tokyo”. The traffic volume detection area density for each region is calculated from the traffic volume detection area information stored in the traffic volume detection area storage unit 102 in advance.

  The filtering position range calculation unit 8008 detects the traffic volume as a destination candidate from the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 and the traffic volume detection density of the region including the current location stored in the traffic volume detection density storage unit 8007. The position range section for filtering the ground is calculated. For example, a range where an average of 20 traffic detection locations centering on the current location exists is set as the filtering range. Assuming that the current location is “134.5” east longitude and “34.5” north latitude, the current region is “Tokushima”, and as shown in FIG. 81, the detected land density of “Tokushima” is “0.020”. (Number / km2) ", 1000 (km2) centered on the current location is set as the filtering range. For example, a rectangular range section having an area of about 1000 (km2) composed of 134.4 to 134.6 east longitude and 34.4 to 34.6 north latitude is set as a filtering range.

  The destination candidate filtering unit 8009 filters the destination candidates from the traffic volume detection locations stored in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102 according to the filtering range calculated by the filtering position range calculation unit 8008. For example, when the filtering range is 134.4 to 134.6 east longitude and 34.4 to 34.6 north latitude, the traffic volume detection location within the range is set as a destination candidate.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the ninth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The filtering position range calculation unit 8008 detects the traffic volume of the current location from the location of the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 using the traffic volume detection density information for each region accumulated in the traffic volume detection density storage unit 8007. The land density is acquired (step S8202). Next, the filtering position range calculation unit 8008 calculates a position range for filtering a traffic volume detection location that is a destination candidate from the acquired traffic volume detection location density of the current location (step S8203). The destination candidate filtering unit 8009 filters the traffic volume detection location as the destination candidate based on the filtering position range calculated by the filtering position range calculating unit 8008 (step S8204). Hereinafter, it is the same as in the first embodiment (steps S802 to S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the range for filtering the traffic volume detection location that is a candidate for the travel destination prediction is changed using the density of the traffic volume detection location. It is possible to reduce the processing load associated with.

(Embodiment 10)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 10 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to ninth embodiments, the traffic volume information and traffic volume information acquired by beacon and communication are used as they are for the traffic volume size and direction. Therefore, the destination cannot be predicted without information on the location of the traffic volume detection location and the size and direction of the traffic volume. However, the traffic volume information is not distributed to mobile terminals in real time. On mobile terminals, it is processed into traffic information and distributed. There are also many places where the traffic volume is not open to the public.

  Therefore, in the tenth embodiment, traffic information such as the position of the traffic detection location, the size and direction of the traffic is estimated from road information such as traffic jam information, speed limit, and road width. Thereby, even a place where the traffic volume is not known can be virtually treated as a traffic volume detection place. Further, by using the traffic jam information, it is possible to deal with traffic fluctuations in real time.

  FIG. 83 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the tenth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of estimating traffic volume from traffic jam information in addition to the function of the first embodiment, and includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, and a distance calculation unit 103. , A direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 105, an information provision unit 106, a traffic jam information storage unit 8307, and a traffic volume estimation unit 8308. The configuration of this information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of Embodiment 1 in that a traffic jam information accumulating unit 8307 and a traffic volume estimating unit 8308 are added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The traffic jam information accumulating unit 8307 accumulates traffic jam information obtained by VICS or the like as shown in FIG. For example, in the case of VICS information, the start point position, end point position, direction, the degree of congestion indicating the intensity of the congestion, and the congestion length can be obtained. The degree of traffic jam is three values: “traffic jam”, “crowded”, and “smooth”. The traffic jam length is a distance of a section where the traffic jam degree is constant. In the example shown in FIG. 84, the ID “001” is from the starting point of east longitude “134.5.27.7” and north latitude “34.6.4.5”, east longitude “134.6.6.7”, north latitude This indicates that a traffic jam with a traffic jam degree “traffic” has a traffic jam length “1 km” until the end point of “34.6.4.5”.

  The traffic volume estimation unit 8308 estimates the position of the traffic volume detection location, the direction of the traffic volume, and the magnitude of the traffic volume from the traffic jam information accumulated in the traffic jam information accumulation unit 8307. For example, when traffic jam information as shown in FIG. 84 is accumulated, the location of the traffic volume detection point is the traffic jam start point position, and the traffic volume direction is the traffic jam start point to the end point. The direction is calculated from the start point position and the end point position. The traffic volume is virtually estimated from the degree of congestion and the length of congestion. For example, it is assumed that the degree of congestion “smooth” is 0, the degree of congestion “congested” is 1, the degree of congestion “congested” is 2, and the amount of traffic is the length of congestion degree × congestion length. This is because the degree of congestion in the degree of congestion “congestion” is generally about twice that of the degree of congestion “congestion”. For example, when traffic jam information as shown in FIG. 84 is accumulated, the traffic volume detection location from ID001 is east longitude “134.5.27.7”, north latitude “34.6.4.5”, traffic volume. The traffic volume information can be estimated with a direction of 90 degrees and a traffic volume of “2” (2 × 1 km). The estimated traffic information is stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the tenth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  The traffic volume estimation unit 8308 estimates the position of the traffic volume detection location, the magnitude and direction of the traffic volume from the traffic jam information accumulated in the traffic jam information accumulation unit 8307, and accumulates it in the traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102 (step S8500). ). Hereafter, it is the same as that of Embodiment 1 (steps S801-S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, since the traffic volume is estimated from the traffic jam information, even a place where the traffic volume is unknown can be virtually treated as a traffic volume detection place. Further, by using the traffic jam information, it is possible to deal with traffic fluctuations in real time.

  In the tenth embodiment, the position of the traffic volume detection point is the start point of the traffic jam. However, the position of the traffic volume detection point may be any position between the start point and the end point of the traffic jam on the road. In other words, as in the second embodiment, an information providing apparatus having a function of calculating a traffic volume detection location changeable position range and setting the position closest to the current location of the moving body in the position range as the traffic volume detection location. May be realized as the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the tenth embodiment.

  Specifically, as in the fourth embodiment, the recommended route is obtained from the road information, the redundant destination is removed, and only the remaining destination candidates are used. At this time, the traffic volume detection location changeable position range is between the start point and the end point of the traffic jam on the road. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 86, since the start point position of the traffic jam is the position 8602 and the end point position is the position 8603, the changeable position range of the traffic volume detection location ID 8601 estimated from this traffic jam is from the start point position 8602. A road to the end position 8603 is assumed.

  As a result, by setting the position closest to the current location of the moving object within the range where the traffic detection location can be changed as the location of the traffic detection location, variations in evaluation depending on the location of the traffic detection location are eliminated. The accuracy of destination prediction is improved.

(Embodiment 11)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 11 of the present invention will be described.

  In the tenth embodiment, the traffic volume is estimated by using the congestion degree and the congestion length information. Since VICS also provides a link travel time, which is a travel time between predetermined points on the road, in real time, the traffic volume may be estimated from the link travel time. Since the link travel time is more accurate than the degree of congestion and the length of congestion, the traffic volume can be estimated more precisely.

  FIG. 87 is a block diagram of an information providing apparatus according to the eleventh embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of estimating the traffic volume from the link travel time in addition to the function of the first embodiment, and includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, and a distance calculation unit. 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 105, an information providing unit 106, a link travel time storage unit 8707, and a traffic volume estimation unit 8708. The configuration of the information providing apparatus is different from the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment in that a link travel time accumulating unit 8707 and a traffic volume estimating unit 8708 are added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 88, the link travel time storage unit 8707 stores the link travel time and link length obtained by VICS or the like, and the link start point position and end point position. In the example shown in FIG. 88, the ID “001” is from the starting point of east longitude “134.5.27.7” and north latitude “34.6.4.5”, east longitude “134.6.6.7”, north latitude This indicates that the travel time is “10 minutes” in the link having the link length “1 km” up to the end point of “34.6.4.5”.

  The traffic estimation unit 8708 estimates the position of the traffic detection location, the direction of traffic, and the size of the traffic from the link start point position, end point position, link length, and travel time stored in the link travel time storage unit 8707. To do. For example, when link travel time as shown in FIG. 88 is accumulated, the position of the traffic volume detection location is the link start point position, and the traffic volume direction is the direction from the link start point to the end point. The direction is calculated from the start point position and the end point position. The traffic volume is virtually estimated from the link length and the link travel time. For example, the value obtained by dividing the link travel time by the link length is the traffic volume. For example, when the traffic jam information as shown in FIG. 88 is accumulated, the traffic volume detection location from ID001 is east longitude “134.5.27.7”, north latitude “34.6.4.5”, traffic volume. Traffic volume information can be estimated with a direction of 90 degrees and a traffic volume of “10 (minutes / km)” (10 minutes / 1 km). The estimated traffic information is stored in the traffic detection location storage unit 102.

  As in the first modification of the tenth embodiment, the traffic volume detection position may be any position between the start point and end point of the link on the road.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the eleventh embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  The traffic volume estimation unit 8708 estimates the position of the traffic volume detection location, the size of the traffic volume, and the direction from the link start point position, end point position, link length, and travel time accumulated in the link travel time accumulation unit 8707. It accumulates in the quantity detection place accumulation unit 102 (step S8900). Hereafter, it is the same as that of Embodiment 1 (steps S801-S807).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, since the traffic volume is estimated from the link travel time, the time is more accurate than the congestion degree and the congestion length, so the traffic volume is more detailed. Is estimated, and the accuracy of destination prediction is improved.

(Embodiment 12)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 12 of the present invention will be described.

  In Embodiments 1-11, the position of the movement destination used as a passing point or a destination was estimated. However, the direction of the destination may be predicted using the direction and magnitude of the traffic volume at the current location and the traffic volume detection location. When providing information with a small number of pieces of information such as road construction information, the number of pieces of information can be limited without strictly limiting the position of the destination. By predicting only the direction of the destination, it is possible to improve the prediction precision.

  FIG. 90 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus that predicts only a moving direction using the direction of traffic volume and provides information on the predicted moving direction, and includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, and a distance calculation. Unit 103, direction calculation unit 104, destination direction prediction unit 9005, and information providing unit 9006. Compared with the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a destination direction prediction unit 9005 and the information provision unit 106 is replaced with an information provision unit 9006. Is different.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The destination direction prediction unit 9005 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103 and the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104 and the traffic detection location storage unit 102. The direction of the destination is predicted based on the accumulated traffic volume and the traffic direction. The destination direction prediction unit 9005 includes a destination candidate determination unit 9005a that determines destination candidates, and a filtering unit 9005b that selects one or more final destinations from the determined destination candidates.

  For example, it is assumed that traffic detection locations are accumulated as shown in FIG. The destination candidate determining unit 9005a of the destination direction predicting unit 9005 selects 10 items in order from the closest to the current location, and the direction of the selected traffic volume detection traffic direction is as shown in FIG. Candidate for the destination direction. The filtering unit 9005b of the destination direction prediction unit 9005 further performs filtering based on the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the direction of traffic volume at the detection location from the traffic detection locations that are candidates for the destination direction. To do. For example, a traffic detection location whose traffic direction is within a range of ± 90 degrees of the direction between the current location and the traffic detection location is selected as a destination direction candidate. This is because, in general, there is almost no movement in the opposite direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 92, when filtering the traffic volume detection location of “ID005 to 008 (East longitude 134.77.26.9, North latitude 34.44.49.2)”, “ID005 to 008” from the current location. The direction (direction angle) to is 110 degrees. After moving in the direction of 110 degrees to the vicinity of “ID005 to 008”, it is generally rare to pass “ID005 to 008” in the opposite direction of 270 degrees. Therefore, among the directions of traffic volume “90 degrees”, “270 degrees”, “0 degrees”, and “180 degrees” in “ID005 to 008”, the directions “90 degrees” and “180 degrees” are within a range of 110 degrees ± 90 degrees. Is selected. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 92, filtering is performed from the direction as shown in FIG.

  Next, the filtering unit 9005b of the destination direction prediction unit 9005 predicts the direction of the destination based on the magnitude of the traffic direction. Specifically, the amount of traffic is summed for each direction of traffic, and the direction with the largest traffic is taken as the direction of the destination. For example, as shown in FIG. 94, the traffic volume in the direction of 90 degrees is 1300 by adding the traffic volume 400 of ID003 and the traffic volume 900 of ID005. Further, the traffic volume in the direction of 180 degrees is 100 from the traffic volume of ID008, and the traffic volume in the direction of 270 degrees is 600 by adding the traffic volume 400 of ID002 and the traffic volume 200 of ID010. Therefore, the 90-degree direction with the largest traffic volume is predicted as the destination direction. This predicts that the future destination of the mobile object is 90 degrees from the current location.

  When predicting the direction of the destination, the direction of the destination may be limited to four directions, such as −45 degrees to 45 degrees, 45 degrees to 135 degrees, 135 degrees to 225 degrees, and 225 degrees to 325 degrees. . In this case, the traffic volume is totaled for each of the four directions, and the direction with the largest traffic volume is set as the destination direction.

  The information providing unit 9006 includes a provision information storage unit 9006a that stores information to be provided in advance. The information provision unit 9006 reads information about the destination direction predicted by the destination direction prediction unit 9005 from the provision information storage unit 9006a, and reads the read information. The information is provided to the user by the screen or sound of the information providing apparatus. For example, when it is predicted that the future destination of the moving body is 90 degrees, as shown in FIG. 95, construction information and traffic jam information in the direction of about 90 degrees from the current location are provided. The information stored in the provided information storage unit 9006a includes map information such as recommended routes stored in advance, information acquired by the information providing unit 9006 as the latest traffic information from VICS radio waves and network lines, and the like. Etc. are included.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  Similar to the first embodiment, after calculating the distance and direction from the current location, the destination candidate determination unit 9005a of the destination direction prediction unit 9005 calculates the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103. Thus, the direction of traffic volume at a plurality of traffic volume detection locations is selected as a destination direction candidate (step S9604). Next, the filtering unit 9005b of the destination direction prediction unit 9005 determines the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location and the direction of traffic volume in the detection value from the traffic volume detection locations that are the destination direction candidates. The destination direction candidates are selected (step S9605). Further, the filtering unit 9005b of the destination direction prediction unit 9005 predicts the direction of the destination based on the direction and magnitude of the traffic volume from the traffic volume detection locations that have become destination direction candidates (step S9606). . Finally, the information providing unit 9006 reads out information related to the direction of the destination predicted by the destination direction prediction unit 9005 from the provided information storage unit 9006a and provides it to the user (step S9607).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, only the moving direction is predicted using the direction of traffic volume, and information related to the predicted moving direction is provided. Is not required, and the processing is simplified.

(Embodiment 13)
Next, an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 13 of the present invention will be described.

  In the first to twelfth embodiments, the predicted number of destinations is constant. However, the number of destinations necessary for providing information varies depending on the contents of the information to be provided. For example, in the case of road construction information, since the number of information is small, there is no need to limit the destination. That is, the predicted number of destinations may be large. However, in the case of store information, since the number of information is large, it is necessary to limit the destination and filter the information to be provided. In other words, the predicted number of destinations must be reduced.

  Therefore, in the thirteenth embodiment, the predicted number of destinations is changed according to the number of information provided by the information providing unit.

  FIG. 97 is a configuration diagram of the information providing apparatus according to the thirteenth embodiment. This information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the predicted number of destinations according to the number of information to be provided in addition to the function of the first embodiment. A ground accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a movement destination prediction unit 9705, an information provision unit 9706, and a movement destination prediction number determination unit 9708 are provided. Compared to the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the information providing apparatus is configured such that the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a destination prediction unit 9705, the information provision unit 106 is replaced with an information provision unit 9706, and the destination prediction is performed. The difference is that a number determining unit 9708 is added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The provided information acquisition unit 9707 acquires information to be provided to the mobile object by the information providing unit 9706 from an external network or the like. For example, road construction information is acquired. The provided information may be stored inside the apparatus.

  The movement destination prediction number determination unit 9708 determines the number of movement destinations predicted by the movement destination prediction unit 9705 using the number of information acquired by the provision information acquisition unit 9707. For example, a value obtained by multiplying the reciprocal of the number of information by a predetermined value is set as the predicted destination number.

  The destination prediction unit 9705 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104, and the traffic detection location storage unit 102. Based on the size of the traffic volume and the direction of the traffic volume, and the predicted number determined by the destination prediction number determination unit 9708, the traffic volume detection destination as the destination is predicted. The movement destination prediction unit 9705 selects a movement destination candidate determination unit 105a for determining a movement destination candidate and the final movement destinations of the number determined by the movement destination prediction number determination unit 9708 from the determined movement destination candidates. And a filtering unit 9705b.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the traffic volume detection location is stored in the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102. The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 9705 selects ten of them in order from the closest distance from the current location, and sets them as destination candidates as shown in FIG. The filtering unit 9705b of the destination prediction unit 9705 further performs filtering based on the direction between the current location and the traffic amount detection location and the direction of the traffic amount in the detection value from the traffic amount detection locations that are destination candidates. For example, a traffic volume detection location whose traffic volume direction is within a range of ± 90 degrees of the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location is selected as a destination candidate. This is because, in general, there is almost no movement in the opposite direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when filtering the traffic volume detection location of “ID005 to 008 (East longitude 134.77.26.9, North latitude 34.44.29.2)”, “ID005 to 008 The direction (direction angle) to “is 110 degrees. After moving in the direction of 110 degrees to the vicinity of “ID005 to 008”, it is generally rare to pass “ID005 to 008” in the opposite direction of 270 degrees. Therefore, among the directions of traffic volume “90 degrees”, “270 degrees”, “0 degrees”, and “180 degrees” in “ID005 to 008”, the directions “90 degrees” and “180 degrees” are within a range of 110 degrees ± 90 degrees. Is selected. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, filtering is performed from the direction as shown in FIG. 5.

  Next, the filtering unit 9705b of the destination prediction unit 9705 predicts the destination based on the traffic volume and the distance from the current location to the traffic volume detection location. The destinations of the predicted number of destinations determined by the destination prediction number determination unit 9708 are selected in descending order of the evaluation value obtained by dividing the traffic volume by the distance. For example, as shown in FIG. 98, the evaluation value for “ID002 • traffic direction 270 °” is 400 / 1.7, and the evaluation value for “ID003 • traffic direction 90 °” is 400/1. 6. Evaluation value for "ID005-Traffic direction 90 degrees" is 900 / 2.3, Evaluation value for "ID008-Traffic direction 180 degrees" is 100 / 2.3, "ID010-Traffic volume The evaluation value for “direction 270 degrees” is 200 / 1.2. If the number of predictions determined by the destination prediction number determination unit 9708 is two, “ID005 / traffic direction 90 degrees” and “ID003 / traffic direction 90 degrees” are the destinations in descending order of evaluation value. Selected. This is because the mobile object moves in the future at the point of ID005 (longitude 134.76.26.9, latitude 34.44.29.2) in the direction of 90 degrees, or the point of ID003 (longitude 134.6.20). .0, latitude 34.6.4.5) is predicted to move 90 degrees.

  The information providing unit 9706 provides the information acquired by the provided information acquiring unit 9707 to the user as information related to the movement destination predicted by the movement destination prediction unit 9705 by using a screen or sound of the information providing apparatus. For example, when it is predicted that the mobile object will move in the direction of 90 degrees in the future at the position of ID005, or move in the direction of 90 degrees in the position of ID003, as shown in FIG. .7.26.9, north latitude 34.44.49.2) in the direction of 90 degrees, or ID003 (longitude 134.6.20.0, latitude 34.6.4.5) ) Can be provided for traffic jam information and store information on the route to pass through 90 degrees.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the thirteenth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first embodiment, and the description is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The provided information acquisition unit 9707 acquires information to be provided to the mobile object by the information providing unit 9706 from an external network or the like (step S10002). The movement destination prediction number determination unit 9708 determines the number of movement destination predictions based on the number of information acquired by the provision information acquisition unit 9707 (step S10003). The destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination prediction unit 9705 selects the destination candidate from the distance and direction from the current location to the traffic volume detection point, and then performs filtering by the destination prediction unit 9705, as in the first embodiment. The unit 9705b moves from the traffic detection location that is the destination candidate based on the magnitude of the traffic volume, the distance from the current location to the traffic detection location, and the destination prediction number determined by the destination prediction number determination unit 9708. The destination is predicted (step S10006). Finally, the information providing unit 9706 provides the user with information regarding the destination predicted by the destination prediction unit 105 (step S10007).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present embodiment, the predicted number of destinations is changed depending on the information to be provided. For example, information about as many destinations as possible can be provided on the screen. This makes it possible to provide information regarding a plurality of destination candidates.

  In the thirteenth embodiment, the contents of information to be provided are fixed or the information is handled uniformly without distinguishing the contents. However, when the apparatus provides a plurality of contents information such as construction information and store information, the degree of filtering needs to be changed according to the information contents. In this case, the degree of filtering can be changed by performing the destination prediction for each information content. That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the degree of filtering by performing destination prediction for each information content may be realized as the information providing apparatus in the first modification of the thirteenth embodiment.

  As a result, the number of store information is large, so the number of predicted destinations is reduced, but the number of information for construction information is small, so the number of predicted destinations is increased. And by providing for every information content which provides destination prediction, the information provision which changed the degree of filtering according to the content can be performed.

  In the thirteenth embodiment, the predicted number of destinations is determined based on the total number of pieces of information to be provided. However, the information that is actually provided often provides information related to the surroundings of the current location of the mobile object. For this reason, position information related to provided information is attached, and the predicted number of destinations is determined by the number of information that is highly likely to be provided to the mobile body, such as the number of information related to the surroundings of the current location of the mobile body May be.

  That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the predicted number of destinations according to the number of pieces of information related to the surroundings of the current location of the moving body is realized as the information providing apparatus in the second modification of the thirteenth embodiment. Also good.

  FIG. 101 shows an information providing apparatus according to the second modification of the thirteenth embodiment, that is, a function for attaching position information to provided information and determining the number of destinations from the number of provided information around the current location. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus with which it is provided. This information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 9705, an information provision unit 9706, and a destination prediction number determination unit 10108. Compared to the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the information providing apparatus is configured such that the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a destination prediction unit 9705, the information provision unit 106 is replaced with an information provision unit 9706, and the destination prediction is performed. The difference is that a number determining unit 10108 is added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and thirteenth embodiments, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  As shown in FIG. 102, the provided information acquisition unit 10107 acquires information including position information related to the information content. For example, “ID003” indicates that the position related to the information “C-intersection under construction” is east longitude “134.7.26.9” and north latitude “34.44.49.2”.

  The provided information acquisition unit 10107 indicates the number of pieces of information related to the position of the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101, for example, the number of provided information related to positions within a range of 5 km from the current location. It is calculated from the acquired information, and the predicted number of destinations is determined from the number of provided information. For example, a value obtained by multiplying the reciprocal of the number of pieces of information around the current location by a predetermined value is set as the predicted destination number.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the second modification of the thirteenth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and thirteenth embodiments, and the description is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The provided information acquisition unit 10107 acquires from the information providing unit 9706 information having position information to be provided to the mobile object from an external network or the like (step S10302). The destination prediction number determination unit 10108 calculates the number of provision information related to the position around the current location acquired by the current location acquisition unit 101 from the provision information acquisition unit 10107 (step S10303). Next, the destination prediction number determination unit 10108 determines the number of destinations to be predicted based on the number of provision information related to positions around the current location (step S10304). Hereinafter, this is the same as in the first and thirteenth embodiments (steps S802 to S805, S10006, S10007).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the predicted number of destinations is changed according to the number of pieces of information related to the surroundings of the current location of the moving object, and information in accordance with the current situation of the user Provision is realized.

  In the second modification of the thirteenth embodiment, the predicted number of destinations is determined based on the number of information related to the surroundings of the current location. However, the information that is actually provided is often information related to the destination of the moving object. Therefore, the predicted number of destinations may be changed according to the number of pieces of information related to the predicted destination, and the destination prediction may be performed again.

  That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the predicted number of destinations according to the number of information related to the surroundings of the predicted destination is realized as an information providing apparatus in the third modification of the thirteenth embodiment. Also good.

  FIG. 104 shows the information providing apparatus according to the third modification of the thirteenth embodiment, that is, the information providing apparatus having a function of determining the number of destinations from the number of provided information around the predicted destination. FIG. This information providing apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination prediction unit 10405, an information provision unit 9706, and a destination prediction number determination unit 10408. Compared to the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment, the information providing apparatus is configured such that the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a destination prediction unit 10405, the information provision unit 106 is replaced with an information provision unit 9706, and the destination prediction is performed. The difference is that a number determining unit 10408 is added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and thirteenth embodiments, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The movement destination prediction number determination unit 10408 obtains the number of pieces of information related to the position of the movement destination predicted by the movement destination prediction unit 10405, for example, the number of pieces of provision information related to positions within 1 km from the movement destination. Calculated from the information acquired by the unit 10107, and the predicted number of destinations is determined from the number of information. For example, when the initial value of the movement destination prediction number is 1 and the number of pieces of information around the movement destination is 0, the movement destination prediction number is increased by 1 from the previous value, and the movement destination prediction unit 10405 is used. To make the destination prediction again. If the number is one or more, the destination prediction number is not changed from the previous value, and the destination prediction unit stops the destination prediction and determines the predicted destination.

  Similarly to the thirteenth embodiment, the movement destination prediction unit 10405 predicts the movement destination by the movement destination prediction number determined by the movement destination prediction number determination unit 10408. However, the movement destination prediction is repeated until the movement destination prediction number determined by the movement destination prediction number determination unit 10108 does not change. If the predicted number of destinations has not changed, the predicted destination is determined. The movement destination prediction unit 10405 selects a movement destination candidate determination unit 105a that determines a movement destination candidate and the final movement destinations of the number determined by the movement destination prediction number determination unit 10408 from the determined movement destination candidates. And a filtering unit 10405b.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in the third modification of the thirteenth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements shown in the first and eleventh embodiments and the description thereof is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The provided information acquisition unit 10107 acquires from the information providing unit 9706 information having position information to be provided to the mobile object from an external network or the like (step S10302). The movement destination prediction number determination unit 10408 determines that the movement destination prediction unit 10405 predicts the number of movement destinations as one (step S10504). Hereinafter, after performing the movement destination prediction in the same manner as in the first embodiment (steps S802 to S805), the movement destination prediction number determination unit 10408 provides provisions related to the positions around the movement destination predicted by the movement destination prediction unit 10405. The number of information is calculated from the provided information acquisition unit 10107 (step S10507). Next, the predicted destination determination unit 10108 determines the number of destinations to be predicted based on the number of provision information related to the positions around the destination (step S10508). The filtering unit 10405b of the movement destination prediction unit 10405 determines whether the movement destination prediction number has changed (step S10509). When the predicted number of destinations has changed (No in step S10509), the process returns to step S8006. When the predicted number of destinations has not changed (Yes in step S10509), the process proceeds to step S8007.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the number of destinations is determined from the number of provision information around the predicted destination, so that information provision according to the destination of the user is realized. The

  Further, in the second modification of the thirteenth embodiment, the predicted number of destinations is determined based on the number of pieces of information related to the current location and in the third modification of the thirteenth embodiment. However, the route from the current location to the destination may be calculated by the Dijkstra method or the like, and the predicted number of destinations may be determined from the number of provision information related to positions around the route. That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of calculating a route from the current location to the destination and determining the predicted number of destinations from the number of pieces of provision information related to positions around the route is a modification 4 of the thirteenth embodiment. It may be realized as an information providing apparatus. This makes it possible to efficiently filter the route provision information.

  In the thirteenth embodiment, the number of destinations to be predicted is determined from the number of information to be provided in the prediction of the position of the destination. However, as in the twelfth embodiment, in the prediction of the destination direction, the range of the destination prediction direction may be determined from the number of information to be provided. Specifically, the destination prediction number determination unit may determine the number of clusters in the prediction direction from the number of information to be provided. That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of changing the predicted range of the moving direction according to the number of information provided to the moving body may be realized as the information providing apparatus in the fifth modification of the thirteenth embodiment.

  FIG. 106 is a block diagram of such an information providing apparatus in Modification 5 of Embodiment 13, that is, an information providing apparatus having a function of determining the number of predicted destinations from the number of clustering in the moving direction. is there. This information provision apparatus includes a current location acquisition unit 101, a traffic volume detection location accumulation unit 102, a distance calculation unit 103, a direction calculation unit 104, a destination direction prediction unit 10605, an information provision unit 10606, and a destination prediction number determination unit 10608. . Compared to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, this information providing apparatus is configured such that the destination prediction unit 105 is replaced with a destination direction prediction unit 10605 and the information provision unit 106 is replaced with an information provision unit 10606. The difference is that a prediction number determination unit 10608 is added.

  The same reference numerals are given to the components shown in the first and thirteenth embodiments, and the description is omitted. Hereinafter, each component will be described first with reference to the drawings, and the operation of the information providing apparatus will be described later.

  The destination predicted number determination unit 10608 determines the number of clusters in the movement direction predicted by the destination direction prediction unit 10605 using the number of information acquired by the provision information acquisition unit 9707.

  The destination direction prediction unit 10605 stores the distance between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the distance calculation unit 103, the direction between the current location and the traffic volume detection location calculated by the orientation calculation unit 104, and the traffic volume detection location storage unit 102. The direction of the destination is predicted based on the accumulated traffic volume, the direction of the traffic volume, and the number of clusters in the movement direction determined by the destination prediction number determination unit. For example, a value obtained by dividing the number of information by a predetermined value is set as the number of clusters in the movement direction.

  This destination direction predicting unit 10605 includes a destination candidate determining unit 105a that determines destination candidates, and the final destination (number of destinations) determined by the destination prediction number determining unit 10608 from the determined destination candidates. And a filtering unit 10605b for selecting (forward direction).

  Basically, prediction is performed as in the twelfth embodiment. In the twelfth embodiment, the amount of traffic is summed for each direction of traffic, and the direction with the largest traffic is taken as the direction of the destination. However, in the present embodiment, the traffic volume is summed for each cluster calculated by the number of clusters determined by the predicted destination determination unit 10608, and the cluster with the largest traffic volume is set as the destination direction. For example, when the number of clusters is four. The direction from 0 degrees to 360 degrees is classified into four clusters. For example, it is classified into 0 to 90 degrees, 90 to 180 degrees, 180 to 270 degrees, and 270 to 360 degrees at equal intervals.

  The information providing unit 10606 provides the information acquired by the provided information acquisition unit 9707 to the user as information on the direction of the movement destination predicted by the movement destination direction prediction unit 10605 by using a screen or sound of the information providing apparatus.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the information providing apparatus in Modification 5 of Embodiment 13 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. The same reference numerals are given to the constituent elements shown in Embodiments 1, 12, 13, and the description thereof is omitted.

  First, the current location acquisition unit 101 acquires the current location using GPS or the like (step S801). The provided information acquisition unit 9707 acquires information to be provided to the mobile object by the information providing unit 10606 from an external network or the like (step S10002). The destination prediction number determination unit 10608 determines the number of clusters in the movement direction when the destination direction prediction unit 10605 predicts the destination based on the number of information acquired by the provision information acquisition unit 9707 (step S10703). Thereafter, the destination candidate determination unit 105a of the destination direction prediction unit 10605 selects the destination candidates based on the distance and the direction (steps S802 to S9605), and then the destination direction prediction unit 10605 The filtering unit 10605b determines the number of direction clusters as many as the number determined by the destination prediction number determination unit 10608, classifies the traffic volume detection destinations that have become destination direction candidates into direction clusters according to the direction of traffic volume, The direction of the destination is predicted based on the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection area (step S10706). The information providing unit 10606 provides the user with information regarding the destination that the destination direction prediction unit 10605 predicted the information acquired by the provided information acquisition unit 9707 (step S10707).

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus in the present modification, the number of predicted destinations is determined by the number of clustering in the moving direction, so the number of information provided is the number of clusters in the predicting direction. The amount of information to be provided can be optimized.

  In the thirteenth embodiment, the number of destination predictions is determined from the number of information to be provided in the prediction of the destination location. However, as in the fifth embodiment, the predicted number of destinations when the destination is predicted recursively from the number of information to be provided, that is, the number of times the destination prediction is performed may be determined. That is, an information providing apparatus having a function of determining the predicted number of destinations when recursively predicting a destination from the number of information to be provided, that is, the number of times to perform destination prediction, is a modification of the thirteenth embodiment. 6 may be realized as the information providing apparatus in FIG. For example, when the predicted number of destinations is 2, after predicting the destination, the destination prediction is performed once with the predicted destination as the passing place.

  Thereby, the predicted number of destinations when the destination is recursively predicted from the number of information to be provided is determined, and the amount of information to be provided can be optimized.

  It should be noted that the following can be said when the modifications in the thirteenth embodiment are summarized. That is, the destination prediction number determination unit predicts the number of provision information provided by the information provision unit, the content of the provision information, the number of provision information about the current position specified by the current location acquisition unit, and the destination prediction unit. The number of provided information about the destination around the destination, the number of provided information about the route from the current position to the destination, the number of movement directions predicted by the destination prediction unit, and the destination prediction unit recursively selecting the destination The number of destinations to be predicted may be determined according to at least one of the number of predictions in the case of prediction.

  As mentioned above, although the information provision apparatus which concerns on this invention was demonstrated based on Embodiment 1-13 and its modification, this invention is not limited to these Embodiment and modification. For example, embodiments that are realized by arbitrarily combining the constituent elements in the respective embodiments and modifications are also included in the present invention. As an example, by combining the twelfth embodiment that predicts only the direction of the moving destination of the moving body and the direction calculation unit 1204 in the third modification of the first embodiment, only the highly accurate moving direction using the recommended route can be obtained. Prediction becomes possible.

  The correspondence between the constituent elements in the claims and the constituent elements in the embodiment is as follows.

That is, an example of the traffic volume detection location accumulation means in the claims is the traffic volume detection location accumulation section 102, 4502, 5302 in the embodiment,
Similarly, an example of the current location acquisition unit is the current location acquisition unit 101 or 1601.
An example of the direction calculation means is the direction calculation units 104, 1204, and 1604.
An example of the destination prediction unit is the destination prediction unit 105, 1005, 1605, 3105, 3705, 4005, 4505, 5305, 9705, 10405,
An example of the information providing means is the information providing units 106, 4006, 4506, 5706, 6412, 9006, 9706, 10606,
An example of the distance calculation means is the distance calculation unit 103, 1003,
An example of the departure place acquisition means is a departure place acquisition unit 1007,
An example of the map information storage means is a map information storage unit 1207,
An example of the recommended route calculation means is a recommended route calculation unit 1208,
An example of the traffic detection location position range calculation means is a traffic detection location position range calculation unit 2108.
An example of the circuitousness calculation means is a circuitousness calculation unit 3109,
An example of the departure place acquisition means is a departure place acquisition unit 1007,
An example of the route cost calculation means is a route cost calculation unit 3103,
An example of the redundancy calculation means is a redundancy calculation unit 3709,
An example of preference information storage means is a preference information storage unit 5307,
An example of the destination presentation means is a destination presentation unit 5707,
An example of the destination selection means is a destination selection detector 5709,
An example of the passing place presenting means is a passing place presenting unit 6407,
An example of the passage place selection means is a passage destination selection detection unit 6408,
An example of the passing place selection detecting means is a passing destination selection detecting unit 6408,
An example of the compositability determination unit is a compositability determination unit 7508,
An example of the combining means is a combining unit 7509,
An example of the redundancy calculation means is a redundancy calculation unit 3709,
An example of the traffic detection ground density storage means is a traffic detection ground density storage unit 8007.
An example of the filtering position range calculation means is a filtering position range calculation unit 8008,
An example of the destination candidate filtering means is a destination candidate filtering unit 8009,
An example of the traffic jam information storage means is a traffic jam information storage unit 8307,
An example of the traffic estimation means is a traffic estimation unit 8308,
An example of the traffic volume detection location position range calculation means is the traffic volume detection location position range calculation section 2108, and an example of the traffic volume detection location position change means is the traffic volume detection location position change section 2109.
An example of the link travel time storage means is a link travel time storage unit 8707,
An example of the traffic estimation means is a traffic estimation unit 8708,
An example of the movement destination prediction number determination means is a movement destination prediction number determination unit 9708, 10108, 10408, and 10608.

  The present invention is an information providing apparatus that predicts a moving destination of a moving body and provides information related to the predicted moving destination to the moving body. In particular, the present invention predicts a moving destination using traffic information, and relates to the moving destination. As a device that provides information, for example, it is useful as a device that provides information to a moving body such as a car navigation device or a mobile phone.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection location information accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulation part The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection place which becomes the movement destination candidate The figure which shows the example which a movement destination prediction part filters a movement destination candidate by direction The figure which shows the example of the destination candidate filtered by direction of traffic The figure which shows the example which a destination prediction part determines a destination by the magnitude | size of distance and traffic volume The figure which shows the example which provides the information relevant to the movement destination which the information provision part estimated The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the movement destination when the distance from the departure place is small The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 3 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of direction calculation using the map information in the modification 3 of Embodiment 1 of this invention The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 3 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which a movement destination prediction part filters a movement destination candidate with the present direction of a moving body The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 5 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of calculation of the ideal present position direction in the modification 5 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 5 of Embodiment 1 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which a movement destination prediction part determines a movement destination by the minimum path | route cost The figure which shows the example of the change of the position of the traffic detection place The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic volume detection location changeable position range which a traffic volume detection location position range calculation part calculates The figure which shows the example which a traffic detection location change part changes the position of a traffic detection location The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which changes the direction of the traffic of the traffic detection place The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic volume detection changeable position range calculated by the traffic volume detection location position range calculation part The figure which shows the example which a traffic detection location direction change part changes the direction of a traffic detection location The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 2 of this invention. Diagram showing an example of travel from the departure location to the current location The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 3 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of calculation of the route cost to a movement destination candidate The figure which shows the example of the destination candidate filtered by direction of traffic The figure which shows the example of filtering of the movement destination candidate by the circuitousness The figure which shows the example in which a destination prediction part determines a destination by route cost and the magnitude of traffic volume The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 3 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 4 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of calculation of the redundancy by a redundancy calculation part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 4 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 5 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the movement destination prediction result by a movement destination prediction part The figure which shows the example which further predicts a moving destination by using the predicted moving destination as the present location The figure which shows the example which provides the information regarding the path | route calculated from the several destination predicted recursively The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 5 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 6 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection location information accumulate | stored in the traffic detection location accumulation | storage part in Embodiment 6 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection location used as the movement destination candidate in Embodiment 6 of this invention The figure which shows the example of the destination candidate filtered by the direction of the traffic volume in Embodiment 6 of this invention The figure which shows the example of the movement destination prediction result by the movement destination prediction part in Embodiment 6 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which further predicts a movement destination by using the predicted movement destination in this Embodiment 6 as a present location The figure which shows the example which provides the information regarding the path | route calculated from the several destination recursively predicted in Embodiment 6 of this invention The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 6 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 6 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic volume detection location information accumulate | stored in the traffic volume detection location storage part in the modification 1 of Embodiment 6 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the preference information accumulate | stored in the preference information storage part The figure which shows the example of the conventional destination setting The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 7 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection place which exists in the screen of the apparatus which becomes the movement destination candidate The figure which shows the example of the movement destination prediction result by the movement destination prediction part in Embodiment 7 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of presentation of the several movement destination by a movement destination presentation part The figure which shows the example of the presentation and selection of the prediction destination using the selected destination The figure which shows the example which provides the information which relates to the selected / set destination The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 7 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 7 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the destination candidate information accumulate | stored in the destination candidate storage part The figure which shows the example of the passage place prediction result by the passage place prediction part The figure which shows the example of the presentation of the some passing place by a passing place presentation part The figure which shows the example of presentation and selection of the predicted passage place using the selected passage place Furthermore, the figure which shows the example of presentation and selection of the predicted passing place using the selected passing place The figure which shows the example of the destination presentation which made the final passing place the present place by the destination presentation part The figure which shows the example of presentation of the information relevant to the selected passage place and the set destination The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 1 of Embodiment 7 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of composition of the traffic detection place (traffic volume) The figure which shows the example of composition of the traffic detection place (traffic volume) Block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 8 of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the composition of the traffic detection place (traffic volume) by the composition part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 8 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which traffic composition is impossible to synthesize The figure which shows the example which determines the propriety of traffic volume composition by the difference in the minimum route cost Block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 9 of the present invention The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection ground density information accumulate | stored in the traffic detection ground density storage part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 9 of this invention. Block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to the tenth embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic jam information accumulate | stored in the traffic jam information storage part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 10 of this invention. The figure which shows the example which a traffic volume detection location position range calculation part calculates a traffic volume detection location changeable location range with traffic jam information Block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to an eleventh embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the link travel time information accumulate | stored in the link travel time storage part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 11 of this invention. Block diagram showing the configuration of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 12 of the present invention. The figure which shows the example of the traffic detection point which becomes the direction candidate of the movement destination The figure which shows the example which a destination direction prediction part filters the direction candidate of a destination by direction The figure which shows the example of the direction candidate of the movement destination filtered by direction The figure which shows the example which a destination direction prediction part determines the direction of a destination by the direction and magnitude | size of traffic volume The figure which shows the example which provides the information relevant to the direction of the movement destination which the information provision part estimated The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 12 of this invention. Block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the example which a destination prediction part determines a destination by distance, the magnitude | size of traffic volume, and a destination prediction number The figure which shows the example which provides the information relevant to the several destination predicted by the information provision part The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in Embodiment 13 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 2 of Embodiment 13 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of the provision information which a provision information acquisition part acquires The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 2 of Embodiment 13 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 3 of Embodiment 13 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 3 of Embodiment 13 of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus in the modification 5 of Embodiment 13 of this invention. The flowchart which shows the example of operation | movement of the information provision apparatus in the modification 5 of Embodiment 13 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

101, 1601 Current location acquisition unit 102, 4502, 5302 Traffic detection location accumulation unit 103, 1003 Distance calculation unit 104, 1204, 1604 Direction calculation unit 105a, 3705a, 9005a Destination candidate determination unit 105b, 1005b, 1605b, 3105b, 4505b 5305b, 6405b, 9005b, 9705b, 10405b, 10605b Filtering unit 106, 4006, 4506, 5706, 6412, 9006, 9706, 10606 Information providing unit 106a, 4006a, 4506a, 6412a, 9006a Provided information accumulating unit 1007 Starting point acquisition unit 1207 Map information storage unit 1208 Recommended route calculation unit 2108 Traffic detection location position range calculation unit 2109 Traffic detection location change unit 2610 Traffic detection location change unit 3103 Route cost calculation unit 3109 Circumference calculation unit 3708 Recommended route calculation unit 3709 Redundancy calculation unit 3710 Redundant movement destination removal unit 4001 Predictive current location acquisition unit 4005c Repeat control unit 5307 Preference information storage unit 5707 Destination presentation unit 5708 Destination selection detection Unit 5709 Destination selection unit 6405 Passage point prediction unit 6405a Passage point candidate determination unit 6407 Passage point presentation unit 6408 Passage destination selection detection unit 6409 Destination candidate accumulation unit 6410 Destination presentation detection unit 6411 Destination selection detection unit 6413 Passage point selection unit 6414 Destination selection unit 7508 Combinability determination unit 7509 Combining unit 8007 Traffic volume detection density storage unit 8008 Filtering position range calculation unit 8009 Destination candidate filtering unit 8307 Congestion information accumulation unit 8308 Traffic amount estimation unit 8707 Link travel time storage unit 8708 Traffic estimation unit 9005, 10605 Destination direction prediction unit 9707, 10107 Provided information acquisition unit 9708, 10108, 10408, 10608 Destination number determination unit for destination

Claims (31)

An information providing apparatus that predicts a moving destination of a moving body and provides information on the predicted moving destination to the moving body,
A traffic volume detection location accumulating means for accumulating traffic directions in a plurality of traffic volume detection locations, which are points for detecting traffic volume, in association with information identifying the traffic volume detection location;
Current location acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the moving object;
Direction calculation means for calculating the direction from the current position acquired by the current position acquisition means to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage means;
Select a part or all of the traffic volume detection areas accumulated in the traffic volume detection area accumulation means as destination candidates, and the direction calculated by the direction calculation means for the selected traffic volume detection destination destination And a direction difference between the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, a traffic volume detection location where the calculated direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range, and the identified traffic volume detection location Destination prediction means for predicting the destination of the mobile or the direction of the destination;
An information providing device comprising: an information providing unit that obtains and presents information related to the destination or the direction of the destination predicted by the destination prediction unit. The destination prediction means selects a traffic volume detection location within a certain distance from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition means from the traffic detection locations stored in the traffic detection location storage means. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing apparatus is selected as the destination candidate. The information providing apparatus further includes a distance calculation unit that calculates a distance from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit,
The traffic volume detection location accumulation means further accumulates the magnitude of traffic volume for the plurality of traffic volume detection locations,
The destination prediction means has a small distance calculated by the distance calculation means from among traffic detection places where the direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range, and the traffic detection place storage means The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a traffic volume detection location having a large traffic volume stored in the traffic volume is selected, and the selected traffic volume detection location is predicted as a moving destination of the mobile body. The information providing apparatus further includes a departure place acquisition means for acquiring a departure position of the mobile body,
The distance calculation means further calculates a distance from the departure position acquired by the departure place acquisition means to the destination candidate position,
The destination prediction unit employs a value that monotonously decreases as the threshold value with respect to the distance calculated by the distance calculation unit, and compares the direction difference with the threshold value, thereby calculating the direction difference. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: identifying a traffic volume detection location that falls within the threshold range. The information providing apparatus further includes a departure place acquisition means for acquiring a departure position of the mobile body,
The distance calculating means further calculates at least one of a distance from the starting position acquired by the starting point acquiring means to the current position acquired by the current position acquiring means, a traveling time, and the number of left / right turns.
The destination prediction means adopts a value that monotonously decreases as at least one of the distance, the moving time, and the number of right / left turns calculated by the distance calculation means as the threshold, and the direction difference and the threshold The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein a traffic volume detection location in which the direction difference is within the threshold value range is identified by comparing with the above. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
A recommendation for calculating a recommended route from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit using the map information stored in the map information storage unit Route calculation means,
The direction calculating means calculates the direction of the moving body at the traffic volume detection location on the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculation means as the direction from the current position to the traffic volume detection location. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1. The current location acquisition means further acquires the current orientation of the mobile object,
The destination prediction unit further calculates a direction difference between the direction acquired by the current location acquisition unit and the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the calculated direction difference is larger than a predetermined threshold value. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the traffic volume detection location is excluded from the destination candidates. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
A recommendation for calculating a recommended route from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit using the map information stored in the map information storage unit Route calculation means,
The current location acquisition means further acquires the current orientation of the mobile object,
The direction calculating means calculates the direction of the moving body at the traffic detection location on the recommended route calculated by the recommended route calculating means,
The destination prediction unit further excludes the traffic volume detection location from the destination candidates when the direction acquired by the current location acquisition unit and the direction calculated by the direction calculation unit do not match. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
A position range in which the position of the traffic detection location can be changed using the map information stored in the map information storage means and the information specifying the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage means A traffic detection location position range calculating means for calculating
A traffic detection location that changes the location of the traffic detection location within the location range calculated by the traffic detection location location range calculation means and that is closest to the current location acquired by the current location acquisition means A position changing means,
The direction calculation means calculates the direction based on the position changed by the traffic volume detection location change means,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the distance calculating unit calculates the distance based on the position changed by the traffic detection location changing unit. The information providing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit calculates, as the location range, a range where there is no branch on a road including the traffic detection location. The traffic volume detection location position range calculation unit calculates, as the location range, a range in which a road having a road width equal to or greater than a predetermined value does not exist on a road including the traffic detection location. Information provision device. The information providing apparatus further calculates a circuitousness indicating a circuitousness indicating a degree of circuitousness of a route from the current position acquired by the current location acquiring unit to the traffic detection location accumulated in the traffic detection location accumulating unit. A calculation means,
The destination predicting unit further determines the traffic volume detection location from the destination candidate when the circuitousness of the route to the traffic detection location calculated by the circuitousness calculation unit is larger than a predetermined value. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing apparatus is excluded. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Starting point acquisition means for acquiring a starting position of the moving body;
Map information storage means for storing map information;
Using the map information stored in the map information storage means, the route cost between the current departure points, which is the cost of the route from the departure position acquired by the departure point acquisition unit to the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit A route cost between departure candidate locations that is a cost of the route from the departure location to the traffic detection location, and a route cost between current candidate locations that is a cost of the route from the current location to the traffic detection location. A route cost calculating means for calculating,
The circuitousness calculating means calculates the difference between the current starting point route cost calculated by the route cost calculating unit and the current candidate point route cost, and the starting candidate point route cost as the circuitousness. The information providing device according to claim 12, wherein the information providing device is calculated as: The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
A recommendation for calculating a recommended route from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit using the map information stored in the map information storage unit Route calculation means;
Redundant traffic volume detection by determining whether or not there is a traffic volume detection area other than the traffic volume detection area for which the recommended path has been calculated on the recommended path calculated by the recommended path calculation means. Redundancy calculating means for calculating redundancy indicating whether or not a ground exists;
2. The traffic volume detection location is excluded from the destination candidates when it is indicated by the redundancy calculated by the redundancy calculation means that a redundant traffic volume detection location exists. Information providing device. The destination prediction means calculates an evaluation value indicating the probability of prediction for the traffic volume detection area predicted as the destination, and when the calculated evaluation value satisfies a predetermined criterion, the traffic volume detection area The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the prediction of the movement destination is repeated with the current position of the moving body as a current position. The destination prediction means calculates the evaluation value for the traffic detection location predicted as the destination and other traffic detection locations, and the evaluation value of the traffic detection location predicted as the destination is any other traffic The information providing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the prediction is repeated when the detected value is higher than a certain range by a certain value. The traffic volume detection location accumulating means further stores, for the plurality of traffic volume detection locations, type information including information on whether the traffic volume detection location is a road,
The destination predicting means refers to the type information stored in the traffic volume detection location storage means to determine whether or not the traffic volume detection location is a road. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the prediction is repeated with the traffic volume detection location as the current position of the mobile body. The type information further indicates whether or not the traffic detection location is a landmark,
The traffic volume detection location storage means further stores, for the plurality of traffic volume detection locations, category information indicating a category of the landmark when the traffic volume detection location is a landmark,
The information providing apparatus further includes preference information accumulation means for accumulating preference information indicating user evaluation for each category accumulated in the traffic volume detection location accumulation means,
The destination prediction means weights the magnitude of the traffic volume with respect to the distance by an evaluation corresponding to the category of the traffic detection location stored in the preference information storage means, and the obtained value The information providing apparatus according to claim 17, wherein a traffic volume detection area having a large traffic volume is predicted as a destination of movement of the moving object. The information providing apparatus further includes:
A destination presentation means for presenting the destination predicted by the destination prediction means;
A destination selection means for accepting a selection instruction from the user for the destination presented by the destination presentation means,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing unit acquires and presents information related to a destination corresponding to the selection instruction received by the destination selecting unit. The destination prediction means predicts the destination as a passing place of the mobile body,
The information providing apparatus further includes:
Passing place presenting means for presenting the passing place predicted by the destination predicting means;
Passing place selection means for receiving a selection instruction from the user for the passing place presented by the passing place presenting means;
Passage point selection detection means for instructing the current position acquisition unit to set the passing point as the current position of the mobile body when the selection instruction received by the passing point selection unit is a passing point designation. The information providing apparatus according to claim 19. The information providing apparatus further includes:
It is determined whether or not the traffic volume at the plurality of traffic detection locations can be synthesized based on the similarity between the positions of the plurality of traffic detection locations and the traffic direction at the traffic detection location. Means for determining whether to synthesize,
A composition for changing the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection area by combining the traffic volume levels at the plurality of traffic volume detection areas when the synthesis availability determination unit determines that the traffic volume can be synthesized. Means and
The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the destination prediction unit selects the traffic volume detection location using the traffic volume synthesized by the synthesis unit. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
A recommendation for calculating a recommended route from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit using the map information stored in the map information storage unit Route calculation means;
Redundant traffic volume detection by determining whether or not there is a traffic volume detection area other than the traffic volume detection area for which the recommended path has been calculated on the recommended path calculated by the recommended path calculation means. Redundancy calculating means for calculating redundancy indicating whether or not the ground exists,
The synthesis means excludes the traffic detection area from the objects of synthesis when the redundancy calculated by the redundancy calculation means indicates that there is a redundant traffic detection area. Item 21. The information providing device according to Item 21. The combining possibility determination unit calculates a minimum route cost from the current position acquired by the current location acquisition unit to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage unit, and the plurality of traffic detection locations The information providing apparatus according to claim 21, wherein the availability is determined by using the similarity of the minimum path cost with respect to the similarity of the positions. The information providing apparatus further includes:
A traffic detection location density storage means for storing the density of the traffic detection location by region;
Filtering for calculating a location range of a traffic detection location as a destination candidate from the current location acquired by the current location acquisition means and the density of the area including the current location stored in the traffic detection location density storage means Position range calculation means;
According to the position range calculated by the filtering position range calculation means, and a destination candidate filtering means for filtering a destination candidate from the traffic volume detection location stored in the traffic volume detection location storage means,
The said destination prediction means selects a part or all of the traffic volume detection place made into the destination candidate by the filtering by the said destination candidate filtering means as said destination candidate. Information providing device. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Traffic information storage means for storing traffic information;
Traffic that estimates the position of the traffic volume detection location, the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the magnitude of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location from the traffic jam information stored in the traffic jam information storage means A quantity estimation means,
The traffic volume detection location accumulating means includes the location of the traffic volume detection location estimated by the traffic volume estimation means, the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the magnitude of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information indicating the length is stored. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Map information storage means for storing map information;
Using the map information accumulated in the map information accumulating means and the traffic jam information, a traffic volume detection location that calculates the location range of the traffic volume detection location between the start point and the end point of the traffic jam can be changed. Position range calculation means;
A traffic detection location that changes the location of the traffic detection location within the location range calculated by the traffic detection location location range calculation means and that is closest to the current location acquired by the current location acquisition means A position changing means,
The direction calculation means calculates the direction based on the position changed by the traffic volume detection location change means,
26. The information providing apparatus according to claim 25, wherein the distance calculation unit calculates the distance based on the position changed by the traffic detection location change unit. The information providing apparatus further includes:
Link travel time accumulating means for accumulating information indicating the link travel time, the link length, and the link start point position and end point position for links indicating predetermined points on the road;
From the link travel time stored in the link travel time storage means, the link length, and the start point position and end point position of the link, the position of the traffic detection location, the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic detection location, and the A traffic volume estimating means for estimating the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection area,
The traffic volume detection location accumulating means includes the location of the traffic volume detection location estimated by the traffic volume estimation means, the direction of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, and the magnitude of traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location. The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein information indicating the length is stored. The information providing apparatus further includes a destination prediction number determining unit that determines the number of destinations to be predicted.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the movement destination prediction unit predicts movement destinations by the number determined by the movement destination prediction number determination unit. The destination prediction number determination means includes the number of provision information provided by the information provision means, the content of the provision information, the number of provision information related to the current location specified by the current location acquisition means, and the destination prediction means. The number of provision information relating to the predicted destination, the number of provision information relating to the route from the current position to the destination, the number of movement directions predicted by the destination prediction means, and the destination prediction means 30. The information providing apparatus according to claim 28, wherein the number of destinations to be predicted is determined according to at least one of the number of predictions when the destination is recursively predicted. By referring to the traffic volume detection location storage means for storing the traffic direction in a plurality of traffic volume detection locations, which are points for detecting traffic volume, in association with the information for specifying the traffic volume detection location, the mobile body An information providing method for predicting a destination of the vehicle and providing information on the predicted destination to the moving body,
A current location acquisition step for acquiring the current position of the moving object;
A direction calculating step of calculating a direction from the current position acquired in the current location acquiring step to the traffic detection location stored in the traffic detection location storage means;
Select a part or all of the traffic detection areas stored in the traffic detection area storage means as destination candidates, and the direction calculated in the direction calculation step for the selected traffic destinations of the destination candidates And a direction difference between the direction of the traffic volume at the traffic volume detection location, a traffic volume detection location where the calculated direction difference is within a predetermined threshold range, and the identified traffic volume detection location A destination prediction step for predicting the destination of the moving object or the direction of the destination;
An information providing method comprising: obtaining and presenting information related to the destination or the direction of the destination predicted by the destination prediction step. By referring to the traffic volume detection location storage means for storing the traffic direction in a plurality of traffic volume detection locations, which are points for detecting traffic volume, in association with the information for specifying the traffic volume detection location, the mobile body Is a program for an information providing device that predicts a destination of a mobile station and provides information about the predicted destination to the mobile body,
A program causing a computer to execute the steps included in the information providing method according to claim 30.

Images