JP4989238B2 - Car navigation system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a car navigation system.

Many automobiles (hereinafter referred to as vehicles) equipped with a car navigation device that presents the position of a traveling automobile by displaying it on a road map to a user as a driver by various position detection means such as GPS have come to be seen. ing. In addition, a system for managing and controlling devices in a house using a car navigation device as an information terminal has been provided (for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-44661 A

  By the way, the route setting, which is a basic function of the above-described car navigation device, is configured such that the user operates the car navigation device to input and set the starting point and the destination before starting the car, or via the route as necessary. It was necessary to input and set the ground, and this was very troublesome.

  In addition, some car navigation apparatuses are provided with a means for reproducing audio / visual content, but it is necessary for a user to set a CD or DVD to be reproduced in the car navigation apparatus. In addition, some portable players and USB memories that support the mass storage class are connected and transferred to the built-in HDD of the car navigation device, but these portable players and USB memories are stored in advance after the contents are stored in the portable player or USB memory. It was necessary to set the USB memory in the car navigation device and transfer it.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points. The object of the present invention is to input and set at least drive information necessary for operating a car navigation device in advance at home, and to set drive information in a vehicle. It is intended to provide a car navigation system that improves the usability of the car navigation device by eliminating the troublesome setting operation in the vehicle by transferring to the car navigation device.

In order to achieve the above-described object, the invention of claim 1 includes an information distribution device installed in a house and a car navigation device mounted on a vehicle.
The information distribution device includes information between an input unit for a user to input drive information including at least a starting point and a destination required for driving, a database for storing the input drive information, and the car navigation device. A first communication unit for performing exchange communication,
The car navigation device acquires drive information from the information distribution device through a second communication unit that communicates information with the first communication unit of the information distribution device, and the second communication unit. A navigation processing unit that generates at least a route from the drive information to the departure point and the destination,
The drive information is stored in the database for each user to use,
User information for acquiring user information of a user who is out of the house and who is on the vehicle equipped with the car navigation device within the site of the user's home, and transmits user information and a drive information request to the information distribution device An acquisition means,
When the information distribution apparatus receives the user information and the drive information request from the user information acquisition unit , the information distribution apparatus reads the user drive information corresponding to the user information from the database and transmits the read information to the car navigation apparatus. And

According to the first aspect of the present invention, drive information can be input and set in advance in the in-home information distribution apparatus, and the drive information is communicated between the in-vehicle information navigation apparatus and the in-home information distribution apparatus. Since it can be transmitted, it can be set with sufficient margins while formulating a drive plan, etc., and there is no need for troublesome input and setting by directly operating the car navigation device in the car, improving the usability of the car navigation device To do . In addition, the drive information can be input and set in advance by the information distribution device for each user boarding the vehicle, and the drive information corresponding to the boarding user can be automatically transmitted to the car navigation device. It is possible to manage one person's drive information at a time, and if the user's drive information is input and set in the information distribution device in advance, he / she can input and set it in the car navigation device even if the user is not particularly conscious Since the drive information is automatically set, it is very effective when there are a plurality of user homes or a plurality of users who drive .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the information distribution device includes a content database that stores at least one audio or visual content acquired from at least one audio or visual information source. The car navigation device acquires the content stored in the content database from the information distribution device through the second communication unit and stores the content, and stores the content in the storage unit Reproduction means for reproducing content, wherein the information distribution device stores the content for each user who uses the content in the content database, and the user information acquisition unit stores the user information and a content request in the information distribution device. The information delivery device When the user information acquisition means receiving said content request and the user information, and transmits reads the contents of the user corresponding to the user information from the database for the content to the navigation device.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, if audio or visual content is stored in advance in the content database of the information distribution device at home as in the case of drive information, the content information source CD or the like is stored in the car navigation device. There is no need to directly attach a DVD or the like, or to temporarily store it in an audio player or memory and then set it in a car navigation device, so that it is possible to save time and labor at the time of departure. In addition, audio and visual content that suits the user's preferences can be prepared for each user in advance, and content corresponding to the boarding user is automatically sent to the car navigation device, greatly improving usability. In addition, the contents corresponding to each user can be managed collectively, and if the contents are stored in advance in the contents database of the information distribution device, the user himself / herself is not particularly aware when boarding. Since the content is automatically set in the car navigation device, it is very effective when there are a plurality of user homes and boarding users who drive a lot.

According to a third aspect of the invention, in the second aspect of the invention, the information distribution device stores a content reproduction order program in association with the content in the content database, and when the content is requested from the car navigation device, The reproduction order program is transmitted to the car navigation device together with the content.

According to the invention of claim 3 , it is possible to set an order program for reproducing a plurality of audio and visual contents in advance when there is enough time, and no troublesome setting operation is performed in the vehicle. Will improve.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to any one of the first to third aspects, the drive information includes a drive schedule, and the car navigation device acquires drive information including a drive schedule corresponding to a departure date and time. It is characterized by.

According to the invention of claim 4 , even if the drive information is created on a day that is not the day before departure, the drive information on the day of departure can be automatically transferred to the car navigation device based on the drive schedule.

According to the invention of claim 5, in the invention of any one of claims 1 to 4 , it is possible to input information on the waypoint between the departure point and the destination as drive information from the input unit of the information distribution device, and The navigation processing unit of the navigation device generates a route that passes through the route from the departure point to the destination when the route information is included in the acquired drive information.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, if the information on the waypoint is included in the drive information, a route passing the waypoint can be generated by the car navigation device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the present invention, the car navigation processing unit displays a route from the waypoint to the next place on a display unit with a predetermined arrival event as a trigger.

According to the invention of claim 6 , in the car navigation device, the route between the waypoint and the next place can be automatically displayed on the display unit based on an event such as arrival at the place of arrival or arrival time. it can.

  In the present invention, drive information can be input and set in advance in a home information distribution device, and drive information can be transmitted to a car navigation device mounted on a vehicle by communication with the home information distribution device. Therefore, it is possible to set with sufficient margin while preparing a drive plan, etc., and there is no need for the troublesome work of input setting by directly operating the car navigation device in the vehicle, which improves the usability of the car navigation device. .

  The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment. A home gateway 2 is connected to a user's home H via a communication line of a connection provider to the Internet 1, and is connected to a home gateway 2 via a home network (LAN) 3. The information distribution device 4 having a LAN communication function set with a local IP address managed by the router function provided in the home gateway 2, home appliances such as lighting equipment, and equipment such as electric locks A controller 6 for controlling and monitoring various devices 5 by a subsystem is provided.

  On the other hand, a vehicle 7 owned by the user's home H is equipped with a car navigation device (hereinafter abbreviated as a car navigation device) 8 having a mobile communication function (to be described later) connected to a mobile communication network. Information can be exchanged with the information distribution device 4 in the home via the mobile communication network, the Internet 1, the home gateway 2, and the LAN 3, and the car navigation device 8 and the information distribution device 4 implement this embodiment. Form a car navigation system.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the information distribution apparatus 4 and the car navigation apparatus 8 used in this embodiment. The information distribution apparatus 4 performs signal processing and control of the first communication unit 40 having a LAN communication function and the entire apparatus. An arithmetic processing unit 41, a display unit 42, an input unit 43 used for input settings such as drive information to be described later, a DVD serving as an information source of audio-visual (AV) content distributed to the car navigation device 8, A DVD / CD drive device 44 for capturing AV content from a CD, and a storage unit 45 including an HDD for constructing a database for storing drive information and AV content, respectively. Actually, the information distribution apparatus 4 is realized by a personal computer system (hereinafter referred to as a personal computer) that executes application software for information distribution, and a keyboard and a pointing device attached to the personal computer function as the input unit 43. . In the figure, an interface or the like interposed between the arithmetic processing unit 41 and each unit is omitted.

  On the other hand, the car navigation device 8 is a car navigation device compatible with AV content, and is usually provided as a car navigation device compatible with AV content, and stores a DVD / CD drive device 80, for example, various kinds of information described later. A storage unit 81 composed of an HDD for storing the image, a position detection unit 82 such as a GPS, a display unit 83 for displaying images and images including a road map display, and a sound reproduction unit 84 for reproducing music and audio. Whether the vehicle 7 has been operated (engine started) from the second communication unit 85 including a mobile communication terminal corresponding to the system of the embodiment and the ECU (Engine Control Unit) unit 9 mounted on the vehicle 7. The state acquisition unit 86 for determining the keyless entry includes information on the user (driver) registered in the electronic key used in the keyless entry system 10. A user information acquisition unit 87 fetched from the system 10, an arithmetic processing unit 88 that performs signal processing and control processing of the entire car navigation device 8, and an operation input unit 89.

  The arithmetic processing unit 88 generates a route from drive information necessary for the car navigation device, functions as a navigation processing unit that displays a vehicle position detected by the position detection unit 82 together with a road map on the display unit 83, and an operation input unit 89. In addition to the function of controlling the DVD / CD drive device 80 corresponding to the above operation and the function of controlling the sound reproduction unit 84 and the display unit 83, the information acquired by the status acquisition unit 86 and the user information acquisition unit 87 Based on this function, the communication unit 85 receives the information transmitted from the information distribution device 4 in response to the information request, and the function for transmitting the drive information and the AV content information request from the communication unit 85 to the information distribution device 4 as described later. Then, the received information is classified into AV content and drive information, and if it is AV content, it is stored in the storage unit 81. If it is drive information, Information classification function to be passed to the function of the navigation processing unit described above, and reproduction means for demodulating video, image, and audio (music) information from the AV content stored in the storage unit 81 and reproducing the information on the display unit 83 and the sound reproduction unit 84 It has a player function.

  Thus, a method of using the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, the user starts an information distribution application on a personal computer at home and starts the personal computer as the information distribution device 4 (S1 in FIG. 3). By this start, the information arrangement device 4 waits for a drive information or AV content distribution request from the car navigation device 8 and also waits for a drive information input or AV content capture by the user (S3 in FIG. 3). , S4).

  Now, when the user plans to drive the vehicle 7 to drive, the user operates the input unit 43 to give an instruction to display the information input screen on the display unit 42 to the arithmetic processing unit 41. The arithmetic processing unit 41 displays a menu screen on the display unit 42 for selecting whether the information input in response to this instruction is drive information or AV content. From this display screen, the user selects information to be input using a pointing device such as a mouse.

  By this selection, the information distribution apparatus 4 starts drive information processing (S5 in FIG. 3), and the arithmetic processing unit 41 displays a screen for inputting and editing (correcting / updating) drive information on the display unit 42. And asks the user whether to input new drive information or to correct or update the already input drive information. Here, when the user selects to input new drive information, the input screen is displayed on the display unit 42. In this input screen, you can enter the personal ID that has been set for the user in advance, the departure place (place name, address, etc.), destination (place name, address, etc.), drive schedule (departure date and time), and more. When there is a place, an input field for inputting using the address and place name of the waypoint is also displayed. In addition, the address (place name), name, etc. to be input are those registered in advance on the car navigation device 8 side. This personal ID is associated with a personal ID (user information) registered in advance in the electronic key of the keyless entry system 10 of the vehicle 7, and this personal ID is stored in advance as user information in the storage unit 81 on the car navigation device 8 side. Is also set.

  Thus, when the input of the drive information including the above-described user information is finished and there is an input indicating the end, the arithmetic processing unit 41 stores the drive information for each user in the drive information database in the storage unit 45, and this After the storage, an inquiry is made as to whether or not the apparatus is to be stopped via the screen of the display unit 42 (S6 in FIG. 3). If there is no instruction to stop the apparatus for a predetermined time, the apparatus automatically returns to the standby state. Of course, if the user gives an instruction to stop the apparatus, the apparatus is stopped (S7 in FIG. 3), but the apparatus is not stopped in order to respond to the distribution request in normal times.

  Thus, even when a plurality of users input drive information according to their respective drive plans, the respective drive information is stored in the database for each user and is collectively managed under the arithmetic processing unit 41.

  In this management, when the drive schedule information becomes past from the current day, the arithmetic processing unit 41 performs a process of automatically deleting the drive schedule information. Of course, the user himself / herself may perform deletion processing in the above-described editing.

  On the other hand, a user who wants to input AV content in the standby state or edit AV content that has already been input only needs to select input or editing of AV content from the menu screen described above, and the arithmetic processing unit 41 performs AV selection based on this selection input. When content acquisition or editing processing (S4 in FIG. 3) is started and newly entered, a menu screen for content acquisition from the DVD / CD drive device 44 or the AV content providing service site on the Internet 1 is displayed on the display unit 42. To display. Based on the display of this screen, the user sets a favorite DVD or CD in the DVD / CD drive device 44 and performs a content import operation or downloads a desired content from the AV content providing service site. The content that the user wants to see or hear is stored on the AV database in the storage unit 45 under the control of the arithmetic processing unit 41. Also in this case, the AV content is stored for each user in the AV database by inputting the user identification information together with the drive information. When the playback order of the stored AV content is set as desired, editing is further selected, and the playback order of the AV content is set on the editing screen. In the editing screen, unnecessary AV contents can be deleted and added. In addition to the playback order, settings such as random playback are also possible.

  As described above, after storing drive information and AV contents for each user in each database, the information distribution apparatus 4 returns to the standby state described above if there is no instruction to stop the apparatus within a predetermined time.

  On the other hand, when the engine is started by the ignition key in the vehicle 7 in which the car navigation device 8 is mounted as shown in FIG. When the start state information is received, the arithmetic processing unit 88 acquires the personal ID that is the user information of the driver from the keyless entry system 10 of the vehicle 7 through the user information acquisition unit 87, and starts the information acquisition process. Then, along with the personal ID information, the drive information and AV content distribution request are transmitted from the communication unit 85 to the home gateway 2 of the user's home H through the mobile communication network and the Internet 1. The transmitted personal ID information and distribution request are further transferred from the home gateway 2 through the LAN 3 to the communication unit 40 of the information distribution apparatus 4 in a standby state, and taken into the arithmetic processing unit 41 of the information distribution apparatus 4. Become. The arithmetic processing unit 41 starts the distribution process (S9 in FIG. 3) in response to the distribution request, determines whether or not the personal ID sent together with the distribution request is registered, and is associated with the personal ID. Check whether the drive information is stored in the drive information database of the storage unit 45, and if it is stored, check the presence / absence of the current day drive information from the schedule information. Read drive information from database. Also, it is checked whether or not the AV content associated with the personal ID is stored in the AV database. If the AV content is stored, the AV content is read out. In this case, if a reproduction method program such as a reproduction order program is stored, the program is also read out simultaneously.

  When these readings are completed, the arithmetic processing unit 41 compresses the read drive information and AV contents and sends them out from the communication unit 40 to the home gateway 2 via the LAN 3, and the home gateway 2 connects the Internet 1 and the mobile communication network. To the communication unit 85 of the car navigation device 8 which is a mobile communication terminal. The information distribution apparatus 4 determines that the distribution is completed (S9 in FIG. 3), and then returns to the standby state via S6 in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the car navigation device 8 acquires drive information, AV content, and the like through the communication unit 85, the arithmetic processing unit 88 performs processing necessary for the car navigation device such as route generation based on the drive information after performing decompression processing from the compressed state. I do. The AV content is stored in the storage unit 81. When a reproduction operation is performed by the operation input unit 89, the AV content is read out under the control of the arithmetic processing unit 88. Content such as music is read by the sound reproduction unit 84, and content such as video is displayed by the display unit 83. Will be displayed. At this time, if a program of a reproduction method such as a reproduction order program is sent, the reproduction is automatically performed based on the program. Of course, the user can also select and set the playback method using the operation input unit 89.

  The navigation processing technique of the car navigation device 8 is well known and will not be described here. In this embodiment, for example, when there is a transit point as drive information, a route passing through the transit point is generated. When it is detected that the vehicle has arrived at the transit point based on the information, a process from the transit point to the next location is displayed on the display unit 83 using this as a trigger. In addition, you may use the arrival time to the waypoint set by the drive schedule as a trigger.

  As described above, in the car navigation system according to the present embodiment, when the user gets into the vehicle 7 and starts the engine, the user's own drive information and AV content input and set in advance by the information distribution device 4 at the user's home H are automatically set. Can be distributed to the car navigation device 8 installed in the vehicle 7, and the user who is a driver can eliminate the troublesome trouble of inputting and setting the drive information by operating the car navigation device 8 in the vehicle, Also, it is possible to eliminate the trouble of bringing AV content media into the vehicle and setting it.

   In the present embodiment, the system is a case where the car navigation device 8 that supports AV content is used, but the present invention can also be applied to the case where the car navigation device 8 that supports only audio content is used, and the car navigation device 8 that does not support AV content is used. In this case, it is not necessary to provide an AV content distribution function. In the case of the vehicle 7 that cannot be identified by the user, the distribution processing function for each user may be omitted. Further, since there are various user identification methods depending on the specifications of the vehicle 7, it is not particularly limited to the embodiment. For example, an ID card may be used, and a personal ID reading device that reads a user ID from the ID card may be mounted on the vehicle 7 and user identification may be performed based on the personal information of the ID card. Furthermore, although the user is the driver, the person who is boarding may be the target user, and when performing personal identification using the ID card as described above, it is also necessary to identify multiple boarding users even when going out by multiple people. Each AV content can be transferred, or a route can be set based on drive information previously input by the passenger.

Further, as shown by a broken line in FIG. 1, the personal ID reader 11 is provided outside the entrance such as the entrance and in the site of the user's home so that the user can read the personal ID of the ID card when going out. When 11 reads the personal ID, the home gateway 2 may send drive information and a content request corresponding to the user together with the personal ID to the information distribution apparatus 4 through the LAN 3. In this case, the information distribution device 4 performs processing for distributing drive information and content requests corresponding to the personal ID until they are received by the car navigation device 6 of the vehicle 7 via the LAN 2, the home gateway 2, the Internet 1 and the mobile communication network. . As a result, the car navigation device 6 receives and takes in the distributed information when the vehicle 7 is in operation, such as when the engine is started.

  In addition, if a center server that provides user identification and AV content distribution services is provided on the Internet, it can also be developed into a business that oversees information distribution between a plurality of user homes and the vehicles 7 owned by each user. Is possible.

It is a system configuration figure of one embodiment. It is a lineblock diagram of a car navigation device and an information distribution device used for one embodiment. It is a flowchart for operation | movement description of the information delivery apparatus used for one Embodiment. It is an acquisition sequence diagram of drive information and AV content of the car navigation device used in one embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 Internet 2 Home gateway 3 LAN
4 Information distribution device 5 Device 6 Controller 7 Vehicle 8 Car navigation device H User's house

Claims (6)

An information distribution device installed in the house, and a car navigation device installed in the vehicle,
The information distribution device includes information between an input unit for a user to input drive information including at least a starting point and a destination required for driving, a database for storing the input drive information, and the car navigation device. A first communication unit for performing exchange communication,
The car navigation device acquires drive information from the information distribution device through a second communication unit that communicates information with the first communication unit of the information distribution device, and the second communication unit. A navigation processing unit that generates at least a route from the drive information to the departure point and the destination,
The drive information is stored in the database for each user to use,
User information for acquiring user information of a user who is out of the house and who is on the vehicle equipped with the car navigation device within the site of the user's home, and transmits user information and a drive information request to the information distribution device An acquisition means,
When the information distribution apparatus receives the user information and the drive information request from the user information acquisition unit , the information distribution apparatus reads the user drive information corresponding to the user information from the database and transmits the read information to the car navigation apparatus. Car navigation system. The information distribution device includes a content database that stores at least one audio or visual content acquired from at least one audio or visual information source,
The car navigation device acquires the content stored in the content database from the information distribution device through the second communication unit and stores the content, and stores the content in the storage unit Playback means for playing back the content,
The information delivery device stores the content in the content database for each user who uses the content ,
Before SL information distribution device, said When the user information acquisition means receives a said content request and the user information, and transmits the read out contents of the user corresponding to the user information from the database for the content to the navigation device The car navigation system according to claim 1. The information distribution device stores a reproduction order program for content in the content database in association with the content, and transmits the reproduction order program to the car navigation device together with the content when the content is requested from the car navigation device. car navigation system according to claim 2, characterized in that. The car navigation according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the drive information includes a drive schedule, and the car navigation device acquires drive information including a drive schedule corresponding to a departure date and time. system. When information on a waypoint between the departure point and the destination can be input as drive information from the input unit of the information distribution device , and the navigation processing unit of the car navigation device includes a waypoint in the acquired drive information The car navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a route that passes through from the departure point to the destination is generated . 6. The car navigation system according to claim 5, wherein the car navigation processing unit displays a route from the waypoint to the next place on a display unit with a predetermined arrival event as a trigger .

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