JPH0936798A - Terminal using communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To send required information to a specific terminal automatically in the system making communication between plural terminals including on- board terminal equipments and an information center. SOLUTION: When the user uses a personal computer 100b of its own home 100 to make a request of planning a visit to an information center 300, the information center 300 accesses a database 300a to plan a desired visit schedule. The visit plan is returned to the personal computer 100a and the information center 300 extracts a part relating to vehicles in the visit plan and the part is sent to a navigation device 200a of a vehicle 200. Thus, the operator is not required to enter information required for the vehicles.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a communication system using terminals, and more particularly to communication between portable terminals, vehicle-mounted terminals and information centers.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, along with the enhancement of functions of vehicles, various driving assist devices such as navigation devices have been developed.
It is installed. On the other hand, information devices such as personal computers are becoming smaller and higher in performance, and portable terminals are emerging. Therefore, it has been proposed to perform communication between these mobile terminals and in-vehicle terminals to improve the utilization efficiency of both.

For example, in the electronic notebook adapter disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-289997, an adapter for connecting to a navigation system mounted on a vehicle and an electronic notebook is provided.
A configuration including a communication circuit for exchanging data between data in an electronic notebook and a navigation system is disclosed. According to this, the data such as the address book registered in the electronic notebook can be transmitted as the destination data of the navigation system by a simple operation, and the cumbersome key input operation in the conventional navigation system can be omitted.

[0004]

On the other hand, there is also a system in which necessary information is obtained from the center by communicating with an in-vehicle terminal (navigation device or the like) and an information center by an automobile telephone or the like in accordance with the maintenance of infrastructure. It has been developed, and it is conceivable that not only the communication between the mobile terminal and the vehicle-mounted terminal as in the prior art but also the communication between the mobile terminal, the vehicle-mounted terminal, and the information center is mutually performed.

In such a situation, for example, when trying to obtain traffic information using a mobile terminal, data is input from the mobile terminal and transmitted to the information center, and the information center edits traffic information according to the data. However, since the traffic information itself is necessary when traveling in a vehicle, the information acquired by the mobile terminal must be moved to the in-vehicle terminal before boarding the vehicle, Even with the adapter of the prior art, the feeling of complication still remains. In addition, even if you make an inquiry to the information center using the in-vehicle terminal,
Depending on the content of the inquiry, it may take a long time for the information center to transmit the information, and during that time, the operator may be unable to leave the vehicle.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to obtain necessary information by communicating with an information center using a plurality of mobile terminals. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication system in which information is transmitted directly from an information center to various mobile terminals, thereby eliminating the complexity of operation and improving usability.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first aspect of the present invention uses a terminal for communicating between a plurality of terminals including an in-vehicle terminal and an information center and obtaining desired information at the terminal. A communication system, wherein the plurality of terminals are
Data input means, transmission means for transmitting the input data to the information center, receiving means for receiving the information transmitted from the information center based on the input data, and the information center for transmitting the information, respectively. And a communication control means for transmitting the destination information designating a terminal to be superimposed on the input data and transmitting the information, and the information center transmits the information to the designated destination.

Here, the input data is, for example, a search request command, and the information center performs a predetermined search process based on this command and transmits the search result.
To superimpose the destination information on the input data means to send the destination information sequentially to the input data,
It also includes both securing the destination area in the input data format and sending it in batch.

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the second invention is a terminal use communication system in which communication is performed between a plurality of terminals including an in-vehicle terminal and an information center and desired information is acquired by the terminal. Then, in each of the plurality of terminals,
Data input means, transmission means for transmitting input data to the information center, and reception means for receiving information transmitted from the information center based on the input data are provided, and the information center is provided in the information center. A communication control unit is provided which classifies information to be transmitted based on the input data for each terminal and transmits the information for each terminal.

[0010] Here, the classification means that according to the content of the information to be transmitted, the information is classified into terminals that are considered to be suitable for use. Will be received in a batch, and then the operator will not have to allocate the information to each terminal.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a system conceptual diagram in this embodiment. A mobile terminal (PDA) 100a and a personal computer (personal computer) 100b are provided in the home 100, and each is connected to the information center 300 by a telephone line. The PDA 100a and the personal computer 100b each have an input device (keyboard, etc.),
It is equipped with communication means (modem, communication software, etc.) and a display device. On the other hand, the vehicle 200 has a navigation device 2
00a is mounted, and a data processing device 200b for supplying data to this navigation device is provided. Communication between the vehicle 200 and the information center 300 is performed by a car telephone line, and data transmission / reception is performed by the data processing device 200b.
Runs. In addition, a database 300a storing various information in the information center 300, a storage device 300b, and a search device 300c that accesses the database based on the data transmitted from the home 100 or the vehicle 200 and searches for desired information, and A communication control device 300d for transmitting the search result is provided.

In such a system, communication between the PDA 100a serving as a terminal, the personal computer 100b, the navigation device 200a and the information center 300 will be described by taking congestion information and travel plan information as examples.

<Acquisition of Traffic Congestion Information> When the vehicle 200 drives to drive, the traffic congestion information in that direction is often required. In this case, the driver first requests the information center 300 from the PDA 100a or the personal computer 100b to retrieve the congestion information. Specifically, the data required for the search is input from the input device and transmitted to the information center 300 via the telephone line using the communication software. The search request may use, for example, a command pre-arranged between the centers.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a data format sent from the PDA 100a or the personal computer 100b to the information center 300. "ID" as a header,
"Password", "reply address", "reply address ID" are specified, and "command" and "argument" are specified as data. The "ID" is for identifying the PDA 100a or the personal computer 100b that is the transmission source, and a telephone number or the like can be used. “Reply destination” is for indicating whether or not a reply destination is designated and the number of reply destinations. In the example of FIG. 2, there is a reply destination designation, and one reply destination is designated. If no reply destination is specified, that is, if a reply is desired to the sender, this may be set to 0. The “reply destination ID” is for specifically designating the reply destination,
The telephone number of the reply destination can be used. In the example of FIG. 2, the information to be acquired is traffic congestion information, and this information is
Since it is better to obtain it with 00, the reply destination ID is specified in the car telephone of the vehicle 200. The "command" is the one that was previously agreed with the center as described above,
“11H” means search. The "argument" is used to specify the area for executing the command.
In the above example, the secondary mesh number on the map of the area where the traffic information is desired is specified.

When the reply destination is designated, the reply destination data can be sent sequentially following the command and the argument instead of the header portion.

As described above, when the search data is transmitted to the information center, if the information indicating the presence or absence of the reply destination designation and the reply destination ID information are superimposed and transmitted as a header, the information center 300 side that receives the search request requests the information. When the retrieval device 300c accesses the database 300a by interpreting the contents and obtains the necessary traffic congestion information, the retrieval device 300c transmits the information to the designated reply destination. In this example, it is a car telephone of the vehicle 200. In the vehicle 200, the data processing device 200b processes the traffic congestion information transmitted from the information center 300 and supplies it to the navigation device 200a. Therefore, when the operator gets on the vehicle, the operator can obtain the necessary traffic jam information from the navigation device 200.
Since it is set to a, it is not necessary to wait at home until the search result of traffic congestion information is returned, and it is not necessary to connect with an adapter to input the search result into the vehicle, which is extremely convenient. Information can be easily obtained and used.

<Acquisition of Travel Plan Information> Next, a case of acquiring a travel plan will be described. Note that, in this example, unlike the above-described acquisition of the traffic jam information, the operator does not specify the reply destination by himself, but an example in which the information center 300 side selects the terminal to which the reply is to be sent and returns. Therefore, the operator needs to register a plurality of terminals for which a reply is desired in advance in the information center 300. FIG. 3 shows an example of a terminal to be registered in advance, which is composed of “ID” and “device number”. A telephone number or the like can be used as the "ID", and for example, "01" is the PDA for the "device number".
100a, "02" is the navigation device 200a,
"03" can be the personal computer 100b. In addition to this, it is possible to register an office personal computer or the like as the device number “04”. The reply destination is stored in the storage device 300b of the information center 300.

After registering the reply destination in advance as described above,
The operator requests the travel plan creation using the PDA 100a or the personal computer 100b. FIG. 4 shows an example of a data format transmitted to the information center 300 when making a request. There are "ID", "password", and "reply address" as the header, but 0 is specified because the reply address is not specified.
Is set. In addition, as data, "command" and "number of people" that is information necessary for planning a travel plan,
There are "budget", "destination", "schedule", and "requests". The "command" is arranged in advance with the center,
“12H” means travel planning. The "request" is an item for specifying incidental equipment.

When data is transmitted in such a data format, the information center 300 makes a travel plan that meets the conditions. That is, the search device 300c accesses the database 300a in which various travel plans are stored and searches for travel plans that match the conditions. Instead of holding the travel plan in the database 300a, external databases (owned by a travel agency) 301, 302, 303 may be accessed by communication as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 shows an example of the result obtained by searching. The search result is composed of time, place, contents, means of transportation to the place, and remarks, and is arranged in order of time in FIG. It should be noted that the remarks column is for displaying whether or not the place has been reserved when the content is a meal or the like. An automatic reservation is made by executing a reservation process for. If the reservation cannot be made or the plan cannot be established due to the closed days of the facility, etc., only that part should be changed to the alternative facility and the plan should be re-created. Specifically, if the restaurant you searched for as a place to eat is on a holiday, you should search for a nearby alternative restaurant from the database again, perform the reservation process, and replace it with one that has been re-searched for only the food item. Good. In addition, when replacing, it is possible to draw up a feasible travel plan by calculating the time change required for the movement from the distance relationship between the facilities before and after the replacement and adjusting the entire time schedule. After the completion of the travel plan, the communication control device 300d of the information center 300 returns the plan to the terminal that has issued the plan request (since the reply destination is "0").

Further, the search device 300 of the information center 300
When the travel plan is prepared, c classifies the plan for each terminal. Specifically, in the travel plan, focusing on the item of "transportation means", only the schedule in which the transportation means is a vehicle is extracted. FIG. 7 shows the plan thus extracted. Then, the communication control device 300d of the information center 300 transmits the plan to the vehicle 200.
Therefore, for example, when a travel plan is requested using the PDA 100a, the entire plan is returned to the PDA 100a, and only the portion of the travel plan that uses the vehicle is automatically supplied to the navigation device 200a of the vehicle 200. become. Navigation device 20 of vehicle 200
0a stores the supplied schedule in memory,
Guide the vehicle accordingly. Specifically, when the specified date and time arrives, the destination and transit points are automatically set based on the supplied schedule data, the route is calculated, and the driver is guided to the destination based on the route guidance function. To do.

If the vehicle is not started by the operator even after the predetermined date and time indicated in the schedule, the navigation device 200a automatically discards the entered schedule, that is, stores it in the memory. Delete the scheduled contents. This eliminates the complexity of setting destinations and waypoints in the navigation system according to the schedule, and it is necessary to cancel the set destinations and waypoints even if the schedule changes and you do not go to the drive. Disappear.

FIG. 8 and FIG. 9 show flowcharts of the processing described above. FIG. 8 shows the processing in the information center 300, and FIG. 9 shows the processing in the vehicle 200.

In FIG. 8, the information center 300 is a PD
When the command transmitted from the A100a or the personal computer 100b is received (S101), the database 300a
Alternatively, an external database is searched (S102) and the result is returned (S103). In addition, it is determined whether or not there is a part that uses another terminal (specifically, an in-vehicle terminal) in the search result (S104), and if there is another terminal,
The data is extracted (S105) and the other terminal (vehicle 20
0) (S106).

On the other hand, in FIG. 9, when the vehicle 200 receives the data from the information center 300 (S201),
It is stored in the memory of the navigation device 200a, and a predetermined date and time, that is, whether or not the date and time of the stored schedule has been reached is collated using a built-in calendar function or the like (S20).
2). If it is a predetermined date and time, the navigation device 200a sets a destination and a waypoint based on the schedule and creates a guide route (S203). Specifically, the place indicated in the schedule is mapped on the map, and the conventional route search method (for example, Dijkstra method)
Is used to calculate the guide route. Then, it is determined whether or not the movement of the vehicle has started within a certain period of time, that is, whether or not the operator has the intention to act as scheduled (S2
04), if the movement of the vehicle is started within a certain time, for example, within 1 hour before and after the first time of the schedule, the route guidance is executed; otherwise, it is determined that the operator has changed some schedule. Then, the destination and the waypoint which have been set are automatically deleted (S205).

In the present embodiment, the terminals of the home and the vehicle are described as an example, but the present invention can be applied to the terminals of the office and the vehicle, and the terminals of the sales office and the vehicle. Further, in the present embodiment, the example in which the search request is transmitted from the personal computer or PDA at home is shown, but the search request may be transmitted from the vehicle side to the information center.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case of requesting traffic congestion information and travel plans is shown, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to requests for other information. For example, when visiting multiple customers using a vehicle, it is possible to request the information center for the details of the cost required for the entire process and automatically send the data to the personal computer in the office. When the weather information is requested from the information center, the information may be automatically transmitted to the vehicle and the travel plan already made by the navigation device may be changed.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the information requested by one terminal can be received by another terminal, the procedure of information transmission can be simplified. In particular, when a time-consuming search request is made, the operator does not have to wait for the end of the search and is automatically sent to the desired terminal, which enables efficient information management,
Usability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transmission format diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of reply destination registration according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 4 is another transmission format diagram of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an information center according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example (schedule) of search results according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of data transmitted to the vehicle side according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart of the information center according to the embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 9 is a processing flowchart of the vehicle according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100 homes, 200 vehicles, 300 information centers.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A terminal-based communication system for communicating between a plurality of terminals including an in-vehicle terminal and an information center to obtain desired information at the terminal, wherein each of the plurality of terminals has a data input means and a data input means. Transmitting means for transmitting input data to the information center, receiving means for receiving information transmitted from the information center based on the input data, and transmitting for specifying a terminal to which the information center should transmit information A communication control means for superimposing destination information on the input data and transmitting the information, the information center transmitting the information to a designated destination. 2. A terminal-use communication system for communicating between a plurality of terminals including an in-vehicle terminal and an information center to obtain desired information at the terminal, wherein each of the plurality of terminals has a data input means and a data input means. A transmitting unit for transmitting input data to the information center, and a receiving unit for receiving information transmitted from the information center based on the input data, and the information center includes the input unit. A terminal utilization communication system, characterized in that communication control means is provided for classifying information to be transmitted for each terminal based on data and transmitting the information for each terminal.