EP1721299B1 - Method for outputting text information by means of a display - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for outputting text information by means of a display in a driver information system in a vehicle, whereby the display has a defined display capacity. According to the inventive method, the scope of the text information to be output is adapted to the capacity of the display. The text information to be output or the information elements of which the text information is made up are subdivided into at least two components (prefix, body and suffix). The information or information elements are preferably output in their entirety. At least one component of an information to be output or of an information element is output in the form of an abbreviation if the capacity of the display is not sufficient to display the entire information or the complete partial information consisting of at least one information element. The invention also relates to a corresponding information data carrier.

Description

State of the art

The invention is based on a method for outputting textual information by means of a display in a driver information system according to the preamble of the independent patent claim.

Driver information systems that output textual information by means of a display, for example, are in the form of a receiver for broadcast traffic news DE 35 36 820 C2 known. In DE 35 36 820 C2 and ISO standards 14819-1, -2 and 3, inter alia, describes a method for the coded transmission of traffic reports. In the latter, a present message is divided on the transmitter side into elements which code elements according to a catalog of standardized message elements and subsequently transmit these codes. On the receiver side, the received codes are again assigned to message elements stored in a table and thus the traffic message composed of the message elements associated with the codes is displayed on the display. For storing the decoding table often removable storage media are provided, in particular CD-ROM and DVD.

Today's receivers for traffic reports of the type described often have a display with a capacity of four to five lines, each usually at least 16 characters. To one and the same decoding table and thus one and the same disk for decoding the received over broadcast Traffic message codes to be used in a variety of receivers, the message elements stored there are usually limited to a length of 16 characters. If the display capacity of such a driver information system is to be used optimally, decoding tables adapted to a respective display capacity of the respective device are currently required.

Advantages of the invention

The inventive method and the data carrier according to the invention with the features of the independent claims have the advantage that despite using only a single database for outputting textual information for a plurality of different types of devices with different display capacities, the respectively present display capacity is regularly used at least approximately optimally. It is thus sufficient essentially a single volume for a variety of different driver information systems. Due to the associated high volumes of universal data carriers whose production costs can be significantly reduced. In addition, one and the same disk can also be used alternately for different driver information systems, for example in two vehicles of the same owner, several service vehicles of an employer or different rental cars of a hired car rental. Thus, under certain circumstances, the initial costs for the necessary for the operation of the driver information systems disk reduced.

Advantageous embodiments and modifications of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, which are explained in more detail in the section description of the embodiments.

drawings

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the figure and are explained in more detail below. The figure shows a block diagram of a driver information system 2 according to the invention for carrying out the method according to the invention with an information data carrier 24 for use in the driver information system.

Description of the embodiments

A basic idea of the invention is to decompose all information to be output on a display of a device, in particular a driver information system for motor vehicles, into at least two basic components, to provide an abbreviation for each basic component in addition to a full-text version, that is to say in a memory of the device, for example a CD -ROM .. or .. to stockpile. If necessary, to adapt the information output to a display capacity of the display of the device, the corresponding abbreviation is output instead of the full-text version of an information component. If information is composed of information elements, as is the case with TMC traffic reports, for example, the decomposition can advantageously also be applied to the individual information elements, to which full-text versions or abbreviated versions of the information element components for outputting the information elements can then be added Information that is available from the information elements is output.

The figure shows a block diagram of a driver information system 2 according to the invention for carrying out the method according to the invention.

In the present case, the driver information system 2 is, without restriction of generality, a receiver for traffic reports transmitted according to the TMC standard of ISO 14819-1, -2 and -3 within the RDS (Radio Data System) signal. These are broadcast as part of a broadcast signal 11 from a transmitter 1 in a conventional manner over a VHF radio frequency. This is modulated among other things with the radio data signal in the frequency. The broadcast signal 11 is received by a receiving antenna 20 of the driver information system 2 and demodulated in a demodulator 21. The signal present at the output of the demodulator 21 and containing the actual information of interest here is fed to a decoder 22 for decoding the RDS-TMC signal. The signal present at the output of the decoder 22, which contains the actual traffic message codes, is fed to an output controller 23.

The output control 23 has the task to adapt to a display 25 to be displayed textual information to the capacity of the display 25 and make the display. In the case of the driver information system 2 described here, the textual information to be displayed is traffic information obtained from the received RDS-TMC codes. For this purpose, the output controller 23 accesses a decoding table 24, in which the codes information elements or message elements are assigned. The decoding table 24 is in the form of a removable data carrier, here realized for example in the form of a CD-ROM, which is accessed with a corresponding CD-ROM reader.

The data carrier 24 contains the textual information to be displayed on the display. In this case, each information element on the data carrier is divided into at least two, in the case of the present embodiment preferably in each case in three components, namely a so-called prefix, main part and suffix, hereinafter also prefix, body and suffix.

This division will be explained below with reference to the so-called TMC location code list according to ISO 14819-3. In the TMC Orlstabelle important places along the main traffic routes as location codes (location) are coded by area codes are coded in particular highway entrances and exits, motorway triangles and crossings, rest areas, major junctions of federal roads, etc. Each of these location codes is in each case at least one street name and a place name is assigned, wherein in particular the place name for outputting the traffic message in textual form is provided on a display 25 of the device or in acoustic form via a speech synthesis unit 26 of the device. Such a toponym is an information element in the sense of the present invention.

In the following three examples, the name of the coded location as information element is in each case divided into the three components Prefix 2411, Body 2412 and Suffix 2413, which three components are stored on the data carrier 24 assigned to the associated location code 241. In addition, each of the three components is additionally assigned an abbreviated component "Shorted Prefix" 2414, "Shorted Body" 2415 and "Shorted Suffix" 2416 stored. It is not compulsory for each of the three components to be present, nor does it necessarily have to be an existing component corresponding abbreviation be present. In the meaning of the claims, however, a non-existent component or a non-existing abbreviation shorted prefix 2414, shorted body 2415 or shorted suffix 2416 is understood to mean the corresponding component, then with the content "". All components and their respective abbreviation are addressed on the disk together by the associated location code 241 or event code 242.

Below are three examples of the decomposition of a location name of the location code list in Prefix, Body and Suffix and the respective abbreviated variant of the corresponding information element listed. 1.) "Berlin-Reinickendorf" Prefix = "Berlin", Shorted Prefix = "B-" Body = "Reinickendorf" Shorted Body = "" Suffix = "" Shorted suffix = "" 2.) Frankfurt am Main - Heddernheim " Prefix = "Frankfurt am Main" Shorted Prefix = "FfM-" Body = "Heddernheim" Shorted Body = "" Suffix = "" Shorted suffix = "" 3.) "Braunschweig-Hamburger Straße" Prefix = "Braunschweig" Shorted Prefix = "BS-" Body = "Hamburger" Shorted Body = "" Suffix = "road" Shorted suffix = "Str."

This division is provided in an analogous manner, for example, for the event list according to ISO 14819-2, are stored in the event codes (events) also associated event texts for textual output on a display or the acoustic output. For example, the event code 1392 (reference numeral 242) is the text "Attention, a wrong-way driver opposes you! Do not overtake! Careful on both lanes! We will notify if the danger is over." Such an event text also sets in the sense of the present invention Information element. This is on the disk according to the invention in the components
Prefix 2421 = "Attention"
Body 2422 = "You're met by a wrong-way driver! Do not overtake! Beware on both lanes! We'll report when the danger is over."
Suffix 2423 = ""
disassembled. The additionally saved abbreviations are
Shorted Prefix 2424 = "Eightg."
Shorted Body 2425 = "wrong-way driver"
Shorted suffix 2426 = "".

The purpose of this distribution of information or information elements stored on the data carrier, here in particular location and event identifiers, is to adapt the information output to the display capacity of the display 25. This can be in particular the number of lines of text available for the output and the number of characters per line and / or the character set used for the display, namely, for example, distinguish proportional or non-proportional character set.

1. 1.) Voll ansgeschriebene Meldung über vier Zeilen:
   Auf der A 392
   Braunschweig Watenbüttel in Richtung Braunschweig-Hamburger Straße zwischen AS Braunschweig-Celler Straße und AS Braunschweig-Hamburger Straße 2 km Stau
2. 2.) Gekürzte Version:
   A 392
   BS-Watenbüttel BS-Hamburger Str.
   AS BS-Celler Str. AS BS-Hamburger Str.
   2 km Stau
3. 3.) Kombination aus gekürzter und nicht gekürzten Namensbezeichnern über fünf Zeilen:
   Auf der A 392
   BS-Watenbüttel in Richtung BS-Hamburger Str.
   AS Braunschweig - Celler Str.
   AS Braunschweig - Hamburger Str.
   2 km Stau

Depending on these parameters, the output controller 23 controls, for example, the following message text output depending on the display capacity.

1. 1.) Fully written message over four lines:
   On the A 392
   Braunschweig Watenbüttel towards Braunschweig-Hamburger Straße between AS Braunschweig-Celler Straße and AS Braunschweig-Hamburger Straße 2 km congestion
2. 2.) Abbreviated version:
   A 392
   BS-Watenbüttel BS-Hamburger Str.
   AS BS-Celler Str. AS BS-Hamburger Str.
   2 km traffic jam
3. 3.) Combination of shortened and unabbreviated name identifiers over five lines:
   On the A 392
   BS-Watenbüttel towards BS-Hamburger Str.
   AS Brunswick - Celler Str.
   AS Brunswick - Hamburger Str.
   2 km traffic jam

The text representation of the information, here the traffic reports, which are composed of a plurality of sub-information, is carried out in sections, in the present case, a separate line of the display unit 25 is available for each sub-information. The individual partial information to be displayed are the road affected by a traffic incident, the affected road section with a direction indication, the location of the traffic-relevant event which is bounded by the adjacent encoded locations and the traffic-relevant event itself. Each of the sub-information includes at least one information element For example, the partial information event is formed from a single information element, while about the Teilinformalion direction indication comprises three sub-elements, namely a first place name "Berlin-Wedding", a second place name "Berlin-Reinickeridorf" and the formulated direction statement "in direction". Each line is assembled by the display controller 23 from an XML string. A possible distribution of the presentation, which is based on today's receivers for TMC traffic reports, for example, looks as follows. description example 1st line: affected street On the A 110 2nd line: direction indication Berlin - Wedding towards Berlin - Reinickendorf 3rd line: location between AS Achterwehr and AS Melsdorf 4th line: Event 2 km traffic jam

The structure of each line of the display 25 is made from the XML string generated by the display controller 23, taking into account the maximum displayable line length. If no proportional font is used, the line length is determined by the maximum number of characters, otherwise by the maximum number of pixels per line. These values as well as the font used (proportional / non-proportional) are stored for this purpose at each device in the output controller 23 or, alternatively, testable by the output controller 23.

If the length of a partial information currently to be output, here a line, exceeds the maximum displayable line length on the display unit 25 of the current driver information system 2, the line length can be shortened using the abbreviations of the stored prefix, body and / or suffix.

1. 1.) Ersetze des Suffix durch den Shorted Suffix, wenn der der Shorted Suffix mindestens ein Zeichen enthält
2. 2.) Ersetze den Prefix durch den Shorted Prefix, wenn der Shorted Prefix mindestens ein Zeichen enthält.
3. 3.) Unterdrücke des Suffix und den Shorted Suffix.
4. 4.) Unterdrücke die Ausgabe von Füllwörtern.
5. 5.) Ersetze des Body durch den Shorted Body, wenn der Shorted Body mindestens ein Zeichen umfasst.
6. 6.) Umbruch der Zeile
7. 7.) Schneide die zweite Zeile nach der maximalen Zeichenlänge ab, wenn die ursprüngliche Zeile nicht in zwei Zeilen der Anzeigeeinheit 25 passt

The shortening of the line length is preferably carried out according to the following rules.

1. 1.) Replace the suffix with the shorted suffix if the shorted suffix contains at least one character
2. 2.) Replace the prefix with the shorted prefix if the shorted prefix contains at least one character.
3. 3.) Suppress the suffix and the shorted suffix.
4. 4.) Suppress the output of filler words.
5. 5.) Replace the body with the shorted body if the shorted body contains at least one character.
6. 6.) Break the line
7. 7.) Cut off the second line after the maximum character length if the original line does not fit in two lines of the display unit 25

The above rules 1.) to 7.) are applied, starting with the first rule in the order of ascending numbers, to each piece of information, in the present case, to each individual line of the information to be output. As soon as one of the rules leads to success, ie the line currently being considered can be displayed on the display using the rule, the line or sub-information is displayed without regard to the further rules

In the case of a possible alternative embodiment such that a plurality of partial information of an information to be output is displayed in a common row of the display unit 25, it may also be provided that each rule first to a first partial information of the line, then, if necessary, to a second and possibly further Sub-information of the line is applied before, if necessary, the other rules are applied to the sub-information of the line in the same way. The application of the rules to one or more sub-information if necessary breaks off when the total length of the sub-information to be displayed in the line is less than or equal to the available length of the line. Thus, the available line length can be used optimally.

If a plurality of sub-information is output in a common line, the above rules may alternatively be applied to the entire line in general, that is to say then to several sub-information. Alternatively, however, it is also possible in the representation of multiple partial information in a row that the rules are first processed for a first partial information, before they are then applied to a next partial information of the row.

From the above rules 1.) to 7.) it is clear that the main part of the information or of an information element is considered to be particularly essential for the output. Therefore, in the case of a necessary abbreviation of information components, prefix and suffix are preferably abbreviated first and possibly omitted altogether before the main part is output in the abbreviated form. It also follows from the order of application of the rules that the suffix is considered to be of lesser importance than the prefix.

The rules presented are a particularly preferred procedure. Nevertheless, deviating rules are equally possible as well as deviating sequences in the application of the rules. These are also within the scope of the present invention. For example, it may alternatively also be provided that the main part is first output in abbreviated form before a strike of the pre- and suffix, provided that the abbreviated version of the main part comprises at least one character. In particular, it can also be provided that the design of the information components and their abbreviations on the data carrier is adapted to the rules applied and their application sequence. So for example in the here described be provided alternative rule that a comparatively detailed and self-explanatory as possible version is stored for the abbreviated body, while, for example, in particular postal, but also prefix very short abbreviations are selected.

In the foregoing, the invention has been explained using the example of TMC traffic constellations, which as described usually consist of a plurality of sub-information, namely the affected road, route section with direction indication, event location and event, wherein in turn each sub-information comprises at least one information element. However, this does not limit the invention to the representation of TMC messages and also not to the described data structure. Rather, according to the invention, it can also be provided that the information is not composed of information elements but that the information itself is the smallest information unit. In this case, the decomposition of the invention into the constituent prefix body and suffix is directly applied to the information, and also the representation process is performed with these constituents.

Thus, the invention is not limited to receivers for coded traffic announcements, but is applicable to any information system with a textual information output. Another possible application example is, for example, navigation navigation systems, in which traffic information can be displayed in text form on a display. Other deviating applications are possible and are within the scope of the present invention. In principle, the invention can be based on largely arbitrary devices that generate information to be displayed on a display unit and apply it to largely any information to be displayed.

According to an advantageous development of the invention, in addition to the textual information output via the display 25, an acoustic output can also be provided via a speech synthesis device with a connected loudspeaker 26. In this case, for example, the display can be limited in its display capacity and thus the information can be output in a more or less shortened form, while the information can be output acoustically in the complete version. To this end, as part of the output controller 23, the display controller also accesses the abbreviated versions of prefix, body and suffix, while the Acoustic output control preferably uses the full versions of the prefix, body, and suffix for each piece of information from the volume 24.

The invention has been explained above using the example of a receiver for traffic reports transmitted via FM broadcasting. However, this does not imply any restriction of the invention neither to the origin or the nature of the messages nor to the transmission method or medium, as far as they are transmitted messages. In particular, for the transmission of traffic reports according to the TMC standard also a broadcast transmission by means of other analog or digital Broadcasting, such as the US-based AM-RBDS, which is similar to FM-RDS or DAB (Digital Audio Broadcasting), DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) or others. Also, for example, a transmission of traffic messages in the point-to-point process into consideration, about GSM (Global System for Mobile communication) - or UMTS mobile into consideration.

Also, the information does not necessarily have to be output directly by means of an indication of the recipient or the message generating device. Rather, it is also possible that the information is output via a separate display unit. For example, as a separate display unit, a hand-held computer, such as a PDA or the like, for example, via an infrared or Bluetooth interface with the message generating or expelling device connected, and the output from the device via the interface information the display of the PDA. This presupposes that the device issuing the information, for example a radio receiver with TMC message decoder, knows the display capacity of the external display device, that is, for example, of the PDA. This information can be queried by the radio receiver, for example via the Bluetooth interface of the external display device.

Claims (6)

1. Method for outputting text information by means of a display (25) in a driver information system (2) in a vehicle, wherein the display (25) has a predefined display capacity, wherein the scope of the information which is to be output is adapted to the capacity of the display (25), wherein information elements from which the text information or partial information which is to be output and into which the information can be subdivided for the purpose of outputting is composed is respectively divided into at least two components, in particular prefix, main part, suffix (2411, 2421; 2412, 2422; 2413, 2423),
   wherein the information or partial information and therefore the information elements is/are preferably output to their full extent, and wherein an abbreviation (2414, 2415, 2416; 2424, 2425, 2426) is output for at least one component of an information element of the information or an item of partial information if the capacity for the display is not sufficient to output the entire information or partial information.
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that each item of partial information is displayed on a separate line of the display.
3. Method according to one of Claims 1 or 2, characterized in that the abbreviation is output to the information components in each case as a function of their meaning for comprehension of the information, if appropriate instead of the information component.
4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that, when the information which is to be output is shortened by outputting abbreviations for individual information components, the main part of the information or of an information element is preferably output in a non-abbreviated form.
5. Information data carrier (24) for universal use in driver information systems (2) for vehicles, which information systems are designed to output text information by means of a display (25), wherein the output capacity of the display (25) can vary in different driver information systems (2),
   wherein the information elements from which the information which is to be output is composed is divided into at least two components in each case, in particular prefix, main part, suffix, (2411, 2421; 2412, 2422; 2413, 2423),
   and wherein in addition, for each component of each information element an abbreviation (2414, 2415, 2416; 2424, 2425, 2426) is stored in order to be alternatively output by means of the display (24) on the data carrier (24).
6. Driver information system (2) for use in a vehicle having a display (25) for outputting text information, wherein the display (25) has a predefined display capacity, wherein an output controller (23) is provided which adapts the scope of the information to be output to the capacity of the display (25), wherein information elements from which the text information or partial information to be output and into which the information can be subdivided for the purpose of outputting is composed is respectively divided into at least two components, in particular prefix, main part, suffix (2411, 2421; 2412, 2422; 2413, 2423),
   and wherein, in addition, for each component of each information element an abbreviation (2414, 2415, 2416; 2424, 2425, 2426) is stored in order to be alternatively output by means of the display (25) on a data carrier (24) which is accessed by the output controller (23), wherein the output controller (23) is designed to output the information or partial information and therefore the information elements preferably to their full extent, and to output an abbreviation (2414, 2415, 2416; 2424, 2425, 2426) for at least one component of the information element if the capacity of the display (25) is not sufficient to output the entire information or partial information.

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