JP2000292179A - Mobile data communication system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly and inexpensively obtain required map data and to utilize the data for guiding the drive of a vehicle by providing a plurality of communication means for obtaining the map data from the outside and a means for storing the map data and a means for synthesizing the map data. SOLUTION: A navigation system body 1 is provided with a memory 13 and a CPU 11 for storing map data or the like that has been received through a GPS receiver 14, a satellite data broadcasting receiver 2, a beacon receiver 3, and a cellular telephone 4. The CPU 11 detects the position of a vehicle by comparing a vehicle position data from the GPS receiver 14 with a map data being stored in the memory 13. The satellite data broadcasting receiver 2 receives a data that is transmitted from a communication satellite, a broadcasting satellite, and the like. The beacon receiver 3 receives a broadcasting data from a light beacon, an electronic wave beacon, or the like being available everywhere on a road. The cellular telephone 4 receives a data from a vehicle that provides a map data through a base station. Even if a plurality of communication means with different communication speeds are utilized, a hierarchy data can be obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an on-vehicle navigation device for displaying the position of a vehicle on a map to assist driving, and a mobile data communication system for performing two-way data communication between the ground and the vehicle. Things.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It has already been proposed that an in-vehicle navigation apparatus acquires map data transmitted from a ground center station and uses the acquired map data for vehicle travel guidance and the like (JP-A-4-46379, JP-A-4-46379). No. 261576, JP-A-4-266228
, JP-A-4-95995, JP-A-5-232865, etc.).

[0003]

(1) As means for communicating with an on-vehicle navigation device, satellite broadcasting,
Terrestrial broadcasting, roadside beacons, mobile phones, PHS (Persona
l Various types of communication means such as a Handyphone System) terminal are conceivable. Wide-area communication means such as satellite broadcasting must distribute map data for all over Japan because the service area covers all over Japan.Delivering detailed map data satisfying users all over Japan requires a large amount of data. It is almost impossible to think.

In terrestrial broadcasting, the receiving area is limited to each prefecture, but the band is narrow, so that all map data cannot be distributed. Roadside beacons are
Local communication has a wide band and is convenient for distributing local map data. When map data is provided using a mobile phone or a PHS terminal, data satisfying many users cannot be sent at the same time, but it is possible to distribute data according to individual requests of users.

[0005] As described above, communication modes of various communication means,
Considering the size of the service area, the communication band, the number of installations, and the like, it can be imagined that it is wasteful to distribute the same map data redundantly, and that sharing and distributing the map data increases the efficiency. Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for a user to obtain necessary map data in a short time and at a low cost by receiving map data distributed efficiently according to the characteristics of various communication means, and to use the data for vehicle travel guidance. It is an object of the present invention to realize an in-vehicle navigation device that can be operated.

(2) Optical beacons, mobile phones, PHS, cdma
One is used. In the future, DRSC (Delica
tedShort Lange Communication), cdma2000, W-CD
MA will be used. The bandwidth of these communication means is as wide as about 10 kbps to several Mbps.

[0007] In addition, the propagation condition of radio waves and light changes due to the movement of the vehicle, and there is a possibility that the same communication means may have different bands. When a vehicle obtains data using communication means,
Assuming that the data has a fixed size, the time required to complete the data reception varies depending on the communication band, and there is a problem that all data cannot be received within a limited time.

Therefore, according to the present invention, data can be efficiently transmitted to a vehicle in accordance with the characteristics of various communication means, and the vehicle receives the distributed map data so that the user can obtain necessary map data. It is an object of the present invention to realize a mobile data communication system which can be used in a short time at low cost and can be used for vehicle travel guidance.

[0009]

(1) The in-vehicle navigation device according to the present invention stores a plurality of types of communication means for obtaining map data from the outside, and stores the map data received by the plurality of types of communication means. Storage means, a map synthesizing means for synthesizing a plurality of map data stored in the storage means, and a display means for displaying a map synthesized by the map synthesizing means.

According to the above configuration, the map data received by the plurality of types of communication means are stored and combined, and the combined map is displayed. Therefore, from the user's perspective,
Since a synthesized map with a large amount of information is displayed rather than only a map received by one communication means,
Vehicle travel guidance can be performed efficiently.

The "plural types of communication means" include, for example, satellite broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, roadside beacons, leaky coaxial cables, portable telephones, PHSs, automobile telephones, and communication satellites. The "map data received by the plurality of types of communication means" includes wide-area road map data, detailed road map data, landmark data, and the like according to the characteristics of the communication means. The method of synthesizing by the "synthesizing means" is to superimpose data on the basis of the respective position information.

[0012] The plurality of types of communication means include a broadcast-type communication means and an individual communication-type communication means, and the broadcast-type communication means receives road map data. The means may receive facility data according to a user's request (claim 2). here,
The "broadcast communication means" includes, for example, satellite broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, roadside beacons, and leaky coaxial cables.
The “individual communication type communication means” includes, for example, a mobile phone and a PH.
S, car phone, and communication satellite.

(2) The mobile data communication system of the present invention comprises:
In the terrestrial communication device, a plurality of communication means for communicating with the in-vehicle communication device, a database storing hierarchically structured data as data to be transmitted to the in-vehicle communication device, and communicating with the in-vehicle communication device A communication management unit for selecting and transmitting all or some layers of data stored in the database according to the data transfer rate of the communication means, wherein the on-vehicle communication device obtains data from the terrestrial communication device And a storage means for storing data received by the communication means, and a display means for displaying the data stored in the storage means.

According to this system, data having a hierarchical structure is stored as data to be transmitted from the terrestrial communication device to the on-vehicle communication device, and the data is stored in accordance with the data transfer rate of the communication means for communicating with the on-vehicle communication device. All or some layers of data stored in the database can be selected and transmitted. Therefore, even when all the data cannot be received within a limited time, the in-vehicle communication device can receive and display the data whose size has been reduced according to the hierarchy within the time.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. -First Embodiment- FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device.
The in-vehicle navigation device includes a satellite data broadcast receiver 2,
Three types of wireless communication devices, a beacon receiver 3 and a mobile phone 4, are installed.

The navigation apparatus body 1 has a GPS receiver 14 for measuring the position of the vehicle, and a memory 13 for storing map data and the like received through the satellite data broadcast receiver 2, beacon receiver 3, and mobile phone 4. And CPU1
1, the system controller 12, and the map display screen 15
And a remote control key 16. GPS receiver 1
Numeral 4 performs positioning based on radio waves from orbiting satellites, but may also include sensors such as a vehicle speed meter and a gyro.

The CPU 11 compares the position data of the vehicle from the GPS receiver 14 with the road pattern of the map data stored in the memory 13 (so-called map matching method; see, for example, JP-A-61-56910). And a function of detecting a road and a vehicle position on the road in consideration of the existence probability of the vehicle. The satellite data broadcast receiver 2 receives data transmitted in a broadcast format from a communication satellite, a broadcast satellite, or the like via a broadcast satellite or a communication satellite.

The beacon receiver 3 receives, via a beacon base station, data transmitted in a broadcast format from an optical beacon, a radio beacon, or the like, which is arranged at various places on the road. When the mobile phone 4 requests necessary data from the map data provider, the mobile phone 4 receives the data transmitted from the map data provider through the mobile phone base station.

There are many types of data sent from satellite data broadcasting stations, beacon base stations, and telephone terminals other than map data (for example, data such as road information, congestion information, accident information, intersection names, and destination guidance). Although the three types of wireless communication devices also receive these various types of data, here, the handling of map data related to the present invention will be mainly described.

Hereinafter, the structure of the map data will be described. The map data is stored in units of meshes that are rectangles or squares obtained by dividing the map at a certain latitude and longitude. The map data includes road map data and landmark data. These road map data and landmark data can be associated with each other by position coordinates.

The road map data includes roads (highway expressways, urban expressways, national roads, toll roads, major local roads, general prefectural roads, 13 m or more and 5.5 m-13 other than the above.
m, 3m-5.5m road) or a combination of node data representing an intersection or a bending point and link data (representing a road) connecting the nodes. Here, the “node” is a coordinate position for specifying a road intersection or a bending point. A node representing an intersection is called an intersection node, and a node representing a bending point other than an intersection is called an interpolation point node. A line segment with a direction connecting each node is a link, and the link data includes a link number, a pointer to a node constituting the link, a link length, a link direction, a required traveling time in that direction, and a road such as a national road. Includes type data.

The landmark data is data for specifying the position and shape of each facility (for example, buildings such as stations, tunnels, bridges, department stores, hotels, post offices, gas stations, convenience stores, etc.). The data may be plane data or three-dimensional data. Hereinafter, description will be made on the assumption that the data is three-dimensional data composed of a polyhedron (polygon). The landmark data is composed of data on the number of polygons constituting the facility, data on the number of vertices, polygon data, and vertex data.

The details of the polygon data are the number of vertices, the color, and pointers to each vertex for each polygon. Here, the number of vertices is 5, for example, for a pentagon. The color may be represented only by lightness, may be represented by an RGB value, may be represented by an XYZ color system, a Munsell color system, or may be represented by a color sample number. The vertex data is data that specifies the position coordinates of each vertex.

In addition to the above, map data is attached to road map data or landmark data, and includes administrative divisions, water systems such as rivers and lakes, town blocks such as houses, other road names, intersection names, facility names, and the like. Also includes the data of The satellite data broadcast receiver 2 mainly receives wide-area road map data of the whole of Japan from the map data. The beacon receiver 3 receives detailed road map data around a beacon base station. The mobile phone 4 mainly receives individual landmark data required by the user. For example, when the user is searching for a restaurant, if the user requests a restaurant search using the remote control key 16, only the data of the restaurant is received.

Here, the division between the wide area road map data and the detailed road map data will be described. The division is not particularly limited. For example, the classification of the road manager, the width of the road, the width of the road, and the free use are available. What is necessary is just to separate by another etc. For example, highway motorways, city highways, national roads,
Wide-area road map data for toll roads, major local roads, and general prefectural roads.
It is conceivable to use detailed road map data for roads of 5.5 m to 13 m and 3 m to 5.5 m.

The CPU 11 causes the memory 13 to store the individual map data obtained by these three receiving means. The storage method of the memory 13 is not limited as long as it can be written, and examples thereof include a semiconductor memory and a magneto-optical disk. The CPU 11 stores the wide area road map data, the detailed road map data,
The individual landmark data is combined into one map data based on the respective position information, and it is combined with the map display screen 1
5 is displayed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism for combining. FIG. 2 (a) is a diagram showing wide-area road map data of Osaka Prefecture, FIG. 2 (b) is a diagram showing detailed road map data of Konohana-ku, Osaka City, Osaka Prefecture, and FIG. FIG. 2D is a diagram showing landmark data of Ichikonohana-ku, and FIG. 2D is a diagram showing what is synthesized with one map data. The in-vehicle navigation device can provide services such as vehicle travel guidance and facility guidance using the map data synthesized as described above.

Second Embodiment FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device that functions as an “in-vehicle communication device”. The in-vehicle navigation device has three types of wireless communication devices, a beacon receiver 3, a PHS terminal 5, and a mobile phone 4. The navigation device body 1 includes a GPS receiver 14 for positioning the position of the vehicle, and a memory 1 for storing map data and the like received through the beacon receiver 3, the PHS terminal 5, and the mobile phone 4.
3, a CPU 11, a system controller 12, a map display screen 15, and a remote control key 16.

The beacon receiver 3, the PHS terminal 5, and the mobile phone 4 transmit the map data created by the map data provider,
Each has a function of receiving through a beacon base station, a PHS base station, a mobile phone base station, and the like. FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram of the communication device of the map data provider. The ground communication device 21 includes a map database 22, a communication management device 23, and a switching device 24. Switching device 24
Is connected to the beacon base station 25, the PHS base station 26, and the mobile phone base station 27, and can switch between which communication medium to send map data to the requesting vehicle. I have.

Here, the communication speed of the optical beacon is, for example, 1 Mbps, PHS is 64 kbps, and mobile phone is 960.
The data transfer rates are different, for example, 0 bps. Therefore, even if the terrestrial communication device 21 tries to send the same map data, if the data transfer speed is low, it may not be possible to send all necessary data within a limited time.

Therefore, the communication management device 23 determines which communication means to send when requesting map data transfer from any one of the vehicles through any of the communication means.
Data is sent according to the data transfer speed of the communication means. For example, if the communication means to be used is low-speed, wide-area road map data is sent; if medium speed, medium-area road map data and detailed road map data are sent; if high-speed, wide-area road map data is sent. Send detailed road map data and landmark data.

The determination of the communication means may be performed, for example, by (a)
If the vehicle has only one communication means, it is the communication means. (B) If the vehicle has a plurality of communication means, the communication means designated by the vehicle may be used. The highest-ranked communication means may be selected from among the data, and the most appropriate communication means may be selected by estimating the amount of data to be transmitted. "How to select the most appropriate communication means" may be fixedly set to this communication means if the data amount is large, and if the communication speed of the communication means fluctuates, measure the communication speed at that time By doing so, the size of the map data to be transferred can be optimized.

The vehicle-mounted navigation device that has received the map data displays the map data if the map data is of one type. If there are multiple types, as described above,
Combine and display the combined map data. The second above
In the embodiment, the data to be transferred can be applied to the transfer of hierarchical image data such as progressive JPEG and data such as I picture and P picture such as MPEG in addition to map data.

[0034]

As described above, according to the on-vehicle navigation device of the present invention, the data required by the user is obtained in a short time at a low cost by using the optimal communication means, and the data is synthesized to provide vehicle travel guidance. Can be used for Further, in the case of the mobile data communication system of the present invention, when a part of a plurality of communication means having different communication speeds is used,
Or when the communication speed of the communication means fluctuates over time,
Since the in-vehicle communication device can obtain all or a part of the data hierarchized according to the communication speed, the time required for communication can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a state in which wide area road map data, detailed road map data, and individual landmark data are combined into one map data based on respective position information.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a vehicle-mounted navigation device that functions as a vehicle-mounted communication device.

FIG. 4 is a system configuration diagram of a terrestrial communication device of a map data provider.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus main body 2 Satellite data broadcast receiver 3 Beacon receiver 4 Mobile phone 5 PHS terminal 11 CPU 12 System controller 13 Memory 14 GPS receiver 15 Map display screen 16 Remote control key 21 Ground communication device 22 Map database 23 Communication management device 24 Switching device

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] May 19, 2000 (2005.1.
9)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Title of the Invention] Mobile data communication system

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0001

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a mobile data communication system for performing bidirectional data communication between the terrestrial and the vehicle.

[Procedure amendment 4]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005] As described above, communication modes of various communication means,
Of the service area wide and narrow, communication bandwidth, and the like are taken into consideration the installation number, it is wasteful to deliver duplicate the same map data, and to be delivered by sharing the map data, efficiency is it Ru can imagine well.

[Procedure amendment 5]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0009

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Mobile data communication of the present invention
The system is a terrestrial communication device that communicates with the onboard communication device.
Communication between multiple communication means and transmission to in-vehicle communication device
Memorize the data of the hierarchical structure
Database and communication means for communicating with the in-vehicle communication device
Stored in the database according to the data transfer rate of the
Select and send all or part of the data
A communication management unit, wherein the on-vehicle communication device is a terrestrial communication device.
Communication means for obtaining data from the device, and
Storage means for storing data received by the stage;
Display means for displaying data stored in the means.
It is a system (claim 1).

[Procedure amendment 6]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0010

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to this system, from the ground communication device
Hierarchical structure as data to be transmitted to the in-vehicle communication device
Communication that stores the data of
Stored in the database according to the data transfer rate of the means
Select and send all or part of the data
can do. Therefore, in-vehicle communication devices are limited
If all data cannot be received in the
Even data that has been reduced in size according to
Can be received and displayed within.

[Procedure amendment 7]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0011

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0011] said to "a plurality of types of communication means", for example, satellite broadcasting, terrestrial broadcasting, the roadside beacon, leaky coaxial cable, mobile phone, PHS, mobile telephone, communication satellite is Ru and the like.

[Procedure amendment 8]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0012

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The database is transmitted to a vehicle-mounted communication device.
Wide-area road map data, detailed road map
Data selected from data and landmark data
And the communication management unit communicates with the in-vehicle communication device.
According to the data transfer speed of the communication means,
Select and send all or part of the stored data
(Claim 2).

[Procedure amendment 9]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0013

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0013] The communication management unit may include a plurality of communication means.
The amount of data or communication speed to be transmitted to the onboard communication device.
In the meantime, the most suitable means of communication may be selected.
Item 3).

[Procedure amendment 10]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0014

[Correction method] Deleted

[Procedure amendment 11]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0015

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device. The in-vehicle navigation device has three types of wireless communication devices, a satellite data broadcast receiver 2, a beacon receiver 3, and a mobile phone 4.

[Procedure amendment 12]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0019

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

There are many types of data sent from satellite data broadcasting stations, beacon base stations, and telephone terminals other than map data (for example, data such as road information, congestion information, accident information, intersection names, and destination guidance). the three types of wireless communication devices, but also to receive these various types of data, here, mainly describes the handling of the MAP data.

[Procedure amendment 13]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0028

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

FIG . 3 is a mobile data communication system according to the present invention .
1 is a block diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device that functions as an “in-vehicle communication device”. In-vehicle navigation devices
Three types of wireless communication devices, a beacon receiver 3, a PHS terminal 5, and a mobile phone 4, are installed. The navigation device body 1 includes a GPS receiver 14 for measuring the position of the vehicle.
And a memory 13 for storing map data and the like received through the beacon receiver 3, the PHS terminal 5, and the mobile phone 4.
, A CPU 11, a system controller 12, a map display screen 15, and a remote control key 16.

[Procedure amendment 14]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0033

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

The vehicle-mounted navigation device that has received the map data displays the map data if the map data is of one type. If there are multiple types, as described above,
Combine and display the combined map data. Or more of the onset
In the embodiments described above, the data to be transferred can be applied to transfer of hierarchical image data such as progressive JPEG and data such as I picture and P picture such as MPEG, in addition to map data.

[Procedure amendment 15]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0034

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0034]

If moving the data communication system of the present invention as described above, according to the present invention, when the communication speed is to use a part of the plurality of different communication means, or the communication speed of the communication means is varied temporally In this case, the in-vehicle communication device can obtain all or a part of the data hierarchized according to the communication speed, so that the time required for communication can be reduced.

Continued on the front page F-term (reference) 2C032 HB24 HB25 HC05 HC08 HD03 2F029 AA02 AB01 AB07 AC02 AC04 AC13 AC14 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB05 EE18 FF04 FF05 FF13 FF22 FF27 FF32 5K067 AA34 BB21 BB36 BB23 BB23 BB21 BB21 JJ11 JJ78 KK31 KK56

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An on-vehicle navigation device for displaying a vehicle position on a map to assist driving, comprising: a plurality of types of communication means for obtaining map data from outside; Storage means for storing the obtained map data, map synthesis means for synthesizing a plurality of map data stored in the storage means, and display means for displaying a map synthesized by the map synthesis means. On-board navigation device. The plurality of types of communication means include a broadcast type communication means and an individual communication type communication means, wherein the broadcast type communication means receives road map data. 2. The in-vehicle navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the communication unit receives facility data according to a user's request. 3. A mobile data communication system for performing two-way data communication between the ground and a vehicle, comprising: a ground communication device for providing data from the ground; and a vehicle-mounted communication device. A plurality of communication means for communicating with the communication device, a database storing hierarchically structured data as data to be transmitted to the on-vehicle communication device, and a data transfer rate of the communication means for communicating with the on-vehicle communication device A communication management unit for selecting and transmitting all or some layers of data stored in the database according to the communication control unit for obtaining data from the terrestrial communication device; Mobile data communication, comprising: storage means for storing data received by the communication means; and display means for displaying the data stored in the storage means. Stem.