JP2002286454A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device which is free of a break-off of information by receiving map information and periphery information before being unable to communicate. SOLUTION: The navigation device 1 is equipped with a telephone part 10 which can receive the map information and periphery information through communications and a control part 6 which controls the telephone part 10 and is characterized by that when the control part 6 controls the telephone part 10 to receive the map information or periphery information before an area wherein it is difficult to receive it if a next reception point is in the hard-to- receive area.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus capable of receiving map information and peripheral information by communication.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Some navigation apparatuses can receive the latest detailed map information and peripheral information through communication. VICS (Vehicle
Information and Communication System) services include FM multiplex broadcasting, radio beacons, and optical beacons.

In order to reduce the size and weight, CD-RO
A navigation device that does not include a disk drive device such as an M or a DVD-ROM, but includes a small storage medium such as a smart media, a compact flash (registered trademark), a memory stick, or an SD card has been considered. Since such a small storage medium has a small storage capacity, the navigation device needs to receive the map information and the peripheral information through the above communication.

[0004]

However, in the information acquisition by the communication as described above, it is necessary to periodically receive the information because the storage capacity of the navigation device is small. When information must be received, the information is interrupted if the user is in a place where communication is not possible, such as a tunnel.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and receives map information and peripheral information before communication becomes impossible.
An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that does not interrupt information.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in a navigation device according to the present invention, a receiving means capable of receiving map information and peripheral information by communication, and a control means for controlling the receiving means are provided. In the navigation device provided, when the next receiving point is in an area where reception is difficult by the control means, the reception means receives map information or peripheral information in advance before the area where reception is difficult. And

As described above, by receiving the map information and the peripheral information before the communication becomes impossible, it is possible to provide a navigation device in which the information is not interrupted.

[0008] The map information or the peripheral information received in front of the difficult-to-receive area may be map information or peripheral information of a scale including at least the entire difficult-to-receive area.

[0009] The area in which reception is difficult can be a tunnel.

[0010]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system using a navigation device according to the present invention. When the navigation device 1 requests the map information 4 and the peripheral information 5 from the server device 2, the server device 2 outputs the appropriate map information 4 and the peripheral information 5 from the information database 3 based on the conditions requested by the navigation device 1. And read
Delivery to the navigation device 1. The map information 4 includes map information of a plurality of scales, and the peripheral information 5 corresponds to the map information 4 of the scales.

The communication means between the navigation device 1 and the server device 2 is not particularly limited as long as communication is possible. For example, when information is distributed via the Internet,
A telephone network such as a car phone or a mobile phone can be used. When distributing via a VICS service, FM multiplex broadcasting or the like can be used.

According to this communication system, the navigation device 1 can individually receive the map information 4 and the peripheral information 5, so that communication costs can be reduced by receiving only desired information.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the navigation device 1. First, the configuration will be described. Reference numeral 6 denotes a control circuit constituted by a microcomputer or the like, which controls the navigation device 1 based on a program written in the ROM 7 and displays map information and peripheral information on a liquid crystal display unit 8. Reference numeral 9 denotes a RAM, which stores information necessary for the operation of the control circuit 6. Reference numeral 10 denotes a telephone unit, which communicates with the server device 2 in FIG. 1 and receives the map information 4 and the peripheral information 5. Here, the received map information and peripheral information are stored individually in the RAM 9. 11 is GPS (Gl
obal Positioning System) is a positioning means, receives radio waves from GPS satellites, measures the current position, and provides measurement data to the control circuit 6. An input unit 12 includes a peripheral information key 12a for switching whether or not the user receives the peripheral information.

When the storage capacity is increased, the amount of information that can be received at one time increases, and the frequency of receiving information decreases. However, it is necessary to select the RAM 9 in consideration of the fact that the RAM 9 becomes expensive. . Also RAM9
Other, Compact Flash, Memory Stick,
An external storage medium such as an SD card may be used.

Although the input unit 12 uses an input method by key operation in FIG. 2, it may be a touch panel type.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the operation of the navigation device 1. When the power of the navigation device 1 is turned on, the map information and the peripheral information in the predetermined area including the current position are received and stored in the RAM 9 under the control of the control circuit 6 in step S1, and the current position is included in the RAM 9 from the RAM 9. The map information and the peripheral information for one screen are read, and the GPS information and the peripheral information are added to the GPS positioning means 11.
The image 13 shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, the arrow image indicates the current position.

Then, by operating the input unit 12 on the display unit 8 as necessary, it is possible to set the destination, necessity of the peripheral information, and the like. Here, the destination can be set by inputting an address, telephone number, postal code, etc., or by inputting the name of a prefecture, area, area code, or the name of a major building or intersection near the destination. Thus, it is possible to receive the map information and the peripheral information, and further perform the setting by selecting the destination on the map.

Immediately after the destination is set, a small-scale map in which the distance from the current position to the destination fits on the display unit 8 is received, the planned traveling route is displayed, and the planned traveling distance,
The estimated travel time may be calculated and displayed.

The setting of necessity of the peripheral information can be switched at any time by turning on and off the peripheral information key 12a. In FIG. 5, the peripheral information key 12a is turned on.
The image 14 when operated is shown. The current position is displayed over the map information, and the arrow image indicates the current position. When the peripheral information key 12a is turned OFF in the state of the image 13 displaying the map information and the peripheral information as shown in FIG. 4, the peripheral information is deleted from the image 13 and the display is changed to the image 14 of FIG. However, at this time, the peripheral information is stored in the RAM 9 only by being erased on the screen. Therefore, if the peripheral information key 12a is turned on again before the information in the RAM 9 is updated, the peripheral information key 12a is immediately displayed without receiving a new message.

When information near the current position is received in step S1, the process proceeds to step S2, where undisplayed map information is stored in the RA.
It is checked whether or not it is stored in M9. If the map information to be displayed next is not stored in the RAM 9 in step S2, the process proceeds to step S3, where the information of the predetermined area is newly received and the information in the RAM 9 is updated, so that the displayed image is not interrupted. Connect the next image as shown.

On the other hand, if the map information to be displayed next is stored in the RAM 9 in step S2, the process proceeds to step S4, and based on the information in the RAM 9, the receiving point of the next information is set to Check whether the area is a proper area. In addition, the area that is difficult to receive refers to an area that is far from the transmitting station, a place where the radio wave intensity is weak such as a tunnel, an underground, or a mountain, and the map information includes information of the area. Can be. As described above, since the map information also includes information on an area in which reception is difficult, it is possible to check from the received map information whether a reception point of the next information is an area in which reception is difficult. In addition, the reception point of the next information is a reception position at a predetermined distance in front that is determined to follow the route when the route to the destination is set, and the navigation is performed when the route is not set. This is a reception position at a predetermined distance in front of the road on which the device 1 is moving or a reception point at a predetermined distance in the traveling direction.

If it is determined in step S4 that the next information reception point is in an area in which reception is difficult, the flow advances to step S3 to receive information in a predetermined area including the area in which reception is difficult, and
Store it in M9. At this time, for example, when information including a long tunnel must be received, a map with a small scale may be received so that the amount of information can be stored in the RAM 9.

As described above, when the reception point of the next information is an area where reception is difficult, information is received before communication becomes impossible, so that the navigation device 1 without interruption of information can be provided. Can be provided.

In addition to the method of receiving the information update when the remaining amount of the information becomes small, a method of receiving the information every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance may be used.

The above-mentioned predetermined area can be, for example, a map of a predetermined radius or a predetermined number of divided units. FIG. 6 shows a conceptual diagram when information is received for each predetermined radius when a destination is not set. The range of information received when the vehicle reaches point c from point a, which is the departure point represented by the arrow, via point b, is represented by a circle.

First, information in a circle 15 having a predetermined radius (for example, 2 km) centered on the point a is received. Then, when reaching a position where there is no more information to be displayed next, that is, a point b on a dotted circle 16 centered on the point a, information within a circle 17 having a predetermined radius centered on a point in front of the point b is obtained. Receive. Similarly, a dotted circle 1 for which there is no information to be displayed next
When the vehicle arrives at the point c on the point 8, information within a circle 19 having a predetermined radius centered on a point in front of the point c is received. Here, it is desirable that the area common to the circles 15 and 17 or the circles 17 and 19 should not be received repeatedly to reduce the amount of reception.

If point b is an area where reception is difficult, the information in the circle 17 is received before point b. Similarly, when the point c is an area where reception is difficult, the information in the circle 19 is received before the point c.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing a case where information is received for each of a predetermined number of divided unit maps when a destination is set and a scheduled route is calculated. Departure point d
The range of information received from the point to the point f through the point e is represented in units of division. Here, the map of the predetermined number of division units is a map of 9 division units constituting one screen.

As shown in FIG. 7, the range of information received is
It is only information of a predetermined number of division units including the planned traveling route. First, the information 20 for one screen including the point d is received. Then, when reaching the position where there is no more information to be displayed next, that is, the point e, the information 21 for one screen including the scheduled travel route to be displayed next is received. Similarly, information is sequentially received until the point f is reached. If the point e is an area where reception is difficult, the information 21 for one screen is received before the point e.

An embodiment using the above navigation device 1 will be described below. FIG. 8 shows a conceptual diagram of the traveling route. Now, it is assumed that the vehicle is traveling from the point A to the point E, and the information in the RAM 9 is updated at the point A. Point B is the entrance of the tunnel, point C is the reception point of the next information in the tunnel, point D is the exit of the tunnel, and point E is the point past the tunnel.

When the vehicle is traveling from point A to point B, sufficient information is stored in the RAM 9 since information from point A to point C has already been received. However, since the next information receiving point is the point C in the tunnel, it is necessary to receive the information before entering the tunnel. So, A
Between the point B and the point B, information from the point C to the point E is received and stored in the RAM 9. Here, when the tunnel is long and the storage capacity of the RAM 9 is insufficient, at least a small scale map from the point C to the point D is received and stored in the RAM 9.

As described above, by receiving the information after the point C up to the point B entering the tunnel, it is possible to provide the navigation device 1 in which the information is not interrupted in the tunnel after the point C.

In the navigation apparatus of the present invention, a map with a small scale may be received when the communication sensitivity is lower than a predetermined sensitivity so that information is not interrupted in an area where reception is difficult. This makes it possible to provide a navigation device in which information is not interrupted even when there is an area which is not registered in the map information and is difficult to receive.

In the above-described example, the map 1 having a small scale including all the difficult-to-receive areas before the difficult-to-receive areas.
Although the map has been received, a plurality of maps may be received without changing the scale as long as the storage capacity of the RAM permits.

It should be noted that the navigation device of the present invention can be used more easily when incorporated in a mobile phone as well as for a vehicle or a portable device.

In the flowchart of FIG. 3, information is received when the next information receiving point is in an area where reception is difficult, but information may be received in advance when it is determined that reception may be interrupted. . For example, information may be received when a predetermined distance is approached to an area where reception is difficult.

[0037]

According to the present invention, when the next receiving point is in the area where reception is difficult, the receiving means receives map information or peripheral information before the area where reception is difficult in advance. By receiving the map information and the peripheral information before the communication becomes impossible, it is possible to provide a navigation device in which the information is not interrupted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system using a navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an image displaying map information and peripheral information of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image displaying map information of the navigation device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram when the navigation device of the present invention receives information for each predetermined radius.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram when the navigation apparatus of the present invention receives information for each map of a predetermined number of division units.

FIG. 8 is a conceptual diagram of a traveling route of the navigation device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 navigation device 4 map information 5 surrounding information

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Tanaka 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori-shi, Tottori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Sugai 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori-shi, Tottori Sanyo Tottori (72) Inventor Isao Umezawa 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori-shi, Tottori Pref. Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Yuichi Abe 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori-shi, Tottori Pref., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kazuhiro Nakajima 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori-shi, Tottori Pref., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Invention Person Shinji Takuno 3-201 Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture Tottori Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tsutomu Taguchi Minamiyoshikata, Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture Address 201 F-term in Tottori SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. (reference) BB04 BB36 FF03 FF23 HH23 JJ52 JJ56

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A navigation device comprising: a receiving means capable of receiving map information and peripheral information by communication; and a control means for controlling the receiving means, wherein the control means determines that a next receiving point is in an area where reception is difficult. Wherein the receiving means receives map information or peripheral information in front of the difficult-to-receive area in advance. 2. The map information or the peripheral information received before the difficult-to-receive area is map information or peripheral information on a scale including at least all of the difficult-to-receive areas. Navigation device. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the area where reception is difficult is a tunnel.