JP2002296042A - Map difference updating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To dispense with strict version management in map updating based on a differential map. SOLUTION: A terminal such as a car navigation system receives the differential map 103 including updated data from a map transmitting means 101 such as a map data supplying server to store it as a received map 104. A comparison determining means 106 compares the received map 104 with an original map 105 and determines a part required to be updated and extracts it as a specific differential map 107. A composing means 108 produces and outputs a new map 109 reflecting the specific differential map 107 on the original map 105. In this way, data to be reflected are flexibly selected on the receiving side, and precise recognition of the updating condition of the terminal is not required on the transmission side. Because fine version management of the differential map is not required, a simple map updating device can be realized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a map difference updating device, and more particularly to a map difference updating device for updating map data such as a car navigation system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional map updating technique, a version number and a date are managed for each section within a certain range.
There is a method of comparing the old and new on the map supply side and the reception side, and updating the map in block units. However, to send the entire parcel, even if only a few have changed,
It was causing waste.

In order to solve this problem, a technique for transmitting update information in a differential format is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 7-036382 and 7-0929.
No. 06, JP-A-7-146155. However, if you try to update the map data in the difference format,
It is necessary for the difference data supply side to accurately grasp the update state of the difference data reception side and send the difference data according to the state. For that purpose, a complicated version control mechanism as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-095657 and US Pat. No. 5,893,113 is required. In order to maintain data consistency, as shown in US Pat. No. 5,893,113, in the case where an intermediate update fails, the entire update operation is invalidated and the original data is restored.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-145383 discloses that when a user rewrites map data by himself / herself, in order to avoid conflict between user customization data and update difference data, a match is determined based on the latitude and longitude of both nodes of the link. Is disclosed.

[0005] The map update method based on the difference update has a user merit of reducing the amount of communication.

However, in the conventional method, it is necessary to perform complicated version management.
This is because the sender of the updated difference needs to accurately grasp the state of the receiver and guess and send difference data corresponding to the state (version) of the receiver. This is because the receiver unconditionally reflects the updated data from the sender. Without strict version control,
A problem may occur such as having duplicate road links twice.

Further, it is difficult to merge road information from a plurality of map data sources and use the merged road information. Even if information about the same road link is received from two map sources, it is received as separate information,
I had no choice but to use it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned conventional problem and eliminate the need for strict version control in updating a map using difference data.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, according to the present invention, a map difference updating device includes a receiving means for receiving map data from a map information source, and storing the received map data as a received map. Receiving map storage means, an original map storage means for storing the original map, a comparison determining means for comparing the original map and the received map to output a difference map, a difference map storage means for storing the difference map, A composition unit for combining a map and a difference map to output a new map is provided.

With this configuration, the sender of map update information can send the difference update information without knowing the update state of the receiver in detail. That is, the receiver of the map update information determines whether or not the map update information has already been recorded for each component.
Since the components are generated / recorded, it is not necessary for the sender of the map update information to perform strict version control.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS.

(First Embodiment) In a first embodiment of the present invention, a difference map is obtained by comparing a received map with an original map, and the original map and the difference map are combined to form a new map. It is a map difference update device to be obtained.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a map transmitting unit 101 is a sender of map information.
The map receiving means 102 is a receiver for receiving new map data from the map transmitting means 101. Difference maps 103-1 to n
Is a series of difference map data 1 to n. Received Map 104
Is a map that has received the difference map data sent from the map transmission means 101. The original map 105 is a map originally held by the receiving means 102. The comparison determination unit 106 is a unit that compares the received map 104 with the original map 105 and extracts the difference. The unique difference map 107 is difference information unique to the map receiving means 102 and extracted by the comparison determining means 106. The combining means 108 is means for combining the data of the original map 105 and the data of the unique difference map 107. The new map 109 is a new map synthesized by the synthesis means 108.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG.
Steps S201 to S206 are the operation flow on the receiving means 102 side. Steps S207 to S209 are an operation flow on the map transmitting means 101 side. Transaction T20
1, T202 is a transaction between the map transmitting means 101 and the map receiving means 102.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic image of an example of the original map. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic image of an example of the received map. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic image of an example of the unique difference map. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic image of an example of a new map.

The operation of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. Receiving means 102 side,
For example, when a map update request is generated in a mobile communication terminal or a car navigation system wirelessly connected to the Internet, the map update request is transmitted to the transmitting unit 101, for example, on the Internet in step S201 shown in FIG. Send to the connected map data supply server.
The request method is, as shown in the transaction T201, a method of transmitting a partition to be updated and a date section indicating from when the update difference information is to be obtained. This date need not be exact. For example, it is possible to request the difference data after an appropriate date retroactively. The requested date section may be different for each section.

At step S207, the transmitting means 101 is waiting for a connection and accepts a map update request of transaction T201. Based on the information of the transaction T201, the difference map information to be sent is selected in step S208, and in step S209, the difference map information is transmitted to the receiving means 102 side (transaction T202), and the process returns to the standby state (step S207). The difference map information is, for example, difference data of each year version map arranged for each section. For example, difference map 103
It is assumed that −1 is the difference between the 2000 year map data and the 2001 year map data, and 103-n is the difference data between the latest year and the latest state.

On the receiving means 102 side, in step S202, the difference map is received, and for each component such as a link or a node,
The processing of steps S203 to S205 is performed. That is, in step S203, the comparison determination unit 106 determines whether or not the component exists on the original map 105. If it is determined in step S204 that they are the same, the process proceeds to the next component. If it is determined in step S204 that they are not the same, the data is extracted as difference data and stored in the unique difference map 107 in step S205. For each individual map receiving means 102,
Because you can have the original original map 105, the received map 104
Are the same, the difference map 107 unique to each map receiving means 102
Is generated. After processing all the constituent elements, in step S206, the data of the difference map 107 is reflected on the original map 105 to generate an updated new map 109.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic image of the original map 105. FIG. 4 shows a schematic image of the reception map 104. The received map is a difference map, which is composed of a bridge (B) newly bridged over a river and a part (R) of a road on the land side.
However, the part corresponding to the land side already exists on the original map 105 (FIG. 3). FIG. 5 shows a schematic image of the unique difference map 107. Only the portion of the bridge (B) that did not exist in the original map was extracted by the comparison and difference means. FIG. 6 shows a schematic image of the synthesized new map 109.

With the above operation, a consistent map update can be performed regardless of whether or not the components included in the update difference information have already existed in the original map 105.
As a result, the difference map information held by the map transmission unit 101 is
Even if the version control is not performed in detail, the map can be easily maintained by the map difference updating device.

The comparing and judging means 106 pays attention to the permanent attribute of the feature on the map, and
Is preferably compared. Usually, the permanent attribute is the shape of the road. However, in some cases, the same road may change shape. In this case, the road name, the line number, and the VICS link number are permanent attributes. Attributes such as the name of an intersecting road and the name of an intersection can also be permanent attributes. If many attributes of the corresponding features match, it can be determined that the unmatched attributes have been updated.

As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, the map difference updating device compares the received map with the original map to obtain a difference map, and synthesizes the original map and the difference map. Since a new map is obtained, the map can be updated without version control.

(Second Embodiment) In a second embodiment of the present invention, trajectory data when a vehicle virtually runs on a received map is generated, and matching is performed with the original map.
If there is no target road, create off-road driving data,
This is a map difference update device used as a difference map.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of the map difference updating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, a virtual running means 801 is a means for running a virtual car on the received map 104 to generate trajectory data 802. The map matching means 803 uses the trajectory data 802 to
This is a means for running a virtual vehicle on 105. The off-road travel data 804 is virtual travel data of a road that does not exist on the original map 105. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing virtual running on the received map.

The operation of the map difference updating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. A virtual vehicle runs on the received map 104 by the virtual running means 801 shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the position and orientation of the vehicle are simulated when the vehicle travels on the link on the reception map 104. The map matching means 803 causes the virtual vehicle to travel on the original map 105 using the trajectory data 802. Roads that exist in the received map
It is extracted as trajectory data. If the road does not exist in the original map 105, the trajectory data is stored in the off-road travel data 804. This is the unique difference map 107.

As described above, the development cost of the map difference updating device can be reduced by using the map matching means mounted on the existing car navigation system. In addition, even when update information is received from a plurality of map databases, map difference can be updated by using map matching. That is, even if the shape of the received map slightly deviates from the original map, the out-of-road travel data 804 can be matched with the original map 105 by map matching, so that data suitable as the unique difference map 107 can be obtained. .

As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, the map difference updating apparatus generates trajectory data when the vehicle travels virtually on the received map, and performs matching with the original map. If the target road does not exist, off-road travel data is created and used as a difference map, so that difference map data can be obtained using existing map matching means.

(Third Embodiment) A third embodiment of the present invention relates to a map difference updating apparatus for deleting a road based on a received map when the received map includes information on a road to be deleted. is there. The basic configuration of the map difference update device according to the third embodiment of the present invention is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment.

The received map data can include not only information on roads to be added but also information on roads to be deleted such as abandoned roads. The comparing and judging means 106 compares the shape of the road to be deleted with the original map 105, and extracts a matching road section as difference information to be deleted. The synthesizing unit 108 deletes the corresponding road section from the original map 105 using the information to be deleted, and creates a new map 109. Even if the road to be deleted does not originally exist on the original map 105, there is no failure, and only the place where the relevant section was found is deleted. As described above, even if the side that sends the deletion instruction does not accurately grasp the state of the receiving side, it is possible to realize a consistent deletion operation.

As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, the map difference updating device is configured to delete a road based on a received map when the received map includes information on a road to be deleted. As a result, abandoned roads can be deleted from the map.

(Fourth Embodiment) In a fourth embodiment of the present invention, attribute information of a received map is compared with attribute information of an original map, and inconsistent attribute information is extracted and updated in a map difference to be reflected in the original map. Device. The basic configuration of the map difference update device according to the third embodiment of the present invention is the same as that shown in FIG. 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 9 is a comparison table of attribute information of the original map and the new map.

The comparing and judging means 106 shown in FIG. 1 compares some pieces of attribute information on features such as roads and bridges which are commonly described in the original map and the received map, and lacks in the original map. The attribute information is supplemented from the received map. As shown in FIG. 9, a certain link on the original map lacks a road name, and the new map has road names of the same link. By comparing the other attributes with the comparison determining means 106, it can be estimated that they point to the same link, and the road name of this link is reflected in the original map. As a result, by receiving every map and reflecting it on the original map,
Attribute information on the original map can be integrated, stored, and increased.

The received map is not limited to the differential data format, but may be a complete map of any map database although the processing amount is increased. In this case, the provider of the map information can save the trouble of creating the difference information. The receiving side
Accessing any map database will make it possible to combine and use different pieces of information.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the map difference updating device compares the attribute information of the received map with the attribute information of the original map, extracts the inconsistent attribute information, and reflects it on the original map. Because it was configured, the information missing in the original map,
It can be supplemented from the received map.

[0034]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a map is received from a map information source to be a received map, and a difference map is output by comparing the original map with the received map.
Since the new map is output by combining the original map and the difference map, the sender of the map update information can send the difference update information without grasping the update state of the receiver in detail. Thus, there is an effect that a plurality of map information can be integrated and used.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a map difference updating device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart of a map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a schematic image of an original map of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a schematic image of a received map of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic image of a unique difference map of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a schematic image of a new map of the map difference updating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of a map difference updating device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a virtual traveling locus on a received map of the map difference updating device according to the second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a comparison table of the attribute information of the original map and the attribute information of the new map in the map difference updating device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Map transmitting means 102 Map receiving means 103-1 to n Difference maps 1 to n 104 Received map 105 Source map 106 Comparison and judgment means 107 Unique difference map 108 Combining means 109 New map

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Claims (14)

[Claims] A receiving means for receiving map data from a map information source; a received map storing means for storing the received map data as a received map; an original map storing means for storing an original map; A comparison determining unit that compares the received map with the difference map to output a difference map; a difference map storage unit that stores the difference map; and a combining unit that combines the original map and the difference map to output a new map. A map difference updating device, comprising: 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the comparing and judging means compares an attribute of a feature described in common with the original map and the received map, based on a comparison result from the attribute comparing means. 2. The map difference updating device according to claim 1, further comprising means for associating a feature. 3. A virtual traveling means for generating trajectory data when virtually traveling on the received map, a map matching means for inputting the trajectory data and matching the original map, Means for outputting the trajectory data as off-road travel data when there is no road corresponding to the trajectory data on the map, and means for generating the difference map from the off-road travel data. Item 3. The map difference updating device according to item 1 or 2. 4. The map difference updating device according to claim 1, wherein the received map includes information on a road to be deleted. 5. The comparison determining means includes means for extracting mismatched attribute information in which the comparison result from the attribute comparing means is mismatched, and the synthesizing means includes an attribute of the received map based on the mismatched attribute information. The map difference updating device according to any one of claims 2 to 4, further comprising means for reflecting information on an original map. 6. The receiving means includes means for receiving map data from a plurality of map information sources, and the comparing and judging means detects a difference between the received map and the original map and sets the difference as the difference map. 2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:
6. The map difference update device according to any one of claims 5 to 5. 7. A map which receives a map data from a map information source as a received map, compares the original map with the received map, outputs a difference map, and combines the original map and the difference map to generate a new map. And outputting a map difference. 8. The map difference updating method according to claim 7, wherein the features are associated by comparing attributes of the features described in common in the original map and the received map. . 9. Generating trajectory data when virtually traveling on the received map, inputting the trajectory data, performing matching with the original map, and matching the original map with the trajectory data. 9. The map difference updating method according to claim 7, wherein, when there is no road, the trajectory data is output as off-road travel data, and the difference map is generated from the off-road travel data. 10. The map difference updating method according to claim 7, wherein the received map includes information on a road to be deleted. 11. An attribute of a feature described in common to the original map and the received map is compared to extract mismatch attribute information, and based on the mismatch attribute information, attribute information of the received map is extracted. 11. The map difference updating method according to claim 7, wherein the map difference is reflected on a map. 12. The map according to claim 7, wherein map data is received from a plurality of map information sources, and a difference between the received map and the original map is detected to be used as the difference map. The described map difference update method. 13. A map difference update program describing a procedure for executing the map difference update method according to claim 7. Description: 14. A storage medium storing the map difference update program according to claim 13.