JP2003035544A - System for distributing map information and terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To avoid such a problem that map information can not be obtained when the communication by a radio communication system is unavailable in the case the map information is obtained using the radio communication system. SOLUTION: A car navigation terminal device 101 stores area information (information of unavailable communication area), which is not a communication service area of the radio communication system, into a section for storing information of unavailable communication area 118, and refers the stored information of unavailable communication area when the calculation of route is carried out. In the case an unavailable communication area on the route obtained by the calculation of route is detected, map information corresponding to the unavailable communication area is obtained from an information service center 106 before arriving at the detected unavailable communication area.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention uses a car communication terminal, such as a car navigation device or a personal computer, to use a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone from an information providing center that provides a map information information providing service. And a technique for acquiring map information via a wireless line.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a terminal device for car navigation,
Generally, a navigation function is realized by reading out map information stored in advance in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM and displaying it on a display. Then, when the user sets a destination and requests route search, the route from the current vehicle position to the destination is set according to preset search conditions (distance priority, time priority, use of toll roads, etc.). Is displayed, and the obtained route is displayed on the map displayed on the display. Furthermore, it receives a radio wave from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite and guides the user to the destination while displaying the position of the vehicle on the route based on the position information obtained from the radio wave.

On the other hand, in recent years, wireless communication devices such as mobile phones have become widespread, and the data communication speed by mobile phones has been increasing. An information providing center is also established to provide various information such as leisure information and weather information related to driving by using data communication of a mobile phone.

Against the background of such an infrastructure, the map information supplied by the recording medium such as the CD-ROM and the DVD-ROM as described above is not used, or a recording medium having a small capacity for recording simple map information is used. The technology to acquire detailed map information from the information center using the data communication of the mobile phone is open to the public. As a result, the running cost for updating the map information (the user's burden of replacing the recording medium for the map record) can be reduced.

For example, there is "Map information distribution method, map information display device, map information display method, and storage medium" of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-251196. In this patent publication, the car navigation makes a map distribution request from an origin to a destination to an external server, the server performs a route search, and the map information corresponding to the search result is sent to the Internet via the Internet. It describes the technology to deliver using.

[0006] Further, there is a “map data distribution system and a map data acquisition device suitable for the system” in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-38872, which is disclosed in this publication.
A technology has been disclosed in which only simple map information is stored in a recording medium, and detailed map information in the vicinity or in the vicinity is acquired from an information providing center in accordance with the movement situation or need of a moving body.

[0007]

However, all of the above-mentioned conventional techniques acquire map information using a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone, so that the wireless communication device is located outside the communication service area. In this case, if the communication carrier restricts the communication, communication becomes impossible. Therefore, in such a situation, there is a problem that the map information cannot be acquired and the convenience is impaired.

According to the technique described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-251996, since the map information of the route from the starting point to the destination is received at one time, as long as the route is searched first, Even if there is an area where the mobile phone cannot communicate, the above problem does not occur, but if the mobile phone departs from the route searched midway, the map information must be received again.
In that case, data communication is performed by a mobile phone in order to receive the map information again. However, if the communication is disabled, the problem that the map information cannot be acquired occurs.

Further, the technique described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-38872 acquires map information according to the traveling condition. Regarding the detection of the traveling condition, the correspondence when the wireless communication means cannot communicate is described. Since it is not mentioned, the above problem still remains.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to avoid the problem that map information cannot be obtained when wireless communication is impossible.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a map information storage device for storing map information, and a map information distribution device for distributing map information by data communication, and a map information distribution device from the present location. In a map information distribution system including a terminal device having a route searching means for searching a route to a destination and performing data communication using a wireless communication means, the terminal device is obtained by the route searching means. When the route is compared with the incommunicable area information indicating the incommunicable area in which the data communication by the wireless communication means is incommunicable, and the presence of the incommunicable area on the route is detected, the detected incommunicable area Before reaching the area, the map information corresponding to the non-communication area is acquired from the map information distribution device.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a map information distribution system using a car navigation terminal device and an information providing center to which the present invention is applied.

In the present embodiment, a system in which a simple wide area road map is previously provided on the car navigation terminal device side and a detailed map of a narrow area is obtained from an information providing center will be described as an example.

In FIG. 1, 101 is a car navigation terminal device, 102 is a wireless communication device such as a mobile phone, and 10
3 is a communication adapter device, 104 is a wireless base station, and 105 is a public line network.

The communication adapter device 103 receives an incoming / outgoing call command from the car navigation terminal device 101, and causes the wireless communication device 102 to initiate / incoming call by a prescribed process. The wireless communication device 102 establishes a wireless line with the wireless base station 104, and thereafter performs error processing of transmission / reception data on the wireless line between the communication adapter device 103 and the wireless base station 104.
Then, the wireless base station 104 can communicate the wirelessly transmitted / received communication data via the public network 105,
Performs data communication processing.

The communication adapter device 103 may be built in the car navigation terminal device 101, or the function of the wireless communication device 102 may be built in the car navigation terminal device 101. In the latter case,
The communication adapter device 103 becomes unnecessary.

Further, in FIG. 1, reference numeral 106 is an information providing center for distributing various kinds of information such as map information to the car navigation terminal device 101. In the information providing center 106, 107 is a modem device, and 108 is a computer serving as a server.

The modem device 107 performs data communication processing using the public line 105, performs processing for establishing a data communication line in accordance with an instruction from the server 108, and transmits non-voice communication data transmitted / received by the server 108. , Modulation / demodulation processing is performed for transmission in the frequency band determined by the analog telephone line network.

The public line network 105 is not limited to an analog communication line network, but may be a digital communication line or the Internet. In these cases, it is necessary to use a network communication interface device instead of the modem device 107.

The server 108 includes a map information database 109 for storing map information to be distributed to the car navigation terminal device 101 and communication service area information (actually, communication information provided by a communication carrier of the wireless communication device 102). A non-communicable area information database 110 that stores non-communicable area information indicating an area in which service is impossible is provided. here,
The incommunicable area information database 110 may have, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, a data structure in which position information (latitude and longitude) forming incommunicable area information is listed. This incommunicable area information database 110
It is preferable that the information is updated to the latest information one by one, and if there is a communication regulation or the like, the information is also provided by the telecommunications carrier and updated in a form that reflects the information.

With the configuration shown in FIG. 1, the car navigation terminal device 101 uses the wireless communication device 102,
A data communication line is connected to the information providing center 106 to extract desired information from each database.

Next, the car navigation terminal device 101
The internal configuration of will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the car navigation terminal device 101, 111 is a car navigation overall control unit, which has a CPU (Central Processing Unit) as a core and has an interface processing function for each peripheral device shown in the figure. Reference numeral 112 is a ROM that stores a control program executed by the car navigation overall control unit 111, and 113 is a RAM that is used as a buffer, a work area, or the like when performing processing related to control. Car navigation overall control unit 111, R
While reading the program data from the OM 112, each processing shown in the processing flow described later is executed.

Reference numeral 114 denotes a GPS device that receives radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites (not shown) and detects the current position of the vehicle. Reference numeral 115 denotes a user operation unit for a user to give an operation instruction when executing a desired function in the car navigation terminal device 101.
Is a display unit for displaying map information and the like.

Reference numeral 117 is a map information storage unit,
The detailed map information of the narrow area acquired from the information providing center 106 and the simple wide area road map information that is stored in advance are stored. Although not shown, the wide area road map is CD-
A storage device such as a ROM may be used to provide a reading device for the recording medium as in the conventional case.

Reference numeral 118 is a communication-disabled area information storage unit. The communication-disabled area information storage unit 118 is a storage device that stores the communication-disabled area information stored in the information providing center 106 when the information is acquired by data communication. The uncommunicable area information may be recorded in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and not acquired from the information providing center 106. However, the communication service area is a communication carrier such as a new wireless base station 104. It is preferable that the information providing center 106 has a database and distributes it to the car navigation terminal device 101 side for use because the latest information is always obtained.

The car navigation overall control unit 111 searches for a route from the current vehicle position to the destination according to an instruction from the user, and thereafter, the map information in the map information storage unit 117 and the incommunicable area information storage unit 118 are searched. By referring to the incommunicable area information, it is detected whether or not there is an incommunicable area on the searched route.

(First Embodiment) First, the first embodiment in the system configuration as described above will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the first embodiment. In the car navigation terminal device 101, the route from the current vehicle position to the destination and the communication-disabled area are displayed on the display unit 116. It shows the image.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 indicates the current vehicle position,
302 indicates a destination, and 303 indicates a route obtained by the route calculation. In the example of FIG. 3, the route 30
In the middle of 3, it is indicated that A and B are communication-disabled areas.

In the first embodiment, as shown in FIG.
When the communication disabled areas A and B are present on the route 303 obtained by the route calculation, detailed map information corresponding to the communication disabled areas A and B is acquired in advance from the information providing center 106 after the route calculation is completed. It is something to put.

FIG. 4 is a process flowchart of the route guidance process of the car navigation terminal device 101 according to the first embodiment, which will be described below with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 4, a process 401 is a vehicle position detection process. In the vehicle position detection process 401, the car navigation overall control unit 111 calculates current vehicle position information from the input of the GPS device 114. A process 402 is a process for displaying a map around the own vehicle position, which is a process 40 for displaying a map around the own vehicle position.
In 2, the car navigation overall control unit 111 reads out wide area map information of the surrounding area from the map information storage unit 117 based on the current own vehicle position information obtained in the own vehicle position detection processing 401, and obtains the current own vehicle position. It outputs to 301 together with 301.

A process 403 is a destination setting presence / absence checking process. In the destination setting presence / absence checking process 403, the car navigation overall control unit 111 detects whether or not the input from the user operation unit 115 is the destination setting. Then, when the destination setting is detected, the process proceeds to step 404. The process 404 is a destination display process. In the destination display process 404, the car navigation overall control unit 111 displays the destination 302 on the map previously displayed on the display unit 116. Process 405 is a route search request presence / absence check process. In the route search request presence / absence check process 405, the car navigation overall control unit 111
It is detected whether the input from the user operation unit 115 is a route search request, and if the route search request is detected, the process 40
The route search process of No. 6 is executed.

In the route search process 406, the car navigation overall control unit 111 calculates a route according to the search conditions (distance priority, time priority, use of toll road, etc.) set in advance by the user. When the route calculation from the current vehicle position 301 to the destination 302 is completed, the route 303 is displayed on the map displayed on the display unit 116 in the search route display process of the process 407.

The process 408 is a communication impossible area information storage presence / absence check process. In the communication impossible area information storage presence / absence check process 408, the car navigation overall control unit 111
It is checked whether or not the communication-disabled area information acquired from the information providing center 106 is stored in the communication-disabled area information storage unit 118. If the incommunicable area information is not stored in the incommunicable area information storage unit 118, the incommunicable area information acquisition process of step 409 is executed to acquire the incommunicable area information from the information providing center 106.

In the incommunicable area information acquisition processing 409, first, the car navigation overall control unit 111 transmits a call command to the communication adapter device 103 to make a line connection request for data communication. In response to this, the communication adapter device 103 makes a call to the wireless communication device 102 and performs negotiation to establish a data communication line with the wireless base station 104, and the wireless base station 104 further uses the public line. Negotiation for connecting a data communication line is performed with the modem device 110 on the information providing center 106 side via the network 105. When the data communication line from the communication adapter device 103 to the modem device 107 is established, the communication adapter device 103 outputs a response indicating the establishment of communication to the car navigation overall control unit 111. In response to this, the car navigation terminal device 101 starts communication with the server 108 in the information providing center 106. First, the car navigation overall control unit 111 uses the server 1
08, the communication impossible area information acquisition request is transmitted. The route search process 4 is performed in response to the communication unavailable area information acquisition request
The information of the route 303 obtained by the route calculation of 06 is also included. When the server 108 receives the incommunicable area information acquisition request, the server 108 reads out the incommunicable area information of the incommunicable area existing in the corresponding area from the incommunicable area information database 110 based on the information of the route 303 sent together. , To the car navigation terminal device 101 side.
Upon receiving the communication-disabled area information, the car navigation overall control unit 111 stores it in the communication-disabled area information storage unit 118.

A process 410 is a communication impossible area presence / absence check process, and the communication impossible area presence / absence check process 410.
Then, the car navigation overall control unit 111 checks whether or not there is an incommunicable area on the route 303. That is,
The car navigation overall control unit 111 determines the communication-disabled area information and the route 3 stored in the communication-disabled area information storage unit 118.
Check the positional relationship with 03, and as shown in FIG.
When it is detected that the non-communication areas A and B are present on the route 303, at this point, the detailed map information of the non-communication areas A and B is acquired from the information providing center 106 in order to acquire the map information of the processing 411. Execute the process.

In the map information acquisition processing 411, first, similarly to the communication impossible area information acquisition processing 409, after establishing a data communication line with the information providing center 106, a map information acquisition request is issued to the server 108. Send. The map information acquisition request also includes information on the non-communication areas A and B. Upon receiving the map information acquisition request, the server 108 reads out detailed map information corresponding to the non-communicable areas A and B from the map information storage database 109 based on the information sent together, and sends it to the car navigation terminal device 101 side. Send. When the detailed map information is received by the car navigation terminal device 101, the car navigation overall control unit 111 stores it in the map information storage unit 117.

Thereafter, the car navigation overall control unit 111 performs a process of guiding the user to the destination 302, and thereafter, only when there is a detailed map acquisition request according to the user's instruction, the information providing center 106 desires. Get detailed map information for.

A process 412 is a map information acquisition request presence / absence check process, and is a map information acquisition request presence / absence check process 4
In FIG. 12, the car navigation overall control unit 111 detects whether or not the input from the user operation unit 115 is a map information acquisition request.
The detailed map acquisition completion check processing of 13 is executed. In the detailed map acquired check processing 413, the car navigation overall control unit 111 checks whether or not the corresponding detailed map information is already stored in the map information storage unit 117, and if it is stored, the map information of processing 414. The read processing is executed, the detailed map information is read from the map information storage unit 117, and if not stored, the map information acquisition processing 411 is executed. Here, the read detailed map information or the acquired detailed map information is output to the display unit 116.

A process 415 is a route guidance process, and in the route guidance process 415, the car navigation overall control unit 111 makes a G
Own vehicle position and route 303 obtained using the PS device 114
While checking the positional relationship with the
Guide users to their destination.

The process 416 is a route deviation check process, which is performed by the route guidance process 415 and still the route 303.
If it is out of the range, the process returns to the route search processing 406 and the route calculation is performed again. Then, in the incommunicable area presence / absence check process 410, the presence / absence of the incommunicable area is again checked. Here, if a new communication-disabled area exists on the route 303 whose route calculation has been corrected due to a route deviation, detailed map information corresponding to the new communication-disabled area is acquired from the information providing center 106.

Then, in the destination arrival check processing of the processing 417, the car navigation overall control unit 111 determines that the destination 3
02 is checked, and the destination 302
The above-described processing is controlled to be repeated until the destination is reached, and when the destination 302 is reached, the route guidance processing is ended.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, the navigation terminal device 101 side displays detailed map information corresponding to the non-communicable area of the wireless communication device 102.
Since it is acquired from the information providing center 106 in advance,
Even if the own vehicle is located in the non-communication area when trying to acquire the detailed map information, it is possible to avoid the problem that the detailed map information cannot be acquired and the convenience is impaired.

(Second Embodiment) Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment, after the route calculation is completed,
It is checked whether or not there is an incommunicable area on the route 303, and if there is an incommunicable area on the route 303,
The example in which the detailed map information corresponding to the incommunicable area is collectively acquired from the information providing center 106 has been described. However, in the second embodiment, it is detected that the incommunicable area is approached during traveling. An example will be described in which detailed map information corresponding to only the approaching non-communication area is obtained from the information providing center 106.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the second embodiment. In the car navigation terminal device 101, (part of) the route from the current vehicle position to the destination and the non-communication area, The image displayed on the display unit 116 is shown.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 303 denotes the route obtained by the route calculation, 501 denotes the traveling position of the own vehicle,
It shows that it is proceeding in the direction of the arrow. In the example of FIG. 5, it is shown that A is a communication impossible area in the middle of the route 303.

Further, in FIG. 5, C shows the detailed map information corresponding to the non-communication area A in the information providing center 106.
Is an area for indicating the position from which to start acquisition. In the example of FIG. 5, the positions where the detailed map information should actually be acquired from the information providing center 106 are the area C and the route 303.
It becomes a point P at which Area C is an area connecting points separated by a distance d from the non-communication area A,
It is assumed that d is determined in consideration of the transmission / reception data size required to acquire the detailed map information, the communication speed of the wireless communication device 102, and the traveling speed of the own vehicle.

Here, for example, the transmission / reception data amount required for obtaining detailed map information to the server 108 is a [bit], and the communication speed of the wireless communication device 102 is b [bit / sec].
Then, the communication time for receiving the detailed map information is a / b [second].

In practice, using the wireless communication device 102,
Since there is a negotiation time until the communication adapter device 103 establishes a data communication line with the modem device 107 in the information providing center 106, this is set to t,
When the traveling speed of the own vehicle is v [m / sec], the distance traveled by the own vehicle during acquisition of the detailed map information can be represented by v × (a / b + t). Therefore, the distance d = v × (a / b + t)
[M].

Therefore, if communication with the information providing center 106 is started at least when the vehicle arrives at a point distant by a distance d from the non-communication area A, before reaching the non-communication area A, The detailed map information corresponding to the non-communication area A can be acquired.

The area C, the point P, and the distance d shown in FIG. 5 are shown for the sake of explanation, and the display unit 1 is actually used.
16 does not have to be displayed.

In the second embodiment, as shown in FIG.
When the communication-disabled area A is present on the route 303 obtained by the route calculation, when the communication-disabled area A is approached, detailed map information corresponding to the communication-disabled area A is acquired from the information providing center 106. It is a thing.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of the route guidance processing of the car navigation terminal device 101 according to the second embodiment.

In the figure, the same processes as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals.

In FIG. 6, a process 601 is a map information acquisition position calculation process, which is a map information acquisition position calculation process 60.
In 1, the car navigation overall control unit 111 obtains the distance d by the above calculation formula for each non-communication area.

A process 602 is a map information acquisition position arrival check process, and is a map information acquisition position arrival check process 6
In 02, the car navigation overall control unit 111 checks whether or not the own vehicle has arrived at a point P which is a distance d away from the uncommunicable area A on the route 303. When the arrival is detected, the process proceeds to the map information acquisition processing 411 to acquire the detailed map information corresponding to the non-communication area A. The map information acquisition process 411 is a process of receiving detailed map information from the information providing center 106 using data communication, as described above.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, before the navigation terminal device 101 enters the non-communication area of the wireless communication device 102, the detailed map corresponding to the non-communication area is automatically provided. Since the information is acquired from the information providing center 106, even if the own vehicle is located in the non-communication area when trying to acquire the detailed map information, the detailed map information cannot be acquired and the convenience is impaired. It is possible to avoid the problem of being lost.

In addition, according to the second embodiment, detailed map information is not acquired until the communication-prohibited area is approached.
It is possible to avoid the problem that the detailed map information acquired in advance becomes useless due to the deviation from the route. That is, since the detailed map information acquired in advance can be kept to the minimum necessary, it is possible to save the communication charge and reduce the storage capacity.

By the way, in the above-described first and second embodiments, when the incommunicable area exists on the route 303, the communication is automatically started to acquire the detailed map information from the information providing center 106. I try to
In accordance with this, as shown in FIG. 3, the display unit 116 of the car navigation terminal device 101 is displayed so that the route 303 and the incommunicable area can be understood, and the detailed map information corresponding to the incommunicable area is previously set. The user may be allowed to set whether or not to acquire the information.

For example, in FIG. 3, the user does not need the detailed map information of the communication-disabled area B and the communication-disabled area A is not necessary.
When it is desired to acquire only the detailed map information of the above, the incommunicable area for which detailed map information is desired to be acquired is selected from the user operation unit 115, and the information indicating the selected incommunicable area is specified in the RAM 113. Remember it at the address.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4 or FIG. 6, the car navigation overall control unit 111 performs processing, and in FIG.
6, the communication in which the information is stored at the specific address on the RAM 113 is detected when the map information acquisition position arrival check process 602 reaches the map information acquisition position in FIG. If it is the impossible area, the process proceeds to the map information acquisition process 411 to acquire the detailed map information from the information providing center 106. If not, the process proceeds to the next process without acquiring the detailed map information,
This can be done by creating a program.

As described above, if the user can set the incommunicable area where the detailed map information is acquired in advance, only the detailed map information that the user really needs can be acquired. Because it will be possible, it is possible to keep the detailed map information to the minimum necessary,
It is possible to save communication charges and reduce storage capacity.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the third embodiment, the information providing center 10
The accuracy of the non-communication area information on the 6 side is improved.

The non-communication area information is determined from the communication service area information obtained from the telecommunications carrier. However, in reality, even within the communication service area, radio waves do not reach due to the relation of buildings and the like. , There are cases where communication becomes impossible.

Generally, command data called downlink serial is sent from the external connection interface of the mobile phone.
It is output to an external device, and there is data indicating the electric field strength in it.

Therefore, the car navigation terminal device 10
On the first side, the electric field strength information in which the electric field strength data output from the mobile phone and the vehicle position information obtained by the GPS device 104 are associated with each other is created, and this is prepared.
It will be sent to 06. Then, the information providing center 106 side adds this to the incommunicable area information stored in the database, thereby making it possible to create the incommunicable area information with higher accuracy.

FIG. 7 shows a processing flowchart of the route guidance processing of the car navigation terminal device 101 according to the third embodiment.

In the figure, the same processes as those described above are designated by the same reference numerals.

FIG. 7 is based on the second embodiment. Processing 70 is added to the processing flow chart shown in FIG.
1 and processing 702 are added.

In FIG. 7, a process 701 is an electric field intensity storing process. In the electric field intensity storing process 701, the car navigation overall control unit 111 receives the electric field intensity data from the wireless communication device 102 and the GPS device at that time. The vehicle position information from 114 is stored in the RAM 113 as electric field strength information.
Remember.

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, since the electric field strength data received from the wireless communication device 102 is received by the communication adapter device 103, the communication adapter device 103 is provided.
In addition, the electric field strength data is transmitted to the car navigation terminal device 10
A means for outputting is provided on the first side, and this is input to the car navigation overall control unit 111. When the communication adapter device 103 is provided in the car navigation terminal device 101, the electric field intensity data from the wireless communication device 102 may be directly input to the car navigation overall control unit 111. Upon receiving the electric field strength data, the car navigation overall control unit 111 stores the electric field strength information as electric field strength information in association with the own vehicle position information obtained from the GPS device 114.

As shown in FIG. 7, the entire car navigation control unit 1
11 executes the electric field intensity storage processing 701 until the destination 302 is reached, and stores the electric field intensity information on the route 303.

Then, the stored electric field strength information is transmitted by
For example, it is performed at the same time when the detailed map information is acquired.

That is, as shown in FIG.
Check whether there is a map information acquisition request from the user, and if there is a map information acquisition request, as described above,
Although detailed map information is obtained from the information providing center 106 in the map information obtaining process 411, since the data communication line between the car navigation terminal device 101 and the information providing center 106 is once established in the map information obtaining process 411. At this time, subsequently, the electric field intensity information transmission process of the process 702 is executed, and the stored electric field intensity information is transmitted to the information providing center 106.

Although not shown, in the destination arrival check process 417, when the destination is reached, a data communication line with the information providing center 106 is established and the electric field intensity information transmission process 702 is executed. You may

On the other hand, on the side of the information providing center 106, for example, the processing shown in the processing flowchart of FIG. 8 is provided.

FIG. 8 shows the incommunicable position database 110.
5 is a process flowchart of a communication impossible area information database updating process for updating the communication impossible area information stored in FIG.

In FIG. 8, a process 801 is a field strength information reception check process, and in the field strength information reception check process 801, it is determined whether the server 108 has received the field strength information from the car navigation terminal device 101 side. To check. When it is detected that the electric field strength information has been received, the communication-disabled electric field strength position check processing of processing 802 is executed to check whether or not there is a communication-disabled electric field strength position.

Communication impossible electric field strength position check processing 802
In the above, the threshold value of the electric field strength data for distinguishing between communication enabled and disabled is determined in advance, and it is detected whether or not there is electric field strength data lower than this. In the case of a mobile phone, the electric field strength data is represented by a numerical level of 0 to 15, so that a threshold value is determined such that communication is not possible if it is 2 or less, for example. Then, if there is electric field intensity data that is below the threshold value, all the position information associated with it is read, and if there is even one read position information, the process proceeds to step 803.

The process 803 is a communication impossible area information database reading process, and in the communication impossible area information database reading process 803, the server 108 reads the existing communication impossible area information accumulated in the communication impossible area information database 110. , And proceeds to processing 804.

The process 804 is a check process for registration of the position where communication is impossible, and in the check process 804 where the position for communication impossible field is registered, the server 108 determines the position of the position where communication is impossible, which is previously determined from the field strength information. Information and incommunicable area information database read processing 8
It is checked whether or not there is a communication-disabled electric field strength position whose position information is not registered in the existing communication-disabled area information by comparing with the communication-disabled area information read in 03. If there is a communication-disabled field strength position whose position information is unregistered, the communication-disabled field strength position registration process of step 805 is executed, and the position information of the unregistered communication-disabled field strength position is stored in the communication-disabled area information database 110. Register additionally.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, the information providing center 106 side extracts the position information of the incommunicable electric field strength position from the electric field strength information transmitted from the car navigation terminal device 101, The measured field strength information is reflected in the communication service area information obtained from the telecommunications carrier by additionally registering and updating the extracted position information of the communication disabled field strength position in the communication disabled area information database 110. Therefore, it is possible to improve the accuracy of the non-communication area information on the information providing center 106 side.

If the non-communication area information on the information providing center 106 side becomes more accurate, the car navigation terminal device 101 side, which acquires the information, can obtain the detailed map with more accurate information. Therefore, the problem that the detailed map information is erroneously acquired can be reduced.

Further, in the third embodiment, the more car navigation terminal devices 101 carry out,
This is effective because it is possible to create more accurate non-communication area information in a wider area.

Further, in the third embodiment, the information providing center 106 side discriminates whether or not it is the position where communication is impossible, but the car navigation terminal device 101 side discriminates and communicates. You may make it transmit only the positional information judged to be an electric field strength position to the information provision center 106.

[0091]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the map information is acquired by using the wireless communication device such as the mobile phone, the map information cannot be obtained when the wireless communication is impossible. The problem can be avoided, and the convenience of the user is not impaired.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a map acquisition and distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration example of a non-communicable area information database of the information providing center according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a display image in the car navigation terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a processing flowchart of route guidance processing of the car navigation terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a display image in the car navigation terminal device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a processing flowchart of route guidance processing of the car navigation terminal device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a processing flowchart of route guidance processing of the car navigation terminal device according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a processing flowchart of an incommunicable area information database updating process of the information providing center according to the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: Car navigation terminal device 102: wireless communication device 103: Communication adapter device 104: Wireless base station 105: Public network 106: Information Center 107: Modem device 108: Server 109: Map information database 110: Incommunicable area information database 111: Car navigation overall control unit 112: ROM 113: RAM 114: GPS device 115: User operation unit 116: Display 117: Map information storage unit 118: Incommunicable area information storage unit 301: Present location 302: Destination 303: Search route 401: Own vehicle position detection processing 402: Display processing of map around the vehicle position 403: Destination setting presence / absence check processing 404: Destination display processing 405: Route search request presence / absence check processing 406: Route search processing 407: Search route display processing 408: Processing for checking whether communication incommunicable area information is stored 409: Communication impossible area information acquisition processing 410: Process for checking whether communication is possible 411: Map information acquisition processing 412: Map information acquisition request presence / absence check processing 413: Check processing for obtaining detailed map 414: Map information read processing 415: Route guidance processing 416: Route deviation check process 417: Destination arrival check processing 501: Own vehicle position 601: Map information acquisition position calculation processing 602: Map information acquisition position arrival check processing 701: Field strength memory processing 702: Transmission processing of electric field strength information 801: Check processing of reception of electric field strength information 802: Communication impossible electric field strength position check processing 803: Communication impossible area information database read processing 804: Communication disabled field strength position registered check processing 805: Communication impossible electric field strength position registration processing

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    (72) Inventor Yasuaki Takahara             292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa             Ceremony Hitachi Digital Media Development Book             Department (72) Inventor Toru Nakamura             2-6-35 Hironodai, Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture             In ceremony company Xanavi Informatics (72) Inventor Yukio Takeuchi             2-6-35 Hironodai, Zama City, Kanagawa Prefecture             In ceremony company Xanavi Informatics F-term (reference) 2C032 HB22 HD21                 2F029 AA02 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC09                       AC14 AC18                 5H180 AA01 BB05 BB13 CC12 FF05                       FF13 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF35                 5K067 AA21 BB04 BB36 DD20 DD43                       DD44 DD52 EE02 EE16 FF02                       FF03 FF16 HH23 JJ52 JJ56                       KK15

Claims (6)

[Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. A map information storage device for accumulating map information, a map information distribution device for distributing map information by data communication, and a route search device for searching a route from a present location to a destination. In a map information distribution system including a terminal device that performs data communication using a communication means, the map information distribution device displays communication-disabled area information indicating a communication disabled area where data communication by the wireless communication means is disabled. The terminal device has an incommunicable area information storage unit for accumulating, the terminal device acquires an incommunicable area information unit for acquiring the incommunicable area information from the map information distribution device, a route obtained by the route searching unit, The incommunicable area information is compared with the incommunicable area information acquired by the incommunicable area acquisition unit to detect the incommunicable area on the route. A) When the detection means and the non-communication area detection means detect the non-communication area, the map information corresponding to the non-communication area is acquired from the map information distribution device before reaching the detected non-communication area. A map information distribution system, comprising: 2. The map information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device associates electric field strength data obtained from the wireless communication means with position information at the time of acquiring the electric field strength data. Electric field strength storage means for storing strength information, and electric field strength information stored in the electric field strength storage means,
And a field strength information transmitting means for transmitting to the map information distribution apparatus, wherein the map information distribution apparatus receives the field strength information transmitted from the communication terminal, and the field strength data in the field strength information. On the basis of,
When the uncommunicable area where the data communication by the wireless communication means becomes incommunicable is detected, and when the uncommunicable area is detected, the contents of the incommunicable area information storage means are determined based on the position information in the electric field strength information. A map information distribution system having a communication-disabled area information updating means for updating. 3. A terminal device which has a route searching means for searching a route from a current location to a destination, and which carries out data communication using a wireless communication means, and a map information storage means for storing map information, and With a map information distribution device having a communication-disabled area information storage unit that stores communication-disabled area information indicating a communication-disabled area in which data communication by the wireless communication means is disabled,
In a terminal device that performs data communication using the wireless communication unit, a communication-disabled area acquisition unit that acquires the communication-disabled area information from the map information distribution device, a route obtained by the route search unit, and the communication disabled When the incommunicable area information is acquired by comparing the incommunicable area information acquired by the area acquiring means and the incommunicable area detecting means that detects the incommunicable area existing on the route, A terminal device, comprising: map information acquisition means for acquiring map information corresponding to the detected incommunicable area from the map information distribution device. 4. A terminal device which has a route searching means for searching a route from a present location to a destination and which performs data communication using a wireless communication means, and a map information storing means for storing map information, and With a map information distribution device having a communication-disabled area information storage unit that stores communication-disabled area information indicating a communication-disabled area in which data communication by the wireless communication means is disabled,
In a terminal device that performs data communication using the wireless communication unit, a communication-disabled area acquisition unit that acquires the communication-disabled area information from the map information distribution device, a route obtained by the route search unit, and the communication disabled When the incommunicable area information is acquired by comparing the incommunicable area information acquired by the area acquiring means and the incommunicable area detecting means that detects the incommunicable area existing on the route, Regarding the detected communication-disabled area, the map information acquisition position calculation means for calculating the position where the map information corresponding to the communication-disabled area should be acquired, and that the map information acquisition position calculated by the map information acquisition position calculation means has been reached And a map information acquisition means for acquiring map information from the map information distribution device when the above is detected. Terminal device. 5. The terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the map information acquisition position calculation means sets the moving speed of the terminal device to v, the transmission / reception data amount required to acquire the map information to a, and the wireless communication. When the data communication speed of the means is b and the time required for establishing a communication line with the map information distribution device is t,
The distance d = v × (a / b + t) from the communication-disabled area detected by the communication-disabled area detecting means is calculated, and the position at which the distance to the communication-disabled area is at least d is set to the communication. A terminal device characterized in that it is calculated as a map information acquisition position for a prohibited area. 6. The terminal device according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein the electric field strength information obtained by associating the electric field strength data obtained from the wireless communication means with the position information at the time when the electric field strength data is acquired. Electric field strength storage means for storing, and electric field strength information stored in the electric field strength storage means,
A terminal device, comprising: electric field strength information transmitting means for transmitting to the map information distribution device.