JP2003057052A - System and apparatus for route guidance for vehicle as well as information downloading center - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a route guidance system which can prevent an improper route guidance display even when a communication is cut between itself and an information center. SOLUTION: A CPU 21 creates route guidance information on the prescribed road length portion of a route searched by executing a route search program 22a, a road- length setting program 22b and a guidance-information extraction program 22c. At this time, when the termination of a guidance route by the route guidance information is an expressway, spare-route guidance information on a spare route up to the avoidance position of the expressway ahead of it from the position of the termination is created, and remaining route guidance information on a remaining route remaining by excluding the spare route from the prescribed road length is created. After the CPU 21 has transmitted the spare-route guidance information to an on-vehicle apparatus 2, it transmits the remaining-route guidance information. When the communication with the information center 1 is cut, a processing part 53 guides, by using the spare route, the spare route up to the interchange of the expressway ahead of it from the position of the termination by using the spare-route guidance information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a route guidance system for guiding a route to a destination, an information distribution center, and a vehicle route guidance device, and more particularly, to road data as well as an information distribution center having road data. The present invention relates to a route guidance system, an information distribution center, and a vehicle route guidance device that guides and displays a route to a destination in the vehicle route guidance device while communicating with the owned vehicle route guidance device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a car navigation system is known as a route guidance system of this type. For example, a car navigation system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-147132 transmits a current position, a destination, etc. from an in-vehicle device to an information distribution center. The information distribution center reads the latest road information and the like from the database provided in the center based on the received data and performs route search and guidance data extraction based on the latest road information and the like, and the route / guidance data is stored in the in-vehicle device. Send to. Then, the in-vehicle device provides route guidance based on the received route / guidance data.

More specifically, the vehicle-mounted device transmits a request every time it reaches a position of a predetermined distance in order to obtain the next new route / guidance data from the information distribution center. On the other hand, each time the information distribution center receives the request, it performs a route search for new route guidance, creates route / guidance data of a predetermined road length, and transmits it to the vehicle-mounted device. In this way, the in-vehicle device guides the route to the destination while acquiring the route / guidance information at each time from the information distribution center.

In this type of navigation system, the information distribution center reads the latest road information from the database, searches for a route based on the latest road information, and extracts route / guidance information. Even if it is possible, it is excellent in that the new road can be displayed and route guidance can be provided.

Further, in the car navigation system, if the communication between the information distribution center and the on-vehicle device is cut off for some reason, the on-vehicle device sends the next new road / route information to the information distribution center. It becomes impossible to transmit a request for acquisition, and it becomes impossible to acquire the next new route / guidance information from the information distribution center.

Therefore, in such a case, in a vehicle-mounted device equipped with a recording medium such as a DVD or a CDROM in which map data, road data, etc. are recorded, the map data, road data, etc. stored in the recording medium are stored. I use it to search for routes and display route guidance on the display screen.

[0007]

By the way, in general, a recording medium equipped in an in-vehicle device has a newly installed high speed when a highway is newly extended or a new highway is connected to an existing highway. Road data is not recorded.
Therefore, while traveling on the new highway or traveling toward the new highway, communication between the information distribution center and the in-vehicle device is cut off for some reason and route guidance information is sent from the information distribution center. When the vehicle cannot obtain the information, the vehicle-mounted device performs map matching using the road data of the recording medium and searches for a route to create route guidance information.
Then, even though the vehicle is traveling on the new highway, the in-vehicle device displays the current vehicle position on the nearest open road recorded on a recording medium other than the new highway, and Route guidance will be provided from the point where the position is displayed.

That is, the in-vehicle device is provided with inappropriate route guidance such as route guidance from a point where the vehicle cannot travel. The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a vehicle route guidance device and an information distribution center for some reason when traveling on a new highway or toll road. An object of the present invention is to provide a route guidance system capable of avoiding an inappropriate route guidance display and maintaining an appropriate route guidance display even if communication with the other is cut.

[0009]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, route guidance information for a destination created by an information distribution center in response to a request from the vehicle route guidance device is provided to the vehicle route guidance device. In the route guidance system which transmits the route information to the vehicle and uses the route guidance information to guide the route with the vehicle route guidance device, the information distribution center includes a search means for searching a route from the current position to the destination, and When creating the route guidance information for the predetermined length of the searched route, when the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road, from the end position to the avoidance position of the toll road ahead Preliminary route guidance information creating means for creating preliminary route guidance information of the preliminary route, and the preliminary route from the predetermined road length to the preliminary route guidance information created by the preliminary route guidance information creating means. Residual route guidance information creating means for creating the remaining route guidance information of the remaining remaining routes to be removed, and after transmitting the preliminary route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device, the residual route guidance information is provided to the vehicle route guidance device. The vehicle route guidance device uses the preliminary route guidance information received earlier when guiding the route from the terminal position after communication with the information distribution center is cut off. The gist of the present invention is to provide a route guide means for guiding a route from the end position to the avoidance position of the toll road ahead of the end position.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the route guidance system according to the first aspect, the vehicle route guidance device includes road data storage means storing road data, and road data stored in the road data storage means. The outline of the present invention is to include route search means for searching a route to a destination by using the route search means, and route guidance information creation means for creating route guidance information for guiding the route searched by the route search means. To do.

The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 1 or 2.
In the route guidance system described in [1], the gist is that the avoidance position of the toll road ahead is the avoidance position that is the closest position ahead of the end position.

The invention according to claim 4 is the route guidance system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the avoidance position of the toll road is at least one of an interchange, a service area, and a parking area. That is the summary.

A fifth aspect of the invention is based on the route guidance system according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein the toll road is a highway. The invention according to claim 6 is to provide a route guidance to a destination by receiving a transmission request consisting of information on the current position, information on the destination, and information on the predetermined road length from the vehicle route guidance device at any given time. In the information distribution center that creates route guidance information for a predetermined road length and transmits it to the vehicle route guidance device, search means for searching a route from the current position to the destination,
When creating the route guidance information for a predetermined road length of the searched route, when the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road, the avoidance position of the toll road ahead from the end position Backup route guidance information creating means for creating the preliminary route guidance information for the preliminary route up to and the remaining remaining except the preliminary route from the predetermined road length for the preliminary route guidance information created by the preliminary route guidance information creating means. Remaining route guidance information creating means for creating the remaining route guidance information of the remaining route, and after transmitting the preliminary route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device, the residual route guidance information is transmitted to the vehicle route guidance device. It is the gist that it is provided with a transmitting means for performing.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, in the information distribution center according to the sixth aspect, the avoidance position of the toll road ahead of that is the avoidance position that is the closest position beyond the end position. This is the gist.

The invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to claim 6 or 7.
In the information distribution center described in [1], the gist is that the avoidance position of the toll road is at least one of an interchange, a service area, and a parking area.

The invention according to claim 9 is, in the route guidance system according to any one of claims 6 to 8, characterized in that the toll road is an expressway. The invention according to claim 10 receives route guidance information for a predetermined road length from the information distribution center at each time, and uses the route guidance information for the transmission road length at each time to provide route guidance to a destination. In the vehicle route guidance device, when the route guidance information for a predetermined road length is created from the information distribution center, the end position created when the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road. And the preliminary route guidance information of the preliminary route from there to the avoidance position of the toll road,
Route guidance information storage means for receiving, with respect to the preliminary route guidance information, the remaining route guidance information of the remaining routes excluding the preliminary route from the predetermined road length and storing the route guidance information and the preliminary route guidance information. When the communication with the information distribution center is cut off and the route is guided from the end position,
The gist of the present invention is to provide route guide means for guiding a route from the end position to the avoidance position of a toll road ahead of the end position by using the previously received preliminary route guidance information.

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the vehicular route guidance device according to the sixth aspect, the vehicular route guidance device stores road data storing means for storing road data and road data in the storing means. The gist of the present invention is to include route searching means for searching a route to a destination using the route searching means and route guidance information creating means for creating route guidance information for guiding the route searched by the route searching means.

[0018]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment in which the route guidance system of the present invention is embodied in a communication type car navigation system will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram showing the configuration of the communication type car navigation system of the present embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the communication type car navigation system comprises an information distribution center (hereinafter, simply referred to as an information center) 1 and an in-vehicle device 2 as a vehicle route guidance device which is a navigation device mounted on an automobile. Has been done.

The information center 1 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 10, an arithmetic processing unit 20, a database 30, and an external information collecting unit 40. The transmission / reception unit 10 is a communication device including a transmission device and a reception device, and transmits / receives data to / from the vehicle-mounted device 2. The transmission / reception unit 10 can use a communication system such as a car phone, a mobile phone, a PHS, or the like.

The arithmetic processing section 20 constitutes a searching means, a preliminary route guidance information creating means and a remaining route guidance information creating means, and a central processing unit (CPU) 21 for carrying out arithmetic processing and a memory 22 for storing various programs and data. Is equipped with. The memory 22 includes a route search program 22a, a road length setting processing program 22b, and a guidance information extraction program 2
2c, a spare / remaining route creation program 22d, a system control program 22e, and various other programs executed by the information center 1 are stored. A working area used for executing those programs is also secured in the memory 22.

Incidentally, the route search program 22a is a program executed by the CPU 21 to perform a route search from the current position of the vehicle (navigation start position or start position) to the destination (navigation end position). The road length setting processing program 22b is executed by the in-vehicle device 2
It is a program executed by the CPU 21 to set a range (transmission road length) for route guidance to be transmitted to the vehicle side by one request based on the information of the transmission road length transmitted from. Further, when the end of the guide route of the route / guidance information created earlier is a highway, the road length setting processing program 22b determines that the avoidance point is a road length much shorter than the transmission road length in response to a new request. Of a route (preliminary route) to an interchange, a service area or a parking area, and a remaining route guidance range of the remaining route (remaining route) excluding the preliminary route from the transmission road length. Is set.

The guidance information extraction program 22c is a program executed by the CPU 21 to retrieve, extract and edit the route / guidance information corresponding to the road length set by the road length setting processing program 22b.

The spare / remaining route creation program 22d is
When the end of the guide route of the route / guidance information for the length of the transmission road created in response to a request is a toll road, the interchange, service area or parking area closest to the toll road beyond the end position Route search (preliminary route search) and route (remaining route search) that remains after removing the preliminary route from the transmission road length (residual route search) and guidance information for the searched preliminary route (preliminary route / guidance information) ) And the guidance information of the remaining route (remaining route / guidance information) are retrieved, extracted and edited by the CPU 21. System control program 22e
Is a program executed by the CPU 21 to control and manage the entire operation.

The database 30 includes route search data 30a such as road network data for searching a route to a destination, guidance data 30b accumulating route guidance data, a telephone number and an address for setting a destination. And data necessary for route search and route guidance such as destination setting data 30c such as positions corresponding to these telephone numbers and addresses. The route search data 30a is road network data including data on intersections, data on roads, data on node points, and the like. Further, the guidance data 30b includes various guidance data such as map data of each intersection or road, main landmark data, voice guidance data, and the like.

The database 30 is connected to the external information collecting unit 40. The external information collecting unit 40 provides the latest road / traffic information and communication information such as traffic lines, accident information, road construction, traffic regulation, new construction of roads and facilities, change of incommunicable or incommunicable area (telephone line). Is used to update the data collected and stored in the database 30 at any time. Incidentally, the traffic jam information, the accident information, the road construction information, the traffic regulation information, the new information of the road and the facility, etc., their occurrence position, the occurrence date and time, etc. are collected. For example, as for the traffic jam information, the traffic jam occurrence position, the occurrence date and time, and the like are collected. The same applies to other accident information.

Next, the on-vehicle device 2 will be described. The vehicle-mounted device 2 includes a transmission / reception unit 51, a position measurement unit 52, an arithmetic processing unit 53 that constitutes a route guidance unit, a memory 54, and an input unit 5.
5, a display unit 56, a voice output unit 57 including a speaker, and an external storage device 58 as a road data storage unit.

The transmission / reception unit 51 is a communication device including a transmission device and a reception device, and transmits / receives data to / from the information center 1. The transmitter / receiver 51 is connected to the information center 1
Same as the transceiver unit 10 of the mobile phone, mobile phone, PH
A communication system such as S can be used.

The position measuring unit 52 measures the position of the vehicle by utilizing a so-called GPS or the like, and a GPS receiver that receives signals from a plurality of GPS satellites and measures the absolute position of the vehicle, It is equipped with a speed sensor, a direction sensor, etc. for measuring the relative position of the vehicle. And a speed sensor and a direction sensor are used for autonomous navigation. The relative position measured by these sensors is obtained in a tunnel where the GPS receiver cannot receive radio waves from GPS satellites, or the positioning error of the absolute position measured by the GPS receiver is corrected. Used for.

The arithmetic processing section 53 is mainly composed of a CPU, and executes various arithmetic processing according to various programs stored in the memory 54. The memory 54 has a program storage area 54a, and the program storage area 54a
A route guidance program 61, a data request program 62, a control program 63, a preliminary route request program 64, a route search program 65, a guidance information extraction program 66, etc. are stored in the. The route guidance program 61 displays the route and landmarks on the display unit 56 based on the route / guidance information transmitted from the information center 1 (using the route / guidance information) and the voice of the route guidance. Is output from the voice output unit 57.
3 is a program to be executed. The data request program 62 is a program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 53 to compare the current vehicle position with the received route / guidance information and request route / guidance information for the next route guidance. The control program 63 is a program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 53 to control the operation of the entire vehicle-mounted device.

The preliminary route request program 64 compares the current vehicle position with the received route / guidance information to obtain the route / guidance information (preliminary route / guidance) for the route to the next interchange, service area or parking area (preliminary route). This is a program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 53 to request (information).

The route search program 65 is used by the information center 1
When the route / guidance information (including the preliminary route / guidance information) from the vehicle cannot be received, the road including the data regarding the intersection, the data regarding the road, the data regarding the node point, etc. stored in the external storage device 58 for the route search. It is a program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 53 to search for a route to a destination using network data.

The guidance information extraction program 66 is a program executed by the arithmetic processing unit 53 to search, extract and edit the route / guidance information corresponding to the route searched by the route search program 65.

Further, the memory 54 has a data storage area 54b as a route guidance information storage means, and the data storage area 54b functions as a working area appropriately used when executing the various programs. , Route guidance data 71 including route / guidance information transmitted from the information center 1, vehicle-specific ID data information 7
2. Vehicle position data 73 and the like measured by the position measuring unit 52 are stored.

The route guidance data 71 also includes preliminary route / guidance information transmitted from the information center 1 in addition to the route / guidance information. Further, the vehicle position data 73 includes a plurality of past position information in addition to the current position information measured by the position measuring unit 52 at predetermined time intervals. For example,
Position data of measurement points included in a certain distance or position information of a certain number of measurement points is stored. When the position measurement unit 52 newly performs measurement, the latest position information is stored and the oldest stored position information is deleted. The running locus of the vehicle can be obtained by connecting these pieces of position information. This traveling locus is used for so-called map matching for identifying the road on which the vehicle is traveling.

The input section 55 includes various switches and a display section 56.
Touch panel attached to the display surface of, remote control,
A data input device using voice recognition and the like are included. On the touch panel, touching an icon or the like displayed on the display unit 56 inputs corresponding information or commands. In a data input device using voice recognition, a user generates voice to input corresponding information and commands.

The display unit 56 is a display such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT and has the touch panel described above. The external storage device 58 has a recording medium such as a DVD or a CDROM in which map data, road data, etc. are recorded, and when the route / guidance data from the information center 1 cannot be received,
When the route to the destination is searched on the in-vehicle device 2 side and route / guidance information is created, the map data, road data, etc. recorded in the recording medium are used.

Next, the information center 1 configured as described above.
The operation of the vehicle-mounted device 2 will be described. [Operation of Information Center] First, the operation of the information center 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart shown in FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a route search / guidance information transmission process in the information center 1.

First, in the in-vehicle apparatus 2, the control program 63 stored in the memory 54 is executed by the arithmetic processing section 53. In this operating state, when the data request program 62 stored in the memory 54 is executed based on the user's input operation, the vehicle current position measured by the position measuring unit 52, the destination, and the search condition (toll road or general road Each information of a road) and a road length (transmission road length) that requires route guidance is transmitted from the transmitting / receiving unit 51 to the information center 1. At this time, an ID is also transmitted at the same time to identify the own vehicle and the other vehicle.

Then, the information center 1 receives each information received from the vehicle at the transmitting / receiving section 10 (Y in step S11).
ES), and output to the arithmetic processing unit 20. Information center 1
The communication mode between the vehicle-mounted device 2 and the vehicle-mounted device 2 is packet communication.

The arithmetic processing unit 20 of the information center 1 executes the system control program 22e stored in the memory 22. Then, by receiving the information from the vehicle-mounted device 2, the CPU 21 executes the route search program 22a stored in the memory 22 to perform the route search. That is, first, various kinds of information such as the current vehicle position, the destination, the search condition, and the length of the transmission road are extracted from the received information (step S12), and the route from the current vehicle position to the destination is searched from each of the information ( Step S13).

This route search is performed by referring to the route search data 30a of the database 30, that is, the intersection data, the road data, and the node data. This route search process is well known, and is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1732/1732.
The method is performed according to the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 97-97, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-173298, and the recommended route is set under the condition that the shortest route is set as the shortest route.

Next, C of the arithmetic processing unit 20 of the information center 1
The PU 21 executes the guidance information extraction program 22c stored in the memory 22, refers to the guidance data in the database 30, and searches for guidance information in a range corresponding to the transmission road length set by the road length setting program. Extract (step S14). The extracted route / guidance information is temporarily stored in the memory 22 as route guidance data 22f.
Then, the CPU 21 of the arithmetic processing unit 20 is configured to transmit the route guidance data 22f together with the ID of the vehicle making the request from the transmitting / receiving unit 10 to the in-vehicle device 2 (step S15).

If the end of the route of the route / guidance information created and transmitted earlier is an expressway, the road length setting processing program 22b causes the route to be the closest to the end, which is a road length much shorter than the transmitted road length. Interchange with location,
A route (preliminary route) to the service area or the parking area is set as a route guidance range. And CPU2
1 executes the guidance information extraction program 22c, refers to the guidance data in the database 30, and retrieves and extracts the guidance information in the range corresponding to the route guidance range (step S14). Subsequently, the extracted guidance information (preliminary route / guidance information) is used as route guidance data 22f in the memory 22.
After being temporarily stored in the CPU 21, the CPU 21 of the arithmetic processing unit 20 is configured to transmit the route guidance data 22f to the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 from the transmission / reception unit 10 together with the ID of the vehicle that made the request (step S15).

Next, the road length setting processing program 22b sets the range for guiding the remaining route of the remaining route after removing the preliminary route from the transmission road length. And
The CPU 21 executes the guidance information extraction program 22c,
With reference to the guidance data in the database 30, the guidance information in a range corresponding to the remaining route guidance range is searched and extracted (step S14). Then, the extracted guidance information (remaining route / guidance information) is temporarily stored in the memory 22 as route guidance data 22f, and then the CPU of the arithmetic processing unit 20.
21 transmits the route guidance data 22f to the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 from the transmission / reception unit 10 together with the ID of the vehicle that made the request (step S15).

Therefore, the transmission of the preliminary route / guidance information (route guidance data 22f) for the preliminary route is completed in a short time because the amount of data is small because the route is short. On the contrary, the remaining route / guidance information (route guidance data 22f) for the remaining remaining routes excluding the backup route has a larger amount of data because the remaining route is longer than the backup route. Transmission will be completed in a long time.

In this embodiment, each time a request is received from the vehicle side, the information center 1 searches for a route from the current position of the vehicle to the destination. Information center 1
Then, the external information collecting unit 40 acquires road information, traffic information and the like from the outside, and the database 30 is updated. For this reason, route search is performed for each request from the vehicle side, avoiding congestion points, construction points, accident points, etc., using new roads etc.Always recommended routes and guidance information based on the latest data Is provided to the vehicle side.

[Operation of In-Vehicle Device] Next, the operation of the in-vehicle device 2 will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.
The flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are flowcharts showing the request / route guidance processing in the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2.

In step S31, a destination is set by using a predetermined switch of the input section 55, and subsequently in step S32, a search condition (either a general road or a toll road (highway) is used. Set route search). For convenience of description, the search condition is to use a toll road (including a highway). Then, when the destination and the search condition are set, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the in-vehicle apparatus 2
In step S33, the information center 1 is used to acquire route / guidance information to the destination, or the in-vehicle device 2 side uses its own route search program 65 to acquire route / guidance information to the destination. Decide whether to do it. This determination is set in advance by using a predetermined switch of the input unit 55. In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the information center 1 is used to obtain route / guidance data to the destination. It is assumed that it is set to acquire.

Therefore, assuming that the route / guidance information is to be acquired from the information center 1 (YES in step S33), the arithmetic processing section 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 moves to step S34.
Each information of the destination, the search condition, the current vehicle position measured by the position measurement unit 52, and the road length required for route guidance is transmitted to the information center 1 together with the ID. Then, the arithmetic processing unit 5
3 receives from the information center 1 the search result executed by the information center 1 on the basis of the transmitted destination information, current vehicle position, search condition, transmission road length, and other information. More specifically, first, the information center 1 first transmits a search result in a range corresponding to the transmission road length, receives the search result, and stores it in the memory 5
4 is temporarily stored in the data storage area 54b (step S35), the guidance information receiving process is executed (step S35).
36).

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a guide information receiving process which is constituted by a subroutine. In FIG. 5, when the end of the guide route based on the route / guidance information transmitted previously is an expressway, the arithmetic processing unit 53 is an interchange (IC), a service area (SA) or a parking area for the information center 1. The point information of (PA) is requested (NO in steps S61 and S62), and the point information (preliminary route / guidance information) from the information center 1 to the interchange, service area or parking area is received. Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 53 determines whether or not the received interchange, service route or guidance information to the parking area has been completely received, and when the information has been completely received (YES in step S64),
Request the remaining route guidance information for the remaining remaining routes excluding the backup route from the information center 1 (step S6).
6). When not completely received (NO in step S64), the arithmetic processing unit 53 displays a warning to that effect on the display unit 56 because the communication is cut off and the preliminary route / guidance information cannot be acquired. (Step S65).

Then, the arithmetic processing section 53 obtains the remaining route / guidance information in a range corresponding to the remaining remaining route.
(Step S66). In this case, since the route / guidance information has not been acquired since it is the initial setting, the route guidance information in the range corresponding to the transmission road length is immediately transmitted from the information center 1. The arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 receives the route guidance information in the range corresponding to the length of the transmission road transmitted from the information center 1 in response to the request and stores it in the data storage area 54b (step S67). Then, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 receives the received route /
It is determined whether the guidance information has been completely received (step S68). That is, it is determined whether the communication with the information center 1 is cut off and the above-mentioned route / guidance information is stored. Then, when the route / guidance information is stored in the data storage area 54b (YES in step S68), the guidance information receiving process is terminated and the process returns to the main routine.

If the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the length of the transmission road is not stored in the data storage area 54b (NO in step S68), the route / guidance information received in step S67 will be stored. If it is not stored, a warning to that effect is displayed on the display unit 56. Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 stores the backup route in the data storage area 54b in step S63.
If the guidance information is stored, it is determined that the route guidance display based on the preliminary route / guidance information needs to be executed (step S70), and the guidance information receiving process is ended.
Return to the main routine.

On the other hand, when the end of the route based on the previous route / guidance information is not a highway, the arithmetic processing unit 53 informs the information center 1 of an interchange (IC), service area (SA) or parking area (PA). No point information is requested (YES in steps S61 and S62).
S, YES in step S64), request route guidance information in a range corresponding to the transmission road length from the information center 1 (step S66). In this case, since the previous route / guidance information has not been acquired since it is the initial setting, the route guidance information in the range corresponding to the transmission road length is immediately requested to the information center 1.

Then, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 is
In response to the request, the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the transmission road length is received from the information center 1 and the data storage area 54b is received.
(Step S67). Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 determines whether the received route / guidance information has been completely received (step S68). That is,
It is determined whether the communication with the information center 1 is cut off and the above-mentioned route / guidance information is stored. Then, when the route / guidance information is stored in the data storage area 54b (YES in step S68), the guidance information receiving process is terminated and the process returns to the main routine.

Returning to the main routine, for example, when the automobile starts traveling or when the guidance start switch of the input unit 55 is operated, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 stores the data in the data storage area 54b of the memory 54. The route guidance display is started based on the route guidance data 71 being displayed (step S40). That is, the route guidance by the vehicle-mounted device 2 is started from this point.

In the step 33 of the main routine, the route search program 65 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 side is provided.
When the route / guidance information to the destination is acquired by using (NO in step S33), the arithmetic processing unit 53 starts executing the route search program 65 (step S37), and each is stored in the external storage device 58. A route to the destination is searched using the information and the search result is obtained (step S38), and the guidance information extraction program 66 is executed to create the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the predetermined road length, and the memory 54 The data is stored in the data storage area 54b (step S39). Incidentally, in this case, the spare route / guidance information and the remaining route / guidance information in a range corresponding to the remaining route other than the spare route are not created.

Then, in the same manner as described above, when the automobile starts traveling or when the guidance start switch of the input unit 55 is operated, the arithmetic processing unit 53 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2 causes the memory 54 to operate.
The route guidance display is started on the route / guidance information created by the in-vehicle apparatus 2 stored in the data storage area 54b (step S40).

When the route guidance is started, the arithmetic processing unit 53
Updates the current position on the screen of the display unit 56 along the road using the route / guidance information (step S41).
Next, the arithmetic processing unit 53 determines whether or not to update the route / guidance information (step S42). In other words, if the guidance display is continued as it is based on the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the transmission road length previously received from the information center 1,
Since the route where the current position is displayed as a guide is cut off and the following route cannot be displayed, the route within a certain range is always displayed.
Guidance information needs to be secured. Therefore, in the present embodiment, it is determined whether or not the current position has reached within a predetermined distance from the end of the guide route of the previously received route / guidance information, and when it reaches within the predetermined distance (YES in step S42),
The route / guidance information is updated, that is, a guide information update request process is performed to obtain new route / guidance information ahead (step S43). Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance, and when the vehicle has traveled a predetermined distance (YES in step S42), guidance information update request processing may be performed (step S43).

The guide information update request processing is the same processing as the above-described processing of steps S33 to S39 enclosed by the broken line in the main routine of FIG. That is, in the guidance information update request process, since the route / guidance information from the information center 1 to the destination is acquired, the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the next transmission road length, or the preliminary route / guidance information and the backup information The remaining route / guidance information in a range corresponding to the remaining remaining routes excluding the route will be acquired.

That is, in the guide information update request processing,
When the end of the route of the previous route / guidance information is an expressway, the preliminary route / guidance information is received first, and then the remaining route / guidance information in a range corresponding to the remaining residual route excluding the preliminary route. Is received.

At the time of starting the route guidance, the arithmetic processing unit 53 searches the route / guidance information (route guidance data 71) for the guidance target because it does not reach within the predetermined distance from the end of the guidance route. (Step S44). And
When the guidance target is retrieved from the route / guidance information (route guidance data 71) (NO in step S45), the guidance target is output to the display unit 56 to guide the current location (step S46).

On the contrary, when the guidance object is not retrieved from the route / guidance information (YES in step S45), the arithmetic processing unit 53 determines whether the communication with the information center 1 is interrupted due to the communication abnormality. Yes (step S47). If the communication is not abnormal (NO in step S47),
Guidance is given to the current position in which no guidance target is output to the display unit 56 because there is no guidance target (step S4
6).

Subsequently, the arithmetic processing section 53 determines whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination or the guidance stop switch of the input section 55 has been operated (step S48). If the switch is not operated (NO in step S48), the process returns to step S41. On the contrary, when the switch for arriving at the destination or canceling the guidance is operated (YES in step S48), the arithmetic processing unit 53 ends the route guidance.

That is, when the communication is not cut off, every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance thereafter, step S43 is executed.
In the guidance information update request process of (1), the route / guidance information is updated, that is, route guidance to the destination is performed while receiving new route / guidance information ahead and storing it as the route guidance data 71. At this time, when the in-vehicle device 2 receives the new route / guidance information, the end of the route displayed by the new route / guidance information is a highway (a toll road) and the route beyond the end is On a highway (a toll road), the preliminary route / guidance information is first received and stored as route guidance data 71, and then the remaining remaining route / guidance information is received and stored as route guidance data 71. ing.

On the other hand, if a communication abnormality has occurred (YES in step S47), the arithmetic processing section 53 causes the memory 54 to operate.
Route guidance data 71 stored in the data storage area 54b of
It is determined whether or not it is necessary to guide based on (step S49). Here, the original route / guidance information (the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the length of the transmission road or the route / guidance in the range corresponding to the remaining route except the preliminary route) is used without using the preliminary route / guidance information. If the route guidance can be sufficiently performed based on the information (NO in step S49), a warning indicating that the communication is disconnected is displayed on the display unit 56 (step S51), and the process proceeds to step S48.

Therefore, even when the communication abnormality has occurred, when the current position is in the state where the route guidance is provided using only the original route / guidance information, the in-vehicle device 2 has the communication abnormality. The route guidance is performed based on the original route / guidance information while displaying that the route is being performed.

If it is determined in step S49 that the current position needs to be guided based on the preliminary route / guidance information (YES in step S49), the preliminary route stored in the data storage area 54b of the memory 54 is determined. Using the guidance information (route guidance data 71), a preliminary route guidance process for guiding to an interchange, a service area or a parking area is executed (step S5).
0).

That is, when the communication with the information center 1 is interrupted during the transmission of the route / guidance information in the range corresponding to the long transmission road from the information center 1, the route / guidance information being transmitted is Since all data including those received up to that point are lost, the data storage area 54b of the memory 54 is lost.
The route beyond the end of the route displayed on the basis of the route / guidance information stored in is not displayed.
Therefore, when the end of the route of the previous route / guidance information is an expressway, the preliminary route / guidance information having a short transmission time is transmitted in advance. Subsequently, the remaining route / guidance information on the remaining remaining routes except the backup route having a long transmission time is transmitted. That is, the transmission time of the first route guidance data 71 (preliminary route / guidance information) is shortened to reduce the probability that communication will be cut off during the transmission period, and at least only the preliminary route / guidance information is reliable. I am trying to receive it.

Therefore, in step S49, when it is determined that the current position needs to be guided based on the preliminary route / guidance information when the first received preliminary route / guidance information is stored ( Y in step S49
ES), the preliminary route / guidance information (route guidance data 71) stored in the data storage area 54b of the memory 54.
To execute the preliminary route guidance process (step S5)
0).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart showing a preliminary route guidance process which is constituted by a subroutine. In FIG. 6, the arithmetic processing unit 53 acquires the current position information from the position measuring unit 52 (step S81), and selects the current position information from the preliminary route / guidance information stored in the data storage area 54b of the memory 54. The point information of the interchange, service area or parking area is read from (step S82). Subsequently, the arithmetic processing unit 53 compares the current position information with the point information of the interchange, the service area or the parking area, and determines whether the current position has passed (that is, arrived) at the point of the interchange, the service area or the parking area. It is determined (step S83).

If the current position has not yet arrived at the interchange, the service area or the parking area (NO in step S83), route guidance is performed using the preliminary route / guidance information, and the process proceeds to step S51 of the main routine. Therefore, while traveling on a highway (toll road), when the highway beyond the end of the highway that is displayed based on the route / guidance information is no longer displayed, the preliminary route / guidance information is used. It is possible to provide route guidance from the end of the expressway to the nearest interchange, service area, or parking area.

That is, the highway (toll road) is a new road, and the data of the new highway (toll road) is not stored in the external storage device 58 mounted on the vehicle-mounted device 2. Improper route guidance such that the current position of the car is displayed on the screen without displaying the new highway beyond the end of the new highway that is displayed based on the route / guidance information. Is done. Therefore, by guiding the route (preliminary route) to the interchange of the new highway (toll road) connected to the general road stored in the external storage device 58 of the vehicle-mounted device 2 on the screen, the communication is disconnected and the information is lost. Even if the route / guidance cannot be acquired from the center 1 and the route guidance is disabled, the vehicle can be guided to a position where the vehicle-mounted device 2 can guide the route.

When the current position arrives at the point of the interchange, the service area or the parking area (NO in step S83), the arithmetic processing unit 53 reserves that the nearest interchange, service area or parking area has arrived. The route / guidance information is initialized (step S84), the route guidance using the preliminary route / guidance information is completed, and step S of the main routine is completed.
Move to 51.

Therefore, when the communication with the information center 1 is cut off and the remaining route / guidance information of the remaining remaining routes other than the spare route is not yet received, for example, when the vehicle arrives at the interchange, the in-vehicle device 2 can If the route search program 65 and the guidance information extraction program 66 are executed and a route search is performed using each information stored in the external storage device 58, route guidance from the interchange to the destination is performed. Further, when the vehicle arrives at the service area or the parking area, it can wait in the service area or the parking area until the communication with the information center 1 is restored.

Next, the features of the communication type car navigation system configured as described above will be described below. (1) In the present embodiment, when the end of the route of the previous route / guidance information is an expressway, the preliminary route / guidance information having a short transmission time is transmitted in advance, and then the preliminary route having a long transmission time is excluded. The remaining route / guidance information for the remaining remaining routes is transmitted. In other words, the preliminary route / guidance information is divided into two times and the transmission time is short first, and the probability of disconnection during the short transmission period is reduced. Therefore, the vehicle-mounted device 2 can receive the preliminary route / guidance information in a state in which the probability of communication disconnection is very low.

(2) In the present embodiment, since the preliminary route / guidance information is divided into two times and the transmission time is short first, the communication with the information center 1 is interrupted as in the conventional case. Even if the road at the end of the route that is displayed based on the route / guidance information is a highway (toll road) and the route beyond that end is no longer displayed, the preliminary route / guidance information remains Using, it is possible to provide preliminary route guidance from the end of the route to the nearest interchange, service area or parking area.

That is, when the highway beyond the end of the highway that is displayed based on the route / guidance information is no longer displayed during traveling, the preliminary route / guidance information is used to start from the end position. The route (preliminary route) to reach the nearest interchange, service area or parking area is displayed and guided.

Therefore, the highway at the end position (toll road)
Is a new road, and the data of the new highway (toll road) is not stored in the external storage device 58 installed in the in-vehicle device 2, the route / guidance information created in the in-vehicle device 2 side Even if the guidance is displayed based on the guideline, it is possible to avoid improper route guidance such that the current position of the car is displayed on the screen without displaying the new highway beyond the end of the new highway. it can.

(3) Further, in the present embodiment, when the preliminary route to the interchange is guided, the interchange is connected to the general road stored in the external storage device 58 of the vehicle-mounted apparatus 2, so that communication is performed. Even if the route / guidance cannot be obtained from the information center 1 due to a failure and the route guidance is disabled, the vehicle-mounted side uses the external storage device 58 to execute the route search and guidance information extraction programs 65 and 66 from the interchange. It is possible to properly guide the route to the destination using the general road.

(4) Further, in the present embodiment, if there is a service area or parking area before the interchange, a preliminary route to the service area or parking area is provided. In this case, it can be avoided until communication with the information center 1 is restored in the service area or the parking area.

The embodiment of the present invention may be modified as follows. In the above embodiment, the preliminary route / guidance information of any one of the interchange, the service area, and the parking area, which is the closest to the end position, is created.
Instead of creating the preliminary route / guidance information for the service area or the parking area, only the preliminary route / guidance information from the terminal position to the nearest interchange change may be created. On the contrary, the preliminary route / guidance information up to the interchange may not be created, but only the preliminary route / guidance information from the terminal position to the nearest service area or parking area may be created.

Further, both preliminary route / guidance information from the end position to the nearest interchange change and preliminary route / guidance information from the end position to the nearest service area or parking area may be created. .

In the above-described embodiment, the route of the road length is transmitted from the in-vehicle device 2 to the information center 1, and the information center 1 transmits the transmission road length once based on the transmission road length.
Created guide information. The information center 1 may determine the length of the road to be transmitted, create route / guidance information of the road length to be transmitted at one time, and transmit the route / guidance information to the vehicle-mounted device 2.

In the above embodiment, when the communication abnormality occurs, the route guidance is automatically performed by using the preliminary route / guidance information. However, the route guidance is performed by using the preliminary route / guidance information. The user may be allowed to select whether or not to use the switch using the switch of the input unit 55.

In the above embodiment, the avoidance position is the interchange of the expressway (toll road), the service area or the parking area. However, in the case of a multi-layer toll road, the avoidance position may be the upper layer of the multi-layer road. . In this case, the upper layer information of the multi-layered road needs to be stored in the road-related data of the route search data 30a.

[0087]

According to the invention described in claims 1 to 5, the communication is cut off between the information distribution center and the vehicle side route guidance device, and the end of the route displayed on the basis of the route / guidance information is displayed. When the road is a toll road (highway) and the route beyond that end is no longer displayed, use the preliminary route / guidance information to provide preliminary route guidance from the end of the route to the avoidance point ahead. Therefore, if the toll road at the end position (highway) is a new road and the data of the new toll road is not stored in the road data storage means installed in the vehicle side route guidance device, Even if the guidance is displayed based on the route / guidance information created on the route guidance device side, the current position of the car is displayed in a state where the new toll road beyond the end of the new toll road (highway) is not displayed. When displayed on the screen It is possible to avoid the inappropriate route guidance Tsu.

In addition, according to the invention described in claim 2,
Even if the toll road at the end position is, for example, a new road, the vehicle route guidance device is created on the vehicle route guidance device side when the data of the new highway is not stored in the road data storage means. Inappropriate route guidance such that the current position of the car is displayed on the screen even if the guidance is displayed based on the route / guidance information and the new highway beyond the new highway is not displayed. Can be avoided.

In addition, according to the invention described in claims 3 and 4, the avoidance position of the toll road ahead is located at the nearest avoidance position (interchange, service area, parking area) beyond the end position. ), So
It is possible to quickly reach the avoidance position and wait until communication is restored.

According to the invention described in claims 6 to 9, when the end of the route of the route / guidance information to be transmitted is a toll road, the information distribution center avoids the toll road ahead from the end position. Since the preliminary route guidance information up to the position is created and the route guidance information and the preliminary route guidance information are transmitted together to the vehicle route guidance device, even when the communication with the vehicle side route guidance device is cut off, Prevent the route guidance device for vehicles from performing inappropriate route guidance in which the current position of the vehicle is displayed on the screen without displaying the new toll road (highway) beyond the end of the toll road be able to.

In addition, according to the invention described in claims 7 and 8, since the avoidance position of the toll road ahead is the avoidance position which is the closest position ahead of the end position, the avoidance position is quickly changed to the avoidance position. It can wait until it arrives and communication is restored.

According to the tenth and eleventh aspects of the present invention, when the route guidance information for a predetermined road length received from the information distribution center and the end of the guide route of the route guidance information are toll roads, from the end position to the end. Since the preliminary route guidance information for guiding to the avoidance position of the toll road in is received, and the route guidance information and the preliminary route guidance information are stored in the route guidance information storage means and the route guidance means guides the route. , Even if the communication with the information distribution center is cut off, the vehicle route guidance device displays the current position of the car on the screen from the end of the toll road (highway) and the toll road ahead is not displayed. It is possible to provide guidance that avoids inappropriate route guidance such as being performed.

In addition, according to the invention described in claim 11, even if the toll road (highway) at the end position is, for example, a new road, the vehicle route guidance device is installed in the road data storage means. If highway data is not stored, even if a guide is displayed based on the route / guidance information created on the vehicle route guidance device side, the new highway from the end of the new highway to the point beyond It is possible to avoid improper route guidance in which the current position of the vehicle is displayed on the screen without being displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram illustrating a car navigation system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a route search / guidance information transmission processing operation in the information center.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a request / route guidance processing operation in the vehicle-mounted device.

FIG. 4 is likewise a flowchart for explaining a request / route guidance processing operation in the in-vehicle device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a guidance information reception processing operation in the in-vehicle device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a preliminary route guidance processing operation in the vehicle-mounted device.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information distribution center 2 ... Vehicle-mounted device 10 as a vehicle route guidance device ... Transmitting / receiving unit 20 ... Search means, preliminary route guidance information creating means, arithmetic processing unit 21 as remaining route guidance information creating means ... CPU 22 ... Memory 22a ... Route search program 22b ... Road length setting processing program 22c ... Guide information extraction program 22d ... Preliminary route creation program 22e ... System control program 30 ... Database 30a ... Route search data 30b ... Guide data 40 ... External information collection unit 51 ... Transmission / reception Unit 52 ... Position measuring unit 53 ... Route guidance means, route search means, arithmetic processing section 54 as route guidance information creating means ... Memory 55 as route guidance information storage means ... Input section 56 ... Display section 58 ... Road data storage means External storage device 61 ... Route guidance program 62 ... Data request program Gram 63 ... Control program 64 ... Preliminary route request program 65 ... Route search program 66 ... Guide information extraction program

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Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. An information distribution center transmits route guidance information from a current position to a destination created in response to a request from the vehicle route guidance device to the vehicle route guidance device and uses the route guidance information. In the route guidance system that performs route guidance using the vehicle route guidance device, the information distribution center includes a search unit that searches for a route from the current position to a destination, and a predetermined road length of the searched route. When creating the route guidance information, when the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road, the preliminary route guidance information of the preliminary route from the end position to the avoidance position of the toll road ahead is created. A preliminary route guidance information creating unit, and a remaining residual route excluding the preliminary route from the predetermined road length with respect to the preliminary route guidance information created by the preliminary route guidance information creating unit. A remaining route guidance information creating unit for creating route guidance information; and a transmitting unit for transmitting the remaining route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device after transmitting the preliminary route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device. The vehicle route guidance device, when communication with the information distribution center is cut off and the route is guided from the terminal position to the destination, the preliminary route guidance information received earlier is used to move from the terminal position to the destination. A route guidance system comprising route guidance means for guiding a route to an avoidance position of a toll road at. 2. The route guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle route guidance device uses a road data storage unit that stores road data, and a destination using a road data stored in the road data storage unit. And a route guidance information creating unit for creating route guidance information for guiding the route searched by the route searching unit. 3. The route guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the avoidance position of the toll road ahead of that is an avoidance position that is the closest position beyond the end position. Route guidance system. 4. The route guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the avoidance position of the toll road is at least one of an interchange, a service area, and a parking area. Route guidance system. 5. The route guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the toll road is a highway. 6. A route guidance information for a predetermined road length for receiving the current position information and the destination information from the vehicle route guidance device at each occasion and guiding the route from the current position to the destination. In the information distribution center for transmitting to the vehicle route guidance device, when searching means for searching a route from the current position to the destination, and when creating route guidance information for a predetermined road length of the searched route. When the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road, a preliminary route guidance information creating means for creating preliminary route guidance information of a preliminary route from the end position to the avoidance position of the toll road ahead of it. Residual route guidance information creation for creating the remaining route guidance information of the remaining routes excluding the preliminary route from the predetermined road length with respect to the preliminary route guidance information created by the preliminary route guidance information creating means An information distribution center, comprising: a means for transmitting the preliminary route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device, and a transmission means for transmitting the remaining route guidance information to the vehicle route guidance device. 7. The information distribution center according to claim 6, wherein the avoidance position of the toll road ahead of the end is an avoidance position that is the closest position ahead of the end position. center. 8. The information distribution center according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the avoidance position of the toll road is at least one of an interchange, a service area, and a parking area. 9. The route guidance system according to claim 6, wherein the toll road is an expressway. 10. A route for a vehicle that receives route guidance information for a predetermined road length from time to time from an information distribution center and uses the route guidance information for the transmission road length at any time to guide a route to a destination. In the guidance device, when the route guidance information for a predetermined road length is created from the information distribution center, from the end position created when the end of the guide route of the previous route guidance information is a toll road, By receiving preliminary route guidance information of a preliminary route to an avoidance position of a toll road and residual route guidance information of a residual route other than the preliminary route from the predetermined road length with respect to the preliminary route guidance information. When the route guidance information storage means for storing the route guidance information and the preliminary route guidance information is disconnected from the information distribution center and the route is guided from the end position, the preliminary route received first. Vehicle path guide apparatus characterized by using the internal information including a route guidance means for guiding a route to avoid the position of the toll road in the first from the end position. 11. The vehicle route guidance device according to claim 6, wherein the vehicle route guidance device uses a road data storage unit that stores road data and a road data storage unit that uses the road data of the storage unit to reach a destination. A vehicle route guidance device comprising: route search means for searching a route; and route guidance information creation means for creating route guidance information for guiding the route searched by the route search means.