JP2003232651A - Bearing display device in portable terminal, and method and program for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bearing display device in a portable terminal capable of improving convenience in operability of users, and reducing data quantity for transmission and reception to a very low level in displaying a bearing. <P>SOLUTION: On the portable terminal side, information A of a current position and information of a recognized landmark B are transmitted to a station (server) which receives provision of map information. On the station side to provide the map information, map information 20 for a designated current place and direction information 30 for the landmark on a map are transmitted to the portable terminal. On the portable terminal side, the map received and the direction information for the landmark on the map are synthesized to be displayed (40). The user sets the portable terminal to an actual map direction (50), so that the map can be displayed to be easily recognized. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an azimuth display device in a portable terminal, a method thereof, and a program, and more particularly to receiving map information relating to a user's current position from a map information providing device and displaying the map information. The present invention relates to the azimuth display system in the portable terminal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a portable information wireless terminal, for example, a mobile phone, the current position information of a user is transmitted to a server (station) for providing map information using a wireless communication network and received. On the server side, the map information related to the current position information is transmitted to the mobile phone of the user and displayed on the mobile phone side so that the service that enables the user's current position to be specified is provided. It has become to.

In this case, when the map information provided by the server is displayed on the mobile phone side as it is, the direction in which the user is currently facing does not match the direction of the displayed map. Target. This is because the displayed map has the north direction on the upper side. Therefore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-305103 discloses an example of a mobile device which is a mobile phone capable of detecting a user's actual azimuth and displaying a map in accordance with the detected azimuth.

As shown in FIG. 10, this conventional mobile device includes a mobile station modulator / demodulator 103, a mobile station controller 105,
Azimuth angle difference detection unit 104, input unit 101, and display unit 1
02. The conventional mobile device having such a configuration operates as follows.

That is, the azimuth angle difference detection unit 104 detects the direction in which the mobile unit is facing. Next, the detected direction information is sent from the modulation / demodulation unit 103 to the base station side (not shown), and the base station (which is assumed to be configured by the server having the map information providing function) is facing the mobile device. The map corrected by the direction information is transmitted to the mobile device.

[0006]

However, this conventional technique has the following problems. The first problem is that communication costs increase to use such a function. The reason is that the base station sends the data whose direction is corrected each time the direction in which the mobile device is facing changes.

The second problem is that frequent updating of map data reduces usability. The reason is that mobile devices, especially mobile phones, have a small memory capacity and a low device performance. Therefore, handling a large amount of data causes a heavy load, which may cause a delay in display and operation.
Moreover, the battery is consumed and the usage time is shortened.

Another example of a conventional mobile phone capable of displaying a map is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 05-297098. However, this conventional technique has the following problems. It is difficult to understand the actual positional relationship with the displayed map. The reason is that the orientation of the displayed map is fixed in the north direction, and the operator needs to consider which landmark actually exists on the displayed map.

An object of the present invention is to provide an azimuth display device, a method and a program thereof in a mobile terminal capable of displaying a azimuth with a very small amount of data for transmission and reception, while enhancing the convenience in user operability. That is.

[0010]

An azimuth display device in a mobile terminal according to the present invention receives map information relating to a user's current position from a map information providing device and displays the map information. And a means for transmitting the landmark information to the map information providing device in response to the input of the landmark information by the user, the map information and the land from the map information providing device. Means for displaying the direction information in a superimposed manner on the map information in response to reception of the direction information on the map of the mark.

An azimuth display device in another mobile terminal according to the present invention is a azimuth display device in a mobile terminal which receives map information related to a current position of a user and displays this map information. The present invention is characterized by including an azimuth calculating means for calculating the current azimuth of the sun from the time, and a means for displaying the azimuth information of the sun in an overlapping manner on the map information.

A azimuth display method in a mobile terminal according to the present invention is a azimuth display method in a mobile terminal which receives map information related to a current position of a user from a map information providing device and displays the map information. And transmitting the landmark information to the map information providing device in response to the input of the recognized landmark information by the user, and the map information from the map information providing device and the direction on the map of the landmark. Displaying the direction information in an overlapping manner on the map information in response to reception of the information.

Another azimuth display method in a mobile terminal according to the present invention is a azimuth display method in a mobile terminal which receives map information relating to a current position of a user and displays the map information. The present invention is characterized by including an azimuth calculation step of calculating the current azimuth of the sun from the time, and a step of displaying the azimuth information of the sun in an overlapping manner on the map information.

The program according to the present invention is for receiving the map information relating to the current position of the user from the map information providing device and causing the computer to execute the azimuth display method in the portable terminal for displaying this map information. A program for transmitting the landmark information to the map information providing device in response to input of the recognized landmark information by the user, and the map information and the landmark map from the map information providing device. Responding to the reception of the direction information above, displaying the direction information in an overlapping manner on the map information.

Another program according to the present invention is a program for receiving the map information relating to the current position of the user and causing the computer to execute the azimuth display method in the portable terminal for displaying the map information. The present invention is characterized by including an azimuth calculation step of calculating the current azimuth of the sun from the current time, and a step of superimposing the azimuth information of the sun on the map information.

The operation of the present invention will be described. On the mobile terminal side, the current position information and the recognized landmark information are transmitted to the station (server) that receives the map information, and the station providing the map information transmits the specified current location. The map information and the direction information of the landmark on the map are transmitted to the mobile terminal. Then, on the mobile terminal side, the received map and direction information of the landmark on the map are displayed. The user can display a map that is easy to understand by aligning the mobile terminal with the actual direction of the map.

Further, instead of the recognized landmark information, the azimuth information of the sun calculated based on the current time is displayed together with the map information. The user can display an easy-to-understand map by matching the mobile terminal so that the actual position of the sun matches the displayed azimuth information of the sun.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, a mobile phone will be described as an example of the mobile terminal, but any general mobile information processing terminal may be used.

Referring to FIG. 1, the mobile phone according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a main control unit 18 and an operation unit 11.
A display unit 12, a communication control unit 13 including an antenna,
It is composed of a memory unit 14 and a display memory unit 15.

Each of these parts operates roughly as follows. The operation unit 11 includes keys, dials, etc., and operates the mobile phone such as inputting a telephone number, connecting to and disconnecting from a base station. The display unit 12 displays the input information and the information sent from the station. The communication control unit 13 controls communication with the base station. The memory unit 14 holds various information.
The display memory unit 15 generates data to be displayed on the display unit 12. The main controller 18 controls each of these parts.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the operation of the blocks of FIG. 1, and the overall operation of this embodiment will be described in detail. First, the operator operates the operation unit 11,
Communication with a base station (not shown) is started using the communication control unit 13 via a wireless communication network (step S1). Next, in accordance with an operation instruction sent from a station (a map information providing device, generally a server) that receives the map data provided through the base station, the current position information of the user, for example, an address, a telephone number, The name of the building is transmitted to the station (step S2).

The current position of the user in this case is shown in FIG.
At point A in. The position information of this point A is transmitted to the station. It is assumed that the portion 10 shown by the dotted line in FIG. 3A indicates the display range on the display unit 12 of the mobile phone.

Next, a candidate for the landmark corresponding to the specified current position information is received from the station (step S
3). Here, the landmark is a station, a building, a mountain, or the like. In addition, since the landmark is used for the purpose of specifying the direction from the current position, it may be outside the range of the displayed map.

Next, from the landmark candidates, the landmark B recognized at the current position (see FIG. 3A).
Is designated and transmitted to the station (step S4). Next, the map information 20 designated by the station (see FIG. 3B)
And landmark direction information 30 in map information
(See FIG. 3C) is received (step S5). Next, the received map information and landmark direction information 4
0 (see FIG. 3C) is generated in the display memory unit 15,
It is displayed on the display unit 12. The user can turn the displayed landmark to the actual landmark (Fig. 3).
It is possible to know the actual positional relationship with the map (see 50 in (d)) (step S6).

Next, a specific example will be described with reference to FIG. When the user who is the operator at the point A obtains the map at the place 10 shown in FIG. 3, first, the operator obtains map data such as an address, a telephone number, and a building name of the present point A. To the station that receives the provision of. The station transmits a list of landmarks such as nearby stations, buildings and mountains based on the current position information sent from the operator. The operator selects the recognized landmark B from the list of landmarks received from the base station and notifies the station.

The station transmits the north-facing map information 20 of the position requested by the operator and the direction 30 of the landmark B to this map from the map information owned by the station.
The received information is displayed together (40 in FIG. 3).
By pointing the direction of the landmark B on the displayed map to the actual landmark B, the operator can match the direction at the actual position with the map, and can know his / her own positional relationship on the map. (5 in Fig. 3
0).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Referring to FIG. 4, the mobile phone according to the present embodiment has a main control unit 18, an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, and a communication control unit 13 including an antenna.
The memory unit 14, the display memory unit 15, and the latitude / longitude detection unit 16.

Each of these parts operates roughly as follows. The operation unit 11 operates a mobile phone such as inputting a telephone number, connecting to or disconnecting from a base station by using keys or dials. The display unit 12 displays the input information and the information sent from the base station. The communication control unit 13 controls communication with the base station. The memory unit 14 holds various information.
The display memory unit 15 generates data to be displayed on the display unit 12. The longitude / latitude detector 16 uses GPS (Global Posit).
Ionizing System), which accurately detects the longitude and latitude of the current location by communication using the communication control unit 13.
The main controller 18 controls each of these parts.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. The overall operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. First, the operator operates the operation unit 11 to start communication with the base station using the communication control unit 13 (step S11). Next, the latitude / longitude detection unit 16 identifies the current position of the operator as a station (step S12). Next, a candidate for a landmark corresponding to the current position information of the operator is received from the station (step S13). Next, the operator designates the landmark recognized at the current position from the landmark candidates and transmits it to the station (step S14).

Next, the designated map information and the landmark direction information in the map information are received from the station (step S15). Next, the received map information and landmark direction information are generated in the display memory unit 15 and displayed on the display unit 12. The operator can know the map and the actual positional relationship by directing the direction of the displayed landmark to the actual landmark (step S1).
6).

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, which includes a main control unit 18, an operation unit 11, a display unit 12, and a communication control unit 13 including an antenna.
The memory unit 14, the display memory unit 15, and the timepiece control unit 17.

Each of these parts operates roughly as follows. The operation unit 11 operates a mobile phone such as inputting a telephone number, connecting to or disconnecting from a base station by using keys or dials. The display unit 12 displays the input information and the information sent from the base station. The communication control unit 13 controls communication with the base station. The memory unit 14 holds various information.
The display memory unit 15 generates data to be displayed on the display unit 12. The clock control unit 17 acquires current time information. The main controller 18 controls each of these parts.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation in this embodiment. First, the operator operates the operation unit 11 to start communication with the base station using the communication control unit 13 (step S21). Next, according to the operation instruction sent from the station that receives the map provided through the base station, information on the current position A shown in FIG.
The telephone number, the name of the building, etc. are transmitted to the station (step S22). Next, as shown in FIG. 8B, the map information 20 related to the current position A is received from the station, and the main control unit 18 expands the received data in the display memory unit 15 (step S23).

Next, the operator operates the operation unit 11 to obtain the direction (step S24). Main controller 18
Receives the direction acquisition selection, and acquires the current time information from the clock control unit 17 (step S25). Here, assuming that the 12 o'clock direction is north, the direction of the sun S is approximately “current time / 2” in the area north of the Tropic of Cancer.
It is expressed by Here, the current time is displayed in 24 hours.

Based on the value obtained from this equation, the main control unit 18 displays an image 30 (see FIG. 8B) showing the direction of the sun S when the positive direction of the mobile phone is north. 15 shows the map information 20 of FIG. 8 (b) received from the base station.
(Step S26), and control is performed so that it is displayed on the display unit 12 as indicated by 40 in FIG. 8C (step S27). The operator is the sun S displayed on the display unit 12.
By aligning the direction 51 of with the direction of the actual sun S,
As shown at 50 in FIG. 8D, the displayed map and the actual positional relationship can be matched.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of the present embodiment, in which a longitude / latitude detecting unit 16 is added to the block of FIG. This longitude / latitude detector 16
Detects the latitude and longitude of the mobile phone through communication by the communication control unit 13. The main control unit 18 obtains the time information from the clock control unit 17 and the longitude of the mobile phone from the latitude / longitude detection unit 16 to obtain the corrected current direction information of the sun.

For example, with respect to the longitude that determines the standard time of a certain area, in the eastern place, 24 hours × 60 minutes ÷ 360
Since the degree is 4 minutes, even at the same time, the position of the sun moves west at a rate of 1 degree in 4 minutes. Therefore, by correcting the sun azimuth in the third embodiment using this ratio, it becomes possible to calculate a more accurate sun azimuth. Hereinafter, the operation is similar to that of the third embodiment.

Next, still another embodiment of the present invention will be described. In each of the above first to fourth embodiments, the map is provided from the station with north fixed, but the landmark specified by the operator and the direction of the sun are displayed upward, or the station displays the direction. It is also possible to change and provide.

Regarding the operation of each of the above-described embodiments, the operation procedure is stored in advance in the recording medium as a program,
Obviously, this can be easily realized by reading and executing this by a computer (equivalent to the main control unit 18 in each functional block diagram).

[0040]

The first effect of the present invention is that the map and the actual positional relationship can be easily determined. The reason is that the direction of the landmark on the map can be known by notifying the station receiving the map of the recognized landmark information. In addition, landmarks do not necessarily have to be present on the displayed map, and landmarks that are distant that the operator recognizes can be handled as information rather than nearby landmarks that the operator does not recognize. This is because of the good nature.

The second effect of the present invention is that the function can be realized with a small load on the map provider and communication. The reason is that the map data having a large amount of data may be fixed in the north direction, and the landmark data having a small amount of data determines the direction.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic functional block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic functional block diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic functional block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a specific operation of the third exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a schematic functional block diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Operation part 12 Display 13 Communication control unit 14 Memory section 15 Display memory section 16 Latitude and longitude detection unit (GPS) 17 Clock control section 18 Main controller A current position B landmark S sun

Front page continuation (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) H04Q 7/20 G01C 21/02 // G01C 21/02 H04Q 7/04 Z F term (reference) 2C032 HB03 HB08 HB22 HC11 2F029 AA07 AB07 AC02 AC04 AC06 AC14 5E501 AA04 AC15 BA03 CA04 CB20 EA01 EA40 FA14 FA46 FB43 5H180 AA21 BB05 BB15 FF05 FF07 FF22 FF27 FF33 5K067 AA21 BB04 BB21 BB36 DD20 DD52 EE02 JJ23 FF23 FF23 FF23 FF03

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A azimuth display device in a mobile terminal, which receives map information related to a current position of a user from a map information providing device and displays the map information, wherein the landmark information recognized by the user. Means for transmitting the landmark information to the map information providing device in response to the input, and in response to receiving the map information and the direction information on the map of the landmark from the map information providing device, Means for displaying the direction information in an overlapping manner on the map information, and an azimuth display device in a mobile terminal. 2. The azimuth display device in a mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a latitude / longitude detection unit for specifying the current position. 3. An azimuth display device in a mobile terminal which receives map information related to a current position of a user and displays the map information, wherein the azimuth is for calculating the current azimuth of the sun from the current time. An azimuth display device in a mobile terminal, comprising: calculation means; and means for displaying the azimuth information of the sun in an overlapping manner on the map information. 4. The present invention further includes a latitude / longitude detection unit for specifying the current position, wherein the azimuth calculation unit uses the current time and the longitude / latitude indicating the current position by the longitude / latitude detection unit. The azimuth display device in the mobile terminal according to claim 3, wherein the azimuth is specified. 5. A direction display method in a mobile terminal, which receives map information related to a current position of a user from a map information providing device and displays the map information, wherein the landmark information recognized by the user In response to the input of the landmark information to the map information providing device, in response to receiving the map information and the direction information on the map of the landmark from the map information providing device, And a step of superimposing the direction information on the map information and displaying the direction information. 6. The azimuth display method in a mobile terminal according to claim 5, further comprising a longitude / latitude detection step for specifying the current position. 7. A azimuth display method in a mobile terminal, which receives map information related to a current position of a user and displays the map information, the azimuth calculating a current azimuth of the sun from a current time. A azimuth display method in a mobile terminal, comprising: a calculating step; and a step of displaying the azimuth information of the sun in an overlapping manner on the map information. 8. The present invention further includes a latitude / longitude detection step for specifying the current position, wherein the azimuth calculation step uses the current time and the longitude / latitude indicating the current position by the longitude / latitude detection step. The azimuth display method in a mobile terminal according to claim 7, wherein the azimuth is specified. 9. A program for receiving a map information related to a current position of a user from a map information providing device and causing a computer to execute a direction display method in a mobile terminal which displays the map information. Transmitting the landmark information to the map information providing device in response to input of the recognized landmark information by the user, and the map information from the map information providing device and direction information on the map of the landmark. And displaying the direction information in an overlapping manner on the map information in response to the reception of the program. 10. A program for receiving the map information related to the current position of the user and causing the computer to execute the azimuth display method in the mobile terminal which displays the map information. And a step of calculating an azimuth of the sun, and a step of displaying the azimuth information of the sun on the map information.