JP2003234990A - Information management apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To memorize measuring information related to an image for a subsequent search, when inputting image information into mobile equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The mobile equipment such as a camera is connected to a network. The mobile equipment obtains measuring information including brightness, color, humidity, atmospheric pressure, sound volume and weather, when the image is photographed and input, and stores the measuring information together with the image information. When the image is searched for afterward, a search key is converted into an attribute value, and the image information is searched for by using the search information including the attribute value. Also, an attribute obtained at the time of inputting the image information is automatically converted into a search key according to the attribute character, and the search key is stored in addition to the image information. When the image is searched for afterward, the search is performed by using the search key. <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 information management device for managing information input from an information processing device, and more particularly to information management optimal for managing image information input from a mobile information processing device. Regarding the device. The mobile body that executes information processing is referred to as a mobile body information processing device or simply a mobile body.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional mobile information management system is roughly as follows. (A) It has a commonly known database. Whenever the user inputs information to the information input by the mobile unit, the keyword is assigned and registered in the database. Then, the information is searched according to the keyword or the search information including the keyword. (B) Characters or character strings are added to the information input from the mobile unit and registered in the database. Alternatively, a character or a character string is generated by character processing, natural language processing, statistical processing, or recognition processing for the input information, and this is added to the information and registered in the database. The information is searched according to the search information including the character or the character string. (C) Register the position information of the mobile unit in the database. The position of the mobile body is retrieved from the identifier of the mobile body. Conversely, the identifier of the mobile body is searched according to the range of the position of the mobile body.

However, in the management system of (a),
Since the user preliminarily gives search information such as a keyword and manages it, it is not possible to cope with a request to store the information without giving the keyword or the search information and perform a search with a character string later. Further, the search can be performed only by using a keyword or the like given by the user, and the search cannot be performed by using other character strings or search information. It is extremely difficult to complete search keys and the like in anticipation of future searches. There is a cost in choosing what kind of character string or search information.

Further, in the system (b), in order to retrieve information input from the mobile body later, character matching processing, natural language processing, statistical processing, and
The year processing is performed to generate a character, a character string, and a data string, which are added to the information, or the generated character or the like is replaced with the information or registered in the database as information retrieval information. Pre-processing such as character matching processing requires enormous processing cost, which is an excessive burden on the mobile body which is required to have low power consumption and miniaturization and has a limited processing capacity. For this reason, registration of information is delayed. It is conceivable to borrow the processing resources of another computer through a network or communication means, but this procedure also takes time.

Further, the system (c) merely retrieves the position and identifier of the moving body and does not have a function of adding the position information of the moving body to the information input from the moving body. Therefore, it does not have a function of searching the information input from the mobile body by using the position information of the mobile body as a clue.

Documents related to the above systems (a), (b), and (c) include JP-A-6-205457, JP-A-5-281902, and Technical Report of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers (TECHNICAL REPORT).
OF IEICE EID93-88, HC93-5
5, December 1993, pp 7-12). Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-205457 discloses a mobile network in which a large number of mobiles move simultaneously by receiving signals from mobile terminals at a base station and storing position information of the mobile terminals in a database. It is disclosed that the cost of registering the position information added to is reduced. In addition, JP-A-5-28190
Japanese Patent Publication No. 2 discloses that information on the current position is transmitted, position information is calculated from a road / map database, and the current position of the moving body is accurately grasped. Also, the above technical report of the Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers discloses that raster image information input by handwriting using a pen tablet is recognized, converted into text information consisting of character codes, and then stored in a file.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and when inputting information,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an information management device that correlates measurement information such as environment brightness, color, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure, and volume, and makes it available for later retrieval and the like. Note that one of the purposes of using the position information is search, but the purpose is not limited to this.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention employs the configurations as set forth in the claims.

That is, according to one aspect of the present invention, in an information management device including at least a moving body: photographing means provided on the moving body for photographing an image; A measuring means for measuring an attribute value; and a storage means provided in the moving body for storing the image from the photographing means and the attribute value of a predetermined attribute from the measuring means in association with each other are provided. An information management device including at least a moving body: a photographing means provided on the moving body for photographing an image; a position information obtaining means provided on the moving body for obtaining positional information of the moving body; the photographing means A storage unit for storing the image from the above and the position information from the position information acquisition unit in association with each other is provided.

In this structure, useful related information can be added to the image by using the measurement information associated with the image.

In this configuration, the attributes include at least one attribute of brightness, color, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure and volume at the place where the image is taken. The image is one or both of a still image and a moving image.

The above aspects of the invention and other aspects of the invention are set forth in the appended claims and are described in greater detail below using examples.

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

FIG. 1 schematically shows a first embodiment of the present invention. In this figure, an information management apparatus includes an information input section 101, an event attribute input section 102, an information database 103, and an information registration section. It has 104, an information output unit 105, a search key input unit 106, an attribute database 107, and an information search unit 108. The information input unit 101 is for inputting various information such as text and images. The event attribute input unit 102 detects an attribute of an event that has occurred in the information input unit 101 and an attribute of an event that has occurred due to information input. The information registration unit 104 registers the information and the detected attribute value in the information database 103. Search key input section 10
6 accepts search information such as search keys from users,
The attribute database 107 outputs the corresponding attribute value based on the search information. The information search device 108 sends a search instruction including the attribute value to the information database, transfers the search result to the information output unit 105, and outputs the search result.

As is apparent from the first embodiment and other embodiments described later, the present invention is a single information processing device or a single process on a single mobile information processing device. It may be realized by, or may be realized by a plurality of processes. Alternatively, it may be realized by a plurality of processes on a plurality of information processing devices in a network system to which a plurality of information processing devices are connected. Further, at least one of the plurality of information processing devices may be a mobile information processing device.

When the mobile information processing device is continuously or intermittently connected to a network system to which a plurality of information processing devices are connected, information input from the mobile information processing device is processed by remote information processing. It can be stored in the device database and later retrieved by the user for the desired search. This example will be described later with reference to FIGS. 12 and 14.

The information database need not be a single database, may be a set of a plurality of databases, and may be in an information processing device other than the mobile information processing device.
It suffices that the procedure for information registration and search is determined in advance and can be accessed from the mobile information processing device or another information processing device.

The registration of the input information in the information database does not have to be executed immediately after the information is input. It may be performed at a predetermined timing from the information input to the search execution.

Further, the attribute detection need not be performed immediately after the information is input. The measurement or detection may be performed at any timing before and after the input of information.

Next, a specific configuration example of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2, the information input unit 1
Reference numeral 01 is an electronic camera 201. The electronic camera 201 is a device that converts a captured image into image data and outputs the image data to a registration command generation device 204 (information registration unit 104).
For example, DS-200FDIJE (trademark or product name) manufactured by Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd. using an electronic image pickup device can be used.

In this configuration example, the information input section 101 is the electronic camera 201, but it may be a tablet digitizer for inputting image data. The tablet digitizer is, for example, the tablet digitizer HDG of Hitachi Seiko Co., Ltd.
-0609J (which is a trademark or a product name) can be used. Further, it may be a keyboard connected to an ordinary personal computer for inputting character information, or a voice input device in which a microphone for inputting voice information and an AD converter are combined. Further, a video input device in which a normal video camera for inputting video information and an AD converter are combined may be used. The video input device is, for example, NTSC
It can be configured by combining a video camera that outputs a signal and a smart video recorder system (trademark or product name) manufactured by Intel Corporation in the United States.

The event attribute input unit 102 for inputting the attribute of an event occurring in a moving body is a global positioning system (hereinafter referred to as GPS) 202. GPS20
2 communicates with a plurality of satellites, and at least one of a predetermined longitude, latitude, time, altitude, and speed as an attribute of the event "the mobile body was at a point when the information was input" or a plurality of them Is registered as an attribute value of a predetermined attribute, and the registration command generator 204 (information registration unit 104)
Send to. For the GPS 202, for example, a mobile GPS device GP803 (trademark or product name) manufactured by Socket Communication Co. can be used.

In this configuration example, the event attribute input unit 102 is the GPS 202, but it may be an address acquisition device that acquires address information from a network base station. In this case, the event is an event that "the information is input is connected to a certain specific base station", and the attribute is the address information of the base station.

The event attribute input unit 102 counts the time and registers the command generator 204 (information registration unit 10).
It may be a clock device for outputting to 4) or a calendar device for counting and outputting dates. The event in this case is that "information was input at a certain time", and the attribute is time or date. Both the clock device and the calendar device are available as IC chips.

Further, a photometric device which measures brightness and color and outputs it to the registration command generator 204 (information registration unit 104) may be used. As the photometric device, an exposure meter or a chromaticity meter used for taking a photograph can be used. Further, it may be a volume measuring device that measures the volume of the surroundings and outputs it to the registration command generating device 204 (information registration unit 104), or it may capture the ambient sound, measure its frequency distribution, and register the measured value with the registration command generating device 204.
A spectrum analyzer that outputs to the (information registration unit 104) may be used. In this case, "entering information in a certain place" is an event, and its attribute is "brightness of place",
“Color”, “volume”, etc.

Further, in this configuration example, the electronic camera 201 photographs an object, but "distance to object" or "object size" may be used as an attribute. The range finder can also use the autofocus control mechanism of the autofocus camera. If the angle of view of the electronic camera is known, it is possible to calculate the approximate size of the portion of the object to be photographed in the field of view of the electronic camera from the distance to the target and the angle of view of the electronic camera. If the distance is d and the horizontal angle of view θx and the vertical angle of view θy are set for the horizontal and vertical sides of the screen, respectively.
2 * d * tan (θx / 2), 2 * d * tan (θy /
2) can be an approximate value of the actual length of the range shown on the screen of the object.

Further, in the configuration example of FIG. 2, the information database 103 is an image information database 203 which is managed so as to store image information and to search using coordinate data added to the image information as a search key. The image information database 203 can use G-BASE (trademark or product name) which is an extended relational database management system of Ricoh Co., Ltd. G-BASE stores image information data as a binary character string of indefinite length and manages the image information so that it can be searched with the coordinate data as a search key by designing a schema so as to add coordinate data as an attribute. To do. In G-BASE,
Image information can be registered and searched using the operation language GSQL which is an extension of the standard SQL. Details of the operation language GSQL are described in the fifth volume of G-BASE Manual of Ricoh Co., Ltd.

The information registration unit 104 is a registration command generator 204, and this registration command generator 204 is G
An information registration formula is generated based on SQL and output to the image information database 203 (information database 103). That is, the registration command generation device 204 generates a predetermined information registration command based on GSQL, which uses the information data from the electronic camera 201 and the attribute value from the GPS 202 as arguments, and G-BASE, that is, the image information database. To 203.

The search key input unit 106 is a keyboard device 206 that inputs a character or a character string and outputs it to the place name database 207 (attribute database 107). A menu-type user interface may be used instead of the keyboard device 206. This user interface displays a list of one or more choices on the display as a menu and selects one or more choices with a keyboard, mouse, tablet digitizer, etc. to generate a corresponding number, character, or character string. To do. A menu-type user interface can be easily realized by using a software tool kit of X Window System (O'Reilly & Associates, I.
nc. No X View Programming Ma
nnuualVolume Seven 2'nd ed
edition Forth printing pp23
7-267 and pp588-592).

Further, the search key input unit 106 may be an OCR device which recognizes handwritten characters or printing time. Alternatively, a handwritten character recognition device such as PI-3000 (trademark or product name) manufactured by Sharp Corporation may be used to recognize a character by writing the character on the tablet with a pseudo pen.

The attribute database 107 is a place name database 207 which outputs one or a plurality of coordinates represented by a set of longitude and latitude when a place name is input. The place name database 207 uses a place name coordinate management table composed of a plurality of place name coordinate records as shown in FIGS. The place name coordinate record has a coordinate field, a place name field, and a record end identifier. A character string representing one or a plurality of place names is recorded in the place name field, and corresponding one or a plurality of coordinates is recorded in the coordinate field. When a place name is entered, match that character or string with the place name in the place name field of each record, and if they match,
Outputs the coordinates of the coordinate field of that record. If they do not match, an error is output.

The information retrieval unit 108 generates an information retrieval formula according to the grammar of GSQL, and the image information database 203.
The search command generator 208 outputs the information to the (information database 103). This search command generator 208
Is a GSQ with one or more coordinate values output from the place name database 207 based on an instruction from the user as an argument.
A predetermined information search command based on L is generated and output to the image information database 203 (G-BASE).

The registration command generating device 204 (information registration unit 104) and the search command generating device 208 (information searching unit 108) are not separately configured but are configured by one device, and the search command and registration are performed according to the input data. It may be configured as a GSQL command generator that switches and outputs a command.

The information output unit 105 is a normal liquid crystal display device 205 for displaying the image information output from the image information database 203. Of course, a plasma display or a CRT display may be used. A printer may also be used.

Next, details of registration and retrieval of information (operations of the registration command generating device 204 and the retrieval command generating device 208) in the configuration example of FIG. 2 will be described.

First, the registration of information will be described. In this configuration example, the image information database 203 named imageDB is created by the following GSQL formula. [GSQL formula 1-1] CREATE SCEMA INTO '/ test / db1'; [GSQL formula 1-2] CREATE TABLE imageDB (latitudflag flagCHARACTER (1), KEIDO INTEGER (8), LOGID (1), long ()) ), IMAGE VARIABLE CHARACTER); GSQL formula 1-1 is d in a directory called / test.
It represents creating a database named b1.
GSQL expression 1-2 describes the internal structure of db1.
That is, the attribute as the first argument is latitude
It is named flag, is a character type of length 1, the attribute as the second argument is named KEIDO, is an integer type of length 8, and the attribute as the third argument is longi.
The name is tudeflag, which is a character type with a length of 1, the attribute as the fourth argument is IDO, the type is an integer with a length of 9, and the fifth argument is image information data called IMAGE. I, which is a variable-length character type in the name
Represents creating a database named imageDB.

When the electronic camera 201 is activated, data of image information photographed by the electronic camera 201 is input and sent to the registration command generating device 204. Electronic camera 20
At the same time as the activation, the GPS 202 measures one or more attribute values of the event attributes of date, time, latitude, longitude, and altitude according to the activation signal of 1. In this configuration example, latitude and longitude are used as attribute information, and a set of latitude and longitude is sent to the registration command generator 204. Of course, other attributes may be used.

For example, the electronic camera 201 is activated and the "JR
When the JR Yamanote Line timetable is photographed at "Shibuya Station", "timetable image data" is sent to the registration command generator 204. At the same time, depending on the activation of the electronic camera 201,
The coordinate values (X1, X2), which are a set of longitude and latitude, are GPS as an attribute of the event indicating that "the image was taken at JR Shibuya station".
Registration command generator 204 automatically measured by 202
Sent to.

The registration command generator 204 receives the image information data and the coordinate value and generates a registration command based on GSQL as a search key for the image information data. The generated command is as follows: [GSQL expression 1-3] INSERT INTO imageDB VALUES ('E', X1, 'N', Y1, 'image data'); In this expression, the first argument is east longitude, west longitude, and east longitude'E ', The second argument is the longitude value of X1, and the third argument is north latitude or south latitude and represents north latitude.'
The fourth argument is the latitude value of Y1, and the fifth argument is the text character string “image data” obtained by encoding the image data input from the electronic camera 701 into a text character string. . Then, this expression represents a registration command for adding coordinate values to the image data and registering it in a database called imageDB.

To encode image data into text data, for example, UNIX (trademark) unencode
It is possible to use a command or a MIME encode command defined by RFC1521 to RFC1524. Of course, the image data may be registered as it is without being encoded.

Next, information retrieval will be described. It is assumed that the search is performed using the place name of the place where the information is input or the place name of the area including the place.

When the keyboard 206 place name is input, the corresponding character string is sent to the place name database 207, and the place name database 207 sets one or a plurality of corresponding coordinates or two sets of two coordinates representing a rectangular area on the map. Or multiple outputs.

As shown in FIG. 3, vertical dividing lines and horizontal dividing lines are provided at equal intervals on the map to define a rectangular area.
For the rectangular area defined by A, B, C, and D in the figure, the coordinates of the vertices A, B, C, and D are (XN, YN), (XN +
1, YN), (XN, YN + 1), (XN + 1, YN +
It is represented by 1). Since the rectangular area can be defined by the coordinates of two vertices forming a diagonal line, the set of coordinates of A and D {(XN, YN),
A rectangular area is represented using (XN + 1, YN + 1)}. It should be noted that one rectangular area has one or more place names.

FIG. 4 shows the format of the place name coordinate record of the place name versus coordinate management table (FIG. 5). One record is composed of a coordinate field representing two coordinates representing one rectangular area and a place name field storing one or a plurality of place names. Since the place name field has a variable length depending on the number of place names to be stored, it is managed as a list of place names.
The terminal symbol is stored as a special identifier at the end of the list of place names. Of course, another variable length record management method may be used, or a fixed length may be used. For example, a place name-to-coordinate management table may be configured with a predetermined number of place name fields and a predetermined number of coordinate fields, and one area may be represented by a plurality of records.

FIG. 5 shows an example in which a place name-to-coordinate management table is composed of a plurality of place name coordinate records.

In the place name database using such a place name-to-coordinate management table, coordinate values are output as follows.
First, when "JR Shibuya Station" is input as a place name from the keyboard 206, this character string is sent to the place name database 207 as a search key. The place name database 207 matches the place name in each place name coordinate record with the place name "JR Shibuya Station", and if they match, the coordinate field of the record is added to the output coordinate list.

In the concrete place name coordinate management table shown in FIG.
Since "JR Shibuya Station" is included in the third place name field of record 1 and the fifth place name field of record 3, the output coordinate list is {(X11, Y11), (X1
2, Y12)}, {(X31, Y31), (X32, Y
32)}. This has two rectangular areas {(X11,
Y11), (X12, Y12)}, {(X31, Y3
1), (X32, Y32)} indicates that "JR Shibuya Station" is included.

The place name database 207 sends the above output coordinate list to the search command generator 208.

In the place name database 207, the records in the place name-coordinate management table are searched in order, but a hash table may be used for the search. That is, the place name coordinate record is given a unique number in advance, a predetermined hash function is designed for the place name character string, and a place name-to-coordinate management table is configured as a hash table. Further, the place name database may be constructed using a relational database system.

The search command generator 208 generates a GSQL expression for searching the image information database 203 from a set of a plurality of coordinates given from the place name database 207. In this configuration example, the following GSQL expression is generated. [GSQL formula 1-4] DECLARE LOCAL TEMPORARY TABLE temp1 (latitude deflag CHARACTER (1), KEIDO INTERGER (8), longede flag CHARGE CHARACTER (1), IDO CHARG CHARACTER (1), IDO CHARACTER (1), IDO INTERVERAGE (9)). INTO temp. temp1 SELECT latency flag, KEIDO, long distance flag, IDO, IMAGE FROM imageDB WHERE LATE delay flag = 'E' AND KEIDO <= ID '<ID'<ID'of ID '<ID'<ID'<ID'ofID'<ID'<ID'<ID'of<ID12'<ID'ofID'<ID'of<ID'<ID'of<=<ID<'<'<'><'><'><'><'<'><'><'<'><'><'><'<'<'>'<'<'><'>'<'><'<'<='<'<'> 1-6] INSERT INTO temp. temp1 SELECT latitude flag, KEIDO, long distance flag, IDO, IMAGE FROM imageDB WHERE latitude flag = 'E' AND AND KEIDO <= ID'O <ID = O'ID = <ID><ID = <ID = <ID32><ID> 1-7] COMMIT; [GSQL formula 1-8] SELECT DISTINCT IMAGE FROM temp. temp1; The above GSQL expression is sent to the image information database 203, and the image data is searched accordingly. If the image satisfying the search condition is stored, the coordinate and the image data are displayed in one line and output as a coordinate image correspondence table. If there is no image that matches the search condition, nothing is output, and if there is one, one line is output, and if there are multiple images, the corresponding number of lines is output. In the coordinate image correspondence table, one image data is associated with the coordinates representing the attribute values of longitude and latitude, which are the attributes of the event “the image was input at a certain place”.

The liquid crystal display device 205 takes out the character string in the image field of the first row of the coordinate image correspondence table of the search result because it is image data. When the image data is registered in the image information database 203, since the image data in which the image data is encoded into the text information is stored, it is necessary to code the image data in order to restore it. In this configuration example, the encoding is UN
Since the unencode program well known in IX OS was used, the undecode program is used.
MIM when using the MIME encoding program
An E decoding program is used. Generally, the decoding method is determined depending on the encoding method. Of course, if the image data is registered without being encoded, it is not necessary to decode it. Further, even when the data is encoded and registered, it may be displayed on the liquid crystal display device 205 without being decoded.

The decoded image data is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 205. When the coordinate image correspondence table is composed of multiple rows, the above procedure is repeated.

In this configuration example, the value of the coordinate which is the attribute of the event of photographing the timetable at "JR Shibuya Station" is (X1, Y1).
Therefore, the value of the coordinate field of each of the first record and the third record of the place-name-to-coordinate management table {(X1
1, Y11), (X12, Y12)}, {(X31, Y
31), (X32, Y32)} are configured such that X11 <= X1 <X12 and Y11 <= Y1 <Y12 and X31 <= X1 <x32 and Y31 <= Y1 <Y32. Because "JR Shibuya Station" is in the area {(X11, Y11), (X12, Y1
2)} and area {(X31, Y31), (X32, Y3)
2)} is included. As described above, in this configuration, the image of the JR timetable taken at “JR Shibuya Station” is always included in the coordinate image correspondence table output by the displayed GSQL command.

As described above, the image of the JR timetable taken by the electronic camera at JR Shibuya station can be searched later by the place name "JR Shibuya station". Area {(Xm, Ym), which includes the place name "Shibuya"
If (Xm + 1, Ym + 1)} is configured so that Xm <= X1 <Xm + 1 and Ym <= Y1 <Ym + 1, the image of the JR timetable taken by the electronic camera at JR Shibuya Station is “Shibuya”. You can search by place name.

In this configuration example, the search key is the place name, but the address, country name, prefecture name, municipality name, building name, facility name, organization name, ministry name, company name, corporation name, business office name, store name , Sales floor name, river name, mountain hill name, road name, passage name, route name, intersection name, stop name, station name, floor number, zip code, etc.

Generally, a place name-to-coordinate management table for holding and managing the correspondence relationship between the names of places including all place names that are used on a daily basis and the areas corresponding to the names should be created in advance as described above. For example, an information management device for retrieving an image from at least the name of an arbitrary place registered in the place name-coordinate management table is realized. In particular, in a moving body, when an image is taken, two events occur: "the image was taken" and "was in a certain place" when the image was taken. In this embodiment, the coordinates are used as the attribute of the event of "shooting an image at a certain place". That is, the coordinates obtained by automatically measuring the coordinates of the spot where the image was captured are added as information for retrieval,
The captured image information is recorded and managed in the information database 103. The user does not need to add a special keyword or search information when recording the image information, and preprocessing such as image recognition processing and statistical processing is also unnecessary. Then, the photographed information can be searched using a character or a character string determined by the photographed place as a clue for the retrieval.

Information input by the mobile unit and registered in the database is not limited to image information, and may be characters, character strings, audio information, or video information. The audio information and the video information can be encoded into text data and then decoded and restored as in the above-described embodiment.

Further, not only latitude and longitude but also various measurable attributes such as location where information is recorded, brightness, color, temperature, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure, sound volume can be used as the attribute of the event. One or more attributes can be used. If the measurement result of the attribute value is output as an integer or a real number with a predetermined accuracy, the same configuration as this embodiment can be achieved.

In this embodiment, the attribute value of the attribute of the event that occurs when the information is input is measured, stored with the information, the search key is later converted into the attribute value, and the search information including this attribute value is stored. Is used to retrieve information. According to this, unlike the prior art, there is no need to add a search key when inputting information, and there is no need to perform preprocessing for generating the search key. Furthermore, a search method that uses the attributes of events, such as a search method "images taken at Shibuya station," enables a search function similar to the method that humans remember, so it offers an extremely flexible search method. The flexibility of information management of the network system including the mobile can be improved.

Next, another configuration example of the first embodiment will be described. In this configuration example, a file input device is used as the information input unit 101, "a file is input using a predetermined host computer" is used as the event, and the host number of the host computer is used as the attribute of the event.

FIG. 7 shows an example of this structure. In this figure, the parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are designated by the corresponding reference numerals and detailed description thereof will not be repeated. In FIG. 7 (FIG. 1), the information input unit 101 is a file input device 3 realized by using FTP which is a file transfer protocol using network communication.
01. The file input device 301 is, for example, UNIX
It is a computer system that uses the ftp program of the OS. A file transfer protocol other than FTP, such as SMTP, NNTP, or HTTP, may be used.
The file input device 301 using TTP is NC
There is a computer system using SA's Mosaic program. Mosaic can input general digital information as well as files.

The event attribute input unit 103 is a host number holding device 302 that holds and manages the host number of the computer system to which ftp is connected. Host number holding device 30
The event handled by 2 is "input of information from a computer system", and the attribute is the host number. Since the host number is a finite number at most, it can be held in a register or memory. As an attribute,
Other than the host number may be used. For example, a PWD command may be used in the FTP protocol to obtain a remote current directory from the computer system of the connection destination and use it as an attribute. Generally, the retained attribute may be any information that can be retrieved from a remote computer. Further, it may be an attribute caused by connecting to a remote computer system. For example, J
It may be any of the parameters of the quality of transport service specified in IS standard X5108.

The attribute database 107 is a host database 307 which outputs one or more host numbers when the organization name is input. This database 307 has a plurality of rows of records, and holds an organization name-host correspondence management table having a plurality of organization name fields and a host field containing one or more host numbers in one row (FIG. 8). , 9, 10). The host database 307 checks for each line whether the input character or character string matches the character string recorded in the organization field, and outputs one or more host numbers of the rows having the matching organization name. . If there is no match, an error is output.

Next, the registration and retrieval of information in this configuration example will be described in detail. In this configuration example, the (image) information database 103 named imageDB4 is created by the following GSQL formula. [GSQL formula 4-1] CREATE SCEMA INTO '/ test / db4'; [GSQL formula 4-2] CREATE TABLE imageDB4 (HOSTNO INTEGER (12), IMAGE VARIABLE CHARACTER); d
It represents creating a database named b4.
GSQL expression 4-2 describes the internal structure of db4.
That is, the attribute as the first argument is the name HOSTNO and is a character type of length 12, and the second argument is the image information data and the name is IMAGE, which is a variable length character type and is called imageDB4. Represents creating a database of.

In this configuration, the predetermined host number Y is set to ft.
When the remote control is connected to the remote computer system by the FTP protocol by specifying it as the start argument of the p program, the host number Y is output to the host number holding device and held.
Next, the user inputs the get command and the file name to ftp.
Specify the program and enter the file desired by the user. The file may be an image input file or another file. The ftp program inputs an image file from a remote computer system according to a user's designation and outputs it to the registration command generator 304. In response to the input of the image file, the host number holding device 302 sends the host number to the registration command generating device 304. The registration command generator 304 receives the above-mentioned file and host number, and registers the file in the image information database 303 using the host number as a search key.

The commands generated by the registration command generator 304 are as follows. [GSQL expression 4-3] INSERT INTO imageDB4 VALUES (Y, 'image data'); In this expression, the first argument is the host number Y, and the host number output from the host number holding device is data representing an integer. Yes, the second argument is the image data input from the file input device 301 encoded into a text character string.
It is a text string called'image data '. Then, this formula represents a registration command for adding a host number to the image data as a search key and registering it in a database called imageDB4.

The image data can be encoded by the method described above, or may be registered without being encoded.

Next, information retrieval will be described.

When the organization name of the remote computer system that has input the image information to be searched is entered from the keyboard device 306, a character string representing this organization name is sent to the host database 307, and the host database 307 corresponds to the organization name. The one or more host numbers to be output are output to the search command generator 308. In this configuration example, one or more host numbers are assigned to the organization name.

FIG. 8 shows the format of the place name coordinate record of the organization name vs. host management table (FIG. 9). One record includes an organization name field that stores one organization name and a host field that stores one or a plurality of host numbers. Since the host field has a variable length depending on the number of host numbers to be stored, it is managed as a list of host numbers, and a terminal symbol is stored as a special identifier at the end of the list of host numbers. FIG. 10 shows a specific example of an organization name-host management table composed of a plurality of records.

The operation of the host database 307 is shown in FIG.
A description will be given according to a specific example of the organization name vs. host management table shown in FIG. First, when "Human Resources Department" is input as an organization name from the keyboard device 306, this character string is sent to the host database 307 as a search key. The host database 307 matches the organization name in each record with the organization name “personnel department”, and if they match, the host field of the record is added to the output host list.

In the specific host-to-organization name management table shown in FIG. 10, since "HR" is included in the organization name field of record 1, the output host coordinate list is {1, 2,
3}. This means that the "human resources department" owns the computer system with these three host numbers. The host database 307 sends the above output host list to the search command generator 308.

The host database 307 may be searched using a hash table. Further, the place name database may be constructed using a relational database system.

The search command generator 308 generates a GSQL expression for searching the image information database 303 from a plurality of host numbers given from the host database 307. In this configuration example, the following GSQL expression is generated. [GSQL Formula 4-4] DECLARE LOCAL TEMPORARY TABLE temp4 (HOSTNO INTEGER (12), IMAGE VARIABLE CHARACTER); [GSQL Formula 4-5] INSERT INTO temp. temp4 SELECT HOSTNO, IMAGE FROM imageDB4 WHERE HOSTNO IN: searchPlaceStrig; [GSQL formula 4-6] COMMIT; [GSQL formula 4-7] SELECT DISCINCT IMAGE FROM temp. temp4; The above GSQL expression is sent to the image information database,
The image data is searched accordingly. If the image satisfying the search condition is stored, the host number and the image data are displayed in one line and output as the host image correspondence table. If there is no image that matches the search condition, nothing is output, and if there is one, one line is output, and if there are multiple images, the corresponding number of lines is output. In the host image correspondence table, one piece of image data corresponds to a host number that represents the attribute value of the host number attribute that is the attribute of the event "the image was input from a certain remote computer system".

The liquid crystal display device 305 has the same configuration as that described above.

In this configuration example, if the host number of the "human resources department" computer system is included in the record of the human resources department of the host image correspondence table, the host number Y is either 1, 2, or 3. Therefore, the image file input from the computer system of the personnel department is G
It is always included in the host image correspondence table output by the SQL search command.

As described above, the image file input from the computer system of the personnel department will be "human resources department" later.
You can search for the organization name with. Of course, it is possible to search the image data input from the computer system of the organization under an arbitrary organization name.

In this configuration example, the search key is the organization name, but the address, country name, prefecture name, municipality name, building name, facility name, ministry name, company name, corporation name, business office name, store name, sales floor Name, river name, mountain hill name, road name, passage name, route name, intersection name, stop name, station name, floor number, zip code, etc. may be used.

Generally, if a correspondence management table for holding and managing correspondences between every name that is used on a daily basis and the host number corresponding to the name is created in advance as described above,
An information management device that searches for an image from at least an arbitrary name registered in the correspondence management table is realized. In particular, in a mobile body, when an image file is input from a remote computer, it is connected to a computer of various networks to which it is transferred. In this configuration example, the host number is used as the attribute of the event of “inputting an image file from a computer system”. That is, the host number is automatically input to the input image file and is added as information for search, and the input image file is recorded and managed in the information database. The user does not need to know a special keyword or search information when recording the image information, and preprocessing such as image recognition processing and statistical processing is also unnecessary. Then, the information can be searched by using the character string determined from the host number of the connected host computer when input as a clue for the search.

The information input by the mobile unit and registered in the database is not limited to image information, and may be characters, character strings, audio information, or video information. The audio information and the video information can be encoded into text data and then decoded and restored as in the above-described embodiment.

In this configuration example, the attribute value of the attribute of an event that occurs when information is input is measured, stored with the information, the search key is later converted into the attribute value, and the search information including this attribute value is stored. Is used to retrieve information. According to this, unlike the prior art, there is no need to add a search key when inputting information, and there is no need to perform preprocessing for generating the search key. Furthermore, a search method using the attribute of an event, for example, a search method called "an image file input from the computer system of the human resources department" enables a search function based on a method in which a person remembers his / her memory. By providing a method, it is possible to improve flexibility of information management of a network system including a mobile body.

Next, another configuration example of the first embodiment will be described. This configuration example is a modification of the configuration example of FIG.
In FIG. 2, a graphical user interface device 406 is used instead of the keyboard device 206.

FIG. 11 shows an example of this structure. The parts corresponding to those in FIG. 2 are designated by the corresponding numbers and their detailed description is omitted.

The graphical user interface device 406 of FIG. 11 outputs the number of the corresponding area to the place name database when a predetermined area on a predetermined graphic displayed on the graphical display is designated by a pointing device such as a mouse. is there. Of course, a tablet digitizer may be used to designate a region on a figure on the tablet with a pseudo pen. Alternatively, the color of a predetermined area on the figure may be input from the keyboard to indicate the area.

Areas that can be specified may be hierarchical and may be specified in units of small areas or in units of large areas. Also, various maps such as a route map may be used. Further, which range of area to be selected from the designated position may be changed by the user's designation.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the attribute database 108 of the first embodiment is omitted and the search key itself is used for the search, while the search key generation unit 5 that converts the detected attribute value into the search key.
08 is provided so that the search key is registered together with the information.

FIG. 12 shows the second embodiment. In this figure, the information management device includes an information input unit 50.
1, event attribute input unit 502, information database 503,
Information registration unit 504, information output unit 505, search key input unit 506, search key generation unit 107, and information search unit 508.
have. The information input unit 501 is for inputting various information such as text and images, and may be an input unit of a mobile information processing device (not shown), or an input device connected to the mobile information processing device. It may be. Although not explicitly shown, the mobile information processing device is connected to a network system (a computer system in which a plurality of computers are connected by a network) continuously or intermittently. The event attribute input unit 502 detects an attribute of an event that has occurred in the mobile information processing device (information input unit 501) and an attribute of an event that has occurred due to information input. The search key generation unit 507 converts the value of the detected attribute into a search key. The information registration unit 504 registers the information and the search key in the information database 503. Search key input section 50
6 receives search information such as a search key from the user, the information search device 508 sends a search instruction including the search key to the information database, and the search result is output to the information output unit 505.
And output the search results.

The search key generator 507 is, for example, a place name database having a place name-to-coordinate correspondence table used in the first embodiment. For example, using this place name database, the coordinates (X, Y) representing the set of longitude and latitude output from the event attribute input unit 502 are compared with the coordinates in the coordinate field of each row of the place name-coordinate correspondence management table to obtain the coordinates. The place name field including the area Z where (X, Y) is located is sequentially output.

The other constituent elements are almost the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore, corresponding reference numerals are given and detailed description will be omitted.

Next, the registration and retrieval of information according to the second embodiment will be described in detail. It is assumed here that position information is used as an attribute and a place name is used as a search key to manage image information.

First, registration of information will be described. In this embodiment, the database named areaDB (search key generation unit 507) has the following GSQL expression 2-
Created in 2. In addition, the (image) information database 503 named imageDB2 has the following GSQL.
It is created by Equation 2-3.

[GSQL formula 2-1] CREATE SCEMA INTO '/ test / db2'; [GSQL formula 2-2] (place name versus seating table correspondence management table) CREATE TABLE areaDB (LLtitutdeflag CHARACTER (1), LLKERIDOIN8) , LLlongitudeflag CHARACTER (1), LLIDO INTEGER (9), RUlatitudedeflag CHARACTER (1), RUKEIDO INTERGER (8), RU longitudue CHARATER (8) RU longitudeflag CHARATER (9) Registration result table) CREATE TABLE imageDB 2 (latitudeflag CHARACTER (1), KEIDO INTEGER (8), longitudeflag CHARACTER (1), IDO INTEGER (9), areaNAMES VARYINGVARIABLE CHARACTE R, IMAGE VARIABLE CHARACTER); GSQL formula 1-1 d in a directory called / test
It represents creating a database named b2.
GSQL expression 2-2 describes the internal structure of db2.
That is, the attribute as the first argument is LLlatitu
The name is deflag, it is a character type of length 1, and the attribute as the second argument is LLKEIDO,
It is an integer type of length 8, and the attribute as the third argument is L
The name is Llongitudeflag, the type is a character with a length of 1, and the attribute as the fourth argument is LLIDO.
Is an integer type with a length of 9, and the attribute as the fifth argument is RUtitudedeflag, is a character type with a length of 1, and the attribute of the sixth argument is RU.
It is named KEIDO, is an integer type of length 8, the attribute of the 7th argument is RUlongitudeflag, the type of character of length 1, and the attribute of the 8th argument is named RUIDO and is long. Is an integer type of size 9,
The attribute of the ninth argument has the name of areaNAME and represents the creation of a database named areaDB, which is a variable-length character type.

GSQL expressions 2-3 also describe the internal structure of db2. That is, the attribute as the first argument is la
It is named titledeflag, is a character type with a length of 1, the attribute as the second argument is named KEIDO, is an integer type with a length of 8, and the attribute as the third argument is named longdeflag. It is a character type of length 1, the attribute as the fourth argument is the name IDO, the type of an integer of length 9, and the fifth argument is the place name data and an array named areaNAMES, which is variable. This indicates that a database having a long character type as an element, a sixth frequency band being image information data, IMAGE, which is a variable-length character type, and a database named imageDB2 is created.

In the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the image information is input by the electronic camera and G
Coordinate data is generated by PS. However, in the second embodiment, coordinate data from GPS is sent to the place name database (search key generation unit 507).

This place name database (search key generation unit 5
07) has the place name-to-coordinate correspondence management table shown in FIGS. 9 to 11. Geographical name-to-coordinate management values in the coordinate fields of the first record and the third record of the management table {(X1
1, Y11), (X12, Y12)}, {(X31, Y
31), (X32, Y32)} are configured such that X11 <= X1 <X12 and Y11 <= Y1 <Y12 and X31 <= X1 <X32 and Y31 <= Y1 <Y32. From GSP to coordinates (X,
When Y) is entered, the coordinate field regions {(Xn, Yn), (Xm,
Ym)}, place in the output place name list all place names in the place name field of the records that satisfy Xn <= X <Xm and Yn <= Y <Ym. When all the rows of the place name-coordinate correspondence management table are inspected, the place name list held in the output place name list holding device (not shown) is registered in the information registration unit 504.
(Registered command generation device).

The information registration unit 504 (registration command generation device) generates the following GSQL expression. [GSQL formula 2-4] DECLARE LOCAL TEMPORARY TABLE temp2 (LLlatitudeflag CHARACTER (1), LLKEIDO INTEGER (8), LLlongitedeflag CHARACTER (1), LLIDO INTEGER (9), RUlatitudeflag CHARACTER (1), RUKEIDO INTEGER (8), RUlongitedeflag CHARACTER (1), RUIDO INTEGER (9), areaNAME VARIABLE CHARACTER); [GSQL formula 2-5] INSERT INTO temp. temp2 SELECT LLlatitudeflag, LLKEIDO, LL longitudeflag, LLIDO, RUlatitudeflag, R UKEIDO, RUlongitudeflag, RUIDO, areaNAM E FROM areaDB WHERE latitudeflag = 'E' AND LLKEIDO <= X AND RUKEIDO> X AND longitudeflag = 'N' AND LLIDO <= Y AND RUIDO>Y; [GSQL formula 2-6] SELECT DISTINCT areaNAME FROM temp. temp2 INTO placesArray []; [GSQL formula 2-7] INSERT INTO imageDB2 (latitudeflag, KEIDO, longitudeflag, IDO, areaNAMES, IMAGE) VALUES ( 'E', X, 'N', Y,: placesArray [], 'Image Data '; [GSQL expression 2-8] COMMIT; Places ARRAY in [GSQL expression 2-6] and [GSQL expression 2-7] is an external variable of the embedded SQL statement defined as an array variable. May be encoded as described in the first embodiment,
Alternatively, it may be directly registered without being encoded.

Next, information retrieval will be described in detail. When the place name of the place where the image information to be searched for is registered or the place name of the region including the place is input from the search key input unit 506, a character string representing the input place name is sent to the information search unit 508,
The information retrieval unit 508 generates a GSQL expression for retrieving image information from a character string. [GSQL Expression 2-9] SELECT IMAGE FROM imageDB2 WHERE areraNAMES =: searchString; where: searchString is an external variable of an embedded SQL statement in which a character string representing an input place is stored.

Since the subsequent operation is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, the description will not be repeated.

In addition to the effect of the first embodiment, the second embodiment has the same structure of the information database as the conventional "method of registering information by adding a keyword". The effect is that it can be used as is. In addition, the information registered in this embodiment has an advantage that it can be searched using a conventional type of application for searching information by designating a keyword.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a user who uses a mobile information processing device records image information, stores it in a database of a remote information processing device, and later stores it using a mobile information processing device or another information processing device. I am able to search the information I have made.

FIG. 13 shows a third embodiment. In this figure, the information management apparatus includes an information input unit 601, an event attribute input unit 602, an information database 603, and an information registration unit 60.
4, an information output unit 605, a search key input unit 606, an attribute database 607, an information search unit 608, and communication means 611 to 615. In this example, the information registration process is performed by the mobile information processing device, and the information storage, information search instruction, search key generation (attribute database), and search result output are performed by another information processing device. Communication means 611 to exchange signals between the information processing devices
It is realized by 615. Of course, various changes can be made as to how the information management device is configured on the network.

The information input unit 601 is for inputting various information such as text and images, and may be an input unit of a mobile information processing device (not shown) or may be connected to the mobile information processing device. It may be an input device. Although not explicitly shown, the mobile information processing device is connected to a network system (a computer system in which a plurality of computers are connected by a network) continuously or intermittently. The event attribute input unit 602 detects an attribute of an event that has occurred in the mobile information processing device (information input unit 601) and an attribute of an event that has occurred due to information input. Information registration section 6
04 sends the information and the detected attribute value to the information database 603 via the new group 611 for registration. The search key input unit 606 receives search information such as a search key from the user and transfers it to the attribute database 607 via the communication unit 607, and the attribute database 607 outputs the corresponding attribute value based on the search information. The information search unit 608 sends a search instruction including the attribute value to the information database 603 via the communication unit 613, and the search result is sent to the communication unit 614.
It is transferred to the information output unit 605 via, and the search result is output.

In the third embodiment, communication means 611-61 are used.
Since it is the same as the first embodiment except that 5 is provided, only the communication means 611 to 615 will be described in detail below. For other configurations, corresponding reference numerals are given to corresponding portions and detailed description thereof is omitted.

The communication means 611 to 615 are network communication devices of the local area network system using the TCP / IP protocol. For the network communication, for example, a socket library of UNIX OS is used. In this embodiment, the network communication device establishes a connection prior to the information registration and search operations. The network communication device may realize a connection each time communication is performed, or may perform communication without setting a connection. Further, instead of the communication by the socket library, the communication by the remote procedure call may be performed.

Each component of this embodiment is the communication means 61.
The configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment except that it has a function of exchanging information using 1 to 615.

To register information in this embodiment, the information registration unit 604 receives the information and the attribute value, generates the GSQL expressions 1-3 of the first embodiment, and sends this to the information database 603. To do. The information database 603 receives this and registers information. To search for information, the character string of the search information input from the search key input unit 606 is sent to the attribute database 607 via the communication unit 615, and the attribute database 607 sends the search key to the attribute value, that is, a plurality of coordinates. To the information retrieval unit 608 via the communication means 612. Based on this, the information retrieval unit 608 uses the GSQL formula 1 of the first embodiment.
-4 to 1-8 are generated and sent to the information database 603 via the communication means 613, and the information database 60
3, a search is performed based on GSQL expressions 1-4 to 1-8, and if there is image information that meets the search conditions, the coordinate image correspondence table is sent to the information output unit 605 via the communication unit 614.

As described above, the third embodiment is characterized in that, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, the information database can be configured without being included in the mobile information processing apparatus. The information database is provided in, for example, a home position computer, and a database of any information processing device in the network can be used.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described. The fourth embodiment is an implementation of the second embodiment in a network system, in which a user of a mobile information processing device records image information and stores it in a database of a remote information processing device. The information stored in the mobile information processing device or other information processing device can be retrieved later. The method implemented in the network is the same as in the third embodiment.

FIG. 14 shows this fourth embodiment.
In this figure, the information management device includes an information input unit 701,
Event attribute input unit 702, information database 703, information registration unit 704, information output unit 704, search key input unit 70
6, a search key generation unit 707, an information search unit 708, and communication means 711 to 714. Information input unit 701
Is for inputting various information such as texts and images, and may be an input unit of a mobile information processing device (not shown) or an input device connected to the mobile information processing device. . Although not explicitly shown, the mobile information processing device is connected to a network system (a computer system in which a plurality of computers are connected by a network) continuously or intermittently. The event attribute input unit 702 detects an attribute of an event that has occurred in the mobile information processing device (information input unit 701) and an attribute of an event that has occurred due to information input. The search key generation unit 707 converts the detected attribute value into a search key. The information registration unit 704 registers the information and the search key in the information database 703 via the communication means 711. The search key input unit 706 receives search information such as a search key from the user, the information search device 708 sends a search instruction including the search key to the information database 703 via the communication unit 713, and the search result is output to the information output unit. It transfers to 705 and outputs a search result.

In FIG. 14, the portions corresponding to those in FIG. 12 or 13 are designated by the corresponding reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0110]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to store the measurement information in association with each other when inputting the image information, and use it as a useful information source later.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the above configuration example.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the above configuration example.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the above configuration example.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the above configuration example.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the configuration example of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the configuration example of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the configuration example of FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing another configuration example of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 and 501 are information input sections 102 and 502 are event attribute input sections 103 and 503 are information databases Information registration units 104 and 504 Information output units 105 and 505 106 and 506 are search key input sections 107 is an attribute database Information retrieval units 108 and 508 507 is a search key generation unit

Continued front page    F-term (reference) 5C053 GB06 JA21 LA01 LA06 LA11                       LA14                 5C054 CA04 CE15 EA01 EA03 EA07                       ED07 GB11 HA26                 5K067 AA34 BB04 DD51 DD52 EE02                       FF02 HH23 KK15

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An information management apparatus including at least a moving body, a photographing means provided on the moving body for photographing an image, and a measuring means provided on the moving body for measuring an attribute value of a predetermined attribute, An information management device, comprising: a storage unit provided on the moving body, for storing an image from the photographing unit and an attribute value of a predetermined attribute from the measurement unit in association with each other. 2. The information management device according to claim 1, wherein the attribute includes at least one attribute of brightness, color, humidity, weather, atmospheric pressure, and volume in a place where the image is captured. 3. The information management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the image is one or both of a still image and a moving image.