JP2003337036A - System for collecting information on shortest route - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To collect information on routes capable of passing therethrough for the least time and to provide it to a user. <P>SOLUTION: In the system, positional information of a vehicle is uploaded by each car navigation system 1 of the vehicle through the Internet 3, and a host computer 4 collects information of the route having the least passage time based on the uploaded positional information of the vehicle and configures a shortest route database 6. Then, the host computer 4 downloads the information of the shortest route being stored in the shortest route database 6 to each car navigation system 1 of the vehicle previously carrying out uploading. Therefore, the user of each car navigation system 1 of the vehicle can run along the shortest route up to a destination by referring to the information of the shortest route. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shortest route information collecting device that collects information from a car navigation device mounted on each vehicle via the Internet and constructs a shortest route database from this information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional car navigation system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-227977. This car navigation system is a route navigation device installed in each vehicle that displays the current position on a display device based on map data, a host server that stores various information, various servers such as information providing companies, transportation companies, and taxi companies. , And a communication line connecting the route navigation device and each server. Among them, the host server stores various kinds of information regarding roads and traffics, which are distributed from time to time from servers such as various information providing companies, transportation companies, and taxi companies.
Further, the route navigation device of each vehicle uses various kinds of information stored in the host server via the communication line when setting the route. Therefore, the conventional route navigation device sets a route based on real-time information about roads and traffic that change from moment to moment.

[0003]

The above-described car navigation system can obtain the latest road map data, information on traffic restrictions by vehicle classification, and road closures due to road construction from the host server. However, the route set by the route navigation device of each vehicle based on such information is not always the shortest route to the destination. In other words, the travel time to the destination is not only determined by the distance traveled and the regulation information, but the travel distance is slightly longer on a road with a small number of traveling vehicles or a road with a smaller number of traffic lights. It can often be passed in a short time. Such information about the so-called "loophole" cannot be obtained by the conventional car navigation system.

In view of such a problem, the present invention provides a shortest route information collecting device capable of collecting the shortest route information that can pass between two points in a shorter time and providing it to the user. The purpose is to provide.

[0005]

The shortest route information collecting device according to claim 1 has a position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle, and the position information of the vehicle detected by this position detecting means is transmitted to the Internet. A car navigation device provided in each vehicle that can be uploaded via a car, a host computer that has a road map database that stores road map data, and a host computer that collects vehicle position information uploaded from the car navigation device; The host computer has an Internet line connecting the navigation device and the host computer,
A travel route specifying means for specifying the travel route of the vehicle from the road map data stored in the road map database based on the position information of the vehicle uploaded from the car navigation device, and the travel route specified by the travel route specifying means. The transit time calculating means for calculating the transit time of the vehicle passing between the two points, and the travel route specified based on the transit time calculated by the transit time calculating means are the shortest routes between the two points. It is characterized by having a shortest route discriminating means for discriminating whether or not there is a shortest route storing means for storing a traveling route discriminated as the shortest route by the shortest route discriminating means in a database.

As described above, in the shortest route information collecting device of the present invention, information is collected from the vehicle actually traveling on the road, and the route that can pass the fastest between a certain two points is determined. The determined shortest route is stored in the database. Therefore, for example, if the information about the shortest route is provided to the car navigation device, the user can refer to the shortest route to the destination based on the provided information.

In the shortest route information collecting device according to the second aspect, the shortest route discriminating means discriminates that the traveling route is the shortest route between two points when a plurality of vehicles travel on the same traveling route. It is characterized by doing. This is because when a plurality of vehicles travel on the same travel route, it can be determined that the route includes a road that can be used on a daily basis.

According to the shortest route information collecting device of the third aspect, the host computer further comprises user information registration means for registering the attribute information of the user, and the car navigation device, in addition to the position information of the vehicle, The identification information of the user is also transmitted to the host computer, the user is identified based on the identification information of the user, and whether or not the user has detailed knowledge about the regional road based on the attribute information of the identified user. The shortest route determination means determines whether or not the shortest route is based on the travel route provided by the user who has detailed knowledge about the regional road determined by the user determination means. Is characterized by.

Thus, for example, the shortest route can be determined based on the user's travel route, which is determined from the user's attribute information to have detailed knowledge about the local road. As a result, for example, even a user who does not have detailed knowledge about the local road can refer to the information on the shortest route of the local road.

Here, the user identification information is, for example,
An IP address or the like assigned to each user. The attribute information of the user is, for example, an address, a name,
It is defined by age, occupation, telephone number, driving history, etc. Also,
As a user with detailed knowledge of regional roads,
For example, based on the above classification of the attribute information of the user, a user who is a driver of a taxi or a bus, a user who is a worker of delivery in the courier service, and others, places an address around the relevant regional road. It is defined by the user.

In the shortest route information collecting device according to the fourth aspect, the car navigation device has route searching means for searching a route from a departure place to a destination, and the host computer is uploaded from the car navigation device. The shortest route information extracting unit that extracts the shortest route corresponding to this route from the shortest route storing unit based on the route search result searched by the shortest route information extracting unit. The feature is that the route information is downloaded to the car navigation device. As a result, the car navigation device of each vehicle can acquire the shortest route information stored in the host computer. Then, as described in claim 5, the route search means corrects the route from the departure place to the destination based on the information of the shortest route downloaded from the host computer, so that the user can change from the departure place to the destination. It becomes possible to acquire the shortest route to the ground. It should be noted that the route correction based on the shortest route information may be asked to the user whether or not it can be executed. As a result, it is possible to set a route according to the wishes of the user.

In the shortest route information collecting device according to the sixth aspect, the car navigation device has route guiding means for guiding the route to the destination, and when the route guiding means guides the route, the host When the shortest route information corresponding to the route is downloaded from the computer, the route searching means executes the route correction based on the shortest route information, and the route guiding means guides the corrected route.

As a result, the car navigation system can acquire the shortest route to the destination even during route guidance. As a result, even when the shortest route information stored in the host computer is updated during route guidance, the shortest route to the destination can be reset based on the latest shortest route information. Then, the user can always travel the shortest route to the destination based on the latest information. It should be noted that the route correction based on the shortest route information may be asked to the user whether or not it can be executed. This makes it possible to guide the route according to the user's wishes.

In the shortest route information collecting device according to the seventh aspect, the car navigation device has a storage means for storing the shortest route information downloaded from the host computer. Thereby, even when the shortest route information cannot be acquired via the Internet, the user can refer to the shortest route information stored in the storage means. Further, the route searching means may be able to search for a route from the departure place to the destination by using the shortest route information stored in the storage means. This allows the user to obtain the shortest route information without going through the Internet.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A shortest path information collecting device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a shortest path information collecting device and peripheral devices according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the shortest route information collecting device is composed of a host computer 4, a road map database 5, and a shortest route database 6. The host computer 4 can be connected to the communication module 2 mounted on each vehicle via the well-known Internet 3.
The communication module 2 is connected to the car navigation device 1 by a signal line. Since the host computer 4 uses the Internet 3 as a communication line, it can communicate not only with the communication module 2 mounted on the vehicle but also with a personal computer installed in a home, office, or the like (not shown). Is.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the car navigation device 1. As shown in the figure, the car navigation device 1 includes a position detecting means 10, a storage means 11,
Route search means 12, route guidance means 13, display means 14,
The operation unit 15 and the input / output circuit 16 are included.

The position detecting means 10 detects the current position of the vehicle, and is composed of a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a distance sensor, a GPS receiver and the like (not shown). The current position of the vehicle is detected in the form of coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the current position of the vehicle received by the GPS receiver. Further, the coordinates of the current position of the vehicle by autonomous navigation are calculated from the information on the traveling direction and the traveling distance of the vehicle acquired by the geomagnetic sensor, the gyroscope, and the distance sensor, and are stored in the storage unit 11 described later. Map matching with road data is performed to improve the detection accuracy of the current position.

The storage means 11 stores various data, and is a CD-ROM or DVD-R storing map data necessary for drawing a map on the display screen of the display means 14.
It is composed of a storage medium such as an OM, and a ROM, a RAM, a HDD, a memory card, and the like mounted in a normal computer. The map data is composed of road data such as node data and link data necessary for drawing a road, and landmark data necessary for drawing a landmark and the like. Here, details of the node data and the link data forming the road data will be described.

The node data is a node I in which a unique number is given to each node at which a plurality of roads intersect, merge, or branch.
D, node coordinates, node names, connection link IDs in which the link IDs of all links connecting to the node are described, intersection types, and the like. On the other hand, the link data is composed of a link ID with a unique number attached to each road, a link length, node coordinates of start and end points, road types such as highways and general roads, road width, and link travel time. Has been done. Among them, the link of the link data is that each road on the map is divided into a plurality of nodes by nodes indicating intersections, branch points, etc., and two nodes are defined as links. The coordinates of the start and end of the link are described in the node coordinates of the start point and the end point.

A program for executing the functions of the car navigation device 1 is written in the ROM,
The functions of the car navigation device 1 are executed according to this program. The RAM has a storage area for storing the shortest route information received via the Internet, which will be described later, and also has a storage area required when the function of the car navigation device 1 is executed. The shortest route information is not limited to being stored in the RAM, but may be stored in, for example, an HDD or a memory card.

The route searching means 12 automatically sets the route connecting the destination set by the user with the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means 10 as the starting point, based on the road data stored in the storage means 11. To search for it. The departure place is not limited to the current position of the vehicle, and may be changed to any position by the user. The route guidance unit 13 displays the route searched by the route search unit 12 on the display screen of the display unit 14 and guides the vehicle to the destination. The user
The route to the destination can be traveled according to the route guidance displayed on the display screen.

The display means 14 displays a road map on the display screen. A liquid crystal display, for example, is used for this display screen. In addition, the operation unit 15 is composed of a remote controller, a touch panel, and the like with which the user performs an input operation, and can set a departure place and a destination and change the scale of the road map displayed on the display screen. .

The input / output circuit 16 controls input / output of signals to / from the communication module 2, and is connected to the communication module 2 by a signal line. The input / output circuit 16 includes information on the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection means 10 (hereinafter, referred to as vehicle position information) and the route search means 12.
The route search result information (hereinafter, referred to as route search result information), etc. is transmitted to the communication module 2, or the shortest route information received by the communication module 2 via the Internet 3 described later is acquired.

The communication module 2 is a module for enabling communication with the Internet, and as described above, uploads vehicle position information and route search result information to the host computer 4 via the Internet 3 or uses the shortest route. The route information is downloaded from the host computer 4 via the Internet 3. The communication module 2 may be built in the car navigation device 1 or may be connected to a mobile phone by wire or wirelessly and can be connected to the Internet via the mobile phone. . Furthermore, for example,
Wireless LAN, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Commun
ications) or a communication using a specific radio or the like.

The car navigation device 1 can be registered as a user with the host computer 4. At the time of this user registration, in response to a request from the host computer 4, for example, the user's address, name, age,
Information regarding the user's attributes such as occupation, telephone number, driving history, and the domain name desired by the user are input by the operating means 15, and the information regarding the user's attributes is uploaded to the host computer 4. Then, the host computer 4 registers the IP address assigned when the car navigation device 1 (or the communication module 2) is connected to the Internet 3 and the received information about the attribute of the user, and when this registration is completed, the user The completion of the user registration is notified to the car navigation device 1.

After this user registration, when uploading the above vehicle position information and route search result information from the car navigation device 1 to the host computer 4, the IP address assigned to the car navigation device 1 (or communication module 2) is used. By referring to this, it is possible to determine whether or not the information is from a user who has already registered. Also, by uploading with the domain name notified at the time of user registration from the host computer 4, the host computer 4 refers to this domain name and determines whether or not the information is from a user who has already registered. You may go.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the host computer 4. As shown in the figure, the host computer 4 includes a road map database 5 and a shortest route database 6. Furthermore, the host computer 4
Includes a travel route specifying unit 40, a transit time calculating unit 41, a shortest route discriminating unit 42, a shortest route storing unit 43, a user determining unit 44, a user information registering unit 45, a shortest route information extracting unit 46, and the like.

The road map database 5 stores map data composed of road data such as node data and link data and mark data, like the map data stored in the storage means 11 of the car navigation device 1 described above. It is a thing. Further, the shortest route database 6 stores road data such as node data and link data included in a map of a predetermined scale (for example, 400 m square) for each map of the predetermined scale.

The traveling route identifying means 40 identifies the traveling route of the vehicle from the road data stored in the road map database 5 based on the position information of the vehicle uploaded from the car navigation device 1 via the Internet 3. Is. The position information of the vehicle indicates the current position of the vehicle in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates, and corresponds to the coordinate system used for road data.

The transit time calculating means 41 is for calculating the transit time of a vehicle passing between two points on the traveling route. The route between these two points can be defined as, for example, a plurality of routes connected to the same start point node and end point node. Based on this definition,
The transit time is calculated as follows. That is, when the vehicle passes through one of the two points on the travel route, the time when the vehicle passes through this start point node (hereinafter referred to as the link entry time) is acquired, and the vehicle passes through the end point node. The time (hereinafter referred to as the link exit time) is acquired. Then, by subtracting the link entry time from the link exit time, the transit time of one of the plurality of routes is calculated.

The shortest route discriminating means 42 calculates the transit time of one route which is calculated by the transit time calculating means 41 and is connected to the same start point node and end point node, and the same start point node and end point node calculated in the past. Compare the transit times of the other paths that are combined. Then, if the transit time calculated this time is shorter than the transit time of another route calculated in the past, this one route is set as the shortest route. If the transit times of other routes connected to the same start point node and end point node have not been calculated in the past, the route calculated this time is provisionally set as the shortest route.

Further, in the shortest route determination means 42, when a plurality of vehicles are traveling on the same traveling route and the passage time is the shortest, the route is the shortest route. You may judge that. Furthermore, if the user determination means 44 determines that the user who has already registered the user has detailed knowledge of the local road, it may be determined that the route is the shortest route based on the travel route from the user. good.

The shortest route storage means 43 stores in the shortest route database 6 road data such as node data and link data of the route determined to be the shortest route by the shortest route determination means 42. In storing this road data, the transit time of the shortest route is added and stored.

The user judging means 44 will be described later for judging whether or not the information is from a user who has already been registered as a user, based on the IP address at the time of transmitting the vehicle position information and the route search result information from the car navigation device 1. Performed based on the information registered in the user information registration means 45. Furthermore, it is also determined whether or not the user who has already registered as a user has detailed knowledge about roads in the area around the current position of the vehicle. Regarding this judgment, attribute information of the user (for example, address, name, age, occupation, telephone number, driving history, etc.)
Among them, the judgment is based on the address and occupation. For example, it can be determined that a user who is a driver of a taxi or a bus, a user who is a worker in the delivery business in a courier service, or a user who has an address around the road in the area is applicable.

The user information registration means 45 is for executing the registration of the user, and is the information about the attributes of the user uploaded from the car navigation device 1 (for example, the user's address, name, age, occupation, telephone number, driving history). Etc.) and IP address, and when this registration is completed,
The car navigation device 1 is notified of the completion of user registration. Further, the user information registration means 45 extracts the attribute information of the user from the IP address in response to the request from the user determination means 44.

The shortest route information extracting means 46 extracts the road data of the shortest route stored in the shortest route database 6, and the shortest route to be extracted is the route search result transmitted from the car navigation device 1. Based on information.

(Shortest route processing) Next, the process of determining the shortest route based on the vehicle position information and constructing the shortest route as a database, which is a feature of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIG. 4 will be described with reference to the functional configuration diagram of FIG. 4, the flowchart of FIG. 4, and the diagram showing the transit time of the travel route of FIG.

First, in step S1, the host computer 4 acquires the vehicle position information uploaded from the car navigation device 1 mounted on the vehicle. Since this vehicle position information is uploaded in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates, it corresponds to the coordinate system of road data such as node data and link data stored in the road map database 5. In addition, referring to the IP address,
It identifies from which user the position information is.

In step S2, the traveling route of the vehicle is identified from the road data stored in the road map database 5 based on the position information of the vehicle (traveling route identifying means 40). That is, based on the latitude and longitude coordinates of this vehicle position information, the link to which the coordinates belong is specified from the road data. At this time, as shown in FIG. 5, the link ID of the specified link is temporarily stored. Further, as shown in the figure, together with the link ID, information that allows the user to be identified, such as an IP address, is added and stored.

A step S3 decides whether or not the vehicle has passed the node at the start point or the end point of the specified link. If the vehicle has passed the node at the start point or the end point of the specified link, the process proceeds to step S4, and if not, the process proceeds to step S1.

In step S4, the link entry time and the link exit time are stored. For example, as shown in FIG.
When the link ID 325 and the link ID 326 pass through a node connected to each other, the link exit time of the link ID 325 and the link entry time of the link ID 326 are stored.

In step S5, the link entry time is subtracted from the link exit time to calculate the time required to pass through the link (referred to as the transit time) (passing time calculating means 41). In FIG. 5, the transit time of the link ID 325 is calculated, and the transit time of the link ID 326 is the link I.
It is calculated when the node at the end point of D326 is passed.

A step S6 decides whether or not the upload from the user is completed. Then, when the upload of the vehicle position information is completed, the process proceeds to step S7, and when the upload is continued, the process proceeds to step S1. It should be noted that when the upload is completed, FIG. 5 shows a state in which the transit time has been calculated for all the links forming the route along which the vehicle has traveled.

In step S7, the user who has finished uploading the vehicle position information is identified (user determining means 44). For this identification, it is identified whether or not the user is a driver who has detailed knowledge about the local road. As described above, this judgment is made based on the address and occupation. For example, it can be determined that a user who is a driver of a taxi or a bus, a user who is a worker in the delivery business in a courier service, and a user who has an address around a local road are applicable. By such user identification, the user is classified into the following two categories. Have detailed knowledge about local roads. No detailed knowledge of local roads.

In step S8, it is determined whether or not the shortest route is included in the travel route consisting of the specified plurality of links (shortest route determination means 42). As described above, this is because there are a plurality of routes that are connected to the same start point node and end point node in the travel route, of which the passage time of one route through which the vehicle has passed and the same start point and end point calculated in the past. Compare the transit times of other routes coupled to the node. Then, if the transit time calculated this time is shorter than the transit time of another route calculated in the past,
This one route is the shortest route.

At this time, it is preferable that the travel route of the user who falls under the category of the user is treated preferentially in obtaining the shortest route over the travel route of the user who falls under the category of the user. This can improve the accuracy of obtaining the shortest route. Specific examples of preferentially handling the travel route of the user who falls into the category include the following examples. (1) The shortest route is set based only on the traveling route of the user who falls under the category. (2) The passing time of the traveling route of the user corresponding to the category is increased by a predetermined ratio and compared with the passing time of the traveling route of the user corresponding to the category. (3) For a user on one route that falls into the category, if any of the transit times of a plurality of users is shorter than the transit times of other routes, the route is set as the shortest route.

Further, when setting the shortest route, a plurality of users including users of the category may travel on the same traveling route and the passing time thereof may be short. As a result, a route that is expected to be able to travel on a daily basis can be set as the shortest route.

In step S9, if the shortest route exists according to the determination result in step S8, step S1
If the process proceeds to 0 and there is no shortest path,
This shortest path processing is ended.

A step S10 stores the shortest route in the shortest route database 6 (shortest route storage means 43). The data of the shortest route stored at this time is road data of the shortest route and the calculated transit time.

As described above, the host computer 4, which is the shortest route information collecting device of this embodiment, obtains the position information of the vehicle from the car navigation device 1 which is actually traveling via the Internet to obtain the shortest route. The database 6 is being constructed. Since the shortest route is constructed based on the information from the user who has detailed knowledge about the roads in the area, it is possible to provide the user with a route that can be traveled in the shortest time, which is a so-called “loophole”.
As a result, the user can travel with reference to the shortest route to the destination.

(Route Correcting Process) Next, using the information of the shortest route in the shortest route database 6, the process in which the car navigation device 1 mounted on each vehicle corrects the route is performed by the car navigation device 1 of FIG. Functional configuration diagram, and FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of.

First, in step S20 of FIG. 6, the car navigation system 1 searches for a route to a destination set by the user, with the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection means 10 as a departure place (route search). Means 1
2).

In step S21, the route search result obtained in step S20 is uploaded to the host computer 4 via the Internet 3. The uploaded route search result information is road data that constitutes a route from the starting point to the destination.

In step S22, the host computer 4
In the shortest route information extracting means 46, the shortest route information corresponding to the uploaded road data is extracted. At this time, when the node coordinates of the start point and the end point of the link data on the route from the departure point to the destination match the node coordinates of the start point and the end point of the link data of the shortest route stored in the shortest route database 6, The road data of the shortest route and the transit time of the shortest route (shortest route information) are extracted.

In step S23, this step S22
The shortest route information extracted in 1 is downloaded to the car navigation device 1. In addition, when the shortest route information cannot be extracted in step S22, a message such as "The shortest route was not extracted" may be downloaded to the car navigation device 1. In addition, users (,,
In the case of), you may download this shortest route information for free. Further, it may be downloadable for a fee even to a user who has never uploaded the vehicle position information in the past.

A step S24 stores the downloaded shortest path information in the storage means 11. Then, in step S25, the user is requested to determine whether to correct the route based on the downloaded shortest route. At this time, the display means 1 displays the route and the shortest route of the route search result.
It is advisable to display the map on the display screen of No. 4 and to provide the user with how much the arrival time to the destination can be shortened by correcting the route to the shortest route.

In step S26, the route searching means corrects the route in step S25 if the user desires to correct the route, and in step S25 if the user does not wish to correct the route. It ends without any action.

As described above, the users (,) belonging to the two categories who have uploaded the vehicle position information in the past can download the shortest route information for free. Then, whether or not the route from the departure place to the destination searched by the car navigation device 1 is the shortest route can be determined based on the information in the shortest route database 6. Further, even a user who has not uploaded the vehicle position information in the past can download the shortest route information by paying the fee. As a result, the user can easily receive the shortest route information, and as a result, it can be widely spread to many users.

When the car navigation system 1 guides the route to the destination by the route guiding means 13, if the shortest route information corresponding to the guided route is downloaded from the host computer 4, the route is displayed. The search means 12 may execute route correction based on the shortest route information. This makes it possible to acquire the shortest route to the destination even during route guidance, and as a result, it is possible to reset the shortest route to the destination.
Then, the user can always travel the shortest route to the destination based on the latest information. The user may be required to determine whether or not to correct the route based on the shortest route information. This makes it possible to guide the route according to the user's wishes.

Further, the car navigation device 1 can obtain the information of the shortest route via the Internet 3 even if it cannot obtain the information of the shortest route.
The route searching means 1 is referred to by referring to the shortest route information stored in 1.
2, the route from the starting point to the destination may be searched based on the shortest route information stored in the storage means 11. As a result, the user can search the route based on the information of the shortest route without going through the Internet.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a shortest path information collection device according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a car navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a host computer 4 according to the present embodiment.
It is a figure which shows the function structure of.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing shortest path processing according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a passage time of a travel route according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing route correction processing according to the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Car navigation system 2 Communication module 3 Internet 4 Host computer 5 Road map database 6 shortest path database

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Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A car navigation device provided in each vehicle having a position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle and capable of uploading the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detecting means via the Internet. A host computer having a road map database for storing road map data, collecting host vehicle position information uploaded from the car navigation device, and an internet line connecting the car navigation device and the host computer. The host computer specifies a travel route of the vehicle from road map data stored in the road map database based on position information of the vehicle uploaded from the car navigation device. And the travel route specifying means Therefore, the passing time calculating means for calculating the passing time of the vehicle passing between the two points on the specified traveling route, and the traveling route specified on the basis of the passing time calculated by the passing time calculating means are A shortest route discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the route is the shortest route between two points, and a shortest route storing means for storing the traveling route discriminated as the shortest route by the shortest route discriminating means in a database. Shortest route information collection device. 2. The shortest route discriminating means determines the traveling route when a plurality of vehicles travel on the same traveling route.
The shortest route information collecting device according to claim 1, wherein the shortest route information collecting device determines that the shortest route is between two points. 3. The host computer further comprises user information registration means for registering user attribute information, and the car navigation device also transmits user identification information to the host computer in addition to the vehicle position information. And has a user determination means for determining the user based on the identification information of the user and determining whether or not the user has detailed knowledge about the local road based on the attribute information of the identified user. The shortest route determination means determines whether or not the shortest route is based on the travel route provided by a user who has detailed knowledge about the regional road determined by the user determination means. The shortest path information collecting device according to item 1 or 2. 4. The car navigation device includes route search means for searching a route from a departure point to a destination, and the host computer is searched by the route search means uploaded from the car navigation device. Based on the route search result, the shortest route corresponding to this route is extracted from the shortest route storing means, and the shortest route information extracting means is provided, and the information of the shortest route extracted by the shortest route information extracting means is used for the car navigation. The shortest path information collecting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is downloaded to the device. 5. The shortest route according to claim 4, wherein the route searching means corrects the route from the departure place to the destination based on the information of the shortest route downloaded from the host computer. Information collection device. 6. The car navigation device includes route guide means for guiding a route to the destination, and the route corresponding to the route from the host computer when the route guide means guides the route. 5. When the shortest route information is downloaded, the route searching means executes a route correction on the basis of the shortest route information, and the route guiding means guides the corrected route. Alternatively, the shortest route information collecting device described in item 5. 7. The shortest route information collecting device according to claim 4, wherein the car navigation device has a storage unit for storing the shortest route information downloaded from the host computer.