JP2004093154A - Information providing system for vehicle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To constantly provide information that is effective for crew members of a traveling vehicle. <P>SOLUTION: An information providing system for vehicles comprises a vehicle-mounted information terminal that inputs the information supply request of vehicle crew members and provides various kinds of pieces of information to the vehicle crew members, and an agent server for generating a program (agent) for performing information gathering processing according to the information supply request of the vehicle crew members while traveling on an information network, thus providing information gathered by the agent to the vehicle crew members via the vehicle-mounted information terminal. The vehicle-mounted information terminal detects information regarding vehicles for sending to an agent server. The agent server sets a plurality of information gathering ranges 23, 25, 26 according to information regarding vehicles on a map, and gathers information in respective ranges 23, 25, 26. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system for providing various information to a vehicle occupant.
[0002]
[Prior art]
There is known an agent system that moves an agent, which is a program for performing various processes, to an application server and performs the processes (for example, see Patent Document 1). In this type of system, a processing request input by a user to an information terminal is transmitted to an agent server via a communication line, and the agent server generates an agent (program) for performing the request processing on behalf of the user. The agent moves to the application server for performing the request processing of the user and executes the request processing. When the execution result of the request processing is obtained, the agent returns to the agent server. Then, the execution result is transmitted from the agent server to the information terminal, and the execution result of the request processing is provided to the user via the information terminal.
[0003]
Prior art documents related to the invention of this application include the following.
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2001-273272 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when a conventional agent system is used for an information providing system for vehicles, the information collection range of the agent is fixed, so requests due to delays in the communication speed between the server and the information terminal or fluctuations in the amount of movement of the vehicle, etc. At the point when the execution result of the processing is provided to the user, the information may become useless already.
[0005]
An object of the present invention is to provide occupants of a moving vehicle with always effective information.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle information terminal for inputting an information provision request of a vehicle occupant and providing various information to the vehicle occupant, and a program for traveling on an information network and performing an information collection process according to the information provision request of the vehicle occupant. (Vehicle information providing system) that includes an agent server that generates an (agent) and provides information collected by the agent to a vehicle occupant via an in-vehicle information terminal. The in-vehicle information terminal detects information about the vehicle and sends it to the agent server. The agent server sets a plurality of information collection ranges according to the information about the vehicle on a map and collects information in each range. .
[0007]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, it is possible to set an appropriate information collection range along the traveling direction of the vehicle, and even if the traveling distance of the vehicle is long due to the long search time by the agent, the Information about the current location of the vehicle can be provided immediately.
[0008]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
<< First Embodiment of the Invention >>
A first embodiment for providing information on gas stations around a vehicle will be described. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the first embodiment. The vehicle 1 is equipped with an in-vehicle information terminal 2 and a communication device 3, and transmits a request for information provision of a vehicle occupant input from the in-vehicle information terminal 2 to a base station 4 to be described later via the communication device 3. , Receives the information of the collection result from the base station 4 via the communication device 3 and provides the information to the vehicle occupant. Note that wireless communication devices such as mobile phones and car phones are used as the communication devices 3 and 4.
[0009]
The in-vehicle information terminal 2 includes an information input unit 21, an information presentation unit 22, an effective condition calculation unit 23, and a command generation processing unit 24. The information input unit 21 inputs a request for information provision of a vehicle occupant. The information presenting unit 22 presents information to a vehicle occupant using a display or a speaker. The validity condition calculation unit 23 calculates a condition for validating the collected information based on the type of the provision request information input from the information input unit 21. The command generation processing unit 24 generates a command for transmitting the provision request information input from the information input unit 21 and the validity condition calculated by the validity condition calculation unit 23 to the base station 4.
[0010]
A communication device 5 and an agent server 6 are installed in the base station 4. The agent server 6 executes an information search process on the application servers 8 to 10 connected to the Internet 7 and sends the search result to the in-vehicle information terminal 2 as a command. The agent server 6 includes an agent generation unit 61, a result management unit 62, and a validity condition determination unit 63, each of which is configured in the form of computer software.
[0011]
The agent generation unit 61 analyzes the request of the vehicle occupant from the in-vehicle information terminal 2, reads out a predetermined source program stored in advance in a storage device (not shown) according to the analysis result, and replaces the vehicle with the vehicle occupant. A program for performing an information collection process according to an occupant's information provision request is generated. Then, an agent is generated by adding destination information to the generated program.
[0012]
The agent connects the Internet 7 on an information network such as between the agent server 6 and the application servers 8 to 10 or between the application servers 8 to 10 in order to perform information collection processing in response to the information provision request of the vehicle occupant. The information processing program acquires the processing result by causing the destination application servers 8 to 10 to execute information collection processing according to the information provision request of the vehicle occupant.
[0013]
In the embodiment of the invention, the application servers 8 to 10 connected to the Internet 7 will be described as an example of an information network. However, the information network is not limited to the embodiment of the invention. An information network that connects to an application server via the Internet by wireless communication may be used, or an agent server and an information database of a suitable size in place of the application server may be mounted on a vehicle, and these agents may be connected via a vehicle interior LAN. It may be a local information network connecting to a server and an information database.
[0014]
The result management unit 62 manages and stores the information collected by the agent in the application servers 8 to 10 connected to the Internet 7 and responds to the request of the vehicle occupant when the condition of the validity condition determination unit 63 is satisfied. And sends it to the in-vehicle information terminal 2. The validity condition judging unit 63 stores the validity condition of the command sent from the in-vehicle information terminal 2 and outputs it to the result managing unit 62 in response to a request.
[0015]
The application servers 8 to 10 are connected to the Internet 7 and provide a data service in response to a request from the agent server 6. In this embodiment, the agent generated from the agent server 6 returns to the agent server 6 after sequentially searching the application servers 8 to 10 on the Internet 7, and the information on the progress on the way is transmitted to the agent server 6. It is assumed that the system is constructed in a form that cannot be known. In this embodiment, three application servers 8 to 10 will be described as an example, but the number of application servers may be two or less or four or more. In addition, any type of application server may be used.
[0016]
FIGS. 2 to 4 are flowcharts illustrating the information providing process according to the first embodiment. The operation of the first embodiment will be described by taking as an example a case where information on gas stations around the own vehicle is collected.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an information provision request process in the vehicle-mounted information terminal 2. The vehicle occupant selects a search for gas stations around the vehicle from the menu screen of the on-board information terminal 2 and requests information provision. In step 1, an information provision request of a vehicle occupant is input from the information input unit 21, and in step 2, current position information of the vehicle is obtained. Here, current location information is input from a navigation device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle. In step 3, the command generation processing unit 24 analyzes that there is a gas station search instruction.
[0018]
In step 4, the effective condition calculation unit 23 calculates a condition that the center of the current position of the vehicle is within a radius of, for example, 1 km in response to the search instruction of the gas station. The validity condition may be set to a fixed value in advance, but may be variable according to the vehicle speed, such as a large value when the vehicle speed is high, and a small value when the vehicle speed is low. In step 5, an information search command to be sent to the agent server 6 is generated by the command generation processing unit 24, and in step 6, an ID is assigned to the information search command and the ID is stored. This ID is used to confirm whether or not the information requested to be provided is provided when the gasoline station information around the own vehicle as a search result is provided from the agent server 6. In step 7, an information search command is transmitted from the communication device 3 to the base station 4.
[0019]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a search process of the provision request information of the agent server 6. In step 11, the command transmitted from the in-vehicle information terminal 2 is received. In step 12, the ID and the validity condition are read from the received command and stored in the validity condition determination unit 63. In step 13, the agent generation unit 61 generates an agent that searches for information on gas stations around the vehicle based on the received command. Then, in step 14, the agent is sent to the Internet 7.
[0020]
The agent moves to the application server of the oil company A in the application server 8 and searches for gas stations around the vehicle. Subsequently, the agent moves to the application server of Petroleum Company B in the application server 9, and searches for a gas station around the vehicle. Next, the agent performs the same search processing on the application server 10 and then returns to the agent server 6. At step 15, it is confirmed whether or not the agent has returned from the Internet 7.
[0021]
In step 16, the validity condition stored in the validity condition determination unit 63 is collated according to the ID number of the agent. In step 17, the current location of the vehicle is obtained from the on-board information terminal 2. Then, in step 18, it is confirmed whether or not the information retrieved by the application servers 8 to 10 satisfies the valid condition centering on the current position of the vehicle. For example, if the effective condition that the radius is 1 km or less is calculated, it is confirmed whether the searched position of the gas station is within a radius of 1 km centering on the current location of the vehicle. move on.
[0022]
In step 19, a provision information command to be sent from the agent to the on-board information terminal 2 is generated, and in step 20, an information command of a gas station around the vehicle is transmitted from the communication device 5 to the on-board information terminal 2. On the other hand, if the gas station in the search result is not within a radius of 1 km around the current location of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step 22, and the gas station in the search result is deleted. Since the search process has been completed in step 21, the agent is deleted, and the process ends.
[0023]
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the information presenting process of the in-vehicle information terminal 2. In step 31, the provided information command is received from the base station 4, and in the subsequent step 32, the ID is read from the provided information command, and the ID is compared with the ID of the information search command stored at the time of the information providing request, and the information requested to be provided is provided. Check whether or not was obtained. In step 33, information provided from the agent server 6 of the base station 4, in this case, information on gas stations around the vehicle is displayed on the display of the information presenting unit 22, and voice guidance is provided by a speaker.
[0024]
As described above, according to the first embodiment, only information that satisfies the validity condition is selected from the information searched by the agent, and is sent to the in-vehicle information terminal 2 and provided to the vehicle occupant. It is possible to prevent the invalid information from being presented uselessly, and the amount of information presented to the vehicle occupant is reduced, and the trouble is eliminated. Further, the invalidated information is not transmitted from the base station 4 to the in-vehicle information terminal 2, so that unnecessary communication costs for transmitting the invalid information can be reduced.
[0025]
<< Second Embodiment of the Invention >>
Next, a second embodiment for providing a weather forecast around a vehicle will be described. The configuration of the second embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and a description thereof will be omitted.
[0026]
The information providing process according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. Note that only processing contents different from those of the first embodiment will be described. The vehicle occupant selects retrieval of the weather forecast around the own vehicle from the menu screen of the vehicle-mounted information terminal 2 and requests information provision. In step 3 of FIG. 2, the command generation processing unit 24 analyzes that there is an instruction to search for a weather forecast. In step 4, the effective condition calculating unit 23 calculates conditions for, for example, about three hours after the weather forecast search instruction. Further, for example, a condition of a radius of 20 km or less around the current position of the vehicle may be calculated and added. The validity condition may be set to a fixed value in advance, but may be variable according to the vehicle speed, such as a large value when the vehicle speed is high, and a small value when the vehicle speed is low.
[0027]
Next, in step 13 in FIG. 3, the agent generation unit 61 generates an agent for searching for weather forecast information around the vehicle based on the received command. The agent moves to the application server of the weather forecasting company A in the application server 8 and searches for a weather forecast around the vehicle. If there are a plurality of weather forecasting companies, the application server moves to an application server of another weather forecasting company in the other application servers 9 and 10 and searches for a weather forecast around the vehicle.
[0028]
In step 18, it is confirmed whether the information retrieved by the application servers 8 to 10 satisfies the validity conditions. For example, if the validity condition is calculated within 3 hours and within a radius of 20 km centered on the current location of the vehicle, the retrieved weather forecast is information within 3 hours from the time of requesting the information, and the current weather forecast is based on the current location of the vehicle. It is checked whether the information is within a radius of 20 km, and if such an effective condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step 19.
[0029]
According to the above-described second embodiment, the same effects as those of the above-described first embodiment can be obtained.
[0030]
<< Third Embodiment of the Invention >>
Based on information about the vehicle such as the current location, traveling direction, and vehicle speed (hereinafter referred to as vehicle information), in addition to a search area around the vehicle, other search areas according to the vehicle information are set, and information in each search area is set. A description will be given of a third embodiment of the present invention, which searches for an area and selects a search result of an optimal area and provides the result to a vehicle occupant.
[0031]
FIG. 5 shows the configuration of the third embodiment. The same components as those shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description will focus on the differences. The vehicle information detection unit 11 inputs a current position and a traveling direction of the vehicle from a navigation device (not shown) mounted on the vehicle, and inputs information of the destination and the guidance route when the guidance route is set. The vehicle information detection unit 11 also inputs the traveling speed (vehicle speed) of the vehicle from a vehicle speed sensor (not shown). The search area determination unit 64 determines whether the current position of the vehicle is within a preset area around the vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as a first area), or along the guidance route when the traveling direction of the vehicle or the guidance route is set. It is determined whether the vehicle is located in an area other than the first area (hereinafter, referred to as a second area), and a search area corresponding to the current location of the vehicle is selected.
[0032]
Next, the operation of the third embodiment will be described. The information provision request process and the information presentation process of the in-vehicle information terminal 2 are the same as the processes shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.
[0033]
FIGS. 6 and 7 are flowcharts showing the search processing of the provision request information of the agent server 6. Steps that perform the same processing as the processing shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same step numbers, and differences will be mainly described. In step 11, the command transmitted from the in-vehicle information terminal 2 is received. In step 12, the ID and the validity condition are read from the received command and stored in the validity condition determination unit 63.
[0034]
In step 51, the agent generation unit 61 generates a first area search agent (hereinafter simply referred to as a first agent) for searching for information on a gas station in a preset first area around the vehicle based on the received command. I do. In the subsequent step 52, the agent generation unit 61 searches for information on gas stations that are set along the traveling direction or the guidance route of the vehicle based on the received command and that are in the second area except the first area. A second area search agent (hereinafter, simply referred to as a second agent) is generated.
[0035]
FIG. 8 shows an example of setting an information search area. In the figure, it is assumed that a vehicle is traveling on a road 22 on a guidance route (arrow) 21 to a destination. The search range 23 is a range corresponding to the above-described first area, and the search range 23 is a preset range, for example, a range with a radius of 1 km around the current position of the vehicle. When there is an intersection 24 on the traveling road 22 and the road branches off into a straight path 25 and a right turn path 26, a search range 27 along the straight path 25 and a search range 28 along the right turn path 26 are set. These search ranges 27 and 28 are ranges corresponding to the above-described second area.
[0036]
In the example shown in FIG. 8, since the destination and the guidance route 21 to the destination are set, the search range 23 is set as a preset first area around the vehicle, and the search range 23 is set along the guidance route 21 of the vehicle. The search range 27 is set as a second area excluding the first area. When the guidance route of the vehicle is the right turn road 26, the search range 23 may be set as the first area, and the search range 28 may be set as the second area.
[0037]
In step 14, the first and second agents are sent to the Internet 7. These agents move to the application server of Petroleum Company A in the application server 8 and search for gas stations in each area. Subsequently, these agents move to the application server of Petroleum Company B in the application server 9 and search for gas stations in each area. Next, these agents perform similar search processing on the application server 10 and then return to the agent server 6.
[0038]
In step 53, it is confirmed whether or not the first agent has returned from the Internet 7, and if so, the process proceeds to step 17. In step 17, the current position of the vehicle is acquired from the on-board information terminal 2, and in step 54, it is determined whether the current position of the vehicle is in the first area. If the current vehicle location is within the first area, the process proceeds to step 55; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 61 in FIG.
[0039]
If the current vehicle location is within the first area, the validity condition stored in the validity condition determination unit 63 is checked in step 55 according to the ID number of the first agent. At step 18, it is confirmed whether or not the information retrieved by the application servers 8 to 10 satisfies the validity condition. For example, when the valid condition that the radius is 1 km or less centering on the current position of the vehicle is stored, it is checked whether the searched position of the gas station is within 1 km of the radius centering on the current location of the vehicle, and the radius of 1 km is checked. If so, the process proceeds to step 19.
[0040]
In step 19, a provision information command to be sent from the first agent to the in-vehicle information terminal 2 is generated, and in step 20, an information command of a gas station around the vehicle is transmitted from the communication device 5 to the in-vehicle information terminal 2. On the other hand, if the gas station in the search result is not within a radius of 1 km around the current location of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step 22, and the gas station in the search result is deleted. Since the search process has been completed in step 21, the first agent is deleted, and the process ends.
[0041]
Next, if the current location of the vehicle is not in the first area in step 54, the process proceeds to step 61 in FIG. In step 61, the validity condition stored in the validity condition determination unit 63 is collated according to the ID number of the second agent. At step 62, it is confirmed whether or not the information retrieved by the application servers 8 to 10 satisfies the validity condition. For example, when the valid condition that the radius is 1 km or less centering on the current position of the vehicle is stored, it is checked whether the searched position of the gas station is within 1 km of the radius centering on the current location of the vehicle, and the radius of 1 km is checked. If so, the process proceeds to step 63.
[0042]
In step 63, a provision information command to be sent from the second agent to the on-board information terminal 2 is generated, and in step 64, an information command of a gas station around the vehicle is transmitted from the communication device 5 to the on-board information terminal 2. On the other hand, if the gas station of the search result is not within a radius of 1 km around the current location of the vehicle, the process proceeds to step 65, where the gas station information and the second agent of the search result are deleted, and the process ends.
[0043]
As described above, according to the third embodiment, in addition to the first area set in advance around the vehicle, if a guidance route to the traveling direction of the vehicle or the destination is set, the guidance route along the guidance route is set. Information is searched in another set second area, so that an appropriate second area along the traveling direction of the vehicle can be set, and since the search time by the agent has been long, the vehicle has to be searched. Even when the moving distance becomes long, information about the current location of the vehicle at that time can be immediately provided.
[0044]
When there is a request for information provision while driving on a highway, the first area and the second area may be set along the highway. When the vehicle is stopped on the right turn line, the area around the vehicle may be set in the first area, and the right turn may be set in the second area.
[0045]
In the third embodiment described above, the information collection range on the map is set in advance in the first area around the vehicle and in the second direction excluding the first area, which is set along the traveling direction or the guidance route of the vehicle. Although two ranges of the area are illustrated, the number of information collection ranges is not limited to the range of the third embodiment, and may be three or more. This makes it possible to set a more appropriate information collection range along the traveling direction of the vehicle.
[0046]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a range including the current location of a vehicle is selected from two information collection ranges (a first area and a second area) and information collected in the selected range is provided. However, when three or more information collection ranges are set along the traveling direction of the vehicle or the guidance route, the current position, traveling direction, vehicle speed, etc. of the vehicle are set from all the information collection ranges. One or more information collection ranges are selected according to the vehicle information of the vehicle, and the information collected in the selected range is provided.
[0047]
Further, when a plurality of information collection ranges are set, the information collection ranges may be set so as to overlap each other.
[0048]
The effective conditions for selecting the information to be provided are not limited to the effective conditions of the above-described embodiment, and the vehicle speed, the current time, the traveling direction of the vehicle, the guidance route, and the like may be used as a single or a plurality of effective conditions. Is also good.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an information provision request process in an in-vehicle information terminal.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a search process of an agent server for providing request information.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an information presentation process of the onboard information terminal.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a second embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a search process for providing request information of an agent server according to the second embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a search process of the agent server for providing request information, following FIG. 6;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a setting example of a search area.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Vehicle 2 Onboard information terminal 3 Communication device 4 Base station 5 Communication device 6 Agent server 7 Internet 8-10 Application server 11 Vehicle information detection unit 21 Information input unit 22 Information presentation unit 23 Effective condition calculation unit 24 Command generation processing unit 61 Agent Generation unit 62 Result management unit 63 Valid condition determination unit 64 Search area determination unit

Claims (4)

An in-vehicle information terminal that inputs an information provision request of a vehicle occupant and provides various information to the vehicle occupant;
An agent server for generating a program (hereinafter, referred to as an agent) for performing information collection processing in response to a vehicle occupant's information provision request while traveling on an information network;
A vehicle information providing system for providing information collected by the agent to a vehicle occupant via the in-vehicle information terminal,
The in-vehicle information terminal detects information about the vehicle and sends it to the agent server,
The information providing system for a vehicle, wherein the agent server sets a plurality of information collection ranges according to the information on the vehicle on a map, and collects information in each range. The vehicle information providing system according to claim 1,
The agent server selects one or a plurality of information collection ranges from a plurality of information collection ranges according to information on the vehicle, and sends information of the selected information collection ranges to the on-vehicle information terminal. Vehicle information providing system. In the vehicle information providing system according to claim 1 or 2,
An information providing system for a vehicle, wherein the information on the vehicle includes a current position, a traveling direction, and a vehicle speed of the vehicle. In the vehicle information providing system according to claim 1 or 2,
If a guidance route to the destination is set, the onboard information terminal sends information on the current location of the vehicle and the guidance route to the agent server,
The information providing system for a vehicle, wherein the agent server sets a plurality of information collection ranges according to information on a current position of the vehicle and a guidance route.

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