JP2004108985A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To acquire an advertisement rate income by advertising various kinds by utilizing the quality as a navigation system, and to thereby reduce a cost of an information providing rate or the like. <P>SOLUTION: This navigation device is equipped with an information center 300 for accumulating information on the stores, a communication module 200 for communicating with the information center 300, and a car navigation device 100 for guiding a route to the destination by a voice. The car navigation device 100 acquires information on the store existing on the route to the destination from the information center 300, and informs by a voice of store information simultaneously when the route is guided. Hereby, since a user can easily grasp the position of the store, effective advertisement of the store can be performed. Consequently, the information can be provided to the user with a reduced rate or free by collecting the advertisement rate from an advertiser, and admission into an information network service can be accelerated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a navigation system.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle has not only performed a variety of navigation functions for simply displaying a current location and a route to a destination together with a road map, but also has a navigation device connected to an external information center via a communication module. Attempts have been made to use the terminal as an information terminal by connecting it to the like. Thus, for example, music, video, and the like can be downloaded and reproduced by the navigation device, and town information such as store information can be obtained.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in order to obtain various types of information from the information center, costs such as an information provision fee are usually required. Since users are reluctant to pay for simply providing information, it is difficult to increase the number of users even if a network system capable of providing various types of information is constructed.
[0004]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and reduces costs such as information provision fees by advertising various stores by utilizing the characteristics as a navigation device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation system capable of performing such operations.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
A navigation system according to claim 1, wherein an information center storing information about stores, communication means for communicating with the information center, voice notification means for notifying information by voice, and a route to a destination by voice. A navigation system comprising an in-vehicle device having route guidance means for guiding by voice by the notifying means,
The in-vehicle device acquires information about the store existing on the route to the destination guided by the route guidance unit via the communication unit, and simultaneously provides the store information with the voice notification unit when guiding the route to the destination. It is characterized by being notified by.
[0006]
As described above, the information about the stores existing on the route is notified at the time of the route guidance to the destination by using the function of the navigation system which is unique to the navigation system. Thus, the user can easily grasp the position of the store, and thus can effectively advertise the store. Therefore, by collecting an advertisement fee from the advertiser, for example, in accordance with the number of times of advertisement, the information provision fee to the user can be reduced or made free, and the subscription to the information network service is promoted. be able to.
[0007]
As described in claim 2, the notification of the store information may be performed by guiding the route by voice using the store to be notified by the route guidance means as a mark. For example, it is possible to make the user aware of the existence of the store by voice guidance such as "turn right at the intersection where the XX store ahead is." For this reason, depending on the needs of the user, it can be expected to drop in at the store.
[0008]
As described in claim 3, when there are a plurality of stores at the route guidance point, it is preferable that the information center periodically switches the stores notified among the plurality of stores and provides the information to the vehicle-mounted device. . Thereby, even when there are a plurality of stores for which store information is to be notified at a route guidance point such as an intersection, the store information can be notified without omission.
[0009]
As described in claim 4, the information center may provide a difference in the frequency of selecting a store to be provided to the vehicle-mounted device from a plurality of stores according to the advertisement fee rate. For example, a plurality of advertisement rates per set of store information notification are set, and a store that has contracted to pay an advertisement fee at a high rate is frequently set as a landmark. As a result, an increase in advertising fee income can be expected, and the store can be notified at a frequency corresponding to the advertising fee rate.
[0010]
As described in claim 5, when there are a plurality of stores at the route guidance point, the information center determines, as a store to be informed, a store existing on the right side when the guide route is a right turn, the guide route. May turn left, the store existing on the left side may be provided to the vehicle-mounted device. By changing the store to be notified by the guide route in this way, even if there are a plurality of stores to be notified of the store information at the route guide point, the store information can be completely notified.
[0011]
As described in claim 6, the information center has advertisement information as one of the information about the store, and the on-vehicle device notifies the advertisement information when the vehicle approaches the store on the route to the destination by voice notification means. It is preferable to have an advertising means for notifying the user by the following. This is because a higher advertisement effect can be expected by not only notifying only the store name but also advertising information such as sale contents and benefits.
[0012]
As described in claim 7, the in-vehicle device includes a selection unit that selects a type of a store for which the advertisement information is to be notified, and the advertisement unit notifies only the advertisement information regarding the store of the type selected by the selection unit. Is preferred. This is because it may be considered that some users may feel that the advertisement information of the store by voice is bothersome, so that only the advertisement information of the type of store necessary for the user can be notified. For the same reason, as described in claim 8, it is preferable that the in-vehicle device includes a stop unit that stops the notification of the advertisement information by the advertisement unit. According to this, it is possible to completely stop the notification of the advertisement information of the store.
[0013]
However, in this case, if the user tries to obtain other information from another information center, the information provision fee may not be applied to the information provision fee, so that the information provision fee may be high.
[0014]
As described in claim 9, it is preferable that the in-vehicle device has a storage unit for storing the notification result of the store information, and transmits the notification result to the information center by the communication unit. As a result, the number of times that the advertisement of the store is actually performed can be grasped on the information center side. Further, as described in claim 10, it is preferable that the information center includes a counting means for counting the notification results transmitted from the in-vehicle devices for each store. By constructing such a system, an advertiser can know the number of advertisements actually performed, and can easily collect advertisement fees according to the performance.
[0015]
As set forth in claim 11, it is preferable that the information center and the communication means of the vehicle-mounted device perform communication via at least one of a mobile phone network and a narrow band communication network. This is because not only mobile phone networks but also narrow-band communication networks such as wireless LANs are gradually being developed.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing the entire configuration of the navigation system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation system includes a car navigation device 100 and a communication module 200 mounted on a vehicle 10 and an information center 300 that communicates with the car navigation device 100 via a base station 250 of a mobile phone network. Be composed. The information center 300 is connected to an information device 400 such as an advertiser's personal computer via an external infrastructure 350 such as the Internet.
[0018]
The information center 300 also stores real-time traffic information and download information such as music, in addition to information about stores, and transmits such information to the car navigation device 100 in response to a request from a user.
[0019]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation device 100 which is an in-vehicle device. As shown in FIG. 1, a car navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment includes a position detection unit 110, a microphone 120 for inputting a user's voice for performing a voice operation, and a route to a destination and information about a store. It comprises a speaker 130 for outputting sound, a recording medium 140 storing map data and the like, and a control circuit 150 connected thereto.
[0020]
The position detection unit 110 includes a well-known geomagnetic sensor, a gyro sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a GPS sensor that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from satellites, and the like. Since each of these has an error having a different property, it is preferable to use a plurality of sensors while complementing each other. Note that, depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detection unit 110 may be configured with some of the above-described sensors.
[0021]
The microphone 120 inputs voice for operating the car navigation device 100 by voice. For example, the car navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment has a so-called route guidance function, and when a destination is input by voice operation, an optimal route to the destination is automatically selected with the current position as a departure point. The travel route is calculated by the speaker 130, and guidance according to the travel route is performed by the speaker 130.
[0022]
The car navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment does not include a display for displaying a road map image. The display is expensive and is prone to failure. Providing such a display has increased the price of the car navigation system. In the present embodiment, the cost of the car navigation device can be suppressed by providing the route guidance only by voice without providing a display. However, it goes without saying that a display may be provided to provide voice guidance on the route to the destination and, at the same time, display the route on a road map. When a remote control or a display is provided in addition to the microphone 120, input means such as a touch panel switch integrated with the display may be provided.
[0023]
The recording medium 140 is configured by a recording medium such as a hard disk, and includes a road map database, a voice database for outputting voice from the speaker 130, and a store database including store information to be notified at guide points such as intersections at the time of route guidance. Has been saved. In these databases, necessary data is written in advance, and the database update information is periodically received from the information center 300, and each database is updated. However, all of the various databases described above may be obtained from the information center 300 when necessary and stored in the recording medium 140. That is, the current location and the destination are transmitted from the car navigation device 100 to the information center 300, the route between the current location and the destination is calculated in the information center 300, and road map data, guidance voice data, and store information data relating to the route are calculated. May be transmitted to the car navigation device 100.
[0024]
The control circuit 140 is configured as an ordinary computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, input / output circuit, and a bus line connecting these components. A program to be executed by the car navigation device 100 is written in the ROM, and the CPU executes predetermined arithmetic processing according to the program.
[0025]
Next, control processing executed in the car navigation device 100 and the information center 300 will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. Each step described on the left side of FIG. 3 indicates a process executed in the car navigation device 100 which is an in-vehicle device, and each step described on the right side indicates a process executed in the information center 300.
[0026]
First, in step S100, a destination is set. The setting of the destination is performed in an interactive manner by voice operation using the microphone 120. For example, when the user utters “Destination”, a sound confirming “Destination” is output from the car navigation device 100, and then when the user utters “Search by phone number”, the car navigation device 100 A confirmation is made, "This is a phone number." When the telephone number is input by voice, the car navigation device 100 searches the road map database stored in the recording medium 140 for a facility corresponding to the telephone number, and confirms "Oh, yes." Here, if the user answers "yes", the facility is set as the destination. The destination can be set not only by telephone number but also by address, facility name, and the like.
[0027]
In step S110, an optimal route from the current position detected by the position detection unit 110 to the set destination is calculated based on the road map database. In this route calculation step, a guide point such as an intersection or a junction where a right / left turn is made in the calculated route is also extracted.
[0028]
In step S120, it is determined whether or not the latest data of the store information of the guide point has already been stored in the recording medium 140. For example, if the above-described database update processing has been performed within the past month, or if the same route has been used to obtain store information, the latest data of the store information has been stored. It proceeds to step S160. On the other hand, when the latest data of the store information is not accumulated, the process proceeds to step S130, and the extracted guide point is transmitted to the information center 300.
[0029]
Step S140 is a process executed in the information center 300. When a guide point is received from the car navigation device 100, information (name and name) of a store that should be a landmark when the route is voice-guided at each guide point. Advertising information such as sale details and benefits). In step S150, in the car navigation device 100, the store information transmitted from the information center 300 is stored in the recording medium 140 as the latest data.
[0030]
If there are a plurality of stores at the guide point, the information center 300 periodically switches the stores to be notified among the plurality of stores and transmits the information to the car navigation device 100. Thus, even when a plurality of stores exist at the guide point, the store information can be reported without omission. In addition, the advertiser can request the information center 300 to advertise the store information using the information device 400. At this time, if there is another store to be notified at the same guide point, a plurality of advertisement fee rates are set. Then, the information center 300 provides a difference in the frequency of selecting a store to be transmitted to the car navigation device 100 from a plurality of stores, according to the advertisement fee rate. As a result, as for the rate of the advertisement fee per notification, a store that has contracted to pay the advertisement fee at a high rate will be frequently advertised. Therefore, it is possible to expect an increase in the advertisement fee income and to expect an advertisement effect according to the advertisement fee rate.
[0031]
When there are a plurality of stores at a guide point such as an intersection, the information center 300 calculates a guide route from the guide point sequence, and when the guide route is a right turn, stores the store on the right side of the road as a guide route. May be turned left, a store on the left side may be selected and transmitted to the car navigation device 100. Also in this case, a plurality of stores can be notified as guide marks without omission.
[0032]
In step S160, it is determined whether or not the user has stopped informing the advertisement information of the store by voice in advance. Whether or not to stop the voice notification of the advertisement information can be switched by a voice operation to the control circuit 150. The reason why the audio notification of the advertisement information can be stopped in this way is to take into account that some users find the audio notification of the advertisement information to be troublesome.
[0033]
It should be noted that some users do not need advertisement information on all types of stores, but may want to hear advertisement information on some types of stores. Therefore, instead of stopping all the audio information of the advertisement information as in step S160, the type of the store for which the audio information of the advertisement information is notified may be selected. Specifically, a code or the like corresponding to the type of the store is added to the store information, and the store type to be sound-informed by the user is selectively set in advance by voice operation and held as preference information. Only when the information matches the taste information, that is, the set type of store code, the advertisement information is notified by voice. As a result, only the advertisement information relating to the type of store necessary for the user can be notified by voice.
[0034]
However, when the advertisement information is stopped or limited to the advertisement information of some types of stores, when the user tries to obtain various types of information from the information center 300, the advertisement fee revenue is applied to the information provision fee. In some cases, information provision fees cannot be reduced sufficiently.
[0035]
If it is determined in step S160 that the voice notification of the advertisement information has been stopped, the process proceeds to step S170, and the route to the destination is guided by voice without voice notification of the advertisement information. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S160 that the voice notification of the advertisement information has not been stopped, the route to the destination is guided by voice while reporting the advertisement information by voice in step S180. Specifically, at a timing when it is detected that the vehicle has approached the store to a predetermined distance, the advertisement information stored in the recording medium 140 is notified by voice.
[0036]
In the voice guidance of the route performed in step S170 and step S180, the route is similarly guided by voice using the store to be notified as a mark. For example, a voice such as "turn right at the intersection with the XX store ahead" is output to provide route guidance. As a result, the user can be made aware of the store, and depending on the user's needs, it can be expected that the user will stop by the store.
[0037]
However, in the route guidance performed in step S170 when the notification of the advertisement information is stopped, the voice guidance using the store as a mark is also stopped, and the intersection or the like as the guidance point is simply specified based on the distance from the current position. Thus, the route may be guided.
[0038]
In step S190, the notified store and advertisement information are stored in the recording medium 140. Then, at step S200, at the timing when it is detected that the route guidance has been completed or the route guidance has been interrupted, the stored data on the store and the advertisement information of the advertisement information are transmitted to the information center 300.
[0039]
In step S220, the information center 300 receives the data regarding the reporting results of the store and the advertising information, and totals the data for each store. Then, in step S230, the reporting result of the store and the advertising information is transmitted to and reported to the information device 400 of each advertiser, and the advertising fee is charged to each advertiser.
[0040]
According to the above-described processing, the navigation system according to the present embodiment uses a navigation system-specific function called route guidance, and provides voice notification of a store existing on the route and its advertisement information at the time of route guidance to the destination. be able to. Thus, the user can easily grasp the position of the store, and thus can effectively advertise the store. Therefore, by collecting an advertisement fee from the advertiser in accordance with the number of times the advertisement has been made and allocating the advertisement fee to the information provision fee, the information provision fee to the user can be reduced or made free. , Can promote subscription to information network services.
[0041]
In the above-described embodiment, the car navigation device 100 transmits to the information center 300 information points such as intersections and junctions where the vehicle makes a right or left turn on the route from the current position to the destination, and stores the information at the store located at the information points. It has been described that only information relating to a store is acquired and stored, guidance is provided using a store as a mark, and advertisement information is notified by voice.
[0042]
However, the name and the advertising information may also be reported for a store existing other than the guide point. To do so, data (node data and link data) indicating the calculated route itself is transmitted from the car navigation device 100, not the guide point, to the information center 300, and information about stores existing near the route is acquired. Good. In this case, for a store other than the guide point, when the vehicle approaches the store to a predetermined distance, the store name and advertisement information are notified by voice. In this way, the number of stores targeted for advertisement can be increased.
[0043]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the communication between the car navigation device 100 and the information center 300 is performed via a mobile phone network. However, for example, the car navigation device 100 may be connected via a narrow band communication network such as a wireless LAN. Communication between the information center 100 and the information center 300 may be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an entire configuration of a navigation system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the car navigation device 100.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a control process executed in the navigation system.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 10 vehicle 100 car navigation device 110 position detection unit 120 microphone 130 speaker 140 recording medium 150 control circuit 200 communication module 300 information center 400 information terminal

Claims (11)

An information center that stores information about stores,
A navigation system comprising: a communication unit for communicating with the information center; a voice notification unit for notifying information by voice; and a vehicle-mounted device including a route guidance unit for guiding a route to a destination by voice using the voice notification unit. And
The in-vehicle device acquires information about a store existing on the route to the destination guided by the route guidance unit via the communication unit, and simultaneously provides the store information when guiding the route to the destination. Is notified by the audio notifying means. 2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the notification of the store information is performed by guiding the route by voice using the store to be notified by the route guidance unit as a mark. 3. 3. When there are a plurality of stores at a route guidance point, the information center periodically switches stores notified among the plurality of stores and provides the information to the vehicle-mounted device. Navigation system. 4. The navigation system according to claim 3, wherein the information center provides a difference in a frequency of selecting a store to be provided to the in-vehicle device from the plurality of stores, according to a rate of an advertisement fee. 5. When there are a plurality of stores at the route guidance point, the information center stores the store existing on the right side when the guide route is a right turn and the left side store when the guide route is a left turn as a store to be notified. 3. The navigation system according to claim 2, wherein a store existing in the vehicle is provided to the vehicle-mounted device. The information center has advertisement information as one of information about the store, and the on-vehicle device notifies the voice notification unit of the advertisement information when the vehicle approaches the store on a route to the destination. 2. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising means. The said vehicle-mounted device is provided with the selection means which selects the kind of store which should notify advertisement information, The said advertisement means notifies only the advertisement information regarding the store of the type selected by the selection means. 7. The navigation system according to 6. The navigation system according to claim 6, wherein the on-vehicle device includes a stop unit that stops notification of advertisement information by an advertisement unit. 9. The vehicle-mounted device according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit configured to store a notification result of the store information, and transmitting the notification result to the information center by the communication unit. 10. The navigation system described. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein the information center includes a counting unit that counts the notification results transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device for each store. The navigation according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the information center and the communication means of the on-vehicle device perform communication via at least one of a mobile phone network and a narrow band communication network. system.

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