JP2004170370A - Map data, map data storing device, map data utilizing device and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide map data capable of suppressing the fluctuation in number of data access, a navigation device utilizing the map data, and the like. <P>SOLUTION: The map data 100 is configured as a combination of area map data 50 obtained by dividing a map into rectangular areas having a width of a longitudinal length y1 and a lateral length x1 as shown in the Figure. The recording ranges of the area map data 50 adjacent in the longitudinal direction are set in a shifted manner by the width (x 1/2) in the horizontal direction (lateral direction). Namely, as shown in the Figure, the recording ranges of the area map data 50 are set in a brick-like manner. Each piece of the area map data 50 is recorded therein a lower left coordinate and an upper right coordinate for specifying the position of the respective area map data as the recording range. The control circuit of the navigation device can specify the area map data 50 to be read in using this recording range as a search key. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to map data and an apparatus using the map data.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, a map is divided into a grid pattern, area map data 50 which is map data for each area on the divided map is generated, and area map data of each generated area is generated. The navigation device that forms the map data 100 by combining them with each other and records them on a recording medium or the like, obtains the area map data 50 included in the drawing range 60 from the map data 100, draws the map data, and displays the map. It is known (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).
[0003]
For example, when drawing a map in the drawing range 60 shown in FIG. 6A, the navigation device acquires the area map data 50a from the map data 100 (hereinafter, when a specific map data is indicated, the area map data 50a is obtained). As in the case of the map data 50a, a suffix is added, and when not particularly distinguished, the area is described as in the area map data 50.) Further, the drawing range 60 drawn by the navigation device is the range of FIG. If there is, the area map data 50a to 50d are acquired.
[0004]
Then, in the obtained single or plural area map data 50, map data of an area corresponding to the drawing range 60 is drawn and displayed on the display device.
[0005]
[Non-patent document 1]
Kiwi-W Consortium, "Kiwi Format Ver1.22", Chapter 3, [online], February 24, 2000, Kiwi-W Consortium, [Retrieved October 1, 2002], Internet <URL: http: // / Kiwi-w. mapmaster. co. jp / format / format_kihon. html>
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the case where the map data including the area map data generated by dividing the map into a grid pattern is used, there is a problem that the number of times of data access varies widely. That is, when the size of the area map data 50 is sufficiently larger than the drawing range 60, one to four area map data 50 are required. For example, in the case of FIG. 6A, one area map data 50a is required, whereas in the case of FIG. 6B, four area map data 50a to 50d are required.
[0007]
As described above, in one place, the processing is completed by one access to the map storage device, but in another place, four accesses are required, and it is difficult to guarantee the performance with respect to the time until the processing is completed. was there.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to solve the above-described problem and provide map data capable of suppressing variation in the number of times of data access to area map data, and a navigation device and the like using the map data.
[0008]
Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention
The map data according to claim 1, which has been made in order to solve the above-described problem, is configured by dividing a map into a plurality of regions by dividing lines and combining region map data which is map data for each of the divided regions. Map data. Then, for all intersections of the dividing lines, the area is divided so that a maximum of three dividing lines are drawn from each intersection. Since the three division lines are extracted from the intersection and divided into three areas, the division is performed by extracting the four division lines from the intersection as in the case of the conventional grid pattern division. One less than the four regions to be processed. Therefore, in the map data using apparatus that uses this map data, the worst read number of area map data can be reduced by one to three.
[0009]
Although the angle at which the dividing lines intersect can be set arbitrarily, it is particularly preferable that the dividing lines intersect in a T-shape as described in claim 2. In particular, it is preferable to divide the map into brick-like areas.
For example, as shown in FIG. 2, it is preferable that the image is divided by a dividing line having a predetermined interval y1 in the vertical direction and divided by a dividing line having a predetermined interval x1 in the horizontal direction. When dividing in the direction, adjacent vertical regions can be divided into brick-like regions by dividing the start position of the horizontal division by x1 / 2. Note that the vertical direction and the horizontal direction can be taken in any directions in the map. For example, the vertical direction may be the north-south direction or the east-west direction of the map.
[0010]
Such map data may include at least one of data relating to roads included in the map and image data of the map.
Such map data can be stored in a recording medium or a map data storage device according to the sixth aspect. For example, it may be stored in a map database.
[0011]
Then, the present invention can be used in a map data using device using map data as described in claim 7. In such a map data using apparatus that uses map data, the worst value of the number of accesses to the map storage device can be suppressed, so that it is easy to guarantee the performance until the map use processing is completed.
[0012]
In particular, in the map data using apparatus using the map data according to the present invention, the vertical width of the reading range read for using the map data is smaller than y1 / 2, and The width in the direction is preferably smaller than x1 / 2. In this case, the worst read number of area map data can be set to three.
[0013]
In addition, the map data utilization device can acquire the map data by communication or the like. However, the map data utilization device includes a map data storage device as described in claim 9, and stores the map data stored in the map data storage device. It can be configured to be used.
In particular, in a map data utilization device having a navigation function, when performing processing for drawing and displaying a map near the current position, the position of the drawing range is continuously changed. However, by using such map data, the number of maps that need to be newly read along with the movement can be reduced.
[0014]
As described in claim 11, when the function as the map data utilization device according to any one of claims 7 to 10 is realized by a computer system, for example, it may be provided as a program started on the computer system side. it can. In the case of such a program, for example, the program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, a hard disk, a ROM, and a RAM, and is loaded into a computer system as needed and activated. It can also be used by loading and starting via a network. Further, the map data described in the claims can be generated by a method (generation method) described in the claims of the map data.
[0015]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings. It is needless to say that the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples, and can take various forms within the technical scope of the present invention.
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device 1 as a map data using device according to an embodiment. The navigation device 1 includes a position detector 21 for detecting a current position of the vehicle, an operation switch group 22 for inputting various instructions from a user, and a remote control terminal capable of inputting various instructions similarly to the operation switch group 22. (Hereinafter, referred to as a remote controller) 23a, a remote controller sensor 23b for inputting a signal from the remote controller 23a, an external information input / output device 24, and input of map data and the like from an external storage medium on which map data and various kinds of information are recorded. A map data input device 25, a display device 26 for performing various displays such as a map display screen and a TV screen, an audio output device 27 for outputting various guide voices and the like, and for storing various data. External memory 28, the above-described position detector 21, operation switch group 22, remote controller 23a, external information input / output device 24, map data Various processes are executed according to the input from the power tool 25 and the external memory 28, and the position detector 21, the operation switch group 22, the remote control sensor 23b, the external information input / output device 24, the map data input device 25, the display device 26, An audio output device 27 and a control circuit 29 for controlling an external memory 28 are provided.
[0017]
The position detector 21 receives a transmission radio wave from a GPS (Global Positioning System) artificial satellite via a GPS antenna, and detects a position, a direction, a speed, and the like of the vehicle, and a GPS receiver 21a, which is added to the vehicle. A gyroscope 21b for detecting the magnitude of the rotational movement, a distance sensor 21c for detecting the distance traveled from the longitudinal acceleration of the vehicle and the like, and a geomagnetic sensor 21d for detecting the traveling direction from the geomagnetism are provided. I have. Each of the sensors 21a to 21d has an error having a different property, and is configured to be used while complementing each other. Note that, depending on the accuracy, a part of the sensors described above may be used, or a rotation sensor of the steering wheel or a wheel sensor of each rolling wheel may be used.
[0018]
As the operation switch group 22, a touch panel provided on a display screen, a mechanical key switch provided around the display device 26, and the like are used integrally with the display device 26. The touch panel and the display device 26 are stacked and integrated. There are various types of touch panels such as a pressure-sensitive type, an electromagnetic induction type, a capacitance type, and a combination thereof. Is also good.
[0019]
The external information input / output device 24 receives an FM broadcast signal via a radio antenna (not shown) or receives a radio wave from a fixed station for a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) service disposed near the road. A beacon signal and an optical beacon signal are received. The received information is sent to the control circuit 29 for processing. It is also connected to a mobile phone (not shown) and has a function of acquiring information from an information center and connecting to the Internet to acquire information from a server on the Internet.
[0020]
The map data input unit 25 inputs various data including road data, map data such as so-called map matching data for improving the accuracy of position identification, mark data indicating facilities, guidance images and voice data, and the like. It is a device for. As a recording medium for these data, a CD-ROM, DVD, hard disk, memory, memory card, or the like can be used.
[0021]
As shown in FIG. 2, the map data 100 is configured as a combination of area map data 50 obtained by dividing a map into rectangular areas having a width of y1 and a width of x1. The recording range of the area map data 50 vertically adjacent to each other is set so as to be shifted in the left-right direction (lateral direction) by the width (x1 / 2). That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the recording range of the area map data 50 is set in a brick shape.
[0022]
Each region map data 50 records the lower left coordinate and the upper right coordinate as a recording range in order to specify the position of each region map data 50, and the control circuit 29 uses the recording range as a search key and reads the coordinates. The area map data 50 can be specified.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 3, the map data 100 is generated and recorded for each level from level 5 to level 0 for each level of detail. Level 5 is the level at which the recording range of each area map data 50 is the widest on the map (that is, the values of x1 and y1 are the largest), and stores only the terrain data. Level 4 is one in which the recording range of each area map data 50 is set wider than level 5 and stores terrain data and highway road data. Level 3 is a range in which the recording range of each area map data 50 is set in a size following Level 4, and stores road data of national roads in addition to terrain data and road data of expressways. Level 2 is a range in which the recording range of each area map data 50 is set in a size following Level 3, and stores road data of prefectural roads in addition to topographic data and road data of expressways and national roads. Level 1 is a range in which the recording range of each area map data 50 is set in the area following Level 2 and stores road data of city roads in addition to terrain data and road data of expressways, national roads and prefectural roads. ing. Level 0 is the area in which the recording range of each area map data 50 is set in the area following Level 1, and in addition to the terrain data and road data of expressways, national roads, prefectural roads, and city roads, road data of narrow streets Is stored. That is, level 5 stores the widest area data, and level 0 stores the most detailed data.
[0024]
The road data in the map data constitutes a map by connecting a plurality of nodes such as intersections with links, and for each link, a unique number (link ID) specifying the link, a link ID From the link length indicating the length, the x and y coordinates of the start and end of the link, the road width of the link, the road type (indicating road information such as a toll road), and the data of the road ID for specifying the road Link information. In the map data, place name information, traffic information, and facility information are stored together with their coordinates (x, y coordinates). The terrain data can be composed of, for example, image data.
[0025]
The display device 26 is a color display device, such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or a CRT, but any of them may be used. The display screen of the display device 26 includes a mark indicating the current position specified from the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 21 and the map data input from the map data input device 25, a guidance route to the destination, and a name. And additional data such as marks, marks of various facilities, etc. can be displayed in a superimposed manner. In addition, facility guides and the like can be displayed. The voice output device 27 can output voices of facility guides and various types of guidance input from the map data input device 25 and read-out voices of information acquired via the external information input / output device 24.
[0026]
The control circuit 29 is mainly composed of a well-known microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, and a bus line for connecting these components, and is based on a program stored in the ROM and the RAM. A map that calculates the current position of the vehicle as a set of coordinates and traveling direction based on each detection signal from the position detector 21 and displays a map or the like near the current position read via the map data input device 25 on the display device 26. Based on the display processing and the point data stored in the map data input device 25, a facility as a destination is selected in accordance with an operation of the operation switch group 22 or the remote controller 23a, and an optimal route from the current position to the destination is automatically determined. A route guidance process is performed to perform route guidance by calculating a route to be calculated. As a method for automatically setting the optimum route in this way, a method such as the Dijkstra method is known.
[0027]
The flow of this map display processing will be described with reference to FIG.
In S110, the current position is calculated based on the information detected by the position detector 21, and the current map level is obtained from the memory of the control circuit 29 in which the map level is stored. Then, the drawing center coordinates of the map to be displayed on the display device 26 are calculated based on the obtained current position and the map level. The map level can be set in the memory based on signals from the operation switch group 22 and the remote controller 23a.
[0028]
In S120, the coordinates of the drawing range are calculated based on the drawing center coordinates calculated in S110 and the current map level.
In S130, the recording range (lower left coordinate and upper right coordinate) included in each area map data 50 in the map data 100 corresponding to the current map level is read from the map data recorded on the recording medium of the map data input device 25. , The area map data 50 including at least a part of the drawing range in the recording range is specified as the area map data to be read. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the drawing range 60 is included in the area map data 50a, the area map data 50a is specified as the area map data 50 to be read. For example, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the drawing range 60 extends over the area map data 50a, 50b, 50c, the area map data 50a to 50c are specified as the area map data 50 to be read.
[0029]
In S140, of the area map data 50 to be read, which is specified in S130, the area map data 50 that is not currently read into the memory of the control circuit 29 is read from the recording medium by controlling the map data input unit 25. , Stored in the memory. In S150, a map of a range corresponding to the drawing range 60 in the area map data 50 stored in the memory is drawn and displayed on the display device 26.
[0030]
In this manner, the map around the current position can be displayed on the display device 26 at the set map level.
As the vehicle moves, the detected current position moves, and the drawing range 60 also moves. For example, when the drawing range changes from the drawing range 60 in FIG. 5A to the drawing range 60 in FIG. 5B, in addition to the area map data 50a read in the state of FIG. Then, two area map data 50b and 50c are read. The area map data 50 read at the same time is a total of three area map data 50a to 50c. Accordingly, the worst-case number of area map data 50 to be read can be reduced as compared with the conventional map data 100 shown and described in FIG. 6, and the number of area map data 50 that needs to be read at the same time can also be reduced.
[0031]
For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, if the drawing range 60 is a rectangular area having a width of y2 in height and x2 in width, and y2 <y1 / 2, x2 <x1 / 2, three areas at the maximum can be obtained. Only the map data 50 needs to be read. In the conventional data structure shown in FIG. 6, it is necessary to read up to four area map data 50 at the same time, so that the data to be read can be reduced by one. Therefore, the time required for processing can be reduced by about 25%, and the time required for display can be increased. Further, since the worst value of the number of accesses to the map data input device 25 is suppressed, the variation is reduced, and the performance guarantee until the completion of the map drawing is facilitated.
[0032]
In the present embodiment, the recording range is recorded in each region map data 50, and the region map data 50 to be read is specified based on the recording range. However, instead of this, or In addition to the above, for example, a configuration may be adopted in which the latitude and longitude, the serial number, the vertical and horizontal arrangement positions, and the like are stored, and thereby the area map data to be read is specified.
[0033]
Further, information for specifying the area map data 50 may be previously stored in the memory of the control circuit 29, and may be specified in S130 based on the content thus obtained. By doing so, the number of accesses to the map data input device 25 can be reduced.
[0034]
Further, in the present embodiment, the map data 100 is recorded on a recording medium, and the recording medium is read and input by the map data input device 25. However, for example, the map data 100 is read via the external information input / output device 24. , May be input from outside. In this case, the above-mentioned map data 100 is stored in an information center or a server on the Internet, and the control circuit 29 controls the external information input / output device 24 instead of reading from the map data input device 25 to obtain information. The area map data 50 to be read may be requested from a map storage device such as a center or a server on the Internet, and the area map data 50 may be obtained from this server (map storage device) and used.
[0035]
Further, as the above-described map data 100 stored in a recording medium or the like, automatically generated data can be used. For example, when the map data 100 is generated from a map, the original map data may be prepared first, and the map data may be divided into brick-like areas shown in FIG. 2 by a computer process. For example, when the level 5 topographic data is composed of image data, the original image data such as an aerial photograph is prepared, and the image data is divided into brick-shaped regions as shown in FIG. It is preferable to generate the map data 100 by generating the area map data 50 by adding the recording range to the image data. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the image is divided by dividing lines at a constant interval (width y1) in the vertical direction, and divided by dividing lines at a constant interval (width x1) in the horizontal direction. At this time, division is performed so that a maximum of three of the division lines are drawn at all intersections of the division lines. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, adjacent vertical regions are divided such that the start position of horizontal division is shifted by x1 / 2. In this way, the dividing lines intersect in a T-shape. Thus, the original map data can be divided into brick shapes.
[0036]
In the present embodiment, the example of the navigation device has been described, but the present invention can be applied to a map using device that uses various maps.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of map data.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a level of map data.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a map display process.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing map data and a drawing range.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of conventional map data.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation apparatus 21 ... Position detector 21a ... GPS receiver 21b ... Gyroscope 21c ... Distance sensor 21d ... Geomagnetic sensor 22 ... Operation switch group 23a ... Remote control 23b ... Remote control sensor 24 ... External information input / output device 25 ... Map data input Device 26 display device 27 audio output device 28 external memory 29 control circuit 50 area map data 60 drawing range 100 map data

Claims (11)

The map data is obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of regions by dividing lines and combining region map data which is map data for each of the divided regions,
Map data, wherein, for all intersections of the division lines, the area is divided so that a maximum of three division lines are drawn from each intersection. The map data is obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of regions by dividing lines and combining region map data which is map data for each of the divided regions,
Map data, wherein the dividing lines cross in a T-shape. The map data is obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of regions by dividing lines and combining region map data which is map data for each of the divided regions,
Map data, wherein the map is divided into brick areas. The map data is obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of regions by dividing lines and combining region map data which is map data for each of the divided regions,
When dividing in the vertical direction by a dividing line with a predetermined interval y1 and dividing in the horizontal direction by a dividing line with a predetermined interval x1, when dividing in the horizontal direction, the start position of the horizontal division in the adjacent vertical region Is divided so as to be shifted by x1 / 2. In the map data according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The map data is characterized in that the map data includes at least one of data on roads included in the map and image data of the map. A map data storage device for storing the map data according to claim 1. A map data utilization device using the map data according to claim 1. A map data utilization device using the map data according to claim 4,
A map data utilization device, wherein a vertical width of a reading range to be read to use map data is smaller than y1 / 2 and a horizontal width is smaller than x1 / 2. 9. The map data utilizing device according to claim 7, further comprising a map data storage device for storing the map data, wherein the map data utilization device uses the map data stored in the map data storage device. . 10. The map data utilizing device according to claim 7, wherein a navigation function is realized by using said map data. A program for causing a computer to realize the function as the map data utilization device according to claim 7.

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