JP2005276070A - Vehicle path verification system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To compare road traffic statuses of paths in real time or after simulation driving which can be performed at once and simultaneously on multiple paths by collecting and analyzing vehicle driving data, obtained through communications with each vehicle, including a path on which a user's vehicle is not actually running and also including paths which are not supported by a traffic information center. <P>SOLUTION: When a verification request for a verification path is accepted, by using a targeted vehicle selecting means and a targeted vehicle tracing means, along the verification path, selecting and tracing the targeted vehicle is performed from the starting point.When the targeted vehicle deviates from the verification path, tracing is continued by selecting the next targeted vehicle from the deviated point, and simulation running is carried out to a destination by repeating the process above. Thus arrival report at the destination is output, and data of each path is collected. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle route verification system capable of verifying a route by issuing a predetermined request to an information providing center from a car navigation system or the like mounted on the vehicle.

  In general, there are many road routes (hereinafter referred to as routes) that the user follows while driving the vehicle and traveling from the starting point to the destination. In the search function, a function having a function of calculating a plurality of candidate routes and allowing the user to select a travel route from the candidate routes (hereinafter, this function is referred to as a multiple route search function) has been developed.

  The calculation method of the candidate route has a priority condition that the estimated required time to the destination is shortened, a priority condition that the distance to the destination is shortened, and a specific type of road to drive Several methods can be considered, such as making it a priority condition to limit to types (for example, calculating routes only on general roads other than toll roads), so that the user can select those conditions There are many.

In the route search function, in order to optimize the estimated required time, the degree of traffic congestion provided by the traffic information center from time to time separately from the estimated required time for each road section stored in the map data Based on the traffic information (VICS information) of the vehicle, it is devised to calculate the estimated required time according to the actual road traffic situation, or it is assumed by using the statistical data originally created by accumulating and analyzing past traffic information Some efforts have been made to improve the accuracy of the time required. In addition, since the VICS information provided from the traffic information center is limited to a specific road, in order to solve the problem that the traffic situation of an unsupported road cannot be known, for example, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used. As described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3, there is a mechanism for acquiring a travel record of a host vehicle without acquiring traffic information from outside and creating and storing traffic information on its own. In addition, a mechanism for creating traffic information based on position information obtained from a GPS receiver attached to each vehicle is devised without relying on a traffic volume sensing device installed on the road as used for VICS information creation. ing.
JP-A-6-150189 JP 2000-357289 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-340484

  When the user wants to select a route with the shortest required time from among a plurality of routes presented by the multiple route search function of the car navigation system and determine the travel route, Traffic information provided from the traffic information center is limited to some roads. (2) Even if the technology described in Patent Document 1 is used, information is obtained unless the vehicle has actually traveled in the past. (3) Even if the techniques described in Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3 are used, roads where information can be created using the method for obtaining an average traffic volume are limited to main roads. Elapsed time In some cases, the calculation time for each route may be different from the actual situation because the road conditions in the direction of the route cannot be foreseen. It has become.

  Furthermore, since the user has no way of knowing what kind of result has occurred when driving on another route that was not selected, the route selected from the plurality of candidate routes is Whether it was really optimal cannot be verified in real time or after the fact, and objective evaluation of the multi-path search function cannot be performed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a car navigation system that is mounted on each vehicle even if the target route includes a road that is not supported by the traffic information center and is not a route on which the host vehicle actually travels. By collecting and analyzing vehicle travel data obtained through communication with multiple vehicles, it is possible to carry out simulated travel at the same time for multiple routes, and for multiple routes in real time or after the fact. The purpose is to be able to compare the road traffic situation of the.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention selects and tracks a target vehicle from a departure point along a verification path using a target vehicle selection means and a target vehicle tracking means when a verification request for the verification path is received. When the target vehicle deviates from the verification route, the next target vehicle is selected and tracked from that position, and this is repeated until reaching the destination, thereby reaching the destination. Sometimes, the arrival report is output or the data for each route is obtained. The target vehicle selection means selects a vehicle that travels from the vicinity of the specified point in the direction toward the destination along the verification route as the target vehicle, and the target vehicle tracking means determines that the selected target vehicle deviates from the verification route. Or the target vehicle is traced until the destination is reached.

  The target vehicle selection may be performed by selecting a vehicle that conforms to a preset target vehicle selection condition from among a plurality of vehicles traveling in the direction toward the destination along the verification route from the vicinity of the designated point. When a verification request for a plurality of verification routes from the departure place to the destination is received, the simulated traveling is performed on the plurality of verification routes in parallel.

  Furthermore, the storage means for storing the passing time and / or the traveling distance for each target vehicle obtained as a result of the simulated traveling for each verification route in each travel section, and the route comparison designating the travel section Means for accepting an information request, and means for retrieving and outputting information stored for each verification route of the designated travel section with reference to the storage means when the route comparison information request is accepted Good. The storage unit that stores information for each target vehicle stores information obtained by simulated driving for each verification route of each travel section and for each predetermined time zone. Further, the output means graphs and displays the accumulated transit time and accumulated mileage for each of the plurality of verification routes using data stored for each verification route of the designated travel section, or The graph shows the total transit time and total travel distance for each of the plurality of verification routes according to the date and time when the simulated travel is performed using the data stored for each verification route of the specified travel section. Is.

  According to the present invention, a road that is not supported by the traffic information center is included in the target route, and even if the vehicle is not a route actually traveled (or a route selected to travel). ), Traveling data can be collected as simulated driving. In particular, it is possible to carry out simulated travel for multiple routes at the same time and simultaneously, and when combined with the multiple route search function of the car navigation system, the route that was not selected by the user can be used under almost the same conditions. It becomes possible to know the road traffic situation such as actually measured transit time in real time. In addition, by recording the traffic information of each route (including routes that did not actually travel) when the user himself / herself conducted a multiple route search in the past, In the past, the same time zone, the same departure place, the same destination (for example, when there is a user's own main travel section, such as from home to work, from the company to the customer, etc.) If there is traffic information data recorded in the combination of the above, it can be used as a judgment material for determining the travel route with reference to them, and useful information can be provided to the user.

  Furthermore, it can be used in a wide range of applications, such as evaluating the accuracy of the multi-path search function of each manufacturer's car navigation system and developing a realistic simulation game.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, the principle of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 by taking a simple case as an example.

  In FIG. 1, reference numerals 111 to 115 denote user vehicles registered in the present system (hereinafter referred to as registered vehicles). These registered vehicles are equipped with a car navigation system. Reference numeral 101 denotes an information providing center that distributes information to users registered in this system. The car navigation system of each registered vehicle has a GPS (Global Positioning System: a system for specifying a position on the earth using an artificial satellite) positioning function. Each car navigation system and the information providing center can communicate with each other via various communication networks such as a mobile phone network.

  In FIG. 1, it is assumed that a certain user performs a plurality of route searches with a departure point as A point and a destination as E point. At that time, the route presented by the car navigation system is (1) A → C → E, (2) A → C → D → E, (3) A → E, (4) A → B → D → E. It is assumed that there are four ways. The user selects and travels the route (1) which is the shortest route among these routes, but the other routes (2) to (4) which are not selected (hereinafter referred to as “non-selected routes”). ) And you want to know what was happening when you were driving. Therefore, it is assumed that the car navigation system is requested to verify the routes (1) to (4) including the non-selected route. Then, verification requests for routes (1) to (4) are sent from the car navigation system to the information providing center 101.

  The information providing center 101 that has received the route verification request, for each route for which the verification request has been made (hereinafter referred to as the verification route), performs GPS positioning of all user vehicles (registered vehicles) registered in the information providing center 101. By referring to the information, a registered vehicle that travels on the verification route in real time is continuously selected from the travel history, and the vehicle (hereinafter, this vehicle is referred to as “target vehicle”) is tracked. In this method, a point on the verification route where tracking is to be started (hereinafter, this point is referred to as a “tracking start point”, which is a point designated by the requesting user as a starting point at first) at approximately the same time. Of vehicles traveling along the verification route, a vehicle that matches the conditions specified by the requesting user (if there are a plurality of candidate vehicles, one vehicle is determined according to the requesting user's condition priority). And track until the target vehicle deviates from the verification route (see FIG. 2) or reaches the destination. When it is determined that the target vehicle has deviated from the verification route, as shown in FIG. 2, the point on the route that has passed immediately before deviating is set as the next tracking start point, and a new target vehicle is found and tracked again. To start. For example, when the route (2) (A → C → D → E) in FIG. 1 is verified, the requesting user vehicle overlaps with the travel route (1) (A → C → E) of the requesting user vehicle up to the point C. When the vehicle is tracked as the target vehicle and the requested user vehicle deviates from the verification route (2) at the point C, the target vehicle is located in the vicinity of the point C and is another suitable registered vehicle that is running toward the point D. Thereafter, the replacement is sequentially performed every time the target vehicle deviates from the route (2). The tracking ends after the target vehicle finally reaches point E.

  By repeating such pickup and tracking of the target vehicle, the target vehicles are sequentially connected at the elapsed time level while interposing replacement of a plurality of target vehicles on the verification route. It can be seen as the same state. However, in this example, since the route (1) corresponds to the actual travel route of the requesting user vehicle, when the requesting user vehicle travels on the route (1) as scheduled, between the departure point and the destination, The requesting user vehicle becomes the target vehicle and is tracked.

  By taking the above-described method, when there is a request for verification of a plurality of routes from the user when searching for a plurality of routes, the information providing center 101 performs a simulated traveling for each route, and tentatively selects a non-selected route. In this case, it is possible to obtain information such as the actually measured passing time and the actually measured passing distance under substantially the same conditions.

  Information collected on the information providing center 101 side is provided as appropriate according to the user's request. For example, in each of the routes (1) to (4) in FIG. 1, if the target vehicle arrives at the point E and is set to report to the car navigation system of the requesting user vehicle, the requesting user The difference in required time between routes can be immediately known by the timing of receiving the report. In addition, when the information providing center 101 collects and stores the information caught during the route tracking to the destination, when a plurality of routes are searched for the same time zone, the same departure location, and the same destination from the next time onward. It is possible to provide useful information such as required time comparison and required distance comparison.

  Note that on the side of sending a request for providing information to the information providing center 101, it is not necessary to limit the timing of sending the request when searching for a plurality of routes, and there is a route on which the requesting user actually travels among the plurality of routes to be verified. It does not have to be included. Therefore, the requesting user can verify the route from the departure point to the destination, which is completely different from the current location, and can be an application having an equivalent multiple route search function and map data in addition to the car navigation system. For example, it is possible to send a request to the information providing center 101 and receive information distribution.

  In order to realize the operation as described above, an outline of functions provided on the information providing center 101 side and the car navigation system side of each registered vehicle 111 to 115 in the system of the present embodiment will be described.

  On the information providing center 101 side, a communication unit that performs communication over a wide area network and an event processing unit that receives requests from the car navigation system and requests for various internal processes are prepared. In addition, as a function of creating information to be provided to the user, a multi-path verification unit that summarizes the user's multi-path verification request, a verification route simulation traveling unit that manages replacement of the target vehicle for each verification route, Find a target vehicle candidate vehicle (candidate vehicle) and determine a target vehicle from among them, a target vehicle tracking unit that tracks the target vehicle, a passing time measurement unit that detects a passing time, A passing distance measuring unit for detecting the passing distance is prepared. In addition, as an external storage device, a user information DB (database) for managing user information and data to be provided to the user, a map information DB for storing map data used for confirming the position of the registered vehicle on the map, A vehicle position record DB that periodically records registered vehicle positions is prepared.

  On the car navigation system side, a mobile phone unit and a communication unit for performing communication via a communication line, an operation button group for inputting a user request, a request from the operation button group, a request to an information providing center, information provision An event processing unit that accepts requests from the center, requests for various internal processes, and reports from various sensors, various sensors that acquire host vehicle information, a route search processing unit that can search for multiple routes, and a visual display A display processing unit for providing information is prepared. As an external storage device, various DBs for storing map data necessary for route search and road network data are prepared.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the system of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the system of this embodiment includes a car navigation system 301 mounted on a registered vehicle and an information providing center 311 that distributes information to the car navigation system 301 in response to a request from a user.

  Here, the car navigation system 301 is connected to the mobile phone 302 and is connected to the wide area network 310 from the mobile phone 302 via the radio base station 307, the public network 308, and the exchange 309. Therefore, the car navigation system 301 can similarly communicate with the information providing center 311 connected to the wide area network 310. The car navigation system 301 includes various sensors mounted on a vehicle such as a GPS receiver 303, a vehicle speed sensor 304, a gyro (direction sensor) 305, and a VICS receiver (acquisition of traffic information from the traffic information center) 306. It is configured to be connectable with.

  FIG. 4 is a hardware configuration diagram of the car navigation system 301. As shown in the figure, the car navigation system 301 includes a CPU 401, a RAM 402 that functions as a work area of the CPU 401, a flash ROM 403 that stores various programs for realizing functions that the car navigation system 301 should provide to the user, An external storage device 410 that records various data such as map data, road network data, and traffic information data, an external storage device interface (IF) unit 404 for connecting the external storage device 410, a GPS receiver 303, a vehicle speed A sensor IF unit 405 for connecting various sensors such as the sensor 304, the gyro 305, and the VICS receiver 306, a mobile phone IF unit 406 for connecting the mobile phone 302, an operation button group 407, and a display 408 These parts 4 Having from 1 to 408 and a bus 409 for interconnecting.

  FIG. 5 is a functional configuration diagram of the car navigation system 301 realized by the hardware configuration of FIG. The communication unit 501 controls the mobile phone 302 according to a request from the event processing unit 502 and performs communication with the information providing center 311. The event processing unit 502 requests the display processing unit 503 to generate a screen or requests the route search processing unit 504 to search for a route according to the request content from inside the operation button group or the like and from the outside such as the information providing center. Or requesting the information providing center 311 to verify the route, or requesting the information providing center 311 to provide route comparison information using verification data recorded in the past. In addition, the event processing unit 502 determines whether the own vehicle position information or traffic information change report received from various sensors such as the GPS receiver 303, the vehicle speed sensor 304, the gyro 305, and the VICS receiver 306. The position information is transmitted to the information providing center 311 and the traffic information is recorded in the traffic information DB 507. The display processing unit 503 generates a screen using the route information provided from the route search unit processing unit 504, the map data read from the map information DB 505, and the like according to the request content from the event processing unit 502, and displays the display 408. To display.

  In response to a request from the event processing unit 502, the route search processing unit 504 determines the destination from the own vehicle position measured by various sensors such as the GPS receiver 303, the vehicle speed sensor 304, and the gyro 305, or the departure point input by the user. Search for multiple recommended routes. The method refers to the map data stored in the map information DB 505, the road network data stored in the road network information DB 506, and the traffic information stored in the traffic information DB 507. Based on this, a plurality of candidate routes are calculated. The obtained route information is stored in an appropriate file, used for guidance of a route selected by the user, or transmitted when a route verification request is made to the information providing center 311.

  FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of the information providing center 311. As shown in the figure, the information providing center 311 includes a CPU 601, a memory 602, an external storage device 603 such as a hard disk device, a communication device 604 that communicates with the car navigation system via the wide area network 310, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The computer system has a basic configuration including an input device 605, an output device 606 such as a monitor, and a bus 607 for interconnecting these units 601 to 606. The information providing center 311 can also be constructed on a distributed network system configured by arranging a plurality of such computer systems and interconnecting each computer system via a network interface.

  FIG. 7 is a functional configuration diagram of the information providing center 311 realized by the hardware configuration of FIG. The communication unit 710 communicates with the car navigation system 301 via the wide area network 310 in accordance with requests from the car navigation system 301 and the event processing unit 701. The event processing unit 701 sends instructions to the various processing units (703 to 709) in the providing unit 702, and conversely receives requests from the various processing units in the providing unit 702. Various processing units in the providing unit 702 generate various information to be provided to the car navigation system 301.

  A process performed between the event processing unit 701 and the providing unit 702 and various processes performed in the providing unit 702 will be described. When the multi-path verification unit 703 is requested by the event processing unit 701 to verify a plurality of paths when searching for a plurality of paths, the verification path for each verification path is tracked in real time using another vehicle for each verification path. A request is sent to the simulated traveling unit 704. The verification route simulation traveling unit 704 narrows down candidate vehicles that travel along the verification route at approximately the same time near the tracking start point on the requested verification route, and meets the priority condition specified by the requesting user among the candidate vehicles. In order to determine a target vehicle as a target vehicle, a request is sent to the target vehicle selection unit 705, and the target vehicle tracking unit 706 is tracked until the target vehicle deviates from the verification route or arrives at the destination. Send a request. Until the target vehicle arrives at the destination, every time the vehicle deviates from the route, the selection of the target vehicle → the tracking process is repeated. The target vehicle selection unit 705 and the target vehicle tracking unit 706 use the map data stored in the map information DB 712 and the latest vehicle position information GPS-measured recorded in the vehicle position record DB 713 to determine the target vehicle. Perform election and tracking processes. In addition, the verification route simulation traveling unit 704, when the target vehicle reaches the destination as a result of the simulated traveling, and when the target vehicle is not captured at any point on the route and cannot be verified. A report to that effect is sent to the requesting user. Further, the travel history of the target vehicle tracked until the end of the simulated travel is recorded in the user information DB 711. When the route comparison information extraction unit 707 is requested by the event processing unit 701 for the past route comparison information, the route comparison information extraction unit 707 requests the route comparison information according to the request contents based on the user-specific data stored in the user information DB 711. Send to. The passing time measuring unit 708 obtains a passing time at a predetermined measurement position when the target vehicle is traveling along the verification route. The passing distance measuring unit 709 obtains a traveling distance when the target vehicle is traveling along the verification route.

  Each of the function units 703 to 709 on the information providing center side described above is called by the event processing unit 701 or is called between the functions and plays a role.

  Here, various files stored in the user information DB 711 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a configuration example of a setting information file for each user recorded and stored in the user information DB 711. User numbers (801) are sequentially assigned to registered users, and a user information field (802) is prepared. In the user information field (802), attributes of the user and the user vehicle, conditions for selecting the target vehicle, and the like are registered as user information.

  FIG. 9 shows a configuration example of a path management file recorded / stored in the user information DB 711, which is prepared for each user. The travel section data (902) is registered for each travel section number (901), and the route data (904) is registered for each travel section (903) in each travel section. Here, the travel section is a pair from the departure place to the destination, and the pattern of the journey that follows the travel section is called a route. The time zone (905) is a range obtained by dividing 24 hours a day simply or by some meaningful method (for example, morning commuting time zone, daytime, evening commuting time zone, nighttime, etc.). Then, if the vehicle travels or simulates traveling in a certain time zone of a certain travel section, a region reserved for registering sample data such as the measured passing distance and passing time (explained next) The address to the sample data storage file configuration example (sample data column in FIG. 10) is recorded in the address (907) to the sample data. Also, the latest number of sample data is recorded in the number of samples (906).

  FIG. 10 shows a configuration example of an actual sample data storage file. In the sample data storage file, a sample information field (1001) and a target vehicle information field (1002) are prepared. The sample information (1001) includes the date and time when route verification was started, the number of target vehicles required for simulated driving (for example, 1 in the case of the own vehicle driving route), the total transit time from the departure point to the destination, and the total driving number Record the distance. In the target vehicle field (1002), the vehicle ID, the actually measured passing time, and the actually measured travel distance are recorded for each target vehicle.

  Next, the event processing function on the car navigation system side and the information providing center side will be described, and then the process of calling each function unit on the information providing center side shown in FIG. 7 and the details of the processing will be described.

  FIG. 11A shows events that occur on the car navigation side and the information provision center side, and the processing flow thereof. FIG. 11B shows an input (INPUT) and an output (OUTPUT) for each event. As shown in FIG. 11, all requests and state change reports received by the event processing units on the car navigation system side and the information providing center side are all assigned event numbers for each event type, and are distributed to the corresponding processes. Hereinafter, in accordance with the flow of events shown in FIG. 11 and with reference to FIGS. 12 to 16 for processing in each event, the information is provided from the information providing center after the user sends a request from the car navigation system side. The process development according to the event type in the flow until receiving the message and the process of each functional unit performed in the providing unit 702 on the information providing center side will be described.

  In FIG. 11A, first, when a user requests verification of a plurality of routes from the operation button group when searching for a plurality of routes, a multiple route verification request event (1101) is issued after the travel route is determined, and the event processing unit displays the information providing center. A multi-path verification request is transmitted to the side (1111). When the information providing center receives the request, a multi-path verification event (1106) is issued, and the event processing unit starts the multi-path verification process (1161).

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the multi-path verification process (1161). At the start of processing, the event processing unit receives the user number that sent the request, travel segment data indicating the departure and destination points, and route data for each verification route. First, the travel section data received (902) is compared with the travel section data (902) already registered in the user's route management file (FIG. 9) in the user information DB (1201). Here, as for the comparison method of whether or not the travel section is equivalent to the one already registered, it is determined that the departure point and the destination are the same even if the departure point and the destination are strictly different from the previous ones (for example, If the error distance is within a few meters, etc.), it may be determined as an equivalent travel section. If it is determined that the route management file does not include an equivalent travel section, a travel section number (901) and a route number (903) are allocated (1202), and a new travel section field is secured. The travel section data (902) and route data (904) are registered for each route (1203), and the process proceeds to step 1211.

  When it is determined that the route management file includes an equivalent travel segment, the travel segment number 901 is acquired (1204), the verification target route number 1 is sequentially ordered (1205), and the verification target route received The data is compared with the route data already registered in the route management file (1206). The comparison method is the same as in the travel section. When it is determined that the route management file does not include an equivalent route, a route number (903) is newly allocated to the enforcement section number (901) of the route management file (1207), and route data (904) ) Only (1208). Next, the verification target route number is incremented by 1 (1209), and it is determined whether the verification target route number is still smaller than the number of verification target routes (1210). When it is smaller, the processing from step 1206 is continued for the next verification target route. When the verification target route number reaches the number of verification target routes, it means that the processing of steps 1206 to 1207 has been completed for all the verification target routes, and the process proceeds to step 1211.

  Next, the verification route simulation travel event (1107) is issued in order from the verification target route number 1 (1211) (1212). Thereafter, the verification target route number is incremented by 1 (1213), and it is determined whether the verification target route number is smaller than the number of verification target routes (1214). When it is smaller, the processing from step 1212 is continued for the next verification target route. When the verification target route number reaches the number of verification target routes, the processing is terminated. As described above, the verification path simulation running process is started independently for each verification path for each of the plurality of path verification processes, and these processes run in parallel.

  Returning to FIG. 11A, when a verification route simulation traveling event (1107) for each verification route is issued by the multiple route verification processing (1161), the verification route simulation traveling processing (1171) is executed correspondingly. The

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart of the verification route simulation travel processing (1171). At the start of processing, the user number that sent the request, the travel section number of the verification route, and the route number are received from the multiple route verification processing. First, the measurement start date and time is measured at the start of simulated running (1301). Next, the initial value of the tracking start point is set as the departure point (1302), the tracking start point is delivered to the target vehicle selection process (described later in FIG. 14), and the target vehicle is selected (1303). When the target vehicle is found (1304), it is tracked by the target vehicle tracking process (described later in FIG. 15) (1305). If the target vehicle is not found (1304), the tracking is stopped and a route verification impossible report is transmitted to the car navigation system side (1310). In the target vehicle tracking process (1305), when the target vehicle reaches the destination, the destination arrival signal is signaled and the process is exited. When the target vehicle deviates from the route, the next tracking start point is indicated and the process is exited. . If the destination has not been reached (1306), the process returns to the target vehicle selection process (1303) again, so that the target vehicle is not changed until a signal for reaching the destination is given or until the target vehicle cannot be found. Tracking will be performed while switching. After the completion of tracking, when the simulated driving reaches the destination (1306), the number of target vehicles required to reach the destination, the total passage time, the total passage distance, the vehicle ID of each target vehicle, the actual passage time, the actual passage The distance and the like are registered as sample data in the sample data storage file (FIG. 10) in the user information DB (1307), and the address to the sample data and the latest number of samples are stored in the path management file (FIG. 9). (1308). Finally, the destination arrival report is transmitted to the car navigation system side (1309).

  Further, the target vehicle selection process (1303) and the target vehicle tracking process (1305) will be described in detail.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart of the target vehicle selection process (1303). At the start of processing, the user number that sent the request, the travel section number indicating the verification route and the route number, and the tracking start point of the target vehicle are received from the verification route simulation travel processing. When candidate vehicles existing within the target vehicle selection range are selected by the candidate vehicle selection process (1401) and one or more candidate vehicles are selected (1402), the setting information file of the requesting user (FIG. 8) is selected. ) Is determined according to the prioritized conditions (usually the vehicle closest to the tracking start point is selected) (1403), and the target vehicle ID is reported to the verification route simulation running process, End the process. If no candidate vehicle is selected (1402), the candidate vehicle selection process is continued during the waiting time (1404) set in the user information, and the candidate vehicle is not selected even after the waiting time. In this case, the fact is reported to the verification route simulation running process, and the process is terminated. In addition to the basic conditions such as the selection radius distance and the selection waiting time, the target vehicle selection conditions set in the user information are linked to vehicle attributes (for example, passenger vehicles or business vehicles) and vehicles. Considered driver attributes (for example, driver's age, gender, driving history, etc.).

  Here, the candidate vehicle selection process (1401) will be described in detail. First, the latest registered vehicle position information stored in the vehicle position record DB is compared with the map information, and a registered vehicle (hereinafter referred to as “search target vehicle”) that runs near the tracking start point received from the target vehicle selection process. Is selected (1405). For each selected search target vehicle, the vehicle position exists within the target vehicle selection range set in the user information of the requesting user (1407), and the vehicle direction is in the forward direction along the route. (1408) The vehicle is determined as a candidate vehicle (1409), and the number of candidate vehicles is counted (1410). After determining all the search target vehicles (1412), the number of selected candidate vehicles and individual candidate vehicle IDs are reported to the target vehicle selection process, and the process is terminated.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart of the target vehicle tracking process (1305). At the start of the process, the user number that sent the request, the travel section number indicating the verification route and the route number, and the target vehicle ID are received from the verification route simulation running process. First, the measured passage time and the measured passage distance are initialized (1501). Next, the current location of the target vehicle is acquired periodically (for example, every second) by communication with the vehicle (1502), and it is determined whether the vehicle has deviated from the verification route (1503). If not deviated, continue monitoring. If there is a deviation, after confirming the actual measured passage time and measured distance (1504), it is determined whether the deviation of the route is the result of reaching the destination (1505), and the destination is reached. If so, the arrival at the destination is reported to the verification route simulation traveling process, and the measured passing time and the measured passing distance are notified. If the destination has not been reached, the intersection on the verification route that is closest to the vehicle position until the departure is set as the next tracking start point (1506), and the next tracking start point and the actual measurement pass in the verification route simulation driving process. Notify time and measured passing distance.

  In response to the above series of processing from target vehicle selection to tracking, either the destination arrival report or the route verification impossible report is transmitted to the car navigation system side. In the verification route simulation travel event (1107) of FIG. 11A, 1172 is the destination arrival report transmission issued in step 1309 of FIG. 13, and 1173 is the route verification impossible report transmission issued in step 1310. is there. When these reports are transmitted, the event processing unit on the car navigation system side receives the destination arrival reception event (1102) or the route verification impossible reception event (1103). When the destination arrival reception event (1102) is received, the destination arrival indication (1121) as the received content is displayed on the display. When the route verification disabled reception event (1103) is received, the route verification disabled display (1131) which is the received content is displayed on the display.

  Next, when the user requests past route comparison information using the operation button group, a route comparison information request event (1104) is issued, and the event processing unit transmits a route comparison information request to the information providing center side (1141). When the information providing center receives the request, a route comparison information extraction event (1108) is issued, and the event processing unit starts the route comparison information extraction processing (1181).

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart of the route comparison information extraction process (1181). At the start of processing, the user number, travel section data, time zone, and extracted information type that sent the request are received from the event processing unit. First, the requested travel segment data is compared with the travel segment data already registered in the route management file (FIG. 9) in the user information DB (1601). The navigation system side is notified (1602), and the process is terminated. If the corresponding data exists, each information extraction process is performed according to the type of requested comparison information. For example, when it is requested to extract route comparison information at the time of verifying multiple routes in the previous equivalent travel section (1603), the measured travel distance and the measured transit time for each previous route are stored in the sample data storage file in the user information DB. The data is acquired from the corresponding part (FIG. 10), subjected to cumulative calculation, and set as transmission data (1604). Further, for example, when it is requested to extract time comparison information when searching for a plurality of routes in the past equivalent travel section (1605), the actual route passing time for each measurement date is shown as a sample data storage file in the user information DB ( The data is acquired from the corresponding part in FIG. 10), and the average value is calculated and set in the transmission data (1606). Finally, the extracted transmission data is transmitted to the car navigation system side (1607), and the process ends.

  1182 in the route comparison information extraction event (1108) of FIG. 11A corresponds to the route comparison information transmission in step 1607. In response to this transmission, the event processing unit on the car navigation system side receives the route comparison information reception event (1105). Then, the route comparison information as the received contents is displayed on the display (1151). For example, when the sample data of FIG. 10 is displayed on the display in the form of a graph, the previous route comparison information is as shown in FIG. 17, and the required time comparison information so far is as shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 17, the passage of time with respect to the travel distance for each route can be seen at a glance. For example, route 4 (Route 4) had a bad road flow until about 5 minutes after the start of travel, but then it was smooth. The route 5 (Route 5) was flowing smoothly after the start of running, but it can be read that the latter half was worse. It can also be seen that route 1 (Route 1) and route 4 (Route 4) take the same 34 minutes from the departure point to the destination, but route 4 requires less travel distance. Therefore, if it is assumed that the road condition is the same as the previous sample measurement date, it can be determined that route 4 (Route 4) is the most dominant overall.

  In FIG. 18, the difference in transit time for each sample measurement date can be seen at a glance. For example, on the day of January 18, route 1 (Route1) and route 4 (Route4) arrive at their destination earlier than usual. However, it can be seen that route 2 (Route 2), route 3 (Route 3), and route 5 (Route 5) arrived later than usual. In addition, it is determined that the travel route should be selected from at least route 1 (Route1), route 3 (Route3), and route 4 (Route4) from the average value of past transit times. It can be determined that it is better to select route 4 with little variation.

Schematic diagram of the situation where one implementation means of the present invention is applied The figure explaining the situation where the next target vehicle is searched and searched when the current target vehicle deviates from the route Schematic diagram of a system to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied Hardware configuration diagram of car navigation system Functional configuration diagram of car navigation system Hardware configuration diagram of the information provision center Functional configuration diagram of the information provision center User configuration information file configuration diagram Route management file configuration diagram Sample data storage file configuration diagram List of events accepted by car navigation system and information center Multi-path verification process flowchart Flow chart of verification route simulation travel processing Target vehicle selection process flowchart Target vehicle tracking process flowchart Flow chart of route comparison information extraction processing Screen of route comparison information displayed on the display in the form of a graph (part 1) Screen when path comparison information is displayed in the form of a graph (part 2)

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Information provision center, 111-115 ... Registration vehicle, 301 ... Car navigation system, 302 ... Mobile phone, 303 ... GPS receiver, 304 ... Vehicle speed sensor, 305 ... Gyro, 306 ... VICS receiver, 307 ... Wireless base station 308, public network, 309, exchange, 310, wide area network, 311, information providing center.

Claims (7)

A vehicle route verification system for obtaining information on road traffic conditions,
Means for accepting a verification route from a departure point to a destination to be verified, and a verification request for the verification route;
Means for receiving real-time position information of the running vehicle;
Target vehicle selection means for selecting a vehicle that travels in a direction from the vicinity of the specified point along the verification route toward the destination as a target vehicle;
Target vehicle tracking means for tracking the selected target vehicle until the selected target vehicle deviates from the verification route or reaches the destination;
Using the target vehicle selection means and the target vehicle tracking means, the target vehicle is selected and tracked from the departure place along the verification route, and when the target vehicle deviates from the verification route, Means for selecting and tracking the next target vehicle and repeating this until reaching the destination,
A vehicle route verification system, comprising: means for outputting an arrival report when the destination is reached by the simulated traveling. A vehicle route verification system for obtaining information on road traffic conditions,
Means for accepting a verification route from a departure point to a destination to be verified, and a verification request for the verification route;
Means for receiving real-time location information of the running vehicle;
Target vehicle selection means for selecting a vehicle that travels in a direction from the vicinity of the specified point along the verification route toward the destination as a target vehicle;
The target vehicle that tracks the target vehicle until the selected target vehicle deviates from the verification route or reaches the destination, and obtains a passing time and / or a passing distance from the tracking start point to the tracking end point. Tracking means;
Using the target vehicle selection means and the target vehicle tracking means, the target vehicle is selected and tracked from the departure place along the verification route, and when the target vehicle deviates from the verification route, Means for selecting and tracking the next target vehicle and repeating this until reaching the destination,
When the vehicle reaches the destination by the simulated driving, the vehicle temporarily travels on the verification route based on the passing time and / or the passing distance acquired for each target vehicle from the starting point of the verification route to the destination. Means for obtaining a total transit time and / or a total travel distance in a case where the vehicle has been operated. The vehicle route verification system according to claim 1 or 2,
The target vehicle selection means selects a vehicle that conforms to a preset target vehicle selection condition from a plurality of vehicles that travel in the direction toward the destination along the verification route from the vicinity of a specified point. Vehicle route verification system. In the vehicle route verification system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When the means for receiving the verification request receives verification requests for a plurality of verification routes from the departure place to the destination, performing the simulated traveling in parallel with the plurality of verification routes. A vehicle route verification system that is characterized. In the vehicle route verification system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Storage means for storing the transit time and / or travel distance for each target vehicle obtained as a result of the simulated travel for each verification route of each travel section;
Means for receiving a route comparison information request specifying a travel section;
Vehicle further comprising means for retrieving and outputting stored information regarding each verification route of the designated travel section with reference to the storage means when receiving the route comparison information request Path verification system. The vehicle route verification system according to claim 5,
The storage means for storing information for each target vehicle stores information obtained by simulated driving for each verification route of each travel section and for each predetermined time zone. A vehicle route verification system that is characterized. The vehicle route verification system according to claim 5 or 6,
The outputting means graphs and outputs the accumulated transit time and accumulated mileage for each of the plurality of verification routes using data stored for each verification route of the designated travel section, or A graph that displays the total transit time and total travel distance for each of multiple verification routes according to the date and time of simulated travel using data stored for each verification route in the specified travel section. A vehicle route verification system characterized by being.

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