JP2006098094A - Navigation device, navigation method and navigation program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device executing differential updation, and high-speed reference of map data. <P>SOLUTION: A map data storage part has a basic map data storage part and an intermediate form data storage part. A map data management part is equipped with: a display range selection part for selecting a display range of the map data; an intermediate form data existence determination part for determining whether the intermediate form data exist in the display range; an intermediate form data conversion/storage part for converting the basic map data into the intermediate form data when the intermediate form data do not exist and storing the data in the intermediate form data storage part; an intermediate form data acquisition part for acquiring the intermediate form data corresponding to the display range; an external data acquisition part for acquiring the map data provided from an external medium; a data comparison part for comparing the map data stored already in the map data storage part with the newly acquired map data; and a differential data acquisition/storage part for acquiring differential data acquired by the data comparison part and overwriting and preserving the data in the map data storage part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention has been modified, for example, in a navigation device that guides and guides a moving route of a moving body, while speeding up reference to map data and updating data in units of meshes used as intermediate format data. The present invention relates to a navigation technology, that is, a navigation apparatus, a method, and a navigation program, which are improved so as to be able to cope with supply of map data of only a part.

  In recent years, with the generalization of automobiles and the development of information processing technology, navigation devices represented by in-vehicle use are rapidly spreading. This navigation device uses the road map data stored in a DVD, HDD, etc. to detect the current position (latitude, longitude, etc.) of the vehicle that is sequentially detected by a geomagnetic sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a GPS sensor, etc. In addition to displaying above, based on the route data included in the road map data, it calculates the optimal guidance route from the current position to the specified destination, and guides it with specific display or voice synthesis. is there.

  Such a navigation device is generally configured as shown in FIG. 6, and includes other navigation methods that measure the vehicle position by a GPS receiver and autonomous vehicles that calculate the vehicle position based on detection values of various sensors. By combining with navigation, map matching on the map is developed to display the vehicle position.

  That is, the absolute position / orientation detection unit 1 calculates the absolute position coordinates and direction on the ground surface with respect to the current position of the automobile (referred to as the own vehicle) on which the navigation device is mounted, that is, the own vehicle position. For example, it is a part for receiving GPS radio waves transmitted from GPS satellites with an antenna or a receiver. The relative azimuth detection unit 2 is a part for detecting the relative azimuth of the host vehicle using a gyroscope or the like. The vehicle speed detector 3 is a part that calculates the speed of the host vehicle by processing vehicle speed pulses obtained from the automobile.

  The main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 are parts that serve as a control circuit that controls the entire navigation device. The memory group M is various memories necessary for the operation of the navigation apparatus. For example, the ROM 5 for storing programs is accessed by the main CPU when the apparatus is activated. A main program is loaded into a dynamic RAM (DRAM) 6 that provides a work area and the like.

  An SRAM (static RAM) 7 is a storage means for acquiring and storing various settings such as the current position, destination, route, and information included in the road map data, and a display VRAM (video RAM) 8. Is means for storing bitmap data of an image to be displayed on the display unit 10.

  The display unit 10 is a part that displays various types of information such as a map, an operation menu, a search list, and point information on a liquid crystal display screen (not shown). The voice output means can be used together with the guidance by the synthesized voice. The input unit 11 is a part for a user to input information such as a command from a switch, and the user interface unit 9 uses an I / O control circuit, a device driver, or the like to display the display unit 10 and the input unit. 11 and a user interface that connects the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4.

  The HDD control unit 12 is means for reading various data such as a navigation program recorded in a hard disk (mass storage device) from a database. The FM multiplex reception and processing unit 13 is a part that receives FM broadcast waves and extracts desired data such as VICS service traffic information from the broadcast waves, and the traffic information includes traffic jam information. The optical / radio wave beacon reception and processing unit 14 is a part that receives and processes information such as identification information of each beacon and traffic information of the VICS service from an optical beacon or a radio beacon installed on a shoulder or the like.

  The map data management unit 20 is a means for recording the map data provided by a CD or DVD in the map data storage unit 30 and acquiring the map data to be displayed on the display unit 10 from the map data storage unit 30. is there.

  Further, the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 are configured to realize the roles as the following parts shown in FIG. That is, the current position detection unit 40 is means for sequentially calculating the own vehicle position, and specifically, is configured to calculate the own vehicle position by combining GPS navigation positioning and autonomous navigation positioning. .

  Here, in GPS navigation positioning, the current position is calculated using information obtained by the absolute position / orientation detection unit 1 based on radio waves from an artificial satellite. In the autonomous navigation positioning, the current position is calculated using information obtained from the relative bearing detection unit 2 and the vehicle speed detection unit 3 based on the geomagnetism and the speed of the host vehicle.

  The destination designation unit 41 is means for receiving designation of a destination, that is, input by facility search from a database in which the road map data is recorded or cursor designation on a map. The route setting unit 42 calculates a route from the current position detected by the current position detecting unit 40 to the destination specified by the destination specifying unit 41 based on the road map data, and obtains the result. It is a means for setting a given route.

  In addition, the map display unit 43 displays a map around the vehicle position or a map displayed in a wide area on the display unit 10 in a three-dimensional display or other manner based on the calculated vehicle position, route, and road map data. It is means to do.

  The guidance control unit 44 is a means for controlling guidance guidance by determining elements to be displayed in the route, elements such as blinking emphasis, and using combined speech. That is, the current position detection unit 40, the route setting unit 42, the map display unit 43, and the guidance control unit 44 are based on the road map data read from the HDD control unit 12 and are routed to the designated destination. Navigation means for searching for and guiding guidance.

FIG. 7 shows the configuration of the map data management unit 20 and the map data storage unit 30 in more detail.
That is, the map data management unit 20 includes an external data acquisition unit 201 composed of a CD or DVD drive, a data storage unit 202 that stores the acquired map data in the map data storage unit 30, and a current position detection of the route guidance means N. A current position data acquisition unit 203 that acquires current position data of the vehicle from a unit (not shown), and a travel route that acquires travel route data from a route setting unit (not shown) of the route guidance means N to the destination. The data acquisition part 204, the display range selection part 205 which selects the display range of the map data displayed on the display part 10, and the map data acquisition part 206 which acquires the map data of the selected display range are provided. The map data storage unit 30 includes a basic map data storage unit 301.

  Note that the route guidance means N shown in FIG. 7 is an integrated illustration of the members related to route guidance including the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 shown in FIG.

  In the navigation apparatus having such a configuration, first, recording is performed in a predetermined format recorded on a CD or DVD provided by a manufacturer via an external data acquisition unit 201 such as a CD or DVD drive and a data storage unit 202. The obtained map data (basic map data) is copied to the map data storage unit 30. When the map data is copied to the map data storage unit 30 in this way, the route guiding means N is then configured to perform navigation while reading the map data from the map data storage unit 30 via the map data management unit 20. Has been.

  As a map format used here, a format called a KIWI format is generally used. The current KIWI format has several derived formats, but the basic format is based on the assumption that it is provided on a medium such as a CD or DVD, and has a data information management unit at the top. A method is used in which the position where the actual data is described is known by referring to the recorded information.

  In addition, for efficient reference, the data is divided and stored in meshes based on latitude and longitude, but since the upper limit of the data size per mesh is defined, as shown in FIG. The mesh is subdivided in places where the amount of data is large, and the mesh is integrated in places where the amount of data is small. By adopting such a data storage format, map data that tends to be large for CD / DVD media whose capacity is limited can be stored compactly without waste.

  However, in the navigation system equipped with the map data using the KIWI format as described above, when accessing the map data, the data information management unit always searches for the place where the actual data is written and then reads out the data. As a result, the read efficiency was very poor.

  In addition, since the data is packed from the beginning, it is difficult to change only the middle part of the data, such as being unable to cope with changes in the data capacity included in each mesh, and the map of the changed part It was difficult to realize a process of updating only data (difference update).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228620 discloses map data that can suppress variations in the number of times of data access of area map data, and a technology related to a navigation device that uses the map data. The data recording range was simply shifted to a brick shape and did not solve the above problems.
JP 2004-170370 A

  The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and its purpose is to enable differential update of map data, high-speed reference of map data, and intermediate format. An object of the present invention is to provide a highly useful navigation technology, that is, a navigation device, a method, and a program, which can shorten the conversion time by performing conversion to data when using the data.

  In order to achieve the above object, a navigation device according to claim 1 is a destination in which a mobile object is designated from a starting point based on map data stored in a map data storage unit using a computer or an electronic circuit. In the navigation device for searching and guiding the route to travel to, a map data management unit for managing the map data stored in the map data storage unit, the map data storage unit is a conversion recorded in a predetermined format A basic map data storage unit for storing basic basic map data; and an intermediate format data storage unit for storing intermediate format data expressed in a format different from the basic map data. A display range selection unit for selecting a display range of map data based on the current position data and travel route data of the mobile body; An intermediate format data presence / absence determining unit that determines whether or not there is intermediate format data for the specified display range, and if there is no intermediate format data, the basic map data is converted into the intermediate format data, and the intermediate format data An intermediate format data conversion / storage unit stored in the format data storage unit and an intermediate format data acquisition unit that acquires intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range are provided.

  A navigation method according to a fourth aspect captures the invention according to the first aspect from the viewpoint of the method, and the computer or the electronic circuit is based on the map data stored in the map data storage unit. In a navigation method for searching and guiding a route moving from a starting point to a designated destination, storing basic map data as a conversion source recorded in a predetermined format, current position data of the moving object, and Selecting a display range of the map data based on the travel route data, and determining whether there is intermediate format data expressed in a format different from the basic map data for the selected display range; Converting the basic map data into the intermediate format data when there is no intermediate format data, and storing the intermediate map data; Characterized in that it comprises a step of obtaining an intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range, the.

  A navigation program according to a seventh aspect captures the invention according to the first and fourth aspects from the viewpoint of a computer program, and moves based on map data stored in advance by controlling the computer. In a navigation program for searching and guiding a route for a body to move from a starting point to a specified destination, the computer stores basic map data as a conversion source recorded in a predetermined format. Based on the current position data and the travel route data, the display range of the map data is selected, and the selected display range is determined whether there is intermediate format data expressed in a format different from the basic map data. When there is no intermediate format data, the basic map data is converted to the intermediate format data. It is allowed to be stored, characterized in that to obtain the intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range.

  In the inventions according to claims 1, 4, and 7, the KIWI map or the like provided as the basic map data is converted into intermediate format data having a mesh structure divided equally by latitude and longitude. In addition, since the map display is performed using the intermediate format data, the map data can be referred to at high speed. Further, the conversion time can be shortened by performing the conversion to the intermediate format data when the data is used.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the map data management unit is already in an external data acquisition unit that acquires map data provided from an external medium, and the map data storage unit. A data comparison unit that compares the stored map data with the newly acquired map data, and obtains and stores the difference data obtained by the data comparison unit and overwrites and saves it in the map data storage unit And a section.

  The invention according to claim 5 captures the invention according to claim 2 from the viewpoint of the method, and in the navigation method according to claim 4, the step of acquiring map data provided from an external medium; The method includes a step of comparing newly acquired map data with already stored map data, and acquiring difference data between the two and changing corresponding old data.

  The invention described in claim 8 is obtained by capturing the inventions described in claim 2 and claim 5 from the viewpoint of a computer program. In the navigation program according to claim 7, map data provided from an external medium is provided. The newly acquired map data is compared with the already stored map data, the difference data between them is acquired, and the corresponding old data is changed.

  In the inventions according to claims 2, 5, and 8 as described above, it is possible to easily update the difference of the map data by using the intermediate format data of the mesh structure equally divided by the latitude and longitude. It becomes like this.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, the intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude, and each mesh unit individually It is stored as a file and is configured to be managed based on date information and coordinate information.

  The invention described in claim 6 is obtained by capturing the invention described in claim 3 from the viewpoint of the method. In the navigation method according to claim 4 or 5, the intermediate format data includes latitude / longitude. It is characterized by having a mesh structure that is evenly divided and stored as an individual file for each mesh unit and managed based on date information and coordinate information.

  The invention described in claim 9 is obtained by capturing the invention described in claim 3 and claim 6 from the viewpoint of a computer program. In the navigation program described in claim 7 or 8, the intermediate format data is provided. Has a mesh structure that is evenly divided by latitude and longitude, is stored as an individual file for each mesh unit, and is configured to be managed based on date information and coordinate information .

  In the inventions according to claims 3, 6, and 9 as described above, the intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude, and is saved as an individual file for each mesh unit. By managing based on the date information and the coordinate information, the map data can be referred to at higher speed. In addition, the map data can be updated easily.

  According to the present invention as described above, map data difference can be updated, map data can be referred to at high speed, and conversion time can be shortened by performing conversion to intermediate format data when used. It is possible to provide a highly useful navigation device, method and program.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In addition, although this embodiment is realizable by controlling the computer provided with the peripheral device by the program, the implementation | achievement aspect of the hardware and program in this case can be variously changed. In addition to the navigation apparatus and method, the present invention can be grasped as a program as described above and a computer-readable storage medium storing such a program. Therefore, in the following description, virtual circuit blocks that implement the functions of the present invention and this embodiment are used.

(1) Configuration The map data management unit and the map data storage unit, which are characteristic components of the navigation device according to the present invention, are configured as shown in FIG.
That is, the map data management unit 20 compares the external data acquisition unit 201 such as a CD or DVD drive with the map data already stored in the map data storage unit 30 and the newly acquired map data. And a differential data acquisition / storage unit 211 that acquires the differential data obtained by the data comparison unit 210 and overwrites and saves it in the map data storage unit 30.

Further, the map data management unit 20 includes a current position data acquisition unit 203 that acquires current position data of the host vehicle from a current position detection unit (not shown) of the route guidance unit N, and a route setting unit ( A travel route data acquisition unit 204 that acquires travel route data from a destination to a destination, a display range selection unit 205 that selects a display range of map data to be displayed on the display unit of the route guidance means N, The intermediate format data presence / absence determination unit 212 for determining whether or not there is intermediate format data for the displayed range, and if there is no intermediate format data, the basic map data is converted into intermediate format data, and intermediate format data to be described later An intermediate format data conversion / storage unit 213 stored in the storage unit 302 and an intermediate format data acquisition unit 214 that acquires intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range are provided. .
The map data storage unit 30 includes a basic map data storage unit 301 and an intermediate format data storage unit 302.

(2) Intermediate Format Data Here, intermediate format data used in the present invention will be described.
That is, the intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude. For example, a structure equivalent to a primary mesh or a secondary mesh defined by the Geospatial Information Authority of Japan is used. There is no problem in further subdividing the mesh as necessary.

Further, the map data in units of meshes are individually stored as files, and are managed based on the following two pieces of information.
(A) Date information: The date when the intermediate format data was created, and when there is no date information, it is overwritten unconditionally at the time of update.
(B) Coordinate information: The representative point of the mesh is indicated by latitude and longitude (lower left corner etc.).

  The management method of these intermediate format data can be implemented by separately preparing table data that handles the above information as a file name or associates the above two information as index information linked with the file name.

  FIG. 2 shows the difference in mesh configuration between the basic map data to be converted and the intermediate format data. For example, FIG. 2A shows the basic map data such as KIWI format map data. FIG. 2B shows a mesh configuration of intermediate format data.

(3) Action (3-1) Route Guidance Map data provided on CD or DVD (herein referred to as KIWI format data, hereinafter referred to as KIWI map) is temporarily stored in the map data storage unit 30 such as an HDD. It is copied (step 301). After copying is complete, the media on which the map data is recorded can be removed. In some cases, the map data is stored in advance in a map data storage unit such as an HDD constituting the navigation apparatus, but in this case, the above-described processing is unnecessary.

  When the navigation device is used and display of map data is requested (step 302), the current position data and travel route data of the vehicle are acquired, and the required display range is selected based on these data. (Step 303).

  Next, the intermediate format data presence / absence determination unit 212 determines whether there is intermediate format data corresponding to the display range in the intermediate format data storage unit 302 of the map data storage unit 30 (step 304). If it is determined that there is “present”, the intermediate format data corresponding to the display range is read from the intermediate format data storage unit 302 (step 305), and a map is displayed using the intermediate format data (step 305). Step 306).

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 304 that there is no, all KIWI map (basic map data) meshes related to the mesh of the intermediate format data are read (step 307), and this basic map data is converted to the intermediate format data. Data is converted (step 308). The intermediate format data is stored in the intermediate format data storage unit 302 (step 309), and a map is displayed using the intermediate format data (step 306).

FIG. 4 shows a state in which the basic map data is converted into intermediate format data as the vehicle moves.
4A shows the mesh structure of the KIWI map. When the vehicle position reaches “P”, the mesh “M” of the intermediate format data (the part surrounded by the dotted line in the figure). 4) When the mesh of all KIWI map data (shaded area in the figure) is read and the vehicle position comes to “Q” which is the current position, this basic map data is shown in FIG. Is converted to intermediate format data.

(3-2) Map data update time In the navigation device according to the present invention, the map data update processing is performed as follows (see FIG. 5).

  First, new map data (including a revised version) provided on a CD or DVD is acquired (step 501), and this map data is stored in basic map data already stored in a map data storage unit such as an HDD or the like. The intermediate format data is compared (step 502). Then, it is determined whether or not the newly acquired map data is new map data (step 503). If it is determined that the map data is new, all of the map data is stored (step 503). 504), the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 503 that the map data is not new, it is determined whether there is a changed portion (step 505). If it is determined that there is a changed portion, difference data is acquired. (Step 506), the management information (data creation date, etc.) of the difference data is confirmed. If the difference data is newer, it is overwritten and the management information is updated (step 507). If it is determined in step 505 that there is no changed portion, the processing is terminated as it is.

In addition, when a revision of map data or the like is provided by a medium such as a CD or DVD in units of meshes of intermediate format data, the provided data is stored as it is in an intermediate format data storage unit such as an HDD. Copy to department. At this time, if there is the same area between the already recorded intermediate format data and the newly provided intermediate format data, the date is confirmed and the newly provided intermediate format data is newer. If it is overwritten, the management information is updated.
When a new KIWI map (basic map data) is purchased, the KIWI map currently stored in the map data storage unit such as the HDD is overwritten.

(4) Effect According to the present embodiment as described above, the KIWI map or the like provided as the basic map data is converted into intermediate format data having a mesh structure divided equally by latitude and longitude. Since the map display is performed using, the map data can be referred to at high speed.

  In addition, by using intermediate format data having a mesh structure that is evenly divided by latitude and longitude, it becomes possible to easily update the difference of the map data. Furthermore, the conversion time can be shortened by performing the conversion to intermediate format data when the data is used.

(5) Other Embodiments The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and it is also possible to receive difference update data using a communication medium or the like in units of meshes. In this case, It becomes possible to always have the latest map data.

  Further, the present invention can be applied to a so-called off-board type navigation system in which the latest data is provided via a wireless communication network instead of the so-called on-board type in which navigation data is placed in the vehicle. It is. In this case, a server outside the vehicle connected via the communication network can perform all or part of the above processing, and the processing result is reduced by the in-vehicle computer to acquire the processing result. be able to. In addition, this invention is not limited to vehicle-mounted use, It is applicable also to another moving means and portable navigation.

The functional block diagram which shows the structure of the map data management part in the navigation apparatus which concerns on this invention, and a map data storage part. It is a figure which shows the difference of the mesh structure of basic map data and intermediate format data, Comprising: (A) is a figure which shows the mesh structure of basic map data, (B) is a figure which shows the mesh structure of intermediate format data. The flowchart which shows the procedure in which intermediate format data is produced at the time of route guidance in the navigation apparatus which concerns on this invention. The figure which showed a mode that it was converted from basic | foundation map data into intermediate format data according to a movement of a vehicle. The flowchart which shows the procedure of the process at the time of the data update in the navigation apparatus which concerns on this invention. The functional block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional navigation apparatus. The functional block diagram which shows the structure of the map data management part and map data storage part in the conventional navigation apparatus. The figure which shows the mesh structure in the map data of the conventional KIWI format.

Explanation of symbols

20 ... Map data management unit 201 ... External data acquisition unit 202 ... Data storage unit 203 ... Current position data acquisition unit 204 ... Travel route data acquisition unit 205 ... Display range selection unit 206 ... Map data acquisition unit 210 ... Data comparison unit 211 ... Difference data acquisition / storage unit 212 ... Intermediate format data presence / absence determination unit 213 ... Intermediate format data conversion / storage unit 214 ... Intermediate format data acquisition unit 30 ... Map data storage unit 301 ... Basic map data storage unit 302 ... Intermediate format data storage Part

Claims (9)

In a navigation device that searches and guides a route for a moving body to move from a starting point to a specified destination based on map data stored in a map data storage unit using a computer or an electronic circuit.
A map data management unit for managing the map data stored in the map data storage unit;
The map data storage unit
A basic map data storage unit for storing basic map data as a conversion source recorded in a predetermined format, and an intermediate format data storage unit for storing intermediate format data expressed in a format different from the basic map data ,
The map data management unit
A display range selection unit for selecting a display range of map data based on the current position data and travel route data of the mobile body;
For the selected display range, an intermediate format data presence / absence determining unit that determines whether there is intermediate format data,
When there is no intermediate format data, the basic map data is converted into the intermediate format data and stored in the intermediate format data storage unit;
An intermediate format data acquisition unit for acquiring intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range;
A navigation device comprising: The map data management unit
An external data acquisition unit for acquiring map data provided from an external medium;
A data comparison unit for comparing the map data already stored in the map data storage unit with the newly acquired map data;
A differential data acquisition / storage unit that acquires differential data obtained by a data comparison unit and overwrites and saves the map data storage unit;
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:   The intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude, is stored as an individual file for each mesh unit, and is configured to be managed based on date information and coordinate information The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein In a navigation method in which a computer or an electronic circuit searches for and guides a route through which a moving body moves from a starting point to a specified destination based on map data stored in a map data storage unit.
Storing basic map data as a conversion source recorded in a predetermined format;
Selecting a display range of map data based on the current position data and travel route data of the moving body;
Determining whether there is intermediate format data expressed in a format different from the basic map data for the selected display range; and
If there is no intermediate format data, converting the basic map data into the intermediate format data and storing;
Obtaining intermediate format data corresponding to the selected display range;
A navigation method comprising: Obtaining map data provided from an external medium;
Comparing newly acquired map data with already stored map data;
Obtaining the difference data between the two and changing the corresponding old data;
The navigation method according to claim 4, further comprising:   The intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude, is stored as an individual file for each mesh unit, and is configured to be managed based on date information and coordinate information 6. The navigation method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein: In a navigation program that controls and guides a route for a moving body to move from a starting point to a designated destination based on map data stored in advance, by controlling the computer,
In the computer,
Store the basic map data that is the source of conversion recorded in a predetermined format,
Based on the current position data and travel route data of the mobile body, to select the display range of the map data,
For the selected display range, it is determined whether there is intermediate format data represented in a format different from the basic map data,
When there is no intermediate format data, the basic map data is converted into the intermediate format data and stored,
A navigation program for acquiring intermediate format data corresponding to a selected display range. Get map data provided from external media,
Compare the newly acquired map data with the map data already stored,
The navigation program according to claim 7, wherein difference data between the two is acquired and corresponding old data is changed.   The intermediate format data has a mesh structure that is equally divided by latitude and longitude, is stored as an individual file for each mesh unit, and is configured to be managed based on date information and coordinate information The navigation program according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that.

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