JP2007221734A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system by which a user can easily recognize whether it is possible to conduct communication with the road side, and also whether it is possible to be connected to the Internet. <P>SOLUTION: In the navigation system, communicating with an external device by means of radio waves, the intensity of an electric field in the vicinity of the navigation system is measured; and if the measured electric field intensity is equal with or higher than a predetermined level, a communicating mark 603 is displayed which is an indicator that indicates a communicating state. Furthermore, access to the Internet is attempted in such a state; and if the access is successful, an Internet mark 604 is displayed which is an indicator indicating that a connection to the Internet is possible. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation system, and more particularly to a navigation system capable of network communication with an external device.

VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) is a system that provides traffic information such as traffic information to drivers in real time using three media: FM multiplex broadcasting, radio wave beacons, and optical beacons.
Conventionally, information provided from a beacon has been limited to text information (Level 1), simple figures (Level 2), and information that displays wide area information on a road map (Level 3). (For example, see Patent Document 1)

  However, in the next-generation ITS system, the DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) is used to connect the radio equipment installed on the roadside (DSRC roadside system) and the DSRC transceiver (DSRC onboard equipment) installed on the vehicle on the road. High-speed data communication is possible by connecting high-speed wireless communication lines.

For this reason, as data transmitted from the beacon to the vehicle, so-called multimedia information such as a moving image, a still image, text, and sound is transmitted. Furthermore, various data can be transmitted from the vehicle side to the road side. Furthermore, if connected to a wireless LAN or the like, it is possible to connect to an Internet connection and acquire various information.
JP 2000-113382 A

VICS information can be transmitted and received between the vehicle-side navigation system and the road-side beacon, but Internet connection is difficult. On the other hand, Internet connection is possible with a wireless LAN, but transmission / reception of VICS information is difficult.
For this reason, it is necessary for the user to indicate at what timing what information can be transmitted and received, in other words, at what timing the Internet is possible.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a navigation system that allows a user to easily recognize whether or not communication with a roadside is possible and whether or not connection to the Internet is possible. Objective.

In order to achieve the above object, a navigation system according to the first aspect of the present invention provides:
A navigation system capable of communicating with external devices by radio waves,
Measuring means for measuring the electric field strength in the vicinity of the navigation system;
Intensity discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the electric field intensity measured by the measuring means is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
A first indicator indicating that communication is possible when the intensity determining means determines that the electric field intensity is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
Internet communication enable / disable determining means for determining whether or not Internet communication is possible when the strength determining means determines that the electric field strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
A second indicator indicating that Internet communication is possible when the Internet communication availability determination means determines that Internet communication is possible;
It is characterized by providing.

  For example, the Internet communication availability determination unit determines that the Internet communication is possible when the strength determination unit determines that the electric field strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined level and attempts Internet communication.

  For example, it comprises means for receiving information from a push-type transmission device and outputting the received information.

  Means for registering position information included in the received information may be provided.

  According to the present invention, since the multimedia processor and the navigation processor cooperate with each other, it is possible to appropriately process the GPS data and the multimedia data to display an appropriate navigation.

Hereinafter, a navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
A navigation system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a vehicle or the like, and as shown in FIG. 1, a DSRC transceiver 20, a multimedia processor 30, a navigation processor 40, and a GPS receiver. 50, a display device 60, a speaker 61, an input device 62, and a sensor group 63, receive multimedia content from a roadside device or the like, and provide it to a user together with navigation information.

  A DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) transceiver 20 performs wireless communication with, for example, a DSRC roadside system installed on the roadside by using a radio wave of 5.8 GHz band.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the DSRC transceiver 20 includes a reception unit 201 and a transmission unit 202.

  The reception unit 201 measures the electric field strength in the vicinity, and when the electric field strength reaches a reference level (a level at which data can be received), outputs a reception level signal indicating that communication is possible, and transmits it from an external device. The received data is received and demodulated and output.

  On the other hand, the transmission unit 202 modulates and transmits data supplied from the multimedia processor 30.

  The DSRC transceiver 20 is capable of 7-channel communication for both downlink and uplink, for example, with 1 MBPS in the ASK modulation scheme and 4 MBPS in the QPSK modulation scheme.

  As a communication destination of the DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications) transceiver 20, as shown in FIG. 3, a DSRC roadside system 110, a wireless LAN 120, and a push type information providing device 130 are planned.

  The DSRC roadside system 110 is appropriately set on the roadside, and is connected to the ITS system 111. VICS information [traffic information using text and simple graphics (level 1 and level 2), road map mounted on the vehicle-mounted device Traffic information (level 3) for superimposing and displaying on traffic information, traffic congestion information, snow information, and other attention information, TTS (Text To Speech) for reporting traffic information by voice, JPEG and other still image information, etc. Send.

  Note that priority data indicating the importance of the data is added to a part of the data included in the transmitted VICS information. Further, the DSRC transceiver 20 receives various information (for example, travel history information) collected by the vehicle from the multimedia processor 30, modulates it, and transmits it to the DSRC roadside system 110.

  The wireless LAN 120 is installed at an arbitrary place such as a roadside, a parking lot, and a drive-through store, and is connected to the Internet, and transmits various data in response to access from the navigation system 10. The data to be transmitted includes text, still images (JPEG format, BMP format, etc.), moving images (MPEG format, etc.), audio data (WAV format, etc.), and voice conversion text (TTS; Text To Speech). Priority data indicating the importance of the data is appropriately added to a part of the transmitted data. In addition, the DSRC transceiver 20 transmits the URL and search keyword transmitted from the multimedia processor 30 to the wireless LAN 120.

  The push-type information providing device 130 is installed at an arbitrary place such as a roadside, a parking lot, or a drive-through store, and transmits various data to the navigation system 10. The form of data to be transmitted is arbitrary, and so-called multimedia contents may be used. Priority data indicating the importance of the data is added to a part of the transmitted data.

  The multimedia processor 30 extracts the level 3 data from the data received via the DSRC transceiver 20 and provides it to the navigation processor 40, and processes the received data to generate data for output. The operation of outputting the output data generated by itself and the output data provided from the navigation processor 40 to the display device 60, and the instruction and data input from the input unit of the display device 60 are transmitted via the DSRC transceiver 20. Various operations, such as an operation of collecting vehicle travel data (travel history data) and transmitting the data via the DSRC transceiver 20 are performed.

  In order to enable such an operation, the multimedia processor 30 includes a CPU 31, a storage unit 32, a ROM 33, a communication control unit 34, a display control unit 35, an audio, as shown in FIG. A control unit 36, an input control unit 37, a navigation communication unit 38, and a bus 39 are provided.

  The storage unit 32 includes a hard disk device, a flash memory device, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores various data. The storage unit 32 stores facility information as illustrated in FIG. This facility information is used as a destination candidate during navigation. This facility information includes information indicating a position such as latitude / longitude together with information such as a facility ID and a facility name.

A ROM (Read Only Memory) 33 stores an operation program for the CPU 31.
The communication control unit 34 performs communication between the multimedia processor 30 and the DSRC transceiver 20.
The display control unit 35 outputs image information to the display device 60.
The voice control unit 36 outputs a voice signal to the speaker 61.
The input control unit 37 inputs input information (instructions and data) from the input device 62 such as a touch panel.

The navigation communication unit 38 performs communication between the multimedia processor 30 and the navigation processor 40.
The bus 39 connects each part and transmits data.

  The CPU 31 operates according to an operation program stored in the ROM 33. Details of the operation executed by the CPU 31 will be described later.

  The navigation processor 40 generates vehicle navigation information and supplies it to the multimedia processor 30. As shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 41, the storage unit 42, the ROM 43, the communication control unit 44, the map database, and the like. 45, a GPS input unit 46, and a bus 47.

The storage unit 42 includes a hard disk device, a flash memory device, a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like, and stores various data.
A ROM (Read Only Memory) 43 stores an operation program of the CPU 41.
The communication control unit 44 performs communication between the navigation processor 40 and the multimedia processor 30.

The map database (DB) 45 stores map information for navigation.
The GPS input unit 46 inputs a GPS signal received by the GPS receiver 50.

  The CPU 41 operates in accordance with the operation program stored in the ROM 43, and generates map information of the current position from the received signal from the GPS receiver 50 and the map information stored in the map DB 45, like a normal navigation processor. Then, the information is transmitted to the multimedia processor 30, the display is read, display information is generated, and a route to reach the target position from the current position and the target position is obtained.

  The GPS receiver 50 receives GPS signals from GPS satellites and supplies them to the navigation processor 40.

  The display device 60 is composed of a liquid crystal display device or the like, and displays an arbitrary image. The display screen of the display device 60 basically includes an area 601 for displaying navigation information, an area 602 for displaying a group of operation buttons, and an area for displaying a communicable mark 603 as illustrated in FIG. And an area for displaying the internet-enabled mark 604.

  The navigation information display area 601 displays various images generated by the multimedia processor 30 or the navigation processor 40. The operation button group display area 602 displays various input buttons functioning as the input unit 62, such as a destination button for setting a destination, a route search button for instructing a route search, an Internet button for instructing Internet access, and the like. To do.

  The communicable mark 603 is a display indicating that communication with the roadside device is possible when the receiving unit 201 of the DSRC transceiver 20 outputs a communicable level signal.

The internet possible mark 604 is a display indicating that communication with the wireless LAN 120 is possible and the internet is possible.

The speaker 61 outputs arbitrary voice, for example, voice navigation and attention information.
The input device 62 is configured by a touch panel or the like that is stacked on the display device 60, and inputs arbitrary data and instructions.
The display device 60 and the input device 62 constitute a touch panel display, for example.

Next, the operation of the navigation system 10 having the above configuration will be described.
The receiving unit 201 of the DSRC transceiver 20 periodically measures the electric field strength with a built-in electric field strength meter. When the electric field strength is measured, the receiving unit 201 executes the process shown in FIG. 7, and first determines whether or not the measured electric field strength is equal to or higher than a reference level at which communication is possible (step S11).

If the electric field strength is equal to or higher than the reference (reception) level (step S11; Yes), a communicable signal indicating that the electric field strength is at the reception level is output to the multimedia processor 30 (step S12). Execute (Step S13).
On the other hand, if the electric field strength is equal to or lower than the reference level (step S11; No), output of the communicable signal to the multimedia processor 30 is stopped (off) (step S14), and further received in order to reduce power consumption. The operation is stopped (step S15).

  When the DSRC transceiver 20 senses the electric field and changes the communicable signal from the off state to the on state, the communication control unit 34 of the multimedia processor 30 supplies an interrupt signal to the CPU 31.

  In response to this interrupt signal, the CPU 31 starts the processing of FIG. 8, and first causes the display device 60 to light (display) the communicable mark 603 via the display control unit 35 (step S21). Subsequently, the CPU 31 accesses a predetermined URL set in advance via the communication control unit 34 (step S22).

  The access request and the URL are transmitted via the transmission unit 202. If the wireless LAN 120 shown in FIG. 3 emits an electric field, the access request and the URL are transmitted to the Internet 121 via the wireless LAN 120, and a home page corresponding to the URL is transmitted from the wireless LAN 120.

  The receiving unit 201 of the DSRC transceiver 20 receives and demodulates it, and transmits it to the CPU 31 via the communication control unit 34 of the multimedia processor 30. If the CPU 31 can receive the corresponding home page (step S23; Yes), the CPU 31 controls the display device 60 via the display control unit 35 and displays the Internet possible mark 604, assuming that the Internet 121 can be accessed. It is displayed (step S24).

  On the other hand, if the device emitting the electric field is the DSRC roadside system 110, the push type information providing device 130 shown in FIG. 3, or other devices (such as noise) (step S23; No), it falls within a certain time. Since the home page cannot be received, it is difficult to access the Internet 121, and step S24 is skipped and the Internet mark 604 is not displayed.

  The DSRC transceiver 20 continues the receiving operation while the electric field strength maintains the reference level, receives data transmitted from the DSRC roadside system 110, the wireless LAN 120, and the push type information providing device 130, Demodulated and provided to multimedia processor 30.

The communication control unit 34 of the multimedia processor 30 transmits the received data of the DSRC transceiver 20 to the CPU 31. When the reception data is provided, the CPU 31 starts the process of FIG. 9 and first stores the reception data in the storage unit 32 (step S31).
Subsequently, the CPU 31 extracts level 3 data from the received data stored in the storage unit 32, that is, data of symbols to be synthesized and displayed on the map, to the navigation processor 40 via the navigation communication unit 38. Transmit (step S32).

  The navigation processor 40 receives the level 3 data transmitted from the multimedia processor 30 by the communication control unit 44. The communication control unit 44 transmits the received level 3 data to the CPU 41. The CPU 41 stores the level 3 data in the storage unit 42 (step S33).

Further, the CPU 41 of the navigation processor 40 executes a navigation image composition process shown in FIG. 10 during the navigation operation.
First, the CPU 41 determines the current position of the vehicle using a GPS signal or the like periodically provided from the GPS receiver 50 (step S41), and reads map data from the map DB 45 based on the current position (step S41). S42).

  Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the received level 3 data is stored in the storage unit 42 (step S43). If it is stored (step S43; Yes), the level 3 data, that is, the synthesis target is determined. The symbols are read (step S44), and based on the position information included in the information itself, these are synthesized on the map to synthesize a navigation image to be displayed (step S45). This navigation image may be accompanied by sound. If level 3 data is not stored in the storage unit 42 (step S43; No), step S45 is skipped.

  Further, the CPU 41 attaches priority information indicating the importance level to the navigation image in accordance with a predetermined standard as exemplified in FIG. 11 (step S46). For example, when priority is given to the level 3 information, this priority information is set as the priority. For the route information, the priority is increased as the distance to the route change becomes shorter.

The CPU 41 transmits the navigation image generated in this way to the multimedia processor 30 via the communication control unit 44 (step S47).
The CPU 41 continuously executes the above-described navigation image generation process during navigation.

  The CPU 31 of the multimedia processor 30 repeatedly executes the image composition / display processing shown in FIG.

  In this image composition / display processing, the CPU 31 receives data received from the DSRC transceiver 20 (VICS data from the DSRC roadside system 110, web page data on the Internet 121 from the wireless LAN 120, and from the push type information providing device 130). Information), input information from the input unit 62, and the like, a display image (including accompanying sound) is generated (step S51).

  Here, of the VICS information provided from the roadside devices 110, 120, and 130, some traffic information is accompanied by control data for controlling the output timing. For example, when the warning is notified at 3 pm, the content of the warning and output control information to be output at 3 pm are provided as a set. Similarly, when a point 200 m is under construction after passing a predetermined intersection, output control information “after passing the intersection” is added as an output timing together with a message and an image of “attention during construction”. The CPU 31 determines whether or not a condition defined by such output control information is satisfied from, for example, the output of the sensor group 63, and when the output condition is met, the information is output. .

  The CPU 31 attaches priority information indicating the importance level to the generated display image in accordance with a predetermined standard (step S52). This priority information is the priority when priority is given to information acquired from the roadside devices 110, 120, and 130.

  For example, when the information received from the DSRC roadside system 110 includes accident information and snowfall information as caution information in text and still images, and the priority is set to 1, the priority is set. To do. For example, if the information received from the wireless LAN 120 includes a store advertisement and the priority is set to 4 (lowest), the priority is set. In addition, if the message “Please turn right as soon as you leave the parking lot” and its priority 1 (highest) is set from the push type information providing device 130 set at the exit of the parking lot, Set its priority.

  Subsequently, the CPU 31 determines whether or not the navigation screen is transmitted from the navigation processor 40 (step S53), and if it is transmitted, which of the display image created by itself and the navigation screen has higher priority? Is selected, an image having a higher priority is selected (step S54), and is displayed on the display device 60 via the display control unit 35 (step S55).

  Similarly, sound accompanying the selected image is emitted from the speaker 61 via the sound control unit 36.

  In this way, the multimedia processor 30 repeatedly executes a process of processing the multimedia data to generate a display image and output sound. On the other hand, the navigation processor 40 repeatedly executes a process of generating an image for navigation using the level 3 data provided from the multimedia processor 30. The multimedia processor 30 selects and outputs the most important image (sound) generated by both devices at that time.

  As described above, while the Internet mark 604 is displayed on the display device 60, the user can connect to the Internet 121 via the wireless LAN 120 using the navigation system 10.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 13, a specific Internet (startup) button is operated from the operation button group 602 displayed on the display device 60 as shown in FIG. 13. Then, a screen for Internet access (top screen) is displayed (step S61), and after that, general site access is enabled and an arbitrary web page or the like is acquired (step S62).

  Here, the CPU 31 of the multimedia processor 30 determines whether or not the received information includes facility information in a predetermined format (for example, facility ID + facility name + latitude / longitude / altitude of the facility) (step) S63). If it is determined that the facility information is included, an inquiry screen for inquiring the user whether or not to register the facility as a destination is displayed on the display device 60 (step S64).

  When the user selects “Set as Destination” (Step S65; Yes), the CPU 31 additionally registers the received facility information in the destination DB (FIG. 4B) stored in the storage unit 32 (Step S65). S66). Note that when there are a plurality of facility information, steps may be arranged so as to select a facility as appropriate.

  By enabling such processing, any facility searched on the Internet or the like can be registered in the destination DB, and the destination can be easily set.

Next, a procedure for searching for a route using the registered destination and the like and starting navigation will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the user operates the operation button group 602 to select any one of destinations registered in the destination DB in the storage unit 32, or inputs latitude / longitude by itself, or The destination is set by designating the position on the displayed map (step S71).

  The CPU 31 notifies the navigation processor 40 of the latitude / longitude of the set destination (step S72). In response to the notification, the CPU 41 of the navigation processor 40 performs a process of searching for a route from the current position to the notified destination (step S81). The CPU 41 notifies the CPU 31 of the searched route candidate (step S82).

  The CPU 31 displays the notified route candidate on the display device 60 (step S73). When the user operates the key group 602 to select one of the routes (Step S74; Confirm), the CPU 31 notifies the navigation processor of the selected route (Step S75).

  The CPU 31 sets the notified route as a navigation route (step S83), and thereafter performs a navigation operation until the destination is reached (steps S84 and S85). The image and sound generated in the navigation process (step S84) are transmitted to the multimedia processor 30 and appropriately displayed on the display device 60 as described above with reference to FIG.

    As shown in FIG. 15, the multimedia processor 30 periodically acquires various data (position, speed, direction, torque, etc.) obtained from the sensor group 63 and the navigation processor 40 (step S91), and the recording unit 32. (Step S92). When the communicable signal is turned on, as shown in FIG. 14, it is determined whether or not the communicable partner is the DSRC roadside system 110 (step S101). Are sequentially transmitted via the transmission unit 202 of the DSRC transceiver 20 (step S102). In this way, ITS can obtain travel information of each vehicle.

  As described above, according to this embodiment, the multimedia processor 30 and the navigation processor 40 cooperate to process multimedia data, GPS data, map data, voice data, etc. Therefore, various information can be provided to the user.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and application are possible. For example, it is arbitrary to change part of the processing shared between the multimedia processor 30 and the navigation processor 40 or change the data storage location. For example, in the above embodiment, the destination DB is arranged in the multimedia processor 30, but the destination may be arranged in the navigation processor 40 as in the past. Processing such as destination setting and route search may be directly instructed to the navigation processor 40 from the input unit.

  In the above embodiment, the image generated by the multimedia processor 30 and the image generated by the navigation processor 40 are selectively (alternatively) displayed on the display device 60. However, the screen is divided and displayed. Or may be combined and displayed.

    In the above embodiment, both the communicable mark 603 and the Internet capable mark 604 are displayed as graphics on the display screen of the display device 60, but the shape of the graphic is not limited to these. Further, these marks are not displayed on the display device 60, but two display devices arranged separately from the display device 60, for example, two light emitting elements such as LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes), are arranged so that communication is possible. The other LED may be turned on in a state where one LED is turned on and Internet connection is possible. In addition, the configuration and operation of the indicator for notifying the communicable state and the internet connectable state are arbitrary.

  In the above embodiment, the programs executed by the CPU 31 and the CPU 41 are stored in the ROM 33 and the ROM 43. However, the programs are stored in advance in an arbitrary storage medium or stored in an arbitrary storage medium via a network. May be. Further, a computer or PDA storing the above program may function as a navigation system.

1 is a configuration diagram of a navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram of the DSRC transceiver shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the example of a DSRC transceiver and a roadside apparatus. (A) It is a figure which shows the structural example of the multimedia processor shown in FIG. 1, (b) It is a figure which shows the structure of destination DB stored in a memory | storage part. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the navigation processor shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display apparatus. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the electric field strength detection process which a DSRC transmitter / receiver performs. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which a multimedia processor performs when a communicable signal turns on. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which a multimedia processor and a navigation processor perform when a navigation system receives data from a roadside apparatus. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the navigation image composition process which a navigation processor performs. It is a table which shows the relationship between each information and its priority. 6 is a flowchart for explaining image composition / display processing executed by the multimedia processor. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which accesses the internet. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the route search process which a multimedia processor and a navigation processor perform. (A) is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which accumulate | stores the driving history information which a multimedia processor performs, (b) is a flowchart for demonstrating the process which transmits the collected history information to a roadside apparatus. is there.

Explanation of symbols

10 navigation system 20 DSRC transceiver 30 multimedia processor 40 navigation processor 50 GPS receiver

Claims (4)

A navigation system capable of communicating with external devices by radio waves,
Measuring means for measuring the electric field strength in the vicinity of the navigation system;
Intensity discriminating means for discriminating whether or not the electric field intensity measured by the measuring means is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
A first indicator indicating that communication is possible when the intensity determining means determines that the electric field intensity is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
Internet communication enable / disable determining means for determining whether or not Internet communication is possible when the strength determining means determines that the electric field strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined level;
A second indicator indicating that Internet communication is possible when the Internet communication availability determination means determines that Internet communication is possible;
A navigation system comprising:   The Internet communication availability determination means determines that the Internet communication is possible when the strength determination means determines that the electric field strength is equal to or higher than a predetermined level and attempts Internet communication. 2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the navigation system is characterized.   2. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising means for receiving information from the push-type transmission device and outputting the received information. The navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising means for registering position information included in the received information.

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