JP2008107531A - New road adding device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technology facilitating, when recording an updated road map database in a storage medium to be handed to a user, decision of which of a plurality of new roads in the road map database should be adopted and combined to fit on the storage medium, and enabling automatic decision of which is the new road important for the user. <P>SOLUTION: A server selects (230), out of a plurality of new roads corresponding to a plurality of new road data received from a navigation device for vehicle, new roads in decreasing order of use frequency, decides (240) whether or not the data of new roads fits in the free space of the storage medium of the road map data to be provided to the user and, when the data fits in the space, adds (250) the data to the road map data to be provided to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a new road addition device.

  Conventionally, in technologies for updating road map data, such as the addition of new roads, a technology using vehicles equipped with a new road information recording device has been proposed as an alternative to field surveys using paper maps by update workers. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1). In this technique, the new road information recording device creates new road information based on road information input by a vehicle occupant or a photographed image of the periphery of the vehicle by a camera.

  The road information created in this manner is passed to a trader who creates and sells road map data (hereinafter referred to as a primary trader), and the primary trader reflects new road information on the road map data so far. Thus, the road map data is updated. The road map data updated in this way is transferred to a secondary contractor such as a manufacturer of the navigation device, and the secondary contractor updates the storage medium for sale to the user such as HDD, DVD, CD-ROM or the like. Record the information of the road map data.

The road map data created by the secondary contractor must have a data amount that can be stored in a limited storage medium such as HDD, DVD, or CD-ROM to be delivered to the user. Therefore, the secondary trader needs to make a selection as to which part of the updated road map data provided by the primary trader is to be stored in the storage medium provided to the user.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-332391

  However, it is not easy for the secondary trader to know how much data is assigned to which new road among the new road map data delivered from the primary trader. Therefore, the secondary contractor needs to perform trial and error as to which combination of a plurality of new roads can be accommodated in the storage medium. Also, it is not easy for the secondary contractor to determine which new road is more important to the user.

  In view of the above, the present invention, when recording an updated road map database on a storage medium for handing over to a user, fits any combination of a plurality of new roads in the road map database. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique for facilitating the determination of whether or not and which can automatically determine which new road is important for the user.

  The feature of the present invention for achieving the above object is that the new road adding device increases when the new road is added to the road map data for each of a plurality of new roads from the transmitting device mounted on the vehicle. Based on the amount, the position information of the new road, and the function of receiving the frequency data of the vehicle passing the new road, the data received by the receiving means and the information on the free capacity of the storage medium for user provision, A function of adding data that has a high frequency of passing through the new road among the data of the plurality of new roads to the road map data so that the data is stored in a user-provided storage medium more preferentially. It is.

  As described above, the new road addition device is based on the received data and the information on the free space, and (A) fits in the storage medium provided by the user, and (B) passes among the plurality of new roads. It can be added to the road map data so that the one with higher frequency is more preferentially contained in the storage medium for user provision.

  Therefore, when a part of the updated road map data is recorded on a storage medium for providing to the user, which combination of a plurality of new roads in the road map data should be used to fit in the storage medium This determination is automated.

  The new road data to be added to the road map data may be data based on the received position information of the new road, or new road data acquired by another method (for example, acquired from a primary contractor). It may be.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a new road information recording system 10 according to the present embodiment. In this figure, a vehicle navigation device 1 is mounted on a vehicle 2. The vehicle navigation apparatus 1 can wirelessly connect to a base station 3 laid on the ground, and can communicate with the server 5 on the communication network 4 through the wireless connection and the communication network 4 to which the base station 3 belongs. It is like that. The new road information recording system 10 includes a vehicle navigation device 1 and a server 5.

  Through the communication between the vehicle navigation device 1 and the server 5, the vehicle navigation device 1 sends the server 5 the position information of the new road on which the vehicle 2 has traveled, and the information on the size increase of the road map data by the new road. , And information on the frequency of passing through the new road. The contents of the transmitted information will be described in detail below.

  First, generation of position information of a new road and information on the amount of increase in size of road map data by the new road in the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of the vehicle navigation apparatus 1. The vehicle navigation device 1 includes a position detector 11, an image display device 12, an operation switch group 13, an audio circuit 14, a speaker 14 a, a microphone 14 b, a camera 15, a wireless circuit 16, a road map data reading unit 17, and a control circuit 18. have.

  The position detector 11 includes a well-known sensor (not shown) such as a geomagnetic sensor, a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver. The current position and direction of the vehicle based on the characteristics of each of these sensors. Is output to the control circuit 18. The image display device 12 displays a video based on the video signal output from the control circuit 18 to the user.

  The operation switch group 13 includes a plurality of mechanical switches provided in the vehicle navigation device 1 and an input device such as a touch panel provided so as to overlap the display surface of the image display device 12. A signal based on the touch is output to the control circuit 18.

  The audio circuit 14 outputs an audio signal based on the audio data received from the control circuit 18 to the speaker 14 a and outputs audio data based on the audio signal detected by the microphone 14 b to the control circuit 18.

  The camera 15 is a camera that sequentially captures the periphery of the vehicle 2 and outputs a captured image as a result of the capturing to the control circuit 18. The camera 15 may be a camera that captures only a specific direction with respect to the vehicle 2 (for example, the front of the vehicle 2), may be an omnidirectional camera, or may be a plurality of cameras with the vehicle 2 as a reference. There may be a plurality of cameras that shoot each direction.

  The radio circuit 16 performs processing such as amplification, frequency conversion, demodulation, and A / D conversion on a signal received by an antenna (not shown), and outputs the processed data to the control circuit 18. The radio circuit 16 performs processing such as D / A conversion, modulation, frequency conversion, and amplification on the data received from the control circuit 18 and outputs the processed signal to the antenna. By such an operation, the wireless circuit 16 can wirelessly connect to the base station 3 and communicate with the server 5 via the base station 3 based on the control of the control circuit 18.

  The road map data reading unit 17 includes a nonvolatile storage medium such as a DVD, a CD, and an HDD, and a device that reads (and possibly writes) data from and to the storage medium, and a program executed by the control circuit 18 It stores road map data and so on.

  The road map data is data used for displaying a road map on the image display device 12, calculating an optimum route between two points, a known map matching, and the like. In the road map data in the storage medium, for these uses, the relationship between the geographical position and the road, the relationship between the roads, the relationship between the geographical position and the facility, and the geographical position and the background image Is stored in a specific data structure (for example, a well-known KIWI format).

  A control circuit (corresponding to a computer) 18 is a microcomputer having RAM, ROM, flash memory, I / O, and the like. The CPU executes a program for the operation of the vehicle navigation device 1 read from the ROM and the road map data reading unit 17, and information is read from the RAM, the ROM, and the road map data reading unit 17 at the time of execution. Read, write information to RAM and road map data read unit 17 (if possible), position detector 11, image display device 12, operation switch group 13, audio circuit 14, camera 15, and radio circuit 16 Send and receive signals.

  Specific processing performed by the control circuit 18 executing the program includes current position specifying processing, guidance route calculation processing, route guidance processing, new road information recording / transmission processing, and the like.

  The current position specifying process is a process for specifying the current position of the vehicle 2, the traveling direction of the vehicle 2, and the road to which the vehicle 2 belongs based on a signal from the position detector 11 using a technique such as map matching. A method of identifying the road to which the vehicle 2 belongs by map matching is well known. However, the road to which the vehicle 2 belongs may not be specified by map matching. For example, when the current position indicated by the signal received from the GPS receiver of the position detector 11 is more than the reference distance from any road in the road map data, the road to which the vehicle 2 cannot be identified is an example. Equivalent to.

  The guidance route calculation process is a process of receiving an input of a destination by the user from the operation switch group 13 and calculating an optimum guidance route from the current position to the destination. In the route guidance process, road map data is read from the road map data reading unit 17, and an image obtained by superimposing the calculated guide route, destination, waypoint, current position, etc. on the map indicated by the road map data is displayed as an image. Output to the device 12, and when necessary, such as when the vehicle arrives before the guidance intersection, outputs a guidance voice signal instructing a right turn, a left turn, etc. This is a process of displaying a map of a guidance intersection (hereinafter, an enlarged detailed view) on the image display device 12.

  The new road information recording / transmission process is information about a new road that is composed of a set of points that are determined not to belong to any of the plurality of roads in the road map data. Is stored in the map data reading unit 17 or the flash memory of the control circuit 18, and the information is transmitted to the server 5. The information on the new road includes the above-described position information of the new road, information on the size increase of the road map data by the new road, and information on the frequency of passage of the new road.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of a program repeatedly executed by the CPU for the new road information recording / transmission process.

  When the CPU executes this program, the control circuit 18 first specifies the current position and the like in step 105 by the above-described current position specifying process. Subsequently, in step 110, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 2 does not belong to any of the roads in the road map data, that is, whether the vehicle 2 is traveling on a road that is not on the map, based on the identification result of step 105. To do. If it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a road on the map, then one execution of the program 100 ends.

  If it is determined that the vehicle is traveling on a road that is not on the map, road information is subsequently acquired at step 120. Specifically, the road information is acquired by specifying the current position of the vehicle 2 by the above-described current position specifying process, and specifying the specified current position as the position of a point constituting a road (that is, a new road) that is not on the map. It is realized by doing. In addition, road information is acquired by performing image recognition processing on the captured image received from the camera 15, intersections, land types (mountains, rivers, green spaces, sandy areas), various signs (direction guidance signs, regulatory information). It may be realized by detecting the contents of a signboard to be displayed or a signboard indicating a facility). The road information may be acquired by receiving manual input of road information using the operation switch group 13 by the user. The road information may be acquired by receiving voice representing the user's road information via the microphone 14b and the voice circuit 14 and performing voice recognition on the received voice.

  Subsequently, in step 130, whether or not the vehicle 2 has returned to the road on the map as a result of the current position specifying process in step 120 is determined based on whether or not the map matching for the road in the road map data is successful. If it is determined that it has returned, step 140 is subsequently executed. If it is determined that it has not returned, step 140 is subsequently executed. If it is determined that the vehicle has not returned, that is, is still on a new road, step 120 is executed again.

  As described above, the control circuit 18 repeats the road information by the above-described method (for example, 1 second) until the vehicle 2 enters the new road and exits the new road by the processing of Steps 110 to 130. Continue to get every 10 meters).

  In step 140, based on the road information of the new road acquired in this manner, the information on the new road may be road map data (the road map data in the map data reading unit 17 or the equipment road map. The amount of increase in the data size of the road map data by adding to the virtual road map data different from the data may be calculated. The details of this calculation will be described later. Hereinafter, the road map data in the map data reading unit 17 is referred to as equipment road map data.

  Subsequently, in step 150, the amount of increase in the data size in step 140, the position information (for example, latitude / longitude, map code) of the point constituting the new road acquired by repeating step 120, and the new road are stored in the vehicle 2. A pair with the information on the frequency of traveling is recorded as a new road record in the storage medium or flash memory of the map data reading unit 17.

  Here, the frequency may be the number of times the vehicle 2 has passed the new road within a period up to a predetermined number of days (for example, one month) from the present, or may be an amount representing another frequency. Good. In order to identify this frequency, the control circuit 18 searches for a new road record that has already been recorded in step 150 and is the same as the new road that is currently being recorded (or to the extent that it meets a predetermined similarity criterion). It is determined whether there is a new road record for a new road (similar), and if so, the frequency in the new road record is changed (for example, the number of passes is increased by one).

  Subsequently, in step 160, it is determined whether or not the present is the transmission timing that comes in a predetermined cycle (for example, one month). If it is the transmission timing, then step 170 is executed. The execution of is terminated.

  In step 170, all the recorded new road records are transmitted to the server 5 by controlling the radio circuit 16. At this time, all the plurality of recorded new road records may be deleted. FIG. 4 shows an example of a plurality of new road records in a table format. In this table, each line except the top line corresponds to one new road record. After step 170, one execution of the program 100 ends.

  Here, the calculation of the size increase amount in step 140 will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing details of the process in step 140. As shown in this figure, in step 140, the control circuit 18 first controls the map data reading unit 17 to read the equipment road map data (step 142), and further calculates statistical information from the equipment road map data (step 142). Step 144). Subsequently, the amount of increase in size is calculated by a calculation formula corresponding to the calculated statistical information (step 146).

  The statistical information of the map data to be calculated is a representative of how much the data size of the equipment road map data will increase when a specific element in the equipment road map data increases by a unit amount without changing the amount of other elements. Amount (average amount, mode amount, etc.). Here, specific elements in the equipment road map data include, for example, the number of links, the number of intersections, the road length, the number of keywords, the number of mark images, the number of ICs, SAs, and PAs of expressways. Note that this statistic may be a statistic for all data of the equipment road map data. Further, this statistic may be a statistic for all data in a specific geographical area of the road map data. The specific geographical area may be a specific geographical section including the current position of the vehicle 2 (for example, one parcel in the KIWI format). When such a geographical section is adopted, if there is a variation in the relationship between the amount of elements and the size of the road map data depending on the region, the size increase amount reflecting the variation can be calculated.

  A specific statistic calculation method will be described below by taking road map data conforming to a format similar to the KIWI format as an example.

For example, when the specific element is the number of links, the total value of the following values A, B, and C is set as the size increase amount per link.
A = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the road data frame in one section (or the entire section) of the equipped road map data by the total number of links in the section (or the entire section)]
B = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the route calculation data frame in the detailed map in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of links in the section (or the whole)]
C = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the infrastructure-compatible data in the detailed map in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of links in the section (or the whole)]
Here, the value A is a value focusing on the fact that the data elements in the road data frame describing the parameters such as the structure of each road increase in proportion to the number of links. The value B is a value focused on the fact that the size of the route calculation data frame describing the connection structure between the roads for route calculation increases almost in proportion to the number of links. The value C is a value that focuses on the fact that the number of items of broadcast information increases almost in proportion to the number of links in infrastructure-compatible data for storing broadcast information in VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication Service).

For example, when the specific element is the number of links, the total value of the following values D, E, and F is set as the size increase amount per intersection.
D = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the detailed map enlarged view (part of the route guidance data frame) in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of intersections in the section (or the whole)]
E = [divide the total data size of the intersection name search data (which is a part of the hierarchical search data) in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of intersections in the section (or the whole) Value]
F = [the total data size of the intersection name speech recognition data (which is a part of the speech recognition data) in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data divided by the total number of intersections of the section (or the whole) value]
These values D, E, and F are values focusing on the fact that the enlarged detail view, the intersection name search data, and the intersection name speech recognition data increase in proportion to the number of intersections, respectively.

Further, for example, when the specific element is the road length, the following value G is set as the size increase amount per unit length of the road.
G = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the background data frame in one section (or the entire section) of the equipped road map data by the total distance of the road in the section (or the entire section)]
This value G is a value that focuses on the fact that the number of data elements in the background data frame increases in proportion to the shape points, and that the number of shape points is substantially proportional to the total distance of the road.

Further, for example, when the specific element is the number of keywords, the following value H is set as a size increase amount per keyword.
H = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the name data frame in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of keywords in the section (or the whole)]
This value H is a value focusing on the fact that the name data frame increases almost in proportion to the number of keywords.

For example, when a specific element is a mark image, the following values I, J, and K are set as the size increase amount per mark.
I = [A value obtained by dividing the total data size of signboard and mark data (which is a part of various parameters) in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of marks in the section (or the whole). ]
J = [The total data size of the enlarged map, branch diagram, and illustration data (which is a part of the image data frame) in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data is the total of the section (or the whole). Value divided by the number of marks]
K = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the audio data frame in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of marks in the section (or the whole)]
Further, for example, when the specific element is the number of ICs, SAs, and PAs on a highway, the following values L and M are set as the amount of increase in size per IC, SA, or PA.
L = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the highway map data on all highways in one section (or the whole) of the equipment road map data by the total number of facilities on all highways in the section (or the whole)]
M = [value obtained by dividing the total data size of the highway map 2 data on all highways in one section (or entire) of the equipped road map data by the total number of facilities on all highways in the section (or entire). ]
In this way, the representative amount of how much the data size of the equipment road map data increases when a specific element in the equipment road map data increases by the unit amount without changing the amount of other elements, that is, statistical information Will be determined.

  Further, in step 146, the data increase size calculation by the calculation formula according to the statistical information is based on the road information acquired by repeating step 120 for the new road, and the number of links, the number of intersections, and the road on the new road. The length, the number of keywords, the number of mark images, the number of ICs, SAs, and PAs on the highway are specified, and the specified values are the amount of increase in size per intersection, the amount of increase in size per unit length of road, The amount of increase in size per keyword, the amount of increase in size per mark, and the amount of increase in size per IC, SA, or PA are multiplied as coefficients, and the sum of the multiplication results is used as an estimated value of the amount of increase in size.

  Here, the number of intersections of the new road may be counted by detecting the intersection from the photographed image from the camera 15 using image recognition processing, or by the voice or operation switch of the occupant of the vehicle 2 It may be counted up by detecting the notification of an intersection by an operation on the group 13. Further, the number of links of the new road is a value obtained by subtracting 1 from the number of intersections of the new road.

  Moreover, the specification of the road length of a new road is implement | achieved by specifying the total distance of the path | route which connects the point which comprises a new road.

  In addition, the number of keywords for the new road may be counted by detecting a signboard indicating an intersection and regulation information from the captured image from the camera 15 using image recognition processing. It may be counted up by detecting a notification that a keyword is highly likely to be provided by voice or by operation on the operation switch group 13.

  In addition, the number of mark images of the new road may be counted by detecting an intersection, a traffic light, a regulation information sign, a direction sign, and a facility from the captured image from the camera 15 using image recognition processing. Counting may be performed by detecting a notification that a mark image is highly likely to be provided by voice or by an operation on the operation switch group 13 by a passenger of the vehicle 2.

  Note that the processing in steps 142 to 146 calculates the size increase amount of the equipment road map data when a new road is added to the equipment road map data, not other road map data. However, the size increase amount of the equipment road map data when a new road is added to virtual (or specific existing) road map data other than the equipment road map data may be calculated. In this case, each of the coefficients used as described above may be set in advance and recorded in the ROM or the storage medium of the map data reading unit 17.

  As described above, for each of a plurality of new roads, the control circuit 18 continues to determine that the identified current position (see step 105) is traveling on the new road that is not on the map (see steps 110 and 130). ) Repeatedly acquiring the road information of the new road (see step 120), and when leaving the new road, the amount of increase in the data size of the road map data when the new road is added to the road map data is calculated ( Step 140), along with the calculation result, a new road record including the position information of the new road and the frequency of passing the new road is recorded for each new road (Step 150), and at a specific timing (Step 160), a plurality of A plurality of new road records for the new road are collectively transmitted to the server 5 (see step 170).

  When the vehicle 2 equipped with such a vehicle navigation device 1 travels on a new road that is not recorded in the equipped road map data (corresponding to an example of the first road map data), the vehicle navigation device 1 The amount of increase in the size of the road map data when the road is added to the road map data (second road map data) is estimated, and this is recorded in the storage medium together with the position information of the new road. The information on the size increase amount estimated and recorded in this way is collected and used by the contractor in some way, and in the storage medium of the road map data to be delivered to the user, which new road combination is stored in the storage medium. It becomes easy to determine whether it fits in the free area or which new road does not fit in the free area of the storage medium. In the present embodiment, the collection is realized by transmitting the size increase amount to the server 5, but it may be collected by other methods.

  In addition, the vehicle navigation device 1 records and transmits the frequency with which the vehicle has passed through the new road, together with the size increase amount of the new road and the position information of the new road. By collecting and using such records in some way by a contractor, as will be described later, in the road map data storage medium to be provided to the user, which new road combinations fit in the free space of the storage medium It becomes easy to determine which new road does not fit in the free area of the storage medium, and it is easy to determine which new road is important for the user based on the frequency.

  Further, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 estimates a larger amount of size increase for the new road as the length of the new road is longer. In many cases, not only the KIWI example described above, but the longer the road, the larger the data size allocated to that road. Therefore, by doing in this way, the size increase amount of a new road can be estimated more correctly.

  Further, at this time, if the road map data to be estimated for the size increase is the equipment road map database, the vehicle navigation device 1 determines the length of the road in the equipment road map data and the road in the equipment road map data. Therefore, the size increase amount of the new road is estimated based on the specified relationship and the length of the new road. In this way, it is possible to specify how much the data size increases when a new road is added to the equipment road map data based on the data structure of the equipment road map data included in the vehicle navigation device 1.

  In addition, the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 estimates a larger amount of size increase for the new road as the number of intersections included in the new road is larger. In many cases, not only the above-described example of KIWI, but in many cases, the larger the number of intersections, the larger the data size allocated to the road. Therefore, by doing in this way, the size increase amount of a new road can be estimated more correctly.

  Further, at this time, if the road map data whose size increase is to be estimated is the equipment road map database, the vehicle navigation device 1 uses the number of intersections in the equipment road map data and the intersection in the equipment road map data. The relationship with the amount of data is specified, and the size increase amount of the new road is estimated based on the specified relationship and the number of intersections of the new road. In this way, it is possible to specify how much the data size increases when a new road is added to the equipment road map data based on the data structure of the equipment road map data included in the vehicle navigation device 1.

  Next, road map data update processing using a new road record in the server 5 that receives such a new road record will be described. FIG. 6 shows a hardware configuration of the server 5. The server 5 includes a communication unit 51, a hard disk drive 52, an operation unit 53, and a control circuit 54.

  The communication unit 51 is a well-known network interface capable of mediating communication with the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 via the communication network 4 and the base station 3 by being connected to the communication network 4. When the communication unit 51 receives a new road record from the base station 3, the communication unit 51 outputs the new road record to the control circuit 54.

  The hard disk drive 52 is a storage medium that stores a program for operating the control circuit 54, a new master road map database provided by a primary contractor, and the like.

  The operation unit 53 is a device that accepts a user operation such as a keyboard and a mouse and outputs a signal indicating the accepted operation content to the control circuit 54.

  A control circuit (corresponding to a computer) 18 is a microcomputer having RAM, ROM, flash memory, I / O, and the like. The CPU executes a program for the operation of the server 5 read from the ROM and the hard disk drive 52, and reads information from the RAM, ROM, and hard disk drive 52 when executing the program. The information is written, and signals are exchanged with the operation unit 53 and the control circuit 54. For example, the control circuit 54 records the received new road record in the hard disk drive 52.

  FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of a program 200 executed by the CPU of the control circuit 54. The control circuit 54 starts execution of the program 200 based on a predetermined operation or the like on the operation unit 53 by the user, and first reads out the master road map database in the hard disk drive 52 in step 210. Subsequently, in step 220, all new road data received through the communication unit 51 and recorded in the hard disk drive 52 is read out.

  Subsequently, in step 230, the new road record with the highest use frequency value is selected from the unselected new road records. Subsequently, at step 240, it is determined whether or not the size increase amount recorded in the selected new road record fits in the free capacity of the user-provided storage medium.

  Here, the user-provided storage medium is a storage medium that stores road map data, such as a hard disk, DVD-ROM, or CD-ROM, that is provided to the user together with the vehicle navigation device 1 (or sold separately). The free space is an amount obtained by subtracting the size of the road map data currently stored in the user-provided storage medium from the total storage capacity of the user-provided storage medium. The information on the free space may be recorded in the hard disk drive 52 in advance, or may be specified based on the operator's input operation of the free space on the operation unit 53.

  If the size increase amount recorded in the selected new road record falls within the free capacity of the user-provided storage medium, step 250 is executed. If not, step 260 is executed.

  In step 250, a new road corresponding to the selected new road record is newly added to the road map data to be recorded in the user-provided storage medium. Then, the size of the new road record is subtracted from the current free space. Note that road map data (hereinafter referred to as user-provided road map data) to be recorded in the user-provided storage medium is recorded in the hard disk drive 52. The user-provided road map data may be actually recorded in the user-provided storage medium in another device or in the server 5.

  Specifically, the addition of the new road to the user-provided storage medium is performed based on the position information in the new road record by selecting the road corresponding to the new road from the master road map database read in step 210. The information in the road map database identified and related to the identified road is additionally recorded in the user-provided road map data. After step 250, step 260 is executed.

  In step 260, it is determined whether or not the currently selected new road data is the last selected data among all the received new road data. Execution is terminated, otherwise step 230 is performed again.

  By executing the program 200 as described above, the control circuit 54 sequentially selects a plurality of new roads corresponding to the plurality of new road data received from the vehicle navigation device 1 in descending order of use frequency (steps). 230), determination of whether or not the free space can be accommodated (see step 240), and addition to the user-provided road map data (see step 250).

  As described above, the server 5 is based on the received data of the new road record so that (A) it fits in the user-provided storage medium and (B) among the plurality of new roads, the frequency of passing is high. Things can be added to the road map data so that things are more preferentially accommodated in a user-provided storage medium.

  Therefore, when a part of the updated road map data is recorded on a storage medium for providing to the user, which combination of a plurality of new roads in the road map data should be used to fit in the storage medium This determination is automated.

  Further, the control unit 54 may change the contents (data size, frequency, etc.) of each new road data based on the setting by the worker using the total sub 53.

  In the above embodiment, the vehicle navigation device 1 corresponds to an example of a new road information recording device, and the road map data read by the road map data reading unit 17 is an example of the first and second road map data. The road map data reading unit 17 corresponds to a road map data reading unit. The server 5 corresponds to an example of a new road addition device or server, the communication unit 51 corresponds to an example of a receiving unit, and the control circuit 54 corresponds to an example of an adding unit.

Further, the control circuit 18 of the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 functions as an example of the current position specifying unit by executing Step 105 of the program 100, and functions as an example of the determining unit by executing Step 110. Is executed as an example of an estimation unit, and step 150 is executed as an example of a recording unit.
(Other embodiments)
As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the scope of the present invention is not limited only to the said embodiment, The various form which can implement | achieve the function of each invention specific matter of this invention is included. It is.

  For example, the function of estimating the amount of increase in size may be realized by another control device separated from the control unit 18. At this time, it is only necessary to input / output necessary information between the other control unit and the control unit 18.

  The amount of increase in the size of the background data frame described above is calculated so as to be proportional to the distance of the new road, based on the approximation that the shape points are arranged approximately equidistantly on the road. However, if the curvature of the road is small, the interval between the shape points on the road is likely to be short. In view of this point, the amount of increase in the size of the background data frame may be increased as the distance of the new road is longer, and as the average curvature of the new road is smaller.

  Also, as the amount of increase in the size of the background data frame by adding a new road to the equipment road map data, the correlation between the curvature and the shape point of the road in the section including the current position of the equipment road map data is calculated. The background data frame may be calculated using the correlation.

  In the above embodiment, each function realized by the control circuits 18 and 54 executing a program uses hardware having those functions (for example, an FPGA capable of programming a circuit configuration). May be realized.

1 is a schematic diagram of a new road information recording system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the navigation apparatus 1 for vehicles. It is a flowchart of the program 100 which the control circuit 18 of the vehicle navigation apparatus 1 performs. It is a chart which shows the content of the data transmitted to the server 5 from the navigation apparatus 1 for vehicles. 7 is a flowchart showing details of step 142 of the program 100. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a server 5. FIG. It is a flowchart of the program 200 which the control circuit 54 of the server 5 performs.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vehicle navigation apparatus, 2 ... Vehicle, 3 ... Base station, 4 ... Communication network,
5 ... Server, 10 ... New road information recording system, 11 ... Position detector,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 ... Image display apparatus, 13 ... Operation switch group, 14 ... Sound circuit, 14a ... Speaker
14b ... microphone, 15 ... camera, 16 ... wireless circuit, 17 ... map data reading unit,
18 ... Control circuit 51 ... Communication part 52 ... Hard disk drive 53 ... Operation part
54 ... Control circuit, 100, 200 ... Program

Claims (1)

For each of a plurality of new roads from the transmission device mounted on the vehicle, the amount of increase when the new road is added to the road map data, the position information of the new road, and the vehicle has passed the new road Receiving means for receiving frequency data;
Based on the data received by the receiving means and information on the free capacity of the user-provided storage medium, the data of the plurality of new roads is more preferentially passed through the new road, A new road addition device, comprising: addition means for adding to road map data so as to fit in the user-provided storage medium.

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