JP2009109465A - Navigation system, base station, traffic congestion information processing system, its control method and control program, and traffic congestion information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain traffic congestion information indicating the jamming state of a road of good real time property and use it for map display and accuracy improvement in route calculation, with a simple technique using the number of connection vehicles in a cell of a base station in a navigation system mounted with a wireless LAN. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation system 10 receives, at any time in a radio section, from the base station, traffic congestion information of the base station itself and traffic congestion information of another base station connected to the former base station via a communication network, and outputs the received traffic congestion information from an output section. In consideration of it, route calculation to a destination is performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in technology for supporting driving of a vehicle.

  In recent years, navigation devices that have rapidly become popular display the current position of a vehicle detected by GPS or the like on a map, and are designated by facility search or map scroll based on a database such as a road prepared in advance. The route to the destination is searched and calculated, and the traveling direction at the branch point is guided and guided along the route by screen display, voice output, and the like.

  In such a navigation device, in addition to the road network structure, information such as road length, road width, and whether it is a toll road is recorded for each road section constituting the road network as data called a map database. . Based on this information, an optimal route to the destination is calculated according to a route search algorithm such as the Dijkstra method while comparing short transit times. However, these pieces of information are information fixed on a map database built in the navigation device in advance, and the situation of a road that temporarily occurs such as a traffic jam cannot be reflected in the determination.

  After that, some improved navigation devices incorporate statistical congestion information, that is, congestion information such as road congestion trends in seasons and times, but this is also data that has been incorporated in advance in the navigation device Therefore, there is a weak point that often occurs even when the determined route is not appropriate as a result, since the route calculation is not performed by grasping the congestion situation in real time.

In Japan, as a technology to deal with these problems, each vehicle receives VICS to be used by each vehicle by broadcasting traffic information collected by roads such as centers and used by each vehicle, and each vehicle receives the necessary traffic information by wireless communication. Traffic information services such as on-demand VICS are provided (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
JP-A-10-307993 JP 2004-286565 A

  However, in order to provide the conventional traffic information service as described above, it is necessary to construct a large-scale system, and the area where sufficient services are provided is limited. Further, since the collected road condition information is distributed to the center after being aggregated, there is a problem that a slight delay often occurs in terms of real-time characteristics.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and its purpose is a simple technique that utilizes the number of connected vehicles in the cell of the base station in the technology of a navigation device equipped with a wireless LAN. It is to obtain traffic information indicating the congestion situation of roads with better real-time characteristics and to use it for map display and improving route calculation accuracy.

  In view of the above object, the invention of claim 1 is a navigation device mounted on a vehicle having an information output unit, a radio unit for wireless connection with a base station, and the base station Information acquisition means for receiving traffic congestion information according to the number of connected vehicles in a cell corresponding to at least one of the station or another base station connected to the base station or a communication network with the radio unit; and the information And an information output means for outputting the traffic jam information received by the acquisition means from the output section.

  The invention of claim 10 captures the invention of claim 1 from the viewpoint of a method, and has a radio unit for wireless connection with a base station, an information output unit, and controls a navigation device mounted on a vehicle. A method for realizing information acquisition means from a base station and information output means for traffic jam information by means of a calculation control unit of a computer, and from the base station by the information acquisition means, A processing step of receiving traffic congestion information according to the number of connected vehicles in a cell to which at least one of the other base stations connected to the base station via a communication network is received by the radio unit; and the information output means And a processing step of outputting the traffic congestion information received by the information acquisition means from the information output unit.

  The invention of claim 18 is a computer program that captures the inventions of claims 1 and 10, and includes a radio unit for wireless connection with a base station and an information output unit, and is mounted on a vehicle. A control program for the apparatus, which controls information processing means of the computer and realizes information acquisition means from the base station and information output means of traffic jam information by controlling the arithmetic control unit of the computer, and the information acquisition Means, from the base station, traffic congestion information according to the number of connected vehicles in a cell corresponding to at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network, the wireless unit And the information output unit outputs the traffic congestion information received by the information acquisition unit from the information output unit.

  In this way, based on the number of vehicles connected to each base station, traffic congestion information on nearby areas and roads is obtained and output by the vehicle. Judgment becomes easier with real-time characteristics

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a navigation device mounted on a vehicle, a radio unit for wireless connection with a base station, current position acquisition means for acquiring a current position of the host vehicle, and map data representing a network structure of a road Storage means, receiving a designation of a destination, route calculation means for calculating a route from the current position to the destination based on the map data, and from the base station, the base station or Information acquisition means for acquiring the number of connected vehicles and management information for identifying the base station for at least one of the other base stations connected to the base station via a communication network, the management information, and the map Traffic judgment means for judging the degree of traffic congestion based on the number of connected vehicles for each road section based on the relationship with the data, and the route calculation means includes the traffic congestion judgment In consideration of the congestion level is determined by the stage, characterized by being configured to perform route calculation to the destination.

  The invention of claim 11 captures the invention of claim 2 from the viewpoint of a method, a wireless unit for wireless connection with a base station, current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the own vehicle, A map data storage means representing a network structure, and in a method for controlling a navigation device mounted on a vehicle, an arithmetic control unit of a computer, a route calculation means for navigation, an information acquisition means from a base station, A traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam, accepting designation of a destination by the route calculating means, and determining an optimum route from the current position to the destination based on the map data A step of calculating a route, and the information acquisition means from the base station to the base station or another base connected to the base station via a communication network; For at least one of the stations, based on the relationship between the management information and the map data by the processing step of obtaining the number of connected vehicles, the management information for identifying the base station, and the traffic jam judging means, And a processing step for determining the degree of congestion based on the number of connected vehicles for each road section, and the route calculation means takes the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination means into consideration and returns to the destination. The path calculation is performed.

  The invention of claim 19 captures the inventions of claims 2 and 11 from the viewpoint of a computer program, a wireless unit for wirelessly connecting to a base station, and current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the own vehicle; A map data storage means representing a network structure of a road, and a navigation apparatus control program mounted on a vehicle, wherein the program controls route calculation means for navigation by controlling an arithmetic control unit of a computer And an information acquisition means from the base station and a traffic jam judgment means for judging the degree of traffic jam, and the route calculation means accepts designation of the destination, and from the current position to the destination The optimal route of the base station is calculated based on the map data, and the information acquisition means causes the base station to Obtains the number of connected vehicles and management information for identifying the base station for at least one of the other base stations connected to the base station via a communication network, and the congestion information is determined by the congestion determination means. And the map data for each road section, the degree of congestion is determined based on the number of connected vehicles, and the route calculation unit takes into account the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination unit. And calculating the route to the destination.

  In this way, by adding the degree of traffic congestion based on the number of connected vehicles for each base station to the route calculation, it is possible to use routes that effectively avoid traffic congestion points with excellent real-time performance without requiring large-scale facilities. It becomes.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the second aspect, the information acquisition means receives the number of connected vehicles in the cell of the base station, the identification information of the base station, and the installation position of the base station And base station coordinates indicating the information.

  The invention of claim 12 captures the invention of claim 3 from the viewpoint of a method, and in the control method of the navigation device according to claim 11, the information acquisition means causes the base station to transmit the information in the cell of the base station. The information including the number of connected vehicles, the identification information of the base station, and the base station coordinates indicating the installation position of the base station is obtained.

  In this way, the navigation device acquires the identification information and coordinates of the base station in addition to the number of connected vehicles from the base station, so that it is possible to easily and highly accurately check the traffic jam location with the map data. .

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation apparatus according to the third aspect, the information acquisition means includes a current position of the host vehicle obtained by the current position acquisition means, the map data stored in the storage means, Based on the number of connected vehicles obtained from the base station, the identification information, and the base station coordinates, a traffic condition is associated with each base station coordinate or each road section for a predetermined range from the current position of the vehicle. It is characterized in that an information table is created.

  The invention of claim 13 captures the invention of claim 4 from the viewpoint of a method, and in the navigation device control method of claim 12, the information acquisition means obtains the current vehicle position by the current position acquisition means. Based on the current position, the map data stored in the storage means, the number of connected vehicles obtained from the base station, the identification information, and the base station coordinates For the range, an information table in which traffic conditions are associated with each base station coordinate or each road section is created.

  In this way, in the navigation device, by holding information obtained from the base station as an information table for each location, it is easy to effectively use various usage modes and sequential updates.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the fourth aspect, the route calculating means compares the information stored in the information table with a predetermined reference value to estimate the occurrence of traffic congestion in the near future. The route calculation avoiding the estimated traffic jam is performed.

  The invention of claim 14 captures the invention of claim 5 from the viewpoint of a method. In the control method of the navigation device according to claim 13, the information stored in the information table by the route calculation means and a predetermined value are stored. The occurrence of traffic congestion in the present or near future is estimated by comparing these reference values, and route calculation avoiding the estimated congestion is performed.

  In this way, it is possible to estimate the occurrence of traffic jams for each road section and region based on the number of connected vehicles and base station coordinates in the information table, and to calculate the route that avoids traffic jams. Effectively improved, a comfortable and lean drive can be realized.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the output unit includes screen display means and voice output means, and the information output means is the traffic Congestion information is displayed on the screen display means and output by the voice output means.

  In this way, the information obtained from the base station is output to the driver, etc. from both the visual and auditory senses by outputting the information obtained from the base station as a synthesized voice together with the screen display, so that traffic congestion can be easily considered. It becomes possible.

  The invention of claim 7 is a wireless base station, and grasps as the number of connected vehicles, the number of connected wireless devices for wireless connection with a navigation device mounted on a vehicle and the number of navigation devices wirelessly connected to the own station. Grasping means, a traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam based on the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means, and the traffic jam degree judged by the traffic jam judging means as a region or road section in the vicinity of the own station Information providing means for providing the traffic congestion information related to the navigation device from the wireless unit.

  A fifteenth aspect of the invention is a method for controlling a wireless base station, which is obtained from the viewpoint of the method of the seventh aspect, and has a wireless unit for wirelessly connecting to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle. The computer control unit realizes the number of connected vehicles grasping means, the traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam, and the information providing means to the vehicle. A processing step of grasping the number of connected navigation devices as the number of connected vehicles; a processing step of judging the degree of traffic jam based on the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means by the traffic jam judging means; The information providing means determines the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination means from the radio unit as traffic congestion information related to an area near the own station or a road section. A processing step of providing the device, characterized in that the run.

  The invention of claim 20 captures the inventions of claims 7 and 15 from the viewpoint of a computer program, and controls a wireless base station having a wireless unit for wirelessly connecting to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle. A control program for the base station, by controlling the arithmetic control unit of the computer, the means for grasping the number of connected vehicles, the traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam, the information providing means for the vehicle, And the grasping means grasps the number of navigation devices wirelessly connected to the own station as the number of connected vehicles, and the traffic jam judging means determines the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means. The traffic congestion information relating to the area or road section in the vicinity of the own station is determined by the information providing means and the traffic congestion degree determined by the traffic congestion determining means. And characterized in that provided from the wireless unit to the navigation device by.

  In this way, in the base station, by determining the degree of congestion based on the number of connected vehicles and providing it to the navigation device, it is possible to consider the number of accommodated lines for each base station and the size of the cell. The processing load is reduced.

  A traffic jam information processing system according to an eighth aspect includes the navigation device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects and the base station according to the seventh aspect.

  A traffic jam information processing method according to a sixteenth aspect is obtained by grasping the invention according to the eighth aspect from a viewpoint of a method, the navigation device control method according to any one of the tenth to fourteenth aspects, and the fifteenth aspect. And a base station control method.

  As described above, the combination of the navigation apparatus and the base station according to the present invention makes it easy to use traffic information with excellent real-time performance without requiring a large-scale facility.

  A traffic jam information processing system according to claim 9 includes a wireless LAN system in which base stations according to claim 7 corresponding to a plurality of different cells constituting a wireless communication service area are connected to each other, The information providing means is provided for each navigation apparatus directly connected to the base station and each navigation apparatus connected indirectly to the base station via the wireless LAN system. It is configured to provide traffic jam information.

  The traffic jam information providing method according to claim 17 is based on the view of the invention according to claim 9 as a method, and the base stations according to claim 7 respectively corresponding to a plurality of different cells constituting the wireless communication service area are mutually connected. Using the connected wireless LAN system, the information providing means of each base station directly connects to the base station via the wireless LAN system, and each navigation device directly connected to the base station via the wireless LAN system. The traffic congestion information of the own station or another base station is provided to each navigation device.

  As described above, the traffic congestion information of the base stations in various places is transmitted by the wireless LAN system, thereby facilitating the smooth application of the present invention over a wide area.

  As described above, according to the present invention, in the technology of a navigation device equipped with a wireless LAN, a simple technology that utilizes the number of connected vehicles in a cell of a base station can provide a more real-time road congestion situation. It is possible to obtain the traffic information to be expressed and use it for map display and improving the accuracy of route calculation.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that assumptions common to the explanation in the background art and problems are omitted as appropriate.

[1. Constitution〕
[1-1. overall structure〕
In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1 (overall conceptual diagram), an in-vehicle navigation device 10 having a wireless unit F that is mounted on a vehicle and performs a wireless LAN connection function, and a wireless communication device that communicates with the navigation device 10 are provided. This is a traffic jam information processing system that combines a wireless LAN system 20 including a base station. A vehicle equipped with the navigation device 10 uses various services provided by the wireless LAN system 20 by connecting to and communicating with the nearest base station A among the base stations scattered in the wireless LAN service area.

[1-2. Configuration of wireless LAN system]
As shown in FIG. 2, the wireless LAN system is a system in which a plurality of base stations A (A1 to A9) are connected by a network management system S and a WAN. Here, the communicable area of the entire wireless LAN system is called a “service area”, and the communicable range for each base station constituting the service area is called a “cell”. The WAN is a wide area network, that is, a wide area network, and is represented by “WAN” as a code, but the Internet and VPN can also be used.

  The range of the cell varies depending on the wireless communication system, output, surrounding terrain and structures, etc., but the cell is a generally circular range centered on the base station. A mobile body such as a vehicle (in this embodiment, a navigation device) The communication partner is continuously communicated with the network while sequentially switching (handover) the communication partner to the base station having the best communication state such as the electric field intensity according to the traveling.

  Each base station A serving as a communication destination is a mobile object such as a vehicle and requires communication facilities such as utility poles that depend on a backbone line. Further, the navigation device 10 on the vehicle side normally uses the base station A closest to the current vehicle position as a communication partner because of the nature of radio waves used in the wireless LAN.

  The network management system S is a system that collectively manages the communication state with the vehicle. Here, the network management system S manages which vehicle is connected to which base station, as well as a requested external network (typically Internet). The network management subsystem SS manages a plurality of base stations collectively, but is not essential.

  In addition, the connection information database (the database is represented as “DB” and the code is also represented as “DB”) is connected to which base station A the vehicle communicates with the vehicle, that is, the navigation device 10. It is a database that indicates whether the information is connected (this information is referred to as “connection information”), and the latest connection information is always recorded on the basis of reports from communication from each base station. Based on this connection information, the number of vehicles connected to each base station can be grasped.

  An application example is also possible in which information such as the number of vehicles as described above is acquired by a home PC (personal computer) via a WAN such as the Internet, and the route is calculated in advance before departure. Is not essential.

[1-3. (Base station configuration)
In addition, each base station A establishes a connection with a vehicle in the cell in charge by so-called location registration by wireless communication of a predetermined method and frequency band, and simultaneously connects with a facility that realizes connection to the network. Count the number of connected vehicles. That is, when a vehicle moves (handover) from one base station cell to another base station cell, the base station that is the new connection destination counts up the number of connections, and the base station that has been the source of movement until then Let's count down.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3 (configuration diagram), each base station A (A1 to A9) has a wireless unit 52 for wireless connection with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle. Further, in each base station A, although not shown in the figure, a control program stored in advance by a calculation control unit such as a CPU uses a control program in which the number of vehicles in the cell is grasped, a traffic jam judging unit 56 based on the number of vehicles, a traffic jam And information providing means 58 for information. Each of these means is a processing means that realizes and executes each functional action of the present invention and this embodiment as described later.

  For each base station A, a base station name such as a code uniquely determined in the system is assigned as identification information, and each base station name and its installation position coordinates ("base station coordinates") are assigned. The correspondence information is stored in advance in the form of a database or the like on the network management system S or each navigation device 10 and the coordinates of each road included in the map data on the navigation device 10 The information such as the base station coordinates and the number of connected vehicles related to each base station are configured so that they can be used in a coordinated manner by comparing them based on the position coordinates.

[1-4. Configuration of navigation device]
Moreover, the structure of the navigation apparatus 10 mounted in each vehicle is shown in FIG. That is, the map data processing unit 1 has a storage device such as a hard disk drive or a DVD-ROM drive as the map data storage means 11 for storing map data representing the network structure of the road in units of links representing each road section. In addition, the data processing unit 12 performs access control and the like in these storage devices.

  The user input / output unit 2 also serves as an operation input unit and an information output unit. As the information output unit, in addition to a liquid crystal display device which is a screen display means, a voice synthesis circuit, an amplifier / speaker, or the like An output means can be considered, and more specifically, it is realized by a liquid crystal display panel with a switch or a touch panel function, a vehicle-mounted speaker, or the like.

  In addition, the navigation device 10 functions as a navigation sensor, a GSP receiver 3 that receives GPS information used for calculating the absolute position, and vehicle information such as a vehicle speed pulse and a back signal (reverse signal) to serve as a vehicle speed sensor. It has a vehicle data processing unit 4, a vibration gyro 5 that is an angular velocity sensor that obtains azimuth information, and an acceleration sensor 6 that obtains altitude information and the like.

  Among these, the vibration gyro 5 and the acceleration sensor 6 have data processing units 55 and 65 that perform control, output signal generation, and the like, respectively. The wireless unit 8 is a wireless LAN device for wireless connection with the base station A, that is, a wireless LAN client module, and the wireless communication method is WiHi, WiMAX or the like that can be mounted on a vehicle and can access the network while moving. If so, it can be freely selected.

  Further, the processing unit 7 with an arithmetic control unit such as a CPU controls and uses each part of the present apparatus in accordance with a pre-stored control program, whereby the following elements (reference numeral 72 and later) shown in FIG. These elements are processing means for realizing and executing the respective functions and operations of the present invention and this embodiment as described below.

[2. Action)
That is, in this embodiment, first, in each base station A, in order to manage the connection with the mobile body, the grasping means 54 (FIG. 3), the navigation device 10 in the cell wirelessly connected to its own station The number of connected vehicles is grasped as the number of connected vehicles, that is, the number of connections (grasping processing), and information providing means 58 sends the information from the wireless unit 52 to the navigation device 10 as traffic jam information corresponding to the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means 54. Provide (information provision processing).

  More specifically, the number of connected vehicles, that is, connection information from each base station A is collected in the network management system S and accumulated in the connection information DB. Then, the information providing means 58 of each base station A responds to each navigation device 10 directly connected to the base station and each navigation device 10 indirectly connected to the base station via a wireless LAN system. The information held by itself is provided directly, and other information is provided by referring to the connection information DB of the network management system S.

  In this way, the minimum content of traffic congestion information provided from each base station includes the number of connected vehicles in the cell of each base station itself, identification information such as a base station name such as a code for each base station, The base station coordinates, which are the position coordinates where the station is installed, are added as management information.

  On the other hand, the information acquisition means 72 of the navigation device 10 (FIG. 4) transmits from the base station A to the base station A (for example, A1) or another base station (for example, A2 to A2) connected to the base station A1 through a communication network. A9), traffic congestion information about a predetermined range (for example, within a predetermined radius, a predetermined distance in the direction of the destination, etc.) from the current position of the own vehicle obtained by the current position acquisition means 74, the wireless unit 8 and the wireless LAN Received at any time by the driver 70 (information reception process).

  The information output means 82 outputs the traffic congestion information received in this way (information output processing). At this time, preferably, the information output means 82 displays the traffic congestion information on the screen display means and outputs the voice. By outputting by means, it is possible to accurately convey a place where there is a traffic jam to the driver or the like.

  The traffic jam information obtained from the base station A is also used for route search. That is, the current position acquisition unit 74 acquires the current position of the host vehicle using the navigation sensor (current position acquisition process), and the route calculation unit 80 receives the designation of the destination from the user and returns to the destination. The optimal route from the current position is calculated based on the map data stored in the map data storage means 11 (route calculation processing), and traffic congestion information is utilized for this route calculation.

  Here, as traffic jam information for each base station, not only the number of connected vehicles in the cell, which is the minimum content, but also the number of connected vehicles, areas and road sections (including places such as facilities) It is used by adding information on the degree of traffic congestion determined by counting in units. The determination of the degree of traffic congestion may be performed by the traffic congestion determination means 56 on the base station A side, the network management system S connected to the base station A may act on its behalf, or each navigation device 10 side You may carry out with the traffic congestion judgment means 76. FIG.

  For example, when determining the degree of traffic congestion on the navigation device side, the traffic congestion determination means 76 of the navigation device 10 obtains the base station name, base station coordinates, and the number of connected vehicles from the acquired traffic congestion information, and is illustrated in FIG. Create an information table that

  Subsequently, the traffic jam judgment unit 76 refers to the map data stored in the map data storage unit 11 and compares the base station name in the information table with the information such as the position coordinates of each road section included therein. In particular, the base station coordinates are compared, and the number of connected vehicles is associated as the traffic situation for each road section. For example, FIG. 6 shows a state in which information indicating which road section corresponds to each base station included in the information table of FIG.

  Although the minimum information to be collated with the map data is the base station coordinates, it is desirable to embed the base station name in the map data, and using both the base station coordinates and the base station name improves the collation accuracy. .

  Further, the traffic jam judging means 76 judges the traffic jam degree from the total number of connected vehicles for each road section. For example, in the example of FIG. 6, it can be determined that the base stations corresponding to “Road A Down Line” are two coordinates 1 and 2, and the total number of connections is three. By comparing the number of connections with a threshold for the number of connections that divides the degree of congestion into several stages, or by judging based on criteria that change dynamically according to the thickness and distance of the road section, etc. Judgment is made on the degree of traffic jam estimated at the present or near future, and the route calculation means 80 calculates the route to the destination in consideration of such traffic jam.

  That is, if each base station along a road section has a large number of connections, the number of vehicles on the road section is considered to be large according to the total number. There is a high possibility that there is traffic jam or at least crowded. By adding these determination results as traffic jam information as road weighting information to be calculated at the time of route calculation, a route avoiding the estimated traffic jam area is calculated.

  In addition, when there is a navigation device that does not change for a long time, such as the IP address included in the connection information to the base station when calculating the number of connections as described above, it is considered a stationary vehicle or a fixed station, If excluded from the above calculation, traffic jam information can be maintained with high accuracy.

[3. Example of operation procedure)
An example of a processing procedure in the navigation apparatus corresponding to the above operation is shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the vehicle is activated (step S01), the navigation device 10 is activated (step S02), the route is calculated according to the destination setting (step S03), and the vehicle starts moving (step S04), the wireless A connection with the nearest base station A is established by the unit 8 via the wireless LAN (step S05).

  Then, triggered by an event such that a certain period of time has passed or the vehicle has traveled to some extent at a constant speed (step S06), the information acquisition means 72 of the navigation device 10 is in the vicinity or near the route from the connection information DB of the network management system S. The connection information is checked and downloaded (step S07), and a table as illustrated in FIG. 5 is created (step S08).

  Next, the traffic jam judging means 76 collates the information in the table with the map data in the map data storage means 11 based on the coordinates of the respective base stations, that is, information based on the relationship between the two. As shown in FIG. 6, the number of connections and each road section are associated with each other (step S09).

  Then, from the situation of this table, when the route calculation means 80 detects a traffic congestion of a predetermined level or more, it takes measures such as route recalculation, that is, reroute (step S11). For example, in the example of FIG. 6, the occurrence of traffic congestion is estimated because the number of connections of the base station corresponding to the “Road B uplink” and the cell is as large as 7 + 4 = 11 in total, and thus route calculation avoiding this is performed. In addition, for example, because the number of connections “5” in the “airport parking lot” is relatively large, it is estimated that there are many cars entering and exiting the parking lot. You can warn.

[4. effect〕
As described above, according to the present embodiment, on the basis of the number of connected vehicles for each base station, by obtaining traffic information of nearby areas and roads with vehicles, large-scale facilities are not required, Judgment of traffic jams and appropriate routes can be made easily with excellent real-time characteristics. In addition, according to the present embodiment, by adding the degree of congestion based on the number of connected vehicles for each base station to the route calculation, a large-scale facility is not required, and a real-time property is effectively avoided. Route becomes available.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the navigation device acquires the identification information and coordinates of the base station in addition to the number of connected vehicles from the base station, so that it can be compared with map data easily and with high accuracy, and a traffic jam location Can be determined.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, in the navigation device, the information obtained from the base station is held as the information table for each place, thereby facilitating effective utilization by various utilization modes and sequential updates. In addition, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to estimate the occurrence of traffic jams for each road section or region based on the number of connected vehicles and base station coordinates in the information table, and perform route calculation that avoids traffic jams. The accuracy of route selection is effectively improved, and a comfortable and lean drive can be realized.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the information obtained from the base station is output in the navigation device as a synthesized voice together with the screen display, so that the information can be reliably transmitted to the driver from both the visual and auditory senses. Can be easily considered.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, the base station determines the degree of traffic congestion based on the number of connected vehicles and then provides it to the navigation device, so that the number of accommodated lines for each base station and the width of the cell can be considered. The processing load on the navigation device side is reduced.

  In particular, the combination of the navigation device of the present invention and the base station makes it easy to use traffic information with excellent real-time characteristics in navigation without requiring a large-scale facility. Further, according to the present embodiment, wide area implementation application of the present invention is facilitated smoothly by transmitting traffic congestion information of base stations in various places by a wireless LAN system.

[5. Other embodiments]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, The thing illustrated below and other embodiment other than that are included. For example, the configuration examples of FIGS. 1 to 4, the processing procedure of FIG. 5, the information tables of FIGS. 6 and 7 are merely examples, and it is sufficient that the congestion determination unit is in one of the base station or the navigation device, A configuration for collecting traffic congestion information such as the number of vehicle connections in the network management system S and the connection information DB is not essential.

The figure which shows the whole structure of embodiment of this invention. 1 is a diagram showing a wireless LAN system in an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows the structure of the base station in embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the information table in embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the state which added the information in the navigation apparatus to the information table in embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows the process sequence in a navigation apparatus in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Map data processing part 2 ... User input / output part 3 ... Receiver 4 ... Vehicle data processing part 5 ... Vibration gyro 6 ... Acceleration sensor 7 ... Processing part 8 ... Radio | wireless part 10 ... Navigation apparatus 11 ... Map data storage means 12, 55, 65 ... Data processing unit 20 ... Wireless LAN system 52 ... Wireless unit 54 ... Grasping means 56 ... Congestion judging means 58 ... Information providing means 70 ... Wireless LAN driver 72 ... Information obtaining means 74 ... Current position obtaining means 76 ... Congestion judgment Means 80 ... Route calculation means 82 ... Information output means A (A1 to A9) ... Each base station DB ... Connection information database F ... Radio unit S ... Network management system SS ... Network management subsystem

Claims (20)

A navigation device having an information output unit and mounted on a vehicle,
A wireless unit for wireless connection with a base station;
From the base station, at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network receives traffic congestion information corresponding to the number of connected vehicles in a cell, by the radio unit. Information acquisition means;
Information output means for outputting the traffic congestion information received by the information acquisition means from the output unit;
A navigation device characterized by comprising: In a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
A wireless unit for wireless connection with a base station;
Current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle;
Storage means for map data representing the network structure of the road;
Route calculation means for accepting designation of a destination and calculating an optimum route from the current position to the destination based on the map data;
Information acquisition for acquiring, from the base station, the number of connected vehicles and management information for identifying the base station for at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network Means,
Based on the relationship between the management information and the map data, for each road section, a traffic jam judging means for judging the traffic jam degree based on the number of connected vehicles,
Have
The navigation apparatus, wherein the route calculation means is configured to calculate a route to a destination in consideration of the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination means. The information acquisition means from the base station,
The number of connected vehicles in the cell of the base station,
The identification information of the base station,
Base station coordinates indicating the location of the base station;
The navigation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein information including: is acquired. The information acquisition means includes
The current position of the vehicle obtained by the current position acquisition means;
The map data stored in the storage means;
The number of connected vehicles obtained from the base station, the identification information, the base station coordinates,
The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein an information table in which traffic conditions are associated with each base station coordinate or each road section for a predetermined range from the current position of the host vehicle is created. The route calculation means includes
5. The information stored in the information table is compared with a predetermined reference value to estimate the occurrence of current or near future traffic congestion, and route calculation avoiding the estimated congestion is performed. Navigation device. The output unit includes screen display means and audio output means,
The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the information output unit displays the traffic jam information on the screen display unit and outputs the traffic jam information with the voice output unit. A wireless base station,
A wireless unit for wireless connection with a navigation device mounted on the vehicle;
A grasping means for grasping the number of connected navigation devices as the number of connected vehicles,
A traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam based on the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means;
Information providing means for providing the congestion degree determined by the congestion determination means from the wireless unit to the navigation device as traffic congestion information related to a region or road section in the vicinity of the own station;
A base station characterized by comprising:   A traffic jam information processing system comprising the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and the base station according to claim 7. A wireless LAN system in which base stations according to claim 7 corresponding to a plurality of different cells constituting a wireless communication service area are connected to each other,
The information providing means of each base station is connected to each navigation device directly connected to the base station and to each navigation device connected indirectly to the base station via the wireless LAN system. Alternatively, a traffic jam information processing system configured to provide traffic jam information of other base stations. A wireless unit for wirelessly connecting to a base station, an information output unit, and a method for controlling a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The computer control unit realizes information acquisition means from the base station and information output means of traffic jam information,
By the information acquisition means, from the base station, traffic congestion information according to the number of connected vehicles in the cell corresponding to at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network, Processing steps received by the wireless unit;
The information output means outputs the traffic jam information received by the information acquisition means from the information output unit; and
The control method of the navigation apparatus characterized by performing this. A wireless unit for wireless connection with a base station;
Current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle;
Storage means for map data representing the network structure of the road;
In a method for controlling a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The computer control unit realizes navigation route calculation means, information acquisition means from the base station, and traffic jam judgment means for judging the degree of traffic jam,
A processing step of receiving a designation of a destination by the route calculation means, and calculating a route based on the map data for an optimum route from the current position to the destination;
By the information acquisition means, from the base station, for at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network, the number of connected vehicles, and management information for identifying the base station; Processing steps to obtain,
A processing step of determining the degree of traffic congestion based on the number of connected vehicles for each road section based on the relationship between the management information and the map data by the traffic congestion determining means;
And run
The route calculation means performs route calculation to a destination in consideration of the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination means. From the base station by the information acquisition means,
The number of connected vehicles in the cell of the base station,
The identification information of the base station,
Base station coordinates indicating the location of the base station;
12. The method of controlling a navigation device according to claim 11, wherein information including the information is acquired. By the information acquisition means,
The current position of the vehicle obtained by the current position acquisition means;
The map data stored in the storage means;
The number of connected vehicles obtained from the base station, the identification information, the base station coordinates,
13. The navigation apparatus control method according to claim 12, wherein an information table in which a traffic situation is associated with each base station coordinate or each road section is created for a predetermined range from the current position of the own vehicle. . By the route calculation means,
The information stored in the information table and a predetermined reference value are compared to estimate the occurrence of current or near future traffic congestion, and the route calculation avoiding the estimated congestion is performed. Control method of navigation device. A wireless base station control method having a wireless unit for wireless connection with a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The computer control unit realizes a grasping means for the number of connected vehicles, a traffic jam judging means for judging the degree of traffic jam, and an information providing means for vehicles,
By the grasping means, a processing step for grasping the number of navigation devices wirelessly connected to the own station as the number of connected vehicles;
A processing step of determining a degree of traffic jam based on the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means by the traffic jam judging means;
A processing step of providing the congestion degree determined by the congestion determination unit by the information providing unit from the radio unit to the navigation device as traffic congestion information related to an area near the own station or a road section;
The base station control method characterized by performing.   15. A traffic jam information processing method comprising combining the navigation device control method according to any one of claims 10 to 14 and the base station control method according to claim 15. A wireless LAN system in which base stations according to claim 7 corresponding to a plurality of different cells constituting a wireless communication service area are connected to each other,
For each navigation device directly connected to the base station by the information providing means of each base station, and for each navigation device connected to the base station indirectly via the wireless LAN system, Alternatively, a traffic jam information providing method characterized by providing traffic jam information of other base stations. A radio unit for wireless connection with a base station, an information output unit, a control program for a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The control program is
By controlling the calculation control unit of the computer, information acquisition means from the base station, information output means of traffic jam information, and realization,
By the information acquisition means, from the base station, traffic congestion information according to the number of connected vehicles in the cell corresponding to at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network, Received by the radio unit,
The information output unit causes the information output unit to output the traffic congestion information received by the information acquisition unit. A wireless unit for wireless connection with a base station;
Current position acquisition means for acquiring the current position of the vehicle;
Storage means for map data representing the network structure of the road;
In a control program for a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The program is
By controlling the calculation control unit of the computer, the route calculation means for navigation, the information acquisition means from the base station, and the traffic jam judging means for judging the traffic jam degree are realized,
The route calculation means allows the designation of the destination and accepts the optimum route from the current position to the destination based on the map data,
By the information acquisition means, from the base station, for at least one of the base station or another base station connected to the base station via a communication network, the number of connected vehicles, and management information for identifying the base station; Let's get the
Based on the relationship between the management information and the map data, the traffic congestion determining means determines the traffic congestion level for each road section based on the number of connected vehicles,
A navigation apparatus control program characterized in that the route calculation means calculates the route to the destination in consideration of the degree of congestion determined by the congestion determination means. A control program for controlling a wireless base station having a wireless unit for wireless connection with a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
By controlling the calculation control unit of the computer, realizing means for grasping the number of connected vehicles, traffic judgment means for judging the degree of traffic jam, and means for providing information to the vehicle,
By the grasping means, the number of navigation devices wirelessly connected to the own station is grasped as the number of connected vehicles,
Based on the number of connected vehicles grasped by the grasping means, the traffic jam judging means judges the degree of traffic jam,
Control of the base station characterized in that the information providing means provides the congestion degree determined by the traffic congestion determining means to the navigation device from the radio unit as traffic congestion information relating to an area or road section in the vicinity of the own station. program.