JP2009204477A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device without delaying drawing processing of a screen caused by user operation since CPU is high load. <P>SOLUTION: When display contents of a display monitor 16 by user input due to an input device 18 or a touch panel 20 are renewed, a CPU load rate detection part 26 detects a load rate of CPU 25. When the load rate of CPU 25 is higher than a prescribed threshold, the display contents of the display monitor 16 is simplified. In the case of screen transition, representation effect of screen switching is turned off. In the case of screen scrolling, an image quality of a screen after scrolling is deteriorated. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device.

  In recent years, navigation devices have various functions such as route search, music performance by MP3, and information communication by telematics in addition to map display. If an attempt is made to perform screen display while operating such a function, the computation of the CPU may not be in time and the screen display may be delayed or missing. On the other hand, there is a navigation device that changes the realism of a structure displayed according to the CPU load (Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-268550 A

  In the conventional navigation device, the real degree is changed by the CPU load whenever the structure is displayed. However, in a situation where a predetermined operation is being performed by the user, such as when a predetermined item is selected from a menu or when a map is scrolled, a delay in screen display causes a deterioration in operability and a user's discomfort. It becomes a factor to increase. The conventional display method cannot prevent such deterioration in operability.

The invention according to claim 1 is a control means for executing various processes including a drawing process for drawing a screen to be displayed on a display monitor, a load detection means for detecting the degree of processing load of the control means, and a user The operation detection means for detecting the operation of the control unit, and when a predetermined operation is detected by the operation detection means, the content of the screen is changed based on the degree of processing load of the control means detected by the load detection means And a screen changing means.
The invention according to claim 2 is the navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined operation is a scroll operation for scrolling a map screen displayed on the display monitor, When the scroll operation is detected by the operation detecting means, if the degree of processing load of the control means is larger than a predetermined load factor, the image quality of the map screen being scrolled is lowered.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the second aspect, the map screen is a planar map, and the screen changing means hides a part of symbols displayed on the planar map. Alternatively, the image quality of the map screen being scrolled is reduced by omitting the road smoothing process in the planar map.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the second aspect, the map screen is a three-dimensional map including a three-dimensional structure, and the screen changing unit is configured to display a texture image pasted on the structure. The image quality of the map screen being scrolled is reduced by changing or canceling the pasting of the texture image.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the predetermined operation is a switching operation for switching a screen displayed on the display monitor, and the screen changing means is configured to detect the operation. When the switching operation is detected by the means, and the degree of processing load of the control means is smaller than a predetermined load factor, the screen displayed on the display monitor with a predetermined effect is switched, and the control When the degree of processing load of the means is larger than a predetermined load factor, the screen displayed on the display monitor is switched without a predetermined effect.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the deterioration of operativity can be prevented in the condition where predetermined operation is performed by the user.

-First embodiment-
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a navigation device 1 in the present embodiment. The navigation device 1 includes a control circuit 11, ROM 12, RAM 13, current location detection device 14, image memory 15, display monitor 16, speaker 17, input device 18, touch panel 20, and disk drive 23. The disk drive 23 is loaded with a DVD-ROM 24 in which map data is stored.

  The control circuit 11 includes a CPU 25 and a CPU load factor detection unit 26. The CPU 25 performs various controls by executing a control program stored in the ROM 12 using the RAM 13 as a work area. The CPU load factor detection unit 26 detects the load average of the CPU 25 during a predetermined time, for example, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 15 minutes, and the like. The control circuit 11 performs a predetermined route search process based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 24. Then, the processing result is displayed on the display monitor 16 as a recommended route.

  The current location detection device 14 is a device that detects the current location of the vehicle. The current location detection device 14 includes a vibration gyro 14a, a vehicle speed sensor 14b, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor 14c, and the like. The vibration gyro 14a detects the traveling direction of the vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 14b detects the vehicle speed. The GPS sensor 14c detects a GPS signal from a GPS satellite. The navigation device 1 determines a map display range, a route search start point, and the like based on the current location of the vehicle detected by the current location detection device 14, and displays the current location on the map.

  The image memory 15 stores image data for drawing a screen to be displayed on the display monitor 16. This image data includes road map drawing data and various graphic data, which are appropriately generated by drawing processing performed by the CPU 25 based on the map data stored in the DVD-ROM 24. The navigation device 1 can perform map display and the like by using the image data generated in this way.

  The disk drive 23 reads map data from the DVD-ROM 24. The map data includes map display data, route search data, and the like. The map display data and the route search data include road link information and node information stored in the map data. The map display data has map data of a plurality of scales from wide areas to details, and the scale of the display map can be changed according to a user request. The map data may be read from a recording medium other than the DVD-ROM 24, such as a CD-ROM or a hard disk.

  The display monitor 16 provides the user with various information such as a road map near the vehicle position as a screen display based on various information such as map data. The speaker 17 outputs sound for instructing the user to perform various input operations and for guiding the route. The input device 18 is a device for detecting a user's operation, and has various input switches. The input device 18 is realized by, for example, an operation panel or a remote controller. The user can select a destination by manually operating the input device 18 in accordance with an instruction on the display screen of the display monitor 16 or a voice instruction from the speaker 17.

  The touch panel 20 is a transparent touch switch laminated on the surface of the display monitor 16, and an image displayed on the display monitor 16 is displayed through the touch panel 20. The touch panel 20 sends a signal corresponding to the operation position on the touch panel 20 to the touch panel control unit 19. Then, the touch panel control unit 19 calculates the pressed position of the touch panel 20.

  When the user presses the display screen of the display monitor 16, the touch panel 20 is pressed, and the pressed position is calculated by the touch panel control unit 19. Thereby, a user's operation is detected. Then, a destination is set at the pressed position, or processing defined in the pressed buttons and display menu is executed.

  When the destination is set by the user, the navigation device 1 performs a route calculation from the current location detected by the current location detection device 14 to the destination based on a predetermined algorithm. The route thus obtained (hereinafter referred to as a recommended route) is displayed on the screen in a manner different from other roads by changing the display form, for example, the display color. Thereby, the user can recognize the recommended route on the map on the screen. In addition, the navigation device 1 instructs the user in the direction of travel using a screen or voice so that the vehicle can travel according to the recommended route, thereby guiding the route of the vehicle.

  Next, screen transition in the navigation device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a display screen with a menu displayed on the display monitor 16. The display screen 30 includes a menu 31. In the menu 31, a plurality of menu items (32, 33, 34) are displayed. When the user selects any menu item, the display on the display monitor 16 is switched to a display screen corresponding to the selected menu item, which is different from the display screen 30. The above-described operation of switching the display screen is called screen transition. In the following description, a display screen before screen transition is executed is called an old screen, and a display screen after screen transition is called a new screen.

  The user can select a menu item by pressing a position on the touch panel 20 corresponding to the menu item displayed on the display monitor 16. In addition, menu items can be selected using the input device 18.

  The cause of the screen transition is not limited to selecting a menu item as described above. For example, the screen transition may occur when the DVD-ROM 24 is inserted into the disk drive 23 or when a specific input operation is performed from the input device 18. Such an operation that causes screen transition is hereinafter referred to as a switching operation.

  When executing screen transition according to a user switching operation, the navigation device 1 applies a predetermined effect. As an example of the production effect, the old screen scrolls downward on the display monitor and at the same time the new screen appears from the display monitor information, or the old screen fades out to a dark screen, and then the new screen fades. And the like.

  When the effect is used, the processing load on the CPU 25 is greater than when the effect is not used. Therefore, if screen transition is performed in a situation where the processing load on the CPU 25 is high, there may be a delay in the calculation for using the effect. The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment checks the CPU load factor detected by the CPU load factor detection unit 26 when screen transition is executed in accordance with a user switching operation. When the CPU load factor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the navigation device 1 causes the control circuit 11 to cancel the use of the effect described above and perform screen transition without the effect. On the other hand, if the CPU load factor does not exceed the threshold value, the screen transition is executed with the effect as usual.

  Next, the scrolling of the map screen in the navigation device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a planar map display screen displayed on the display monitor 16. On the display screen 35, a map including symbols such as roads and facilities is displayed. For the sake of explanation, the display screen 35 includes a center line 36 in the horizontal direction of the screen and a center line 37 in the vertical direction of the screen, but these are not displayed on the actual display screen 35.

  The planar map display screen 35 can be scrolled by the user performing a predetermined scroll operation. The scroll operation is performed by an input from the input device 18 or an input from the touch panel 20. For example, if a place indicated by reference numeral 38 on the display monitor 16 is pressed while a planar map is displayed, the planar map scrolls in the right direction. The scrolling of the planar map is realized by continuously drawing the map on the display screen.

  In a situation where the load on the CPU 25 is high, if the plane map is scrolled in response to the user's scroll operation, there may be a delay in computation for screen drawing related to scrolling. The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment checks the CPU load factor detected by the CPU load factor detector 26 when scrolling the screen. When the CPU load factor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the navigation device 1 simplifies the map display in order to reduce the calculation required for scrolling. Specifically, a part of symbols displayed on the map, for example, an icon representing a specific facility or the like is temporarily hidden, or a road shape smoothing process performed at the time of road drawing is omitted. .

  Next, the content of the planar map scrolling process will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the process of scrolling the planar map. First, in step S1, it is determined whether or not a scroll operation has been started. If the user operation is a scroll operation that causes scrolling as described above, an affirmative determination is made in step S1 and the process proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S1, the scroll process is terminated. In step S2, the processing load on the CPU 25 is checked to determine whether or not a predetermined threshold value is exceeded. If the processing load on the CPU 25 exceeds the threshold value, an affirmative determination is made in step S2, and the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, the image quality reduction flag is set to ON. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S2, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the image quality reduction flag is turned off.

  In step S5, the image quality reduction flag is confirmed, and the display screen is updated according to the result. That is, if the image quality reduction flag is off, the facility icon and the display of a small road are omitted, or the road shape smoothing process is omitted. In step S6, it is confirmed whether or not the scroll operation is finished. If the scroll operation has been completed, an affirmative determination is made in step S6, and the scroll process is terminated. On the other hand, if a negative determination is made in step S6, the process returns to step S2.

According to the navigation apparatus according to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects can be obtained.
(1) When the CPU load is high, the screen drawing process is simplified. Thereby, the delay of a screen display can be eliminated.
(2) The above-described screen drawing process is simplified only for the input by the user and the drawing process generated thereby. Thereby, a normal screen display without a user input operation can maintain a high-quality state.

  In the first embodiment described above, the display screen of the planar map is the target of the scroll operation. In the second embodiment, which will be described in detail below, for a screen that displays a three-dimensional structure on a map, the display is switched according to the load on the CPU.

-Second embodiment-
The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment has a function of three-dimensionally displaying buildings and roads according to the viewpoint viewed from the vehicle position, in addition to the planar map shown in FIG. A texture image showing the appearance of the structure is pasted on the surface of the three-dimensionally displayed structure, and a display resembling the actual structure is performed.

  The navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment checks the CPU load factor detected by the CPU load factor detection unit 26 when performing three-dimensional display of a structure. If the CPU load factor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the navigation device 1 stops pasting the texture image. The actual processing contents are the same as those in the flowchart of FIG.

  According to the navigation apparatus according to the second embodiment described above, the following functions and effects can be obtained in addition to the functions and effects obtained by the navigation apparatus according to the first embodiment. In the three-dimensional display of the structure, the screen drawing process is simplified when the CPU load factor is high. Thereby, the responsiveness to the user operation is improved even on the three-dimensional display screen.

The following modifications are also within the scope of the present invention.
(1) Although the screen transition by menu operation, the scroll of the plane map, and the scroll of the three-dimensional display screen have been described, the same drawing simplification may be performed for other user operations. For example, the present invention can be applied to map scale switching.
(2) In the three-dimensional display of the structure, when the CPU load factor is high, it has been described that the pasting of the texture image is stopped. However, instead of stopping the pasting, another texture image with lower image quality is used. May be used. Alternatively, the texture image may be thinned and pasted.

  As long as the characteristics of the present invention are not impaired, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and other forms conceivable within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention are also included in the scope of the present invention. .

  In addition, the correspondence between each component of the navigation device in the embodiment described above and each component of the claims is as follows. The control means and the screen change means of the present invention correspond to the CPU 25, the load detection means corresponds to the CPU load factor detection unit 26, and the operation detection means corresponds to the input device 18 and the touch panel 20. Note that the above description of the correspondence relationship is merely an example, and is not constrained when interpreting rights.

It is a block diagram which shows the navigation apparatus 1 in 1st Embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display screen provided with the menu displayed on the display monitor. It is a figure which shows the planar map display screen displayed on the display monitor. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the scroll process of a planar map.

Explanation of symbols

1 navigation device 11 control circuit 25 CPU
26 CPU load factor detection unit 30, 35 Display screen

Claims (5)

Control means for executing various processes including a drawing process for drawing a screen to be displayed on the display monitor;
Load detection means for detecting the degree of processing load of the control means;
Operation detecting means for detecting a user operation;
Screen changing means for changing the contents of the screen based on the degree of processing load of the control means detected by the load detecting means when a predetermined operation is detected by the operation detecting means;
A navigation device comprising: The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The predetermined operation is a scroll operation for scrolling the map screen displayed on the display monitor,
The screen changing unit reduces the image quality of the map screen during scrolling when the operation detection unit detects the scroll operation and the degree of processing load of the control unit is larger than a predetermined load factor. A navigation device characterized by that. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein
The map screen is a plane map;
The screen changing means reduces the image quality of the map screen during scrolling by hiding a part of symbols displayed on the planar map or omitting a road smoothing process in the planar map. A navigation device characterized in that The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein
The map screen is a three-dimensional map including a three-dimensional structure,
The screen changing means reduces the image quality of the map screen being scrolled by changing a texture image to be pasted on the structure or by canceling the pasting of the texture image. . The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein
The predetermined operation is a switching operation for switching a screen displayed on the display monitor,
When the switching operation is detected by the operation detecting unit, the screen changing unit is provided on the display monitor with a predetermined effect when the processing load of the control unit is smaller than a predetermined load factor. Switching the displayed screen, and switching the screen displayed on the display monitor without a predetermined effect when the degree of processing load of the control means is greater than a predetermined load factor apparatus.

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