JP2011215431A - Map information providing device, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To properly set, in providing map information to a terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device, the range of a map to be displayed on the terminal device by using map information transmitted first after receipt of designation of a destination irrespective of the environment around the destination.SOLUTION: A probe information collecting server 2 collects probe information (positional information, time information) generated by a plurality of portable terminal devices which are not illustrated and stores the probe information in an internal probe information DB. A map information providing server 3 sets, when requested to provide map information by a portable terminal device 5, the cutout range and scale of the map information to be provided to the portable terminal device 5 on the basis of probe information present at predetermined point of time in a circle of a predetermined radius from the destination.

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and a computer program for providing map information of a location requested from a mobile phone or a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a PC) through a communication network such as the Internet.

  For example, as a service using the Internet for a mobile phone, a service for distributing map information from a server to a mobile phone is known. A server that distributes map information accumulates vector map data. When a destination is designated from a mobile phone, a raster map is generated based on the vector map data for an area within a predetermined distance centered on the designated location. Data is drawn and this raster map data is transmitted to the mobile phone. Similar services can be provided not only to mobile phones but also to various terminal devices such as PCs that can access the Internet (Patent Document 1).

  In addition, although not described in the literature, the scale of the map information that is transmitted first after the server receives the designation of the destination is a constant that covers a relatively wide range of locations including the destination. Or a scale that was previously transmitted to the terminal device.

  However, if a map that covers a relatively wide area is not required, for example, if the destination is an event venue within walking distance from the station, only a narrow range of map information near the destination including the station is sufficient. Providing a relatively wide range of map information is wasted. When the map information of the scale at the time of the last final browsing is transmitted first, there is a possibility that a narrow range map only near the destination including the station may be displayed, but it is not certain.

  On the other hand, for example, when the destination is a remote place where only the address is known, even if a relatively wide range of map information is transmitted as well as a narrow range of map information, the map may contain forests, fields, and roads. There is a high possibility that it will be only a thing that does not become a signpost such as, and there is a problem that the route to the destination is difficult to understand.

JP 2002-229993A

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its purpose is to receive a designation of a destination when providing map information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device. The range of the map displayed on the terminal device can be appropriately set regardless of the environment around the destination by the map information transmitted first.

  The present invention provides a map information providing device that provides map information to a terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device, the probe information database storing probe information collected from a mobile terminal device in advance, and the terminal When receiving the designation of the destination from the apparatus, the extraction means for extracting, as a sample, probe information existing at a predetermined time in a predetermined area including the destination from the probe information database, and extracted by the extraction means A map information providing apparatus comprising: setting means for setting a cutout range and a scale of map information to be transmitted first after receiving the designation of the destination based on a sample amount of probe information.

[Action]
According to the present invention, when a destination is specified from the terminal device, the probe information database is referred to, and probe information existing at a predetermined time in a predetermined area including the destination is extracted as a sample and extracted. Based on the sample amount of the probe information, the cutout range and scale of the map information to be transmitted first after receiving the designation of the destination are set.

  According to the present invention, when map information is provided to a terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device, a map displayed on the terminal device by map information transmitted first after receiving a designation of a destination is received. The range can be set appropriately regardless of the environment around the destination.

It is a figure which shows the map information provision system which has the map information provision apparatus of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the portable terminal device in FIG. It is a block diagram of the probe information collection server in FIG. It is a block diagram of the map information provision server in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the probe information transmission operation | movement of the portable terminal device in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the probe information collection server in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the map information provision operation | movement in the map information provision system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the detailed content of the process which reads the map information in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows another example of the detailed content of the process which reads the map information in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration of map information provision system>
The map information providing system according to the embodiment of the present invention is connected to the network 1 through the base station 4 and the probe information collecting server 2 and the map information providing server 3 connected to the network 1 such as the Internet, as shown in FIG. The mobile terminal device 5 is made up of. The mobile terminal device 5 is a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a PND (Personal Navigation Device), or the like. Here, two servers may be comprised by another computer, and may be comprised by one computer. In addition, for the sake of convenience, one portable terminal device is illustrated, but there are actually many portable terminal devices.

  The probe information collection server 2 can collect probe information (measurement position information and positioning time information) from the mobile terminal device 5 via the base station 4 and the network 1. When the map information providing server 3 receives a request for providing map information from the mobile terminal device 5, the probe from a large number of mobile terminal devices stored in a database (hereinafter referred to as DB) in the probe information collecting server 2 The scale of the map can be determined with reference to the information. Details of operations of the probe information collection server 2 and the map information providing server 3 will be described later.

<Configuration of mobile terminal device>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the mobile terminal device 5. The mobile terminal device 5 includes a control unit 51, an operation unit 52, a display unit 53, a position measurement unit 54, and a wireless communication unit 55.

  The control unit 51 is a controller for controlling each unit of the mobile terminal device 5, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 511, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 512, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 513. The CPU 511 implements various processes to be described later by loading a program stored in the ROM 512 into the RAM 513 and executing it.

  The operation unit 52 includes various buttons for the user to operate the mobile terminal device 5. The display unit 53 includes an operation state of the mobile terminal device 5 and a liquid crystal display device for displaying information input by the user from the operation unit 52.

  The position measurement unit 54 includes a GPS receiver, receives a radio wave transmitted from a GPS satellite every predetermined time (for example, 1 second), and measures (positions) a position (latitude and longitude). And the positional information (latitude information, longitude information) and positioning time information which are positioning information are output to the control part 51 as probe information. The wireless communication unit 55 is a circuit for performing wireless communication with the base station 4.

<Configuration of probe information collection server>
As shown in FIG. 3, the probe information collection server 2 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, and a storage unit 23.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU 211, a ROM 212, and a RAM 213, and controls the entire probe information collection server. Further, the CPU 211 implements various processes to be described later by loading a control program stored in the ROM 212 into the RAM 213 and executing it.

  The communication unit 22 communicates with the map information providing server 3 and the mobile terminal device 5 via the network 1 and the base station 4. The storage unit 23 is composed of an HDD (hard disk device) and is provided with a probe information DB 231.

  In the probe information DB 231, probe information collected from a large number of mobile terminal devices 5 is stored in association with device IDs. In the probe information, probe information when the user of the mobile terminal device 5 is moving in a car, probe information when walking, and the like are stored separately. The probe information when the vehicle is moving and the probe information when walking can be identified by information input from the operation unit 52 by the user, or automatically based on acceleration applied to the device. It can also be identified.

<Configuration of map information providing server>
As shown in FIG. 4, the map information providing server 3 includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, and a storage unit 33.

  The control unit 31 includes a CPU 311, a ROM 312, and a RAM 313, and controls the entire map server. The CPU 311 implements various processes to be described later by loading a program stored in the ROM 312 into the RAM 313 and executing it.

  The communication unit 32 communicates with the probe information collection server 2 via the network 1 and communicates with the mobile terminal device 5 via the network 1 and the base station 4. The storage unit 33 includes an HDD and is provided with a map information DB 331.

  In the map information DB 331, a vector information table storing vector information of features such as houses, parks, roads, railways, etc., a node / link information table storing information indicating road nodes and links, and features An attribute information table storing attribute information indicating the attributes (including names), a note information table storing note information, and the like are provided for each scale.

<Probe information collection operation>
In the map information providing system having the above configuration, an operation in which the probe information collection server 2 collects probe information from the mobile terminal device 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. Here, FIG. 5 shows the operation of the mobile terminal device 5, and FIG. 6 shows the operation of the probe information collection server 2.

  In the mobile terminal device 5, the position measurement unit 54 generates probe information every predetermined time (for example, 1 second) (step S1). The probe information is read into the RAM 513 by the CPU 511 in the control unit 51, and then transmitted to the probe information collection server 2 by the wireless communication unit 55 together with the device ID stored in the ROM 512 (step S2). The probe information may be transmitted one by one or a plurality of probe information may be collected.

  In the probe information collection server 2, the communication unit 22 receives the probe information transmitted from the mobile terminal device 5, and sends it to the control unit 21 (step S11). The control unit 21 associates the probe information with the device ID and stores it in the probe information DB 231 (step S12). At this time, it is identified and stored whether the user of the portable terminal device 5 is on a car or walking.

<Map information provision operation>
Next, the operation in which the map information providing server 3 provides the map information to the mobile terminal device 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 7 shows a schematic operation, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are diagrams showing examples of detailed contents of a process in which the map information providing server 3 reads map information from the map information DB 331 in FIG.

  First, the mobile terminal device 5 transmits a connection request to the map information providing server 3 in accordance with a user operation (step S21). This connection request includes the device ID of the mobile terminal device 5.

  In the map information providing server 3, the connection request is received by the communication unit 32 and sent to the control unit 31. When receiving the connection request, the control unit 31 reads the search screen from the storage unit 33 and transmits it to the mobile terminal device 5 through the communication unit 32 (step S31). The mobile terminal device 5 receives the search screen and displays it on the display unit 53 (step S22).

  In the mobile terminal device 5, when the user inputs a desired destination from the operation unit 52 into the destination input field of the search screen and inputs a search instruction by pressing a predetermined button, the search instruction including the destination information Is transmitted to the map information providing server 3 (step S23).

  The map information providing server 3 receives the search instruction (step S32), and uses the destination information included in the search instruction to display a map including the destination on the display unit 53 of the mobile terminal device 5. The map information is read out from the map information DB 331 (step S33) and transmitted to the mobile terminal device 5 (step S34). The mobile terminal device 5 receives the map information and displays it on the display unit 53 (step S24).

An example of detailed contents of step S33 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the map information providing server 3 determines from the probe information DB 231 of the probe information collection server 2 that the start point or end point of movement within a predetermined radius (eg, 1 km) from the destination is a certain time (eg, 1 hour) before the current time. Existing probe information is extracted (step S41). Here, the starting point of the movement is a position where the stop over a certain period of time has ended, and the end point of the movement is a position where the stopping over a certain period of time has started.

  Next, the map information providing server 3 divides the extracted probe information (hereinafter referred to as a probe information sample) for each device ID and every continuous time (step S42). The continuous time means that the probe information is obtained at regular intervals, and when the positioning time is skipped, it is set as different data.

  Next, movement history information is acquired using a sample of probe information divided for each apparatus ID (step S43). As a result, the starting point of the movement of the probe information sample within the predetermined radius from the destination at the present time within the predetermined radius and the starting point of the movement within the predetermined radius from the destination within the predetermined time It is possible to know the end point of the movement of the sample of the probe information. In other words, a sample of probe information from a mobile terminal device that has moved within a predetermined radius from a destination within a certain past time and stopped, and has exited from a predetermined radius from the destination within a certain past time. A sample of probe information from the stopped mobile terminal device is known.

  Next, the probe information sample that has moved within a certain radius from the destination within a certain time in the past and stopped and the starting point of the sample of the probe information is concentrated, and the distance from the destination within the certain radius in the past certain time Then, it is determined whether or not there is a place where the end points of the sample of the probe information stopped are concentrated (step S44).

  Here, the criteria for determining whether or not it is concentrated are as follows, for example. If the ratio of the probe information, which has moved within a predetermined radius from the destination within a predetermined time in the past and stopped, is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold (eg, 5%), it is determined that the probe information is concentrated. Similarly, if the ratio of the probe information of the probe information that has stopped from a predetermined radius within a certain period of time in the past is greater than a predetermined threshold (eg, 5%), the concentration is concentrated. Is determined. It may be a place where the start points or end points of a certain number of movements are simply concentrated. The location means a range having unique position information (latitude, longitude) such as in a building.

  If it is determined in step S44 that there is a place where the start and end points of movement are concentrated (step S44: YES), a map including the place and the destination is displayed on the display unit 53 of the mobile terminal device 5. The map information cutout range and scale are set (step S45), and the set cutout range and scale map information is read from the map information DB 331 (step S46). If it is determined that there is no place where the start and end points of movement are concentrated (step S44: NO), a preset scale centered on the destination (a scale including a relatively wide range or a portable terminal) Map information of the map information previously transmitted to the device 5 is read (step S47).

  Here, the location where the start points of the probe information samples that have stopped and moved within a certain radius from the destination within a certain time in the past are concentrated from the destination within a certain radius within the past certain time. The locations where the end points of the probe information samples stopped are concentrated where people gather near an area within a predetermined radius from the destination, so the user viewing the map is aiming for it. It is considered that the location is highly likely.

  Note that the position of the start point and end point for determining whether or not there is concentration in step S44 can be limited to a certain distance (eg, 2 km) from the destination. In step S41, the range in which the probe information is extracted can be changed depending on whether the user of the mobile terminal device 5 requesting the map information is moving by car or walking. Furthermore, in steps S41 and S44, only one of the start point and the end point can be extracted. Also, the time point at which probe information is extracted can be set to the same time on the same day of the week as the current time, the same time on the same month, or the like. Furthermore, the center of the display range of the map information provided to the mobile terminal device 5 can be set to one of the concentrated start points or end points.

Another example of detailed contents of step S33 will be described with reference to FIG.
First, the map information providing server 3 initially sets the probe information extraction range (step S51). The map information providing server 3 can set the extraction range of probe information within a circle with a radius of 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 500 m, 1 km, or 10 km with the destination as the center. Set within a 50m circle.

  Next, probe information existing at a predetermined time in the set extraction range is extracted (step S52), and the total number of samples of the extracted probe information is calculated (step S53). Here, the predetermined time is, for example, the current time if the current time is daytime, or an arbitrary daytime time if the current time is midnight. You may change the day and month. In short, it should be the time when the person is active.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the total number of samples of probe information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (step S54). As a result of the determination, if it is equal to or larger than the threshold (step S54: YES), the map information cut-out range and scale are set so that the region including the set extraction range is displayed on the display unit 53 of the mobile terminal device 5. Is set (step S55), and the set cutout range and scale map information is read from the map information DB 331 (step S56). If it is less than the threshold (step S54: NO), the probe information extraction range is expanded (step S57), and the process returns to step S52.

  That is, the extraction range is expanded (step S57), the probe information within the extraction range is extracted (step S52), and the extracted probe information is extracted until the total number of probe information existing in the set extraction range is equal to or greater than the threshold. The calculation of the total number (step S53) and the comparison between the calculated total number and the threshold value (step S54) are repeated, and the area including the extraction range when the threshold value is exceeded is displayed on the display unit 53 of the mobile terminal device 5. The map information is read from the map information DB 331.

  Therefore, when the destination is a remote place, a map of a range including an easy-to-understand place where people gather around the destination is displayed, and it can be expected that the destination is easily reached using the place as a guide.

  In the flow shown in FIG. 9, the extraction range of probe information is initially set to the narrowest range (within a radius of 50 m), but the initial setting range can be arbitrarily selected. However, since the initial extraction range may be too wide, even if the total number of probe information samples within the initial extraction range exceeds a predetermined threshold, it corresponds to the initial extraction range. The map information is not immediately read from the map information DB 331, but is read when the extraction range is reduced and it is confirmed that the total number of probe information within the extraction range is less than a predetermined threshold.

  Although the above embodiment relates to a system that provides map information to a mobile terminal device, the present invention is similarly applied to a system that provides map information to a fixed terminal device such as a desktop PC. Can do.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Probe information collection server, 3 ... Map information provision server, 5 ... Portable terminal device, 31 ... Control part, 231 ... Probe information DB, 331 ... Map information DB.

Claims (4)

A map information providing device that provides map information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device,
A probe information database storing probe information collected from a mobile terminal device in advance;
When receiving a designation of a destination from the terminal device, extraction means for extracting, as a sample, probe information existing at a predetermined time in a predetermined area including the destination from the probe information database;
And setting means for setting a cutout range and a scale of map information to be transmitted first after receiving the designation of the destination based on the amount of the sample of probe information extracted by the extraction means. Map information providing device. The map information providing device according to claim 1,
The extraction means extracts, as a sample, probe information in which a start point or an end point of movement exists within a circle with a predetermined radius from the destination,
The setting means is based on the movement history of the individual probe information samples extracted by the extraction means, and the movement end point of the probe information sample exists within the predetermined radius. The moving end detecting means for detecting the starting point of the movement of the sample of the probe information in which the moving end point exists, and the moving end point or the number of starting points detected by the moving end detecting means is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, or And determining means for determining the cut-out range and scale so that a region in which the ratio of the number of samples to the total number of samples extracted by the extracting means is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold is displayed on the terminal device. Map information providing device. The map information providing device according to claim 1,
The extraction means extracts probe information existing within a circle with a predetermined radius from the destination as a sample,
The setting means calculates a total number of samples of probe information extracted by the probe information extraction means, and determines whether the total number of samples of probe information calculated by the calculation means is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value. And a determination unit that determines the cutout range and scale so that a region including the circle with the predetermined radius is displayed on the terminal device when the determination unit determines that the determination unit is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. And an extraction area expanding unit that expands a predetermined radius in the extraction unit when the determination unit determines that the value is less than a predetermined threshold.   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the map information provision apparatus described in any one of Claims 1-3.

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