JP2012128350A - Information output device and information output method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To quickly output information relating to a designated point, with suppressed increase in data amount.SOLUTION: With respect to a plurality of mesh areas obtained by dividing an area within a prescribed range like a mesh, a group identifier of a group in which relevant information is common among mesh areas is stored in a map storage part in association with the mesh areas, and relevant information in each group is stored in a data storage part in association with the group identifier of the group. Coordinate information specifying a point on a map is accepted, and a mesh area including the point designated by the coordinate information is specified, and relevant information in the specified mesh area is outputted by referring to the map storage part and the data storage part.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information output device and an information output method.

  In an information processing apparatus such as a portable information terminal, a personal computer, or a car navigation apparatus, information related to a spot designated by a user may be displayed. For example, the address of a point designated on a map is displayed, or information on a convenience store, a restaurant, or the like in the vicinity of this point is displayed. For example, Patent Document 1 specifies a polygon or mesh area that includes a point specified by a user from polygons that define administrative divisions or mesh areas obtained by dividing a map into rectangular shapes. A method for providing area information related to a point is disclosed.

JP 2008-89815 A

  By the way, in many cases, the information related to the point designated by the user includes not only one type but also various types of information. For example, an address, nearby facilities and transportation, events related to the area, advertisement information, and the like. And these information relevant to the designated point may be searched by a different method for every information. For example, the address is searched by a comparison process with a polygon, and the neighboring facilities are searched for facilities within a radius of 1 km, for example, from the designated point based on the location information of each facility.

  In this way, when searching for information when acquiring various information related to the specified point, it takes time until all information is provided after the user specifies a point. It will end up. In order to reduce the search time, for example, it may be possible to store a plurality of types of related information in advance in a database for all mesh areas. However, if the mesh area is made fine, the amount of data is enormous. It becomes unrealistic.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly output information related to a specified point while suppressing an increase in the amount of data.

  An information output device according to an aspect of the present invention provides a group identifier of a group having common mesh region related information as a mesh region for each of a plurality of mesh regions obtained by dividing a predetermined region into a mesh shape. Accepting coordinate information specifying a point on the map, a related information storage unit having a map storage unit that stores the associated information, and a data storage unit that stores the related information in each group in association with the group identifier; A mesh region specifying unit that specifies a mesh region including a point specified by the coordinate information, and the map storage unit and the data storage unit are referred to, and related information in the mesh region specified by the mesh region specifying unit is output. A related information output unit.

  In the present invention, the “part” does not simply mean a physical means, but includes a case where the function of the “part” is realized by software. Also, even if the functions of one “unit” or device are realized by two or more physical means or devices, the functions of two or more “units” or devices are realized by one physical means or device. May be.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to quickly output information related to a designated point while suppressing an increase in data amount.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the information processing system which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a mesh area | region. It is a figure which shows an example of a mesh area | region. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of a related information file. It is a figure which shows an example of the hierarchical structure in a related information storage part. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process which outputs related information. This is an example in which related information is displayed so that the range of a common group can be identified.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing system is configured to include an information output device 10 and a portable terminal 12, and the information output device 10 and the portable terminal 12 are communicably connected via a network 14 such as the Internet.

  The information output device 10 is an information processing device such as a server, and includes a processor, a memory, and a storage device. The mobile terminal 12 is an information processing device used by a user, and can display various types of information provided from the information output device 10. Note that the information processing apparatus used by the user is not limited to the portable terminal 12, and may be a personal computer, a car navigation apparatus, or the like.

  In the information processing system having such a configuration, the information output device 10 provides the mobile terminal 12 with various information related to the point designated on the map in addition to the map information. In the present embodiment, information related to a certain point is expressed as “related information”. The related information includes, for example, an address of a designated point, information indicating a location of a nearby facility such as a convenience store or a restaurant.

  The configuration of the information output device 10 will be described in detail. The information output device 10 includes a map information storage unit 20, a map information output unit 22, a related information storage unit 24, a mesh region specifying unit 26, and a related information output unit 28. The map information storage unit 20 and the related information storage unit 24 are configured using a memory or a storage device included in the information output device 10, and the map information output unit 22, the mesh region specifying unit 26, and the related information output unit 28 are The information output device 10 is realized by a processor executing a program stored in a memory.

  The map information storage unit 20 stores map data including a map image that can be displayed on the mobile terminal 12.

  The map information output unit 22 transmits map data including a map image around the point requested by the mobile terminal 12 to the mobile terminal 12. In addition, the point requested | required in the portable terminal 12 is the point designated by the positional information acquired with the GPS (Global Positioning System) function in the portable terminal 12, or the address which the user input in the portable terminal 12, for example. It is a designated point.

  One or both of the map information storage unit 20 and the map information output unit 22 may be provided by an information processing device different from the information output device 10.

  The related information storage unit 24 stores related information in each of a plurality of mesh regions obtained by dividing a region on a map into a mesh shape. Note that the related information storage unit 24 does not store the related information of each mesh region individually, but groups the mesh regions having the same related information, thereby suppressing an increase in the data amount. A specific configuration of data stored in the related information storage unit 24 will be described later.

  Here, the mesh area | region in this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a mesh region. The mesh area is an area obtained by dividing an area on the map into a mesh shape, and a plurality of mesh areas can be defined. As shown in FIG. 2, for example, the primary level mesh region can be an approximately 80 km square region. For example, the secondary level mesh area can be an area of about 10 km square obtained by dividing the primary level mesh area into 8 parts in both the vertical and horizontal directions. Further, for example, the tertiary level mesh region can be a region of about 5 km square obtained by dividing the secondary level mesh region into two in both the vertical direction and the horizontal direction.

  Each mesh region can be identified by a mesh code. For example, in FIG. 2, the mesh code of the primary level mesh region is “5438”. The mesh code of the secondary level mesh area indicated by the star mark in the primary level mesh area of “5438” is “5438-23”. Further, the mesh code of the tertiary level mesh area indicated by the star mark in the secondary level mesh area of “5438-23” is “5438-231”. The mesh code can be calculated from, for example, longitude and latitude. Therefore, by calculating the mesh code from the longitude and latitude indicated by the position information measured by the GPS and an arbitrary point specified on the map, it is possible to specify the mesh region by pinpoint.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the 8th level mesh region, which is a region about 3 m square, is set as the minimum mesh region. Then, the related information storage unit 24 stores the related information of each mesh region of the 8th level included therein for each 7th level mesh region which is a region of about 300 m square. Note that the size and order of the mesh region shown in the present embodiment are merely examples, and the size and order of the mesh region may be any number.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a related information file stored in the related information storage unit 24. The related information file shown in FIG. 4 corresponds to one seventh-level mesh area (about 300 m square), and includes a header 40, a bitmap 42, and a data part 44.

  The header 40 (common data storage unit) stores related information common in the seventh-level mesh area. For example, if the seventh level mesh region belongs to the same municipality, information indicating the address of the municipality can be stored in the header 40.

  The bitmap 42 (map storage unit) stores a group identifier for identifying a group of mesh regions having common information for each of the eighth level mesh regions (about 3 m square) in the seventh level mesh region. Yes. That is, in FIG. 4, one square in the bitmap 42 corresponds to one eighth-level mesh area, and the number set for each square indicates the group identifier of the mesh area. For example, in FIG. 4, there are a plurality of squares for which “1” is set in the bitmap 42. This indicates that the related information of the eighth level mesh area corresponding to these cells is common.

  In the data section 44 (data storage section), the related information and the group identifier are stored in association with each group of the 8th level mesh region where the related information is common.

  In this way, in the related information storage unit 24, one related information file is formed for each seventh level mesh region. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, each related information file is given a file name that can identify the mesh code of the seventh-level mesh region, and the plurality of related information files have a hierarchical structure of the mesh region. Stored in consideration. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the related information file of the 7th level mesh region, the related information file of the mesh region of each level from the first to the 6th order is also stored in the related information storage unit 24. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the related information file “3422-00.info” is a file that stores the related information of the second-level mesh region whose mesh code is “3422-00”. That is to say, “3422-00.info” stores related information common to the second level mesh region whose mesh code is “3422-00”.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the mesh area specifying unit 26 receives coordinate information for specifying a point on the map, and specifies an 8th level mesh area including the point specified by the coordinate information. Here, the coordinate information includes, for example, information indicating longitude and latitude, and the mesh area specifying unit 26 determines, for example, the longitude based on a function that defines the correspondence between the longitude and latitude and the mesh area. And the 8th level mesh region can be identified from the latitude. The coordinate information is transmitted from the mobile terminal 12 to the information output device 10 when the user selects a certain point on the map displayed on the display of the mobile terminal 12, for example. Also, for example, GPS position information transmitted from the mobile terminal 12 can be used as coordinate information.

  The related information output unit 28 reads the related information of the 8th level mesh region specified by the mesh region specifying unit 26 from the related information storage unit 24 and outputs it to the mobile terminal 12.

  Here, the related information output unit 28 may output the related information read from the related information storage unit 24 to the mobile terminal 12 in the form as it is, or a process of converting it into a format for display on the mobile terminal 12. For example, the information may be output to the mobile terminal 12 after processing based on related information.

  In addition, when the related information includes a plurality of types of information, the related information output unit 28 may output all of the plurality of types of information to the mobile terminal 12 or only the types of information designated by the user. It is good also as outputting to the portable terminal 12. For example, when outputting some types of information, designation of the type of information to be output may be transmitted from the mobile terminal 12 or may be registered in the information output device 10 in advance. . When the type of information to be output is registered in advance, for example, information indicating the type of information to be output can be stored in association with the identifier of the user or the mobile terminal 12. The type of information to be output can be determined based on the identifier of the user or the mobile terminal 12 set in the packet including the coordinate information transmitted from the mobile terminal 12.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing for outputting related information in the information output apparatus 10.

  As described above, for example, the mobile terminal 12 can display a map based on the map information output from the map information output unit 22, and the user designates a point on the map where the related information is desired to be acquired. By doing so, the coordinate information of this point can be transmitted to the information output device 10. Further, for example, the position information measured by GPS may be transmitted from the mobile terminal 12 to the information output device 10 as coordinate information.

  The mesh area specifying unit 26 of the information output apparatus 10 receives coordinate information transmitted from the mobile terminal 12 (S601). And the mesh area | region specific | specification part 26 specifies the 8th level mesh area | region where the designated point is contained based on the longitude and latitude contained in the received coordinate information (S602).

  Subsequently, the related information output unit 28 opens a related information file corresponding to the specified 8th level mesh region (S603). Specifically, the related information file linked to the mesh code of the seventh level mesh area including the specified eighth level mesh area is opened. Further, a related information file in which common related information is stored in a mesh area higher than the seventh level mesh area is also opened. Note that there may be no related information file for the seventh level mesh area including the specified eighth level mesh area. In such a case, the related information file of the mesh region higher than the seventh level is referred to instead of the related information file of the seventh level mesh region.

  Then, the related information output unit 28 refers to the bitmap 42 of the related information file of the 7th level mesh area, and outputs related information of the group corresponding to the identified 8th level mesh area (S604). For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, if the group identifier set in the square of the bitmap 42 corresponding to the specified 8th level mesh region is “3”, it is associated with the group identifier “3”. Related information is acquired from the data portion 44.

  The related information output unit 28 also outputs related information common to the seventh level mesh area set in the header 40 in addition to the related information acquired from the data part 44 of the related information file. Furthermore, the related information output unit 28 can also output information stored in the related information file of the mesh area higher than the seventh level mesh area.

  Note that the related information output unit 28 may transmit the acquired related information to the mobile terminal 12 in the form as it is, or convert the related information to a format suitable for display on the mobile terminal 12 or the like. It is good also as transmitting to the portable terminal 12 after processing.

  Further, the related information output unit 28 outputs information that can identify a group in which related information in the eighth level mesh region is common based on information stored in the related information file of the seventh level mesh region. You can also. Here, the information that can identify the group is, for example, information of the bitmap 42 in the related information file illustrated in FIG. By referring to the bitmap 42, it is possible to identify a group having common information in the eighth level mesh area included in the seventh level mesh area.

  If information that can identify a group is used, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a range of groups having common information can be displayed on a map of the seventh-level mesh region so as to be identifiable. For example, a group can be identified by superimposing a different translucent color for each group or displaying a group boundary line on a map of a seventh level mesh region.

  Furthermore, when a group is selected by the user on the grouped map displayed on the mobile terminal 12, the related information output unit 28 transmits the related information of the selected group to the mobile terminal 12. be able to. And in the portable terminal 12, as shown in FIG. 7, the relevant information of the selected group can be displayed.

  The information processing system in this embodiment has been described above. In the present embodiment, for each 7th level mesh area, 8th level mesh areas having the same related information are grouped, and the related information for each group is stored in the related information file. Then, when the 8th level mesh region is specified based on the coordinate information specifying the point on the map, the group to which the specified 8th level mesh region belongs is specified, and the related information of the specified group is output. The Therefore, since it is not a configuration having individually related information for all the 8th level mesh regions, it is possible to suppress an increase in data amount even when the mesh region is subdivided to the 8th level, for example. Become. Then, instead of performing a search process according to the type of related information after a related information acquisition request is made, it is only necessary to output the related information stored in the related information file. Can be output quickly.

  In the present embodiment, related information common to the seventh-level mesh region is stored in the header 40 of the related information file. Thereby, it is not necessary to store common related information in the data portion 44 of the related information file in duplicate, and an increase in the amount of data necessary for storing related information can be suppressed.

  In the present embodiment, related information is stored as one file for each seventh-level mesh region. Therefore, when outputting the related information of the specified 8th level mesh region, it is only necessary to open the related information file of the 7th level mesh region including the 8th level mesh region, and the related information can be output quickly. It becomes possible. In addition, when updating the related information in a certain 7th level mesh region, it is only necessary to update the related information file of this 7th level mesh region, and the related information files of other 7th level mesh regions have no effect. Not. That is, maintenance of related information can be facilitated.

  In the present embodiment, since the mesh code of the seventh level mesh region is included in the file name of the related information file, the target related information file is changed based on the identified mesh code of the eighth level mesh region. It is easy to identify.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the related information common to the mesh area higher than the seventh level mesh area is stored as the related information file of each level. This eliminates the need to store common related information in a plurality of related information files, thereby suppressing an increase in the amount of data necessary for storing related information.

  In the present embodiment, it is possible to output information that makes it possible to identify a group having common information on a map including a seventh-level mesh region. Thereby, the user can confirm not only the related information of the 8th level mesh region but also the area where the related information is common. For example, if the information about the distance to the nearest station, supermarket, convenience store, etc. is included in the related information, the user can check the area where the related information is common, so that the convenience in daily life is common. The area can be recognized.

  Note that this embodiment is intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. The present invention can be changed / improved without departing from the spirit thereof, and the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

  For example, in the present embodiment, the related information common to the mesh area at the higher level than the seventh level mesh area is stored as the related information file at each level. However, there is no related information file in the mesh area at the upper level. May be. In this case, the related information common to the upper level mesh region can be stored in the header 40 of the related information file of the seventh level mesh region, for example.

  In the present embodiment, coordinate information for specifying the eighth-level mesh region is transmitted from the portable terminal 12 to the information output device 10 via the network 14. May be. For example, the information output device 10 may be a car navigation device that operates alone.

  In the present embodiment, the related information is associated with each mesh area of the eighth level, but the level of the mesh area associated with the related information may be changed depending on the area. For example, in an area where the density of facilities is low, an increase in the amount of data can be suppressed by setting the mesh area associated with the related information to a mesh area at a higher level than the 8th level mesh area.

  In this embodiment, the eighth level mesh region is identified from the longitude and latitude, and the related information file corresponding to the mesh region of the seventh level or higher including the identified eighth level mesh region is referred to. It is not necessary to refer to related information files at all levels. For example, information on a range wider than the seventh level mesh area, such as weather information, can be stored in a related information file at a higher level than the seventh level. When the information stored in the higher level related information file is necessary, it is possible to quickly acquire the necessary information by referring only to the relevant information file at that level. For example, if the weather information is stored in the third level related information file, the mesh code is calculated from the latitude and longitude, and the third level related information file corresponding to the mesh code is referred to. , Weather information can be acquired. As a result, an increase in the amount of data can be suppressed and the data update time can be shortened.

  In this embodiment, an example in which one related information file is provided for each mesh region at the seventh level is shown. However, the number of related information files is not limited to one and may be plural. . For example, the related information may be divided into a plurality of groups according to the information update frequency, and a related information file may be provided for each group.

  In the present embodiment, the related information file includes one bitmap 42 and one data portion 44. However, a plurality of bitmaps 42 and data portions 44 may be included. For example, a plurality of bitmaps 42 indicating a plurality of groupings corresponding to the type of related information may be provided for a plurality of eighth level mesh regions included in the seventh level mesh region.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information output device 12 Portable terminal 14 Network 20 Map information storage part 22 Map information output part 24 Related information storage part 26 Mesh area | region identification part 28 Related information output part

Claims (7)

For each of a plurality of mesh areas obtained by dividing a predetermined range area into a mesh shape, a map storage unit that stores a group identifier of a group having common mesh area related information in association with the mesh area, and each group A related information storage unit having a data storage unit that stores the related information in association with the group identifier;
Accepting coordinate information for specifying a point on the map, and a mesh region specifying unit for specifying a mesh region including a point specified by the coordinate information;
A related information output unit that refers to the map storage unit and the data storage unit and outputs related information in the mesh region specified by the mesh region specifying unit;
An information output device comprising: The information output device according to claim 1,
The related information storage unit further includes a common data storage unit that stores related information common to all mesh regions in the region of the predetermined range,
The related information output unit refers to the common data storage unit, the map storage unit, and the data storage unit, and outputs related information in the mesh region specified by the mesh region specifying unit,
Information output device. The information output device according to claim 1 or 2,
The related information storage unit stores the group identifier and the related information in a plurality of areas in the predetermined range as one file for each area in the predetermined range.
Information output device. The information output device according to claim 3,
An area identifier for identifying the area in the predetermined range is included in the file name of the file;
Information output device. The information output device according to claim 3 or 4,
The related information storage unit stores the related information of the upper area, which is an area including the plurality of predetermined range areas, as one file for each of the plurality of predetermined range areas,
The related information output unit includes the related information stored in a file corresponding to the region of the predetermined range including the mesh region specified by the mesh region specifying unit, and an upper region including the region of the predetermined range Outputting the related information stored in the file corresponding to
Information output device. The information output device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The related information output unit refers to the map storage unit and outputs information indicating a correspondence relationship between a mesh region and a group identifier so that the group can be identified on a map including the region in the predetermined range. ,
Information output device. For each of a plurality of mesh regions obtained by dividing a region of a predetermined range into a mesh shape, a group identifier of a group having common mesh region related information is stored in the map storage unit in association with the mesh region, and Storing the related information in the group in association with the group identifier in a data storage unit;
Accepts coordinate information that identifies a point on the map, identifies a mesh region that includes the point specified by the coordinate information,
Refer to the map storage unit and the data storage unit, and output related information in the identified mesh region,
Information output method.

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