JP2013245991A - Terminal apparatus, control method, program, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal apparatus that can acquire desired information on a real time basis while a mobile body is running.SOLUTION: A terminal apparatus has reference position designating means, display control means, other mobile body designating means and requesting means. The reference position designating means, on the basis of an external input or the like, designates a reference position where other mobile bodies are to be searched for. The display control means causes a position or positions of another mobile body or more searched for with reference to the reference position to be displayed on display means. The other mobile body designating means, on the basis of an external input or the like, designates at least one other mobile body out of the other mobile bodies displayed on the display means. The requesting means requests a terminal or terminals shifting together with the designated mobile body or bodies for information.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for exchanging information.

  Conventionally, an in-vehicle device that has a communication function and exchanges information with other terminals is known. For example, Patent Document 1 acquires post information and position information indicating a posting destination of the post information by a communication device, and generates map data in which the post information is displayed at a position indicated by the position information. A display device is disclosed. Moreover, the vehicle-mounted display device described in Patent Document 1 can display only post information from a designated user. In addition, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique related to the present invention.

JP 2011-247832 A Japanese Patent No. 3678639

  In general, when an in-vehicle device such as a navigation device uses a communication function to acquire traffic information from a server device on the network, the traffic information provided is real-time information as a result of statistical processing performed by the server device. It is often not. Also, with the technique described in Patent Document 1, information can be posted in real time, but it is not possible to designate and obtain desired information by specifying a partner to which information is requested.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and has as its main object to provide a terminal device capable of acquiring desired information in real time when a mobile object is traveling. .

  The invention according to claim 1 is a terminal device that moves together with the moving body, wherein the reference position specifying means for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body, and the reference position Display control means for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched on the basis of the other moving body designation for designating at least one other moving body from the other moving bodies displayed by the display means And a request means for requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body.

  The invention according to claim 10 is a control method executed by a terminal device that moves together with a moving body, and a reference position specifying step for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body. A display control step for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position, and designating at least one other moving body from the other moving body displayed by the display means And a requesting step for requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the designated other moving body.

  The invention according to claim 11 is a program executed by a terminal device that moves together with a moving body, and a reference position specifying means for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body; A display control means for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with respect to the reference position, and at least one other moving body is designated from the other moving bodies displayed by the display means. The terminal device is caused to function as request means for requesting information from another moving body designating means and a terminal that moves together with the designated other moving body.

1 shows a schematic configuration of an information request system according to an embodiment. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a navigation device. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a server device. The display screen after vehicle position information reception of another vehicle is shown. It is the figure which showed a mode that a specific other vehicle was selected on a display screen. The display screen after receiving specific other vehicle information is shown. The display screen after receiving the request signal of specific other vehicle information is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the information request process which concerns on a present Example. It is a figure for demonstrating the priority of the search range of vehicle position information.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a terminal device that moves together with a moving body, the reference position specifying means for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body, and Display control means for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position, and other movement for designating at least one other moving body from the other moving body displayed by the display means. Body designation means, and request means for requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the designated other mobile body.

  The terminal device described above is a terminal device that moves together with the mobile object, and includes a reference position specifying unit, a display control unit, another mobile unit specifying unit, and a request unit. The reference position designating unit designates a reference position for searching for another moving body based on an external input or the like. The display control means causes the display means to display the position of the other moving body searched with the reference position as a reference. The other moving body designating unit designates at least one other moving body from the other moving bodies displayed by the display unit based on an external input or the like. The requesting unit requests information from a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body. The “moving body” includes not only vehicles but also pedestrians. According to this aspect, the terminal device can request the necessary information in real time by designating another mobile body.

  In one aspect of the terminal device, the information is information related to a traffic jam. According to this aspect, the user of the terminal device can acquire traffic jam information from other vehicles in real time while the mobile body is traveling.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the terminal device further includes the display unit configured by a touch panel, and the display control unit causes the display unit to display the position of the other moving body together with the map information, and designates the other moving body. The means designates another moving body designated by the user via the touch panel. According to this aspect, the terminal device can request the necessary information in real time by suitably specifying the other mobile body intended by the user.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the other moving body designating unit designates the other moving body that is traveling ahead of the same traffic jam section as the moving body. According to this aspect, the user of the terminal device can request traffic information of the traffic jam section by arbitrarily specifying the preceding mobile body when the user reaches the traffic jam section.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the display control means displays the position of the other moving body searched on the basis of the aspect ratio of the display of the display means on the display means with respect to the reference position. Display on the map. In this way, by displaying the position of the other mobile body searched based on the aspect ratio of the display on the map, the terminal device can efficiently display the position of the searched other mobile body on the display. it can.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the display control unit causes the display unit to display the position of the other moving body searched based on the traveling direction of the moving body with the reference position as a reference. For example, depending on the type of information requested, such as traffic jam information, only a mobile user who exists in the traveling direction may know the information. Therefore, according to this aspect, the terminal device can display the display unit only on the position of another moving body that may know the requested information.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the server device communicates with a server device that manages the position information of the moving body, and the server device uses the position information of the other moving body searched by the server device based on the reference position. It further has a receiving means to receive from. According to this aspect, the terminal device can suitably acquire information on the position of the other moving body from the server device.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, the request unit requests the information to a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body via the server device. According to this aspect, the terminal device can suitably request the necessary information even when the terminal device cannot directly communicate with the information requesting terminal.

  In another aspect of the terminal device, when receiving a request for information from a terminal that moves with another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body, an input receiving unit that receives an input for generating the information; And transmitting means for generating the requested information based on the input and transmitting the information to a terminal that moves together with the other moving body. According to this aspect, when receiving a request for information from a terminal that moves with another mobile object, the terminal device receives an input necessary for generating information and suitably transmits the requested information to the request source. Can do.

  According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a control method executed by a terminal device that moves together with a mobile body, wherein a reference position for searching for another mobile body that is a mobile body other than the mobile body is designated. A reference position specifying step; a display control step for displaying on the display means a position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position; and at least one other from the other moving body displayed by the display means. And a requesting step of requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body. By using this control method, the terminal device can specify other mobile units and request necessary information in real time.

  According to still another embodiment of the present invention, a program executed by a terminal device that moves together with a mobile object, the reference position specifying a reference position for searching for another mobile object that is a mobile object other than the mobile object At least one other moving body from the other moving body displayed by the specifying means, the display control means for displaying the position of the other moving body searched with respect to the reference position on the display means, and the display means The terminal device is caused to function as a requesting means for requesting information from another moving body designating means for designating information and a terminal that moves together with the designated other moving body. By installing and executing this program, the terminal device can specify other mobile units and request necessary information in real time. Preferably, the above-described program is stored in a storage medium.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Information request system]
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration of an information request system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the information request system according to the present embodiment includes a navigation device 100A that performs route guidance for a subsequent vehicle Ve1 that is traveling in the same traffic jam section as a preceding vehicle Ve2, which will be described later, and the following in the traffic jam section. It has a navigation device 100B that performs route guidance for a preceding vehicle Ve2 preceding the vehicle Ve1, and a server device 200. Then, the server device 200 communicates with each of the navigation devices 100A and 100B via the network 300.

  In the information request system shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device 100A of the following vehicle Ve1 requests traffic jam information from the navigation device 100B of the preceding vehicle Ve2 via the server device 200.

  Hereinafter, when the navigation device 100A and the navigation device 100B are not particularly distinguished from each other, they are also simply referred to as “navigation device 100”.

(1) Configuration of Navigation Device FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of the navigation device 100. The navigation apparatus 100 is, for example, a stationary navigation apparatus or a portable terminal that performs route guidance, and as shown in FIG. 36, a communication interface 37, a first communication device 38, a display unit 40, an audio output unit 50, an input device 60, and a second communication device 61. The navigation device 100 is an example of the “terminal device” in the present invention.

  The autonomous positioning device 10 includes an acceleration sensor 11, an angular velocity sensor 12, and a distance sensor 13. The acceleration sensor 11 is made of, for example, a piezoelectric element, detects vehicle acceleration, and outputs acceleration data. The angular velocity sensor 12 is composed of, for example, a vibrating gyroscope, detects the angular velocity of the vehicle when the direction of the vehicle is changed, and outputs angular velocity data and relative azimuth data. The distance sensor 13 measures a vehicle speed pulse composed of a pulse signal generated with the rotation of the vehicle wheel.

  The GPS receiver 18 receives radio waves 19 carrying downlink data including positioning data from a plurality of GPS satellites. The positioning data is used to detect the absolute position of the vehicle from latitude and longitude information.

  The system controller 20 includes an interface 21, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 24. By executing a control program stored in the ROM 23 or the like, The entire navigation device 100 is controlled.

  For example, the system controller 20 includes the navigation device 100 including information on the traveling direction of the vehicle detected by the angular velocity sensor 12 and the position information detected by the GPS receiver 18 and information on the vehicle on which the navigation device 100 performs route guidance (“ Vehicle position information Ip ") is transmitted to the server device 200 at predetermined or indefinite intervals. In the present embodiment, the vehicle position information Ip includes identification information (also referred to as “terminal ID”) of the navigation device 100 and information on the aspect ratio of the display screen of the display 44 in addition to the above-described traveling direction information and position information. including. The information on the direction of travel indicates, for example, the angle of the direction of travel when north is 0 °. Preferably, the system controller 20 may transmit the latest vehicle position information Ip to the server device 200 each time communication with the server device 200 is performed. As will be described later, the system controller 20 functions as “reference position designating means”, “display control means”, “other vehicle designating means”, and “requesting means” in the present invention.

  The interface 21 performs an interface operation with the acceleration sensor 11, the angular velocity sensor 12, the distance sensor 13, and the GPS receiver 18. From these, vehicle speed pulses, acceleration data, relative azimuth data, angular velocity data, GPS positioning data, absolute azimuth data, and the like are input to the system controller 20. The CPU 22 controls the entire system controller 20. The ROM 23 includes a nonvolatile memory (not shown) in which a control program for controlling the system controller 20 is stored. The RAM 24 stores various data such as route data preset by the user via the input device 60 so as to be readable, and provides a working area to the CPU 22.

  A system controller 20, a disk drive 31 such as a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, a data storage unit 36, a communication interface 37, a display unit 40, an audio output unit 50, and an input device 60 are mutually connected via a bus line 30. It is connected to the.

  The disk drive 31 reads and outputs content data such as music data and video data from a disk 33 such as a CD or DVD under the control of the system controller 20. The disk drive 31 may be either a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, or may be a CD and DVD compatible drive.

  The data storage unit 36 is configured by, for example, an HDD and stores various data used for navigation processing such as map data. The map data includes road data represented by links corresponding to roads and nodes corresponding to road connecting portions (intersections), facility information about each facility, and the like.

  The first communication device 38 includes, for example, an FM tuner, a beacon receiver, and the like, and information (hereinafter referred to as “VICS information”) distributed from a VICS (Vehicle Information Communication System) center or the like is referred to as a radio wave 39. Get more. The interface 37 performs the interface operation of the first communication device 38 and inputs the VICS information to the system controller 20 or the like.

  The display unit 40 displays various display data on a display device such as a display under the control of the system controller 20. Specifically, the system controller 20 reads map data from the data storage unit 36. The display unit 40 displays the map data read from the data storage unit 36 by the system controller 20 on the display screen. The display unit 40 includes a graphic controller 41 that controls the entire display unit 40 based on control data sent from the CPU 22 via the bus line 30 and a memory such as a VRAM (Video RAM), and can display image information that can be displayed immediately. A buffer memory 42 that temporarily stores, a display control unit 43 that controls display of a display 44 such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based on image data output from the graphic controller 41, and a display 44 are provided. . The display 44 functions as an image display unit, and includes, for example, a liquid crystal display device having a diagonal size of about 5 to 10 inches and is mounted near the front panel in the vehicle.

  The audio output unit 50 performs D / A (Digital to Analog) conversion of audio digital data sent from the CD-ROM drive 31, DVD-ROM 32, RAM 24, or the like via the bus line 30 under the control of the system controller 20. A D / A converter 51 to perform, an amplifier (AMP) 52 that amplifies the audio analog signal output from the D / A converter 51, and a speaker 53 that converts the amplified audio analog signal into sound and outputs the sound into the vehicle. It is prepared for.

  The input device 60 includes keys, switches, buttons, a remote controller, a voice input device, and the like for inputting various commands and data. The input device 60 is disposed around the front panel and the display 44 of the main body of the in-vehicle electronic system mounted in the vehicle. When the display 44 is a touch panel system, the touch panel provided on the display screen of the display 44 also functions as the input device 60.

  The second communication device 61 is composed of, for example, a mobile phone or a dedicated communication card, and communicates with a terminal connected to the network 300 including the server device 200. For example, the second communication device 61 transmits the vehicle position information Ip to the server device 200 at predetermined or indefinite intervals based on the control of the system controller 20.

(2) Configuration of Server Device FIG. 3 shows a schematic configuration of the server device 200. The server device 200 communicates with a terminal device that guides vehicles such as the navigation devices 100A and 100B via the network 300. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the server device 200 includes a communication unit 202, a storage unit 203, and a control unit 204. The communication unit 202, the storage unit 203, and the control unit 204 are connected to each other via the bus line 201.

  The communication unit 202 transmits and receives various data based on the control of the control unit 204. For example, the communication unit 202 receives vehicle position information Ip from each navigation device.

  In addition, the communication unit 200 has a function of connecting to a communication carrier such as an Internet line or a mobile phone carrier, and performs an appropriate connection with the network 300.

  The storage unit 203 is configured by, for example, an HDD. The storage unit 203 stores the vehicle position information Ip transmitted from each terminal device such as the navigation device 100 together with the address information of the transmission source and the information of the reception date and time. The storage unit 203 preferably stores the vehicle position information Ip in an order that is easy to search based on the latitude and longitude indicated by the position information included in the vehicle position information Ip. In addition, the storage unit 203 discards the vehicle position information Ip that has passed a predetermined time (for example, 5 minutes) after reception based on the reception date and time information stored together with each vehicle position information Ip.

  The control unit 204 has a memory such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and performs overall control of the server device 200 by executing a program stored in the memory. The processing executed by the control unit 204 will be described in detail in the section [Control Method].

[Control method]
Next, information request processing executed by the navigation devices 100A and 100B and the server device 200 will be described.

(1) Processing of Navigation Device 100A First, in the present embodiment, the processing executed by the navigation device 100A that performs route guidance for the following vehicle Ve1 will be specifically described.

  First, the navigation device 100 </ b> A displays a map including the current position on the display 44 based on the position information generated by the GPS receiver 18. In addition, the navigation device 100 </ b> A generates vehicle position information Ip including position information regarding the current position and information on the traveling direction, and transmits the vehicle position information Ip to the server device 200.

  In addition, navigation device 100A transmits a signal (also referred to as “first request signal Ir1”) for requesting vehicle position information Ip of another vehicle to server device 200. The navigation device 100A may transmit the first request signal Ir1 described above when there is an explicit input from the user (for example, pressing of a dedicated button), and automatically transmits at a constant or indefinite interval. May be. Here, as described in the description of the processing of the server device 200, the navigation device 100A designates the current position of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 specified by the vehicle position information Ip as the reference position, and the vehicle is transmitted to the server device 200. Assume that the search for the position information Ip is executed.

  Then, as a response to the first request signal Ir1, the navigation device 100A receives the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle from the server device 200, and displays an icon representing the vehicle corresponding to each of the received vehicle position information Ip. Display on the inside map screen. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a display screen 45A of the display 44 after the navigation apparatus 100A receives the vehicle position information Ip. On the display screen 45A shown in FIG. 4, the subsequent vehicle Ve1 is displayed by an icon 81A, the preceding vehicle Ve2 is displayed by an icon 82B, and the other vehicles are displayed by icons 82C to 82E. The icon 82B indicating the preceding vehicle Ve2 is displayed on a traffic congestion line 83 indicating that the vehicle is a traffic congestion section on the road where the subsequent vehicle Ve1 is traveling.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the navigation device 100A displays the position and traveling direction of each vehicle indicated by the vehicle position information Ip received from the server device 200 by icons 82B to 82E. As a result, the navigation device 100A allows the user to easily recognize the position of another vehicle and the user to recognize the presence of a vehicle (here, the preceding vehicle Ve2) existing in the same traffic jam section as the own vehicle.

  Next, the navigation device 100A designates a vehicle (also referred to as a “specific other vehicle”) that is a request destination of traffic jam information based on a user input. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the navigation device 100A selects a specific other vehicle on the display screen 45A. Here, it is assumed that navigation device 100A accepts input from a touch panel. As shown in FIG. 5, the user of the navigation device 100A points the icon 82B indicating the preceding vehicle Ve2 traveling in the same traffic jam section among the icons 82B to 82E indicating other vehicles displayed on the display screen 45A. Select by touching 84. In this case, the navigation device 100A detects that the icon 82B has been touched on the display screen 45A, and recognizes the preceding vehicle Ve2 as a specific other vehicle. As described above, the user of the navigation device 100A can arbitrarily and easily select a specific other vehicle on which the traffic jam information is to be queried on the display screen 45A.

  Next, the navigation device 100A requests a traffic jam information to the navigation device 100B that generates the vehicle position information Ip of the preceding vehicle Ve2 designated as the specific other vehicle (also referred to as “second request signal Ir2”). To the server device 200. For example, in this case, the navigation device 100A includes the terminal ID included in the vehicle position information Ip of the preceding vehicle Ve2 that is the specific other vehicle in the second request signal Ir2, so that the preceding vehicle Ve2 is the request destination of the traffic jam information. Make it clear.

  Next, the navigation device 100 </ b> A receives information (also referred to as “specific other vehicle information Is”) generated by the navigation device 100 </ b> B of the specific other vehicle from the server device 200. Here, the specific other vehicle information Is is traffic jam information generated by the navigation device 100B based on the input of the user of the preceding vehicle Ve2 that is the specific other vehicle. A specific method of generating the specific other vehicle information Is will be described in the description of the processing of the navigation device 100B. Then, the navigation device 100A displays the received specific other vehicle information Is on the display screen 45A. A specific example will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows the display screen 45A after receiving the specific other vehicle information Is. As shown in FIG. 6, in this case, a balloon 85 indicating traffic jam information is displayed from the icon 82B of the preceding vehicle Ve2 that is the specific other vehicle. The balloon 85 displays the traffic information “medium traffic 15 minutes” related to the traffic level generated based on the input of the user of the specific other vehicle and the generation time “18:06” of the specific other vehicle information Is. Thereby, the user of the succeeding vehicle Ve1 can preferably recognize the real-time traffic jam information obtained from the preceding vehicle Ve2 traveling ahead of the same traffic jam section.

(2) Processing of Server Device 200 Next, processing executed by the server device 200 will be described.

  As described above, the server device 200 stores the vehicle position information Ip transmitted from each navigation device 100 in the storage unit 203. Further, the server device 200 discards the vehicle position information Ip that has passed for a predetermined time or more after reception based on the reception date and time stored together with the vehicle position information Ip.

  When the server device 200 receives the first request signal Ir1 from the navigation device 100A, the server device 200 uses the vehicle position information Ip stored in the storage unit 203 other than the vehicle position information Ip received from the navigation device 100A. The vehicle position information Ip having position information close to the position indicated by the position information Ip is searched. Then, the server device 200 transmits the searched vehicle position information Ip to the navigation device 100A.

  Here, the search method of the vehicle position information Ip will be specifically described. Preferably, server device 200 searches for vehicle position information Ip in consideration of the aspect ratio of display screen 45A included in vehicle position information Ip received from navigation device 100A. For example, the server device 200 determines the width of a rectangle having the above-described aspect ratio centered on the position of the navigation device 100A as a predetermined width (for example, 20 km), and sets the vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the rectangle to the navigation device. To 100A. The above-mentioned predetermined width is determined in advance in consideration of the bandwidth of the line used by the server device 200 and the like. In this case, the short direction of the rectangle described above is determined so as to coincide with the short direction (for example, the north-south direction) of the map display area when the navigation device 100A actually displays the map.

  In another example, the server device 200 sets the width of the rectangle described above to a length in which a predetermined number of positions corresponding to the vehicle position information Ip are included in the rectangle, and a predetermined number (for example, the position in the rectangle) 100 pieces of vehicle position information Ip is transmitted to the navigation device 100A. The predetermined number described above is determined in advance in consideration of the bandwidth of the line used by the server device 200.

  Thus, the server device 200 determines the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted to the navigation device 100A based on the aspect ratio of the display screen 45A of the navigation device 100A. Thereby, the server device 200 can suppress transmission of useless vehicle position information Ip that is not used for display in consideration of the display range of the actual map.

  In addition, when the server device 200 receives the second request signal Ir2 transmitted from the navigation device 100A, the server device 200 requests the navigation device 100B for specific other vehicle information Is (also referred to as “third request signal Ir3”). ). Here, the above-described third request signal Ir3 includes the position information and the traveling direction information of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 that is the request source of the specific other vehicle information Is. Then, when the specific other vehicle information Is is received from the navigation device 100B as a response to the third request signal Ir3, the server device 200 transmits the specific other vehicle information Is to the navigation device 100A.

(3) Processing of Navigation Device 100B Next, processing executed by the navigation device 100B will be described.

  When the navigation device 100B receives the third request signal Ir3 from the server device 200, the navigation device 100B displays an input screen related to traffic jam information. This will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a display screen 45B of the display 44 of the navigation device 100B after receiving the third request signal Ir3 from the server device 200. Here, it is assumed that the navigation device 100B displays a map including the current position of the preceding vehicle Ve2 together with the icon 82Ba indicating the preceding vehicle Ve2 before receiving the third request signal Ir3.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in this case, the navigation device 100B displays an input window 88 indicating that the third request signal Ir3 has been received on the display screen 45B. In FIG. 7, the navigation device 100 </ b> B displays, in the input window 88, “Tell me a preceding car and a request has been received” to let the user recognize the necessity of input and determine the degree of congestion in a running traffic jam section. Selection buttons 89A to 89E for displaying are displayed.

  Here, the selection buttons 89A to 89C are buttons corresponding to the respective congestion levels, and display the congestion level and the congestion time as a guide when selecting each congestion level. The traffic time described above may indicate the travel time from when the preceding vehicle Ve2 reaches the traffic jam section to the present time, and indicates the travel time required to travel a predetermined distance (for example, 1 km) in the traffic jam section. It may be a thing. The selection button 89A is selected when the congestion time is approximately 5 minutes, the selection button 89B is selected when the congestion time is approximately 10 minutes, and the selection button 89C is selected when the congestion time is 15 minutes. It is selected when it is above.

  Here, preferably, the traffic time corresponding to each traffic level displayed in the selection buttons 89A to 89C is different for each road on which the preceding vehicle Ve2 is traveling. For example, the navigation device 100B stores the statistical information of the traffic time at the time of traffic congestion on each road, and determines the traffic time to be displayed in the selection buttons 89A to 89C based on the statistical information. For example, when the navigation device 100B determines that the traveling road is a road that tends to have a long traffic time based on the above statistical information, the navigation device 100B is a road that does not tend to have a long traffic time. Each traffic time displayed in the selection buttons 89A to 89C is increased as compared with the case of determination. The statistical information described above may be generated for each road type such as a toll road or a general road.

  The selection button 89D is selected when the user does not want to answer traffic information. The selection button 89E is selected when the navigation device 100B automatically answers. When the selection button 89E is selected, the navigation device 100B calculates the traffic jam time based on, for example, the past travel history. At this time, for example, the navigation device 100B regards a point where the average traveling speed in a predetermined unit time is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold as a start point of the congestion section, and determines the congestion time based on the elapsed time after passing the start point. calculate.

  When any of the selection buttons 89A to 89E is selected based on the operation of the touch panel or the like, the navigation device 100B generates the specific other vehicle information Is according to the selected button. Specifically, when any one of the selection buttons 89A to 89C is selected, the navigation device 100B specifies the traffic time corresponding to the selected button, the traffic congestion degree, and the time information indicating the selected time. Stipulated in Further, when the selection button 89D is selected, the navigation device 100B generates specific other vehicle information Is indicating that no answer is made. Further, when the selection button 89E is selected, the navigation device 100B sets the traffic time calculated based on the travel history and the time information indicating the calculated time in the specific other vehicle information Is. Then, the navigation device 100B transmits the generated specific other vehicle information Is to the server device 200.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the navigation device 100B displays an icon 81Aa indicating the following vehicle Ve1 based on the position information and the traveling direction information included in the third request signal Ir3, and the input window 88 from the icon 81Aa. An arrow 87 pointing to is displayed. Thereby, the navigation apparatus 100B can suitably notify the user of the position of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 that is the request source of the specific other vehicle information Is.

  Note that the navigation device 100B does not display the icon 81Aa of the subsequent vehicle Ve1, for example, when the subsequent vehicle Ve1 as the request source of the specific other vehicle information Is is located outside the display range of the displayed map. Only the arrow 87 extending from the direction in which Ve1 exists may be displayed. In another example, the navigation device 100B may change the scale of the displayed map so that the position of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 is included in the display range of the map. In yet another example, the navigation device 100B may change the map display range until the position of the succeeding vehicle Ve1 is included in the map display range without changing the scale of the map. In yet another example, the navigation device 100B may display a new window displaying a map including the icon 81Aa of the following vehicle Ve1 on the currently displayed map. In any of these examples, the navigation device 100B can preferably allow the user to recognize the position of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 that is the request source of the specific other vehicle information Is.

[Processing flow]
FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a procedure of information request processing executed by the navigation devices 100A and 100B and the server device 200. In FIG. 8, a solid line arrow indicates the flow of processing, and a broken line arrow indicates the flow of data. The navigation devices 100A and 100B and the server device 200 repeatedly execute the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. As a premise, the navigation devices 100A and 100B transmit the vehicle position information Ip of the host vehicle to the server device 200 based on a predetermined timing in addition to the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the navigation device 100A determines whether or not it is the request timing of the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle (step S101). For example, the navigation device 100A determines whether or not there is an input indicating that the vehicle position information Ip of another vehicle should be acquired, and / or whether or not it is the timing for automatically acquiring the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle. . And navigation apparatus 100A will complete | finish the process of a flowchart, when it is judged that it is not the request | requirement timing of the vehicle position information Ip of another vehicle (step S101; No).

  On the other hand, when the request timing of the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle is reached (step S101; Yes), the navigation device 100A requests the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle (step S102). Specifically, the navigation device 100A transmits a first request signal Ir1 to the server device 200. Then, the server device 200 receives the first request signal Ir1 (step S201). In this case, the server device 200 searches for the target vehicle position information Ip from the vehicle position information Ip stored in the storage unit 203 and transmits it to the navigation device 100A (step S202). Specifically, in this case, the server apparatus 200 obtains the vehicle position information Ip corresponding to the terminal ID other than the terminal ID of the navigation apparatus 100A, and is present at a position close to the position of the navigation apparatus 100A. Search for.

  Then, navigation device 100A receives vehicle position information Ip from server device 200 (step S103). Then, the navigation device 100A displays the position of the other vehicle on the map (step S104). For example, the navigation device 100A displays icons 82B to 82E indicating other vehicles on the map as shown in FIG.

  Next, navigation device 100A determines whether or not a specific other vehicle has been designated (step S105). For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when there is a contact with the display screen 45A, the navigation device 100A designates the vehicle indicated by the icon at the contact position as a specific other vehicle. And navigation apparatus 100A advances a process to step S106, when there exists designation | designated of a specific other vehicle (step S105; Yes). Here, it is assumed that navigation device 100A detects designation of preceding vehicle Ve2 for which route guidance is provided by navigation device 100B. On the other hand, when the specific other vehicle is not specified (step S105; No), the navigation device 100A continues to detect an input for specifying the specific other vehicle in step S105.

  Next, the navigation device 100A requests the specific other vehicle information Is (step S106). Specifically, the navigation device 100A transmits a second request signal Ir2 to the server device 200.

  Then, the server device 200 receives the second request signal Ir2 and transmits a third request signal Ir3 requesting the specific other vehicle information Is to the navigation device 100B (step S203). Then, the navigation device 100B receives the third request signal Ir3 (step S301).

  Then, the navigation device 100B generates specific other vehicle information Is based on the input, and transmits it to the server device 200 (step S302). For example, the navigation device 100B generates the specific other vehicle information Is by displaying an input window 88 as shown in FIG. 7 on the display screen 45B and receiving an input for generating the specific other vehicle information Is. Then, the server device 200 receives the specific other vehicle information Is transmitted from the navigation device 100B, and transmits the specific other vehicle information Is to the navigation device 100A (step S204).

  Then, the navigation device 100A receives the specific other vehicle information Is transmitted by the server device 200 (step S107). Thereafter, the navigation device 100A displays the content indicated by the specific other vehicle information Is on the map (step S108). For example, as shown in the display screen 45A of FIG. 6, the navigation device 100A displays a balloon 85 with the specific other vehicle icon 82B as a base point, the degree of congestion, the traffic time, and the generation time of the specific other vehicle information Is. Is displayed in the balloon 85.

[Modification]
Hereinafter, each modification of the embodiment will be described. These modifications may be applied in combination to the above-described embodiments.

(Modification 1)
In the description of the search method for the vehicle position information Ip in the embodiment, the server device 200 searches for the vehicle position information Ip in consideration of the aspect ratio of the display screen 45A. However, the method to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this.

  Instead of this, the server device 200 may determine the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted based on the linear distance from the position of the navigation device 100A that is the request source of the vehicle position information Ip. In this case, for example, the server device 200 may transmit the vehicle position information Ip corresponding to the position included in a circle having a predetermined radius with the position of the navigation device 100A as the center, to the navigation device 100A. The radius described above is 20 km, for example, and is determined based on the bandwidth of the line used by the server device 200. In another example, the server device 200 transmits a predetermined number (for example, 100) of vehicle position information Ip indicating a position having a short linear distance from the navigation device 100A that is a request source of the vehicle position information Ip to the navigation device 100A. May be.

  In addition to taking into account the aspect ratio of the display screen 45A or the straight line distance from the request source of the vehicle position information Ip, the server device 200 takes into account the direction of travel included in the vehicle position information Ip generated by the navigation device 100A. Based on the information, the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted may be determined. This will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B.

  FIG. 9A is a map divided into four regions 91 to 94 with a vertical line 90V extending in the north-south direction and a horizontal line 90H extending in the east-west direction centered on the icon 81Ab indicating the following vehicle Ve1. Indicates. In FIG. 9A, it is assumed that the following vehicle Ve1 is traveling in the south-southeast direction.

  In this case, the server device 200 sets a higher priority for searching for a region present in a direction closer to the traveling direction of the following vehicle Ve1. Specifically, in the case of FIG. 9A, the server apparatus 200 preferentially transmits the vehicle to be transmitted from the vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the area 91 existing in the direction overlapping the traveling direction of the subsequent vehicle Ve1. The position information Ip is searched. Next, when the number of pieces of vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the region 91 is less than the number to be transmitted, the server device 200 is a region 92 present in the direction next to the traveling direction of the subsequent vehicle Ve1 after the region 91. The vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted is searched for the vehicle position information Ip indicating the position inside. As described above, in the example of FIG. 9A, the server device 200 transmits the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted in the order of the region 91, the region 92, the region 93, and the region 94 based on the traveling direction of the following vehicle Ve1. Search for.

  FIG. 9B shows a map divided into four areas 91a to 94a by lines 90L and 90R centered on the icon 81Ab indicating the following vehicle Ve1 and shifted by a predetermined angle in the left-right direction with respect to the traveling direction. . In this case, in the search for the vehicle position information Ip, the server device 200 designates the region 91a overlapping the traveling direction as the highest priority, and designates the region 94a in the direction opposite to the traveling direction as the lowest priority. Therefore, in this case, the server device 200 first searches the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted with priority from the vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the area 91a. Then, when the number of vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the area 91a is less than the predetermined number to be transmitted, the server device 200 displays the vehicle position information Ip indicating the position in the areas 92a and 93a in the area 94a. Search is performed as vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted with priority over vehicle position information Ip indicating the position.

  Thus, by determining the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted based on the traveling direction of the vehicle that is the request source of the vehicle position information Ip, the server device 200 prioritizes the vehicle position information Ip of the vehicles arranged in the same traffic jam row. Can be transmitted.

(Modification 2)
In the embodiment, when the specific other vehicle is designated, the second request signal Ir2 is immediately transmitted from the navigation device 100A to the server device 200, and the requested specific other vehicle information Is is determined in the traffic jam information. However, the aspect to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this. Instead of this, the navigation device 100A may allow the user to specify information to be acquired from the specific other vehicle information Is.

  Specifically, when a specific other vehicle is specified in step S105 of FIG. 8, the navigation device 100A further causes the user to input a question item, and includes information on the question item specified by the input. The second request signal Ir2 may be transmitted in step S106. In this case, for example, the navigation device 100A may receive a character input and include the input character in the second request signal Ir2 as information on the question. In another example, the navigation device 100A may select an arbitrary option from predetermined options such as a pull-down menu and include the content of the selected option in the second request signal Ir2 as information on the question. The question may be, for example, a question about a recommended restaurant.

  Then, the server device 200 transmits a third request signal Ir3 including the above-described question information to the navigation device 100B based on the second request signal Ir2 received in step S203. In step S302, the navigation device 100B displays the information on the question items included in the third request signal Ir3 on the display screen 45B, and generates specific other vehicle information Is corresponding to the answer contents of the question items. Accepts input. In this case, the navigation device 100B may receive an input for generating the specific other vehicle information Is by displaying a selection button corresponding to each predetermined option, similarly to the input window 88 of FIG. You may make it input the character which shows the reply content of a question matter. Then, the navigation device 100B generates specific other vehicle information Is based on the input.

  As described above, even if the information is information other than the traffic jam information, the navigation device 100A can preferably request and acquire the specific other vehicle information Is indicating the answer content of the desired question item generated by the navigation device 100B. it can.

(Modification 3)
In step S106 and step S107 in the flowchart of FIG. 8, the navigation device 100A requests and receives the specific other vehicle information Is from the navigation device 100B via the server device 200. However, the method to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this.

  Instead, the navigation device 100A may request and receive the specific other vehicle information Is from the navigation device 100B without using the server device 200. That is, the navigation device 100A may transmit the second request signal Ir2 to the navigation device 100B in step S106 and receive specific other vehicle information from the navigation device 100B in step S107. For example, in this case, the vehicle position information Ip further includes address information for communicating with the terminal that has generated the vehicle position information Ip, and the navigation device 100A refers to the vehicle position information Ip and the navigation device 100B. Communicate. Even in this aspect, the navigation device 100A can preferably request and receive the specific other vehicle information Is.

  Furthermore, instead of receiving the vehicle position information Ip of another vehicle from the server device 200, the navigation device 100A may directly receive the vehicle position information Ip from other terminals including the navigation device 100B. In this case, the navigation device 100A displays an other vehicle on the map based on the vehicle position information Ip received from each terminal, and accepts an input for designating a request destination of the specific other vehicle information Is. According to this aspect, the navigation device 100A can request the specific other vehicle information Is from the navigation device 100B without using the server device 200, and can suitably acquire the specific other vehicle information Is.

  The reception method according to this aspect can be realized by using a vehicle-to-vehicle network (vehicle-to-vehicle communication) technique.

(Modification 4)
In step S202 of FIG. 8, the server device 200 searches for the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted on the basis of the current positions of the navigation device 100A and the following vehicle Ve1. However, the configuration to which the present invention is applicable is not limited to this.

  Instead, the server device 200 may search for the vehicle position information Ip to be transmitted on the basis of the position designated from the navigation device 100A. Specifically, in this case, in step S102 of FIG. 8, the navigation device 100A uses the first request signal Ir1 for requesting the vehicle position information Ip of the other vehicle as the reference position information when searching for the vehicle position information Ip. Include. The above-mentioned reference position is set to a position designated by the user by, for example, a touch panel operation on the display screen 45A displaying a map. And server apparatus 200 searches vehicle position information Ip which shows a position near the above-mentioned standard position in Step S202.

(Modification 5)
In the embodiment, the navigation device 100A designates only the preceding vehicle Ve1 as the specific other vehicle. Instead, the navigation device 100A may designate a plurality of vehicles as specific other vehicles. In this case, for example, when icons 82B to 82E indicating other vehicles are displayed as shown in the display screen 45A of FIG. 5, the navigation device 100A accepts selection of a plurality of icons.

(Modification 6)
Navigation device 100A and navigation device 100B may be terminal devices that move with pedestrians. For example, in this case, similarly to the second modification, the navigation device 100A causes the user to specify information desired to be acquired by the specific other vehicle information Is, and the second request signal Ir2 including the information on the specified question item is sent to the server in step S106. Transmit to device 200. In this case, the pedestrian is an example of the “moving body” in the present invention.

  The present invention can be suitably applied to in-vehicle navigation devices, PNDs (Portable / Personal Navigation Devices), and other terminal devices having communication functions.

10 Independent positioning device 12 GPS receiver 20 System controller 22 CPU
36 Data storage unit 38 Communication device 40 Display unit 44 Display 60 Input device 100A, 100B (100) Navigation device 200 Server device 300 Network

Claims (12)

A terminal device that moves together with a moving body,
A reference position specifying means for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body;
Display control means for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position;
Other moving object designating means for designating at least one other moving object from the other moving objects displayed by the display means;
Request means for requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the specified other mobile unit;
The terminal device characterized by having.   The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the information is information related to a traffic jam. The display unit further includes a touch panel,
The display control means causes the display means to display the position of the other moving body together with the map information,
The terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the other moving body designating unit designates another moving body designated by a user via the touch panel.   The terminal device according to claim 2, wherein the other moving body designating unit designates the other moving body that is traveling ahead of the same traffic jam section as the moving body.   The display control means displays, on the map displayed on the display means, the position of the other moving body searched based on the aspect ratio of the display of the display means on the basis of the reference position. The terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.   6. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays the position of the other moving body searched based on the traveling direction of the moving body with respect to the reference position. The terminal device according to one item. Communicate with the server device that manages the location information of the moving object,
6. The receiving apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a receiving unit configured to receive, from the server device, information on a position of the other mobile body searched by the server device with respect to the reference position. Terminal equipment.   The terminal device according to claim 7, wherein the request unit requests the information to a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body via the server device. When receiving a request for information from a terminal that moves with another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body, an input receiving unit that receives an input for generating the information;
Transmitting means for generating the requested information based on the input and transmitting the information to a terminal that moves with the other moving body;
The terminal device according to claim 1, comprising: A control method executed by a terminal device that moves with a mobile body,
A reference position designating step for designating a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body;
A display control step of displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position;
An other moving object designating step of designating at least one other moving object from the other moving objects displayed by the display means;
A requesting step for requesting information from a terminal that moves together with the designated other mobile unit;
A control method characterized by comprising: A program executed by a terminal device that moves together with a mobile object,
A reference position specifying means for specifying a reference position for searching for another moving body that is a moving body other than the moving body;
Display control means for displaying on the display means the position of the other moving body searched with reference to the reference position;
Other moving object designating means for designating at least one other moving object from the other moving objects displayed by the display means;
A program for causing a terminal that moves together with the specified other moving body to function as a requesting means for requesting information.   A storage medium storing the program according to claim 11.

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