JP2015072625A - Passage history collection system, passage history collection method, and passage history collection program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide technology allowing suppression of deterioration of estimation accuracy of a passage history of a terminal device even when a discontinuous section is included in a passage course indicated in passage history information.SOLUTION: A passage history collection system includes an arithmetic processing part executing target road estimation processing to estimate a target road passed by a target terminal device in a discontinuous section when the discontinuous section is included in a passage course indicated in target passage history information collected from one target terminal device. A time zone in which the target terminal device indicated in the target passage history information has passed the discontinuous section is a target time zone. In the target road estimation processing, when there are a plurality of connection roads connecting the discontinuous section, the passage history collection system excludes the connection road indicated that another terminal device has passed it in the same time zone as the target time zone in the passage history information from candidates of the target road.

Description

  The present invention relates to a traffic history collection system, a traffic history collection method, and a traffic history collection program for collecting traffic history information of each road of a terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices.

  As such a traffic history collection system, a system described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-49114 (Patent Document 1) is known. Patent Document 1 describes a configuration that collects traffic history information (travel history information) of a vehicle and automatically sets a normal traffic route on which the vehicle travels on a daily basis based on the collected traffic history information. . And in the structure of patent document 1, when the traffic information about the acquired normal traffic route represents the condition which generate | occur | produces regularly in the said normal traffic route, the structure which does not notify the said traffic information to the passenger | crew of a vehicle By doing so, the discomfort given to the vehicle occupant is suppressed.

JP-A-2005-49114

  By the way, in order to appropriately set the normal travel route as described above, it is desirable that the travel history of the terminal device can be accurately estimated based on the travel history information. In order to improve the estimation accuracy of the traffic history, it is conceivable that the traffic history information collected by the traffic history collection system includes information on all roads that the terminal device has traveled. However, in this case, the data size of the traffic history information becomes large, and an increase in communication load may become a problem. In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to limit the roads that include history information in the traffic history information to specific types of roads. However, in this case, when the road that the terminal device passes includes a road to be restricted, there is a possibility that the estimation accuracy of the traffic history may be reduced due to the discontinuous section included in the traffic route indicated in the traffic history information. is there. However, in Patent Document 1, no particular recognition has been made on these points.

  Therefore, it is desired to realize a technique capable of suppressing a decrease in the accuracy of estimation of the traffic history of the terminal device even if the traffic route indicated in the traffic history information includes a discontinuous section.

  The characteristic configuration of the traffic history collection system that collects the traffic history information of each of the terminal devices from a plurality of terminal devices according to the present invention is shown in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device. A calculation processing unit that executes a target road estimation process for estimating a target road that the target terminal has passed in the discontinuous section when the target route includes a discontinuous section; In the target road estimation process, when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections, the time zone in which the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous sections is a target time zone, The connection road indicated in the traffic history information that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone is excluded from the target road candidates.

  Further, the technical features of the traffic history collection system according to the present invention can also be applied to a traffic history collection method and a traffic history collection program. Therefore, the present invention provides such a method and program, as well as such a method. A storage medium (for example, an optical disk, a flash memory, etc.) in which a program is stored can also be a target of rights.

  In this case, the characteristic configuration of the traffic history collection method for collecting the traffic history information of each road of the terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices is that the arithmetic processing device includes the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device. When the indicated travel route includes a discontinuous section, the target terminal device executes a target road estimation step for estimating a target road that has traveled in the discontinuous section, and the target traffic history information The time zone in which the target terminal device passes the discontinuous section is set as a target time zone, and the target road estimation step includes the target when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections. The connection road indicated in the traffic history information that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the time zone is excluded from the target road candidates.

  Further, the characteristic configuration of the traffic history collection program that collects the traffic history information of each road of the terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices is based on the traffic route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device. When the discontinuous section is included, the target terminal device estimates the target road that the target terminal device has traveled in the discontinuous section. The time zone in which the target terminal device passes the discontinuous section is set as a target time zone, and the target road estimation function is the same as the target time zone when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections. The connection road, which is indicated in the traffic history information that another terminal device has passed in the time zone, is excluded from the target road candidates.

  According to these characteristic configurations, when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections, there is a connecting road indicated in the traffic history information that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. , Excluded from candidate roads. Therefore, it is possible to exclude connected roads that are considered to have a very low possibility that the target terminal device has traveled from the candidates for the target road, and as a result, a discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target travel history information Even so, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy of the traffic history of the target terminal device.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the terminal device and management server which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the traffic history data which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the traffic history data which concern on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the discontinuous area detection process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the object road estimation process which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the exclusion road determination process which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, as an example, the traffic history collection system according to the present invention is applied to a travel history collection system that collects travel history information of a vehicle equipped with the terminal device 3 as road traffic history information of the terminal device 3. Will be described. Here, a device (such as the terminal device 3 or a storage device 32 to be described later) provided in the vehicle means that the device is provided at least when the device is used (when used to generate or collect traffic history information). This includes not only the case where the device is fixedly mounted on the vehicle, but also the case where the device is brought into the vehicle only during use. In the present embodiment, the terminal device 3 also has a navigation function for providing guidance information regarding points and routes to a user (here, a vehicle occupant, particularly a driver). In the following description, a vehicle refers to a vehicle provided with the terminal device 3, and each vehicle functions as a probe car that transmits probe information (travel history information and the like) to the management server 2. As described above, the traffic history collection system 1 according to the present embodiment includes the plurality of terminal devices 3 and the management server 2 provided to be able to communicate with each of the plurality of terminal devices 3.

1. Configuration of Terminal Device The terminal device 3 includes an arithmetic processing device such as one or a plurality of CPUs (Central Processing Units) as a core member, and a storage device (for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that can be referred to by the arithmetic processing device. And ROM (Read Only Memory). In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the arithmetic processing device of the terminal device 3 is configured to be able to refer to data in the storage device 32 provided outside the terminal device 3. In the present embodiment, the storage device 32 is provided in the vehicle. In the present embodiment, the storage device 32 stores map information. The storage device 32 includes, as a hardware configuration, a storage medium that can store and rewrite information, such as a hard disk drive and a flash memory. The program executed by the terminal device 3 may be stored in a storage device provided in the terminal device 3 or may be stored in the storage device 32. Further, the terminal device 3 and the storage device 32 may be integrally configured.

  The terminal device 3 is configured to be able to acquire the position information detected by the position information detection device 31. The position information detection device 31 is provided in a vehicle in the present embodiment. The position information detection device 31 includes various devices for detecting position information, such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a distance sensor, and an orientation sensor. The terminal device 3 performs a calculation based on the information acquired from the position information detection device 31, and periodically displays its own position information indicating the current position of the terminal device 3 (in this example, the current position of the host vehicle) (for example, 1 second). Get every). At this time, a correction process (map matching process) for matching the own position on the road is executed based on the map information stored in the storage device 32 as necessary. In addition, it can also be set as the structure by which the calculation for specifying own position information is performed by the position information detection apparatus 31 side. Further, the terminal device 3 is configured to be able to acquire time information (date information may be included as well as “time information” mentioned below) in addition to its own location information. The time information is acquired based on, for example, information acquired from the position information detection device 31, or acquired based on an output of an internal clock provided in the terminal device 3. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, a case where the position information detection device 31 is provided outside the terminal device 3 is illustrated, but the terminal device 3 may be configured to include the position information detection device 31.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the terminal device 3 includes a traffic history data generation unit 21. Moreover, in this embodiment, although illustration is abbreviate | omitted, the terminal device 3 is provided with the function part for implement | achieving a navigation function. The navigation function includes, for example, a display function for displaying guidance information on a display device (not shown), a point search function for searching for a point, a route search function for searching for a route to a destination, and the like. The terminal device 3 according to the above includes at least a functional unit for realizing a display function. Each functional unit of the terminal device 3 is configured by software (program) stored in a storage device that can be referred to by the arithmetic processing device, hardware such as a separately provided arithmetic circuit, or both. Each functional unit of the terminal device 3 is configured to be able to exchange information with each other via a communication network. The terminal device 3 is configured to be able to transmit and receive data to and from the management server 2 by wireless communication. This wireless communication is, for example, a cellular phone network, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network), VICS (registered trademark; Vehicle Information and Communication System), road-to-vehicle communication (between a vehicle and a communication device installed on the road side). (Communication) etc., it can be set as the structure performed using various radio | wireless communication facilities.

  The traffic history data generating unit 21 is a functional unit that generates traffic history data 4 including road traffic history information (here, vehicle travel history information) of the terminal device 3. In addition to the road identification information for identifying each road included in the traffic history, the traffic history data 4 includes information on the time of passing each road in a state associated with the corresponding road identification information. ing. In the present embodiment, the traffic history data generating unit 21 stores the own position information acquired based on the detection result of the position information detecting device 31, the time information when the own position information is acquired, and the storage device 32. Based on the obtained map information, the traffic history data 4 is generated. In the present embodiment, the own position information acquired by the terminal device 3 is temporarily stored in the storage device 32 in a state associated with the time information when the own position information is acquired, and the travel history data generation unit 21 generates the travel history data 4 with reference to the own position information stored in the storage device 32 and the time information associated with the own position information.

  The traffic history data 4 is generated at a predetermined timing (for example, at any time or at regular intervals), and the generated traffic history data 4 is temporarily stored in the storage device 32. Then, the terminal device 3 transmits the travel history data 4 stored in the storage device 32 to the management server 2 at a predetermined timing. In this embodiment, the transmission timing of the traffic history data 4 to the management server 2 is set at the time when the main power supply of the vehicle is switched to the off state. That is, in this embodiment, when the main power source of the vehicle is switched to the off state, the travel history data 4 (from the time when the main power source of the vehicle is switched to the on state to the time when the vehicle main power source is switched to the off state. Data including traffic history information for one run) is transmitted to the management server 2. At this time, identification information (for example, a terminal ID) for identifying each of the plurality of terminal devices 3 is also transmitted. The transmission timing of the traffic history data 4 to the management server 2 may be set as needed or at regular intervals.

  In the present embodiment, the traffic history data 4 includes information for specifying the link K as the road specifying information. That is, the map information stored in the storage device 32 includes a node S set as an intersection and a link K corresponding to a road connecting the two nodes S as shown in FIG. , Road network information is included. Each node S has information on the position (coordinates) on the map represented by latitude and longitude. Each link K has information such as link start point and end point positions (coordinates), link length, number of lanes, road width, road case, and the like. Here, the road case is a classification based on the road type, such as an expressway, a toll road, a national road, a prefectural road, a narrow street, etc., in descending order of the road case. Each link K is given a link number (link ID) for specifying the link K, and information on this link number is included in the traffic history data 4 as road specifying information. The traffic history data 4 includes information on a traffic link string (see FIG. 3) in which link numbers corresponding to roads (link K) included in the traffic history are arranged in time series. In FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the link number is represented by a symbol (“L1”, “L10”, etc.) represented by “L” followed by a number. The link number is information that can specify the traveling direction of the vehicle independently or based on other information. For example, it can be set as the structure by which a link number is provided according to the advancing direction about the road where the lanes where the advancing directions are mutually opposite are provided.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the traffic history data 4 includes information on the time of entering each road and information on the time of leaving from each road as information on the time when each road passed. Specifically, for each link K specified by the road specifying information, information on the time when the user entered the link K and information on the time when the user exited the link K are included in the traffic history data 4. For each link K specified by the road specifying information, basically, only the information on the time when the vehicle entered the link K is included in the traffic history data 4, and the link K immediately before the discontinuous section (described later). In addition, in addition to the information on the time of entering the link K, the information on the time of leaving the link K can also be included in the traffic history data 4.

  By the way, the traffic history information to be collected by the traffic history collection system 1 includes the traffic history information only for roads classified into predetermined categories. That is, the traffic history data generation unit 21 generates the traffic history data 4 only for roads classified into a predetermined category among roads that the terminal device 3 has passed. In the present embodiment, the roads are classified into a first road type and a second road type having a road size smaller than the first road type, and the first road type is set to the above-described category. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the traffic history information collected from the plurality of terminal devices 3 includes traffic history information only for roads classified as the first road type among the first road type and the second road type. included. Here, the road scale can be an index that determines the magnitude of the scale based on, for example, the road rating and the road width. That is, a road type road with a higher road rating including an expressway is classified as a first road type, and a road type road with a lower road rating including a narrow street is classified as a second road type. can do. Alternatively, a road having a road width equal to or greater than a predetermined reference width may be classified as a first road type, and a road having a road width less than the reference width may be classified as a second road type.

  With reference to FIG.2 and FIG.3, the traffic history data 4 which concern on this embodiment are demonstrated. In FIG. 2, the road (link K) classified as the first road type is represented by a thicker line than the road (link K) classified as the second road type. For example, when a vehicle equipped with the terminal device 3 having the terminal ID “T1” travels along a route indicated by a broken line from the first point A1 to the second point A2, the actual road accompanying the travel The traffic history (running history) is represented by a traffic link string “L10 → L2 → L20 → L21 → L22 → L5 → L7”. Here, among the links K constituting the traffic link string, three links K, the link K having the link number “L2”, the link K having the link number “L5”, and the link K having the link number “L7”. Since only the traffic history data 4 is to be generated, the traffic history data 4 generated in this case includes traffic link string information “L2 → L5 → L7” as shown in FIG. Although illustration is omitted, the traffic history data 4 in this case includes information on the time of entering the link K and information on the time of leaving the link K for each of the three links K.

  In addition, for example, a vehicle equipped with the terminal device 3 with the terminal ID “T2” has a link K with a link number “L1”, a link K with a link number “L2”, and a link K with a link number “L3”. When the vehicle travels in the order of the link K with the link number “L4”, the link K with the link number “L5”, and the link K with the link number “L6”, the actual road traffic history associated with the travel is It is represented by a traffic link string “L1 → L2 → L3 → L4 → L5 → L6”. In this case, since all the links K constituting this traffic link string are the generation targets of the traffic history data 4, the traffic history data 4 generated in this case includes “L1 → L2” as shown in FIG. → L3 → L4 → L5 → L6 ”is included. That is, in this case, the traffic history data 4 includes the same traffic link column information as the actual traffic link column of the vehicle.

2. Configuration of management server 2-1. Overall Configuration of Management Server The management server 2 includes an arithmetic processing device such as one or a plurality of CPUs as a core member, and also includes a storage device (for example, a RAM or a ROM) that can be referred to by the arithmetic processing device. In the present embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the management server 2 includes a traffic history data acquisition unit 11, a discontinuous section detection unit 12, and a target road estimation unit 13. In the present embodiment, the management server 2 includes a storage device 14 in which map information is stored. The arithmetic processing device of the management server 2 refers to the storage device 14 and stores various information stored in the storage device 14. It is configured to be obtainable. The storage device 14 includes a storage medium capable of storing and rewriting information as a hardware configuration, like the storage device 32 that can be referred to by the terminal device 3. In the present embodiment, the target road estimation unit 13 corresponds to an “arithmetic processing unit” in the present invention, and the arithmetic processing device of the management server 2 corresponds to an “arithmetic processing device” in the present invention.

  Each functional unit of the management server 2 is configured by software (program) stored in a storage device that can be referred to by the arithmetic processing device of the management server 2, hardware such as a separately provided arithmetic circuit, or both. . Each functional unit of the management server 2 is configured to be able to exchange information with each other via a communication network. Note that the plurality of functional units and the storage device 14 included in the management server 2 may be divided into a plurality of devices that can communicate with each other. It is also possible to combine a plurality of functional units of the management server 2 or further classify one functional unit.

  The management server 2 is configured to be able to transmit / receive data to / from a plurality of terminal devices 3 by wireless communication. The management server 2 receives the traffic history data 4 from each of the plurality of terminal devices 3, thereby collecting the traffic history information of each road of the terminal device 3 from the plurality of terminal devices 3. Specifically, the traffic history data acquisition unit 11 acquires the traffic history data 4 transmitted from each of the plurality of terminal devices 3, and the traffic history information included in the acquired traffic history data 4 is stored in the terminal device 3. The information is stored in the storage device 14 in association with the identification information (terminal ID). FIG. 3 is a diagram conceptually showing the traffic history information stored in the storage device 14. In this example, the traffic history information collected from a plurality of terminal devices 3 is accumulated for each terminal ID. The traffic history information stored in the storage device 14 includes the terminal ID, the position of the start point (departure point) of the traffic history (traffic link string), the position of the end point (destination) of the traffic history (traffic link string), the traffic period, Extraction is possible according to various conditions such as passage time. For example, extracting only the traffic history information for a predetermined travel period (for example, within one month retroactively from the present) and for a predetermined time zone (for example, between 8 am and 9 am) Can do.

  Then, as described below, the discontinuous section is included in the traffic route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device by the discontinuous section detecting unit 12 and the target road estimating unit 13 of the management server 2. Is included, target road estimation processing for estimating a target road that the target terminal device has passed in the discontinuous section is executed. The “target terminal device” is a terminal device 3 arbitrarily selected from the plurality of terminal devices 3, and the “target traffic history information” is traffic history information collected from the target terminal device. And although the details are omitted, for example, the management server 2 is a route through which the terminal device 3 frequently passes on the basis of the information of the traffic link string included in the collected traffic history information for each of the terminal devices 3. A normal traffic route is set, and a service related to the normal traffic route is provided (for example, provision of guidance information, traffic jam information, traffic regulation information, etc. regarding the normal traffic route). Note that the normal route is set, for example, as a route having the maximum number of times of passage within a predetermined determination period among a plurality of routes having a common start point and end point.

2-2. Configuration of Discontinuous Section Detection Unit The discontinuous section detection unit 12 is a functional unit that detects whether or not a discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target travel history information collected from the target terminal device. is there. In the present embodiment, the discontinuous section detecting unit 12 includes, for each of the traffic history data 4 acquired from the plurality of terminal devices 3 by the traffic history data acquiring unit 11, the traffic history information included in the traffic history data 4 (this example) Then, it is detected whether or not a discontinuous section is included in the traffic route indicated by the travel history information for one run. That is, in the present embodiment, each of the plurality of terminal devices 3 can be a target terminal device. As described above, in this embodiment, the travel route indicated in the travel history information is represented in the form of a travel link column as shown in FIG. For this reason, in this embodiment, by determining whether or not the two links K are continuously connected to each other for all combinations of two links K in which the arrangement order is continuous in the traffic link row, the traffic It can be determined whether or not a discontinuous section is included in the traffic route corresponding to the link string.

  In the present embodiment, the discontinuous section detection unit 12 determines whether or not a discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target travel history information along the procedure of the discontinuous section detection process shown in FIG. Is detected. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the discontinuous section detection unit 12 acquires the traffic link string of the traffic path indicated in the target traffic history information (step # 01), and then sequentially from the first link K in the traffic link string ( That is, it is determined whether or not the link K is connected continuously to the link K immediately after that in the order of the link K that has been passed in the past. Specifically, in step # 03, it is determined whether or not the end point of the Mth link K matches the start point of the (M + 1) th link K. This determination is performed by changing the value of M from “1” to “1” until the (M + 1) th link K becomes the last link K in the traffic link string (that is, the link K that was last passed) (No in Step # 05). It is repeatedly executed while increasing it step by step (step # 06).

  If it is determined in step # 03 that the end point of the Mth link K does not match the start point of the (M + 1) th link K (step # 03: No), the Mth link K and the ( It is determined that there is a discontinuous section with the (M + 1) th link K (step # 04). For example, when the traffic link column of the traffic route indicated in the target traffic history information is “L2 → L5 → L7” in FIG. 3, the link number corresponding to the first link K is clear from FIG. It is determined that there is a discontinuous section between the link K whose link number is “L2” and the link K whose link number is “L5”. In this case, the link K immediately before the discontinuous section becomes the link K with the link number “L2”, and the link K immediately after the discontinuous section becomes the link K with the link number “L5”. That is, the start point of the discontinuous section matches the end point of the link K immediately before the discontinuous section, and the end point of the discontinuous section matches the start point of the link K immediately after the discontinuous section. Information on the detection result of the discontinuous section detection unit 12 (information on the detected discontinuous section) is stored in the storage device 14.

2-3. Configuration of the target road estimation unit The target road estimation unit 13 discontinues the target terminal device when the traffic route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from the target terminal device includes a discontinuous section. A target road estimation process for estimating a target road that has passed in the section is executed. In the present embodiment, the target road estimation unit 13 performs target road estimation processing for each of the traffic routes in which the discontinuous sections are detected by the discontinuous section detection unit 12. In the present embodiment, the target road estimation unit 13 executes target road estimation processing along the procedure shown in FIG.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, the target road estimation unit 13 refers to the map information stored in the storage device 14 and searches for a connection road that connects discontinuous sections. Specifically, a connection road having a common start point and end point is searched for the discontinuous section. At this time, the connection road search range is appropriately set as necessary. For example, the section between the link K with the link number “L2” and the link K with the link number “L5” is a discontinuous section as in the “L2 → L5 → L7” traffic link string in FIG. In this case, each of the routes (routes) starting from the end point of the link K having the link number “L2” and having the end point being the start point of the link having the link number “L5” can be connected roads. In this example, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, a connection road with a traffic link string “L3 → L4”, a connection road with a traffic link string “L20 → L21 → L22”, and a traffic link string “ Three connecting roads of connecting roads L30 → L31 → L32 → L22 ″ are searched.

  When there are not a plurality of connecting roads (step # 11: No), that is, when there is only one connecting road, the processing is terminated by estimating that the connecting road is the target road (step # 14). On the other hand, if there are a plurality of connected roads (step # 11: Yes), it is determined whether or not there is an excluded road (excluded road) to be excluded from the target road candidates in the connected road (step # 12). ) If there is an excluded road (step # 12: Yes), the excluded road is excluded from the target road candidates (step # 13), and the target road is estimated (step # 14). The excluded road will be described in detail in the section “2-4. On the other hand, if there is no excluded road (step # 12: No), the target road is estimated as it is (step # 14). If it is determined in step # 12 that there is no excluded road, there are always two or more connected roads that are candidates for the target road. Even when the exclusion process of step # 13 is executed, there may be a case where two or more connected roads remain, without being limited to one connected road as a target road candidate. When the target road is estimated in a state where there are two or more connection roads that are candidates for the target road in this way, the target road estimation unit 13 says that the target road is one of the two or more connection roads. Make an estimate. Information on the estimation result of the target road estimation unit 13 is stored in the storage device 14.

  When the target road is estimated as one connection road by the estimation of the target road estimation unit 13, that is, when the connection road that is a candidate for the target road can be narrowed down to one, the management server 2 For example, the connection road is determined to be the target road, and the travel link string is complemented by the link string constituting the connection road to generate an estimated traffic link string without a discontinuous section. Then, for example, the management server 2 stores the information on the estimated traffic link sequence in the storage device 14 and sets the normal traffic route based on the information on the estimated traffic link sequence and the like. On the other hand, if the target road cannot be estimated as one connected road by the estimation of the target road estimation unit 13, that is, if the number of connected roads that are candidates for the target road cannot be narrowed down to one, the management server 2 For example, information indicating that the target road is one of the two or more connected roads is not determined is stored in the storage device 14. In addition, the management server 2 can also be configured to estimate the target road as one connected road by executing other processes.

2-4. Excluded roads In the target road estimation processing (specifically, steps # 12 and # 13 in FIG. 5) by the target road estimation unit 13, when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting discontinuous sections, the same as the target time zone A connection road whose traffic history information indicates that another terminal device 3 has passed in the time zone is determined as an exclusion road, and the exclusion road is excluded from candidates for the target road. Here, the target time zone is the target terminal device (the terminal device 3 from which the target traffic history information is generated) indicated in the target traffic history information (the traffic history information to be estimated by the target road estimation unit 13). Is the time zone during which the discontinuous section was passed. In this embodiment, one day is divided into a plurality of time zones based on time, and the time when the target terminal device passes through the discontinuous section and the time when other terminal devices 3 pass through the connection road are the same. When included in the time zone, it is determined that the other terminal device 3 has passed the connection road in the same time zone as the target time zone. Note that, for example, two time zones corresponding to “daytime” and “night” are set, or “early morning”, “daytime”, “evening”, and “night”, respectively. Four time zones can be set.

  In the case where the entry time to the discontinuous section of the target terminal device and the exit time from the discontinuous section are included in two different time zones, for example, the entry time, the exit time, and the entry time Based on any one of the intermediate times with the leaving time, the time zone including the time can be specified as the time zone in which the target terminal device has passed the discontinuous section. In addition, the information on the entry time to the discontinuous section is acquired based on the information on the time of exit from the link K immediately before the discontinuous section, and the information on the exit time from the discontinuous section is immediately after the discontinuous section. It is acquired based on the information of the time of entering the link K. Similarly, when the time when the other terminal device 3 enters the connection road and the time when the terminal device 3 leaves the connection road is divided into two different time zones, the other terminal device 3 passes through the connection road. The specified time zone can be specified.

  In the present embodiment, the target road estimation unit 13 indicates in the traffic history information that another terminal device 3 has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone in accordance with the procedure of the excluded road determination process shown in FIG. The connected road is determined as an excluded road. Specifically, the target road estimation unit 13 acquires a traffic link string included in the traffic history information for another terminal device 3 different from the target terminal device as a traffic link string to be compared (step # 20). . At this time, in this embodiment, the traffic history information around the discontinuous section to be estimated of the target road is extracted from the traffic history information of the other terminal device 3 stored in the storage device 14, and the extracted traffic The traffic link string included in the history information is acquired as the traffic link string to be compared. Furthermore, it is good also as a structure which extracts only the traffic history information of a predetermined traffic period (for example, within one month retroactively from the present). When there are a plurality of comparison-target traffic link columns, the process shown in FIG. 6 is executed for each of the comparison-target traffic link columns. Note that the traffic history information around the discontinuous section includes, for example, at least one of the links K constituting the travel history, the discontinuous section, the same area as the link K immediately before or after the discontinuous section (for example, administrative The traffic history information included in the section or the like).

  The target road estimation unit 13 acquires the comparison target traffic link string (hereinafter simply referred to as “traffic link string” in the description of FIG. 6) (step # 20), and then the first link K in the traffic link string. It is determined whether or not the link number matches the link number of the link K immediately before the discontinuous section. Specifically, in step # 22, it is determined whether or not the link number of the Nth link K constituting the passing link string matches the link number of the link K immediately before the discontinuous section. This determination is made by increasing the value of N one by one from “1” (step # 24) until the (N + 1) th link K becomes the last link K in the traffic link string (step # 23: No). Repeatedly executed.

  When it is determined in step # 22 that the link number of the Nth link K matches the link number of the link K immediately before the discontinuous section (step # 22: Yes), the target road estimation unit 13 For the link K whose arrangement order is later than the N-th link K, it is determined whether or not the link number matches the link number of the link K immediately after the discontinuous section in order from the link K on the front side of the arrangement order. I do. Specifically, in step # 25, it is determined whether or not the link number of the (N + 1) -th link K constituting the passing link string matches the link number of the link K immediately after the discontinuous section. . This determination is made from the value when the value of N is determined as Yes in step # 22 until the (N + 1) th link K becomes the last link K in the traffic link string (step # 26: No). While repeatedly increasing (step # 27), the value of P is increased one by one from "0" (step # 28), and repeatedly executed.

  If it is determined in step # 25 that the link number of the (N + 1) -th link K matches the link number of the link K immediately after the discontinuous section (step # 25: Yes), the target road estimation unit 13 On the condition that the value of P is larger than “0” (step # 29: Yes), the process proceeds to step # 30. Here, the link K having the same link number as the link K immediately before the discontinuous section in the traffic link string is defined as the first link, and the link K having the same link number as the link K immediately after the discontinuous section in the traffic link string is used. Assuming that it is the second link, a connecting road is constituted by a link row composed of P links K from the link K immediately after the first link in the traffic link row to the link K immediately before the second link. Then, it is determined that the terminal device 3 (the other terminal device 3 different from the target terminal device) that has generated the traffic history information including the information of the traffic link sequence has passed the connection road in the same time zone as the target time zone. In this case, the link string composed of the P links K is determined as the link string constituting the excluded road (step # 30).

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the traffic link string to be estimated for the target road is “L2 → L5 → L7” for the terminal device 3 whose terminal ID is “T1”, and the traffic link string to be compared is In the case of “L 1 → L 2 → L 3 → L 4 → L 5 → L 6” for the terminal device 3 with the terminal ID “T 2”, the connection road through which the terminal device 3 with the terminal ID “T 2” passes is “L 3 → It is represented by a traffic link column of L4 ". Then, the terminal device 3 with the terminal ID “T2” passes the connection road in the same time zone as the time zone (target time zone) in which the terminal device 3 with the terminal ID “T1” passes the discontinuous section. When the determination is made, the traffic link string “L3 → L4” is determined as the link string of the excluded road. On the other hand, when the comparison target traffic link string is “L1 → L2 → L8 → L9 → L6” for the terminal device 3 whose terminal ID is “T3”, this traffic link string includes a discontinuous section. Since the link K having the same link number as the link number (here, “L5”) of the link K is not included, the process proceeds to step # 25, but “Yes” is not determined in step # 25, and the link of the excluded road The column is not determined. Although illustration is omitted, when the comparison target traffic link string is “L2 → L5 → L7”, it is determined Yes in step # 25, but it is determined No in step # 29. Even in this case, the link string of the excluded road is not determined.

  In the present embodiment, further, in the target road estimation processing (specifically, steps # 12 and # 13 in FIG. 5) by the target road estimation unit 13, the discontinuous sections are estimated by the target terminal device (estimation by the target road estimation unit 13). Based on the passage time or passage time through which the terminal device 3) from which the traffic history information of the target has passed has passed, the connection road determined to be unable to reach the end point of the discontinuous section is defined as an excluded road And exclude the excluded road from the candidate for the target road. In the present embodiment, the target road estimation unit 13 is based on the passage time when the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous section, and the passing time when the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous section (the time required for passing through the discontinuous section). And the above determination is performed based on the derived transit time. Specifically, the target road estimation unit 13 acquires information on the entry time to the discontinuous section and information on the exit time from the discontinuous section as information on the passage time of the discontinuous section, and the entry The time from the time to the exit time is derived as the transit time of the discontinuous section. In addition, it is good also as a structure which the object road estimation part 13 can acquire the information directly showing the transit time of a discontinuous area.

  Then, the target road estimation unit 13 determines that the estimated passage time, which is an estimated value of the time required to pass through the connection road, is longer than the discontinuous section passage time to a degree that satisfies the determination condition described below. When passing through a connected road, the target terminal device is determined to be unable to reach the end point of the discontinuous section in the passage time, and the connected road is determined as an excluded road. The determination condition is, for example, that the value obtained by subtracting the passage time of the discontinuous section from the estimated passage time is greater than or equal to a predetermined determination value, or the estimated passage time is divided by the passage time of the discontinuous section. It is assumed that the value is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination value. This determination value is set in consideration of, for example, variations in road traffic speed among the plurality of terminal devices 3.

  In this embodiment, the estimated travel time required to travel on the connecting road is derived based on the map information stored in the storage device 14. For example, for each link K, when travel time information necessary for passing through the link K is stored in the storage device 14, the information is based on the travel time information of each link K constituting the connection road. It can be set as the structure from which the estimated traffic time of a connection road is derived | led-out. The travel time information may be appropriately updated with traffic information such as traffic jam information and traffic regulation information. Further, for example, when travel time information for each link K is not provided, information on the link length of each link K constituting the connection road and information on road attributes (such as speed limit and road type) Based on the above, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which the estimated passing time of the connection road is derived.

  In the connected road exclusion process based on the estimated travel time required for passing through the connected road described here, the traffic history information indicates that another terminal device 3 has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. Even if the connected roads are excluded, the configuration can be executed only when a plurality of connected roads still remain. It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which the target road estimation unit 13 does not execute the connected road exclusion process based on the estimated travel time required for passing through the connected road. Further, the estimated passage time, which is an estimated value of the time required for the target road estimation unit 13 to pass through the connected road, is shorter than the passage time of the discontinuous section to satisfy the second determination condition described below. In such a case, the connecting road may be determined as an excluded road. The second determination condition is, for example, that the value obtained by subtracting the estimated passage time from the passage time of the discontinuous section is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination value, or the passage time of the discontinuous section is the estimated passage time. The divided value is equal to or greater than a predetermined determination value.

3. Outline of Embodiments of Present Invention In the embodiment of the present invention described above, a traffic history collection system (1) that collects road history information of each of the terminal devices (3) from a plurality of terminal devices (3) (1) ) Has at least the following configuration.

  That is, the traffic history collection system (1) that collects the traffic history information of each road of the terminal device (3) from the plurality of terminal devices (3) is shown in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device. And a calculation processing unit (13) that executes a target road estimation process for estimating a target road that the target terminal device has passed in the discontinuous section when a discontinuous section is included in the travel route that is performed. The time zone in which the target terminal device has passed the discontinuous section is the target time slot indicated in the target traffic history information, and in the target road estimation process, the connecting road connecting the discontinuous sections In the case where there are a plurality of traffic roads, the connected road indicated in the traffic history information that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone is excluded from the candidates for the target road.

  According to this configuration, in the target road estimation process, when there are a plurality of connection roads connecting the discontinuous sections, the traffic history information indicates that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. Connected roads are excluded from candidates for the target road. Therefore, it is possible to exclude connected roads that are considered to have a very low possibility that the target terminal device has traveled from the candidates for the target road, and as a result, a discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target travel history information Even so, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy of the traffic history of the target terminal device.

  In the traffic history collection system (1) according to the embodiment of the present invention, in the target road estimation process, the target terminal is further based on a passage time or a passage time when the target terminal device passes through the discontinuous section. It is preferable that the connection road that is determined to be unable to reach the end point of the discontinuous section is excluded from the target road candidates.

  According to this configuration, even if it is a connection road where it is unknown whether other terminal devices have passed in the same time zone as the target time zone, it is considered that the possibility that the target terminal device has passed is extremely low Can be excluded from candidate roads. Accordingly, it is possible to further suppress a decrease in the estimation accuracy of the traffic history of the target terminal device.

  In the traffic history collection system (1) according to the embodiment of the present invention, roads are classified into a first road type and a second road type having a road size smaller than the first road type, and the plurality of terminals The traffic history information collected from the device (3) includes traffic history information only for roads classified as the first road type out of the first road type and the second road type. It is preferable.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to reduce the communication load by reducing the data size of the traffic history information as compared with the case where the traffic history information includes the traffic history information of the road classified as the second road type. Can do. Even in this case, the road history information is included in the traffic history information for roads classified as the first road type having a relatively large road size, so the traffic congestion status is based on the traffic history information. It is also possible to collect information useful for users of other terminal devices, for example, by generating traffic information such as and providing them to users of other terminal devices. Further, according to the above configuration, since the traffic history information does not include the traffic history information of the road classified into the second road type having a relatively small road size, the privacy of the user of the terminal device can be protected. You can also plan.

4). Other Embodiments Finally, other embodiments according to the present invention will be described. Note that the configurations disclosed in the following embodiments can be applied in combination with the configurations disclosed in other embodiments as long as no contradiction arises.

(1) In the above embodiment, a day is divided into a plurality of time zones based on time, and the time when the target terminal device passes through the discontinuous section and the time when other terminal devices 3 pass through the connection road are As an example, the configuration is described in which it is determined that the other terminal device 3 has passed the connection road in the same time zone as the target time zone when included in the same time zone. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the time region from the entry time to the discontinuous section of the target terminal device to the exit time from the discontinuous section, and the entry time from the connection road of another terminal device 3 to the exit time from the connection road When the time domain overlaps each other (that is, when the same time is included), it may be determined that the other terminal device 3 has passed through the connection road in the same time zone as the target time zone. it can. Further, even when these two time regions do not overlap each other, when the time difference between the two time regions is smaller than a predetermined value, the other terminal device 3 is in the same time zone as the target time zone. It can also be set as the structure determined with having passed the connection road.

(2) In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the information specifying the link K is included in the traffic history data 4 as an example of the road specifying information for specifying each road included in the traffic history has been described. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, as the road specifying information for specifying each road included in the traffic history, information specifying the node S in addition to the information specifying the link K is included in the traffic history data 4, or As the road specifying information for specifying each road included, only the information specifying the node S can be included in the traffic history data 4. In the latter configuration, for example, information on the time when the vehicle reached the node S can be included as information on the time when each road passed.

(3) In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which each functional unit configuring the traffic history collection system 1 is divided into the terminal device 3 and the management server 2 as illustrated in FIG. 1 has been described as an example. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, at least a part of the functional units provided in the terminal device 3 in the above embodiment may be provided in the management server 2, or the functions provided in the management server 2 in the above embodiment. At least a part of the unit may be included in the terminal device 3 (including a device provided in the vehicle and capable of communicating with the terminal device 3. The same applies to the following). The traffic history collection system 1 may not include the management server 2, and the traffic history collection system 1 may be configured by only a plurality of terminal devices 3. In this case, the terminal device 3 acquires the travel history data 4 transmitted from the other terminal device 3 and executes the discontinuous section detection process and the target road estimation process.

(4) Regarding other configurations as well, the embodiments disclosed herein are illustrative in all respects, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited thereto. In other words, configurations that are not described in the claims of the present application can be modified as appropriate without departing from the object of the present invention.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a traffic history collection system, a traffic history collection method, and a traffic history collection program that collect traffic history information for each road of a terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices.

1: Traffic history collection system 3: Terminal device 13: Target road estimation unit (calculation processing unit)

Claims (5)

A traffic history collection system for collecting traffic history information of each road of the terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices,
A target for estimating a target road that the target terminal device has traveled in the discontinuous section when the discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device An arithmetic processing unit that executes road estimation processing is provided.
The time zone in which the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous section shown in the target traffic history information is a target time zone,
In the target road estimation process, when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections, the traffic history information indicates that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. A traffic history collection system for excluding connected roads from candidates for the target road.   In the target road estimation process, it is further determined that the target terminal device cannot reach the end point of the discontinuous section based on a passage time or a passage time when the target terminal device passes through the discontinuous section. The traffic history collection system according to claim 1, wherein the connecting road is excluded from candidates for the target road. The road is classified into a first road type and a second road type having a road size smaller than the first road type,
The traffic history information collected from the plurality of terminal devices includes traffic history information of only roads classified into the first road type among the first road type and the second road type. Item 3. The traffic history collection system according to item 1 or 2. A traffic history collection method for collecting traffic history information of each road of the terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices,
The target that the target terminal device has traveled in the discontinuous section when the arithmetic processing device includes a discontinuous section in the travel route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device Perform the target road estimation step to estimate the road,
The time zone in which the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous section shown in the target traffic history information is a target time zone,
In the target road estimation step, when there are a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections, the traffic history information indicates that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. A traffic history collection method for excluding connected roads from candidates for the target road. A traffic history collection program for collecting traffic history information of each road of the terminal device from a plurality of terminal devices,
A target for estimating a target road that the target terminal device has traveled in the discontinuous section when the discontinuous section is included in the travel route indicated in the target traffic history information collected from one target terminal device The road estimation function is realized on a computer,
The time zone in which the target terminal device has passed through the discontinuous section shown in the target traffic history information is a target time zone,
When the target road estimation function has a plurality of connecting roads connecting the discontinuous sections, the traffic history information indicates that another terminal device has passed in the same time zone as the target time zone. A travel history collection program for excluding connected roads from candidates for the target road.

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