JP2701118B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device and, more particularly, to a navigation device for efficiently performing processing from setting of a destination or a departure point to starting route guidance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a device for providing a route guidance to a driver who is unfamiliar with geography, there is a navigation device, which has been actively developed. When route guidance is performed by the navigation device, first, a setting process for setting a destination and a departure place, and a route search process for setting a route to travel by a car between the set two points are performed. In the setting process, destination data corresponding to a destination and a departure point input by the driver, such as coordinate data and data of an approaching intersection, are retrieved, and the destination data is stored. The input of the destination or the like is performed by the driver operating an input device such as a touch panel mounted on the automobile. Specifically, directly enter the name of the place of the destination, input the telephone number of the destination, or select the destination from the destination list displayed on the display in order from the prefecture name to the town name by the menu method. Is entered. In some cases, for example, the current position of the vehicle is detected by a GPS (Global Positioning System) or the like, and the current position data is used as a departure point. On the other hand, in the route search processing, a route between the two points specified by the destination data and the departure place data obtained in the setting processing is obtained from road data such as route search map data and intersection data stored in the database. Calculate and store the route. In the navigation apparatus, according to the route thus calculated,
Route guidance is performed by sequentially displaying a route to a destination, an arrow indicating the direction of travel of a vehicle, and the like on a display together with a road map.

[0003]

In THE INVENTION Problems to be Solved by the conventional navigation device, the input of the destination is performed by the setting process, because has been performed from the input device disposed in the vehicle, operability not so good, in proportion to Input time was also long.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to efficiently perform a destination setting process.
Performs is to provide a capable navigation system to initiate route guidance quickly.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a current position confirming means for confirming a current position of a vehicle, a storage means for storing road data such as map data and intersection data, and a destination Receiving means for receiving information from an external device outside the vehicle by wireless communication; destination information received by the receiving means; current position data confirmed by the current position confirming means; and road data in the storage means; Route search means for performing a route search, and a route for providing route guidance to a destination based on the route data of the route searched by the route search means, the current position data confirmed by the current position confirmation means, and the road data in the storage means. The above object is achieved by providing a navigation device with a guide unit.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the navigation device is provided outside the vehicle.
When the receiving means receives the destination information transmitted by wireless communication from the external device , the current position confirming means confirms the current position of the vehicle, and the route searching means receives the confirmed current position data and the received data by the receiving means. The route search to the destination is performed from the destination information thus obtained and the road data in the storage means.
The route guidance means performs route guidance to the destination based on the data of the route searched by the route search means, the data of the current position confirmed by the current position confirmation means, and the road data of the storage means.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the navigation device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG.
Is a block diagram of the configuration of the navigation device 1 according to the first embodiment. The navigation device 1 includes an arithmetic processing device 4 for performing destination setting, route search, route guidance, and the like. The current position detecting device 3, the communication device 5, the image display device 6, and the input device 30 are connected to the arithmetic processing device 4 via various interfaces (not shown). The input device 30 is used when a destination or the like is input without using the function of the present embodiment, or when a function of the present embodiment cannot be used, such as when a new destination or the like is input at a travel destination. You.

The communication device 5 and the antenna 1a are set by an external terminal such as a personal computer, receive a start signal and destination data to be transmitted, and supply them to the arithmetic processing device 4. The storage device 7 is a CD-ROM
And various storage media such as an IC card. The storage device 7 stores destination data for setting a destination, including coordinate data of the destination and data of an intersection close to the destination, and various kinds of road information necessary for a route search such as map data and road data. Is stored. Current position detection device 3
Although not shown, a receiving device for receiving radio waves from a GPS satellite or a beacon installed on the road, various direction sensors such as an optical gyro sensor and a geomagnetic sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a wheel sensor, a steering sensor, etc. It has. The current position detection device 3 mainly determines the current (absolute) position (coordinates determined by latitude and longitude) of the vehicle using a GPS receiver. In addition, highly accurate position determination is performed by combining actual traveling distances and azimuth data detected from various sensors. Note that the antennas 3a of the receiving device are arranged at two places in front of and behind the vehicle in order to improve accuracy. Further, in the present embodiment, the setting of the departure place required for the route search is performed based on the current position data by the current position detection device 3.

The arithmetic processing unit 4 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 10, a ROM (read only memory) 8 connected to the CPU 10 via a bus line such as a data bus, and a RAM (random access memory). 9). Based on the destination data received by the communication device 5 and various data from the storage device 7 and the current position detection device 3, the CPU 10 performs various processes required for route guidance such as route calculation and route direction determination. Further, the CPU 10 monitors whether or not the communication device 5 has received an activation signal transmitted from an external terminal. When the activation signal is received, the CPU 10 activates various devices. Various programs for performing these processes by the CPU 10 are stored in the ROM 8,
RAM 9 as working memory in U10 processing
Is used.

The image display device 6 includes a CRT display,
It is composed of a liquid crystal display or the like, and displays various kinds of guidance information necessary for route guidance. For example, a map drawn based on the map data and the like sent from the storage device 7 via the CPU 10 is displayed, and the current position of the vehicle sent from the CPU 10 and the route and route calculated by the CPU 10 are displayed on this map. An arrow or the like indicating a direction is displayed as an image.

FIG. 2 shows a navigation device 1 according to the present embodiment, and the navigation device 1 is started from the outside,
It shows the relationship with the external terminal 2 for performing a destination input process and the like. As the external terminal 2, various input devices such as a personal computer 2a, an electronic organizer 2b, and a telephone 2c are used. In this embodiment, description will be made according to the case where the personal computer 2a is used. FIG.
The navigation device 1 is mounted on a vehicle 13 as shown in FIG. On the other hand, the personal computer 2a
Is installed in a place other than the vehicle 13, for example, outside the vehicle such as a home or office. In these places, activation of the navigation device 1 and input processing of a destination are performed. The navigation device 1 and the external terminal 2 are connected by a telephone line. Note that a wireless dedicated line may be used instead of the telephone line.

The personal computer 2a includes a display D, a keyboard K for inputting characters and numbers, and an input device such as a mouse (not shown). The destination is input by directly inputting the destination name or telephone number from the input device. The personal computer 2a includes a database composed of a hierarchically structured destination list, and searches the database for a destination corresponding to an input from the keyboard K. The destination data obtained by the search is transmitted to the navigation device 1 together with the start signal.
To be sent to. Here, the destination is represented by a code indicating the destination, and the database 22 stores the code of the destination and the telephone number, address, destination name, and the like corresponding to the code.

Next, the operation of the embodiment configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 illustrates the sharing of functions between the navigation device 1 and the personal computer 2a in the present embodiment. The personal computer 2a has a destination search function 21 for searching for a destination code as destination information from the database 22 when an operator inputs a destination name or telephone number (arrow A). It also has a communication function 23 for transmitting the searched destination code to the navigation device 1 via the telephone line (arrow B). On the other hand, the navigation device 1 searches for destination data from the database 14 of the storage device 7 based on the received destination code and the communication function 11 for receiving the destination code sent from the personal computer 2a. Has a destination setting function 12 for setting (storage). The route search is performed using the set destination code.

FIG. 4 shows a flow of search and transmission of a destination code in the personal computer 2a. First, the personal computer 2a monitors whether an operator inputs a destination, a telephone number, and the like from the keyboard K (step 1). When a destination is input (Step 1; Y), the personal computer 2a searches for a destination code from a destination list in the database 22 according to a destination search program (Step 2). When the search is completed, the personal computer 2a connects the telephone line with the navigation device 1 (step 3), and makes the data transmission possible. Then, the destination code searched together with the predetermined start signal is transmitted to the navigation device 1 (step 4), and the process is terminated.

FIG. 5 shows a flow of a pre-setting process from setting of a destination to searching for a route in the navigation device 1. In the navigation device 1, the CPU 10 monitors whether or not the communication device 5 has received an activation signal from the personal computer 2a (step 5).
Note that the monitoring program is always running, and the route search program, the current position detecting device 3, the image display device 6, and the like are not running. When detecting the reception of the activation signal (step 5; Y), the CPU 10 activates the entire navigation device 1 (step 6) and receives the destination code from the personal computer 2a (step 7). When receiving the destination code, the CPU 10 searches the road information stored in the storage device 7 for destination data including coordinate data of the destination specified by the destination code and stores the destination data in a predetermined area of the RAM 9. (Step 8).

On the other hand, when the navigation device 1 is started, the current position detecting device 3 supplies data detected by various sensors and data received by the receiving device to the CPU 10.
The CPU 10 specifies the current position of the vehicle from the supplied data, and performs a route search process to the destination corresponding to the destination data stored in the RAM 9 (Step 9). The route data obtained by the route search is stored in a predetermined area of the RAM 9 (step 10), and after the activation of the current position detecting device 3 and the like is stopped, a message indicating that the pre-setting process has been completed is transmitted to the personal computer 2a. Line
By cutting the (step 11), the process ends. In addition,
When the reception of the destination code is completed, a data reception completion message may be transmitted to the personal computer 2a, and then the line may be disconnected.

FIG. 6 shows the operation of the navigation device after the driver gets on the vehicle. CPU10
Monitors whether the ignition has been turned on after the pre-setting processing (steps 5 to 11) (step 12). The driver gets on the vehicle and turns on the ignition
(Step 12; Y), the CPU 10 restarts the entire navigation device (step 13).
Then, the navigation device 1 displays the destination and the route on the image display device 6 in accordance with the destination data and the route data stored in the predetermined area of the RAM 9 in the pre-setting processing (step 14), and notifies the driver. Confirmation is requested (step 15).

When the destination is changed (step 15; N), the destination is input again from the input device 30 of the navigation device 1, and the destination change process for searching the route again is performed (step 16). ). When the destination is confirmed (step 15; Y), and after the destination change process (step 16), the navigation device 1 sets the current position data detected by the current position detection device 3 and the stored route. The route of the vehicle is determined from the data, and route guidance is started (step 17 ). That is, guidance information such as an arrow indicating a searched route and a course direction is displayed on the image display device 6 together with the map drawn on the scale desired by the driver. The driver confirms the displayed guidance information,
The route is guided.

In the embodiment described above, the case where the personal computer 2a is used as the external terminal 2 has been described. However, an electronic organizer 2b as shown in FIG. 2 may be used. Also in this case, the input of the destination and the search for the destination are performed in the electronic organizer 2b, and the destination code and the activation signal are transmitted to the navigation device 1. If the electronic notebook 2b is used as the external terminal 2 as described above, the electronic notebook 2b is excellent in portability. Therefore, by combining the electronic notebook 2b with a mobile phone or the like, the installation location is not limited as in the case of the personal computer 2a. Can also activate the navigation device 1 and transmit the destination code.

When the telephone 2c is used as the external terminal 2, the characters that can be input are limited to numbers, so that the destination can be input by inputting the telephone number of the destination, or A code number is given in advance for each destination, and the code number of the destination to which the user wants to go is input. When the telephone number is transmitted from the telephone 2c, the navigation device 1 searches for a destination code. As described above, if the widely used telephone 2c is used as the external terminal 2, the personal computer 2
The input is further facilitated as compared with a and the electronic organizer 2b.

As described above, according to the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment, the destination input processing is performed by the external terminal 2 provided at a place different from the vehicle, so that the destination can be immediately obtained without getting on the vehicle. You can set the destination. Further, since the destination setting and the route search are performed in advance in the navigation device 1 based on the destination code received via the telephone line, the driver can receive the route guidance by the navigation device 1 immediately after getting on the vehicle. In this embodiment,
Since the navigation device 1 and the external terminal 2 are connected by a telephone line, the distance between the navigation device 1 and the external terminal 2 is not limited, and the navigation device 1 can be activated at various places.

When a personal computer 2a installed in an office is used as the external terminal 2,
A destination can be entered as part of office work. Further, since the personal computer 2a has the full keyboard K, the place name of the destination can be input by itself as compared with the case where the destination is selected by the menu method as in the related art, and the input process is facilitated. Become.

For example, when setting a plurality of destinations in sightseeing tours or the like, the personal computer 2a
The destination data may be transmitted to the navigation device 1 each time the search for each destination is completed. In Napigeshon apparatus 1, and performing the presetting process and route search processing while a personal computer 2a to search for the next destination. As described above, by performing the destination input process and the destination setting and route search processes in parallel, it is possible to efficiently set a plurality of destinations and search for a route.

Next, a second embodiment of the navigation device according to the present invention will be described.
An example will be described. The same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will not be repeated. In the second embodiment, the external terminal 2 performs processing such as inputting and setting a destination and a departure place, searching for a route, and transferring the searched route data to the navigation device. Is received and route guidance processing is performed. The personal computer 2a includes a program for searching for a destination, searching for a departure place, setting and searching for a route, and transferring the searched route data to a navigation device. In the database 22 of the personal computer 2a, in addition to the place name data and code data of the destination, coordinate data of each destination required for setting the destination, intersection data, and characteristic data required for searching and setting the departure point are set. And a departure place list composed of intersection name data, and road data necessary for route search. This database is a CD-R
It is stored in a large-capacity storage device such as an OM.

FIG. 7 shows a flow of processing from input of a destination to transmission of route data in the personal computer 2a in this embodiment. When a destination is input from the keyboard K of the personal computer 2a (step 12; Y), destination data such as coordinate data and intersection data of the destination is searched from a destination list of the database 22 (step 22). Not R
It is stored in a predetermined area of the AM (step 23). Next, the personal computer 2a monitors whether a departure place has been input (step 24). When the name of a feature such as the name of a river or a building near the current position of the vehicle or the name of an intersection is input as a departure place (step 24; Y), coordinate data or the like of the departure place from the departure place list (departure place data) ) Is retrieved (step 25) and stored in a predetermined area of the RAM (step 26).

Next, the personal computer 2a searches for a route to the destination based on the destination data, the departure point data, and the road data in the database 22 according to a route search program (step 27). When the route search is completed, the display D of the personal computer 2a
First, a map is drawn on a predetermined scale based on the map data in the database, and a route is displayed on the map, and the operator is asked for confirmation (step 28). When the route is confirmed (Step 28; Y), the line with the navigation device 1 is connected (Step 29), and the start signal, the departure place data,
The destination data and the route data are transmitted to the navigation device 1 via the telephone line (Step 30), and the process is terminated.

FIG. 8 shows a navigation device 1 according to this embodiment.
In FIG. In the navigation device 1, the CPU 10 monitors whether or not the communication device 5 has received an activation signal from the personal computer 2a (step 31). Note that only this monitoring program is always running (step 31), and the route search program, the current position detecting device 3, the image display device 6, and the like are not running. When detecting the reception of the activation signal (Step 31; Y), the CPU 10 receives the destination data, the departure point data, and the route data without activating the entire navigation device 1 (Step 32;
Y) and store it in a predetermined area of the RAM 9 (step 3)
3 ), end the process.

The operation of the navigation device after the driver gets on the vehicle is performed in the same manner as in the flowchart of FIG. 6 in the first embodiment, and therefore the description is omitted. As described above, according to the navigation device of the present embodiment, the route search is performed by the external terminal 2 before getting on the vehicle, so that the route searched in advance at home or office can be confirmed. Become.

Although the navigation device according to each embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this configuration. For example, as a communication line connecting the navigation device 1 and the personal computer 2a,
A dedicated communication line or a wireless line using infrared rays or FM radio waves may be used. In addition, for example, as the external terminal 2,
A word processor having a communication function may be used.
As for the input of the destination by the personal computer 2a, a place name list is displayed in a menu format in order from the prefecture name to the town name on the display D, and the place name is selected from the place names according to the place name list displayed in this order. A place name may be input. Further, in the embodiment described above, the activation signal is transmitted from the personal computer 2a in order to activate the navigation device. However, the destination code may be used also as the activation signal. That is, when detecting that the communication device 5 has received the destination code, the CPU 10 activates the navigation device. Further, the CPU 10 may monitor a line connection request from the personal computer 2a and activate the navigation device when there is a connection request.

In the first embodiment, the departure point is set based on the current position data detected by the current position detection device 3, but the departure point is input by the personal computer 2a as in the second embodiment. Then, by transferring this departure place data together with the destination data from the personal computer 2a to the navigation apparatus 1, the navigation apparatus 1 may set the departure place based on the transferred departure place data. .

[0030]

As described above, according to the navigation device of the present invention, the destination is set from outside the vehicle.
The driver performs complicated destination setting processing in the vehicle.
Route guidance by the navigation device can be received without any trouble .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing details of a navigation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a relationship between the navigation device and an external terminal.

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing function sharing between the navigation device and an external terminal.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of a destination input process on the personal computer when the personal computer is used as the external terminal in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process of setting a destination and searching for a route in the navigation device according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the navigation device after getting on the vehicle.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing on a personal computer when a personal computer is used as an external terminal in the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in the navigation device according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device main body 1a Receiving antenna 2 Personal computer 3 Current position detecting device 3a Antenna 4 Arithmetic processing unit 5 Communication device 7 Storage device 8 ROM 9 RAM 10 CPU

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-2-79200 (JP, A) JP-A-4-148884 (JP, A) JP-A-4-331313 (JP, A) JP-A 5- 289997 (JP, A) JP-A-5-265376 (JP, A) JP-A-5-57618 (JP, U)

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A current position confirmation means for confirming a current position of a vehicle; a storage means for storing road data such as map data and intersection data; and receiving destination information from an external device outside the vehicle by wireless communication. Receiving means; route searching means for performing a route search to a destination based on the destination information received by the receiving means, the current position data confirmed by the current position confirming means, and the road data in the storage means; A navigation device comprising: route guidance means for performing route guidance from the route data of the route searched by the means, the current position data confirmed by the current position confirmation means, and the road data in the storage means to a destination. apparatus. 2. The mobile telephone receiving device according to claim 2, wherein:
The navigation device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one of an infrared receiver and an FM receiver. 3. The receiving means transmits data transmitted from at least one external device outside the vehicle, such as a personal computer, a portable electronic information device such as an electronic organizer, a telephone, and a word processor having a communication function. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device receives the information. 4. The destination information received by the receiving means,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the destination device is a destination address, a telephone number, a destination name, or destination code information corresponding thereto. 5. The destination information received by the receiving means,
The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device is coordinate data of a destination.