JP2966211B2 - Control method for in-vehicle information communication system - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control method for an in-vehicle information communication system for displaying information information transmitted from an information center via a telephone line on a display unit such as an LCD, and in particular, to obtain desired information. For omitting the redoing of the selection operation of the operation unit necessary for this.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, navigation systems for automobiles having various functions have been developed. Recently, the characteristics of CD-ROMs have been utilized to provide hotel information, sightseeing / recreation area information, cultural facility information, etc. on a CD-ROM. Of the CRT,
There has been proposed a display device that displays the information on a display unit such as an LCD to provide information to a driver.

[0003] However, the information stored on these CD-ROMs is only fixed information, and cannot provide information that changes every moment, such as traffic information, and cannot provide more complete information. .

On the other hand, portable radio telephones have been remarkably popularized and are often mounted on automobiles. As shown in FIG. 3, an on-vehicle communication system 2 composed of a radio telephone or the like mounted on a vehicle 1 is used. A telephone line is connected to the information center 3 that transmits predetermined information including information that changes every moment, and data is transmitted and received between the in-vehicle computer and the information center by applying so-called personal computer communication technology. To provide various information to the driver, including change information transmitted from the information center.

[0005] Here, the in-vehicle information communication system 2 is connected to a base station 5 via a wireless automobile telephone line 4, and the base station 5 and an information providing computer (hereinafter referred to as IPC) 6 of the information center 3 are connected. Normal wired telephone line 7
Connected by

[0006] This kind of in-vehicle communication system 2 is generally configured as shown in FIG. 4, and a wireless telephone 11 connected to the IPC 6 of the information center 3 via a telephone line, and a wireless telephone 11 connected to the wireless telephone 11. Modem 12, a vehicle-mounted computer 13 that is a control unit that captures transmission data from the information center 3 via the modem 12 and the wireless telephone 11 into a built-in memory, and transmission data captured by the vehicle-mounted computer 13. A display unit 14 for displaying a menu screen; an operation unit 15 having operation keys for selecting a search menu for obtaining desired information from the menu screen displayed on the display unit 14; A key lock unit 16 that detects a start of travel based on the vehicle speed pulse, outputs a key lock signal, and disables operation of an operation key. More composed.

Here, as an operation key of the operation unit 15, an up key 15 for moving the position of a cursor displayed on the display unit 14 under the control of the vehicle-mounted computer 13 upward.
a, a down key 15b for moving the cursor downward, and a select key 15c for selecting this menu when the cursor matches a desired search menu name.

When the information center 3 is called by operating the wireless telephone 11 and a telephone line is connected to the IPC 6 of the information center 3, the transmission data from the IPC 6 is transmitted to the in-vehicle computer 13 via the wireless telephone 11 and the modem 12. 5 is displayed as an initial screen on the display unit 14 under the control of the vehicle-mounted computer 13, and the driver operates the up / down keys 15a and 15b of the operation unit 15 to select a desired menu name. To the menu name of "map", for example, as shown in the figure.
By turning on the select key 15c and selecting the map information, a road map is displayed on the display unit 14.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6 (a), when the cursor is placed on the menu name of "information database" and the select key 15c is turned on, various operation procedures for accessing the information database of the information center 3 are performed. Is displayed. For example, as shown in FIG. 6B, a menu screen including menu names such as “access database” and “reproduce information” is displayed. By turning on the select key 15c by moving the cursor to the menu name "Access the database", a menu screen as shown in FIG. 6C is displayed.

If there is no menu name corresponding to the menu screen shown in FIG. 6C, the cursor is moved to the menu name of "next page" and the select key 15c is turned on to display the next screen. The following menu screen as shown in FIG. 6 (d) is displayed. If there is a menu name for obtaining desired information, for example, if you want to know today's bargain information of Super By moving the cursor to the menu name of "Super XX's sale information" and turning on the select key 15c, and selecting and operating the super XX's sale information,
At the supermarket ○○○, information such as which item is cheaper is displayed on the display unit 14, and the driver can obtain the constantly changing information collected at the information center 3 while staying in the car. .

The same applies to the case of obtaining other traffic information, parking lot information, and the like.

[0012]

By the way, in this kind of in-vehicle information communication system, from the viewpoint of safety, the key lock described above is used in order to prevent each key of the operation unit 15 from being operated while the automobile is running. A part 16 is provided,
For example, while the vehicle is stopped waiting for a signal, a telephone line is connected to the IPC 6 of the information center 3 to operate the keys 15a to 15c of the operation unit 15 in order to obtain desired information. If the signal is changed and the vehicle starts running again, the operation of the operation unit 15 cannot be performed due to the operation of the key lock unit 16, and the selection operation must be performed again from the beginning when the vehicle is stopped next time. In addition, there is a problem that the communication cost is increased while the telephone line is connected.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and eliminates the need to redo the operation of selecting an operation unit necessary to obtain desired information.
It is an object to reduce communication costs.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided a method for controlling a vehicle-mounted information communication system, comprising: a wireless telephone connected to an information center via a telephone line; a modem connected to the wireless telephone; And a control unit that receives transmission data from the information center via a wireless telephone, a display unit that displays a menu screen based on the transmission data received by the control unit, and a menu screen that is displayed on the display unit. An in-vehicle unit including an operation unit having an operation key for selecting a search menu for obtaining desired information from among them, and a key lock unit for outputting a key lock signal at the start of traveling and invalidating the operation of the operation key. An information communication system for use, wherein when the key lock signal is output during the operation of the operation unit, the control unit controls the connection via the connected telephone line. The hold request signal and transmits to the information center Te, cutting the telephone line being connected,
The control state immediately before the line disconnection is stored in the system-side storage unit and the information center-side storage unit, and after the output of the key lock signal is stopped, the telephone line between the information center and the wireless telephone is reconnected by manual operation. At the time, a hold release signal is transmitted from the control unit to the information center, and a menu screen immediately before line disconnection is displayed on the display unit by the control unit based on the contents stored in the system-side storage unit, and the information center side The information center is shifted to a state immediately before line disconnection based on the storage contents of the storage unit.

[0015]

According to the present invention, when a key lock signal is output during the operation of the operation unit, the hold request signal is transmitted from the control unit to the information center, and the telephone line is temporarily disconnected until immediately before the line disconnection. Control status is stored in the system side storage unit and the information center side storage unit. When the output of the key lock signal is stopped and the telephone line is reconnected, the hold release signal is transmitted from the control unit to the information center, and the menu immediately before the line disconnection is Since the screen is displayed on the display unit and the information center shifts to the state immediately before the line disconnection, the trouble of restarting the selection operation from the beginning as in the related art can be omitted, and unnecessary communication cost can be reduced.

[0016]

1 and 2 are flow charts for explaining the operation of an embodiment of a control method for a vehicle-mounted information communication system according to the present invention.

However, the configuration of the on-vehicle information communication system applied to the present invention is the same as that shown in FIGS.
In the following description, these figures are also referred to, but the functions of the in-vehicle computer 13 and the IPC 6, which are control units, are different from those of the related art.

That is, when there is a key lock signal output due to the start of traveling while operating the operation unit 15, the on-board computer 13 sends a hold request signal to the information center 3 via the connected telephone lines 4 and 7. While transmitting to the IPC 6, the connected telephone lines 4 and 7 are disconnected, and the control state immediately before the line disconnection is stored in the internal memory of the in-vehicle computer 13 which is the system side storage unit and the IP which is the information center side storage unit.
The information is stored in the internal memory of C6, and after the output of the key lock signal is stopped by stopping the traveling, the information center 3 is manually operated.
When the vehicle-mounted computer 13 transmits a hold release signal to the IPC 6 at the time of reconnection, the vehicle-mounted computer 13 displays a menu screen immediately before the line disconnection on the display unit 14 based on the storage contents of the memory of the vehicle-mounted computer 13, Based on the contents stored in the memory of the IPC 6, the IPC 6 is shifted to a state immediately before the line disconnection.

Next, the control procedure will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS.

FIG. 1 shows a procedure on the side of the on-vehicle communication system 2, in which the radio telephone 11 is dialed, the information center 3 is called, and the telephone lines 4 and 7 are connected to the information center 3 (step). S1) An ID number and a password are input by a dial operation and transmitted to the IPC 6 (step S2).

After that, the vehicle-mounted computer 13
It is determined whether the call is normal or recall, that is, whether the line is connected for normal communication or reconnected after the key lock signal is generated (step S3). It is determined whether or not there is a signal output (step S4).
If it is O, the operation of each key of the operation unit 15 is performed (step S5), the transmission / reception process with the IPC 6 is performed (step S6), and the display unit 14 is controlled by the in-vehicle computer 13 based on the received data. A predetermined menu screen is displayed (step S7), and it is determined whether the screen to be displayed on the display unit 14 is the last, that is, whether the communication may be terminated (step S8). If NO is determined, the process returns to step S4. If the determination result is YES, a line disconnection or other communication termination process is performed (step S4).
9), the operation ends.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step S4 is YES, the on-board computer 13 issues a hold request signal
The information is transmitted to the PC 6 (step S10), and it is determined whether or not there is a reception response of the hold request signal from the IPC 6 (step S11). 14 stores the currently displayed screen (step S1).
2) The process proceeds to step S9, and if the determination result is NO, an error is displayed on the display unit 14 (step S1).
3), and proceed to step S9.

If it is determined in step S3 that the call is a recall, the in-vehicle computer 1
3, the hold release signal is transmitted to the IPC 6 (step S14), and it is determined whether or not there is a response to receive the hold release signal from the IPC 6 (step S15). After the menu screen displayed on the display unit 14 immediately before the line disconnection is displayed on the display unit 14 again (step S16) based on the contents stored in the memory of step S16, the process proceeds to step S4, and the determination result of step S15 is NO. If there is, an error message is transmitted from the in-vehicle computer 13 to the IPC 6.

FIG. 2 shows a procedure on the information center 3 side. When the telephone lines 4 and 7 are connected to the radio telephone 11 by dialing the radio telephone 11 (step T1), the radio telephone 11 Is confirmed (step T2), and thereafter, it is determined whether or not a hold release signal from the vehicle-mounted computer 13 has been received (step T3).

If the result of the determination in step T3 is NO, it is determined whether or not a hold request signal has been received from the vehicle-mounted computer 13 (step T4). After the transmission / reception processing with the computer 13 is performed (step T5), it is determined whether or not the communication may be terminated (step T6).
If this determination is NO, the process returns to step T4. If the determination is YES, a line disconnection or other communication termination process is performed (step T7), and the operation ends.

On the other hand, if the decision result in the step T4 is YES, a current control state is stored in a built-in memory of the IPC 6 (step T8), and thereafter, the process shifts to a step T7.

If the result of the determination in step T3 is YES, the IPC 6 determines whether the control state immediately before the line disconnection is stored in the memory (step T9), and the result of this determination is YES. If so, the IPC 6 shifts to the state immediately before the line disconnection based on the contents stored in the memory of the IPC 6 (step T10). If the determination result is NO, an error message is transmitted from the IPC 6 to the vehicle-mounted computer 13 (step T11). Thereafter, the process goes to step T4 together with the process of step T10.

Therefore, when a key lock signal is output during the operation of the operation unit 15, a hold request signal is transmitted from the vehicle-mounted computer 13 to the IPC 6 by the processing of steps S4 and S10 in FIG. If received, the current display screen is stored in the internal memory of the vehicle-mounted computer 13 by the processing of steps S11 and S12,
The telephone lines 4 and 7 are disconnected by the processing of step S9,
On the other hand, when the information center 3 receives the hold request signal, the IPC 6
The current control state is stored in the built-in memory.

Next, after the output of the key lock signal is stopped, when the telephone lines 4 and 7 with the information center 3 are reconnected by the dial operation of the radio telephone 11, step S in FIG.
3, the in-vehicle computer 1 by the processing of S14 to S16.
3 transmits a hold release signal to the IPC 6, and based on the contents stored in the internal memory of the vehicle-mounted computer 13, a menu screen immediately before the line disconnection is displayed on the display unit 14, while the information center 3 receives the hold release signal The IPC 6 shifts to the state immediately before the line disconnection by the processing of steps T3, T9 and T10 in FIG.

In this way, it is possible to omit the trouble of restarting the selection operation from the beginning as in the prior art, and to greatly reduce unnecessary communication costs by automatically disconnecting the telephone lines 4 and 7.

In the above embodiment, the system side storage unit,
In-vehicle computer 1 for the information center side storage unit
Although the case where the internal memory No. 3 and the internal memory of the IPC 6 are used has been described, the present invention is not limited to these.

[0032]

As described above, according to the control method of the in-vehicle information communication system of the present invention, when the key lock signal is output, the control unit transmits the hold request signal to the information center and temporarily disconnects the telephone line. When the telephone line is reconnected after the output of the key lock signal is stopped, the control unit sends a hold release signal to the information center, the menu screen immediately before the line disconnection is displayed on the display unit, and the information center is in the state immediately before the line disconnection. As a result, it is possible to save the trouble of redoing the selection operation from the beginning, as well as to reduce unnecessary communication costs, and to provide an in-vehicle information communication system with excellent functions, and The realization of a transportation society can be expected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a part of an operation of an embodiment of a control method for a vehicle-mounted information communication system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining another part of the operation of the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a general in-vehicle information communication system.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the on-vehicle communication system of FIG. 3;

5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display screen of a display unit in FIG.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing another example of the display screen of the display unit in FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 information center 4, 7 telephone line 11 wireless telephone 12 modem 13 in-vehicle computer (control unit) 14 display unit 15 operation unit 15a up key 15b down key 15c select key 16 key lock unit

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-62-260300 (JP, A) JP-A-4-261576 (JP, A) JP-A-3-183297 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 305134 (JP, A) JP-A-1-248865 (JP, A) JP-A-63-214030 (JP, A) JP-A-57-143700 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. ⁶ , DB name) H04M 11/00-11/10 H04Q 7/38

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A wireless telephone connected to an information center via a telephone line, a modem connected to the wireless telephone, and a control unit for receiving transmission data from the information center via the modem and the wireless telephone And a display unit for displaying a menu screen based on the transmission data received by the control unit, and operation keys for selecting a search menu for obtaining desired information from the menu screen displayed on the display unit And a key lock unit for outputting a key lock signal at the start of traveling to invalidate the operation of the operation key, wherein the key lock is performed during operation of the operation unit. When there is a signal output, the control unit transmits a hold request signal to the information center via the connected telephone line, and The talk line is disconnected, and the control state immediately before the line disconnection is stored in the system-side storage unit and the information center-side storage unit, and after the output of the key lock signal is stopped, the information center and the wireless telephone are manually operated. When the telephone line is reconnected, a hold release signal is transmitted from the control unit to the information center, and a menu screen immediately before line disconnection is displayed on the display unit by the control unit based on the contents stored in the system-side storage unit. And a control method of the on-vehicle information communication system, wherein the information center is shifted to a state immediately before the line disconnection based on the storage contents of the information center side storage unit.