JP3411763B2 - 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 suitable for application to a guidance route search near a border.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A navigation device which guides a vehicle so that a driver can easily reach a desired destination detects a vehicle position and reads map data around the vehicle position from a CD-ROM. , A map image is drawn on the display screen and a vehicle position mark (own vehicle position mark) is drawn on a predetermined position on the map image. Then, as the current position changes due to the movement of the vehicle, the vehicle position mark on the screen is moved, or the vehicle position mark is fixed at a predetermined position such as the center of the screen and the map is scrolled to constantly display the vehicle position. The map information of the surrounding area can be seen at a glance.

Such a navigation device has a route guidance function of searching for a guidance route from a departure place to a destination, displaying the guidance route on a map, and performing intersection guidance (enlarged intersection, display of traveling direction). ing. When the departure point and the destination are input, the guide route control unit of the navigation device automatically determines the optimum guide route and continuously stores the nodes (longitude and latitude) constituting the guide route in the guide route memory. Then, at the time of actual traveling, a guide route stored in the map display area of the screen is searched from the node sequence stored in the guide route memory, and the guide route is displayed so as to be distinguishable from other roads and When entering within a predetermined distance from an inside intersection, an intersection guide map (enlarged view of the intersection and an arrow indicating the direction of travel at the intersection) is displayed, and which road should be run and what direction should be taken at the intersection. You can see if it is. When the vehicle deviates from the guide route (off route), the guide route from the current vehicle position to the destination is recalculated to update the guide route.

[0004]

The navigation system currently used in Japan has only map information of Japan as a map database. Then, as shown in FIG. 10, when a search for a guide route from M city to N city is instructed, an optimum guide route (route) is calculated and displayed on the display screen. In the case of Japan, which is a land continuation and does not come into contact with other countries, there is no problem in the above guide route search / display.

On the other hand, when looking overseas, the situation is very different from that of Japan, and movement of cars across national borders frequently occurs, and the range of people's activities is wide. This tendency is remarkable in Europe and North America. However, the CD-ROM as a map database holds only road data in one country. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 11, when calculating the guide route from A city of D country to D city near the border,
Even though there is an optimal route (dotted line) from A city to D city via Y road in Japan, the navigation system finds a route shown by a solid line through B city and C city as a guide route and displays it on the display screen. Will be displayed.
In such a guide route, the actual traveling distance becomes long, the fuel cost to use and the required time increase accordingly, which is very unpleasant from the user's point of view, and the navigation system has a low reputation. I will end up.

The above problems occur because there is no map database for country Y. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem by simply adding the map data of the country Y to the map database of the country X. However, the map data for two countries must be recorded on the CD-ROM, which is difficult because of the total capacity of the CD-ROM. By the way, there are checkpoints across the border between the United States and Canada, between the United States and Mexico, etc. in North America. Immigration examinations are conducted at these checkpoints and passport presentation is required. Border checkpoints have been abolished between EC member states in Europe, and you do not need to show your passport when crossing borders.
Passports are required to pass through the borders between C member countries and non-member countries. If there is such a checkpoint, a detour route avoiding the checkpoint is the optimum route for a driver who does not have a passport. In addition, if there is a checkpoint, it will take time to pass through the checkpoints, and it will take a lot of time to pass through the checkpoints. It may arrive. In the above case, even if there is a route to the destination via the road in the neighboring country, it is necessary to preferentially search for a route to reach the destination by traveling only in the home country.

In view of the above, a first object of the present invention is to make it possible to search for and display an optimum route that has passed through a road in an adjacent country. A second object of the present invention is to prioritize domestic roads or to search for and display a guide route including roads of neighboring countries as appropriate.

[0008]

According to the present invention, the first object is to store map data in which, in addition to the map data of the home country, map data of main roads of adjacent countries within a predetermined range from the border are held. Means, navigation means provided with a guide route search means for searching a guide route to a destination including a road of an adjacent country when an instruction to search for a guide route is given. According to the present invention, the above second object is a map data storage means for holding map data of an adjacent country within a predetermined range from a border in addition to map data of the own country, and guiding to a destination by a road only in the own country. A means for setting whether to search a route or a guide route to a destination including roads of neighboring countries,
This is accomplished by a navigation device that includes a guide route search means for searching a guide route to a destination with reference to the setting when a guide route search is instructed.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(A) Outline of the present invention FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the present invention. BDR is a border between X and Y countries, BZN is a Y region within a predetermined range (for example, a range from the border to L (km)) from the border BDR. Border zone. In addition to the map data of the own country (country X), map data of the main roads and highways of neighboring countries (country Y) in the border zone BZN is added to the map data storage means (CD-ROM). When the guidance route search means is instructed, the guidance route search means searches the guidance route to the destination, including the road in the border zone BZN of the adjacent country (country Y) added to the CD-ROM, The searched guide route is displayed on the display screen. That is, X near the border
A search for a guide route from A city to D city in the country
As shown in (b), the optimum route OPRT from the city A to the city D via the road in Y is searched and displayed. By the way, when the checkpoints CP1 and CP2 are located on the border road, if the driver gives priority to domestic due to reasons such as not having a passport, the navigation route guidance means of the navigation device will only operate on the domestic road. The route (see the dotted line) that the vehicle travels to reach the destination is searched for as the optimum route OPRT 'and displayed on the display screen.

(B) Navigation System (a) Overall Configuration FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of the navigation system.
Reference numeral 1 is a navigation control device, 2 is an operation unit (for example, a remote controller) for inputting various commands to the navigation control device, instructing a guidance route, setting operation of various data, etc.
3 is a display device for displaying a map, a guide route, various menus, etc., 4 is a CD-ROM for storing map information, 5
Is a CD-ROM drive, 6 is a GPS receiver that receives radio waves from satellites to measure the current position and direction of the vehicle, 7 is a multi-beam antenna that receives radio waves from each satellite, 8
Is a self-contained navigation sensor. The GPS receiver 7 performs three-dimensional positioning or two-dimensional positioning processing to calculate the vehicle position and azimuth, and outputs them together with the positioning time. Although not shown, the self-contained navigation sensor 8 includes a relative azimuth sensor (angle sensor) that detects a vehicle rotation angle such as a vibration gyro, and a distance sensor that generates one pulse for each predetermined traveling distance.

The map information recorded on the CD-ROM is
(1) Road layer, (2) Background layer for displaying objects on the map, (3) Character layer for displaying characters such as city names, and (4) IIS (Integrated Infor
mation service) is configured from an IIS layer or the like that stores information. In addition to the map information of the home country, the CD-ROM 4 additionally stores and records map data of major roads and expressways of neighboring countries in the border zone BZN (FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 3, the road layer has road link data RLDT, node data NDDT, and intersection data CRDT. The road link data RLDT gives attribute information of the corresponding road. The number of all nodes on the road link, the number of each node constituting the road, the road number (road name), the type of road (national road, high speed). Roads, prefectural roads, etc.) and other data. The intersection data CRDT is, for each intersection on the map, a set of nodes (referred to as an intersection composing node) closest to the intersection among nodes on a link connecting to the intersection. Node data N
The DDT is a list of all the nodes that make up the road.
Location information (longitude, latitude) for each node, an intersection identification flag F _CR indicating whether the node is an intersection, a country indicating whether the node is a node in its own country or a node in an adjacent country The identification flag F _CN is composed of an intersection data if the node is an intersection, and a pointer pointing to a road link to which the node belongs if the node is not an intersection.

(B) Remote control FIG. 4 is an external view of the remote control, and 2a is a menu selection bar for moving the focus (cursor) in eight directions relative to the map and selecting a desired menu item. This is a joystick key that is pressed when moving up, down, left or right, setting and inputting the position on the map designated by the focus, or selecting a menu. In addition, hereinafter, when inputting a direction, it is called a joystick key, and when inputting a focus position or a menu item by pushing it down, it is called an ENTER key. 2b
Is a magnifying key operated when displaying a detailed level map, 2c is a reduction key operated when displaying a wide area map, and 2d is a menu key operated when displaying a menu. Reference numeral 2e is a position key for displaying a map where the vehicle position is present together with the vehicle mark, and 2f is a power key.

(C) Display screen and menu FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the display screen. When the map MP and the vehicle mark CMK are displayed on the display screen as shown in FIG. 5A, the menu key 2
When the menu is operated by operating d, the navigation control device 1 displays a main menu M1 and a submenu M2 on the map as shown in FIG. 5 (b). In this state, when the joystick key 2a is operated to position the menu selection bar (diagonal line) at the position of the desired main menu item ("root" item M13 in the figure), the submenu M2 belonging to the main menu item Displayed above. Then, operate the joystick key 2a to position the submenu selection bar at the position of the desired submenu item ("Domestic priority change" is selected in the figure) and press the ENTER key. Executes processing according to the submenu. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 5B, "priority" or "no priority" is selected with the joystick key, and then the ENTER key is pressed. If "Priority" is selected, the navigation control device searches only for the guide route from the routes that reach the destination by traveling only on the roads within the home country, and "No priority".
If is selected, the navigation control device searches for a guide route including roads in the adjacent country.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of the menu, and five types of "display", "map", "route", "information", and "system" are provided as main menus. Of these, the main menu M11 is a map display switching menu, and heading up, north up, and front wide are prepared as submenus. The main menu "map" M12 is a map search method selection menu for searching / displaying a map around the designated point in one shot. As a sub menu, phone number input, genre input, home input, memory point input,
Input of departure point, input of destination, input of passing point, and input of latitude and longitude are prepared. Main menu "Root" M1
Reference numeral 3 is a menu for setting optimum route search conditions to the destination, and for deleting / displaying the optimum route. As a sub-menu, display all routes, change toll priority to select whether to prioritize searching for toll roads, change domestic priority as described above, delete passing points to instruct deletion of registered passing points, search Route deletion to instruct to delete the stored guide route (route), search screen to select the search screen at the time of route search, automatic re-search to set whether or not to perform automatic re-search at off-route It is prepared.

To perform a route search, a destination (for example, a golf course) GLF is displayed on the display screen as shown in FIG. 7, and the enter key 2a is pressed while the destination is indicated by the focus FCS. . When the enter key 2a is pressed, the navigation control device displays menu items indicating "destination", "passing point", "memory", and "current position" at the bottom of the display screen. Next, when the user selects the item "destination" using the joystick 2a and presses the enter key 2a, the navigation control device starts searching for a guide route from the current vehicle position to the destination. When the search for the guide route is completed, the guide route from the current vehicle position to the destination is displayed in different colors.

(D) Navigation control device FIG. 8 is a block diagram of the navigation control device. 1 is a navigation control device, 2 is a remote controller, 3 is a display device, 4 is a CD-ROM for storing map information, and 6 is a GPS.
A receiver, 7 is a multi-beam antenna, 8 is a self-contained navigation sensor, a relative azimuth sensor (angle sensor) 8a for detecting a vehicle rotation angle of a vibrating gyro, and a distance sensor 8b for generating one pulse for each predetermined traveling distance. Is equipped with.

In the navigation control device 1, 11
Is a map reading control unit that calculates a focus position (screen center position) when a map movement operation or map selection operation is performed with a joystick key or a map reduction / enlargement key, etc. Based on the above, predetermined map information is read from the CD-ROM 4. A map buffer 12 stores map information read from the CD-ROM. In the map buffer, a plurality of pieces (a plurality of units) of map information, for example, 3 × 3 units of map information around the vehicle position or the focus position are read so that the map can be scrolled. Reference numeral 13 is a map drawing unit that generates a map image using the map information stored in the map buffer, 14 is a VRAM that stores the map image, and 15 is based on the screen center position (vehicle position, focus position) The read control unit changes the position of one screen cut out from the VRAM 14 and scrolls the map according to the movement of the vehicle position or the focus movement.

Numeral 16 is an intersection guide section, which displays an enlarged view of the intersection and the traveling direction on the display screen when the own vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance from the intersection at the time of actual route guidance, and indicates the traveling direction by voice. To inform. Reference numeral 17 is a remote controller control unit that receives a signal according to the operation of a remote controller and instructs each unit, 18 is a GPS data storage unit that stores GPS data from a GPS receiver, and 19 is a vehicle based on the output of a self-contained navigation sensor. A vehicle position / azimuth calculation unit for calculating a position and a traveling direction, and 20 is a map matching control unit, which appropriately performs map matching processing using the map information and the traveling locus data read out in the map buffer 12 to perform own vehicle Correct the position.

Reference numeral 21 is a guide route control unit, which calculates the guide route to the destination that has been input, and when the vehicle deviates from the guide route (off route), re-routes the guide route from the current vehicle position to the destination. Reference numeral 22 denotes a guide route memory that stores a guide route, and 23 denotes a guide route drawing unit. The guide route memory 22 stores the position data of all the nodes on the guide route searched by the guide route control unit 21 from the starting point to the destination. When displaying the map, the guide route drawing unit 23 reads the guide route information (node sequence) from the guide route memory 22 and draws it on the map. Reference numeral 24 is an operation screen generation unit that displays various menu screens (operation screens), 25 is a mark generation unit that displays various marks such as the own vehicle mark and focus, and 26 is an image composition unit.

(E) Route search process FIG. 9 is a route search process flow by the guide route control unit 21. When the user sets the destination and instructs the route search (step 101), the guide route control unit 21 checks whether or not the domestic priority is given (step 10).
2). If domestic priority is set, guide route control unit 2
1 searches for a guide route from the routes to the destination by traveling only on the road in the home country (step 103), and displays the searched guide route on the display screen (step 10).
4). On the other hand, if domestic priority is not selected, the guide route control unit 21 searches for a guide route including roads in the adjacent country (step 105), and displays the searched guide route on the display screen (step 104).

(F) Modified Example In FIG. 9, it is determined whether or not the optimum route is searched from the routes reaching the destination by traveling only on the roads in the home country when searching for the guide route, that is, domestic priority is given. Although it is a case of searching for a guide route by setting whether or not it is, it may be configured to search for a route search target including roads in adjacent countries without setting whether or not such domestic priority is given. it can. In such a case, the processes of steps 102 and 103 in FIG. 9 are unnecessary. Although the present invention has been described above with reference to the embodiments, the present invention can be variously modified according to the gist of the present invention described in the claims, and the present invention does not exclude these.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention, in addition to the map data of the home country, the map data of the main roads of the neighboring countries within a predetermined range from the border are recorded in the map data storage means (CD-ROM), and the route is stored. When the search is instructed, the guide route to the destination including the roads of neighboring countries is searched,
When there is an optimum route that passes through a road in an adjacent country, the route can be searched and displayed. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the required time, save fuel by shortening the traveling distance, and suppress the probability of an accident due to the shortening of the traveling distance. In addition, the amount of map data that must be added is small because it is only limited main road data in the border zone of the neighboring country, so one CD-ROM is sufficient.
In addition to the map data of the home country, additional map data of the border zone can be recorded.

According to the present invention, in addition to the map data of the home country, the map data of the neighboring countries within a predetermined range from the border are recorded in the map data storage means (CD-ROM), and the destination is the road only in the home country. Set whether to search the guide route to the destination or the guide route to the destination including the roads of neighboring countries, and when the route search is instructed, refer to the above setting and guide the route to the destination. Therefore, the domestic road can be prioritized according to the driver's intention, or the guide route including the roads of the neighboring countries can be searched and displayed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a navigation system.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of road data in map data.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a remote controller.

FIG. 5 is a menu selection explanatory chart.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a menu.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a route search method.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a navigation control device.

FIG. 9 is a route search processing flow.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of domestic guidance route search.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional guide route search near a border.

[Explanation of symbols]

BDR ... Border BZN ... Border zone of neighboring countries CP1, CP2 ... Checkpoint OPRT ··· Optimal route through neighboring countries OPRT '... Optimal route in home country

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (58) Fields surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/10 WPI (DIALOG)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A navigation device for inputting a destination, searching for a guidance route to the destination, and displaying the guidance route on a display screen, in addition to map data of its own country, the main of neighboring countries within a predetermined range from the border. A map data storage means for holding road map data, and a guide route search means for searching a guide route to a destination including roads of neighboring countries when a guide route search is instructed. Navigation device. 2. A navigation device for inputting a destination, searching for a guide route to the destination, and displaying it on a display screen, in addition to map data of its own country, map data of an adjacent country within a predetermined range from a border. Means for setting the map data storage means that retains the guide route to the destination on the road only in the home country, or on the route to the destination including the roads of neighboring countries. A navigation device comprising guide route searching means for searching a guide route to a destination with reference to the setting when a search is instructed.