JP3934118B2 - Road information provision system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a road information providing system that provides road information such as traffic congestion, under construction, and an accident occurrence to drivers or passengers of passenger cars, trucks, etc. through various media such as telephone and facsimile communication. .

  Road information provided by mass media such as TV and radio, such as traffic jams and accidents, is collected in a unique form by each manager according to the type and area of the road such as expressways and ordinary roads. The data format of the collected road information is also different.

  The road information collected in this way is edited into road information in a unified format by decryption or confirmation work by personnel according to each information source, and is provided to users through mass media such as television, radio, newspapers, etc. It has become.

  In this case, road information provided by mass media such as television and radio is usually only related to main roads. The road information provided to the user depends on the data format provided by the road manager as the information source, and is provided only in a format suitable for the data format. That is, for example, when the information source is character data, it is provided in a character format, and when the information source is in a map data format, it is provided in a map format.

  On the other hand, Non-Patent Document 1 has been proposed as a system for providing information on roads. This system processes digital map data into a road network and returns the route from the departure point to the destination to a user terminal consisting of a personal computer. Information that changes from moment to moment, such as road congestion and traffic regulation. Is not provided to users.

  In addition, as proposed in Patent Document 1 “Movement Route Search Method”, there is a method for reflecting a obstacle on a movement route of a moving object such as a self-propelled vehicle on a map and performing a route search for the moving object. However, it is not intended to provide users with information that changes from moment to moment, such as road congestion and traffic restrictions, for the purpose of route search on a map.

The Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers DE89-24 “Route guide system for automobiles in central Tokyo based on hierarchical digital map database” (July 21, 1989)

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-200301

  However, since road information provided by mass media such as television and radio is mainly related to main roads, there is a problem that other roads cannot be known at all.

  Moreover, even if it is a main road, there exists a problem that the driver must select the road information of the target main road out of a huge amount of road information.

  For example, in road information on radio, broadcasting is performed only at a specific time, and it is necessary to match channels based on the broadcasting time. Even if the broadcast can be heard, it is not known which of the many main roads will be broadcast in order, so it is necessary to listen carefully, and information on the target road is not necessarily heard. Even if you listen to it in a timely manner, the same information is not broadcast many times, so you may miss it or forget it. In addition, the position of road information broadcast on the radio may not always match the position recognized by the user, and there is a problem that accuracy when viewed from the user side is inferior.

  Here, there are related organizations that provide road information individually in response to requests from users. However, these organizations do not support mechanized systems that can be selected by the user, but instead handle them manually. At present, the number of people who can respond is limited, so there is a problem that only a part of users can be dealt with and it is impossible to respond quickly to many users.

  In other words, in a road information providing system using a conventional radio broadcast or the like, even if the target road is a main road, the channel selection operation in accordance with the broadcast time is obtained before the road information is obtained. There is a problem that it is necessary to concentrate on listening to extract the target road information from the broadcast contents, and the road information on the desired road cannot be obtained accurately and easily at any time. is there.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a road information providing system in which road information of a desired road can be accurately and easily known at an arbitrary time on the user side.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention basically provides road map data for graphically displaying road shapes for roads for which road information is provided for roads that are neither branched nor divided. If there is a route with branches, the main line and branch line are sorted so that the main line / branch line is continuous from the starting point of the main line / branch line and divided in the middle. In the case of a route, the rearrangement unit is rearranged from the starting point of the division unit for each division unit, and the ranking data indicating the ranking from the starting point is displayed for each route, each main line / branch line, or each division unit. In addition, a road network database arranged from the starting point is created for each route, for each main line / branch line, or for each division unit, and the road management target road is provided by the road administrator. Road information such as traffic jams is developed in relation to the road network database, and road information related to roads requested by road information users is searched from the road network database and returned to the road information users. Is.

  According to the above means, the road map data, which is static data, is rearranged from the starting point for each route, the road positions are networked, and the latest road information such as traffic jams, accidents, regulations, disasters, etc. is generated every moment. A road network database is created in which the positions are mapped and developed.

  When there is a request for road information using road attribute information such as position, road name, intersection name, etc. as a key against this database, the road information of the road corresponding to these keys is searched and returned to the user. The

  Therefore, the user can easily obtain accurate road information at an arbitrary time for a desired road by a simple operation of simply making a road information transmission request using road attribute information as a key.

  In this case, there are devices such as a personal computer, a telephone, a facsimile device, and a wireless phone as a device used by a user for acquiring road information.

  According to the present invention, static information such as a road map and dynamic information such as traffic information such as traffic jams are combined, and road information on a route according to a request from the user is returned to the user via a communication line or the like. Therefore, the user can easily obtain accurate road information in a character or graphic format at any time for a desired road by a simple operation by simply making a road information transmission request using road attribute information as a key. be able to.

  In addition, when the distance between each point is additionally registered in the database, it is possible to calculate the required time in consideration of traffic jams to the destination by specifying the vehicle speed and present it to the user. This makes it possible for the user to easily determine whether or not to change the route while driving, such as route selection, safe driving and time saving, and various effects in driving the vehicle such as improving fuel efficiency. Is obtained.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing an embodiment of a road information providing system according to the present invention, which is roughly divided into a plurality of user terminals 2, 3 and 4 used by a center side device 1 and road information users, It consists of wired or wireless communication lines 5, 6, and 7 that connect them.

  The user terminal 2 is composed of, for example, a personal computer, and the other user terminals 3 and 4 are composed of telephones and facsimile machines.

  On the other hand, the center-side device 1 provides road information by using the road map data file 10 storing road map data (white map data) for graphically displaying the road shape, and the road map data stored in the road map data file 10. A road database creation unit 12 that creates a database 11 that rearranges the target roads for each route from the starting point and creates a network of the road positions, and a road manager that provides the road information. Data format unification processing that unifies road information 13 such as traffic jams into a common data format, passes the unified road information to the database creation unit 12, and develops it in association with the position information of each road in the road network database 11. Section 14 (road information deployment means) and road information about the road requested by the road information user 15 Is searched from the road network database 11, and further edited and edited into a data format desired by the road information user 15 and sent back to the road information user 15, and the edited road information is sent to the user. A media-compatible interface 17 that returns a data format (graphic data, character data, voice data) according to the characteristics of the terminals 2, 3, and 4, and periodically transmits road information according to a free or paid usage contract. It consists of a customer management data file 18 that stores the user's transmission destination, name, user terminal characteristics, target road attribute information (road name, intersection name, etc.), and the like.

  Here, road information provided by road managers such as a road corporation, a national organization, and police includes road information 130 in an event format and road information 131 and 132 in a link format.

  The event-type road information 130 is information such as during traffic accident processing and construction, and is provided as character data by a road manager.

  The link-type road information 131 and 132 is information indicating traffic jams or the like for each section detected by a detector installed on the road for each predetermined section. Provided with binary data of 0 ".

  FIG. 2 is a process outline diagram showing the overall process of the present embodiment. As the process outline, a database 11 in which road map data 10 indicating the shape of a road is read out by a database creation unit 12 and road positions are networked is shown. create.

  Next, every time road information 13 that changes every moment is input, the road information 13 is unified into a common data format by the data format unification processing unit 14 and associated with the position information of each road in the road network database 11 ( The road information 13 ″ matching the road network database 11 is obtained, and this road information 13 ″ is transferred to the database creation unit 12 and developed on the road network database 11.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the creation process of the road network database 11 executed by the database creation unit 12.

  For example, the database creation unit 12 rearranges the road map data 10 for displaying the shapes of the roads on the four road maps as indicated by the symbol 2-10 from the starting point for each route as shown in FIG. 30, the road network database 11 is created.

  The road map data 10 created for graphic display is created in units of map numbers 2-22, data numbers 2-23 assigned to routes existing in the map, and start and end points of the routes. Coordinate data 2-24.

  For example, the route a existing in the map number “1” is represented by the data number R2-a, the start point coordinates are represented by x1, y1, and the end point coordinates are represented by x2, y2.

  The routes b, c, d, e, f, and g existing in the map numbers “2”, “3”, and “4” are similarly represented.

  The road network database 11 as shown in the figure is created by the rearrangement process from the starting point for each route.

  That is, the routes c, e, g, and f of the road map data 10 belong to the route R1, the routes d, b, and a belong to the route R2, and the starting point of the route c is the starting point of the route R1, and the starting point of the route d is Since it is the starting point of the route R2, the map number, data number, and coordinate data regarding the routes c, e, g, and f belonging to the route R1 are arranged at the head, and thereafter the routes d, b, and a belonging to the route R2 are related. A database 11 in which map numbers, data numbers, and coordinate data are arranged is created.

  Here, rank data 2-25 indicating the rank from the starting point when rearranged is added for each route.

  By rearranging from the starting point for each route in this way, each route R1, R2 can be represented by symbols 2-50 and 2-51 so that the relative position from the starting point on the route can be known. become.

  Moreover, since the road map data 10 is generally created for the purpose of graphic display, it is created for each map number 2-22 divided for each region as a data format, but is arranged from the starting point for each route. By changing, it is possible to know the relative position on each route without being aware of the map number.

  By the way, when rearranging, as shown in FIG. 4A, for a normal road 3-10 where the route is not branched at all, each route R1-a, R1-b, R1-c in order from the starting point. The start point and end point of the roads may be arranged in order, but as shown in FIG. 4B, for the road 3-20 having a route that branches in the middle, one of the branch portions is selected as the main line and the other as the branch line. Set, then rearrange in order from the starting point.

  That is, in the example of FIG. 4B, the routes R1-a and R1-d branch and are connected by the branch routes R1-b and R1-1-c. Select and set the branch line R1-b as the main line and R1-1-c as the branch line, first sort the lines so as to pass through the main line R1-b, and then register the branch line R1-1-c as an independent line To do.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the road network database 11 is created in the form of the main line 1 and the main line 2 for each division unit for the road 3-30 having a route divided in the middle. That is, route R1-a is registered as main line 1, and routes R1-b and R1-c are registered as routes belonging to main line 2.

  Next, an outline of a process for matching the road information 13 on the road network database 11 will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, when the road network database 11 from the starting point name A to the ending point name E of the route R1 is as shown in FIG. 5, the route name 4-11 is “R1”, the direction 4- Assuming that road information 13 consisting of data “Descent” as 12, “D” as the point name 4-13, and “Jam jam 2Km” as the event 4-14 is input, the matching process selects “R1” of the route name R 1. The road network database 11 is searched as a search key, and a route having “R1” as a part of the data number is extracted. Then, in the example here, routes with data numbers R1-c to R1-f are extracted.

  Therefore, next, it recognizes the point where the point name “D” belongs to which route among the routes indicated by the data numbers R1-c to R1-f, and for the recognized point , Event 4-14 information. That is, in the example of the road information 13 in FIG. 5, since the event “traffic jam 2Km” is input from the point D in the downward direction, the distance between the routes R1-g and R1-e is 1Km, respectively. The information “traffic jam” in the sections of the routes R1-g and R1-e from the station to the point B and “non-congested” in the other sections are registered in association with each other as illustrated. That is, the road network database 11 is created in which the road network arranged from the starting point for each route and the road information are associated with each other.

  Here, as road information 13, as shown in FIG. 6, data numbers 5-11 and 5-12 indicating routes R1-e and R1-g, direction data 5-13 in the down direction, and event data indicating traffic jams. 5-14 may be input in the form of graphic data. Also in this case, matching with the road network is performed as in the example of FIG.

  That is, the road network database 11 is searched using the routes R1-e and R1-g as search keys, and routes having data numbers “R1-e” and “R1-g” are extracted.

  Next, the information of the event 5-14 is related to the route indicated by the data numbers “R1-e” and “R1-g”. That is, the information “congestion” in the sections of the routes R1-g and R1-e from the point D to the point B and “non-congestion” in the other sections are registered in association with each other as illustrated.

  FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a process of extracting road information that meets the request of the user 15 from the road information network database 11 created as described above and providing it to the user 15. 7 is read by the editing / search processing unit 16 and transferred to the user for each route through the communication line to display a graphic for each route as shown in FIG. 7B. be able to.

  Here, when the user 15 only specifies the route R1 and does not specify a specific range in the route R1, all the roads in the range that can be displayed on the display device on the user side, and their Events such as road congestion are displayed.

  However, as shown in FIG. 7C, when the user 15 designates the route R1-c, e in the route R1, the data numbers R1-c, R1-e in the road network database 11 are designated. Only the data relating to the route is read out by the editing / search processing unit 16 and displayed as characters as shown in FIG. 7E or as a graphic as shown in FIG.

  In the example of the road network database 11 in FIG. 7, in the case of character display, it is displayed that there is a 1 km traffic jam starting from point C in the downward direction of the route R <b> 1.

  Further, in the case of graphic display, “congested section” is displayed adjacent to the road display of the route R1-e.

  As shown in FIG. 7C, the route range desired by the user is specified by a method of surrounding the desired range with a frame line 7-11 or a method of specifying the route number itself from a keyboard or the like. .

  FIG. 8 is a schematic configuration diagram illustrating an example of a terminal from which a user requests provision of road information, and is configured by a personal computer, for example. The user terminal 20 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 200, a keyboard 201, a display 202, a modem 203 for transmitting and receiving data through the communication line 5, and road map data 204 provided by a CD-ROM or the like. . In this case, the CPU 200 is mounted with a communication program for transmitting and receiving road information.

  In this configuration, when it is desired to provide road information from the center side device 1, first, the name or route number of the desired route is input from the keyboard 201. Thereafter, a transmission start command is input, and a road information transmission request including a desired route name or route number is transmitted from the modem 203 to the communication line 5.

  In the center side device 1 that has received the road information transmission request via the communication line 5, the editing / search processing unit 16 searches the road network database 11 for road information of the route requested by the user, and the road of the search result. The information is converted into a data format that can be received by the user terminal 20 through the media-compatible interface 17 and transmitted to the user terminal 20 through the communication line 5.

  The CPU 200 of the user terminal 20 that has received the road information from the center-side device 1 displays the received road information on the display 202 as characters or graphics.

  Here, if the map number is included in the road information transmitted from the center side device 1, the CPU 200 displays the road shape data on the map indicated by the map number in the road map data 204. The data is read out and displayed on the display 202 as a graphic, and road information such as traffic jam is superimposed on the displayed road.

  As a result, the user can visually grasp the state of each road.

  FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for obtaining road information of a desired route by the telephone set 3. First, the center side apparatus 1 is called by a dial operation on the telephone set 3. In response to the call, the center side device 1 returns a voice message “Please enter a route number” to the telephone set 3. Therefore, a route number is input by dialing the telephone 3. For example, when it is desired to know the road information of the route R1-c, e, the “#, 1, 3, 5, *” key is operated in order.

  Here, “1” indicates the route R1, “3” indicates c, “5” indicates e, and * indicates the end of data.

  In the center side apparatus 1 that has received such a road information transmission request, the editing / search processing unit 16 searches the road network database 11 for road information of the route R1 requested by the user, and the road of the search result. The information is converted into a voice message by the media compatible interface 17 and transmitted to the telephone 3 through the communication line 5.

  Thereby, the user of the telephone 3 can know the road information of the route R1 by the voice message.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing a procedure for obtaining road information of a desired route by the facsimile apparatus 4. First, the center side apparatus 1 is called by a dial operation on the facsimile apparatus 4. In response to the call, the center side apparatus 1 returns a voice message “Please enter a route number” to the facsimile apparatus 4. Therefore, a route number is input by a dial operation on the facsimile apparatus 4. For example, when it is desired to know the road information of the route R1-c, e, the “#, 1, 3, 5, *” key is operated in order.

  Here, “1” indicates the route R1, “3” indicates c, “5” indicates e, and * indicates the end of data.

  In the center side apparatus 1 that has received such a road information transmission request, the editing / search processing unit 16 searches the road network database 11 for road information of the route R1 requested by the user, and the road of the search result. The information is converted into image information by the media compatible interface 17 and transmitted to the facsimile apparatus 4 through the communication line 5.

  The facsimile machine 4 prints and outputs the received road information on the paper 10-1. Thereby, the user of the facsimile machine 4 can know the road information of the route R1 from the printed image information.

  Here, when the user of the facsimile apparatus 4 is registered in the customer management data file 18 in advance, road information is periodically transmitted from the center apparatus 1 without calling the center apparatus 1 one by one.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the editing / search processing unit 16 of the center side apparatus 1 is activated at predetermined time intervals by a timer (not shown) even when a transmission request via the communication line has not arrived. Then, the customer management data file 18 is searched, and it is checked whether or not a user who has contracted in advance to transmit the road information at the current time is registered. After the information such as the name and the designated route name is read, the road information of the designated route is read from the road network database 11 and is converted into image information and transmitted to the registered facsimile apparatus 4. .

  The facsimile machine 4 prints and outputs the received road information on the paper 10-1. Thereby, the user of the facsimile apparatus 4 can know the road information at the designated time of the route registered in advance by the printed image information without performing any operation.

  Note that this automatic distribution function of road information is not limited to a facsimile machine, but can be applied to a telephone and a personal computer. Whether to charge or not may be arbitrarily determined by the information provider.

  By the way, if the distance between points is additionally registered after the road network database 11 is created, it is possible to calculate the required time from the departure point to the destination in consideration of traffic jams and provide it to the user.

  That is, after creating the road network database 11 for the route R1 connecting Tokyo and Yokohama shown in FIG. 12A, the distance data 2-27 between each point is additionally registered. In FIG. 12, the intersection name 2-26 is used instead of the spot name.

  If the distance between points is registered in this way, the required time between the points can be easily calculated by designating the starting point and the destination and designating the vehicle speed. The calculation in this case is performed by the editing / search processing unit 16 or a dedicated calculation unit.

  In the example of FIG. 12, when the vehicle speed is 60 km / h, the required time between the intersections is as shown in FIG.

  The calculated result is transmitted to the user side and displayed in a graph in the form as shown in FIG.

  In the example of FIG. 12, the traffic jam is not considered at all. However, if the traffic time zone information 2-28 is additionally registered as shown in FIG. The required time to the destination including the required time can be calculated and displayed as a graph as shown in FIG.

  In this case, when passing through a traffic jam section, the vehicle speed decreases as shown in FIG. For example, it is predicted to decrease to 30 Km / h which is a half of a section where there is no traffic jam. Therefore, after calculating the required time of the traffic jam section based on the predicted value, the required time to the final destination is obtained.

  The traffic time zone information 2-28 may employ past statistical values, or may employ actual measured values currently grasped.

  FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a display example for obtaining required times of a plurality of routes to the destination and presenting it to the user, and a map 8-12 of three routes A, B, C from Yokohama to Tokyo. Is displayed in the upper part, and in the lower part, required time tables for each route 8-13, 8-14, 8-15 are displayed in a graph.

  In the required time tables 8-13, 8-14, and 8-15 for each route, the horizontal axis indicates time, and the vertical axis indicates an intersection name. A line 8-16 represents the vehicle speed, and is a straight line in a time zone where there is no traffic jam. However, the line 8-16 bends at a time when the traffic jam occurs and indicates that the vehicle speed decreases. In the lower part of the table, road conditions in each time zone are displayed by four types of simulated vehicles 8-17, 8-18, 8-19, 8-20, and further below each simulated vehicle are calculated. The required time value is displayed in numbers.

  As described above, according to the above-described embodiment, the road map data 10 for graphically displaying the road shape is rearranged from the starting point for each road with respect to the road for which road information is to be provided, and the road positions are networked. The network database 11 is created, and the road information such as traffic jam provided by the manager of the road is unified to a common data format for the road for which the road information is to be provided. The network database 11 is expanded in association with the position information of each road, and a road information transmission request is made from a road information user using road attribute information such as position, road name, and intersection name as a key through a communication line or the like. If there is, the road information relating to the requested road is searched from the road network database 11 and returned to the road information user. With this simple configuration, the user can simply send a road information transmission request using road attribute information as a key. Can be easily obtained.

  In addition, when the distance between each point is additionally registered, it is possible to calculate the required time in consideration of traffic jams to the destination by specifying the vehicle speed and present it to the user. Thus, the user can easily determine whether or not to change the route while traveling.

  In the embodiment, a traffic jam event is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a road network database in which the location of the latest road event such as an accident, a regulation, a disaster, etc. is associated with each other is developed. Needless to say that is created.

  Therefore, the user can easily obtain accurate road information at an arbitrary time for a desired road by a simple operation of simply making a road information transmission request using road attribute information as a key.

It is a whole block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is a processing outline figure showing the whole processing of an example. It is a schematic diagram of a road network database creation process. It is explanatory drawing of the rearrangement method by a road shape. It is a matching processing outline figure of road information. It is another matching process outline figure of road information. It is a schematic diagram of the provision procedure to the user of road information. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a user terminal. It is explanatory drawing which shows the procedure in the case of obtaining road information with a telephone. It is explanatory drawing which shows the procedure in the case of obtaining road information with a facsimile machine. It is explanatory drawing in the case of automatically delivering road information to a facsimile machine. It is explanatory drawing of the required time calculation method to the destination. It is explanatory drawing of the required time calculation method to the destination containing a traffic congestion area. It is explanatory drawing of the example of a required time display to the destination at the time of using a several route.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Center side apparatus, 2, 3, 4 ... User terminal, 10 ... Road map data, 11 ... Road network database, 12 ... Database preparation part, 13 ... Road information, 14 ... Data format unification processing part, 15 ... Use 16 ... Editing / search processing unit, 17 ... Media-compatible interface, 18 ... Customer management data file.

Claims (2)

A map number representing a unit map number that is a unit constituting a map, a data number assigned to a route existing in the unit map, a start point coordinate and an end point coordinate of a route existing in the unit map, Including a road map data file containing road map data for graphic display of road shapes,
The road map data stored in the road map data file is rearranged so that the roads for which road information is to be provided are continuous from the starting point for each route in the case of a route that is neither branched nor divided. In the case of a certain route, one is a main line and the other is a branch line. rearranged as a starting point from the division unit of the unit are continuous, and the road database creating means for creating a road network database is a database of the road network by arranging each road line, the main line-branch basis, or for each divided unit from the origin,
When road information having a route name, a point name, an event, and an occurrence range of the event is input as road information provided by a manager of the road for a road for which road information is provided , the road information is included in the road information The road network database is searched using a route name as a search key, a route having the route name included in the road information as a part of the data number is extracted, and the road is among the points between the extracted routes. Recognize which point is the name of the point included in the information, and for the recognized point, the event included in the road information and the range of occurrence of the event are divided by route, main line / branch line, or divided Road information expansion means for registering with the road network database in association with the road network arranged so as to be continuous from the starting point for each unit;
The road map data including the map number, the data number, and the starting point coordinates and the ending point coordinates of the route is a route, main line / branch, or division unit from the starting point for each route, for each main line / branch line, or for each division unit. a database of continuous manner aligned et al road network, a road network database events included in the road information associated with the road network is registered,
A road information providing system comprising: search means for searching road information related to a road requested by a road information user from the road network database and returning road information including an event to the road information user. Means for registering distance and traffic time information in the road network database;
Based on the road information including the distance and congestion time zone information searched by the search means, the required time to the destination including the required time to pass through the congested route is calculated. The road information user is a graph in which the point name is shown and the time is shown on the other axis, and the vehicle speed is represented by a straight line, and the straight line representing the vehicle speed bends in the time zone where traffic congestion occurs, or the value of the required time The road information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying on the terminal.

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