JP4391570B2 - Navigation device and destination setting method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus, a destination setting method, and the like that receive map information including position information searched by a server via a web and display it on a screen.

At present, a wide variety of information is provided on the Internet from all over the world by a WWW (World-Wide-Web) server, and a user operates a terminal device connected to the web and searches for desired information. Can be obtained.
There are various information services provided via the Internet, and one of them is a map information search service. This is a service that has a map database and can obtain desired map information and display it on a terminal by accessing a web server connected to the Internet.

Specifically, when a user inputs an address, a place name, a station name, various facility names, a store name, or the like via the terminal device, the location and the surrounding map are displayed on the terminal device as image information. Therefore, the user can easily recognize where the target station or facility is located by referring to the displayed map information.
By the way, as a terminal device of the map information retrieval service using the above-mentioned web, not only a home personal computer having a web connection environment such as a browser, but also an in-vehicle navigation device having a web connection environment, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) ), Mobile phones, etc. are used.

  However, it is difficult for a device such as a mobile phone with a relatively small screen capacity to grasp the information on the surrounding area displayed on the screen on the screen, and it is necessary to repeat unnecessary scrolling. It was. Unnecessary scrolling not only affects operability, but also wastes a communication fee, so it sometimes appears as a user complaint and has a heavy load on the terminal side.

  Furthermore, unlike the in-vehicle navigation device, since there is no current position display or route setting function, even if it is relatively easy to search for the current location or destination alone, the route from the current location to the destination, or The reverse is not easy. In other words, since the mobile phone cannot set its own location, for example, it searches for a facility such as a station as a landmark and repeats scrolling to find a destination from that location, but the landmark disappears from the screen. Even if the destination was found, it was difficult to follow the route from the landmark, and it was very inconvenient. This is especially noticeable in strange lands. As described above, the problem to be solved by the present invention is exemplified by the above-described problem.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, searches for a destination by moving the screen from map information displayed on the screen, and displays a route connecting the destination using the position information searched by the server as a reference point. It is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device, a destination setting method, and the like that are improved in usability by being drawn on top of each other.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention described in claim 1 uses a point searched for according to a user's operation as a mark for searching for a destination as a reference point, and a peripheral region including the reference point. Map information display means for acquiring map information and displaying the acquired map information on a screen; screen movement control means for moving the map information displayed on the screen according to a user operation; The destination setting means for setting a predetermined position on the screen indicated by the map information on which the screen movement has been performed as a destination, and the display of the map information of the peripheral area including the reference point, to the setting of the destination. And a drawing means for drawing a line connecting the reference point and a predetermined position on the screen in a superimposed manner on the screen on which the map information is displayed.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the predetermined position is displayed at a center position on the screen.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that the map information display means acquires map information of an adjacent region when the acquired map information has no destination, and the acquired It is a means for displaying map information on a screen.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the map information display means is means for acquiring map information including the reference point from a web server via the Internet.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the invention according to claim 5 uses a point that is searched according to a user's operation as a mark for searching for a destination as a reference point, and includes a peripheral region including the reference point. A map information display step of acquiring map information and displaying the acquired map information on a screen; a screen movement control step of moving the map information displayed on the screen according to a user operation; The destination setting step is performed from a destination setting step of setting a predetermined position on the screen indicated by the map information on which the screen movement has been performed as a destination, and display of map information of a peripheral area including the reference point. A drawing step of drawing a line connecting the reference point and a predetermined position on the screen in an overlapping manner on the screen on which the map information is displayed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments that are considered to be most suitable for the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a connection form of a navigation system in which the present invention is adopted. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a navigation terminal device having a browser function as a client, reference numeral 2 denotes an Internet network, and reference numeral 3 denotes a web server.
Here, a mobile phone having a web connection environment is illustrated as the navigation terminal device 1, and a mobile phone having a relatively small screen capacity is connected to the Internet network 2 via a public telephone line network and an access service (not shown), respectively. Shall be. Further, a map information providing site, a map information database site, and a web server 3 which is a route setting site are connected to the Internet network 2.

  The map information providing site is a site that provides a map information providing service by the WWW, and supervises information provision to the navigation terminal device 1 from a map database site and a route setting site described later. The map information providing site includes, as the web server 3, a database (DB) in which landmarks such as addresses and facilities and data indicating the position information are stored. The web server 3 will be described later. In addition, by accessing the database based on the input information from the navigation terminal device 1, an address, a facility, etc. are specified from the input position information, and the corresponding position information is acquired from the designated landmark. .

  The map database site is a site that performs a map information search and display service on the Internet, and is a site that performs a map service that reads map data and transmits it to the navigation terminal device 1. A map server to be transmitted, and map information database in which map display information such as position information indicating coordinates by latitude and longitude, scale, map size, and map data corresponding to these information are stored.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the navigation terminal device 1 in FIG. As described above, a mobile phone having a web connection environment is illustrated as the navigation terminal device 1.
The navigation terminal device 1 of the present invention includes a radio control unit 11, a modulation unit 12, a demodulation unit 13, a channel CODEC 14, a voice input unit 15, a voice output unit 16, a communication application unit 17, and an input unit 18. And a display unit 19. Reference numeral 20 denotes an internal bus, to which the above-described wireless control unit 11, channel CODEC 14, communication application unit 17, input unit 18, and display unit 19 are commonly connected.

The radio control unit 11 transmits the modulation data provided from the modulation unit 12 on a radio carrier wave from the antenna, and receives a signal having a predetermined frequency from among the high-frequency signals induced in the antenna. The modulation unit 12 modulates transmission data output from the channel CODEC 14 by a predetermined method (for example, π / 4 shift DPQSK modulation), and outputs the modulated data to the radio control unit 11. The demodulator 13 demodulates the signal received by the radio controller 11 and supplies the demodulated signal to the channel CODEC 14.
The channel CODEC 14 distributes the data input from the demodulation unit 13 to the audio output unit 16 or the communication application unit 17 and outputs the data. The voice input from the voice input unit 15 is distributed to the modulation unit 12 or the communication application unit 17 and output. Furthermore, the data input from the communication application unit 17 is distributed to the modulation unit 12 or the audio output unit 16 and output.

The communication application unit 17 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM and serves as a control center of the navigation terminal device 1 of the present invention. In addition to connection control for communication, generation of transmission data, display, storage of received data, transmission / reception data Process control. Details will be described later with reference to FIG.
The input unit 18 recognizes the type of key or button to be connected and performs an input operation such as a dial number or display screen operation data. The display unit 19 displays data output from the communication application unit 17 and written in a display memory (not shown) on a connected screen display monitor.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an expanded function of the internal configuration of the communication application unit 17 shown in FIG. Specifically, it is composed of peripheral LSIs such as an input unit 18 and a display unit 19 including a CPU and ROM / RAM. The CPU reads a program recorded in the ROM and executes it using the RAM, which will be described later. The function that each block has is realized.
The communication application unit 17 includes an input control unit 171, a voice control unit 172, a display control unit 173, an application management unit 174, a browser application 175, a mail application 176, a map information application 177, a voice telephone application 178, a received data management unit 179, The communication control unit 180 is configured.

  The input control unit 171 notifies the application management unit 174 of the input key information received from the input unit 18. The display control unit 172 performs control for outputting the display information notified from the application management unit 174 to the display unit 19. The voice control unit 173 performs control for notifying the application management unit 174 of the voice received from the voice input unit 15 and outputting the voice notified from the application management unit 174 to the channel CODEC 14.

  The application management unit 174 performs switching management of a plurality of applications installed in the navigation terminal device 1 of the present invention, and information between each application and the input control unit 171, the display control unit 172, and the voice control unit 173. Control to replace Here, the browser application 175, the mail application 176, the map information application 177, and the voice telephone application 178 are assumed to be installed in the apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to these four applications, and other applications can be mounted.

  The applications installed here can be classified into voice service compatible applications and character service compatible applications. The former does not transmit / receive character data, image data, etc., and only supports voice, and the latter transmits / receives image data, such as character data, maps, etc., and supports screen display of each information to be transmitted / received. For example, the browser application 175, the mail application 176, and the map information application 177 are character service compatible applications, and the voice phone application 178 is a voice compatible application.

The internal configuration of the map information application 177 is shown in functional development in FIG. The map information application 177 includes a map information display unit 771, a screen movement control unit 772, a destination display unit 773, a route line drawing unit 774, and a route search unit 775.
The map information display unit 771 has a function of receiving map information including the position information searched by the web server 3 via the Internet network 2 and displaying it on the screen of the display unit 19. The destination display unit 773 displays It has a function of searching and displaying a destination from the map information displayed on the screen of the unit 19 by scroll control by the screen movement control unit 772.

The route line drawing unit 774 has a function of drawing the route connecting the destination with the position information searched by the web server 3 as a reference point on the screen on which the map information is displayed. The drawing of the route is expressed by a straight line extending from the center of the map information displayed on the screen to the reference point. The route line redrawing unit is requested again by the map information requesting unit 771. When the map information requesting unit 771 receives the map information, the route line redrawing unit searches the destination by moving the screen of the updated map information. By recalculating the direction to the ground, the route from the reference point to the destination is redrawn by the route line.
When the destination is displayed by the destination display unit 773 and the reference point disappears from the screen, the route search unit 775 switches the display of the reference point and the destination and displays the reference displayed according to the drawn route information. It has a function that allows a route from a point to a destination to be traced.

  Returning to FIG. The communication control unit 180 performs call connection control such as outgoing and incoming calls, data communication control, and the like in accordance with instructions from the applications 175, 176, 177, and 178. The reception data management unit 179 is between the communication control unit 180, the browser application 175, the mail application 176, and the map information application 177, and is transferred from the communication control unit 180 to the browser application 175, the mail application 176, and the map information application 177. Manage received data.

FIG. 5 is an operation sequence chart quoted for explaining the operation of the embodiment of the present invention, and shows the relationship between the navigation terminal device 1 and the web server 3 of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows an example of the screen display.
The operation of the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS.

First, the user activates the map information application by operating the navigation terminal device 1 (step S501). Then, a station as a reference point, or a predetermined facility such as a department store, a convenience store, or a public facility is designated, or an address, a place name, a zip code, etc. are designated by character input to prompt distribution of map information in a predetermined area (step) S503).
The web server 3 receives these as search character strings, searches the facility and the map database, and distributes map information of a predetermined scale to the navigation terminal device 1 with these facilities as the center positions (steps S504 and S505). .

The navigation terminal device 1 receives the map information and displays the map information around the reference point such as a facility on the screen. This is performed by the map information display unit 771. FIG. 6A shows an example of the screen display. Here, the station is set as a reference point, and the station is captured at the center of the screen (step S506).
Next, the user carries the navigation terminal device 1 and moves to the destination, but the user searches for the destination by operating the navigation terminal device 1 prior to the movement. The search for the destination is performed by a scroll operation by the screen movement control unit 772 (step S507).

It is assumed that the destination is displayed by the destination display unit 773, and at this time, the station that is the previous reference point disappears from the screen. FIG. 6B shows an example of the screen display.
However, a route line expressed by a straight line connecting the reference point and the destination remains on the screen of the navigation terminal device 1. This is performed by the route line drawing unit 774. FIG. 6C shows an example of the screen display. The route line drawing unit 774 draws the route connecting the destination with the position information searched by the web server 3 as a reference point on the screen on which the map information is displayed.
Here, drawing of the route line is performed by calculating a direction from the reference point to the destination by a calculation routine built in the route line drawing unit 774 and generating the result as a vector having a length and a direction. . By displaying this vector as a straight line on the screen, the user can follow the path from the reference point to the destination.

The navigation terminal device 1 of the present invention has a function of holding a reference point, and can switch the display of the reference point and the destination by detecting that a specific button has been operated (steps S510 and S511). . FIG. 6D shows an example of the screen configuration.
The user can follow the route from the displayed reference point to the destination, or vice versa, according to the route line information drawn on the screen of the navigation terminal device 1 (step S508). This route line search is performed by the route search unit 775.

In addition, during the period from the reference point display in step S504 to the target value setting in step S507, the navigation terminal device 1 requests map information as necessary and receives distribution of map information in a predetermined area from the web server 3. (Both are indicated by broken line blocks). This is performed by the map information display unit 771. When the destination is not in the previously received map of the surrounding area, the web server 3 is requested to distribute the map information of the adjacent area again.
Here, the surrounding map information is received again, and the destination is searched by moving the screen of the updated map information. At this time, the route line drawing unit 774 starts from the reference point based on the updated screen. Recalculate the direction to the destination and redraw the path from the reference point to the destination on the screen. The route search unit 775 is continuously drawn between the reference point and the destination by the route line drawn by the route line drawing unit 774 even when the map information is updated, and displayed on the screen.

  The navigation terminal device 1 obtains the reference point or destination information existing at a predetermined distance from the displayed center position from the web server 3 and calculates the direction and the distance between the center position and the reference point or the destination. Is generated and drawn as line segment information, and here, the length of the line segment representing the azimuth is set according to the distance.

As described above, the present invention searches the destination by moving the screen from the map information displayed on the screen, and superimposes the route connecting the destination with the position information searched by the server as a reference point on the screen. When drawing and displaying the destination, if the reference point disappears from the screen, the display of the reference point and the destination is switched, and the route from the displayed reference point to the destination is displayed according to the drawn route information. It is possible to trace. Then, by displaying the vector as a straight line on the screen, the user can follow the path from the reference point to the destination.
This makes it easy to recognize the information of the surrounding area to the destination by following the route, and it is possible to omit unnecessary scrolling in a terminal device with a small screen capacity, improving usability and burdening the user. It is reduced. Further, the display of the reference point and the destination can be switched by a specific button operation, and the usability can be further improved.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the map distribution is described as being provided by the web server 3. However, this is not limited to the case where the map information can be prepared on the navigation terminal device 1 side. Although the location information is obtained by accessing the web server 3, it can be realized only by the navigation terminal device 1 originally.
Furthermore, although only the mobile phone is illustrated as the navigation terminal device 1, the present invention is not limited to this and can be similarly applied to a PDA, a home personal computer, and an in-vehicle navigation device. Further, the present invention can be applied to a closed system using a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and a DVD in addition to a communication network using the Internet network.
Note that the procedure shown in the sequence chart in FIG. 5 is programmed in the navigation terminal device 1 and the web server 3 and recorded in the recording device, and the CPU reads and executes it. And recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or a flexible disk. Further, without being fixed to these recording media, it is conceivable that the program of the navigation terminal device 1 is downloaded and used via a communication line.

It is a figure which shows an example of the connection form of the navigation system by which this invention is employ | adopted. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the navigation terminal device 1 in FIG. It is the block diagram which expanded and showed the function of the internal structure of the communication application part 17 shown in FIG. It is the block diagram which expanded and showed the internal structure of the map information application shown in FIG. It is the operation | movement sequence chart quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen structure of the navigation terminal device quoted in order to demonstrate operation | movement of this invention embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation terminal device 2 Internet network 3 Web server 17 Communication application part 177 Map information application 771 Map information display part 772 Screen movement control part 773 Destination display part 774 Route track drawing part 775 Route search part

Claims (5)

Using a point that is searched according to the user's operation as a mark for searching for a destination as a reference point , map information of a peripheral area including the reference point is acquired, and the acquired map information is displayed on the screen. Map information display means;
Screen movement control means for moving the map information displayed on the screen in response to a user operation;
Destination setting means for setting a predetermined position on the screen indicated by the map information on which the screen movement has been performed as a destination;
During the period from the display of the map information of the peripheral area including the reference point to the setting of the destination, a straight line connecting the reference point and a predetermined position on the screen is superimposed on the screen on which the map information is displayed. Drawing means for drawing,
A navigation device comprising:   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined position is displayed at a center position on the screen.   The map information display means is means for acquiring map information of an adjacent area and displaying the acquired map information on a screen when there is no destination in the acquired map information. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2.   The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the map information display means is means for acquiring map information including the reference point from a web server via the Internet. Using a point that is searched according to the user's operation as a mark for searching for a destination as a reference point , map information of a peripheral area including the reference point is acquired, and the acquired map information is displayed on the screen. Map information display process,
A screen movement control step for moving the screen of the map information displayed on the screen according to a user operation;
A destination setting step of setting a predetermined position on the screen indicated by the map information on which the screen movement has been performed as a destination;
During the period from the display of the map information of the peripheral area including the reference point to the setting of the destination, a straight line connecting the reference point and a predetermined position on the screen is superimposed on the screen on which the map information is displayed. A drawing process for drawing, and
The destination setting method characterized by including.

Images