JP4471618B2 - Item search device and item search method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an item search apparatus and an item search method for searching for a specific item from a plurality of candidate items such as place names and facility names.

  In recent years, in information processing apparatuses such as personal computers, a character processing function is driven to input characters from a keyboard. Such a character input function is also required in electronic devices other than personal computers.

  For example, a character input function is required for inputting a destination in an in-vehicle navigation device and inputting characters in a video game machine. By the way, in such an electronic device, it is difficult to separately provide a keyboard that is used in a general personal computer in consideration of its usage. For this reason, a touch panel virtual keyboard is provided on the display screen of the electronic device for input, or a character key displayed on the display screen of the electronic device is selected by an operator other than the keyboard provided separately. The character input function was realized by selecting a character key.

Some electronic devices having a character input function assign several characters to each key of a numeric keypad (for example, Patent Document 1). In this electronic device, each time the same key is pressed, the character assigned to the key is assigned in order from the most frequently used character based on the frequency of use of the general character or the relationship with the character immediately preceding it. Display.
JP 2000-75998 A

  However, according to the character input device described in Patent Document 1 described above, since a plurality of characters are assigned to one key, depending on the character to be input, the key must be pressed many times. There was a problem that input became inconvenient.

  On the other hand, some electronic devices having the same character input function search for and input specific items from a plurality of candidate items such as place names and facility names. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display screen of an electronic device to which a conventional item search method is applied. This electronic device searches for a desired item from among a plurality of items using a character key displayed on the screen, and here uses place names as items.

  In FIG. 5, reference numeral 41 denotes a key display unit that displays 26 characters of the alphabet divided into nine virtual character keys. The user moves a cursor for selecting each character key with an operator (not shown) while looking at the key display unit 41. Then, the user stops the cursor at a position where a desired character key can be selected, and presses a button of an operator (not shown) a predetermined number of times to determine which alphabet is to be input. For example, three alphabets “A”, “B”, and “C” are assigned to a certain character key. “A” is pressed when a button of an operator (not shown) is pressed once, and “B” is pressed when pressed twice. "" Is pressed three times, "C" is selected. In addition, it is also possible for the user to directly operate on the display screen using the key display unit 41 as a touch panel.

  Reference numeral 42 denotes a place name display portion, which displays the place name whose reading is expressed by Pinyin. Pinyin represents the reading of Chinese kanji as an alphabetic character string. And the place name displayed on the place name display part 42 uses the alphabet input with the operation element which is not shown in figure as an initial of Pinyin. Depending on the input alphabet, a plurality of candidates may be displayed for this place name, or no candidates may be displayed at all. If there are too many place names having the input alphabet as the initial of Pinyin to be displayed on the place name display part 42, the scroll button 43 arranged on the left side of the place name display part 42 causes the place name display part 42 to By scrolling the place name display, place names that cannot be displayed can be displayed.

  However, according to the above-described conventional item search method, when the initial character of the item to be searched is input, not only the cursor is moved to each character key but also the second or third character key is assigned. When inputting a written alphabet, it is necessary to press a button of an operating means (not shown) or a character key on the touch panel many times. Further, in some cases, it is necessary to press the scroll button 43 many times. Accordingly, there is a problem that it becomes impossible to input characters quickly and it becomes difficult to search for items.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem. When searching for a desired item from a plurality of items and inputting characters, the desired item can be searched more easily. The purpose is to.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, in the present invention, when searching for a desired item from a plurality of items (Chinese place names) , a character string (pinyin) representing the reading of those items is used, and the same is used. Find the number of items that have an acronym. The initial keys used for the search are arranged and displayed in the order of the number of items.

  According to the present invention configured as described above, since one initial letter is assigned to one initial letter key, when searching for a desired item from a plurality of items, the same initial letter key Need not be pressed many times. In this case, the number of initial keys may increase and may not be displayed on one screen, but even if not all of the initial keys are displayed on one screen, they are displayed on the display screen with the initials that the user wants to select. Since the probability of matching the initial key is extremely high, the initial character can be input quickly and easily, and the item can be searched quickly.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the item search apparatus according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an operation unit (corresponding to the operation means in the claims), which moves a cursor in the display screen, determines an item selected by the cursor, and switches the screen display. It is used for The operation unit 1 includes, for example, a joystick, or up / down / left / right movement buttons and a determination button. The operation unit 1 may be configured as a touch panel using a display screen.

  Reference numeral 2 denotes a control unit (corresponding to the control means in the claims), which performs various controls by operating the operation unit 1. In addition, for a plurality of items to be searched, a process is performed in which the number of items having the same initial character in the character string representing the item name or item reading is counted for each initial character. For example, the control unit 2 includes a microcomputer including a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM. Reference numeral 3 denotes a storage unit such as a DVD-ROM or a hard disk (corresponding to the storage means in the claims), and a plurality of items to be selected at the time of character input are initials of character strings representing the item names. Or stored in association with the initial letter of the character string representing the reading of the item.

  Reference numeral 4 denotes a display control unit (corresponding to the display control means in the claims). One initial key is assigned to one initial character described above, and each initial key has the same initial character. It controls to display one character at a time in order of the number of items. In addition, when a certain initial key is selected from the displayed initial keys by the operation unit 1, the items stored in association with the initials indicated by the selected initial key are transmitted through the control unit 4. It is for reading out from the storage unit 3 and displaying it. The display control unit 4 displays, for example, a menu image (details will be described later) as shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, application examples of the item search apparatus according to the present embodiment will be shown. Here, the example applied to the vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus is shown. In the following example, a plurality of items that are selection candidates are place names used when searching for a destination. The character string representing the reading of the place name is Pinyin.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an in-vehicle navigation device to which the item search device according to the present embodiment is applied. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a map recording medium such as a DVD-ROM, which stores various types of map data necessary for map display and route search. Here, the DVD-ROM 11 is used as a recording medium for storing the map data, but other recording media such as a CD-ROM and a hard disk may be used. A DVD-ROM control unit 12 controls reading of map data from the DVD-ROM 11.

  The map data recorded on the DVD-ROM 11 includes place names as destination search candidates as place name data. A plurality of place name data recorded on the DVD-ROM 11 are managed in a plurality of layers. For example, when the hierarchy is divided into three, the first widest part of the address (for example, the name of the prefecture in Japan) is the top layer, and the second widest part of the address is the lower layer. (For example, in the case of Japan, the city name), the bottom layer manages the rest of the address.

  Reference numeral 13 denotes a position measuring device that measures the current position of the vehicle, and includes a self-contained navigation sensor, a GPS receiver, a position calculation CPU, and the like. The self-contained navigation sensor includes a vehicle speed sensor (distance sensor) that outputs a single pulse for each predetermined travel distance to detect the travel distance of the vehicle, and an angular velocity sensor such as a vibration gyro that detects the rotation angle (movement direction) of the vehicle. (Relative orientation sensor). The self-contained navigation sensor detects the relative position and direction of the vehicle by these vehicle speed sensor and angular velocity sensor.

  The position calculation CPU calculates the absolute own vehicle position (estimated vehicle position) and vehicle direction based on the relative position and direction data of the own vehicle output from the self-contained navigation sensor. The GPS receiver receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites with a GPS antenna, performs a three-dimensional positioning process or a two-dimensional positioning process, and calculates the absolute position and direction of the vehicle (the vehicle direction is The calculation is based on the current vehicle position and the current vehicle position one sampling time ΔT before).

  A map information memory 14 temporarily stores map data read from the DVD-ROM 11 under the control of the DVD-ROM control unit 12. That is, the DVD-ROM control unit 12 inputs information on the current vehicle position from the position measurement device 13 and outputs an instruction to read out map data in a predetermined range including the current vehicle position, thereby displaying a map display or guidance route. Map data (including place name data) necessary for the search is read from the DVD-ROM 11 and stored in the map information memory 14. The DVD-ROM 11 and the map information memory 14 correspond to the storage unit 3 in FIG.

  Reference numeral 15 denotes a remote controller (remote control) (corresponding to the operation unit 1 in FIG. 1), and the user sets various information on the navigation device (for example, setting of a route guidance destination by inputting a place name) ), Various operators (buttons, joysticks, etc.) for performing various operations (for example, menu selection operation, enlargement / reduction operation, manual map scroll, numerical value input, etc.). Reference numeral 16 denotes a remote control interface, which receives an infrared signal corresponding to the operation state from the remote control 15.

  Reference numeral 17 denotes a processor (CPU) that controls the entire navigation device. Reference numeral 18 denotes a ROM which stores various programs (such as an item number calculation program and a guidance route search processing program). Reference numeral 19 denotes a RAM which temporarily stores data obtained during various processes and data obtained as a result of various processes. These CPU 17, ROM 18, and RAM 19 correspond to the control unit 2 in FIG.

  The CPU 17 described above uses the place name data stored in the map information memory 14 in accordance with the item number calculation program stored in the ROM 18, and the Pinyin initials representing the place name reading are displayed for each level. Search for the same place name data and count the number of records. The result is stored in the RAM 19. The CPU 17 described above searches for a guidance route with the lowest cost connecting the current location to the destination using the map data stored in the map information memory 14 in accordance with the guidance route search processing program stored in the ROM 18. Process.

  Reference numeral 20 denotes a guidance route memory, which stores guidance route data searched by the CPU 17. The guidance route data stores the position of each node and an intersection identification flag indicating whether each node is an intersection, corresponding to each node from the current location to the destination.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes an intersection enlarged map memory, which temporarily stores enlarged map data of all guidance target intersections in the guidance route (intersection enlarged map for guiding a vehicle toward a destination, destination, and image of a traveling direction arrow). To store. The data of this enlarged intersection view is also appropriately read from the DVD-ROM 11 under the control of the DVD-ROM control unit 12.

  Reference numeral 22 denotes a display controller, which generates map image data necessary for display on the display device 28 based on the map data stored in the map information memory 14. A video RAM 23 temporarily stores map image data generated by the display controller 22. That is, the map image data generated by the display controller 22 is temporarily stored in the video RAM 23, and the map image data for one screen is read and output to the image composition unit 27.

  Reference numeral 24 denotes a menu generation unit that generates and outputs a menu image necessary for performing various operations using the remote controller 15 (corresponding to the display control unit 4 in FIG. 1). This menu image includes a place name display and an initial key display. As described above, the CPU 17 searches for place name data having the same Pinyin initial character indicating the reading of the place name, counts the number of records, and stores the result in the RAM 19. The menu generator 24 arranges a part of the menu image by arranging a plurality of initial keys assigned with Pinyin initials as one key according to the result of counting the number of recordings stored in the RAM 19 in order of the number of recorded items. Is generated. In addition, when a desired initial character is selected by pressing an initial character key, the menu generating unit 24 generates a part of the menu image by arranging the place names of the selected initial characters.

  Reference numeral 25 denotes a guidance route generator, which generates guidance route data using the processing result of the guidance route search processing program stored in the guidance route memory 20. That is, the guidance route data stored in the guidance route memory 20 is selectively read out that is included in the map area drawn in the video RAM 23 at that time, and the guidance is overlaid on the map image and highlighted with a predetermined color. Draw a route. When the vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance from the guidance intersection in front of the guidance route, an image of the guidance map of the approaching intersection is generated based on the enlarged intersection map data stored in the enlarged intersection map memory 21. And output.

  A mark generator 26 generates and outputs a vehicle position mark to be displayed at the vehicle position after the map matching process, various landmarks to display a gas station, a convenience store, and the like. Note that the map matching process includes the map data read into the map information memory 14, the vehicle position and vehicle orientation data measured by the GPS receiver measured by the position measuring device 13, and the vehicle estimated by the autonomous navigation sensor. This is a process for correcting the position of the traveling position of the vehicle on the road of the map data using the position and vehicle direction data.

  The above-described image composition unit 27 composes and outputs various images. That is, the map image data read by the display controller 22 is overlaid with the image data output from each of the menu generation unit 24, the guide route generation unit 25, and the mark generation unit 26, and image synthesis is performed. Output to. As a result, map information around the vehicle is displayed on the screen of the display device 28 together with the vehicle position mark, the destination mark, and the like. In addition, a guidance route is displayed on the map, and an enlarged view of the intersection is displayed when the position of the vehicle approaches the vicinity of the intersection.

  Reference numeral 29 denotes a voice generation unit that utters a voice for intersection guidance, a voice for various operation guidance, and the like. Reference numeral 30 denotes a speaker, which outputs the sound generated by the sound generator 29 to the outside. Reference numeral 31 denotes a bus, which is used for exchanging data between the various functional configurations described above.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a menu image generated by the display control unit 4 of the item search device according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 7 denotes a key display unit. When the place name reading as a search item as a destination is indicated by Pinyin, one initial key is assigned to one initial letter, and each initial key is assigned. Are displayed one by one in order of the number of recorded place names with the same initials. In addition, the control unit 2 in FIG. 1 checks the number of recorded place names having the same initials as Pinyin, and the display control unit 4 displays the initial keys arranged in order from the left in order of the number of recorded place names. is doing.

  Reference numeral 8 denotes a horizontal scroll button for scrolling the key display unit 7 in the left-right direction to display initial keys that are not displayed on the key display unit 7 at a time. Reference numeral 9 denotes a place name display section, which displays place names in order from the top with the alphabet indicated by the initial letter key selected by the key display section 7 as the initial letter of Pinyin. Note that the place names may be displayed in order from the most frequently selected place names, or may be displayed in alphabetical order after the first letter.

  Reference numeral 10 denotes a vertical scroll button. When a place name having the alphabet indicated by the selected initial letter as the initial of Pinyin cannot be displayed on the place name display section 9, the place name display section 9 is scrolled up and down. It is for displaying other place names. One arrow of the vertical scroll button 10 is used to scroll the place name of the place name display unit 9 one by one, and two arrows are used to scroll the place name of the place name display unit 9 greatly.

  Next, the destination setting operation using the item search device of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the CPU 17 checks whether or not the start of destination setting is designated by operating the remote controller 15 (step S1). When the start of destination setting is instructed by remote controller 15 (YES in step S1), CPU 17 further checks whether or not search by place name is selected (step S2). Step S1 is repeated until the destination setting is started (NO in step S1).

  Here, when another search method is selected (NO in step S2), the process proceeds to another search method (step S4). Other search methods may include inputting a destination name, a destination telephone number, a destination genre, and a destination zip code. On the other hand, when the search by place name is selected (YES in step S2), the CPU 17 uses the place name data stored in the map information memory 14 in accordance with the item number calculation program stored in the ROM 18, and uses the place name data stored in the map information memory 14. Search is made for place name data having the same Pinyin initial character indicating the reading of the place name belonging to the upper layer, and the number of recorded data is counted (step S3). The result is stored in the RAM 19.

  In the menu generating unit 24, initial characters are arranged in order from the largest number of recorded place name data, and initial keys are displayed on the display device 28 (step S5). Specifically, as shown in the key display unit 7 of FIG. 3, the initial keys are displayed side by side in order from “X” having the largest number of recorded place name data. Looking at this display, the user selects and presses an initial key representing the reading of the desired place name from the initial keys displayed on the key display unit 7. Here, when the initial key indicating the reading of the desired place name does not exist in the key display unit 7, the display of the initial key on the key display unit 7 is scrolled by the horizontal scroll button 8. In this way, the display of the initial key on the key display unit 7 is scrolled, and when the desired initial key is displayed, it is selected.

  Next, the CPU 17 checks whether or not the initial key in the screen displayed on the display device 28 has been selected (step S6). When the user operates remote control 15 to select a desired initial key (YES in step S6), CPU 17 obtains place name data having the initial indicated by the selected initial key from map information memory 14. read out. Then, using the read place name data, the menu generating unit 24 generates a menu image and displays it on the display device 28 (step S7). Specifically, the place name is displayed as shown in the place name display section 9 of FIG. Step S6 is repeated until an initial key is selected (in the case of NO at step S6).

  The user selects and presses a desired place name by looking at the place name displayed in the place name display section 9. If the desired place name does not exist in the place name display section 9, the display of the place name display section 9 is scrolled by the vertical scroll button 10. In this way, the display of the place name display unit 9 is scrolled, and when a desired place name is displayed, it is selected.

  Next, the CPU 17 checks whether or not the place name displayed on the display device 28 has been selected (step S8). This step S8 is repeated until any place name is selected (in the case of NO in step S8). When remote control 15 is operated by the user and a desired place name is selected (YES in step S8), CPU 17 checks whether or not place names have been input for all levels (step S9). If it is determined that all the place names have not been input (NO in step S9), the search target is shifted to the place name of the lower hierarchy (step S11). Specifically, the CPU 17 reads from the map information memory 14 the place name data belonging to the hierarchy below the place name selected in step S8.

  When the search target shifts to a lower hierarchy place name, the CPU 17 uses the place name data stored in the map information memory 14 in accordance with the item number calculation program stored in the ROM 18 and moves to the lower hierarchy place name. Search for place name data having the same Pinyin initials representing the reading of and read the number of records (step S3). The result is stored in the RAM 19. Further, the menu generating unit 24 arranges the initial keys in the order of the number of recorded place name data, and displays the initial keys on the display device 28 (step S5). In this way, the processing from step S3 to step S8 is repeated until it is determined that the place names of all layers have been input. In the display screen of FIG. 3, after selecting the place name “Beijing City” in the uppermost layer, the display moves to the lower layer, and “Seijo Ward”, “Shibu Ward” A screen for selecting a desired place name from place names such as “Changping District” and “Asamou District” is shown.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the place names of all the hierarchies have been input (YES in step S9), the point corresponding to the place name of the lowest layer finally input is set as the destination (step S10).

  As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, when searching for a desired place name from among a plurality of place names, the number of place names having the same initials for the pinyin representing the reading is checked and searched. The initial keys used for the are displayed in the order of the most recorded numbers, so even when not all of the initial keys are displayed on one screen, they are displayed on the display screen with the initial characters that the user wants to input It is possible to increase the probability that the initial key matches. Thereby, an initial can be input quickly and easily, and an item can be searched quickly.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, characters are input using Chinese Pinyin. However, if Chinese place names are classified according to Pinyin initials, the number of place names corresponding to each initial letter becomes more uneven. For this reason, by arranging the initial keys used for the search in order of the number of recorded place names, the initial keys displayed side by side on the key display unit 7 correspond to the place names to be selected by the user. The probability that an initial letter is included becomes extremely high, and it becomes easier to search for place names. In addition, when searching for a place name in China, candidate place names are displayed without inputting all of the Pinyin alphabet, so that a desired place name can be easily selected.

  In the menu image displayed on the display device 28 according to the present embodiment, the key display unit 7 arranges the initial keys from left to right in the order in which the number of place names having the same initial character for Pinyin is large. Although displayed, initial keys may be displayed side by side from top to bottom. Thereby, since the key display part 7 does not overlap the place name display part 9, the number of place names that can be displayed on the place name display part 9 can be increased.

  In this embodiment, after the start of setting the destination is instructed, the CPU 17 counts the number of recorded place name data with the same Pinyin initials according to the item number calculation program stored in the ROM 18. This processing may be performed before the destination setting start is instructed. In this way, it is possible to shorten the time from when the destination setting start is instructed until the initial keys are displayed side by side.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the case of searching for a destination by a place name is described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to a case of searching by a facility name, a genre of facility, a person name, a company name, and the like. In this case, the key display unit 7 displays the initial letters of the characters representing the reading of the facility name, the genre of the facility, the person name, the company name, and the like. In this embodiment, the case where Chinese is used as the language has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to Chinese. For example, when Japanese is used, a Japanese alphabet or Roman alphabet representing the reading of an item in Japanese is displayed as an initial key. When English is used, the initial letter of the word in English is displayed as an initial key. In this embodiment, the example in which the item search device and the item search method are applied to the vehicle-mounted navigation device has been described. However, the item search device and the item search method may be used for other electronic devices.

  In addition, each of the above-described embodiments is merely an example of actualization in carrying out the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a limited manner. In other words, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit or main features thereof.

  The present invention relates to an electronic device such as a car navigation device that displays a plurality of items by selecting a desired character key from among character keys displayed on a screen, and selects a desired item from the plurality of items. Useful for.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the item search device of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus to which the item search device by this embodiment is applied. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of the item search device of this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the destination setting using the item search device of this embodiment. It is the display screen of the electronic device to which the conventional item search method is applied.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Operation part 2 Control part 3 Memory | storage part 4 Display control part 7 Key display part 8 Horizontal scroll button 9 Place name display part 10 Vertical scroll button 11 DVD-ROM
14 Map information memory 15 Remote control 17 CPU
18 ROM
19 RAM
24 Menu generator 28 Display device

Claims (6)

A storage means for storing a Chinese place name, which is a plurality of items to be searched, in association with Pinyin initials, which is a character string representing the reading of the item;
Control means for examining the number of items corresponding to the same initial letter for each initial letter for a plurality of items stored in the storage means,
Display control means for assigning initial keys to the initial letters and displaying the initial keys side by side in the order of initial letters with a large number of items examined by the control means;
Operation means for selecting a desired initial key from the initial keys displayed by the display control means;
An item retrieval apparatus comprising: 2. The item search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control means displays an item associated with the initial letter indicated by the initial letter key by selecting a desired initial letter key by the operation means. The item search device according to claim 1, wherein the initial letter is an alphabet. The control means of the item search device counts, for each initial, the number of items with the same Pinyin initial letter, which is a character string representing the reading of the item, for a Chinese place name that is a plurality of search target items. A first step;
The display control means of the item search device assigns an initial key to each initial character, and displays the initial key in order of the initial character with the largest number of items counted in the first step. A second step;
An item search method characterized by comprising: When the display control means selects a desired initial key from the initial keys displayed in the second step, an item associated with the initial indicated by the desired initial key is displayed. The item search method according to claim 4 , further comprising a third step of displaying. The item search method according to claim 4, wherein the initial letter is an alphabet.

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