JP4776726B2 - Facility search device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a facility search apparatus suitable for use in a navigation system.

  In the navigation system, when the facility data registered in the map database (map DB) is the latest data registered at the time of data creation, the user knows only the facility name before the facility change. Could not retrieve the target facility data.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, conventionally, a navigation system that enables facility search by the name before the change of the facility registered in the map DB is known. Specifically, as the facility data, the latest facility data including the latest facility name and map position at the time of data creation, and the old facility data related to the latest facility data if there is an old facility name are stored. If the target facility name is entered, the presence or absence of the target facility is determined from the latest facility data. It is a mechanism for determining (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2006-349520 A

  According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, the target facility can be searched with the changed facility name after data creation even though the target facility can be searched with the facility name before the change by the data structure of the map DB. There was a problem that could not be searched. Although this problem can be solved by downloading and acquiring the latest map data via a network or the like, there is a problem that time and cost are required to download the map data.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems. The facility name can be searched without requiring the download of map data, not to mention the facility name before the change, but also the facility name after the change. An object of the present invention is to provide a facility search apparatus that improves the above.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the facility search apparatus according to the present invention includes a first storage unit that stores facility data at the time of data creation, and a facility before the change before the facility name is changed to the facility name when the facility data is created Storage means for storing data indicating the relationship between the name and the facility name at the time of data creation, or data indicating the relationship between the changed facility name at the time of data creation and the facility name at the time of data creation If the target facility cannot be searched with reference to the first storage means, the facility is searched with the target facility as the pre-change facility name or the post-change facility name with reference to the second storage means. Search means, update means for updating the stored contents stored in the second storage means when the facility name is changed, and the changed facility name obtained by the facility search means referring to the second storage means, or change Former facility name Display control means for displaying together with the first data creation facility names stored in the storage means for communicating, it instructs a search by entering the upper few digits of the facility name, and displays the facility search result by the facility search means The facility search means refers to the first storage means based on the name of the facility input by the input display means, performs a facility search to display candidate facilities, and the facility search result is an object. If it is different from the facility, the first storage means is referred to as the facility name before or after the change as the target facility when the input display means inputs an instruction to search by the facility name before and after the change. Search facility data .

  According to this invention, not only the facility name before changing to the facility name at the time of data creation, but also the facility name after changing from the facility name at the time of data creation without downloading map data is required. Therefore, it is possible to provide a facility search apparatus that can improve usability.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is the block diagram which expanded and showed the internal structure of navigation ECU used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the basic operation | movement of the plant | facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of DB for POI search used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the POI name search list display screen structure used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of POI search assistance DB used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of POI search assistance DB used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the search result of POI search auxiliary | assistance DB used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the new and old POI name search result display screen structure used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of POI search assistance DB used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the data update operation | movement of POI search assistance DB of the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of POI search assistance DB update screen structure used with the facility search apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention in more detail, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the facility search apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Here, an in-vehicle navigation system is exemplified as the facility search device.
As shown in FIG. 1, an in-vehicle navigation system 1 uses a navigation ECU (navigation electronic control unit) 11 as a control center, and includes various sensor devices 12, operation switches 13, a map data storage unit 14, a recording medium 15, and a display 16. , An audio unit 17 and a speaker 18.

  The navigation ECU 11 generates and outputs various sensor devices 12 including an orientation sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, and the like. The angular velocity, the vehicle speed pulse, and satellite information (latitude, longitude, time), respectively. Based on the current position of the vehicle. The navigation ECU 11 also searches for the facility and searches for the route to the destination by referring to the map data storage unit 14 in which the map data including the facility data is stored based on the input information from the operation switch 13. A map, vehicle current position information, route information, and the like are superimposed on the display 16. The navigation ECU 11 further displays on the display 16 a schematic diagram regarding the left / right turn guidance at the branch intersection, and outputs a guidance voice from the speaker 18 via the audio unit 17 as the vehicle moves.

  In addition, the display 16 is comprised using display devices, such as a liquid crystal display panel and an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, for example, and displays the image according to the video signal supplied from navigation ECU11.

On the other hand, the map data storage unit 14 stores various types of map information necessary for navigation. Specifically, the map data storage unit 14 uses a locator DB 141 used for calculating the current position of the vehicle, and a target from the current position of the vehicle. Route search DB 142, route guidance DB 143, map display DB 144 for displaying a map screen, POI (Point of Interest) search used for facility search DB 145 for use is included.
For this reason, the map data storage unit 14 (POI search DB 145) functions as a “first storage means storing facility data at the time of data creation” that constitutes the facility search apparatus of the present invention.

  In addition to the map data, the storage medium 15 stores information necessary for navigation other than the map data, here, POI search auxiliary data (POI search auxiliary DB) of the POI search DB 145 of the map data storage unit 14 and the like. The The storage medium 15 is composed of a memory card composed of a nonvolatile storage device such as a flash memory. Therefore, in the following description, the storage medium 15 will be described as the memory card 15. It is assumed that the POI search auxiliary DB stored in the memory card 15 is sequentially updated on the basis of information acquired from a server by operation of the operation switch 13 or via a network (not shown) as the facility name is changed.

  An example of the data structure of the POI search DB 145 of the map data storage unit 14 is shown in FIG. 4, and an example of the data structure of the POI search auxiliary DB of the memory card 15 is shown in FIGS.

As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the memory card 15 is internally composed of two memory blocks. One is the name of the old (before change) facility and the point of creation of the POI search DB 145. Is a memory block in which data indicating the relationship with the facility name (map data storage name) is stored, and the other one is the new (changed) facility name and the facility name at the time of creation of the POI search DB 145 This is a memory block in which data indicating the relationship with (map data storage name) is stored.
For this reason, the memory card 15 constitutes the facility search apparatus of the present invention, “data indicating the relationship between the facility name before the change and the facility name at the time of the data creation, or the facility name after the change and the data creation time. "Second storage means for storing data indicating the relationship with the facility name".

  The navigation ECU 11 uses the map data storage unit 14 (POI search DB 145) and the memory card 15 (POI search auxiliary DB) to configure the facility search apparatus of the present invention. If the target facility data cannot be retrieved with reference to the storage means, the first storage is referred to as the facility name before or after the change with reference to the second storage means. It functions as “facility search means for searching the facility data with reference to the storage means”.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an expanded function of the internal configuration of the navigation ECU 11 shown in FIG. 1. Here, only the blocks related to the facility search are extracted and shown.
As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation ECU 11 includes an operation menu display unit 111, a POI search unit 112, a current position calculation unit 113, a route search unit 114, a route guidance unit 115, a map display unit 116, The display composition unit 117, the POI search auxiliary unit 118, and the recording medium update unit 119 are configured.

  The functions of these blocks 111 to 119 are achieved by the navigation ECU 11 executing respective programs stored in a built-in main memory (not shown). However, it does not indicate only what is divided and incorporated with other blocks, but is simply a representation of each processing block in order to simplify the description.

  Based on the information from the operation switch 13, the operation menu display unit 111 generates an operation menu or information for displaying the facility data to be searched that is input, and controls the display 16 via the display composition unit 117. . The operation menu display unit 111 includes a POI name old and new simultaneous display control unit 110 that simultaneously displays new and old names of facility data obtained from a POI search unit 112 described later. The operation menu display unit 111 constitutes the facility search apparatus according to the present invention as “input display means for inputting a high-order digit of a facility name to instruct a facility search and displaying a facility search result by the facility search means”. Function.

  The POI search unit 112 reads facility information from the POI search DB 145 based on the operation menu display unit 111 and performs a facility search, and a user can specify a destination. The current position calculation unit 113 determines the current position of the vehicle by referring to the locator DB 141 of the map data storage unit 14 from signals output from various sensor devices 12, such as the direction sensor 121, the vehicle speed sensor 122, and the GPS receiver 123. Calculation is performed to control each of the route search unit 114, the route guidance unit 115, and the map display unit 116.

  The route search unit 114 reads the corresponding route from the route search DB 142 of the map data storage unit 14 based on the current position information output from the current position calculation unit 113 and the destination information specified by the operation menu display unit 111. And has a function of searching for a route from the current vehicle position to the destination. In addition, the route guidance unit 115 uses the route guidance DB 143 of the map data storage unit 14 based on the instruction from the operation menu display unit 111, the route search result by the route search unit 114, and the information output from the current position calculation unit 113. It has a function of reading information and performing route guidance.

  The map display unit 116 reads map data from the map display DB 144 of the map data storage unit 14 based on the current position information output by the current position calculation unit 113, generates a map screen, and outputs the map screen to the display composition unit 117. . The display synthesis unit 117 synthesizes (superimposes) display information output from each of the map display unit 116, the route search unit 114, and the route guidance unit 115 based on an instruction from the operation menu display unit 111, and displays the operation menu. It is possible to compose the display. The display 16 displays the result of display composition output from the display composition unit 117.

  As described above, the memory card 15 stores the POI search auxiliary data in the POI search DB 145 of the map data storage unit 14. The POI search assisting unit 118 reads the correspondence between the facility name before and after the change and the facility name at the time of data creation from the memory card 15 (POI search assisting DB) based on an instruction from the POI search unit 112, and assists facility search I do. When the POI search auxiliary unit 118 cannot search the target facility data by referring to the POI search DB 145 by cooperating with the POI search unit 112, the POI search auxiliary unit 118 refers to the memory card 15 (POI search auxiliary DB). The target facility is set to the name of the facility before the change or the name of the facility after the change, and the POI search DB 145 is referenced again to search for the facility data that is position information on the map of the target facility.

  The storage medium update unit 119 rewrites the POI search auxiliary DB stored in the memory card 15, and the rewrite content is updated by an instruction from the operation switch 13 or update information acquired via a network (not shown). Based. Therefore, the storage medium updating unit 119 functions as “an updating unit that updates the storage content stored in the second storage unit in accordance with the change of the facility name” constituting the facility search apparatus of the present invention.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the basic operation of the facility search apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the facility search apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, in order to search for target facility data, the user operates the operation switch 13 to input the target facility name (POI name) to be searched halfway. Here, it is assumed that the characters are up to several digits constituting the facility name. In FIG. 4, in addition to the data structure of the POI search DB 145, the POI search DB 145 search is performed when the user enters the facility name halfway, for example, “ki”, “yo”, “u”, and “se”. A range (in alphabetical order) is shown.

  The navigation ECU 11 detects that the POI name has been input via the operation switch 13 and activates the POI search unit 112 (step ST301 “YES”). Upon receiving this, the POI search unit 112 receives the map data. The corresponding POI data in the POI search DB 145 of the storage unit 14 is narrowed down (step ST302), and the result (candidate facility) is displayed as a list on the display 16 by the operation menu display unit 111 (step ST303). FIG. 5 shows an example of the configuration of the screen (facility search result display screen) when the search range shown in FIG. 4 is listed on the display 16. Here, an example in which all 199 candidate facilities were hit in the Kinki area is shown, and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) environment that prompts selection from all candidate facilities by operating the elevator icon on the left of the screen. Provided.

  Here, if the desired facility is displayed as a candidate list on the display 16, the user can select it and set it as the destination. However, the desired facility is an old name (name before change) or a new name (name after change) at the time the facility data stored in the POI search DB 145 is created. If it is found, it cannot be found from the displayed candidate list. On the other hand, according to the facility search device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the user refers to the memory card 15 using the POI name that has been input halfway earlier, so that the target POI name is It is possible to search for the POI name before or after the change (relative to the POI name at the time of map data creation). This function is realized as a search trigger when the “search by new / old name” button assigned and displayed in the lower right of the facility search result display screen shown in FIG. 5 is pressed.

  Fig. 6 shows the POI search auxiliary DB starting from "Kyouse" (the name of the facility before the change and the name of the facility at the time of map data creation). The search ranges of the auxiliary DB (the changed facility name and the facility name at the time of creating the map data) are shown in the order of 50 sounds. FIG. 8 shows an example of the screen configuration of the “Kyose” search result searched from the memory card 15 (POI search auxiliary DB) based on the search range shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. Here, regarding the facility name “Kyose” up to the middle, the hit POI name “Kyose Ishika XX Clinic” is not applicable to the POI search DB 145, and the changed facility name “Kyose Radome Osaka” “Kyosera □□” indicates that “Osaka Dome” and “Kyoto ΔΔΔ (Cub)” are stored in the POI search DB 145.

  That is, in the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, the candidate list displayed on the display 16, that is, the candidate list created by the POI search unit 112 searching the POI search DB 145 in the map data storage unit 14 by the user. When the desired POI is selected (step ST304 “YES”), the POI search unit 112 further activates the POI search auxiliary unit 118, whereby the POI search auxiliary unit 118 causes the memory card 15 (POI search auxiliary) DB) is searched (step ST310), and it is determined whether or not the facility selected by the user exists as the new POI name after the change (step ST311).

  Here, when it is determined that the facility name selected by the user exists in the new facility name after the change (“YES” in step ST311), the POI search unit 112 selects the selected POI via the operation menu display unit 111. A name is set as a destination (step ST309), and when it is determined that the selected POI does not exist in the new POI name after the change (step ST311 “NO”), a message indicating that there is no corresponding data is displayed on the display 16. (Step ST312).

On the other hand, when the target POI is not selected from the candidate list created by the POI search DB 145 (step ST304 “NO”), the POI search auxiliary unit 118 controls the POI search auxiliary unit 118 before and after the change under the control of the POI search unit 112. The memory card 15 (POI search auxiliary DB) is searched in order to search by the old and new POI names (step ST306).
As a result, the POI search auxiliary unit 118 generates a new candidate list including a facility name correspondence table including the old and new POI names before and after the change and the POI names stored in the POI search DB 145, and passes through the POI search unit 112. The operation menu display unit 111 is controlled to display the new and old facility name search results before and after the POI name change (step ST307), and prompt the user to select the POI name to be the destination setting target using the operation switch 13. . Subsequently, the POI search unit 112 waits for a POI selection operation by the user for destination setting (step ST308 “YES”), searches the POI search DB 145 according to the selected POI, and sets the corresponding facility. Destination is set based on the data (step ST309).

  Here, the new and old facility name search results before and after the change of the POI name newly displayed in the list are shown in FIG. 9, for example. The above-described new and old POI name search results are displayed as a list by the POI name old and new simultaneous display control unit 110 of the operation menu display unit 111. If there is no name corresponding to the POI search DB 145 for the old POI name before the change, “ “N / A” is displayed. In addition, as shown in FIG. 10, when there is no facility corresponding to the new POI name after the change with respect to the POI name (facility name at the time of data creation) in the POI search DB 145, the facility is lost. As in FIG. 9, “N / A” is displayed.

By the way, the auxiliary DB for POI search stored in the memory card 15 can be rewritten by the storage medium updating unit 119. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the rewriting operation of the storage medium 15.
In FIG. 11, when rewriting the contents of the memory card 15, first, the auxiliary DB rewriting screen for POI search is displayed on the display 16 (step ST111). An example of the screen configuration of the POI search auxiliary DB rewriting screen is shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart of FIG. 11, when the user presses the “Yes” button in response to an inquiry message asking whether to start downloading from the memory card 15, the storage medium update unit 119 confirms that the memory card has been inserted. Upon detection (step ST112 “YES”), a download start confirmation screen (not shown) is displayed on the display 16 via the operation menu display unit 111. Subsequently, the storage medium updating unit 119 waits for a confirmation input instruction from the user (“YES” in step ST113) and checks whether there is an error in the data to be downloaded (step ST114). Here, the download is started only when it is confirmed that there is no error (step ST115), the download is completed, and the content update processing of the storage medium 15 is completed (step ST116).

  If it is determined in step ST112 that the memory card 15 is not inserted (step ST112 “NO”), or if it is determined that there is an error in the data to be downloaded (step ST114 “NO”), the storage medium is updated. The unit 119 displays an error on the display 16 (step ST117), and ends the series of processes for updating the contents of the storage medium 15 described above. In addition, in step ST113, when there is no confirmation input on the download start confirmation screen (step ST113 “NO”), the above-described series of processing relating to the content update of the memory card 15 is ended.

  In addition, according to the facility search apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, the content update of the memory card 15 has been described as being performed by the navigation ECU 11 (storage medium update unit 119). Use it to edit data (related data between old and new POI names and facility names at the time of map data creation), or download new data via a network such as the Internet and copy it to the memory card 15 to copy the memory. It is also conceivable to use the card 15 by inserting it into a memory slot or the like of the in-vehicle navigation system.

  As described above, according to the facility search apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention, the map data storage unit 14 (POI search DB 145) is stored in the storage medium (memory card 15) regarding facilities such as golf courses and hotels. In addition to the facility data registered in, the data indicating the relationship between the old and new POI names before and after the facility name change and the POI name at the time of data creation registered in the map data storage unit 14 is additionally registered. Thus, the facility search is made possible by searching with either the new POI name after the change or the old POI name before the change. For this reason, even when the user only knows the name older (or newer) than the name of the POI registered in the map data storage unit 14 (POI search DB 145), the facility name is changed before (old name) or after changed A search can be performed by referring to the memory card 15 in which the relationship between the (new name) and the POI name is stored. In addition, in this case, it is possible to search for a target facility simply by updating only the contents of the memory card 15, so that it is possible to shorten the update time, reduce the update cost, and respond immediately when the facility name is suddenly changed. Become. Since the memory card 15 to be updated is configured separately from the in-vehicle navigation system main body device, it can be updated separately from the in-vehicle navigation system.

  In addition, according to the facility search device according to the first embodiment of the present invention described above, only the in-vehicle navigation system is illustrated as the facility search device. However, for example, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a mobile phone, The same applies to PCs, game machines, and the like.

  In addition, the functions of the constituent blocks included in the facility search apparatus (navigator ECU 11) according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention shown in FIG. 2 may be realized entirely by software, or at least a part thereof may be realized by hardware. May be. For example, data processing in the POI search unit 112, the current position calculation unit 113, the route search unit 114, the route guidance unit 115, the POI search auxiliary unit 118, and the recording medium update unit 119 is realized on a computer by one or a plurality of programs. Alternatively, at least a part of it may be realized by hardware.

  As described above, the facility search apparatus according to the present invention additionally registers data indicating the relationship between the facility data at the time of data creation and the facility names before and after the change, and maps the facility names before and after the change. Since the facility search is realized without requiring data download, it is suitable for use in an in-vehicle navigation system, a mobile phone, a PC, and the like.

Claims (2)

First storage means storing facility data at the time of data creation;
Data indicating the relationship between the facility name before change to the facility name at the time of creation of the facility data and the facility name at the time of data creation, or the changed facility name changed from the facility name at the time of data creation Second storage means for storing data indicating the association with the facility name at the time of data creation;
If the target facility could not be searched with reference to the first storage means, the facility data is referred to by referring to the second storage means and the target facility as the pre-change facility name or the post-change facility name. Facility search means for searching
Updating means for updating the storage content stored in the second storage means in accordance with the change of the facility name;
Display for displaying the facility name after change obtained by referring to the second storage means by the facility search means, or the name of the facility before change, together with the facility name at the time of data creation stored in the related first storage means Control means;
Instructing the search by entering the upper few digits of the facility name, and input display means for displaying the facility search result by the facility search means,
The facility search means includes:
If the facility search is performed by referring to the first storage unit based on the facility name input by the input display unit to display candidate facilities, and the facility search result is different from the target facility, the input display unit In response to an instruction input for searching by facility name before and after the change, the facility data is referred to the first storage means as the facility name before change or the facility name after change. facility retrieval apparatus which is characterized in that search. The display control means includes
When the facility search means refers to the second storage means, if there is no changed facility name related to the facility name at the time of data creation stored in the first storage means, the facility exists. The facility search device according to claim 1, wherein a message indicating that it has stopped is displayed.

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