JPH07129740A - Device for making map databases to correspond to each other - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a device for making map databases, to correspond to each other which have been generated by different methods. CONSTITUTION:This device 1 is provided with a comparison part 4. First and second memories 2 and 3 where a private map database and a standard map database stored respectively are connected to this comparison part 4. Map databases are read out from first and second memories 2 and 3 are compared with each other by the comparison part 4. Correspondence relations between map databases are generated based on the comparison result and are stored at a table in a third memory.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for associating a dedicated map database and a standard map database created by different methods with each other.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in order to support the driving of a vehicle on an unfamiliar land, a navigation device for displaying the current position of the vehicle on a display device such as a CRT together with a road map around the vehicle is installed in the vehicle. It is installed and used. Such a navigation device is usually provided with an auxiliary storage device such as a disk in which a map database, which is a collection of the road maps, is stored in advance. The map database stored in this auxiliary storage device is generally 1
It was created based on a topographic map of / 25,000 scale. Therefore, the navigation device is generally configured to process road traffic information based on a map database (hereinafter referred to as "standard map database") created by the Japan Digital Road Map Association.

Further, the navigation device may be provided with a function (hereinafter, referred to as "beacon function") for receiving and processing radio waves radiated from a beacon transmitter installed on the roadside. . The radio waves emitted from the beacon transmitter include regional road traffic information around the beacon transmitter such as traffic jam information and traffic regulation information. This road traffic information is also generally created based on the standard map database. For this reason,
The navigation device with the beacon function can obtain road traffic information transmitted from the beacon transmitter, which is very effective for the driver.

[0004]

By the way, as described above, the navigation device is constructed so as to process the road traffic information based on the standard map database. That is, there is a close correspondence between the configuration of the navigation device and the standard map database.
Therefore, when developing a navigation device, road traffic information based on a standard map database must be processed, which limits the freedom of development.

On the other hand, the applicant of the present application has developed a navigation device that is easier for users to use by using a unique map database. However, the navigation device using its own map database cannot fully utilize the information from the beacon transmitter. The reason is that the information from the beacon transmitter cannot be directly associated with the unique map database.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problem and to provide a map database associating device which can associate map databases created by different methods with each other.

[0007]

A map database associating device according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is stored in advance in a first storage means and a second storage means.
An apparatus for mutually associating a dedicated map database and a standard map database created by different methods, the first reading means reading the dedicated map database from the first storage means, and the second storage means. Second reading means for reading the standard map database from
And a creating means for creating a correspondence between the dedicated map database and the standard map database by comparing the dedicated map database and the standard map database read from the reading means and the second reading means, respectively. And a third storage unit that stores the correspondence relationship as a table.

Further, in the map database associating apparatus according to the second aspect, the dedicated map database and the standard map database each have their own link groups and nodes, and the creating means first sets the link groups of both map databases. Are associated with each other, and then the nodes included in the associated link group are associated with each other.

[0009]

According to the first and second aspects of the invention, the special map database and the standard map database are read from the first and second storage means by the first reading means and the second reading means, respectively. The read-out dedicated map database and the standard map database are compared with each other, and based on the result, the correspondence between the dedicated map database and the standard map database is created.

The correspondence is created by first associating the links contained in the dedicated map database and the standard map database, and then by associating the links with each other. This is preferably performed by associating the nodes included in the group.
When the correspondence between the two map databases is created, the correspondence is stored as a table in the third storage means. Therefore, based on the table stored in the third storage means, the road traffic information based on the dedicated map database and the road traffic information based on the standard map database can be associated with each other.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a map database associating device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This map database associating device 1 is for associating map databases created by different methods with each other, and includes a first memory 2 in which a dedicated map database is stored and a second memory in which a standard map database is stored. 3 and 3. In addition, a comparison unit 4 that compares the map databases stored in the first memory 2 and the map database stored in the second memory 3 and creates a corresponding relationship between them, and a comparison unit 4 that stores the corresponding relationship created by the comparing unit 4 3 memory 5 is provided.

More specifically, the dedicated map database and the standard map database respectively stored in the first memory 2 and the second memory 3 are composed of road map data in a wide area road map in a certain range. Is. The dedicated map database is, for example, 1 /
The standard map database was created based on 2500 scale city planning maps, and the standard map database was created based on 1/25000 scale topographic maps by the Japan Digital Road Map Association, for example. The coordinate systems of the dedicated map database and the standard map database are the same.

The road map data forming the above two map databases is composed of nodes and links. A node is generally a coordinate position for identifying a branch point or a bending point of a road. What is a link?
The above-mentioned nodes are connected to each other, and the link data is composed of data such as a link number, addresses of start and end nodes of the link, link distance, road type, and link direction. The link group described below is a group in which each link is connected for each road type.

Here, the road type indicates which road the link constitutes, and is classified into highways, national roads, prefectural roads, prefectural roads, city roads, etc. . As shown in FIG. 2, the link direction is represented by an angle θ formed by a link L and a line N representing the true north direction, and the direction of the link group is also between the link group and the true north. It is represented by an angle θ formed by a line N indicating a direction.

A control unit 6 for outputting a control signal to the comparison unit 4 by an external operation is connected to the comparison unit 4. In the comparison unit 4, when a control signal is given from the control unit 6, for example, the dedicated map database and the standard map database are read from the first memory 2 and the second memory 3, respectively, and the read dedicated map database and the standard map database are read out. The map databases are compared based on the links and nodes included in the, and their corresponding relationships are created. That is, the comparison unit 4 corresponds to the first and second reading means and the creating means.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall flow of the map database associating process in the map database associating apparatus 1. In the map database associating device 1, link groups are first associated with each road type (process 1). When this processing 1 ends, this time processing 1
The nodes included in the link group associated with each other are associated with each other (process 2). Then, finally, a correspondence table for each link is created (process 3). The association process is performed in such a flow.

By thus performing the association in two stages, the association can be performed accurately and quickly. This is because a rough association can be made by first associating a link group, which is a relatively large concept, with each other. Furthermore, after that,
By associating the nodes, which are relatively small concepts included in the corresponding link groups, in a step-by-step manner from large concept associations to small concept associations and correct correspondences. Because it can be attached.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the above processing 1.
FIG. 6 illustrates the above processing 1 and processing 2 described later.
It is an illustration figure which shows one example for doing. Figure 4 and Figure
6, in the present embodiment, the main local roads are associated with each other.
The case will be described as an example. First,
Main local roads are standard map data
Source is selected (step S1). Then,
Starting point from the above links in the quasi-map database
Node such as node a shown in FIG. 6 (a)₁Is selected
Is selected (step S2). Next, the dedicated map database
Source node a₁Coordinates are closest to
And the departure node a ₁The shape of the link connected to
Nodes with links that have almost the same shape,
For example, the node b shown in FIG. 6 (b)₁Is selected (step
S3). In other words, it is presumed that they indicate the same point.
Nodes are selected.

When the selection of the nodes a ₁ and b ₁ is completed,
Connected link group a ₁ has ~a _n and its direction (angle) of the node b link group being connected to the ₁ b ₁ ~b _n is approximately the same is selected in the node a ₁ (step S
4). That is, a link group that seems to represent the same road is selected. Then, each selected link group a ₁
-A _n , b ₁ -b _n the other end nodes a _n corresponding to the end points,
The coordinates of b _n are compared (step S5).

As a result, each other end node a_n, B_nCoordinates of
Are almost the same, each link group a₁~ A_n，
b₁~ B_nAre determined to represent the same road,
Each link group a₁~ A_n, B₁~ B_nIs associated with
(Step S10). On the other hand, if each node a_n, B_n
If the coordinates of are different, each link group a₁~ A_n, B ₁
~ B_nI doubt if they represent the same road,
As shown in FIG. 7, for example, the other end node a_nLink from
Group b₁~ B_nThe vertical distance r to is calculated (step S
7), and its vertical distance r is a predetermined threshold Δr
It is determined whether or not it is greater than (step S8). So
As a result, the vertical distance r is larger than the predetermined threshold Δr.
If yes, each link group a₁~ A_n, B₁~ B_nAre mutual
Each link group a is determined to represent another road.₁
~ A_n, B₁~ B_nNo correspondence between
S9), the process of associating the main local roads ends. one
On the other hand, if it is smaller than the threshold value Δr, each link group a₁~
a_n, B₁~ B_nAre considered to represent the same road, and
(Step S10).

When the association is completed in this way and the association is completed for all road types, this processing 1
Ends. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the process 2. This process 2 is a process for associating the nodes included in each link group associated in the above process 1, and the process 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

In FIG. 6, the link groups a _{1 to} a _n
And link groups b _{1 to} b _n , link group R 1 and link group R
1 ', link group R3, link group R3', link group R
4 and the link group R4 'are associated with each other in the processing 1. The link group R2 and the link group R2 'are assumed to have the same road type and substantially the same direction. Furthermore, link group R5
And the link group R5 'have the same road type.

The order of associating the nodes is as follows.
Beginning from node a _1, a so called associating process the ends node a ₂ node a _1, is performed in order until a _n. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, first, node a ₁ in the standard map database is selected (step N
1). Next, from the dedicated map database, a node within a certain distance from the node a ₁ selected in step N1, that is, the node b ₁ is selected as a candidate for association (step N2).

In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that there is always a node within a certain distance from the node selected from the standard map database, but there is actually a case where there is no node within the certain distance. Therefore, in step N3, it is determined whether or not there is a node within a certain distance,
If there is no node, the process returns to step N1 and the process 2 is performed for the node for which the association process should be performed next.

When the node b ₁ is selected as the association candidate from the dedicated map database, another link group R1 connected to the node a ₁ and another link group R1 'connected to the node b ₁ are selected. It is determined whether the roads are the same (step N4). That is, each link group R1, R
It is determined whether or not 1'is associated with each other in the process 1. As a result, since the link groups R1 and R1 'are associated with each other, it is determined that the node a ₁ and the node b ₁ surely represent the same point, and the nodes a ₁ and b are the same.
₁ is associated (step N7), and the process returns to step N1.

When the associating process of the node a ₁ is completed,
Next, the association process of the node a ₂ is performed. That is,
A node within a certain distance from the node a ₂ , that is, the node b ₂ is selected from the dedicated map database as a candidate for association (step N2). Incidentally, for example, even within a predetermined distance above the node b ₁ from node a _2, since the node b ₁ is already associated, the node b ₁ is not selected.

[0027] Next, whether or not the other link group R2 'which is connected to the node a ₂ other link group being connected to R2 and the node b ₂ are associated with each other is determined (step N4 ). As a result, each link group R2, R
Since 2'are not associated with each other, whether or not the road types of the link groups R2 and R2 'are the same and whether the directions of the link groups R2 and R2' are substantially the same are next. Is determined (step N5).

Here, the reason why the process of step N5 is performed is that in the process 1, even if the link groups of both map databases represent the same road, they may not be associated with each other. In such a case, This is because it is premature to determine that each node represents a different position simply because they are not associated in the process 1. As a result of the determination in step N5, in the present embodiment, the road types (for example, both prefectural roads) of the link groups R2 and R2 'are the same and the directions are almost the same, so that the link groups R2 and R2 are the same. It is determined that ′ represents the same road, the nodes a ₂ and b ₂ are associated with each other (step N5), and the process returns to step N1.

When the associating process of the node a ₂ is completed,
Next, the association process of the node a ₃ is performed. That is,
From the dedicated map database, nodes within a certain distance from the node a ₃ , that is, nodes b ₃ and b ₄ are selected as association candidates, and other link groups R 3 and R 4 connected to the node a ₃ are selected. , And other link groups R3 ′ and R4 ′ connected to the nodes b ₃ and b ₄ are associated with each other (step N4).

Here, when there are two or more nodes selected as candidates for association as in this case, the determination processing in step N4 is performed in order from the node closer in distance to the node a ₃ . That is, in the case of this embodiment,
The determination process is performed on the node b ₃ , and after the determination process is completed, the determination process is performed on the node b ₄ . That is, first, for node b ₃ , link groups R3 and R4
And the link group R3 'are associated with each other. As a result, 'since associated to the, first link group R3 link group R3' in this embodiment link group R3 and the link group R3 determination process with respect to node b ₃ in that there is a associated To finish. Next, with respect to the node b ₄ , it is determined whether or not the link groups R3 and R4 and the link group R4 ′ are associated with each other.
As a result, in this embodiment, the link group R4 and the link group R4 '
Are associated with each other, the link group R4 and the link group R4 'are associated with each other, which means that the node b ₄
The determination process regarding is ended.

As a result of the above discrimination processing, node a₃Is a
In the map database for node, node b ₃And node b_FourMinutes
Since it can be judged that it is divided, the node
b₃, B _FourAnd node a₃And is the same position
Done, node a₃And node b ₃, B_FourIs associated with
(Step N7). Node a₃Is associated with
When finished, next is node a_FourThe matching process of
It That is, from the dedicated map database, the node
a_FourNode within a certain distance from, that is, this embodiment
Then node b_Five, B₆Is selected as the matching candidate
In step N2 and step N4, first, the node
a_FourOther link group R5 and node b connected to_FiveTo
Corresponds to the other linked link group R5 '.
It is determined whether or not the link group R5 and
Mode b ₆Link group R6 'connected to
It is determined whether or not the call is received. Such an order
It is the node b that determines_FiveIs node b₆Yo
Rimo node a_FourBecause it is close to.

As a result, in this embodiment, none of the link groups R5 'and R6' are associated with the link group R5, so in step N5, the road type of the link group R5 and the link group R5 'is determined. Whether or not they are the same as each other,
Then, it is determined whether the directions are substantially the same, and then the link group R5 and the link group R6 'are determined in the same manner as above. As a result, 'although the road type is the same, the direction is different, also the link groups R5 and link group R6' link group R5 and the link group R5 Since the road type also direction different node b _5, The node closest in distance to the node a ₄ among the b ₆ , that is, the node b ₅ is associated with the node a ₄ (step N6).

[0033] By repeating the above operations until the node a _n, the correspondence processing node a _n is completed, this time performs correlation processing of a node in the link group other road type,
When the node association process is completed in all link groups, a table for each link is created based on the result (process 3). When this table is created, the table is stored in the third memory 5.

In the description of the associating process for the node a ₂ , the link group R2 and the link group R are actually used.
The case where 2'represents the same road but is not associated with each other in the process 1 has been described. In such a case, after the process 2 ends, the process 1 is re-executed and
Each link group R2 not associated in the first processing 1
R2 'may be associated with each other. In this case, if the nodes serving as the starting points are the nodes a ₂ and b ₂ , the link groups R2 and R2 ′ can be surely associated with each other. By doing so, the number of link groups that are not associated can be reduced as much as possible, and a table with a higher degree of completion can be created.

As described above, according to the map database associating apparatus of this embodiment, it is possible to create a table in which the dedicated map database and the standard map database created by different methods are associated with each other. Therefore, for example, if the navigation device is provided with a memory storing this table, road traffic information based on any map database can be easily processed.

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the operation of associating the links representing the roads has been described, but, for example, a lamp indicating a boarding / alighting position of an expressway can be associated with each other. In this case, for example, correspondence is made based on what kind of road is connected to the node representing the ramp, and what number of the ramp is within a certain range.

Besides, it is possible to make various design changes within the scope of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, according to the map database associating device of the present invention, it is possible to obtain the third storage means in which the correspondence between the special map database and the standard map database is stored. For this reason, it is possible to develop a navigation device that uses a dedicated map database that is significantly more accurate and responsive than the standard map database. Can be improved.

Particularly, according to the map database associating device of the second aspect, the link group is firstly associated with each other, and the nodes included in the associated link group are then associated with each other. Therefore, the table is created without error. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a map database associating device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative view for explaining the meaning of a link direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an overall flow of map database association processing in the map database association apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process 1 in the map database associating device.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process 2 in the map database associating device.

FIG. 6 is an illustrative view for explaining a process 1 or a process 2.

FIG. 7 is an illustrative view for explaining a process 1.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Map Database Corresponding Device 2 First Memory 3 Second Memory 4 Comparison Section 5 Third Memory R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R1 ', R2', R
3 ', R4', R5 ' , R6' link group _{a 1 ~a 4, a n,} b 1 ~b 6, b n nodes

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location G08G 1/0969 7531-3H G09B 29/10 A

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An apparatus for mutually associating a dedicated map database and a standard map database, which are stored in advance in a first storage means and a second storage means and are created by different methods, with each other. First reading means for reading a dedicated map database from one storage means, second reading means for reading a standard map database from the second storage means, and dedicated reading respectively from the first reading means and the second reading means Creating means for creating a correspondence between the dedicated map database and the standard map database by comparing the map database with the standard map database; and a third storing means for storing the correspondence created by the creating means as a table. A map database associating device comprising: 2. The dedicated map database and the standard map database each have their own link groups and nodes, and the creating means first associates the link groups of both map databases, and then the associated links. The nodes included in the group are associated with each other.
The described map database associating device.