JPH0721492A - Vehicle information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To distinguish a case that traffic volume is not displayed on a screen because of no reception of traffic volume from a case that received traffic information is not information (traffic jam information, etc.) to be displayed by displaying an information effective range distinguishably from other ranges. CONSTITUTION:This vehicle information display device is a so-called car navigation equipment for reproducing map information recorded in a CD-ROM by a map reproducing circuit, displaying the reproduced result on the screen of a display device and indicating the current position of a self-vehicle detected by a current position detecting circuit in a map on the screen. Traffic information received by a receiver is entered from a receiving buffer and displayed so as to be superposed to the map. Namely an overlapped range between the receiving area of the traffic information and an area displayed on the screen is calculated and an area in the overlapped range is displayed so as to be distinguished from other areas (areas in which traffic information is not received).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle information display device. More specifically, the present invention relates to a device that can display traffic information on map information.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Car navigation systems have been provided. This is a device that reproduces map information recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM to display a map on the screen and indicates the current position of the vehicle on the screen.

In recent years, a system has been provided for transmitting and carrying traffic information (congestion information, regulation information, parking lot information, etc.) on FM multiplex broadcasting and the like. In this system, the service area is divided for each broadcasting station, and each broadcasting station transmits the traffic information of the area covered by its own station. According to this system, the vehicle side equipped with the car navigation system provides the driver with visual information by displaying the above traffic information on the map displayed on the screen. You can Note that "displaying traffic information overlaid on the map on the screen" means, for example, changing the color of a congested road according to the degree of congestion, or displaying a mark under construction on the map. Alternatively, it refers to displaying the vacant parking lot and the vacant parking lot separately.

[0004]

When traffic information is transmitted by FM multiplex broadcasting, the range in which the traffic information can be received is limited. For this reason, when the vehicle is running near the break of the service area of each broadcasting station, the area covered by the traffic information from the broadcasting station and which broadcasting station is displayed on the screen. Depending on the situation, some areas may not be covered (areas where traffic information is not received). In this case, regarding the area where the traffic information is not received, even if the traffic jam occurs in the area, the traffic information is not displayed on the screen, so that the driver may misunderstand that there is no traffic jam and drive. .

When it is desired to confirm a distant map by the car navigation system, the scale of the map on the screen is reduced to display a wide area. However, when the scale is reduced, the degree of omission on the map is increased and some roads are not displayed. In that case, as described above, it becomes impossible to "display the traffic information in a superimposed manner on the map on the screen".

According to the present invention, the traffic information is not displayed on the screen because it is not received, and the traffic information is received but is not the information to be displayed (congestion information etc.). The purpose is to be able to distinguish the case where it is not displayed. Another object of the present invention is to make it possible to display traffic information even when the display range is wide and the degree of omission on the map is large.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the invention, means for reproducing map information recorded on a recording medium to generate map image data, and traffic based on the received traffic information. A means for generating image data, and a display for synthesizing an image to be displayed on the map image data and an image to be displayed on the traffic image data and displaying them on the screen. And a map range displayed on the screen and a map range supported by the received traffic information, and a range where the two overlap is displayed. The information display device for a vehicle includes a calculation unit that sets an effective range and a display control unit that displays the information effective range on the screen in a manner different from other ranges.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, means for reproducing map information recorded on a recording medium to generate map image data, and traffic image data based on the received traffic information. And a display means for synthesizing the image to be displayed on the map image data and the image to be displayed on the traffic image data and displaying the synthesized image on the screen. An information display device for a vehicle; a level calculation means for calculating a level of traffic information for each map range indicated by a map code of the received traffic information, and a map range to be displayed on the screen. Since the traffic information provided is wider than the supported map range, the traffic image data is used as a map image.
A vehicle information display device having display control means for displaying the level of traffic information calculated for each map range when it cannot be combined with the data and displayed.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the overlapping range of the area where the traffic information is received and the area displayed on the screen is calculated, and the area of the overlapping range is the other area (where the traffic information is received). It is displayed so that it can be distinguished from the area which is not.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, if the traffic image data cannot be combined with the map image data and displayed because the omission on the map is large, the map indicated by the map code is displayed. The level of traffic information is displayed for each range. For example,
The degree of traffic jam is calculated for each map range and displayed by color.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hard construction of the embodiment apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure for displaying a traffic information coverage area and a traffic information level for each map area. 3 is a data configuration diagram showing the configuration of the reception data and a part of the data of the RAM, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the screen display of the embodiment apparatus.

The present apparatus shown in the figure reproduces the map information recorded in the CD-ROM by the map reproducing circuit and displays it on the screen of the display device, and at the same time, detects the present position of the vehicle detected by the present position detecting circuit. Is a so-called car navigation device shown in the map on the screen, and each of the circuits and the display device described above are controlled by a microcomputer. Further, in this apparatus, the information (traffic information) received by the receiver is fetched from the reception buffer and displayed in the map as described above in an overlapping manner. That is, the device is
It is a device configured to be compatible with the above-mentioned system.

Next, a processing procedure for displaying the traffic information coverage area and the traffic information level for each map area will be described in accordance with the flowchart. When the traffic information is received and stored in the receiving buffer (S101; YES), first, the link number of the received data is set in the CD-ROM which is set in this device by referring to the conversion table. Is converted into a link number corresponding to and stored in the RAM together with other data (S103). The link number is a number given to each road on the map.

In this state, the traffic information received is covered.
When the area switch for displaying the displayed range is operated (S111; YES), the area currently displayed on the screen and the area where the map code is stored in RAM is changed to another area. It is displayed separately from the area. For example, when the area corresponding to the map code 540 is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 4B, the map code is stored in the RAM as shown in FIG. 3B. Since the maps 541, 542, 543 are stored, the map codes 541, 542, 5
The area indicated by 43 is displayed separately from other areas as shown in FIG. This distinctive display can be realized by changing the display color, reversing the negative / positive, changing the display density, and the like.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4A, the map code 54
From the state where the area of 3 (large scale = narrow display range) is displayed, click the icon (blank screen switch at the bottom of the screen)
By the operation of etc., the map code 540 as shown in FIG.
After switching to the regional display (small scale = wide display range), if the congestion switch for displaying the degree of congestion for each map range is operated (S121; YES), the process is executed in the steps S123 to S131. Then, as shown in FIG. 4D, each area of the map codes 541, 542, 543 is displayed in a display color corresponding to the degree of congestion.

That is, first, from the distance information of the link number,
All road lengths in each area of the map codes 541, 542, 543 are calculated (S123). Next, based on the received data, the total congestion length in each area is calculated (S12).
Five). In FIG. 3A, the head of the traffic jam means the length from the end of the link to the head position of the traffic jam. Next, the degree of congestion in each area is calculated as “total congestion length / total road length”, respectively.
(S127), these calculation results are R as shown in FIG.
It is stored in AM (S129). When the congestion degree in each area is calculated in this manner, each area is displayed in different colors according to the congestion degree, as shown in FIG. For example, in FIG.
Area 541 is orange, area 542 is red, area 543
Are displayed in pink and are displayed respectively.

Each of the above-mentioned displays (identification display of the area supported by the traffic information, level display of the traffic information such as the degree of traffic congestion) is terminated in response to a signal to terminate the display, and the normal display is performed. The display is returned to the display (display combining the map image and the traffic image) (S143). Here, the "signal for ending the display" is generated by the passage of a predetermined time, a command for displaying a large scale map, or the operation of a special switch for ending each of the above displays. And

In the above embodiment, the degree of traffic congestion is described as an example, but the same applies to the regulation information and the like.

[0019]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the area where the traffic information is received and the area where the traffic information is not received are displayed on the screen in a distinguishable manner. Therefore, the driver can receive the traffic information. Areas that have not been identified can be clearly identified. For this reason, "no traffic jams" in areas where traffic information is not received
There is no risk of misunderstanding.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the degree of traffic information (congestion, etc.) is indicated by the map code even if the omission on the map becomes large and the traffic information cannot be synthesized and displayed on the map. The traffic information can be effectively used because each color is displayed in different colors.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hard configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing a processing procedure for displaying a coverage range of traffic information and a level for each map range.

FIG. 3 is a data block diagram, in which (a) is received data.
And (b) shows the data stored in the RAM.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a screen display example.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Etsuko Sugimoto 2-18, Keihan Hondori, Moriguchi City, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A means for reproducing map information recorded on a recording medium to generate map image data, and a means for generating traffic image data based on received traffic information, A vehicle information display device having a display means for synthesizing an image to be displayed on the map image data and an image to be displayed on the traffic image data and displaying the combined image on the screen. In addition, the map range displayed on the screen is compared with the map range supported by the received traffic information, and the calculation means for determining the overlapping range as the information effective range, and the information effective range. And a display control unit for displaying on the screen in a manner different from other ranges. 2. A means for reproducing map information recorded on a recording medium to generate map image data, and a means for generating traffic image data based on the received traffic information, A vehicle information display device having a display means for synthesizing an image to be displayed on the map image data and an image to be displayed on the traffic image data and displaying the combined image on the screen. In addition, the level calculation means for calculating the level of the traffic information for each map range indicated by the map code of the received traffic information, and the traffic information for which the map range to be displayed on the screen is received. Because it is wider than the supported map range
A vehicle information display device comprising: display control means for displaying the level of traffic information calculated for each map range when the data cannot be synthesized and displayed on the map image data.