JPH0765287A - Congestion information display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the congestion information display device on which congestion information can speedily and securely be viewed. CONSTITUTION:When a congestion mode is selected with a mode select key 20, a display control unit 18 that the congestion information display device is equipped with refers to a table stored in a memory 17 once supplied with congestion information from a control unit 15, and then supplies an instruction for drawing respective roads in a thin color and congestion display marks in a thick color to a drawing device 19. The drawing device 19 draws the roads of the thin color and the congestion display marks of the thick color on a display device 16 according to the supplied drawing instruction. Consequently, the congestion display marks are emphasized.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a traffic jam information display device for displaying traffic jam information used in a traffic information providing system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, traffic information has been provided by connecting a vehicle-mounted device such as a navigation device mounted on a vehicle and a central center device with a communication network to provide predetermined traffic information from the central center device to the vehicle-mounted device. Research and development of the provision system is progressing. Such traffic information providing systems include, for example, those using a car telephone network, those using a communication device (beacon transmitter) installed on the roadside, and those using FM multiplex communication. Is proposed.

More specifically, in the configuration utilizing the automobile telephone network, the vehicle is equipped with an automobile telephone, a control device, a navigation device and the like. When accessed by the user from the car telephone, the central center device sends out predetermined traffic information to the vehicle-mounted device via the car telephone network. When the in-vehicle device receives the traffic information from the car telephone, the control device edits the traffic information into a predetermined display format, and the edited traffic information is overlaid on the road map on the display device constituting the navigation device. indicate.

On the other hand, in a system using a beacon transmitter, a vehicle is equipped with a beacon receiver instead of the above-mentioned automobile telephone. The central center device constantly provides the beacon transmitter with traffic information, and the beacon transmitter radiates radio waves including the traffic information to a relatively narrow range. In this state, when the vehicle passes through the radiation area, the vehicle-mounted device receives the radio wave including the traffic information with the beacon receiver and sends the traffic information included in the radio wave to the control device. After that, the same operation as that of the configuration using the automobile telephone network is performed.

The traffic information provided from the central center device includes traffic jam information, road regulation information, accident / construction information, travel time information and the like. Of these, the traffic jam information is displayed as a traffic jam display mark on the display screen. The traffic jam display mark is displayed along the traffic jam section of the road on which the traffic jam occurs. Further, this traffic jam display mark is colored in a dark color such as red so that the user can easily see the traffic jam location by looking at the display screen.

[0006]

By the way, since roads such as highways and national roads are displayed on the same screen in the road map displayed on the display device, each road type can be easily distinguished so that the road types can be easily distinguished. Each road is colored. For example, expressways are light blue, national roads are red, prefectural roads are yellow, and other major roads are green. However, as described above, since the traffic jam information is also displayed as a colored traffic jam display mark, there is a problem that when the user looks at the display screen, it is not possible to quickly see which one represents the traffic jam location. It was

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a traffic jam information display device which enables quick and reliable visual confirmation of traffic jam information.

[0008]

A traffic congestion information display device according to claim 1 for achieving the above object is provided in a vehicle, and a road map storage means for storing road map data in advance, and the road map storage means. Reading means for reading road map data from the display means, display means for displaying a road map corresponding to the road map data read by the reading means, selecting means for selecting various modes, and the selecting means. When the mode for displaying the traffic jam information is selected, the road map displayed on the display means is displayed in a light color, and when the traffic information including the traffic jam information is received by the receiving means, the reception is performed. Display control means for displaying on the display means a traffic jam display mark indicating a traffic jam location in a predetermined color based on the traffic jam information included in the traffic information. The features.

The traffic congestion information display device according to claim 2 is provided in a vehicle, and includes road map storage means for storing road map data in advance, and reading means for reading road map data from the road map storage means. The display means for displaying the road map corresponding to the road map data read by the reading means, and the road map displayed on the display means are always displayed in a light color, and the traffic containing traffic congestion information by the receiving means. When information is received, display control means for displaying a traffic jam display mark indicating a traffic jam location on the screen in a predetermined color based on the traffic jam information included in the received traffic information is characterized. .

Further, in the traffic jam information display device according to claim 3, the display control means displays the traffic jam display mark on one side of the road according to the lane in which the traffic jam is occurring. Is characterized by.

[0011]

In the structure according to the first aspect, when the mode for displaying the congestion information is selected, the road map displayed on the display means is displayed in a light color. On the other hand, when the above-mentioned mode is selected and the traffic jam information or the like is received by the receiving means, the traffic jam display mark is displayed on the display means in a predetermined color based on the received traffic jam information. Therefore, for example, if the predetermined color is made dark, the display means will display a dark traffic jam display mark on the light road map. Therefore, only the traffic jam display mark can be emphasized.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the road map displayed on the display means is always displayed in a light color. On the other hand, when the receiving means receives the traffic jam information or the like, the traffic jam display mark is displayed on the display means in a predetermined color based on the received traffic jam information. Therefore, if the predetermined color is dark, for example, only the traffic jam display mark can be emphasized, as in the case of the first aspect.

Further, according to the configuration of the third aspect, the traffic jam display mark can be displayed at the position corresponding to the lane in which the traffic jam occurs. Therefore, it is possible to easily recognize in which of the up lane and the down lane the traffic congestion is occurring.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram briefly showing the configuration of a traffic information providing system including a traffic jam information display device. This traffic information providing system is composed of a central center device 1, an in-vehicle device 2, and an automobile telephone network 3 that wirelessly connects the central center device 1 and the in-vehicle device 2.

More specifically, the central center device 1 includes a traffic control system 4 that collects traffic information including traffic congestion information from various vehicle detectors installed on the road, and a provider when the parking lot is full. An input console 5 is provided for inputting guidance information and the like. The traffic congestion information is information that includes accident information, road regulation information, and the like when the traffic control system 4 is performing information collection work, and changes from time to time. This system has a function of transmitting this fluctuating traffic congestion information to the user.

In addition, the central center device 1 edits the guide information input from the input desk 5 and the traffic jam information collected by the traffic control system 4 and the traffic information providing device 6 automatically from the traffic information providing device 6. A telephone 8 for transmitting the traffic congestion information and the like output through the incoming modem 7 to the vehicle-mounted device 2 through the automobile telephone network 3. Table 1
Shows the structure of the traffic congestion information transmitted from the central center device 1.

[0017]

[Table 1]

This traffic jam information is provided time (hour) J1, which represents the time when the traffic control system 4 collected the traffic jam information,
(Minute) J2 and a secondary mesh number J3 for specifying a mesh map number including a place where traffic congestion occurs. Here, a mesh map is a road map obtained by vertically and horizontally dividing a Japanese road map into
The mesh map number is a number attached to each mesh map.

Further, the traffic jam information has a link status flag J4 indicating the presence or absence of traffic jam, a traffic jam degree J5 and a link number J6. Here, the degree of congestion J5 is represented by the degree of progress of the vehicle, for example, that the vehicle is traveling at 10 km / h or less or 20 km / h or less. Furthermore, the traffic jam information is a unit of traffic jam length J7,
Congestion length J8 in this unit, unit J9 of distance from link start end and distance J10 in this unit, and unit J11 of distance from link end and distance J1 in this unit
Have two.

The in-vehicle device 2 is connected to the automobile telephone line network 3, receives the traffic congestion information and the like transmitted from the central center device 1, and can access the central center device 1 arbitrarily, and the in-vehicle device 9 of the vehicle. Detects the current position,
A navigation device 10 for displaying the current position and the like together with a road map, and a communication device 12 for outputting to the navigation device 10 the traffic congestion information and the like received by the car telephone 9 and output via the car telephone modem 11. Is equipped with.

The navigation device 10 includes a position detection device 13 for detecting the current position of the vehicle based on sensor outputs from a vehicle speed sensor, a geomagnetic sensor, etc., which are not shown.
The storage device 14 is a road map storage unit in which road map data and the like composed of a combination of links and nodes are stored in advance. For example, a CD-ROM or an IC card can be applied to this storage device 14. In addition, a node is generally a coordinate point for specifying an intersection or a bending point of a road, and a link is a vector connecting each node. In addition, the road map data includes link numbers, link start and end node addresses,
It includes data such as the distance of the link, the direction passing through the link, and the type or type of road. In addition, the road type refers to a road such as a highway, a national road, a prefectural road, and a main highway, which is classified by type.

The position detecting device 13 detects the current position by so-called dead reckoning based on the sensor outputs from the vehicle speed sensor and the geomagnetic sensor. For example, it is transmitted from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite. The present position may be detected by using a technique for measuring the propagation delay time of radio waves and performing positioning. Further, the current position may be detected based on the position information transmitted from the beacon transmitter installed on the road side.

When the current position of the vehicle is detected by the position detecting device 13, the navigation device 10 also reads road map data around the current position from the storage device 14 and outputs the current position data and the road map data. The controller 15 configured by a CPU (central processing unit) and the like, which outputs the traffic congestion information and the like including the accident information and the like given from the communication device 12, and the current position and the traffic congestion information and the like are displayed on the road map. Display device 1 composed of CRT or the like
6 and. In this embodiment, the control device 15 corresponds to the reading means and the display device 16 corresponds to the display means.

Further, the navigation device 10 is
A memory 17 in which a table described later and other programs necessary for display are stored in advance, a display control device 18 which is a display control means for controlling a drawing device described later on the basis of various data given from the control device 15, and a display Control device 18
The display device 16 is provided with a drawing device 19 for drawing a road map or the like based on the control by. The display control device 18 is connected to a mode selection key 20 which is a selection unit for the user to select a mode such as a normal mode or a traffic jam mode by touching the screen with a finger. The drawing device 19 also includes a frame buffer (not shown) that temporarily stores the data supplied from the display control device 18.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing tables A and B stored in the memory 17. Table A shows the same figure
As shown in (a), each road type and dark color are stored in association with each other, for example, light blue for expressways and red for national roads. Further, the traffic congestion information (1) and (2) is stored in association with the traffic congestion information such that the display color when displaying the traffic congestion information is red or yellow.

On the other hand, in the table B, as shown in FIG. 2B, all road types are stored in association with light colors (gray in the figure). Further, as in the case of the above table A, the display color when displaying the congestion information is stored in association with the congestion information. The operations of the display control device 18 and the drawing device 19 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. The display control device 18 receives the current position data and the road map data from the control device 15 when the normal mode is selected, and then the memory 17
The drawing device 19 is instructed to draw the position display mark indicating the current position of the vehicle in a specific color and each road in a dark color with reference to the table A stored in
Give to. The drawing device 19 to which this drawing command is given,
Based on this, the display contents are once drawn in the frame buffer, and the drawing contents are sequentially read from the frame buffer at a predetermined timing and drawn on the display device 16. Therefore, the display device 16 displays the roads of different dark colors and the position display marks of a specific color.

Further, the display control device 18 is given from the control device 15 the traffic congestion information taken in by the user accessing the central center device 1. When the traffic jam information is given when the normal mode is selected, the display control device 18 temporarily stores the given traffic jam information in the memory 17. The traffic jam information stored in the memory 17 is retained until a predetermined time elapses thereafter or until the traffic jam information is fetched next time.

When the normal mode is switched to the traffic jam mode in this state, the display controller 18 reads the traffic jam information stored in the memory 17, and then refers to the table B stored in the memory 17, The drawing device 19 is instructed to draw the traffic jam display mark in a dark color and each road in a light color. Subsequent drawing device 19
Is as described above. Therefore, the display device 1
At 6, a light road and a dark traffic jam display mark are displayed.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display screen displayed when the traffic jam mode is selected. When the traffic jam mode is selected by the user, each road is displayed in a light color. On the other hand, the traffic jam display marks 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d,
30e (hereinafter referred to as "traffic congestion display mark 30"
Say. ) Is displayed in a dark color. At this time, the traffic jam display mark 30 is displayed in a different display color corresponding to the traffic jam degree J5 (see Table 1). For example, the vehicle is 10km / h
If you are driving below, red (corresponding to the traffic jam display marks 30a, 30b, 30c, 30d in the figure), 20km / h
When the vehicle is traveling below, it is displayed in yellow (corresponding to the traffic jam display mark 30e in the figure).

Further, each traffic jam display mark 30 indicates the traffic jam length J.
12 (see Table 1) is displayed by changing the length along the direction of the traffic jam. That is, when the congestion length is long, the congestion display mark 30 is also displayed in a long form along the direction of the congestion, and when the congestion length is short, the congestion display mark 30 is displayed.
Is also displayed in a short form along the direction of the traffic jam. Further, each traffic jam display mark 30 is displayed at a different display position corresponding to the lane in which the traffic jam is recognized, which is recognized based on the link number J6 (see Table 1). That is, when the traffic congestion extends in the C direction starting from the point a, the traffic congestion mark 30c is displayed at the position shown in the figure, and the traffic congestion indicating mark 30c is displayed starting from the point b.
When the traffic jam extends in the direction, the traffic jam display mark 30d is displayed at the position shown in the figure.

As described above, according to the traffic jam information display device of the present invention, when displaying the traffic jam display mark 30, each road is displayed in a light color and only the traffic jam display mark 30 is displayed in a dark color. Therefore, the user can surely recognize the traffic jam location. Further, since the traffic jam display mark 30 is displayed at a position corresponding to the lane in which the traffic jam is occurring, it is possible to easily recognize in which of the up lane and the down lane the traffic jam is occurring. .

Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. For example, in the above embodiment, two tables A and B are stored in the memory 17
The display color of each road is specified by referring to one of the tables A and B each time the mode is switched. For example, only one of the tables is stored in the memory 17. Every time the mode is switched, the display color stored in association with each road type may be rewritten, and the display color of each road may be specified by referring to the rewritten table.

In the above embodiment, each road is displayed in a light color when the traffic jam mode is selected by the user. However, for example, each road may be displayed in a light color. In this modified example, the memory 17 is stored in FIG.
Only table B shown in (b) is stored. The display control device 18 keeps the table B stored in the memory 17 while the road map data is given from the control device 15.
With reference to, the drawing device 19 is instructed to draw each road in a light color. On the other hand, when the in-vehicle device 2 captures the traffic jam information, the table B stored in the memory 17 is referred to, and each road is drawn in a light color and the traffic jam display mark 30 is drawn in a dark color. A command to perform is given to the drawing device 19. That is, each road is always displayed in a light color regardless of whether or not the traffic jam information is captured. When the traffic jam information is captured, the dark traffic congestion display mark 30 is displayed together with the light roads. It is displayed on the display device 16. Therefore, also in this modification, the traffic jam display mark 30 can be emphasized, and the user can reliably recognize the traffic jam location.

Further, in the above embodiment, the example of the configuration for obtaining the traffic congestion information by using the automobile telephone network 3 has been described, but the configuration may be such that a beacon transmitter installed on the roadside is used. Further, the present invention can be applied not only to the configuration using the automobile telephone network or the beacon transmitter, but also to other various configurations capable of obtaining the traffic congestion information.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the traffic information is obtained by using the automobile telephone, but for example, an ordinary telephone (either dial or push format) may be mounted on the IC card mounted on the vehicle before traveling. It is also possible to connect storage means such as the above through a modem and obtain the traffic jam information through a telephone. In addition, various design changes can be made without changing the gist of the present invention.

[0036]

As described above, according to the traffic jam information display device of the present invention, when the traffic jam information is displayed, the traffic jam display mark is displayed in a predetermined color and the road map is displayed in a light color. Therefore, for example, if the predetermined color is a dark color, only the traffic jam display mark can be emphasized. Therefore, the user can surely recognize the congestion area by looking at the screen.

In particular, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the traffic jam display mark is displayed at the position corresponding to the lane in which the traffic jam is occurring. Therefore, it is possible to reliably determine in which lane the traffic jam is occurring. Can be recognized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a display screen when a traffic jam mode is selected.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram simply showing a configuration of a traffic information providing system including a traffic jam information display device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a table stored in a memory.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 central center device 2 vehicle-mounted device 3 car telephone network 14 storage device 15 control device 16 display device 17 memory 18 display control device 19 drawing device 20 mode selection key 30, 30a to 30e traffic jam display mark

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A traffic information providing system including a central device for transmitting traffic information including traffic congestion information, and an in-vehicle device for receiving traffic information transmitted from the central device by a receiving means and providing it to a user. A road map storage unit that is provided in the vehicle-mounted device and that stores road map data in advance, a read unit that reads road map data from the road map storage unit, and a road that is read by the read unit. Display means for displaying a road map corresponding to map data, selecting means for selecting various modes, and display on the displaying means when a mode for displaying congestion information is selected by the selecting means. The displayed road map is displayed in a light color, and when the receiving means receives traffic information including traffic congestion information, it is included in the received traffic information. Based on it is congestion information, congestion information display device which comprises a display control means for displaying on the display means the jam display mark indicating the congestion location in a predetermined color. 2. A traffic information providing system including a central device for transmitting traffic information including traffic congestion information, and an in-vehicle device for receiving traffic information transmitted from the central device by a receiving means and providing it to a user. A road map storage unit that is provided in the vehicle-mounted device and that stores road map data in advance, a read unit that reads road map data from the road map storage unit, and a road that is read by the read unit. When the display means for displaying the road map corresponding to the map data and the road map displayed on the display means are always displayed in a light color, and when the receiving means receives the traffic information including the traffic congestion information, Display control means for displaying a traffic jam display mark indicating a traffic jam location on the screen in a predetermined color based on the traffic jam information included in the received traffic information. Traffic information display device. 3. The display control means displays the traffic jam display mark on one side of the road according to the lane in which the traffic jam is occurring.
Congestion information display device described.