JPH10227653A - Navigator - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigator for enabling a map to be displayed to be easily seen by selecting traffic information to be displayed. SOLUTION: A navigation controller 1 includes a map buffer 16 for displaying a specific map, a map-drawing part 20, a VRAM 22, a path search processing part 36 for performing a path search processing, a guidance path memory 38, a reception data buffer 50 for displaying received traffic information, and a VICS information drawing part 52. The VICS information drawing part 52 draws a specific symbol based on the received traffic information. However, when the display switching key of a remote control unit 4 is pressed, only the driving path of an own vehicle or those along the link in a direction for going out from there are selectively drawn.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device for displaying various traffic information such as traffic congestion information provided by a road traffic information communication system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A road traffic information communication system (VI) for providing various types of traffic information such as traffic congestion and traffic regulation to vehicles via FM multiplex broadcasting, radio beacons or optical beacons.
CS) has been put to practical use, and desired VICS information can be obtained in a running vehicle. In providing and displaying VICS information using such various methods, there are three types of modes from level 1 to level 3, and information that can be used depending on the function of the receiver mounted on the vehicle and the traveling place. Is different.

[0003] Among them, level 3 includes traffic congestion information and regulation information of a route to a destination sent from a VICS center,
This system displays parking space information and other information overlaid on the display screen of an on-board navigation device. By looking at the screen of the navigation device, you can drive while grasping the surrounding conditions that are constantly changing. Can be. For example, the traffic congestion information is represented by displaying a predetermined symbol (for example, an arrow mark) in parallel with the traffic congestion point on the corresponding road. In addition, event information indicating accidents, frozen roads, etc.,
Alternatively, the regulation information such as the closing of traffic or the face-to-face traffic is represented by displaying a predetermined symbol corresponding to each event or regulation at a corresponding location on the corresponding road.

[0004]

By the way, since the various traffic information such as the above-mentioned traffic congestion information and events are displayed without selecting the information transmitted from the VICS center, the traffic transmitted is not selected. If the amount of information is large, there is a problem that the map screen becomes difficult to see. For example, in urban areas such as Tokyo, chronic congestion occurs in the morning and evening, so arrows indicating traffic congestion are displayed along most roads, making it difficult to see the original contents of the map. The same applies to event information and regulation information. If there are too many of these symbols displayed on the screen, the contents of the map become difficult to see. In particular, these event information and regulation information are displayed on the road in a superimposed manner, but it is difficult to know whether the information corresponds to the up lane or the down lane of the road.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation device which makes it easy to see a map to be displayed by selecting traffic information to be displayed.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a navigation device according to the present invention uses a traffic information selection and display means to select a predetermined range along a travel route of a vehicle from the received traffic information. Only the object is selected, and the symbol corresponding to the selected traffic information is displayed on the map image. Therefore, only necessary traffic information along the travel route of the own vehicle can be displayed, so that the display screen is easy to see. In addition, by providing the route search means and the travel route storage means, the travel route of the own vehicle can be automatically set by the route search process, and roads and the like that cannot be entered are excluded from the travel route by the route search process. Only the traffic information necessary for driving can be selected and its symbol can be displayed.

It is preferable that the range for selecting the traffic information is set to be switchable. This allows
When the vehicle deviates from the planned travel route, a wide range of traffic information can be selected as necessary. In addition, if the selection range of the traffic information is set along the link in the direction to escape from the traveling route of the own vehicle, it is possible to select only the traffic information that is really necessary in consideration of the actual traveling pattern. it can.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A navigation apparatus to which the present invention is applied displays traffic information sent from a VICS center on a screen by means of a display switching operation by a user (driver or passenger). It is characterized in that the range in which information is displayed is switched in a plurality of steps from the entire screen to a narrow range along the traveling route of the vehicle. Hereinafter, a navigation device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(1) Overall Configuration of Navigation Apparatus FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. The navigation apparatus shown in FIG. 1 includes a navigation controller 1 that controls the entire system, a CD-ROM 2 that stores various map data necessary for map display, route search, and the like.
A disk reader 3 for reading map data recorded in the ROM 2, a remote control (remote control) unit 4 as an operation unit for a driver or a passenger to input various instructions, and detection of the position and orientation of the vehicle GPS receiver 5 and autonomous navigation sensor 6 for performing communication, beacon transceiver 7 and FM multiplex broadcast receiver 8 for receiving road traffic information transmitted from a VICS center by various communication methods
To display a map image or a guidance route superimposed on this
The display device 9 includes a display device 9 for displaying various types of traffic information sent from the CS center, and an audio unit 10 for outputting a predetermined guidance voice when performing route guidance.

The above-described disk reading device 3 can be loaded with one or a plurality of CD-ROMs 2, and any one of the CD-ROMs 2 is controlled by the navigation controller 1.
-Read map data from the ROM 2. The remote control unit 4 includes a search key for giving a route search instruction,
Route guidance mode key used for setting the route guidance mode, destination input key, left / right / up / down cursor keys, map reduction /
Various operation keys such as an enlargement key and a setting key for fixing an item at a cursor position on the display screen are provided, and an infrared signal corresponding to an operation state of the key is transmitted to the navigation controller 1. The remote control unit 4 also has a display switching key for appropriately switching the size of an area for displaying various types of traffic information displayed together with the map image.

The GPS receiver 5 receives radio waves transmitted from a plurality of GPS satellites, performs three-dimensional positioning processing or two-dimensional positioning processing, and calculates the absolute position and direction of the vehicle (vehicle direction is currently determined. Is calculated based on the own vehicle position and the own vehicle position one sampling time ΔT before), and these are output together with the positioning time. The autonomous navigation sensor 6 includes an angle sensor 12 such as a vibrating gyroscope that detects the vehicle rotation angle as a relative bearing, and a distance sensor 14 that outputs one pulse every predetermined traveling distance. Detect position and orientation.

The beacon transceiver 7 performs two-way communication with radio wave beacon transceivers mainly installed on expressways via radio waves, and mainly optical beacon transceivers installed on general roads. The two-way communication is carried out via light between the VICS center and the VI sent from the VICS center.
Receive CS traffic information. The FM multiplex broadcast receiver 8 is adapted to transmit a VI included in multiplexed data superimposed on general FM broadcast.
Receive CS traffic information. Comparing the above-mentioned radio beacon and optical beacon with FM multiplex broadcasting,
Although there is no fundamental difference in the point that the S traffic information can be received and its contents, the traffic information can be obtained in a wider reception area by FM multiplex broadcasting.

The display device 9 displays map information around the own vehicle together with a vehicle position mark, a departure point mark, a destination mark, etc., based on image data output from the navigation controller 1, or displays the map information on this map. For example, displaying a guidance route. In addition, this display device 9
Displays traffic congestion sections and arrows indicating the degree of traffic congestion or predetermined symbols in place of the traffic congestion sections in parallel with the corresponding road when the traffic congestion information is sent from the VICS center. A specific example of display of an arrow or the like according to the traffic congestion information will be described later.

(2) Detailed Contents of Map Data Next, details of map data recorded on the CD-ROM 2 will be described. The map data recorded on the CD-ROM 2 is in units of figures separated by a predetermined longitude and latitude, and the map data of each figure can be specified and read by specifying a figure number. Becomes The map data for each map includes a drawing unit composed of various data necessary for map display, a road unit composed of data necessary for various processes such as map matching, route search, and route guidance, and an intersection. An intersection unit consisting of detailed data of the intersection is included. The above-mentioned drawing unit includes VICS conversion layer data necessary for specifying a corresponding road from traffic congestion information sent from the VICS center, and a background layer necessary for displaying buildings or rivers. It includes data and character layer data necessary for displaying municipal names, road names, and the like.

In the above-mentioned road unit, a line connecting an intersection on a road to another adjacent intersection is called a link, and an intersection connecting two or more links is called a node.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of the above-described road unit. As shown in the figure, the road unit has a unit header for identifying a road unit, a connection node table storing detailed data of all nodes, and a node table indicating a storage position of the connection node table. And a link table storing detailed data of a link specified by two adjacent nodes.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the detailed contents of various tables included in the road unit. As shown in FIG. 3A, the node table includes node records # 0, # 1,... Corresponding to all the nodes included in the target leaf.
Is stored. Each node record is #
Node numbers are given in order from 0, and indicate the storage position of the connection node table corresponding to each node.

FIG. 3B shows a connection node table.
For each of the existing nodes, a. Normalized longitude / latitude, b. "Node attribute flag" including an intersection node flag indicating whether or not this node is an intersection node, an adjacent node flag indicating whether or not this node is a node at a boundary with another figure, c. "The number of connected nodes" indicating the number of nodes forming the other end of each link when there is a link having this node as one end of the link; d. No right turn or U
If there are traffic restrictions such as turn prohibition, the "number of traffic restrictions", e. Connection node records for the number of links indicating the link number of each link having this node at one end; f. A traffic regulation record indicating the specific content of the traffic regulation corresponding to the number of the traffic regulations, if any, g. If this node is a node at a boundary with another figure leaf, an “adjacent node record” indicating the position of the connection node table of the corresponding node of the neighboring figure leaf, h. If this node is an intersection node, the storage location and size of the corresponding intersection record in the intersection unit are included.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3C, the link table includes a plurality of link records in the order of link numbers corresponding to all the links included in the target figure. Each of these link records: a. A link ID, which is a code assigned to each link mainly for displaying a search route, b. Node number 1 and node number 2 identifying the two nodes located at both ends of the link; c. Link distance, d. The actual time required to travel this link is statistically calculated as a cost (for example, the actual time required to travel on an ordinary road or highway at an average speed is indicated by a multiplier. Value), e. This link is the VIC managed by the VICS center
Various road attribute flags including a VICS link correspondence flag indicating whether the link is compatible with the S link, f. A road type flag indicating whether the actual road corresponding to this link is an expressway or a general road; g. The route number assigned to the road corresponding to this link is included.

FIG. 4 shows a VICS included in the drawing unit.
It is a figure showing the detailed contents of a conversion layer. As shown in the figure, the VICS conversion layer of the drawing unit has VICS
A conversion table is included. The VICS conversion table further includes a VICS unit header for identifying the VICS conversion table, a road link number table, and a VICS link conversion table. In the road link number table, data of each road link (each link included in a road unit is particularly referred to as a “road link” for distinguishing from a VICS link in the order of the road link number) is stored at any position in the VICS conversion table. This indicates that the link has been performed, and corresponds to all the links of the target figure.

The VICS link conversion table includes, for each of the existing links, a. A VICS link information flag including a VICS link length indicating the relative length of the VICS link and the road link, and a vertical line distinction indicating whether the vertical line of the road link of interest is the same or different, b. The number of corresponding VICS links when looking at the road link of interest from one node to the other, c. Distance from one node direction of the VICS link to this road link start position (percentage as viewed from the distance of the entire VICS link), d. The number of corresponding VICS links when the road link of interest is viewed from the other node toward one node; e. The distance from the other node direction of the VICS link to this road link start position (percentage as viewed from the distance of the entire VICS link), f. 2 corresponding to each of the VICS links when viewed from one node of the road link toward the other node
Next mesh code, VICS link ID, distance to VICS link, g. Conversely, secondary mesh codes, VICS link IDs, and VIs corresponding to the respective VICS links when viewed from the other node of the road link toward the one node.
The distance to the CS link, etc. are included.

(3) Detailed Configuration and Operation of Navigation Controller Next, a detailed configuration of the navigation controller 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The navigation controller 1 includes a map buffer 16 for displaying a predetermined map on the display device 9 based on the map data read from the CD-ROM 2, a map reading control unit 18, a map drawing unit 20, a VRAM 22, a reading control unit 24, Image synthesis unit 26
A data storage unit 30, a vehicle position / azimuth calculation unit 32 for performing calculation of the vehicle position, map matching processing, route search processing, and route guidance processing and displaying the results.
The map matching processing unit 34, the route search processing unit 36, the guidance route memory 38, the guidance route drawing unit 42, the mark image generation unit 44, the intersection guidance unit 46, and the VICS information received by the beacon transceiver 7 and the like are displayed. Received data buffer 50, VICS information drawing unit 52, remote control unit 60 for displaying various operation screens for the user and transmitting operation instructions from remote control unit 4 to each unit, cursor position calculation unit 62, operation screen generation A portion 64.

The map buffer 16 includes the disk reader 3
Is for temporarily storing the map data read from the CD-ROM 2 by the above method. Map reading control unit 1
When the center position of the screen is calculated by the controller 8, an instruction to read map data in a predetermined range including the center position of the screen is sent from the map reading control unit 18 to the disk reader 3, and the map data necessary for map display is stored on the CD. Read out from the ROM 2 and stored in the map buffer 16; For example, map data corresponding to four sheets including the screen center position is read out and stored in the map buffer 16.

The map drawing section 20 creates a map image necessary for display based on the drawing units included in the map data of the four figures stored in the map buffer 16. The created map image data is stored in the VRAM 22, and the read control unit 24 reads one screen of map image data. The image synthesizing unit 26 performs image synthesis by superimposing each image data output from each of the mark image generating unit 44, the intersection guidance unit 46, and the operation screen generating unit 64 described later on the read map image data. The synthesized image is displayed on the screen of the display device 9.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between the map image data stored in the VRAM 22 and the display image read by the read control unit 24. In the figure, each of the areas A to D is a map image drawn based on the drawing unit included in the map data of the four figures read from the map buffer 16, and the map images of these four figures are shown. The data is stored in the VRAM 22. The area P is centered on the screen center position O by the read control unit 24 by the VRAM2.
2 shows the display image data read out from the display area 2, and when the vehicle travels and the screen center position O corresponding to the own vehicle position moves, the area P moves with the movement, and the screen is scrolled.

The data storage unit 30 sequentially stores positioning position (own vehicle position) data output from the GPS receiver 5. Further, the vehicle position / direction calculation unit 32 calculates the absolute position and direction of the vehicle from the relative position and direction of the vehicle output from the autonomous navigation sensor 6. The map matching processing unit 34 uses the GP stored in the data storage unit 30
It is determined whether or not the own vehicle position by the S receiver 5 or the own vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position / azimuth calculation unit 32 exists on the road in the map data. The process of correcting the own vehicle position is performed. As typical methods of map matching, pattern matching and projection are known.

When the destination input key is pressed after the cursor is moved to a specific location on the map by operating the cursor keys of the remote control unit 4, the route search processing unit 36
At this time, the cursor position calculated by the cursor position calculator 62 is set as the destination of the route search. The set destination data is stored in the guidance route memory 38.
When the search key of the remote control unit 4 is pressed, the route search processing unit 36 sets the own vehicle position corrected by the map matching processing unit 34 as a departure point, stores the vehicle position in the guidance route memory 38, and A search is made for a traveling route connecting the departure point and the destination stored in the guidance route memory 38 under predetermined conditions. For example, a guidance route that minimizes the cost under various conditions such as the shortest time, the shortest distance, and the priority on general roads is set. As a typical method of the route search, the Dijkstra method and the horizontal search method are known. The guidance route set by the route search processing unit 36 in this way is stored in the guidance route memory 38.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in the guidance route memory 38. As shown in FIG. As shown in the drawing, the data of the guide route set by the route search processing unit 36 is a set of nodes NS, N1, N from the starting point to the destination.
, ND, and are stored in the guidance route memory 38.

The guidance route drawing unit 42 stores the guidance route memory 3
8 from the guidance route data stored in
Those included in the map area drawn in the RAM 22 are selected, and a guidance route which is superimposed on a map image with a predetermined color and emphasized thickly is drawn. The mark image generating unit 44 generates a vehicle position mark at the position of the own vehicle after the map matching processing, or generates a cursor mark having a predetermined shape.

The intersection guidance section 46 provides guidance at the intersection where the vehicle is approaching by using a display image and voice. When the vehicle actually navigates the route, the own vehicle approaches within a predetermined distance from the intersection in front of the guidance route. At this time, the guide map (the enlarged view of the intersection, the destination, the traveling direction arrow) of the approaching intersection is displayed on the screen of the display device 9, and the traveling direction is guided by audio through the audio unit 10.

The received data buffer 50 stores the VICS information received by the beacon transceiver 7 and the FM multiplex broadcast receiver 8. The VICS information includes traffic congestion information indicating how much traffic is congested at a specific portion of the road, event information indicating an accident or freezing of the road, and regulation information such as suspension of traffic and face-to-face traffic.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing traffic jam information which is one of the VICS information. The traffic congestion information packet shown in FIG. 6 indicates how much traffic is congested at a specific location of a certain VICS link, and a secondary mesh code for specifying an area including the VICS link, and a VICS
The VICS link number assigned to the link and the starting point for identifying the position where traffic congestion starts (one end of the VICS link)
, The length indicating the section of congestion, and the degree of congestion (for example, two types of states, "congestion" in which the vehicle moves below a certain speed and "congestion" in which the vehicle hardly moves) are specified. Contains. Each information packet of event information and regulation information other than traffic congestion information has substantially the same configuration, and includes a secondary mesh code, a VICS link number, and a starting point for specifying a position for displaying an event mark or the like. And the like are included.

The VICS information drawing section 52 draws a map area drawn on the VRAM 22 from VICS information (congestion information, event information, regulation information) stored in the reception data buffer 50, or a narrower area specified by the user. An item included in the area is selected, and a predetermined display corresponding to each information is performed. For example, as for the traffic congestion information, an arrow having a length corresponding to the traffic congestion section and having a color corresponding to the degree of the traffic congestion is displayed as a predetermined symbol corresponding to the traffic congestion information. As for event information and regulation information, predetermined symbols corresponding to these events and regulation are displayed in a target section.

The above-mentioned map buffer 16 serves as map data storage means, the map drawing section 20, VRAM 22, readout control section 24 and image synthesis section 26 serve as map display means, and the reception data buffer 50 and VICS information drawing section 52 serve as traffic information. In the selection display means, the route search processing unit 36 in the route search means,
The guidance route memory 38 stores the remote route unit 4, the remote controller control unit 60, the VICS information drawing unit 5
2 corresponds to the display range changing means.

(4) Operation of Navigation Apparatus The entire navigation apparatus and the navigation controller 1 have the above-described configuration.
A detailed operation when traffic information is received as data will be described. The navigation device according to the present embodiment switches the area for displaying traffic information every time a user such as a driver presses the display switching key of the remote control unit 4, and is away from the travel route and almost used as a reference for driving. It is possible to perform control so as not to display symbols such as traffic congestion information displayed at a position where the information is not required.

FIGS. 8 and 9 are views showing an example of a map drawing screen by the navigation device of the present embodiment.
Normally, as shown in FIG.
Each symbol of congestion information, event information and regulation information based on the traffic information sent from the ICS center is displayed. At this time, when the display switching key provided on the remote control unit 4 is pressed by the user, as shown in FIG. 8B, a screen on which only traffic congestion information along the route S on which the vehicle travels is displayed. Switch to Further, when the display switching key is pressed by the user, as shown in FIG. 9A, traffic congestion information and the like along a link connected in a direction to escape from the route S on which the vehicle travels are added. Switch to the screen. When the user again presses the display switching key provided on the remote control unit 4, as shown in FIG. 9B, one more link is added in the escape direction, and the link along the added link is added. The screen switches to the screen to which traffic information and the like have been added. Further, when the display switching key is pressed by the user, the screen returns to the screen for displaying all the traffic information shown in FIG. 8A, and the display is switched in the above-described predetermined order each time the display switching key is pressed.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of displaying traffic information by the navigation device of the present embodiment.
It is assumed that the display switching key of the remote control unit 4 is pressed several times and one of the screen displays shown in FIG. 8 or FIG. 9 is selected. The operations shown in FIG. 10 and FIG. 11, which will be described later, are performed in parallel with the original operations of the navigation device, such as the map display processing, the map matching processing, and the route search / guidance processing.

As described above, the map image data for one display including the position of the own vehicle is read by the read control unit 24 in the VRA.
A map around the vehicle position is displayed by superimposing the guidance route read from the M22 and the guidance route output from the guidance route drawing unit 42 and the vehicle position mark output from the mark generation unit 44. The displayed map image is scrolled as the position of the vehicle advances, and when the map image exceeds the range of the four drawings drawn in the VRAM 22, map data of the map in the traveling direction of the vehicle is read from the CD-ROM 2. Is newly read, and the map drawing unit 20 updates the map image data in the VRAM 22. When the route guidance mode key of the remote control unit 4 is pressed to set the route guidance mode, the guidance route drawn by the guidance route drawing unit 42 is displayed on the map image.

In parallel with such a map display, VICS
The information drawing unit 52 checks the VICS data sequentially stored in the reception data buffer 50, and monitors whether new traffic information has been received (step 100). Then, when new traffic information is received, the VICS information drawing section 52 determines whether or not the received traffic information is included in the map area drawn in the VRAM 22 (step 101). As shown in FIG. 7, various information packets including the received congestion information packet include a secondary mesh code, and the secondary mesh code included in the information packet and 4 By comparing the secondary mesh code of each of the sheets of the map with the secondary mesh code, it is determined whether or not the VICS link to be displayed as the traffic information corresponds to the road link included in the map area drawn in the VRAM 22. , Without having to compare each link. If the received traffic information is not included in the map area drawn in the VRAM 22, no operation relating to the traffic information display is performed, and the process returns to step 100 to wait for reception of the traffic information.

When the received traffic information is included in the drawing area, the VICS information drawing section 52 determines whether the traffic information is included in the display target area (step 102). As described above, when the display switching key of the remote control unit 4 is pressed, the display target area is changed to the entire display screen → the area along the guidance route → the area along the guidance route and the link connected in the direction to escape from this →
The area is switched in the order of the area along the guidance route and the second link connected in the direction to escape from this, the entire display screen, and so on. Therefore, in a state after the display screen is switched by pressing the display switching key, the display area is set to one of the above-described display areas, and the received traffic information is set at that time in step 102. It is determined whether it is included in the display target area.

For example, when the display target area is set to the entire display screen, it is determined in step 101 whether or not the display target area is included in the display target area. An affirmative decision is made without doing so. If the display target area is set to the above-mentioned area along the guide route or one or two links extending in the escape direction from the guide route, the VIC to be the target of the received traffic information
It is determined whether or not the S link matches a road link included in any one of the following areas, and an affirmative determination is made when the S link matches.

As shown in the example of the congestion information packet in FIG. 7, the various information packets of the congestion information, the event information, and the regulation information include the VICS link numbers to be subjected to the various information. The drawing unit of the map data stored in the map buffer 16 includes the VIC shown in FIG.
S conversion table. Based on the road link number table and the VICS conversion table, the VIC
The correspondence between the S link and the road link can be understood. Therefore, VIC included in various information packets
The corresponding road link can be specified based on the S link number.

On the other hand, the guidance route memory 38 stores the guidance route of the own vehicle as a set of a series of nodes as shown in FIG. 6, and the link on the guidance route determined by two adjacent nodes is 3 can be identified by examining the link records in the connection node table and the link table shown in FIG. Further, one link extending in the direction to escape from the guidance route can be specified by examining the connection node record (link number) in the connection node table shown in FIG. 3 for each node included in the guidance route. it can. At that time, whether or not the specified link is in a direction to escape from the guidance route is known by checking the traffic regulation record in the connection node table and confirming that the road of the specified link can be entered from the guidance route. Can be. For example, a right-turn prohibition or a left-turn prohibition is prohibited, and links that cannot enter are excluded. Further, the two links extending in the direction to escape from the guidance route are obtained by specifying the first link as described above and then setting the other end node of the specified link to the corresponding node in the link table shown in FIG. It is extracted by checking the link record, and the extracted node can be specified by checking the connection node record (link number) in the connection node table. Whether or not the vehicle is in the exit direction can be confirmed by checking the traffic regulation record in the connection node table, similarly to the first link described above, and is excluded when the link cannot be entered.

As described above, the traffic information target V
The road link corresponding to the ICS link is specified, and the link (road link) included in the display target area is extracted. A determination process is performed. If the received traffic information is not included in the display target area, no operation relating to the traffic information display is performed, and the process returns to step 100 to wait for reception of the traffic information.

If the received traffic information is included in the display target area, the VICS information drawing section 52 then determines the target location of the road link targeted for the traffic information based on the various types of received traffic information. (Step 10
3). For example, taking the traffic jam information packet shown in FIG. 7 as an example, a traffic jam location is specified based on “distance from start point” and “length” included in the traffic jam information packet.

Next, the VICS information drawing section 52 places predetermined symbols (arrows for traffic congestion and symbols indicating various events or regulations) corresponding to each traffic information at target locations on the road corresponding to the received traffic information. ) Is drawn in the VRAM 22 (step 104).

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure when the display target area is switched by pressing the display switching key of the remote control unit 4 in the navigation device of the present embodiment. In parallel with the normal display operation shown in FIG. 10, the VICS information drawing section 52 monitors whether or not the display switching key provided on the remote control unit 4 has been pressed (step 200). Then, it is determined whether or not the display target area is to be enlarged (step 201).

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, every time the display switching key is pressed once, the display target area is changed to the entire display screen (FIG. 8A) → the area along the guidance route (FIG. 8A).
(B)) → A guide route and a region along a link connected in a direction to escape therefrom (FIG. 9 (A)) → A guide line and a region along a second link connected in a direction to escape therefrom (FIG. 9 (A)). FIG. 9B) → the entire display screen →... Such switching of the display target area is in the direction of enlarging the display target area except for → (switch from FIG. 8A to FIG. 8B). Therefore, if the display target area at the time when the display switching key is pressed is any one of the above, an affirmative determination is made in step 201 described above, and then the VICS information drawing unit 52 expands by one step. Traffic information corresponding to the display target area (only the information not drawn in the VRAM 22)
Is read from the reception data buffer 50 (step 20).
2) A predetermined symbol corresponding to the read traffic information is V
Drawing is performed on the RAM 22 (step 203).

If the area to be displayed at the time the display switching key is depressed is, the above-described step 20 is executed.
A negative determination is made at 1. When the display target area is changed from the blank area to the blank area, each symbol of the traffic information overwritten on the map must be deleted. Therefore, it is necessary to draw the map image on the VRAM 22 again as an actual operation. Therefore, the map drawing unit 20 uses the VRA
Drawing of a map image on M22 and guidance route drawing unit 42
(Step 204), and the VICS information drawing unit 52 transmits the various traffic information included in the drawing area of the VRAM 22 to the reception data buffer 50.
(Step 205), and a predetermined symbol corresponding to the read traffic information is drawn in the VRAM 22.

As described above, in the navigation apparatus according to the present embodiment, when the amount of received traffic information is large and the display screen becomes difficult to see, the display switching key of the remote control unit 4 is depressed. It displays only traffic information along the travel route of the vehicle, and in addition, displays traffic information along one or two links extending in the direction to escape from the travel route of the vehicle. Necessary traffic information can be selectively displayed, and the screen can be easily viewed while securing necessary information.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, each time the display switching key of the remote control unit 4 is pressed, the number of links extending in the escape direction from the traveling route of the own vehicle is increased by one. May be increased. Alternatively, every time the display switching key is pressed,
The traffic information may be displayed by enlarging the display target area by a predetermined distance L from the traveling route of the own vehicle. In this case, it is sufficient to calculate whether or not each link extending from the traveling route of the own vehicle is within a certain distance L, 2L,.

[0051]

As described above, according to the present invention, only the traffic information within a predetermined range along the travel route of the vehicle is selected from the received traffic information, and the symbol corresponding to the selected traffic information is selected. Since the information is displayed so as to be superimposed on the map image, only necessary traffic information along the traveling route of the own vehicle can be displayed, and the display screen can be easily viewed. In addition, it is preferable that the range for selecting traffic information is set to be switchable,
Thus, when the vehicle deviates from the planned travel route, a wide range of traffic information can be selected as necessary. In addition, if the selection range of the traffic information is set along the link in the direction to escape from the traveling route of the own vehicle, it is possible to select only the traffic information that is really necessary in consideration of the actual traveling pattern. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a vehicle-mounted navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an entire configuration of a road unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing detailed contents of various tables included in a road unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing detailed contents of a VICS conversion layer included in a drawing unit.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a drawing area and a display area of a VRAM.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in a guidance route memory;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the contents of a traffic jam information packet.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a map drawing screen by the navigation device of the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a map drawing screen by the navigation device of the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of displaying traffic information by the navigation device of the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure when a display target area is switched by pressing a display switching key of a remote control unit in the navigation device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 navigation controller 4 remote control unit 7 beacon transceiver 8 FM multiplex broadcast receiver 9 display device 16 map buffer 20 map drawing unit 22 VRAM 24 readout control unit 26 image synthesis unit 36 route search processing unit 38 guidance route memory 50 reception data buffer 52 VICS information drawing unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Map data storage means for storing map data; map display means for displaying a map image of a predetermined range based on the map data stored in the map data storage means; Traffic information selection display means for selecting only a predetermined range along the traveling route of the own vehicle from the coming traffic information and superimposing and displaying a symbol corresponding to the selected traffic information on the map image; A navigation device comprising: 2. The travel route according to claim 1, wherein a route search means for determining a predetermined travel route connecting the departure point and the destination by route search, and a travel route determined by the route search means. A navigation device, further comprising: storage means. 3. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising a display range changing unit configured to switchably set a range for selecting the traffic information, wherein the traffic information selection display unit is set by the display range changing unit. A navigation device for selecting traffic information within a predetermined range. 4. The traffic information selection display unit according to claim 1, wherein the traffic information selection display means selects the traffic information along a predetermined number of links branched from the traveling route of the own vehicle in an escape direction. A featured navigation device.