JPH11339182A - Communication type navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save the communication expense and to avoid the complexity of a new communication work by allowing an on-vehicle information acquiring device to automatically transmit route history information, vehicle history information and vehicle information to an information center during the reception of other data. SOLUTION: An on-vehicle information acquiring device 100 transmits a vehicle ID, route history information, vehicle history information and time information at prescribed time intervals. The route history information is composed of position information and time information of a vehicle which are measured by a position measuring part 104 at prescribed time intervals, and the vehicle history information is composed of the time information when a vehicle condition changes and condition information of the vehicle. The device 100 stores the set data of the current position information of the vehicle and time and the set data of vehicle information and time in a data storing part 103 in prescribed time intervals until a prescribed time passes after transmitting the route history information and the vehicle history information to an information center 150 and transmits route history information and vehicle history information which record each set data at a prescribed time with the passage of time to the center 150.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a vehicle for transmitting and receiving position information between a route guidance device (vehicle information acquisition device) and a route information providing device (information center) provided in a running vehicle. The present invention relates to a communication-type navigation system that accurately guides a user to a destination, and more particularly to a communication-type navigation system that enables transmission and reception of various other information while transmitting and receiving position information and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An important function of a navigation system is a function of accurately guiding a moving object such as a vehicle from a current position to a desired destination. In such a navigation system, a method of replenishing information that is insufficient with only the in-vehicle information acquisition device with new data from another information center is being studied. That is, the current position information and the destination information of the moving object are transmitted from the in-vehicle information acquisition device provided on the moving object such as a vehicle to the information center. In the information center, based on the received information and a database or the like in which road data and the like are recorded in advance, coordinate data (moving path data) relating to the position and shape of the road on which the vehicle actually travels and coordinate data relating to the position of the destination (Target data) and route data and the like between them are created and transmitted to the in-vehicle information acquisition device.

[0003] On the vehicle side receiving the travel route data and the target data from the information center, the latest data processed by the information center is displayed on a map stored in a recording medium such as a CD-ROM in advance, and the vehicle is accurately displayed. Is guided to the destination. In such a navigation system, the operator in the vehicle transmits the current position information and the destination information to the information center.

[0004]

However, such a conventional navigation system has the following problems. In recent navigation systems, in addition to accurately guiding the vehicle to the destination, the detour route etc. is determined according to the current position of the vehicle, such as the weather, running on bad roads, congestion, construction etc. In addition, it is required to guide the vehicle to the destination through the route. For this reason, the in-vehicle information acquisition device needs to transmit various vehicle information, for example, on / off information of a wiper, a traveling locus of the vehicle, and the like to the information center.

However, transmission and reception of current position information, destination information and related data have already been performed between the on-board information acquisition device and the information center, and vehicle data is transmitted and received while transmitting and receiving these data. There is a problem that can not be. It is also possible for the operator in the vehicle to transmit the vehicle information to the information center by a separate transmission means such as a mobile phone or a car phone. There is a problem that a burden such as complicated work is required.

The information center determines a recommended route to a destination on the basis of a database in which road information is recorded in advance. However, when a new road is completed, or when a traffic In many cases, the route is not always optimal depending on circumstances and the like. For this reason, there is a problem that a recommended route based on the latest road information and the traveling environment cannot be provided accurately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to obtain optimal route information according to the current vehicle conditions while saving communication costs and avoiding the complexity of new communication work. The main object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system that can perform navigation. Another object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system capable of accurately providing a recommended route based on the latest road information and driving environment.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle for transmitting / receiving data between an on-vehicle information acquiring apparatus and an information center, thereby transmitting a vehicle to a destination. In the navigation system, the vehicle-mounted information acquisition device includes a storage unit that stores vehicle history information and vehicle history information, a reception unit that receives data from an information center, and a route that is stored in the storage unit. Transmission means for automatically transmitting history information, vehicle history information, and vehicle information to an information center during data reception by the receiving means.

In the present invention, the transmission means for automatically transmitting the route history information and the vehicle history information to the information center while the data is being received by the receiving means is provided. There is no need to connect to the center, nor does the information center need to connect to the vehicle just to receive vehicle information and the like. For this reason, route history information and the like can be automatically transmitted only by once connecting to the information center, and communication costs can be saved and new communication work can be avoided.

[0010] The transmission means transmits the data during data reception. Specifically, the route history information and the vehicle history information are transmitted until the data is received, that is, the time from when the data such as the request information is transmitted to when the corresponding output information is received. In addition, the transmission may be performed at regular intervals or during an idle time for transmission and reception within the time.

Another aspect of the transmission means is to transmit route history information and vehicle history information not immediately during data reception but immediately before data reception starts or immediately after data reception is completed.

[0012] Also, a C which has a grid set on a map in advance
By using a recording medium such as a D-ROM, route history information and vehicle history information can be automatically transmitted when a vehicle passes a grid point on a map.

Here, the route history information is constituted by a pair of data of the position information of the vehicle and the time information observed at the corresponding position.

The vehicle history information is composed of a pair of time information and vehicle information at the time when the vehicle information changes. The vehicle information is information such as active / inactive of a wiper, lighting / non-lighting of a headlight, etc., but is not particularly limited as long as it is information on a vehicle. For example, G
PS information, vehicle speed, ABS operation status, temperature inside and outside the vehicle,
The vehicle detection unit may be configured to detect a transmission operation state, an airbag operation state, an active suspension operation state, and the like.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a detecting means for detecting a time until completion of reception, and selecting vehicle information transmitted from the storage means to a specific destination based on the time detected by the detecting means. Transmission selection means for performing the operation.

In this case, the remaining time of reception can be predicted by the detecting means, so that the operator can be informed of the remaining time, and the transmission selecting means selects vehicle information corresponding to the remaining time. Can be sent. For this reason,
Efficient transmission and reception are possible.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an in-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center. Storage means for storing route history information and vehicle history information; position measuring means for measuring the current position of the vehicle; receiving means for receiving data from an information center; and route history information and vehicle stored in the storage means Transmitting means for transmitting history information to an information center, and when the current position measured by the position measuring means is on a route which does not exist on a map recorded in advance, the route is set as new road information. It is stored in history information.

According to the present invention, when a vehicle travels on a new road that is not on the map, the on-vehicle information acquisition device recognizes this as a new road and stores it. By transmitting such information to the information center, The database update processing on the information center side can be easily performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an in-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center. Statistical processing is performed based on a database in which vehicle information is recorded in advance, route history information and vehicle history information received from a plurality of vehicles, and road information and vehicle information recorded in the database, and a processing result is obtained as in-vehicle information. The data is transmitted to the device.

In the present invention, the information center performs various statistical processes based on the route history information received from the vehicle, the vehicle history information, and the past road information and vehicle information stored in the database. It is possible to provide the vehicle with information about the future, such as information estimated from past information and past data.

For example, if the current route of the vehicle identified by the route history information is not in the past road information,
It is possible to determine that the road is a new road, register it in the map database, and present the latest road information to the vehicle.

Further, the current traveling environment of the vehicle can be grasped from the vehicle history information or the vehicle information, and accurate information such as a recommended route and a detour route can be presented to the vehicle based on past data. For example, when the vehicle information and the vehicle history information are active / inactive information of the wiper, the current weather condition can be grasped by the information center when the headlight is turned on / off, and the poor visibility condition can be grasped by the information center. Based on this, a detour route or the like can be selected and presented to the vehicle.
In addition, when the vehicle information and the vehicle history information are GPS information, the current vehicle position, the traffic congestion status in the case of the vehicle speed or the transmission operating condition, the weather condition in the case of the temperature inside and outside the vehicle, In the case of airbag operation status, accident information and vehicle failure status, and in the case of active suspension operation status, road surface status etc. can be grasped at the information center side, and information such as recommended route and detour route according to each situation. Can be accurately provided to the vehicle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in a navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an on-vehicle information acquiring device and an information center, It is characterized by comprising storage means for storing route history information and vehicle history information, and transmission / reception means for bidirectionally communicating data including route history information and vehicle history information with an information center.

According to the present invention, since the transmitting / receiving means for performing bidirectional communication with the information center is provided, even if the on-vehicle information acquiring apparatus is transmitting / receiving data such as request information, the transmitting / receiving means is irrelevant. Route history information and vehicle history information can be transmitted to the information center. For this reason, there is no need to temporarily interrupt current data transmission / reception or to perform separate communication work only for transmission of route history information, vehicle history information, vehicle information, and the like, thereby avoiding the complexity of transmission / reception. .

As such transmitting / receiving means, for example, F
Communication means such as M multiplex broadcasting and VICS (road traffic information system) can be used.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving data from the route information providing device, and a transmitting means for transmitting vehicle information to the route information providing device while the receiving means is receiving data. A route guidance device for a communication-type navigation system, characterized in that:

In the present invention, “receiving data” means “
When the route guidance device is connected to the route information providing device and a communication path for transmitting and receiving various data to and from the route information providing device is formed (for example, a telephone line), the connection is released (for example, telephone (Electrical disconnection of the line) This refers to the entire period up to the point of time or a part of the period during the same period, which means that data is actually transmitted from the route information providing device and is being received Not limited. That is, it includes before and after actually receiving data.

When the data is received from the route information providing apparatus a plurality of times, the idle time of the plurality of receptions is included.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vehicle information is automatically transmitted to the route information providing device during the data reception by the receiving means. There is no need to establish a communication path.
For this reason, communication costs can be saved and the complexity of new communication work can be avoided.

The configuration of the transmitting means is not particularly limited as long as it transmits vehicle information to the route information providing device during data reception. For example, vehicle information can be transmitted at regular intervals. In this case, transmission can be automated. Further, if the vehicle information is automatically transmitted when the vehicle passes through a predetermined point, it is possible to receive information that is more suitable for the running condition of the vehicle.

Here, the "vehicle information" includes route history information which is a combination of a plurality of positions representing the trajectory of the vehicle and their positioning times, on / off information of various on-vehicle devices and machines such as wipers, and the like. This is data including the detection date and time and the vehicle history information as a set of the detection position.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving route information from a route information providing device, and a transmission for automatically transmitting vehicle information to the route information providing device while the receiving device receives the route information. A route guidance apparatus for a communication-type navigation system, comprising:

In the present invention, "reception of route information" means from the start of reception of route information for a request from the route information providing device to the completion of reception of all route information. When receiving from the route information providing device over multiple times, the idle time of the plurality of receptions is included.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vehicle information is automatically transmitted to the route information providing device during the reception of the route information from the route information providing device by the transmission means, so that the route information is transmitted only for transmitting the vehicle information. There is no need to connect to an information providing device. For this reason, vehicle information can be transmitted only once once connected to the route information providing device, and communication costs can be saved and new communication work can be avoided.

The vehicle information of the present invention is the same as that of the fifth aspect. Also, the transmission means may be configured to transmit the vehicle information at regular time intervals or to automatically transmit the vehicle information when the vehicle passes a predetermined point, similarly to the invention according to claim 5. Can be.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, a search means for searching for a route to a destination based on request information from a route guidance device and creating route information, and transmitting the route information to the route guidance device Means, receiving means for receiving vehicle information from the route guidance device during transmission of the route information,
A route information providing apparatus for a communication type navigation system, comprising:

The present invention is a route information providing device corresponding to the route guidance device according to claim 6.

In the present invention, "during transmission of route information" means a period from the start of transmission of route information to the route guidance apparatus until the completion of transmission of all route information. When the transmission is performed to the route guide device, the idle time of the plurality of transmissions is also included.

As described above, according to the present invention, the vehicle information is received from the route guidance device during the transmission of the route information by the transmission means. The complexity of a new communication operation can be avoided.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data between a route information providing device and a route guidance device by communication and performing route guidance to a predetermined destination. A transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives vehicle information between the route information providing device and the route guidance device during transmission / reception is provided.

The present invention is a communication type navigation system corresponding to the route guidance device according to claim 6 and the route information providing device according to claim 7, and has the same operation and effect as the invention according to claim 6 and claim 7. To play.

In the present invention, "during transmission / reception of route information" means
The period from the start of transmission / reception of route information for a request to the completion of transmission / reception of all route information. When the route information is transmitted / received a plurality of times, the transmission / reception of the plurality of times is performed. Free time is also included.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, the receiving means for receiving the route history information from the route guidance device, the recording means for pre-recording the route information, and comparing the route history information with the route information, A route information providing apparatus for a communication-type navigation system, comprising: a new route detecting unit that detects a new route from route history information; and an updating unit that records the new route in the recording unit.

In the present invention, the "route history information" is the same as the invention according to claim 5, and refers to data of a combination of a plurality of positions representing the traveling locus of the vehicle and the positioning times thereof.

In the present invention, the new route detecting means
The route history information received from the route guidance device is compared with the route information recorded in advance in the recording means of the route information providing device, and the presence or absence of a new route is detected from the route history information.
Here, the new route is a route that is not recorded in the recording unit. If the new route is included in the route history information, the updating unit updates the recording unit by registering the new route in the recording unit.

As described above, in the present invention, when the route on which the vehicle equipped with the route guide device has traveled is not recorded in the recording means, the latest route information is always updated based on the route information of the updated recording means. It can be provided to a route guidance device.

The recording means is, for example, a database.

The configuration of the new route detecting means of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it compares the route history information with the route information and detects a new route from the route history information.

An embodiment of such a new route search means is the invention according to claim 10. That is, according to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the route information providing device according to the ninth aspect, the new route detection unit compares the route history information with the route information and determines the route from the route history information. It is characterized in that a route that does not match the route existing in the information is detected as a new route.

In the present invention, the new route detecting means detects a route that does not match the route existing in the route information from the route history information as a new route, so that the determination of the new route is easy and the processing efficiency is improved.

Here, the "route that does not match the route existing in the route information" includes a route that does not completely match the route information, as well as a route that matches only a part of the route information. In such a case, the part of the route that does not match is determined to be a new route.

Another preferred embodiment of the new route search means is the invention according to claim 11. That is, the invention according to claim 11 is the route information providing device according to claim 9, further comprising a mismatch storage unit that stores a route that does not match a route existing in the route information from the route history information as a candidate route. The new road detecting means detects the candidate path as a new road when the same or similar candidate path extracted from a plurality of path history information exists in the mismatch storage means. .

In the present invention, the new route detecting means stores a route which does not match the route existing in the route information from the route history information in the mismatch storage means as a candidate route. Then, when the same or similar candidate route extracted from the plurality of route history information exists in the mismatch storage unit, the candidate route is detected as a new road. That is, a route that does not match the route existing in the route information is not immediately set as a new route, but is stored in the mismatch storage unit as a candidate route,
The candidate route is determined to be a new route only after confirming from the plurality of route history information received from the plurality of route guidance devices that the same or similar candidate route as the candidate route exists in the mismatch storage unit. .

For this reason, in the present invention, a new route can be reliably determined based on route history information from a plurality of route guidance devices by the new route detecting means and the non-coincidence storing means, and the error determination of the new route is performed. Decrease. Thereby, the latest and accurate route information can be provided to the route guidance device.

In the present invention, the “same or similar candidate route” includes not only a candidate route whose route and latitude are completely the same but also a similar route. This is because a measurement error on the route guidance device side is considered.

Further, as in the new route detecting means of the present invention, a final new route is determined based on the existence of a plurality of candidate routes. May be configured to make the final judgment. Also in this case, the latest and accurate route information can be provided to the route guidance device.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a measuring means for measuring a current position and a current time of a vehicle, a route storing means for storing route information in advance, a current position measured by the measuring means and the route storing information. Means for comparing the route information stored in the route information with the route information to determine whether or not the current position is present in the route information; and A new route storage unit that stores the current time and the current time as a new route for each time, a transmission unit that transmits the new route to the route information providing apparatus,
A route guidance device for a communication-type navigation system, comprising:

In the present invention, a new route is determined on the route guidance device side.

In the present invention, the new route determining means
The current position measured by the measurement unit is compared with the route information stored in the route storage unit in advance. Then, it is determined whether or not the current position is present in the route information. If not, the current position and the current time are stored in the new route storage means as a new route for each time. When the vehicle travels, the trajectory of the new route over time can be stored in the new route storage means. Since the traveling locus of the new route is stored in the new route storage unit that stores only the new route, it is not overwritten or deleted by the known route. Then, the traveling locus of the new route stored in this way is transmitted to the route information providing device by the transmission unit. For this reason, the route information providing apparatus can easily determine a new route and improve processing efficiency.

The configuration of the new route determining means of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it compares the current position with the route information and determines whether the current position exists in the route information. Absent. For example, the new route determination means may be configured to determine a new route when the current position does not completely match the position in the route information. Further, when the current position does not exist within a certain range from the position in the route information, it can be determined that the route is a new route.
In this case, a flexible judgment can be made in consideration of a measurement error by the route guidance device and an error range of the traveling position.

The processing of the route information providing device that has received the new route is not particularly limited in the present invention.

As a route information providing device corresponding to such a route guide device, for example, there is an invention according to claim 13. That is, the invention according to claim 13 includes a recording unit that records route information in advance, a receiving unit that receives new route information from a route guidance device, and an updating unit that records the new route information in the recording unit. A route information providing device provided with:

In the present invention, the information relating to the new route received from the route guidance device is registered and updated in the recording means by the updating means. For this reason, it is possible to provide the latest route information to another route guidance device.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data between a route information providing device and a route guidance device by communication and providing route guidance to a predetermined destination. A prerecorded recording means, a new route detecting means for comparing the route history information with the route information and detecting a new route from the route history information, and the new route, a route information providing device and a route guiding device; And an updating means for recording the new road in the recording means.

The present invention is a communication type navigation system provided with a new route detecting means according to claim 12 or a new route judging means according to claim 13, wherein the invention according to claim 12 and the invention according to claim 13 are provided. It has the same effect.

In the present invention, the effect can be achieved regardless of whether the recording means or the new route detecting means is provided in any of the route guidance device and the route information providing device.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, a receiving means for receiving vehicle history information from a route guidance device, and performing statistical processing based on vehicle history information received from a route guidance device existing within a predetermined range. Statistical means for creating road condition information in the range, recording means for recording the road condition information in the recording means, and when a route information is requested from a route guidance device, the road condition in the range is A communication device comprising: a route information generating unit configured to extract information from the recording unit to generate route information; and a transmitting unit configured to transmit the route information to a route guidance device that has requested the route information. It is a route information providing device of a navigation system.

The “vehicle history information” of the present invention is defined in claim 5
The same as the invention according to the above, various in-vehicle devices such as wipers
This data is a set of machine on / off information, its detection date and time, and its detection position.

According to the present invention, the statistical means performs statistical processing based on the vehicle history information received from the route guidance apparatus existing in a predetermined range, and creates road condition information in the range. Then, route information is created by the route information creating means based on the road condition information, and transmitted to the route guidance device by the sending means.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the current traveling environment of the vehicle can be grasped from the vehicle history information, and accurate information such as a recommended route and a detour route can be presented to the vehicle based on past data.

For example, the statistical means aggregates the wiper on / off information in the vehicle history information from the route guidance device within a predetermined range, and determines the weather, road surface condition, and the like in the specific area. Then, for example, road condition information indicating that the weather condition is rain is created. In this case, the route information creating means can be configured to create route information for guiding a detour route that does not pass through an area determined to be rainy, for example. In this case, it is possible for the route guidance device to travel to the destination on an accurate route according to the current weather condition.

Note that the "predetermined range" of the present invention is a range in which a vehicle equipped with a route guidance device is traveling to an extent sufficient to determine such a road condition.
It can be set arbitrarily.

According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle detecting means for detecting a change in a vehicle, a storage means for storing a change in the vehicle detected by the vehicle detecting means as vehicle history information for each time, Transmission information for transmitting the history information to the route information providing device; and receiving means for receiving the route information based on the road condition information created by the route information providing device based on the vehicle history information. It is a route guidance device of a communication type navigation system which is a feature.

The present invention is a route guidance device corresponding to the route information providing device according to claim 15, and collects vehicle history information.

In the present invention, a change in the vehicle is detected by the vehicle detecting means, and this change is stored in the storage means with time as vehicle history information. By transmitting the vehicle history information to the route information providing device by the transmission means, the route information providing device receives the route information based on the road condition. That is, since the traveling environment is automatically transmitted to the route information providing device as vehicle history information, it is not necessary to separately notify the traveling environment such as weather and road surface conditions to the route information providing device. Can be Also, if you send vehicle history information, route information will be automatically provided,
It is possible to receive accurate route guidance according to the environment.

The “vehicle history information” according to the present invention is a device according to claim 15.
It is the same as the invention according to the above.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data between a route information providing device and a route guidance device by communication and performing route guidance to a predetermined destination. Means for statistically processing the vehicle history information in the set range and creating road condition information in the range; route information creating means for creating route information based on the road condition information; And a transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving data to / from a route information providing device.

The present invention includes the route information providing device according to claim 15 and the route guidance device according to claim 16, and has the same operational effects as the invention.

Also in the present invention, the vehicle history information and the road condition information are the same as in the invention according to claim 15.

[0080]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The navigation system according to the present embodiment includes an in-vehicle information acquisition device mounted on a vehicle as a moving object, and an information center. By transmitting and receiving various data between the in-vehicle information acquisition device and the information center, It guides the vehicle to the destination. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle information acquisition device.

As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus 100 includes an input unit 105 for an operator to input a destination and request information, a program storage unit 102 for storing a transmission program, a reception program, and the like. An arithmetic processing unit 101 such as a CPU, a display unit 106 such as a display device for displaying an output result, an audio output unit 107 such as a speaker for outputting the output result by sound, and a position measuring unit 104 for measuring the current position of the vehicle A vehicle information detector 109 for detecting vehicle information; a timer 110 for measuring the current time; a data storage unit 103 such as a memory for storing route history information, vehicle history information, vehicle information, and the like; 150 and a transmission / reception unit 108 for transmitting / receiving various data such as vehicle ID, current position data, destination data, route history information, vehicle history information, and the like. Constructed.

The transmission / reception unit 108 transmits data such as current position information and destination information of the vehicle to the information center 150,
Data such as recommended route information is received from the information center 150. The transmission / reception unit 108 also transmits the vehicle ID code, the route history information, the vehicle history information, and the time information to the information center 150 at a predetermined time t1 interval. A method for transmitting and receiving these data will be described later.

Here, the route history information includes a predetermined time interval t
For each 2 (<t1), the data includes a pair of data of the position information of the vehicle observed by the position measurement unit 104 and the time information measured by the timekeeping unit 110 at the corresponding position.

The vehicle history information is composed of a pair of time information and vehicle information measured by the timer 110 at the time when the vehicle information detected by the vehicle information detection unit 109 changes.

The vehicle information includes active / inactive of the wiper, lighting / non-lighting of the headlight, and the like. By transmitting these vehicle information as vehicle history information to the information center 150 by the transmission / reception unit 108, Fifteen
0 can be informed of the current situation of the vehicle and an appropriate route can be selected. In other words, the active
It is possible to inform the information center 150 of the weather condition by the inactive information and the weather condition and the situation such as night driving by the information of lighting / non-lighting of the headlight. The vehicle information is not particularly limited as long as it is information relating to the vehicle. For example, GPS information, vehicle speed, ABS operation status, temperature inside and outside the vehicle, transmission operation status, airbag operation status, active suspension operation status, etc. Can be detected by the vehicle detection unit. The vehicle position by GPS information, the congestion situation by the vehicle speed, the weather situation by the temperature inside and outside the car, the congestion situation by the transmission operation situation, the accident information by the airbag operation situation,
The information center 150 notifies the information center 150 of the road surface condition according to the active suspension operation status.
, The processing corresponding to each situation can be performed.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration diagram of the information center 150. As shown in FIG. 2, the information center 150 includes a communication control unit 151 that controls data transmission and reception with the on-board information acquisition device, a database 154, and a database management unit 15 that manages database search processing, update processing, and the like.
3, a route history storage unit 155, a vehicle history storage unit, a passing time measurement unit 156, a comparison / mismatch detection unit 157,
A mismatch storage unit 158, a mismatch data identification unit 160,
A route cost change unit 159 and a system control unit 152 that controls these units are schematically configured.

In the database 154, guide data such as road network data, search cost data, and names of national roads and intersections are registered in advance. In addition, the route history storage unit 155 stores the on-vehicle information acquisition devices 10 of a plurality of vehicles.
The route history information received from 0 is stored for each vehicle ID,
The vehicle history storage unit stores the vehicle history information received from the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100 for each vehicle ID.

The comparison / mismatch detection section 157 compares the received route history information with the road information recorded in the database 154 to detect a mismatch. The mismatch storage unit 158 stores the road information determined to be mismatched as a result of the comparison.

When there are a plurality of inconsistent data, the inconsistent data identifying section 160 identifies that these inconsistent data have been received from the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus 100 having a different vehicle ID.

The transit time measuring section 156 measures the transit time of the vehicle for each road from the route history information received from the vehicle information acquisition device 100. That is, since the route history information includes the time information at the position as well as the position information of each vehicle, it is possible to measure the passage time of each vehicle on an arbitrary road from the route history information.

When selecting the optimal route, the route cost changing unit 159 determines the dynamic time due to the time variation, seasonal variation, and the like from the road transit time measured by the transit time measuring unit 156 and the date and time recorded in the route history information. A route search is performed in consideration of a large change in transit time.

Next, a description will be given of a method of guiding the vehicle to the destination position by the navigation system of the present embodiment configured as described above.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the overall processing on the vehicle side. In the vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100, first, the current position of the vehicle is acquired by the current position acquisition processing (step S401). Next, the transmission / reception unit 108 requests the information center 150 for information to a desired destination by a route search process. Next, it is confirmed whether the information transmitted from the information center 150 to the destination is the requested location (step 403). If it is not the requested location, the route search step is performed again. If it is the requested location, a process for providing route guidance to the destination is executed (step 404). And
In the transmission process, the route history information and the vehicle history information are transmitted to the information center 150 (Step 405). The information center 150 performs statistical processing and the like from these data and transmits the output result to the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100. Therefore, the vehicle performs reception processing of the output data on these (step 406). The route guidance processing, the transmission processing, and the reception processing are repeated until the vehicle reaches the destination.

Here, the current position information processing of the vehicle is performed by the position measuring unit 104 of the vehicle information acquisition device (step S401).
Performs a map matching process of comparing the position coordinates on the road map with the current position coordinates of the vehicle and displaying the current position of the vehicle on the map. In this map matching process, there is a case where the vehicle is traveling on a route that is not on the road map, that is, a case where a new road is found. The processing in this case will be described below.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process for recording vehicle position information by the map matching process. For the sake of explanation, it is assumed that the vehicle has traveled from a position L1 on the registered road on the map shown in FIG. 8 to a position L3 on the registered road through a new road L2 not on the map. Here, the comparison between the position coordinates obtained from the position measurement unit 104 and the road map coordinate data considers a range A from the point of the road map coordinate data as shown in FIG. It is determined that the vehicle exists on the registered road.
In FIG. 8, the range A is a circular area having a road width and an allowable error as a radius, and the range B is a circular area within the range A and having a road width as a radius. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Absent.

First, consider the case where the vehicle is at the position L1. The current position coordinates of the vehicle are acquired by the position measurement unit 104 (step S1), and are stored in the data storage unit 103 (step S2).

Next, it is determined whether or not the map matching process is being executed (step S3). When the vehicle is at L1, the process proceeds to step S4 because the map matching process is being executed.

In step S4, it is determined whether or not the position coordinates are within range A (step S4). At the L1 position, since the position is within the range A, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the position is outside the range B (step S5). If it is within the range B, it is determined whether or not the map matching process has been temporarily stopped and restarted (step S12). When the vehicle is at the L1 position, the map matching process has not been restarted from the suspended state, so the process proceeds to step 8, where the position of the vehicle is displayed on the road map. On the other hand, if it is outside the range B in step S5 (that is, outside the range B and within the range A), it is determined whether or not the map matching has been resumed from the suspended state (step S6). Since the position L1 is not the one resumed from the stop state, the process proceeds to the next step S18, where the position coordinates are stored in the data storage unit 103 as L1, and then the vehicle position is displayed on the road map (step S8).

Next, consider the case where the vehicle has moved from L1 to L2. Similarly to the processing at the L1 position, after acquiring and storing the position coordinates of the vehicle (steps S1 and S2), it is determined whether or not map matching is being executed (step S3). At this point, since map matching is being executed, the process proceeds to step S9, and the map matching process is stopped.
Thereafter, the position coordinates are stored as L2 in the data storage unit 103 (step S10), the position coordinates are displayed (step S11), and the process returns to the calling source.

Next, consider the case where the vehicle has traveled further on L2 toward L3. Similarly to the processing at the L1 position, after acquiring and storing the position coordinates of the vehicle (steps S1,
2) It is determined whether or not map matching is being executed (step S3). At this time, since the map matching process has already been interrupted, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether or not the vehicle is within range A. Since the vehicle is still on L2, the process proceeds to step S16, where the position coordinates are stored as L2, and then the position coordinates are displayed (step S1).
7).

Finally, consider the case where the vehicle has moved from L2 to L3. As in the processing at the L1 and L2 positions, after acquiring and storing the position coordinates of the vehicle (steps S1 and S2), it is determined whether or not map matching is being executed (step S).
3). At this point, since the map matching process has been interrupted, the process proceeds to step S14, and it is determined whether the vehicle is within the range A. In the L3 position, the vehicle is in the range A
Therefore, the map matching process is restarted (step S15). Next, in step S6,
It is determined whether or not the map matching process has been restarted, and since the map matching process has been restarted, the position coordinates are stored as L3 (step S7). Then, L1, L2, and L3 are stored as new roads in the data storage unit 103 (step S13), and the vehicle position is displayed on the road map.

In the above processing, when the position information is stored in the data storage unit 103, the time information is also stored. Therefore, route history information is created in the data storage unit 103. When the vehicle travels on a point L2 on a new road that is not registered on the road map, a line connecting L1, L2, and L3 is stored as a new road in the route history information.

Next, a transmission / reception method between the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100 and the information center 150 will be described. FIG.
FIG. 2 shows a data flow diagram between the on-vehicle information acquisition device 100 and the information center 150. FIG. 3 shows an in-vehicle information acquisition device 1
It is a flowchart figure of a process in the 00 automatic transmission subroutine. In the navigation system of the present embodiment, a mobile phone is used as a communication unit for transmitting and receiving data between the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100 and the information center 150. The communication means is not limited to this. Instead of a mobile phone, a communication means such as a PHS (simple mobile phone) or a car phone which can secure two communication paths by one connection operation is used. Can be used as
In the in-vehicle information acquisition apparatus 100, first, the SK flag, the JK
The flag and the SK2 flag are reset, and the SS flag is set. Here, the setting of the SK flag indicates the transmission completion state of the request information, the setting of the JK flag indicates the reception completion state of the center information, the setting of the SK2 flag indicates the transmission completion state of the vehicle information, and the setting of the SS flag indicates the transmission setting state. Each indicates a completed state. Next, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100
Request information such as a route search request from the information center 15
Send to 0 and set the SK1 flag to 1. The information center 150 receiving the request information creates information corresponding to the request and transmits the information to the vehicle. Here, from when the information center 150 receives the request to when the information corresponding to the request is created and transmitted, there is an idle time in the communication path. For this reason, the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100 on the vehicle side acquires the vehicle information and transmits the acquired vehicle information to the information center 150 using the idle time. In the processing information center 150, information based on the vehicle information is created and transmitted to the in-vehicle information acquisition device.

An automatic transmission process of vehicle information in the on-vehicle information acquisition device 100 in this case will be described with reference to FIG. The in-vehicle information acquisition device 100 checks the state of the SK1 flag to determine whether or not the request information transmission has been completed.
Then, when the transmission is completed, the vehicle information is acquired. Next, the state of the JK flag is checked to determine whether the reception of the center information has been completed. If reception of all center information has not been completed, it is determined whether or not transmission of all vehicle information has been completed based on the state of the SK2 flag. If the transmission has not been completed, it is checked whether or not there is any other vehicle information.
The determination is made based on the state of the S flag. If the transmission is set, the vehicle information is transmitted to the information center 150, and when all the vehicle information is transmitted, the SK2 flag is set.

The vehicle information acquisition device 100 transmits the route history information and the vehicle history information during the idle time from the transmission of the request information to the reception of the request information. In this case, the automatic transmission to the information center 150 is performed at regular intervals during the idle time. doing. This automatic processing will be described below.

[0106] The on-vehicle information acquiring apparatus 100 operates for a predetermined time t.
The vehicle ID, route history information, vehicle history information, and time information are transmitted at one interval. The route history information includes a predetermined time t2 (<t
1) Consisting of vehicle position information measured by the position measuring unit 104 at intervals and time information measured. The vehicle history information includes time information when the vehicle state changes and vehicle state information. In-vehicle information acquisition device 100
After transmitting the route history information and the vehicle history information to the information center 150 at the previous time T1, the set data of the current position information and the time of the vehicle, the vehicle information and the time at the time t2 until the time t1 elapses. Are stored in the data storage unit 103, and at a predetermined time T1 + t1, the route history information and the vehicle history information in which each set data is recorded with time are transmitted to the information center 150. Here, at the time T2 in the route history information
Is smaller than the predetermined distance L when the position information (x2, y2) measured at the time is compared with the position information (x1, y1) measured at the previous time T2-t2,
The current position information and the vehicle status change information are not stored in the data storage unit 103. That is, when the following equation is satisfied, the data is not stored in the data storage unit 103.

[0107]

(X2-x1) * (x2-x1) + (y2-y)
1) * (y2-y1) ≤L * L

Hereinafter, a specific automatic transmission process will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of a process for automatically transmitting the route history information and the vehicle history information at regular intervals. First, it is determined whether or not the initialization processing has been completed. If the initialization processing has not been completed, the initialization processing is executed (steps S421 and S422). Here, the initialization process sets a set of vehicle information immediately after the start of the operation, and position information and time information at that time when the vehicle has not moved a distance of L or more, and firstly sets the information center 150 once.
This is the process of transmitting to.

Next, it is determined whether or not the time t1 has elapsed (step S423). If it has elapsed, the route history information and the vehicle history information are transmitted to the information center 150 (step S424). If time t1 has not elapsed,
It is determined whether the time t2 has elapsed (step S42).
5) If not, return. If the time has elapsed, the current position of the vehicle is measured by the position measuring unit 104.

Next, the moving distance of the vehicle since the previous measurement is calculated, and it is determined whether the moving distance is L or more (step S427). If the moving distance is not less than L, the current position information and the time information are stored in the data storage unit 103 (step S428). When the moving distance is less than L, the process proceeds to the next step without storing the current position information and the time information in the storage unit.

Next, vehicle information is detected by the vehicle information detecting section 109, and it is determined whether or not the state of the vehicle has changed since the previous measurement (step S429). For example, changes in wiper off / on, changes in headlight non-lighting / lighting, changes in GPS information, changes in vehicle speed, changes in ABS operating conditions, changes in temperature inside and outside the vehicle, changes in transmission operating conditions. , A change in the airbag operation status, a change in the active suspension operation status, and the like. If there is a change in the vehicle information, the state and time of the change are stored in the data storage unit 103 (step 430). If there is no change, return.

As described above, the position information and the time of the vehicle, and the vehicle information and the time are stored in the data storage unit 1 at each time t2.
03, the route history information and the vehicle history information are created. Then, both data are stored at time t1.
The information is transmitted to the information center 150 every time.

In the present embodiment, transmission of data such as vehicle information, environment information, route history information, and vehicle history information to the information center 150 is performed during the idle time until the reception of request information and the like at the regular time interval t1. The method is performed every time, but the method is not limited to the method according to the present embodiment as long as it can be transmitted during transmission / reception of data such as request information. For example, the configuration may be such that the route history information stored in the data storage unit 103 is transmitted at any time when the map matching process is interrupted. Further, the transmission at regular time intervals and the transmission at an arbitrary time may be combined. Further, it may be configured to transmit the data immediately before the start of data reception from the information center 150, immediately after the reception is completed, or during the idle time of the reception.

[0114] In addition, C in which a grid is set in advance on the map
Using a recording medium such as a D-ROM, the route history information and the vehicle history information can be transmitted to the information center 150 when the vehicle has passed the grid point on the map. In this case, the grid interval may be changed according to the type of vehicle information, for example, weather, traffic congestion, and the like. In particular, when transmitting weather information, there is no problem even if the grid interval is set long. Further, in the case of an emergency such as an accident, the communication may be performed in a timely manner.

Further, as another transmission / reception method, the route history information and the vehicle history information are transmitted to the information center 150 by using a broadcast communication medium capable of two-way communication such as FM multiplex broadcasting and VICS (road traffic information communication system). It is also possible to send to. In this case, since data such as route history information, vehicle history information, vehicle information, and environmental information can be transmitted in real time, it is possible to obtain information such as an optimal recommended route at the present time from the information center 150. Becomes

FIG. 10 shows a data record format transmitted to the information center 150. Each data field is as follows. ID field is vehicle ID, A
The rds field contains address information of the information center 150,
The Dn field is a series of route history information or the number of data of a series of vehicle history information that follows, the LT field is a series of route history information, the CS field is a series of vehicle history information,
EOF indicates the end of the record. Here, a series of route history information LT includes position data Ln (n = a, b, c...) And time data Tn (n = a, b, c.
). The vehicle history information CS is
Vehicle information Cn (n = a, b, c...) Such as active / inactive of the wiper and lighting / non-lighting of the headlamp, and time data Tnn (nn = aa, bb, cc...) When each Cn is observed. .
).

Next, the processing on the information center 150 side will be described. First, the database update process of the information center 150 that receives the route history information when a new road is found will be described.

The information center 150 receives route history information from a plurality of vehicles. The received route history information is stored in the route history storage unit 155 for each vehicle by identifying the vehicle ID.

The comparison / mismatch detection unit 157 compares the route history information stored in the route history storage unit 155 with the road information previously stored in the database 154, and compares the route history information with the road information stored in the database 154. If a different route exists in the route history information, the route data is stored in the mismatch storage unit 158 together with the vehicle ID as a new road candidate. This detection processing will be described in detail.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the process of detecting mismatched data by the comparison / mismatch detection unit 157.
First, the route history information is scanned, and the minimum value and the maximum value of each of the east longitude position and the north latitude position are extracted. Then, the maximum value and the minimum value of the east longitude position are set to Xmax and Xmin, respectively, and the maximum value and the minimum value of the north latitude position are set to Ymax and Ymin, respectively (step S101).

Next, road map information in an area corresponding to a rectangle defined by Xmax, Xmin, Ymax, and Ymin is read from the database 154 to create a bitmap (step S102). At this time, the rectangular area is divided into predetermined small rectangles, and if a road exists in the small rectangle of interest, the storage address corresponding to the small rectangle is, for example, "".
Set to “1”, and if there is no road, set to “0”.

Next, the east longitude north latitude position information is sequentially read from the route history information for each area corresponding to the small rectangle, and the point of the corresponding small rectangle is determined from the previously divided small rectangles (step S103).

Next, it is checked whether the set value of the storage address corresponding to the determined point is "1" or "0", and it is determined whether or not a road already exists (step S104).

When "0" is set in the storage address corresponding to the determined point, that is, when there is no road, the position information of the north longitude and the east longitude in the small rectangle is replaced with the vehicle ID.
Is stored in the mismatch storage unit 158 (step S10).
5).

It is determined whether or not the route history information to be referred to is completed. If the route history information is not completed, the process returns to step S103 to read out the east longitude north latitude position information from the route history information and continue the processing. Such comparison / mismatch detection processing is performed for all vehicle IDs.
It repeats about the route history information of.

Next, the mismatch data identification section 160
It is determined whether or not the same route data is included in the route history information transmitted from vehicles having different vehicle IDs. When the same route data is included in the route history information of different vehicles, the route data is determined as a new road, and the database 154 is updated with the route data as a new road.

Note that the method of determining the route data as a new road is not limited to the method by the mismatched data identification unit 160 of the present embodiment. For example, a method of actually sending an investigator to the site to confirm it is used. May be taken. Alternatively, a method of confirming with the Ministry of Construction may be adopted.

Next, a database update process when a new road is determined will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart of the database update process. FIG.
3 is a road map when a new road is found in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing roads on a map as an example when a new road is found. In FIG. 13, 13
0a, 130b, 131, 132, 133, 134, 1
Solid lines 45 and 136 represent new roads, and Rx, R
The dotted line portion of y indicates an existing road already registered in the database 154. Cx, Cy, Cz indicate existing intersections between registered roads, and Cx1, Cx2, Cy1 indicate new intersections with new roads.

Before the updating process, a new road whose both ends always exist on the existing registered road, for example, 130a in FIG.

The update processing of the new road 131 in FIG. 13A will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
It is determined whether one end A of the new road 131 is on a registered intersection on a registered road (step S501). Since point A of the new road 131 is on the registered intersection,
Next, it is determined whether the other end point B is at a registered intersection (step S502). Since the point B of the new road 131 is on the registered intersection, the numbering process (step S503)
Execute In this case, the new road 1
The road number of No. 31 is Rz, and the intersections at both ends are Cx and Cy.
Register as

Next, the update processing of the new road 132 in FIG. 13A will be described. Similarly, the determination in steps S501 and S502 is performed. However, since the point B of the new road 132 is not on the registered intersection, the process proceeds to step S504, and
It is determined whether or not the point is on the registered road Rx. Point B is
Since it is on Rx, the next numbering process (step S50)
Execute 5). That is, the road number of the new road 132 is R
z, and the intersections at both ends are registered as Cx and Cx1. Thereafter, the registered road Rx is divided and updated into the road number Rx of the section between the intersections Cx and Cx1 and the road number Rx1 of the section between the intersections Cx1 and Cy (step 506).

Next, consider the process of updating the new road 133 shown in FIG. 13 (a). Steps S501, S502, S5
The processing up to 04 is the same as the processing described above. In step S504, the point B of the new road 133 is on the registered road Ry and not on Rx, so the following numbering process is performed (step S507). That is, the road number of the new road 133 is set as Rz, and the intersections at both ends are registered as Cx and Cy1. After that, the registered road Ry is changed to the intersection Cy and Cy1.
Is updated by dividing the road number Ry of the section No. into the road number Ry1 of the section between the intersections Cy1 and Cz (step 506).

Next, the update processing of the new road 134 shown in FIG. Since the point A of the new road 134 is not on the registered intersection (step S501) and the point B is on the registered intersection (step S510), the numbering process of step S511 is performed. That is, new road 1
The road number of No. 34 is Rz, and the intersections at both ends are Cx1, Cy.
Register as Then, register the registered road Rx at the intersection Cx
And the road number Rx in the section between Cx1 and Cy and the road number Rx1 in the section between intersections Cx1 and Cy are updated (step 51).
2).

Next, the update processing of the new road 135 shown in FIG. Point A and point B of new road 135
Are not on a registered intersection (step S501, step S510), and the point B is on the registered road Rx (step S513), so the numbering process of step S514 is performed. That is, the road number of the new road 135 is Rz
And the intersections at both ends are registered as Cx1 and Cx2. Thereafter, the registered road Rx is identified by the road number Rx of the section between the intersections Cx and Cx1, the road number Rx1 of the section between the intersections Cx1 and Cx2,
It is divided and updated into the intersection Cx2 and the road number Rx2 of the section of Cy (step 515).

Next, the update processing of the new road 136 in FIG. 13B will be considered. Point A and point B of new road 136
Are not on the registered intersection (steps S501 and S510), and the point B is not on the registered road Rx (step S513), so the numbering process of step S516 is performed. That is, the road number of the new road 136 is Rz
And the intersections at both ends are registered as Cx1 and Cy1. Thereafter, the registered road Rx is divided and updated into a road number Rx in the section between the intersections Cx and Cx1 and a road number Rx in the section between the intersections Cx1 and Cy (step S517). Then, the registered road Ry is set as the road number Ry of the section between the intersections Cy and Cy1, and
The road number Ry1 of the section between the intersections Cy1 and Cz is divided and updated (step S518).

In the updating process, Rz, Rx1, Rx
2, Ry1, Cx1, Cx2, and Cy1 use numbers other than those already defined.

After performing the above processing, if there is still unmatched data in the mismatch storage unit 158, the same update processing is repeated.

As described above, in the navigation system of this embodiment, even if the information center 150 side has a new road in the route history information received from the on-vehicle information acquisition device 100, information on the new road is immediately registered and the database 154 is created. To update. And the in-vehicle information acquisition device 1
The route information based on the updated database 154 is transmitted to the vehicle information acquisition device by utilizing the idle time of transmission and reception of request information and the like between 00 and 00. Therefore, it is possible to dynamically change the optimum route and always provide the vehicle with the latest optimum route information.

In the information center 150, the passage time measuring unit 156 measures the time when a vehicle has passed an arbitrary road from the route history information for each of a plurality of vehicles. That is, since the route history information includes the position information and the time information of the vehicle, the passage time measuring unit 156 analyzes the route history information and calculates the passage time of the road. Then, the passage time of this road is stored together with the passage date and time as a road cost in the database 154 for each road.

When the request information of the recommended route guidance to the destination is received from the on-vehicle information acquisition device 100, the route cost is referred to by referring to the road cost recorded in the database 154 at the time of the route guidance. The optimal route according to the season, etc. That is, a route search is performed with reference to dynamic transit time fluctuations due to time fluctuations, seasonal fluctuations, and the like, and recommended route information is transmitted to the in-vehicle information acquisition device 100. Therefore, compared to a conventional navigation system that provides a recommended route based only on static factors such as the road width, the number of lanes, and the number of signals, it is possible to provide a user with an optimal recommended route according to date and time, season, and the like.

Next, the recommended route guidance processing based on the statistical processing of the vehicle history information at the information center 150 will be described.

The route history information and vehicle history information received from a plurality of vehicles are stored and accumulated in the database 154. The information center 150 analyzes the route history information of a plurality of vehicles stored in the database 154, and measures the number of vehicles traveling on a predetermined route and the traveling speed of each vehicle for each route. As a result, the route history information accumulated in the database 154 is used as an index of the traffic congestion state. That is, among the latest position information in the route history information received from a plurality of vehicles, the number of vehicles having the position information corresponding to the predetermined route is determined by the number of vehicles N on the predetermined route (road).
Measured as Also, a value obtained by dividing the change in the position information by the change in the time at which the corresponding position is observed is measured as the moving speed V of the vehicle. Then, the congestion degree K is measured by the following equation.

[0144]

## EQU2 ## K = A * (N / V) (where A is an arbitrary constant)

The information center 150 analyzes the vehicle history information to obtain information on the traveling environment of the vehicle. That is, the rainfall state is determined from the active / inactive state of the wiper in the vehicle history information. That is, by analyzing the vehicle history information, it can be determined that the vehicle is running under rainy weather when the wiper is in the active state.

Further, from the lighting state of the headlights in the vehicle history information, it can be determined that visibility is poor due to fog, precipitation, snowstorm, etc. during night driving or during the day. Further, by combining this with the route history information, an area where precipitation and poor visibility occur is specified.

Further, in the information center 150, for a vehicle that has already proposed a recommended route to a predetermined destination, the traffic condition on the recommended route is determined based on the route history information from a plurality of vehicles and the vehicle history information. If it is determined that the traffic situation deviates significantly from the criteria at the time of selecting the recommended route presented earlier, the vehicle is notified to that effect and there is a detour route To send the route. For example, when the current congestion degree becomes higher than the statistical value of the congestion degree accumulated in the past and congestion in the traveling direction is expected, the fact and the detour route are transmitted to the vehicle.

Here, the detour route to be transmitted to the vehicle is a route that detours from a nearby intersection that is predicted from the latest position information of the vehicle, the measurement time thereof, and the congestion situation of the destination.

[0149] Environmental information such as the area of the precipitation situation where the recommended route is proceeding or poor visibility is also transmitted to the vehicle. Here, if there is a route that bypasses a route that is in a precipitation situation or poor visibility, the bypass route is also transmitted to the vehicle.

On the other hand, for a vehicle newly requesting a recommended route to a predetermined destination, a recommended route is selected and transmitted according to the criterion at that time.

If the vehicle history information includes, for example, GPS information, vehicle speed, ABS operation status, temperature inside and outside the vehicle, transmission operation status, airbag operation status, active suspension operation status, etc., these are used. The information can be used as a criterion for selecting a recommended route. That is, the vehicle position is determined by the GPS information in the vehicle history information, the traffic congestion is determined by the vehicle speed, the weather is determined by the temperature inside and outside the vehicle,
It is possible to grasp the traffic congestion status based on the transmission operation status, the accident information and vehicle failure status based on the airbag operation status, and the road surface status based on the active suspension operation status, and dynamically recommend the recommended route based on these information. It is possible to select. Also, if the vehicle history information includes the gasoline remaining amount status, when the information center 150 detects the predetermined remaining amount, the position of the nearest gas station and the route are transmitted to enable the driver to search for the gas station. Is eliminated and safe driving can be supported.

As described above, in the navigation system according to the present embodiment, the analysis of the route history information and the vehicle history information and the statistics indicate that the recommended route to the predetermined destination is requested, and that the predetermined destination at that time is determined. Congestion degree of the number of route candidates leading up to it, the degree of change in congestion degree, precipitation conditions,
Considering poor visibility, etc., it is used as a criterion for selecting a recommended route. Therefore, it is possible to dynamically change the criterion for selecting the recommended route, and to use the criterion for predicting a change in the road traffic condition at the present time and the future road traffic condition. Can be provided. In addition, it is possible to provide the environmental status of the travel destination of the recommended route, which is useful for supporting safe driving of the vehicle. In addition, since the ever-changing position information, the traveling route, and the destination of each vehicle are centrally managed by the information center 150, it is possible to perform appropriate route guidance in consideration of the future movement situation of each vehicle. Since the vehicle itself functions as a sensor, it does not require equipment for detecting traffic congestion or the like arranged on the road, and can provide an appropriate recommended route when traveling in any area.

Next, a receiving process from the information center 150 on the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus 100 will be described. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a receiving process. The in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus 100 first checks whether or not the received data includes data addressed to the own vehicle (step S441). If there is no data addressed to the own vehicle, the receiving process ends without performing the subsequent processes. If there is data addressed to the own vehicle, it is determined whether there is environmental information such as a precipitation situation or poor visibility in the received data (step S442). If there is, the environmental information is notified by the audio output unit 107. Display part 1
06 (step S443). Next, it is determined whether or not there is a traffic congestion forecast such as a traffic congestion situation of the destination in the received data (step S444). S445). Further, it is determined whether or not there is detour path information in the received data (step S446), and if there is, detour path setting processing is performed (step S447).

Next, a navigation system according to a second embodiment will be described. The navigation system according to the second embodiment corresponds to the invention according to claims 5 to 17. FIG. 14 shows an overall configuration diagram of the navigation system of the second embodiment. This system includes an information center 25 as a route information providing device of the present invention.
0 and an in-vehicle navigation device 200 as a route guidance device.

First, the on-vehicle navigation device 200 will be described. The arithmetic processing unit 202 is a CPU.

The program storage section 204 is a storage medium such as a ROM in which various programs to be executed by the on-vehicle navigation device 200 are stored.

As a program executed by the on-vehicle navigation device 200, for example, a route, a map, or the like is displayed on the display unit 2 based on route information transmitted from the information center 250.
12, a program for outputting guidance voice from the voice output unit 214, and vehicle information (route history information and vehicle history information) automatically transmitted to the information center 250 while receiving the route information transmitted from the information center 250. There is a transmission program or the like as a transmission means for performing the transmission.

The data storage unit 206 is a storage medium such as a RAM, and has storage areas such as a route history information storage unit 2060 and a vehicle history information storage unit 2062.

The route history information storage unit 2060 stores the current position (East longitude / North latitude) of the vehicle measured by the position measurement unit 208 together with the measurement time. The oldest stored position and its measurement time are deleted, and the newly measured position and its measurement time are stored. The stored plurality of positions represent the traveling locus of the vehicle.

[0160] Each time the vehicle information detection unit 218 detects a change in vehicle equipment / machine, the vehicle history information storage unit 2062 stores the detected change in vehicle information, the date and time of the detection, and the detection position. It is to be remembered.

Other storage areas include a so-called working area for reading and writing data necessary for executing each program, a path information storage area for storing path information transmitted from the information center 250, and a vehicle-specific ID.
Storage unit.

In the second embodiment, the route history information is
This is data including a plurality of positions representing the traveling trajectory of the vehicle stored in the route history information storage unit 2060, and measurement times of the positions.

The position measuring section 208 constitutes the measuring means of the present invention, and includes a GPS receiver for receiving a signal from a GPS satellite and measuring an absolute position, and a speed sensor for measuring a relative position of the vehicle. And an azimuth sensor.
The relative position measured by the speed sensor and the direction sensor is
It is used for obtaining the position of a vehicle in a tunnel or the like where the GPS receiver cannot receive radio waves from satellites, and for correcting the positioning error of the absolute position measured by the GPS receiver.

The input unit 210 is a touch panel attached to the display surface of the display unit 212, an information input device using a voice recognition device, or the like. In the touch panel, the display unit 1
When the user touches the icon or the like displayed in 06 with a finger, corresponding information and instructions are input.

In an information input device using a voice recognition device, information or a command corresponding to a voice is input by a user uttering a voice.

The display section 212 is a display such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT.

The transmission / reception unit 216 is a communication device such as a mobile phone or a PHS, and is connected to a modem or the like. Transceiver 2
16 may be any device that can transmit and receive various data to and from the information center 250 by connecting to a specific destination. In addition, the communication method such as packet communication may be different.
The transmitting / receiving section constitutes the transmitting means and the receiving means of the present invention.

The vehicle information detecting section 218 constitutes the vehicle detecting means of the present invention, and is attached to each section of the vehicle such as various vehicle devices and machines, and is not shown for detecting changes in the vehicle devices and machines. Various sensors. For example, a wiper sensor that detects the active / inactive (on / off) of the wiper and the movement (intermittent / weak / strong) of the wiper, a headlight sensor that detects the lighting / non-lighting (on / off) of the headlight, Temperature sensor for detecting the temperature outside the vehicle, ABS sensor for detecting the operation / non-operation of the ABS, shift state sensor for detecting the operating state of the transmission such as the gear position of the transmission, and active suspension for detecting the operating state of the active suspension There are sensors and airbag sensors that detect opening and closing of the airbag.

The contents of the change detected by the vehicle information detecting section 218 are stored as vehicle history information in the vehicle history information storage section 2062 together with the date and time of the detection and the detected position.

In the second embodiment, the vehicle history information is
The content of the change of the vehicle device / machine detected by the vehicle information detection unit 218, the date and time of the detection, and the detection position.

The timer 220 is a clock for obtaining the date and time, and constitutes a part of the measuring means of the present invention.

Next, the information center 250 will be described. FIG. 15 is an overall configuration diagram of the information center 250.

The communication control unit 252 is a communication device such as a modem and a terminal adapter.

[0174] The system control unit 254 stores the various programs executed by the CPU and the information center 250 in the RO.
Storage media such as M, and RA as a so-called working area where various data are read and written during program execution
And a storage medium such as M (the CPU, ROM, and RAM are not shown).

The programs executed in the information center 250 correspond to, for example, a route search program, a program for extracting route information to be transmitted to a vehicle, and route history information (travel locus) transmitted from a vehicle-mounted navigation device. There are a program for determining whether or not a road is stored in the database 258, a program as statistical means of the present invention for performing statistical processing based on vehicle history information transmitted from a vehicle-mounted navigation device, and the like.

The database management unit 256 is a known data read / write head for reading and writing data from the database 258.

The database 258 constitutes the recording means of the present invention, is a large-capacity storage medium such as a hard disk, and stores route search data, route guidance data, and destination specifying data. I have. These constitute a part of the route information of the present invention.

The route search data is known route search data, the route guidance data is known route guidance data, and the destination specifying data is a telephone number and the location of the facility of the telephone number (a certain coordinate system). , And the position in the present embodiment is represented by east longitude / north latitude), and the address and the location of the facility existing at the address are stored in association with each other. The position corresponding to the telephone number or address can be read based on the telephone number or address transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation device 200.

The database 258 stores a route history information (travel locus) transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device as a new road.
It has an area for registering the route history information (travel locus) transmitted from the vehicle-mounted navigation device as a new road, and an area for storing the result of the statistical processing.

The route history storage section 260 stores the route history information transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation device in association with the vehicle ID.

The transit time measuring unit 262 calculates the transit time between the specific points based on the measurement times of at least two positions in the route history information stored in the route history storage unit 260. Similarly, the speed required for passing between the specific points is calculated. The calculated transit time and transit speed are transmitted to the vehicle together with the route information as information indicating traffic congestion near the specific point.

The comparison / mismatch detection section 264 constitutes the new route detection means of the present invention, and determines whether or not the road corresponding to the route history information transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device is stored in the database 258. Is detected. The roads corresponding to the route history information are in the database 258.
When it is detected that the route history information is not stored in the mismatch storage unit 2 as the mismatch storage unit of the present invention.
66 is stored as a new road candidate.

When the road corresponding to the route history information transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device is not stored in the database 258, the comparison / mismatch detection unit 264 further determines the same or similar route as the route history information. It is determined whether history information is transmitted from another vehicle and stored in the mismatch storage unit 266. If it is determined that the same or similar route history information is stored, the road corresponding to the same route history information is registered (stored) in the database 258 as a new road. Here, the same or similar route history information is information on a route having the same longitude and latitude and a similar route.

As described above, only when the same or similar route history information is transmitted from another vehicle and stored in the mismatch storage unit 266, the road corresponding to the route history information is registered in the database as a new road. Therefore, it is possible to register a new road having a higher probability of being a new road. In addition, the government inquires whether the road corresponding to the route history information is a newly constructed road or the like, and registers only the newly constructed road in the database as a confirmed new road. You may do so.

In the mismatch storage unit 266, the route history information determined that the road corresponding to the route history information is not stored in the database 258 by the comparison / mismatch detection unit 264 is stored together with the vehicle ID. .

The route cost changing section 268 is for changing the search condition of the route search. For example, when it is determined that the transit time between the specific points measured by the transit time measuring unit 262 is extremely long, the route search condition can be changed so as not to pass near the specific point.

Next, a process in which the in-vehicle navigation device 200 automatically transmits vehicle information to the information center 250 while receiving data transmitted from the information center 250 will be described with reference to FIG.

(Step S900 for Entering Destination)
The telephone number or address of the destination is input via the touch panel of the in-vehicle navigation device 200 or the voice recognition device. The input destination telephone number or address is stored in a transmission buffer (not shown). The transmission buffer also stores the current vehicle position and the vehicle ID.

(Step S90 for Connecting to Information Center)
2) When the destination is input and the user operates a specific switch (not shown), the transmitting / receiving unit 216 automatically dials a specific telephone number to connect to the information center 250.
By this connection, the reception flag on the vehicle-mounted navigation side is set to ON. As a result, data is being received from the information center.

(Request Transmission Step S904)
When the receiving flag is set to ON, the request information is transmitted to the information center 250. Request information is
This is information for requesting acquisition of route information for guiding a route from the current position of the vehicle to the input destination. In the present embodiment, the data in the transmission buffer corresponds to the request information. That is, when the receiving flag is set to ON, data (telephone number or address of destination, current vehicle position, vehicle ID) in the transmission buffer is read and transmitted to the information center 250.

(Request Receiving Step S906)
The information center 250 includes the on-vehicle navigation device 200.
Receives the request information (telephone number or address of destination, current vehicle position, vehicle ID) transmitted from.

(Step of creating route information S 908) The destination position corresponding to the received telephone number or address of the destination is read from the database 258. Then, the information center 250 performs a route search based on the read destination position and the received vehicle current position, and creates route information for guiding a route to the destination.

(Step of transmitting route information S910) The information center 250 transmits the created route information to the vehicle having the received vehicle ID.

(Connection Release Step S912) When the reception of the route information transmitted from the information center 250 is completed (when all the route information is received), the vehicle navigation device 200 releases the connection to the information center. As a result, “receiving data transmitted from information center 250”
Not.

Next, a process of transmitting vehicle information (route history information, vehicle history information) to the information center 250 during “receiving data transmitted from the information center 250” will be described.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

The receiving flag in S1000 is set to ON when vehicle-mounted navigation device 200 is connected to information center 250. And information center 2
When the reception of the route information transmitted from 50 is completed and the connection is released, it is set to off.

In the present embodiment, “receiving data transmitted from the information center” is defined as a period during which the receiving flag is on.

In S1002, it is determined whether or not vehicle information (route history information, vehicle history information) is stored in data storage unit 206.

If any one of them is stored, it is determined that "vehicle information exists" (Yes in S1002).

At S1004, it is determined whether or not the on-vehicle navigation device 200 has the vehicle information transmission flag set to ON. The vehicle information transmission flag is
This is a setting regarding whether or not transmission of vehicle information is possible, and is set in advance by the user. When the flag is set to ON, vehicle information is automatically transmitted to the information center 250.

At S1006, it is determined whether request information or the like is being transmitted to information center 250. During transmission of request information etc., vehicle information can not be transmitted,
The decision is made.

At S1008, the vehicle information is read from data storage unit 206 and automatically transmitted to information center 250. Note that the step of reading the vehicle information from the data storage unit 206 is as S914 in FIG.
The step of transmitting the vehicle information to the information center 250 is represented as S916 in FIG.

As described above, the on-vehicle (or on-vehicle) navigation device of the present embodiment can transmit data (for example, data) transmitted from a specific destination (for example, an information center) via a communication line (for example, a telephone line). , Route information), and while the data (eg, route information) is being received, vehicle position data (eg, travel locus data) is read from the vehicle position data storage means and automatically transmitted to the data transmission source. (For example, an information center).

When the communication line is a telephone line, the navigation device of the present embodiment may be further provided with communication means for automatically dialing a telephone number of a specific destination and connecting to the specific destination. In place of the storage means of the vehicle position data, a storage means of the vehicle position data and the data of the measurement time of the position data may be provided. In this case, the vehicle-mounted navigation device reads the vehicle position data and the measured time data of the position (for example, travel locus data) from the storage means during reception of the data (for example, route information), and automatically reads the data from the data transmission source. (For example, an information center). Also,
In place of the vehicle position data storage means, detection data detected from a sensor attached to the vehicle (for example, a wiper sensor that detects either on / off of the wiper) and the vehicle when the detection data is detected Position storage means may be provided. In this case, during the reception of data (for example, route information), the in-vehicle navigation device reads out the detection data and the vehicle position at the time when the detection data was detected from the storage means, and automatically reads the data transmission source (for example, , Information center).

As described above, the vehicle information (route history information, route history information,
Since the vehicle history information is transmitted to the information center 250, there is no need to connect to the information center 250 only for transmitting the vehicle information.

In the above example, the vehicle information is transmitted following the transmission of the request information. However, the transmission may be performed at any time as long as “the data transmitted from the information center 250 is being received”. For example, vehicle information may be transmitted before transmission of request information.

[0207] As described above, the term "receiving data" means that all data from connection to a specific destination (for example, an information center) via a communication line (for example, a telephone line) until the connection is released. , Or a part of the same period.

Here, the partial period refers to, for example, connection from a specific destination via a communication line (eg, a telephone line) to data (eg, route information) from the specific destination.
Until the transmission of the data is started, the transmission of the data (eg, route information) from the specific destination is completed until the connection to the specific destination is released. , From the start of transmission of data (for example, route information) to the completion of transmission of the data. The specific destination here is, for example, an information center.

Next, the information center 250, which has received the route history information transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device, determines whether or not the road corresponding to the received route history information is stored in the database 258. Will be described with reference to FIG.

In S1010, the minimum longitude / latitude (Xmin, Ymin) and the maximum longitude / latitude (Xmax, Ymax) are read from the received route history information (travel locus). FIG. 19 is a graph showing the minimum longitude / longitude of the received route history information (travel locus) Rs.
It shows an example of latitude (Xmin, Ymin) and maximum longitude / latitude (Xmax, Ymax).

In S1012, (Xmin, Ymin), (Xmax, Yma
The map data corresponding to the rectangular area of (x) is stored in the database 25.
8 and a bitmap map image is created. FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a created bitmap map image. In the figure, a road K indicated by a dotted line is a road stored in the database 258 in advance.

In S1016, the bitmap map image is divided into n × m blocks.

In steps S1018 to S1024, among the divided blocks, “1” is assigned to a block in which a road stored in advance in the database 258 is drawn.
And, on the other hand, a process of associating “0” with respect to a block that is not drawn.

FIG. 21 conceptually shows a state where the bitmap map image of FIG. 20 is divided into n × m blocks.

FIG. 22 shows that each block of FIG.
A state in which "0" is associated is conceptually represented.

In S1026 to S1034, for each position in the route history information (travel locus), it is determined whether or not the road stored in the database 258 is drawn in the block where the position exists (S1030). If it is determined that the position is not found, the position is stored in the mismatch storage unit 264.
(S1032).

Next, by the processing of FIG.
The process of registering (storing) the road corresponding to the route history information stored in the database 66 as a new road in the database 258 will be described with reference to FIGS. The same process is executed when the same or similar route history information transmitted from another vehicle is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266. The following description is based on the premise that the same or similar route history information transmitted from another vehicle is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266.

The both ends of the route history information (travel locus) Rs
If it is an intersection (existing intersection) stored in the database 258 (FIG. 23), the following processing is performed.

In the figure, the route history information Rs is transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device 200,
Is stored in Routes Rn, intersections Ca, Cb, and the like represented by dotted lines are stored in the database 154.

Since the same or similar route history information Rs ′ transmitted from another vehicle is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266, the new road information of the route history information Rs is
Information such as the road number Rs' of the new road Rs, the drawing data (travel locus) of the new road Rs, and the existing intersections (Ca, Cb) at both ends of the new road Rs are stored in the database 258.

On the other hand, when one end of the route history information (travel locus) Rs is an intersection (existing intersection) stored in the database 258 and the other end is on the route stored in the database 258 (FIG. 24). The following processing is performed in ()).

In the figure, the route history information Rs is transmitted from the in-vehicle navigation device 200, and is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266.
Is stored in Routes Rn, intersections Ca, Cb, and the like represented by dotted lines are stored in the database 258.

Since the same or similar route history information Rs ′ transmitted from another vehicle is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266, the new road information of the route history information Rs is
The database 2 stores information such as the road number Rs' of the new road Rs, drawing data (travel locus) of the new road Rs, and the existing intersection Ca at one end of the new road Rs and the new intersection Cs at the other end.
58.

Further, the route Rn stored in the database 258 is divided into Rn1 and Rn2, and the respective road data are stored in the database 258.

If both ends of the route history information (travel locus) Rs are on the route stored in the database 258 (FIG. 25), the following processing is performed.

In the figure, the route history information Rs is transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device 200 and is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266.
Is stored in Routes Rn, intersections Ca, Cb, and the like represented by dotted lines are stored in the database 258.

Since the same or similar route history information Rs ′ transmitted from another vehicle is stored in the mismatch storage unit 266, the new road information of the route history information Rs is
Information such as a road number Rs ′ of the new road Rs, drawing data (travel locus) of the new road Rs, and new intersections Cs1 and Cs2 at both ends of the new road Rs are stored in the database 258.

The route Rn stored in the database 258 is divided into Rn1, Rn2, and Rn3 and stored in the database 258.

As described above, the information center in the present embodiment receives data (for example, a running locus) transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device, and stores the received data in storage means (for example, a map data storage device). Remember.

Next, statistical processing of vehicle history information transmitted from the vehicle-mounted navigation device 200 will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIG. This processing is executed when the vehicle history information transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device 200 is received (Yes in S1050).

An example of the statistical processing by the information center 250 and the registration of the result of the statistical processing is as follows (S105).
2).

In the case where the vehicle history information is information indicating the on / off of the wiper, if a result that a large number of information on the wiper is transmitted from a vehicle in a specific area is obtained by the statistical processing, the area is determined. Information to be specified (for example, the name of the area) and information on the weather of the area are stored in the database 258 as rain.

In the case where the vehicle history information is information indicating the movement of the wiper (intermittent / weak / strong), a result that a large amount of information on the wiper movement (intermittent) is transmitted from the vehicle in the specific area by the statistical processing. Is obtained, information for specifying the area (for example, the name of the area) and information on light rain in the area are stored in the database 258.

In the case where the vehicle history information is information indicating whether the headlights are turned on or off, the statistical processing performs
If a result that a large number of headlight lighting information is transmitted from a vehicle in a specific area during the day is obtained, the information specifying the area (for example, the name of the area) and the area are in view due to fog or the like. The information of the defect is stored in the database 258. In addition, whether it is during the day or not is determined based on the date and time included in the vehicle history information.

In the case where the vehicle history information is information indicating the temperature outside the vehicle, the average temperature of the vehicle outside temperature obtained from the vehicle in the specific area is obtained by statistical processing, and the information specifying the average temperature and the area (for example, Is stored in the database 258.

In the case where the vehicle history information is information indicating the operation of the ABS or the operation of the active suspension, the result that a large amount of the information of the operation of the ABS or the operation of the active suspension is transmitted from the vehicle in the specific area by the statistical processing. Is obtained, the information for specifying the area (for example, the name of the area) and the information of the driving attention of the area are stored in the database 258.

In the case where the vehicle information is the information indicating the opening of the airbag, if the information indicating the opening of the airbag is transmitted from a specific vehicle, the information specifying the area (for example, the name of the area) and the accident Information on occurrence and database 2
58.

In addition to the above information, the latest time among the detection times of the information may be stored.

The weather, temperature,
The road surface condition and the accident information can be used as search conditions for searching for a route to a destination. For example, by setting a search condition that does not pass through a rainy area, it is possible to obtain route information for guiding a route that does not pass through the area. The setting of the search condition is performed by the route cost changing unit 268.

The weather, temperature, road surface condition, and accident information obtained by the statistical processing may be included in the route information transmitted to the vehicle-mounted navigation device 200. For example, information for specifying a region (for example, the name of the region and its center coordinates), and information on the region for rain may be included in the route information. In this case, in the vehicle navigation device 200,
In conjunction with the map of the area, or display on the display with an image or characters of an umbrella mark indicating that the area is raining,
For example, a sound indicating that the area is raining can be output.

As described above, the information center according to the present embodiment receives the data transmitted from the on-vehicle navigation device (for example, data indicating that the wiper is on, data on the time when the wiper is detected, and data on the detected vehicle position). Then, statistical processing is performed together with the data similarly received from other vehicles, and the processing result is stored in a storage unit (for example, a map data storage device).

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The navigation device 200 according to the third embodiment includes:
The apparatus according to the present invention is capable of obtaining a traveling locus of a new road on which a vehicle is not stored in the database 258.

Referring to FIG. 27, the configuration of the navigation device 200 for obtaining the travel locus of a new road not stored in the database 258 will be described.

The navigation device 200 shown in FIG.
The new navigation device 100 further includes a new road traveling locus storage unit 2064 and a route information storage unit 2066.

The new road travel locus storage unit 2064 constitutes a new route storage means of the present invention, and is used when the vehicle is traveling on a new road.
Each time is measured, the measured position is stored. This point is different from the route history information storage unit 2060 in which the oldest measured and stored position and its measurement time are deleted, and the newly measured position and its measurement time are stored.

That is, when the vehicle is traveling on the road stored in the route information storage unit 2066, the measured position is stored in the route history information storage unit 2060, but the vehicle travels on a new road. In this case, the measured position is stored in the new road travel locus storage unit 2064.

The reason for storing the position by switching between the route history information storage unit 2060 and the new road traveling locus storage unit 2064 in this way prevents rewriting of the position (traveling locus) obtained by traveling on the new road. That's why.

The route information storage unit 2066 constitutes the route storage unit of the present invention, and stores the same route information as the database 258 of the information center 250. This is because the vehicle determines whether or not the vehicle is traveling on a new road that is not stored in the database 258.

The program storage unit 204 further stores a program or the like for performing so-called map matching for applying the measured vehicle current position to the route.

The other configuration is the same as that of the navigation device 200 shown in FIG. 14, and the description is omitted.

Next, the operation of the vehicle to obtain route history information (travel locus) of a new road that is not stored in the route information storage unit 2066 will be described with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 28 shows that the vehicle M stores the route information
6 (hereinafter referred to as registered road R)
1. Registered road R3) in the direction of arrows Y1 and Y3,
New road Rs not stored in the storage unit 2066
(Hereinafter referred to as new road Rs) in the direction of arrow Y2. FIG. 29 is a flowchart showing a process for obtaining a traveling locus of the new road by the vehicle traveling on the new road, and a program for performing the process constitutes a new route determining means of the present invention. The process of the flowchart is executed every time the current position of the vehicle is measured by the position measuring unit 208.

In this process, the storage of the traveling locus of the new road is started when the map matching becomes impossible.

The map matching according to the present embodiment will be briefly described by taking a case where the measured position is M1 'as an example.

First, a position M1 on the registered road R1 which is the shortest distance from the measured M1 'and which is the shortest distance from the M1' is obtained.

Next, a circular matching-possible area A1 having the radius of the maximum value of the positioning tolerance with M1 as the center is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the measured M1 ′ exists in the area A1. to decide.

When the measured M1 ′ exists in the area A1, the map matching execution flag is set to ON.
This allows map matching to be performed in a separate routine,
The measured M 'is matched on the registered road R1.

When the vehicle is traveling on a registered road, for example, R1, the measured position is usually in the matching possible area, so that the map matching execution flag is set to ON, and the map matching is executed.

However, when the vehicle travels on the new road Rs, for example, when M3 ′ is measured, since the M3 ′ does not exist in the matching area A1 centered on M3, the map matching execution flag is turned off. Yes, map matching is not performed.

As described above, if attention is paid to whether or not map matching can be executed, that is, whether the map matching execution flag is on or off, whether the vehicle is running on a registered road,
It is possible to determine whether the vehicle is traveling on a new road.

The processing of FIG. 29 focuses on this point, and when the map matching cannot be executed,
This is to start storing the travel locus of the new road.

First, when the vehicle M is traveling on the registered road R1 in the direction of the arrow Y1, the following processing is performed.

While the vehicle is traveling on the road R1 (hereinafter referred to as registered road R1) stored in the route information storage unit 2066, the map matching execution flag is normally set to ON (Yes in S1060), and The determined position, for example, M1 'is present in the matching possible area A1 (S106
(Yes in 2), the measured position of M1 ′ and the time of the measurement are stored in the route history information storage unit 2060 (S1).
064). The oldest stored position and the time of the measurement are deleted.

When the vehicle is traveling on the new road Rs in the direction of Y2, the following processing is performed.

Even when the vehicle travels on the new road Rs, the map matching execution flag is ON as long as the measured position exists in the matching possible area. Therefore, even if the vehicle travels on the new road Rs and, for example, M2 'is measured, since M2' is present in the matching area A1 centered on M2 (Yes in S1062),
Similarly to the above, map matching is executed by another routine. The measured position of M2 ′ and the time of the measurement are stored in the route history information storage unit 2060 (S106).
4). The oldest stored position and the time of the measurement are deleted.

If the measured position, for example, M3 'does not exist in the matching area A1 centered on M3 when the vehicle further travels (No in S1062),
The map matching execution flag is set to off (S1
074). As a result, the execution of map matching in another routine is not performed.

When the map matching execution flag is set to OFF, the storage area of the measured position is switched from the route history information storage unit 2060 to the new road travel locus storage unit 2064. Then, the measured position of M3 ′ and the measurement time are stored in the new road travel locus storage unit 2064 (S1076). In the new road travel locus storage unit 2064, the oldest stored position and the time of the measurement are not deleted. The route history information storage unit 2
The positions stored so far in 060 are retained without being rewritten or erased.

The measured position is displayed on the display unit 212 together with the road map (S1078).

If it is determined that the vehicle is traveling further and is traveling on the registered road R2 (Yes in S1066), the map matching execution flag is set to ON (S106).
8).

By turning on the map matching execution flag, a process for obtaining a traveling locus obtained by traveling on the new road Rs is executed.

By the same processing, the traveling trajectory obtained by traveling on the new road Rs is stored in a plurality of positions stored in the new road traveling trajectory storage unit 2064 and in the route history information storage unit 2060. The position is represented by a combination of intersections P1 and P2 between the new road Rs and the registered roads R1 and R2. The obtained traveling locus is used as route history information transmitted to the information center 250.

In addition to creating the route history information as described above, as shown in FIG. 30, the position is measured every elapse of a predetermined time t2 (S1082), and the measured position and measurement time are compared with the route history information. You may make it memorize | store in the memory | storage part 2060.

[0273] If the user moves the set distance L or more (S1
The reason why the measurement position is stored in (Yes in 084) is to reduce the data amount of the traveling locus.

Next, processing for storing vehicle history information in vehicle history information storage section 2062 will be described with reference to FIG.

When the switch of a specific vehicle device, for example, a wiper changes from off to on or from on to off (S1090), information for specifying the vehicle device (for example,
The vehicle history information storage unit 2062 stores the change detection time and the detection position of the change in the vehicle history information storage unit 2062.

The route history information and the vehicle history information stored in the data storage unit 204 as described above are stored in the information center 250.
While receiving data transmitted from the information center 250,
Sent to.

As described above, the vehicle information (route history information,
Since the vehicle history information is transmitted to the information center 250, there is no need to connect to the information center 250 only for transmitting the vehicle information.

Next, a modification of the process of transmitting the route history information and the vehicle history information stored in the data storage unit 206 to the information center 250 will be described with reference to FIG.

The processing is executed when vehicle information is stored in data storage section 206 (Yes in S1100).

The vehicle information holding flag is stored in the data storage unit 20.
6 is set to ON when vehicle information (route history information or vehicle history information) is stored.

The vehicle information is transmitted to the information center 250 every time a preset vehicle information transmission time t1 has elapsed (Yes in S1102) (S1108).

The transmitted vehicle information is deleted from data storage unit 206.

[0283] Further, the vehicle information may be transmitted to the information center 250 every time the vehicle passes through a preset grid.

[0284] Further, vehicle history information may be transmitted each time each signal is detected by vehicle information detection section 218.

[0285]

As described above, according to the present invention, the transmitting means for transmitting the route history information, the vehicle history information, and the vehicle information to the information center automatically while other data is being received by the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus. With the provision, there is an effect that the user can save communication costs, and can obtain information according to the current vehicle situation by avoiding the complexity of new communication work.

Further, according to the present invention, when the current position measured by the on-vehicle information acquisition device is on a route that does not exist on a previously recorded map, the route is stored in the route history information as new road information. Therefore, there is an effect that the database update processing on the information center side can be easily performed.

[0287] According to the present invention, the information center performs statistical processing based on route history information and vehicle history information received from a plurality of vehicles, and road information and vehicle information recorded in the database. Since the information is transmitted to the information acquisition device, it is possible to provide an accurate recommended route, a detour route, and the like based on the latest road information and the traveling environment.

According to the present invention, since the in-vehicle information acquisition device includes a transmitting / receiving means for bidirectionally communicating data such as route history information and vehicle history information with an information center, the complexity of transmission / reception is avoided. It has the effect of being able to.

According to the present invention, there is provided a transmitting means for transmitting vehicle information to a route information providing device during reception of data by a receiving means or a transmitting means for transmitting vehicle information to a route information providing device during reception of route information by a receiving means. Therefore, there is no need to separately connect to a route information providing device to establish a new communication route for transmitting vehicle information, thereby saving communication costs and avoiding the complexity of new communication work. Having.

According to the present invention, new route detecting means for comparing the route history information with previously recorded route information to detect a new route from the route history information, and updating means for recording the new route in the recording means are provided. Since the information is provided, the latest route information can always be provided to the route guidance device based on the updated route information of the recording unit.

According to the present invention, statistical means for performing statistical processing based on vehicle history information received from a route guidance device existing in a predetermined range to create road condition information in the range, Route information creating means for extracting the road condition information within the range from the recording means when there is a request for route information, and creating route information; and route guidance requesting the route information for the route information Transmission means for transmitting the information to the device, so that the current traveling environment of the vehicle can be grasped from the vehicle history information, and accurate information such as a recommended route and a detour route can be presented to the vehicle based on past data. Has an effect.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle information acquisition device in a navigation system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information center in the navigation system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an automatic transmission process of the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a data flow diagram between the in-vehicle information acquisition device and the information center according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an overall process in the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an automatic transmission process at regular time intervals in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a map matching process in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a traveling route diagram of a vehicle on a map.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a receiving process in the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus of the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 shows a record format of data transmitted from the vehicle-mounted information acquisition device of the first embodiment to the information center.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a mismatched data detection process on the information center side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a database update process on the information center side according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a road map when a new road is found in the on-vehicle information acquisition device of the first embodiment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle information acquisition device in the navigation system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 is a schematic configuration diagram of an information center in the navigation system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a data flow diagram between an in-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart of a vehicle information transmission process in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart of a new route determination process in the information center of the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is an explanatory diagram showing a traveling locus of a vehicle.

FIG. 20 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of a bitmap map image.

FIG. 21 is a conceptual diagram showing a state where a bitmap map image is divided into n × m blocks.

FIG. 22 is a conceptual diagram of a state in which “1” and “0” correspond to each block in FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory diagram showing an example for registering a new route in a database.

FIG. 24 is an explanatory diagram showing an example for registering a new route in a database.

FIG. 25 is an explanatory diagram showing an example for registering a new route in a database.

FIG. 26 is a flowchart of a statistical process in the information center of the second embodiment.

FIG. 27 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle information acquisition device in the navigation system according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 28 is a traveling route diagram of a vehicle on a map.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart of a traveling locus storing process in the in-vehicle information acquiring apparatus according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a flowchart of a current position storage process in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the third embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a flowchart of a vehicle history information storage process in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the third embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a flowchart of a vehicle information transmission process in the in-vehicle information acquisition device of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100, 200: on-vehicle information acquisition device 101, 202: arithmetic processing unit 102, 204: program storage unit 103, 206: data storage unit 104, 208: position measurement unit 105, 210: input unit 106, 212: display unit 107 , 214: audio output unit 108, 216: transmission / reception unit 109, 218: vehicle information detection unit 110, 220: clock unit 150, 250: information center 151, 252: communication control unit 152, 254: system control unit 153, 256: Database management units 154, 258: Databases 155, 260: Route history storage unit 156, 262: Passage time measurement unit 157, 264: Comparison / mismatch detection unit 158, 266: Mismatch storage unit 159, 268: Route cost change unit 160: Unmatched data identification unit 2060: route history information storage unit 206 : Vehicle history information storage unit 2064: New road travel locus storage unit 2066: Route information storage unit L1, L3: Vehicle position on registered road L2: Vehicle position on new road ID: Vehicle ID Adrs: Address information of information center Dn : Number of subsequent data LT: Route history information CS: Vehicle history information Ln: Series of path locus coordinates Tn: Time at which each Ln was observed Cn: Series of vehicle information Tnn: Time at which each Cn was observed EOF: End of record

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Naoki Ushiki 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Sugawara 2-19 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo No. 12 Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hideaki Morita 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Satoshi Kitano 2 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroki Ishikawa 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd.

Claims (17)

[Claims] 1. A navigation system that guides a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an in-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center, wherein the in-vehicle information acquisition device includes route history information, vehicle history Storage means for storing information and vehicle information; receiving means for receiving data between the information center; data reception by the receiving means for route history information, vehicle history information and vehicle information stored in the storage means; inside,
A transmission system, comprising: transmission means for automatically transmitting to an information center. 2. A navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an on-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center, wherein the on-vehicle information acquisition device comprises: route history information, vehicle history Storage means for storing information and vehicle information; position measurement means for measuring the current position of the vehicle; reception means for receiving data from an information center; and route history information and vehicle history information stored in the storage means. Transmitting means for transmitting to the information center, if the current position measured by the position measuring means is on a route which does not exist on a pre-recorded map, the route is used as new road information and the route history information is used. A navigation system characterized in that it is stored in a navigation system. 3. A navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an in-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center, wherein the information center records road information and vehicle information in advance. A database, performing a statistical process based on the route history information and the vehicle history information received from the plurality of vehicles and the road information and the vehicle information recorded in the database, and transmitting the processing result to the in-vehicle information acquisition device. Characterized navigation system. 4. A navigation system for guiding a vehicle to a destination by transmitting and receiving data between an on-vehicle information acquisition device and an information center, wherein the on-vehicle information acquisition device comprises: a route history information and a vehicle history. A navigation system comprising: storage means for storing information; and transmission / reception means for bidirectionally communicating data including route history information and vehicle history information with an information center. 5. A communication apparatus comprising: a receiving unit that receives data from a route information providing device; and a transmitting unit that transmits vehicle information to the route information providing device during data reception by the receiving unit. Route guidance device for mobile navigation systems. 6. A communication type comprising: receiving means for receiving route information from a route information providing device; and transmitting means for transmitting vehicle information to the route information providing device during data reception by the receiving means. Route guidance device for navigation system. 7. A search unit for searching for a route to a destination based on request information from a route guidance device and creating route information; a transmission unit for transmitting the route information to the route guidance device; Receiving means for receiving vehicle information from the route guidance device during transmission of the route information. 8. A communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data by communication between a route information providing device and a route guidance device to provide a route guidance to a predetermined destination. Transmitting and receiving means for transmitting and receiving between the route information providing device and the route guidance device,
A communication-type navigation system comprising: 9. Receiving means for receiving route history information from a route guidance device; recording means for pre-recording route information; comparing said route history information with said route information; A route information providing device for a communication-type navigation system, comprising: a new route detecting unit that detects a new route; and an updating unit that records the new route in the recording unit. 10. The new route detecting means compares the route history information with the route information and detects a route that does not match a route existing in the route information from the route history information as a new route. The route information providing device according to claim 9, wherein: 11. A non-coincidence storage unit for storing a route that does not match a route existing in the route information from the route history information as a candidate route, wherein the new road detection unit stores a plurality of route histories in the non-coincidence storage unit. 10. The route information providing device according to claim 9, wherein when there is an identical or similar candidate route extracted from the information, the candidate route is detected as a new road. 12. A measuring means for measuring a current position and a current time of a vehicle, a route storing means storing route information in advance, a current position measured by the measuring means and a route stored in the route storing means. New route determining means for comparing the current position with the information to determine whether the current position is present in the route information; and determining the current position and the current time when the current position is not present in the route information. A route guidance device for a communication-type navigation system, comprising: a new route storage unit that stores a new route for each route; and a transmission unit that transmits the new route to a route information providing device. 13. A recording means for pre-recording route information, a receiving means for receiving new route information from a route guidance device, an updating means for recording said new route information in said recording means,
A route information providing device comprising: 14. A communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data between a route information providing device and a route guidance device by communication and providing route guidance to a predetermined destination, comprising: a recording unit in which route information is recorded in advance; A new route detecting means for comparing route history information with the route information to detect a new route from the route history information; and transmitting and receiving the new route between a route information providing device and a route guidance device. And a updating means for recording the new road in the recording means. 15. A receiving means for receiving vehicle history information from a route guidance device, and performing statistical processing based on vehicle history information received from a route guidance device existing within a predetermined range, and Statistical means for creating information; recording means for recording the road condition information in the recording means; and when the route information is requested from the route guidance device, the road condition information within the range is transmitted from the recording means. Route information for a communication-type navigation system, comprising: route information generating means for extracting and generating route information; and transmitting means for transmitting the route information to a route guidance device that has requested the route information. Providing device. 16. A vehicle detecting means for detecting a change in a vehicle, a storage means for storing a change in the vehicle detected by the vehicle detecting means as vehicle history information for each time, and A communication type navigation system comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits to a providing device; and a receiving unit that receives route information including road condition information created by the route information providing device based on the vehicle history information. Route guidance device. 17. A communication type navigation system for transmitting and receiving data between a route information providing device and a route guidance device by communication and performing route guidance to a predetermined destination, wherein a vehicle history within a predetermined range is provided. Statistical means for statistically processing information and creating road condition information in the range; route information creating means for creating route information based on the road condition information; a route guidance device and a route information providing device for the route information; A communication type navigation system, comprising: transmission / reception means for transmitting / receiving data between the navigation systems.