JPH1186184A - Vehicle travel information providing device and traffic information providing station - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To produce and provide vehicle travel information in real time. SOLUTION: A vehicle travel information providing device, that is mounted on a vehicle decides a congested state from a travel state such as the travel speed, speed change, and stop time at an intersection of the vehicle and offers the travel state together with its present position to a traffic information providing station. The traffic information providing station produces and updates congestion information, such as congestion start, congestion (levels of slight, intermediate and heavy) and congestion end in each fixed section of every road by accumulating vehicle travel information offered from every vehicle travel information providing device in real time. It enables avoiding congestion at an early stage, by offering realtime congestion information to a user vehicle which makes enquiry. With this, it is possible for the traffic information providing station to offer secondary information about accurate traffic information, congestion information at an early stage (= congestion estimate information) and traffic information to every vehicle.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vehicle driving information providing apparatus for providing basic data for creating traffic information relating to the occurrence of traffic congestion and the like, and to provide real-time traffic congestion information and the like based on the provided vehicle driving information. It relates to the traffic information provision bureau that is created and provided.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, a navigation device for providing a driver of a vehicle with route guidance to a destination has been put into practical use. In this navigation device, a map is displayed on a display, and the input destination, the route to the destination searched by the route search, the position of the own vehicle while traveling, the traveling locus up to that point, and the like are superimposed. Is displayed. The driver can obtain route information that he / she should go by sequentially referring to this display, and can reach the destination by moving according to the direction of the route. However, such a navigation device can know the route to the destination, but cannot know the traffic congestion state of the road.

[0003] Therefore, there is a membership service called ATIS (Atis), which provides traffic information in consideration of traffic congestion from an information providing station through communication. In the ATIS service, the information providing station receives destinations and the like from each member by voice, and individually provides data such as traffic congestion status at that time. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-1
In 80795, data from each sensor of the vehicle is transmitted to the roadside display device from the onboard transmission / reception circuit, and the control unit in the roadside display device determines whether or not traffic jams, accidents, and the like have occurred. It proposes a method of selecting and displaying the relevant items.

[0004]

However, the traffic information based on the ATIS and the traffic information described in the above-mentioned publications cannot always display accurate information, but can also display traffic congestion information after a congestion has clearly occurred. However, a notice cannot be displayed before traffic congestion occurs or while the degree of traffic congestion is low. On the other hand, the user wants to obtain the traffic congestion information as early as possible, and wants to obtain the traffic congestion notice information when a sign of the traffic congestion appears. Getting traffic information early will make it easier for users to change routes, but the later you get it,
The route change becomes difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle travel information providing device capable of providing real-time vehicle travel information to a traffic information providing station. This is the first purpose. Further, a traffic information providing station capable of creating traffic information regarding traffic congestion based on vehicle information transmitted from such a vehicle travel information providing device and providing the created real-time traffic information to a vehicle is provided. Is a second purpose.

[0006]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a current position detecting means for detecting a current position of a vehicle;
A traveling state acquisition unit that acquires a traveling state of the vehicle, a traffic congestion determining unit that determines whether or not the vehicle is congested based on the traveling state of the vehicle acquired by the traveling state acquisition unit; A vehicle traveling information transmitting unit that transmits, to the traffic information providing station, the vehicle traveling state and the current position detected by the current position detecting unit as vehicle traveling information when the determination is made, Thus, the first object is achieved. According to the invention described in claim 2, a current position detection unit that detects a current position of the vehicle, a traveling state acquisition unit that acquires a traveling state of the vehicle, a traveling state of the vehicle acquired by the traveling state acquisition unit, Vehicle travel information storage means for storing the current position detected by the current position detection means, and vehicle travel information for transmitting the vehicle travel information stored in the vehicle travel information storage means to a traffic information providing station every predetermined time The first object is achieved by providing the vehicle traveling information providing device with a transmitting unit. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a receiving means for receiving the vehicle travel information transmitted from the vehicle travel information providing device according to the first or second aspect, and a plurality of vehicle travel information received by the receiving means. The traffic information providing station includes: a traffic jam information creating unit that aggregates the traffic jam information to create traffic jam information for each road; and a transmitting unit that sends the traffic jam information created by the traffic jam information creating device to the inquired vehicle. Thus, the second object is achieved.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to FIGS. (1) Overview of Embodiment In this embodiment, a vehicle traveling information providing device mounted on a vehicle determines a congestion state from traveling states such as a traveling speed of the vehicle, a speed change, and a stop time at an intersection. The traveling state is provided to the traffic information providing station together with the position. The Traffic Information Providing Bureau collects vehicle driving information provided from each vehicle driving information providing device in real time, so that traffic congestion starts, traffic congestion (light, medium, and severe), and traffic congestion ends for each section of each road. Create and update real-time traffic information. Then, for the inquired user vehicle,
Providing real-time traffic information enables early traffic avoidance. As a result, the Traffic Information Bureau,
For each vehicle, accurate traffic information, early traffic information (=
It is possible to provide secondary information on traffic congestion notice information) and traffic information.

(2) Details of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a vehicle driving information providing apparatus according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle information providing apparatus determines whether or not there is traffic congestion based on the running state of the vehicle and provides vehicle running information. The control unit 10 performs various processes such as route guidance to a destination for a user. Further, the vehicle information providing device includes a main storage unit 12 having a map data file 121 and a road data file 122, an input unit 13 having a storage medium driving device 131 and an input device 132, a GPS receiving device 141, a beacon receiving device 142, an azimuth The current position detecting unit 14 having the sensor 143 and the steering angle sensor 144, the display device 151, and the audio output unit 1
52, an output unit 15 having a vehicle speed sensor 161, a traveling distance sensor 162, an inter-vehicle distance sensor 163, a traveling state detecting unit 16, and a communication control unit 17. Each of these units includes a bus line 11 such as a data bus. The control unit 10 is connected to the control unit 10 via the control unit 10.

The control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 111 for performing data processing and controlling the operation of each unit. The CPU 111 includes a bus line 11, a main storage unit 12, a ROM 112, a RAM 113, and the like. Timer 1
14 are connected.

The ROM 112 is a read-only memory in which various data and programs for performing control by the CPU 111 are stored in advance. The RAM 113 is a CPU 11
1 is a random access memory used as a working memory. In the RAM 113, a vehicle speed area 1131, an inter-vehicle distance area 1132, a brake area 1133 for recording the number of brakes depressed within a predetermined time, as areas for recording the traveling state detected by the traveling state detection unit 16, Other various areas are secured.

In the control unit 10 of the present embodiment, a CPU 11
1 reads various programs stored in the ROM 112 and executes various processes such as a vehicle travel information providing program. The CPU 111 reads a computer program from an external recording medium set in the recording medium drive 131 and stores (installs) it in a storage device such as a hard disk (not shown) connected by the bus line 11. Necessary programs and the like may be read into the RAM 113 and executed. Further, a necessary program or the like may be directly read from the recording medium driving device 131 into the RAM 113 and executed. The timer 114 is for detecting the date and time of occurrence of traffic congestion.

The main storage unit 12 includes, for example, various recording media such as a floppy disk, hard disk, CD-ROM, optical disk, magnetic tape, IC card, and optical card;
The drive is used. The main storage device 12
A plurality of different recording media and driving devices may be used. Map data file 12 in main storage device 12
1 stores map data drawn on the display device 151. This map data stores hierarchical maps, for example, map data for each layer, such as Japan, the Kanto region, Tokyo, and Kanda, from the highest layer. Map data of each layer is provided with a map code. As shown in FIG. 2, the road data file 122 includes road numbers (A1 and A2, B1 and B2,...) Distinguished between the ascending lane and the down lane, the thickness of each road, and the starting point of each road. The intersection number of the intersection (intersection number p for road A1), the intersection number of the intersection that is the end point of each road (intersection number q for road A1), the coordinates of each intersection, the presence or absence of a signal at each intersection, Various data such as information on entry prohibition at intersections are stored.

The main storage section 12 also stores various other data. For example, when a user ID for a traffic information providing station is determined, the user ID is stored and used when data is transmitted / received to / from the traffic information providing station.

The storage medium drive 131 of the input unit 13
This is a drive device used for the CPU 111 to read a computer program for performing various processes from an external recording medium. The computer programs recorded on the recording medium include various programs and data. Here, the recording medium refers to a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded, and specifically, a magnetic recording medium such as a floppy disk, a hard disk, a magnetic tape, a semiconductor recording medium such as a memory chip or an IC card,
CD-ROM, MO, PD (Phase change rewritable optical disk)
And the like, a recording medium on which information is read optically, a recording medium using a paper card or a paper tape, and a recording medium on which a computer program is recorded by various methods. The storage medium drive 131 reads a computer program from these various types of recording media and, when the recording medium is a writable recording medium such as a floppy disk, stores the data in the RAM 113 and the main storage unit 12 in the storage medium. It is possible to write on a recording medium.

The input device 132 is used for performing various operations and inputting data. Various devices such as a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, a light pen, a joystick, a remote controller using infrared rays, and a voice recognition device are used. Can be used. The input device 132 may include a remote controller that uses infrared rays or the like, and a receiving unit that receives various signals transmitted from the remote controller. On the remote control,
In addition to a joystick for moving the cursor displayed on the screen and the like, various keys such as a menu designation key (button) and numeric keys are arranged.

The current position detector 14 detects the absolute position (depending on latitude and longitude) of the vehicle, and uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) to measure the position of the vehicle using artificial satellites.
Positioning System) receiving device 141, beacon receiving device 142 for receiving position information from beacons arranged on the road, azimuth sensor 143, steering angle sensor 144, and the like are used. The GPS receiving device 141 and the beacon receiving device 142 can perform position measurement independently, but in a place where the GPS receiving device 141 and the beacon receiving device 142 cannot receive the position, the azimuth sensor 143 and the traveling distance sensor 16 can be used.
The current position is detected by dead reckoning navigation using both of the two methods.

An azimuth sensor 143, for example, a terrestrial magnetism sensor for detecting the terrestrial magnetism to obtain the azimuth of the vehicle, a gyro such as a gas rate gyro or an optical fiber gyro for detecting the rotational angular velocity of the vehicle and integrating the angular velocity to obtain the azimuth of the vehicle. ,
A wheel sensor or the like is used in which left and right wheel sensors are disposed, and a displacement of the azimuth is calculated by detecting turning of the vehicle based on an output pulse difference (difference in moving distance). The steering angle sensor 144 detects the steering angle α using an optical rotation sensor, a rotation resistance volume, or the like attached to a rotating part of the steering.

The display device 151 of the output unit 15 displays various images and character information in addition to a normal route guide road map. Various display devices such as a liquid crystal display device and a CRT are used. You. The display device 151 may have a function as the input device 132, such as a touch panel. Audio output unit 1
52 is constituted by a plurality of speakers arranged in the vehicle,
When performing route guidance by voice, voice is output. The audio output unit 152 may also be used as an audio speaker. In addition, the voice output device 152 may form a hands-free unit together with the voice input unit (microphone), and perform communication in a voice mode with the traffic information providing station via the communication control device.

As the vehicle speed sensor 161 of the traveling state detecting section 16, a conventionally known vehicle speed sensor such as a device which detects a rotational angular speed or a rotational speed of a speedometer cable to calculate a vehicle speed can be used without any particular limitation. it can.
As the traveling distance sensor 162, for example, various methods such as a method of detecting and counting the number of rotations of a wheel, or a method of detecting acceleration and integrating twice are used. Inter-vehicle distance sensor 163
Detects an inter-vehicle distance to a vehicle traveling ahead. The brake sensor 164 detects depression of the brake by the driver.

The communication control section 17 is for performing wireless communication with a traffic information providing station or the like. The communication control unit 17 includes, for example, a connection terminal for a wireless communication device such as a car phone or various types of phones, and transmits vehicle travel information to a traffic information providing station.

Next, the operation of the vehicle information provision processing by the vehicle traveling information provision device configured as described above will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing of the vehicle travel information providing routine. The control unit 10 acquires each traveling state such as the vehicle speed, the following distance, and the depressing of the brake detected by the traveling state detection unit 16 and records the acquired traveling state in each area of the RAM 113 (step 11). Then, the current position detecting unit 14
The current position of the vehicle and the traveling road are specified from the detected values (step 12). The traveling road specified here is distinguished from the same road in the traveling direction, and is recognized as a different traveling road between the ascending oblique line and the descending oblique line.

Next, the control unit 10 determines whether or not congestion has occurred at the current position of the specified traveling road in the RAM 1.
It is determined from the running state stored in each area of No. 13 (step 13). That is, when the traveling road is an expressway, the vehicle speed, the average vehicle speed, the inter-vehicle distance, and the number of times the brake is applied change, or when the inter-vehicle distance is narrow and the vehicle is traveling at a certain speed or less (for example, 60 km or less, Inside),
The control unit 10 determines that there is traffic. Here, the speed change is
For example, it means that the vehicle decelerates from 80 km to 40 km (recognizing the start of congestion at this time) and accelerates from 40 km to 80 km (recognizing the end of congestion at this time). Similarly, when a predetermined change is shown with respect to a change in the inter-vehicle distance and a change in the number of times the brake is depressed, a traffic jam is recognized.

On the other hand, when the traveling road is a general road, when the speed, the inter-vehicle distance, and the number of times of depressing the brake are changed, or when the inter-vehicle distance is narrow and the vehicle is traveling at a certain speed or less (these values are for a highway Is used, a traffic jam is determined when the stop time of the vehicle (how much the vehicle stops at the same traffic light or at the same place) exceeds a specified value.

When it is determined that there is no congestion (step 13; N), the control unit 10 returns the processing to the main routine. If it is determined that there is traffic (step 13;
Y), the control unit 10 further determines whether or not the determination that there is congestion is based on the amount of change in the traveling state (step 14). If it is based on the amount of change (Step 14;
Y), when it is within a distance Xm from the previous transmission position or within a time T from the previous transmission time (step 15;
Y), it is determined that there is no change from the previous transmission content, and the process returns to the main routine.

On the other hand, when the judgment of the traffic congestion is not based on the amount of change (step 14; N), or when the distance is not within the distance Xm from the previous transmission position (step 15; N), the control unit 1
0 is the running state (vehicle speed,
The average vehicle speed, the distance between the vehicles, the number of times the brake is depressed, the amount of change in these, the stop time, etc.), the traveling direction, the time by the timer 114, and the current position together with the user ID as vehicle traveling information via the communication control unit 17 The information is transmitted to the information providing station (step 16), and the process returns to the main routine.

Next, traffic information for preparing and providing traffic information such as traffic congestion information by collecting vehicle travel information at each travel road position provided from each vehicle travel information providing device mounted on a plurality of vehicles. The information providing station will be described. There are a plurality of traffic information provision offices, each of which is assigned a certain area. Then, the vehicle traveling information is received from the vehicle traveling information providing device of the vehicle traveling in the area, and the traffic congestion information in the assigned area is created and provided.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the traffic information providing station. The traffic information providing device shown in FIG. 4 has a configuration similar to that of the vehicle running information providing device shown in FIG. And is indicated. For the sake of simplicity, the description of the same components will be omitted, and the following description will focus on different components and operating portions.

As shown in FIG. 4, the traffic information providing station includes a control unit 10b for performing various processes such as creation and provision of traffic information. The vehicle information providing device includes a map data file 121, a road data file 122b, a traffic jam information database 123b, and a user ID database 124.
main storage unit 12b having storage device b, storage medium driving device 131b
Input unit 13b having the input device 132b and the display device 1
An output unit 15b including an audio output unit 51b and an audio output unit 152b, and a communication control unit 17b are provided, and these units are connected to the control unit 10b via a bus line 11b such as a data bus.

In the RAM 113b of the control unit 10b, a congestion information data storage area 1136b and other processing areas are secured. FIG. 5 and FIG.
It represents the contents of the traffic jam information data stored in 113b. As shown in FIG. 5, the traffic congestion information data indicates that the road of each traveling road number is on the starting intersection side (road number A1).
In the case of (1), a predetermined interval (every 1 km for an expressway, 1 for a general road) from the intersection number p of FIG.
(Each 00 m), and each section is given a section number. Then, information on traffic congestion determined according to the vehicle travel information provided by the vehicle information providing device is stored in the area of the corresponding travel road number and section number as intra-section data.

FIG. 6 conceptually shows the contents of the data in the section. As shown in FIG. 6A, the traffic congestion information data storage area 1136b stores, as intra-section data, the time t of the received vehicle driving information, the traffic congestion classification determined from the driving state, and the current (at that time, ) Is stored. As for the current traffic congestion classification, FIG.
As shown in the figure, each time the traffic congestion section changes, the start time and the end time of the traffic congestion section are put together and stored in the main storage unit 12b.
Is stored in the traffic jam information database 123b.

The traffic information providing station statistically processes the traffic congestion information data stored in the traffic congestion information database 123b so that the traffic congestion area, its occurrence timing (season, day of the week, time), the regularity of weather, etc. Can be grasped.
Further, the estimated time to eliminate the traffic congestion and the like can be determined based on the degree of the congestion and the cause thereof. It is possible to provide the driver with the statistically processed traffic congestion information and the secondary information determined from the statistical processing (expected tendency to increase or eliminate traffic congestion, estimated traffic congestion elimination time, etc.).

FIG. 7 shows the contents of traffic congestion sections stored as intra-section data. As shown in FIG. 7, when the traffic congestion content determined from the vehicle traveling information is the traffic congestion start, data “1” indicating the traffic congestion classification is stored in the traffic congestion information data storage area 1136b. In this case, "1" is stored for moderate congestion, "1" for severe congestion, and "1" for end of congestion. The color displayed on the right side of each traffic segment is
The color of the traveling road displayed corresponding to each traffic congestion section.
The data representing the display color is to be transmitted together with the traffic congestion classification data (1 to 5) when providing traffic congestion information on a predetermined area or a predetermined road to the vehicle.
In addition, the road (displayed by the map data file 121b and the road data file 122b) displayed on the display device 151b of the traffic information providing station is displayed in a display color corresponding to the congestion classification, so that the operator of the traffic information providing station can display the road. It is possible to intuitively recognize traffic congestion roads, traffic congestion areas, traffic congestion contents, and the like on the map, and to promptly respond to traffic congestion inquiries by telephone or other conversations.

The user ID database 124b of the main storage device 12b stores the ID of the registered user, and is used to determine whether the inquiry about the traffic congestion information is from a user or a non-user. The user ID database 124b stores the number of information provisions that are counted up each time the vehicle travel information is provided. Communication control unit 17b of traffic information service bureau
Is capable of wireless communication with a plurality of vehicle travel information providing devices. In the case of a telephone line, a plurality of wireless lines can be connected.

Next, a process of creating congestion information by the traffic information providing station configured as described above will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a traffic jam information creation routine. The control unit 10b monitors whether or not the communication control unit 17b has received the vehicle travel information transmitted from the vehicle travel information providing device (Step 21). When the line information is received (Step 21; Y), the control unit 10b determines the road and position on which the vehicle that provided the information is currently traveling from the current position and the traveling direction included in the vehicle traveling information in FIG. (Step 22).

If the specified traveling road is an expressway (step 24; Y), a traffic congestion classification for the expressway is determined from the traveling state included in the received vehicle traveling information (step 24). For example, when the vehicle speed decreases by 30 km or more, it is determined that the degree of congestion increases, and when the vehicle speed increases by 30 km, it is determined that the degree of congestion decreases, and the traffic congestion classification is determined. For example, the time tn based on the vehicle travel information from the same vehicle travel information providing device
If the congestion classification at -1 is 2 (during light congestion),
If the change in the vehicle speed at the next time tn has decreased by 30 km or more, the congestion classification is set to 3 (medium congestion) with the congestion degree increased. Similarly, it is determined that the degree of congestion increases when the number of times of braking increases two times / minute or more, and it is determined that the degree of congestion decreases when the number of brakes decreases. If the inter-vehicle distance has decreased by 2 m or more, it is determined that the degree of congestion has increased, and if it has increased, it is determined that the degree of congestion has decreased.

On the other hand, when the vehicle speed is 60 to
In the case of 40 km, it is judged that the traffic congestion is mild (congestion classification 2) and 4
If the distance is 0 to 30 km, it is determined that the traffic is moderate (traffic classification 3), and if it is less than 30 km, it is determined that the traffic is heavy (traffic classification 4). Also, regarding the distance between vehicles and the number of braking,
Similarly, the traffic congestion classification is determined according to the range classified according to light, medium, and heavy congestion.

In step 23, if the specified traveling road is not a highway but a general road (; N), it is determined whether or not the vehicle position is within 500 m before the traffic light (step 25). If it is within 500 m before the signal (Step 25; Y), the traffic congestion classification is determined in consideration of the signal (Step 26). For example, before the signal 500
When the stop time at m to 300 m is 10 seconds to 20 seconds / minute, it is determined that the traffic is moderate, and when it is 20 seconds to 30 seconds / minute, it is determined that the traffic is heavy. However, continuous stops for one minute or longer are excluded because they are regarded as waiting for a traffic light. 300m to 100m before the signal
If the stop time at is 5 seconds to 10 seconds / minute, it is determined that the traffic is moderate, and if it is 10 seconds to 20 seconds / minute, it is determined that the traffic is heavy.

On the other hand, if the vehicle does not come within 500 m before the traffic light, the traffic congestion classification for the normal section of the general road is determined (step 27). The determination of the traffic congestion category in this case is performed in the same manner as the determination of the traffic congestion category for the expressway, but the threshold for the vehicle speed or the like when determining the traffic congestion category uses a value for a general road.

When the traffic congestion classification is determined in step 24, step 26, or step 27, the control unit 10b
Stores the determined congestion classification and the time included in the received vehicle travel information in the corresponding area of the congestion information data storage area 1136b as data in a section (FIG. 6A) (step 28).

Next, the control unit 10b determines the current congestion classification for the road section where the vehicle providing the vehicle driving information specified by the road number and the section number is running (step 29). As shown in the right column of FIG. 6A, the current traffic congestion classification is determined by determining the most congestion classification among the traffic congestion classifications determined within the predetermined time P from the time of the latest section data. Traffic congestion classification. For example, assuming that the current traffic congestion classification at time t10 includes t6 to t10 within the time P, “5” (congestion severity) that is the largest is determined. If there is a plurality of traffic congestion sections having the largest number, the previous traffic congestion section is used. As described above, by setting the most congested traffic segment among the plurality of traffic congested traffic segments as the current traffic congested traffic segment, it is possible to absorb a driving difference between the drivers of each vehicle and determine an accurate traffic jam situation.

If there is no more than two data in the section within the time P, the current traffic congestion classification is not determined. Thereby, for example, at a certain highway position, 50k
Even if only one piece of vehicle travel information indicating that the vehicle is traveling at m is transmitted, it is simply determined that the vehicle is slow and has nothing to do with traffic congestion.

Finally, the control unit 10b counts up the number of information provisions (user ID database 124b) of the user who provided the vehicle running information (step 30),
The congestion information creation routine ends, and the process returns to the main routine.

With the above processing, the traffic congestion classification of the vehicle traveling section at the time when the vehicle traveling information is received from the vehicle traveling information providing device is determined. Then, at every predetermined time interval (for example, every day at midnight), as shown in FIG. 6B, the current change in the traffic congestion classification is stored in the traffic congestion information database 124b. FIG. 6B is created based on the current traffic congestion classification shown in FIG.
4, a moderate traffic jam occurs between t5 and t8, and so on. Statistical processing of changes in the traffic congestion classification at predetermined time intervals recorded in the traffic congestion information database makes it possible to grasp the regularity of traffic congestion.

Next, the traffic congestion information (the road on which traffic congestion occurs, the degree thereof, and the recommended traffic congestion avoidance road) created as described above is
A description will be given of a method of providing information to users in an area in which each information providing office is in charge. That is, the control unit 10b of the traffic information providing station sends the congestion information (congestion information around the vehicle, congestion information around the destination, the route to the destination) to the vehicle that has requested the transmission of the congestion information. (Congestion information on a (traveling road), traffic congestion prediction information at a specified time for a predetermined area or a predetermined road, etc.) is provided by data or by voice. At this time, a difference may be made in the provision fee of the traffic jam information between the member user having the user ID (the user providing the vehicle traveling information) and the non-member user. Further, in the case of a member user, one free service may be provided for every n times of information provision stored in the user ID database, and the number of times of information provision may be counted down n times every time traffic information is provided. Further, when the vehicle travel information is provided to the member user, the traffic jam information around the travel point of the vehicle may be provided.

As described above, according to the vehicle travel information providing apparatus and the traffic information providing station of the present embodiment, the vehicle travel information provided in real time from each vehicle travel information providing apparatus is totaled, and thus each road travel information is provided. Congestion starts every fixed section,
Congestion information such as congestion (mild, medium, severe) and end of congestion can be created and updated in real time, and real-time congestion information can be provided to inquired user vehicles, resulting in early traffic congestion. Avoidance becomes possible.
Therefore, the user can quickly and accurately acquire the traffic jam information. The traffic congestion lightness information that is causing traffic congestion can be used as traffic congestion notice information for users, and it is possible to change the route or schedule earlier,
The probability of avoiding congestion increases.

As described above, one embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be modified within the scope described in each claim. For example, in the vehicle travel information providing device of the embodiment described above, it is determined whether or not there is traffic congestion based on the value or the amount of change in the travel state,
When it is determined that there is a traffic jam, the vehicle driving information is transmitted to the traffic information providing station. On the other hand, in the vehicle travel information providing device of the present invention, without judging whether there is a traffic jam,
The traveling state, time, direction, and current position are continuously accumulated, and the accumulated vehicle traveling information is transmitted to the traffic information providing station periodically (for example, once every 10 minutes). It may be. In this case, the traffic information providing station tallies the transmitted vehicle travel information, determines the traffic congestion category from the change amount or the value as exemplified in the above embodiment, and stores it. In addition, the member user may provide the vehicle travel information only when it is determined that the traffic is congested as described in the embodiment, or may periodically provide the vehicle travel information continuously accumulated without determining the traffic congestion, May be selected.

[0047]

As described above, according to the vehicle running information providing device of the present invention, real-time vehicle running information can be provided to the traffic information providing station. Also,
According to the traffic information providing station of the present invention, it is possible to create traffic information related to traffic congestion based on vehicle information transmitted from such a vehicle travel information providing device, and to provide the created real-time traffic information to a vehicle. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a vehicle travel information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual explanatory diagram of road data stored in a road data file 122 of the vehicle travel information providing device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a vehicle traveling information providing process of the vehicle traveling information providing device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a traffic information providing station according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a conceptual configuration of a congestion information data area of the traffic information providing station.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the contents (a) of intra-section data specifically stored for each section of traffic congestion information data and information (b) stored in a traffic congestion information database.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of traffic congestion contents and display colors corresponding to traffic congestion categories stored in intra-section data.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the traffic information providing station in the traffic information providing station.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 10b control unit 12, 12b main storage unit 13, 13b input unit 14 current position detection unit 15, 15b output unit 16 running state detection unit 17, 17b communication control unit

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Hiroyuki Yamakawa 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Inside Equos Research Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Hiroaki Kondo 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo (72) Inventor Kazutaka Yoshikawa 2-19-12 Sotokanda, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Co., Ltd. Inside Equos Research

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A current position detecting means for detecting a current position of a vehicle, a running state obtaining means for obtaining a running state of the vehicle, and a determination as to whether or not the vehicle is congested based on the running state of the vehicle obtained by the running state obtaining means. A traffic information providing station that determines, as vehicle traveling information, the traveling state of the vehicle and the current position detected by the current position detecting means when the traffic congestion determining unit determines that there is traffic. And a vehicle traveling information transmitting means for transmitting the traveling information to the vehicle. 2. A current position detecting means for detecting a current position of the vehicle, a traveling state acquiring means for acquiring a traveling state of the vehicle, a traveling state of the vehicle acquired by the traveling state acquiring means,
Vehicle running information storing means for storing the current position detected by the current position detecting means; and vehicle running information for transmitting the vehicle running information stored in the vehicle running information storing means to a traffic information providing station at predetermined time intervals. And a transmission means. 3. A receiving means for receiving vehicle running information transmitted from the vehicle running information providing device according to claim 1 or 2, and collecting a plurality of vehicle running information received by the receiving means. A traffic information providing system comprising: traffic jam information creating means for creating traffic jam information for each road; and transmitting means for sending the traffic jam information created by the traffic jam information creating means to the inquired vehicle. Bureau.