KR100452171B1 - Method and apparatus for decoding and outputting received digital coded traffic messages - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for decoding and outputting a received digitally encoded traffic message comprising location information and event information, wherein the data necessary for decoding and the additional data used for the output are stored in memory. A memory contents inquiry is made as to what other data for outputting the traffic message is stored for outputting the traffic message and the output of the traffic message is made in one of a plurality of classes according to the type and size of the other data .

Description

Method and apparatus for decoding and outputting received digital coded traffic messages

The invention relates to a method and apparatus according to the preamble of the independent claims.

It is possible to transmit digital data in a non-audible manner in parallel with a wireless broadcast program on a data channel by a Radio-Data-System (RDS). The specification of the wireless-data-system for VHF broadcasting is particularly relevant to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) 1984 publication Tech. 3244-E. ≪ / RTI > A wireless broadcast receiver with a suitable RDS-decoder can receive and decode the data transmitted in addition to the wireless broadcast to the same receiver. This data transmission is made up of 32 groups each having 108 bits, and a certain service is assigned to each group. This group 8a is provided for the transmission of digitally encoded traffic messages.

The composition and coding of this traffic message is detailed in the provisional standard ALERT C, published in November 1990 by the RDS ATT ALERT Consortium. Important elements of this traffic message are location and event. This information is classified (category). That is, a clear code is assigned to each traffic-related place and each traffic-related event. When you connect places in the location table along the existing road, the route appears. In addition to the general devices of a receiver with an RDS-decoder, there is a need for a device for decoding, storing, sequencing and outputting traffic messages to use the traffic message channel TMC (Traffic Message Channel).

Significant amounts of data, particularly place-related data, are required to output words or phrases that are understandable to the user at the time of text output through the display or during speech output. Even if only one country's place-related data is stored, a relatively large amount of data is generated, which causes problems when stored in a chip card. In Germany, after checking the traffic-related sites, it is necessary to store about 15000 locations, such as the connection point Hildesheim. Road segments and locations related to areas are also added.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for transmitting and receiving digital data, such as a received digital coded traffic signal, capable of decoding and outputting the traffic message, even when the storage capacity for storing all the data specified in the ALERT C- And a method of decoding and outputting a message.

According to the present invention, the above object can be accomplished by providing a memory device for storing data necessary for decoding and other data used for outputting in a memory, and for outputting a traffic message, The content is inquired and the output of the traffic message is made up of one of a plurality of classes according to the type and size of the other data.

With the method according to the invention, for example, a radio receiver configured for reception of a digitally coded traffic message can be operated with a chip card having a different amount of data in each place. For example, a chip card may be created that contains data for important place and place codes, such as connection points and metropolitan highway branches in a metropolitan area. This data enables higher class output, while for less important places there is little data for simple output. The distribution according to the importance can be variously performed in issuing a plurality of chip cards including the area. Depending on marketability, for example, a chip card having all the data required for the output of an advanced class for each place-code in Bayern, and having only a minimal amount of data for the other federal states is advantageous.

Many advantages are gained by using chip cards for location-related data. For example, a new chip card can be purchased when the road network is changed, or when the chip card has a rewritable memory, the chip card can be newly recorded. Likewise, you can purchase a chip card that is valid in other countries when driving in another country. The advantage of the method according to the present invention is particularly large when using a chip card for storage of place-related data, since the capacity of such a chip card is limited.

A preferred configuration of the method according to the present invention is for the traffic message to be selected when the memory contents are inquired as to whether there is data necessary for selecting a traffic message and data suitable for the selection exists in the memory. Therefore, if the selection is omitted at the time of outputting, the capacity of the memory to be used can be reduced.

A significant reduction in the required memory capacity compared to the storage of all the data provided according to the protocol described above can be achieved in the embodiment of the method according to the invention by inquiring whether the place- And if not, the number and / or abbreviation stored in the memory is used.

In the above embodiment, when only one of a plurality of places related to the traffic message is not stored together with the place names, the entire output may be a lower class. However, the corresponding places among the output traffic messages may be designated as different classes according to the additional data.

Another remarkably simplified output that is lower than the class is inquired as to whether the recorded contents exist as point-shaped place information on the place information of the traffic message, and when the recorded contents do not exist, the road section Segment) is used.

A preferred arrangement for carrying out the method according to the invention is characterized in that said memory formed as an exchangeable data carrier comprises at least a first and a second place code for each chained place- The road having the place and the type of the place, and further data enabling the output of one or a plurality of classes for the selected place-code.

Where adjacent locations of the road's path of travel are needed, the locations and place-codes are chained. In addition to the chained places, the isolated places are also possible for traffic messages relating only to the one place mentioned above. This corresponds to, for example, a parking lot, and this type of blocking is used as a traffic message. For such a place, only name information, place-type information, and occasionally only the information of the local reference are needed.

Through the device according to the invention, all the place-codes of each area can be decoded and, in some cases, further output can be made using the additional data attached to all the place-codes. However, broadcast and improved broadcast of the traffic message may also be enabled by additional data attached to the selected location-code.

Preferably, the additional data comprises at least one code of a road segment having said place. This enables a significantly simplified output of the traffic message in many cases.

The accurate output of the traffic message to at least the highway-to-connection point is made possible by the additional data for at least a portion of the selected place-code including at least one connection point-number.

The detailed output is made possible by the additional data for at least a portion of the selected place-code including at least one place name.

Embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the various figures and described below.

The embodiment is shown as a block diagram. However, this does not mean that the embodiment is limited to realization by individual circuits corresponding to the blocks. That is, the circuit device of the present invention is more preferably realized by a highly integrated circuit. In this case, a digital signal processor can be used and executes the processing steps shown in the block diagram based on suitable programming by the signal processor.

FIG. 1 shows a wireless receiver module necessary for the description of the present invention and shows a module used in the implementation of the method according to the present invention, enclosed in dashed lines. The received signals are supplied to the receiving section 2 through the antenna 1 and the output of the receiving section is supplied to the RDS-decoder 3 and the audio-amplifier 4 connected to the speaker 5.

The decoding and reproduction of the digitally encoded traffic message is controlled by the microcomputer 11. It is connected to the memory 12, which stores event related and voice related data and algorithms. The microcomputer 11 may be provided with output signals of the RDS-decoder 3. Also, the microcomputer 11 is connected to the card-recording / reading device via the interface 13, which is not separately shown in FIG. The connection of the reading device with the memory 14 on the chip card 15 is also via the interface 16 on the chip card.

In the illustrated embodiment, a voice output is provided, in which the digital voice signals are synthesized in the microcomputer 11 and these signals are provided to the audio-amplifier 4 via a digital / analog-to- do. Also, the selection of the traffic message and other information such as the traffic message may be displayed by the display device 18 connected to the microcomputer 11 through the display-driver 19.

The memory 14 may be embodied as ROM and may be embodied as a nonvolatile write / read-memory, which may require the user to purchase a new chip card 15 or to be newly written if there is something that the user needs to change. The non-volatile write / read-memory may be written with new data when the location-related data is changed or when the area of interest of the user is changed.

The location information and event information transmitted by the digital coded traffic message are independent of the speech language. Therefore, in the decoding tables in the memories 14 and 12, a representative corresponding to the code is stored in the language of a particular country. In this case, the events are language-dependent but not country-specific, This is because it is uniformly standardized throughout Europe. However, since the place codes are dependent on each country, the place codes in France represent places different from the same codes in Germany. The places are distinguished by country identifiers transmitted separately to the wireless-data-system. Therefore, most chip cards are associated with a relatively large area of one country or one country. However, it can not be ruled out that chip cards for roads in several countries or parts of several countries, such as the Alps, can also be manufactured.

The data set for one place-code shown in FIG. 2a includes the place-related data provided in the ALERT-standard. Code (Loc. Code), a place code (offset +, offset-) of a place where the place passed along the path of the road and a place where the place is to appear, a code (RefA) A code (RefL) of a segment (segment), an indication (Loc.-type) of a type of the place, an exit-type of a highway-connection point, and a name. In the above embodiment, a bypass number and a connection number are additionally present.

As a result of the complete recording, the segment information and the information of the point-shaped place as the traffic message are outputted in the form of, for example, " A7, Hannover direction from Kassel, between Dernenburg and Hildesheim, . In this case, the road class (A) and the road number (7) are extracted from the place record of the place segment started by RefL. As an event, for example, " 3 km congestion " or other event related to the road traffic may be output. This output belongs to the highest possible class represented as Class 1 (Cl.1).

Storage of place names is omitted to save memory space in the data set according to Figure 2b. The wireless receiver operating according to the method of the present invention again receives the segment information RefL and the connection point number to output a traffic message in Class 2 (Cl.2) The output is as follows: "A7, from Kassel to Hanover, between junction 63 and 62, <event>". Despite the small amount of memory required, the information of the output traffic message is exactly as in the case of the data set according to Figure 2a. Even the difficult to pronounce place names have the advantage of being replaced by numerical representations. On the other hand, since the memory capacity required is relatively small, the amount of information on the number of connection points is relatively small, and may not be generally well recognized. However, the output of the corresponding number can easily recognize how many connection points are present between the connection point, which is not familiar to the place, and the traffic blocking place notified by the traffic message, as compared with the output of the name .

The data set according to FIG. 2c does not include any record of the point location, but includes a reference to the road segment such as the data sets according to FIGS. 2a and 2b. Therefore, the output of the traffic message is possible as class 3 as follows:

"A7, direction from Kassel to Hannover, <event>". Even though the required memory capacity is significantly reduced, traffic messages can be output. However, the local accuracy of the traffic message is smaller according to the segment length. Also, when there are a plurality of traffic messages related to the same segment, it is not distinguished whether the traffic message is repeated or whether various traffic messages related to various places in the segment cascel-Hanover are generated.

The reference to the segment is no longer present in the data set according to Figure 2d. The message is decoded but not output. Although the traffic messages associated with the locations are not output, the places should be recorded in the memory with the data set according to Fig. 2d. This is necessary for the decoding of traffic messages that are associated with other locations but require a combination with the place code stored according to Figure 2d for decoding.

Under the precondition that the name of one place requires 22 bytes on average, the required memory capacity per location is 48 bytes in output class 1, 22 bytes in output class 2, 13 bytes in output class 3, and 11 bytes in output class 4 to be. Assuming that the chip card also utilizes a memory capacity of 512 kilobytes, of which about 417 kilobytes are used for storage of the place list, about 9000 places in the output class 1, about 19000 places in the output class 2 About 33000 places in output class 3, and about 39000 places in output class 4 can be stored.

The flow chart shown in FIG. 3 shows an effective program in the microcomputer 11 for the implementation of the method according to the invention. At 21, after the traffic message having the size Ext as a place-code is received or read from the intermediate memory, the program branches according to whether the size is zero. If the size is zero, then only one place-code is needed for decoding and output. However, if the size is not zero, a code indicated in addition to the place-code in the received traffic message, such as offset + or offset-, is needed.

At 23 the program branches depending on whether both location codes are present in the location list. Otherwise, it is confirmed at 25 that the traffic message can not be decoded and the program is repeated at 21 upon receipt of the next traffic message. However, if both place codes are present, it is tested at 27 whether both place codes meet the necessary conditions for class 4, such as offset + and offset-. If this is not the case, no chaining of the places is possible and no output is possible, which is confirmed at 28. At 29, it is tested whether both place-codes meet the above-mentioned class 3. If this is not the case, no output is possible, which is confirmed at 30.

In the program portion 31 it is tested whether the place codes meet the class 2. If not, the output of the traffic message at 32 is done according to class 3. Finally, at 33, it is tested whether both place codes meet the requirements of class 1 above. If this is not the case, the output at 34 will be according to class 2, and if so, the output at 35 will be done according to class 1.

As already mentioned above, in a traffic message with multiple place-codes, the output may be of different classes for each place-code. For example, if a unique number is stored for one connection point and a name for a neighboring connection point is also stored therein, the output of one place is carried out by a number as one traffic message related to both places, Can be performed by name. Independent tests for each place-code should be made in place of the tests 27, 29, 31 and 33 as compared to the program shown in FIG.

If it is determined that the size is zero at the branch 22, it is tested at 24 whether the place-code received by the traffic message is in the chip card. If so, decoding is not possible, which is identified at 26.

However, if there is the place-code, a test for class 3 is made by the place-code in the program step (38). If this is not the case, output is not possible (39). At 40, it is tested whether the place-code meets the class 2. If not, the output is done according to class 3 at 41. Finally, at 42, the place-code is tested for class 1 and accordingly the output is done according to one of the class 1 44 or 2 43. [

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a wireless receiver configured to perform the method according to the present invention. FIG.

Figure 2 is a schematic view of the memory contents of the chip card provided for the operation of the radio receiver according to Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a computer program for carrying out the method according to the invention.

Description of Reference Numerals for Main Parts of Drawings

1: antenna 2:

3: RDS decoder 4: Speaker

11: Microcomputer 12: Memory

13: Interface

Claims (8)

A method for decoding and outputting a received digitally encoded traffic message including location information and event information, the method comprising the steps of: decoding and outputting a traffic message in which data necessary for decoding and other data used for output are stored in a memory; As a result, A memory contents inquiry is made as to which other data for outputting the traffic message is stored for outputting a traffic message, and the output of the traffic message is classified into a plurality of classes according to the type and size of the other data, And wherein the class indicates a degree of detail of the traffic message. The method according to claim 1, Wherein the memory contents are inquired as to whether there is data necessary for selection of a traffic message, and the traffic message is selected when data suitable for the selection exists in the memory. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein a number and / or abbreviation stored in the memory is used if the location-related data necessary for outputting the traffic message is present as a place name, and if not, the number and / or abbreviation stored in the memory is used. Output method. The method of claim 3, A reference to a road segment (segment) stored in the memory is used when there is no recorded content as spot-shaped place information with respect to place information of a traffic message, and when the recorded content does not exist A method for decoding and outputting traffic messages. 8. An apparatus for performing the method according to claim 1, The memory, formed as an exchangeable data carrier, is configured to store, for each area-chained location-code of each area, at least the preceding and following place codes according to the route of the road, Further comprising data indicating the type of the place, and further data enabling output of one or more classes to the selected place-code. 6. The method of claim 5, Wherein the additional data comprises at least one code of a road segment with the location. The method according to claim 6, Wherein the additional data for at least a portion of the selected location-code comprises at least one connection point number. 8. The method of claim 7, Wherein the additional data for at least a portion of the selected place-code comprises at least one place name.