KR20060023619A - Navigation method, navigation system, telematics terminal and navigation server - Google Patents

Abstract

The navigation method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: transmitting, by a user's telematics terminal, time / end information of a vehicle movement determined by a user to a navigation server; The navigation server receives time / end point information and collects current progress information of telematics terminals of a navigation service subscriber vehicle existing within a range corresponding to time / end point information; Determining, by the server, an optimal path for the start / end point using the collected current status information of the subscriber stations; Transmitting, by the navigation server, optimal path information to the user terminal; And receiving, by the user terminal, optimal path information and providing the same to the user.

According to the present invention, it is possible to collect the real-time traffic information according to the user's request by unifying the conventional dual traffic collection and navigation system, thereby providing a vehicle navigation service that immediately reflects the dynamic changes in the road situation. have.

Description

Navigation method, navigation system, telematics terminal and navigation server

1 is a flowchart illustrating a navigation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a preferred embodiment of step S102 illustrated in FIG. 1, that is, a method of collecting current progress information of subscriber vehicles.

3 to 5 are flowcharts for describing exemplary embodiments of the step S204 shown in FIG.

6 is a block diagram illustrating a navigation system for performing a navigation method of the present invention.

7 is a schematic diagram of service provision of the navigation system of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the telematics terminal of the present invention shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the route information request unit shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the traffic information providing unit shown in FIG. 8.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the vehicle progress information measuring unit illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining a preferred embodiment of the navigation server of the present invention shown in FIG.

13 and 14 are block diagrams illustrating exemplary embodiments of the traffic information request unit illustrated in FIG. 12.

The present invention relates to vehicle navigation using telematics.

The increase in the number of automobiles in Korea is about 12%, while the increase in road facilities is less than 0.5%, which is intensifying the imbalance in traffic demand and traffic supply. As a result, congestion costs due to traffic jams are increasing day by day.

In recent years, various services have been developed to collect road traffic information and provide it to citizens as a way to improve the efficiency of transportation facilities. The system that provides such services is called intelligent transportation systems (ITS).

There are two ways to collect road traffic information. One is a device installation on the road, the other is a terminal operation method in the vehicle.

The road device installation method is a method of installing various devices such as a vehicle speed sensor and a road monitoring camera in a road or facility around a road and detecting various conditions of the road from the device. In the road device installation method, it is not possible to collect traffic information of the area where the detection device is not installed.

An in-vehicle terminal operating method is a method of installing a traffic information collecting terminal such as a global positioning system (GPS) module in a vehicle and collecting traffic information using the same. Such in-vehicle terminals are called telematics terminals. Telematics is a term for an information service that can be provided in an automobile using wireless data communication, and is a compound word of telecommunication and informatics. The conventional in-vehicle terminal operation method collects traffic information uniformly under the plan of a service provider (hereinafter, 'center') of traffic information, and thus does not reflect user's requirements. In other words, it collects traffic information and utilizes the collected information (navigation, etc.). Due to the uniform collection of traffic information in the center, uninterested information accumulates and shadowed areas of traffic information collection occur. The conventional in-vehicle terminal operating method has a problem in that as the area for collecting traffic information becomes wider, the data processing load of the center increases and the communication amount increases.

Conventional techniques related to ITS by an in-vehicle terminal operation scheme include the following.

Korean Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2003-80385 "Traffic information sensing device using GPS and traffic information sensing method using the same" adopts the concept of client server, and the traffic situation information automatically collected from the client, which is a vehicle, When approaching within a certain radius, it is delivered in real time to a server that is a traffic control center by using wireless communication equipment, and the traffic control server uses geographic information system (GIS) that is utilized in the field by using data input from a telematics device. Traffic information detection method using GPS that provides traffic volume information to operate traffic guidance system in various ways such as PC communication, internet, ARS, broadcasting by using various application programs that operate Start the device. In particular, the method includes a vehicle capable of receiving traffic information in order to prevent traffic information from being transmitted to the traffic collection server, so that duplicate traffic information is not transmitted to the traffic collection server. Provides a traffic information collection method and system that allows only selected vehicle equipped with the selected terminal to transmit traffic information to the traffic collection server. However, because the technology collects information about the area when a vehicle within a certain radius of the desired area passes the desired road, it cannot gather information about the area unless the vehicle that wants traffic information passes through the area.

Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-37689 "Traffic information collection method using a navigation system" includes an initial information transmission step of inputting the current location information and destination information to the information center via a mobile communication network; After generating the optimal route guidance data for guiding at least one node point on the driving route by searching the route data based on the map data and the traffic information which are already stored in the driving route between the current location and the destination in the information center A data transmission step of transmitting through a mobile communication network; A driving guidance step of guiding voice information to travel through the node point before the vehicle passes the node point according to the route guidance data; A traffic information providing step of transmitting location information of the moving route to the information center at a predetermined cycle during the route guidance operation; A data update step of extracting speed information of a current movement route according to the traffic information, grasping traffic flows according to time zones and routes, and updating and storing traffic information; After the data update step is completed, a method comprising an update data transmission step of generating and transmitting an optimal route guidance data based on map data and updated traffic information when requesting a service is proposed. The traffic information collecting method uses a traffic information collecting vehicle (probe car), but since the service subscriber uses voluntary information, there is an advantage that the cost of operating the collected vehicle does not occur. However, this relates to a method of spontaneously collecting information from a user terminal and to providing the collected information to a later user. As a result, the collection and use of traffic information is dualized, and information on dynamic changes in road conditions cannot be collected immediately. In addition, since this method collects information on the move only for the route requested by the user terminal, the optimum route cannot be determined according to the dynamic traffic situation by the user's request.

In addition, the technique disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-16712, "Method for collecting traffic information, apparatus, and program storage medium using probe car," can significantly lower the initial investment cost for the infrastructure for collecting traffic information. The advantage is that an efficient traffic information service can be implemented. However, this technique is a method of collecting traffic information through a specific route of a designated probe car, and thus has a disadvantage in that the traffic information collecting area is not wide.

The conventional techniques described above have the following problems.

First, shadowing time and shadowed area of traffic information collection occur. As traffic information is expanded, there are physical limitations such as increased processing load and increased traffic volume in the center.

Second, the traffic information collection and its utilization system are dualized and do not immediately reflect the dynamic changes in road conditions.

Accordingly, an aspect of the present invention is to provide an efficient navigation method, a navigation system, a telematics terminal, and a navigation server capable of dynamically responding to a road traffic situation that is frequently changed without a traffic information shadow area.

The navigation method according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, (a) the user's telematics terminal (hereinafter referred to as 'user terminal') is the navigation server (hereinafter referred to as 'server') information of the start / end of the vehicle movement determined by the user Transmitting); (b) The server receives the time / end information and collects the current progress information of the telematics terminals (hereinafter referred to as subscriber terminals) of the navigation service subscriber vehicle existing within the range corresponding to the time / end information. Doing; (c) determining, by the server, an optimal path for the time / endpoint using current collected state information of the subscriber stations; (d) the server transmitting the optimal path information to the user terminal; And (e) the user terminal receiving the optimal path information and providing the optimal path information to the user.

The current progress information of the subscriber station may include the progress speed information of the subscriber station. Here, the current progress status information of the subscriber station may further include coordinate information of the subscriber station. In addition, the current progress status information of the vehicle may further include the progress direction information of the subscriber station.

The current progress state information of the vehicle may further include time information for providing the information.

The driving speed information may be driving speed information based on a cumulative average of each vehicle in a predetermined section.

In the step (c), the server may calculate the travel time for each of the searched paths, and may determine a path having the smallest time calculated as the optimum path. The travel time for each route may be calculated by dividing the total distance of each route by the average speed of the vehicles for each route.

In the step (b), the server, (b1) identifying the position on the map of the received time / end information; (b2) searching for one or more paths connecting the time / endpoints; And (b3) collecting current progress information of subscriber stations existing on the searched path.

The path searched in step (b2) may be configured in the form of a link of small segments.

In the step (b3), the server exists on the searched path through the base station corresponding to the searched path, and the current progress state information of the subscriber stations in the same direction as the direction of the start / end point. Can be collected. Here, the current progress state information of the vehicle may include progress speed information and coordinate information. In addition, the current progress state information of the vehicle may include progress direction information, progress speed information and coordinate information.

In the step (b3), the server transmits a base station ID, travel direction information, and discovered route information covered by the base station to the subscriber station; And if the subscriber station communicating with the base station is determined to be in the same direction as the travel direction and exists on the searched path, transmitting the current progress information of the vehicle to the server. In the step (b3), the server may further include the step of selecting a predetermined number of current progress information for each search path according to the degree of matching with the search path from the current progress information received from the subscriber station. .

In addition, the step (b3), the server transmitting the base station ID, the direction information and the coordinate information of the base station to the subscriber station; Transmitting, by the subscriber station communicating with the base station, coordinate information of the vehicle to the server when it is determined that the subscriber station is within the coordinate information and the tolerance range of the base station and the same as the moving direction; Selecting, by the server, a predetermined number of subscriber stations according to the degree of matching of the coordinate information of the vehicle and the search path and requesting traffic information; And the subscriber station receiving the traffic information may transmit vehicle progress speed information to the server.

In the step (b3), the server transmitting a base station ID to the subscriber station; And all subscriber stations communicating with the base station may transmit current progress information of the vehicle to the server. In the step (b3), the server has a predetermined number of current progresses for each search path according to the degree of matching of the progress direction among the current progress state information of the vehicle and matching of the coordinate information of the vehicle and the search route. Status information can be collected and collected.

Meanwhile, in the step (e), the user terminal may receive the optimal path information, display it as a map, and provide the same to the user. In addition, in the step (e), the user terminal may receive the optimal path information and display it as road guidance voice information and provide the same to the user.

The navigation system according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, by specifying the start / end point of the vehicle movement to request the route information to receive the route information from the outside, in response to the external traffic information request, the current progress state information of the vehicle Two or more telematics terminals for providing traffic information including; A navigation server that receives the traffic information from another telematics terminal according to a route information request of one telematics terminal, determines the optimal route information using the traffic information, and provides the route information to the telematics terminal that has requested the route information; And a wireless communication network serving as a communication medium between the telematics terminals and the navigation server.

Telematics terminal according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, Map database for storing geographic information; A route information request unit which transmits a route information request including route information on a start / end point of vehicle movement determined by a user to the outside and receives optimum route information provided from the outside; A vehicle progress information measuring unit measuring current progress state information of the vehicle; A navigation controller for guiding the progress of the vehicle to the user by using optimal path information provided from the outside; And a traffic information providing unit configured to provide current progress status information of the vehicle transmitting the current progress status information of the vehicle in response to the traffic information request received from the outside.

The route information request unit may include an operation unit generating a start / end point information signal for moving the vehicle by a user's manipulation; A route information request transmitter for transmitting the route information request including the time / end point information to the outside; And a route information receiver configured to receive optimal route information from the outside.

The vehicle progress information measuring unit includes a position measuring unit measuring a current position of the vehicle; A speed measuring unit measuring a traveling speed of the vehicle; And it may include a direction measuring unit for measuring the traveling direction of the vehicle. The position measuring unit may include a GPS module that generates and outputs current position information of the vehicle from GPS information received from a GPS satellite. In addition, the position measuring unit may generate current position information of the vehicle by an AOA (Angle of Arrival) method by communicating with two or more base stations. In addition, the position measurement unit may generate current position information of the vehicle by TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) method by communicating with three base stations. In addition, the position measuring unit may generate the current position information of the vehicle by an RF fingerprint method in communication with the base station.

The vehicle progress information measuring unit may further include a clock for measuring a current time.

The traffic information provider may include: a traffic information request receiver configured to receive a traffic information request from the outside, demodulate it, and output the demodulated signal; A position direction comparison unit for comparing the demodulated information with the current progress state information of the vehicle and outputting the current progress state information of the vehicle according to the comparison result; And a traffic information transmitter for transmitting the current progress status information of the vehicle.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a navigation server comprising: a map database storing geographic information; A route information providing unit for demodulating the route information request received from the outside, extracting and outputting time / endpoint information therefrom, and modulating the input optimal route information to the outside; A route search unit for searching for and outputting a route connecting the city / end point from the map database by inputting the city / end point information; A traffic information request unit for modulating and transmitting the traffic information request signal including the found route information to the outside, and demodulating and outputting the traffic information received from the outside; And an optimum route determination unit that determines and outputs an optimal route among the searched routes using the demodulated traffic information.

The traffic information request unit includes: a base station selector which selects a base station covering the searched route and outputs coordinate information of the base station; A vehicle caller on a path for transmitting a call signal including the base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station; A vehicle coordinate receiver configured to demodulate and output coordinate information of a subscriber station received from the outside; A vehicle selection unit configured to input coordinate information of the subscriber station, select a subscriber station to request traffic information, and output identification information of the selected subscriber station; A traffic information request transmitter which modulates identification information of the selected subscriber station and transmits the identification information as a call signal; And a traffic information receiver for demodulating and outputting the traffic information received from the outside.

The traffic information request unit may further include: a base station selector which selects a base station covering the searched route and outputs coordinate information of the base station; A vehicle caller on a path for transmitting a call signal including the base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station; A traffic information receiver for demodulating and outputting traffic information received from the outside; And an information selecting unit which inputs the traffic information and selects and outputs information to be used for determining an optimum path according to the degree of matching with the searched route.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The basic objective of the present invention is to provide a real-time traffic information that immediately reflects the road traffic situation in consideration of the user's request and reflects it on the vehicle navigation.

Features of the present invention for achieving this goal are as follows.

First, the present invention provides a service according to the needs of a real-time user. That is, traffic information is collected for the dynamic route selected by the user.

Secondly, the present invention collects traffic information in accordance with a user's request by utilizing terminals of all vehicles subscribed to a navigation service.

Third, according to the present invention, the navigation server selects the collected information to determine an optimal path according to a user's request.

The navigation method of the present invention is performed between a user telematics terminal (hereinafter referred to as a 'user terminal'), a navigation server (hereinafter referred to as a 'server'), and a telematics terminal (hereinafter referred to as a 'subscriber terminal') of a navigation service subscriber vehicle. .

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a navigation system for performing a navigation method of the present invention, wherein two or more telematics terminals 100 and the navigation server 102 of the present invention communicate with each other through a wireless network 104. It is configured to.

In the navigation system of the present invention, the telematics terminal 100 may request route information from the navigation server 102 or provide traffic information in response to a request of the navigation server 102.

In the navigation system of the present invention, the navigation server 102 may provide optimal route information according to a request of the telematics terminal 100, and may request the provision of traffic information to the telematics terminal 100.

Device configurations of the telematics terminal 100 and the navigation server 102 of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 8.

7 is a schematic diagram of service provision of the navigation system of the present invention. The navigation server 202 of the present invention, which has received the route information request of the user terminal 200 using the telematics terminal of the present invention, receives the subscriber terminals 204-1, 204-2, .. , 204-n) collects traffic information to determine an optimal route, and provides the optimal route information to the user terminal 200.

The term 'user terminal' used below refers to a telematics terminal for requesting route information service, and an 'subscriber terminal' refers to a telematics terminal for providing traffic information of a current state of a vehicle according to a traffic information request of a navigation server. .

1 is a flowchart illustrating a navigation method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the user terminal transmits the start / end information of the vehicle movement determined by the user to the server (S100). When the user inputs the start / end point information of the vehicle movement using the input device provided in the terminal and sends a transmission instruction, the user terminal transmits the start / end point information of the vehicle movement determined by the user to the server. The user terminal may be a computer connected to the Internet.

The server receiving the time / end information collects current progress information of the subscriber vehicles existing within the range corresponding to the time / end information (S102). At this time, the server may search for a plurality of paths existing between time / endpoints and collect current progress information of subscriber stations existing on the searched paths.

After the step S102, the server determines the optimal route for the time / end point using the collected current progress status information of the vehicle (S104). Here, the server calculates the travel time for each searched route, and may determine the path whose minimum time is calculated as the optimal route. The movement time for each path may be calculated as shown in Equation 1 below.

After step S104, the server transmits the determined optimal path to the user terminal (S106). The user terminal provides the received optimal path information to the user (S108).

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining a preferred embodiment of step S102 illustrated in FIG. 1, that is, a method of collecting current progress information of subscriber vehicles.

The server first grasps the position on the map of the received time / end point information (S200).

After the step S200, the server searches for one or more paths connecting the city / end point on the map (S202). Only one route may be searched or two or more routes may be searched, depending on the distance and geography of the start / end point. The searched path may be configured in the form of a link of small segments. The unit segment may be a predetermined distance unit, an intersection unit, or a traffic light unit.

After the step S202, the server collects the current progress information of the subscriber stations of the same progress direction existing on the found path (S204). The subscriber station may determine whether the subscriber station exists on the searched path and the same direction of travel, or may be determined by the server.

In order to determine the determination by the subscriber station, the server should provide search path information and direction information to the subscriber station. The subscriber station provides only the information necessary for determining the optimal path, that is, the speed information, to the server. At this time, in order to allow the server to select the information once again, the speed information and the coordinate information may be provided to the server together.

In order for the server to determine the determination, the server must be provided with the current vehicle current state information including the traveling speed information, the coordinate information, and the traveling direction information from the subscriber station. The server may collect progress speed information by selecting a predetermined number of current progress status information for each search path according to the matching direction of the received information, and matching the coordinate information of the subscriber terminal with the search path.

The vehicle current progress state information may include time information. That is, if the interval between the time that the subscriber station provided the information and the time when the server received the information is large, the server may determine that the information is invalid and discard it.

Here, the speed information provided by the subscriber station may be an instantaneous speed at the time of providing the information, or may be speed information based on a cumulative average in a predetermined time section or a predetermined distance section.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining an exemplary embodiment of a method of collecting current progress information of subscriber vehicles in the same traveling direction existing on the searched route in step S204 illustrated in FIG. 2. 3 is a method of determining whether or not to provide traffic information by the subscriber station itself.

The server first transmits search path information and direction information to subscriber stations (S300). Upon receiving the search path information and the progress direction information, the subscriber station transmits the current progress status information to the server when it is determined that the user terminal exists on the search path and the progress direction is the same (S302).

In step S300, the search path information and the direction information may be transmitted to the subscriber station through the base station.

In step S300, the server transmits the base station ID, the heading direction information, and the searched path information covered by the base station to the subscriber station, and the subscriber station communicating with the base station is on the found path with the same heading direction. If it is determined that it can include the step of transmitting the current progress information of the vehicle to the server.

At this time, it is preferable that the current progress state information of the vehicle includes the speed information and the coordinate information of the vehicle. The server may select a predetermined number of current progress information for each search path according to the degree of matching with the search path among the current progress information received from the subscriber station, and use the same to determine the optimal path. This prevents excessive load on the server.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining another preferred embodiment of step S204 shown in FIG. 2 and shows current progress information of subscriber stations existing on the searched path through a base station corresponding to the searched path by a server. Indicates to collect. 4 is a method in which a server selects a subscriber station and collects traffic information.

First, the server transmits coordinate information and direction information of the base station corresponding to the search path to the subscriber station communicating with the base station (S310).

The subscriber station communicating with the base station transmits the vehicle ID and the vehicle coordinate information to the server if the traveling direction is the same and is within the base station coordinates and the allowable error range (S312).

The server compares the search path with the received vehicle coordinate information, selects a predetermined number of vehicles for each search path, and requests vehicle speed information from a subscriber terminal of the selected vehicle (S314).

The selected subscriber station transmits travel speed information to the server (S316).

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining another preferred embodiment of step S204 shown in FIG. 2. 5 is a method of determining whether to provide traffic information by a subscriber station communicating with a base station.

The server transmits coordinate information and direction information of the base station corresponding to the search path to the subscriber station communicating with the base station (S310).

The subscriber station communicating with the base station transmits the vehicle coordinate information and the speed information to the server when the traveling direction is the same and is within the base station coordinates and the tolerance range (S318).

The server compares the search path with the received vehicle coordinate information and selects a predetermined number of speed information for each search path (S320).

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the telematics terminal of the present invention shown in FIG. 6, and includes a route information request unit 300, a navigation controller 304, a map database 306, and a traffic information provider. 302, the vehicle progress information measuring unit 308 is provided.

When the telematics terminal is used as the user terminal, the route information request unit 300 transmits a route information request REQ1 including the start / end information of the vehicle movement determined by the user to the server. In addition, the route information request unit 300 receives the optimum route information DATA1 provided from the navigation server (not shown).

When the telematics terminal is used as the user terminal, the navigation control unit 304 matches the optimal route information 312 input through the route information requesting unit 300 with the geographic information of the map database 306 and provides it to the user. do.

The map matching technique for matching the geographic information with the map database 306 may be implemented by various well-known methods. As an example, the technique disclosed in Korean Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1999-58343 includes a first step of receiving a satellite signal from a GPS satellite to detect a position of a vehicle; A second step of determining whether a vehicle coordinate point corresponding to the position of the vehicle detected by the first step is located in an interpolation area of the road link; A third step of calculating a distance between the vehicle coordinate point and the interpolation points located in the interpolation area when the vehicle coordinate point is located in the interpolation area of the road link as a result of the determination of the second step; A fourth step of selecting an interpolation target point from an interpolation point having a minimum separation distance calculated in the third step; A fifth step of replacing the vehicle coordinate point detected by the first step with an interpolation target point selected by the fourth step; And a sixth step of following the driving trajectory of the vehicle after performing the fifth step.

The vehicle progress information measuring unit 308 provides the current progress state information 310 of the vehicle to the navigation control unit 304 and the traffic information providing unit 302.

The navigation controller 304 may provide the user with the current progress status information 310 of the vehicle obtained from the vehicle progress information measuring unit 310 through a map display, a voice guidance, and the like.

When the telematics terminal is used as the subscriber terminal, the traffic information providing unit 302, based on the traffic information request REQ2 received from the outside, the current progress state information 310 of the vehicle from the vehicle progress information measuring unit 308 ) Is transmitted to the outside as traffic information DATA2.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the route information request unit shown in FIG. 8, and includes an operation unit 400, a route information request transmitter 401, and a route information receiver 402.

The operation unit 400 generates start / end point information 403 of vehicle movement by a user's manipulation. The operation unit 400 may be provided by a button input device, a touch screen, or the like for inputting information.

The route information request transmitter 401 modulates the route information request including the start / end point information 403 of the vehicle movement into a transmission signal and transmits the route information request signal REQ1. The route information request signal REQ1 is transmitted to the navigation server (not shown) through an external wireless network (not shown).

The route information receiver 402 receives the route information DATA1 provided from the navigation server (not shown) and demodulates the route information DATA1 into an internal signal 312 of the terminal.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the traffic information providing unit 302 shown in FIG. 8, and includes a traffic information request receiving unit 410, a location direction comparing unit 411, and a traffic information transmitting unit 412. It is provided.

When the telematics terminal is used as the subscriber terminal, the traffic information providing unit 302, based on the traffic information request REQ2 received from the outside, the current progress state information 310 of the vehicle from the vehicle progress information measuring unit 308 ) Is transmitted to the outside as traffic information DATA2. In this case, the traffic information provider 302 may be implemented to transmit the traffic information DATA2 only when it is determined that the subscriber station exists on the search path.

The traffic information request receiver 410 receives the traffic information request REQ2 from the outside and demodulates it as an internal signal 413 and outputs the demodulated signal. The traffic information request REQ2 may include information about a search route, start / end point direction information of the user vehicle, and the like. When the traffic information request REQ2 is received through the base station, it may include base station information in communication with the subscriber station in addition to or instead of the information on the search path.

The position / direction comparison unit 411 compares the current progress information 314 of the vehicle with the information included in the traffic information request REQ2, and determines whether the information 414 is output. That is, the location direction comparison unit 411 may be implemented to output the information 414 only when it is determined that the traveling directions are the same and exist on the search path. The position / direction comparison unit 411 may not output the information when it is determined that the current position of the subscriber station is not within the search path or when the current position is out of the tolerance range of the base station coordinates.

The traffic information transmitter 412 modulates the current progress state information 414 of the subscriber station according to the determination result of the position / direction comparison unit 411 and outputs it as the traffic information DATA2.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the vehicle progress information measuring unit illustrated in FIG. 8, and includes a GPS module 420, a position measuring unit 421, a speed measuring unit 422, and a direction measuring unit 423. ).

The vehicle progress information measuring unit 314 outputs the position information 425, the speed information 426, and the traveling direction information 427 as the vehicle current progress information 314.

The GPS module 420 receives GPS information from the GPS satellites.

The location measuring unit 421 generates the current location information 425 of the vehicle using the GPS information and the map database information 316.

The speed measuring unit 422 may generate a speed information 426 by inputting a signal from the vehicle speed measuring apparatus of the vehicle itself.

The direction measuring unit 423 may be implemented by a gyroscope or a magnetic compass, which is an absolute azimuth measuring means. In addition, the direction measuring unit 423 may generate the heading direction information 427 by calculating the amount of change in the latitude-longitude coordinates measured per hour.

In the embodiment of FIG. 11, the position measuring unit 421 measures the current position of the vehicle by the GPS module. In addition to the handset based technique using the GPS module, the wireless positioning technique includes a network-based Angle of Arrival (AOA) scheme, a Time Difference of Arrival (TDOA) scheme, and a frequency pattern using a radio. There is a matching method (RF finger printing). Hereinafter, these position measuring methods will be briefly described.

In the AOA method, the two base stations measure the direction of the signal coming from the terminal to obtain an azimuth angle, and use the azimuth to find the position of the terminal. The direction of the signal measured in one base station forms one line of bearing (LOB), and the intersection of these direction angles becomes the position of the terminal. This is based on the two angles and the length of the sides of the triangle positioning method. That is, knowing the direction angle of the signal received by the two base stations and the distance between the two base stations can determine the position of the terminal. In the two-dimensional plane, the position of the terminal can be determined by only two direction angles, but in actual systems, three or more direction angles are used in consideration of accuracy.

According to the TDOA method, a propagation time difference proportional to the difference between the distances from the two base stations serving as the signal source to the terminal is measured, and the terminal is positioned on the hyperbolic curve where the two base stations have a constant distance, i. At this time, each base station should be synchronized, and time synchronization between base stations is performed by using a satellite clock. Through this, two hyperbolas are obtained from three base stations, and the intersection of the two hyperbolas is determined as the position of the receiver.

The frequency pattern matching method using radio was developed by US Wireless. In this method, a receiver installed at a cell site (RadioCameraTM) grasps an RF frequency pattern and a multi-path characteristic of a received signal, and obtains the identified characteristic data and the position characteristic of an existing database. The location is determined by comparing the data.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the navigation server 102 of the present invention shown in FIG. 6. The route information providing unit 500, the route searching unit 506, the map database 504, A traffic information requesting unit 502 and an optimum path determining unit 508 are provided.

In the navigation system of the present invention, the navigation server 102 may provide optimal route information according to a request of the telematics terminal 100, and may request the provision of traffic information to the telematics terminal 100.

The route information provider 500 demodulates the route information request REQ1 received from the outside, and extracts the start / end point information 510 from the route information request REQ1 and outputs it to the route search unit 506. In addition, the route information providing unit 500 modulates the determined optimal route information 516 and transmits it to the user terminal (not shown) (DATA1).

The route search unit 506 inputs the city / end point information 510 and searches for and outputs a route 512 connecting the city / end point from the map database 504. The path can be searched in the form of links of several segments. The unit segment on the map may be determined, for example, by a predetermined distance unit, an intersection unit, or a traffic light unit. The path search unit 506 outputs searched path information 512 including the heading direction information.

The traffic information request unit 502 transmits the traffic information request signal REQ2 to a subscriber station (not shown) through a wireless network (not shown). The traffic information request signal REQ2 may include the searched route information 512, and the route information may include information about a traveling direction. The traffic information requesting unit 502 also demodulates the traffic information DATA2 received from the outside, and extracts and outputs data 514 necessary for determining the optimum route therefrom. The data 514 may include coordinate information and speed information.

The optimal path determiner 508 determines and outputs the optimum path 516 from the searched path 518 by using the input information 514. The optimum path may be determined as the path having the fastest vehicle movement speed for each searched path. In particular, in the case of determining the optimum route in units of segments, the optimal route may be determined in the form of a link of the segment having the fastest vehicle moving speed among the segments existing on the found route. The vehicle moving speed can be calculated, for example, by an average value or the like.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of the traffic information requesting unit 502 shown in FIG. 12. The base station sorting unit 601, the vehicle call unit 600 on the route, and the vehicle coordinate receiving unit 602 are illustrated. And a vehicle selection unit 603, a traffic information request transmitter 604, and a traffic information receiver 605.

The base station selector 601 selects a base station covering the searched path and outputs coordinate information 606 of the base station. The base station coordinate information 606 may include travel direction information.

The vehicle call unit 600 on the path transmits a call signal REQ2-1 including base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station.

The vehicle coordinate receiving unit 602 demodulates the coordinate information DATA2-1 of the subscriber terminal received from the outside and outputs the demodulated coordinate information DATA2-1 as the terminal internal signal 607.

The vehicle selecting unit 603 inputs the coordinate information 607 of the subscriber station from the vehicle coordinate receiving unit 602, selects the subscriber station to request traffic information, and identifies the ID (ID, identification number) 608 of the subscriber station. Outputs The selection of the subscriber station is determined according to the degree of matching of the searched route information 512 and the coordinate information 607 of the subscriber station.

The traffic information request transmitter 604 modulates the ID of the selected subscriber station and transmits a call signal REQ2-2.

The traffic information receiver 605 receives the traffic information DATA2 received from the subscriber station, demodulates it as an internal signal 514 of the server for determining the optimum path, and outputs the demodulated signal. The traffic information DATA2 includes the speed of the subscriber station. The traffic information DATA2 may further include time information.

FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining another exemplary embodiment of the traffic information request unit shown in FIG. 12, and includes a base station selector 601, a vehicle call unit 600 on a route, a traffic information receiver 605, and an information selector. 610.

The base station selector 601 selects a base station covering the searched path and outputs coordinate information 606 of the base station. The base station coordinate information 606 may include travel direction information.

The vehicle call unit 600 on the path transmits a call signal REQ2-1 including base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station.

The traffic information receiver 605 receives the traffic information DATA2 received from the subscriber station, demodulates it as an internal signal 609 of the server for determining the optimum path, and outputs the demodulated signal. Traffic information DATA2 includes the speed and coordinate information of the subscriber station. The traffic information DATA2 may further include time information.

The information selecting unit 610 selects and outputs the information 514 to be used for determining the optimum route according to the degree of matching with the search route using the coordinate information in the input traffic information 609. When the time information is further included in the traffic information 609, the elapsed time may be reflected in the selection of the information.

The best embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and specification above. The specific terms or numbers used herein are for the purpose of describing the present invention only and are not used to limit the scope of the present invention as defined in the meaning or claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible from this. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the technical spirit of the appended claims.

As described above, the present invention collects the real-time traffic information according to the user's demand by unifying the conventional dual traffic information collection and navigation system, from which the vehicle navigation immediately reflects the dynamic change of road conditions. Can provide services.

According to the present invention, since traffic information utilizing telematics terminals installed in all navigation service subscriber vehicles is collected, shadowing time and shadow area of traffic information collection do not occur. In addition, the amount of traffic information collected can be adjusted accordingly. Therefore, it is possible to solve the problem of increasing the processing load and traffic of the center caused by expanding the traffic information collecting area.

Claims (33)

(a) a user's telematics terminal (hereinafter 'user terminal') transmitting time / end point information of vehicle movement determined by the user to a navigation server (hereinafter referred to as a 'server'); (b) The server receives the time / end information and collects the current progress information of the telematics terminals (hereinafter referred to as subscriber terminals) of the navigation service subscriber vehicle existing within the range corresponding to the time / end information. Doing; (c) determining, by the server, an optimal path for the time / endpoint using current collected state information of the subscriber stations; (d) the server transmitting the optimal path information to the user terminal; And (e) the user terminal comprising the step of receiving the best path information and providing it to the user. The method of claim 1, The current progress status information of the subscriber station comprises a navigation speed information of the subscriber terminal. The method of claim 2, The current progress state information of the subscriber terminal further comprises coordinate information of the subscriber terminal. The method of claim 3, The current progress status information of the vehicle further comprises a navigation direction information of the subscriber terminal. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein The current progress state information of the vehicle further comprises a time information for providing the information. The method of claim 2, wherein the speed information is And wherein each vehicle is driving speed information based on an accumulated average in a predetermined section. The method of claim 2, wherein in step (c) The server calculates a travel time for each of the searched routes, and determines a route whose time is calculated to be the smallest as the optimum route. The method of claim 7, wherein The travel time for each route is calculated by dividing the total distance of each route by the average speed of vehicles for each route. The method of claim 1, wherein in the step (b), the server, (b1) identifying a location on a map of the received city / endpoint information; (b2) searching for one or more paths connecting the time / endpoints; And (b3) collecting current progress information of subscriber stations existing on the searched path. The method of claim 9, wherein the path searched in step (b2) is performed. Navigation method characterized in that it is configured in the form of a link of small segments. The method of claim 9, wherein in the step (b3), And collecting current progress information of subscriber stations existing on the searched path through the base station corresponding to the searched path and traveling in the same direction as the direction of the start / end point. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the current progress information of the vehicle is Navigation method comprising the speed information and the coordinate information. The method of claim 12, wherein step (b3) Transmitting, by the server, a base station ID, travel direction information, and discovered route information covered by the base station to the subscriber station; And And if the subscriber station communicating with the base station is determined to be in the same direction as the travel direction and exists on the searched route, transmitting the current progress information of the vehicle to the server. The method of claim 13, wherein in step (b3) And selecting, by the search path, a predetermined number of current progress information according to a degree of matching with the search path among the current progress information received from the subscriber station. The method of claim 11, wherein step (b3) Transmitting, by the server, a base station ID, travel direction information, and coordinate information of the base station to the subscriber station; Transmitting, by the subscriber station communicating with the base station, coordinate information of the vehicle to the server when it is determined that the subscriber station is within the coordinate information and the tolerance range of the base station and the same as the moving direction; Selecting, by the server, a predetermined number of subscriber stations according to the degree of matching of the coordinate information of the vehicle and the search path and requesting traffic information; And The subscriber terminal receiving the traffic information comprises the step of transmitting the vehicle speed information to the server. The method of claim 11, The current progress state information of the vehicle comprises a navigation direction information, travel speed information and coordinate information. The method of claim 16, wherein in step (b3) The server transmitting a base station ID to the subscriber station; And And all subscriber stations communicating with the base station transmit current status information of the vehicle to the server. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein in step (b3) The server selects and collects a predetermined number of current progress state information for each search path according to the progress direction of the received current progress state information of the vehicle, and matches the coordinate information of the vehicle with the search route. Navigation method characterized in that. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (e), And the user terminal receives the optimal path information, displays it as a map, and provides the same to the user. The method of claim 1, wherein in step (e), And the user terminal receives the optimal route information, displays the route information as voice guidance information, and provides the same to the user. Two or more telematics terminals that designate the start / end point of the vehicle movement, request route information to receive route information from the outside, and provide traffic information including current progress information of the vehicle in response to an external traffic information request; A navigation server that receives the traffic information from another telematics terminal according to a route information request of one telematics terminal, determines the optimal route information using the traffic information, and provides the route information to the telematics terminal that has requested the route information; And And a wireless communication network serving as a communication medium between the telematics terminals and the navigation server. A map database storing geographic information; A route information request unit which transmits a route information request including route information on the start / end point of the vehicle movement determined by the user to the outside and receives the optimum route information provided from the outside; A vehicle progress information measuring unit measuring current progress state information of the vehicle; A navigation controller for guiding the progress of the vehicle to the user by using optimal path information provided from the outside; And Telematics terminal characterized in that it comprises a traffic information providing unit for providing the current progress status information of the vehicle for transmitting the current progress status information of the vehicle in response to the traffic information request received from the outside. The method of claim 22, wherein the route information request unit An operation unit which generates a start / end point information signal of vehicle movement by a user's operation; A route information request transmitter for transmitting the route information request including the time / end point information to the outside; And Telematics terminal characterized in that it comprises a route information receiving unit for receiving the optimum route information from the outside. 23. The method of claim 22, wherein the vehicle progress information measuring unit A position measuring unit measuring a current position of the vehicle; A speed measuring unit measuring a traveling speed of the vehicle; And Telematics terminal characterized in that it comprises a direction measuring unit for measuring the traveling direction of the vehicle. The method of claim 24, wherein the position measuring unit And a GPS module for generating and outputting current position information of a vehicle from GPS information received from a GPS satellite. The method of claim 24, wherein the position measuring unit Telematics terminal, characterized in that for generating the current position information of the vehicle by the AOA (Angle of Arrival) method by communication with two or more base stations. The method of claim 24, wherein the position measuring unit Telematics terminal, characterized in that for generating the current position information of the vehicle by the TDOA (Time Difference of Arrival) method in communication with three base stations. The method of claim 24, wherein the position measuring unit Telematics terminal, characterized in that for generating the current position information of the vehicle by the RF Fingerprint method in communication with the base station. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the vehicle progress information measuring unit Telematics terminal, characterized in that further comprising a clock for measuring the current time. The method of claim 22, wherein the traffic information providing unit A traffic information request receiver configured to receive a traffic information request from an outside, demodulate it, and output the demodulated information; A position direction comparison unit for comparing the demodulated information with the current progress state information of the vehicle and outputting the current progress state information of the vehicle according to the comparison result; And And a traffic information transmitter for transmitting the current state information of the vehicle. A map database storing geographic information; A route information providing unit for demodulating the route information request received from the outside, extracting and outputting time / endpoint information therefrom, and modulating the input optimal route information to the outside; A route search unit for searching for and outputting a route connecting the city / end point from the map database by inputting the city / end point information; A traffic information request unit for modulating and transmitting the traffic information request signal including the found route information to the outside, and demodulating and outputting the traffic information received from the outside; And And an optimum route determining unit configured to determine and output an optimum route among the searched routes by using the demodulated traffic information. 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the traffic information requesting unit A base station selector which selects a base station covering the searched path and outputs coordinate information of the base station; A vehicle caller on a path for transmitting a call signal including the base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station; A vehicle coordinate receiver configured to demodulate and output coordinate information of a subscriber station received from the outside; A vehicle selection unit configured to input coordinate information of the subscriber station, select a subscriber station to request traffic information, and output identification information of the selected subscriber station; A traffic information request transmitter which modulates identification information of the selected subscriber station and transmits the identification information as a call signal; And And a traffic information receiver for demodulating and outputting traffic information received from the outside. 32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein the traffic information requesting unit A base station selector which selects a base station covering the searched path and outputs coordinate information of the base station; A vehicle caller on a path for transmitting a call signal including the base station coordinate information to a subscriber station communicating with the base station; A traffic information receiver for demodulating and outputting traffic information received from the outside; And And an information selecting unit which inputs the traffic information and selects and outputs information to be used for determining an optimum path according to the degree of matching with the searched route.

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