WO2006019003A1

WO2006019003A1 - Navigation device

Info

Publication number: WO2006019003A1
Application number: PCT/JP2005/014525
Authority: WO
Inventors: Yoshitaka Otsuka; Katsutoshi Miyoshi
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 2004-08-17
Filing date: 2005-08-08
Publication date: 2006-02-23
Also published as: JP2006058347A

Abstract

A navigation device includes a display language selection unit (2) for selecting a display language inputted from an input unit (1); a font data request transmission unit (3) for transmitting a font data acquisition request corresponding to the display language selected by a display language selection unit (2), to an external font database (29); a font data reception unit (6) for receiving font data acquired from the external font database (29); a font data storage unit (8) for storing font data received; a position detection unit (20) for detecting the current position; a map database (14); and a display information creation unit (16) for creating display information. Font data not stored in the font data storage unit (8) is acquired from the external font database (29) and a map can be displayed in a display language desired by the user on a display unit (22).

Description

Specification

Navigation device

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a navigation device for obtaining character font data necessary for map display from an external source.

Background art

[0002] In general, a navigation device measures the current position of a vehicle with a GPS receiver that receives radio waves from multiple GPS satellites, a powerful autonomous navigation sensor such as a direction sensor, a vehicle speed sensor, etc. The current position of the vehicle and a map around the current position are displayed on the screen. Maps displayed on display screens such as displays are read from storage devices or storage media that store large amounts of data. Traffic information such as road information and traffic restrictions, and typical buildings and facilities Such point information is generally included.

[0003] In conventional navigation devices, a guidance route from the current location to the destination desired by the user is created, and the user is guided to the destination by enlarging the intersection and outputting guidance voices. Route guidance function is installed! Speak.

[0004] In this case, the character font of the map displayed on the display screen such as a display is the character desired by the user from the kanji font, the katakana font and the alphabet font stored in the storage means in the navigation device. A font was selected and either one was displayed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Patent Document 1: JP-A-9 16075

Disclosure of the invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

[0005] However, with conventional navigation devices, the font data stored in the device is not as large as the font data used in word processors, and there are also font data from other countries and regions. Therefore, the font data is stored in these navigation devices, and the ヽ character font is displayed on the display screen such as a display. There was a problem that the character font could not be displayed on the map shown.

[0006] In order to solve this, it is necessary to store almost all kinds of font data and font data of languages of all countries and regions where the navigation device is used in the navigation device. Has a problem that it requires an enormous amount of font memory and is extremely difficult in practice.

[0007] The present invention has been made in order to solve the conventional problems, and is adapted to the language of the country or region in which most types of font data and navigation devices are used or a language understandable by the user. If the font data is not stored in the navigation device, obtain the necessary font data from the outside, and use the obtained font data to display the character font on the map displayed on the display screen such as a display. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that can perform the above operation.

Means for solving the problem

[0008] The navigation device of the present invention includes an input unit that inputs desired font information to be displayed on a display screen, and an external font data supply unit that issues an acquisition request for font data related to the font information input by the input unit. A font data request transmitting means for transmitting; a font data receiving means for receiving the font data requested for acquisition transmitted from the external font data supplying means; and a font data storing means for storing the received font data. And a display control means for displaying characters on the display screen using the font data stored in the font data storage means.

With this configuration, the font data relating to the desired font information to be displayed on the display screen, which is input by the user with the input means, is acquired in the external font data supply means power navigation device, and the acquired characters are acquired. Fonts can be used to display names of places and roads in maps displayed on display screens, and names of typical buildings and facilities.

[0010] Further, in one embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention, the input means has a display language selection means for selecting a display language displayed on the display screen, and the font data request transmission means The phone corresponding to the display language selected by the display language selection means The image data acquisition request to an external font data supply means.

[0011] With this configuration, a character font corresponding to the display language selected by the user is also acquired in the navigation device by the external font data supply means, and a display screen such as a display is used using the acquired character font. The names of places, roads, and representative buildings and facilities in the map can be displayed.

[0012] Further, in another embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention, the font data request transmission means determines whether or not the font data related to the font information input by the input means is stored in the font data storage means. Only when it is determined and not stored, the font data acquisition request is made.

[0013] With this configuration, the font data is automatically acquired from the external font server only when the font data related to the font information input by the input means is not stored in the font data storage means. It is possible to prevent unnecessary connections to the network and increase the efficiency of communication line usage.

[0014] Further, in another embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention, the font data request transmission means is configured such that the font data necessary for performing map display is stored in the font data storage means. It has a configuration for requesting acquisition of the font data.

[0015] With this configuration, when font data of a specific character such as a character that is not used frequently or a newly added character is not stored in the navigation device, the font data of the specific character is supplied to external font data. Means Power obtained in the navigation device, and using the obtained character font, the names of places and roads in the map and the names of typical buildings and facilities are displayed on the display screen. be able to.

[0016] Further, another embodiment of the navigation device of the present invention comprises position detection means for detecting the current position, and the display language selection means is based on information on the current position detected by the position detection means! / And have a configuration for selecting the display language!

[0017] With this configuration, the language used in the country or region to which the current position of the vehicle equipped with the navigation device belongs is automatically selected, and the font data corresponding to the language is supplied to the external font data supply means. The name of the place or road in the map that is acquired in the navigation device and displayed on the display screen using the acquired character font. The names of typical buildings and facilities can be displayed.

The invention's effect

[0018] The navigation device of the present invention includes an input unit that inputs desired font information to be displayed on a display screen, and an external font data supply unit that issues an acquisition request for font data related to the font information input by the input unit. A font data request transmitting means for transmitting; a font data receiving means for receiving the font data requested for acquisition transmitted from the external font data supplying means; and a font data storing means for storing the received font data. With this, it is not necessary to have a huge amount of font memory for storing a large number of character fonts in the navigation device, which can contribute to downsizing and low cost of the device.

[0019] In addition, by obtaining external font data supply means such as specific character fonts that are not stored in the navigation device, place names, road names, and representatives in a map displayed on a display screen such as a display can be obtained. Display names of typical buildings and facilities in the selected language

It is possible to provide a navigation device capable of

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing functions of a navigation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing functions of a font server that communicates with the navigation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of acquiring font data of the navigation device in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a name data display process of the navigation device in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing functions of the navigation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of acquiring font data by the navigation device in the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing functions of the navigation device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 Input section

2 Display language selector

3 Font data request transmitter

4 Communication control unit

5 Communications department

6 Font data receiver

7 Font data storage

8 Font data storage

9 Font data reading section

10 English name data

11 Name data for Japanese

12 Name data for Chinese

13 Name data for Korean

14 Map information database

15 Map information reading section

16 Display information generator

17 GPS antenna

18 GPS receiver

19 Self-contained navigation sensor

20 Position detector

21 Display controller

22 Display

25 Communications department

26 Communication control unit

27 Font data request receiver 28 Font data reading section

29 Font database

30 English font data

31 Japanese font data

32 Font data for Chinese

33 Korean font data

34 Font data transmitter

51 Font data judgment part

71 Position detector

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, a navigation apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0023] (Embodiment 1)

1 and 2 show a navigation device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing functions of the navigation device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the navigation device according to the present embodiment is first stored in the font data storage unit 8, which is the display language, and the display language used as the font information is the remote control touch panel. For example, the input unit 1 is input, the display language selection unit 2 is used to select the display language input in the input unit 1, and the font data corresponding to the display language selected in the display language selection unit 2 is externally transmitted. A font data request transmission unit 3 that makes an acquisition request, a communication control unit 4 that controls to acquire font data from an external font sano in response to a request signal from the font data request transmission unit 3, and an external font server A communication unit 5 that performs font data acquisition request communication is provided.

Furthermore, the navigation device of the present embodiment includes a font data receiving unit 6 that performs reception processing of font data acquired from an external font sano via the communication unit 5 and the communication control unit 4, and an acquisition. The font data storage unit 7 for performing processing for storing the font data in the font data storage unit 8 and the font data for storing the acquired font data. A data storage unit 8 and a font data reading unit 9 for reading out font data stored in the font data storage unit 8.

Furthermore, the navigation device of the present embodiment stores a plurality of name data such as English name data 10, Japanese name data 11, Chinese name data 12, and Korean name data 13. The map information database 14 and the name data corresponding to the display language selected by the display language selection unit 2 are read out from the map information database 14 and the GPS information 17 is connected to a plurality of GPS via the GPS antenna 17. Based on the data from the GPS receiver 18 that receives radio waves from the satellite, the autonomous navigation sensor unit 19 that is powerful, such as the direction sensor, the vehicle speed sensor, and the autonomous navigation sensor, and the V, And a position detector 20 for measuring the current position.

[0028] Furthermore, the navigation device of the present embodiment includes the font data read by the font data reading unit 9, the name data read by the map information reading unit 15, and the position detection unit. Based on the current position information detected in 20! /, The display information creation unit 16 that creates map information with the read font data, and the data created by the display information creation unit 16 on the display etc. And a display control unit 21 that performs control for display on the display unit 22.

In the present embodiment, both the GPS receiving unit 18 and the autonomous navigation sensor unit 19 are provided, but only one of them may be provided.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functions of a font server that performs font data communication with the navigation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 2, the font server of the present embodiment includes a communication unit 25 that transmits / receives data to / from the navigation device shown in FIG. 1, and a communication control unit 26 that controls the communication unit 25.

The

The font data request receiving unit 27 for receiving and processing the onto data request, the font data reading unit 28 for reading the requested font data from the font database 29, and the font data read by the font data reading unit 28 to the communication control unit 26 The font database 29 is composed of the font data transmission section 34 and the font database 29 includes English font data 30, Japanese font data 31, Chinese font data 32, and Korean font data 33. A plurality of font data with different languages are stored.

The operation of the navigation device configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation of acquiring font data by the navigation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

First, the user inputs a desired display language from the input unit 1 such as a remote control touch panel, designates the display language, and selects the display language by the display language selection unit 2 (S301). In order to acquire the selected display language, the font data request transmission unit 3 instructs the communication control unit 4 to transmit a font data acquisition request corresponding to the selected display language (S302). The communication control unit 4 controls the communication operation of the communication unit 5 and transmits a font data request to an external font server (S303).

Next, when the communication control unit 26 receives the font data request from the navigation device via the communication unit 25 (S304), the external font server sends the font data request to the font data request reception unit 27. Send (S305). When the font data request receiving unit 27 receives the font data request, it requests the font data reading unit 28 to read the font data corresponding to the requested font data from the font database 29 (S306).

Here, the font database 29 includes a plurality of font data of different languages such as font data 30 for English, font data 31 for Japanese, font data 32 for Chinese, font data 33 for Korean, and the like. The reading unit 28 reads the requested font data (S307).

[0037] Upon completion of reading the requested font data, the font data reading unit 28 requests the font data transmitting unit 34 to transmit the requested font data (S308), and the font data transmitting unit 34 26 is instructed to transmit font data, and the font data is transmitted from the communication unit 25 to the navigation device that requested the font data (S309).

[0038] Next, the communication control unit 4 on the navigation device side controls the communication operation of the communication unit 5 to receive the requested font data from the external font sano (S310), and the received font data is received. Send to font data receiver 6.

[0039] When the font data receiving unit 6 receives the requested font data, it saves the font data. The received font data is sent to section 7, and font data storage section 7 is the font data storage section.

The font data is stored in 8 (S311), and the font data acquisition operation is terminated.

Next, the display operation of name data for displaying a map on the display unit of the navigation device will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 shows the name data display operation of the navigation device in the first embodiment of the present invention.

It is a flowchart.

In FIG. 4, first, the position detector 20 detects the current position based on the data from the GPS receiver 18 and the autonomous navigation sensor 19 (S401), and display information based on the detected current position information. The location information is sent to the creation unit 16.

The display information creation unit 16 requests the map information reading unit 15 to read out corresponding map information based on the vehicle position information obtained from the position detection unit 20 (S402). The map information reading unit 15 is a map information database having a plurality of name data such as name data for English 10, name data for Japanese 11, name data for Chinese 12 and name data 13 for Korean. The name data corresponding to the display language selected by the display language selection unit 2 is read from 14 (S403).

Next, the display information creation unit 16 requests the font data reading unit 9 to read the selected font data, and the font data reading unit 9 is stored in the font data storage unit 8.

The font data V is read (S404).

[0045] The display information creating unit 16 creates map display information so that the name data read in S403 can be displayed as map information by the font data read by the font data reading unit 9 ( S405).

[0046] The display information creation unit 16 requests the display control unit 21 to display, and based on the created display information, the display control unit 21 displays the map information displayed on the display unit 22 in the selected display language. Is displayed (S406).

[0047] As described above, in Embodiment 1, the user selects the display language and stores the character font corresponding to the selected language in the external data stored in the font data storage unit 8. Acquired from the Fontsano in the navigation device and displayed using that character font. The names of places and roads in the map displayed on the display screen such as rays and names of typical buildings and facilities can be displayed in the selected language.

Therefore, it is not necessary to have a huge capacity font memory for storing a large number of character fonts in the navigation device.

[0049] In the present embodiment, the description has been given of selecting a display language that is stored in the font data storage unit. Even if the display language stored in the font data storage unit is selected, this The invention is applicable.

[0050] The present invention can also be applied to the font data storage unit 8 for storing received font data even if it is a removable storage means such as a card memory.

[0051] (Embodiment 2)

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the function of the navigation device according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the same embodiment, with the same components as those in FIGS. Are given the same numbers, and explanations are omitted.

[0052] In addition to the configuration of the navigation device of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device of the present embodiment has a display language selected by the display language selection unit 2 as shown in FIG. A font data determination unit 51 is provided for determining whether or not the font data of the character to be displayed exists in the font data storage unit 8.

That is, in the present embodiment, whether or not the font data of the character to be displayed in the display language selected by the display language selection unit 2 exists in the font data storage unit 8 is shown in FIG. The font data determination unit 51 first determines (S601), and if the font data storage unit 8 does not exist, the font data request transmission unit 3 receives the font data from an external font data server. An instruction is given (S302).

[0054] As a result of the determination by the font data determination unit 51, if the font data of the character to be displayed in the display language selected by the display language selection unit 2 exists in the font data storage unit 8, external font data As shown in FIG. 4, the font data reading unit 9 does not acquire font data from the sano, and the display control unit 16 performs display processing of the name data using the font data read from the font data storage unit 8 (S405). .

[0055] Other operations are the same as those described in the first embodiment. [0056] As described above, in this embodiment, when there is no font data for the character to be displayed in the selected display language in the font data storage unit 8, the font data is automatically converted to the external font. It can be obtained from the server, and the navigation device has a small font memory capacity, which contributes to downsizing and low cost of the device.

[Embodiment 3]

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the functions of the navigation device according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The same components as those in FIG.

[0058] In addition to the configuration of the navigation device of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the navigation device of the present embodiment has a current position measured based on the position information obtained from the position detector 20. A position determination unit 71 for determining the country or region to which the user belongs is provided.

That is, in the present embodiment, the position determination unit 71 determines the country or region to which the current position belongs, and the display language selection unit determines the display language of the country or region to which the current position belongs based on the determination result. Select with 2.

[0060] Other operations are the same as those described in the second embodiment.

[0061] As described above, in the present embodiment, the language used in the country or region to which the measured current position belongs and the current position measured are associated with each other. Even if the display language to be input is not entered, if the font data does not exist in the font data storage unit 8, the font data corresponding to the country or region can be automatically acquired.

[0062] Also, even when traveling to a country or region with a different language due to traveling, the display language used in the country or region can be automatically selected and downloaded automatically from an external font server.

[0063] Therefore, the navigation device according to the present embodiment requires less font memory capacity that does not need to include font data corresponding to the region or country, and can contribute to downsizing and low cost of the device. .

[0064] As described above, in the conventional embodiments, in the conventional navigation device capable of switching the display language to English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, French, Russian, etc., for example, The power that requires an enormous amount of font memory to store character fonts corresponding to all languages. The navigation device of the present embodiment so far The user

When a desired display language is selected or a display language corresponding to the region or country of the current position is selected, a character font corresponding to the selected display language is acquired from an external font sensor into the navigation device at any time. Therefore, the memory capacity for fonts is small, which can contribute to downsizing and cost reduction of the device.

[0065] In addition, place names and road names in maps displayed on display screens such as displays and names such as typical buildings and facilities can be displayed in the language used in the country or region. Since the road signs and road signs that display the names of typical buildings and facilities are displayed on the screen, users can feel safe even in countries and regions that are unfamiliar with driving.

[0066] Also, in a country with a large area or a country where different ethnic groups live in the same country, the language used varies depending on the region, but the character font corresponding to the country or region to which the current position belongs is automatically added. In order to download to the navigation device from an external font sano, the names of places and roads in maps and representative names of buildings and facilities displayed on the display screen are used in the country or region. Can be displayed in the selected language.

[0067] In addition, when a person in another country drives a country or region with a different language by using a rental car or the like, the user can select a language that can be understood by the user. It is easy to understand the names of places, roads, and typical buildings and facilities.

[0068] In the embodiments described so far, the font data for displaying the language of each country has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and font data that is not normally used in one country is used by the user. Needless to say, the effect of the present invention can be obtained even if the external font data is obtained according to the demand of the present invention. In this case, a font data acquisition request can be made by inputting the desired font data type as font information from the input unit or selecting the desired font data type on the display screen.

[Embodiment 4]

In China, the character code standard is a sentence containing about 7,500 characters, which was the mainstream until now. The character code standard GB2312—80 (hereinafter referred to as GB2312) and others, to the new character code standard GB18030—2000 (hereinafter referred to as GB18030), which recorded approximately 27,500 characters, along with the development of the information society Are moving.

[0070] The new character code standard GB18030 has an enormous amount of font memory in order to store font data for all characters that have more characters than the conventional character code standard GB2312, in the navigation device. Although it is necessary, the new character code standard GB18 030 contains many infrequently used characters, and storing all the character fonts of the new character code standard GB18030 in the navigation device ineffective.

The navigation device of the fourth embodiment has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, and the conventional character code standard GB23 12 that is frequently used in the font data storage unit 8. If there is a need to display only the font data of and store it in the device! /, Such as low-use characters on the display 22 such as a display, the character Font data is downloaded from an external font server to the font data storage unit 8 in the navigation device, and a map is displayed using the downloaded character font.

[0072] In China, standardization of character codes is being promoted so that all characters (kanji) used in Japan can be recorded. If the current character code standard is revised and a new character code standard is established and new characters are added, the font data is added to the navigation device.

If it is not stored in the font data storage unit 8, newly added characters cannot be displayed on the map, but they are stored in the device and the newly added character code standard characters are displayed. When it is necessary to display on the display unit 22, etc., the font data of the characters necessary for display is downloaded from the external font server to the font data storage unit 8 in the navigation device, and the downloaded character font is used. And display the map.

[0073] The navigation device configured as described above is added to the less frequently used character codes included in the new character code standard GB 18030 and newly added to the character code standard. Since special characters such as new characters are not stored in the navigation device, a huge amount of font memory is not necessary.

[0074] In addition, when stored in the navigation device, specific characters such as infrequently used characters and newly added characters are downloaded from an external font server into the navigation device, Since downloaded character fonts are used, character fonts that are not stored in the navigation device can be displayed as a map on the display screen.

Industrial applicability

[0075] As described above, the navigation device according to the present invention automatically displays the country or region to which the current position of the vehicle belongs, according to the user's wish, when displaying a map on a display screen such as a display. The font data corresponding to the language used in the country or region is obtained from the outside, and the map can be displayed on the display screen such as a display. This is useful for a navigation device that travels.

Claims

The scope of the claims

[1] An input means for inputting desired font information to be displayed on the display screen;

Font data request transmission means for transmitting a font data acquisition request related to the font information input by the input means to an external font data supply means;

A font data receiving means for receiving the font data requested to be acquired, the external font data supplying means,

Font data storage means for storing the received font data;

A navigation apparatus comprising: display control means for displaying characters on the display screen using font data stored in the font data storage means.

[2] The input means has a display language selection means for selecting! / Displayed on the display screen, and a display language;

2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the font data request transmission unit transmits an acquisition request for font data corresponding to the display language selected by the display language selection unit to an external font data supply unit. Yong equipment.

[3] The font data request transmission means determines whether or not the font data related to the font information input by the input means is stored in the font data storage means, and only when the font data is not stored. 2. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein a request for obtaining font data is made.

[4] The font data request transmission means makes an acquisition request for the font data when the font data necessary for performing map display is not stored in the font data storage means. 1. The navigation device according to 1.

[5] It further comprises a position detection means for detecting the current position,

3. The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the display language selection unit selects the display language based on information on the current position detected by the position detection unit.