JP3496487B2 - Navigation system - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation system for displaying the current position of a vehicle together with a map image for use in route guidance, and more particularly to a navigation system having a function of automatically storing and displaying a traveling route. Regarding the system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a conventional navigation system,
The momentary current position of the vehicle is stored as point sequence data,
There are many things that have the function of displaying as a running track. In such a navigation system, all position data is stored unconditionally, but since it was configured to delete sequentially from past data when the amount of data exceeds a certain amount due to storage capacity restrictions, The route that the user wants to check is not always stored and can be referred to as needed.

To solve this, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-300
In the "traveling locus display device" disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 577, it is described that a desired traveling locus is stored in a storage device different from the current traveling locus in response to a user's request input.

[0004]

However, in this conventional example, since the input operation of the user is used as the trigger for the storage of the traveling locus, there is an advantage that the route storage request of the user can be completely satisfied. There is still the annoyance that must be taken, especially when this operation of running locus memory is realized by an interface that follows a hierarchical menu, for safety of operation, each time,
There was the annoyance of having to stop and operate the vehicle. Also, if the user forgets to enter the recording request,
There was also a problem that the required traveling locus was not remembered.

By the way, it is considered that the system does not need to automatically memorize the route that the user has traveled in the past if the route having a great convenience is simple and easy to remember.
It is desirable to automatically store routes that are difficult for users to remember and reflect them in route guidance. That is, if the road scale is small and complicated, or if the frequency of traveling in the area is low, it is assumed that it is difficult for the user to memorize such a route. It is desired that the system automatically identify and store the information. Even if the road scale is small and complicated, if the traveling frequency becomes high to some extent, the user will repeatedly travel on such a route, and therefore the user must already remember and guide the route. It is possible to assume that there is no such thing, and even if the travel route is stored once, it is possible to effectively utilize limited memory by deleting such a route from the memory.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and automatically starts and ends the storage of the traveling locus on the basis of an objective standard that reflects the essential route storage request of the user to some extent. By doing so, it is possible to automatically store a highly probable travel locus that needs to be stored according to the driving characteristics of the user without requesting the user to perform a storage request operation of the travel locus and use it for route guidance. The purpose is to provide a navigation system that can.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a current position detecting means for positioning the current position of a vehicle, a map data storage means for storing map data, and a travel history are stored in an updatable form. A navigation system comprising: history storage means, arithmetic processing means for performing arithmetic processing necessary for displaying a map, and image display means for displaying a map image, wherein the arithmetic processing means outputs the current position detecting means. Current position matching means for identifying a road link in the map data on which the vehicle is currently traveling on the map data read out from the map data storage means based on A branch / merging determination means for comparing with the identified road link to determine whether the host vehicle has branched from the main road of a predetermined size or larger, or has joined the main road. , A series of road phosphorus varying up to merge from the branch according to the judgment result of the branching
The travel locus management means that stores the travel locus in the history storage means and the map area to be displayed according to the current position at the present time are determined, and a map image is drawn based on the map data read by the current position matching means. , A drawing processing means for displaying a part or all of the traveling locus stored in the history storage means in a form that can be identified in this map image.

In the navigation system according to the first aspect of the present invention, the present position of the subject vehicle is detected periodically by the present position detecting means, and the present vehicle is present on the map data read from the map data storage means by the present position matching means. A road link in the running map data is specified. Then, the branch / merge judgment means compares the road link in the map data specified at the present time with the road link in the map data specified before the temporary point, and the own vehicle is a highway of a predetermined size or larger. A series of road links that change from the branching from the main road to the re-joining to the main road according to the judgment result of the branching and merging. Is stored in the history storage means as a traveling locus. Then, the drawing processing means determines the map area to be displayed according to the current position at the present time, draws the map image on the image display means based on the map data read by the current position matching means,
A part or all of the traveling locus stored in the history storage means is displayed on the map image in a form that can be identified.

As a result, when a user travels on a non-main road that is hard to remember as a travel route among the roads included in the map data stored in the map data storage means, a series of road links indicating the route are automatically generated. Memorize it, and correspond to the current position of your vehicle when displaying route guidance,
It is possible to display, together with the map image, a route that is not familiar to the user and therefore needs to be displayed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first aspect, the arithmetic processing means has road scale management means for storing the total traveled distance or the ratio thereof for each road scale in the history storage means. The branch-and-merging determination means sets the definition of the main road that is the judgment criterion of the branch-and-merge based on the traveling ratio for each road scale, and defines the main road as a highway, a national road, or a local road. The total distance traveled for each road scale is stored as the total distance traveled for each road scale, and small roads with low travel ratios are designated as non-trunk lines based on the ratio of the total travel distance for each road size to the total travel distance. Only remember that route as a road.

According to the driving characteristics of the user, if the road is a frequently traveling road, the traveling ratio increases even if it is not a non-main road. Therefore, it is regarded as a main road, and such a route is displayed to the user. Instead, the traveling locus is stored only for a route that is less familiar to the user and is displayed for route guidance.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system of the second aspect, the road scale management means stores the total traveled distance or the ratio thereof for each road scale in each of the predetermined divided areas in the history storage means. The branch / merging determination means independently defines the definition of a main road that serves as a criterion of the branch / merging for each of the divided areas, and sets it based on the traveling ratio for each road scale. Even if the size of the road traveled is the same between the area that you travel on a daily basis and the area that you travel on an outing, there will be a large difference in the memory of the user. By independently defining the definition of the main road for each divided area, only the routes that the user is not familiar with can be run in both the user's living area and distant areas. Storing the locus to be displayed for the route guidance.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to any one of the first to third aspects, the arithmetic processing means has a traveling frequency management means for storing the traveling frequency for each road in the history storage means. Even if the branch / merging determination means is a road which does not correspond to the main road, if the traveling frequency is higher than a predetermined value, it is regarded as a main road and used as a criterion for the branch / merging. If the route is small and the user is traveling many times, and it is unlikely that the user will actively remember it and try to reference it next time, the memory is saved by not storing it. In addition, the complexity is avoided by not displaying unnecessary routes when displaying the storage route.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the fourth aspect, the traveling locus management means refers to the traveling frequency stored in the history storage means and temporarily stores it in the history storage means. When the traveling frequency of the traveling locus exceeds a predetermined value, the memory of the traveling locus is deleted, and it is assumed that the user remembered it by traveling several times even on the route that was once stored. As described above, the route is deleted from the memory to save the storage amount of the traveling locus, and the unnecessary route is not displayed when the stored route is displayed, thereby avoiding complexity.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, in the navigation system according to the first to fifth aspects, the storage of the traveling locus, the frequency storage or the memory deletion is performed for each road link constituting the traveling locus. It is possible to uniformly manage the storage of routes in the minimum basic unit that makes up the unit, simplifying each arithmetic process and improving processing speed.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first to fifth aspects, the storage, the frequency storage, or the memory deletion of the traveling locus is performed from a branch point from the main road to a rejoining point to the main road. Is set as one route, and the route is performed in units of the route. If a route that includes a common road link even if it is another route as a detour is stored and managed in the unit of road link, the ratio of the total distance traveled Is increased and the driving frequency becomes high, it is defined as a main road, and is hidden when displaying the route, or even if it is deleted from the memory, the road link as a part of the route if the driving frequency is low as a whole. Since it is displayed, it is possible to display the route according to the feeling of the user.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first to seventh aspects, when the drawing processing means approaches the running locus stored in the history storage means to any one of the traveling loci, One of the corresponding traveling loci can be identified on the map image when approaching any end point of the traveling locus or when reaching the parallel running section on the main road running in parallel with any of the running loci. Since it is displayed in a form, only the necessary route can be displayed only when it is expected that the user is highly likely to refer to it, and the complexity of the display can be avoided.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first to seventh aspects, the drawing processing means exists in a specific area near the current position of the vehicle in the traveling locus stored in the history storage means. All of the running trajectories to be displayed are displayed in a form that can be identified on the map image, and the position of the own vehicle can be calculated without performing complicated calculation processing such as calculating the distance between the own vehicle and each running locus. Only those routes that are nearby and therefore most likely to be referenced can be displayed.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the navigation system according to the first to ninth aspects, when the drawing processing means draws a map image based on the map data read by the current position matching means, Even if the road is not included in the map image data, it is forcibly displayed at the corresponding position. For example, the map display mode may be driving the vehicle or displaying a wide area. Therefore, even if a small road having a size equal to or smaller than the traveling locus is not normally displayed, by displaying this, a route that the user needs to refer to is always displayed.

The eleventh aspect of the present invention is the navigation system according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, wherein the drawing processing means gives the travel locus on the map image to a higher road scale than the original road scale. The display attributes are changed and displayed, and a road map display that can be easily understood by the user is possible.

[0021]

According to the invention of claim 1, among the roads included in the map data stored in the map data storage means,
When a user travels on a non-main road that is difficult to remember as a driving route, a series of road links indicating the route are automatically stored, and the user can see the current position of his / her vehicle at the time of route guidance display. A route that is unfamiliar to the user and therefore needs to be displayed can be displayed together with the map image.

According to the second aspect of the invention, according to the traveling characteristics of the user, if the road is a frequently traveling road, the traveling ratio increases even if it is not a non-main road. Can prevent the user from intentionally displaying the route, store the traveling locus only for a route less familiar to the user, and display it for route guidance.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the definition of the main road is independently defined for each divided area in the area where the user routinely travels and the other areas, so that the user can live in a distant area even in the user's living area. Even in the region, the traveling locus can be stored only for a route that is not familiar to the user and can be displayed for route guidance.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, even if the road scale is small, the user travels many times, and it is expected that there is a low possibility that the user will positively remember and try to refer to the next time. It is possible to save the storage amount by not storing and to avoid complexity by not displaying an unnecessary route when displaying the storage route.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, even if the route is stored once, the route is deleted by deleting the route so that the user can remember it by traveling several times. It is possible to save the storage capacity of the memory and to avoid complexity by not displaying an unnecessary route when displaying the storage route.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the route can be uniformly stored and managed in the minimum basic unit that constitutes the road data, and each arithmetic process can be simplified and the processing speed can be improved.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, the ratio of the total mileage increases if the route which includes a common road link even if it is another route as a detour is stored and managed for each road link. However, even if a road link that is defined as a main road with a high driving frequency and is hidden when the route is displayed, or deleted from the memory, is displayed as a part of the route if the driving frequency is low for the entire route. It is possible to display the route in accordance with the user's feeling.

According to the invention of claim 8, only the necessary route can be displayed only when it is expected that the user is highly required to refer to the display, and the complexity of the display can be avoided.

According to the invention of claim 9, the vehicle is near the position of the own vehicle without performing complicated calculation processing such as calculation of the distance between the own vehicle and each traveling locus, and therefore it is highly necessary to refer to it. Only the route can be displayed.

According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, by the map display mode, even if the travel route belongs to a small road which is not normally displayed, the travel route is displayed so that it is highly necessary for the user to refer to the route. Can always be displayed.

According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, since the traveling locus is displayed on the map image by changing the display attribute given to the higher road scale than the original road scale, the road map is displayed by the user. A display that is easy to understand is possible.

[0032]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the processing functions of the navigation system according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The navigation system according to this embodiment includes a current position detection unit 1 for positioning the current position of a vehicle and map data. A map data storage unit 2, a history storage unit 3 that stores a travel history such as a locus, a travel distance, and a travel frequency in an updatable form; and an arithmetic processing unit 4 that performs arithmetic processing necessary for displaying a map, The image display unit 5 displays a map image.

The current position detecting unit 1 detects the current position of the traveling vehicle by using a GPS, a vehicle speed sensor, a gyro sensor, or the like.
For example, it measures and outputs in a format such as latitude and longitude. The map data storage unit 2 and the history storage unit 3 are storage media such as a CD, a DVD, and a flash memory, and may be integrated in structure. However, at least the history storage needs to be updated such as writing and deleting. Must be possible. The arithmetic processing unit 4 is a computer including a CPU and an internal memory, and stores and executes various processes in the form of programs. The image display unit 5 is a liquid crystal monitor or a CRT.
Is a display device such as.

Further, when the arithmetic processing unit 4 is divided by function, the present position of the vehicle is collated and specified on the map data using a method such as map matching based on the output of the present position detection unit 1. The current position matching unit 401 compares the matched current position with the current position matched before the temporary point, and the traveling vehicle is a road of a predetermined scale or more (main road).
From the branch / merge determination unit 402 that determines whether the vehicle has branched or merged, a series of current positions from the branch to the merge according to the determination result of the branch / merge determination unit 402 is stored in the history storage unit 3 as a traveling locus, Alternatively, the traveling locus management unit 403 deletes it as necessary, the total traveling distance for each road scale or its ratio is stored in the history storage unit 3, and the traveling frequency management unit 404 stores the traveling frequency for each road in the history storage unit 3. It comprises a running frequency management unit 405 to be stored, a drawing region to be displayed from the current position of the vehicle, a map image is drawn using necessary map data, and a drawing processing unit 406 for displaying a predetermined running locus. There is.

In the case of a simpler functional configuration that does not perform the processing for changing the criteria for determining the main road and the processing for storing and managing the traveling locus according to the traveling frequency, which will be described later, the road scale management unit 4
04, the traveling frequency management unit 405 can be omitted.

Next, the operation of the navigation system of the first embodiment having the above configuration will be described. 2 and 3 show the flow of processing from the update of the current position to the display of the map screen. In this embodiment, this processing is repeated unless processing other than the map display interrupts. To be executed.

First, the current position matching unit 401 reads the map data required for the subsequent processing from the map data storage unit 3 based on the current position information output from the current position detecting unit 1. At the time of reading, if some or all of the necessary data is used in the previously repeated processing and already stored internally, it is not necessary to read again including the duplicated portion (step S1).

The current position collating unit 401 continues to collate the current position of the vehicle on the map data read in the previous stage by using a method such as map matching, and the vehicle is currently traveling on which road link in this data. It is specified by an identifier uniquely determined for each link (step S2). The link specified here will be referred to as "L
n ". Further, in the previous iterative process, the link similarly identified as the current position at that time is "L" as described in step S14 in the subsequent stage.
o ". However, at the first time, L
When o is undecided, it is assumed to be the same as Ln.

Next, the branch / merge determination unit 402 compares the link Ln specified in the previous stage with the link Lo specified in the previous iteration, and determines whether they are the same.
When Lo and Ln are the same because the moving distance of the host vehicle is short or the link is long, the memory of the traveling locus is not updated, and the process proceeds to the drawing process of step S13 (step S3). .

Lo and L are judged in this step S3.
If n is different, the road scale management unit 404 updates the travel distance for each road scale in the history storage unit 3 (step S4).

Here, the road scale is an index used for determining "whether or not it is a main road" which will be described later, and in the present embodiment, a road such as a highway, a national road or a prefectural road. Shall be determined according to the type and width. These types and widths are described for each individual road link in the map data. The history storage unit 3 is provided with an area for storing the total traveling distance data for each road scale as shown in FIG. This Figure 4
Shows an example in which data indicating the traveling distance for each road scale and the ratio of the traveling distance to the total traveling distance is stored independently for each type and width.

However, the mileage data for each road scale is not limited to this data format. For example, only the total mileage data for each road scale or only the total mileage and the travel ratio data for each road scale is used. It may be stored, in which case one can immediately be calculated as needed. Further, if the “main road” to be described later is to be judged only by road type or only by road width, only one of the necessary indexes may be stored. Alternatively, by combining the type and the width, for example, "width 6
It is also possible to determine the road scale divisions such as "10 m main local road" and "national road with width less than 3 m", and store the total traveled distance for each division. However, in this case,
The size of the road scale between the sections, for example, "width 6-
All categories are 1 which determines which road scale is considered to be larger, "10m main local road" or "national road with width less than 3m".
It is necessary to set it in advance so that it can be arranged in rows.

In step S3, the process branches to "NO" and proceeds to step S4 when Lo and Ln are different, which means that Lo is newly moved to another link Ln. Since it can be considered that the running distance has certainly increased by the length of the link Lo, the total running distance is updated based on this Lo in step S4.
For example, if Lo is a main local road with a width of 6 to 10 m, the length of Lo is added to each of “main local road”, “width 6 to 10 m”, and “total travel distance”. Since the total traveled distance is updated, the ratio of each section will be recalculated.

After updating the travel history data, the travel frequency management unit 405 updates the travel frequency of Ln in the history storage unit 3 (step S5). As shown in FIG. 5, the history storage unit 3 is provided with an area for storing the traveling frequencies of all road links. Since the host vehicle has newly moved to Ln, the frequency of the link identifier corresponding to this road link Ln is incremented by "1".

Then, the branch / merge determination unit 402 determines whether or not the current road link Ln is a main road (step S6). Here, the “main road” refers to a road whose road scale determined by the road type, the road width, or a combination of the two is equal to or more than a certain standard. This criterion may be a predetermined constant value (an identifier indicating whether or not the road is a main road is added in advance for each road link, and the judgment is based on that). Scale management unit 40
4. The traveling frequency management unit 405 can be omitted. However, here, it is assumed that the road size is changed according to the total traveling distance for each road size stored by the road size management unit 404. For example, a numerical standard such as "a road having a scale showing 60% or less of the total travel distance is set as a main road" is applied to the history data of the travel history storage unit 3 to determine the "main road" at each time point. Make a decision.

When this criterion is applied to the history data of FIG. 4, it becomes as follows. In terms of road types, the total of expressways and national roads is 48.3% of the total, and if main local roads are added to this, it will exceed 60%. In this case, therefore, national roads and above are regarded as highways. In addition, regarding the road width, the total of 6 m or more is 59.9%, which is 3 to 6 m.
Since it will exceed 60% if added, the width of 6m or more will be the main road. Finally, the logical product of the two is taken and the "highway or national road with a width of 6 m or more" is determined as the main road.

The method of determining the "main road" is not limited to this, and it may be determined by a logical sum instead of taking the logical product of the road type condition and the width condition described above. In addition, such a total traveling distance for each road scale is further stored for each area division, and a different reference is determined for each current traveling area, thereby determining a reference according to a different traveling mode for each user's area. It is also possible. For example, in the area corresponding to the user's daily life area, the travel loci under "designated city roads" are automatically stored automatically, and when traveling far, the travel paths under "national roads" are automatically stored automatically. You can take the method of doing.
In any case, by changing the criteria for determining the main road according to the traveling history in this manner, it is possible to flexibly determine the criteria that correspond to the mode in which each user normally travels.

If the road is determined as the "main road" in step S6, the road link Ln is a road that is easily remembered by the user and does not require route guidance by the system. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S7, and the road scale management unit 4
04 updates the standard of road scale used for judgment of "main road" as needed.

As described above, the determination as to whether or not the road link Ln is a main road is made based on the total traveling distance for each road scale stored in the history storage unit 3.
Instead of referring to the storage of the history storage unit 3 every time when the determination process is performed, the determination criterion of the main road determined based on the storage is held in another storage area, and the stored reference is used as the reference. Therefore, the above determination may be performed. For example, if your vehicle is diverging from a main road and traveling on a non-main road with a relatively long distance, at the beginning of the branch, even though this route started to be stored as a running locus for each link, Due to the influence of the total mileage for each road scale that is updated at the same time, the judgment criteria are updated in the middle of the route, so that the scale of the route is considered as a highway and the route memory is interrupted. This is to avoid it. For that purpose, the criterion held in another area must be updated only when it is guaranteed that the route storage is not continued. Therefore, in step S7, if Ln is regarded as a highway in step S6, or if it is not a highway and is not stored because it is not a highway as will be described later, or if it has already been stored as a running locus. This is executed only in the case where the judgment criteria stored in another area are updated with reference to the memory of the total traveling distance for each road scale.

If it is determined in step S6 that the current road link Ln is not a main road, then the branch / merging determination unit 402 determines whether the traveling frequency of the road link Ln is a predetermined value N or more. Is checked (step S8). This is because even if it is a small road that is not considered to be a main road, it is possible to reduce the amount of stored data by avoiding storing it for a route that is expected to be familiar to the user because of high driving frequency. This is to save money. Therefore, the traveling frequency management unit 405 refers to the traveling frequency for each road link stored in the history storage unit 3,
Check the running frequency of Ln.

Therefore, if the traveling frequency of Ln is N or more, it is assumed that the user has already remembered the route including Ln, and the traveling locus management unit 403 sets the road link Ln.
It is checked whether or not is stored in the history storage unit 3 (step S9), and if it is stored, the storage is deleted (step S10). The processing moves to the updating of the highway judgment standard in step S7.

The history storage unit 3 is provided with an area for storing a traveling locus, in which individual road links constituting the traveling locus are stored in a row irrespective of their connection relationship. Be present. However, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, if it is stored in the form of grouping according to the format of the link identifier, when confirming whether or not a given road link Ln exists in the storage of this traveling locus. In addition, it is not necessary to perform a full search, and the processing load can be reduced.

If it is determined in step S8 that the traveling frequency of Ln has not reached the fixed value N, the process proceeds to the process of storing this as a traveling locus. However, in the case where the travel frequency of the route is low but it is not the first time, it should have been already stored in the travel history unit 3 when the first passage through the link Ln, and in such a case, it is stored redundantly. In order not to do so, it is checked whether the traveling locus management unit 403 has already stored the link Ln (step S
11) If stored, the process proceeds to step S7, and if not stored, it is stored in the traveling history storage unit 3 as a traveling locus (step S12).

Here, in the determination processing of step S11, it is easier to determine whether or not the traveling frequency is 1 or not, that is, Ln, without performing a step-by-step search for whether or not Ln exists in the traveling locus memory. You can also judge whether it is the first time to pass or not. However, the link Ln was regarded as the main road when the vehicle first passed, but after that, it is possible that the judgment criteria of the main road are updated and the road becomes a non-main road. It is better to search the locus memory.

After the running locus is stored or deleted from the storage or the judgment criteria of the main road are updated under the above conditions, subsequently, map drawing and route display processing are performed (step S13). In this processing step S13, in order to display the map image for the predetermined area, the drawing processing unit 406 executes the drawing process of the given map data. Further, the road links stored as the traveling locus are displayed.

For this purpose, for example, the display color is changed, the thickness of the line is made thicker, or when the map is displayed in the bird's-eye view format, the height of the corresponding link is offset so that it is raised from the map plane. It is possible to change the display attributes such as the color, the thickness, and the displacement amount so that the highlighting can be performed. In particular, when changing the display color, change the display attribute of the higher road scale so that the running path that is a narrow street is displayed with the color and thickness given to the national road link. You can Furthermore, when the vehicle is traveling or a wide area map is being displayed, even if there is a mode in which small roads such as narrow streets are not displayed, the link stored as the traveling locus is It is also possible to display it regardless of how.

Further, the running locus may be displayed or highlighted as described above for all the links stored as the running locus at each time point in the display target area. It may be displayed only when a certain distance is approached. Also,
For example, the map area is divided in advance, and information about which of these divided areas each traveling locus belongs to is also provided so that all the traveling loci in the area near the vehicle position are By displaying it, it is possible to obtain the same display effect as the above approach display without performing complicated distance calculation one by one.

After the map drawing and route display processing in step S13, the current road link Ln is stored in Lo for reference in the next iteration processing. Then, if the same process is further continued, the process returns to step S1 and the above-described process is repeated (step S14).

FIG. 7 shows an example of map drawing and route display obtained through the above processing. In this display example, Rm is an arterial road, Rs is a road smaller than the arterial road Rm, branches from the arterial road Rm at a point A, and joins the arterial road Rm again at a point B. Now, when the user branches from the highway Rm at the point A, enters the small road Rs, and travels on a route that merges with the highway Rm at the point B again, the road size of the highway Rm is large, so that the travel locus is Although not stored, if the small road Rs from the point A to the point B is stored, the symbol R in FIG.
A highlighted form of the display is added as indicated by s'.
If the same user travels on such a small road Rs many times and the traveling frequency becomes high, the data of the small road Rs is deleted from the traveling locus memory and the highlighted display Rs ′ is not displayed.

As described above, in the navigation system of the first embodiment, it is expected that the user will remember well the main trunk roads such as highways and national roads, so there is little need for route guidance. Since small roads that are infrequently traveled are difficult for the user to remember, if the user travels along the route, the travel locus is automatically stored so that the road can be used for route guidance when traveling later.

Even on a small road, if the traveling frequency becomes high, it is assumed that the user has learned the route, and by deleting it from the traveling locus memory, even if the storage capacity is reduced, it is true for the user. You will be able to receive route guidance for required routes.

Next, a navigation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the first embodiment, the running locus is simply stored in the form of listing the road link data that constitutes each route, and the deletion of the memory is also performed independently for each road link. The embodiment is characterized in that the process from the branch from the main road to the confluence is regarded as one process, and this process is stored as a target unit for memory management and deleted from the memory. Note that the functional configuration of the navigation system of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and only the storage form of the traveling locus is different. The difference will be described.

The flow charts of FIGS. 8 to 10 show the flow of processing such as route storage and map display of the navigation system of the second embodiment. Basically, similar to the first embodiment, the current position is collated, the road scale of the corresponding road link is checked, and the traveling locus is stored and deleted while referring to the past history data as necessary. The process of displaying the route stored together with the map is repeated.

At the beginning of the process, if the link Lo collated in the previous iterative process is undefined, the branch / merging determination unit 402 sets a link of a road scale regarded as a trunk road as a dummy to Lo ( Step S21).
This is because, for example, immediately after the system is turned on, in the subsequent route storage processing, regardless of whether Lo is the currently running road link Ln is a main road, route storage is started. This is to make it work.
When the dummy trunk line Lo is set in this step S21, the subsequent steps S27 to S28 are always performed.
Will proceed to.

Then, step S1 of the first embodiment.
-Same as S5, read the map data and link now L
n is specified, Ln and Lo are compared, and the mileage memory update and the travel frequency memory update process are performed (steps S22-).
S26). It should be noted that the storage form of the total traveling distance for each road scale and the traveling frequency for each link stored in the history storage unit 3 is also the same as that of the first embodiment.

Subsequently, the separation / merging determination unit 402 may regard each of the previous link Lo and the current link Ln as an arterial road, or even if they are not arterial roads, they may be regarded as being similar to the arterial roads because of high traveling frequency. It is determined whether it is possible (steps S27 to S29).

Here, whether or not the road is a main road is determined based on the total traveling distance for each road scale stored in the history storage unit 3, as in step S6 in the first embodiment. Alternatively, it may be determined based on the storage and determined according to a determination criterion held in another area. Even if it is determined that the road is not a highway, if the traveling frequency is high, the road is regarded as a road that is similar to the highway and the following processing is performed.

Therefore, as in step S8 in the first embodiment, the frequency of the previous link Lo and the frequency of the current link Ln are set to N by referring to the traveling frequency for each road link stored in the history storage unit 3. Check to see if it's over. It should be noted that in the following description, what is regarded as being equivalent to a highway with a driving frequency of a certain value N or more is collectively referred to as “highway”.
The description will be simplified by calling. On the other hand, other roads will be called “small roads”.

The following four cases are established by the determination processing in steps S27 to S29, and different processing is executed depending on each of the following four cases. That is, if both Lo and Ln are highways (step S2)
7: YES, step S28: YES) Lo is a highway and Ln is a small road (YES in step S27, NO in step S28) NO: Lo and Ln are both small roads (step S)
No in 27, branching to YES in step S29) Lo is a small road and Ln is a main road (NO in step S27, branching to NO in step S29). Hereinafter, in each case, the subsequent processing will be described.

In the first case, since the host vehicle is continuously traveling on the main road, no memory processing is required for the route. Therefore, similar to step S7 in the first embodiment, if necessary, a process of updating the road scale standard used for determining the main road is performed (step S3).
0).

In the case of (1), it means that the vehicle has branched from the main road to a small road, and thereafter, a process of storing all the continuous small road links together as one journey is started. Therefore, first, an area for storing the travel locus for one stroke is set as the travel locus management unit 40.
3 is secured on the history storage unit 3 (step S31). Hereinafter, this stored process (route of a small road from a branch point from a main road to a confluence point) or an area storing this will be referred to as “Ri”.

The storage area for Ri is assumed to be secured in the form as shown in FIG. 11, for example. That is, each process Ri, Ri + 1, ... Holds the individual road links constituting the process and the number of links. Since the number of links is variable, in practice, for example, a pointer to the link storage area is held. Further, in the region Ri, in addition to the traveling frequency of each road link as shown in FIG. 5, the frequency of traveling on that route is held. Furthermore, if necessary, the coordinates (Xi, Yi) of the point entering the process Ri,
Or, the coordinates of the exit point (Xo, Yo), the coordinates of the representative point (Xr, Yr) when the position of the entire travel Ri is represented by one point, and the main road running in parallel with Ri is the structure. If it can be described by such data, its identifier or pointer may be held as supplementary information.

In step S31, such a storage area Ri
Is secured, the number of links is reset to 0 because it is the first time to enter the process Ri, and if necessary, information such as the entry point that is known at that time is written. Subsequently, the current link Ln, which is the first constituent link, is stored in the constituent link storage area indicated by Ri, and the number of links is incremented by 1 (step S32). Then, a flag (storage processing in-progress flag) indicating that the storage processing of the area Ri is currently being continued and has not been completed and a new configuration link may be added to the area Ri in the future is set. Yes (step S33).

In the case of (1), since the own vehicle is continuously traveling on the small road, it is necessary to add a further configuration link to the storage area Ri for which the storage processing is currently being continued. Therefore, after adding the current link Ln (which is the current link newly detected in step S23 before entering this processing) to the process of the area Ri, the number of links is incremented by 1 and the storage processing continuation flag is set. (Steps S32 and S33).

In the case of (1), it means that the host vehicle has rejoined from the small road to the main road. Therefore, the post-processing for ending this is executed for the area Ri for which the memory processing is currently being continued. To do. Therefore, first, if necessary at the end of storage of the area Ri, supplementary information such as an exit point is obtained and written (step S34). Subsequently, the traveling locus management unit 403 checks whether or not the route Rj that can be identified with the travel stored in the storage region Ri is already stored in the history storage unit 3 (step S35).

This is to avoid storing the same route redundantly, and corresponds to the process of step S11 in the first embodiment. However, in the case of step S11 of the first embodiment, since the storage management target is a single link, it suffices to just check whether or not the two links are the same, but in the case of the second embodiment, Since the target is a route that is an aggregate of a plurality of links, there is a possibility that the user may feel uncomfortable if the determination criterion is whether all the constituent links completely match.
For example, as shown in FIG. 12 (A), two routes Ri, R
Although j is composed of the same link for most of the part, but only a part of the link is different, or when one includes the other as shown in FIG. This is the case, for example, where the parts other than the parts are slightly smaller than the whole. Including such cases, the process Ri
It is checked whether or not the routes that have a high similarity and can be regarded as substantially the same are already stored. If the procedure is complicated by such a similarity determination process, the identity can be determined simply by checking whether all the constituent links match in order to improve the processing speed.

If a similar route is not found in the similar route determination processing, Ri is a new process and is stored in the history storage unit 3, and the frequency is set to 1 (step S36).

On the contrary, if the similar route Rj already stored is found, it is deleted so as not to keep the memory of the current route Ri, while the traveling frequency of the already registered route Rj is incremented by 1 (step S37). ). In addition,
As an alternative process to this process, a method of erasing the memory of the registered route Rj, storing a new current travel Ri, and setting the traveling frequency of Rj to the traveling frequency of +1 and storing it may be adopted. Further, when Ri includes Rj but the ratio other than the inclusion portion occupies a large ratio, Ri is the difference between Rj and Rj, the frequency is set to 1, and the memory is confirmed. However, on the other hand, the traveling frequency of Rj may be incremented.

In any case, if the memory is erased for a route that does not need to be stored and the frequency becomes equal to or more than a predetermined value N for the route whose frequency is incremented in the previous stage, for example, the route Rj, It is considered that the route has already been remembered by the user and there is no need for route guidance, and the storage of the route Rj is deleted from the history storage unit 3 (step S38).

In this case, since the current link Ln merges with the main road, it is not necessary to store the traveling locus as long as the vehicle travels on the main road. Is once reset (step S39).

As described above, after processing such as route storage is performed for each of the cases where the previous link Lo and the current link Ln are divided into four types according to whether they are the main roads or small roads, step S
The processing shifts to 40 or less. Further, if the previous link Lo and the current link Ln are the same in step S24, the process is moved here.

In step S40, it is confirmed whether or not a command such as power-off or stop of all processes is issued to the system. In the second embodiment, if the power supply is to be turned off while the traveling locus storing process is being continued, post-processing for ending the stored route must be performed and then stopped. Therefore, for example, a system is configured so that the processing is not stopped immediately after the power switch is turned off, and a flag indicating that a stop instruction has been issued is set when the power switch is turned off. Then, this flag is confirmed for each repeated processing (step S40). As a result, if the stop command is issued, the flag indicating whether or not the traveling locus storage processing is being continued is further checked (step S41). . If the storage process is ongoing, the process returns to step S34 to execute a series of procedures for ending the storage process. Since this includes the process of resetting the flag indicating that the process of step S39 is continuing, once executed, the process does not loop from step S41 to step S34 again.

When the processing required for the power stop command is completed, the drawing processing unit 406 subsequently executes map data drawing processing and route display processing (step S42). This is the same as the processing in step S13 of the first embodiment. However, if additional information such as representative points, entry / exit points, and parallel running paths is described in the stored traveling locus, when the vehicle approaches the route when the traveling locus is displayed, especially when the traveling route is displayed, When approaching the end point,
Alternatively, the display can be controlled so as to be displayed only when the parallel running main road of the route is reached.

Following map drawing and route display processing, after setting the current link Ln to the previous link Lo for the next repetition processing (step S43), it is confirmed whether or not the above processing is repeated, In step S22, the processing is continued from step S22, and if not repeated, this processing is ended and execution of other processing is started, or if the stop instruction is issued, the system is stopped (step S44).

In the navigation system of the second embodiment, as in the first embodiment, the main highways such as highways and national roads are expected to be well remembered by the user, so the route is guided. Small roads that are less necessary but less frequently traveled are hard for the user to remember, so by automatically storing the traveled trajectory when traveling on that route, it can be used for route guidance when traveling later. . Even on small roads, it is assumed that the user has learned the route if the traveling frequency becomes high, and by deleting it from the traveling locus memory, even if the storage capacity is reduced, the route that the user really needs. About will be able to receive route guidance.

In addition to this, as shown on the left side of FIG.
A route Rs1 in which the user bypasses the highway Rm1 at a certain time
If the vehicle travels on the route Rs2 that bypasses the main road Rm2 at some time, both are stored and displayed as a traveling locus. Then, each of these routes is run several times, and if the frequency exceeds N, the route will be deleted from the display.

Here, if some of the routes Rs1 and Rs2 are configured by common road links, the route memory management is performed independently for each link as in the first embodiment. If so, the frequency of the common link part of the two routes reaches N before the other parts, so that the route is displayed with the common link part missing as shown on the right side of FIG. Will be done. In this case, the link group left here loses the original meaning of a route that bypasses each main road, and it is meaningless to display this, and it may cause misunderstanding of the user. However, according to the second embodiment, such routes Rs1 and Rs2 are stored together with all the links constituting each and deleted, so that the frequency of one reaches N first and the route is stored. Even if it is deleted from the route and is no longer displayed, it will be left on the other route while retaining its original meaning as a bypass route, and it is possible to avoid displaying an unnatural route that does not fit the user's sense. It is highly likely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart (1) of the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart (2) of the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of total traveling distance data stored in the history storage unit in the above embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of travel frequency data for each road link stored in the history storage unit in the above embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of travel locus data stored in a history storage unit in the above embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a route display example according to the above embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart (1) of the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart (2) of the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart (3) of the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of travel locus data stored in the history storage unit in the above embodiment.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of routes that can be regarded as the same route in the traveling route similarity determination processing according to the above-described embodiment.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing characteristics of route storage according to the above embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Current position detector 2 Map data storage 3 History storage 4 Processing unit 5 Image display section 401 Current position matching unit 402 Branch / Merge Judgment Unit 403 Travel locus management unit 404 Road Scale Management Department 405 Driving frequency management unit 406 Drawing processing unit

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Norimasa Kishi 2 Takara-cho, Kanagawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. (56) Reference JP-A-7-294274 (JP, A) JP-A-1-142411 ( JP, A) JP 9-292240 (JP, A) JP 6-88733 (JP, A) JP 7-260499 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21/00-21/36 G08G 1/0969 G09B 29/00-29/10

Claims (11)

(57) [Claims] 1. A current position detection means for measuring the current position of a vehicle, and a map data storage means for storing map data,
A navigation system comprising: a history storage unit that stores a travel history in an updatable form; a calculation processing unit that performs a calculation process necessary for displaying a map; and an image display unit that displays a map image. The processing means is a road in the map data where the vehicle is currently traveling on the map data read from the map data storage means based on the output of the current position detection means .
The current location matching means to identify the link and this identified
A branch / merging determination means for comparing the road link with the road link specified before the temporary point of time to determine whether or not the vehicle has branched off from a highway of a predetermined scale or larger, or has joined the road. A traveling locus managing means for storing a series of road links that change from branching to merging as a traveling locus in the history storage means, and a map area displayed according to the current position at the present time. Drawing a map image based on the map data read by the current position matching means, and displaying a part or all of the traveling locus stored in the history storage means in a distinguishable form on the map image. A navigation system having a processing means. 2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic processing unit has a road scale managing unit that stores the total traveled distance or the ratio thereof for each road scale in the history storage unit, and the branch merger. The judgment means is
A navigation system, characterized in that the definition of a main road, which is a criterion for judgment of the branch merge, is set based on a traveling ratio for each road scale. 3. The road scale management means stores the total traveled distance or the ratio thereof for each road scale in each of the predetermined divided areas in the history storage means, and the branch merge determination means determines the 3. The navigation system according to claim 2, wherein the definition of a main road as a criterion is independently set for each of the divided areas and is set based on a traveling ratio for each road scale. 4. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the arithmetic processing unit has a traveling frequency management unit that stores a traveling frequency for each road in the history storage unit, and the branch merge. The navigation system is characterized in that the judging means considers the road as a main road even if the road does not correspond to the main road and has a high traveling frequency higher than a predetermined value, and uses the road as a judgment criterion for the branch merge. 5. The traveling locus managing means refers to the traveling frequency stored in the history storing means, and the traveling frequency of the traveling locus once stored in the history storing means is not more than a predetermined value. The navigation system according to claim 4, wherein, for example, the memory of the traveling locus is deleted. 6. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the traveling locus is stored, frequency stored, or deleted in units of road links that form the traveling locus. 7. The storage, the frequency storage, or the memory deletion of the traveling locus is performed in units of the route from a branch point from the main road to a re-merging point to the main road as one route. The navigation system according to claim 1. 8. The drawing processing means, when the current position of the vehicle approaches any of the travel loci stored in the history storage means, approaches either end point of the travel locus, or 8. When one of the traveling loci reaches the parallel running section on the main road running in parallel with any one of the running loci, one of the corresponding running loci is displayed in a distinguishable form on a map image. Navigation system according to any one of. 9. The drawing processing means is capable of identifying, on the map image, all the traveling loci existing in a specific area near the current position of the vehicle among the traveling loci stored in the history storage means. It is displayed.
7. The navigation system according to any one of 7. 10. The road which does not include the travel locus in the map image data when the map image is drawn based on the map data read by the current position matching unit. The navigation system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the display is forcibly displayed at the corresponding position. 11. The drawing processing means changes and displays the traveling locus on the map image with a display attribute given to a road scale higher than the original road scale. Item 11. A navigation system according to any one of items 1 to 10.