JP3501282B2 - 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 including a mobile station and a base station. More specifically, the present invention relates to a user of the mobile station by exchanging information between the mobile station and the base station. The present invention relates to a navigation system that provides information on the direction from a vehicle to a destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Navigation systems used in vehicles such as automobiles and two-wheeled vehicles provide guidance to a destination, and various systems have been put to practical use and are commercially available. Usually, these navigation systems detect their own current position by GPS, make a decision using the map information that they own to find the route from the current position to the destination, and then use the map information that they own to find the position The relevant portion is cut out, and the path for which the thought is determined is written in and displayed. Recently, a navigation system having many functions for enhancing the convenience of the navigation system has been developed and marketed, such as guiding a left or right turn portion with a synthetic voice according to the progress of a moving body.

[0003]

However, such a navigation system (hereinafter referred to as "navigation system")
Say. ) Is the detection of the current position, the decision of the route, and the storage of map information as described above (usually by CD-ROM).
Since complicated functions such as reading and reading are required, there is a problem that the size is increased and the weight is increased. Since such a complicated function is required, there are problems that it is vulnerable to impact and power consumption is large. These problems of large size, heavy weight, low impact resistance, and large power consumption have been factors that reduce the portability of the navigation system. Therefore, even though the conventional navigation system is suitable for being mounted and used in an automobile or the like, it is not suitable for a person to carry and use, and as a result, a person can freely carry and use the navigation system. It was almost impossible.
Specifically, for example, mobile phones and P that are currently in widespread use
There has never been a navigation system with small size, light weight, high impact resistance, and low power consumption such as HS.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system which is small in size, light in weight, has high impact resistance, consumes less power, and can be easily carried and used.

[0005]

A navigation system of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as "this system") is a navigation system including a mobile station and a base station, and the base station is the mobile station. Destination information receiving means for receiving the destination information transmitted by the mobile station, current location information receiving means for receiving the current location information transmitted by the mobile station, and reference direction for receiving the reference direction information transmitted by the mobile station. Information receiving means, and destination direction determining means for determining which direction the direction from the current location to the destination is relative to the reference direction using the received destination information, the current location information and the reference direction information. And destination information transmitting means for transmitting the information about the determined direction to the mobile station, wherein the mobile station transmits the destination information about the destination to the base station. Sending Means, current location information transmitting means for transmitting the current location information regarding the current location to the base station, reference direction information transmitting means for receiving the reference direction and transmitting the reference direction information regarding the reference direction information to the base station, and the base station A destination direction information receiving means for receiving the information on the determined direction transmitted from the device, and a destination direction transmission means for transmitting the received information on the determined direction to the user. Is.

The present system includes a mobile station and a base station, a user is near the mobile station, and exchanges information via the mobile station. The destination information transmitting means of the mobile station transmits to the base station the destination information regarding the destination that the mobile station intends to go to. The destination may be input to the mobile station in any way, for example via a keyboard connected to the mobile station or by the voice of the user. In particular, if the user's voice is used for input, the input can be performed quickly and easily, which is convenient. And as the destination information about the destination, it is sufficient if the information can identify the destination within a range desired by the user. For example, if the current location of the mobile station is Okayama city, the destination is "Hiroshima city". Administrative division displays such as "Kurashiki City" and "Odayama City Noda 2-chome" and "0862
Phone numbers such as "450440", names of adjacent targets or destinations such as "Okayama Station", "Okayama Station West Exit", "Okayama Prefectural Office", "Korakuen", and postal codes such as "700-0971" , And if the destination can be specified to the extent desired by the user, these administrative division displays, telephone numbers,
It may be the name of the adjacent target, the name of the destination itself, or a part of the postal code. The destination information transmitted to the base station by the destination information transmitting means of the mobile station is received by the destination information receiving means of the base station.

The present location information transmitting means of the mobile station transmits the present location information relating to the present location of the mobile station to the base station. The current location may be artificially input to the mobile station, or the mobile station may automatically detect the current location. When the current location is manually input, it may be input by any method, for example, it may be input via a keyboard connected to the mobile station or may be input by the voice of the user. In particular, if the user's voice is used for input, the input can be performed quickly and easily, which is convenient. And as the current location information regarding the current location, it is sufficient if the current location can be specified within a range desired by the user,
For example, similar to the case of destination, administrative division display, telephone number, name of adjacent target object or destination itself, postal code, and if the destination can be specified to the extent desired by the user, these administrative division display , A telephone number, the name of an adjacent target, the name of the current location itself, or part of the postal code. Further, when the mobile station automatically detects the current location, information that can identify the current location may be automatically detected within a range desired by the user. For example, the GPS provided in the mobile station may be used. The position data (for example, the combination data of the longitude and the latitude) emitted by may be automatically taken in. The present location information transmitted to the base station by the present location information transmitting means of the mobile station is received by the present location information receiving means of the base station.

The reference direction information transmitting means of the mobile station receives the reference direction and transmits the reference direction information regarding the reference direction (the received reference direction) to the base station. Here, the “reference direction” means a direction in the horizontal plane of the position where the mobile station exists, and a direction that can be uniquely determined by both the mobile station and the base station, and is not particularly limited. However, for example, it may be information about an angle in a horizontal plane with respect to a direction that can be recognized by both the mobile station and the base station. In this way, it becomes clear in which direction in the horizontal plane the reference direction deviates from the direction in which both the mobile station and the base station can recognize the same direction. Both can be uniquely determined. Further, the angle may be approximately 0, and since the reference direction coincides with the direction in which both the mobile station and the base station are recognizable in the same plane in the horizontal plane, the reference direction is in the recognizable direction. On the other hand, it is possible to easily and quickly recognize which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is as a relative direction in the horizontal plane.

The recognizable direction may be any direction as long as it can be recognized by both the mobile station and the base station, and is not particularly limited. It may be an absolute azimuth such as “west”, “south”, “north”, “northeast”, “southwest”, or the like, or a direction from the current position of the mobile station to a reference object at a known position. By setting the recognizable direction as an absolute azimuth among these directions, the reference direction can be easily recognized by the destination direction determining means of the base station, which will be described later, and the direction from the current position to the destination is the relative direction to the reference direction. It is possible to easily determine which direction.

If the recognizable direction is directed from the current position to the reference object existing at a known position, and if the reference object can be visually confirmed at the mobile station, "East" and "Northeast" Even if it is not possible to know the absolute azimuth such as, it is possible to clarify in which direction in the horizontal plane the reference direction deviates from the direction from the current position to the reference object. Therefore, this system can be conveniently used even if there is no intuition about the current location. Here, the “reference object existing at a known position” may be any as long as the mobile station and the base station can specify the position where the reference object exists, and is not particularly limited. For example, the reference may be an inanimate object or an astronomical object. As an inanimate object, one whose position is known at the base station, for example,
A building, a private house, a hospital, a building, a tower, a railway station, a bus stop, a chimney, a factory, a lighthouse, a road, a park, a signboard, etc. can be exemplified. And as astronomical objects, those whose current position can be grasped at the base station, for example, stars such as the Sun, Arctic Star, Orion, Big Dipper, or constellations composed of them, moons, planets such as Jupiter and Venus. It can be illustrated. Since it is possible for the base station to understand how these celestial objects move over time, it can be used as a reference object, but since it is not possible for the base station to understand how meteors and the like move, it is not possible to use them as reference objects. Can not. The "direction from the current location to the reference object at the known position" as used herein means the direction from the current location to the reference object regardless of the route from the current location to the reference object, for example, The route from the current location to the reference is first 2 in the true north
Drive 1km to the east and then 1km to the east and finally 1 to the south
If the reference object is traveling in the direction of northeast from the present location, the “direction from the present location to the reference object at the known position” is “northeast direction”.

Any method may be used for inputting the reference direction to the mobile station, for example, input via a keyboard connected to the mobile station or input by the voice of the user. In particular, if the user's voice is used for input, the input can be performed quickly and easily, which is convenient. The reference direction information regarding the reference direction transmitted to the base station by the reference direction information transmitting means of the mobile station is received by the reference direction information receiving means of the base station.

On the other hand, in the base station, the destination information received by the destination information receiving means, the current location information received by the current location information receiving means, and the reference direction information received by the reference direction information receiving means are stored. The destination direction determining means determines which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction. That is, the current position of the mobile station is specified from the current position information, the destination of the mobile station is specified from the destination information, the reference direction specified by the mobile station is specified from the reference direction information, and the current position is changed from the current position to the destination. Determine which direction the direction is relative to the reference direction. Any method may be used to determine which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction, and is not particularly limited, and for example, as shown in FIG. The method shown can be illustrated. FIG. 10 shows the mobile station as viewed from above in the vertical direction as an (x, y) coordinate system. The current position is the origin (0, 0) and the reference direction is the x coordinate axis. At this time, the coordinates of the destination D are D (dcos ·, dsin), where d is the distance from the current location to the destination.
・) Can be shown as. However, -is an angle formed by the virtual line segment L drawn from the current position (origin (0, 0)) to the destination D with the x coordinate axis, and the virtual line segment is located counterclockwise with respect to the x coordinate axis. Take the direction positive, 0 degrees or more 36
It takes a value less than 0 degrees. At this time, by obtaining the ·, the current position (0, 0) to the destination D (dcos ·, ds
It is possible to determine in which direction the direction to in.) is relative to the reference direction (x coordinate axis). In addition, the base station identifies the current location of the mobile station from the current location information, identifies the destination of the mobile station from the destination information, and identifies the reference direction designated by the mobile station from the reference direction information, Geographical information about the current location, destination, and reference direction is stored in advance. Note that the "geographical information" referred to here is information that is sufficient to determine which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction using the current position, the destination, and the reference direction. It may be anything, for example, it may be map information, and does not necessarily have to be map information, and the position of something that may be input as information on the current location, destination, or reference direction (reference object) May be information that can be grasped (for example, longitude and latitude).

Then, the destination direction information transmitting means of the base station transmits to the mobile station the information on the relative direction of the direction from the current position to the destination determined by the destination direction determining means. In the example shown in FIG. 10, the obtained value of (for example, 47 degrees) is transmitted from the destination direction information transmitting means of the base station to the mobile station.

In the mobile station, the destination direction information receiving means receives the information about the determined direction transmitted by the destination direction information transmitting means of the base station, and the destination direction transmitting means,
The information about the determined direction received by the destination direction information receiving means is transmitted to the user of the mobile station. The method of transmitting the information about the determined direction to the user by the target direction transmitting means is not particularly limited as long as the user can grasp the determined direction, for example,
"47 degrees" (meaning that the direction is 47 degrees to the left with respect to the reference direction) is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the mobile station, or "Junjuna etc." is emitted from the mobile station as a synthetic voice. When the mobile station determines that (for example, when the reference line of the mobile station is aligned with the reference direction), an arrow corresponding to the determined direction is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the mobile station, or the reference direction is horizontal. When it is assumed that the clock dial arranged in (1) is placed at 12 o'clock (the face on which the letters are written is the top), the determined direction corresponds to the 8 o'clock direction. It is also possible to give a synthetic voice from the mobile station, such as "Hachiji no Hokou". As long as the target direction transmitting means conveys the information regarding the determined direction to the user by the synthesized voice, even a user who does not have sufficient visual acuity can conveniently use it.

In particular, the mobile station may transmit the determined direction to the user in a state in which a predetermined portion of the mobile station is directed to the reference direction so that the determined direction corresponds to the actual direction. , So that if the user of the mobile station directs a predetermined portion of the mobile station to the reference direction, the determined direction transmitted by the base station (destination direction information transmitting means) will be in any direction at the actual present position. It is preferable because the user can directly know whether or not The "predetermined part of the mobile station" directed to the reference direction is any part as long as it can be directed to the reference direction to the extent that the user can grasp the determined direction with desired accuracy. May be, but is not particularly limited, for example,
If there is a linear portion in a part of the housing of the mobile station (for example, if the housing has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a predetermined long side out of the 12 sides of the rectangular parallelepiped), the linear portion may be used. Any antenna may be used as long as it has an antenna for use.

Information exchange between such a mobile station and a base station can be performed by using a known technique regardless of whether it is wireless or wired. Therefore, a detailed description of the method of information exchange will be given. Is omitted here.

A base station calculates a distance from the current location to the destination by using the received destination information and the current location information, and information about the calculated distance by the mobile station. Distance information transmitting means for transmitting to the mobile station, the mobile station receiving distance information receiving means for receiving information on the distance transmitted from the base station, and transmitting the received information on the distance to the user. And a distance information transmitting means for controlling the distance. This is convenient because the user of the mobile station can know the direction from the current location to the destination with respect to the reference direction and the distance from the current location to the destination. (You can make an accurate judgment as to whether you should walk or take a bus or taxi, and how long it will take.) The distance calculating means calculates the distance from the current position to the destination, which can be calculated by various known methods. Note that in the example shown in FIG. 10, the distance is indicated as d. The method by which the distance information transmitting means transmits information regarding the distance to the user is as follows.
The distance is not particularly limited as long as the user can grasp the distance. For example, “1020 m” (the distance is 1
(Meaning that it is 020 m) is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the mobile station, or a synthetic voice is output from the mobile station such as "Sennijumetoru", and an arrow corresponding to the determined direction is displayed on the liquid crystal screen of the mobile station. The length of the arrow may be made to correspond to the distance when displayed on the screen (for example, the arrow length of 1 cm is associated with the distance of 500 m, and the distance of the distance
At 0 m, the arrow length is 2.04 cm). As long as the distance information transmitting means conveys the information regarding the distance to the user by means of a synthetic voice, even a user who does not have sufficient visual acuity can be conveniently used.

As described above, unlike the conventional navigation system, the mobile station of this system does not require complicated functions such as route thinking and decision, and storage and reading of map information. Large size, heavy weight seen,
It does not have problems such as low impact resistance and large power consumption, and is small in size.
Light weight, high impact resistance, and low power consumption make it easy to carry. Further, since the complicated function is not required as described above, the mobile station of this system can also be used as a mobile phone, PHS, portable computer, etc. For example, from a mobile phone or PHS as a mobile station to a base station. It is possible to make a telephone call to exchange the above-mentioned information with the base station. Since the function required for the mobile station of this system is extremely simple, it is necessary to allow a general mobile phone or PHS to function as the mobile station of this system. This is extremely convenient because the user can freely access the base station and receive the navigation service if necessary.

In this system, since the base station has the map information and the mobile station need not have the map information, only the base station side needs to update the map information. Need not be updated. Therefore, the user of the mobile station does not need to update the map information, which has a great influence on the accuracy of the navigation system, to the latest version, and does not need to spend extra expense or time for maintenance of the navigation system.

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these.

This system includes a mobile station composed of a mobile phone, a base computer having a program for achieving the following functions or the following operations, and a data server as an external storage device connected to the base computer. It consists of a base station and.

First, the mobile station will be described. Figure 1
It is a schematic block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of a mobile station. The hardware configuration of the mobile station will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, in this embodiment, the mobile station is configured so that the mobile phone functions as the mobile station of this system. The mobile station is a computer having a program for controlling the computer built therein. The mobile station has a CPU 110a for performing arithmetic processing, a RAM 110b serving as a work area of the CPU 110a, a ROM 110c for recording control programs and the like, and an interface 110d for exchanging information with other components of the mobile station. The interface 110d includes a microphone 121, a push button 123, and a transmitting / receiving device 1
25 and the display screen 127 are connected. The mobile station has a portion that realizes a function as a mobile phone so that it can be used as a mobile phone, but the description thereof is omitted here. Also, the microphone 121 and push button 1
23, the transmission / reception device 125, and the display screen 127 are used as respective units of the mobile phone when the mobile station functions as the mobile phone.

FIG. 2 shows the hardware and ROM 11 of FIG.
Mobile station 1 realized by the program recorded in 0c
The functional block diagram of 01 is shown. Functionally, the mobile station 101 has a microphone 121 that converts a sound wave signal of a voice into an electric signal, a push button 123 used when activating the mobile station, selecting and confirming data, and the voice signal reception unit 13.
1, voice analysis unit 133, phrase storage unit 135, selection unit 13
7, a data generation unit 139, a data confirmation unit 141, a transmission / reception device 125 that transmits information to a base station (transmission here),
The transmission / reception device 125 receives information from the base station (here, reception), the display data generation unit 143, the display data output unit 145, the display signal generation unit 147, and the display screen 127 (liquid crystal display screen) for displaying information. . In addition, here, the microphone 121, the push button 123, the voice signal reception unit 131, the voice analysis unit 133, the phrase storage unit 135,
Selector 137, display signal generator 147, display screen 12
7, the data generation unit 139, the data confirmation unit 141, and the transmission / reception device 125 that transmits information to the base station constitute a destination information transmission unit, a current position information transmission unit, and a reference direction information transmission unit. The transmitter / receiver 125 that receives information from the base station functions as a destination direction information receiving unit and a distance information receiving unit. Further, the display data generation unit 1
43, display data output unit 145, display signal generation unit 14
7. The display screen 127 for displaying information constitutes a destination direction transmitting means and a distance information transmitting means.

The voice signal receiving section 131 is provided with the microphone 1.
Although the audio signal is always input from 21, the electronic device 21 stands by without accepting the audio signal until the push button 123 issues an instruction to input the audio signal. Specifically, here, the audio signal reception unit 131 detects that a predetermined button of the push button 123 is pressed in a predetermined order, and thereafter, the audio signal reception unit 131 receives the audio signal from the microphone 121. At this time, the pushed button of the push button 123 distinguishes whether to receive the destination information regarding the destination, the current location information regarding the current location, or the reference direction information regarding the reference direction. Specifically, here, when the push button 123 is pressed “* 01”, the destination information regarding the destination is accepted, and “* 0” is received.
If "2" is pressed, the current position information regarding the current position is accepted, and if "* 03" is pressed, the reference direction information regarding the reference direction is accepted.

The predetermined buttons of the push button 123 are pressed in a predetermined order, and the voice signal receiving section 131 becomes a state of receiving a voice signal from the microphone 121, and thereafter,
A user (not shown) inputs destination information, current location information, and reference direction information by voice via the microphone 121. For example, the user pushes the push button 123 with "*".
01 ”(that is, the mobile station recognizes that the destination information about the destination is input), and the user speaks“ Okayama Eki niguchi ”(Okayama station west exit) as the destination information into the microphone 121. This "Okayama Eki niguchi"
Of the voice is converted into an electric signal by the microphone 121 and is received by the voice signal reception unit 131, and the voice analysis unit 13 is received.
3 is output. The voice signal output from the voice signal receiving unit 131 is added with an identification number "01" so that it can be determined that the voice signal is destination information.

In the voice analysis unit 133, the voice signal reception unit 1
The audio signal from 31 (with the identification number "01" added) is converted into a corresponding kana (character code). Here, in the voice analysis unit 133, the voice signal from the voice signal reception unit 131 is corrected to a pseudonym (character code) of “Okayama Eki niguchi”. Then, the voice analysis unit 133 determines a word candidate corresponding to this kana (character code) as the word storage unit 135.
To output to the selection unit 137. If there are a plurality of word / phrase candidates, these word / phrase candidates are extracted and output. In the present embodiment, two word candidates “Okayama Station West Exit” and “Okayama Station West Exit” are extracted from the word storage section 135 by the voice analysis section 133 as word candidates corresponding to the kana “Okayama Eki niguchi” and output to the selection section 137. It The word storage unit 135 stores various kana (character codes) related to the corresponding region (here, Chugoku region).
The words and phrases corresponding to are stored in advance and can be freely rewritten to words and phrases related to other districts if necessary (for example, call a prescribed information agency that has information on words and phrases related to each region). Access through the line,
Necessary district information may be selected and downloaded from the information station. ). Further, the mobile station does not have information about words and phrases corresponding to various kana, all the information is held in the base station, and word and word candidates are transmitted from the base station by exchanging information between the mobile station and the base station. The mobile station may receive the data, which can reduce the amount of storage required for the mobile station and contribute to downsizing, weight reduction, low power consumption, and cost reduction of the mobile station. Needless to say, if the storage capacity of the mobile station is sufficient, words corresponding to various kana (character codes) relating to the whole country may be stored in the mobile station in advance. Further, since a technique of converting a voice signal into a kana is known, its description is omitted here.

The selection unit 137 displays the word / phrase candidates received from the voice analysis unit 133 on the display screen 127 through the display signal generation unit 147. Since "Okayama Station West Exit" and "Okayama Station West Exit" are transmitted to the selection section 137 as word candidates here, "0 Okayama Station West Exit" and "1 Okayama Station West Exit" are displayed on the display screen 127. , Select a word candidate intended by the user. Specifically, the user can select one of the numbers attached to each of “0 Okayama Station West Exit” and “1 Okayama Station West Exit” by the push button 123. It should be noted that the numbers attached in front of the respective word candidates are given in order from 0 by the selection unit 137. Since "Okayama station west exit" is selected here, a user (not shown) presses the key "1" of the push button 123, and the selection unit 137 senses it and selects "Okayama station west exit", and selects "Okayama station". The station west exit "is output to the data generation unit 139 with the identification number" 01 "added. Then, similarly to this, the current position information regarding the current position and the reference direction information regarding the reference direction are input. That is, the push button 12
3 is pressed as “* 02”, current position information regarding the current position is input, and push button 123 is pressed as “* 03” and reference direction information regarding the reference direction is input. In addition, here, the identification number "02" is attached to the present location information and "Okayama Prefectural Office main gate" is attached, and the reference direction information is attached to the identification number "03""The same direction as the direction from the present location to Okayama Castle". Each is input to the data generation unit 139.

The data generator 139 determines whether all the information of the destination information about the destination, the current location information about the current location, and the reference direction information about the reference direction has been input, and determines that all the information has been input. In that case, a data set including the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information is formed. The data set is formed by arranging each piece of information according to the identification number attached to each piece of information, and specifically, (information of identification number 01, information of identification number 02, information of identification number 03) Formed side by side. Therefore, the data set created here is (the same direction as the direction from Okayama Station West Exit, Okayama Prefectural Office main gate, current location to Okayama Castle). The formed data set is transmitted from the data generation unit 139 to the data confirmation unit 141.

The data confirmation unit 141 includes a data generation unit 13
The data set received from 9 is displayed on the display screen 127 via the display signal generation unit 147. Then, a user (not shown) looks at the displayed data set and confirms that the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information are correct. Specifically, if there is no mistake here, the user presses the key of the push button 123 with "00", and if there is no mistake, the user presses the key of the push button 123 with "55".
When the user presses the key of the push button 123 to "00" to approve the data, the approving data (data set) is notified to the sending / receiving device 125, and the sending / receiving device 12 is notified.
5 transmits the data to the base station. On the other hand, when the user presses the key of the push button 123 with “55” and the data is incorrect, the data set existing in the data confirmation unit 141 is canceled (cleared).

As described above, in the mobile station of this embodiment, all of the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information are input from the user to the mobile station via voice, but the present invention is not limited to this. However, any method may be used as long as the mobile station can sufficiently grasp the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information. For example, destination information, current location information, and reference direction information may be input so that the name or name of the other party who frequently makes a call is stored in the mobile phone when stored.
Needless to say, the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information may be input in the same manner as a sentence is input to the mobile phone when sending an e-mail from the mobile phone. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the transmission of the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information from the mobile station to the base station is collectively transmitted as a data set of these information, but the present invention is not limited to this. Instead, it goes without saying that the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information may be separately transmitted from the mobile station to the base station.

Next, among the mobile stations, information transmitted from the base station to the mobile station (which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction, and from the current position to the destination) The part of receiving the information about the distance) and transmitting it to the user will be described.
First, as will be described later, information about the angle (in FIG. 10, which will be described later in detail) formed by the base station from the current position to the destination and the reference direction, and information about the distance from the current position to the destination. , Are transmitted to the mobile station. On the other hand, in the mobile station, the transmitter / receiver 125 receives this signal. The received signal is sent from the transmission / reception device 125 to the display data generation unit 143, and the display data generation unit 143 receives information about the angle formed by the direction from the current position to the destination and the reference direction and the distance from the current position to the destination. And information about. Then, the display data generation unit 143 sends the extracted angle information and distance information to the display data output unit 145. In the display data output unit 145, from the angle information,
The direction of the arrow is determined so that the arrow is displayed on the display screen 127 so as to form the same angle as the angle formed with respect to the predetermined direction, and the length of the arrow indicates the distance from the distance information. The length of the arrow is determined so that the length corresponds to. Then, the display data output unit 145 displays the image data of the arrow that matches the determined direction and length of the arrow, and the number indicating the distance at a predetermined position on the display screen 127 (a position that does not overlap the arrow). Image data including the character image data is created, and the created image data is sent to the display signal generation unit 147. Finally, the display signal generation unit 147 displays the image data received from the display data output unit 145 on the display screen 127. This allows the user of the mobile station to know which direction the destination is relative to the predetermined direction and how far the destination is. The length of the displayed arrow changes according to the distance to the destination.
For example, by visually observing the length of the displayed arrow, the distance to the destination can be recognized at a glance.

Next, the base station will be described. Figure 3
FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a base station. The hardware configuration of the base station will be described with reference to FIG. As described above, in this embodiment,
The base station includes a base computer having a program built therein and a data server (map information storage unit) as an external storage device connected to the base computer. The base station includes a CPU 310a that performs arithmetic processing, a RAM 310b that is a work area of the CPU 310a, and a ROM 3 that records a control program and the like.
10 c, an interface 310 d for exchanging information with the data server 313 (map information storage unit) as an external storage device and the transmission / reception device 315.

FIG. 4 shows the hardware of FIG. 3 and the ROM 31.
Base station 3 realized by the program recorded in 0c
The functional block diagram of 01 is shown. The base station 301 is functionally equivalent to the transceiver device 3 that receives information from the mobile station 101.
15 (received here), destination present location recognition unit 317, distance calculation unit 319, destination absolute direction determination unit 321, reference direction recognition unit 323, reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325, relative direction determination unit 327, direction / distance The data generation unit 329, a transmission / reception device 315 (transmission here) that transmits information to the mobile station, and a map information storage unit (data server) 313. Here, the transmitting / receiving device 315 that receives information from the mobile station 101 corresponds to the destination information receiving means, the current location information receiving means, and the reference direction information receiving means. The destination present position recognition unit 317, the map information storage unit (data server) 313, the destination absolute direction determination unit 321, the reference direction recognition unit 323, the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325, and the relative direction determination unit 327 determine the direction of destination. Is configured. Further, the destination present location recognition unit 317, the map information storage unit (data server) 313, and the distance calculation unit 319 form a distance calculation unit. Then, the direction / distance data generating unit 329 and the transmitting / receiving device 3 that transmits information to the mobile station.
15 (transmission here) constitutes a destination direction information transmission means and a distance information transmission means (when transmitting information about a destination direction, it functions as a destination direction information transmission means and transmits information about a distance). When it functions as a distance information transmission means.).

The transmitting / receiving device 315 as the destination information receiving means, the present location information receiving means, and the reference direction information receiving means,
Waiting for information (destination information, current location information, reference direction information) to be transmitted from the mobile station. When information is transmitted from the mobile station, the transmission / reception device 315 receives the information, and the received information data is used as the destination current location recognition unit 317 and the reference direction recognition unit 32.
And 3 in parallel. In this embodiment, as described above, the information transmitted from the mobile station to the base station has a format (data set) in which the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information are combined. , (Destination information: Okayama station west exit, present location information: Okayama prefectural office main gate, reference direction information: same direction from current location to Okayama castle). Then, hereinafter, a set of information obtained by the base station receiving the data set from the mobile station is referred to as an information set.

Upon receiving the information set from the transmission / reception device 315, the destination present location recognition unit 317 extracts the destination information and the present location information from the information set, and accesses the map information storage unit (data server) 313. The destination and the current position are searched for on the map to recognize their respective positions. Then, the destination present location recognition unit 317 reads the longitude / latitude of the destination and the longitude / latitude of the present location, and outputs these both longitudes / latitudes in parallel to the distance calculation unit 319 and the destination absolute direction determination unit 321. .

The destination absolute direction determining unit 321 receives the longitude / latitude of the destination received from the destination present position recognizing unit 317,
Using the longitude and latitude of the current location, the direction from the current location to the destination is determined as an absolute direction. Here, considering the direction to the destination when viewed from vertically above the current location, the true north is used as a reference, and the angle formed by that direction and true north is measured counterclockwise from true north to determine that direction. It is expressed as a direction (ie 90 degrees if the direction is true west, 180 degrees if true, and 2 if true east).
It is 70 degrees. ). The angle between this direction and true north is
Although it will not be described in detail because it can be easily obtained by the existing technique, for example, the coordinates may be converted so that the present position is set as the origin, and the position may be obtained from the position of the destination in the converted coordinate system. As described above, the direction from the current position to the destination can be expressed as an absolute direction such as 106 degrees from true north. Information on the determined absolute direction from the current location to the destination is the absolute destination direction determination unit 3
21 to the relative direction determination unit 327.

The distance calculation unit 319 calculates the distance from the current position to the destination by using the longitude and latitude of the destination and the longitude and latitude of the current position received from the destination current position recognition unit 317. Specifically, first calculate how far the current location and the destination are from each other in the longitude direction and the latitude direction (the distance in the longitude direction is calculated from the difference in the longitudes, and the difference in the latitude direction from the difference in the latitudes is calculated. The distance can be calculated.), And the distance between the current position and the destination is calculated from the distance in the longitude direction and the distance in the latitude direction (for example, it may be calculated using the Pythagorean theorem. Needless to say, the surface of the earth from the current position to the destination may be calculated as a part of the spherical surface in order to improve the accuracy of the calculated distance. The calculated distance is transmitted from the distance calculation unit 319 to the direction / distance data generation unit 329.

On the other hand, when the reference direction recognition unit 323 receives the information set from the transmission / reception device 315, it extracts the reference direction information and the current position information from the information set. Here, the reference direction is shown as an angle in a horizontal plane with respect to a direction in which both the mobile station and the base station can recognize the same direction, but here, as the same recognizable direction, a reference object existing at a known position from the current position is indicated. The direction is used. The angle in the horizontal plane with respect to the same recognizable direction is 0 here, and the reference direction is the same direction in the same recognizable direction and the horizontal plane. Further, it goes without saying that an absolute azimuth may be used as the same recognizable direction. Then, the reference direction recognition unit 323 extracts information on the reference object existing at the known position from the reference direction information. For example, in the previous example, the reference direction information is "the same direction as the direction from the current location to Okayama castle", but in this case, the reference object information at the known position is "Okayama castle". , This is extracted. Next, the reference direction recognition unit 32
The reference numeral 3 indicates where on the map the reference object existing at the extracted known position is located, the map information storage unit (data server) 313 is accessed to search for which position the reference object exists on the map, and the position is the longitude. Recognize by latitude. Similarly, the reference direction recognition unit 323 accesses the map information storage unit (data server) 313 to search for which position on the map the current position is, and recognizes the position by the latitude and longitude. The longitude and latitude of these reference objects and the longitude and latitude of the current location are
From the reference direction recognition unit 323 to the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 32
Sent to 5. In addition, in the present embodiment, the non-animal is used as the reference object, but if it is a celestial body that moves regularly (the sun, the moon, etc.), it can be identified in which position it is, so these are the reference objects. Can also be used as In this case, it is necessary for the base station to clarify at which position the target celestial body exists at each time.

The reference direction absolute direction determining unit 325 uses the longitude / latitude of the reference object received from the reference direction recognizing unit 323 and the longitude / latitude of the current position to determine the absolute direction of the direction from the current position to the reference object. Decide what to do. Here, in the same way as determining the direction from the current location to the destination as the absolute direction, considering the direction to the reference object when viewed from vertically above the current location, with true north as the reference, that direction and true north This angle is represented as an absolute direction by measuring the angle formed by and from the true north in a counterclockwise direction (that is, 90 degrees if the direction is true west, 180 degrees if true south,
If it is true east, it is 270 degrees. ). The angle between the direction and true north will not be described in detail because it can be easily obtained by existing technology. For example, the coordinate conversion is performed so that the current position is the origin, and the reference object in the conversion coordinate system is used. It can be obtained from the position. As described above, the direction from the current position to the reference object can be expressed as an absolute direction such as 237 degrees from true north. Since the reference direction is the same as the direction from the current position to the reference object in the horizontal plane, the reference direction is 237 degrees from true north, but the angle in the horizontal plane from the current position to the reference object is If it is not 0, the angle from true north should be determined in consideration of this angle. Information on the determined absolute direction from the current position to the reference object is sent from the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325 to the relative direction determination unit 327.

The relative direction determination unit 327 determines the absolute direction from the current position to the destination (for example, 106 degrees from true north) determined by the destination absolute direction determination unit 321 and the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325. And the absolute direction from the current position to the reference object (for example, 237 degrees from true north). Then, the relative direction determination unit 327 determines the absolute direction from the current position to the destination (for example, 106 degrees from true north) and the absolute direction from the current position to the reference object (for example, 237 from true north).
Degree), and compare. Specifically, here, the absolute direction from the current position to the destination is an angle formed with true north (for example, 106
Angle), the angle (for example, 237 degrees) that the absolute direction from the current position to the reference object forms with true north is subtracted. Thereby, the direction from the current position to the destination can be determined as a relative direction with respect to the reference direction (in this example, 106 ° −237 ° = −131 ° can be determined. Yes, -131 degrees means that the direction from the current location to the destination is 131 degrees clockwise with respect to the reference direction when viewed from above the current location from the current location to the destination. The direction of is determined as the relative direction to the reference direction.) The relative direction determination unit 327 transmits to the direction / distance data generation unit 329 the direction from the current position determined as the relative direction to the reference direction to the destination.

The direction / distance data generating unit 329 calculates the distance data from the current position to the destination calculated by the distance calculating unit 319 and the current position to the destination determined by the relative direction determining unit 327 as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction. Direction data, and direction data including the distance data and the angle (in FIG. 10) formed by the direction from the current position to the destination and the reference direction are generated. Specifically, the direction / distance data generation unit 329 calculates the number of the distance indicated in the unit m and the absolute direction from the current position to the reference object from the angle formed by true north from the current position to the destination. Data including a numerical value obtained by subtracting the angle formed with true north is generated and transmitted to the transmission / reception device 315. For example, the direction / distance data generation unit 329 generates data such as (1769, -131) and transmits / receives information to the mobile station 315.
Send this data to. The data (1769, -13
1) indicates that the distance from the current location to the destination is 1769 m, and the direction from the current location to the destination is 131 degrees clockwise relative to the reference direction when viewed from above the current location. ing. The direction / distance data is transmitted from the transmitting / receiving device 315 to the mobile station.

Next, operations of the mobile station and the base station having the above configurations will be described. First, the mobile station will be described. First, the operation of receiving the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information and transmitting the information to the base station will be described. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile station. The operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the voice signal receiving unit 131 has received an instruction to input a voice signal (input instruction: issued by pressing a predetermined button of the push button 123 in a predetermined order) (s501). If it is determined that the input instruction has been received (YES), then the voice signal reception unit 131 receives the voice signal from the microphone 121 and outputs it to the voice analysis unit 133 (s5).
02). When the voice signal reception unit 131 determines in s501 that the input instruction has not been received (NO), the process returns to s501 again. As described above, the push button 123 at this time determines whether to accept the destination information, the current location information, or the reference direction information.

The voice analysis unit 133 includes a voice signal reception unit 13
1 receives the voice signal, converts the voice signal into a corresponding kana, and puts word candidates corresponding to this kana into the word storage unit 1.
35 to extract and output to the selection unit 137 (s
503). The selection unit 137 displays the word / phrase candidates received from the voice analysis unit 133 on the display screen 127 through the display signal generation unit 147, and selects the word / phrase candidate intended by the user (s504). As described above, the user selects the number of the intended word / phrase candidate from the numbers assigned to the word / phrase candidates by pressing the push button 1 as described above.
Achieved by pressing at 23. And the selection unit 13
The word / phrase selected by 7 is sequentially input to the data generation unit 139 every time it is selected.

The data generator 139 determines whether all the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information have been input (s505). If it is determined that all the information has been input (YES), A data set including the destination information, the current position information, and the reference direction information is formed (s506) and output to the data confirmation unit 141. When the data generation unit 139 does not determine that all the information of the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information has been input (NO), the process returns to s501 to input the uninput information.

The data confirmation unit 141 is the data generation unit 13
The data set received from 9 is displayed on the display screen 127 via the display signal generation unit 147 (s507). Then, the user looks at the data set displayed on the display screen 127,
It is confirmed whether the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information are correct, and the key of the push button 123 is pressed to decide whether to approve or not to approve the data set. The data confirmation unit 141 determines whether the user has pressed a predetermined approval key (“00” in the above example) or an incorrect key (indication of not approving. “55” in the above example) (s508). ), If the user determines that the user has approved by pressing the approval key (YES), the transceiver 125 is notified of the approved data (data set), and the transceiver 125 is caused to transmit the data to the base station. (S50
9). When the data confirmation unit 141 determines that the user has pressed the wrong key in s508 (NO), the data confirmation unit 141 erases the data (data set) (data clear) (s510), and then in s501. Return again. s50
After 9, it is determined whether or not the work is completed (s511). If the work is completed (YES), the work is completed (END), and if the work is not completed (NO), the process returns to s501.

Next, among the mobile stations, information transmitted from the base station to the mobile station (which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction, and from the current position to the destination) The operation of receiving (information about the distance) and transmitting the information to the user will be described.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile station.
The operation will be described with reference to FIG. First, the display data generation unit 143 causes the signal transmitted from the base station (as described above, information on the angle formed by the direction from the current position to the destination and the reference direction and the distance between the current position and the destination). And information).
Then, it is determined whether or not the data of the signal has been received from the transmission / reception device 125 (s601). If the display data generation unit 143 determines that the data of the signal has been received from the transmission / reception device 125 (YES), the angle information (the angle between the current direction to the destination and the reference direction) is calculated from the data of the signal. ) And distance information (related to the distance between the current location and the destination) (s602),
The display data generation unit 143 sends the extracted angle information and distance information to the display data output unit 145. When the display data generation unit 143 determines in s601 that the data of the signal has not been received from the transmission / reception device 125 (NO), the process returns to s601 again.

In the display data output unit 145, the same angle as the angle specified by the angle information (the angle formed by the direction from the current position to the destination and the reference direction) is determined from the angle information based on the angle information. The direction of the arrow is determined so that the arrow is displayed on the display screen 127 (s60
3) Based on the distance information, the length of the arrow is determined so that the length of the arrow corresponds to the distance (s60).
4). The display data output unit 145 then includes image data including the image data of the arrow that matches the determined direction and length of the arrow and the character image data of a numeral indicating the distance at a predetermined position on the display screen 127. Is generated (s60
5), the generated image data is displayed by the display signal generation unit 14
7 (s606). The display signal generation unit 147 displays the image data received from the display data output unit 145 on the display screen 127. Then, it is determined whether or not the work is completed (s607). If the work is completed (YES), the work is completed (END), and if the work is not completed (NO), s601 is again executed.
Return to.

Finally, the operation of the base station having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the base station. The operation will be described with reference to FIG. 7. First, the transmission / reception device 315 is on standby to receive information (destination information, current location information, reference direction information) transmission from the mobile station. The transmission / reception device 315 determines whether or not the information is received from the mobile station (s701), and when it is determined that the information is received (YES), the received information data is compared with the destination present location recognition unit 317 and the reference. Direction recognition unit 32
And 3 in parallel. If the transceiver 315 determines that the information has not been received from the mobile station (NO), the process returns to s701.

Upon receiving the information set (the received information data) from the transmission / reception device 315, the destination present position recognition unit 317 extracts the destination information and the present position information from the information set, and at the same time, the map information storage unit (data The server) 313 is accessed to search for the position of the destination and the current position on the map, and the respective positions are recognized (s702). Then, the destination present location recognition unit 317, the longitude and latitude of the destination,
The longitude and latitude of the current location are read, and both the longitude and latitude are output in parallel to the distance calculation unit 319 and the destination absolute direction determination unit 321.

The destination absolute direction determining unit 321 receives the longitude and latitude of the destination received from the destination present position recognizing unit 317,
Using the longitude and latitude of the current location, the direction from the current location to the destination is determined as an absolute direction (s
703). Here, considering the direction to the destination when viewed from vertically above the current location, the true north is used as a reference, and the angle formed by that direction and true north is measured counterclockwise from true north to determine that direction. It is shown as a direction. Information on the determined absolute direction from the current location to the destination is sent from the destination absolute direction determination unit 321 to the relative direction determination unit 327. The distance calculation unit 319 calculates the distance from the current location to the destination using the longitude / latitude of the destination and the longitude / latitude of the current location received from the destination current location recognition unit 317 (s70).
4). The calculated distance is calculated by the distance calculation unit 319 from the direction /
It is transmitted to the distance data generation unit 329.

On the other hand, when the reference direction recognition unit 323 receives the information set from the transmitting / receiving device 315, it extracts the reference direction information and the current position information from the information set. Then, the reference direction recognition unit 323 extracts information on the reference object existing at the known position from the extracted reference direction information. Next, the reference direction recognition unit 323 accesses the map information storage unit (data server) 313 to find where the reference object and the current location are on the map, and recognizes their respective positions by latitude and longitude (s705). ). After that, the longitude / latitude of these reference objects and the longitude / latitude of the current location are determined by the reference direction recognition unit 323.
From the reference direction absolute direction determining unit 325. The reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325, the longitude and latitude of the reference object received from the reference direction recognition unit 323, the longitude and latitude of the current location,
Is used to determine which direction (reference direction) from the current position to the reference object is an absolute direction (s70).
6). Here, considering the direction to the reference object when viewed from vertically above the current location, the true north is taken as the reference, and the angle between that direction and true north is measured counterclockwise from true north, and the direction is absolute. It is shown as a direction. Information on the determined absolute direction from the current position to the reference object is sent from the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325 to the relative direction determination unit 327.

The relative direction determining unit 327 determines the absolute direction from the current position determined by the destination absolute direction determining unit 321 to the destination and the absolute direction from the current position determined by the reference direction absolute direction determining unit 325 to the reference object. And received,
By comparing these, the direction from the current location to the destination is
Which direction is determined as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction (s707). Specifically, here, the angle between the absolute direction from the current location to the destination and true north is subtracted from the angle between the absolute direction from the current location and the reference object to true north, and the direction from the current location to the destination is thereby reduced. , Which direction is determined as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction. The relative direction determination unit 327 determines the direction from the current position to the destination determined as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction to the direction / distance data generation unit 3
Send to 29.

The direction / distance data generating unit 329 calculates the distance data from the current position to the destination calculated by the distance calculating unit 319 and the current position to the destination determined by the relative direction determining unit 327 as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction. And the data of the direction to the destination, and generates the direction / distance data including the distance data and the angle formed by the reference direction and the direction from the current position to the destination (s708), and the transmitter / receiver 31
Send to 5. The transmission / reception device 315 transmits this direction / distance data from the direction / distance data generator 329 to the mobile station (s709). After that, it is judged whether or not the work is finished (s710), and if the work is finished (YES), the work is finished (END), and if the work is not finished (NO), s7 is again performed.
Return to 01.

An example of the actual usage of this system will be briefly described. FIG. 8 schematically shows the situation on the mobile station side of this system. The actual usage of this system will be described with reference to FIG. First, a user (not shown) is at a point B (current location) and holds a mobile station 101 that can be used as a mobile phone. Here, the user cannot see from the point B at the point A.
From now on, the user can see the city hall 801 of D city from the point B. Here, the city office 801 is located at the point C and serves as a reference object as described later. First, the user presses the push button 123 of the mobile station 101 to "* 0.
1 ”and pushes the destination information (that is, the information about the point A) to the voice signal reception unit 131. After that, the user inputs the name or location of the destination by voice via the microphone 121. The voice such as the name of the destination is converted into an electric signal by the microphone 121, received by the voice signal reception unit 131, and output to the voice analysis unit 133. In the voice analysis unit 133, the voice signal from the voice signal reception unit 131 is converted into a corresponding kana, the word candidate corresponding to this kana is accessed by the word storage unit 135, extracted, and output to the selection unit 137. When there are a plurality of word candidates, the plurality of word candidates are extracted and output.

The selection unit 137 displays the word candidates received from the voice analysis unit 133 on the display screen 127 through the display signal generation unit 147. The user selects a phrase by pressing the number attached to the intended phrase with the push button 123. The selection unit 137 senses which number of the push button 123 is pressed, selects a word / phrase, and outputs the selected word / phrase to the data generation unit 139 with the identification number “01” added. Then, similarly to this, the current position information regarding the current position and the reference direction information regarding the reference direction are input. In other words, push button 123
02 ”and the current position information about the pressed current position (point B) are input, and the push button 123 is input with“ * 03 ”and the reference direction information about the pressed reference direction. As a result, the current position information (point B) is attached with the identification number “02”, and the reference direction information is attached with the identification number “03”, which are respectively input to the data generation unit 139. In addition, here, the reference direction is the same direction in the horizontal plane as the direction from the current position to the reference object (the city hall 801 of D city existing at the point C) at the known position (the direction from the point B to the point C). As the reference direction information, "the same direction as the direction from the current location to the city hall of D city" is input. Then, the user points the antenna 122 of the mobile station 101 in the reference direction, that is, in the direction toward the city hall 801 of D city which is the reference object.

The data generation unit 139 forms a data set including the destination information, the current position information, and the reference direction information, and sends it to the data confirmation unit 141. Data confirmation unit 141
Displays the data set received from the data generation unit 139 on the display screen 127 via the display signal generation unit 147.
Then, the user looks at the displayed data set and confirms that the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information are correct, and if there is no error, the user sets the key of the push button 123 to "00". Press to approve (if there is a mistake, the user presses the key of the push button 123 with “55” to input the information again). The approved data set is notified to the transmission / reception device 125, and the data is transmitted from the transmission / reception device 125 to the base station.

In the base station (not shown), the transmitter / receiver 315 receives the data set transmitted from the mobile station. The transmission / reception device 315 supplies the received information data to the destination present location recognition unit 317 and the reference direction recognition unit 323 in parallel. The destination current location recognition unit 317 extracts the destination information and the current location information from the information set received from the transmission / reception device 315, and accesses the map information storage unit (data server) 313 to display the destination and the current location on the map. Search for which position and recognize each position. Then, the destination present location recognizing unit 317 reads the longitude / latitude of the destination and the longitude / latitude of the present location, and calculates both the longitude / latitude as the distance calculating unit 319 and the destination absolute direction determining unit 321.
And output in parallel.

The destination absolute direction determination unit 321 receives the longitude / latitude of the destination received from the destination current position recognition unit 317,
Using the longitude and latitude of the current location, the direction from the current location to the destination is determined as an absolute direction. Here, considering the direction to the destination (point A) when viewed from vertically above the current location (point B), the true north (for example, the arrow N direction in FIG. 8) is used as a reference, and the direction (from point B) The angle between the point A) and true north (arrow N direction) (Fig. 8)
Then, the angle k) is measured in the counterclockwise direction from true north, and the direction is represented as an absolute direction (for example, 25
Every time). Information on the determined absolute direction from the current position to the destination (for example, 25 degrees: angle k) is sent from the destination absolute direction determination unit 321 to the relative direction determination unit 327. The distance calculating unit 319 uses the longitude / latitude of the destination (point A) and the longitude / latitude of the current position (point B) received from the destination current position recognizing unit 317 to determine the destination (point B) from the current position (point B). Calculate the distance to A). The calculated distance is sent from the distance calculation unit 319 to the direction / distance data generation unit 32.
9 is transmitted.

On the other hand, the reference direction recognition unit 323 extracts the reference direction information and the current position information from the received information set. Then, the reference direction recognition unit 323 extracts information of the reference object (city hall of D city) existing at the known position from the extracted reference direction information. Next, the reference direction recognition unit 323 determines where the reference object (city hall of D city) and the current location (point B) are on the map, the map information storage unit (data server) 31.
3 to search and search their respective positions (point C
And point B) are recognized by longitude and latitude. Then, the longitude and latitude of these reference objects and the longitude and latitude of the current location are sent from the reference direction recognition unit 323 to the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325. The reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325 uses the longitude / latitude of the reference object (point C) and the longitude / latitude of the current position (point B) received from the reference direction recognition unit 323 to determine the reference object from the current position (point B). Direction to (Point C) (reference direction)
Determines which direction is the absolute direction. Here, considering the direction to the reference object (city hall 801) (direction from point B to point C) when viewed from vertically above the current location (point B), true north (direction of arrow N in FIG. 8) is used as a reference. And the direction (direction from point B to point C) and true north (Fig. 8).
Then, the angle (angle m in FIG. 8) formed with the arrow N direction) is measured from true north in a counterclockwise direction, and the direction is represented as an absolute direction. Information on the determined absolute direction from the current position to the reference object (for example, 70 degrees: angle m) is transmitted from the reference direction absolute direction determination unit 325 to the relative direction determination unit 327.
Sent to.

The relative direction determination unit 327 determines the angle between the absolute direction from the current position to the destination and true north (for example, 25 degrees: angle k) and the angle between the absolute direction from the current position to the reference and true north ( For example, the direction from the current position (point B) to the destination (point A) is subtracted by 70 degrees: angle m), whichever direction is relative to the reference direction (direction from point B to point C). (Here, 25 degrees -7
0 degree = -45 degrees: angle n). The relative direction determination unit 327 determines the direction (-45 degrees) from the current position to the destination determined as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction to the direction / distance data generation unit 3
Send to 29.

The direction / distance data generator 329 calculates the distance data (eg, 1234 m) from the current position (point B) to the destination (point A) calculated by the distance calculator 319.
And the data (-45 degrees) of the direction from the current position to the destination determined as the relative direction with respect to the reference direction by the relative direction determination unit 327, and the distance data and the direction from the current position to the destination and the reference. The angle formed by the direction (-4
(5 degrees) and direction / distance data are generated and transmitted to the transmission / reception device 315. The transmission / reception device 315 transmits this direction / distance data from the direction / distance data generator 329 to the mobile station.

The transmitter / receiver 125 of the mobile station 101 receives the direction / distance data from the base station, and sends the received direction / distance data to the display data generator 143. The display data generation unit 143 calculates the angle information (here, −45 degrees) and the distance information (here, 123 from the received data).
4m), and the display data generation unit 143 displays the extracted angle information and distance information in the display data output unit 145.
Send to. In the display data output unit 145, from the angle information, the angle (-45 specified by the angle information with respect to the longitudinal direction of the antenna 122, which is a predetermined direction, is determined.
Angle), the direction of the arrow is determined so that the arrow is displayed on the display screen 127 so as to make the same angle as
The length of the arrow is determined so that the length of the arrow corresponds to the distance (1234 m). Note that here, a direction that forms the same angle as the angle (-45 degrees) specified by the angle information with respect to the longitudinal direction of the antenna 122, which is a predetermined direction, is previously defined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the antenna 122. The counterclockwise direction is defined as the direction rotated in the display surface of the display screen 127 by the angle (-45 degrees) specified by the angle information. As a result, when the display surface of the display screen 127 is substantially horizontal, an arrow pointing to the destination (point A) is displayed on the display screen 127. Further, here, the length of the arrow is determined to be proportional to the distance of 200 m and the length of the arrow is 5 mm, so that the arrow having a length of about 3.2 cm is displayed. Then, the display data output unit 145 includes the image data of the arrow that matches the determined direction and length of the arrow, and the character image data of the number (1234m) indicating the distance at a predetermined position on the display screen 127. The generated image data is generated, and the generated image data is sent to the display signal generation unit 147. The display signal generation unit 147 displays the image data received from the display data output unit 145 on the display screen 127. FIG. 9 shows the display screen 1 in this way.
FIG. 28 is an enlarged view showing an arrow displayed on 27 and a numeral indicating the distance. The display on the display screen 127 will be described with reference to FIG. First, an arrow 901 directed to the destination (point A) is displayed on the display screen 127, and the distance 123 from the current location (point B) to the destination (point A) is displayed.
The number 903 indicating 4 m is displayed on the display screen 127. The length 905 of the arrow 901 is determined so as to be proportional to the distance, and here, as described above, about 3.
It is set to 2 cm. With the arrow 901 and the numeral 903 displayed on the display screen 127, the user can know that the destination (point A) exists in the direction of the arrow 901 displayed on the display screen 127, and The distance to (point A) can be roughly known by the length of the arrow 901, and the accurate distance to the destination (point A) can be known by the numeral 903 displayed on the display screen 127.

In this system, since the base station only needs to have the map information, each user does not need to update the map information of his / her own navigation system unlike the current navigation system. Since it is sufficient to update only the map information of the station, it is possible to reduce the maintenance cost of the navigation system that each user bears.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile station.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a mobile station.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a base station.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a base station.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation of a mobile station that accepts destination information, present location information, and reference direction information and transmits these pieces of information to a base station.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the mobile station for receiving information transmitted from the base station to the mobile station and transmitting the information to the user.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of the base station.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a situation on the mobile station side of the present system.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view showing a display screen of a mobile station displaying an arrow and a distance.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a current location of a mobile station as seen from a vertically upward direction as an (x, y) coordinate system.

[Explanation of symbols]

101 mobile station 110a CPU 110b RAM 110c ROM 110d interface 121 microphone 122 antenna 123 push button 125 transceiver 127 display screen 131 Audio signal reception unit 133 Speech analysis unit 135 phrase storage 137 Selector 139 Data generator 141 Data confirmation section 143 Display data generation unit 145 Display data output section 147 display signal generator 310a CPU 310b RAM 310c ROM 310d interface 313 Data server 315 Transceiver 317 Destination Current Location Recognition Unit 319 Distance calculation unit 321 Destination absolute direction determination unit 323 Reference direction recognition unit 325 Reference direction absolute direction determination unit 327 Relative direction determination unit 329 Direction / distance data generator 801 City Hall (reference) 901 arrow 903 number (number indicating distance) 905 arrow length

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── --Continued from the front page (56) References JP-A-10-38602 (JP, A) JP-A-10-197277 (JP, A) JP-A-10-229025 (JP, A) JP-A-2000-184431 (JP, A) JP 2000-205889 (JP, A) JP 2000-242885 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01C 21 / 00-21 / 36 G08G 1/005 G08G 1/09-1/0969 G09B 29/00-29/10 H04B 7/26

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A navigation system including a mobile station and a base station, wherein the base station receives destination information transmitted from the mobile station, and destination information receiving means for receiving the destination information from the mobile station. Present position information receiving means for receiving the transmitted current position information, reference direction information receiving means for receiving the reference direction information transmitted from the mobile station, the received destination information, the present position information and the reference direction information And a destination direction information transmitting means for transmitting information regarding the determined direction to the mobile station, the destination direction determining means for determining which direction the direction from the current position to the destination is relative to the reference direction. And a destination information transmitting means for transmitting the destination information relating to the destination to the base station, and a current location information transmitting means for transmitting the current location information relating to the current location to the base station. A step, a reference direction information transmitting means for receiving the reference direction and transmitting the reference direction information related thereto to the base station, and a target direction information receiving means for receiving information about the determined direction transmitted from the base station. And a destination direction transmitting means for transmitting the received information regarding the determined direction to the user. 2. The present location information includes a name relating to the present location, an administrative division display, a telephone number, a name of an adjacent target,
The system of claim 1, wherein the system is at least a portion of GPS location data. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein the destination information is at least a part of a name of the destination, an administrative division display, a telephone number, and a name of an adjacent target. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the reference direction is information regarding an angle in a horizontal plane with respect to a direction in which both the mobile station and the base station can recognize the same. 5. The system according to claim 4, wherein the recognizable direction is an absolute orientation. 6. The system according to claim 4, wherein the recognizable direction is a direction from the current position toward a reference object at a known position. 7. The system according to claim 6, wherein the reference object is an animal or an astronomical object. 8. The mobile station transmits a predetermined portion of the mobile station to the reference direction so that the mobile station transmits the determined direction to the user in association with the actual direction. 7. The system according to any one of 7. 9. The system according to claim 4, wherein the angle is substantially zero. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the destination information, the current location information, and the reference direction information is input from the user to the mobile station via voice. The system described in. 11. The system according to claim 1, wherein the destination direction transmitting means conveys information regarding the determined direction to the user by means of a synthetic voice. 12. The distance calculation means for calculating a distance from the current position to the destination using the received destination information and the current position information, and the base station stores information about the calculated distance. Distance information transmitting means for transmitting to the mobile station,
Further comprising, the mobile station, distance information receiving means for receiving information about the distance transmitted from the base station,
12. The system according to claim 1, further comprising distance information transmitting means for transmitting the received information regarding the distance to the user. 13. The system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile station is constituted by any one of a mobile phone, a PHS, and a portable computer. 14. The mobile station of the system according to claim 1. 15. The base station of the system according to claim 1.