JP3975902B2 - Server and data transfer method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to information communication using a communication terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Currently, positioning terminals equipped with a GPS (Global Positioning System) function and mobile terminals that can be connected to a mobile communication network are used as information communication terminals installed in motorcycles and automobiles. Yes. Among these, the positioning terminal receives radio waves transmitted from the artificial satellite group, measures the position of its own device using the received radio waves, and provides position information to the user.
[0003]
On the other hand, in addition to conventional voice communication, a mobile terminal provides a content distribution service by an information provider in recent years. In this type of content distribution service, for example, various contents such as traffic information and news are provided to the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-11-69404
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in any of these positioning terminals and mobile terminals, the information provided to the user is determined information such as position information and content created by the information provider. For this reason, the information that can be obtained by the user is limited to general contents, and it is difficult to say that the contents are practical.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is a server capable of providing practical information to a moving user. and Data transfer method The It is to provide.
[0008]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides data receiving means for receiving data transmitted from a first terminal, and data received by the data receiving means at a time when the first terminal transmits the data. Position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the first terminal, and accumulated position information in which information indicating the position where the first terminal existed in the past is accumulated in time series based on the position acquired by the position acquisition means. Remember At the same time, it stores a group management table that defines a group of multiple users. Storage means; With reference to the group management table, the group to which the first terminal belongs is obtained, and among the users included in the obtained group, the second terminals of other users excluding the user of the first terminal are The data received by the data receiving means and the accumulated position information related to the first terminal when the data is present around the position of the first terminal acquired by the position acquiring means; The And a data transfer means for transferring the server.
[0009]
Or According to such a server, the second terminal can receive the accumulated position information in which information indicating the position where the first terminal has existed in the past is accumulated. Thereby, the user of the second terminal can obtain the position of the first terminal, the travel route of the first terminal in the past, and the like.
[0010]
In addition, the present invention provides position information receiving means for receiving position information indicating the position of its own device from a server, storage means for accumulating and storing position information received by the position information receiving means, and the storage There is provided a terminal comprising: accumulated position information transmitting means for transmitting the position information accumulated by the means to a server.
[0011]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0012]
<Configuration>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, in the communication system, the in-vehicle terminal 100 moving with each of a plurality of users, a plurality of area servers 200a, 200b, 200c,..., And each area server 200a, 200b, 200c,. One central server 300.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the state of the area server 200a and its surroundings. As shown in this figure, the area server 200a has an antenna 204 that transmits a radio signal in accordance with a short-range wireless communication standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) or IEEE802.11. This antenna 204 is installed in a telephone pole, a vending machine, a store, etc. in the city, and provides the service area 202a by the transmitted electric wave. The service area 202a is an area where a terminal according to the wireless communication standard can communicate with the area server 200a. In this figure, the area server 200a forms a service area 202a whose radius is narrow (about several meters) by one antenna 204, but a wide area (several tens of meters) by a plurality of antennas 204. The service area 202a (meter to several kilometers) may be formed.
[0014]
In FIG. 1 again, the area server 200b provides a service area 202b, and the area server 200c provides a service area 202c. Each of these area servers 200a, 200b, and 200c is arranged so that the service areas 202a, 202b, and 202c are isolated from each other, and each area server 200a, 200b, 200c,. Area IDs are assigned. Here, the configurations of the area servers 200a, 200b, 200c,... Are the same. Therefore, in the following, when the area servers 200a, 200b, 200c,... And their service areas 202a, 202b, 202c,. The area code will be described as 202.
[0015]
The in-vehicle terminal 100 is a terminal mounted on the commuter 101, and is a communication terminal that performs wireless data communication with the area server 200 having jurisdiction over the service area 202 while in the service area 202. Here, the commuter 101 is a vehicle having driving force such as a bicycle with auxiliary power, a bicycle with a motor, an electric motorcycle, a motorcycle, and an automobile including a fuel cell vehicle. In each drawing, a commuter 101 using a motorcycle is illustrated. When the in-vehicle terminal 100 is in the service area 202, the in-vehicle terminal 100 uploads the data generated in its own device to the corresponding area server 200, while the in-vehicle terminal 100 generates the data in the other in-vehicle terminal 100 or the like. Downloaded data. Each in-vehicle terminal 100 is assigned a terminal ID for identifying each of them.
[0016]
Each area server 200 is connected to one central server 300 and selects data to be transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal 100 under the control of the central server 300. More specifically, the users of each in-vehicle terminal 100 form a user group in which a plurality of users are grouped, and all the users belong to one of the user groups. The central server 300 manages whether each in-vehicle terminal 100 is a user in-vehicle terminal 100 belonging to which user group. In the area server 200, various data are distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 according to the user group associated with the in-vehicle terminal 100.
In this figure, the central server 300 and each area server 200 are directly connected, but various networks, devices for connection, and the like may be interposed between them.
[0017]
Next, the configuration of the area server 200 will be described with reference to FIG. In this figure, a processing unit 210 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, and controls each component through a bus 201. The processing unit 210 incorporates a timer clock that supplies a signal indicating time.
[0018]
The storage unit 220 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk, and the like, and includes a control program executed by the processing unit 210, an area information management table for managing area information, Stores area history table and the like. Here, the area information is information created by the user in the in-vehicle terminal 100 and is regional information regarding the periphery of the service area 202. More specifically, the area information is, for example, text information such as traffic information, store information, and event information, and is useful information for a user who moves in the vicinity of the service area 202. The area information is not limited to character information, and includes image data as well as sound data in which the sound of the user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the environmental sound of the service area 202 are recorded. On the other hand, the area history table is a table that is generated in the in-vehicle terminal 100 and stores information indicating the service area 202 in which each in-vehicle terminal 100 is located in the past, and details thereof will be described later.
[0019]
The communication unit 230 includes two types of communication interfaces. That is, a wireless communication interface for providing the service area 202 and wirelessly connecting to the in-vehicle terminal 100 and a communication interface for connecting to the central server 300. Among these, the wireless communication interface receives the area information and area history table generated in the in-vehicle terminal 100 from the in-vehicle terminal 100, or sends the received area information and area history table to the other in-vehicle terminal 100. Or
[0020]
Next, the area information management table and the area history table stored in the storage unit 220 of the area server 200 will be described in detail.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an area information management table. As shown in this figure, one record in the area information management table TBL1 is a set of “terminal ID”, “user name”, “location flag”, “write time”, and “area information”. Yes. Among these, “area information” stores area information uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100 corresponding to the terminal ID. For convenience of explanation, in this figure, only character information is shown as area information. However, as described above, area information includes sound data, image data, and the like.
[0021]
The “user name” stores the user name of the corresponding in-vehicle terminal 100. When the location flag is “1”, it indicates that the in-vehicle terminal 100 (user) is in the service area 202, and when it is “0”, the in-vehicle terminal 100 is in service. This indicates that the user is not in the area 202. The “write time” indicates the time when the area information is uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100.
[0022]
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an area history table related to one in-vehicle terminal 100 stored in the storage unit 220. As shown in this figure, one record of the area history table TBL2 includes “area name”, “area in time”, and “area out time”. Among these, the “area name” stores the name of the service area 202 where the in-vehicle terminal 100 has been in the past. For example, “A station south exit” indicating the service area 202a or “B” indicating the service area 202b. “Station East Exit”, “C Station North Exit” indicating the service area 202c, and the like are stored. Further, “area in time” indicates the time when the in-vehicle terminal 100 is area-in to the service area 202, and “area out time” indicates the time when the area is out of the service area 202. For example, in FIG. 5, the in-vehicle terminal 100 is located in the service area 202 a indicated by “A station south exit” during the period from “12:20” to “12:21”. . The area history table TBL2 is stored in the storage unit 220 in association with the terminal ID of the in-vehicle terminal 100 that uploaded the area history table TBL2.
[0023]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the in-vehicle terminal 100. In this figure, a processing unit 110 includes a CPU, and controls each component constituting part via a bus 102. The control executed by the processing unit 110 includes area-in detection processing for detecting whether or not the in-vehicle terminal 100 has entered the service area 202, packet data reception processing for receiving various data from the area server 200, and area There are processes related to generation of information and area history table TBL2. The processing unit 110 has a built-in timer clock for supplying a time signal indicating the time, and this time signal is used for timer interrupt processing and the like.
[0024]
The storage unit 120 includes, for example, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, an optical disk, and the like, and includes a control program executed by the processing unit 110, area information and area history table TBL2 generated by the processing unit 110, and the area server 200. The received area information and area history table TBL2 are stored. Of the area history table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 120, the area history table TBL2 generated by the processing unit 110 is updated with a date (for example, at 00:00 every day). Will reset its contents. For this reason, only the information regarding the service area 202 in which the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 was located on the day is stored in the area history table TBL2. On the other hand, of the area history table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 120, the area history table TBL2 downloaded from the area server 200 is stored in association with the terminal ID indicating the in-vehicle terminal 100 that generated the area history table TBL2. Is done.
[0025]
The communication unit 130 is a wireless communication interface for connecting to the area server 200 via the service area 202, and transmits and receives area information and the area history table TBL2. More specifically, the communication unit 130 transmits the area information and area history table TBL2 generated by the processing unit 110 to the area server 200, while the area information and area history generated in the other in-vehicle terminal 100 are transmitted. The table TBL2 is received from the area server 200. At this time, the communication unit 130 communicates with the area server 200 by a packet switching method.
[0026]
The input unit 140 is a user interface for the user to input area information, instructions, and the like. In addition to operators such as character input and push button switches for inputting instructions, the commuter 101 is turned on. Various instructions input from the user are supplied to the processing unit 110 via the bus 102 via an operator such as a / off switch, an accelerator, and a brake. As an instruction input from the user via the input unit 140, for example, there is an instruction for uploading area information, and the input unit 140 supplies the instruction to the processing unit 110 as an upload instruction signal.
[0027]
Note that the input unit 140 is not limited to an operator such as a push button switch, and may be any user interface that can input area information and various instructions. For example, as the input unit 140, a microphone for inputting a user's voice or the like, an imaging element for capturing a user's image, or the like can be used.
[0028]
When speech is input from the microphone, the processing unit 110 may store the speech as sound data in the storage unit 120, or after converting the speech into text data using speech recognition technology, the storage unit stores the speech data as text data. 120 may be stored. Further, the processing unit 110 stores an image captured by the image sensor in the storage unit 120 as image data, and detects a user command using image data obtained by imaging. More specifically, the processing unit 110 captures a user's image at a fixed time interval using an image sensor, detects a time-series change of the user's image using the captured image data, and changes the user's image. A process associated in advance may be executed. Thereby, the user can input various processing commands by gestures.
[0029]
Furthermore, as the input unit 120, a port for connecting to a mobile phone or an external device including a user interface (operation button or microphone) such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) may be provided. These external devices generally have a control unit, a storage unit, and the like in addition to a user interface. For this reason, the information input by the user may be temporarily cached in the storage unit of the external device, and the cache data may be input to the in-vehicle terminal 100 via the port. Of course, the user interface (keyboard and microphone) itself can be connected via the port. Here, USB (Universal Serial Bus), IEEE 1394, IrDA (Infrared Data Association), or the like can be used as a port data transmission standard. In addition, since the communication unit 130 described above has a wireless communication function, the communication unit 130 can be used as the input unit 120.
[0030]
The output unit 150 is a user interface for outputting various types of information to the user. For example, the output unit 150 outputs a display device such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), a liquid crystal panel, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and sounds. Audio devices. Among these, the display device displays characters input via the input unit 140 or the area information received from the area server 200 when the user creates the area information. In addition, when the audio device receives the area information from the area server 200, the audio device outputs a notification sound (melody etc.) indicating that, or when the area information is text data, the audio data is obtained by converting the text data into voice data. According to the sound. The sound data output via the audio device may be sound data stored in advance in the storage unit 120, or may be sound data downloaded from the area server 200.
[0031]
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the central server 300.
In this figure, a processing unit 310 includes a CPU and the like, and controls each component unit via a bus 301. The communication unit 330 is a communication interface for connecting to the area server 200. The storage unit 320 includes, for example, a ROM, a RAM, a hard disk, and the like, and stores a control program executed by the processing unit 310, a user group management table, and the like.
[0032]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a user group management table stored in the storage unit 320. As shown in this figure, “terminal ID” and “group ID” are associated with one record in the user group management table TBL3. “Group ID” is an identifier indicating a user group to which a user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 specified by the terminal ID belongs.
[0033]
<Operation>
Next, the operation in the communication system will be described.
In the following description of the operation, first, the area-in detection process and the packet data reception process executed in the in-vehicle terminal 100 will be described, and then the entire system will be described.
[0034]
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the area-in detection process. This process is executed by the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 and detects whether the in-vehicle terminal 100 has entered the service area 202. The area-in detection process is a process in which a timer interrupt is performed by the processing unit 110 in accordance with a time signal supplied from a timer clock.
[0035]
First, the processing unit 110 determines whether or not the radio signal transmitted from the area server 200 has been received through the communication unit 130 at a signal level equal to or higher than a threshold value (step Sa1). Here, the radio wave signal transmitted from the area server 200 includes an area ID indicating which radio wave signal is transmitted from which area server 200. If the determination result of step Sa1 is negative, the processing unit 110 determines that the in-vehicle terminal 100 is not located in the service area 202, and returns the processing procedure to step Sa1 when a predetermined time has elapsed.
[0036]
On the other hand, if the determination result in step Sa1 is affirmative, the processing unit 110 stores the area ID included in the radio wave signal received in step Sa1 in the RAM included in the storage unit 120 as newID. The new ID is information indicating the service area 202 where the in-vehicle terminal 100 is currently located, and is the area ID of the service area 202.
[0037]
Next, the processing unit 110 determines whether or not the newID stored in step Sa2 matches the curID stored in the RAM. Here, curID is the area ID of the service area 202 that was last visited among the service areas 202 where the in-vehicle terminal 100 was located in the timer interrupt processing up to the previous time. Note that, in the first timer interrupt process in which no curID exists, the determination result of step Sa3 is negative.
[0038]
Here, if the determination result of step Sa3 is affirmative, the processing unit 110 determines that the area is not in the new service area 202, and returns the processing procedure to step Sa1 after a certain period of time has elapsed.
[0039]
On the other hand, if the determination result in step Sa3 is negative, the processing unit 110 has entered the new service area 202 in the in-vehicle terminal 100, and first stores the current ID in the RAM as curID (step Sa4). . Next, the processing unit 110 executes a connection authentication process with the area server 200 and establishes a data link (step Sa5). The time when this data link is established is recorded in the storage unit 120 as area in time. Then, the processing unit 110 returns the processing procedure to step Sa1 again after a predetermined time has elapsed so as to detect an area-in to the new service area 202.
[0040]
Next, packet data reception processing will be described with reference to FIG. This process is a data packet (hereinafter referred to as “packet”) such as area information transmitted from the area server 200 by the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 after the establishment of the data link in step Sa5 in the area-in detection process. Is received, and data such as area information is restored from the packet.
[0041]
First, the processing unit 110 stores “0” indicating the initial value as a packet ID in the RAM included in the storage unit 120 (step Sb1). The packet ID is a serial number (starting with “0”) added to the packet transmitted from the area server 200, and the processing unit 110 uses the packet ID stored in the RAM as a pointer.
[0042]
Next, the processing unit 110 receives a radio wave modulated by one packet (signal) transmitted from the area server 200 via the communication unit 130, and demodulates the received radio wave to restore the packet (signal). (Step Sb2). Note that the processing unit 110 executes packet error correction processing when restoring the packet in step Sb2.
[0043]
Next, the processing unit 110 determines whether or not the packet ID included in the restored packet is equal to the packet ID stored in the RAM (step Sb3). If the determination result is negative, the processing unit 110 repeats the processes of step Sb2 and step Sb3 to receive a packet corresponding to the packet ID stored in the RAM.
[0044]
Next, the processing unit 110 determines whether or not the packet restored in step Sb2 is the terminal packet among the packets transmitted from the area server 200 (step Sb4). For this determination, a flag included in the packet, specifically, a flag indicating whether or not the packet is a terminal packet among all the packets is used. If the determination result is negative, the processing unit 110 increments the packet ID stored in the RAM by “1” (step Sb6), and returns the processing procedure to step Sb2 to receive all packets.
On the other hand, if the determination result of step Sb4 is affirmative, the processing unit 110 has received all packets, and outputs data such as area information via the output unit 150 (image output or audio output) ( Step Sb5).
[0045]
When the in-vehicle terminal 100 receives a packet when moving, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may be out of the service area 202 before receiving all the packets even though the reception of the packet is started. is there. Hereinafter, this point will be described. Now, the moving distance of the in-vehicle terminal 100 in the service area 202 is L, the moving speed of the in-vehicle terminal 100 is V, the data transmission speed between the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the area server 200 is R, and the total data amount is A. If the coefficient due to transmission delay and processing time is α,
The moving speed V is
V> L × R / (A + α) (Formula 1)
When satisfy | filling, the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 will carry out an area out, without completing reception of data. Therefore, when determining parameters such as the diameter of the service area 202 and the data transmission speed R that affect the moving distance L of the in-vehicle terminal 100, the moving speed V of the in-vehicle terminal 100 in the service area 202 and the transmission It may be determined in consideration of the data amount A to be processed.
[0046]
Next, the overall operation of the communication system will be described with reference to FIG. This operation is performed by the in-vehicle terminal 100 that has entered the service area 202c (area name: “C station north exit”) after uploading the area information and the area history table TBL2 generated in its own device to the area server 200c. In this process, the area information generated in the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the area history table TBL2 are downloaded from the area server 200c. As a premise, it is assumed that the user has created area information related to the periphery of the service area 202c in advance in the in-vehicle terminal 100 before entering the service area 202c. Further, the area server 200c has area information and an area history table TBL1 to be distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 focused on in this operation description. Here, the area information and area history table TBL2 to be distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 are the area information and area uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100 corresponding to the user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 and other users belonging to the same user group. This is the history table TBL2. This process is executed in parallel with the area-in detection process, the packet data reception process, and the like executed by the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 described above.
[0047]
First, it is assumed that the user moves to the service area 202c together with the in-vehicle terminal 100 (step Sc1). As described above, when the in-vehicle terminal 100 moves into the service area 202c, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 detects that the in-vehicle terminal 100 has moved to the service area 202c by the above-described area-in detection process, and sends it to the area server 200c. A connection request signal CS is sent out (step Sc2).
[0048]
When receiving the connection request signal CS transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 100, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c transmits the connection approval signal PS to the in-vehicle terminal 100 if the connection request signal CS is valid. (Step Sc3). The connection approval signal PS includes information indicating the area name “C station north exit” of the service area 202c.
[0049]
When receiving the connection approval signal PS sent from the area server 200c, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 updates the area history table TBL2 (step Sc4). For example, suppose that the in-vehicle terminal 100 newly enters the service area 202c and receives the connection approval signal PS from the area server 200c under the situation where the area history table TBL2 is shown in the upper part of FIG. . At this time, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 adds the area name “C station north exit” to the area history table TBL2 and uses the time signal supplied from the timer clock, as shown in the lower part of FIG. A time (for example, “18:40”) is added.
Note that when the in-vehicle terminal 100 is area-out from the service area 202c, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 stores the time as the area out time in the area history table TBL2.
[0050]
Next, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 sends the area history table TBL2 updated in Step Sc4 to the area server 200c (Step Sc5). At this time, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 sends the area history table TBL2 after adding the terminal ID of the own device to the area history table TBL2.
[0051]
When receiving the area history table TBL2 sent from the in-vehicle terminal 100, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c stores the area history table TBL2 and the terminal ID in association with each other in the storage unit 220. Next, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c transmits the terminal ID (SS) to the central server 300 (step Sc6).
[0052]
When the processing unit 310 of the central server 300 receives the terminal ID (SS) transmitted from the area server 200c, the processing unit 310 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 uses the user group management table TBL3 (FIG. 8) stored in the storage unit 330. The group ID of the user group to which the user belongs is specified (step Sc7). For example, if the terminal ID received from the area server 200c is “XXXX001”, the processing unit 310 of the central server 300 refers to the user group management table TBL3 shown in FIG. The group ID “G1” of the user group to which it belongs is specified.
[0053]
Next, the processing unit 110 of the central server 300 sends the terminal ID group (GS) associated with the group ID “G1” identified in step Sc7, that is, other users included in the same user group as the user of interest. The corresponding terminal ID group is transmitted to the area server 200c (step Sc8). At this time, the processing unit 310 of the central server 300 as the terminal ID group (GS), among all the terminal IDs associated with the group ID “G1”, the terminal ID “ “XXXX001” is not transmitted. For example, in the user group management table TBL3 illustrated in FIG. 8, the processing unit 310 excludes “XXXX001” from the terminal IDs associated with the group ID “G1”, “XXXX002”, “XXXX005”, “ The terminal IDs of “XXX007”,... Are transmitted to the area server 200c as a terminal ID group (GS).
[0054]
When receiving the terminal ID group (GS) from the central server 300, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c selects data to be transmitted to the in-vehicle terminal 100 according to the terminal ID group (GS) (step Sc9). More specifically, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c selects area information corresponding to the terminal ID included in the terminal ID group (GS) from all the area information stored in the storage unit 220, and The area history table TBL2 corresponding to the terminal ID included in the terminal ID group (GS) is selected from all the area history tables TBL2 stored in the storage unit 220. Next, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c sends the selected area information AD and area history table TBL2 to the in-vehicle terminal 100 (step Sc10). At this time, the processing unit 110 of the area server 200c adds the “user name”, “location flag”, and “write time” included in the area information management table TBL1 to the area information AD, and then sends the area information AD. To do.
[0055]
When the area information AD and the area history table TBL2 are transmitted from the area server 200c, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 receives the data by the packet data reception process described above, and stores the received data in the storage unit 120. Store (step Sc11). By the process of step Sc11, the in-vehicle terminal 100 can provide each of the area information AD and the area history table TBL2 to the user via the output unit 150. Note that the operation of providing the user with the area information and the area history table TBL2 in the in-vehicle terminal 100 is not directly related to the operation of the entire system, and the details thereof will be described later.
[0056]
Next, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 is in a standby state until an upload signal indicating upload of area information is input from the input unit 140 (step Sc12). Here, when an upload signal is input by the user via the input unit 140, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 reads out the area information around the service area 202c created by the user in advance from the storage unit 120. The area information AD is sent to the area server 200c (step Sc13). At this time, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 sends the area information AD after adding the terminal ID and the user name.
[0057]
When receiving the area information AD sent from the in-vehicle terminal 100, the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c stores the area information AD in the area information management table TBL1 (see FIG. 4) stored in the storage unit 220 (step 4). Sc14). At this time, in addition to the area information AD, the processing unit 210 stores the terminal ID, the user name, and the reception time (write time) of the area information AD in the area information management table TBL1, and also manages the area information management. The in-zone flag in the table TBL1 is set to “1”. In this way, the area information stored in the area information management table TBL1 is stored in the service area 202c by the processing unit 210 when the in-vehicle terminal 100 corresponding to another user included in the same user group as the user is in the service area 202c. Will be distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100.
Note that the processing unit 210 of the area server 200c sets the location flag in the area information management table TBL1 to “0” when the in-vehicle terminal 100 goes out of the area. Here, the connection confirmation is periodically performed between the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the area server 200, and the area server 200 regards the in-vehicle terminal 100 that has not been able to confirm the connection for a predetermined period as being out of the area. Similarly, in the case where the in-vehicle terminal 100 does not confirm the connection for a predetermined period, it is considered that the area is out of the service area 202 provided by the area server 200. The in-vehicle terminal 100 detects the time when the area is out, and records the time as the area out time described above.
[0058]
Here, the operation of providing the user with the area information stored in the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the area history table TBL2 through the output unit 150 in step Sc11 described above will be described. The output unit 150 includes a display device and an audio device. For convenience of explanation, an example in which the display device provides the area information and the area history table TBL2 will be described.
[0059]
First, when the area information and the area history table TBL2 are stored in step Sc11, the processing unit 110 of the in-vehicle terminal 100 stores the information in the display device 152 included in the output unit 150 as illustrated in FIG. One area information 154 of the area information is displayed. At this time, the processing unit 110 creates the “user name (in this example, the number)” that created the area information 154, whether or not the user is in the service area, and “write time (in this example, 18 in this example). : 30) "etc. are displayed together with the area information. Here, the area information 154 is local area information created by another user who has actually entered the service area 202c. Therefore, the area information 154 is information provided by the information provider of the same viewpoint for the user who moves around the service area 202c, and the user can obtain information closely related to the area.
[0060]
Further, when displaying the area information 154, the display device 152 displays a soft button 156 that prompts the display of the area history table TBL2 of the area information provider (“centa” in this example). The user can press the soft button 156 by operating a specific button or the like included in the input unit 140 of the in-vehicle terminal 100. When the user presses the soft button 156 under this situation, the processing unit 110 displays the “centa” area history table TBL2 on the display device 152 as illustrated in FIG. Thereby, the user can grasp the behavior of the other user, such as the route until the other user arrives at “C station north exit (service area 202c)” and the time required to arrive.
[0061]
Further, when displaying the area history table TBL2, the display device 152 displays a soft button 158 that prompts the display of the next area information. When the soft button 158 is pressed by the user, the processing unit 110 shifts the screen to the next area information.
For convenience of explanation, in this operation example, the various information displayed on the display device 152 is assumed to have the information content (screen) transferred by pressing the soft buttons 154 and 158 by the user. 110 may be configured to shift the screen at regular intervals.
[0062]
As described above, according to the communication system according to the present embodiment, when the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 passes through the service area 202, the in-vehicle terminal 100 can receive the area information of the service area 202 and provide the area information to the user. . In other words, the user can receive area information from the area server 200 according to the position at the time of movement.
[0063]
Here, in the conventional content distribution service, the content (information) created by the information provider is unilaterally distributed to the information receiver. On the other hand, according to the communication system, area information created by other users who are actually located in the same service area 202 is distributed to the users. For this reason, the user can obtain practical information closely related to the area.
[0064]
In addition, the user can not only receive the distribution of area information from the area server 200 but also create area information for other users. Thereby, compared with a content delivery service, regional information can be exchanged between users, and user-participatory information communication is provided. In addition, since the central server 300 distributes area information according to the user group, each user exchanges various types of information related to a common topic in the user group if the user group is formed so that the preferences of the users match each other. It becomes possible to do.
[0065]
Furthermore, since each area server 200 can acquire the area history table TBL2 of the in-vehicle terminal 100, the following can be considered as an application example of the communication system.
For example, the user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 may be regarded as a traffic consumer, and the communication system may be used for traffic volume survey. With such a configuration, each area server 200 can accurately grasp the travel time in addition to the user's travel route. Thereby, the investigator of traffic volume can grasp a user's trip information in detail and correctly.
[0066]
Further, even in a store where the area server 200 is arranged, an area history table TBL2 uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100 can accurately acquire a travel route until the user visits the store, and therefore, an effective determination material at the time of marketing. Can be obtained.
[0067]
Note that users of terminals (in-vehicle terminals 100) that upload or download various types of information to the area server 200 include operators who operate the communication system. This operator can provide various services such as a stamp rally and an information distribution service through the communication system.
[0068]
Of these, the stamp rally can be implemented as follows. That is, in the area server 200, by determining whether each in-vehicle terminal 100 has passed the service area 202 specified in advance by the operator using the area history table TBL2 stored in the storage unit 220, It is determined whether or not the user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 has passed through the specified service area 202. In such a stamp rally, the route (order) of passage between the service areas 202 to be passed may be random, or the order may be defined.
[0069]
On the other hand, the information distribution service is a service for distributing various types of information from the area server 200 to the in-vehicle terminal 100 such as a so-called car navigation system. Information distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 includes store information around the area server, sound data, and the like.
[0070]
This sound data includes sound data used as BGM during driving and sound data used as various notification sounds (blinker sound, horn, etc.) for driving the commuter 101. When distributing sound data for BGM to the in-vehicle terminal 100, sound data such as music symbolizing the corresponding service area 202 may be distributed for each area server 200.
[0071]
In addition, each piece of partial sound data (for example, sound data for each part related to one piece of music) is distributed from a separate area server 200, and the in-vehicle terminal 100 receives one piece of data from each area server 200. By downloading all sound data related to the music, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may be able to output the music in a complete form. As a result, variations in music distribution become widespread.
The sound data for BGM is preferably MIDI (Musical Instruments Digital Interface) data composed of a musical tone control event sequence.
[0072]
By the way, some of the electric motorcycles are known that electrically output a traveling sound so as to call attention to a pedestrian in the vicinity while traveling. According to the communication system, it is possible to distribute sound data related to the output of traveling sound to the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on this type of electric motorcycle according to the area in which the vehicle is located. For example, the area server 200 located in a noisy area such as a downtown area distributes sound data related to a traveling sound that is easy to hear even in noise, while the area server 200 located in a relatively noisy area such as a residential area Sound data related to running sound that does not adversely affect the surrounding sound environment may be distributed. The sound data distributed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 in this way may be usable only during the service area 202 corresponding to the in-vehicle terminal 100, or regardless of the service area 202 in which the in-vehicle terminal 100 is present. It may be usable.
[0073]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various applications, improvements, modifications, and the like can be added to the embodiment.
For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the area server 200 is arranged so that the service areas 202 are isolated from each other has been described. However, as illustrated in FIG. 200 may be arranged. In this figure, the service area 202b by the area server 200b and the service area 202c by the area server 200c are configured such that a part of those areas (area BC in the figure) overlaps. The service area 202d by the area server 200d is accommodated in the service area 202c. The in-vehicle terminal 100 can exchange the area information and the area history table TBL2 with each of the area servers 200b and 200c while in the area BC.
[0074]
In-vehicle terminal 100 can exchange data such as area information and area history table TBL2 with each of area servers 200c and 200d while in service area 202d. In this way, by arranging the service area 202d inside the service area 202c, the area information regarding the local area (service area 202d) inside the service area 202c is distributed from the area server 200d to the in-vehicle terminal 100. It becomes possible to do.
[0075]
In the in-vehicle terminal 100 that has downloaded data from the area server 200d, the data may be displayed alone, or may be displayed in a form that is added (added in) to the data downloaded from the area server 200c. Which method the in-vehicle terminal 100 displays the data downloaded from the area server 200d may be displayed in accordance with a control signal included in the data.
[0076]
In the above-described embodiment, an example in which various data such as area information and area history table TBL2 is delivered from the area server 200 to the in-vehicle terminal 100 under the control of the central server 300 is not limited thereto. . For example, as shown in FIG. 15, various data may be distributed from the stand-alone area servers 200a, 200b, 200c,. In such a configuration, each area server 200a, 200b, 200c,... Plays the role of the central server 300 in addition to the role of the area server 200 described above. That is, the user group management table TBL3 is stored in the storage unit 220 of the area server 200, and the processing unit 210 of the area server 200 transmits the area information and area history table to each in-vehicle terminal 100 according to the user group management table TBL3. Distribute TBL2. According to such a configuration, a network connecting the stand-alone area server 200 and the central server 300 is not required, and the configuration of the communication system is simplified.
The area server 200 connected to the central server 300 and the stand-alone area server 200 may be mixed.
[0077]
In the embodiment described above, the example in which the area information and the area history table TBL2 are distributed from the area server 200 to the in-vehicle terminal 100 has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, as shown in FIG. 16, the area information and the area history table TBL2 are distributed from the single central server 300 connected to each of the plurality of base stations 302a, 302b, 302c,. Also good. More specifically, the base station 302a provides a service area 202a for the central server 300 to perform wireless communication with the in-vehicle terminal 100. Similarly, the base station 302b provides a service area 202b, and the base station 302c provides a service area 202c. The central server 300 receives the area information and the area history table TBL2 from the in-vehicle terminal 100 via the base stations 302a, 302b, 302c,..., The received data, and the in-vehicle terminals located in any service area 202 The information indicating whether or not received from 100 is stored in association with the information. Then, the central server 300 distributes the stored data to other in-vehicle terminals 100 that are in the corresponding service area 202.
[0078]
In the above-described embodiment, the area history table TBL2 is stored in the area server 200 and distributed from the area server 200 to the in-vehicle terminal 100. However, the area history table TBL2 is stored in the central server 300 and is stored in the central server. It is good also as a structure distributed to the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 from 300 via the area server 200. FIG. With such a configuration, the in-vehicle terminal 100 can download the area history table TBL2 for the other in-vehicle terminal 100 from the central server 300 regardless of the service area 202 that is in the area. As a result, the user obtains information on which service area 202 the other user included in the user group is currently in, information indicating what route the user has moved to the current service area 202, and the like. It becomes possible to do.
[0079]
In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the area server 200 and the in-vehicle terminal 100 are connected wirelessly has been described. However, a wired connection may be used. For example, the area server 200 is installed in a stand that supplies energy (electricity, gasoline, etc.) to the commuter 101, and wired such as Ethernet (registered trademark), USB, IEEE 1394, etc., to each of the in-vehicle terminal 100 and the area server 200. It is good also as a structure which provides the interface according to a connection standard, and transmits area information and area history table TBL2 between the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 and the area server 200 via those interfaces.
[0080]
In the embodiment described above, the in-vehicle terminal 100 generates the area history table TBL2, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the central server 300 may generate the area history table TBL2 for each in-vehicle terminal 100. More specifically, when the in-vehicle terminal 100 enters the service area 202, the area server 200 transmits an area ID indicating the position of the in-vehicle terminal 100 together with the terminal ID of the in-vehicle terminal 100 to the central server 300. To do. The central server 300 generates the area history table TBL2 for each in-vehicle terminal 100 using the terminal ID and the area ID received from the area server 200. Then, the area history table TBL2 generated by the central server 300 is distributed to other in-vehicle terminals 100 via the area server 200.
[0081]
In the embodiment described above, each of the area information and the area history table TBL2 is distributed according to the user group to which the user of the in-vehicle terminal 100 belongs, but is not limited thereto. For example, all or a part of data uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100 to the area server 200 may be distributed to all other in-vehicle terminals 100 regardless of the user group.
[0082]
In the embodiment described above, the in-vehicle terminal 100 is configured to temporarily store various data received from the area server 200 in the storage unit 120 and then output the data via the output unit 150. Various data distributed from the area server 200 may be reproduced in a streaming format.
[0083]
In the above-described embodiment, all the in-vehicle terminals 100 can perform bidirectional communication with the area server 200, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the communication system may include a vehicle-mounted terminal that can only upload data, or may include a vehicle-mounted terminal that can only download data.
[0084]
In the embodiment described above, each of the in-vehicle terminal 100 that uploads data to the area server 200 and the in-vehicle terminal 100 that downloads the data from the area server 200 uploads or downloads data in one service area 202. It was necessary to do it, but it is not limited to this. That is, the positional relationship between the in-vehicle terminal 100 to be uploaded and the in-vehicle terminal 100 to be downloaded does not necessarily have to be based on one service area 202, and the distance between the in-vehicle terminals 100 covers the entire communication system. What is necessary is just to be close in the area. For this reason, for example, the position of each in-vehicle terminal 100 is detected using GPS or the like, and data such as area information is transferred between the adjacent in-vehicle terminals 100 via the area server 200 according to the detection result. It is good also as composition to do.
[0085]
In the embodiment described above, the in-vehicle terminal 100 is configured to be mounted on the commuter 101, but is not limited thereto. That is, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may be any communication terminal that can move between the service areas 202 together with the user.
[0086]
In the above-described embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the in-vehicle terminal 100 uses information indicating the position of another in-vehicle terminal 100 (area history table TBL2) triggered by an area in to the service area 202 of the own device. Although the example which receives delivery was shown, it is not restricted to this. That is, the in-vehicle terminal 100 may receive the location information of the other in-vehicle terminal 100 by using the area in of the other in-vehicle terminal 100 as a trigger instead of the own apparatus.
[0087]
More specifically, in FIG. 17, the central server 300 has jurisdiction over a plurality (two in FIG. 17) of service areas 202 including a service area 202a provided by the base station 302a and a service area 202b provided by the base station 302b. When the central server 300 detects that the in-vehicle terminal 100a has entered the service area 202a, the central server 300 distributes area-in information AI indicating the fact to the in-vehicle terminal 100b located in the service area 302b. When the in-vehicle terminal 100b receives the area-in information AI from the central server 300, the in-vehicle terminal 100b notifies the user B via the output unit 150 that the in-vehicle terminal 100a has entered the service area 202a. As this notification method, various methods such as a method of displaying as character information in the output unit 150 and a method of notifying the user B by a sound previously associated with the notification content can be used. Thereby, the user B of the vehicle-mounted terminal 100b can acquire information indicating the position of the user A every time the user A of the other vehicle-mounted terminal 100a enters the area. In other words, the user B can always obtain the latest position information of the user A only by staying in the service area 202 (202b in this example) without moving to the area-in.
[0088]
Moreover, it is good also as a structure which the user B instruct | indicates the download of the positional information regarding the registered vehicle-mounted terminal 100 by registering terminal ID of the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 which a friend etc. have to the vehicle-mounted terminal 100b, for example. More specifically, when the user B inputs a terminal ID corresponding to the in-vehicle terminal 100 that desires distribution of position information through the input unit 140, the in-vehicle terminal 100b stores the input terminal ID in the storage unit 120. To remember. Next, when the in-vehicle terminal 100b enters the service area 202b, the in-vehicle terminal 100b transmits the terminal ID stored in the storage unit 120 to the central server 300. On the other hand, when receiving the terminal ID transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 100b, the central server 300 distributes the position information of the in-vehicle terminal 100 corresponding to the terminal ID to the in-vehicle terminal 100b. Thereby, the user B can know where other users, such as a friend who owns the registered in-vehicle terminal 100, are located.
[0089]
As an application example of the in-vehicle terminal 100b, a configuration in which a notification sound is output when position information is received can be considered. When the notification sound is output in this manner, by outputting a different notification sound for each in-vehicle terminal 100 corresponding to the position information, the user B can determine which other user has received the position information. Can be recognized.
[0090]
In addition, when the central server 300 distributes the position information related to the in-vehicle terminal 100a to the in-vehicle terminal 100b, the central server 300 may attach the sound data uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100a to the position information. Thereby, in the vehicle-mounted terminal 100b, when each of the positional information regarding the vehicle-mounted terminal 100a and the sound data is received from the central server 300, the user emits sound according to the sound data and indicates that the positional information has been received. Can be notified. However, the sound data attached to the position information is not limited to the sound data uploaded from the in-vehicle terminal 100a, but is stored in advance in the base station 302, the storage unit 320 of the central server 300, and the like. Sound data may be attached to the position information.
[0091]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a server from which a moving user can obtain practical information. and Data transfer method But Provided.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an area server included in the communication system.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an area server included in the communication system.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an area information management table stored in the area server.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an area history table stored in the area server.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an in-vehicle terminal included in the communication system.
FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a central server included in the communication system.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a user group management table stored in the central server.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing area-in detection processing executed in the in-vehicle terminal.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing packet data reception processing executed in the in-vehicle terminal.
FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the entire communication system.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing how the area history table is updated.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a display example in the in-vehicle terminal.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a modified example of the present invention.
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a modified example of the present invention.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a modified example of the present invention.
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a configuration of a communication system according to a modified example of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Car-mounted terminal, 101 ... Commuter, 110 ... Processing part, 120 ... Memory | storage part, 130 ... Communication part, 140 ... Input part, 150 ... Output part, 200, 200a, 200b, 200c ... Area server, 202, 202a, 202b 202c ... service area, 204 ... antenna, 210 ... processing unit, 220 ... storage unit, 230 ... communication unit, 300 ... central server, 310 ... processing unit, 320 ... storage unit, 330 ... communication unit.

Claims (4)

Data receiving means for receiving data transmitted from the first terminal;
Position acquisition means for acquiring the position of the first terminal at the time when the data received by the data reception means is transmitted by the first terminal;
Based on the position acquired by the position acquisition means, information indicating the position where the first terminal has existed in the past is stored in accumulated time position information, and a group of a plurality of users is set. Storage means for storing a prescribed group management table ;
With reference to the group management table, the group to which the first terminal belongs is obtained, and among the users included in the obtained group, the second terminals of other users excluding the user of the first terminal are The data received by the data receiving means and the accumulated position information related to the first terminal when the data is present around the position of the first terminal acquired by the position acquiring means; Data transfer means for transferring
A server comprising: The terminal sends data to the server,
The server
Cumulative position information in which information indicating the position of the terminal at the time when the terminal transmits the data and the position where the terminal has existed in the past is received while receiving data transmitted from the terminal , and a plurality of A group management table that defines a group of users in a group is stored in the storage means;
With reference to the group management table, the group to which the first terminal belongs is obtained, and among the users included in the obtained group, the second terminals of other users excluding the user of the first terminal are A data transfer method characterized by transferring the received data and the accumulated position information to the second terminal when it exists around the position of the first terminal acquired by the position acquisition means . The data according to claim 2 , wherein the server receives the cumulative position information from the first terminal and stores the received cumulative position information before storing the cumulative position information. Transfer method. The server detects the position of the first terminal before storing the accumulated position information, generates the accumulated position information using a detection result, and stores the generated accumulated position information. The data transfer method according to claim 2 , wherein:

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