JP4007175B2 - Location search device - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a position search apparatus that searches for position information corresponding to a telephone number from an input telephone number.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, as a destination setting method in a car navigation apparatus, for example, there is a method disclosed in Patent Document 1.
[0003]
In this method, the destination is set using a mobile phone owned by the user. That is, the user connects a mobile phone owned by the user to the car navigation device, and inputs a destination telephone number to be set from the mobile phone. The car navigation device stores map data including a telephone number as position information, searches the map data for a position on the map corresponding to the telephone number input from the mobile phone by the user, and sets it as a destination.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-205886
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, when performing a location search using a telephone number in the car navigation device, if the input telephone number is a telephone number of a private house, input of the name of the private house is required for privacy protection. Therefore, when the user searches for the location of the personal home from the phone number of the personal home, it is necessary to enter the name of the personal home as well, and the convenience of searching the location from the phone number is lost. It becomes inconvenient.
[0006]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide an easy-to-use position search apparatus that performs position search from a telephone number while protecting privacy.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, in the position search apparatus according to claim 1, a storage means for storing a telephone number and position information corresponding to each telephone number as a database, an input means for inputting the telephone number, and an input A position search device comprising: position information providing means for searching for position information corresponding to the telephone number input by the means and providing the searched position information to a user, When the telephone number included in the telephone number stored in the number storage means matches the telephone number stored in the number storage means and the number storage means for acquiring and storing the telephone number included from the telephone device, the location information providing means And a permission unit that permits provision of the position information.
[0008]
When searching for location information from a phone number, it is necessary to input the name of the person using the phone number after entering the phone number corresponding to the location information to be searched for privacy protection. However, when searching for location information from a phone number, if you enter the name of the person who uses the phone number in addition to the phone number, the convenience of searching for location information from the phone number is lost. It becomes unusable.
[0009]
Therefore, in the position search device according to the first aspect, the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the telephone device owned by the user is input and stored in the number storage means. When the user searches for a location by phone number, the permitting unit determines whether the location information is provided by the location information providing unit when the phone number input from the input unit matches the phone number stored in the number storage unit. Allow the provision of. The incoming call history information of the telephone device owned by the user includes the telephone number of the telephone device owned by the person who made the call request to the telephone device, and the user knows the name of the person. Very likely. Therefore, when the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the telephone device owned by the user is stored in the number storage means, and the telephone number corresponding to the position information to be searched is stored in the number storage means, Allowing users to provide location information corresponding to the phone number without requiring the user to enter the name of the person, while protecting privacy and not hindering ease of use This makes it possible to search for location information by telephone number.
[0010]
As described in claim 2, it is desirable that the input means inputs a telephone number from the telephone device. Thereby, the user can input the telephone number corresponding to the position information to be searched from the telephone device owned by the user, and the usability is improved.
[0011]
As described in claim 3, the database stored by the storage means is composed of a personal database that stores the telephone number and location information of the private home and a non-personal database that stores the telephone number and location information of the non-personal home. When the telephone number input from the input unit is retrieved from the non-personal database by the location information providing unit, the permission unit matches the telephone number stored in the number storage unit. Regardless of whether or not, it is desirable to permit the provision of position information by the position information providing means.
[0012]
When the phone number entered from the input means is a company or organization phone number, the location information corresponding to the phone number is not limited to privacy protection, but rather actively disclosed. Is preferred.
[0013]
Therefore, in the position search device according to claim 3, the database stored by the database means is a personal database that stores the telephone number and position information of the private house, and a non-person that stores the telephone number and position information of the non-personal house. When the telephone number input from the input means is retrieved from the non-personal database by the location information providing means, the permission means is configured to store the telephone number stored in the number storage means. Regardless of whether or not it matches, provision of position information by the position information providing means is permitted. As a result, when the telephone number input from the input means is searched from the non-personal database, that is, when the input telephone number belongs to a company or organization, the location information of the company or organization is positively obtained. It becomes possible to make it public.
[0014]
As described in claim 4, a name means for inputting a name is provided, and the personal database stores the name of the personal house in addition to the telephone number and location information of the personal house, and is input by the input means. When the telephone number does not match the telephone number stored in the number storage means, and the telephone number is retrieved from the personal database by the location information providing means, the permission means sends the telephone number to the user. Requests to input the name of the personal residence from the name means from the name means, and provides location information when the name entered from the name means matches the name of the personal house at the phone number stored in the personal database. It is desirable to allow provision of location information by means. If the telephone number entered from the input means does not match the telephone number stored in the number storage means, the user is requested to enter the name of the personal residence at the telephone number from the name means, and the user If the name entered from the name means matches the name of the personal residence at the telephone number stored in the personal database, the permission means permits the provision of the position information by the position information providing means. Can fully protect the privacy.
[0015]
This position search apparatus can be suitably used for a car navigation apparatus. When performing a location search using a telephone number in the car navigation device, if the input telephone number is a telephone number of a private house, input of the name of the private house is required for privacy protection. That is, when a user searches for the location of the personal home from the phone number of the personal home, it is necessary to enter the name of the personal home as well, and the convenience of being able to search the location from the phone number is lost. It was inconvenient. When the telephone number that matches the input telephone number is stored in the number storage means by operating the position search apparatus in the car navigation apparatus, the user does not input the name, Location information corresponding to the telephone number can be provided. Thus, it is possible to search for location information by telephone number while protecting privacy and not hindering usability.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a position search apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The position search apparatus according to the present embodiment operates by being incorporated in the car navigation apparatus 1.
[0017]
The mobile phone connection device 2 that is an input means is a modem adapter, for example, and acquires the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the mobile phone 3 that is a call device by data communication. Further, the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 is also read by data communication. The acquisition of the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the mobile phone 3 and the reading of the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 may be performed by, for example, optical data communication or infrared data communication.
[0018]
The hard disk 4 serving as storage means / number storage means stores various data necessary for the car navigation apparatus 1 to execute various navigation operations. In particular, in the present embodiment, the hard disk 4 stores three databases: a personal database, a non-personal database, and a called number database.
[0019]
The personal database is a database that stores a telephone number of a personal home, location data (location information) indicating the location of each personal home on the map, and a last name (name) of each home in association with each other. The non-personal database is a database that stores the telephone numbers of various companies and organizations other than private homes in association with the position data (position information) indicating the positions of the various companies and groups on the map. The incoming call number database is a database that stores telephone numbers acquired by the mobile phone connection device 2. Various data necessary for executing various navigation operations, personal database, non-personal database, and incoming number database may be stored in, for example, a DVD-RAM.
[0020]
The remote controller 5 as name means is a multi-function remote controller composed of, for example, character keys and function keys, and instructs the car navigation apparatus 1 to execute various navigation operations. In particular, in the present embodiment, the user gives an instruction to perform a location search by telephone number or inputs the personal name of a personal residence from the remote controller 5. The instruction for executing various navigation operations, the instruction for executing the location search by telephone number, and the input of the last name of the private house may be performed by touching a key displayed on the touch display, for example.
[0021]
The ECU 6 serving as position information providing means / permission means is a navigation ECU, and executes various navigation operations. In particular, in the present embodiment, the ECU 6 performs an authentication process regarding the use of the position data corresponding to the telephone number input from the mobile phone 3. Further, the ECU 6 retrieves the telephone number inputted from the mobile phone 3 and the position data corresponding to the telephone number from the personal database or the non-personal database of the hard disk 4 or inputted using the retrieved position data. Map image data including a location corresponding to the telephone number is created and output to the display 7. With regard to these processes, dedicated hardware may be provided inside the car navigation apparatus 1 to perform the process.
[0022]
The display 7 is an in-vehicle liquid crystal display, for example, and performs various navigation displays. In particular, in the present embodiment, the display 7 receives map image data created by the ECU 6 and displays a map image. Further, a screen for requesting to input the telephone number of the place to be searched from the mobile phone 3 and a screen for requesting to input the personal name of the private house at the input telephone number from the remote controller 5 are displayed. Furthermore, a screen that notifies you that the entered phone number is not being used, and a screen that notifies you that a map image showing the location on the map corresponding to the entered phone number cannot be displayed for privacy protection. Also display. For various navigation displays and various screen displays, for example, an in-vehicle head-up display may be used.
[0023]
Next, the process of storing the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the mobile phone 3 in the incoming number database of the hard disk 4 will be described in order.
[0024]
First, the user connects the mobile phone 3 to the mobile phone connection device 2 and presses a number reading key (not shown) of the remote controller 5. Then, the cellular phone connection device 2 reads the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the cellular phone 3 by data communication. The read telephone number is stored in the incoming number database of the hard disk 4 via the ECU 6.
[0025]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in which the position search apparatus according to the present embodiment performs a position search from a telephone number. The process of this flowchart is executed every time the user presses a telephone number search key (not shown) of the remote controller 5.
[0026]
In step 201, the ECU 6 displays on the display 7 a screen requesting input of the phone number of the place to be searched, and the phone number of the place to be searched is input from the mobile phone 3 connected to the mobile phone connection device 2. Wait until By using the mobile phone 3, the user can easily input the telephone number of the place to be searched, and the usability is improved. In step 202, the telephone number input in step 201 is searched from the personal database and the non-personal database.
[0027]
In step 203, it is determined in step 202 whether or not the telephone number input in step 201 has been retrieved from a personal database or a non-personal database. If no search is made, the process proceeds to step 204, a screen notifying that the input telephone number is not used is displayed on the display 7, and the process is terminated. If a search is made, the process proceeds to step 205, where authentication processing is performed regarding the use of location data corresponding to the telephone number. Detailed operation of the authentication process will be described later.
[0028]
In step 206, the authentication result of the authentication process executed in step 205 is referred to. If the authentication result is OK, the process proceeds to step 207, where the position data corresponding to the telephone number searched in step 202 is read from the personal database or non-personal database, and the map image includes the location corresponding to the input telephone number. Data is created and output to the display 7. If the authentication result is NG, the process proceeds to step 208, and a screen notifying that the map image indicating the position on the map corresponding to the input telephone number cannot be displayed is displayed on the display 7 for privacy protection. The process ends.
[0029]
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an authentication process related to the use of position data, which is performed by the position search apparatus according to the present embodiment. The process of this flowchart corresponds to the step of executing the authentication process in the flowchart of FIG.
[0030]
In step 301, the ECU 6 searches the incoming number database and determines whether or not a telephone number that matches the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 is stored in the incoming number database. If it is stored in the called number database, the process proceeds to step 306, the authentication result is OK, and the process is terminated. If it is not stored in the called number database, the process proceeds to step 302.
[0031]
In step 302, it is determined whether the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 has been retrieved from the personal database. If retrieved from the personal database, the process proceeds to step 303. If not, the process proceeds to step 306, assuming that the data is retrieved from the non-personal database, and the processing is terminated with the authentication result OK. When the input telephone number is searched from the non-personal database, the telephone number is a telephone number of a company or organization. In such a case, by permitting the use of the location data with the authentication result OK, it becomes possible to actively disclose the location data of the company or organization of the telephone number.
[0032]
In step 303, the last name of the personal house at the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 is taken out from the personal database. In step 304, a screen is displayed on the display 7 requesting the user to input the personal name of the personal home at the telephone number input from the mobile phone 3 from the remote controller 5. Wait until you enter.
[0033]
In step 305, it is determined whether or not the last name of the personal residence retrieved from the personal database in step 303 matches the last name of the personal home entered by the user from the remote controller 5 in step 304. If they match, the process proceeds to step 306, the authentication result is OK, and the process is terminated. If they do not match, the process proceeds to step 307 where the authentication result is NG and the process is terminated. As a result, even if the input telephone number is not stored in the incoming call number database, if the last name of the personal home taken out from the personal database matches the last name of the personal home entered by the user from the remote controller 5 Since the use of location data is permitted, personal privacy can be sufficiently protected. That is, the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3 functions as a permission unit.
[0034]
In the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the flowchart of FIG. 3, various determinations are made based on the input telephone number search results. However, various determinations are made based on the position data search results corresponding to the input telephone numbers. You can go. Of course, both may be used.
[0035]
As described above, in the position search device of this embodiment, the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the mobile phone 3 owned by the user is input from the mobile phone connection device 2 and stored in the incoming number database of the hard disk 4. deep. When performing a location search by telephone number, the ECU 6 searches the incoming number database, and if a telephone number that matches the telephone number input by the user from the mobile phone 3 is stored in the incoming number database, the personal database Alternatively, the position data corresponding to the telephone number is read from the non-personal database, a map image is created, and displayed on the display 7. The incoming call history information of the mobile phone owned by the user includes the telephone number of the telephone device owned by the person who made the call request to the mobile phone, and the user knows the name of the person Very likely. Therefore, when the telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the mobile phone owned by the user is stored in the incoming number database, and the telephone number corresponding to the position data to be searched is stored in the incoming number database, A phone number that protects privacy and does not hinder the user-friendliness by permitting the use of location data corresponding to the phone number without requiring the user to enter a name. This makes it possible to search for a position based on.
[0036]
Finally, the position search device is not only used for position search in various navigation devices, but can also be suitably used for destination setting and passing point setting. It should be mentioned again that the position search device is most suitable for a car navigation device.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a position search apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in which the position search apparatus according to the present embodiment performs a position search from a telephone number.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of authentication processing related to the use of position data, which is performed by the position search apparatus according to the present embodiment.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Car navigation apparatus, 2 ... Cell-phone connection apparatus, 3 ... Cell-phone, 4 ... Hard disk, 5 ... Remote control, 6 ... ECU, 7 ... Display

Claims (5)

Storage means for storing a telephone number and location information corresponding to each telephone number as a database;
An input means for entering a telephone number;
A position search device comprising position information providing means for searching for position information corresponding to the telephone number input by the input means and providing the searched position information to a user,
Number storage means for acquiring and storing a telephone number included in the incoming call history information of the telephone device from the telephone device;
And a permission unit for permitting the location information providing unit to provide location information when the telephone number input by the input unit matches the phone number stored in the number storage unit. Location search device. 2. The position search device according to claim 1, wherein the input means inputs a telephone number from the call device. The database stored by the storage means is composed of a personal database that stores a telephone number and location information of a private home and a non-personal database that stores a phone number and location information of a non-personal home,
When the location information providing unit retrieves the telephone number input from the input unit from the non-personal database, the permission unit determines whether the telephone number matches the telephone number stored in the number storage unit. 2. The position search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein provision of position information by the position information providing means is permitted regardless of whether or not. Provide a name means to input the name,
The personal database stores the name of the private house in addition to the telephone number and location information of the private house,
When the telephone number input by the input means does not match the telephone number stored in the number storage means, and the telephone number is retrieved from the personal database by the location information providing means, The permission means requests the user to input the name of the personal residence at the telephone number from the name means, and the name entered from the name means is stored in the personal database. 4. The position search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the position information providing means permits the position information to be provided when the name matches the name of the private house. The position search device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the position search device operates by being incorporated in a car navigation device.

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