JP4174914B2 - Telephone number search method and device, and navigation device thereof - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a telephone number search technique for searching for a destination by inputting a telephone number, for example, a telephone number search method and apparatus suitable for setting a destination in a navigation apparatus.
[0002]
[Background]
For example, in a vehicle navigation apparatus, a telephone number or the like is used for setting a purpose in route search. FIG. 12 shows an example of a menu in the navigation device. In this example, a menu “set purpose” is prepared for the item M1 of the highest hierarchy. As the lower-level menu item M12 of the menu item “Set destination”, “Home”, “Search by phone number”, “Search by address”, “Search by genre”,... Are prepared. Furthermore, the menu item “Search by genre” includes “restaurant”, “golf course”,... The same applies to other menu items.
[0003]
In the route search, when the user selects the menu “Search by phone number”, an input screen for the destination phone number is displayed. When the user inputs a telephone number of a desired destination, the corresponding destination is searched, and a route search is performed using this as the destination.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
Conventionally, in the case of entering a telephone number as described above, it is good if the user remembers the telephone number correctly. However, if even one digit is inaccurate, the relevant destination cannot be searched, or the wrong facility Will be searched. In this case, the user must perform an operation such as changing an unclear digit number or re-entering all digits of the telephone number.
[0005]
The present invention focuses on the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a telephone number search method and apparatus capable of searching for a corresponding destination even if there is an unclear digit, and a navigation apparatus therefor. It is.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the telephone number search method of the present invention includes a step of inputting all digits of a telephone number; a step of searching for a corresponding destination from the telephone number input thereby; If not, a step of designating a specific digit of the telephone number in which all digits are entered; a step of searching for a destination based on a number of other digits excluding the designated digit; Displaying the searched destination and selecting a desired one.
[0007]
The telephone number search device of the present invention is a storage means for storing a large number of telephone numbers and their corresponding destination information; a digit designating means for designating a specific digit among the telephone numbers in which all digits are entered; Search means for searching for a corresponding destination of numbers other than the digits specified by the digit specifying means with reference to the storage means; selecting means for selecting a desired one from the searched destinations. It is characterized by having.
[0008]
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a storage means for storing a large number of telephone numbers and information of each corresponding destination; a first search for searching for a corresponding destination of a telephone number in which all digits are input with reference to the storage means Means: a digit designating means for designating a specific digit in the telephone number in which all the digits are inputted when a desired destination is not retrieved by the first retrieving means; designated by the digit designating means A second search means for searching for a corresponding destination of numbers other than the digits with reference to the storage means; a selecting means for selecting a desired one from the searched destinations; a telephone number and a corresponding And a display means for displaying the destination.
[0009]
A navigation device according to the present invention includes any one of the above-described telephone number search devices. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the navigation device according to the present embodiment. As shown in the figure, the navigation device of the present embodiment is a so-called TbyT type navigation device that is relatively small in size, simplified in function, and has a narrow display screen. First, the size of the entire apparatus is, for example, about 1 DIN size of the standard of equipment to be attached to the dashboard. A display 10, operation keys 12 to 16, a speaker 18, a numeric keypad 19, and a joystick 20 are provided on the front surface. The display 10 is provided with a touch panel 21 as one of input devices as necessary.
[0011]
Among these, the display 10 is configured integrally with the navigation device by, for example, a monochrome display liquid crystal panel, and has a size of about 128 mm × 256 dots (or 64 dots × 128 dots), 38 mm × 72 mm, for example. It has become. The operation keys 12 to 16 are only the minimum necessary, and in this example, a “menu” that is a key switch for displaying a menu, and a key for displaying a map of an area including the current vehicle position. Three switches are provided: “present location” which is a switch and “return” which is a key switch for returning the display to the screen displayed immediately before. The speaker 18 is provided for performing navigation by voice. The numeric keypad 19 is for inputting numbers such as telephone numbers. The joystick 20 is an input device for moving a cursor on the display screen. A definite input can be performed by pressing the stick 20 in the axial direction. The touch panel 21 is an input device that performs key input displayed on the display 10.
[0012]
Further, in a general navigation device, navigation data such as a map is stored in dynamic storage means such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM whose stored information is read via a mechanical reading device. However, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, navigation data is stored in static storage means for electrically reading stored information. Examples of the static storage means include ROM, EPROM, flash memory, memory stick, IC card, RAM, and the like. These may be built in the navigation device body or may be of a card type such as a memory card that can be attached to and detached from the navigation device body. For example, navigation data of about 100 [km] square is stored in these static storage means.
[0013]
FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the navigation device having the above-described appearance. In the figure, the display of the above-described display 10 is managed by a screen management unit 32 of a calculation unit 30 that is configured around a CPU. Further, the operation keys 12 to 16, the numeric keypad 19, the joystick 20 and the touch panel 21 are connected to the input management unit 34, thereby managing the input. Further, the speaker 18 is connected to an audio output management unit 38 via an audio output circuit 36, whereby the audio output of the speaker 18 is managed.
[0014]
A GPS sensor 40 that measures the vehicle position, a distance sensor 42 that measures the travel distance of the vehicle, and an orientation sensor 44 that measures the traveling direction of the vehicle are connected to the current position recognition unit 46. The GPS sensor 40 performs position measurement by GPS navigation, and the distance sensor 42 and the direction sensor 44 perform position measurement by self-contained navigation.
[0015]
Various data necessary for navigation such as map data, menu data for displaying and selecting menu items of each layer, destination search data such as telephone numbers, and the like are stored in a data storage unit 48 constituted by a memory card or the like. Stored in The data storage unit 48 is connected to the screen management unit 32, the audio output management unit 38, the map data reading unit 50, and the telephone number management unit 61. The current position recognition unit 46 and the map data reading unit 50 described above are connected to the map management unit 52. A map drawing unit 54 for performing a map drawing process is connected to the screen management unit 32 and the map management unit 52. The screen management unit 32, the input management unit 34, the voice output management unit 38, the map management unit 52, and the telephone number management unit 61 are connected to the overall management unit 60 together with the route calculation unit 56 and the route guide unit 58. . The route calculation unit 56 has a function of calculating a route search, and the route guide unit 58 has a function of performing a process for route guidance. Furthermore, the telephone number management unit 61 has a function of performing facility search based on a telephone number.
[0016]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. When the user turns on the menu key 12 on the front side of the apparatus after the power is turned on, a menu as shown in FIG. That is, when the user turns on the menu key 12, this is detected by the input management unit 34, and the fact is notified to the overall management unit 60. The overall management unit 60 instructs the screen management unit 32 to read menu data prepared in advance from the data storage unit 48. Note that after the power is turned on, the menu may be displayed regardless of whether or not a key operation is performed.
[0017]
Next, the screen management unit 32 refers to the data storage unit 48 and displays a menu on the display 10. Initially, “set destination”, “set various settings”,... Which are items of the hierarchy M1 are displayed. Here, if the user operates the joystick 20 and selects, for example, “set destination”, this is detected by the input management unit 34, and this is notified to the overall management unit 60. The overall management unit 60 instructs the screen management unit 32 to display lower items included in the corresponding item hierarchy. As a result, the display 10 includes “Home”, “Search from phone number”, “Search from address”, “Search from 50 sounds”, “Search from memory location”,... Each menu item is displayed in turn.
[0018]
In this state, when the user operates the joystick 20 to select “Search by telephone number”, telephone number input processing shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 is performed (step S10). The selection of “search from telephone number” is detected by the input management unit 34 and the fact is notified to the overall management unit 60. The overall management unit 60 instructs the screen management unit 32 to read a telephone number input screen prepared in advance from the data storage unit 48. As a result, an area code input screen as shown in FIG. 7A is displayed on the display 10 (step S12). In this input screen, the telephone number display area blinks to prompt the user to input.
[0019]
The user inputs the area code of the desired destination telephone number by using the numeric keypad 19 (step S14). Then, as described above, the input number is displayed on the display 10 (step S16). The input of the telephone number is also notified from the overall management unit 60 to the telephone number management unit 61. In the telephone number management unit 61, the outlying area corresponding to the digit number input from the first digit is searched with reference to the data storage unit 48 (step S18). If the number of out-of-city areas specified by the input digits is equal to or less than the predetermined number (Yes in step S20), the out-of-city area names are notified to the screen management unit 32 and displayed on the display 10 (step S22).
[0020]
Note that when the display 10 is relatively narrow as in this embodiment, it is convenient to reduce the number of display items to some extent because it saves the trouble of scrolling the screen. Therefore, in this embodiment, display is performed after the number of display items is reduced to some extent.
[0021]
Since the area code starts from “0”, the number “0” is entered in advance. That is, the display on the display 10 before inputting the number is as shown in FIG. Of course, you may make it input from "0". If the user inputs the number “1”, the display on the display 10 is as shown in FIG. In other words, the input number “1” is displayed after “0”, and the outlying area corresponding to “01” is searched, and the corresponding “Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate” is displayed. Is done. Next, when the user inputs “7”, the display on the display 10 is as shown in FIG. In other words, the input number “7” is displayed following “01”, and the outlying area corresponding to “017” is searched, and the corresponding “Aomori Prefecture, Akita Prefecture” is displayed. The above operation is repeated until one out-of-city area corresponding to the input digit of the telephone number is identified (Yes in step S24).
[0022]
When “Hokkaido, Aomori, Akita, Iwate” is displayed, the user selects one of these and the phone number corresponding to the selected prefecture is automatically selected. You may make it input. For example, if the user selects “Aomori Prefecture” on the screen of FIG. 7B with a joystick or the like, “017” is displayed in the telephone number input field. By doing so, it becomes possible to simplify the number input.
[0023]
Next, when one out-of-city area is specified (No in step S24), the telephone number management unit 61 notifies the screen management unit 32 to that effect. Then, in the screen management unit 32, the data storage unit 48 is referred to, and the input screen for the local station number is read and displayed on the display 10 (step S26). The user inputs a single digit of the telephone number in the same manner as in the case of the area code described above (step S28). Then, as described above, the input number is displayed on the display 10 (step S30).
[0024]
The input of the telephone number is also notified from the overall management unit 60 to the telephone number management unit 61. In the telephone number management unit 61, the local area corresponding to the number up to the input digit is searched with reference to the data storage unit 48 (step S32). If the number of city areas specified by the input digits is equal to or less than the predetermined number (Yes in step S34), the names of the city areas are notified to the screen management unit 32 and displayed on the display 10 (step S36). The above operation is repeated until all digits including the four-digit registration number following the area code are input (No in step S38).
[0025]
In the example shown in FIG. 7, if the user first inputs the number “2” as the local station number, the display on the display 10 is as shown in FIG. That is, the input number “2” is displayed following “017”, and the city area corresponding to “0172” is searched, and “Kuroishi City, Hirosaki City?” Of “Aomori Prefecture” is searched. Is displayed.
[0026]
In addition, the area corresponding to the area code in the city or outside the city does not necessarily match the administrative area such as the prefecture or the municipality. In the case of the area code “0172”, in addition to Hirosaki City and Kuroishi City in Aomori Prefecture, the towns and villages of Nakatsugaru County and Minami Tsugaru County are also applicable. Therefore, in order to represent such disagreement between regions, “?” Is displayed next to Hirosaki City in FIG.
[0027]
Next, if the user inputs the number “3” and then inputs “3”, the display on the display 10 is as shown in FIG. That is, the input number “33” is displayed subsequent to “0172”, the city area corresponding to “018233” is searched, and the corresponding “Aomori Prefecture, Hirosaki City” is displayed. Since the city area is fixed at this point, the “?” Disappears. Subsequently, when the user inputs the registration number “9000”, the display on the display 10 is as shown in FIG. That is, the input number “9000” is displayed after “0172-33”. At this time, a hyphen “-” is also displayed between the area code, the city code, and the registration number.
[0028]
As described above, when all digits of the telephone number are input (Yes in step S38), the telephone number management unit 61 notifies the screen management unit 32 to that effect. Then, in the screen management unit 32, the data storage unit 48 is referred to, and the telephone number searching screen is read and displayed on the display 10 (step S40). On the other hand, the telephone number management unit 61 searches the data storage unit 48 for a facility name (registered destination) corresponding to the input telephone number (step S42). When the corresponding facility name is searched (Yes in step S44), the facility name is notified to the screen management unit 32 and displayed on the display 10 (step S46). When the displayed facility is set as the destination of the route search by the user (Yes in step S48), the route search is performed using the relevant facility as the destination, and the guidance processing according to the searched route is performed. Is performed (step S50).
[0029]
The telephone number searching screen in the example of FIG. 8 described above is, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, the input telephone number “0172-33-9000” and the fact that the corresponding facility is “around Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture” are displayed. In addition, the display of “searching telephone number” is highlighted by a method such as flashing. When the search ends, the corresponding facility name “Aomori Young Co., Ltd.” is displayed as shown in FIG. The user confirms this display name, and if it is a desired destination, sets this as the destination.
[0030]
On the other hand, if the corresponding facility does not exist as a result of searching for the facility name (No in step S44), a message to that effect is displayed (step S52). For example, “No corresponding facility” is displayed on the display 10. An example of this display is shown in FIG. Even if the relevant facility cannot be searched, an approximate address can be searched from the telephone number, so in the example shown in the figure, “near Asahigaoka, Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture” is displayed.
[0031]
As described above, when the corresponding destination is not displayed, the user selects a specific digit, for example, an unclear digit among the input telephone numbers using the joystick 20 or the touch panel 21 (step S54). Then, this is notified from the overall management unit 60 to the telephone number management unit 61, and the telephone number management unit 61 notifies the screen management unit 32 that the number of the selected digit is displayed as a cursor. Then, the cursor of the selected digit is displayed by the screen management unit 32 (step S56). For example, if the user selects the lowest digit in the example of FIG. 9C, the display is as shown in FIG.
[0032]
If there are other ambiguous digits that are ambiguously stored, the above operation is repeated (Yes in step S58). When the digit selection is completed (No in step S58), the user performs a definite input by a method such as pressing the joystick 20 (step S60). Then, this is notified to the telephone number management unit 61 as described above. In the telephone number management unit 61, the data storage unit 48 is referred to search for a telephone number having the same number of digits other than the selected digit (step S62).
[0033]
The search result is displayed on the display 10 (steps S66 and S68) based on, for example, user selection as to whether the display is in numerical order or Aueio order (step S64). Note that the selection of the display order may be appropriately changed as necessary, such as alphabetical order. It is also possible to display the current position information obtained by the current position recognition unit 46 in an order close to the current position.
[0034]
FIG. 10 (B) shows an example of eye-eye order display. In this example, the last two digits are unclear, and a telephone number corresponding to “0172-33-99 **” is searched. In the upper part of the screen, “It is a list of 0172-33-99 ** around Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture” is displayed, and the corresponding list is displayed below. In the example shown in the figure, there is “Aikawa Law Office” in that row, and the last two digits are “73”. There are “Endo Shokai” with the last two digits “99” and “Engawa” with the last two digits “23”. In the bank, there is “Triangle” with the last two digits “27”. In this example, since all the corresponding destinations cannot be displayed on the screen, the display can be scrolled by triangular arrows.
[0035]
FIG. 10C shows an example of display in numerical order. In this example, “Suzuki Shinkin Bank” with the lower two digits “01” and “Watanabe Trading” with the lower two digits “02” are displayed in this order. The last two digits “03” and “04” are displayed as “not applicable” because there is no corresponding destination. Note that the display order may be switched on the screen.
[0036]
Next, the user refers to the list of display screens described above and operates the joystick 20 or the touch panel 21 to select a desired destination (step S70). This selection result is detected by the input management unit 34 and notified to the telephone number management unit 61 via the overall management unit 60. The telephone number management unit 61 reads the detailed information of the selected facility from the data storage unit 48 and transmits it to the screen management unit 32. Thereby, the details of the selected facility are displayed on the display 10 (step S72). When the user sets this as the destination (Yes in step S48), it is transmitted to the route calculation unit 56 by the overall management unit 60. The route calculation unit 56 performs route search calculation processing based on the set destination and the current position of the vehicle recognized by the current position recognition unit 46. The route guidance unit 58 executes guidance processing according to the searched route.
[0037]
Specifically, the current position of the vehicle that changes from moment to moment is recognized by the current position recognition unit 46 based on the detection results of the GPS sensor 40, the distance sensor 42, and the direction sensor 44. Information on the recognized current position is sent to the map management unit 52. The map management unit 52 instructs the map data reading unit 50 to sequentially read map data corresponding to the current position from the data storage unit 48. The map data read in this way is sent to the map drawing unit 54, and the fact is notified to the overall management unit 60. Then, the overall management unit 60 instructs the screen management unit 32 to display a map, and the map drawn by the map drawing unit 54 is displayed on the display 10 together with the current vehicle position.
[0038]
In addition, the screen management unit 32 reads display guide data corresponding to the current vehicle position from the data storage unit 48 and displays it on the display 10. The voice output management unit 38 reads voice guidance data corresponding to the current vehicle position from the data storage unit 48 and supplies the voice guidance data to the voice output circuit 36 to perform voice guidance using the speaker 18. That is, when the vehicle reaches a guidance point for starting guidance such as an intersection where the vehicle turns right or left, guidance indicating the direction of right or left turn is displayed on the display 10, and the voice output management unit 38, the voice output circuit 36, and the speaker 18 Voice guidance to that effect is performed.
[0039]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the facility searched based on the telephone number input by the user is not desired or there is no corresponding destination, the search is performed by specifying the digit. The search results are displayed as a list of facilities. The user refers to this list and selects a desired facility. For this reason, even if there is an unclear digit in the telephone number, the corresponding facility can be searched and set as a destination for route search. Furthermore, in this embodiment, each time a digit of a telephone number is entered, the corresponding area name candidates are displayed on one screen, so that the user sequentially checks whether the correct number has been entered. However, input work can be continued.
[0040]
The present invention has many embodiments and can be variously modified based on the above disclosure. For example, the following are included.
(1) In the above embodiment, the telephone number is input according to the menu screen. However, when the numeral “0” is input from the numeric keypad 19, the telephone number input screen shown in FIG. It may be displayed (see parentheses in step S10 in FIG. 3). In this case, since the area code of the telephone number starts from “0”, an input procedure for starting input from “0” is always used when inputting the telephone number.
[0041]
(2) In the above embodiment, the telephone number is entered from the area code. However, the telephone number may be entered from the local area code or the last 4 digits of the registered area number. In particular, in the case of a simple navigation device with a narrow guidance range, the number of phone books stored in the data storage unit 48 is also small. For example, it is limited to a range centering on Aichi Prefecture. In such a case, even if the local area code is entered, a sufficiently effective search is possible because there are few corresponding telephone numbers. FIG. 11 shows a display example in the case of input from the local station number. In this example, the navigation device holds telephone number data centered on Aichi Prefecture, and “3” is input as the local station number. The area code is displayed along with the area. Thus, according to the method of inputting from the local area code, the user can select the corresponding destination without being aware of the area code even when traveling in any area of the area code.
[0042]
(3) In a navigation device having nationwide data, a considerable number of outlying areas may be searched. Then, unless a considerable amount of time is spent, it becomes impossible to select a desired one from them. However, in the case of a simple navigation device with limited data as in the present embodiment, there is no such fear.
[0043]
(4) Although the above embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle navigation device, it can also be applied to a portable navigation device or the like. Moreover, you may use as a telephone number search apparatus which searches and displays a facility from a telephone number. Further, the phone number of the present invention is not limited to the phone number data of a limited area such as 100 [km] square as in the previous embodiment, and even when the phone number data of all of Japan is included, for example. It does not preclude the application of the search method and its device.
[0044]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, if a desired destination is not searched even if all the digits of the telephone number are entered and searched, a specific digit is designated, and other digits excluding this are designated. Since the corresponding destination is searched using the number, even if there is an unclear digit in the telephone number, the corresponding destination can be known.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an external appearance of the navigation device of the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a telephone number input processing routine in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a telephone number input processing routine in the embodiment.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a telephone number input processing routine in the embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a telephone number input processing routine in the embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a display in the telephone number input process.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of the display in the telephone number input process.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example of the display in the telephone number input process.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example of the display in the telephone number input process.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of another display in the telephone number input process.
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a menu configuration in the navigation device.
[Explanation of symbols]
10 ... Display
12-16 ... Operation keys
12 ... Menu key
18 ... Speaker
19 ... Numpad
20 ... Joystick
21 ... Touch panel
30 ... Calculation unit
32 ... Screen management department
34 ... Input management department
36. Audio output circuit
38 ... Audio output management unit
40 ... Sensor
42 ... Distance sensor
44 ... Direction sensor
46 ... Current position recognition unit
48. Data storage unit
48 ... Sequential data storage
50 ... Map data reading section
52 ... Map management department
54 ... Map drawing part
56: Route calculation unit
58 ... Route guidance
60 ... Overall Management Department
61 ... Telephone number management department

Claims (4)

Entering all digits of the phone number;
A step of searching for a destination from the telephone number input by this;
A step of designating a specific digit of the telephone number in which all digits are entered when a desired destination is not searched by this;
A step of searching for a destination based on the numbers of other digits excluding the designated digit;
A step of displaying a corresponding destination searched for and selecting a desired one;
A telephone number search method characterized by comprising: Storage means for storing a large number of telephone numbers and information on their respective destinations;
Digit designation means for designating a specific digit in a telephone number in which all digits are entered;
Search means for searching for a corresponding destination of numbers of other digits excluding the digits specified by the digit specifying means with reference to the storage means;
Selection means for selecting a desired one from the corresponding destinations searched by this;
A telephone number search device characterized by comprising: Storage means for storing a large number of telephone numbers and information on their respective destinations;
First search means for searching for a corresponding destination of the telephone number in which all the digits have been entered by referring to the storage means;
Digit designation means for designating a specific digit in the telephone number in which all digits are inputted when the desired search destination is not searched by the first search means;
Second search means for searching for a corresponding destination of numbers of other digits excluding the digits specified by the digit specifying means with reference to the storage means;
Selection means for selecting a desired one from the corresponding destinations searched by this;
Display means for displaying the telephone number and the destination
A telephone number search device characterized by comprising: A navigation device comprising the telephone number search device according to claim 2.

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