JP4562308B2 - Route information distribution system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a route information distribution system having a server that communicates with a mobile terminal and distributes route information.
[0002]
[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention]
The vehicle navigation device tracks the current position using GPS, a vehicle speed sensor, etc., and searches and guides the route from the set starting point and the current location to the destination, but is large and heavy, It is not something that pedestrians can carry around.
[0003]
A portable navigation device that is not mounted on such a vehicle but is light, small, and convenient to carry has also been proposed. For example, a mobile phone or a PHS phone is used as this portable navigation device for guiding a walking route for a pedestrian, not for a vehicle.
[0004]
In portable navigation systems using mobile phones, etc., mutual use in group behavior is conceivable. In such a case, the set destination, travel route, schedule, etc. are communicated to a third party member of the group. In other words, there is a response to new forms of utilization such as sharing and sharing route guidance information.
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-described problems, and notifies third parties of route information such as a destination and a searched route so that they can be shared.
[0006]
Therefore, the present invention is a route information distribution system having a server that communicates with a mobile terminal and distributes route information,
The server
A communication means for receiving departure point information and destination information from a mobile terminal;
Route search means for searching for a route based on the received departure place information and destination information;
Information storage means for storing the route information searched by the route search means;
ID providing means for assigning a route ID to the stored route information,
The assigned route ID is transmitted to a portable terminal, and when the route ID is received, the stored route information to which the route ID is assigned is transmitted to the portable terminal that has transmitted the route ID to the server. Is.
[0007]
Also, the assigned route ID is transmitted to the other portable terminal, and when the route ID is received from the other portable terminal, the stored route information to which the route ID is assigned is transmitted to the other portable terminal. The server is characterized in that, when the transmission request is an e-mail address as a transmission destination, the server transmits a route ID to the e-mail address.
[0009]
In FIG. 1, a navigation center 1 is a server that communicates with a user's portable terminal 3 via a communication line 2, searches for a route to a destination according to a user's request, and provides guidance information. Information for storing route information searched by the route searching means, route information searching means including route searching means for searching for a route based on departure point information and destination information from the terminal, transmission means for transmitting the route information to the portable terminal 3 User information storage means 5 and user identification means 6 as storage means are provided.
[0010]
The guide information providing means 4 has map data 7, POI data 8, road data 9, public transport data 10 and other map data necessary for map drawing, point search, route search, and provision of guide information. A map image generation unit 11, a POI search unit 12, a route search unit 13, an information input / output unit 14, and a communication unit 15 are included.
[0011]
The map data 7 is data for drawing a map image. Nodes, links for drawing roads, polygons for drawing a specific area such as a house shape defining a region with coordinates, a park, coordinates and names Display character data to be displayed on a map storing. The POI data 8 has facility data for searching each point that is a departure point, a destination, and a guide point, and includes town page information and the like. The road data 9 is data for searching a route, and has information such as a cost and a road type specific to a route information distribution system for pedestrians different from an in-vehicle navigation system for determining an optimum route. Or, it has the same data as the in-vehicle navigation system, and the cost is changed by route calculation. From the viewpoint of pedestrians, roads that are not suitable for walking, such as toll roads and elevated roads, are not considered for route search, and regulations such as right / left turn and one-way traffic are not considered. In addition, it is said that it is easy to pass on wide roads such as national roads and roads with guardrails and wide sidewalks. The public transportation data 10 is transportation data including airlines, buses, ships, etc. as well as JR / private railways. For example, route data having station information for each route such as the JRXX line, the Yamanote line, For example, timetable data.
[0012]
The map image generation means 11 generates a map image based on the map data 7, and generates a map image displaying roads, routes, house shapes, parks, characters such as names, and the like. The POI search means 12 obtains point information (name, address, coordinates, etc.) corresponding to a destination or a guide point by inputting, for example, a telephone number from the POI data 8. The route search means 13 performs a route search based on road data 9 and public transportation data 10 in response to a route request based on designation of a departure place, a destination, a search condition, etc., and combines a walking route and a rail route. Search for the route from the starting point to the destination. The information input / output unit 14 outputs a route request or guidance start request from the user's portable terminal 3, a current location input / selection, a generated map image, a searched location, a search result, and guidance information to the portable terminal 3. The communication means 15 communicates with the user's portable terminal 3 via the communication line 2.
[0013]
The search method performed by the route search means 13 is as follows, for example. By specifying the departure point, the nearest station (boarding station) from the departure point is specified by narrowing down to a few stations, for example, three stations. Similarly, by specifying the destination, the nearest station (getting off station) is specified. ) To a few stations, for example, 3 stations. And, the walking route from the departure point to each boarding station using road data, the transportation route from each boarding station to each getting off station using public transportation data, and the walking from each getting off station to the destination using road data Search for each route. Furthermore, the total cost from the departure point to the destination is calculated by combining these walking routes and transportation routes, and the route with the lowest cost is presented. At this time, the total cost can be changed by inputting the shortest time, the minimum fare, the minimum number of transfers, etc. as search conditions.
[0014]
The user information storage unit 5 sequentially stores information such as a departure point, a destination, search information, a current location, and a route search result for each user. The user specifying unit 6 recognizes the ID key of each user. User identification.
[0015]
The mobile terminal 3 is a display means for displaying route information transmitted from the center as shown in FIG. 2, a display display unit 21 that can further display a map search list, a menu, etc., departure point information and destination information As an input means or an instruction means for instructing the re-display of route information after communication disconnection or power-off, it has a numeric keypad input section 22 that can input alphanumeric kanji characters and input screen scroll instructions, etc. For example, a mobile phone having a function. Then, by communicating with the navigation center 1 via the communication line 2 and inputting the current location, the departure location, and the destination from the numeric keypad input unit 22, the route guidance to the destination searched by the navigation center 1 is displayed on the display display unit 21. Display a map of the map, display an enlarged view of the guide point by inputting the guide point, or operate the previous route return button or screen return button from the numeric keypad 22 to redisplay the previous route information. To do.
[0016]
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the road data 9 includes a road number, its length, start point name / coordinates (latitude, longitude), end point name / coordinates, intersection name, road name, etc. The POI data 8 has information such as a spot name, spot coordinates, an address, a telephone number, a spot classification, and a display order as shown in FIG. 3B for each spot. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3C, a building name, a store name, a facility name, etc. are registered in the spot name, and the category information based on the genre is registered in the spot category for display and displayed for display. Items displayed in accordance with the display screen, such as “1” for displaying all routes in the order, “2” and “3” for displaying in an enlarged view, and their priorities may be registered. For example, when the characters “2” and “3” displayed in the enlarged view display are overlapped, priority is given to the point of the display order “2”.
[0017]
The route information distribution system according to the present invention assigns a unique ID to route information, saves it in a user information storage means, and presents the route information by each route ID so that a plurality of users can share it. It is. For example, when a user calculates a route by inputting a departure place, a current location, a destination, and a search condition, and wants to inform others of the route information, a route ID is generated and presented to the user. The user informs the third party of the route ID, and when the third party wants to acquire the route information, the user requests the server by the route ID to present the route information from the server to the third party user. . In this case, for example, an ID input field is set on the top page, and what is presented to the user is not the ID itself but a URL embedded with the ID (Uniform Resource Locator: a server used on the Internet or a file in the server) The server may substitute a notification by e-mail of the ID or URL to a third party designated by the user.
[0018]
Next, an example will be described in which route information can be shared with others by the route ID. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow when a route ID is taught to another person without using mail, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow when a route ID is taught to another person using email. FIG.
[0019]
In the route information distribution system according to the present invention, when a route ID is taught to another person without using mail, for example, as shown in FIG. Send a route request specifying. In a portable terminal equipped with GPS as current position detection means, when the departure place is the current position, the current position detected by the GPS may be automatically input as departure place information. In this case, the operation of inputting the departure place can be omitted. For the destination and the current location, for example, in order to specify the coordinates from the input value of the telephone number or name, a search is performed using POI search means, a search result list is presented to the user, and the user selects from the list. On the server side, when receiving a route request from the mobile terminal, the information input / output unit stores the destination, the name and coordinates of the departure place, the address, and other information in the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key. A route search request is issued to the search means. As the user ID, for example, in EzWeb, terminal specific information included in an http header from a browser on a mobile phone is used, but a user ID may be input. When the route search result is notified from the route search means, the information input / output means presents the route search result to the portable terminal. And guidance is started according to the guidance start request from a portable terminal.
[0020]
When a route notification request is sent from the portable terminal to the server, the information input / output unit copies the route information from the user information storage unit by issuing a route ID request to the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key, and copies the route ID. Is obtained and notified to the mobile terminal. When the user selects the route return button obtained from the mobile terminal B by informing the user of the route ID, the information input / output unit requests the route search result using the route ID as a key in the user information storage unit. Is issued, the route search result is returned, and the route search result is presented to the portable terminal. And guidance is started according to the guidance start request from a portable terminal.
[0021]
In addition, when a route ID is taught to another person using e-mail, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, a route request is first sent from the user's portable terminal to the server by specifying a departure point, a destination, and a search condition. . For the destination and the current location, for example, in order to specify the coordinates from the input value of the telephone number or name, a search is performed using POI search means, a search result list is presented to the user, and the user selects from the list. On the server side, when receiving a route request from the mobile terminal, the information input / output unit stores the destination, the name and coordinates of the departure place, the address, and other information in the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key. A route search request is issued to the search means. As the user ID, for example, in EzWeb, terminal specific information included in an http header from a browser on a mobile phone is used, but a user ID may be input. When the route search result is notified from the route search means, the information input / output means presents the route search result to the portable terminal. And guidance is started according to the guidance start request from a portable terminal.
[0022]
When a route notification request is sent from the portable terminal to the server by an e-mail address, the information input / output unit issues a route ID request to the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key, so that the user information storage unit Duplicate and give the route ID and notify the route ID to the information input / output means. The information input / output unit issues a mail transmission request for the notified mail address to the e-mail transmission unit in the server, and transmits the e-mail. In the mail transmission, for example, “http://www.foobar.com/hogehge?ID=0123abcd” has a URL in which a route ID is embedded in the mail body.
[0023]
When the user who receives the e-mail accesses the e-mail URL from the mobile terminal B, the information input / output unit obtains the route ID from the URL argument, and issues a route search result request to the user information storage unit using the route ID as a key. Then, the route search result is returned, and the route search result is presented to the mobile terminal. And guidance is started according to the guidance start request from a portable terminal.
[0024]
Furthermore, it demonstrates according to the flow of a specific process. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of the entire process and the destination setting process, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display process of a route from the current location, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of initialization processing, and FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of user check processing.
[0025]
In the route information distribution system according to the present invention, the destination is set as shown in FIG. 6A as a whole (step S11), the route to the destination is searched and the route from the current location is displayed ( Step S12).
[0026]
Among the above processes, in the destination setting process of step S11, as shown in FIG. 6B, the destination is input (step S21), the destination is searched (step S22), and the search result is displayed. (Step S23), the displayed destination is confirmed (Step S24).
[0027]
In the process of displaying the route from the current location in step S12, as shown in FIG. 7, first, the current location setting process is performed (step S31), the route search process from the current location to the destination is performed (step S32), and the time The destination is estimated to arrive at the destination and is calculated (step S33), and the guidance status is determined to check whether the user is lost or not (step S34). If there is a request from the user, the guidance when the user is lost is displayed in accordance with the user's request, and a guide map is displayed by determining whether or not he / she is lost based on the scheduled time. May be displayed.
[0028]
In the current location setting process in step S31, the current location input screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 8A (step S41), the current location is input (step S42), and the current location is searched (step S41). S42) The current location is determined (step S43).
[0029]
In the initialization process such as the time in step S33, the counter is reset to “0” as shown in FIG. 8B (step S45), the timer 1 is set to the current time (step S46), and the arrival time is reached. The scheduled time is calculated (step S47). The estimated arrival time is obtained by calculating, for example, route distance / average speed of pedestrians (for example, 4 km / h).
[0030]
In the user check process in step S34, a map is displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (step S51), and it is determined whether or not there is a map change according to an instruction from the user (step S52). If there is a map change, the counter is incremented by +1 (step S53), and it is determined whether or not the count value exceeds a certain value α (step S54). If not, the process returns to step S51. The same processing as the above processing is repeatedly executed. When the count value exceeds the fixed value α, “Staying Lost” is displayed (step S57).
[0031]
If the result of determination in step S52 is that there is no change in the map, it is determined whether or not the destination has been reached (step S55). If it has not arrived at the destination, the current time is the estimated arrival time. It is determined whether or not a certain value β is exceeded (step S56). If the current time has already passed a certain time from the estimated arrival time, that is, if it has not arrived at the destination even after a further β time has elapsed from the estimated arrival time, Is displayed (step S57), and if the current time is still within the allowable range, the process returns to step S51, and the same process as described above is repeated.
[0032]
As described above, in the route information distribution system according to the present invention, when the map is frequently changed and exceeds a certain value α, or when the destination does not arrive even after a certain time β has elapsed from the estimated arrival time Judge that he is lost. In addition, (1) when the map is enlarged and not reduced, or (2) when the same place is enlarged many times, it may be determined that the user is lost.
[0033]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the system using a server (navigation center) that communicates with a mobile phone via an Internet line has been described. However, a portable terminal is connected to the navigation center using a wired or wireless communication line other than the Internet line. The present invention can be similarly applied to a system that performs communication and provides route guidance on a small screen, and is not limited to a device that communicates with a center, but may be applied as a device having all functions only with a mobile terminal. Nor.
[0034]
Further, although the description has been given of the case where the information is restored after the communication is cut off or the power is turned off, the same applies to the case where the functions are switched and other functions are used in the multi-function mobile terminal and then the navigation function is returned. When a user searches for a route by inputting the current location, destination, and search conditions, if the user selects one of them by presenting a plurality of routes to the user, the route search result is used as the user information. It may be saved and recalled.
[0035]
If the user wants to call the guidance screen again, a previous route return button may be provided on the top page, and by operating it, the information may be returned from the user information storage means and presented to the user. Further, not only the past route and setting contents but also the position in the screen hierarchy may be saved as information, so that the interrupted screen may be restored.
[0036]
【The invention's effect】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is provided a route information distribution system having a server that communicates with a portable terminal and distributes route information, and the server receives the departure point information and the destination information from the portable terminal. A communication means for receiving a transmission request and transmitting route information including the route ID to the mobile terminal; a route searching means for searching for a route based on the received departure place information and destination information; and a route searched by the route searching means An information storage means for storing information and an ID assignment means for assigning a route ID to the route information are provided, and the route ID or the route information is transmitted to the portable terminal in response to a route ID or route information transmission request. The mobile terminal has an input means for inputting departure point information, destination information, and a transmission request, and a communication means for communicating with the server. Conversion can be performed easily.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a route information distribution system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front view of the mobile terminal.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of guidance data.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow when a route ID is taught to another person without using mail.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow in a case where a route ID is taught to another person using mail.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of overall processing and destination setting processing;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of display processing of a route from the current location.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of current location setting processing and initialization processing such as time;
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of user check processing;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navi center, 2 ... Communication line, 3 ... Portable terminal, 4 ... Guidance information provision means, 5 ... User information storage means, 6 ... User identification means, 7 ... Map data, 8 ... POI data, 9 ... Road data, 10 ... Public transportation data, 11 ... Map generation means, 12 ... POI search means, 13 ... Route search means, 14 ... Information input / output means, 15 ... Communication means, 21 ... Display display part, 22 ... Numeric key input part

Claims (3)

A route information distribution system having a server that communicates with a mobile terminal and distributes route information,
The server
A communication means for receiving departure point information and destination information from a mobile terminal;
Route search means for searching for a route based on the received departure place information and destination information;
Information storage means for storing the route information searched by the route search means;
ID providing means for assigning a route ID to the stored route information,
The assigned route ID is transmitted to a portable terminal, and when the route ID is received, the stored route information to which the route ID is assigned is transmitted to the portable terminal that has transmitted the route ID to the server. Route information distribution system. A route information distribution system having a server that communicates with a mobile terminal and distributes route information,
The server
A communication means for receiving a departure information and a destination information from a mobile terminal, a transmission request to another mobile terminal ,
Route search means for searching for a route based on the received departure place information and destination information;
Information storage means for storing the route information searched by the route search means;
ID providing means for assigning a route ID to the stored route information,
Sending the given route ID to the other portable terminal, and receiving the route ID from the other portable terminal, sending the stored route information to which the route ID is given to the other portable terminal. A route information distribution system characterized by 3. The route information distribution system according to claim 2 , wherein, when the transmission request is an email address as a transmission destination, the server transmits a route ID to the email address.

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