JP4564480B2 - Information provision system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for providing information to a terminal device.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, car navigation devices can acquire and display various information by communicating with a server device by wireless communication, and information on a place designated as a destination can be displayed on the server. It is possible to obtain and display from the device, calculate an estimated arrival time at the destination, and obtain and display information about the destination at the estimated arrival time from the server device (for example, Patent Document 1). reference).

  When information on a destination is provided to the driver as in the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, if the arrival at the destination is delayed due to traffic congestion or the like, the driver It is also possible to determine whether or not can be performed at the estimated arrival time. For example, when the driver is planning to shop at a department store, the car navigation device acquires information that the department store is closed at the estimated arrival time as a result of acquiring the department store information at the estimated arrival time. From this information, it is possible to determine that the originally planned action can no longer be performed, and it is possible to give up shopping at the originally planned destination before arriving at the destination. Further, when the system disclosed in Patent Document 1 is applied, it is possible to know the estimated arrival time at the destination, and the driver can determine whether or not to arrive at the destination at the scheduled time. When it becomes impossible to arrive at the destination at the scheduled time, it is possible to give up to go to the destination and change the schedule.

JP 2002-92785 A

  For example, if it becomes clear that shopping at the destination is no longer possible at the scheduled time, the driver designates a new destination in consideration of moving to another place where the same shopping can be performed. In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the driver designates another destination, an estimated arrival time at the destination is calculated, and information on the destination at the estimated arrival time is displayed. If it is found that even if a new destination is specified, shopping at the destination cannot be performed at the scheduled time, the driver will specify another destination again.

  If the first change of destination reveals that a newly designated destination can be purchased at the scheduled time, the driver does not feel painful to specify the destination. However, when it is determined that shopping cannot be performed at the scheduled time at the designated destination, the driver designates the destination many times. If the destination is repeatedly specified, a place where shopping can be done at the destination at some scheduled time is specified. However, it is a burden on the driver to specify the destination repeatedly. For this reason, there has been a demand for a technology that provides information useful for determining a new destination without bothering the driver.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and when the terminal user can no longer act as planned, the terminal user is provided with information useful for changing the destination. It is an object of the present invention to provide a server device, a terminal device, and an information providing system that can be provided.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the present invention stores a plurality of candidate site data in which candidate site position data indicating the location of the candidate site is associated with a plurality of attribute data representing a plurality of attributes of the candidate site. Means, search range specifying data for specifying a search range of a plurality of candidate site data, receiving means for receiving scheduled time data and current position data, and a search range received by the receiving unit from a plurality of candidate site data Using extraction means for extracting one attribute data belonging to the search range specified by the specified data, candidate position data associated with the one attribute data extracted by the extraction means, and the received current position data A predicting means for predicting a predicted arrival time at the candidate site, a judging means for determining whether or not the candidate site can be reached by the estimated arrival time using the predicted arrival time and the scheduled time data; If the determination result of the determination means is affirmative, an attribute data extracted by the extraction means to provide a server apparatus and a transmitting means for transmitting a part or all of the candidate site data belonging.
According to this server device, if the user of the terminal device can no longer act as planned, an alternative candidate can be obtained by transmitting search range designation data, scheduled time data, and current position data to the server device. It is possible to provide information regarding the ground to the user of the terminal device.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the receiving means may further receive a search key for specifying the content of the attribute data, and the search range specifying data may specify the type of attribute data as the search range. The extracting means may extract one attribute data that matches the search key from the search range specified by the search range specifying data.
In another embodiment, the receiving means receives terminal device location data indicating the location of the terminal device that is the transmission source of the search range designation data, the scheduled time data, and the current location data, and the search range designation data is used as the search range. The candidate location data may be designated. In addition, the server device further includes a region calculation unit that calculates region data indicating a geographical region including the position of the terminal device, and the extraction unit uses region data from the candidate site data stored in the storage unit. You may extract the candidate site data corresponding to the candidate site located in the area | region shown.
In another embodiment, the server device may receive the search range designation data, the scheduled time data, and the current position data from a terminal device capable of measuring its own position. In still another embodiment, the server device may further include a communication unit that performs communication via a mobile communication network with a communication terminal that can use the mobile communication network.

Further, the present invention is a terminal device capable of acquiring current position data representing its current position, and a plurality of attribute data representing candidate position position data indicating a position of the candidate place and a plurality of attributes of the candidate place, A storage means for storing a plurality of candidate location data associated with the destination, destination location data indicating the location of the destination, scheduled time data indicating the estimated arrival time at the destination, and a search range for the plurality of candidate location data Receiving means for receiving search range designation data, and predicting the arrival time to the destination using the current position data and the destination position data, and based on the predicted time and the scheduled time data, If the determination result of the first determination means for determining whether or not the destination can be reached and the determination result of the first determination means is negative, one attribute data belonging to the search range specified by the search range specification data is extracted. A prediction means for predicting the predicted arrival time at the candidate site using candidate position data associated with the one attribute data extracted by the extraction means and the received current position data, and predicted arrival time When the determination result of the second determination means and the second determination means are affirmative, the extraction means extracts the result. There is provided a terminal device having display means for performing display based on part or all of candidate site data to which the one attribute data belongs.
According to this terminal device, when the user of the terminal device can no longer act as scheduled, it is possible to provide information regarding the alternative destination to the user of the terminal device.

Furthermore, the present invention provides an information providing system having a terminal device capable of measuring its own position and a server device that communicates with the terminal device, wherein the terminal device represents current position data representing the current position of the terminal device. , Receiving means for receiving destination position data indicating the position of the destination, scheduled time data indicating the estimated arrival time at the destination, and search range specifying data for specifying the search range, and the terminal device has the current position First prediction means for predicting an estimated arrival time at the destination using the data and the destination position data, and the terminal device uses the estimated arrival time and the estimated time data to determine the estimated arrival time. A first determination unit that determines whether or not the destination can be reached, and if the determination result of the first determination unit is negative, the terminal device includes search range designation data, scheduled time data, and current position data; Sir A plurality of candidate site data in which the server device associates candidate site position data indicating the location of the candidate site with a plurality of attribute data respectively representing a plurality of attributes of the candidate site. Storage means for storing, the server device has receiving means for receiving search range designation data, scheduled time data, and current position data, and the server device designates a search range from a plurality of candidate site data Candidate position data associated with the one attribute data extracted by the extraction means, and the current position received by the server device, the extraction means extracting one attribute data belonging to the search range specified by the data Second prediction means for predicting the estimated arrival time at the candidate site using the data, and the server device uses the estimated arrival time and the estimated time data to predict the expected arrival time. 2nd judgment means for judging whether or not it is possible to arrive at the ground, and when the server device has a positive judgment result of the second judgment means, the candidate place to which one attribute data extracted by the extraction means belongs It has candidate site information transmitting means for transmitting part or all of the data, and the terminal device has display means for receiving the data transmitted by the candidate site information transmitting means and performing display based on the received data. An information providing system characterized by the above is provided.
According to this information providing system, when the user of the terminal device can no longer act as planned, it is possible to provide information regarding the alternative destination to the user of the terminal device.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[1. Configuration of Embodiment]
[1-1. overall structure]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a communication system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication system 10 includes a large number of mobile phones, server devices, vehicles, and car navigation devices. To prevent the drawings from becoming complicated, the mobile phone 100, the server device 400, the vehicle 500, and the car navigation device are provided. Only 600 is shown in FIG.

The mobile packet communication network 200 is a communication network that provides a data communication service to a person who has signed a subscription with a communication carrier that operates the mobile packet communication network 200. The mobile packet communication network 200 includes a wireless base station that performs wireless communication with the mobile phone 100, an exchange, and a gateway server device (all not shown) that interconnects the Internet 300 and the communication network. The packet communication performed between the server device 400 connected to the Internet 300 and the mobile phone 100 is relayed. The mobile packet communication network 200 dynamically assigns an IP (Internet Protocol) address to the mobile phone 100 when the mobile phone 100 performs packet communication.
And the assigned IP address is transmitted to the mobile phone 100.

  The mobile phone 100 is a mobile phone capable of packet communication, and can communicate with the server device 400 via the mobile packet communication network 200 and the Internet 300 using the IP address assigned from the mobile packet communication network 200. it can. In addition, the mobile phone 100 has a communication interface that conforms to the Bluetooth (registered trademark) standard, which is one of the standards for short-range wireless communication, and other communication interfaces that also conform to the Bluetooth standard. Can communicate with the device.

  The server device 400 is a device that provides a service for distributing information, and distributes information on facilities, stores, and sightseeing spots according to a message transmitted from the car navigation device 600 via the mobile phone 100.

The car navigation device 600 has the same configuration as a general car navigation system that displays a map, a route to a destination, an estimated arrival time at the destination, and the like. In addition, the car navigation device 600 has a communication interface compliant with the Bluetooth standard in the same manner as the mobile phone 100, and can communicate with the mobile phone 100 in accordance with the Bluetooth standard.

[1-2. Functional configuration of car navigation device 600 and server device 400]
FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of the car navigation device 600 and the server device 400. In the car navigation device 600, the GPS unit 608 measures its own position as will be described later. The schedule data receiving unit 651 receives data (destination data, target data, scheduled time data, alternative type data) transmitted from the mobile phone 100. The storage unit 607 stores a location table TB1 in which a place name is associated with data indicating the latitude and longitude of the place identified by the place name. The arrival time prediction unit 653 calculates the estimated arrival time at the destination based on the data received from the mobile phone 100 and the data stored in the position table TB1. The determination unit 654 determines whether or not the destination can be reached by the scheduled time based on the estimated arrival time and the scheduled time data. If it is determined that the destination cannot be reached by the scheduled time, the request transmission unit 655 transmits a message requesting information on the alternative candidate site to the server device 400.
In the server device 400, the request reception unit 451 receives a message transmitted from the car navigation device 600. The storage unit 407 stores a destination candidate table TB2 in which position data representing the position of the candidate place is associated with attribute data representing the attribute of the candidate place. The area calculation unit 455 calculates a range within a certain distance from the current position of the car navigation device 600 when the received message requests area information. The extraction unit 453 searches the destination candidate table TB2 based on the data included in the received message, and extracts candidate destinations. The arrival time prediction unit 454 calculates the estimated arrival time at the candidate destination based on the position data corresponding to the candidate destination and the data included in the received message. Based on the calculated estimated arrival time and the estimated time data included in the received message, the determination unit 456 determines whether or not the candidate destination can be reached by the estimated arrival time. The candidate site information transmission unit 457 transmits information regarding the alternative candidate sites to the car navigation device 600 based on the determination result of the determination unit 456.
In the car navigation device 600, the candidate site information receiving unit 656 receives information on the alternative candidate sites transmitted from the server device 400. The display unit 606 performs display based on the received information regarding the alternative candidate site. In this way, the user can obtain information on alternative candidate sites. In the embodiment described below, the function of each component described above is realized by a CPU based on software (program) as described below, but a circuit or the like having the function of each component is provided. It may be realized by using a combination of hardware.

[1-3. Configuration of mobile phone 100]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mobile phone 100. Each unit of the mobile phone 100 exchanges data between each unit via the bus 101.

  The communication unit 108 has a function as a communication interface and communicates with a radio base station of the mobile packet communication network 200 through an antenna (not shown) under the control of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 102. Perform wireless communication. The communication unit 108 supplies the packet data transmitted from the radio base station to the CPU 102, and transmits the packet data output from the CPU 102 to the radio base station.

  The short-range wireless communication unit 109 has a function as an interface for performing communication conforming to the Bluetooth standard, and supplies the received signal to the CPU 102 while the signal supplied from the CPU 102 conforms to the Bluetooth standard. Convert to signal and send. The operation unit 105 has a plurality of keys (not shown) for operating the mobile phone 100. When this key is pressed, a signal indicating the pressed key is supplied to the CPU 102. The display unit 106 displays characters and graphic screens, a menu screen for operating the mobile phone 100, and the like under the control of the CPU 102.

  The storage unit 107 has, for example, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) as a memory for permanently storing data, and stores data for controlling the mobile phone 100 and a schedule registration program. I remember it. The schedule registration program will be described later.

  A ROM (Read Only Memory) 103 stores OS (Operating System) software for controlling each unit of the mobile phone 100. When power is supplied from a power supply (not shown), the CPU 102 reads and starts the OS software from the ROM 103, and controls each part of the mobile phone 100 using a RAM (Random Access Memory) 104 as a work area. Thus, the mobile phone 100 has the same configuration as a general computer device.

  The CPU 102 that has started the OS software performs processing in accordance with a signal input to the CPU 102. For example, when the user of the mobile phone 100 performs an operation to instruct execution of the schedule registration program by pressing a key of the operation unit 105, the CPU 102 displays the signal supplied from the operation unit 105 and the display unit 106. The user's instruction is specified based on the screen displayed on the screen, and the schedule registration program is read from the storage unit 107 and activated.

  When the CPU 102 activates the schedule registration program, a function of transmitting data indicating the action schedule of the user of the mobile phone 100 to the car navigation device 600 is added to the mobile phone 100. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed when the CPU 102 transmits data indicating an action schedule.

  When the CPU 102 starts the schedule registration program, the display unit 106 is controlled, and the screen illustrated in FIG. 4 is displayed. The user of the cellular phone 100 operates the keys of the operation unit 105 to specify any one of the text boxes BX1 to BX4 illustrated in FIG. 4, and inputs a character string to the specified text box. When the operation is performed, the input character string is displayed in the designated text box (step SA2, step SA4, step SA6, step SA8).

  When the user of the mobile phone 100 operates the key of the operation unit 105 and clicks the “Register” button displayed on the screen (step SA9; YES), the CPU 102 displays on the screen. It is determined whether data has been input to all the text boxes that have been set (step SA10). CPU102 extracts the character string input into the text box, when the judgment result of step SA10 is affirmative (step SA10; YES).

  The character string extracted from the text box BX1 is stored in the RAM 104 as destination data indicating a destination that the user of the mobile phone 100 is scheduled to visit. The character string extracted from the text box BX2 is stored in the RAM 104 as target data indicating the purpose of the user of the mobile phone 100 toward the destination. The character string extracted from the text box BX3 is stored in the RAM 104 as estimated arrival time data indicating the arrival time at the destination scheduled by the user of the mobile phone 100. The character string extracted from the text box BX4 is stored in the RAM 104 as alternative type data indicating the type of information acquired from the server device 400 when the planned action input from the text box BX1 to the text box BX3 cannot be performed. Is done.

  Next, the CPU 102 generates a schedule message including the destination data, the target data, the scheduled time data, and the alternative type data stored in the RAM 104, and controls the short-range wireless communication unit 109 to transmit the schedule message to the car navigation system. It transmits to the apparatus 600 (step SA11).

  When the CPU 102 starts the schedule registration program, the mobile phone 100 has a function of transferring a message transmitted from the car navigation device to the server device 400 and a function of transferring a message transmitted from the server device 400 to the car navigation device 600. Added. FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed when the CPU 102 transfers a message.

  When receiving the message, the CPU 102 determines the type of the received message and transfers the received message based on the type of the message. When the received message is an information request message or an area information request message (step SB1; YES, step SB2; YES), the CPU 102 controls the communication unit 108 to include the IP address in the received message. Transfer to server apparatus 400 (step SB3). If the received message is a candidate location message or a region information message (step SB4; YES, step SB5; YES), CPU 102 controls short-range wireless communication unit 109 to send the received message to car navigation device 600. (Step SB6).

[1-4. Configuration of Car Navigation Device 600]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the car navigation device 600. Each unit of the car navigation apparatus 600 exchanges data between each unit via the bus 601.

  A GPS (Global Positioning System) unit 608 is for using a position measurement system using an artificial satellite. When the GPS unit 608 receives position measurement radio waves transmitted from a plurality of artificial satellites, the latitude and longitude of the position where the car navigation device 600 exists based on the phase difference between the radio waves transmitted from the respective satellites. Is calculated. The GPS unit 608 supplies latitude data indicating the calculated latitude and longitude data indicating the longitude to the CPU 602.

  The short-range wireless communication unit 609 has a function as an interface for performing communication conforming to the Bluetooth standard, and supplies the received signal to the CPU 602, while the signal supplied from the CPU 602 conforms to the Bluetooth standard. Convert to signal and send.

  The operation unit 605 has a plurality of keys (not shown) for operating the car navigation device 600. When this key is pressed, a signal indicating the pressed key is supplied to the CPU 602. The display unit 606 displays characters, a graphic screen, a menu screen for operating the car navigation device 600, and the like under the control of the CPU 602.

  The storage unit 607 has, for example, a hard disk device (not shown) as a device for permanently storing data, and stores a schedule program and a car navigation program described later. The storage unit 607 stores data used when the CPU 602 executes a schedule program or a car navigation program. In addition, the storage unit 607 stores a location table TB1 that stores a place name and data indicating the latitude and longitude of the place identified by the place name. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a format of the position table TB1. In the destination name field, a character string indicating a place name designated as the destination is stored. The latitude field stores latitude data indicating the latitude of the place specified by the destination name, and the longitude field stores longitude data indicating the longitude of the place specified by the destination name. For example, “N35.xx.xx” is stored when the latitude is 35 degrees xx minutes xx seconds north, and “E139.yy.yy” is stored when the longitude is 139 degrees yy minutes yy seconds east longitude. Is stored.

  The ROM 603 stores OS software for controlling each part of the car navigation device 600. When power is supplied from a power supply (not shown), the CPU 602 reads and starts the OS software from the ROM 603 and controls each part of the car navigation apparatus 600 using the RAM 604 as a work area. In addition, after starting the OS software, the CPU 602 reads the car navigation program and the schedule program from the storage unit 607 and starts them. Thus, the car navigation device 600 has the same configuration as a general computer device in the sense that it controls various units connected to the CPU based on the program read from the ROM and realizes various functions. I can say that.

  The CPU 602 can count the time when the OS software is activated. For example, the CPU 602 stores time data indicating the time in the RAM 604 every second.

  When the CPU 602 starts the car navigation program, a car navigation application (hereinafter abbreviated as “car navigation AP”) is realized, a function of displaying a map and a route to the destination, a function of calculating an estimated arrival time at the destination, Functions similar to the functions of a general car navigation device, such as a function of calculating the average speed of the vehicle 500 moving toward the destination, are added to the car navigation device 600.

  When CPU 602 activates the schedule program, a schedule application (hereinafter abbreviated as schedule AP) is realized, and a function of receiving a message transmitted from mobile phone 100 is added to car navigation device 600. The function of receiving this message corresponds to the schedule data receiving unit 651 and the candidate site information receiving unit 656 of FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed when the car navigation device 600 in which the schedule AP is realized receives a message.

  When the received message is a schedule message transmitted from the mobile phone 100 (step SC1; YES), the OS delivers this message to the schedule AP. The schedule AP to which the schedule message has been delivered extracts the destination data, the target data, the scheduled time data, and the alternative type data included in the message, and stores them in the storage unit 607 (step SC2). Next, the schedule AP searches the “destination name” field of the position table TB1 using the extracted destination data as a key. When the schedule AP finds a corresponding cell from the position table TB1, the schedule AP reads out latitude data and longitude data stored in association with the found cell, associates the latitude data with longitude data, and outputs the destination data. It is set as position data (step SC3). When the schedule AP delivers the destination position data to the car navigation AP, the delivered destination position data is stored in the storage unit 607 by the car navigation AP (step SC4). The car navigation AP sets the position indicated by the delivered data as a destination, calculates the route to the position indicated by the delivered data, displays the route on the display unit 606, and calculates the expected arrival time at the destination at a fixed level. (Step SC5). This arrival time calculation function corresponds to the arrival time prediction unit 653 in FIG.

  When the received message is a candidate site message (step SC6; YES), the OS delivers this message to the schedule AP. The schedule AP to which the candidate location message has been delivered extracts the predicted time data, candidate location position data, and candidate location name data included in this message (step SC7), and delivers the extracted data to the car navigation AP. Based on the delivered data, the car navigation AP causes the display unit 606 to display the candidate place name and the time indicated by the predicted time data at a position corresponding to the position indicated by the candidate place position data on the map (step SC8).

  When the received message is an area information message (step SC9; YES), the OS delivers this message to the schedule AP. The schedule AP to which the regional information message is delivered extracts the candidate location data, candidate location name data, and time data included in the message (step SC10), and delivers the extracted data to the car navigation AP. The car navigation AP to which these data have been delivered causes the display unit 606 to display an image based on the delivered data (step SC11).

  Further, when the schedule AP is realized in the car navigation device 600, a function of transmitting a message for acquiring information from the server device 400 is added. FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed when the car navigation device 600 transmits a message to the mobile phone 100. The car navigation apparatus 600 performs this process at a constant cycle.

  When the schedule AP requests the data indicating the estimated arrival time at the destination from the car navigation AP, the estimated arrival time data indicating the estimated arrival time at the destination and the average hourly speed data indicating the average hourly speed of the vehicle 500 are obtained. To the schedule AP (step SD1). The schedule AP compares the time indicated by the delivered estimated arrival time data with the time indicated by the scheduled time data, and determines whether or not the estimated arrival time exceeds the scheduled time. This determination function corresponds to the determination unit 654 in FIG. When the schedule AP determines that the estimated arrival time exceeds the scheduled time (step SD2; YES), the schedule AP performs the same action as the scheduled action based on the content of the alternative type data stored in the storage unit 607. An information request message (step SD4) for requesting information on other candidate sites that can be performed or an area information request message for requesting information on an area where the vehicle 500 is located is generated and transmitted (step) SD5). The function of transmitting this information request message or area information request message corresponds to the request transmission unit 655 of FIG.

[1-5. Configuration of Server Device 400]
FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the server device 400. Each unit of the server device 400 exchanges data between each unit via the bus 401.

  The communication unit 408 is a communication interface for performing communication using the Internet 300. The communication unit 408 receives packet data transmitted from the Internet 300 and supplies the packet data to the CPU 402, while transmitting packet data supplied from the CPU 402 to the Internet 300. To do. The operation unit 405 has a keyboard and a mouse (not shown). When the user of the server apparatus 400 operates the mouse or the keyboard, the operation unit 405 supplies a signal indicating the operated button or key to the CPU 402. The display unit 406 displays characters, a graphic screen, a menu screen for operating the server device 400, and the like under the control of the CPU 402.

  The storage unit 407 has a device (not shown) that permanently stores data, such as a hard disk device, for example, and stores an information providing program and a destination candidate table TB2. Details of the information providing program will be described later.

  The destination candidate table TB2 is a table for storing information to be distributed to the mobile phone 100, and stores data in the format illustrated in FIG. The candidate place name field is a field for storing data indicating the name of the destination place. The purpose field is a field for storing data indicating actions that can be performed at the place of the name stored in the candidate place name field. For example, “shopping” associated with a cell whose candidate place name is “C souvenir shop” indicates that “shopping” can be performed at “C souvenir shop”. The time field is a field for storing data indicating a service providing time zone provided at a destination location. For example, “10: 00-18: 00” associated with a cell whose candidate place name is “A hot spring” indicates that the time during which the hot spring can be taken is between 10:00 and 18:00. The candidate site position field is a field for storing data indicating the latitude and longitude of the place of the name stored in the candidate site name field. For example, “N35.xx.xx / E139.yy.yy” associated with a cell whose candidate place name is “A hot spring” has a latitude of 35 degrees xx minutes xx seconds north and 139 degrees yy minutes yy seconds east longitude. It is shown that.

  The ROM 403 stores OS software for controlling each unit of the server device 400. When power is supplied from a power supply (not shown), the CPU 402 reads and executes the OS software from the ROM 403, and controls each unit of the server device 400 using the RAM 404 as a work area. Thus, the server apparatus 400 has the same configuration as a general computer apparatus.

  After starting the OS software, the CPU 402 reads the information providing program from the storage unit 407 and starts it. When the CPU 402 activates the information providing program, the server device 400 is added with a function of receiving a message transmitted from the mobile phone 100 and distributing information stored in the storage unit 607 in accordance with the received message. The function of receiving this message corresponds to the request receiving unit 451 in FIG. 16, and the function of distributing information corresponds to the candidate site information transmitting unit 457. FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating the flow of processing performed when the CPU 402 distributes information.

  When the received message is an information request message (YES in step SE1), the CPU 402 extracts data included in the message, and based on the extracted data, substitute candidate sites from the destination candidate table TB2. Data relating to (other candidate sites) is extracted, an estimated arrival time at the alternative candidate site is calculated, and it is determined whether or not arrival is possible by the estimated arrival time. When the determination result is affirmative, a candidate site message including data on the alternative candidate site, that is, information on an alternative candidate site that can perform the same action as the planned action is generated and transmitted to the mobile phone 100. (Step SE7). On the other hand, when the received message is an area information request message (step SE1; NO), the CPU 402 extracts data included in the message and calculates a geographical area based on the extracted data. The CPU 402 extracts data on alternative candidate sites from the destination candidate table TB2 based on the calculated geographical region. The CPU 402 calculates the estimated arrival time at the alternative candidate site, and determines whether or not it can arrive by the estimated arrival time. If the determination result is affirmative, a data on the alternative candidate site, that is, an area information message including information on an area where the vehicle 500 is located in order to change the initial schedule is generated and transmitted to the mobile phone 100 ( Step SE10). The function of extracting data related to this alternative candidate site corresponds to the extraction unit 453 in FIG. The function for calculating the arrival time at the alternative candidate site corresponds to the arrival time predicting unit 454, and the function for determining whether or not arrival is possible by the estimated arrival time corresponds to the determining unit 456.

[2. Example of operation of embodiment]
Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described. The outline of this operation example is as follows. First, an operation in which the driver of the vehicle 500 stores data indicating the action schedule in the car navigation device 600 will be described. Next, when the driver becomes unable to act as planned at the destination, the car navigation device 600 acquires information on other candidate sites that can perform the same action as the scheduled action, and driving A description will be given of an operation in which the car navigation device 600 acquires information about an area where the vehicle 500 is located when the hand cannot act as scheduled.

  In the operation example described below, it is assumed that the server device 400 has already started the information providing program and the car navigation device 600 has already started the car navigation program and the schedule program.

[2-1. Example of operation when car navigation device 600 stores data indicating action schedule]
When the driver operates a key of the operation unit 105 of the mobile phone 100 to instruct execution of the schedule registration program stored in the storage unit 107, the CPU 102 registers the schedule from the storage unit 107. Read and start the program. When the CPU 102 activates the schedule registration program, the display unit 106 is controlled, and the screen illustrated in FIG. 4 is displayed. When the user of the mobile phone 100 performs an operation of clicking the “Register” button after inputting a character string as illustrated in FIG. 13 (FIG. 3: Step SA9; YES, Step SA10; YES), After the CPU 102 extracts the character string input in the text box and stores it in the RAM 104, the destination data “A hot spring”, the target data “bathing”, the scheduled time data “17:30”, and the alternative type data A schedule message including “other candidates” is generated. When the CPU 102 controls the short-range wireless communication unit 109 and transmits this schedule message to the car navigation device 600 (step SA11), this message is received by the short-range wireless communication unit 609 of the car navigation device 600.

  When the OS implemented in the car navigation device 600 is supplied with a schedule message, the OS delivers the message to the schedule AP (FIG. 8; step SC1; YES). The schedule AP extracts the destination data, the target data, the scheduled time data, and the alternative type data included in the delivered schedule message, and stores the extracted data in the storage unit 607 (step SC2). The schedule AP searches the “destination name” field of the position table TB1 using the extracted destination data as a key. When the CPU 602 finds a corresponding cell from the position table TB1, the CPU 602 reads out latitude data “N35.xx.xx” and longitude data “E139.yy.yy” stored in association with the found cell, Destination position data is generated by associating the latitude data with the longitude data (step SC3).

  When the schedule AP delivers the destination position data to the car navigation AP, the delivered destination position data is stored in the storage unit 607 by the car navigation AP (step SC4). The car navigation AP sets the position indicated by the delivered data as a destination, calculates the route to the position indicated by the delivered data, displays the route on the display unit 606, and calculates the expected arrival time at the destination at a fixed level. (Step SC5).

[2-2. Example of Operation when Car Navigation Device 600 Acquires and Displays Alternative Candidate Locations]
Next, if the driver is unable to act as planned at the destination, he wishes to obtain information on other candidate locations that can perform the same behavior as the planned behavior, The operation example of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 14 assuming that “candidate” is set. In the operation example described below, it is assumed that data indicating the driver's action schedule is already stored in the car navigation device 600 according to the above-described operation example. Further, in the operation example described below, the schedule AP that obtains the estimated arrival time data and the average hourly speed data from the car navigation AP at a constant cycle is the estimated arrival time data “18:00” and the average hourly speed data “ It is assumed that 15 km / h is acquired.

  When the schedule AP acquires the estimated arrival time data “18:00” and the average hourly speed data “15 km / h” from the car navigation AP (FIG. 9: step SD1), the schedule AP stores the time indicated by the estimated arrival time data and the storage unit 607. It is compared with the time indicated by the stored scheduled time data, and it is determined whether or not the estimated arrival time exceeds the time indicated by the scheduled time data. The CPU 602 determines that the estimated arrival time exceeds the time indicated by the scheduled time data because the estimated arrival time is “18:00” and the time indicated by the scheduled time data is “17:00” (step SD2 YES), the alternative type data “other candidates” stored in the storage unit 607 is read. Since the alternative type data is “other candidates” for the schedule AP (step SD3; YES), the target data, the scheduled time data, and the alternative type data are read from the storage unit 607, An information request message containing the alternative type data, the average hourly speed data, and the current position data acquired from the GPS unit is generated.

  This message is transmitted from the short-range wireless communication unit 609 (step SD4, FIG. 14: step S101), received by the short-range wireless communication unit 109 of the mobile phone 100, and then supplied to the CPU. When the information request message is supplied (FIG. 5: step SB1; YES), the CPU 102 controls the communication unit 108 to transmit the information request message including the IP address assigned to the mobile phone 100 (step SB3). Step S102). This information request message is received by the radio base station of mobile packet communication network 200, then transmitted to server device 400 via mobile packet communication network 200 and Internet 300, and received by communication unit 408 of server device 400. Is done.

  When the communication unit 408 supplies the received information request message to the CPU 402, the CPU 402, the IP address included in the message, the alternative type data, the target data, the current position data, the scheduled time data, the average hourly speed Extract the data. Since the extracted alternative type data is “other candidates” (FIG. 12: step SE1; YES), the CPU 402 searches for information on other candidate sites that can perform the same action as the action planned by the driver. To do. First, the CPU 402 searches the destination field of the destination candidate table TB2 using the extracted destination data “bathing” as a key (step SE2). When the CPU 402 finds a cell having the record number “2” as the corresponding cell (step SE3; YES), the CPU 402 reads out the position data stored in association with this cell (step SE4), and this position data. And the current position data extracted from the information request message, the distance from the position of the vehicle 500 to the position indicated by the position data is calculated as, for example, “3 km”.

Next, the CPU 402 calculates that it takes 12 minutes to arrive at the destination from the current location based on the calculated distance “3 km” and the average speed data “15 km / h” extracted from the information request message. The estimated arrival time “17:12” to arrive at the position is calculated (step SE5). Since the calculated estimated arrival time “17:12” does not exceed the time “17:30” indicated by the scheduled time data extracted from the information request message (step SE6; YES), the time data from the destination candidate table TB2 Read “9: 30-21: 00”. The CPU 402 determines that the driver can receive the service when arriving at the destination because the calculated estimated arrival time is within the range of the time zone indicated by the read time data, and predicts the expected arrival time. A candidate place message is generated that includes the time data, the candidate place position data used to calculate the estimated arrival time, and the candidate place name data stored in association with the position data.
As a result of searching the destination candidate table, when a plurality of cells corresponding to the search key are found, one candidate is selected from the plurality of candidate locations, and the candidate location includes only data corresponding to the one candidate location. A message may be generated. In that case, various methods are possible as a method of selecting one from a plurality of candidate sites. For example, the candidate location closest to the current position may be selected using the position data and the current position data. Alternatively, a candidate site having the estimated arrival time closest to the estimated arrival time may be selected from the estimated arrival time and the estimated time data. Alternatively, data indicating the priority of each candidate place may be recorded in the destination candidate table TB2, and the candidate place may be selected based on the priority.

  When the CPU 402 controls the communication unit 408 to transmit the candidate location message to the mobile phone 100 with the IP address extracted from the information request message as the destination (step SE7, step S103), the message is transmitted to the communication unit 108 of the mobile phone 100. And supplied to the CPU 102. When the candidate location message is supplied, the CPU 102 controls the short-range wireless communication unit 109 and transmits the supplied candidate location message to the car navigation device 600 (step SB6, step S104).

  When the short-range wireless communication unit 609 that has received the candidate location message supplies this message to the CPU 602, the OS delivers this message to the schedule AP (FIG. 8: Step SC6; YES). The schedule AP extracts the predicted time data, candidate location data, and candidate location name data included in this message (step SC7) and delivers them to the car navigation AP. Based on the delivered data, the car navigation AP displays a character indicating the candidate location on the map displayed on the display unit 606, the candidate location name, and the estimated arrival time at the candidate location (step SC8).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the driver cannot perform an action according to the data indicating the action schedule stored in the car navigation device 600, the car navigation device 600 has the scheduled action. Since the information regarding the other candidate locations where the same action can be performed is displayed, the driver can change the destination and perform the action as scheduled. In addition, according to the present embodiment, data indicating the service provision time zone provided in the candidate site as well as the alternative candidate site is provided, so the driver can change the action schedule and change the candidate It is very helpful in determining whether or not to move to the ground.

[2-3. Example of operation when displaying region information of region where vehicle 500 is located]
Next, when the driver becomes unable to act as scheduled, he wants information about the area where the vehicle 500 is located in order to change the original schedule, and an example of operation when the alternative type data is set to “area”. This will be described with reference to FIG. Note that the operation from the operation instructing the driver to execute the schedule registration program until the schedule AP determines that the estimated arrival time at the destination exceeds the time indicated by the scheduled time data is the same as that of the mobile phone 100. Since the alternative type data input by the user is the same as the above-described operation example except that “region” is “region”, the description thereof is omitted.

  When the schedule AP determines that the estimated arrival time exceeds the time indicated by the scheduled time data (step SD2; YES), the schedule AP reads the alternative type data “region” from the storage unit 607. Since the alternative type data is “region” (step SD3; NO), the schedule AP generates an area information request message including the alternative type data and the current position data read from the GPS unit.

  Similar to the information request message, this area information request message is transmitted from the car navigation device 600 (step SD5, FIG. 15: step S201), and then transmitted to the server via the mobile phone 100, the mobile packet communication network 200, and the Internet 300. The data is transmitted to the device 400 and received by the communication unit 408 of the server device 400 (step S202).

  When the communication unit 408 supplies the received area information request message to the CPU 402, the CPU 402 extracts the IP address, alternative type data, and current position data included in the message. Since the extracted alternative type data is “region” (FIG. 12; step SE1; NO), the CPU 402 searches for region information of the region where the vehicle 500 is located. First, the CPU 402 calculates a certain distance from the position indicated by the current position data extracted from the area information request message to the north and south, for example, the latitude at a position 10 km away from the north and the latitude at a position 10 km away from the south. A certain distance from the position indicated by the current position data to the east and west, for example, a longitude at a position 10 km away from the east and a longitude at a position 10 km away from the west are calculated (step SE8). Next, the CPU 402 searches the destination candidate table for records having candidate location data that falls within the calculated latitude range and the latitude range (step SE9). For example, when the CPU 402 finds a record having the record number “3” as the corresponding record, the candidate place name data “C souvenir shop” and the candidate place position data “N35.vv.vv / E139.vv” are selected from the corresponding record. .vv "and time data" 9: 00-19: 00 "are read out, and an area information message including the read data is generated.

  Similar to the candidate location message, this area information message is transmitted from the server device 400 (step SE10, step S203), and then transmitted to the car navigation device 600 via the Internet 300, the mobile packet communication network 200, and the mobile phone 100. (Step S204).

  When the short-range wireless communication unit 609 that has received this area information information message supplies this message to the CPU 602, the OS delivers this message to the schedule AP (step SC9; YES). The schedule AP extracts candidate location data, candidate location name data, and time data included in this message (step SC10), and delivers them to the car navigation AP. Based on the delivered data, the car navigation AP displays the character indicating the candidate location, the business hours of the candidate location, and the candidate location name on the map displayed on the display unit 606 (step SC11).

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the vehicle 500 is located in the car navigation device 600 when the driver cannot perform the behavior according to the data indicating the action schedule stored in the car navigation device 600. Since information about the area is displayed, it is easy for the driver to change the action schedule.

  In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, information on the destination at the estimated arrival time is acquired when the estimated arrival time has changed, but whether or not the user can act according to the scheduled action depends on the estimated arrival time and The driver must judge from the acquired information. Although it can be said that it is difficult for the driver to make this determination by paying attention to the display screen, in this embodiment, when the action according to the data indicating the action schedule cannot be performed, information is acquired from the server device 400. Since the screen of the display unit 606 of the car navigation apparatus 600 is changed, the driver can easily know that he / she can not act as scheduled.

  Further, in this embodiment, information is automatically acquired from the server device 400 when it becomes impossible to perform an action according to a schedule. Therefore, compared with an aspect in which information is acquired by operating a car navigation, It can be said that it is safe.

[3. Modified example]
The present invention is not limited to such an embodiment. Hereinafter, modifications of the above-described embodiment will be described.

  In the above-described embodiment, the car navigation device 600 is described as an example of a device that determines whether or not the user can act according to the scheduled action and acquires information from the server device 400. However, this device is limited to the car navigation device. It is not something. In recent years, by installing hardware for using GPS and installing software for adding a navigation function, a PDA, a portable personal computer, a portable computer to which functions similar to those of a general car navigation device are added. There is a telephone. If the same configuration and functions as those of the car navigation device 600 are added to these PDAs, portable personal computers, and mobile phones, these devices also become unable to act as scheduled by the user of the device. It is possible to obtain information useful for changing the schedule.

  In the embodiment described above, the data indicating the action schedule is input using the mobile phone 100. However, the data indicating the action schedule may be input by operating the car navigation device 600. . Further, the scheduled arrival time input as the data indicating the action schedule may be the scheduled action start time at the destination.

  Communication between the mobile phone 100 and the server device 400 may be performed according to HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol) when performing communication. The server apparatus 400 may provide information using a CGI (Common Gateway Interface).

  The schedule program, the car navigation program, and the schedule registration program may be downloaded from a server device connected to the Internet 300 and installed. Further, the program may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a flash memory, and the mobile phone 100 or the car navigation device may install the program using these recording media. .

  In the embodiment described above, the programs executed by the car navigation device 600 include a schedule program and a car navigation program. However, these programs may be unified.

  In the embodiment described above, the server device 400 provides data indicating the service provision time zone provided at the destination location, but is not limited to the service provision time zone. Other information may be provided, such as providing information on the presence or absence of goods and items sold, or providing information on facilities such as a toilet if it is a sightseeing spot.

The sharing of functions among the car navigation device 600, the mobile phone 100, and the server device 400 is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment. For example, the car navigation device 600 may be provided with a communication interface for enabling packet communication so that the car navigation device 600 communicates with the server device 400 without using the mobile phone 100.
Alternatively, the mobile phone 100 may be equipped with functions that the car navigation device 600 such as a GPS receiver and a car navigation AP has, and the mobile phone 100 may display the navigation function and alternative candidate locations. Alternatively, the car navigation device 600 may store the destination candidate table of the server device 400, and the car navigation device 600 itself may search for alternative candidate locations.

  As destination data indicating the destination, instead of inputting the destination name as in the above-described embodiment, data indicating the latitude and longitude of the destination is input, and the schedule AP sends this data to the car navigation AP. The delivery and car navigation AP may set the position indicated by the delivered data as the destination.

  The method by which the server apparatus 400 calculates the estimated arrival time is not limited to the method used in the above-described embodiment. The estimated arrival time may be calculated using information such as traffic information such as traffic jams and regulations, speed limit information, and the like.

  In the embodiment described above, the schedule AP differs in the message to be transmitted to the server device 400 based on the content of the alternative type data. However, the schedule program is an application program for acquiring information on other candidate sites. And an application program for acquiring regional information. When acquiring regional information, it is not necessary to acquire information corresponding to the purpose, so an application for acquiring regional information may not receive target data. Further, when displaying a screen for inputting data indicating an action schedule on the mobile phone 100, a text box for inputting target data may not be displayed.

  An application that can transmit data indicating an action schedule from the mobile phone 100 to the car navigation device 600 is not limited to an application that is realized by executing a schedule registration program. A schedule application for managing the schedule of the user of the mobile phone 100, realized by the mobile phone 100, may have a function added to the mobile phone 100 by executing the schedule registration program.

  As described above, according to the present invention, when the user of the terminal can no longer act as scheduled, the terminal user can be provided with information useful for changing the destination. It becomes possible.

1 is a diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a communication system 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a mobile phone 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed when the CPU 102 of the mobile phone 100 transmits a schedule message to the car navigation device 600. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed when CPU102 of the mobile telephone 100 starts a schedule registration program. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of processing performed when a CPU of the mobile phone 100 receives a message. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a car navigation device 600 according to the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the format of position table TB1 which the memory | storage part 607 of the car navigation apparatus 600 memorize | stores. It is a flowchart which illustrates the flow of the process performed when the car navigation apparatus 600 receives a message. It is a flowchart which illustrates the flow of the process performed when the car navigation apparatus 600 transmits a message. It is a block diagram which illustrates the hardware constitutions of the server apparatus 400 which concerns on the embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the format of destination candidate table TB2 memorize | stored in the memory | storage part 407 of the server apparatus 400. FIG. It is a flowchart which illustrates the flow of the process performed when the server apparatus 400 receives a message. 4 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on a display unit of the mobile phone 100 according to the embodiment. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation example of the embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the operation example of the embodiment. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration of a communication system 10. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Cell-phone, 101 ... Bus, 102 ... CPU, 103 ... ROM, 104 ... RAM, 105 ... Operation part, 106 ... Display part, 107 ... Storage part, 108 ... Communication part, 109: Near field communication unit, 200 ... Mobile packet communication network, 300 ... Internet, 400 ... Server device, 401 ... Bus, 402 ... CPU, 403 ... ROM, 404 ... RAM, 405 ... ... Operation unit, 406 ... Display unit, 407 ... Storage unit, 500 ... Vehicle, 600 ... Car navigation device, 601 ... Bus, 602 ... CPU, 603 ... ROM, 604 ... RAM, 605 ... ... Operation unit, 606 ... Display unit, 607 ... Storage unit, 608 ... GPS unit, 609 ... Near field communication unit

Claims (8)

A terminal device, a mobile communication device, and a server device, wherein the terminal device can measure its current position and obtain an average speed, and the server device and the terminal device are information providing systems capable of communicating with each other; There,
The terminal device is
A plurality of destination data is stored, the destination data includes destination location data and a destination identifier corresponding to the destination location data, and the destination location data indicates a geographical location of the destination . storage means,
From the mobile communication device, receiving object data, object Chide over data, the scheduled time data and alternative type data, the object data represents the behavior expected by the user performed at the destination, the object Chide over data is It shows the location as the destination, wherein the scheduled time data indicates the time to reach the destination, the alternative type data includes a first receiving means for indicating the type of information to be acquired when it becomes impossible to conduct the planned ,
Current position data, on the basis of the average speed data and destination location data, a first calculation means for calculating a predicted time to arrive at the destination indicated by the object Chide over data,
Based on the scheduled time data received by the first receiving means and the predicted time calculated by the first calculating means, it is determined whether it is possible to reach the destination by the scheduled time . 1 judging means,
When it is determined by the first determination means that it is impossible to reach the destination by the scheduled time, the server device is provided with the alternative type data, the scheduled time data, the average speed data, and A schedule transmission means for transmitting current position data;
Second receiving means for receiving alternative candidate site data from the server device;
Display means for displaying part or all of the alternative candidate site data;
The server device is
Storing a plurality of candidate data, the include candidate data candidate location data and a plurality of attribute data indicates the position information of the candidate location data candidate sites, each of the plurality of attribute data may be performed in the candidate site A second storage means for indicating a possible action ;
And third receiving means for receiving said alternate type data from the terminal device, the scheduled time data, the average speed data and the current position data,
Extraction means for extracting one of the candidate data including the plurality of candidate data or al, the type of information indicated by the previous SL alternative type data,
A second calculation means for calculating a predicted time to arrive the current position data, the candidate site corresponding to the attribute data extracted on the basis of the average speed data and the candidate site position data,
Second determination means for determining whether the candidate site can be reached by the scheduled time based on the predicted time and the scheduled time;
A transmitting unit that transmits the one candidate data to the terminal device as the alternative candidate site data when the second determining unit determines that the candidate site can be reached by the scheduled time ; An information providing system characterized by comprising: The first receiving means further receives a search key for specifying the content of the attribute data;
The alternative type data specifies the type of attribute data as a search range,
The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the extraction unit extracts one attribute data that matches the search key from a search range specified by the alternative type data. The third receiving means receives terminal device position data indicating a position of a terminal device that is a transmission source of the alternative type data, the scheduled time data, and the current position data;
The alternative type data specifies candidate location data as a search range,
The server device further includes region calculation means for calculating region data indicating a geographical region including the position of the terminal device,
The said extraction means extracts the candidate site data corresponding to the candidate site located in the area | region shown by the said area data from the candidate site data memorize | stored in the said memory | storage means. Information provision system. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the server device receives the alternative type data, the scheduled time data, and the current position data from a terminal device capable of measuring its own position. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the server device further includes communication means for performing communication via a mobile communication network with a communication terminal that can use the mobile communication network. The alternative type data indicates that information including attribute data indicating the same action as that indicated by the target data is acquired.
The information providing system according to claim 1. The alternative type data indicates acquisition of information on candidate sites within a predetermined range from the position indicated by the current position data.
The information providing system according to claim 1. The first determination means periodically performs the determination.
The information providing system according to claim 1.

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