JP5206116B2 - Vehicle navigation system and vehicle navigation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation system and a vehicle navigation method for performing route guidance to a destination.

Conventionally, in a vehicle navigation device, map information is stored in a storage medium, and the map information is displayed on a display to provide route guidance to a destination. However, the configuration in which the map information is stored in the storage medium causes a problem that it is difficult to update the map information frequently. Therefore, in recent years, by performing communication between the in-vehicle navigation device and a predetermined information distribution center, map information is acquired from the information distribution center, and the map information stored on the in-vehicle navigation device side is updated. A technique has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-77095

  However, in the prior art described in Patent Document 1 described above, the map information provided from the information distribution center cannot be used on the vehicle-mounted navigation device side unless all changed information is updated. For this reason, there is a problem in that when a part of the changed information is missing, the information cannot be used and malfunctions.

  Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-described circumstances, and the vehicle navigation system can prevent malfunction even when a part of the changed information is lost. It is an object to provide a system and a vehicle navigation method.

In the vehicle navigation system according to the present invention, when the map information held by the information distribution center is updated, the reliability of the changed information is set by the reliability setting means in the information distribution center. When the information indicating the reliability is transmitted from the information distribution center to the in-vehicle navigation device and the information indicating the reliability transmitted from the information distribution center is received by the in-vehicle navigation device, the information indicating the received reliability is transmitted to the vehicle When the reliability is managed by the reliability management means in the navigation apparatus and the function is realized by the function realization means, if the reliability managed by the reliability management means is set to 0, it is stored in the predetermined map information storage means while not using the map information that is, the case that the reliability is set to a value other than 0, predetermined map information By using the map information stored in the pay means, to solve the problems described above.

  According to the present invention, even when a part of the changed information is lost, it is possible to perform control without using the information, so that malfunction can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, a vehicle navigation system as a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

[First Embodiment]
[Configuration of vehicle navigation system]
As shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle navigation system shown as the first embodiment of the present invention includes an in-vehicle navigation device 100 mounted in the host vehicle and an information distribution center that distributes information to the in-vehicle navigation device 100. 200.

  The in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes a map information storage unit 101 that stores map information, a communication unit 102 that exchanges data with the information distribution center 200, and a reliability information management unit that manages reliability information of the map information. 103, a position specifying unit 104 that specifies the current position of the host vehicle, a display unit 105 that displays various types of information, and a function realization unit 106 that is a module that implements various functions.

  The map information storage unit 101 is composed of, for example, a hard disk and stores map information used when navigation of the host vehicle is performed. The map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 is read out by the reliability information management unit 103.

  The communication unit 102 receives the map information transmitted from the information distribution center 200 and stores the map information in the map information storage unit 101. Further, the communication unit 102 supplies map information change information, which will be described later, transmitted from the information distribution center 200 to the reliability information management unit 103.

  The reliability information management unit 103 manages the management ID and reliability of each road included in the change information received via the communication unit 102.

  The position specifying unit 104 includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver and the like, and specifies the current position of the host vehicle.

  The display unit 105 includes a liquid crystal display, for example, and displays various types of information including map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 under the control of the function realizing unit 106.

  The function realization part 106 is a module which implement | achieves various functions including the route guidance function to the destination. At this time, the function realization unit 106 refers to the management ID and reliability of each road managed by the reliability information management unit 103 for each function to be realized. For example, the reliability is set to “0”. The road corresponding to the management ID is controlled such that it is not used even if it is included in the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101.

  When such change information is received from the information distribution center 200 via the communication unit 102, the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100 uses the change information when realizing various functions such as route guidance.

  On the other hand, the information distribution center 200 includes a map information storage unit 201 that stores map information, a communication unit 202 that exchanges data with the in-vehicle navigation device 100, and map information stored in the map information storage unit 201. An editing unit 203 that edits the map information, a change point extraction unit 204 that extracts change information of map information that has been edited by the editing unit 203 and stored in the map information storage unit 201, and extracted by the change point extraction unit 204 A change point reliability determination unit 205 that determines the reliability of the changed information, a change point reliability setting unit 206 that sets the reliability determined by the change point reliability determination unit 205 in the change information, and the change A change point providing unit 207 that provides the in-vehicle navigation device 100 with the change information for which the reliability is set by the point reliability setting unit 206;

  The map information storage unit 201 includes, for example, a hard disk and stores map information to be transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation device 100. The map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 can be arbitrarily edited by the editing unit 203 and updated to the latest map information. Then, change information, which is information that has been changed by editing, is read by the change point extraction unit 204.

  The communication unit 202 transmits the change information provided by the change point providing unit 207 to the in-vehicle navigation device 100.

  The editing unit 203 edits and overwrites the map information stored in the map information storage unit 201 in response to a change such as the abolition of a road, for example.

  When the map information stored in the map information storage unit 201 is edited by the editing unit 203, the change point extraction unit 204 extracts information that has changed as change information. The change point extraction unit 204 supplies the extracted change information to the change point reliability determination unit 205.

  The change point reliability determination unit 205 determines the reliability of the change information extracted by the change point extraction unit 204. For example, when the road is abolished, the change point reliability determination unit 205 determines the reliability of the road as “0”. The change point reliability determination unit 205 supplies the determined reliability and the road management ID to the change point reliability setting unit 206.

  The change point reliability setting unit 206 sets the reliability determined by the change point reliability determination unit 205 in the change information. For example, the change point reliability setting unit 206 sets the reliability “0” determined by the change point reliability determination unit 205 for the abolished road. The change point reliability setting unit 206 supplies the change information in which the reliability is set to the change point providing unit 207 together with the management ID.

  The change point providing unit 207 provides the change information whose reliability is set by the change point reliability setting unit 206 to the in-vehicle navigation device 100 via the communication unit 202.

  Such an information distribution center 200 transmits the change information to the in-vehicle navigation device 100 after setting reliability in the change information when the map information is changed.

[Operation of vehicle navigation system]
In the vehicle navigation system including the in-vehicle navigation device 100 and the information distribution center 200, when the map information is changed on the information distribution center 200 side according to a series of procedures as shown in FIG. The change information is transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation device 100.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, when the map information stored in the map information storage unit 201 is edited by the editing unit 203 in step S1, the information distribution center 200 starts from the map information that has been edited in step S2. Change information is extracted by the change point extraction unit 204.

  Subsequently, in step S3, the information distribution center 200 determines the reliability of the change information extracted by the change point extraction unit 204 by the change point reliability determination unit 205, and determines the reliability of the abolished road. Judge as “0”.

  In step S4, the information distribution center 200 sets the reliability of the road determined by the change point reliability determination unit 205 to be “0” by the change point reliability setting unit 206. The change information indicating the management ID and the reliability “0” of the road whose reliability is set to “0” in step S5 is transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation via the change point providing unit 207 and the communication unit 202. It transmits to the apparatus 100.

  On the other hand, when the in-vehicle navigation device 100 receives the information indicating the management ID and reliability of the road transmitted from the information distribution center 200 in step S6 via the communication unit 102, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 receives the information on the received road in step S7. The management ID and reliability are managed by the reliability information management unit 103.

  Subsequently, in step S <b> 8, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 determines the management ID and reliability of each road managed by the reliability information management unit 103 for each function realized by the function realizing unit 106. It is determined whether or not there is a road whose reliability is set to “0” for a road necessary for realizing the function.

  Here, when there is no road whose reliability is set to “0”, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 realizes a normal function by the function realizing unit 106 in step S10. On the other hand, if there is a road whose reliability is set to “0”, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes the road in the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 in step S9. However, the function implementation unit 106 performs function control such as not using the function.

  Specifically, in the vehicle navigation system, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the roads with the management IDs L2 and L3 in the map information held on the information distribution center 200 side are abolished due to deterioration over time. When a road with ID = L9 is newly established, the roads with management ID = L2, L3 whose reliability is set to “0” are included in the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101. However, the function control unit 106 in the in-vehicle navigation device 100 performs function control such as not using the function.

  In the vehicular navigation system, even if there is a change in the map information on the information distribution center 200 side by restricting the use of the abandoned road according to such a series of procedures, the amount of information It is possible to reliably prevent malfunction on the in-vehicle navigation device 100 side only by sending and receiving change information with a small amount.

[Effect of the first embodiment]
As described above in detail, in the vehicle navigation system shown as the first embodiment of the present invention, when the map information held by the information distribution center 200 is updated, the information that has changed is displayed. The reliability is set by the change point reliability setting unit 206, information indicating the set reliability is transmitted from the information distribution center 200 to the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100, and the information indicating the reliability transmitted from the information distribution center 200 Is received by the in-vehicle navigation device 100, the information indicating the received reliability is managed by the reliability information management unit 103, and is managed by the reliability information management unit 103 when the function is realized by the function implementation unit 106. The availability of the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 is controlled according to the reliability.

  Thereby, in this vehicle navigation system, even when the map information is changed on the information distribution center 200 side, the amount of information transmitted from the information distribution center 200 to the in-vehicle navigation device 100 is small. The communication time can be prevented from being prolonged, and even when a part of the changed information is lost, it is reliably prevented from malfunctioning on the in-vehicle navigation device 100 side. be able to.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

  In the second embodiment, when there is a road that has been abolished, the information distribution center transmits information on another road to the vehicle-mounted navigation device. Therefore, in the second embodiment, the same parts as those described in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

[Configuration and operation of vehicle navigation system]
As shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle navigation system shown as the second embodiment of the present invention includes an in-vehicle navigation device 100 mounted in the host vehicle and an information distribution center that distributes information to the in-vehicle navigation device 100. 200 '.

  As described above, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes the map information storage unit 101, the communication unit 102, the reliability information management unit 103, the position specifying unit 104, the display unit 105, and the function realizing unit 106. When the change information is received from the information distribution center 200 ′ via the communication unit 102, the change information is used when realizing various functions such as route guidance.

  On the other hand, the information distribution center 200 ′ includes the map information storage unit 201, the communication unit 202, the editing unit 203, the change point extraction unit 204, the change point reliability determination unit 205, the change point reliability setting unit 206, and the change point described above. In addition to the providing unit 207, an alternative information extracting unit 208 that extracts other roads to replace the abandoned roads is provided.

  For example, when there is a road that has been abolished, the alternative information extraction unit 208 extracts other roads (hereinafter referred to as alternative roads) as alternatives to the road from the map information stored in the map information storage unit 201. . Specifically, the alternative information extraction unit 208 has a hierarchical structure as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-56591 for roads connecting the end points of abandoned sections of abandoned roads. Route search that sequentially repeats the search from the lower hierarchy of the map information to the intersection connected to the road network of the upper hierarchy, and extracts the management ID of the alternative road that has the same distance or the same travel time as the abolished section To do. The alternative information extraction unit 208 supplies information indicating the extracted management ID of the alternative road to the change point reliability determination unit 205.

  When the map information is changed, the information distribution center 200 ′ sets the reliability in the change information and transmits the change information to the in-vehicle navigation device 100. At this time, if there is an alternative road, the information distribution center 200 'extracts the management ID.

[Operation of vehicle navigation system]
In the vehicular navigation system including the in-vehicle navigation device 100 and the information distribution center 200 ′, when the map information is changed on the information distribution center 200 ′ side according to a series of procedures as shown in FIG. In addition, the change information is transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation device 100.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, when the map information stored in the map information storage unit 201 is edited by the editing unit 203 in step S11, the information distribution center 200 ′ edits the map information that has been edited in step S12. The change information is extracted by the change point extraction unit 204.

  Subsequently, in step S13, the information distribution center 200 ′ determines the reliability of the change information extracted by the change point extraction unit 204 by the change point reliability determination unit 205, and the reliability of the abandoned road is determined. Is determined as “0”.

  In step S14, the information distribution center 200 'searches for an alternative road that replaces the abandoned road and extracts its management ID.

  Subsequently, in step S15, the information distribution center 200 ′ determines whether or not an alternative road has been extracted. If no alternative road has been extracted, the process proceeds to step S12 to extract change information. On the other hand, if an alternative road is extracted while repeating the process from step S16, the process proceeds to step S16, where the change point reliability determination unit 205 determines that the reliability is “0”. The reliability is set as “0” by the change point reliability setting unit 206. At this time, the change point reliability setting unit 206 determines the reliability of the road from which the alternative road is extracted among the roads determined by the change point reliability determination unit 205 to have a reliability of “0”. Is set to “0”, while the reliability of a road from which no alternative road has been extracted is set to a value other than “0”.

  Then, when an alternative road is extracted in step S17, the information distribution center 200 ′, along with the change information indicating the management ID of the road whose reliability is set to “0” and the reliability “0”, Information indicating the management ID of the alternative road is transmitted to the in-vehicle navigation device 100 via the change point providing unit 207 and the communication unit 202. Further, the information distribution center 200 ′ does not transmit information to the in-vehicle navigation device 100 when no alternative road is extracted.

  On the other hand, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 receives the information indicating the management ID and reliability of the road and the information indicating the management ID of the alternative road transmitted from the information distribution center 200 ′ in step S18 via the communication unit 102. Upon receipt, in step S19, the received road management ID and reliability, and the alternative road management ID are managed by the reliability information management unit 103.

  Subsequently, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 obtains the management ID and the reliability of each road managed by the reliability information management unit 103 for each function realized by the function realizing unit 106 in step S20. It is determined whether or not there is a road whose reliability is set to “0” for a road necessary for realizing the function.

  Here, when there is no road whose reliability is set to “0”, the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100 realizes a normal function by the function realizing unit 106 in step S22. On the other hand, if there is a road whose reliability is set to “0”, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes the road in the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101 in step S21. Even if it is used, the function implementation unit 106 performs function control such as using an alternative road instead.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 manages the road with management ID = L2, L3 out of the map information held on the information distribution center 200 ′ side due to aged deterioration. When a road with ID = L9 is newly established, roads with management ID = L2, L3 whose reliability is set to “0” are included in the map information stored in the map information storage unit 101. However, the function implementation unit 106 in the in-vehicle navigation device 100 performs function control such as using a road with management ID = L5, L6 as an alternative road.

  In the vehicle navigation system, even if there is a change in the map information on the information distribution center 200 ′ side by restricting the use of the abandoned road according to such a series of procedures, the information It is possible to reliably prevent malfunction on the in-vehicle navigation device 100 side only by sending and receiving change information with a small amount.

[Effects of Second Embodiment]
As described above in detail, in the vehicle navigation system shown as the second embodiment of the present invention, other alternative information that is an alternative to the information whose reliability is set by the change point reliability setting unit 206 is information. When the function is extracted by the alternative information extracting unit 208 in the distribution center 200 ′ and the function is realized by the function realizing unit 106 in the in-vehicle navigation device 100, the use is limited according to the reliability managed by the reliability information managing unit 103 If there is alternative information for the information that has been used, the alternative information is used.

  As a result, in this vehicle navigation system, even when the map information is changed on the information distribution center 200 side, the substitute information can be used, and the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100 side becomes malfunctioning. Can be reliably prevented.

  The above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and even if it is a form other than this embodiment, as long as it does not depart from the technical idea according to the present invention, the design and the like Of course, various modifications are possible.

It is a block diagram shown about the composition of the navigation system for vehicles shown as a 1st embodiment of the present invention. In the vehicle navigation system shown as the first embodiment of the present invention, it is a flowchart showing a series of procedures when changing information is transmitted from the information distribution center to the in-vehicle navigation device. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of the function control which a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus performs in the vehicle navigation system shown as 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram shown about the structure of the navigation system for vehicles shown as 2nd Embodiment of this invention. In the vehicle navigation system shown as 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is a flowchart which shows a series of procedures at the time of transmitting change information with respect to a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus from an information delivery center. It is a figure for demonstrating the specific example of the function control which a vehicle-mounted navigation apparatus performs in the vehicle navigation system shown as 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 In-vehicle navigation apparatus 101,201 Map information storage part 102,202 Communication part 103 Reliability information management part 104 Position specification part 105 Display part 106 Function realization part 200,200 'Information distribution center 203 Editing part 204 Change point extraction part 205 Change Point reliability determination unit 206 Change point reliability setting unit 207 Change point providing unit

Claims (2)

An in-vehicle navigation device mounted in the vehicle;
An information distribution center for distributing information to the in-vehicle navigation device;
The information distribution center
When the map information to be held has been updated, and the reliability judging means for judging the reliability of the obsolete road as 0,
Substitution information extraction means for extracting other substitution information that substitutes for the road whose reliability is determined as 0 by the reliability determination means;
When the alternative information is extracted, the reliability of the road is set to 0, and when the alternative information is not extracted, the reliability setting means of setting the reliability of the road to a non-zero value;
Transmission means for transmitting the alternative information to the in-vehicle navigation device together with information indicating the reliability set by the reliability setting means,
The in-vehicle navigation device is
Map information storage means for storing map information;
Receiving means for receiving the information indicating the reliability and the substitute information transmitted from the information distribution center;
Reliability management means for managing the information indicating the reliability received by the receiving means and the alternative information ;
When realizing the function, when the reliability managed by the reliability management means is set to 0, the road included in the map information stored in the map information storage means is not used. The vehicle navigation system further comprising: a function realization unit that uses the road included in the map information stored in the map information storage unit when the reliability is set to a non-zero value. . Information distribution center for distributing information to the in-vehicle navigation apparatus mounted on the vehicle, when the map information to be held is updated, the reliability determination step of determining the reliability of the obsolete road as 0 When,
An alternative information extracting step in which the information distribution center extracts other alternative information to be an alternative to the road whose reliability is determined as 0 in the reliability determination step;
The information distribution center sets the reliability of the road to 0 when the alternative information is extracted in the alternative information extraction step, while the alternative information is not extracted in the alternative information extraction step A reliability setting step for setting the reliability of the road to a non-zero value;
The information distribution center transmits the substitute information to the in-vehicle navigation device together with information indicating the reliability set in the reliability setting step;
The in-vehicle navigation device receives the information indicating the reliability and the alternative information transmitted from the information distribution center; and
A reliability management step in which the in-vehicle navigation device manages the information indicating the reliability received in the reception step and the alternative information ;
When the in-vehicle navigation device realizes a function, if the reliability managed in the reliability management step is set to 0, it is included in the map information stored in a predetermined map information storage means A function realizing step of using the road included in the map information stored in the predetermined map information storage means when the reliability is set to a value other than 0 while the road is not used. A vehicle navigation method characterized by the above.

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