JP4993648B2 - Route information distribution system - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a route information distribution system including a mobile terminal and a center communicating with the mobile terminal.
[0002]
[Prior art and problems to be solved by the invention]
The vehicle navigation device tracks the current position using a GPS, a vehicle speed sensor, etc., and guides the route from the set starting point and the current position to the destination, but is large and heavy and portable. It is not something that pedestrians can use.
[0003]
A portable navigation device that is not mounted on such a vehicle but is light, small, and convenient to carry has also been proposed. This portable navigation device is not generally intended for vehicles, but rather guides the walking route for pedestrians, and a cellular phone is used. For this reason, the guide screen does not remain until the destination is reached, and the guide screen is frequently turned off, such as being used for a call or turning off the power to get on a vehicle.
[0004]
In such a case, when the guidance of the navigation device is reset each time, the current location and the destination must be input from 1 to return to the state before the guidance screen is turned off again, which causes a problem that it becomes troublesome. .
[0005]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention solves the above-described problem, and enables the previous route information to be displayed again even after communication is cut off or the power is turned off at the portable terminal.
[0006]
Therefore, the present invention is a route information distribution system comprising a mobile terminal and a center communicating with the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal is transmitted from the center, input means for inputting departure point information and destination information, and the center. Display means for displaying a route information screen, and when the communication is resumed or powered on from the mobile terminal side after communication interruption or power off performed by operation of the mobile terminal during guidance by the display means , Instruction means for transmitting a request for redisplaying the route information screen to the center, the center searching for a route based on departure point information and destination information from the portable terminal, and the portable terminal In response to an input from the mobile terminal, an information storage means for storing a screen transmitted to the mobile terminal using a user ID as a key, and a request for redisplaying the route information screen from the mobile terminal are received. When, is characterized in that it comprises a transmission means re-transmits the screen transmitted immediately before stored in said information storage means the user ID as a key to the portable terminal.
[0007]
The mobile terminal is a mobile phone, and the route information screen is a map including an entire route, a map of a route guide point, or a screen including the name of a route guide point, The portable terminal includes a current position detecting unit that detects a current position, and the input unit inputs the current position information detected by the current position detecting unit as departure point information.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a route information distribution system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front view of a portable terminal, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of guidance data. In the figure, 1 is a navigation center, 2 is a communication line, 3 is a portable terminal, 4 is guidance information providing means, 5 is user information storing means, 6 is user specifying means, 7 is map data, 8 is POI data, and 9 is a road. Data, 10 is public transport data, 11 is map generation means, 12 is POI search means, 13 is route search means, 14 is information input / output means, 15 is communication means, 21 is a display display section, and 22 is a numeric keypad input Indicates the part.
[0009]
In FIG. 1, a navigation center 1 is a server that communicates with a user's portable terminal 3 via a communication line 2, searches for a route to a destination according to a user's request, and provides guidance information. Information for storing route information searched by the route searching means, route information searching means including route searching means for searching for a route based on departure point information and destination information from the terminal, transmission means for transmitting the route information to the portable terminal 3 User information storage means 5 and user identification means 6 as storage means are provided.
[0010]
The guide information providing means 4 has map data 7, POI data 8, road data 9, public transport data 10 and other map data necessary for map drawing, point search, route search, and provision of guide information. A map image generation unit 11, a POI search unit 12, a route search unit 13, an information input / output unit 14, and a communication unit 15 are included.
[0011]
The map data 7 is data for drawing a map image. Nodes, links for drawing roads, polygons for drawing a specific area such as a house shape defining a region with coordinates, a park, coordinates and names Display character data to be displayed on a map storing. The POI data 8 has facility data for searching each point that is a departure point, a destination, and a guide point, and includes town page information and the like. The road data 9 is data for searching a route, and has information such as a cost and a road type specific to a route information distribution system for pedestrians different from an in-vehicle navigation system for determining an optimum route. Or, it has the same data as the in-vehicle navigation system, and the cost is changed by route calculation. From the viewpoint of pedestrians, roads that are not suitable for walking, such as toll roads and elevated roads, are not considered for route search, and regulations such as right / left turn and one-way traffic are not considered. In addition, it is said that it is easy to pass on wide roads such as national roads and roads with guardrails and wide sidewalks. The public transportation data 10 is transportation data including aviation, buses, ships, etc. as well as JR / private railways. For example, route data having station information for each route such as the JRXX line and the Yamanote line, For example, timetable data.
[0012]
The map image generation means 11 generates a map image based on the map data 7, and generates a map image displaying roads, routes, house shapes, parks, characters such as names, and the like. The POI search means 12 obtains point information (name, address, coordinates, etc.) corresponding to a destination or a guide point by inputting, for example, a telephone number from the POI data 8. The route search means 13 performs a route search based on road data 9 and public transportation data 10 in response to a route request based on designation of a departure place, a destination, a search condition, etc., and combines a walking route and a rail route. Search for the route from the starting point to the destination. The information input / output unit 14 outputs a route request or guidance start request from the user's portable terminal 3, a current location input / selection, a generated map image, a searched location, a search result, and guidance information to the portable terminal 3. The communication means 15 communicates with the user's portable terminal 3 via the communication line 2.
[0013]
The search method performed by the route search means 13 is as follows, for example. By specifying the departure point, the nearest station (boarding station) from the departure point is specified by narrowing down to a few stations, for example, three stations. Similarly, by specifying the destination, the nearest station (getting off station) is specified. ) To a few stations, for example, 3 stations. Then, the walking route from the departure point to each boarding station using road data, the transportation route from each boarding station to each getting off station using public transportation data, and the walking from each getting off station to the destination using road data Search for each route. Furthermore, the total cost from the departure point to the destination is calculated by combining these walking routes and transportation routes, and the route with the lowest cost is presented. At this time, the total cost can be changed by inputting the shortest time, the minimum fare, the minimum number of transfers, etc. as search conditions.
[0014]
The user information storage unit 5 sequentially stores information such as a departure point, a destination, search information, a current location, and a route search result for each user. The user specifying unit 6 recognizes the ID key of each user. User identification.
[0015]
The mobile terminal 3 is a display means for displaying route information transmitted from the center as shown in FIG. 2, and further a display display unit 21 capable of displaying a map search list, a menu, etc., departure point information and destination information As an input means to input, or after communication disconnection or power-off, communication restart or power-on, as an instruction means to instruct route information re-display, enter alphanumeric kanji and enter screen scroll instructions, etc. For example, a mobile phone having a numeric keypad input unit 22 and a communication function. Then, by communicating with the navigation center 1 via the communication line 2 and inputting the current location, the departure location, and the destination from the numeric keypad input section 22, the route guidance to the destination searched by the navigation center 1 is displayed on the display display section 21. Display a map of the map, display an enlarged view of the guide point by inputting the guide point, or operate the previous route return button or screen return button from the numeric keypad 22 to redisplay the previous route information. To do.
[0016]
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, the road data 9 includes a road number, its length, start point name / coordinates (latitude, longitude), end point name / coordinates, intersection name, road name, etc. The POI data 8 has information such as a spot name, spot coordinates, an address, a telephone number, a spot classification, and a display order as shown in FIG. 3B for each spot. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3C, a building name, a store name, a facility name, etc. are registered in the spot name, and the category information based on the genre is registered in the spot category for display and displayed for display. Items displayed in accordance with the display screen, such as “1” for displaying all routes in the order, “2” and “3” for displaying in an enlarged view, and their priorities may be registered. For example, when the characters “2” and “3” displayed in the enlarged view display are overlapped, priority is given to the point of the display order “2”.
[0017]
Next, an example of a communication processing flow between the user's mobile terminal and the server in the route information distribution system according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow for saving a route and returning the route by restarting communication. FIG. 5 is an example of a processing flow for saving the screen and returning the previous screen by restarting communication. It is a figure for demonstrating.
[0018]
In the route information distribution system according to the present invention, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, first, a route request is sent from the user's portable terminal to the server by designating a departure point, a destination, and a search condition. In a portable terminal equipped with GPS as current position detection means, when the departure place is the current position, the current position detected by the GPS may be automatically input as departure place information. In this case, the operation of inputting the departure place can be omitted. For the destination and the current location, for example, in order to specify the coordinates from the input value of the telephone number or name, a search is performed using POI search means, a search result list is presented to the user, and the user selects from the list. On the server side, when receiving a route request from the mobile terminal, the information input / output unit stores the destination, the name and coordinates of the departure place, the address, and other information in the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key. A route search request is issued to the search means. As the user ID, for example, in EzWeb, terminal specific information included in an http header from a browser on a mobile phone is used, but a user ID may be input. When the route search result is notified from the route search means, the information input / output means presents the route search result to the portable terminal and starts guidance in response to the guidance start request from the portable terminal.
[0019]
If the communication is interrupted or the power is turned off at the portable terminal and the communication is resumed or the power is turned on and the previous route return button is selected while the guidance is continued, the information input / output means uses the user ID as a key in the user information storage means. A route search result return request is issued to return the route search result, and the previous route search result is presented to the mobile terminal. On the other hand, when the portable terminal sends a guidance start request to the server, the guidance is resumed.
[0020]
Further, as described above, the communication disconnection or the power-off does not occur only during the guidance continuation as described above, but naturally it may occur in the middle of specifying the current location, the destination, the search condition, and the route request. Even in such a case, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, every time there is some input action from the portable terminal, the information input / output unit stores the user information in the user information storage unit using the user ID as a key in the server, Each time a screen corresponding to the input is displayed on the portable terminal, the screen is stored in the user information storage means using the user ID as a key. As a result, when the communication is cut off or the power is turned off at the portable terminal, communication is resumed and the previous screen return button is selected for the server, the information input / output means returns the screen using the user ID as a key in the user information storage means. Issue a request to restore the screen and present the previous screen on the mobile device. Here, information necessary for navigation for walking, such as search results, current location, destination, search conditions, and POI search results, is stored. Therefore, this information storage is executed for necessary information regardless of whether the screen is restored.
[0021]
Furthermore, it demonstrates according to the flow of a specific process. 6 is a diagram for explaining an example of the entire process and the destination setting process, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of a display process of a route from the current location, and FIG. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of initialization processing, and FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of user check processing.
[0022]
In the route information distribution system according to the present invention, the destination is set as shown in FIG. 6A as a whole (step S11), the route to the destination is searched and the route from the current location is displayed ( Step S12).
[0023]
Among the above processes, in the destination setting process of step S11, as shown in FIG. 6B, the destination is input (step S21), the destination is searched (step S22), and the search result is displayed. (Step S23), the displayed destination is confirmed (Step S24).
[0024]
In the process of displaying the route from the current location in step S12, as shown in FIG. 7, first, the current location setting process is performed (step S31), the route search process from the current location to the destination is performed (step S32), and the time The destination is estimated to arrive at the destination and is calculated (step S33), and the guidance status is determined to check whether the user is lost or not (step S34). If there is a request from the user, the guidance when the user is lost is displayed in accordance with the user's request, and a guide map is displayed by determining whether or not he / she is lost based on the scheduled time. May be displayed.
[0025]
In the current location setting process in step S31, the current location input screen is displayed as shown in FIG. 8A (step S41), the current location is input (step S42), and the current location is searched (step S41). S42) The current location is determined (step S43).
[0026]
In the initialization process such as the time in step S33, the counter is reset to “0” as shown in FIG. 8B (step S45), the timer 1 is set to the current time (step S46), and the arrival time is reached. The scheduled time is calculated (step S47). The estimated arrival time is obtained by calculating, for example, route distance / average speed of pedestrians (for example, 4 km / h).
[0027]
In the user check process in step S34, a map is displayed as shown in FIG. 9 (step S51), and it is determined whether or not there is a map change according to an instruction from the user (step S52). If there is a change in the map, the counter is incremented by +1 (step S53), and it is determined whether or not the count value exceeds a certain value α (step S54). If not, the process returns to step S51. The same processing as the above processing is repeatedly executed. When the count value exceeds the fixed value α, “Staying Lost” is displayed (step S57).
[0028]
If the result of determination in step S52 is that there is no change in the map, it is determined whether or not the destination has been reached (step S55). If it has not arrived at the destination, the current time is the estimated arrival time. It is determined whether or not a certain value β is exceeded (step S56). If the current time has already passed a certain time from the estimated arrival time, that is, if it has not arrived at the destination even after a further β time has elapsed from the estimated arrival time, Is displayed (step S57), and if the current time is still within the allowable range, the process returns to step S51, and the same process as described above is repeated.
[0029]
As described above, in the route information distribution system according to the present invention, when the map is frequently changed and exceeds a certain value α, or when the destination does not arrive even after a certain time β has elapsed from the estimated arrival time Judge that he is lost. In addition, (1) when the map is enlarged and not reduced, or (2) when the same place is enlarged many times, it may be determined that the user is lost.
[0030]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the system using a server (navigation center) that communicates with a mobile phone via an Internet line has been described. However, a portable terminal is connected to the navigation center using a wired or wireless communication line other than the Internet line. The present invention can be similarly applied to a system that performs communication and provides route guidance on a small screen, and is not limited to a device that communicates with a center, but may be applied as a device having all functions only with a mobile terminal. Nor.
[0031]
Further, although the description has been given of the case where the information is restored after the communication is cut off or the power is turned off, the same applies to the case where the functions are switched and other functions are used in the multi-function mobile terminal and then the navigation function is returned. When a user searches for a route by inputting the current location, destination, and search conditions, if the user selects one of them by presenting a plurality of routes to the user, the route search result is used as the user information. It may be saved and recalled.
[0032]
When the user wants to call the guidance screen again, a previous route return button may be provided on the top page, and by operating it, the information may be returned from the user information storage means and presented to the user. Further, not only the past route and setting contents but also the position in the screen hierarchy may be saved as information, so that the interrupted screen may be restored.
[0033]
【Effect of the invention】
As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, there is provided a route information distribution system comprising a mobile terminal and a center that communicates with the mobile terminal, wherein the mobile terminal inputs input starting point information and destination information. Means, display means for displaying route information transmitted from the center, and instruction means for instructing route information re-display after communication disconnection or power-off. Route search means for searching for a route based on destination information, information storage means for storing the route information searched by the route search means, and transmission means for transmitting the route information to the portable terminal. When there is an instruction to redisplay the route information, the route information stored in the information storage means is transmitted to the mobile terminal, and the center stores the route information every time the route is searched. Oh In each case, the mobile terminal is only an indication of the route information re-display, you can easily recall previous route information, there is no need to enter again and departure information and destination information.
[0034]
Since the information storage means stores the route information together with the user ID, the route information for each user can be reliably restored even when the route information of a plurality of users is stored in the center. In addition, since the route information includes a map including the entire route, a map of the route guide point, or the name of the route guide point, the entire route, the map of the route guide point, and the name of the guide point are rewritten as the previous route information. The portable terminal includes current position detection means for detecting the current position, and the input means inputs the current position information detected by the current position detection means as departure place information. Can be entered automatically.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a route information distribution system according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a front view of the mobile terminal.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of guidance data.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow for saving a route and returning the route by resuming communication.
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an example of a processing flow for saving a screen and restoring the previous screen by resuming communication.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the flow of overall processing and destination setting processing;
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining an example of display processing of a route from the current location.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an example of current location setting processing and initialization processing such as time;
FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an example of user check processing;
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navi center, 2 ... Communication line, 3 ... Portable terminal, 4 ... Guidance information provision means, 5 ... User information storage means, 6 ... User identification means, 7 ... Map data, 8 ... POI data, 9 ... Road data, 10 ... Public transportation data, 11 ... Map generation means, 12 ... POI search means, 13 ... Route search means, 14 ... Information input / output means, 15 ... Communication means, 21 ... Display display section, 22 ... Numeric key input section

Claims (4)

A route information distribution system comprising a mobile terminal and a center communicating with the mobile terminal,
The portable terminal is
An input means for inputting starting point information and destination information;
Display means for displaying a route information screen transmitted from the center;
Request for re-display of the route information screen to the center when communication is resumed or powered on from the mobile terminal side after communication interruption or power off performed by operation of the mobile terminal during guidance by the display means And an instruction means for transmitting
The center is
Route search means for searching for a route based on departure point information and destination information from the mobile terminal;
In response to an input from the mobile terminal, information storage means for storing a screen transmitted to the mobile terminal using a user ID as a key;
A transmission unit that, when receiving a request for redisplay of the route information screen from the mobile terminal, transmits the screen transmitted immediately before being stored in the information storage unit using the user ID as a key, to the mobile terminal again; ,
A route information distribution system characterized by comprising: The route information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal is a mobile phone. The route information distribution system according to claim 1, wherein the route information screen is a screen including a map including the entire route, a map of a route guide point, or a route guide point name. The said portable terminal is provided with the present position detection means which detects a present position, The said input means inputs the present position information detected by the said present position detection means as departure place information. Route information distribution system.

Images