JP2002039767A - Point-related information providing system - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An in-vehicle device 1 is connected to a server 2 via networks 3 and 4, the in-vehicle device 1 includes a navigation device 12 and a personal computer 13, and the server 2
Contains files 21, 22, 2,
3, the in-vehicle device 1 is connected to the server 2 by the server 2
Requesting the location-related information stored in the server 2
Retrieves the coordinates and contents of the point-related information requested from the in-vehicle device 1 from the files 21, 22, and 23, and transmits them to the in-vehicle device 1. The in-vehicle device 1 stores the coordinates and contents of the point-related information, When the current position of the vehicle approaches the coordinates of the stored location-related information, the location-related information is output. According to the present invention, useful information can be obtained at an optimal timing for a vehicle driver, and a user-friendly system can be provided while ensuring driving safety.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a system for providing point-related information stored in an information center to a vehicle-mounted device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, mobile information terminals such as personal computers and in-car navigation devices (hereinafter referred to collectively as "mobile terminals") are provided with store information, event information, parking lot information, and congestion information. An information distribution system that provides road information, sightseeing information, and the like through the Internet is being studied. Pedestrians and vehicle drivers use a browser (browse
r; browsing software), a screen on which the information is posted can be called.

[0003]

However, even if a large amount of information is provided, the vehicle driver cannot select the information. In order to ensure the safety of traveling, it is desirable to distribute only useful information. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize a point-related information providing system capable of providing only useful information for a person to whom information is provided.

[0004]

The point-related information providing system of the present invention connects a vehicle-mounted device to an information center via a network, and the vehicle-mounted device includes a current position detecting means and a point-related information output means. The information center is provided with storage means for storing point-related information, and when the in-vehicle device requests the information center for the point-related information stored in the information center, the information center is requested by the in-vehicle device. The coordinates and contents of the location-related information are retrieved from the storage means and transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device. The vehicle-mounted device saves the coordinates and contents of the location-related information, and stores the coordinates of the location-related information stored in the current position of the vehicle. , The point related information is output (claim 1).

[0005] According to the above configuration, the vehicle-mounted device stores the coordinates and contents of the point-related information acquired from the information center, and if the current position of the vehicle approaches the coordinates of the stored point-related information, the vehicle-mounted device can store the coordinates. Since the information is output, useful information for the driver of the vehicle can be obtained at an optimal timing. Therefore, while ensuring driving safety,
A user-friendly system can be provided. Further, the point-related information providing system according to the present invention, when the in-vehicle device requests the coordinates of the point-related information stored in the information center from the information center, The coordinates of the relevant information are taken out from the storage means and transmitted to the on-vehicle device. The on-vehicle device stores the coordinates of the point-related information. Requesting the contents of the point-related information stored in the information center, the information center retrieves the contents of the point-related information requested by the in-vehicle device from the storage unit, transmits the content to the in-vehicle device, Output the point-related information (claim 2).

[0006] According to this configuration, the information center sends the coordinates of the point-related information to the on-vehicle device in advance, and receives the notification that the current position of the vehicle is approaching the coordinates of the stored point-related information. And sends the point-related information to the vehicle-mounted device. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, the capacity of the point-related information storage device of the on-vehicle device may be small, and the size of the on-vehicle device can be reduced and the cost can be reduced. Further, the point-related information providing system of the present invention, when the in-vehicle device transmits the current position coordinates of the vehicle to the information center,
If the transmitted current position of the vehicle is close to the stored coordinates of the location-related information, the information center retrieves the location-related information from the storage means and transmits the location-related information to the vehicle-mounted device. And outputting the related point information.

[0007] According to this configuration, since the information center performs determination as to whether or not the current position of the vehicle has approached the coordinates of the stored point-related information, the load on the vehicle-mounted device is further reduced. Therefore, in addition to the effects of the first aspect of the present invention, the program capacity of the on-vehicle device may be small, and the size of the on-vehicle device may be further reduced and the cost may be increased. The file of the information center is a file for voice information in which the location-related information is stored in a voice format, and the output unit of the in-vehicle device is configured of a unit for expanding the location-related information in a voice format and a voice output unit, In-vehicle devices
The location-related information obtained from the information center may be output in a voice format (claim 4).

In this case, by making the point-related information in a voice format, the point-related information can be provided by voice to the driver of the vehicle-mounted device, which is useful for the safety of the driver who cannot operate during driving. In this case, if an identifier indicating a file for voice information is added to the voice information (claim 5), it can be identified as voice information. The file of the information center includes a file for image information in which point-related information is stored in an image format and a file for voice information in which point-related information is stored in a voice format. It is composed of a means for expanding processing in a format, an image display means, and a means for expanding and processing point-related information in a voice format, and an audio output means. It may be output in a voice format (claim 6).

[0009] By making the location-related information into an image format and a voice format, the location-related information can be provided to the driver of the vehicle-mounted device by voice and also by an image. Therefore, the driver who has overlooked the voice can check the content in the image. In this case, if an identifier indicating that the file is an audio information file is added, and if an identifier indicating that the file is an image information file is added to the image information file, the file type may be changed depending on the extension. It can be distinguished (claim 7).

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall system configuration for implementing the present invention.
The entire system includes an in-vehicle device 1, a server 2, a dedicated network 3 for connecting them, and an Internet 4. The in-vehicle device 1 detects a position based on signals from various sensors 11 such as a GPS receiver, a vehicle speed sensor, and a gyro, and based on the position and the map data stored in the map database, the current position of the vehicle on the road. It has a navigation device 12 that determines a position and calculates a route from the current position of the vehicle to a set destination.

Further, the in-vehicle device 1 captures vehicle position information and route information from the navigation device 12,
The personal computer 13 is connected to input / output devices such as a microphone 14, a speaker 15, a display device 16, and a remote control keyboard 17. In addition, an input device such as a mouse may be provided in addition to the above. The personal computer 13 is connected to a dedicated network 3 for an Internet connection service through a portable transceiver 18. Here, the Internet connection service includes, for example, i-mode (Internet connection service of NTT Tidcomo Co., Ltd.), EZweb (DDI-
Including, but not limited to, cellular, Tucar Group Internet Access Services, and J-Sky Web (J-Phone Group Internet Access Services). Includes services. Instead of the portable transceiver 18, an arbitrary transceiver such as a car phone or a two-way beacon transceiver can be used.

Further, on the Internet 4 connected to the dedicated network 3, each vehicle is provided with information related to the location (such as parking lot information, traffic congestion information, road information, sightseeing information, etc., to the driver by specifying the location). Server 2 for providing information (referred to as “point-related information”). The server 2 stores the information (content) for audio and the information (content) for image separately in different storage devices 21 and 22. Information for images is
Although described in HTML (hypertext markup language), audio information is in XML (extensible Markup Language).
e) Based on the language VINX (Voice Internet Navigati)
on mark-up language based on XML).

Further, a storage device 23 in which information for associating images and sounds is described is prepared. The extensions .vnx, .anx or .fnx are used to distinguish the above information. .vnx represents image information, .anx represents audio information, and .fnx represents association information. FIG.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a voice-activated browser (Voice Activated Browser) stored in the personal computer 13 when the in-vehicle device 1 receives point-related information from the server 2. Voice driven browsers are XML and HTML
Decrypts the tags and executes the function according to the definition of each tag. The display contents are described in HTML, and the audio contents are described in VINX. The content of the voice tag is read out by the voice synthesis module 135 in a synthesized voice.

More specifically, when a file is received from the receiving section of the portable transceiver 18, its extension (.vnx, .anx or .fnx) is determined (131). As a result of the determination, if the extension is .vnx, the file is expanded as image information (132), and if the extension is .anx, the file is expanded as audio information (133). If it is .fnx, the associated image information file or audio information file is expanded (134). The developed information is stored in the image registration device 13 according to the type of the information.
6 is temporarily stored in the screen of the display device 16 or temporarily stored in the voice registration device 137, voice-synthesized, loudspeaked by the speaker 15, and transmitted to the driver.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the voice-driven browser when the vehicle-mounted device 1 issues a file request to the server 2. The voice-driven browser, based on the content specified by the keyboard 17 while looking at the screen 16 of the display device, or the content uttered by the microphone 14 and recognized through the voice recognition module 136,
Our locator) is specified (137), and a file request is issued (138). This request is transmitted from the transmission unit of the portable transceiver 18.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of the location-related information. The location-related information includes location coordinates (X,
The information is stored in the storage devices 21 and 22 of the server 2 corresponding to (Y). For example, the position coordinates of a supermarket (X = 50,
In response to (Y = 100), display and reading-out information “Summer bargain is being performed in Super XX” are stored. The specific tag image is as follows. <id> 1 </ id><corx> 50 </ corx><cory> 100 </ cory><para> Super XX offers summer bargains </
para> If the display and reading information indicate that "attraction for children is being performed at the amusement park" corresponding to the position coordinates of the amusement park (X = 200, Y = 500), the following is obtained. <id> 2 </ id><corx> 200 </ corx><cory> 500 </ cory><para> Attractions for children at amusement parks </ para> Road coordinates (X = (300, Y = 700).
Please be careful of the traffic. "<id> 3 </ id><corx> 300 </ corx><cory> 700 </ cory><para> Construction will be carried out from 月 / ○ to 月 / ○. Please be careful about traffic </ para> In the embodiment of the present invention, three types of procedures 1 and
There are a few. Hereinafter, the procedure 1 for extracting the location-related information,
Take-out procedure 2 and take-out procedure 3 will be described respectively. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for extracting the contents of the location-related information and the location coordinates of the location from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the server 2 at a time. After the connection, if the in-vehicle device 1 requests the position coordinates of the point and the contents of the point-related information, the server 2 extracts the position coordinates and the contents of the point-related information in the service range, and stores the information in a predetermined format (for example, the association information). .fnx format). The in-vehicle device 1 expands the acquired information into an image information file and a sound information file, and stores the information in the image registration device 136 and the sound registration device 137 (see FIG. 2).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the vehicle-mounted device 1 after information storage. During traveling, the personal computer 13 of the in-vehicle device 1 extracts current position information from the navigation device 12 (step S1). The extraction is performed at regular time intervals, at regular distances, or when the map mesh number changes. The personal computer 13 calculates a distance D from the current position for each point stored in the image registration device 136 (Step S).
3, S4). This distance D may be a distance output from the navigation device 12 and along the route on which the vehicle will travel. Then, it is determined whether or not the distance D is within a predetermined distance K (step S5). If the distance D is within the predetermined distance K, the point information is displayed on the screen according to the HTML format, and is read aloud according to the VINX format.
(Step S6). The method of “displaying on a screen according to the HTML format and reading out aloud according to the VINX format” will be described later in detail.

The above processing is also performed for other saved points (steps S2 to S7). -Extraction procedure 2-Next, another extraction procedure of the spot related information will be described. In this procedure, the coordinate information of each point is obtained first, and the point-related information is obtained later. Referring to FIG. 7, the in-vehicle apparatus 1 requests the server 2 for the position coordinates of a point having the point-related information. The server 2 takes out the position coordinates of the point within the service range, and returns it in the HTML format. The in-vehicle device 1 stores the acquired information in the image registration device 136.

FIG. 8A is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the vehicle-mounted device 1 after storing information. The personal computer 13 of the in-vehicle device 1 extracts the current position information from the navigation device 12 during traveling (Step T).
1). The extraction is performed at regular time intervals, at regular distances, or when the map mesh number changes. The personal computer 13 extracts the coordinates of each point stored in the image registration device 136 and calculates the distance D from the current position (steps T3 and T4). Then, it is determined whether or not the distance D is within a predetermined distance K (step T5). If the distance D is within the predetermined distance K, the coordinates of the point are transmitted to the server, and the point-related information is transmitted from the server in the form of association information.fnx. get
(Step T6). The in-vehicle device 1 expands the acquired point-related information into an image information file and a sound information file,
Display on the screen according to TML format and VINX
Read aloud according to format.

The above processing is also performed for other stored points (steps T2 to T7). —Extraction Procedure 3— Next, still another acquisition procedure of the point-related information will be described.
In this procedure, the current position information of the vehicle is sent to the server, and the server determines whether the vehicle has approached the point. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a procedure for transmitting the current position information from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the server 2. FIG.
5 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process in the server. The in-vehicle device 1 transmits the current position coordinates to the server at regular intervals, at regular intervals, when the mesh number of the map changes, and the like. When the server 2 receives the current position coordinates (FIG. 1
0; step U1), the distance from the position coordinates of each point in the service range is calculated, and the distance within a certain distance K is transmitted as point-related information to the vehicle-mounted device 1 in the form of association information.fnx (0). Steps U3 to U6). Upon receiving the acquired information, the in-vehicle device 1 displays the information according to the HTML format, and reads the information aloud according to the VINX format.

Next, a method of displaying the location-related information in the HTML format and reading it out aloud in the VINX format will be described. If the extension of the location-related information is .fnx, the personal computer 13 creates a file for image information and a file for audio information (identifier .anx) specified by the information.
Expand to When the file is expanded into an image information file (identifier.vnx), the personal computer 13 performs processing according to the HTML tag. As usual,
Character display, coloring, image file display, table creation, link display, etc.

When developed into a voice information file (identifier.anx), the personal computer 13 performs an attraction for children at a supermarket according to the above-mentioned tag. We read aloud the contents such as "I'm going to do the construction from MM / MM to MM / MM. Please be careful about traffic." FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are diagrams specifically illustrating the screen displayed on the display device and the audio content heard from the speaker in accordance with the above processing. The symbol 車 両 indicates the position of the vehicle, and the broken line indicates the route to the destination.

In FIG. 11, the position coordinates (X = 50,
This is a screen where a supermarket mark is displayed at the position of (Y = 100). When the vehicle approaches within a certain distance K, an announcement is made that “Super XX is performing summer bargains”. Therefore, the driver can hear the point-related information at an optimal timing during driving without having to watch the screen of the display device 16. Also,
If you miss a part of the voice and want to check the information again, look at the screen of the display device 16 and you will see "Super XX
Now we're giving you a summer bargain. " Then, if the user decides to drop in at the supermarket, he can see the map on the screen of the display device 16 and know the route to the supermarket.

In FIG. 12, the position coordinates of the map (X = 20)
(0, Y = 500), an amusement park mark is displayed,
When the vehicle approaches within a certain distance K, an announcement is made that "Attractions for children are being performed in an amusement park." Therefore, the driver can hear the point-related information at an optimal timing during driving without having to watch the screen of the display device 16. If you miss a part of the sound and want to check the information again, the same content as the announcement "Attraction for children is performed at the amusement park" is displayed by looking at the screen of the display device 16. So you can check it. Then, if the user decides to go to the amusement park, the user can see the map on the screen of the display device 16 and know the route to the amusement park.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the information is distinguished by using a URL.
Although the extension added to the file is used, the extension can be distinguished by the header described at the head of the file. Further, instead of describing the location-related information in the HTML format or the VINX format, the location-related information may be described in a text format of an e-mail and distributed from the information center to the vehicle-mounted device.

The in-vehicle device stores the information acquired and expanded from the server in the image registration device 136 or the voice registration device 1.
Although the information is temporarily stored in the storage 37, it is also possible to store desired information among these information and manage it as a registered location file. Thus, the same information can be output the next time the vehicle travels on the same road. The information stored in the registered location device is not limited to the information obtained from the server via the network, but may include information obtained and stored by an arbitrary method such as reading from a disk.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a communication system for implementing a point-related information providing system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a voice-driven browser when the in-vehicle device 1 receives information from a server 2.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a voice driven browser when the in-vehicle device 1 issues a file request to a server.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific storage example of point-related information.

FIG. 5 is a procedure 1 for extracting the contents of the location-related information and the location coordinates of the location from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the server 2 at a time.
FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process 1 in the in-vehicle device 1 after storing information.

FIG. 7 is a communication procedure diagram showing a process 2 of acquiring coordinate information of each point first and acquiring point-related information later.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process 2 and a communication procedure in the in-vehicle device 1 after information storage.

FIG. 9 is a communication procedure diagram showing a procedure 3 for transmitting current position information from the vehicle-mounted device 1 to the server 2.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of a process 3 in the server.

FIG. 11 is a screen diagram specifically showing a screen displayed on a display device and audio contents heard from a speaker.

FIG. 12 is a screen diagram specifically showing a screen displayed on the display device and audio contents heard from a speaker.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 In-vehicle device 2 Server 3 Dedicated network 4 Internet 11 Sensor 12 Navigation device 13 Personal computer 14 Microphone 15 Speaker 16 Display device 17 Keyboard 18 Portable transceiver 21, 22, 23 File

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB09 AC02 AC09 AC14 AC18 5H180 BB05 FF04 FF05 FF12 FF13 FF22 FF25 FF40

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An in-vehicle device is connected to an information center via a network, the in-vehicle device is provided with a current position detecting means and a point-related information output means, and the information center is provided with a storage means storing point-related information. A location-related information providing system for providing location-related information stored in an information center to an in-vehicle device according to the procedures (a) to (c). (a) The in-vehicle device requests the information center for the location-related information stored in the information center. (b) The information center retrieves the coordinates and contents of the point-related information requested by the on-vehicle device from the storage unit and transmits the information to the on-vehicle device. (c) The in-vehicle device stores the coordinates and contents of the point-related information, and outputs the point-related information when the current position of the vehicle approaches the stored coordinates of the point-related information. 2. An in-vehicle device is connected to an information center via a network, the in-vehicle device is provided with a current position detecting means and a point-related information output means, and the information center is provided with a storage means for storing point-related information. A location-related information providing system for providing location-related information stored in an information center to an in-vehicle device according to the procedures (d) to (h). (d) The on-vehicle device requests the information center for the coordinates of the location-related information stored in the information center. (e) The information center retrieves the coordinates of the point-related information requested by the on-vehicle device from the storage means and transmits the coordinates to the on-vehicle device. (f) The in-vehicle device stores the coordinates of the point-related information, and, when the current position of the vehicle approaches the coordinates of the stored point-related information, the information center transmits the point-related information stored in the information center. Request the contents of (g) The information center retrieves the contents of the location-related information requested by the on-vehicle device from the storage means and transmits the information to the on-vehicle device. (h) The on-vehicle device outputs point-related information. 3. An in-vehicle device is connected to an information center via a network, the in-vehicle device is provided with a current position detecting means and a point-related information output means, and the information center is provided with a storage means for storing point-related information. A location-related information providing system for providing location-related information stored in an information center to an in-vehicle device according to the procedures (i) to (k). (i) The in-vehicle device transmits the current position coordinates of the vehicle to the information center. (j) If the transmitted current position of the vehicle is close to the coordinates of the stored point-related information, the information center extracts the point-related information from the storage unit and transmits the information to the in-vehicle device. (k) The in-vehicle device outputs point-related information obtained from the information center. 4. The information center file comprises a voice information file in which point-related information is stored in a voice format. The output means of the on-vehicle apparatus includes means for expanding the location-related information in a voice format and voice output. 4. The location-related information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the on-vehicle device outputs the location-related information obtained from the information center in a voice format. 5. An audio information having an identifier indicating that it is a file for audio information is added to the audio information, and the audio information development processing means calls up the file to which the identifier indicating that the file is an audio information file is added. 5. The location-related information providing system according to claim 4, wherein the text-to-speech tag in the file is read out when the file is read. 6. The information center file includes an image information file storing point-related information in an image format and a voice information file storing point-related information in a voice format. The vehicle-mounted device comprises: means for expanding and processing the point-related information in an image format; image display means; and means for expanding and processing the point-related information in an audio format; and audio output means. 4. The point-related information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information is displayed in an audio format. 7. An audio information file has an identifier indicating that it is an audio information file, and an image information file has an identifier indicating that it is an image information file. The processing means reads out the text of the voice reading tag in the file when the file added with the identifier indicating that the file is a voice information file is read. 7. The location-related information providing system according to claim 6, wherein, when a file to which an identifier indicating the existence is added is called, a display tag in the file is displayed.