JP2005017218A - Facility information searching system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facility information searching system that can be easily read in indication and also can easily search a destination facility for a user, by determining a searching range using a cost from a search starting point for searching a peripheral facility to search the information of a facility reachable in the searching range. <P>SOLUTION: The system includes a setting means for a search starting point that sets a search starting point of the center to search peripheral facility information, a searching means for an accessible peripheral facility that traces links reachable from the search starting point through connections in sequence, and an extracting means for the facility information that performs a close proximity judgment of the links and the position information of the facility to extract applicable facility information from map information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a facility information retrieval system, and more particularly to a facility information retrieval system that retrieves facility information included in map information and displays the facility on a map.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, based on the facility information included in the map information, within a predetermined range with the current position or the position specified by the user as the base point (a range where the linear distance from the base point is less than a predetermined value, or a range displayed on the screen The facility information retrieval system that extracts all the facilities existing in (1) and displays them on a map exists and is applied to a car navigation device or the like.
In addition, there is a system that stores a database in which facilities are classified by category and can quickly search for target facility information by allowing a user to specify a category. Thereby, for example, when it is desired to go to a restaurant during driving, only the restaurant can be extracted from a plurality of facilities registered in the map information and displayed on the screen. Furthermore, there is a system in which a facility can be searched for by specifying a use by a user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-281797
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the conventional facility information retrieval system as described above, facilities that match a predetermined category or application are searched for all facilities existing within a predetermined range based on the current position or a position designated by the user. Therefore, facilities that are unreachable from the current position or the position specified by the user are also extracted and displayed, and there is a problem that convenience is poor. That is, since it is displayed as a search result to the facility which cannot reach | attain from the present position like the facility 1401 and the facility 1402 shown in FIG. 14, a screen becomes difficult to see. In addition, since it is not possible to determine whether the facility 1402 can be reached from the current position from the display screen of FIG. 14, the user scrolls and confirms whether or not the facility 1402 can be reached. Therefore, it was lacking in convenience and operability.
[0005]
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and facility information that can search for a facility only for a facility that can be reached from the current position or a position specified by a user as a facility search result. The purpose is to provide a search system.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The facility information search system of the present invention includes a map information storage unit that stores at least link information and facility information as map information, and a search start point setting unit that sets a search start point that is a center for searching for peripheral facility information. And sequentially follow links that are directly or indirectly connected to the link from the link corresponding to the search start point set by the search start point setting means, so that the links that can be reached from the search start point are sequentially It has a configuration comprising a reachable link search means to be selected and a facility extraction means to extract a facility in the vicinity of each link selected by the reachable link search means. With this configuration, it is possible to search for facilities only for facilities that can be reached from the search start point.
[0007]
Further, in the facility information search system of the present invention, the link information includes offset information to facility information near the link for each link, and the facility extracting means refers to the offset information, The facility in the vicinity of each link selected by the reachable link search means is extracted. With this configuration, it is not necessary to perform proximity determination between link position information and facility position information, and facilities near the link can be easily and quickly extracted.
[0008]
Furthermore, the facility information retrieval system of the present invention has a configuration further comprising facility display means for displaying only the facilities in the vicinity of the link to be displayed on the map when the extracted facilities are displayed on the map. is doing. With this configuration, it is possible to thin out the facilities to be displayed, and an easy-to-view display corresponding to the display scale is possible.
[0009]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention is characterized in that the reachable link search means thins out the links to be traced according to the cost from the search start point. With this configuration, it is possible to thin out facilities that are not likely to be aimed by the user and are located far away and close to a low-rank road.
[0010]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention obtains a route search means for calculating a guide route from the current position to an arbitrary destination and a search start point set by the search start point setting means by the route search means. And a search start point changing unit that sequentially changes along the guide route. With this configuration, it is possible to search for facilities that can be reached even from the guidance route.
[0011]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention is characterized in that the reachable link search means does not follow a link beyond a toll road link when the search start point is a general road. With this configuration, it is possible to thin out and search for facilities that cannot be accessed without paying a fee.
[0012]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention acquires connection link information from the search start point to each facility extracted by the facility extraction means, acquired as a result of the reachable link search means sequentially following the links. When the user selects any facility from the facilities extracted by the facility extraction means, it is reflected in the guidance route. With this configuration, it is possible to notify the user of the guide route to the facility without performing route search.
[0013]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention includes a range peripheral facility search means for searching and extracting all facilities existing within a predetermined range centered on the search start point, and the range peripheral facility search means. The apparatus further includes facility display means for displaying the extracted facility and the facility extracted by the facility extraction means so as to be distinguishable. With this configuration, the user can check all the facilities existing in the vicinity, and can easily check the reachable facilities.
[0014]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention comprises a center and a terminal, and the center has a center-side storage means for storing facility information in a database, and a center-side facility information extraction for extracting facility information from the center-side storage means. And a center side transmission means for transmitting the facility information extracted by the center side facility information extraction means, and the terminal includes the map information storage means, the search start point setting means, and the reachable link search means. , And the facility extraction means, and the facility extraction means extracts facilities near each link selected by the reachable link search means using the facility information transmitted by the center side transmission means. It is characterized by doing. With this configuration, the facility information obtained as a result of the search can always be used in a new state.
[0015]
Furthermore, the facility information search system of the present invention includes a center and a terminal that can communicate with each other, and the center includes a center-side storage unit that stores at least link information and facility information in a database as map information, and the reachable link The search means and the facility extraction means are included, and the terminal includes the search start point setting means and a facility display means for displaying the facility, and the search start point set by the search start point setting means is the terminal The reachable link search means sequentially selects links that can be reached from the search start point sent from the terminal based on the link information held by the center storage means. The extraction means is based on the facility information held by the center-side storage means, and the reachable link search means Therefore, the facility in the vicinity of each selected link is extracted, the facility extracted by the facility extracting means is transmitted from the center to the terminal, and the facility display means displays the facility transmitted from the center. It is characterized by. With this configuration, even if the facility information held in the terminal is old data, the facility search using the latest data can be performed, and the data added to the facility that cannot be held because the data amount increases in the terminal It is possible to provide to users by acquiring from.
[0016]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, the case where the present invention is applied to a car navigation apparatus will be described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention may be applied to, for example, a pedestrian navigation apparatus.
[0017]
(First embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to the first embodiment of this invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the facility information search system includes an input unit 101, a current position calculation unit 102, a map database 103, a display unit 104, a main controller 105, a main storage memory 106, and a route search unit 107. And a facility search unit 108. Hereinafter, each part will be described in more detail.
[0018]
The main controller 105 controls each part of the facility information search system.
[0019]
The current position calculation unit 102 is provided to acquire the current position, and includes an autonomous navigation sensor having an angular velocity sensor that detects a rotational angular velocity of the host vehicle and a distance sensor that detects a travel distance of the host vehicle, and a current vehicle It includes a GPS receiver that measures the position and current azimuth by satellite navigation, and a vehicle position calculation device that calculates the vehicle position based on inputs from the autonomous navigation sensor and the GPS receiver.
[0020]
The input unit 101 is an interface for inputting a user's operation purpose, and is displayed on the display when the map scroll button is pressed, a specific button displayed on the display is selected, or on the display. That a specific item is selected from the displayed list. Through this input unit 101, the user can activate facility information search, specify a search start point when searching for a facility, and determine a target facility from a search result.
[0021]
The map database 103 holds road network data, background data, facility information, and the like as map information. The road network data is composed of link information and node information that defines the connection relationship between the links.
[0022]
The route search unit 107 uses the road network data stored in the map database 103 to the destination specified by the user through the input unit 101 from the current position of the vehicle acquired by the current position calculation unit 102. Search for a route.
[0023]
The facility search unit 108 uses the road network data read from the map database 103 to trace a link that can be reached from the search start point. Then, a facility close to the link that can be traced from the search start point is extracted and stored in the main memory 106 as a facility search result. In addition, as a method of extracting facilities near the link, a method of comparing the position (longitude / latitude) of each link included in the link information and the position (longitude / latitude) of each facility included in the facility information, As will be described later, a method of referring to offset data to facility information can be considered.
[0024]
The display unit 104 displays a map around the current position of the vehicle acquired by the current position calculation unit 102 or a map around an arbitrary point scrolled by the input unit 101 based on the background data stored in the map database 103. draw. Further, the guide route calculated by the route search unit 107 is drawn, and the facility is drawn based on the facility search result stored in the main memory 106.
[0025]
The operation | movement which concerns on the surrounding facility search process of the facility information search system comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
[0026]
In the present embodiment, as an example of the process in which the facility search unit 108 follows the link, the 1: N Dijkstra method that has been conventionally used in the route search function of the navigation device is used. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be similarly implemented by using a method other than the 1: N Dijkstra method (for example, depth-first search or width-first search up to the search limit distance).
[0027]
When the user presses a button for executing the peripheral facility search function using the input unit 101, the peripheral facility search process is started. When the peripheral facility search process is started, the facility search unit 108 first sets a search start point (S201). Here, the current position of the vehicle acquired by the current position calculation unit 102 is set as the search start point. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a point designated by the user or the center position of the map displayed on the display may be set as the search start point.
[0028]
Subsequently, a reference link is determined (S202). The reference link is a link that is a target for checking whether or not a facility exists in the vicinity. In the present embodiment, the facility is searched by sequentially switching the reference links. Here, the case where there is one reference link will be described, but the same can be applied to the case where there are a plurality of reference links.
[0029]
When step S202 is executed for the first time after the peripheral facility search process is started, a link corresponding to the search start point is set as a reference link. In the present embodiment, since the current position of the vehicle is used as the search start point, the link on which the vehicle is traveling is determined as the reference link. When the user arbitrarily sets the search start point, the search start point does not necessarily exist on the link, but in this case, the link closest to the search start point is set as the reference link.
[0030]
Subsequently, it is determined whether or not the reference link determined in step S202 exceeds a predetermined peripheral search range (S203). The peripheral search range is an area that is a target of the peripheral facility search process, and may be defined by the cost (upper limit) from the search start point to the reference link, or the arrival requirement from the search start point to the reference link It may be defined by time, a straight line distance, a travel distance, or may be defined by a required time in consideration of traffic information acquired by VICS or the like. The peripheral search range may be determined in advance according to the specification, or may be arbitrarily set by the user. If the result of determination in step S203 is that the reference link exceeds the predetermined peripheral search range, the peripheral facility search processing is terminated, and if not, the process proceeds to step S204.
[0031]
In step S204, facilities near the reference link are extracted. Specifically, the facility information held in the map database 103 is read and the position of each facility (for example, latitude / longitude) is compared with the position of the reference link (latitude / longitude). A facility determined to exist near the link is extracted.
[0032]
Subsequently, it is determined whether the cumulative number of facilities extracted as a result of the search exceeds a predetermined upper limit (S205). As a result of the determination, if the cumulative number of extracted facilities exceeds the upper limit, the peripheral facility search process is terminated, and if not, the process proceeds to step S206. Depending on the search conditions, a very large number of facilities may be extracted, but if too many facilities are displayed on the screen as a search result, the screen becomes difficult to see, and the user searches for the target facility Becomes extremely difficult. In the present embodiment, in order to avoid such a situation, the number of facilities to be extracted is limited.
[0033]
In step S206, it is determined whether there is a link (excluding links already registered as candidate links described later) that is connected to the reference link and reachable from the reference link. Here, since the 1: N Dijkstra method is applied, the reachable link is specified based on the node information between the links and the restriction information of the connection destination link. As a result of the determination, if a reachable link connected to the reference link exists, the process proceeds to step S207, and if a reachable link connected to the reference link does not exist, step S208. Proceed to
[0034]
In step S207, a link connected to the reference link and reachable from the reference link is registered as a candidate link, and the process returns to step S202. In step S202, one link is determined from the candidate links as a new reference link, and the same processing is repeated thereafter. That is, in step S202, immediately after the start of the peripheral facility search process, the link corresponding to the search start point is determined as the reference link, and thereafter, one link is selected from the candidate links and determined as the reference link. . The criterion for selecting one link from the candidate links is, for example, the cost from the search start point to the candidate link, the distance, and the order of the estimated required time.
[0035]
In step S208, it is determined whether a link that can be set as a reference link (that is, an unprocessed link) is registered as a candidate link (S208). If there is an unprocessed candidate link as a result of the determination, the process returns to step S202, and one link is determined as a new reference link from among the unprocessed candidate links. The same process is repeated thereafter. It is. On the other hand, if there is no unprocessed link, the peripheral facility search process is terminated.
[0036]
As a result of the above processing, facilities in the vicinity of the link that are included in the predetermined peripheral search range and can be reached from the search start point are extracted. The display unit 104 reads out the image data of the facility extracted in this way from the map database 103, and displays the facility on the map as shown in FIG. Compared with FIG. 14 showing the conventional example, it can be seen that the facilities 1401 and 1402 that cannot be reached from the current position are not displayed in the example of FIG. In the example of FIG. 3, only the facilities extracted by the peripheral route search process are displayed on the screen. However, the present invention is not limited to this. Possible facilities (that is, the facilities displayed in FIG. 3) and unreachable facilities (that is, the facilities 1401 and 1402 in FIG. 14) may be displayed on the same screen in a distinguishable format.
[0037]
As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when searching for a facility, a route search algorithm such as the Dijkstra method is used to follow a link that can be reached from the current position, and the search result is used as a search result. Only facilities in the vicinity of the link that can be traced from the start point can be extracted. Then, by displaying only the facilities that can be reached from the current position, or by displaying the facilities that can be reached and the facilities that cannot be reached in a distinguishable manner, the user can determine whether the user can reach from the current position. You can easily find the target facility by distinguishing it on the map.
[0038]
In addition, as another display example of the present embodiment, for example, when the user executes the peripheral facility search process by specifying the peripheral search range by the travel distance, the display of each facility extracted by the peripheral facility search process You may change a form according to the stroke distance from a search start point to each facility (or link of each facility vicinity). More specifically, when the display unit 104 displays the facility on the map, the facility image may be displayed after being enlarged or reduced based on, for example, a table as shown in FIG. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the facility 505 near the search start point (here, the current position) is displayed larger, the facilities 501 and 503 that are slightly separated are displayed in the normal size, and the facility 502 that is far away , 504 are displayed smaller. In particular, the facility 504 is displayed small because the stroke distance is long although the straight line distance is short. Thereby, the user can easily grasp the travel distance from the search start point to each facility. Further, the same effect can be obtained even if the color intensity of the image of each facility extracted by the peripheral facility search process is gradually reduced as the stroke distance becomes longer.
[0039]
In this embodiment, when the facilities near the reference link are extracted in step S204, the position of each facility is compared with the position of the reference link. By providing offset information to the information, it is not necessary to compare the position of the link and the facility every time, and the peripheral facility search process becomes faster. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, offset information for each link is set in advance in the link information 601, and when a facility near the reference link is extracted in step S204, it is determined as the reference link. The link is extracted from the link information 601 and the offset to the nearby facility is confirmed. If a valid value is set in the offset information, the facility in the facility information 602 addressed by this offset information is extracted as a facility near the reference link. A plurality of neighboring facilities may be associated with each link.
[0040]
In this embodiment, if there is a link connected to the reference link and reachable from the reference link in step S206, such a link is registered as a candidate link in step S207. However, by adding restrictions to the links registered as candidate links at this time, it is possible to thin out the links that can be reached from the search start point (that is, the links that are subject to route search), and reduce the load on the peripheral facility search processing. can do. The restriction when registering a link as a candidate link can be defined by, for example, the cost (upper limit) from the search start point to each link (see FIG. 7). As a result, for example, it is possible to automatically thin out a facility farther away and in the vicinity of the lower rank link in the road network data. As another example, restrictions may be added to links registered as candidate links based on the road type. For example, it is conceivable that it is determined whether or not the search start point is an ordinary road, and if the search start point is an ordinary road, the toll road link is not registered as a candidate link. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to thin out (that is, exclude from a route search target) links that cannot be reached without paying a fee (links indicated by broken lines). It should be noted that whether or not to restrict a link registered as a candidate link may be set in advance in the present system, or may be set as appropriate by the user.
[0041]
In addition, when changing the link to be displayed according to the display scale, for example, the lower rank link is displayed when the display scale is large and the lower rank link is not displayed when the display scale is small. By displaying only the facilities in the vicinity of the link to be displayed among the extracted facilities, it is possible to make the display of the peripheral facility search result easier to see. A display example in this case is shown in FIG. FIG. 9A shows a display example when the scale is 1/800, and FIG. 9B shows a display example when the scale is 1/1600. In FIG. 9A, links 911 and 912 have narrow road widths and are defined as lower ranks in the road network data, and facilities 901 to 905 are facilities extracted by the peripheral facility search. On the other hand, when the scale is reduced as shown in FIG. 9B, the links 911 and 912 are not displayed, and correspondingly, the facilities 902 and 904 near the links 911 and 912 are also not displayed.
[0042]
(Second Embodiment)
In the facility information search system of the first embodiment described above, the facility in the vicinity of the link that can be traced from the route search point is extracted, but the facility information of the second embodiment to be described below is extracted. The search system realizes a “surrounding facility search along guide route” function by executing a peripheral facility search process while shifting the route search point along the guide route to the destination calculated by the route search unit 107. To do. In addition, since the structure of the facility information search system of 2nd Embodiment is the same as that of the thing of 1st Embodiment, illustration is abbreviate | omitted.
[0043]
Hereinafter, the operation of the facility information search system of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0044]
The route search unit 107 uses the road network data stored in the map database 103 prior to the peripheral facility search process, and uses the current position of the vehicle acquired by the current position calculation unit 102 through the input unit 101. The route to the destination designated by the person is searched, and the guide route is calculated. The calculated guide route data is stored in the main memory 106.
[0045]
When the peripheral facility search process along the guidance route is started by the user's instruction, the facility search unit 108 first determines the current position of the vehicle acquired by the current position calculation unit 102 (that is, the link on which the vehicle is currently traveling). A search start point is set (S1001).
[0046]
Subsequently, using the currently set search start point as a base point, a peripheral facility search process similar to that in the first embodiment, that is, the same as steps S202 to S208 in FIG. 2 is executed (S1002). The facilities extracted as a result of this processing are stored in the main memory 106.
[0047]
When the peripheral facility search process based on the current search start point is completed, it is then determined whether or not the search start point has reached the destination (S1003). As a result of the determination, if the search start point has reached the destination, the peripheral facility search process along the guide route is terminated.
[0048]
On the other hand, as a result of the determination in step S1003, if the search start point has not reached the destination, the direction from the link of the current search start point along the guide route calculated by the route search unit 107 is 1 in the direction of the destination. The next forward link is extracted, and this link is set as a new search start point (S1004). Thereafter, the process returns to step S1002, and the peripheral facility search process is performed using the new search start point as a base point.
[0049]
When the peripheral facility search process along the peripheral route is completed, the display unit 104 displays the facility on the map based on the peripheral facility search process result stored in the main memory 106.
[0050]
As described above, in the present embodiment, the search start point is sequentially shifted from the current position of the vehicle to the destination, and the peripheral facility search process is executed using each link as the search start point as a base point. Therefore, for example, a facility within a predetermined search range from the guide route is searched for, for example, by searching for a range within 10 minutes from any point on the guide route from the current position to the destination. Can be searched.
[0051]
In the present embodiment, the process of steps S202 to S208 in FIG. 2 is repeated each time the search start point changes, and each time the same link is registered as a candidate link and whether there is a facility in the vicinity thereof. Redundant processing such as being checked occurs. In order to avoid such processing, for example, by collecting 10 links on the guide route from the current position to the destination and registering them as candidate links that can be reached in 0 minutes, search is performed for 10 base points. Can be performed in one time.
[0052]
(Third embodiment)
Next, as a third embodiment, a facility information search system that uses the result of route search (route from the search start point to each link) performed in the process of searching for nearby facilities for route guidance will be described. Since the configuration of the facility information search system of the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the illustration is omitted.
[0053]
The facility search unit 108 stores the link connection information obtained in the process of executing the peripheral facility search process based on the current position of the vehicle in the main memory 106 in accordance with the flowchart of FIG. More specifically, with reference to FIG. 11, it is assumed that, for example, facilities 1111 and 1112 are searched as a result of the peripheral facility search process. A map image displayed after the peripheral facility search is shown at 1121. The facility search unit 108 sequentially stores link connection relationships in the process of following links from the current position, and when the facilities are searched, as shown in FIG. 11, from the current position to each facility for each facility. Create and store link connection information.
[0054]
Thereafter, when the user selects a desired facility (here, referred to as facility 1111) from the peripheral facilities searched using the input unit 101, the link connection information of the selected facility 1111 is reflected in the guidance route. Start route guidance. A map image after reflecting the link connection information of the facility 1111 in the guide route is shown at 1122.
[0055]
As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, by maintaining the link connection information to the facility obtained at the time of searching for neighboring facilities, and reflecting this link connection information on the guide route after selecting the facility, Since it is possible to provide route guidance to a facility without obtaining a new guidance route from the current location to the selected facility, resources can be used effectively.
[0056]
(Fourth embodiment)
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to the fourth embodiment of this invention. In FIG. 12, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. The present embodiment is characterized in that the facility information is also managed in the center, and the center provides the facility information to the terminal when the facility information is updated.
[0057]
The center 1204 includes center-side facility information 1203, a center-side facility information extraction unit 1202, and a center-side transmission unit 1201. The center side facility information 1203 stores facility information. If there is a change in the facility information, the facility information held in the center-side facility information 1203 is immediately updated (added, modified, or deleted). Thereby, the latest data is always stored in the center-side facility information 1203. In addition to the facility information, additional information related to the facility information (for example, facility images and business hours) may be stored in the center-side facility information 1203.
[0058]
The center-side facility information extraction unit 1202 constantly monitors the center-side facility information 1203, and extracts the updated facility information when the facility information is updated. For example, the updated facility information can be extracted by holding the update date or version information in the data and taking the difference from the previous time. The center-side transmitting unit 1201 transmits the updated facility information extracted by the center-side facility information extracting unit 1202 to the terminal 1214.
[0059]
The updated facility information transmitted by the center side transmission unit 1201 is received by the terminal side reception unit 1211 of the terminal 1214 and stored in the facility information storage unit 1212.
[0060]
The facility information extraction unit 1213 reads facility information from both the facility information storage unit 1212 and the map database 103 as necessary and supplies the facility information to the facility search unit 108. Thereby, the facility search unit 108 can execute the peripheral facility search process using not only the facility information stored in the map database 103 but also the latest facility information provided from the center 1204.
[0061]
As described above, according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the latest data is always managed at the center, and when the facility information is updated, the updated facility information is transmitted to the terminal side. On the side, by searching for neighboring facilities using the latest facility information received, an appropriate surrounding facility search result reflecting the current situation can be obtained.
[0062]
(Fifth embodiment)
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to the fifth embodiment of this invention. In FIG. 13, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. The present embodiment is characterized in that the center executes a peripheral facility search process and returns the result to the terminal.
[0063]
When the user determines a search start point using the input unit 101 of the terminal 1313, the search start point is transmitted to the center 1305 by the terminal side transmission unit 1312. Note that the current position of the vehicle may be transmitted as the search start point.
[0064]
The center 1305 includes a center-side map database 1301, a center-side facility search unit 1302, a center-side reception unit 1303, and a center-side transmission unit 1304.
[0065]
The center side receiving unit 1303 of the center 1305 receives the search start point transmitted from the terminal 1313. The center-side map database 1301 records road network data and facility information used when executing the peripheral facility search process. The center-side facility search unit 1302 reads such information as appropriate, and executes a peripheral facility search process based on the search start point received by the center-side receiving unit 1303. This process is the same as the process of steps S202 to S208 in FIG.
[0066]
If the facility information is changed, the facility information held in the center-side map database 1301 is also immediately updated (added, modified, or deleted). As a result, the latest data is always stored in the center-side map database 1301. In addition to the facility information, additional information related to the facility information may be stored in the center-side map database 1301.
[0067]
The facility extracted as a result of the peripheral facility search processing by the center side facility search unit 1302 is transmitted to the terminal 1313 by the center side transmission unit 1304. In the terminal 1313, the terminal-side receiving unit 1311 receives the facility transmitted from the center 1305, and the display unit 104 displays the received facility as a peripheral facility search result.
[0068]
As described above, according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the center executes the peripheral facility search process based on the search start point input by the user, and the terminal acquires the search result by communication. And display it on the display. Therefore, even if the facility information held in the terminal is old, the facility search using the latest data can be performed. Furthermore, since the facility information that cannot be held by the terminal due to the limitation of the storage capacity of the map database provided in the terminal can be held at the center, it can be used for peripheral facility search processing or provided to the terminal as appropriate. High-precision search is possible regardless of the specifications.
[0069]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, the present invention sequentially follows links that can be reached from a search start point arbitrarily designated by the user from the connection relationship, and extracts facilities in the vicinity of the links that are determined to be reachable. The facility can be searched only for the facility that can be reached from the search start point, and the convenience is improved.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display example of the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a table referred to in order to change the facility display size in the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example when the display size of a facility is changed according to a travel distance in the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a method for searching for a facility near a link using an offset in the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of thinning connection links in the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example when the toll road link is thinned out in the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display example in which a link to be displayed is changed according to a display scale of the facility information search system according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the facility information search system according to the second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a peripheral facility search result and a route guidance screen example of the facility information search system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of a facility information search system according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a display example of a conventional facility information search system
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Input section
102 Current position calculator
103 Map database
104 Display section
105 Main controller
106 Main memory
107 Route search unit
108 Facility Search Department
501 to 505 facilities
601 Link information table
602 Facility information table
901-905 facilities
911-912 links
1101-1106 links
1111 and 1112 facilities
1201 Center side transmitter
1202 Center side facility information extraction part
1203 Center side facility information
1204 Center
1211 Terminal side receiver
1212 Facility information storage unit
1213 Facility information extraction unit
1214 terminal
1301 Center side map database
1302 Center side facility search department
1303 Center side receiver
1304 Center side transmitter
1305 Center
1311 Terminal side receiver
1312 Terminal side transmitter
1313 terminal

Claims (10)

Map information storage means for storing at least link information and facility information as map information;
A search start point setting means for setting a search start point that is a center for searching for facility information in the vicinity;
By sequentially following links directly or indirectly connected to the link from the link corresponding to the search start point set by the search start point setting means, links reachable from the search start point are sequentially selected. A reachable link search means;
A facility information retrieval system comprising facility extraction means for extracting a facility in the vicinity of each link selected by the reachable link search means. The link information includes offset information to facility information in the vicinity of the link for each link, and the facility extracting means refers to the offset information and each selected by the reachable link search means. The facility information search system according to claim 1, wherein a facility near the link is extracted. The facility information search system according to claim 1, further comprising facility display means for displaying only the facilities in the vicinity of the link to be displayed on the map when the extracted facilities are displayed on the map. The facility information search system according to claim 1, wherein the reachable link search unit thins out links to be traced according to a cost from the search start point. Route search means for calculating a guide route from the current position to an arbitrary destination;
The facility information search according to claim 1, further comprising: a search start point changing unit that sequentially changes the search start point set by the search start point setting unit along the guide route obtained by the route search unit. system. The facility information search system according to claim 1, wherein the reachable link search means does not follow a link beyond a toll road link when the search start point is a general road. Connected link information from the search start point to each facility extracted by the facility extracting means, acquired as a result of the reachable link searching means sequentially following the links, among the facilities extracted by the facility extracting means. The facility information retrieval system according to claim 1, wherein when a facility is selected by the user, the information is reflected in the guide route. In-range peripheral facility search means for searching and extracting all facilities existing within a predetermined range centered on the search start point;
The facility information search system according to claim 1, further comprising: a facility display unit that displays the facility extracted by the within-range peripheral facility search unit and the facility extracted by the facility extraction unit so as to be distinguishable. . With a center and a terminal,
A center-side storage unit that stores facility information in a database, a center-side facility information extraction unit that extracts facility information from the center-side storage unit, and a facility information extracted by the center-side facility information extraction unit are transmitted to the center Center side transmission means to include,
The terminal includes the map information storage means, the search start point setting means, the reachable link search means, and the facility extraction means,
2. The facility extracting unit extracts facilities in the vicinity of each link selected by the reachable link searching unit using the facility information transmitted by the center side transmitting unit. Facility information search system described in 1. It has a center and a terminal that can communicate with each other,
The center includes a center-side storage unit that stores at least link information and facility information as map information in a database, the reachable link search unit, and the facility extraction unit,
The terminal includes the search start point setting means and a facility display means for displaying the facility,
The search start point set by the search start point setting means is transmitted from the terminal to the center,
The reachable link search means sequentially selects links reachable from the search start point transmitted from the terminal based on the link information held by the center side storage means,
The facility extraction means extracts facilities in the vicinity of each link selected by the reachable link search means based on the facility information held by the center-side storage means,
The facility extracted by the facility extraction means is transmitted from the center to the terminal,
The facility information search system according to claim 1, wherein the facility display unit displays a facility transmitted from the center.

Images