JPH10148542A - Portable information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a portable information terminal device capable of easily obtaining information on a public transportation route to a public transportation stop based on a current position and a destination. SOLUTION: The current position of the terminal is measured by a satellite positioning system, and the position of the destination is input to the terminal by the holder of the terminal. Based on the current position information and the destination position information obtained by these, the nearest location is determined. Search for public transport stops in. Then, based on the search result, a route from the current position or the destination position to the nearest public transportation stop or a public transportation route between the two stops is searched and displayed on the display unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information terminal device provided with a satellite positioning system, and more particularly to information on a current position of a terminal obtained by the satellite positioning system and information on a destination position inputted by a holder of the terminal. The present invention relates to a portable information terminal having a function of presenting a traffic route using public transportation from a current position to a destination position based on the current position.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the use of satellite positioning systems in the private sector has become widespread, as represented by car navigation systems. In addition to displaying the current position on an electronic map, the car navigation system has also been commercialized to provide information on traffic congestion on nearby roads and to be small and portable by humans. .

On the other hand, small personal digital assistants such as electronic notebooks and palmtop computers have become widespread. When information on a stop of public transportation such as a railway is input on such a personal digital assistant, some portable information terminals connecting the two points are connected. Software for searching and displaying traffic routes in Japan is provided.

[0004]

Since the above-described car navigation system is designed with a car in mind, its main function is to provide information on traffic congestion. I have. However,
For example, if a pedestrian is carrying a miniaturized car navigation system, what is needed for the pedestrian is information on the nearest station that can be reached on foot, and information on traffic congestion is usually unnecessary. .

In the above-described software for searching for routes of public transportation, it is necessary to input the name of a railway station close to the current position of the user. If there are, it is difficult to use them.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal device capable of easily obtaining information on a public transportation route to a public transportation stop based on a current position and a destination.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a terminal position measuring means for measuring a current position of a terminal by a satellite positioning system, and a destination position input means for inputting a destination position by a terminal owner to the terminal. Based on the current position information obtained by the terminal position measuring means and the destination position information obtained by the destination position input means, the nearest public transportation stop (including a station) from the current position or the destination position A public transport stop search means for searching for a route to a nearest public transport stop from the current position or the destination position obtained by the public transport stop search means, and further searching for the nearest to the current position. A traffic route search means for searching for a traffic route between two stops, a public transport stop and a public transport stop nearest to the destination, and the traffic route search means. And a traffic route information display means for displaying the passing route information.

[0008] With the above arrangement, the current position of the holder of the portable information terminal of the present invention is automatically measured, and the route from the current position to the nearest public transportation stop and the accurate travel from the target moving position are determined. Find and display traffic routes.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a portable information terminal device 101 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, a GPS (Global Positioning System) is used as a satellite positioning system.

[0011] The portable information terminal device 101 has a GPS receiving unit 102 for receiving radio waves transmitted by GPS satellites, and a current time and orbit data based on satellite transmission data (time and orbit data) obtained from the GPS receiving unit 102. A CPU 103 that calculates the current location and controls the entire portable information terminal device 101 including a display unit 106, an input operation unit 107, and an external interface unit 110; a control program of each control unit of the CPU 103; ROM 10 for storing software for displaying search results and the like
4 and a RAM 105 that stores time and position data received from satellites, railway map, electronic map data, etc. necessary for traffic route search.

A display unit 106 for displaying the position data, the railway map, the electronic map data, and the like to the user of the terminal in an easy-to-understand manner; an input operation unit 107 serving as an interface for the user to operate the terminal; An external interface unit 110 for exchanging data with an external peripheral device such as a secondary storage medium.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the portable information terminal device in this embodiment. In this example, it is assumed that the terminal owner moves from the current position to a target moving place by walking or by rail.

First, in step S201, when the terminal user turns on the power, in step S202, the GPS
The reception of the radio wave from the S satellite is started, and in S203, the CPU 103 uses the GPS satellite data obtained thereby.
Calculates the latitude and longitude of the current position. Based on this result, electronic map data near the current position corresponding to the latitude and longitude of the current position is read from the RAM 105 in S204, and a map near the current position as shown in FIG. 3 is displayed on the display unit 106 in S205. At the same time, the current position is displayed as an icon 301.

Next, when the owner of the portable information terminal selects the icon 302 written "Destination?" Shown in FIG. 3 by pen input or the like in S206, as shown in FIG. A prompt 401 prompting the user to enter a destination appears. In S207, a destination to be moved is input to the prompt 401.

The data input to the destination may be in any form as long as the latitude and longitude can be obtained from the input contents. For example, a company name or a company address and the corresponding latitude and longitude may be used in advance. Is stored as a conversion table in the RAM 105, the company name or address may be input, and the latitude and longitude may be directly input.

When the input of the destination is completed in S207, next, in S208, the nearest station search program in the ROM 106 is started, and the search of the station near the current position and the destination from the data in the RAM 105 is started. Further, in S209, the route search program starts searching for a railway line connecting between the nearest stations obtained in S208 described above. If there are several stations that can be determined to be the closest, or some routes between both stations, some route candidates are searched according to the user's preference.

Finally, when the search is completed, in S210,
The search result is displayed on the display unit 106. The display of this search result is, for example, as shown in FIGS.
By selecting one of the icons 601 and 701, an electronic map or a railway map near the current location (FIG. 5), a railway line (FIG. 6), or a destination (FIG. 7) is displayed.

In the map display near the current position in FIG. 5, a route 502 from the current position 301 to the nearest station 503 is displayed. In the map display near the destination in FIG. 7, the destination 703 and the nearest station from the destination are displayed. A route 702 up to 704 is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for the user using an icon or the like. Also,
In Figure 6, the railway line name, fare, required time, transfer station name, etc.
Display information useful to the terminal user.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the first embodiment described above, information necessary for searching for a traffic route, such as station position data and electronic map data, is read from the RAM 105 in the portable information terminal. However, in a small portable information terminal, the built-in RAM
Due to the limitation of the capacity of 105, not all information necessary for the search can be necessarily covered. In such a case, necessary information is obtained from an external storage medium or the like via the external interface unit 110.

In this method, for example, as shown in FIG. 8, a portable information terminal 801 is connected to a data communication modem 802, a portable telephone or a PHS 803, and data of a map or a railway line is obtained from an external database. is there.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the operation in the second embodiment.

In S911, if there is no corresponding electronic map data near the current location or the moving place in the RAM 105, the process proceeds to S912 in order to access a database in which all station position data and electronic map information have been stored in advance. Dial the phone number.

After the database and the portable information terminal are connected online, the current position obtained in S903 is transmitted to the database (S913), and S91.
In step 4, map data and station position information sent from the database side are received, and a traffic route is searched using map data and station position information read from the database instead of the data in the RAM 105.

In each of the embodiments described above, the search is performed using both the current position information and the destination information. However, a system that performs the search using only one of them may be used.

[0027]

As described above, in the portable information terminal device according to the present invention, appropriate transportation means from the current position to the destination and the route information thereof can be provided to the owner of the terminal device. , If the owner is on a geographically unfamiliar land and the nearest public transportation system is unknown,
In addition, even when only the intended destination address is known, there is an effect that the user can select and move the route or the transportation without error.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a portable information terminal device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a map display near a current position in the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a prompt display for prompting input of a destination in the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a map display near a current location based on a search result in the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing a schematic display of a railway line based on a search result in the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a map display near a destination based on a search result in the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a system configuration according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation in the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 101: portable information terminal device, 102: GPS receiving unit, 103: CPU, 104: ROM, 105: RAM, 106: display unit, 107: input operation unit, 110: external interface unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A terminal position measuring means for measuring a current position of a terminal by a satellite positioning system; and an object for searching for a nearest specific target point from the current position based on current position information obtained by the terminal position measuring means. And a point searching means. 2. A destination position input means for inputting a destination position to the terminal by a holder of the terminal; based on destination position information obtained by the destination position input means, the current position of the terminal holder and And a target point searching means for searching for a nearest specific target point from a destination position. 3. The traffic route search means according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a route to a nearest specific target point obtained by said target point search means is searched; and traffic route information obtained by said traffic route search means. And a traffic route information display means for displaying the information. 4. A terminal position measuring means for measuring a current position of the terminal by a satellite positioning system; a destination position input means for inputting a destination position by a terminal owner to the terminal; Target point search for searching the nearest specific target point from the current position and the nearest specific target point from the destination position based on the current position information obtained and the destination position information obtained by the destination position input means. Means, and a portable information terminal device comprising: 5. The method according to claim 4, wherein a route from the current position and the destination position obtained by the target point search means to a nearest specific target point is searched, and further, a specific target point closest to the current position is searched. , 2 of the specific target points closest to the destination position
A portable information terminal device comprising: a traffic route search means for searching for a traffic route between two points; and a traffic route information display means for displaying traffic route information obtained by the traffic route search means. 6. The portable information terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the specified target point is a railway station or a bus stop of public transportation.