Information delivery device, information acquisition device and information delivery method

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

【0001】

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

The present invention relates to a navigation system. More specifically, it relates to a GPS receiver and a navigation system with other communication functions.

【0002】

[Conventional technology]

Navigation devices that display the current position of automobiles, pedestrians, etc., a map of the surrounding area, and the route to the destination are widely used. Many of these navigation devices have a GPS receiver and a map database device in advance, and have the function of independently finding the current position and displaying a map of the vicinity. However, the GPS receiver generally has a drawback that it is large in size and weight and consumes a large amount of power to be applied to a small portable information terminal or the like. Further, there is a problem that position detection becomes impossible when a place where GPS radio waves are difficult to receive such as indoors or underground malls or when the GPS receiver itself breaks down. In addition, holding a map database with an enormous amount of information in advance also increases the size, weight, power consumption, and the like of the storage device, which is a factor that impairs the convenience of the small navigation device.

【0003】

There is a navigation system shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-178066 that enables position detection without using a GPS receiver. This detects the reception level of radio waves from multiple wireless base stations installed in advance and the base station number of each base station with a mobile terminal, lists these detection information and sends it to the location information calculation station. The location information calculation station returns the detected location information to the mobile terminal, and the mobile terminal displays a map and location information near the current location based on this location information. According to this disclosure technology, there is an advantage that the navigation function can be realized by adding a small amount of equipment by using a terminal such as a mobile phone or PHS, but there is a time lag between the detection of information by the mobile terminal and the acquisition of location information. There is a drawback that if requests are concentrated on the location information calculation station or network, the response may be further reduced.

【0004】

In addition, as a mechanism to detect the current position without using GPS, there is a system that uses radio waves from beacon base stations for a long time, but for this, it is necessary to receive radio waves from multiple beacon base stations at the same time. Therefore, there is a drawback that it does not work effectively in places where there are many obstacles to radio waves such as urban areas.

【0005】

On the other hand, as a technique that does not require the map information to be stored in the navigation device in advance, the information transmission method of the map information shown in JP-A-11-178066 and the latest map shown in JP-A-11-257975 are used. There are data transfer technologies, etc., but all of these technologies obtain information while interacting with the information center via the information network, and this also has the disadvantage that the response deteriorates when the load on the information center or network increases. It was.

【0006】

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

As described above, in the navigation system of the above-mentioned conventional example, as the number of navigation terminals receiving the service increases, the load on the information network or the network increases, and as a result, a time lag until information presentation occurs and convenience is impaired. There was a problem.

【0007】

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and information is transmitted between a plurality of information providing devices and navigation devices installed on the ground, indoors, underground spaces, etc. without going through an information network. By doing so, it is an object of the present invention to provide a navigation system that is simpler than the conventional one and has improved information transmission response.

【0008】

[Means for solving problems]

The information distribution device according to the present invention is an information distribution device that is arranged at a predetermined arrangement position and distributes information to a distribution area within a certain range from the arrangement position, and is an arrangement position associated with the arrangement position. It is characterized by having an information recording unit that records related information and a communication unit that distributes the arrangement position-related information recorded in the information recording unit to the distribution area.

【0009】

The communication unit is characterized in that the arrangement position-related information is distributed to the wireless mobile terminal device in the distribution area by wireless communication.

【0010】

The communication unit is characterized in that the arrangement position-related information is distributed to the wireless mobile terminal device in the distribution area without specifying the distribution destination.

【0011】

The information recording unit records the arrangement position information indicating the geographical position of the arrangement position as the arrangement position related information, and the communication unit distributes the arrangement position information recorded in the information recording unit. It is characterized by.

【0012】

The information recording unit records map information regarding a certain geographical range including the arrangement position as the arrangement position-related information, and the communication unit distributes the map information recorded in the information recording unit. It is characterized by.

【0013】

The communication unit receives a transmission request for the arrangement position-related information from the wireless mobile terminal device, and transmits the arrangement position-related information to the terminal device based on the received transmission request. ..

【0014】

The information distribution device is connected to an update instruction device that instructs the information distribution device to update the arrangement position-related information, and the information distribution device is based on an update instruction of the arrangement position-related information by the update instruction device. It is characterized in that the arrangement position-related information is updated.

【0015】

The information acquisition device according to the present invention is an information acquisition device that acquires information distributed by the information distribution device, and is related to an arrangement position associated with the arrangement position of the information distribution device distributed by the information distribution device. It is characterized by having a receiving unit for receiving information and a display unit for displaying the arrangement position-related information received by the receiving unit.

【0016】

The receiving unit is characterized in that, when the information acquisition device is located in the wireless distribution area of the information distribution device, the receiving unit receives the arrangement position-related information distributed by wireless communication from the information distribution device.

【0017】

The receiving unit is characterized in that, as the arrangement position-related information, the arrangement position information indicating the geographical position of the arrangement position of the information distribution device is received.

【0018】

The receiving unit is characterized in that, as the arrangement position-related information, map information relating to a certain geographical range including the arrangement position of the information distribution device is received as reception map information.

【0019】

The information acquisition device further includes a position detection unit that detects the current position of the information acquisition device, the arrangement position information received by the reception unit, and the current position information indicating the current position detected by the position detection unit. It has a selection unit for selecting either one of the above, and the display unit displays one of the arrangement position information and the current position information selected by the selection unit. And.

【0020】

The information acquisition device further selects either the map information recording unit that records the map information, the received map information received by the receiving unit, or the recorded map information recorded in the map information recording unit. The display unit is characterized in that it displays one of the received map information and the recorded map information selected by the selection unit.

【0021】

The information distribution method according to the present invention is an information distribution method that distributes information from a predetermined distribution position to a distribution area within a certain range, and is an information recording that records distribution position-related information associated with the distribution position. It is characterized by having a step and a communication step of distributing the distribution position-related information recorded by the information recording step to the distribution area.

【0022】

The communication step is characterized in that the distribution position-related information is distributed to the wireless mobile terminal device in the distribution area by wireless communication.

【0023】

The communication step is characterized in that the distribution position-related information is distributed to the wireless mobile terminal device in the distribution area without specifying the distribution destination.

【0024】

The information recording step records distribution position information indicating the geographical position of the distribution position as the distribution position-related information, and the communication step distributes the distribution position information recorded by the information recording step. It is characterized by.

【0025】

The information recording step records map information regarding a certain geographical range including the distribution position as the distribution position-related information, and the communication step distributes the map information recorded by the information recording step. It is characterized by.

【0026】

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Embodiment 1. A preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram showing a minimum configuration in one embodiment of the navigation system according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is a navigation device (information acquisition device) that moves with a user to display information, and 2 is an information providing device that is installed in a fixed place in advance and transmits position information, map information, and the like to the navigation device 1. (Information distribution device). In the navigation device, 11 is a receiving unit that receives radio waves transmitted from the information providing device 2, 12 is a reception status monitoring unit that monitors the reception status of radio waves by the receiving unit 11, and 13 is various controls in the navigation device. 14 is an input unit that receives various inputs from the user, 15 is a data storage unit that stores various data such as map information, and 16 is a display unit that displays various data stored in the data storage unit 15. A data conversion unit that converts data into a data format that can be displayed in, and 17 is a display unit that presents various information to the user. In the information providing device, 20 is a transmission unit that transmits current location data and map data to the navigation device 1 on a wireless radio wave, 21 is a system control unit that controls various information processing devices, and 22 is map data and position information. It is a data storage unit that stores.

【0027】

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an arrangement example of an information providing device and a navigation device in the navigation system according to the present invention. In FIG. 2, 34, 35, 36, and 37 are the arrangement positions of the information providing devices corresponding to the information providing device 2, and a plurality of information providing devices are arranged in a mesh shape. 38 is the current position of the navigation device 1, 39 is the position of the navigation device 1 at the time of the previous measurement, and 30 and 31, 32 and 33 are transmitted from the information providing devices 2 of the placement positions 34, 35, 36 and 37, respectively. This is a wireless zone in which the navigation device 1 can receive radio waves.

【0028】

Fig. 3 shows an example of a section that divides the map around the arrangement positions 34, 35, 36, and 37 of the four information providing devices in Fig. 2. In FIG. 3, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, and 49 show the divided map parcel information sections, respectively. Figure 3 shows an example in which the circumference of each information providing device is divided into four in a mesh shape. In this example, a total of nine map parcels are prepared as data, with a square compartment area having the placement locations of the four information providing devices as the vertices as one parcel unit. Each information providing device stores four adjacent map parcel data in advance. For example, the information providing device 2 at the arrangement position 34 stores the data of the map parcels 1 of 41, the map parcels 2 of 42, the map parcels 4 of 44, and the map parcel 5 of 45.

【0029】

FIG. 4 shows an example of data transmission from the information providing device 2 arranged at the arrangement position 34 in FIG. 3 to the navigation device 1. In FIG. 4, 51 is the synchronization data indicating the data delimiter, 52 is the placement position information in which the placement position information of the information providing device 2 at the placement position 34 is stored, and 53, 54, 55, and 56 divide the surrounding map information. Shows the stored map parcel data. In this example, one map parcel data 53 or 54 or 55 or 56 and position information 52 are paired as one unit of data, and synchronization data 51 is inserted between each data unit. These four data units are regarded as one cycle and continuously transmitted for multiple cycles.

【0030】

FIG. 5 shows a display example of the navigation device 1 in the arrangement example of FIG. In FIG. 5, 61 is a circle display showing the current position range of the navigation device 1, 62 is a display showing the moving direction of the navigation device 1, and 63, 64, 65, and 66 are received from the information providing device 2 at the arrangement position 34, respectively. Shows map parcel information display.

【0031】

Next, the operation will be described. First, the information providing device 2 shown in FIG. 1 is installed in advance at a place where position information such as latitude, longitude, and altitude is known. These location information are stored in the data storage unit 22 as current location data in advance, and at the same time, map information around the installation location of the information providing device 2 is also stored in the data storage unit 22. The system control unit 21 takes out the current location data and the map information data stored in the data storage unit 22, delivers them to the transmission unit 20, and distributes them to the surroundings in the form of radio waves in the data format shown in FIG. Data distribution from the information providing device 2 is performed without specifying a distribution destination for the wireless distribution area.

【0032】

On the other hand, in the navigation device 1 of FIG. 1, the reception status monitoring unit 12 periodically checks the radio wave reception status of the reception unit 11. When the navigation device 1 moves together with the user and reaches the vicinity of any of the information providing devices 2 (reaches within the wireless distribution area of the information providing device 2), the receiving unit 11 provides the information in the reception status monitoring unit 12. After confirming that the radio wave from the device 2 has been received, the reception status monitoring unit 12 notifies the control unit 13 to that effect, and the control unit 13 instructs the reception unit 11 to start data reception. When the receiving unit 11 receives the synchronization data 51 shown in FIG. 4, the receiving unit 11 actually starts receiving the data and transfers the data to the control unit 13. The control unit 13 temporarily stores the received data in the data storage unit 15 in sequence, and the data conversion unit 16 converts the map information and the position information stored in the data storage unit 15 into displayable data and displays this. Information is presented to the user of the navigation system by transferring to section 17.

【0033】

Figure 5 shows an example of information display of the navigation device 1. 63, 64, 65, and 66 in FIG. 5 each display the map parcel data transmitted from the information providing device 2 arranged at the arrangement position 34 in FIG. 2 as visible information, and the circle display of 61 is actually displayed. Is the range of the wireless zone (wireless distribution area) of the information providing device 2 at the arrangement position 34, which is displayed as the range in which the navigation device 1 can currently exist. The radius information of the wireless zone (radio distribution area) of the information providing device 2 may be held by the navigation device 1 as a default value, or may be included in the map parcel data and transmitted from the information providing device 2. Since the navigation device 1 receives the placement position information of the information providing device 2, a circle display 61 centered on the placement position of the information providing device 2 is created based on the received placement position information and the radius information of the radio zone. can do. The triangle display of 62 shows the traveling direction of the navigation device, and when the navigation device 1 is moved to the previous measurement position 39 and the current position 38 shown in the arrangement example of FIG. 2, from the previous position and the current position. The direction of movement is obtained and displayed.

【0034】

In the above, map information and location information have been described as examples of information distributed from the information providing device 2, but in addition to these, event information in the wireless distribution area (for example, road construction information, traffic congestion information, etc.) It is also possible to distribute event information, advertising information, etc.).

【0035】

As described above, the navigation system according to the present embodiment has a simple configuration in which the position data and the map data unilaterally transmitted from the information providing device are displayed on the navigation device side. Therefore, the information providing device and the navigation The device can be greatly simplified as compared with the conventional one. As a result of this simplification, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of each device, reduce the price, and reduce the power consumption.

【0036】

Embodiment 2. Next, another embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a second embodiment of the navigation system according to the present invention, which is a modification of the navigation system of FIG. In FIG. 6, 100 is a navigation device (information acquisition device) that moves with the user and displays information, and 200 is an information providing device that is installed in a fixed place in advance and transmits position information, map information, and the like to the navigation device 1. (Information distribution device). The relationship between the navigation device 100 and the information providing device 200 in FIG. 6 is the same as the relationship between the navigation device 1 and the information providing device 2 in FIG. 1, and the mutual cooperative operation is the same as that in the first embodiment.

【0037】

In the navigation device 100, 101 is a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives radio waves to / from the information providing device 200, 102 is a position detection unit that detects the current position information of the navigation device 100 itself, and 103 holds map data in advance. It is a map data holding unit (map information recording unit) for storing. The navigation device 100 in FIG. 6 has a position detection unit 102 and an information providing device 200 that can autonomously obtain its own current position information with respect to the navigation device 1 in FIG. 1 without obtaining information from the information providing device 200. A transmission / reception unit 101 having a map data holding unit 103 for preliminarily holding map information without obtaining information from the information providing device 200 and having a function of bidirectionally performing data communication with the information providing device 200 for the receiving unit 11 in FIG. It has a changed configuration. The other components 11 to 17 of the navigation device 100 are the same as those described in the first embodiment. However, as will be described later, the control unit 13 selects either the position information detected by the position detection unit 102 or the arrangement position information distributed by the information providing device 200, and is held by the map data holding unit 103. It functions as a selection unit for selecting either map data or map data distributed from the information providing device 200.

【0038】

In the information providing device 200, 201 is a transmission / reception unit that transmits / receives wireless radio waves to / from the navigation device 100, and 202 is a communication control for performing data communication with a device other than the navigation device 100 via a network such as WAN or LAN. It is a department. The information providing device 200 in FIG. 6 changes the transmitting unit 20 in FIG. 1 to a transmitting / receiving unit 201 having a function of bidirectional data communication with the navigation device 100 with respect to the information providing device 2 in FIG. The configuration includes a communication control unit 202 for performing data communication with information devices other than the navigation device 100 via a network such as LAN or LAN. In short, the mechanism of the first embodiment is added to the navigation device / system of the conventional example, and it normally operates in the same manner as the navigation device / system of the conventional example. When you want to obtain information other than the information stored in advance, the information obtained from the information providing device is used.

【0039】

Next, first, the operation of the navigation device 100 in FIG. 6 will be described. In the navigation device 100, the position detection unit 102 first detects the current position position of the device and obtains the current position information. Next, the control unit 13 acquires the current position information from the position detection unit 102, searches the map data accumulated in the map data holding unit 103 based on the current position information, and obtains the map data around the current position. Then, the data conversion unit 16 converts the map data and the current position information into information that can be displayed on the display unit 17, and presents the information to the user via the display unit 17. A GPS, a vehicle speed / gyro sensor, or the like is used for the position detection unit 102.

【0040】

In the above operation, when the position detection unit 102 fails or falls into a situation where GPS reception is impossible, the position detection unit 102 notifies the control unit 13 that the position detection is impossible. In response to this, the control unit 13 confirms whether the arrangement position information can be obtained from the information providing device 200 through the transmission / reception unit 101, and if the arrangement position information can be obtained, the information providing device 200 arranges the information providing device 200. A means for receiving the position information is selected, and thereafter, the arrangement position information is acquired from the information providing device 200 by the same operation as in the first embodiment, and the arrangement position information is presented on the display unit 17.

【0041】

Further, in the above operation, if the map data holding unit 103 fails or the map data holding unit 103 is configured in combination with a removable medium such as a CD-ROM and the media is removed, the map is displayed. The data holding unit 103 notifies the control unit 13 that the map data cannot be provided. In response to this, the control unit 13 confirms whether the map information can be obtained from the information providing device 200 through the transmitting / receiving unit 101, and if the map information can be obtained, receives the map information distributed from the information providing device 200. After selecting the means, the map information is acquired from the information providing device 200 by the same operation as in the first embodiment, and the map information is presented on the display unit 17.

【0042】

Further, when the user wants to obtain information other than the information included in the map data holding unit 103, the user inputs a request to present the information from the information providing device 200 to the control unit 13 via the input unit 14. To do. In response to this, the control unit 13 confirms whether or not the information desired by the user can be obtained from the information providing device 200 via the transmitting / receiving unit 101 by the same procedure as when the map data cannot be provided, and the information is obtained. In this case, it operates so as to receive this from the transmission / reception unit 101 and present it to the user via the display unit 17.

【0043】

Further, in the normal state, while presenting the map data previously held in the map data holding unit 103 to the user, whether the reception status monitoring unit 12 can always obtain the map information from the information providing device 200 via the transmitting / receiving unit 101. When the map information is obtained, the control unit 13 can also perform an operation of automatically giving priority to the map information distributed from the information providing device 200 and presenting it to the user. In this case, by including the event information in the radio area (for example, road construction, advertising information, etc.) in the information providing device 200 in addition to the map information, information other than the map information can be presented to the user. ..

【0044】

Next, the operation of the information providing device 200 in FIG. 6 will be described. The information providing device 200 has a configuration in which a communication control unit 202 for performing data communication with an information device other than the navigation device 100 via a network such as WAN or LAN is added to the information providing device 2 in FIG. There is. With the above configuration, the information providing device 200 can be remotely controlled from, for example, a control center (update instruction device) connected via a WAN or the like. Therefore, for example, the control center issues an instruction to the information providing device 200 to update the map data in the information providing device 200, update the area information data, and the like, and the information providing device 200 performs a predetermined update in response to the instruction. You will be able to perform centralized management such as performing.

【0045】

Further, in the configuration of FIG. 1, the data distribution direction is one-way from the information providing device 2 to the navigation device 1, whereas in the configuration of FIG. 6, the data distribution direction is bidirectional. , The information providing device 200 can transmit necessary data according to the user's request. A device for performing wireless data communication such as Bluetooth can be applied to the transmission / reception unit 101 of the navigation device 100 and the transmission / reception unit 201 of the information providing device 200 in FIG. For example, in Bluetooth, a function is built in that constantly checks whether a partner device that can communicate with each other exists in its own communicable area, and if it exists, automatically negotiates and starts communication. This is available because it is.

【0046】

As described above, in the navigation system according to the present embodiment, the navigation device autonomously detects the current position and displays the map data, and detects the current position based on the information distributed from the information providing device and displays the map data. Since it can be used together with the display, even if it becomes impossible to autonomously detect the current position and display the map data due to a failure or the like, the information is switched to be acquired from the information providing device. As a result, a smooth navigation service can be realized.

【0047】

Further, in the navigation system according to the present embodiment, since the information providing device can be remotely controlled from a control center or the like connected via a WAN or the like, centralized management such as updating map data and updating regional information data is performed. Can be done.

【0048】

Although the information distribution device and the information acquisition device according to the present invention have been described in the above-described first and second embodiments, the information distribution method according to the present invention can also be realized by the same processing procedure.

【0049】

The features of the present invention described so far are as follows. In the navigation system according to the present invention, the position information is fixed at a pre-measured place, and the information holding means for holding the position information and the map information around the position information and the position information and the surrounding map information can be transmitted to the navigation device. It includes an information providing device provided with a wireless transmission means, a receiving means for receiving information from the wireless transmitting means, and a display means for displaying the location information and surrounding map information acquired through the receiving means. It is characterized by that.

【0050】

The navigation device has a position detecting means of the device, and when the position detecting means fails or becomes unable to detect the position, the position information from the information providing device is displayed as the current position of the device. It is characterized by.

【0051】

The navigation device has a map information holding means for holding map information in advance, and is characterized in that when the map information holding means fails, the map information from the information providing device is acquired and displayed.

【0052】

The navigation device has a map information holding means for holding map information in advance and an input means for receiving an operation from a user, and the map information held by the navigation system and the information providing are provided in response to an input from the input means. The feature is that the map information acquired from the device is selected and displayed.

【0053】

The navigation device has a map information holding means for holding map information in advance and a map information automatic receiving means for automatically receiving map information from the map information providing device, and the automatically received map information. The feature is that the map information from the providing device is automatically displayed.

【0054】

The information providing device has a communication means different from the transmitting means, and is characterized in that the location information or the map information can be updated from the outside.

【0055】

[Effect of the invention]

As described above, according to the present invention, the information providing device and the navigation device have a simple configuration in which the position data and the map data unilaterally transmitted from the information providing device are displayed on the navigation device side. It can be greatly simplified as compared with the conventional case. As a result of this simplification, it is possible to reduce the size and weight of each device, reduce the price, and reduce the power consumption.

【0056】

In addition, as seen in the conventional technology, since the means for acquiring map data and position data while interacting with the center via the communication network is not taken, the problem of deterioration of the data acquisition response due to the increase in the load of the network or the center device is avoided. it can.

【0057】

Further, according to the present invention, the navigation device uses both autonomous detection of the current position and display of map data, and detection of the current position based on information distributed from the information providing device and display of map data. Therefore, even if it becomes impossible to autonomously detect the current position and display map data due to a failure or the like, it is possible to smoothly switch to acquiring information from the information providing device. Navigation services can be realized.

【0058】

Further, according to the present invention, since the information providing device can be remotely controlled from a control center or the like connected via a WAN or the like, centralized management such as updating map data and updating regional information data can be performed.

[Simple explanation of drawings]

[Figure 1]

The block diagram which shows the system structure of the navigation system in one Embodiment of this invention.

[Figure 2]

An arrangement example of the information providing device and the navigation device in the navigation system according to the present invention is shown.

[Fig. 3]

It is a figure which shows the positional relationship between the divided map information data and each information providing apparatus in the navigation system by this invention.

[Fig. 4]

It is a figure which shows the example of the transmission data transmitted from the information providing apparatus.

[Fig. 5]

It is a figure which shows the display example of the present position and map information in a navigation device.

[Fig. 6]

The block diagram which shows the modification of the system structure of the navigation system in this invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Navigation device, 2 Information provider, 11 Receiver, 12 Reception status monitoring unit, 13 Control unit, 14 Input unit, 15 Data storage unit, 16 Data conversion unit, 17 Display unit, 20 Transmitter unit, 21 System control unit, 22 Data storage unit, 100 Navigation device, 101 Transmission / reception unit, 102 Position detection unit, 103 Map data retention unit, 200 Information provider, 201 Transmission / reception unit, 202 Communication control unit.