U.S. patent application number 12/535951 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-03 for automobile navigation apparatus.
This patent application is currently assigned to Xanavi Informatics Corporation. Invention is credited to Yoshitaka Atarashi, Kimiyoshi Machii, Shigeru Matsuo, Mariko OKUDE.
Application Number | 20090299621 12/535951 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34905062 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-03 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090299621 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
OKUDE; Mariko ; et
al. |
December 3, 2009 |
AUTOMOBILE NAVIGATION APPARATUS
Abstract
An automobile navigation apparatus, that has a rewritable
recording medium and capability to updates the map data base by
obtaining latest map data, records the map data in the recording
means and comprises updating data acquisition means that acquires
updated data of a map to which updating procedure is added, an
information interpreting means that interprets the updating
procedure information, and a map data updating means that searches
over said map data base and updates said map data base on the basis
of the results of such interpretation and manages the map data by
using attributions that indicates additional information of the map
elements which are composed into a table as the records thereof so
that the row record of the table is classified by the attribution
which indicates the additional information of the map element.
Inventors: |
OKUDE; Mariko; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Matsuo; Shigeru; (Tokyo, JP) ; Machii;
Kimiyoshi; (Tokyo, JP) ; Atarashi; Yoshitaka;
(Tokyo, JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
CROWELL & MORING LLP;INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY GROUP
P.O. BOX 14300
WASHINGTON
DC
20044-4300
US
|
Assignee: |
Xanavi Informatics
Corporation
Kanagawa
JP
|
Family ID: |
34905062 |
Appl. No.: |
12/535951 |
Filed: |
August 5, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
11045067 |
Jan 31, 2005 |
7590486 |
|
|
12535951 |
|
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|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
701/532 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G01C 21/32 20130101;
G09B 29/106 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
701/200 |
International
Class: |
G01C 21/26 20060101
G01C021/26 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 29, 2004 |
JP |
2004-021408 |
Claims
1. A navigation apparatus comprising; a map database including map
data stored in a rewritable recording unit; an acquisition unit
acquiring update data based on which the map data will be updated;
and a map data management unit updating and retrieving the map data
stored in the map database based on the update data required by the
acquisition unit, wherein in the map data management unit, the map
data are tables classified based on attributions indicative of
additional information added to unit map records, the tables are
divided based on frequency of updating the unit map records, and
the map data are updated per each unit map record.
2. The navigation apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein, in the
map data management unit, each divided table has an index of which
update timing will be changed by validating or invalidating the
index based on the frequency of updating the unit map records
included in the divided tables.
3. The navigation apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein in the
map data management unit, the divided tables are classified into:
frequency-updated facility tables including facility data for
restaurants; and infrequency-updated facility tables including
facility data for public facilities.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 11/045,067, filed Jan. 31, 2005, which claims priority under 35
U.S.C. .sctn.119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-021408,
filed Jan. 29, 2004, the entire disclosures of which are herein
expressly incorporated by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0002] The present invention relates to an automobile navigation
system, especially an automobile navigation apparatus for which a
method to partially update the necessary part of the recorded map
data by recording the map data in a rewritable recording means.
[0003] Automobile navigation systems that use rewritable media such
as hard disks and removable memories for recording map data that
are necessary for the map presentation and the destination
retrieval have already been commercial products.
[0004] The map data served for the navigation system is being
obsolete in time past due to a newly updated information such as
facility constructions and openings and closings of roads and
highways. For such updating of the information, a service practice
that the hard disks that are installed in the automobile navigation
systems are sent back to the automobile dealers or manufacturers
and then all of the map data are rewritten to store new map data
has been maintained. There is such a problem for this service that
the automobile navigation systems are not available until the disks
have been returned to the users.
[0005] On the other hands, a new communicative automobile
navigation system where useful information including map data is
sent through portable phone data communication service between the
file server of the information source and the automobile navigation
system installed in the automobile has been available. A method of
updating the map data by receiving the latest map data from the
file server in the communication has been disclosed in the
reference 1 and a navigation system that fetches the map data by
downloading the map data from the file server is known by the
reference 2. Since the users obtain the latest map data stored in
the file server by downloading, the method features to provide the
newest map data available to the user.
[0006] Reference 1:
[0007] Japanese Laid-Open Application, H9-145383, A (1997)
[0008] Reference 2:
[0009] Japanese Published Patent, 2003-42771, A (2003)
[0010] For the conventional automobile navigation system, however,
the manufacturers manage the map data by using the specific data
format so that map data is accessed by computing the addresses
assigned from the head of the data file. In this automobile
navigation system, there is a problem that the latest map data are
not usable by using a system which adopts the different format or
after the data format of the latest map data has been changed,
modified or upwardly expanded since the updated map data has to be
generated depending on the arrangement of the data of the file even
when a part of the map data is updated. The customers and the third
persons cannot flexibly customize the data structure.
[0011] In the automobile navigation system, the file which is under
updating cannot be accessed by other applications. Therefore the
functions of the map presentation and the route search cannot be
carried out or the response for such functions becomes
insufficient. For example, the user has lost the inherent utility
of the automobile navigation such that the automobile navigation
guides the user through pre-determined routes.
[0012] The objective of the present invention is to provide an
advanced navigation system that functions to set the destination by
obtaining the latest map data, serves for the navigation such as
the route search and guidance, customizes the constructed data and
uses for the map presentation and the route search while the data
is being updated.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0013] FIG. 1 is a schematic that shows the total system of the
present invention.
[0014] FIG. 2 is a block diagram that shows the implementation of
the functions relating to the data updating.
[0015] FIG. 3A is a flow chart that shows the steps for updating
the map data.
[0016] FIG. 3B is a flow chart that shows the steps for updating
the map data.
[0017] FIG. 4 is an example of the presentation of the map data
base.
[0018] FIG. 5 is a flow chart that shows the steps for updating the
map data by using user subjective information.
[0019] FIG. 6 is a flow chart that shows the steps for updating
user subjective data.
[0020] FIG. 7 is an example of the display presentation of updated
facility data and the user subjective information.
[0021] FIG. 8 is a flow chart that shows the steps for recording
and presenting the updating recapitulation.
[0022] FIG. 9A is an example of the presentation of updating
recapitulation.
[0023] FIG. 9B is an example of the presentation of updating
recapitulation in the more detailed map.
[0024] FIG. 10 is a flow chart that shows the steps for
predictively updating and retrieving the map data.
[0025] FIG. 11 is a chart that shows definitions of updating
procedures.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0026] In order to solve the problem described above, the present
invention features the automobile navigation apparatus is
constructed to have a data base which stores map data stored in the
rewritable recording means, the map data are composed of the tables
on which map elements are the records, the rows (records) of the
table are classified by the attribution that presents attribution
(or a qualifier called for the implementation in the format) of the
map elements, the map data management means that enables to access
the map data in a unit of the record, the updating data acquisition
means that acquires the updated data of the map to which updating
procedure is added, an information interpreting means that
interprets the updating procedure information and a map data
updating means that searches over the map data base and updates the
map data base.
[0027] According to such automobile navigation system, it is
possible that the map data base is updated, even though the format
of the map data is extended, by embedding the procedure information
in the map updating data and adding map data updating process means
that interprets the procedure information and updates the map data
base. Since the map data can be exclusively controlled in a unit of
the table or the record after the map data are composed of the
tables, the functions of facility information retrieval or route
search are available while the map is being updated.
[0028] The present invention is explained in details with
embodiments as follows.
FIRST EMBODIMENT
[0029] FIG. 1 shows the total system of the present invention. The
system is substantially composed of an automobile navigation
terminal device 106, a station 104, server equipment 102 that
supports data handing with the automobile navigation terminal
device 106.
[0030] The server equipment 102 keeps the map data, the location
information data such as restaurants and convenience stores etc.
and the traffic information data as well. The automobile navigation
terminal device 106 obtains the map information such as the latest
facility information and road information etc., determines the
route to the destination and has a function to guide the driver to
the destination. The server equipment 102 may have a route search
engine. For such case, the server equipment 102 executes the route
search, sends back the result of the route search and stores the
result in the server equipment 102 when the automobile navigation
automobile navigation terminal device 106 requests the route
search. In response to the requests by the automobile navigation
terminal devices 106, the server equipment 102 retrieves the
location information data, traffic information data etc.
[0031] The automobile navigation terminal device 106 regarding the
present embodiment is explained in the followings. The automobile
navigation terminal device 106 has a display device 302, GPS
(Global Positioning System) receiver 306, a main body 307, a hard
disk device 309, a memory card slot 304, a portable phone 303, a
remote controller 305 and a microphone 308. The main body 307 has a
CPU (Central Processor Unit), memories, a power supply, a graphic
display device installed therein. It is possible to carry out the
data transmission and the data receipt with the server equipment
102. The hard disk device 309 stores the map data the received data
which have been transmitted from the sever equipment 102 and
uploads the down loaded past information to the automobile
navigation terminal device 106. It may be possible to store the
received data which have been transmitted from the server equipment
102 in a removable memory device such as a memory card which is to
be attached to the slot 304 just like as to store in the hard disk
device 309. If the user allocates the map data to be stored in the
hard disk device 309 and the contents data such as music and images
to be stored in the removable memory like as a memory card. Then
the user can co-use the memory card for other devices to play back
the music and the images.
[0032] In the system configuration as described above, a portable
phone 303 is used as a communication device to communicate with the
server equipment 102. Other communication devices such as a PDA
(Personal Digital Assistance) and a modem connected to a
transceiver built-in the main body 307. By using satellite
broadcast, wireless LAN equipped with hot spots, the vehicle narrow
band communication DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), the
facility information, map and area information, entertainment
information etc. may be received. In stead of the portable phone
303, it is possible to connect to the vehicle LAN (Local Area
Network). In stead of GPS receivers 306, a location identification
service using PHS (Persona Handy phone System) is exploited.
[0033] FIG. 2 shows the functional blocks of the functions
implemented in the CPU which is installed in the main body 307
shown in FIG. 1.
[0034] The present location detector 405 sets the present location
of the automobile by using the location data obtained through the
GPS receiver 306. By acquiring the output data from a gyro and a
directional sensor and further velocity sensor to detect the speed
of the automobile and sensors to detect the direction of automobile
driving and the travel distance, the present location detector 405
may compute the moving distance and the driving direction and then
estimate the current position of the automobile before the next
updated DPS data is received. An input data analyzer 406 receives
the user requests through the input devices such as the remote
controller 305 and the microphone 308 and controls the functional
units as shown by the functional blocks to operate the process to
meet the requirements after analyzing the user requests. The
communication controller 404, being connected with the portable
phone 404, is to control the transmission and receipt of the data
with the server equipment 102. The connection with the portable
phone may be done by infra red optical communication or the
wireless communication other than the wires.
[0035] A data base controller 400 is a part of the fundamental
function of the data base system where the data once retrieved from
the data base is stored in a chache memory for quick access
afterwards, a transaction operation to monitor the data updating
until the procedure is normally ended, an exclusive control to
block the map data and the map record which are under updating, a
recovery routine to the data missing by using past logs and backup
data, management of the index records which are used for the map
data, the map data retrieval and else. When the position that the
present location detector 405 detects and when the display area of
the map is changed (as in the scroll and in the scale change)
through the input data analyzer 406, the data reader 410 sets the
display area necessary for display, sends a retrieval command of
the display map data to the data base controller 400 and sends the
display controller 407 the resulting map data obtained by the data
base controller 400. The display controller 407 once expands the
map image in the memory 408 and the image is showed on the display
device 302. The updated data acquisition controller 402 requests
the updated map data to the server equipment 102 through the
communication controller 404 and acquires them. The updated data
acquisition controller 402 may obtain the facility information etc.
which the user has input as added or partly deleted through the
input data analyzer 406. The updated data interpreter 403
interprets the updating methods and the updating procedures such as
to specify the parts which need the updating in the map data base
and the new data to replace for the updating. The data base update
controller 401 generates a command to access (retrieve, insert,
delete and modify) the map data base and sends the command to the
data base controller 400. The updating recapitulater 409 records
and retrieves the updating recapitulation.
[0036] FIG. 3A is the flow chart that shows the steps for updating
the map data and FIG. 3B is the flow chart that shows a compile
process of individual datum.
[0037] In order to update the map data, a map data request command
that includes items to be updated such as the specific place
specified by the area information, for instance, district names,
along-road information, the present locations near-by, or the
destinations near-by and location information, the present
location, stopping over, destination and specified by the data kind
information, facility data and road data etc. both in the updated
data acquisition controller 402 is sent to the server equipment 102
(Step 500). Then, the updated data acquisition controller 402
receives the updated map data from the server equipment 102 in
response to the map data request command (Step 501). Based on the
updated map data acquired from the server equipment 102, a compile
process of individual datum is carried out each by each in the
updated data interpreter 403 (Step 507). A judgment whether all of
the updated data has been processed (508) and the process that is
to compile the individual datum (Step 507) is carried out until all
of the map elements included in the updated data are completely
updated.
[0038] As shown in FIG. 3B, the compile process of individual datum
first interprets the updating procedures included in the updated
map data acquired by the updated data acquisition controller 402
such as to specify updating methods and procedures and to specify
the table, the record and the column (which implies the attribution
of the data) (Step 502). The data base update controller 401 sets
the table, record or the column as a retrieving item, generates a
data updating command that updates the map data base based on the
updating method included in the updated map data and sends the data
updating command to the data base controller 400 (Step 503). The
data base controller 400 accesses the map data base in accordance
with the data updating command and carries out to rewrite the data
of the record to be updated after retrieving (504).
[0039] Referring to the area information (areas such as ward,
village, county and city) or the location information, new records
are added to the updating recapitulation data table, the resultant
area information and location information after referring are
memorized into the additional records corresponding to the updated
information such as the updated date and contents (506). When the
map data base is normally completed, the update recapitulation data
including the detail information such as the updated date, the data
version, the updating operator is recorded in the updating
recapitulation (Step 506). The data updating command that the data
base update controller 401 generates a command to control the table
management that generates a new table as well as rewriting the
record data.
[0040] As have been explaining, the user can use the latest map
data for the navigation services in such a way that retrieving the
information of the map data, presenting the map, retrieving the
destination, searching the route and obtaining the guidance are
performed.
[0041] FIG. 4 shows the example of composition of the map data base
used in the present automobile navigation apparatus. The
composition of the map data is explained by using an example of the
facility data. Other than the facility data, the kinds of the map
data are classified for the kinds themselves and purposes for use
such as the road data, the road search data and VICS (Vehicle
Information and System) compliant to data and are controlled as a
different table. In addition, the common name of the districts,
self-governing bodies, administrative location are controlled in an
independent table.
[0042] One example of the facility data table (600) is shown in
FIG. 4. The facility data table includes an ID number assigned to
each individual facility, facility names, genre of facilities,
location (in longitude and latitude), appraisal (or evaluation) and
memorandum placed in the column (which shows the attribution of the
facility data). Other than this column, the attribution can be
extended to include the phone numbers, addresses, area names,
closing days, open time, pronunciations of the names and the areas
on necessity. The records that compose the table correspond to the
map elements and the attribution of the records corresponds to the
appended information belonging to the map elements. In case that
the table is the road data table, the attribution includes the kind
of roads as the public roads, national roads, names of the roads
(interstate 6, etc.), lane width, the coordinates of the road. In
this table configuration, the updating is carried out when the
updating items (the map element as new facilities and available
roads) are not found in the previous map data by comparing the
updating map data with the previous map data like as the
conventional updating method. In the updating of the present
invention the updating items which are not found in the previous
map data partially alter the previous map. Therefore the updating
process is for the updating items is not necessary for the whole
map data, that results in suppressing the process time necessary
for the updating. The determination of the updating method is done
by the comparison of the table with the previous map data and
therefore the updating time can be shortened.
[0043] An index (601) is exploited. The index (601) is information
to retrieve the specific data in the facility table (600) in
high-speed. For example, the retrieval using the facility names for
the key index shows the alphabetical name of the actual
pronunciation of the facility name. The index is made in advance
and is recorded in the hard disk device 309 with the map data. When
the facility table is updated, the index needs to be reconfigured.
Therefore, it can be expected that the user has to wait for
conducting to retrieve the facility data until the completion of
the updating of the index against such a requirement of the user
that we would use to retrieve the destination as soon as the map
data is updated. Therefore, an improved method can be adopted such
that a new different table is made for the facility data which are
frequently updated (such as those of convenience stores and
restaurants) and the timing of updating of the index is changed by
setting availability or non-availability of the index. It is
possible to avoid the long waiting time before retrieving the
facility data by adjusting the timing of the updating of the index
in response to the kinds of the map data.
[0044] For example, when "Aoyama ** Chinese Restaurant" is
retrieved by using the present table configuration, the retrieval
is carried out by tracing the index (601) that are given by the
alphabetical pronunciation and finding the record of the data area
of which head index is same as "Aoyama ** Chinese Restaurant".
[0045] The appraisal (or evaluation) included in the table
indicates a user subjective appreciation of the facility. The
appraisal is presented by a total appraisal or may be classified in
plural appreciation items such as "taste", "mood" and "price". The
rating of the appreciation can be quantitatively done by numbers or
qualitatively done by typical words as "good", "normal" and "bad".
By including such user subjective information in the data base, the
user can retrieve the desirable facility by such personal
preference. If the result of the retrieval is set to the
destination, it is possible to guide the user to the "good
restaurant".
[0046] When an attribution that indicates the user subjective
appraisal is appended to the road data table, the record of the
road data table is configured by the road linkage and the
attribution is set with the information of the sight view as "open"
and "good scenery". Then, it is possible to search the routes to
the destination on which "open" sight and "good scenery" in the
view are obtained.
[0047] FIG. 5 is a flow chart that shows the procedure to acquire
the data from the server equipment 102. The data is based on the
user subjective information and used for updating the map data.
[0048] An example of the updating is explained in the following.
The automobile navigation terminal 106 sends a map data updating
request (500) to the server equipment 102 under the joint condition
of near-by the present location and "good restaurant". "PoiUpdate"
in the map data updating request (500) is the command to request
"map data updating", "clt" and "cln" are the longitude and the
latitude of the present location of the vehicle, "rad" (radius in
kilo meters) the range of retrieval at the present location which
is the center of the range and "eval" the subjective items. The
example shown in FIG. 5 implies that an updating data including a
"good restaurant"subjectively defined by the user and located in
the range of 10 Km at the center which is 1234 in longitude and
5678 in latitude.
[0049] When the server equipment 102 receives the map data updating
request (500), the server equipment 102 carries out the process to
convert the value set for "eval" to a predetermined value (710). In
this example, the subjective word "good" is cut out from the data
as "good restaurant" and converted into a predetermined rating
value. The plural synonyms to "good" (such as "good taste",
"recommendable" etc.) are composed. In the next step, a command to
retrieve the map data base using the converted rating value or the
plural synonyms as a retrieval key is generated (711). As the
command to retrieve the data base, SQL (Structured Query Language)
is generally used however the other commands in the different query
system can be adopted as far as the commands have capabilities to
retrieve the data base by using the predetermined keys. In the
present embodiment, the server equipment 102 has a predetermined
rule to set the rating values larger than 3 for "good restaurants".
Therefore the retrieval condition is set as the rating value being
more than 3, the center coordinates (clt, cln) and 10 Km radius and
the data base retrieval is carried out with this condition. The
server equipment 102 generates an updated data for a reply on the
basis of the result obtained by retrieving the data base.
[0050] As for the reply data, for example, XML (eXtensible Markup
Language) as shown in the updating data 740 is used. "NewMapData"
is the data structure of the facility data in the reply. The
updating procedure information is defined by the data structure.
For example, the data structure of NewMapData is defined as
"update, delete, insert". This implies that the updating data of
the map are composed of "content updating data, delete data, new
inserting data". Since the updating data of the map is placed in
the order of the "update, delete, insert", the automobile
navigation terminal device 106 updates the data in the order of
"update, delete, insert". As for the command to set the order of
updating data, it is also possible to directly instruct the
updating order of the facility data by adding a tag which indicates
the order (for example, <order>, updating order
</order>) to facility data structure poi. By instructing the
order of updating data, the popular facilities and those having
high utility values (such as well equipped for children and
handicap peoples) can be added to the facility data in high
priority. By sorting the facility data in the order of high
priority in the server equipment 102 which generates the updating
data for reply, the similar effects are obtained.
[0051] For the present example, by implementing the procedures
(inserting, deleting, etc.) defined in the data structure regarding
the updating data NewMapData, the method and process to set the
order of deleting and/or inserting have been explained above. In
addition, it may be allowed that the updating procedure information
is defined in the data structure of the facility data poi. For this
case, the updating procedure information enables to instruct a
procedure by which a series of processes are linked in continuation
such as the computation of the value of attribution "rating value"
of the corresponding record when the facility information is
updated thereto. FIG. 11 shows the example of such updating. For
the data structure regarding this defining, it is possible to
instruct the updating procedure in each facility data (facility
elements), it becomes possible to direct a detail updating to the
facility elements such as to execute a predetermined operation in
accompany with the updating predetermined attribution of the
facility data.
[0052] For the example shown in FIG. 11, the updating data is
judged as an updating of the facility data from the tag
"<command1>" of updating procedure information and the data
in the existing map data base are replaced by the data of the
facility code (id) and the facility name (name). According to the
instructing to compute the evaluation values of the facility data
by the updating information command 2 as defined between
"<command 2>" to "</command2>", the evaluation value is
computed. As for the computation of the evaluation value, for
example, there is another method to obtain the evaluation value by
converting word trains to the evaluation value in accordance with
the evaluation attribution instructed in evaluation presentation
attribution 730 after extracting the convertible word trains such
as "delicious", "good taste" etc. to the evaluation value among the
information written in, for example, the attribution "memos". For
the case when there are plural evaluation value items as "taste"
and "mood", a consolidated evaluation value may be obtained and
used.
[0053] The navigation terminal 106 obtains the updating data (501)
by receiving the updating data (740) and the updating data is
judged (720) regarding whether it satisfies the updating condition
which has already been set in the navigation terminal 106.
Referring to the data which have been selected as the updating
objects, the map data base is updated (720) in accordance with the
compile process of individual datum. For example, "good
restaurants" is obtained after retrieving with the condition as
being more than 3 of the evaluation value (or appraisal value). If
the user has set the updating condition such that the facility that
has the data base which is rated as "5", the compile process of
individual datum is carried out for the facility that is rated as
"5" after selection. There is the case that the existing facility
data in the map data base has been changed in the evaluation
against that before the evaluation. Therefore, the facility data
instructed in "update" may be the object of the updating method of
the updating data 740. By using subjective input such as locating
close to the present place (10 Km range) and "good restaurants",
the user can obtain the latest map data and use the updated map
data for the navigation process such as information retrieval, map
presentation, destination search, route search and guidance.
[0054] It is judged whether all of the selected updating data have
been processed for updating (722). If all of the updating process
has been done, the updated map data is displayed (724) in the
display device 302 in accordance with the distribution attribution
set in the presentation attribution display (730). In case that the
data updating condition has not been satisfied or the data updating
process has not been completed, the next data is read on the basis
of the acquired updating data (723). According to the example shown
in FIG. 5, the facility presentation attribution (730) shows that
the evaluation presentation is "ON", the facility to be displayed
(or evaluation display) is "more than 3 in the evaluation
presentation", display mark given by star marks, the icon display
of the updated facility "ON". The display attribution such as
display/non-display of the updating recapitulation, kinds of
color/line/pattern/transparence mode, etc. is set on the display of
the presentation attribution (730) of the presentation setting
means. The information of the updating recapitulation is displayed
in accordance with the display attribution set as above.
[0055] FIG. 6 is a flow chart that shows the steps for the user
subjective data updating process where the user subjective data of
the user is interpreted and the data is updated.
[0056] Receiving the user instruction (800) including the
subjective presentation such as "updating the good restaurant
nearby" through the input device such as a remote controller 305,
touch panel, or microphone 308, the word (or a series of words)
representing is extracted (801). The words corresponding to the
subjects (as the word typically represented by an adjective
"large", "small", "far", "near", "delicious" and "nasty") are input
in advance and the same words are extracted from the sentence that
the user has input. The extracted words (or series of words) are
converted into predetermined parameters (803) in accordance with
the conversion values set in the user subjective conversion value
(802). For example, "good" is an appraisal for the taste and "good"
is set for the appraisal of which evaluation is more than 2 and
"near" is an assessment for the peripheral distance. The locations
of which distances are less than 10 Km in the peripheral distance
are converted to "near". By using the user subjective presentation
given in such the conversion as the updating condition, the map
data updating request 500 is sent to the server equipment 102
(804). In accordance with the received updating data, the data
updating process (805) is carried out and map data base is updated.
After then, the facility data which has been updated is displayed
in accordance with predetermined presentation attribution value
(806).
[0057] FIG. 7 shows an example of the display of the facility
information updated in the flow charts shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6.
The display (900) of these examples shows the case when the display
of the user subjective information is set to be valid. The number
901 shows a mark for the present location of the bicycle. The
present attribution has been set such that "good restaurant" as the
user subjective information is presented by star marks. Other than
the word "good", "mood" and "price" are altered in the display by
switching. Other display method as displaying the evaluation items
are given in a chart 903.
[0058] In the present embodiment, it is possible to add the
information such as "newly open", "shop closing", "move to" by
adding the tag "<reason>" that indicates the reason for
updating the facility data poi. For example, it is possible to
append icons such as "newly open", "move to", etc. regarding the
facility data added due to its new opening. The closed facility may
be deleted from the data base in accordance with the update command
"delete". By extending the attribution of facility table 600 of the
map data base, it is possible to display the closing facilities by
using the different display mode (color, transparent mode and
appending cross sign) to distinguish from the other facilities.
More concretely, the facility status is added as a new attribution
to the facility data base 600 and an updating reason such as "newly
open", "closing" and "move to" is recorded. When the facility
information is displayed, the facility in the display mode such as
"newly open", "closing", etc. is presented in reference to the
updating reasons. The closed shops may be deleted from the map data
base after passing a certain time from the time when the map data
is updated.
[0059] As has been explaining, it is possible to obtain the latest
facility data by instructing the conditions such as "shop in the
peripheral distance" and "good taste". By defining new information
which is not given in the existing maps as an attribution of the
corresponding map element and adding the information to an new item
for the format of the updating data, it is possible and facilitate
to add new shops and restaurants to the map data or to add the user
specific information such as a short note or user subjective
information because the updated information can be automatically
compiled in the map data base in the automobile navigation
apparatus as well as being updated.
[0060] FIG. 8 shows a flow chart that is for the process to display
the updating recapitulation with recording and referring to the
updating recapitulation in the updating recapitulater 409.
[0061] For updating the map data base, the compile process of
individual datum as shown in FIG. 3B is performed as follows. After
referring to the area and the location (for example, "location" of
the updating data 740) (505), the new record to the updating
recapitulation data table stored in the hard disk device 309 is
added and the command to memorize the areas (such as ward, village,
county and city) and the location in the record in corresponding to
the updating information such as updating date and time and the
contents (506) is sent to the data base controller 400. By this
process, the update recapitulation of the map data base is complied
in the update recapitulation data table.
[0062] When the user inputs the "update recapitulation display"
(210) after the updating of the map data base has been completed
regarding all facility data in the updating data, an update
recapitulation data retrieval command is sent to the data base
controller 400 (211). On the basis of the update recapitulation
data retrieval command, the area information in the update
recapitulation data is retrieved (212), the area information (213)
is referred regarding all of the update records updated in the
compile process of individual datum, a graphic display data (214)
regarding the area information subjective to the updating is
generated, the update recapitulation is displayed on the display
device 302 (215).
[0063] FIG. 9 shows an example of the graphical display of the
update recapitulation based on the update recapitulation data. The
example shown in FIG. 9A is a graphical presentation of the
location of updating and the date of the updating held in the past
in Tokyo Metropolitan areas as shown in the display 230. The
example shown in FIG. 9B is a graphical presentation of the further
detailed update recapitulation in a way that the updated date and
time, the updating procedure (content update, appending, deleting,
etc.) and the name of the facility can be confirmed regarding
Setagaya ward of which past data were updated in the past. By
recording the update recapitulation data corresponding to the
locations on the map, it is possible to confirm the location
updated in the past with the detail information such as the
updating date and time.
[0064] FIG. 10 shows a flow chart that is to carry out the map data
updating and the data retrieval. After the destination, the transit
place or the route has been decided (1000) in the automobile
navigation terminal 106, the peripheral area of the destination,
the transit place or the route is set in the update objective area
(1001). For the purpose of setting the update objective area, the
distance obtained by referring to the user subjective setting 802
may be used. After retrieving the map data of the area from the
server equipment 102, the data updating is carried out (1002).
After then, the data base update controller 401 sends the command
(1003) that is to retrieve the information of the facilities which
are in the peripheral distance to the map data base controller 400
and the facility information has been searched over the data base
and retrieved (1004). The facility data obtained after the
retrieval is memorized in the chache memory (1005).
[0065] The facility data can be updated with the latest data
regarding the facilities in the map data base in advance in
accordance with predicting that the user will request the
information retrieval of the facility data in the peripheral of the
destination, transit place and the route. Then the user operates
the fundamental navigation such as to set the destinations and the
routes with no waiting time requirement for data updating and data
retrieval by memorizing the facility information in the chache
memory after retrieving from the map data base which have been
updated.
[0066] In the present embodiment, the method to obtain the update
data through the communication means. However the removable media
such as memory cards can be used in a way that the updating data is
recorded in such media and the automobile navigation apparatus
retrieves the updating data so that the map data base is completely
updated.
[0067] The present invention relates to an automobile navigation
system, especially is applicable to the automobile navigation
apparatus that retrieves the updating data and the updates the map
data. Since the present invention updates the map data by obtaining
the map data which does not depend on the data format of the map
data, the user can use the desirable update data for the navigation
such as the information retrieval, destination setting and route
guidance by instructing the conditions such as the area and the
data kinds. The customization of the data is possible in accordance
with the preference of the users.
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