Navigation system and on-board unit

• US 10,311,729 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2015
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Machinery Systems, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd.)
• Inventors: Sugimoto, Kiichi, Hiura, Ryota, Fukase, Takeshi, Okazaki, Takuma
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu, Yonel
• Assistant Examiner(s): Weeks, Martin A
• Application Number:
  US15/543,446
• Publication Number:
  US 20170372608A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,600 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/28 with correlation of data from several navigational instruments
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3415 Dynamic re-routing, e.g. recalculating the route when the user deviates from calculated route or after detecting real-time traffic data or accidents
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3492 employing speed data or traffic data, e.g. real-time or historical traffic control systems for road vehicles involving transmission of navigation instructions to the vehicle G08G1/0968
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0133 for classifying traffic situation
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0145 for active traffic flow control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/017 identifying vehicles G08G1/015, G08G1/054 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/052 with provision for determining speed or overspeed speed measuring in general G01P
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard

Abstract

A navigation system includes: a traffic condition calculation unit (222) that calculates an evaluation value indicating a traffic condition of each road segment included in a target area; a guidance route determination unit (223) that determines a route in which a degree of non-congestion based on the traffic condition evaluation value of a road segment included in a route to a destination of each vehicle is the highest as a guidance route on the basis of the traffic condition evaluation value calculated by the traffic condition calculation unit and the destination of each vehicle; and a guidance route providing unit (224) that provides the guidance routes determined by the guidance route determination unit to a driver of the corresponding vehicle.

Claims

1. A navigation system comprising:

a traffic condition calculation unit that calculates a traffic condition evaluation value indicating a traffic condition of each road segment included in a target area;

a guidance route determination unit that prepares a plurality of routes to a same destination for each vehicle in the target area, calculates an area traffic condition index value indicating a traffic condition of a group of vehicles in the target area and obtained by integrating index values indicating the traffic condition of the plurality of routes prepared for each vehicle for all vehicles in the target area on a basis of the traffic condition evaluation value calculated by the traffic condition calculation unit according to the plurality of routes to the same destination of each vehicle, and determines a route in which a degree of non-congestion based on the area traffic condition index value is highest among the plurality of routes to the same destination for one vehicle as a guidance route; and

a guidance route providing unit that provides the guidance route determined by the guidance route determination unit to a driver of a corresponding vehicle.

2. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

the guidance route determination unit prepares routes that do not include a bottleneck road segment in which a value based on the traffic condition evaluation value is lower than a reference value as the plurality of routes to the same destination.

3. The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein

when a setting route to the destination is set for the vehicle, the guidance route determination unit prepares at least one candidate route of which the destination is the same as the setting route and in which the route to the destination is different from the setting route and calculates the area traffic condition index value for the setting route and the area traffic condition index value for the candidate route, and

the guidance route providing unit provides the candidate route in which the degree of non-congestion based on the area traffic condition index value is higher than that of the setting route to the driver of the corresponding vehicle.

4. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a first travel record learning unit that predicts a predicted guidance route which is set for the vehicle on a basis of a record value set as a route for navigating the vehicle among the guidance routes provided by the guidance route providing unit, wherein

the guidance route determination unit calculates the area traffic condition index value for the predicted guidance route predicted by the first travel record learning unit and the area traffic condition index value for the plurality of routes to the same destination, and

the guidance route providing unit provides the predicted guidance route in which the degree of non-congestion based on the area traffic condition index value is higher than that of the plurality of routes to the same destination to the driver of the corresponding vehicle.

5. The navigation system according to claim 4, wherein,

when a route in which the degree of non-congestion based on the area traffic condition index value is higher than that of the predicted guidance route exists among the plurality of routes to the same destination, the guidance route providing unit provides the predicted guidance route to the driver of the corresponding vehicle if a difference between a highest value of the degree of non-congestion and the degree of non-congestion of the predicted guidance route is within a predetermined range.

6. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second travel record learning unit that predicts a traffic condition which occurs in the road segment on a basis of a record value of the traffic condition evaluation value calculated by the guidance route determination unit, wherein

the traffic condition calculation unit calculates the traffic condition evaluation value corresponding to each road segment on a basis of the traffic condition predicted by the second travel record learning unit.

7. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

a third travel record learning unit that predicts a predicted destination which is set for the vehicle on a basis of a record value set as the destination of each vehicle, wherein

the guidance route determination unit prepares a plurality of routes to the predicted destination as the plurality of routes to the same destination on a basis of the predicted destination predicted by the third travel record learning unit.

8. The navigation system according to claim 1, further comprising:

an external information acquisition unit that acquires external information via a communication unit, wherein

the traffic condition calculation unit calculates the traffic condition evaluation value on a basis of the external information acquired by the external information acquisition unit.

9. An on-board unit comprising:

a positional information generation unit that acquires vehicle positional information indicating a position of a vehicle;

a communication unit that transmits the vehicle positional information acquired by the positional information generation unit and route information indicating a setting route to a destination set for the vehicle to a navigation server; and

a navigation control unit that receives at least one candidate route of which the destination is the same as the setting route and in which the route to the destination is different from the setting route, from the navigation server via the communication unit and outputs information for navigating the vehicle according to the candidate route from an output unit, the candidate route being a route in which a degree of non-congestion based on an area traffic condition index value is higher than a degree of non-congestion based on the area traffic condition index value of the setting route, the area traffic condition index value being obtained by integrating index values indicating a traffic condition of the setting route or the candidate route for each vehicle for all vehicles in a target area on a basis of an evaluation value indicating the traffic condition of each road segment included in the target area.