Onboard content providing apparatus

• US 20050201376A1
• Filed: 12/23/2004
• Published: 09/15/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kujirai, Toshihiro, Iizuka, Tomoyuki
• Granted Patent: US 7,809,502 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/392
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3679 Retrieval, searching and output of POI information, e.g. hotels, restaurants, shops, filling stations, parking facilities G01C21/3611 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096708 where the received information might be used to generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096741 where the source of the transmitted information selects which information to transmit to each vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

In an information providing service that utilizes a car navigation system or the like, ensuring safety while viewing content is a matter of great concern. A vehicle-mounted onboard content providing apparatus for providing content to an user of the vehicle, comprising a current location acquisition unit for acquiring information about the current location, an instruction input unit whereby information about the destination and instructions for selecting the content to be delivered are inputted, a control unit for editing the content retrieved based on the instructions, and an output unit for outputting the edited content, wherein the control unit determines, on the basis of attribute information assigned to the route included in the results of retrieving the route from the current location to the destination, sections in which content is outputted or not outputted on the route, and edits the content on the basis of the results of this determination.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted onboard content providing apparatus for providing content to an user of the vehicle, comprising:

a current location acquisition unit for acquiring information about the current location;

an instruction input unit whereby information about the destination and instructions for selecting the content to be delivered are inputted;

a control unit for editing the content retrieved based on the instructions; and

an output unit for outputting the edited content;

wherein the control unit determines, based on attribute information assigned to the route included in the results of retrieving the route from the current location to the destination, sections in which content is outputted or not outputted on the route, and edits the content on the basis of the results of the determination.

2. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 1, comprising a transceiver unit that sends instructions for selecting the content to be delivered to an external server, and receives the content sent by the server according to the instructions;

wherein the control unit edits the content received by the transceiver unit.

3. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit edits the content so as not to be outputted in sections where information indicating that a driver of the vehicle should pay particular attention is assigned as the attribute information.

4. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit edits the content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for the output time of the content.

5. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit compares the required time for sections where content is not outputted with the content output time, and edits the content on the basis of the results of the comparison.

6. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit edits the content so as not to be outputted in sections where information indicating that a driver of the vehicle should pay particular attention is assigned as the attribute information.

7. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit edits the content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for the output time of the content.

8. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit compares the required time for sections where content is not outputted with the content output time, and edits the content on the basis of the results of the comparison.

9. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit edits the content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for the output time of the content.

10. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit compares the required time for sections where content is not outputted with the content output time, and edits the content on the basis of the results of the comparison.

11. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit compares the required time for sections where the content is not provided with the content output times when a plurality of the contents is selected.

12. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit edits the content on the basis of an upper limit of the required time for sections without a content output that lie between sections where content is outputted, and/or on the basis of an upper limit of the required time for sections without a content output that lie between sections where different types of content are outputted.

13. A vehicle-mounted onboard content providing apparatus for providing content to an user of the vehicle, comprising:

a current location acquisition unit for acquiring information about the current location;

an instruction input unit whereby information about the destination and instructions for selecting the content to be delivered are inputted;

a control unit for editing the content retrieved based on the instructions; and

an output unit for outputting the edited content;

wherein the control unit calculates the time required to reach the destination or a passage point from the current location and compares this calculated required time with the required time previously calculated, and if a change in the required time equal to or greater than a preset value is detected as the comparison result, the control unit revises the content so that the output time of the portion of the content that has not yet been outputted roughly coincides with the calculated required time.

14. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 13, comprising a transceiver unit that sends instructions for selecting the content to be delivered to an external server, and receives the content sent by the server according to the instructions;

wherein the control unit edits the content received by the transceiver unit.

15. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the control unit edits the content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for the output time of the content.

16. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the control unit edits the content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for the output time of the content.

17. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the control unit calculates the required time at preset intervals.

18. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 13, comprising a receiving unit for receiving information about traffic;

wherein the control unit refers to the received information to calculate the required time upon receiving the information.

19. A content providing apparatus for providing content to a vehicle-mounted onboard terminal, comprising:

a receiving unit for receiving information about the current location of the onboard terminal, information about the destination, and instructions for selecting the content to be delivered;

a retrieval unit for retrieving the content on the basis of the instructions;

a content editing unit for editing the retrieved content; and

an output unit for outputting the edited content to the onboard terminal;

wherein the content editing unit determines, on the basis of attribute information assigned to the route included in the results of retrieving the route from the current location to the destination, and on the basis of the expected required time to the destination, sections in which content is outputted or not outputted on the route, and edits the content on the basis of the results of the determination.