Navigation device, navigation method, navigation program, server device, and navigation information distribution system

• US 20070032949A1
• Filed: 02/17/2006
• Published: 02/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 03/22/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Arai, Toshifumi, Morioka, Michio
• Granted Patent: US 7,783,421 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/211
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3484 Personalized, e.g. from learned user behaviour or user-defined profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3896 Transmission of map data from central databases

Abstract

A navigation device includes a navigation information storage unit in which navigation information, including the user-provided data, is stored; and a human machine interface unit that outputs the user-provided data and navigation information other than the user-provided data separately on an output device, that displays a warning message, read from the navigation information storage unit, and a screen prompting for an input for selecting whether to perform navigation processing based on the user-provided data when an instruction for performing navigation processing based on the user-provided data is input from an input device, and that causes a control unit, which performs navigation processing, to perform navigation processing based on the user-provided data when an instruction for performing navigation processing based on the user-provided data is input from the input device. In this way, a navigation system where user-provided data and official data are reliably combined can be provided.

Claims

1. A navigation device to which a display device and an input device are connected and which has a control unit for performing navigation processing using user-provided data that is navigation information created based on a driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, said navigation device comprising:

a navigation information storage unit in which navigation information, including the user-provided data, is stored; and

a human machine interface unit that displays the user-provided data and navigation information other than the user-provided data separately on said display device, that displays a warning message, read from said navigation information storage unit, and a screen prompting for an input for selecting whether to perform navigation processing based on the user-provided data when an instruction for performing navigation processing based on the user-provided data is input from said input device, and that causes said control unit to perform navigation processing based on the user-provided data when an instruction for performing navigation processing based on the user-provided data is input from said input device, said warning message indicating, for each navigation processing based on the user-provided data, an inconvenience that might be generated by the navigation processing.

2. The navigation device according to claim 1 wherein the user-provided data is a driving history indicating a driving coordinate string of user'"'"'s vehicle, POI (Point Of Interest) information including position coordinates of a POI and a name of the POI, and information including guide information for guiding the vehicle to a POI.

3. The navigation device according to claim 1 wherein the navigation processing is to display map information including navigation information read from said navigation information storage unit, to set a destination of navigation based on the map information, to calculate a route to the destination that is set, and to display route guide information on the calculated route on said display device.

4. The navigation device according to claim 3, further comprising a communication unit for communicating with a server device, in which navigation information including the user-provided data is stored, via a network

wherein, when an instruction to download the user-provided data is received via said input unit, said control unit displays a warning message, read from said navigation information storage unit, and screen information prompting for an input for selecting whether to download the user-provided data from said server device on said display device and, when a selection input requesting to download the user-provided data from said server device is received via said input device, downloads the navigation information from said server device via said communication unit.

9. A navigation information distribution system comprising the navigation device according to claim 1 and a server device for distributing user-provided data that is navigation information created based on a driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, said server device comprising:

an input/output unit for inputting and outputting various types of data;

a driving history storage unit in which the driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, received via said input/output unit, is stored;

a navigation information storage unit in which navigation information, including the user-provided data, is stored;

a navigation information generation unit for creating the user-provided data based on the driving history stored in said driving history storage unit;

a navigation information search unit that, in response to a navigation information acquisition request from a navigation device via said input/output unit, searches said navigation information storage unit for navigation information specified by the acquisition request;

a navigation information request processing unit that, if the user-provided data is included in the navigation information that has been searched for, sends a navigation information list, in which information for identifying the user-provided data is added to information on the user-provided data, to said navigation device; and

a navigation information download management unit that sends the user-provided data to said navigation device when a request to download the user-provided data is received from said navigation device.

5. A navigation method for use by a navigation device to which a display device and an input device are connected and which has a navigation information storage unit, in which navigation information is stored, and a control unit that performs navigation processing based on the navigation information, said navigation method comprising the steps of:

when navigation processing is performed based on user-provided data that is navigation information created based on a driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, displaying on said display device a warning message, read from said navigation information storage unit, and a screen prompting for an input for selecting whether to perform the navigation processing based on user-provided data; and

in response to an instruction from said input device to request to perform the navigation processing based on user-provided data, performing the navigation information based on user-provided.

6. The navigation method according to claim 5, wherein said navigation device further comprises a communication unit that communicates with a server device, in which the user-provided data is stored, via a network, said navigation method further comprising the steps by said navigation device of:

receiving, via said input device, an instruction to download the user-provided data from said server device;

displaying a warning message, read from said navigation information storage unit, and screen information prompting for an input for selecting whether to download the user-provided data from said server device on said display device; and

when a selection input requesting to download the user-provided data from said server device is received via said input device, downloading the navigation information from said server device via said communication unit.

7. A server device for distributing user-provided data that is navigation information created based on a driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, said server device comprising:

an input/output unit for inputting and outputting various types of data;

a driving history storage unit in which the driving history of user'"'"'s vehicle, received via said input/output unit, is stored;

a navigation information storage unit in which navigation information, including the user-provided data, is stored;

a navigation information generation unit for creating the user-provided data based on the driving history stored in said driving history storage unit;

a navigation information search unit that, in response to a navigation information acquisition request from a navigation device via said input/output unit, searches said navigation information storage unit for navigation information specified by the acquisition request;

a navigation information request processing unit that, if the user-provided data is included in the navigation information that has been searched for, sends a navigation information list, in which information for identifying the user-provided data is added to information on the user-provided data, to said navigation device; and

a navigation information download management unit that sends the user-provided data to said navigation device when a request to download the user-provided data is received from said navigation device.

8. The server device according to claim 7

wherein the user-provided data stored in said navigation information storage unit further includes information on a reliability score of the information and

said input/output unit receives the driving history of the vehicle, including an ID (identification) of the navigation information, from the navigation device that records the ID of navigation information used for navigation processing for user'"'"'s vehicle,

said server device further comprising a reliability score management unit that, with an ID of navigation information, included in the received driving history as a key, searches said navigation information storage unit for user-provided data having the ID for updating a value of the reliability score of the user-provided data that has been searched for.