NAVIGATION SERVER

• US 20120185162A1
• Filed: 03/23/2012
• Published: 07/19/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/25/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (Honda Motor Company)
• Inventors: Ishido, Yuichiro
• Granted Patent: US 9,076,335 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/410
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3469 Fuel consumption; Energy use; Emission aspects
• 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: G08G 1/096833 where different aspects are considered when computing the route

Abstract

According to a navigation server (1) of the present invention, in a mileage matrix containing elements which denote a mileage and are defined by respective mileage factors, a first element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by recognized mileage factors is determined on the basis of the mileage of the recognized mileage of a first vehicle. A second element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by unrecognized mileage factors is determined on the basis of the first element. According thereto, even when the mileage factors of a second vehicle are used to define the second element but not the first element, the previous mileage of the second vehicle can be evaluated with high accuracy in consideration of a relationship between the mileage and the mileage factors of the first vehicle estimated according to the known relationship therebetween.

Claims

1. A navigation server which manages mileage information of a vehicle, comprising:

a support database configured to store a mileage matrix containing elements which denote a mileage and are defined by a plurality of mileage factors including a link and a time slot serving as mileage variation factors of the vehicle,

a first support element configured to recognize a plurality of routes joining a departure position of the vehicle and a destination position thereof according to communication with an information processing terminal, and

a second support element configured to calculate a sum of a plurality of elements in the mileage matrix defined by a plurality of the links constituting the plurality of routes recognized by the first support element for a plurality of departure time slots, respectively, as a total predicted mileage, and to transmit mileage information related to the total predicted mileage for the plurality of departure time slots to the information processing terminal.

2. The navigation server according to claim 1, wherein

the support database is further configured to store support map information denoting the arrangement of the links,

the first support element is configured to first recognize the departure position of the vehicle and the destination position thereof according to communication with the information processing terminal, and thereafter, to recognize a support route as one of the plurality of routes on the basis of the support map information, and

the second support element is configured to calculate the total predicted mileage for a combination of the support route recognized by the first support element and each of the departure time slots, and to transmit the mileage information related to the total predicted mileage for the combination of the support route and each of the departure time slots to the information processing terminal.

3. The navigation server according to claim 1, wherein

the first support element is configured to recognize a scheduled departure time or a scheduled departure time slot of the vehicle,

the second support element is configured to calculate the total predicted mileage by using a reference departure time slot which contains therein the scheduled departure time or serves as the scheduled departure time slot, and one or a plurality of time slots before or after the reference departure time slot or one or a plurality of time slots before and after the reference departure time slot as the plurality of departure time slots.

4. The navigation server according to claim 3, wherein the second support element is configured to calculate the total predicted mileage for a combination of the support route and each of a plurality of the departure time slots with a time interval from the scheduled departure time equal to or less than a predefined interval, and to transmit the mileage information related to the total predicted mileage for the combination of the support route and each of the departure time slots to the information processing terminal.

5. The navigation server according to claim 1, wherein

the support database is further configured to store road traffic information denoting a predicted travel time of the vehicle for each link in different time slots, and

the first support element is configured to determine on the basis of the road traffic information for a first link to a nth link which are joined sequentially to constitute the route,

a predicted travel time t₂ (T₂) in a second time slot T₂ which is determined as a predicted travel time slot for a second link on the basis of a sum obtained by adding a predicted travel time t₁ (T₁) for the first link in a first time slot T₁ serving as the departure time slot to a time in the first time slot T₁ and

a predicted travel time t_i+1 (T_i+1) in an (i+1)th time slot T_i+1 which is determined as a predicted travel time slot for an (i+1)th link on the basis of a sum obtained by adding a predicted travel time t_i (T_i) for an ith link in an ith time slot T_i to a time in the ith time slot T_i (i=2, 3 . . . n−

1).

6. The navigation server according to claim 1, wherein the second support element is configured to transmit information denoting an eco-departure time slot as the departure time slot with the best total predicted mileage as the mileage information to the information processing terminal.

7. The navigation server according to claim 2, wherein the second support element is configured to transmit information denoting a combination of an eco-route and the eco-departure time slot which is a combination of the support route with the best total predicted mileage and the departure time slot as the mileage information to the information processing terminal.

8. The navigation server according to claim 1, wherein the first support element is configured to recognize

a mileage of the vehicle and the plurality of mileage factors according to communication with the information processing terminal, and to generate the mileage matrix by determining a first element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by a recognized mileage factor on the basis of the mileage and a second element of the elements in the mileage matrix which is defined by an unrecognized mileage factor on the basis of the first element.