Map information updating apparatus and map information updating method

• US 7,379,812 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2007
• Issued: 05/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 04/08/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 (IP Bridge, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Yoshioka, Mototaka, Ozawa, Jun
• Primary Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TAN QUANG
• Application Number:
  US11/790,400
• Publication Number:
  US 20070198184A1
• Time in Patent Office: 398 Days
• Field of Search: 701/200, 701/202, 701/209, 701/210, 701/208, 701/211, 340/995.1, 340/995.12, 340/995.19, 340/995.24
• US Class Current: 701/208
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/36 Input/output arrangements for on-board computers
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/387 Organisation of map data, e.g. version management or database structures
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 29/106 using electronic means

Abstract

Provided is a map information updating apparatus which can automatically select map information optimal for the user from among plural map information, and update an original map using the selected map information. The map information updating apparatus includes: a map information storage unit which stores map information; a position information detecting unit which detects a current position; a movement history storage unit which stores a series of detected positions as movement histories; a map information selecting unit which selects one of a first update map information providing unit and a second update map information providing unit; a map information updating unit which obtains update map information from the selected providing unit; an update map information storage unit which stores the obtained update map information; and a combining/displaying unit which combines the map information stored in the map information storage unit and the update map information stored in the updated map information storage unit, and displays the combined map information.

Claims

1. A map information updating apparatus which is connected to plural map information providing devices that provide plural different types of update map information, and which updates map information stored within said apparatus itself, said map information updating apparatus comprising:

a map information storage unit which stores map information;

a position detecting unit operable to detect a current position;

a movement history storage unit which stores, as movement histories, a series of positions detected by said position detecting unit;

a map information selecting/updating unit operable to select one of the plural update map information based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit, and to obtain the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage unit which stores the update map information obtained by said map information selecting/updating unit;

a combining/displaying unit operable to combine the map information with the update map information, and to display the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in said map information storage unit;

a movement model calculating unit operable to calculate a movement model indicating a characteristic of movement of a user based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select update map information corresponding to the movement model calculated by said movement model calculating unit, and to obtain the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device,

wherein said movement model calculating unit is operable to calculate, as the movement model, movement areas of the user for each category of destinations to which the user moves, based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select map information as the update map information, the map information being map information regarding the movement area indicated by the movement model calculated by said movement model calculating unit and the map information detailing the category.

2. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said movement model calculating unit includes:

a primary base point extracting unit operable to extract a primary base point to be a base point of the movement of the user, based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit;

a movement cost calculating unit operable to calculate a movement cost from the primary base point to a destination in the movement histories;

a landmark information extracting unit operable to identify the category of the destination by referring to landmark information included in the map information stored in said map information storage unit;

a movement area classifying unit operable to classify, into the categories of the destinations as the movement areas, respective expected range of the destinations within which the user moves, based on the categories of the destinations identified by said landmark information extracting unit and the movement cost calculated by said movement cost calculating unit; and

a movement model generating unit operable to generate, as the movement model, a table indicating each category of the destinations which is classified by said movement area classifying unit.

3. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit includes:

an update area identifying unit operable to identify areas to be updated with the plural map information provided by the plural map information providing devices, from the plural map information stored in said map information storage unit;

a map type judging unit operable to judge types of the plural map information provided by the plural map information providing devices;

a movement model referring unit operable to obtain the movement model calculated by said movement model calculating unit, and to refer to the obtained movement model;

a selected map determining unit operable to select map information as the update map information from among the plural map information provided by the plural map information providing devices, the map information having details in which;

at least a part of the movement area indicated by the movement model referred by said movement model referring unit is included in the area identified by said update area identifying unit; and

the category of the destination indicated by the movement model corresponds to the type of the map judged by said map type judging unit.

4. A map information updating apparatus which is connected to plural map information providing devices that provide plural different types of update map information, and which updates map information stored within said apparatus itself, said map information updating apparatus comprising:

a map information storage unit which stores map information;

a position detecting unit operable to detect a current position;

a movement history storage unit which stores, as movement histories, a series of positions detected by said position detecting unit;

a map information selecting/updating unit operable to select one of the plural update map information based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit, and to obtain the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage unit which stores the update map information obtained by said map information selecting/updating unit; and

a combining/displaying unit operable to combine the map information with the update map information, and to display the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in said map information storage unit,

wherein the map information stored in said map information storage unit includes landmark information regarding a landmark,

wherein said map information updating apparatus further comprises a landmark information extracting unit operable to extract, from the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit and the plural map information stored in said map information storage unit, the landmark information in the map information corresponding to a destination in the movement histories, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select the update map information based on the landmark information extracted by said landmark information extracting unit.

5. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 4,

wherein the landmark information includes category information indicating a type of the landmark, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select a type of update map information which belongs to a category indicated by the category information included in the landmark information extracted by said landmark information extracting unit.

6. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising

an update map type judging unit operable to judge types of the plural update map information,

wherein said update map type judging unit is operable to judge a type of a map by analyzing text of the landmark information stored in the map information.

7. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising

an update map type judging unit operable to judge types of the plural update map information,

wherein said update map type judging unit is operable to judge a type of a map based on a density of landmarks which are present in a predetermined area of the map information.

8. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein said update map type judging unit includes:

a common facility identifying unit operable to identify a facility used in the plural update map information in common;

a category information rule calculating unit operable to calculate a rule of category information which is information which includes terms of categories indicating the common facility, based on the common facility identified by said common facility identifying unit; and

a landmark density calculating unit operable to calculate the density of the landmarks by referring to the rule of category information calculated by said category information rule calculating unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select the update map information including a high density of the landmarks which belong to a category indicated by the category information included in the landmark information extracted by said landmark information extracting unit.

9. A map information updating apparatus which is connected to plural map information providing devices that provide plural different types of update map information, and which updates map information stored within said apparatus itself, said map information updating apparatus comprising:

a map information storage unit which stores map information;

a position detecting unit operable to detect a current position;

a movement history storage unit which stores, as movement histories, a series of positions detected by said position detecting unit;

a map information selecting/updating unit operable to select one of the plural update map information based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit, and to obtain the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage unit which stores the update map information obtained by said map information selecting/updating unit; and

a combining/displaying unit operable to combine the map information with the update map information, and to display the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in said map information storage unit,

wherein the plural map information providing devices respectively include a searching/outputting unit operable to search for an optimal route which connects a departure point to a destination, and to output the searched result,

wherein said map information updating apparatus further comprises;

a route searching requesting unit operable to request the plural map information providing devices respectively to search for the route which connects the departure point to the destination which are stored in said movement history storage unit; and

a route comparing unit operable to compare, with the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, the route outputted from each of the map information providing devices in response to the request issued by said route searching requesting unit, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to select update map information provided by the corresponding map information providing device which outputs a route nearest to the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, based on the comparison result obtained by said route comparing unit.

10. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein the plural map information providing devices further respectively include

a calculating/outputting unit operable to calculate an amount of time required to travel along the route obtained by the search, and to output the calculated result,

wherein said route comparing unit is operable to compare the required time outputted from each of the plural map information providing devices with a required time stored in the movement history storage unit, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is operable to output a route nearest to the route stored in the movement history storage unit, based on the comparison result obtained by said route comparing unit, and to select the update map information provided by the corresponding map information providing device which outputs the required time closest to the required time stored in the movement history storage unit.

11. The map information updating apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein said route searching requesting unit is operable to request the plural map information providing devices respectively to search for a route which connects the departure point to the destination which are stored in the movement history storage unit in which movement time is the longest among the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit.

12. A map information updating apparatus which is connected to plural map information providing devices that provide plural different types of update map information, and which updates map information stored within said apparatus itself, said map information updating apparatus comprising:

a map information storage unit which stores map information;

a position detecting unit operable to detect a current position;

a movement history storage unit which stores, as movement histories, a series of positions detected by said position detecting unit;

a map information selecting/updating unit operable to select one of the plural update map information based on the movement histories stored in said movement history storage unit, and to obtain the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage unit which stores the update map information obtained by said map information selecting/updating unit; and

a combining/displaying unit operable to combine the map information with the update map information, and to display the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in said map information storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating unit is further operable to select the update map information according to a ratio of an area displaying the map information to a whole display area, the map information being stored in said map information storage unit and the whole display area being displayed by said combining/displaying unit.

13. A map information updating method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

a movement model calculating step of calculating a movement model indicating a characteristic of movement of a user based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting update map information corresponding to the movement model calculated in said movement model calculating step, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device,

wherein said movement model calculating step comprises calculating, as the movement model, movement areas of the user for each category of destinations to which the user moves, based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting map information as the update map information, the map information being map information regarding the movement area indicated by the movement model calculated in said movement model calculating step and the map information detailing the category.

14. A map information updating method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

wherein the map information stored in the map information storage unit includes landmark information regarding a landmark,

wherein said map information updating method further comprises a landmark information extracting step of extracting, from the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit and the plural map information stored in the map information storage unit, the landmark information in the map information corresponding to a destination in the movement histories, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting the update map information based on the landmark information extracted in said landmark information extracting step.

15. A map information updating method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

wherein the plural map information providing devices respectively include a searching/outputting unit operable to search for an optimal route which connects a departure point to a destination, and to output the searched result,

wherein said map information updating method further comprises;

a route searching requesting step of requesting the plural map information providing devices respectively to search for the route which connects the departure point to the destination which are stored in the movement history storage unit; and

a route comparing step of comparing, with the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, the route outputted from each of the map information providing devices in response to the request issued in said route searching requesting step, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting update map information provided by the corresponding map information providing device which outputs a route nearest to the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, based on the comparison result obtained in said route comparing step.

16. A map information updating method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step; and

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting the update map information according to a ratio of an area displaying the map information to a whole display area, the map information being stored in the map information storage unit and the whole display area being displayed in said combining/displaying step.

17. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a map information updating method, the method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

a movement model calculating step of calculating a movement model indicating a characteristic of movement of a user based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting update map information corresponding to the movement model calculated in said movement model calculating step, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device,

wherein said movement model calculating step comprises calculating, as the movement model, movement areas of the user for each category of destinations to which the user moves, based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting map information as the update map information, the map information being map information regarding the movement area indicated by the movement model calculated in said movement model calculating step and the map information detailing the category.

18. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a map information updating method, the method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

wherein the map information stored in the map information storage unit includes landmark information regarding a landmark,

wherein said map information updating method further comprises a landmark information extracting step of extracting, from the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit and the plural map information stored in the map information storage unit, the landmark information in the map information corresponding to a destination in the movement histories, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting the update map information based on the landmark information extracted in said landmark information extracting step.

19. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a map information updating method, the method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step;

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit;

wherein the plural map information providing devices respectively include a searching/outputting unit operable to search for an optimal route which connects a departure point to a destination, and to output the searched result,

wherein said map information updating method further comprises;

a route searching requesting step of requesting the plural map information providing devices respectively to search for the route which connects the departure point to the destination which are stored in the movement history storage unit; and

a route comparing step of comparing, with the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, the route outputted from each of the map information providing devices in response to the request issued in said route searching requesting step, and

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting update map information provided by the corresponding map information providing device which outputs a route nearest to the requested route stored in the movement history storage unit, based on the comparison result obtained in said route comparing step.

20. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute a map information updating method, the method comprising:

a map information storage step of storing map information in a map information storage unit;

a position detecting step of detecting a current position;

a movement history storage step of storing in a movement history storage unit, as movement histories, a series of positions detected in said position detecting step;

a map information selecting/updating step of selecting one of plural different types of update map information provided by plural map information providing devices based on the movement histories stored in the movement history storage unit, and obtaining the selected update map information from the corresponding map information providing device;

an update map information storage step of storing the update map information obtained in said map information selecting/updating step; and

a combining/displaying step of combining the map information with the update map information, and displaying the combined map information so as to display a geographic area with the corresponding update map information from among the geographic areas each having the map information stored in the map information storage unit,

wherein said map information selecting/updating step comprises selecting the update map information according to a ratio of an area displaying the map information to a whole display area, the map information being stored in the map information storage unit and the whole display area being displayed in said combining/displaying step.