Onboard content providing apparatus

• US 7,809,502 B2
• Filed: 12/23/2004
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/10/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Kujirai, Toshihiro, Iizuka, Tomoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Tran; Khoi
• Assistant Examiner(s): Peche; Jorge O
• Application Number:
  US11/019,184
• Publication Number:
  US 20050201376A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,112 Days
• Field of Search: 701/210, 701/36, 701/117, 701/200, 701/201, 701/202, 701/204, 701/208, 701/209, 701/211, 340/990, 340/994, 340/995.12, 340/995.13, 342/357.1, 342/357.9, 342/357.13, 455/455, 455/456.1
• US Class Current: 701/210
• 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 a 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 result of this determination.

Claims

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

a current location acquisition unit for acquiring a current location;

an instruction input unit inputting a destination and inputting instructions for selecting categories of the information to be delivered as types of content to be provided as selected type of content for each of plural sections of a route retrieved between a current location and a destination;

a control unit for editing the selected type of content retrieved based on the instructions to provide edited content; and

an output unit for outputting the edited content;

wherein the control unit;

determines for each said section of the route, based on attribute information assigned to each said section of the route included in results of retrieving the route from the current location to the destination, whether selected content is outputted or not outputted and provides a determination of whether the selected content is outputted or not outputted for each said section;

creates, based on results of the determination, an editing list including a required time for passing through each said section in which the selected content is outputted;

edits the selected content to be outputted as edited content in each said section so that a time difference between a required time for each said section in which the selected content is outputted and an output time of the selected content to be outputted is equal to or smaller than a predetermined time value; and

creates an edited content list for each said section in which said selected content is outputted based on the edited content.

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

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

3. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit edits the selected content so as not to be outputted in said 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 selected content within a range of preset upper and lower limits for an output time of the selected content.

5. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the control unit compares the required time for passing through one said section where content is not outputted with a content output time, and edits the selected 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 selected 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 selected content within a range of preset upper and lower limits for an output time of the selected content.

8. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the control unit compares the required time for passing through the sections where the selected content is not outputted with a 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 selected content within the range of preset upper and lower limits for an output time of the content.

10. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit compares the required time for passing through the sections where the selected content is not outputted with a 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 each said section where the selected content is not outputted with a content output time when a plurality of the types of content are selected.

12. The onboard content providing apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit edits the selected content on the basis of at least one of an upper limit of the time required for passing through each said section without a type of content output that lies between said sections where the selected content is outputted, and an upper limit of the time required for passing through each said section without a type of content output that lies between said sections where different types of content are outputted.