Destination-prediction apparatus, destination-prediction method, and navigation apparatus

• US 8,073,615 B2
• Filed: 04/28/2008
• Issued: 12/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 (IP Bridge, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Panasonic Corporation (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kudoh, Takahiro, Naito, Eiichi
• Primary Examiner(s): O'Connor, Gerald J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Woods, Teresa
• Application Number:
  US12/307,005
• Publication Number:
  US 20090319176A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,317 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/207, 701/209
• US Class Current: 701/207
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement

Abstract

Provided is a destination-prediction apparatus that predicts a destination with increased accuracy than using a conventional technique. The destination-prediction apparatus comprises a candidate-destination selecting unit that selects and orders a plurality of candidate destinations, a drawing processing unit that displays the selected candidate destinations according to the ordering, a rule setting unit that sets a rule that a moving object moves to the candidate destination at a constant frequency during a certain unit period, a unit-period frequency accumulating unit that determines actual frequency at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the unit period, and a actual-frequency judging unit that judges whether or not the actual frequency reaches trip frequency included in the rule. The drawing processing unit displays the candidate destinations, reflecting a result of the judgment that the actual frequency satisfies the rule.

Claims

1. A destination-prediction apparatus that predicts a destination of a moving object, said destination-prediction apparatus comprising:

an obtaining unit configured to obtain trip history data indicating a trip history of the moving object;

a position detecting unit configured to detect a present position of the moving object;

a candidate-destination selecting unit configured to (i) search the trip history data obtained by the obtaining unit for trip history records containing the present position of the moving object detected by said position detecting unit, (ii) select a plurality of candidate destinations, and (iii) set an order of the selected plurality of candidate destinations on a basis of frequencies of the trip history records retrieved in the search;

a display unit configured to display, according to the order, the plurality of candidate destinations selected by said candidate-destination selecting unit;

a rule setting unit configured to (i) judge, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, whether or not there is a rule for the candidate destination that the moving object moves to the candidate destination at a constant trip frequency during a certain unit period, and (ii) set the rule for the candidate destination when it is judged that there is the rule for the candidate destination, the rule including the certain unit period and the constant trip frequency;

a unit-period frequency accumulating unit configured to specify an actual frequency for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set by said rule setting unit, the actual frequency being (i) specified using the trip history data obtained by said obtaining unit during a current unit period, and (ii) a frequency at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the current unit period; and

an actual-frequency judging unit configured to judge, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set by said rule setting unit, whether or not the actual frequency specified for the candidate destination by said unit-period frequency accumulating unit satisfies the rule for the candidate destination by judging whether or not the actual frequency for the candidate destination has reached the constant trip frequency included in the rule for the candidate destination,

wherein said display unit is configured to display the plurality of candidate destinations so as to reflect the judgment of the actual-frequency judging unit when said actual-frequency judging unit judges that the actual frequency specified for at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations satisfies the rule set for the at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations.

2. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said actual-frequency judging unit is configured to change the order set by said candidate-destination selecting unit, according to a result of the judgment, by placing (i) a lower priority on a candidate destination for which the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied than when the rule for the candidate destination is not satisfied, or (ii) a high priority on the candidate destination for which the rule for the candidate destination is not satisfied than when the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied, and

wherein said display unit is configured to display the plurality of candidate destinations according to the order changed by said actual-frequency judging unit.

3. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said actual-frequency judging unit is configured to change the order set by said candidate-destination selecting unit by excluding, from the plurality of candidate destinations, a candidate destination for which the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied, and

wherein said display unit is configured to display the plurality of candidate destinations according to the order changed by said actual-frequency judging unit.

4. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said display unit is configured to display an indication about a candidate destination which said actual-frequency judging unit judges that the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied, the indication indicating that the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied.

5. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said display unit is configured to display an indication about a candidate destination which said actual-frequency judging unit judges that the rule for the candidate destination was not satisfied during a first unit period, during a second unit period that follows the first unit period, the indication indicating that the rule for the candidate destination was not satisfied during the first unit period.

6. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said actual-frequency judging unit is configured to change the order set by said candidate-destination selecting unit by reducing a prediction probability that the moving object moves to a candidate destination when, according to a result of the judgment, the rule for the candidate destination is satisfied,

wherein said display unit is configured to display the plurality of candidate destinations according to the order changed by said actual-frequency judging unit.

7. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said rule setting unit includes:

a unit-period setting unit configured to set the certain unit period; and

a rule extracting unit configured to specify, by analyzing the trip history data for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, a frequency at which the moving object moves to the candidate destination during the certain unit period set by said unit-period setting unit, and set the specified frequency during the certain unit period as the rule for the candidate destination.

8. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein said unit-period setting unit is configured to specify, with reference to the trip history data for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, a period during which the moving object moves to the candidate destination at the constant frequency, and set the specified period as the certain unit period.

9. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein said rule setting unit further includes a maximum-frequency determining unit configured to determine, by analyzing the trip history data for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, a maximum of the frequency at which the moving object moves to the candidate destination during the certain unit period set by said period setting unit, and

wherein said rule extracting unit is configured to set the maximum of the frequency during the certain unit period as the rule for the candidate destination, the maximum being determined by said maximum-frequency determining unit.

10. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein said maximum-frequency determining unit is configured to calculate a largest value of frequencies which are in the trip history data and at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the certain unit period, and determine the calculated largest value as the maximum.

11. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 9,

wherein said maximum-frequency determining unit is configured to specify numbers of occurrences of frequencies which are in the trip history data and at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the certain unit period, and determine a frequency having a largest number of occurrences as the maximum.

12. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the obtaining unit is further configured to obtain general-frequency-rule data that indicates a general rule for a predetermined category of destinations, the general rule being that a moving object moves to the destinations at a trip frequency during a unit period, and

wherein said rule setting unit is configured to judge whether or not there is the rule for the candidate destination and determine the certain unit period and the constant trip frequency with reference to the general-frequency-rule data.

13. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said actual-frequency judging unit is further configured to change the order set by said candidate-destination selecting unit so that a prediction probability of movement of the moving object to a candidate destination for which the rule for the candidate destination is not satisfied decreases more as a remainder after subtracting the actual frequency from the trip frequency is smaller, the candidate destination being among the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set by said rule setting unit.

14. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 13,

further comprising a day-and-time detecting unit configured to detect a present day and time,

wherein said actual-frequency judging unit is configured to calculate a remaining period of the current unit period after the present day and time detected by said day-and-time detecting unit, and divide the remainder by the calculated remaining period to normalize the remainder using the remaining period, and change the order set by said candidate-destination selecting unit so that a prediction probability of movement of the moving object to the candidate destination decreases more as the normalized remainder is smaller.

15. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising:

a day-and-time detecting unit configured to detect a present day and time; and

a storage unit configured to store, as trip history data, a present position detected by said position detecting unit while associating the present position with the present day and time detected by said day-and-time detecting unit,

wherein said obtaining unit is configured to obtain the trip history data from said storage unit.

16. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the current unit period is a period according to a calendar or a period starting when the moving object has moved to a candidate destination.

17. The destination-prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said rule setting unit judges whether or not there is the rule for the candidate destination using first trip history data from among the trip history data obtained by said obtaining unit, the first trip history data including a first trip history of the moving object during a first time period,

wherein said unit-period frequency accumulating unit specifies the actual frequency for the candidate destination using second trip history data from among the trip history data obtained by said obtaining unit, the second trip history data including a second trip history of the moving object during a second time period,

wherein the first trip history data is different than the second trip history data, and

wherein the first time period is longer than the second time period.

18. A navigation apparatus that supports movement of a moving object,

said navigation apparatus comprising a destination prediction apparatus including:

an obtaining unit configured to obtain trip history data indicating a trip history of the moving object;

a position detecting unit configured to detect a present position of the moving object;

a candidate-destination selecting unit configured to (i) search the trip history data obtained by the obtaining unit for trip history records containing the present position of the moving object detected by said position detecting unit, (ii) select a plurality of candidate destinations, and (iii) set an order of the selected plurality of candidate destinations on a basis of frequencies of the trip history records retrieved in the search;

a display unit configured to display, according to the order, the plurality of candidate destinations selected by said candidate-destination selecting unit;

a rule setting unit configured to (i) judge, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, whether or not there is a rule for the candidate destination that the moving object moves to the candidate destination at a constant trip frequency during a certain unit period, and (ii) set the rule for the candidate destination when it is judged that there is the rule for the candidate destination, the rule including the certain unit period and the constant trip frequency;

a unit-period frequency accumulating unit configured to specify an actual frequency for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set by said rule setting unit, the actual frequency being (i) specified using the trip history data obtained by said obtaining unit during a current unit period, and (ii) a frequency at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the current unit period; and

an actual-frequency judging unit configured to judge, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set by said rule setting unit, whether or not the actual frequency specified for the candidate destination by said unit-period frequency accumulating unit satisfies the rule for the candidate destination by judging whether or not the actual frequency for the candidate destination has reached the constant trip frequency included in the rule for the candidate destination,

wherein said display unit is configured to display the plurality of candidate destinations so as to reflect the judgment of the actual-frequency judging unit when said actual-frequency judging unit judges that the actual frequency specified for at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations satisfies the rule set for the at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations.

19. A destination-prediction method for predicting a destination of a moving object, the destination-prediction method comprising:

obtaining trip history data indicating a trip history of the moving object;

detecting a present position of the moving object;

searching the trip history data obtained in said obtaining for trip history records that contains the present position of the moving object detected by said detecting, selecting a plurality of candidate destinations, and setting an order of the selected plurality of candidate destinations on a basis of frequencies of the trip history records retrieved in the searching;

displaying, according to the order, the plurality of candidate destinations selected in said selecting;

judging, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, whether or not there is a rule for the candidate destination that the moving object moves to the candidate destination at a constant trip frequency during a certain unit period, said judging being performed using a processor;

setting the rule for the candidate destination when it is judged that there is a rule for the candidate destination, the rule including the certain unit period and the constant trip frequency;

specifying an actual frequency for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set, the actual frequency being (i) specified using the trip history data obtained by said obtaining during a current unit period, and (ii) a frequency at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the current unit period;

judging, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set, whether or not the actual frequency specified for the candidate destination by said specifying satisfies the rule for the candidate destination by judging whether or not the actual frequency for the candidate destination has reached the constant trip frequency included in the rule for the candidate destination,

wherein said displaying displays the plurality of candidate destinations so as to reflect the judgment by said judging for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set when said judging for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set judges that the actual frequency specified for at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations satisfies the rule set for the at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations.

20. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium having stored thereon a program for a destination prediction apparatus,

wherein, when executed, said program causes the destination prediction apparatus to perform a method comprising:

obtaining trip history data indicating a trip history of the moving object;

detecting a present position of the moving object;

searching the trip history data obtained in said obtaining for trip history records that contains the present position of the moving object detected by said detecting, selecting a plurality of candidate destinations, and setting an order of the selected plurality of candidate destinations on a basis of frequencies of the trip history records retrieved in the searching;

displaying, according to the order, the plurality of candidate destinations selected in said selecting;

judging, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations, whether or not there is a rule for the candidate destination that the moving object moves to the candidate destination at a constant trip frequency during a certain unit period, said judging being performed using a processor;

setting the rule for the candidate destination when it is judged that there is a rule for the candidate destination, the rule including the certain unit period and the constant trip frequency;

specifying an actual frequency for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set, the actual frequency being (i) specified using the trip history data obtained by said obtaining during a current unit period, and (ii) a frequency at which the moving object has moved to the candidate destination during the current unit period;

judging, for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set, whether or not the actual frequency specified for the candidate destination by said specifying satisfies the rule for the candidate destination by judging whether or not the actual frequency for the candidate destination has reached the constant trip frequency included in the rule for the candidate destination,

wherein said displaying displays the plurality of candidate destinations so as to reflect the judgment by said judging for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set when said judging for each of the plurality of candidate destinations for which a rule has been set judges that the actual frequency specified for at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations satisfies the rule set for the at least one of the plurality of candidate destinations.