Position information transmission apparatus, position information transmission system, and vehicle

• US 9,786,180 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2012
• Issued: 10/10/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Endo, Masato, Todoroki, Chihaya, Sekiyama, Hiroaki, Sumiya, Takayuki
• Primary Examiner(s): MANCHO, RONNIE M
• Application Number:
  US14/406,019
• Publication Number:
  US 20150154870A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,952 Days
• Field of Search: 701400, 701517, 701408
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/01 Social networking
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0112 from the vehicle, e.g. floating car data [FCD]
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/0129 for creating historical data or processing based on historical data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/20 Monitoring the location of vehicles belonging to a group, e.g. fleet of vehicles, countable or determined number of vehicles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/44 for communication between vehicles and infrastructures, e.g. vehicle-to-cloud [V2C] or vehicle-to-home [V2H]

Abstract

A navigation device serving as a position information transmission apparatus for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center includes a terminal ECU that is authorized to log in to the position information service center via networks. The terminal ECU is configured to, in a logged-in state to the position information service center, transmit the position information about the vehicle to the position information service center on condition that a predetermined operation has been performed.

Claims

1. A position information transmission apparatus for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission apparatus comprising:

a control unit that is configured to log in to the position information service center via a network, wherein

under a condition that the control unit is in a logged-in state to the position information service center, the control unit is configured to;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, submit the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations,

the information is based upon the position information about the vehicle, and

check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

2. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit is configured to:

acquire via the network a nearby location of the plurality of predetermined locations that is near the vehicle and is available to be checked in to from among the plurality of predetermined locations that are stored in the position information service center, and

cause a display to display the nearby location.

3. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit derives the position information about the vehicle from movement information relating to movement of the vehicle.

7. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 1, wherein

selecting the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations includes a screen operation on a first screen for checking in to a location corresponding to the position information about the vehicle, and

the control unit is configured to display the first screen on a same display area as a second screen that fulfills a function other than check-in.

8. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to display the first screen on the same display area as the second screen by superimposing the first screen on the second screen.

9. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the control unit is configured to display the first screen on the same display area as the second screen by splitting one screen having a predetermined size into at least the first screen and the second screen.

4. A position information transmission apparatus for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of a predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission apparatus comprising:

a control unit connected via a network to an information processing center for storing the position information about the vehicle in cooperation with the position information service center, wherein

the control unit is configured to;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations of the user is submitted from the information processing center to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations,

the information is based upon the position information about the vehicle, and

check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

5. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to:

acquire via the network from the information processing center a nearby location of the plurality of predetermined locations that is near the vehicle and is available to be checked in to, and

cause a display to display the nearby location.

6. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the control unit is configured to output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information processing center derives the position information about the vehicle from movement information relating to movement of the vehicle and transmits the derived position information to the position information service center.

10. A position information transmission apparatus for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of a predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission apparatus comprising:

a control unit connected via a network to an information processing center for storing a movement history of the vehicle in cooperation with the position information service center, wherein

the control unit is configured to;

retrieve a movement history stored in the information processing center;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations and the location of the plurality of predetermined locations is included in the movement history, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations of the user is submitted from the information processing center to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations,

the information is based upon the position information about the vehicle, and

check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

11. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is configured to output the location of the plurality of predetermined locations along with map information to a display unit.

12. The position information transmission apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the control unit is configured to output information urging the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations.

13. A position information transmission system for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of a predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission system comprising:

a movement information detection apparatus configured to detect movement information relating to movement of the vehicle;

a position information service center to which the movement information detection apparatus is connected via a network in a manner that enables the movement information detection apparatus to log in to the position information service center; and

a control unit configured, in a state in which the movement information detection apparatus is logged in to the position information service center, to;

derive position information corresponding to the movement information from the movement information detected by the movement information detection apparatus;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, submit the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, wherein

the information is based upon the derived position information, and

check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

14. The position information transmission system according to claim 13, wherein the control unit is configured to:

acquire a nearby location of the plurality of predetermined locations that is near the vehicle and is available to be checked in to from among check-in points that are stored in the position information service center, and

cause a display to display the nearby location.

15. The position information transmission system according to claim 13, wherein the control unit is provided in the movement information detection apparatus, and is configured to derive, with the movement information detection apparatus, the position information corresponding to the movement information from the movement information detected by the movement information detection apparatus.

19. The position information transmission system according to claim 13, wherein

selecting the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations includes a screen operation on a first screen for checking in to a location corresponding to the position information about the vehicle, and

the control unit is configured to display the first screen on a same display area as a second screen that fulfills a function other than check-in.

20. The position information transmission system according to claim 19, wherein the control unit is configured to display the first screen on the same display area as the second screen by superimposing the first screen on the second screen.

21. The position information transmission system according to claim 19, wherein the control unit is configured to display the first screen on the same display area as the second screen by splitting one screen having a predetermined size into at least the first screen and the second screen.

16. A position information transmission system for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission system comprising:

an information processing center for storing the position information about the vehicle in cooperation with the position information service center; and

a control unit connected via a network to the information processing center and configured to;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations of the user is submitted from the information processing center to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, wherein

the information is based upon the position information about the vehicle, and

check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

17. The position information transmission system according to claim 16, wherein the control unit is configured to:

acquire via the network from the information processing center a nearby location of the plurality of predetermined locations that is near the vehicle and is available to be checked in to, and

cause a display to display the nearby location.

18. The position information transmission system according to claim 16, wherein the control unit is configured to output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information processing center derives the position information about the vehicle from movement information relating to movement of the vehicle and transmits the derived position information to the position information service center.

22. A position information transmission system for transmitting position information about a vehicle to a position information service center, the position information service center enabling a user to check in to a location of a plurality of predetermined locations by the user submitting information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, the position information transmission system comprising:

an information processing center for storing a movement history of the vehicle in cooperation with the position information service center; and

a control unit connected via a network to the information processing center and configured to;

retrieve a movement history stored in the information processing center;

when it is determined that the vehicle is near the location of the plurality of predetermined locations and the location of the plurality of predetermined locations is included in the movement history, provide an option to the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations;

when it is determined that the vehicle is not near the plurality of predetermined locations, fail to provide the option to the user to check-in to the plurality of predetermined locations; and

when the user, after being provided with the option to check-in, selects the option to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, output a control signal to the information processing center so that the information relating to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations of the user is submitted from the information processing center to the position information service center to check-in the user to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations, wherein

the information is based upon the position information about the vehicle, and check-in includes sharing information related to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations with other users.

23. The position information transmission system according to claim 22, wherein the control unit is configured to output the location of the plurality of predetermined locations along with map information to a display unit.

24. The position information transmission system according to claim 22, wherein the control unit is configured to output information urging the user to check-in to the location of the plurality of predetermined locations.