Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Navigation – Determination of travel data based on the start point and...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-26
2002-01-01
Nguyen, Tan (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Navigation
Determination of travel data based on the start point and...
C701S208000, C701S211000, C340S990000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06336073
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to information terminal devices, and more specifically to an information terminal device capable of displaying a vicinity of a present location, destination, specific point, and the like, receiving point information such as information on tourist attractions, restaurants, and accommodations (so called POI information) from information servers, providing, to a user, information on a route, distance, time distance, and traffic to the point, and further capable of utilizing enormous amounts of and the latest information through a communications function.
2. Description of the Background Art
One example of a conventional information terminal device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 9-229694 (1997/229694).
FIG. 18
shows a navigation data adding system
1800
in which a navigation system
1801
, as an exemplary information terminal device, and an additional data providing system
1802
are communicably connected.
In the navigation system
1801
, a storage medium
1803
is implemented by a CD-ROM, for example. The storage medium
1803
stores cartographic data and sightseeing information. A user operation is detected by an input detector
1804
and then recognized by a controller
1807
. The user operation is, for example, a selection made on a menu displayed on a display
1805
. On receiving the selection, the controller
1807
accesses the storage medium
1803
to fetch the cartographic data and the sightseeing information for display on the display
1805
.
Next, described is a case where the navigation system
1801
receives, for display, additional data from the additional data providing system
1802
through communications. In such case, the controller
1807
first determines what additional data is to be requested based on screen contents indicating a screen currently being displayed and being stored in a display contents storage
1806
. A transmitter
1809
transmits a data request requesting the determined additional data. After transmission of the data request, the additional data transmitted from the additional data providing system
1802
is received by a receiver
1811
and stored in an additional data storage
1810
. Thereafter, an image generator
1808
embeds the additional data in a predetermined template to generate a display screen. Finally, the display screen is displayed on the display
1805
.
On the other end, in the additional data providing system
1802
, a data search part
1815
performs a search in response to the data request which is transmitted from the navigation system
25
1801
and received at the receiver
1812
. A data conversion part
1813
converts the search result into a format suitable for communications and a transmitter
1814
transmits the converted data to the navigation system
1801
. Further, the additional data providing system
1802
accesses an external network
1819
through a network access part
1817
and receives information therefrom. The received information is sent to a data generator
1818
. Based on the received information, the data generator
1818
generates data required as service data. The generated data is stored in a data storage
1816
and provided to the navigation system
1801
through the data search part
1815
as the additional data.
With such configuration, the navigation system
1801
receives the latest and detailed information from the additional data providing system
1802
.
As another example of the conventional information terminal device, a car navigation device with a communications function is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 10-103977 (1998/103977). The car navigation device according to the publication first searches local data and then an access point of an ISP (Internet Service Provider) close to a present location. The car navigation device thus provides detailed information on facilities in the vicinity of the present location to a user by displaying home pages (Web sites) thereof. In specific, according to the invention disclosed in the publication, a WWW (World Wide Web) browsing function, which is normally installed in personal computers, is installed in the car navigation device. The car navigation device internally stores URLs of home pages in correspondences with locations of an owner of the device. In this manner, the car navigation system is able to display detailed information on an arbitrary vicinity area on a map by using the WWW browser, thereby allowing a car navigation system to receive the latest and detailed information.
The information terminal devices disclosed in the above publications are both capable of receiving the latest and detailed information through the use of the communications function. The information terminal devices, however, each have following problems. Note that in the publications No. 9-229694 (1997/229694) and No. 10-103977 (1998/103977), the navigation system
1801
and the car navigation device respectively serve as the information terminal device.
First, the problem of the information terminal device according to the publication No. 9-229694 (1997/229694) lies in the fact that the information terminal device (navigation system
1801
) and the information server (additional data providing system
1802
) communicate using a communications protocol exclusively dedicated thereto in the navigation data adding system
1800
. To be specific, the additional data providing system
1802
, as its name implies, provides additional information of predetermined contents to the information terminal device as an update. That means, when displaying restaurant information, for example, the information terminal device requests transmission of additional data by designating an information screen number. As such, the information terminal device and the information server are engaged too often.
Accordingly, if the information server provides a new service with new information display feature, it is required to update not only the information server but also the information terminal device. Further, whenever a new model of the information terminal device is released, it is also required to newly set up a corresponding information server. As it is difficult to immediately discontinue the services for the old models provided from the existing servers, business costs run up.
On the other hand, the information terminal device of the publication No. 10-103977 (1998/103977) can access enormous amounts of information all over the world by using a standard communications protocol and the WWW browser. The information terminal device, however, is only capable of displaying home pages on the WWW and displaying the locations of their owners on the map. Therefore, the problem comes up that information is not provided to users in a format suitable for a function such as route guidance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information terminal device capable of receiving various information in a format suitable for route guidance by using a standard communications protocol.
A first aspect of the present invention is directed to an information terminal device structured to be mobile and having access to a plurality of information service centers on a network which is using a predetermined protocol for communications, wherein, each of the information service centers is structured as being capable of transmitting information in a tag format indicating attributes and contents of the information in accordance with the communications protocol, the device comprising a first receiver receiving route information indicating a route from a start point to a destination and guidance information for guiding the route, a route guidance part guiding the route from the start point to the destination by using first cartographic data having a basis on the route information and/or the guidance information received by the first receiver, and a second receiver receiving, from each of the information service centers, point information in the tag format indic
Fukuda Hisaya
Ihara Yasuhiro
Nakano Nobuyuki
Suzuki Akihiro
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