JP3842536B2 - Expressing traffic and related information - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for expressing traffic information and related information, and more specifically, traffic information and related information for expressing traffic information and related information superimposed on map information including roads in a generalized common format. It relates to the expression method
[0002]
[Prior art]
  First, an outline of VICS will be described. VICS (registered trademark: Vehicle Information and Communication System) collects road traffic information obtained by various means by road managers and prefectural police, processes and edits by the VICS Center, and VICS-compatible in-vehicle such as car navigation It is a traffic information communication system provided in real time to the aircraft. This road traffic information includes traffic information (unknown / no traffic / congested / traffic), section travel time information indicating travel time for a section, regulation information (traffic accidents, traffic closures, lane regulations, speed regulations, construction, etc.), There is information about parking lots. The provided information can be received by an in-vehicle device such as a car navigation system, and road traffic information such as traffic jams and traffic regulations can be displayed in characters / graphics or on a map for navigation. Such information is referred to as VICS traffic information, and this providing means includes radio wave beacons, optical beacons, and FM multiplex broadcasting, and these media are properly used according to their characteristics. Radio beacons are mainly installed on highways, information about highways and surrounding ordinary roads about 200km ahead, optical beacons are installed on ordinary roads, and information on general roads and highways about 10-30km ahead are provided. Yes. FM multiplex broadcasting provides general information covering a wide range of prefectures.
[0003]
Of the information provided, many events occur in the length direction of the road, so the number of roads that have up and down directions is divided into a certain length (mainly between major intersections). Various information is provided in association with the VICS link expressed by the attached VICS link.
[0004]
This VICS link also supports a digital map, and is an optimal method with good transmission efficiency for expressing traffic jams and regulation information.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in order to use the VICS traffic information described above, it is necessary to have a database on the VICS link on the in-vehicle device side, and along with the new construction of new roads and changes in road shape (expansion, three-dimensional intersection, etc.) If the database is not revised, there is a problem that the information provided for the new and changed parts of the road cannot be used effectively.
[0006]
Further, the use of the traffic information described above is limited to vehicles equipped with a VICS-compatible car navigation device. Reception from radio wave beacons / light beacons installed on the road is impossible to receive except by vehicles passing through the location, but there is no such restriction for reception by FM multiplex broadcasting, even in ordinary homes It can be received. Receiving this FM multiplex broadcast, use the VICS traffic information on your home PC before starting your trip, and the traffic information that the VICS traffic information will provide if you change the viewpoint, especially the traffic information that the FM multiplex broadcast intends to provide No such thing was done. Prior to travel, traffic information such as traffic information displayed by a VICS-compatible in-vehicle device is not displayed through a personal computer connected to the Internet.
[0007]
The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and its object is to provide a method for efficiently expressing various information currently provided as VICS information in a more generalized information format. There is to do.
[0008]
In addition, by expressing traffic information and related information in a generalized information format, it is possible to flexibly respond to changes in environmental conditions by quickly incorporating or rearranging new roads and changes in road shapes, etc. In addition, it aims to allow traffic information and related information to be used without using a database such as a database for VICS links.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
  In order to achieve such an object, the invention according to claim 1 uses data on latitude and longitude., Associated with traffic and related informationA method for expressing information related to a map,The information isA main base point setting step for setting a main base point having predetermined latitude and longitude data, and an area set in association with the main base point in a first unit designated by latitude and longitude based on the main base point A grid generation step for generating a plurality of sections by dividing along meridians and latitudes, a specific section in the divided sections is specified, and coordinates of predetermined corners of the specified section are determined. A sub-base point setting step for setting as a sub-base point;Latitude and longitude1st singlePlaceA second unit setting step for setting a second unit divided by the number of divisions to be specified, and related to the mapRelated traffic and related informationA position setting step for expressing position information representing points, lines, and surfaces as relative coordinates using the second unit as a reference, using the second unit.Composed of
The coordinates of the main starting point, the first unit of latitude and the first unit of longitude, the number of sections of the latitude and the number of sections of longitude, the specified value of the section, the second unit of latitude and the second of longitude Unit of coordinates and latitude and longitude coordinate values in each second unit with the origin of the designated sub-origin of the designated section as the originIt is characterized by that.
[0010]
  The invention according to claim 2 uses data on latitude and longitude., Associated with traffic and related informationA method for expressing information related to a map,The information isA main base point setting step for setting a main base point having predetermined latitude and longitude data, and an area set in association with the main base point in a first unit designated by latitude and longitude based on the main base point A grid generation step for generating a plurality of sections by dividing along meridians and latitudes, a specific section in the divided sections is specified, and coordinates of predetermined corners of the specified section are determined. A sub base point setting step to set as a sub base point;
  SaidLatitude and longitude1st singleRankA second unit setting step for setting a smaller second unit and related to the mapRelated traffic and related informationA position setting step for expressing position information representing points, lines, and surfaces as relative coordinates using the second unit as a reference, using the second unit.Composed of
The coordinates of the main starting point, the first unit of latitude and the first unit of longitude, the number of sections and the number of sections of longitude in the latitude, the specified value of the section, the second unit of latitude and the second of longitude Unit of coordinates and latitude and longitude coordinate values in each second unit with the origin of the designated sub-origin of the designated section as the originIt is characterized by that.
[0011]
  The invention according to claim 3 is the traffic and related information expression method according to claim 1 or 2, whereinpositionThe setting steppositionWhen the coordinates are specified following the previously specified coordinates as information, the coordinates are specified by relative coordinates with respect to the previous coordinates.
[0012]
  The invention according to claim 4 is the traffic and related information expression method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein at least one of the first units is east-west of the section at the latitude of the region. And the other is set so that the north-south distance is approximately equal,Latitude and longitudeSecond singlePlaceSet as a fraction of the first unit, andLatitude and longitudeSecond singlePlaceThe area is about 1 m.
[0013]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0014]
First, all the positions on the earth can be expressed by latitude and longitude. For example, when a traffic jam section is indicated as two points, when this expression is used, the upper part of the data is the same as usual. In order to prevent such repetition of the same high-order data and reduce the amount of information, it is efficient to divide the assumed areas and group them into a certain range. That is, it is convenient to first define a certain region on the earth by a general method, and specify points in the defined region with a small amount of information.
[0015]
Therefore, in order to handle an arbitrary area or point, it is convenient to do the following. First, (1) a main base point serving as a reference for all points to be designated is set. (2) A specified range is specified using the set main base point as a reference, the interior is divided into predetermined units of latitude and longitude, and a sub-point is used as a reference when specifying points within the divided range. Set the base point. (2) A point including the inside of the area is designated in units determined in advance in latitude and longitude with the sub-base point of the divided area as a base point.
[0016]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of (1) and (2) described above. In FIG. 1, the main base point is a point at 30 degrees north latitude and 120 degrees east longitude (symbol B in FIG. 1). Certain ranges in (1) above are 120 degrees east longitude (represented by E120 °), 128 degrees east longitude (represented by E127 °), 30 degrees north latitude (represented by N30 degrees) and 38 degrees 20 minutes north latitude (N38 ° 20 And east and west in units of 1 degree and north and south in units of 40 minutes. The numbers in a total of 64 divided areas in FIG. 1 (hereinafter referred to as section numbers) are in order of east-west, north-south, with the section number having the main base point at the lower right in FIG. 1 being “00”. This is expressed in octal notation. The position is defined by the latitude and longitude of the lower left point of each section. This method is position specification using grid coordinates.
[0017]
FIG. 2 is a diagram in which the section number 33 shown in FIG. 1 is extracted, and the lower left reference S corresponds to the sub-base point described above and is a point of E123 ° N32 °. The longitude is the X axis and the latitude is the Y axis direction.
[0018]
Here, the circumference of the latitude line at 32 degrees north latitude is about 32, 354.6 km, assuming that the radius of the earth at that position is about 6365 km. Therefore, 1 degree in the east and west is about 89.9 km. Similarly, 1 degree north-south is about 111.1 km. Therefore, the north-south 40 'is about 74 km.
[0019]
When the above-described information shown in FIG. 1 is described in XML (eXtensible Markup Language), it is expressed as follows.
(XML notation in Fig. 1)
<Basepoint>
<Log> E120 degrees </ log> <lat> N32 degrees </ lat>
</ Basepoint>
<Section>
<Log> 1 degree </ log> <lat> 40 minutes </ lat>
</ Section>
<Maxmesh>
<Log> 8 </ log> <lat> 8 </ lag>
</ Maxmesh>
Here, “basepoint” is the above-mentioned main base point, “log” is the longitude, “lat” is the latitude, and “section” is the increasing direction of latitude and longitude from the above-mentioned main base point. Indicates a grid that divides the area, and “maxmesh” is a method in which the divided sections starting from the main base point described above are divided into eight areas in the increasing direction of longitude and latitude, for a total of 64 areas. It is a tag indicating that numbering is performed (numbering).
[0020]
Although the general theory has been described above, the following describes a specific case of showing points in Japan.
[0021]
In order to represent the entire country of Japan using the method described above, the coordinates of the main base point = E122 °, N24 ° 40 ′, and the east-west division unit is 1/8 of the division unit of 1 degree in FIG. 5 minutes (= 450 seconds) and the north-south division is preferably 5 minutes (= 300 seconds), which is 1/8 of the division unit in FIG. The size of this section is about 10km²It is. To be precise, the size of this section is approximately 11.23 km from east to west and approximately 9.26 km from north to south at the location of Tokyo, the east-west direction narrows north from Tokyo, and the east-west direction expands south. For the north and south, there is basically no change (except for the effect that the earth's cross section is not a perfect circle and the equator is an expanded ellipse).
[0022]
In such a division unit, if a section of 256 (8 bits) is provided in each direction as described above,
Longitudinal area width = 256 × 7.5 minutes = 1920 minutes = 32 degrees
Latitude area width = 256 × 5 minutes = 1280 minutes = 21 degrees 20 minutes
It becomes. Therefore, the longitude range of these sections as a whole is expressed from longitude 122 degrees to 154 degrees and latitude 24 degrees 40 minutes to 46 degrees. This range includes almost 100% of the Japanese area. Note that the distance of 1 degree longitude at 24 degrees north latitude is about 101.49 km, and about 77.17 km at 46 degrees north latitude. 256 × 256 partition numbers can be expressed as 0000 to ffff in the order of 4 digits in hexadecimal and in the longitude / latitude direction by the method described in FIG.
[0023]
  As described above, in a specific area on the earth,DThe rear can be divided to define a divided area within a specific area.
[0024]
However, as long as it is described above, it is only possible to designate a section of about 10 km square. The points in this section are specified as follows.
[0025]
  (Specify points)
  First, the minimum resolution required to represent a specific point in the above-described section is determined. This minimum resolution is about 1mIf it is a degree, it is necessary to divide the longitude direction and the latitude direction into 1 / 10,000, respectively. At this time, the unit in the longitude direction is 0.045 seconds (about 1.123 m in Tokyo), and the unit in the latitude direction is 0.03 seconds (about 0.92 m in Tokyo).
[0026]
Here, the range of points based on the above-described resolution is indicated by the number of units into which the concept of strictness is introduced. When this is expressed in XML,
(Example of XML notation of point, line, and surface size)
<Unit>
<Lat> 0.045 seconds </ lat>
<Log> 0.03 seconds </ log>
<Strict> 5 </ strict>
</ Unit>
Here, “strict” indicates a range of points, and is used when the position of this range is regarded as a search range, such as when searching for information.
[0027]
As another expression, the section is equally divided as described above, and in the above case, it is divided into 10,000. This is expressed as <scale> 10000 </ scale> in XML notation. Dividing the parcel (mesh) into 10,000 equals approximately 1m square (in Tokyo, approximately 1.123m from east to west, approximately 0.92m from north to south), 1 / 10,000 in the east-west direction and 40 in the north-south direction. It can also be expressed as a coordinate based on the sub-base point at the lower right of the section in units of 1 / 10,000th of a minute. In this case, there are a case where degree minutes and seconds are used as a unit for expressing coordinates, and a case where an integer part of a unit expressed in degrees is used as a unit. In some cases, a value of an integer of a unit expressed by an integer value of degrees or minutes is not necessarily expressed by an integer value of degrees, minutes and seconds. In the example described above, the value of 1 / integer of the unit represented by the integer value of degree or minute is represented by the integer value of degree minute second. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining such a designation method.
[0028]
In FIG. 3, the points obtained by dividing the section divided as described above into 10,000 in each direction are obtained. When there is a sub base point (symbol S) shown in the vicinity of this region, the point to be specified can be specified as (6, 4) as shown on the basis of this sub base point. Here, positive (plus) coordinates are attached to the increasing direction of longitude and latitude, and negative (minus) signs are attached to the opposite direction. However, basically, it is desirable to express it as positive coordinates.
[0029]
(Specify line)
When representing a line, by specifying a plurality of points (points) described above, a straight line connecting these two points can be represented. A curve is expressed as a line connecting a plurality of points with straight lines. This case is shown in FIG. 4, and the XML notation in this case is shown below.
[0030]
(Example of line XML)
<Line>
<Lat> 1 </ lat> <log> 1 </ log> ・ ・ ・ Point P41 designation
<Lat> 3 </ lat> <log> 4 </ log> ... Point P42 designation
<Lat> 6 </ lat> <log> 5 </ log> ... Designation of point P43
<Lat> 8 </ lat> <log> 7 </ log> ... Point P44 designation
</ Line>
Here, “line” is a tag indicating a line represented as a combination of straight lines connecting a plurality of consecutive points one after another.
[0031]
(Specify face)
To represent a surface, it is possible to express a closed space by specifying a point (point) as described above, drawing a line, and connecting the last point and the first point with a line. is there. In this case, a surface can be drawn if there are three or more points. An example of this case is shown in FIG. 5, and the XML notation in this case is shown below. Here, as in FIG. 4, the unit described above (specified by strict) is expressed as a unit as a coordinate unit.
[0032]
(Example of surface XML notation)
<Poly>
<Lat> 2 </ lat> <log> 2 </ log> ... Point P51 designation
<Lat> 5 </ lat> <log> 7 </ log> ... Specifying point P52
<Lat> 10 </ lat> <log> 9 </ log> ・ ・ ・ Specifying point P53
<Lat> 12 </ lat> <log> 6 </ log> ... Point P54 designation
<Lat> 9 </ lat> <log> 3 </ log> ・ ・ ・ Point P55 designation
</ Poly>
Here, “poly” is a tag indicating a polygon. By designating points in this way, an arbitrary surface can be represented. Here, the absolute coordinates for the sub-base point are used to represent the point, but the first point can be expressed as an absolute coordinate, and the second and subsequent points can be expressed as a difference from the previous point. is there. When using point coordinates in difference notation, a tag <logr> may be used instead of <log>, and a tag <latr> may be used instead of <lat>.
[0033]
Depending on the displayed information, it is not a polygon but a quadrangle or a circle, but in this case, it is expressed specially.
[0034]
(Specify rectangle)
An XML notation example of a quadrangular surface (here, a quadrangle as a surface) is shown below.
<Rect>
<Lat> 10 </ lat> <log> 20 </ log>
<Xlen> 5 </ xlen> <ylen> 8 </ ylen>
<Rect>
Here, “rect” is a tag that represents a rectangle (rectangular), then the lower right coordinates of the rectangle, then the length in the east-west direction is “xlen (x-length)”, the north-south direction The length is represented by a tag “ylen (y-length)”.
[0035]
(Specify circle)
An XML notation example of a circular surface is shown below.
<Circle>
<Lat> 50 </ lat> <log> 20 </ log>
<Radius> 20 </ radius>
</ Circle>
Here, “circle” indicates a circle, the center coordinates are specified, and the radius is represented by a tag “radius”.
[0036]
As described above, the base point of each region on the earth is set, the section is determined for that region, the resolution is further determined, the unit length with the minimum unit defined by this resolution is determined, the unit It is possible to efficiently define points, lines, surfaces, circular surfaces, and quadrangular surfaces in a more generalized information format with the position from the base point of the unit as a unit unit or the minimum resolution as a unit. it can.
[0037]
In this way, the method of specifying the position is to express the position information corresponding to the information content, for example, by defining the point representing the point of an accident, etc. with the point, the road of the traffic jam with the line, the weather information etc. Can do.
[0038]
Since this representation method can set an arbitrary value that is conventionally defined as a fixed value (as a database) in VICS information, it can be used at any position on the earth. In addition, as a display method of traffic and related information superimposed on the map screen, it is possible to display efficiently while being in a more general information format, and by using XML notation, effective use of traffic and related information can be achieved. There is an advantage that makes it possible to plan.
[0039]
In order to show the congestion length on the map, it is possible to express the congestion information on the road with directionality by specifying the road name and specifying the latitude and longitude of the start and end points. Even when the road is curved, it can be processed like a road by software processing. If you want a curved line, you can specify an intermediate point. Depending on the degree of bending, more than one are required.
[0040]
(Example of XML representation of traffic information)
An XML notation example of traffic jam information for the whole of Japan is shown below. Note that the leftmost number indicates a line number for explanation.
100 <basepoint>
101 <log> E122 degrees </ log> <lat> N24 degrees 40 minutes </ lat>
102 </ basepoint>
110 <section>
111 <log> 450 seconds </ log> <lat> 300 seconds </ lat>
112 </ section>
120 <maxmesh>
121 <log> 256 </ log> <lat> 256 </ lat>
122 </ maxmesh>
124 <unit>
125 <lat> 0.045 seconds </ lat>
126 <log> 0.03 seconds </ log>
127 <strict> 5 </ strict>
128 </ unit>
130 <jamdata>
140 <road> route1 </ road>
150 <status> jam </ status>
160 <mesh> 8543 </ mesh>
171 <line>
172 <Xunit> 50 </ Xunit> <Yunit> 150 </ Yunit>
173 <Xunitr> 5 </ Xunitr> <Yunitr> 3 </ Yunitr>
174 <Xunitr> 8 </ Xunitr> <Yunitr> 7 </ Yunitr>
175 </ line>
180 <status> cong </ status>
190 <line>
191 <Xunit> 3500 </ Xunit> <Yunit> 5950 </ Yunit>
192 <Xunitr> 20 </ Xunitr> <Yunitr> 30 </ Yunitr>
193 <Xunitr> 3 </ Xunitr> <Yunitr> 6 </ Yunitr>
194 </ line>
200 <status> none </ status>
210 <line>
211 <Xunit> 5600 </ Xunit> <Yunit> 7200 </ Yunit>
212 <Xunit> 8000 </ Xunit> <Yunit> 4300 </ Yunit>
213 </ line>
220 </ jamdata>
In the above, the lines 100 to 102 define the coordinates of the main base point in the case of showing the whole of Japan described above. The lines 110 to 112 are divided in units of 1/8 degree (7.5 minutes = 450 seconds) on the east side and 1/8 units (5 minutes) on the north side based on this main base point. Lines 120 to 122 indicate that the respective divisions divided in this way are grouped in 256 in each direction, and each is represented by four hexadecimal digits as shown in FIG. Here, for example, at the location of Tokyo, each section is about 8.11 km from east to west, and about 9.2 km from north to south. The above shows the case where the above-mentioned whole country of Japan is expressed in XML. Lines 124 to 128 define the unit as the resolution as described above for each section.
[0041]
Next, traffic information as traffic information is represented by lines 130 to 220. Here, in the VICS, information indicating unknown / no congestion / congestion / congestion is used as the congestion degree in a broad sense as jam data. Therefore, if the VICS expression method is applied, it is necessary to designate traffic jam data in the traffic jam information in order to indicate a so-called traffic jam section. The range of the row 130 and the row 220 indicates the traffic information in the broad sense described above.
[0042]
Line 140 is character data for indicating the traffic information to be displayed below as characters. Here, National Route 1 is shown. A row 150 indicates a traffic jam (jam) as a traffic jam degree in the four categories of the traffic jam information.
[0043]
In row 160, the partition number designated in rows 100 to 122 is designated. Subordinate base point (southwest corner) coordinates at the lower right of this section number are used as the base point of the coordinates thereafter.
[0044]
In lines 171 to 175, lines connecting the points specified in lines 172 to 174 in order with straight lines are specified. Here, line 172 shows relative coordinates based on the above-mentioned sub-base point, and lines 173 and 174 show relative coordinates with respect to the immediately preceding coordinates. The coordinate unit is represented by the unit described above in decimal notation. Here, for example, in Tokyo, the numerical value is about 1.123 m from east to west and about 0.92 m from north to south. This line shows the section of the congestion degree specified in the row 150.
[0045]
In line 180, the degree of congestion shown in line 150 is changed from congestion (jam) to congestion (congestion). In lines 190 to 194, lines connecting the points specified in lines 191 to 193 in order are designated by straight lines. The relative coordinate designation for the sub-base point and the relative coordinate designation for the immediately preceding coordinate are as described above.
[0046]
In line 200, the degree of congestion shown in lines 150 and 180 is changed from congestion to none. In lines 210 to 213, a line connecting two points is shown in absolute coordinate display.
[0047]
Note that the traffic information display lines described above (the traffic congestion, congestion, and no traffic congestion lines) all indicate a road heading in the substantially northeast direction because the coordinate display is all positive. As coordinates, it is desirable to be able to specify coordinates that protrude from the section designated by the line 160, for example, a minus sign, or point designation of an area within a nearby section number. In the above description, the unit of the coordinate unit for displaying the traffic information is a unit defined in the line 125 and the line 126.
[0048]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the gist of the display method described above.
[0049]
First, in step 110, an area range to be displayed on the map is set. For example, even if it is intended to display a part of the region range for the whole country of Japan, the region range to be displayed is the whole region of Japan.
[0050]
In step 120, for example, a point having the latitude at the south end and the longitude at the west end is set as the main base point among the above-mentioned points all over Japan. Specific numerical values are as described above.
[0051]
Next, in step 130, along the meridian and the latitude line in a predetermined unit of latitude and longitude (for example, in the case of Japan, longitude direction = 450 seconds, latitude direction = 300 seconds) with reference to the set main base point. The region range is divided to generate a plurality of sections (256 × 256 in the above example).
[0052]
In step 140, a specific section including the area or point to be displayed is designated.
[0053]
Thereafter, in step 150, the latitude and longitude of, for example, the lower right corner point of this section are set as the sub base points, and the coordinates of the graphic specified thereafter are treated as relative coordinates with respect to the sub base points. As described above, the first can be expressed as relative coordinates, and the second and subsequent coordinates can be expressed as relative coordinates with respect to the first relative coordinates. Using such coordinate designation, information for displaying a circle or the like is specified by designating points, a line between points, a center and a radius.
[0054]
In step 150, a necessary amount of information is set. Here, if it is assumed that the movement of the previously set sub-base point will help reduce the amount of information in the subsequent step 150, the process of step 140 may be performed at that time to reset the sub-base point. desirable. However, in the setting for display in step 150 or the setting of points, most of the set points are in the vicinity of the set sub-base points, and only a small amount of set points are in the vicinity of other remote sub-base point candidates. Basically, the absolute value of the latter coordinate data only increases.
[0055]
In the above description, in the case where the entire country is the target, by performing the operation in step 140, it is possible to set a point in units of, for example, about 1 m for any region in Japan. In other words, since there is only one main base point in step 120 in the region of Japan, it is possible to achieve at least uniformity of data related to coordinates in the data after step 120.
[0056]
For countries other than Japan, set the main base point as described above, set the number of divisions according to the size of the region, make the sub base point easy to set, and express the same Can do. Therefore, by starting from step 110, the method of the present invention can be applied to various regions and displayed. In this case, naturally, the steps shown in FIG. 6 are executed each time.
[0057]
As described above, the method for designating information about a certain point, a continuous point, or a surface on the earth surface based on longitude and latitude is more general to the traffic information currently provided as VICS information. It is suitable for efficient expression in a simplified information format. It is also suitable for displaying weather information, particularly snow information, road freezing information, and rainfall information related to traffic information. In the case of this weather information, it can be considered that it is provided as surface information. Moreover, although the information figure superimposed on the map information figure displayed based on longitude and latitude is assumed as a display by the display method as mentioned above, consistency with this map information figure can be easily achieved. From this aspect, it can be said that the information format is more generalized.
[0058]
In addition, on the screen of the navigation system as the vehicle-mounted device, when there is no parking lot information as map information, the location of the parking lot and its full vehicle status, etc. can be displayed as traffic information related information by the method described above. It becomes possible.
[0059]
In the above description, examples of data elements and attributes are shown in XML description. However, it is possible to add graphic colors and other components in the same format without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Easy.
[0060]
In the above description, the target range has been described as a range expressed in north latitude, for example. However, when the target range including the equator is assumed, for example, the latitude of north latitude is expressed as a plus, and the latitude of south latitude is expressed as a minus, for example, 10 degrees south and 7 degrees 20 minutes are north latitude -10 degrees and north latitude -7 degrees, respectively. It is possible to adopt the above-described expression method by expressing it for 20 minutes. In this case, when the map is finally associated with the map, the negative value of the north latitude expression may be converted into the south latitude expression at the final stage. The same is true for east longitude and west longitude.
[0061]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a main base point setting step for setting a main base point having predetermined latitude and longitude data, and an area set in association with the main base point, the latitude based on the main base point A section generation step for generating a plurality of sections by dividing along longitude and latitude lines in a predetermined unit of longitude and longitude, and specifying a specific section among the plurality of divided sections, A section setting step for setting the coordinates of the determined corner as a sub-base point, and using the relative coordinates based on the sub-base point based on a predetermined unit of latitude and longitude, the map near the sub-base point is used. Since the graphic setting step for expressing the related graphic information is provided, the graphic information can be efficiently expressed on the map area at an arbitrary scale.
[0062]
Moreover, since coordinate information can be easily converted into latitude and longitude information, it is particularly suitable for generating an image to be superimposed on map information.
[0063]
Furthermore, the information provided as conventional VICS information is expressed using the expression method of the present invention, so that traffic and related information can be obtained not only on the VICS-compatible on-vehicle device but also on many devices such as personal computers. Can be displayed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 shows a map area to be displayed by the method of the present invention, a main base point is determined for the area, and a section is set by dividing this area into parallel lines and meridians in each direction. It is a figure which shows the place which gave the number in hexadecimal notation in order to designate the specific division of a some division.
FIG. 2 shows the section of section number 33 in FIG. 1, and the section of this number is a quadrilateral region surrounded by latitude lines of 32 degrees north latitude and 32 degrees north latitude, and longitude lines of 122 degrees east longitude and 123 degrees east longitude. The base point (sub base point) of this area is a diagram showing that it has a point of 122 degrees east longitude and 32 degrees north latitude.
[Fig. 3] Specify an arbitrary point (point or minute area) in the map area to be displayed with relative coordinates (absolute coordinates within the figure) based on the base point (sub base point) of the neighboring section. It is a figure which shows doing.
FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining expressing, for example, a road in a certain map area as a line connecting a plurality of points or minute areas, as in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining that a plane representing a certain area of a certain map area is expressed by a modified pentagon in the same manner as in FIG. 4;
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the gist of a display method according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
B Main base point
S Sub-base point
A Point of map area to be displayed
P31 Point of map area to be displayed
P41 to P44 Points of the map area to be displayed
P51-P55 Points of the map area to be displayed

Claims (4)

A method for representing information transmitted to a device for displaying traffic and related information with information related to a map associated with traffic and related information using data on latitude and longitude, the method comprising: Information
A main base point setting step for setting a main base point having predetermined latitude and longitude data;
A grid generating step of generating a plurality of sections by dividing an area set in association with the main base point along a meridian and a parallel in a first unit designated by latitude and longitude with reference to the main base point; ,
A sub base point setting step of designating a specific section in the divided plurality of sections and setting coordinates of a predetermined corner of the designated section as a sub base point;
The first single digit of the latitude and longitude, and the second unit setting step of setting a second unit obtained by dividing the number of divisions designated,
Point about the relevant association was traffic and related information on the map, a line, the position information representing the surface, using said second unit, the position setting expressed as the relative coordinates of the sub-base point as a reference A method comprising steps and
The coordinates of the main starting point, the first unit of latitude and the first unit of longitude, the number of sections of the latitude and the number of sections of longitude, the designated value of the section, the second unit of latitude and the second of longitude And a coordinate value in the latitude and longitude directions in each second unit with the secondary origin of the designated section as the origin . A method for expressing traffic and related information. A method for expressing information transmitted to a device for displaying traffic and related information with information related to a map associated with traffic and related information using data on latitude and longitude, the information Is
A main base point setting step for setting a main base point having predetermined latitude and longitude data;
A grid generating step of generating a plurality of sections by dividing an area set in association with the main base point along a meridian and a parallel in a first unit designated by latitude and longitude with reference to the main base point; ,
A sub base point setting step of designating a specific section in the divided plurality of sections and setting coordinates of a predetermined corner of the designated section as a sub base point;
A second unit setting step of setting a first single digit by Ri smaller second units of the latitude and longitude,
Point about the relevant association was traffic and related information on the map, a line, the position information representing the surface, using said second unit, the position setting expressed as the relative coordinates of the sub-base point as a reference A method comprising steps and
The coordinates of the main starting point, the first unit of latitude and the first unit of longitude, the number of sections and the number of sections of longitude in the latitude, the designated value of the section, the second unit of latitude and the second of longitude And a coordinate value in the latitude and longitude directions in each second unit with the secondary origin of the designated section as the origin . A method for expressing traffic and related information. 3. The traffic according to claim 1, wherein the position setting step specifies a relative coordinate with respect to a previous coordinate when a coordinate is specified following the previously specified coordinate as the position information. 4. Representation method of related information. Wherein at least one of the first unit is set against the other as the east-west and north-south length of the compartment in latitude of the region is substantially equal, the second unit of the latitude and longitude of the first it is set as an integral fraction of the unit, the second unit of the latitude and longitude, representation of the traffic and the related information according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that in the region of about 1m Method.

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