Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha

Aisin Aw Co., Ltd.

Hiroyuki Kanemitsu

Kazuteru Maekawa

Kyomi Morimoto

Toyoji Hiyokawa

Hitoshi Asano

Yukiyoshi Suzuki

Naoki Maeda

Fuminari Ishihara

Syuzo Moroto

Masanobu Yamashita

Taizo Asaoka

In a communication system for communicating between moving objects in which a moving object determines the peripheral state based on moving object information transmitted and received using communication between moving objects, accuracy level information regarding the apparatus provided in the transmitting moving object is included in moving object information. Further, a vehicular driving support apparatus that transmits moving object information using communication between moving objects includes accuracy level information regarding the apparatus provided in a host vehicle in moving object information.

Communication system for communicating between moving objects and vehicular driving support apparatus

A driving support apparatus included in a vehicle in a system which uses running data on another vehicle, that is transmitted from the other vehicle, is provided with extracting means for preparing vector mapping data including plural running vectors based on positional information and speed information transmitted from at least one other vehicle, and for extracting a running path of the at least one other vehicle from the prepared vector mapping data.

Driving support system, driving support apparatus and driving support method

A broadcast receiving device which clearly indicates supplementary information transmitted along with broadcast content, and which facilitates program search. The supplementary information may be a program sequence information of a digital broadcast. Plural types of topic information related to a broadcast content description and a genre of a broadcast content are designed in the supplementary information. A memory device stores, separately for each genre, a display priority degree for each of the plural types of topic information. A control processor obtains genre information and topic information items from an acquired supplementary information. The control processor indicates the topic information items on a display according to the display priority degrees stored in the memory device corresponding to the obtained genre information. When indicating a search screen image, the topic information items are extracted from the supplementary information as search keywords and indicated to the user in the screen image.

Broadcast receiving device

A broadcast receiving apparatus is equipped with a function appropriately dealing with a failure in broadcast recording. Along with broadcast content, incidental information allowing identification of the broadcasting content is received. The incidental information is preferably digital broadcast program sequence information. The receiving apparatus records the received broadcast content. When recording of certain content fails, an alternative broadcast content providing the same content is retrieved on the basis of the incidental information, and recording thereof is promoted by a rerecord promote processing unit. The recording of the alternative broadcast content is reserved or the user is alerted to the existence of the alternative broadcast. The incidental information is effectively utilized to link together sound recorded content positioned immediately before and after the content of which sound recording has ended in failure. Furthermore, effective use is made of the incidental information to obviate double recording of content so that memory is conserved.

Broadcast receiving and failure resistant recording apparatus

A message processing device is adapted to obtain text data and read aloud the text data aloud by using a voice synthesizer. A loudspeaker device is connected to the message processing device to output or read aloud the text data. The text data can be received through a receiving device that receives outside information data or e-mail message data. The voice synthesizer can be controlled by an outside information controller, with the outside information controller being able to distinguish senders of the text data and being able to select one voice tone data to read aloud messages sent by one sender. If the controller recognizes that there are other messages sent by another sender, the controller allots different voice tone data for the other sender's messages. The message processing device can include a voice navigation device to generate voice signals for giving route guidance messages or information to a driver of a vehicle. The voice tone used for the route guidance message is preferably different from the voice tone used to read aloud the outside information message. It is thus possible for the driver to recognize the source or senders of different messages being read aloud. It is also possible to adjust the output timing of the route guidance message and the outside information message.

Message processing system, method for processing messages and computer readable medium

An information transmission method and device for preventing a client from getting an impression that they are being kept waiting for a response, even when the go response contains a large amount of data. A search request is made from an information communication system of a vehicle, an information providing center receives the request, and searches a database to obtain a search result. If the search result contains data of more than one data type such as texts and images, a data group is formed for each data type and the amount of data for each data group is calculated. Transmission order is determined by arranging the data groups in an ascending order of data amount from smallest to largest. The transmission order is further determined for each data group by arranging data in an ascending order from smallest to largest, and data is transmitted to the vehicle in this order.

Information transmission method and device

When information regarding position of a facility, such as a parking lot, is requested from a terminal (,), an information center (,) supplies position information to the terminal (,) as a relative position using a landmark, such as a neighboring road. The terminal (,) computes a shift from a position of a landmark in a local map database (,) and a position of a received landmark in a map matching processor (,), and corrects the facility position. If the landmark has not been stored in the map database (,) at the terminal (,), relative data based on another road is resent.

Positional information providing system and apparatus

The present invention provides a navigation system for guiding a driver along an optimum route by comparing a route with preference on the traveling direction of a vehicle with a route with no preference on the traveling direction thereof when the driver is guided from the current position thereof up to a destination. To search for a route, a first route with preference on the traveling direction of a vehicle is calculated (1) and then, a second route with no preference on the traveling direction thereof is calculated (2). An appropriate route is selected from found routes according to a predetermined setting condition (3) and displayed on screen. The setting condition includes comparison of distances of respective routes and time lengths required for traveling thereon, ease of traveling, width and type of roads, scenery and the like. In a case where distances of the respective routes, for example, are compared with each other, if the distance of the first route is longer than the second route by at least a predetermined value, the second route is displayed, and if the first route is not longer than the second route by at least the predetermined value, the first route is displayed.

Navigation system for a vehicle

An itinerary making system for preparing an itinerary according which facilities can be used timely, by a simple inputting operation. When a traveler enters desired facility information and visiting purposes through an input unit, a plan preparing unit retrieves from a database a recommended route for arriving at the subject facilities and recommended visiting times for using the facilities according to each visiting purpose. A plan preparing unit prepares a time schedule based on the retrieved recommended visiting time, prepares an itinerary according to which a traveler can arrive at desired facilities at an appropriate time, and shows the itinerary on a display.

Itinerary making system

A system which is capable of planning a tour time schedule using simple facility information entered by a traveler and then easily and quickly preparing a complete itinerary for implementing a comfortable tour. When the traveler inputs desired facilities (destinations), departure date and time, a departure location and a return destination, a schedule preparation section calculates the basic route by searching data bases and also searches basic stay time previously set with regard to the entered facilities from basic stay time storage section, thereby preparing an itinerary. If the items entered by the traveler do not contain supplementary items for smoothly implementing the tour, the supplementary items stored in the supplementary item storage section are incorporated to prepare a time schedule which takes the basic stay time of the supplementary items into consideration.

Itinerary preparing system

A reaction area in a display can be enlarged from one directly above a switch display in the operator's eyesight direction. Specifically, the operator's position is determined from the driver's position or the like, and when the display is looked at to the right and upward, for instance, the reaction area is enlarged to the right and downward of a switch on the front side in the eyesight direction. Thus, operability can be improved in both cases when the display is looked at obliquely and diretly from the front.

Touch display type information input system

To improve the efficiency of a menu selecting operation, not only a menu of a predetermined hierarchy, but also at least one menu of a lower hierarchy corresponding to the predetermined hierarchy are displayed. If the lower hierarchy (first genre) menu is selected, the nationwide and individual state or region menus of the first genre are instantly displayed. If, on the other hand, the menu of predetermined hierarchy is selected from the main menu, individual genre menus of the same hierarchy as that of the lower hierarchy menu are displayed to enable selection of a different genre menu. The nationwide and state or regions menus of the selected genre are then displayed (at S8). As a result, the operation efficiency for selecting the first genre can be improved. Provision is also made for destination selection by input of a telephone number. A match of the input telephone number with prestored data calls up display of a map of the vicinity of the address corresponding to the input telephone number, which map display can be utilized to set a destination. On the other hand failure to match the input telephone number with prestored data results in a display of landmarks located within the larger area assigned to the local exchange portion of the input telephone number. One of the display listed landmarks may then be selected to call up a map of the vicinity of the selected landmark.

Growing community of inventors

Susono, Japan

Hiroyuki Kanemitsu