Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Masaharu Umezu

Tomoya Ikeuchi

Makoto Mikuriya

Mitsuo Shimotani

Yasushi Kodaka

Tomohiro Nakae

Atsushi Kohno

Hiroaki Ideno

Yoshisada Mizutani

Masayuki Ishida

Yoshitsugu Sawa

Yukio Goto

Tadatomi Ishigami

Hiroyuki Kumazawa

Kiyoshi Matsutani

Fumitaka Satou

Hidehiko Ohki

Norihiro Nishiuma

Takeshi Inoue

Yuta Kawana

Shoichiro Takenaka

Takashi Kakitani

Katsuzi Okazaki

Satoshi Maegawa

Yoshihisa Nakao

Kosei Uchino

A map information processing apparatus includes a map information storage unitfor storing map information which is separated into multiple layers, a layer-to-be-updated-with-addition determination processing unitfor determining one or more layers which are to be updated with addition of an unregistered road which has been detected during travel of a vehicle, and an unregistered road adding and updating unitfor adding the unregistered road to the map information storage unit to update the map information with the addition being aimed at the one or more layers determined by the layer-to-be-updated-with-addition determination processing unit.

Map information processing apparatus

An apparatus includes a map information storage section () that stores map information on an area by area basis formed in meshes; a positioning section () for measuring its own present location; a new road detecting section () for deciding that a new road is detected when the present location is determined to be on a road not included in the map information; a new road registration decision section () for deciding that the new road is registerable to the map information stored in the map information storage section when the road density in the area including the new road is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a new road registration section () for registering the new road to the map information stored in the map information storage section, when the new road is determined to be registerable.

An apparatus includes a map information storage section for storing map information on an area by area basis formed in meshes; a positioning section for measuring its own present location; a new road detecting section; a new road registration decision section for deciding that the new road is additionally registerable to the map information stored in the map information storage section when the road density in the area including the new road detected by the new road detecting section is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a new road registration section for making additional registration of the new road, as to which the new road registration decision section makes an additionally registerable decision, to the map information stored in the map information storage section.

A map information processor includes a map information storage unitfor storing map display information including a set of pieces of mesh-by-mesh map information managed on a mesh-by-mesh basis and including road information, background information, and in-mesh image information, an image processing unitfor generating a map image on a basis of image data included in the road information, the background information, and the in-mesh image information included in the mesh-by-mesh map information read from the map information storage unit, and a display devicefor displaying the map image generated by the image processing unit.

Map information processor and data structure of map information

A map information processing apparatus includes a map information storage unit () for storing map information, a map update information storage unit () for storing one or more pieces of map update information (to) used for updating yet-to-be-updated map information, a map update information selection unit () for selecting one or more pieces of map update information required to update the map information stored in the map information storage unit () from the one or more pieces of map update information stored in the map update information storage unit, and a map information updating unit () for updating the map information stored in the map information storage unit () by applying the one or more pieces of map update information selected by the map update information selection unit to the map information one by one in order of updating.

Navigation apparatus

A map information processing device includes a map information storage unitfor storing map information, a sensor information input unitfor inputting sensor information used for calculation of a current position, a navigation processing unitfor calculating the current position by using the map information read from the map information storage unit, and the sensor information inputted from the sensor information input unit, and for, when determining that the above-mentioned calculated current position is in a tunnel shown by the read map information, and when this tunnel branches into tunnel sections at a forward position, calculating a distance to each of all tunnel end points to generate a map image about a map including this calculated distance, and an output control unitfor outputting the map image generated by the navigation processing unit.

Map information processing device

A map information processing apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a processor for calculating a vehicle position; a data generation unit for generating traveling locus data on the basis of the calculated vehicle position when the vehicle position deviates from a road; a registration unit for registering the traveling locus data generated by the data generation unit in a temporarily registered road list as a temporarily registered road; an operation unit for selecting one of temporarily registered roads registered in the temporarily registered road list; and an official registration unit for registering the selected temporarily registered road in an officially registered road list as an officially registered road in accordance with an instruction from the operation unit, generating road data on the basis of traveling locus data relating to the temporarily registered road, and adding the generated road data to a map data stored in a map data storage unit.

A map information processing apparatus includes a road matching means () for comparing the road data with current position data to carry out map matching, an input unit () for inputting both a specified detection start point and a specified detection end point, an unregistered road detection means () to which both the specified detection start point and the specified detection end point are inputted, for detecting, as an unregistered road, a section between a detection start point and a detection end point of the unregistered road which are acquired on the basis of either the map matching carried out by the road matching means or the result of comparison between running track data and the road data, and a road data generating means () for generating road data corresponding to the detected unregistered road and storing the road data in a map data storage means.

A map information providing system has a map information providing apparatusand an onboard information terminal. The map information providing apparatusselects a road represented by the coordinate point string data indicating a newly established road in accordance with distribution request information obtained from the onboard information terminal, and distributes the distribution road information containing the coordinate point string data about the road selected to the onboard information terminal. The onboard information terminal obtains the distribution road information containing the coordinate point string data from the map information providing apparatus, and generates, in the same format at least in part as the map information, road data for adding a new road to a road network represented by the map information stored in a map information storing section from the coordinate point string data contained in the distribution road information obtained, and generates new map information from the road data and map information.

Onboard information terminal and map information providing apparatus and map information providing system using them

In a map information processing apparatus including a processorfor updating map information containing map data stored in a map information storage device, road network data contained in the map data stored in the map information storage device has a data structure in which the road network data is composed of link strings each of which represents a series of roads in a road network as a series of links connecting nodes, the road network being represented by the nodes and the links; each of the link strings is represented by a link string record in which link records defining the links are arranged in order of the series of the links; each link constituting the link strings is provided with an invariable link identifier proper to each link; and node indication information for designating each node included in the link strings is represented by the link identifier of the link having the node as its one end.

Map information processing apparatus and storage medium of map information

A navigation apparatus includes an unregistered road detecting means for setting up a detection start point and a detection end point for an unregistered road on registered roads which are respectively located before and behind sections in which matching result data indicates a free state, respectively, the matching result data indicating a matching state when the vehicle is traveling each of the registered roads, for performing a coordinate transformation on a traveling path which is created from positioning data and which is extending between the two points so that the traveling path has coordinates which match with the coordinates of a registered road between them, and for detecting the coordinates of the unregistered road from a portion of the coordinate-transformed traveling path which does not overlap any registered road, and a road data generating means for creating road data about the unregistered road from the coordinates of the unregistered road.

A map data processing unit includes a batch update section and dynamic update section. A type of update data fed from an update data input section is decided using header information. If the update data is route search data, the batch update section collectively updates all the map data to latest version map data according to the update data from the update data input section. If the update data is not the route search data, the dynamic update section updates the map data to the latest version map data according to the update data every time the map data becomes necessary. Thus performing the collective or dynamic update according to the type of the update data enables the update to the latest map data without affecting the operation speed of a navigation function, with minimizing the time precluding the use of the navigation function.

Map data processing unit

For map data, a road system is represented by using node data, which is information concerning nodes representing points along a road, and link data, which is information concerning a link representing a road between the points. A link row is a series of links representing a series of roads in a road system, and as link row data, link data for the links that constitute the link row are arranged in the order in which the links are connected. The node data for the individual nodes of the road system are provided separately from the link row data, and to identify nodes, node identifiers are provided for the nodes of the road system. The link data includes information indicating a node identifier for a node that is located at one link end defined in the direction of the link row.

Data structure of map data, map data storage medium, map data updating method and map data processing apparatus

A map information processing apparatus includes an intersecting determining means () for determining intersection points where a new road detected by a new road detecting means () intersects either roads included in map information or roads previously detected by a new road detecting means, other than start and end points of the new road, a road update information generating means () for generating road update information including information for updating new road information and road information included in the map information based on new road information about the detected new road and intersection information indicating the intersection points determined by the intersecting determining means, and a road information updating means () for updating the road information included in the map information based on the road update information, and for writing the new road information into a new road information storage means ().

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Masaharu Umezu