CN1311223C - car navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is a car with tollgate-related data, without spending a huge cost for setting up the infrastructures. A car navigation apparatus 100 is connected to a mobile phone, which can be connected to a management center 20 via a public line. The management center 20 receives gate information from each tollgate of toll roads to collectively manage these information, and when a tollgate ID is uploaded from a car 10, downloads the car 10 with latest gate information on the tollgate corresponding to the ID. This arrangement allows the management center 20 to provide the car navigation apparatus 100 with the necessary information for guiding the passage of the tollgate, without setting up on the toll roads infrastructures for providing the car 10 with the information. As a result, an enormous cost for setting up infrastructures are not necessitated.

Description

car navigation system

technical field

The present invention relates to a vehicle navigation system.

Background technique

In the past, in vehicles equipped with an electronic toll collection system (Electronic Toll Collection: hereinafter referred to as ETC.) On-board machine, there was a device for judging the availability of the ETC system, which was based on whether the automatic toll collection channel (hereinafter referred to as ETC channel) was set and The remaining amount of IC card carries out the passage prompt of toll office (for example: refer to patent document 1.).

According to the availability judging device of the ETC system disclosed in this patent document 1, for example, it is judged that the car continues to travel from the current position to the toll road toll in front, and whether the toll can be paid with an IC card, so as to provide a passage prompt at the toll. That is to say, it is judged whether the toll office that should pay the toll can be charged automatically, and if it can be charged automatically, it is judged whether the remaining amount stored in the IC card can satisfy the toll that should be paid, and corresponding to the result of this judgment. Access tips.

Accordingly, if it is judged that the toll gate where the toll should be paid is not capable of automatic toll collection, it is reported to the user to pay the toll with cash or road card (ハィゥェィカード), or if it is judged that the toll gate that should pay the toll can be When automatic toll collection is performed and the remaining amount of the IC card is sufficient to pay the toll, it is reported to the user that it is recommended to use the dedicated channel for automatic toll collection.

Patent Document 1: JP-A-2000-99785

In the conventional ETC system availability judging device described above, it is judged whether automatic toll collection is possible at the toll gate where the toll should be paid, referring to the toll gate data stored in the toll gate database. This toll office data, for example, is obtained through antennas and beacons (signal stations) on the road traffic hubs installed on toll roads. Complete, you can imagine its huge cost.

The present invention has been achieved in view of the above-mentioned related problems, and its purpose is to provide a car navigation system that can provide data on tollgates without spending huge costs for setting up infrastructure.

Contents of the invention

The vehicle-mounted navigation system described in technical solution 1 is characterized in that it is equipped with: an automatic payment device for automatically paying tolls through communication with a roadside unit provided on an automatic toll passage of a toll road; The communication module connected to the outside of the vehicle; the center that collects and saves the channel information of each toll office of the toll road, and provides the above channel information and the remaining amount of the fee that can be used in the toll automatic payment of the toll road to the outside; through The above-mentioned communication module is a communication control device for downloading the above-mentioned passage information and fee remaining amount information from the above-mentioned center; according to the information, a judging device for judging whether the automatic payment through the above-mentioned automatic payment device can pass through the automatic toll channel of the toll road; The judgment result of the judging device carries out the prompting device for passing the toll office through the toll office.

In this way, the car navigation system of the present invention acquires passage information and remaining fare information from the center through the public line. Accordingly, it is possible to provide the user with information necessary for passing through the toll gate without providing an infrastructure for providing information to vehicles on the toll road. As a result, it is possible to present the passage of the toll gate using the above-mentioned various pieces of information without incurring a huge cost required for the establishment of infrastructure.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 2 is characterized in that the above-mentioned center collects and stores channel information consisting of the number of automatic toll channels in operation, common channels, and automatic toll/common combined channels and their installation locations. In this way, not only the existence of the automatic toll passage, but also the existence and installation location of the automatic toll passage during operation can be confirmed, and the passing prompt device at the toll gate can correspond to the actual state of the toll gate, and can pass through Channel prompt.

According to the vehicle navigation system described in technical solution 3, it is characterized in that the above-mentioned judging device judges that when there is an automatic toll channel in operation in the toll where the toll should be paid, and the toll can be paid from the remaining amount of the toll, it can be judged that Through the automatic toll channel. Judging whether can actually pass through the toll office based on automatic payment, therefore, if it is judged that automatic payment can pass through the toll office, the toll office will pass through the prompting device to provide an accurate toll office through prompt.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 4 is characterized in that it comprises: a position detection device that detects the current position of the vehicle; a map data storage device that stores map data; and based on the position on the map corresponding to the detected current position, A download judging device for judging whether to download at least one of the channel information and the remaining fee information; the communication control device downloads at least one of the channel information and the remaining fee information when the download judging device determines that it is downloading information.

In this way, it can be determined whether to download channel information and remaining fee information according to the current location of the vehicle. For example, when the vehicle is close to a toll office, it can be determined to download the channel information of this toll office. Moreover, when the vehicle is driving on a toll road, the channel information in the forward direction is downloaded, so that the latest channel information about the toll point of the road ahead can be obtained. In addition, by storing the acquired channel information, for example, acquiring channel information every specified time, or acquiring channel information every specified distance traveled, the latest channel information can always be obtained.

The car navigation system according to claim 5 is characterized in that it includes a driving route designating device for designating a driving route based on a history of the current position detected by the position detecting device, and the downloading determination device, when the vehicle determines the direction of the driving road, When the toll gate in the forward direction is within a predetermined distance, it is determined to download the channel information of the toll gate in the forward direction. Thereby, channel information about the toll office in the forward direction of the vehicle can be obtained. As a result, passing notification can be performed based on the acquired channel information.

In the car navigation system described in technical solution 6, it is characterized in that the above-mentioned automatic payment device can automatically pay tolls when the predetermined conditions related to automatic payment are met, and the above-mentioned downloading judgment device can be used when the vehicle is in the direction of the above-mentioned driving road. When the toll office is located within a predetermined distance and further satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined condition, it is judged that the information on the remaining amount of the fee is downloaded.

For example, even if it is a vehicle equipped with an ETC vehicle-mounted machine, if the power supply of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine is not connected or when the designated socket of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine is not inserted into the ETC card, the automatic payment device cannot be used to pay the fee automatically. Therefore, when automatic payment can be made by the automatic payment device, it is determined that the download of the remaining toll amount information is executed, so that the passing reminder of the toll gate on the driving road can be performed corresponding to the downloaded remaining toll amount.

The car navigation system according to claim 7 is characterized by comprising, based on the above-mentioned map data, a route calculation device that calculates a route including toll roads from a departure point to a destination; and a route presentation device that presents the calculated route. ; When the route prompting device is used for route prompting, the above-mentioned downloading judging device, when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the toll point in the forward direction on the above-mentioned route, downloads the channel information of the toll point in the forward direction.

In this way, passageway information about tollgates in the forward direction of the presented route can be acquired. As a result, passing guidance can be performed based on the acquired channel information.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 8 is characterized in that the above-mentioned automatic payment device can automatically pay tolls when the predetermined conditions related to automatic payment are met, and the above-mentioned downloading judgment device can be used when the vehicle is charged in the direction of travel on the above-mentioned route If the location is within a predetermined distance and further satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined condition, it is determined that the downloading of the remaining fee information is performed.

Accordingly, when automatic payment is made by the automatic payment device, it can be determined that downloading of the remaining toll amount information is executed, so that the passing of the toll gate on the presentation route can be presented in response to the downloaded remaining toll amount.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 9 is characterized in that the above-mentioned communication control device designates to the above-mentioned center a toll road toll office for downloading channel information, and the above-mentioned center downloads the channel information of the designated toll road toll office to the The above-mentioned communication control device.

This limits the toll points to be downloaded, so that the expansion of the amount of downloaded information can be suppressed. Moreover, if the route prompt is performed, by specifying the toll office to download the channel information of the toll road toll office contained on the specified route, it is not necessary to obtain the channel information of the toll office that does not exist on the route.

The vehicle navigation system according to technical solution 10 is characterized in that the toll gate is prompted by a prompt device to start passing the toll gate when the vehicle is on the side road leading to the toll gate of the toll road ahead of the forward road. Thereby, the passing presentation of the toll gate can be started in front of the toll gate. As a result, the user can drive to the destination lane with leeway. Moreover, as described in technical solution 11, the above-mentioned toll gate uses the prompting device to change the start time of the prompt by corresponding to at least one of the vehicle speed, the number of toll gate lanes, and the presence or absence of congestion at the toll gate. The moment of vehicle status and toll office status starts by prompting.

The car navigation system according to the technical solution 12 is characterized in that the toll gate passage prompting device ends the prompt when the vehicle passes the toll gate. As a result, when passing through the toll gate, the passage notification can be quickly terminated. Moreover, it is also possible to end the passing prompt when the vehicle accelerates near the toll office, or end the passing prompt when communicating with the computer on the ETC road of the toll office.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 13 is characterized in that it is equipped with: an automatic payment device for automatically paying tolls through communication with a roadside unit arranged on an automatic toll passage of a toll road; using a public line, and The communication module connected to the outside of the vehicle; collects and stores the channel information of each toll office of the toll road, and provides the above channel information to the external center; through the above communication module, downloads the communication control device for the above channel information from the above center; according to The passage information is a judging device for judging whether the automatic toll passage of the toll road can be passed through the automatic payment of the automatic toll payment device; the corresponding toll station passes the prompting device for passing the toll station according to the judgment result of the judging device. Thereby, according to the channel information downloaded through the public line, the passing reminder of the toll office can be performed.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 14 is characterized in that the above-mentioned center collects and stores channel information consisting of the number of automatic toll channels in operation, ordinary channels, the number of automatic toll/ordinary combined channels and the installation locations. As a result, not only the existence of the automatic toll channel, but also the presence and location of the automatic toll channel in operation can be confirmed by the center. Therefore, the vehicle that downloads this channel information can be checked according to the actual state of the toll office. Passed channel prompt.

The car navigation system according to technical solution 15 is characterized in that the above-mentioned judging means, when there is an automatic toll collection channel in operation at the toll where the toll should be paid and the predetermined conditions related to the automatic payment of the above-mentioned automatic payment device are satisfied, It is judged that the automatic toll channel can be passed.

For example, even if the automatic toll channel is set, if there is no operation, the automatic toll channel cannot be passed. Moreover, even if it is a vehicle equipped with an ETC vehicle-mounted machine, if the power supply of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine is not connected or the ETC card is not inserted into the designated socket of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine, automatic payment cannot be made by the automatic payment device.

In this way, it is judged whether it is actually possible to pass through the automatic toll passage, and thus, if it is judged that it is possible to pass through the toll gate by automatic payment, it is possible to perform a prompt for passing the toll gate based on the judgment result.

The vehicle-mounted navigation system according to claim 16, further comprising: reporting means for reporting the amount of the toll to be paid when it is judged by the judging means that the automatic toll passage can be passed through; and the reporting means reports the amount of the toll After that, select the selection device for passing/not passing the above-mentioned automatic toll channel; the above-mentioned toll office passes through the prompting device, plus the selection result using the above-mentioned selection device, and carries out the passing prompt of the toll office.

Thus, for example, when the automatic toll channel is selected, the automatic toll channel is prompted for passage; in addition, when the automatic toll channel is selected not to be passed, the automatic toll channel can be prompted for passage of other channels other than the automatic toll channel.

The car navigation system described in technical solution 17 is provided with: a position detection device for detecting the current position of the vehicle; a map data storage device for storing map data; and judging whether to download or not according to the position on the above-mentioned map corresponding to the above-mentioned detected current position. The above-mentioned channel information download judging device, the above-mentioned communication control device downloads the above-mentioned channel information when the download judging device judges to download.

In this way, it is judged whether to download channel information according to the current position of the vehicle. Therefore, for example, when the vehicle approaches a toll office, it can be determined to download the channel information of this toll office. Moreover, when the vehicle is driving on a toll road, the channel information in the forward direction is downloaded, so that the latest channel information about the toll place in front of the road can be obtained. In addition, the obtained passage information may be stored, for example, the passage information may be obtained every predetermined time, and the passage information may be obtained every predetermined distance traveled. Thereby, the latest channel information can always be obtained.

The car navigation system according to claim 18 is characterized in that, from the history record of the current position detected by the position detection device, the travel route specifying device designates the travel route, and the download determination device, when the vehicle determines the direction of travel of the travel route, When the toll office is located within the predetermined distance, it is determined to download the channel information of the toll office in the forward direction. Thereby, channel information about the toll office in the forward direction of the vehicle can be obtained.

The car navigation system according to claim 19 is characterized by comprising, based on the above-mentioned map data, a route calculating device that calculates a route including toll roads from a departure point to a destination; and a route presenting device that presents the calculated route. ; When the route prompting device is used for route prompting, the above-mentioned downloading judging device, when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the toll point in the forward direction on the above-mentioned route, downloads the channel information of the toll point in the forward direction. Thereby, the channel information of the tollgate in the forward direction on the presented route can be obtained. As a result, passing guidance can be performed based on the acquired channel information.

The car navigation system described in the technical solution 20 is characterized in that the above-mentioned communication control device designates to the above-mentioned center a toll road toll office to download channel information, and the above-mentioned center downloads the channel information of the designated toll road toll office to the The above-mentioned communication control device. In this way, the channel information of toll points to be downloaded is limited, so that the expansion of the amount of information to be downloaded can be suppressed. Moreover, if the route prompt is performed, by specifying the toll point to download the channel information of the toll road toll points contained in the route, it is not necessary to obtain the channel information of the toll points that do not exist on the route.

The car navigation system according to technical solution 21 is characterized in that the toll gate is prompted by a prompt device to start passing the toll gate when the vehicle is on the side road leading to the toll gate of the toll road ahead of the forward road. In this way, the user can be prompted to pass through the toll gate in front of the toll gate. As a result, the user can drive to the destination lane with a margin. Furthermore, as described in claim 22, the above-mentioned toll gate changes the start time of passing notification according to at least one of the speed of the vehicle, the number of lanes of the toll gate, and whether there is congestion at the toll gate through the prompting device. Thereby, the passing presentation can be started at a time corresponding to the state of the vehicle and the state of the toll gate.

The car navigation system according to the technical solution 23 is characterized in that the above-mentioned toll gate passing reminder device terminates the passing prompt when the vehicle passes the toll gate. As a result, when passing through the toll gate, the passage notification can be quickly terminated. Moreover, it is also possible to end the passing prompt when the vehicle accelerates near the toll gate, or when communicating with the computer on the ETC road at the toll gate.

A brief description of the drawings

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the general structure of the car navigation system related to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation device 100 according to the first embodiment;

Fig. 3 is a flow chart showing the first half of the prompt processing by the toll office of the first embodiment;

Fig. 4 is a flow chart showing the second half of the prompt processing by the toll office of the first embodiment;

Fig. 5 is a diagram showing a screen display image of the display device 10 when traveling after merging with a toll road according to Modification 1 of the first embodiment;

Fig. 6 is an image diagram related to the screen display in the channel prompt of the first embodiment;

Fig. 7 is a map showing an arrow showing the direction of the passageway in the passageway of the first embodiment;

Fig. 8 is an image diagram of a simple representation channel in the channel prompt of the first embodiment;

Fig. 9 is a flow chart showing the first half of the toll office passing the prompting process executed in the route prompting in relation to the second embodiment;

Fig. 10 is related to the second embodiment, a flow chart showing the second half of the toll office passing the prompting process executed in the route prompting;

Fig. 11 is a flow chart showing that the toll office passes the first half of the prompt processing in relation to the 3rd embodiment;

Fig. 12 is a flow chart representing the second half of the prompt processing by the toll office in relation to the third embodiment;

Fig. 13 is a flow chart showing the first half of the toll office passing prompting process related to modification 3 of the third embodiment;

Fig. 14 is a flow chart showing the second half of the toll office passing prompting process related to modification 3 of the third embodiment;

Label description

10: Vehicle, 20: Management Center, 30: ETC road machine

100: Car navigation device, 114: Mobile phone, 116: ETC car machine

Specific Embodiments of the Invention

Next, a car navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

first embodiment

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation system of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, in the car navigation system of this embodiment, a car navigation device 100 with a communication function mounted on a vehicle 10, an ETC car device 116 connected to this car navigation device 100, and the car navigation device 100 communicate with each other. The management center 20 and the ETC road machine 30 that communicates with the ETC vehicle machine 116 are composed.

The management center 20 is connected to the outside through a public line, and collects and stores information on passages of the tollgates (hereinafter referred to as passage information) from each tollgate of the toll road. This passage information is composed of the number and setting places of ETC passages, ordinary passages, ETC/common combined passages in the operation of the toll office, and whether it is a passage for paying tolls when passing through the passages, and sends the latest information to the management center 20. .

The management center 20 collects the above passage information from each toll gate of the toll road, and saves the collected information together. And, if the fixed ID allocated to each toll gate is uploaded from the vehicle 10, the latest information on the toll gate corresponding to this ID is downloaded to the vehicle 10.

Furthermore, the management center 20 is connected to an ETC center (not shown) which performs settlement processing of a toll account, and this toll account is set based on a prepaid ETC card. For example, when uploading the ID (user ID) assigned to each user received from the vehicle 10, this user ID is sent to the ETC center. The ETC center that has received the user ID sends out the information on the remaining amount of the fee corresponding to the user ID, and downloads the information on the remaining amount of the fee on the vehicle 10 .

The ETC on-road computer 30 is installed on the ETC channel of each tollgate of the toll road, and performs authentication processing when passing through the ETC channel and automatic payment of tolls, etc. through two-way communication with the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation device 100 according to this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the car navigation device 100 of this embodiment includes a position detector 101, a map data input device 106, a group of operation switches 107, an external memory 109, a display device 110, a voice output device 111, a remote sensor 112 and a connection. control circuitry 108 on these devices. Furthermore, the control circuit 108 is connected to a mobile phone 114 and an ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 .

Furthermore, the control circuit 108 is composed of a general computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I/O, and a bus connecting these components. A program for the operation of the control circuit 108 is written in the ROM, and the CPU and the like execute predetermined arithmetic processing based on the program. Furthermore, this program can also be acquired from the outside through the external memory 109 .

The position detector 101 includes a well-known geomagnetic sensor 102, a gyroscope (gyroscope) 103, a distance sensor 104, and a GPS receiver 105 for GPS (Global Positioning System: Global Positioning System) that detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from satellites. . Each of these has a qualitatively different error, so it is composed of a plurality of sensors that compensate each other and are used. Furthermore, depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector 101 may be composed of one of the above-mentioned ones, or a rotation sensor for the steering direction not shown in the figure, a vehicle speed sensor for each turning wheel, etc. may be used.

The map data input unit 106 is a device for inputting various data including so-called map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, map data, and marker data. As a storage medium for storing various data, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is generally used depending on the amount of data, or a writable storage medium such as a memory card or a hard disk may be used.

Furthermore, the map data input unit 106 stores toll tables of toll roads such as expressways. The toll table stores the tolls between all paid road hubs. Referring to this toll table, you can refer to the tolls between designated transportation hubs. Furthermore, the latest toll table acquired through the mobile phone 114 and the external memory 109 may also be stored.

The operation switch group 107 can use, for example, touch switches or mechanical switches integrated with the display device 110 described later for various inputs.

The display device 110, for example, can be composed of a liquid crystal display screen. On the screen of the display device 110, the position mark of the vehicle corresponding to the current position of the vehicle input from the position detector 101 and the map data input by the map data input device 106 can be displayed. Generated road map around the vehicle. The voice output device 111 is composed of a speaker or an audio amplifier, etc., and performs voice prompts and the like.

Moreover, the car navigation system of this embodiment has a so-called route prompting function, that is, if the destination location is input from the remote sensor 112 or the operation switch group 107 through the remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as remote control) 113, it will automatically search for the route. The optimal route from the current position (or the departure point designated by the user) to the destination is displayed as a suggested route. This method of automatically setting the optimal path includes methods such as the Dijkstra method that everyone is familiar with.

The portable phone 114 is a mobile communication device for connecting with the external network 115. By the portable phone 114, the vehicle navigation device 100 of this embodiment can be connected to the above-mentioned management center 20 through the external network 115. And, in the present embodiment, what adopt as mobile communication device is portable phone, but not limited to this, also can adopt mobile PC (Personal Computer: personal computer) or PDA (PersonalDigital Assistants: personal digital assistant) with communication function wait. Furthermore, a communication function may be built in the car navigation device 100 .

The ETC in-vehicle device 116 automatically pays the toll through two-way communication with the ETC on-road machine 30 provided at the toll road toll office. Moreover, this ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 can be used by inserting a prepaid ETC card not shown in the figure, and it is a configuration mode in which the usable amount is reduced every time a toll is paid. And above-mentioned user ID is distributed on the ETC card, if this user ID is uploaded to management center 20 by portable phone 114, just can download the remaining amount information of the ETC card corresponding to this user ID from management center 20.

The control circuit 108 calculates a route using the map data of the map data input unit 106 based on the destination input from the operation switch group 107 or the remote control 113 . Then, the presented route searched by the control circuit 108, together with the own vehicle position mark indicating the vehicle position calculated by using the information of the position detector 101 and the map data input unit 106, is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 110. highlighted on .

Next, using the flow charts shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 , the toll gate lane presentation process using the lane information and the remaining fare amount information from the management center 20, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described.

First, in step S100, the current position of the vehicle is acquired. And, from this acquired history of the current position of the vehicle, the traveling road to which the vehicle is going is specified. As a method of designating this traveling road, for example, the direction to go is grasped from the history of the vehicle position, and a road extending from the current position of the vehicle in this grasped direction is designated as the traveling road. In addition, the designation method of the running road is not limited to this.

In step S110, it is judged whether the vehicle is close to the toll gate of the toll road. As a judging method for judging whether the vehicle is close to the toll point, in step S100, it is judged whether there is a toll point of the toll road in the direction of the vehicle on the designated driving road, and whether the vehicle approaches the toll point within a specified distance. Alternatively, it may be determined from the current position whether there is a toll office within a specified radius.

In this step S110, if it is judged that the toll gate is not approached, the process goes to step S100, and if it is judged that the toll gate is approached, the process goes to step S120.

In step S120, communication with the management center 20 is started using the mobile phone 114 connected to the car navigation device 100 . In step S130, after specifying the toll office for which channel information is to be downloaded, the specified toll office ID is uploaded to the management center 20, and the latest channel information of the toll office matching the ID is downloaded from the management center 20. And, from the toll place uploaded by the vehicle, specify the nearest toll place in the direction of the vehicle on the traveling road, and the ID of this toll place can be referred from the map data of the map data input device 106 . In this way, by designating a toll office to which channel information is to be downloaded, it is possible to suppress the amount of information to be downloaded from becoming large.

And, on the basis of this passage information, can obtain from management center 20, for example, as shown in Fig. When the situation of entering the ETC passage as shown in Figure 7/the arrow when entering the situation of the common passage also describe the passage map information simultaneously, or the passage information of the pattern diagram and the passage information that can be drawn on the screen of the display device 10 as shown in Figure 8 Information such as the channel type (ETC/normal channel) and the difference between operation and shutdown in order from the right. Alternatively, it is conceivable to determine whether there is information necessary for channel display on the map data input unit 106 of the car navigation device 100, and to receive map information if there is no necessary information.

In this way, in the car navigation device of the present embodiment, not only the presence or absence of ETC passages, but also the number and installation locations of ETC passages in operation can be obtained, so in the passage prompts described later, it is possible to perform, for example, "please Enter the channel number from the right" and other hints that the designated vehicle should enter the channel.

In step S140, it is determined whether the ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 is ready for automatic payment. That is to say, judge whether the vehicle-mounted device 100 is connected to the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116, whether the power supply of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is switched on, whether the ETC card is inserted into a designated card slot, etc., and determine whether to establish communication with the ETC road machine 30 Is it ready.

Also, only in the case where the ETC card has not been inserted, the user may have forgotten to insert the ETC card, so it may be considered to remind the user. As a method of reminding, for example, a message such as "the ETC card is not inserted" is displayed on the screen of the display device 10 or this information is presented by voice. Like this, in step S140, if ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is not ready, just cut off the connection between management center 20, on this basis, turn processing to step S190, when ready, advance processing to step S150.

In this way, it is judged whether or not the toll can be paid automatically automatically, thereby enabling accurate passage notification in the passage notification of the toll gate described later.

In step S150, at the nearest toll point on the traveling road, it is judged whether it is necessary to pay the toll. Here, if it is not necessary to pay the toll, on the basis of cutting off the connection with the management center 20, the process goes to step S200, and if it is necessary to pay, the process goes to step S160. And, whether it is necessary to pay the toll, when passing through the passage, refer to the passage information to judge whether it is a passage to pay the toll.

In step S160, the management center 20 downloads the remaining fee information of the ETC card. The management center 20 receives the user ID uploaded from the vehicle 10, and sends this to the ETC center. The ETC center searches the received user ID from the DB (database) of the ETC center, and extracts the remaining amount of the ETC card corresponding to the user ID. Afterwards, the extracted fee remaining amount information is sent to the management center 20, and the management center 20 downloads the fee remaining amount information to the vehicle 10. When this download is completed, the car navigation device 100 cuts off the connection with the management center 20 .

Step S170 shown in Figure 4 compares the remaining amount of the downloaded ETC card with the toll that should be paid in the nearest toll office in the direction of the vehicle. This comparison process may be implemented in the ETC in-vehicle device 116 , or may be implemented in the in-vehicle navigation device 100 .

And the toll that must be paid at the toll office can also be obtained from the toll table of the map data input device 106, or the information of the entrance toll office that is stored when passing through the toll road entrance channel is sent to the management center 20, from the management The center 20 may calculate the fare to be paid at the nearest toll office.

In step S180, if it is judged that the remaining amount of the ETC card is insufficient as a result of the comparison in step S170, the process is advanced to step S190, and if it is judged that the remaining amount is sufficient, the process is turned to step S200.

In step S190, a voice or screen display is used to report to the user an entry prompt of a common channel other than the ETC channel. For example, as shown in above-mentioned Fig. 6 ~ Fig. 8, display the sketch map of toll office, or output the voice message such as "please enter any common channel among the 2nd and 3rd from the left".

In step S200, report to the user the prompt to enter the ETC channel by voice or screen display. For example, as shown in above-mentioned Fig. 6 ~ Fig. 8, display the sketch map of toll office, or output the voice message such as "please enter any ETC channel among the 1st, 2nd from the right".

In this way, through the processing of step S140, step S150 and step S180, it is judged whether automatic payment is actually possible in the ETC channel. Therefore, in step S200, detailed prompts for the channel that should be passed can be made.

In this step S190 and step S200, the time to start reporting to the user is usually the time when the vehicle moves on the road leading to the toll gate from the main branch of the toll road. Thereby, the passing prompt is started from the front of the toll gate, so the user can lead to the destination passage with room.

Moreover, the time to start prompting the entry of this passage is preferably set to be variable according to the vehicle speed, the number of toll passage passages, whether there is any blockage in the toll passage, or the like. For example, when a vehicle approaches a toll gate at a speed higher than a predetermined speed or a toll gate with a large number of lanes, the report is started at an earlier time than usual, so that the user can enter the lanes with leeway.

Also, when the congestion information can be acquired through the mobile phone 114, if there is congestion in front of the toll gate, the report starts at a later time than usual. Thereby, it is possible to start the presentation of passage through the passage at a time corresponding to the situation of the toll gate.

In step S210, it is determined whether the channel prompt is over. As the end judgment of the channel prompt, for example, when the vehicle passes the toll gate, that is, when the current position of the vehicle exceeds the position of the toll gate, or when the vehicle accelerates to a speed above the specified speed near the toll gate, or the start and toll gate When communicating between hosts 30 on the ETC road, etc., end the channel prompt.

Here, when it is judged that the channel presentation is finished, the process is advanced to step S220, and in step S220, the screen display of the channel presentation is deleted. Thereby, the passage prompt can be deleted at the appropriate moment. On the other hand, if it is judged that the channel presentation has not ended, the processing goes to step S100, and the above-mentioned processing is repeated.

In this manner, the car navigation system and the car navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment acquire channel information and remaining fare amount information from the management center 20 through public lines. Accordingly, it is possible to provide the user with information necessary for passing through the toll gate without providing infrastructure for providing various information to the vehicle 10 on the toll road. As a result, it is possible to present the passage at the toll gate without incurring a huge cost necessary for infrastructure installation.

Variation 1

In the car navigation device 100 related to the present embodiment, in step S130, as the toll office ID to be uploaded, although the designated toll office on the traveling road is the nearest toll office in the direction of vehicle advancement, if the vehicle merges into the toll road, it is used as the toll office ID to be uploaded. The toll office of the channel information can specify several toll offices in the direction of the vehicle, and download the channel information of the specified toll office.

For example, if toll gates to be downloaded from the current location are specified as toll gates to which toll gates are to be downloaded, the toll gates located earlier than the nearest toll gates are to be downloaded. Thus, the downloaded channel information can be used, as shown in Figure 5, together with the road map (left side of the same figure) showing the current position of the vehicle, the operation status of the toll gate ETC channel up to three places on the road ahead can be displayed together (same as the left side of the figure). Figure right). In addition, as shown on the right side of the figure, it is also possible to add the toll remaining amount information and the toll to display. Furthermore, it is only necessary to download the channel information every time the vehicle advances a specified distance or every time a specified time elapses, and display the latest ETC channel operation status.

In this way, not only the channel information of the nearest toll gate, but also the channel information of toll gates at designated places on the road ahead can be acquired. Using this acquired channel information, the operating status of the ETC channel and information about the remaining amount can be displayed. On the screen of the display device 10, the user can use it as a reference for a driving plan.

2nd embodiment

The second embodiment has many similarities with the first embodiment. Therefore, below, the detailed description of the same parts will be omitted, and the different parts will be explained emphatically. In the first embodiment, the driving road is designated, and the passing reminder about the toll place in this driving road is given, but in this embodiment, the difference is that in the execution of the route reminder to a certain destination, this reminder is made Passage tips for tolls included in the route.

Next, using the flow charts shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 , the passage presentation processing of the tollgate lane in the route presentation will be described. Also, descriptions of steps that perform the same processing as in the first embodiment are omitted.

First, in step S10 shown in FIG. 9, a departure point and a destination are set. Regarding the departure point, it is also possible to set the current location as the departure point. In addition, a destination is input from the operation switch group 107 or the remote control 113 .

In step S20, the presented route from the input departure point to the destination is calculated. Afterwards, in step S30, the route prompting is started according to the calculated prompting route.

In step S100a, the vehicle's current position is acquired. In step S110a, it is judged whether the vehicle approaches a toll office on the prompting route. As a method for judging whether the vehicle is close to the toll office, it is judged whether the vehicle approaches the nearest toll office on the prompt route within a specified distance.

In this step S110, if it is judged that the toll gate is not approached, the process goes to step S100a, and if it is judged to be near the toll gate, the process goes to step S120.

In step S120, communication with the management center 20 is started using the mobile phone 114 connected to the car navigation device 100 . In step S130, after the toll office to be downloaded is designated, the ID of the designated toll office is uploaded, and the latest channel information of the toll office matching the ID is downloaded from the management center 20 . And, from the toll gate uploaded by the vehicle, the nearest toll gate in the forward direction of the vehicle on the presentation route is specified.

In step S140, judge whether the preparation of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 automatic payment is ready, if the preparation of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is not ready, on the basis of cutting off the connection between the management center 20, turn the processing to step S190, if ready, The process is then advanced to step S150a.

In step S150a shown in FIG. 10 , for the nearest toll office on the suggested route, it is judged whether to pay the toll. Here, if payment is not necessary, the process shifts to step S200 after disconnecting the connection with the management center 20, and if payment is necessary, the process shifts to step S160. Next, in step S160 to step S220, the channel presenting process corresponding to the remaining amount described in the first embodiment is executed.

In this way, the vehicle navigation system and the vehicle navigation device of this embodiment, during the execution of the route prompt to a certain destination, when the nearest toll office on the route close to the prompt is within the specified distance, download the channel information and information of the nearest toll office. For information on the remaining amount of the fee, the channel pass prompt will be made according to the downloaded information. Thereby, it is possible to reliably perform passing presentation of the forward direction tollgate on the presentation route.

Moreover, in this embodiment, as in the modified embodiment 1 of the first embodiment, if the vehicle merges on the toll road on the presentation route, as the toll place for obtaining the passage information, designate several tolls in the forward direction of the vehicle presentation route It is also possible to download the channel information of the designated toll office. Furthermore, it is also possible to perform a display as shown in FIG. 5 according to the downloaded channel information.

3rd embodiment

In the first embodiment, according to the preparation status of channel information, the automatic payment of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 and the remaining amount of the ETC card, the prompt for entering the common channel and the prompt for entering the ETC channel are carried out, and in the present embodiment, according to the channel information and The automatic payment preparation status of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 carries out an entry prompt for entering an ordinary channel and an entry prompt for entering an ETC channel. Next, the car navigation system of this embodiment will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation system of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the car navigation system of this embodiment includes: a car navigation device 100 with a communication function mounted in a vehicle 10, an ETC car device 116 connected to this car navigation device 100, and a car navigation device 100. The management center 20 for communication and the ETC on-road computer 30 for communication with the ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 have the same composition as the vehicle-mounted navigation system of the first embodiment.

The management center 20 collects and stores channel information of toll stations from each toll station of toll roads through public lines and external connections. This channel information is composed of the number and installation locations of ETC channels, ordinary channels, ETC/ordinary combined channels in operation, and whether it is a channel that pays tolls when passing through the channels. Each toll office of the toll road , to send the latest channel information to the management center 20.

The management center 20 collects the above passage information from each toll office of the toll road, and saves the collected information together. Furthermore, if a fixed ID assigned to each tollgate is uploaded from the vehicle 10, the latest channel information of the tollgate corresponding to this ID is downloaded on the vehicle 10. Furthermore, the management center 20 is connected to an ETC center (not shown) that performs account settlement processing of tolls by the ETC card.

The ETC on-road computer 30 is installed on the ETC channel of each toll point of the toll road, and performs two-way communication with the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 to perform authentication processing when passing the ETC channel and automatic payment of tolls.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the car navigation device 100 of this embodiment. As shown in the figure, the car navigation device 100 of this embodiment includes: a position detector 101, a map data input device 106, an operation switch group 107, an external memory 109, a display device 110, a voice output device 111, a remote sensor 112 and The control circuit 108 connected to these devices has the same composition as that of the car navigation device 100 of the first embodiment. Furthermore, a mobile phone 114 and an ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 are connected to the control circuit 108 .

Furthermore, the control circuit 108 is composed of a general computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I/O, and a bus connecting these components. A program for the operation of the control circuit 108 is written in the ROM, and the CPU or the like executes specified arithmetic processing based on the program. Furthermore, this program can also be acquired from the outside through the external memory 109 .

The position detector 101 includes a well-known geomagnetic sensor 102, gyroscope 103, distance sensor 104, and a GPS receiver 105 for GPS (Global Positioning System: Global Positioning System) that detects the vehicle position based on radio waves from satellites. Each of these has different errors in nature. Therefore, its composition structure is used by a plurality of sensors that compensate each other. Furthermore, depending on the accuracy of each sensor, the position detector 101 may be composed of one of the above-mentioned ones, or a rotation sensor for steering direction (not shown), a vehicle speed sensor for each turning wheel, etc. may be used.

The map data input unit 106 is a device for inputting various data including so-called map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, map data, and marker data. As a storage medium for storing various data, a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is generally used depending on the amount of data, or a writable storage medium such as a memory card or a hard disk may be used.

Furthermore, the map data input unit 106 stores toll tables of toll roads such as expressways. The toll table stores the tolls between the hubs of all paid roads. Referring to this toll table, you can refer to the tolls between the designated hubs. Furthermore, the latest toll table acquired through the mobile phone 114 and the external memory 109 may also be stored.

The operation switch group 107 can be used for various inputs using, for example, touch switches or mechanical switches integrated with the display device 110 described later.

The display device 110, for example, is composed of a liquid crystal display screen. On the screen of the display device 110, the vehicle position mark corresponding to the current position of the vehicle input from the position detector 101 can be displayed, and the map data generated by the map data input device 106 can be displayed. road map around the vehicle. The voice output device 111 is composed of a speaker or an audio amplifier, etc., and performs voice prompts and the like.

And, the car navigation system of present embodiment has a kind of so-called route prompting function, if through remote control terminal (hereinafter referred to as remote control.) 113, input destination position from remote sensor 112 or operation switch group 107, then automatically Search for the best route from the current position (or the departure point specified by the user) to the destination, and form a suggested route for display. This method of automatically setting the optimal path includes methods such as the Dijkstra method that everyone is familiar with.

The mobile phone 114 is a mobile communication device used to connect to the external network 115. Through the external network 115, the mobile phone 114 can connect the car navigation device 100 of this embodiment to the above-mentioned management center 20. And, in this embodiment, what adopt as mobile communication device is portable phone, is not limited to this, also can adopt mobile PC (Personal Computer: personal computer) or PDA (Personal Digital Assistants: personal digital assistant) etc. that have communication function . Furthermore, a communication function may be built in the car navigation device 100 .

The ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 carries out two-way communication with the ETC road machine 30 provided on the toll road toll office, thereby automatically paying the toll. Moreover, this ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 can be used by inserting an ETC card not shown in the figure, and it is a structure in which the usable amount is reduced every time a toll is paid. On the ETC card, the user ID is distributed, and the user ID is uploaded to the management center 20 through the mobile phone 114, so that the management center 20 performs user identification. Thereby, the account number at the time of toll settlement is designated.

The control circuit 108 calculates a route using the map data of the map data input unit 106 based on the destination input by the operation switch group 107 or the remote controller 113 . Then, the suggested route searched by the control circuit 108 is displayed on the road map displayed on the display device 110 together with the own vehicle position mark indicating the vehicle position calculated from the information of the position detector 101 and the map data input unit 106. highlight.

Next, using the flow charts shown in FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 , the toll gate lane presentation process using the lane information from the management center 20, which is a feature of this embodiment, will be described.

First, in step S100, the current position of the vehicle is acquired. And, from this acquired history of the current position of the vehicle, the traveling road to which the vehicle is going is specified. The designation method of this traveling road is the same as that described in the first embodiment.

In step S110, it is judged whether the vehicle approaches the toll gate of the toll road. As the judging method of whether the vehicle is close to the toll gate, it is judged in step S100 that there is a toll gate of the toll road on the vehicle advancing direction of the designated traveling road, and whether the vehicle approaches the toll gate within a specified distance. Alternatively, it may be determined from the current position whether there is a toll office within a specified radius.

In this step S110, if it is judged that the toll gate is not approached, the process goes to step S100, and if it is judged that the toll gate is approached, the process goes to step S120.

In step S120, communication with the management center 20 is started using the mobile phone 114 connected to the car navigation device 100 . In step S130, after specifying the toll office to download channel information, upload the specified toll office ID to the management center 20, and download the latest channel information of the toll office matching the ID from the management center 20. And, from the toll place uploaded by the vehicle, specify the nearest toll place in the forward direction of the vehicle traveling road, and the ID of this toll place can be referred from the map data of the map data input device 106 . In this way, by designating a toll office to which channel information is to be downloaded, it is possible to suppress the amount of information to be downloaded from becoming large.

And, on the basis of this channel information, as described in the first embodiment, it is possible to obtain from the management center 20, for example, the installation locations of various channels displayed on the screen of the display device 10 as shown in FIG. 6 and the channel map information of the degree of operating status, the channel map information of the arrow when depicting the situation of entering the ETC channel/the situation of entering the common channel as shown in Figure 7, or on the screen of the display device 10 as shown in Figure 8. Draw the channel information of the model diagram and the channel type (ETC/common channel) sorted from the right and the difference between operation and shutdown. Alternatively, it is also conceivable to determine whether there is information necessary for channel display on the map data input unit 106 of the car navigation device 100, and if there is no necessary information, a method of receiving map information may be considered.

In this way, in the car navigation device of the present embodiment, not only the presence or absence of ETC passages, but also the number and installation places of ETC passages in operation can be obtained, so in the passage prompts described later, for example, "please enter What is the channel number from the right" and other hints that the designated vehicle should enter the channel.

In step S140, it is determined whether the ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 is ready for automatic payment. That is to say, judge whether the car navigation device 100 is connected to the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116, whether the power supply of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is turned on, whether the ETC card is inserted into a designated card slot, etc. and whether the preparations for establishing communication with the ETC road machine 30 are ready.

Also, only in the case where the ETC card is not inserted, the user may have forgotten to insert the ETC card, so it may be considered to remind the user. As a method of reminding, for example, a message "No ETC card etc. is inserted" is displayed on the screen of the display device 10 or this message is presented by voice. Like this, in step S140, if ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is not ready, just cut off the connection between management center 20, on this basis, turn processing to step S190, when ready, advance processing to step S200.

In step S190, the prompt to enter the common channel other than the ETC channel is reported to the user by voice or screen display. For example, as above-mentioned Fig. 6 ~ Fig. 8, display the sketch map of the toll office, or output the voice message such as "please enter any ordinary channel among the 2nd and 3rd channels on the left".

Moreover, in step S200, the prompt to enter the ETC channel is reported to the user by voice or screen display. For example, as above-mentioned Fig. 6～Fig. 8, display the sketch map of toll office, or output the voice message such as "please enter any ETC channel in the 1st, 2nd channel on the right".

In this step S190 and step S200, the time to start reporting to the user is usually the time when the vehicle is moved on the road leading to the toll gate from the main line of the toll road. Thereby, start to pass prompting from the front of the toll gate, therefore, the user can lead to the destination channel with leeway.

Moreover, the moment to start prompting the entry of this passage is preferably set to be variable according to the vehicle speed, the number of toll passage passages, whether there is any blockage in the toll passage, or the like. For example, when the vehicle is approaching a toll gate at a speed higher than a predetermined speed or at a toll gate with a large number of lanes, the report is started earlier than usual, so that the user can drive in the same lane with more time left.

Also, the congestion information can be obtained through the mobile phone 114, and when there is congestion in front of the toll gate, the report starts later than usual. Thereby, it is possible to start the presentation of passage through the passage at a time corresponding to the situation of the toll gate.

In step S210, it is judged whether to end the channel prompt. As the end judgment of the channel prompt, for example, when the vehicle passes the toll gate, that is, when the current position of the vehicle exceeds the position of the toll gate, or when the vehicle accelerates to a speed above the specified speed near the toll gate, or the start and toll gate When communicating between hosts 30 on the ETC road, etc., end the channel prompt.

Here, when it is judged that the channel presentation is finished, the process is advanced to step S220, and in step S220, the screen display of the channel presentation is deleted. Thereby, the pass notification can be deleted at an appropriate timing. In addition, if it is judged that the channel presentation has not ended, the processing goes to step S100, and the above-mentioned processing is repeated.

In this way, the car navigation system and the car navigation device 100 of this embodiment obtain channel information from the management center 20 through the public line, and enter the common channel according to the channel information obtained and the automatic payment preparation status of the ETC vehicle machine 116. Tips and entry tips for entering the ETC channel.

That is, for example, even if an ETC channel is set, if this ETC channel is not in operation, the ETC channel cannot pass through. And, also have, the power supply of ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116 is not switched on or ETC card is not inserted on the appointed socket of ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116, also can not pay the fee automatically. Therefore, as described above, according to the channel information and the preparation status of the ETC vehicle-mounted machine 116, it is judged whether the ETC channel can actually be passed through, and thus, if it is judged that the toll gate can be passed by automatic payment, the appropriateness of the judgment result is carried out. The toll office passes the tip.

Variation 2

In the car navigation device 100 in this embodiment, in step S130, as the toll office ID to be uploaded, although the nearest toll office on the forward direction of the designated vehicle travel road is designated, if the vehicle merges with the toll road, it is used as the toll office for obtaining channel information. The toll office specifies several toll offices in the forward direction of the vehicle, and it is also possible to download the channel information of the designated toll office.

For example, if toll gates up to three places are specified from the current position of the vehicle as the toll gate information to be downloaded, the toll gate information of the earliest toll gate is downloaded. Thus, using the downloaded channel information, a road map (left side of the figure) showing the current position of the vehicle as shown in FIG. the figure on the right). Furthermore, as shown on the right side of the figure, it is also possible to display the toll remaining amount information and the toll in addition. Furthermore, the channel information may be downloaded and the latest operating status of the ETC channel may be displayed every time the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or above, or every time a predetermined time elapses.

Thus, not only the channel information of the nearest toll gate, but also the channel information of the toll gate at a designated number of places ahead of the road can be obtained, and the information on the operating status of the ETC channel, etc., can be displayed on the display device 10 using the channel information obtained. By displaying the information on the screen, the user can refer to the driving plan.

Variation 3

The vehicle navigation device 100 in this embodiment, according to the channel information and the automatic payment preparation status of the ETC vehicle machine 116, carries out the entry prompt of entering the ordinary channel and the entry prompt of entering the ETC channel. At the time, on the basis of reporting the payment fee, let the user choose to pass/not pass through the ETC channel, and it is also possible to give a pass prompt at the toll office corresponding to the result of this choice.

Next, using the flow charts shown in FIG. 13 and FIG. 14, the toll gate lane presentation process according to this modification will be described. 13 and steps S190 to S220 in FIG. 14 are the same as those of the present embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

From step S130 shown in FIG. 13, after the channel information is downloaded from the management center 20, in step S140, it is determined whether the ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 is ready for automatic payment. Here, if the ETC vehicle-mounted device 116 is not ready, the process is shifted to step S190 after cutting off the connection with the management center 20, and the process is pushed to step S150 if it is ready.

In step S150, at the nearest toll office on the traveling road, it is judged whether to pay the toll. Here, if it is not necessary to pay the toll, upon cutting off the connection with the management center 20, the process shifts to step S200, and if it is necessary, the process shifts to step S160a. And, whether it is necessary to pay the toll, it is sufficient to refer to the passage information to judge whether it is a passage for which the toll is paid when passing through the passage.

In step S160a shown in FIG. 14, the amount of the payment fee is reported to the user. For example, the amount of payment may be displayed on the display device 110, or the amount may be output by voice. And, in the toll gate, it is necessary to pay the amount of toll, which can also be obtained from the toll table of the map data input device 106, or the information of the entrance toll gate stored when passing through the toll road entrance channel is sent to the management center 20, The management center 20 can calculate the fee to be paid at the nearest toll office, and let the vehicle 10 download it.

In step S170a, let the user choose whether to pass through the ETC channel. Here, when the passing ETC channel is selected, the process goes to step S200, and when the non-passing ETC channel is selected, the process goes to step S190. Afterwards, in step S190, an entry prompt for entering a common passage is given, and in step S200, an entry prompt for entering an ETC passage is provided.

In addition, regarding the user's selection in step S170a, for example, a display for selecting pass/fail is performed on the display device 110, either of which may be selected by operating the switch group 107, or pass/fail may be input by voice.

In this way, the user is allowed to choose whether to pass through the ETC channel, and corresponding to the result of the selection, a prompt for entering the channel is given, thereby enabling the prompt for entering the channel that the user wishes to enter.

Variation 4

In this embodiment, the designated travel road is used to provide passing reminders about the toll points of the driving road. However, during the execution of route reminders for a certain destination, it is also possible to perform passage reminders for the toll collectors included in the suggested route.

Claims (23)

1. A vehicle navigation system, characterized in that: An automatic payment device that automatically pays tolls by communicating with the roadside unit installed on the automatic toll channel of the toll road; A communication module connected to the exterior of the vehicle using a public line; A center that collects and saves passage information of each toll gate of toll roads, and provides the above passage information and toll remaining amount information that can be used for automatic toll payment of toll roads to the outside; A communication control device that downloads the channel information and remaining fee information from the center through the communication module; A judging device for judging whether the automatic payment by the above-mentioned automatic payment device can pass through the automatic toll channel of the toll road according to the information; The toll gate passing prompting device is used for presenting the passing of the toll gate in response to the judgment result of the judging device. 2. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 1, wherein said center collects and stores channel information consisting of the number of automatic toll channels in operation, ordinary channels, automatic toll collection/common combined channels and setting places . 3. The vehicle navigation system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the judging means, when there is an automatic toll channel in operation at the toll where the toll should be paid, and the toll can be paid from the remaining amount of the toll, It is judged that the automatic toll channel can be passed. 4. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that: A position detection device that detects the current position of the vehicle; a map data storage device for storing map data; A download judging device for judging whether to download at least one of the channel information and the remaining fee information based on the position on the map corresponding to the detected current position; The above-mentioned communication control device downloads at least one of the channel information and the remaining charge amount information when the download judging means judges that it is downloading. 5. The car navigation system according to claim 4, further comprising a driving route specifying device for specifying a driving route from a history record of the current position detected by the position detecting device, The above-mentioned download judging device determines to download the channel information of the toll point in the forward direction when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the toll point in the forward direction of the traveling road. 6. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 5, wherein: The above-mentioned automatic payment device can automatically pay tolls when the predetermined conditions related to automatic payment are met, The above-mentioned download judging device judges to download the remaining amount information of the toll when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the toll point in the forward direction of the traveling road and satisfies the above-mentioned predetermined condition. 7. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that: A route calculation means for calculating a route including toll roads from a departure point to a destination based on the above map data; a path prompting device for prompting the calculated path; When the route prompting device is used for route prompting, the download judging device downloads the channel information of the forward direction toll point when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the forward direction toll point on the route. 8. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 7, wherein: The above-mentioned automatic payment device can automatically pay tolls when the predetermined conditions related to automatic payment are met, The download judging means judges to execute the download of the remaining toll amount information when the vehicle is located within a predetermined distance from a toll point in the forward direction on the route and satisfies the predetermined condition. 9. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein: The above-mentioned communication control device designates to the above-mentioned center a paid road toll office to download channel information, The above-mentioned center downloads the channel information of the designated toll road toll point to the above-mentioned communication control device. 10. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein: Above-mentioned toll gate uses prompting device, when vehicle is positioned on the moment that leads to the toll road toll gate of advance road on the side road, starts the passing prompt of toll gate. 11. The car navigation system according to claim 10, wherein the prompting device at the toll gate changes the start of the prompting according to at least one of the speed of the vehicle, the number of lanes at the toll gate, and whether there is a blockage at the toll gate. time. 12. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein: The above toll gate passes through the prompting device, and when the vehicle has passed the toll gate, the passing prompt is terminated. 13. A vehicle navigation system, characterized in that it has: An automatic toll payment device that automatically pays tolls through communication with a roadside unit installed on an automatic toll channel on a toll road; A communication module connected to the outside of the vehicle by using a public line; Collect and store the channel information of each toll office on the toll road, and provide the above channel information to the external center; A communication control device for downloading the above-mentioned channel information from the above-mentioned center through the above-mentioned communication module; A judging device for judging whether to pass through the automatic toll channel of the toll road through the automatic payment of the above-mentioned automatic toll device according to the channel information; The toll gate passing prompting device for presenting the passing of the toll gate based on the judgment result of the judging means. 14. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 13, wherein said center collects and stores channel information consisting of the number of automatic toll channels in operation, ordinary channels, automatic toll collection/common combined channels and setting locations . 15. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 13 or 14, characterized in that, the above-mentioned judging device, when there is an automatic toll channel in operation at the toll place where the toll should be paid, and meets the automatic payment requirements of the above-mentioned automatic payment device When the predetermined condition is determined, it is judged that the automatic toll channel can be passed. 16. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that, possesses: A reporting device that reports the amount of the toll to be paid when it is judged by the above-mentioned judging device that the above-mentioned automatic toll channel can be passed; After the above-mentioned toll amount is reported by the above-mentioned reporting device, select the selection device for passing/not passing the above-mentioned automatic toll channel; The above-mentioned toll office passes through the prompting device, and also uses the selection result of the above-mentioned selection device to perform a prompt for passing the toll office. 17. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that, it has: A position detection device that detects the current position of the vehicle; a map data storage device for storing map data; A download judging device for judging whether to download the channel information based on the location on the map corresponding to the detected current location, The above-mentioned communication control device downloads the above-mentioned channel information when the download judging device judges that it is downloading. 18. The car navigation system according to claim 17, further comprising: a driving route specifying device for specifying a driving route based on the history of the current position detected by the position detecting device, The above-mentioned download judging device determines to download the channel information of the toll point in the forward direction when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the toll point in the forward direction of the traveling road. 19. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 17, wherein: A route calculation means for calculating a route including toll roads from a departure point to a destination based on the above map data; a path prompting device for prompting the calculated path; When the route prompting device is used for route prompting, the download judging device downloads the channel information of the forward direction toll point when the vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the forward direction toll point on the route. 20. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein: The above-mentioned communication control device designates to the above-mentioned center a paid road toll office to download channel information, The above-mentioned center downloads the channel information of the designated toll road toll point to the above-mentioned communication control device. 21. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein: Above-mentioned toll gate uses prompting device, when vehicle is positioned on the moment that leads to the toll road toll gate of advance road on the side road, starts the passing prompt of toll gate. 22. The vehicle navigation system as claimed in claim 21, wherein the toll station uses a prompting device to change the prompt information according to at least one of the vehicle speed, the number of passages at the toll station, and whether there is a blockage at the toll station. start moment. 23. The vehicle navigation system according to any one of claims 17 to 19, wherein: The above toll gate passes through the prompting device, and when the vehicle has passed the toll gate, the passing prompt is terminated.

Images