JP2008185520A - Navigation system provided with means for operating external equipment and operating method of external equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation system capable of easily updating application software installed to the navigation system for operating external equipment to an optimal one. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation system is provided with a means for identifying external equipment, acquiring and installing application software for operating the equipment from the external equipment in the case that the external equipment is unknown one. even when the external equipment is known one, if the application software of a new version is stored in the external equipment, the navigation system is provided with a means for updating and installing application software of a new version. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device mounted on a vehicle or the like.

  In a normal vehicle-mounted navigation device, an external device other than the navigation device, for example, a device such as a mobile phone or a portable music player can be connected. On the basis of this, for example, as shown in Patent Document 1, there is a technique including application software that supports a protocol for transferring a display of a navigation device to a mobile terminal.

JP 2000-249563 A

  However, there is a difference in the product cycle between mobile phones and portable music players and navigation devices. Especially, external devices such as mobile phones and portable music players have shorter product cycles than navigation devices. In many cases, software for operating external devices is relatively old with respect to external devices and cannot be used.

  In other words, even if the latest application software for external device operation is installed in the navigation device and it is sold, if the type or version of the external device changes within a few months to a year, the application software will be affected by changes in the external device. However, the external device connection function of the navigation device becomes obsolete.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to the above problems, and navigation software that allows the user of the navigation device to update the application software installed in the navigation device to operate the external device to the optimum one. An object is to provide an apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the navigation device of the present invention includes means for identifying an external device, and acquiring and installing software for operating the external device from the external device if it is an unknown device.

For example, the navigation device of the present invention
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
Means for acquiring information for operating the external device from the external device via the communication means;
Means for operating the external device using information for operating the external device;
It is characterized by providing.

Also, for example, the navigation device of the present invention
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
Input receiving means for receiving an input to the navigation device;
Means for operating the external device through the communication means based on the input given to the input receiving means;
Means for determining whether or not the information required by the means for operating the external device can be updated;
Updating means for updating information required by the means for operating the external device through the means for performing communication when the means for determining availability is determined to be updatable;
It is characterized by providing.

Furthermore, an operation method of an external device of a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The navigation device
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
With
Obtaining information for operating the external device from the external device via the communication means;
Operating the external device using information for operating the external device;
Including the feature of executing.

  An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device 100 to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle navigation device 100 includes an arithmetic processing unit 1, a display unit 2, a storage device 3, a voice input / output device 4, an input device 5, a wheel speed sensor 6, and a gyro sensor 7. , A GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving device 8 and an external device connecting device 9 are provided.

  The arithmetic processing unit 1 is a central unit that performs various processes. For example, the current location is calculated based on information output from the various sensors 6 and 7 and the GPS receiver 8. The arithmetic processing unit 1 reads map data necessary for display from the storage device 3 based on the obtained current location information. Further, the arithmetic processing unit 1 develops the read map data in graphics, and overlays a mark indicating the current location on the display unit 2 to display it. In addition, the map data stored in the storage device 3 is used to search for an optimum route (recommended route) connecting the starting point (current location) instructed by the user and the destination. In addition, the user is routed using the voice input / output device 4 and the display 11.

  The display unit 2 is a unit that displays graphics information generated by the arithmetic processing unit 1, and includes a display 11 and a touch input detection device 12. The display 11 is composed of a CRT or a liquid crystal display.

  The touch input detection device 12 is a so-called touch panel that is mounted on the display side surface of the display 11 and transmits the display screen. The touch input detection device 12 specifies a touch position corresponding to the XY coordinates of the image displayed on the display 11, converts the touch position into coordinates, and outputs the coordinate. The touch input detection device 12 includes a pressure-sensitive or electrostatic input detection element.

  The storage device 3 is configured by a writable storage medium such as an HDD, an IC card, or a RAM. The storage device 3 stores map data (not shown). A storage area of the external device operation software management table 310 is allocated, and information on external device software is stored in the storage area as a result of step S116 of the external device operation preparation process described later.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the external device operation software management table 310. The external device operation software management table 310 includes, for each ID (external device ID) 311 that is a code for identifying an external device, an external device operation software name 312 that is a name of software used when operating the external device, And a software version 313 indicating the version of the software.

  The external device operation software management table 310 stores in advance an external device ID 311, an external device operation software name 312, and a software version 313 for a predetermined external device.

  Returning to FIG. The voice input / output device 4 converts the message to the user generated by the arithmetic processing unit 1 into a voice signal and outputs it. In addition, a process of recognizing a voice such as a voice uttered by the user and transferring the contents to the arithmetic processing unit 1 is performed.

  The input device 5 is a unit that receives instructions from the user. The input device 5 includes hardware switches such as a scroll key and a scale change key, a joystick, and the like.

  The sensors 6 and 7 and the GPS receiver 8 are used for detecting the current location (vehicle position) by the vehicle-mounted navigation device 100. The wheel speed sensor 6 measures the distance from the product of the wheel circumference and the measured number of rotations of the wheel, and further measures the angle at which the moving body is bent from the difference in the number of rotations of the paired wheels. The gyro 7 is configured by an optical fiber gyro, a vibration gyro, or the like, and detects an angle at which the moving body rotates. The GPS receiver 8 receives a signal from a GPS satellite and measures the distance between the moving body and the GPS satellite and the rate of change of the distance with respect to three or more satellites, thereby moving the current position, traveling speed, and traveling of the moving body. Measure orientation.

  The external device connection device 9 is a connection device that is connected to a mobile phone or a portable music player as an external device and exchanges signal information.

  The external device 10 is a portable device such as a mobile phone or a portable music player, for example, and is a device that can read information from a storage medium accessible by the device itself and reproduce the information by itself. The external device 10 further stores software for operating the own device in a storage medium accessible to the own device, and the software, the name of the software, And a function of transmitting the version to the request source. The external device 10 further has a function of transmitting a code (corresponding to the external device ID 311) for identifying the external device of the own device in response to a request from another device.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the arithmetic processing unit 1.

  As illustrated, the arithmetic processing unit 1 includes a main control unit 101, an external device connection unit 102, an external device connection information management unit 103, a software management unit 104, an input reception unit 105, and a display processing unit 106. Have

  For example, the main processing unit 101 calculates the current location, develops the read map data in graphics, and displays a mark indicating the current location on the display unit 2 in a superimposed manner. In addition, the main processing unit 101 searches for an optimal route connecting the departure place (current location) instructed by the user and the destination, and guides the user using the voice input / output device 4 and the display 11.

  The external device connection unit 102 is a processing unit that detects an external device connected to the external device connection device 9, establishes a communication path, and maintains communication.

  The external device connection information management unit 103 stores in the storage device 3 the type of external device for which the communication path has been established by the external device connection unit 102, the name of the software for operating the external device, and the software version. It is a processing unit that reads this out as necessary.

  The software management unit 104 uses information about software stored in the storage device 3 managed by the external device connection information management unit 103 to apply application software required when operating the external device through the communication path. This is a processing unit that determines whether or not there is a compatibility, updates the software if there is no compatibility, and instructs the external device connection information management unit 103 to store the version of the updated software.

  The input reception unit 105 receives an instruction input from the user via the voice input / output device 4, the input device 5, and the touch input detection device 12 that is necessary when updating the software described above. Is a processing unit that delivers the information to each processing unit.

  The display processing unit 106 is a processing unit that processes a display screen on the display 11. The display processing unit 106 generates a drawing command to display an operation screen developed by software for operating the external device described above. Then, the generated command is transmitted to the display 11.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration example of the arithmetic processing unit 1.

  As illustrated, the arithmetic processing unit 1 has a configuration in which devices are connected by a bus 32. The arithmetic processing unit 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21 that executes various processes such as numerical calculation and control of each device, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) that stores map data, arithmetic data, and the like read from the storage device 3. ) 22, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 23 for storing programs and data, a DMA (Direct Memory Access) 24 for transferring data between the memories and between the memory and each device, and graphics drawing. In addition, a drawing controller 25 that performs display control, a video random access memory (VRAM) 26 that stores graphics image data, a color palette 27 that converts image data into RGB signals, and an A / D that converts analog signals into digital signals. Converter 28 and an SCI (Serial Communication Interface) that converts the serial signal into a parallel signal synchronized with the bus. ace) 29, a PIO (Parallel Input / Output) 30 that puts a parallel signal on the bus in synchronization with the bus, and a counter 31 that integrates the pulse signal.

  Each component and function described above is achieved by the CPU 21 executing a program loaded into the RAM 22 or ROM 23.

  Next, the operation of the in-vehicle navigation device 100 configured as described above will be described.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of external device operation preparation processing.

  The main control unit 101 starts this processing when the navigation device 100 is powered on.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the main control unit 101 determines whether or not an external device is newly connected via the external device connection unit 102 (step S110).

  Specifically, first, the external device connection unit 102 transmits a connection determination signal to the external device connection apparatus 9, receives a response, and determines whether or not the external device is connected from the response received. To do. Next, when a response notifying the connection of the external device is received from the external device connection apparatus 9, the external device connection unit 102 notifies the main control unit 101 that the external device has been connected.

  When the response notifying the connection of the external device is not received, the external device connection unit 102 transmits a connection determination signal to the external device connection apparatus 9 at a predetermined interval, and repeats the determination in step S110.

  The main control unit 101 notified of the connection of the external device in step S110 acquires the ID (model number, serial number, etc.) of the connected external device from the external device through the external device connection information management unit 103. (Step S111).

  The external device connection information management unit 103 determines whether or not the ID of the external device acquired in step S111 is registered in the external device ID 311 of the external device operation software management table 310 stored in the storage device 3 or the RAM 22. Is determined (step S112).

  In step S112, if the acquired ID of the external device is an ID registered in the external device ID 311 of the external device operation software management table 310 (that is, if the determination in step S112 is No), the software management unit 104 retrieves and acquires the external device operation software name 312 and software version 313 that match the ID of the external device from the external device operation software management table 310, and stores the software name and software stored in a predetermined storage area of the external device. Compared with the version, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to upgrade the software on the navigation device 100 side, and the next step to be executed is determined (step S113).

  Specifically, if the software names stored in the predetermined storage area of the external device are different, or the software names are the same, the version of the software stored in the predetermined storage area of the external device Is new, the software management unit 104 determines that it is necessary to upgrade the software for operating the externally connected device, and performs step S114 described later. Otherwise, it is determined as unnecessary and step S117 described later is performed.

  When the acquired external device ID is not registered in the external device ID 311 of the external device operation software management table 310 (that is, when the determination in step S112 is Yes), or the software management unit 104 in step S113. When it is determined that the version upgrade is necessary (that is, when the determination in step S113 is Yes), the software management unit 104 sends the external device operation software to the predetermined external device via the external connection device 9. Transfer is performed from the storage area (for example, a folder directly under the mount folder in the logical storage area of the storage device of the external device) (step S114).

  Then, the software management unit 104 stores the transferred external device operation software in a predetermined area (for example, a program storage area) of the storage device 3 or the RAM 22, and installs the software so that the main control unit 101 can be activated. Registration processing is performed (step S115).

  Subsequently, when the registration process in step S115 is completed, the software management unit 104 sends the external device ID, the external device operation software name, and the software version of the external device operation software via the external device connection information management unit 103. The data is stored in the external device operation software management table 310 of the storage device 3 or RAM 22, and the process proceeds to the next step S117 (step S116).

  The main control unit 101 activates the external device operation software (step S117).

  The main control unit 101 displays a screen for receiving an instruction from the user on the display processing unit 106, receives an input for operating an external device from the input reception unit 105, and the external device connection apparatus 9 according to the input. An operation command (play, stop, etc.) is transmitted to the external device connected to the.

  The external device 10 starts to operate according to the operation command described above.

  However, here, the external device 10 does not output the operation result by itself, and passes the output data to the navigation device 100 through the external device connection device 9.

  Upon receiving the output from the external device 10, the main control unit 101 of the navigation device 100 receives the output and transfers the video data to the display processing unit 106 and the audio data to the audio input / output device 4, respectively. Output video and audio.

  When detecting the end of the external device operation software, the main control unit 101 pauses the external device operation preparation process until the external device is disconnected.

  When the software management unit 104 detects that the external device connected to the external device connection apparatus 9 has been removed, the software management unit 104 notifies the main control unit 101 of the detected content.

  In response to this notification, the main control unit 101 starts processing again from step S110.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.

  According to the above embodiment, the application software installed in the navigation device for operating the external device can be updated to the latest by the user of the navigation device.

  As a result, the user of the navigation device can easily install the application software for connection to the navigation device even when purchasing a new external device such as a portable music player. An environment can be constructed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The above embodiment can be variously modified within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention.

  For example, in steps S112 to S117, the external device connection information management unit 103 and the software management unit 104 update the application software for operating the external device based on the ID of the external device. An optional function for compulsorily updating may be added to return the software version to the previous version.

  By transforming in this way, the version of the application software can be made older when the portable music player or the like is old and cannot be operated by the application software for operating the latest external device. .

  In this case, the latest application software is not discarded, but is stored in another area of the storage device 3, and the original latest application software is updated when the use of the old portable music player is terminated. The main processing unit 101 may perform a process of returning to a startable state.

  In the above embodiment, an example in which the present invention is applied to a vehicle-mounted navigation device has been described. However, the present invention can also be applied to a navigation device other than a vehicle-mounted navigation device.

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an in-vehicle navigation device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the external device operation software management table stored in the storage device 3. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 1. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 1. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the external device operation preparation process.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Arithmetic processing part, 2 ... Display part, 3 ... Memory | storage device, 4 ... Voice input / output device, 5 ... Input device, 6 ... Wheel speed sensor, 7 ... Gyro sensor, 8 ... GPS receiver, 9 ... external device connection device, 10 ... external device, 11 ... display, 12 ... touch input detection device, 21 ... CPU, 22. ..RAM, 23 ... ROM, 24 ... DMA, 25 ... drawing controller, 26 ... VRAM, 27 ... color palette, 28 ... A / D converter, 29 ... SCI, 30 ... PIO, 31 ... counter, 32 ... bus, 100 ... vehicle-mounted navigation device, 101 ... main control unit, 102 ... external device connection unit, 103 ... External device connection information manager 104, software management Part, 105 ... input reception part, 106 ... display processing part

Claims (6)

A navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
Means for acquiring information for operating the external device from the external device via the communication means;
Means for operating the external device using information for operating the external device;
A navigation device comprising: A navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
Input receiving means for receiving an input to the navigation device;
Means for operating the external device through the communication means based on the input given to the input receiving means;
Means for determining whether or not the information required by the means for operating the external device can be updated;
Updating means for updating information required by the means for operating the external device through the means for performing communication when the means for determining availability is determined to be updatable;
A navigation device comprising: The navigation device according to claim 2,
And a storage device connected to the navigation device,
The means for determining whether or not it is possible, the identifier of the external device is not already stored in the storage device,
Is a judgment condition that can be updated,
A navigation device characterized by that. The navigation device according to claim 2,
And a storage device connected to the navigation device,
The means for determining the availability is
The identifier of the external device is already stored in the storage device, but the information required by the means for operating the external device is not up-to-date,
Is a judgment condition that can be updated,
A navigation device characterized by that. The navigation device according to claim 2,
And a storage device connected to the navigation device,
The update unit obtains information required by the unit for operating the external device from a predetermined storage area included in the external device, and performs update by storing the information in the storage device.
A navigation device characterized by that. A method for operating an external device of a navigation device mounted on a vehicle,
The navigation device
A connection device attached in the vehicle and connecting an external device;
Means for communicating with an external device connected to the connection device;
With
Obtaining information for operating the external device from the external device via the communication means;
Operating the external device using information for operating the external device;
The operation method of the external device characterized by performing this.

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