JP2011215970A - Annotation information generating system and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate annotation information for giving the best annotation when a plurality of annotation candidates exist for a location to be given one annotation on a map.SOLUTION: A search server 2 performs a search in response to a search request from a mobile terminal device 5 to send a list of search results to the mobile terminal device 5. The search server 2 stores, in a search result information database, a search target selected from the list and obtains a map including the search target from a map server 3 to send the map to the mobile terminal device 5. The map server 3 takes, as annotation information, information indicating the search target that has been most frequently selected as a search result, out of search targets existing at a location to be given one annotation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a system for generating map annotation information and a program for realizing the system by a computer.

  In a car navigation device, a mobile phone, or the like, a map is electronically displayed to guide a user. In such a map, so-called “notes”, which are character strings indicating names of stores, restaurants, buildings, parks, roads, railways, etc., are displayed together with figures and symbols indicating them.

  As a method of generating note information for displaying notes on a map, a map database for note information generation is constructed, and the map creator manually sets the note placement and the number of characters using this and address information on the map. It is common to generate note information to indicate.

  There is also known a character string information selection device that can eliminate the trouble of manual note placement by automatically placing notes (Patent Document 1). Specifically, a character string to be displayed as a note is selected using a plurality of selection conditions set in advance in consideration of visibility and the like. The selection conditions include the priority order of character strings and the number of characters.

  Here, although there are a plurality of annotation giving objects at one place on the map, only one note may be given to one place due to the scale of the map and the like. In such a case, that is, for example, when there are a plurality of stores and facilities in one building, the character string information selection device described in Patent Document 1 is associated with the stores and facilities on a one-to-one basis, and Since the building name (clinic building, snack building, etc.) indicating the contents of the store or facility is used as the note information (paragraph 0077, Fig. 3), appropriate note information is generated when there is no similar store or facility in the building. I can't do it. Even if there are similar types of stores and facilities, if the name of the building that shows the most types is used as the note information, if there is only one famous store or facility, the note will not be displayed. The user's request to know cannot be met.

JP 2007-328303 A

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and the object is to provide a case where a plurality of note candidates exist at a place where a single note is to be assigned (hereinafter referred to as a note assigning unit point). It is possible to generate note information for giving the best note.

  The present invention provides a search result information storage means for storing the number of selections selected as a search result for each search object existing at the annotation giving unit point, and a search object having the largest number of selections stored by the search result information storage means. This is a note information generation system having note information determination means using note information as the information indicating.

[Action]
According to the present invention, information indicating a search target having the largest number of times selected as a search result for each search target existing at the annotation giving unit point is used as the note information.

  According to the present invention, when there are a plurality of note candidates at a note assigning unit point, it is possible to generate note information for assigning the best note.

It is a figure which shows the map search system containing the note information generation system of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the portable terminal device in FIG. It is a block diagram of the search server in FIG. It is a block diagram of the map server in FIG. It is a flowchart of the search operation | movement in the map search system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the note determination process of the map server in FIG. It is a flowchart of the important note registration process of the map server in FIG. It is a flowchart of the note selection process of the map server in FIG.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
<System configuration>
FIG. 1 shows a map search system including a note information generation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The map search system includes a network 1 such as the Internet, a search server 2 and a map server 3 connected to the network 1, and a mobile terminal device 5 connected to the network 1 via a base station 4.

  Although one mobile terminal device 5 is shown for convenience, it goes without saying that a large number of mobile terminal devices 5 are actually connected to the network 1. Further, the search server 2 and the map server 3 may be connected by an intranet or a dedicated line.

  The search server 2 has a function for creating an information search screen, a function for executing a search in response to a search request from the mobile terminal device 5, and the map server 3 has a function for creating map information. A function of providing map information in response to a request from the terminal device 5 is provided.

  The mobile terminal device 5 includes a mobile phone, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a PND (Personal Navigation Device), etc., and stores a predetermined application program (hereinafter referred to as an application) in a built-in ROM (Read Only Memory). The search screen of the search server 2 can be displayed on the display unit for information search, or the map information provided from the map server 3 can be displayed on the display unit.

<Configuration of mobile terminal device>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the mobile terminal device 5. The mobile terminal device 5 includes a control unit 51, an operation unit 52, a display unit 53, and a wireless communication unit 54.

  The control unit 51 is a controller for controlling each unit of the mobile terminal device 5, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 511, a ROM 512, and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 513. The CPU 511 implements various processes to be described later by loading a program stored in the ROM 512 into the RAM 513 and executing it.

  The operation unit 52 includes various buttons for the user to operate the mobile terminal device 5. The display unit 53 includes an operation state of the mobile terminal device 5 and a liquid crystal display device for displaying information input by the user from the operation unit 52. The wireless communication unit 54 is a circuit for performing wireless communication with the base station 4.

<Search server configuration>
As illustrated in FIG. 3, the search server 2 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22, and a storage unit 23.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU 211, a ROM 212, and a RAM 213, and controls the entire search server. The CPU 211 implements various processes described later by loading a program stored in the ROM 212 into the RAM 213 and executing the program. Although not shown, a counter is provided.

  The communication unit 22 communicates with the map server 3 via the network 1 and communicates with the mobile terminal device 5 via the network 1 and the base station 4. The storage unit 23 includes an HDD (hard disk device), and is provided with a search target information DB (database) 231 and a search result information DB 232.

  In the search target information DB 231, information related to the search target is stored in advance together with keywords, position (latitude, longitude), URL (Uniform Resource Locator), and the like. In the search result information DB 232, the user searches using the mobile terminal device 5, selects from the list of search results, displays information indicating the search target displaying the map, and the counter value selected above is selected. The number of times is associated with each other, and is stored for each note assigning unit point.

  That is, the data structure of the search result information stored in the search result information DB 232 includes an annotation assignment unit point ID, a position (latitude, longitude), a search target name, and a selected number of times. Annotation giving unit point ID, position (latitude, longitude), and search target name are registered in advance. The number of times of selection is a counter value that is incremented each time a search target is selected.

  Here, “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” and “movie theater bb” are present in the same “cc building”, and the selected times are 125, 95, and 80, respectively. The position (latitude, longitude) indicates the position of “cc building”.

<Configuration of map server>
As shown in FIG. 4, the map server 3 includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, and a storage unit 33.

  The control unit 31 includes a CPU 311, a ROM 312, and a RAM 313, and controls the entire map server. The CPU 311 implements various processes to be described later by loading a program stored in the ROM 312 into the RAM 313 and executing it.

  The communication unit 32 communicates with the search server 2 via the network 1 and communicates with the mobile terminal device 5 via the network 1 and the base station 4. The storage unit 33 includes an HDD and is provided with a map information DB 331.

  In the map information DB 331, a vector information table 331a storing vector information of features such as houses, parks, roads, railways, etc., a node / link information table 331b storing information indicating road nodes and links, An attribute information table 331c storing attribute information indicating attributes (including names) of features and a note information table 331d storing note information are provided.

<Search operation>
The operation of the map search system having the above configuration will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, the mobile terminal device 5 transmits a connection request to the search server 2 in accordance with a user operation (step S1). This connection request includes a device ID stored in the ROM 512 of the mobile terminal device 5.

  When receiving the connection request, the search server 2 reads the search screen from the storage unit 23 and transmits it to the mobile terminal device 5 (step S11). The mobile terminal device 5 receives the search screen and displays it on the display unit 53 (step S2).

  In the mobile terminal device 5, when the user inputs a desired keyword from the operation unit 52 into the keyword input field in the search screen and inputs a search instruction by pressing a predetermined button, the search instruction including the keyword is transmitted to the search server. 2 (step S3).

  The search server 2 receives the search instruction (step S12), accesses the search target information DB 231 using the keyword included in the search instruction, reads out a list of information related to the keyword as a search result, and the mobile terminal device 5 (Step S13).

  The mobile terminal device 5 receives the search result list and displays it on the display unit 53 (step S4). Next, when the user inputs an instruction to select a desired search result from the list displayed on the display unit 53 using the operation unit 52, the mobile terminal device 5 displays the selected search result on the search server 2. (Step S5).

  When the search server 2 receives the notification of the selected search result (step S14), the search server 2 acquires map information including the facility or store of the selected search result from the map server 3, and transmits it to the mobile terminal device 5 (step S14). S15). Next, the number of times of selection is associated with the information indicating the selected search target and stored in the search result information DB 232 (step S16). The mobile terminal device 5 receives the map information and displays it on the display unit 53 (step S6). Here, the order of steps S15 and S16 may be reversed. Further, the mobile terminal device 5 may acquire the map information directly from the map server 3.

  As described above, the search result information DB 232 is associated with the information indicating the search target selected from the search result list by the user using the mobile terminal device 5 and the number of times the search target is selected. , Stored for each unit of note assignment.

  That is, in the case of the example of the data structure shown in FIG. 3, if “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” exists in “cc building”, the user inputs “Yakiniku chain aa” as a keyword in step S3, and “ A list of stores of “Yakiniku chain aa” is displayed. In step S5, the user selects “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store”, and when a map including it is displayed on the display unit 53 of the mobile terminal device 5, “Yakiniku chain” The number of times “aa aurakucho store” is selected is incremented.

<Note determination process>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process in which the map server 3 determines a note for each note assignment unit point using information stored in the search result information DB 232 of the search server 2. This process is executed when the map information DB 331 is updated regularly or irregularly. In addition, the flow in this figure is executed for each unit for giving notes.

  The map server 3 reads, for each search target, the number of times each search target existing at the annotation assignment unit point is selected from the search result information DB 232 of the search server 2 (step S21). The period for calculating the number of times may be arbitrarily determined, for example, from the last update of the map information DB 331 to the present time, or the most recent fixed period (eg, one month, six months).

  Next, it is determined whether or not there are a plurality of search targets (step S22). If there are not a plurality of search targets, that is, there is one (step S22: NO), the information indicating the search target is set as annotation information, and the process ends (step S23). On the other hand, when there are a plurality of search targets (step S22: YES), information indicating the search target with the largest number of times of selection is set as the annotation information (step S24), and the process ends.

  For example, as in the example of the data structure shown in FIG. 3, when “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” and “Movie theater bb” exist in “cc building”, “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” is selected as the search result. If the number of times is greater than the number of times “movie theater bb” or “cc building” is selected, “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” or “Yakiniku chain aa” becomes the note information.

<Important note registration process>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process in which the map server 3 registers important note information in the note information table 331d using information stored in the search result information DB 232 of the search server 2. This process is executed when the map information DB 331 is updated regularly or irregularly. Moreover, the flow of this figure is performed for every note addition unit point and every search object.

  The map server 3 reads from the search result information DB 232 of the search server 2 the number of times the search target existing at the annotation giving unit point is selected for each search target (step S31). The period for calculating the number of times may be arbitrarily determined, for example, from the last update of the map information DB 331 to the present time, or the most recent fixed period (eg, one month, six months).

  If the value of the number of times of reading is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold (step S32: YES), information indicating the search target is registered in the note information table 331d as important note information (step S33). If the read value is less than the threshold (step S32: NO), the process ends.

  For example, in the example of the data structure shown in FIG. 3, if the threshold is 100, “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” is registered as important note information. If the threshold value is 90, “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” and “Movie theater bb” are registered as important note information. If the threshold is 150, there is no registered important note information. However, the threshold value may be automatically set so that at least one of the annotation giving unit points is always registered.

<Note selection process>
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a process in which the map server 3 selects one note when adjacent notes overlap on the map.

  The CPU 311 reads the note information from the note information table 331d for each note giving unit point from the map information DB 331, and obtains the arrangement position on the map (step S41). Here, information indicating the arrangement position of the note for each note assigning unit point is stored in advance in the map information DB 331.

  Next, it is determined whether or not there are other pieces of note information whose arrangement positions overlap (step S42). If there is any other note information (step S42: YES), the search object having the largest number of times selected from the note information is selected. Is selected as note information (step S43). If there is not (step S42: NO), the process is terminated.

  For example, when a character group of “Yakiniku chain aa Yurakucho store” which is a note attached to the graphic “cc building” overlaps a character group of “dd building” which is a note attached to the graphic “dd building” The number of selections stored in the result information DB 232 is compared with each other, and the note information with the larger selection number is selected. When three or more notes overlap, the note information with the largest number of selections is selected.

  As described above in detail, according to the map search system of the embodiment of the present invention, a note to be assigned for each annotation giving unit point is based on the number of searches that is a statistic of a search result for a search target existing at that point. Thus, since the information indicating the search target having the largest number of searches is used as the note information, the best note can be given when there are a plurality of search targets at the note assigning unit point.

  In addition, if important note information is registered in advance for each note giving unit point in association with the selected number of times, the note giving unit point that indicates the search target with the most selected number of important note information is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the process of determining the note information.

  In addition, when it is not possible to place multiple notes on the map without overlapping the annotation unit points, only the notes that indicate the search target with the highest number of selected times are placed on the map. Only the best notes can be displayed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 ... Search server, 3 ... Map server, 5 ... Portable terminal device, 21, 31 ... Control part, 231 ... Search object information DB, 232 ... Search result information DB, 331 ... Map information DB.

Claims (3)

Search result information storage means for storing the number of selections selected as a search result for each search target existing in the annotation unit point;
A note information generation system comprising note information determination means using note information as information indicating a search object with the largest number of selections stored by the search result information storage means. In the note information generation system according to claim 1,
Based on the number of selections stored by the search result information payment unit, there is an important note information determining unit that uses important note information as information indicating a search target whose number of selections is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold for each annotation giving unit point. An annotation information generation system characterized by that.   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the annotation information generation system described in Claim 1 or 2.

Images