JP2012225751A - On-vehicle information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent overlapping of icons by a plurality of applications on a map to realize eye-friendly map display.SOLUTION: A navigation device 1 acquires icon information from a plurality of applications by processing of a control section 10 (step S40), and sets each priority according to the application of an acquisition destination to each icon shown by the icon information (step S50). The navigation device 1 determines whether or not the plurality of icons corresponding to the different applications are overlapped with each other on a map(step S70) and preferentially displays any one of the plurality of icons determined to be overlapped with each other on the basis of the priority set in the step S50.

Description

  The present invention relates to an information terminal used by being mounted on a vehicle.

  Conventionally, in an in-vehicle information device having an input device for a driver and an input device for a passenger, when the vehicle is running and the navigation function is activated, the driver priority mode is set. It is known to prioritize an input operation from an input device (see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-37294 A

  In recent years, information terminals called smartphones that can obtain and execute various application programs (hereinafter simply referred to as applications) have been widely used. By executing an application transferred from such a smartphone or receiving information from an application executed by a smartphone, various information can be displayed as icons on the map in the in-vehicle information terminal. become. In this case, if a plurality of applications are executed at the same time, icons from the plurality of applications may overlap on the map. However, since the conventional in-vehicle information device disclosed in Patent Document 1 simply prioritizes the input operation from the driver input device, it can effectively act on such overlapping display of icons. Can not.

  An in-vehicle information terminal according to the present invention has icon information acquisition means for acquiring icon information representing an icon to be displayed on a map from a plurality of applications, and each icon represented by icon information acquired by the icon information acquisition means. Priority setting means for setting priority according to the application of the acquisition destination, overlap determination means for determining whether or not a plurality of icons corresponding to different applications overlap each other on the map, and based on the icon information An icon display control means for displaying an icon on a map, and the icon display control means is based on the priority set by the priority setting means, and among the plurality of icons determined to overlap each other by the duplication determination means Any one of them is preferentially displayed.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it can prevent that the icon by a some application overlaps on a map, and can make it easy-to-read map display.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen. It is a flowchart of the priority display process by 1st embodiment. It is a flowchart of the priority display process by 2nd embodiment.

-First embodiment-
An example in which an in-vehicle information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a navigation device will be described below. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The navigation device 1 is mounted on a vehicle and wirelessly connected to a plurality of communication terminals (represented here as communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c) by Bluetooth (registered trademark) communication.

  The communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c are, for example, smartphones, mobile phones, wireless communication system IC cards, and the like, and various applications downloaded in advance are recorded therein. This application includes an application (hereinafter referred to as a navigation application) for introducing information corresponding to a specific point on the map by being executed in the navigation device 1. For example, a navigation application for introducing various recommended facilities such as restaurants, retail stores, hospitals, and amusement facilities, a navigation application for introducing points to be aware of when driving a vehicle, There are navigation applications to introduce recommended points. Each user of the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c can select, download, and use any one of these navigation applications. A single navigation application may have a plurality of functions, and information corresponding to the function selected by the user from among them may be introduced.

  The communication terminals 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c can transfer the navigation application as described above to the navigation device 1 by being wirelessly connected to the navigation device 1. The navigation apparatus 1 to which the navigation application is transferred from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c can display various information as icons on the map by executing the navigation application. This icon preferably has a display form corresponding to the content of the information to be provided. Further, when the user selects any icon on the map, the detailed information may be displayed as characters or images and provided to the user.

  The navigation device 1 includes a control unit 10, a vibration gyro 11, a vehicle speed sensor 12, a hard disk (HDD) 13, a GPS receiving unit 14, a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) (registered trademark) information receiving unit 15, a display monitor 16, and a speaker. 17, an input device 18 and a wireless interface unit 19.

  The control unit 10 includes a microprocessor, various peripheral circuits, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, and executes various processes based on a control program and map data recorded in the HDD 13. The control unit 10 executes various processes in the navigation device 1. For example, a destination search process when setting the destination, a recommended route search process to the set destination, various image display processes, a route guidance process, and the like are executed. In addition, the control unit 10 also executes the above-described navigation application.

  The vibration gyro 11 is a sensor for detecting the angular velocity of the host vehicle. The vehicle speed sensor 12 is a sensor for detecting the vehicle speed of the host vehicle. By detecting the motion state of the host vehicle at predetermined time intervals using these sensors, the amount of movement of the host vehicle is obtained, and thereby the current position of the host vehicle is detected.

  The HDD 13 is a non-volatile recording medium in which data can be rewritten, and various data including map data is recorded. Map data recorded in the HDD 13 is read out under the control of the control unit 10 as necessary, and is used for various processes and controls executed by the control unit 10. This map data includes route calculation data, route guidance data, road data, and background data. The route calculation data is used for route search to the destination. The route guidance data is used to guide the host vehicle to a destination according to a set route, and represents an intersection name, a road name, and the like. The road data represents the shape and type of the road. The background data represents map shapes other than roads such as rivers and railways, positions of various facilities, and the like. Note that the minimum unit representing each road in the map data is called a link. That is, each road in the map data is composed of a plurality of links.

  The navigation application transferred from the communication terminals 2a, 2b and 2c is recorded in the HDD 13. The control unit 10 reads out the navigation application recorded in the HDD 13 in response to the activation operation from the user, and executes the navigation application.

  The GPS receiver 14 receives a GPS signal transmitted from a GPS satellite and outputs it to the controller 10. The GPS signal includes information on the position and transmission time of the GPS satellite that transmitted the GPS signal as information for obtaining the position of the host vehicle and the current time. Therefore, by receiving GPS signals from a predetermined number or more of GPS satellites, the current position and current time of the host vehicle can be calculated based on these pieces of information.

  The VICS information receiving unit 15 receives VICS information transmitted from the VICS center (not shown) to the navigation device 1. When the VICS information receiving unit 15 receives this VICS information, various road traffic information including traffic jam information is acquired in the navigation device 1. The VICS information received by the VICS information receiving unit 15 is output to the control unit 10 and used for displaying traffic jam information, searching for a recommended route, and the like.

  The transmission of VICS information from the VICS center to the navigation device 1 is performed mainly by radio wave beacons installed on highways, optical beacons installed mainly on general roads, or FM multiplex broadcasting. . The radio wave beacon and the optical beacon transmit VICS information locally to the vehicle passing near the installation point by radio waves or light (infrared rays). In contrast, FM multiplex broadcasting can transmit VICS information to a relatively wide area.

  The display monitor 16 is a device for displaying various screens in the navigation device 1 and is configured using a liquid crystal display or the like. The display monitor 16 displays a map screen around the host vehicle. The contents of the screen displayed on the display monitor 16 are determined by screen display control performed by the control unit 10. The display monitor 16 is installed at a position where the user can easily see, for example, on the dashboard of the host vehicle or in the instrument panel. Under the control of the control unit 10, the speaker 17 outputs various kinds of sounds such as route guidance sounds.

  The input device 18 is a device for a user to perform various input operations for operating the navigation device 1, and includes operation parts of a front seat switch 18 a, a rear seat switch 18 b, a touch panel switch 18 c, and a remote controller 18 d. ing. The front seat switch 18a is installed in the vicinity of the driver's seat and the passenger seat of the vehicle, and the rear seat switch 18b is installed in the vicinity of the rear seat of the vehicle. The touch panel switch 18c is integrated with the display monitor 16, and detects an operation input based on a position touched by the user on the screen. The remote controller 18d is a remote operation part that can be carried by the user, and transmits the detected input operation content to the control unit 10 using wireless communication such as infrared rays. By using the remote controller 18d, the user can remotely operate the navigation device 1 from any position in the vehicle.

  The user operates an arbitrary operation part of the input device 18 to input, for example, the name of a facility or a spot desired to be set as the destination, or select a destination from registered locations registered in advance. , You can scroll the map in any direction. It is also possible to select one of the navigation applications transferred from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c and recorded in the HDD 13, and activate the navigation application to be executed by the control unit 10. Note that the user may operate the communication terminal 2a, 2b, or 2c instead of the input device 18 so that the control unit 10 activates and executes the navigation application.

  When the user operates the input device 18 to set a destination, the navigation device 1 searches for a recommended route to the destination by performing a predetermined algorithm operation based on the above-described route calculation data. Then, the current position of the host vehicle is detected, and the host vehicle is guided to the destination according to the searched recommended route while displaying the road map around it.

  The wireless interface unit 19 executes predetermined wireless interface processing when the navigation device 1 and the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c perform Bluetooth communication. By the wireless interface processing performed by the wireless interface unit 19, transmission data from the control unit 10 is converted into a wireless signal for Bluetooth communication and transmitted to the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c, respectively. Further, the wireless signals for Bluetooth communication received from the communication terminals 2 a, 2 b and 2 c received at the wireless interface unit 19 are converted into received data and output to the control unit 10. Thus, the radio interface unit 19 transmits and receives radio signals to and from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c, whereby the navigation device 1 and the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c are wirelessly connected.

  The communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c can transmit the data of the navigation application to be transferred to the wireless interface unit 19 as the wireless signal for Bluetooth communication. The wireless interface unit 19 that has received the navigation application data from the communication terminals 2 a, 2 b, and 2 c outputs the data to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 records the navigation application data output from the wireless interface unit 19 in the HDD 13. In this way, the navigation application is transferred from the communication terminals 2a, 2b and 2c to the navigation device 1.

  An example of the display screen displayed on the display monitor 16 when the navigation application is executed in the navigation device 1 is shown in FIG. FIG. 2A is an example of a display screen when the priority display process is not performed, and FIG. 2B is an example of a display screen when the priority display process is performed. In these display screen examples, icons displayed on a map when three types of navigation applications A, B, and C are simultaneously executed are shown. 2 (a) and 2 (b), icons 20a to 24a written "A" represent icons by the navigation application A, and icons 20b to 23b written "B" are navigation applications. The icons represented by B are respectively represented by reference numerals 20c to 22c written as "C", and the icons represented by the navigation application C are represented respectively.

  In FIG. 2A, the icons 20a, 20b, and 20c are displayed so as to overlap each other and are difficult to see. In view of this, the navigation apparatus 1 performs priority display processing for displaying one of these icons with priority. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2B, any one icon (here, the icon 20a) is preferentially displayed, and the other icons 20b and 20c are not displayed. Thereby, it can prevent that the icon by a some application overlaps on a map, and can make it easy to see the map display.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of the above priority display process according to the present embodiment. This flowchart is executed by the control unit 10 in the navigation device 1.

  In step S10, the control unit 10 determines whether there is a navigation application activation request from the user. As described above, the user operates one of the navigation applications recorded in the HDD 13 by operating the front seat switch 18a, the rear seat switch 18b, the touch panel switch 18c, or the remote controller 18d using the input device 18. A start operation can be input. When this activation operation is detected by the input device 18, the control unit 10 determines that there is a navigation application activation request, and proceeds to step S20. On the other hand, when the activation operation is not detected by the input device 18, the control unit 10 determines that there is no navigation application activation request, and proceeds to step S30.

  In step S20, the control unit 10 selects one of the navigation applications recorded in the HDD 13 in accordance with the navigation application activation operation detected in step S10, and activates the navigation application. Thereby, a navigation application is executed in the control unit 10 and icon information for displaying an icon corresponding to the navigation application is generated.

  In step S30, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the navigation application is being executed. If at least one navigation application is being executed, the process proceeds to step S40, and if no navigation application is being executed, the process returns to step S10.

  In step S40, the control unit 10 acquires icon information representing an icon to be displayed on the map from the currently running navigation application. At this time, if a plurality of navigation applications are being executed simultaneously, icon information is acquired from each navigation application. The icon information includes information necessary for displaying an icon for each navigation application as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B on the map, for example, information such as the type and display position of the icon. Further, the detailed information as described above may be included in the icon information.

  In step S50, the control unit 10 sets a priority according to the navigation application as the acquisition destination for each icon represented by the icon information acquired in step S40. Here, the priority of each icon can be set as described below based on either the transfer destination of the navigation application or the input destination of the activation operation. Note that when only one navigation application is being executed and only one type of icon corresponding to the navigation application is displayed, the priority setting is not necessary, so the process of step S50 may not be performed. .

  First, a method for setting the priority based on the transfer destination of the navigation application will be described. In this case, the priority of each icon is set based on the priority set in advance for the communication terminal to which each navigation application is transferred. That is, a priority order is set in advance for each communication terminal that transfers the navigation application to the navigation device 1. Then, when the navigation application is executed in the navigation device 1, the priority corresponding to the priority order is set for each icon.

  For example, consider the case where the above-described navigation application A is transferred from the communication terminal 2a, the navigation application B is transferred from the communication terminal 2b, and the navigation application C is transferred from the communication terminal 2c. At this time, in the navigation device 1, for example, the first priority is set for the communication terminal 2a, the second priority is set for the communication terminal 2b, and the third priority is set for the communication terminal 2c. . Note that the priority order of each communication terminal may be set, for example, in the wireless communication connection settings, or may be set when the navigation application is transferred. The priority order once set may be arbitrarily changed later by the user.

  In the above case, the priorities according to the priority order of the communication terminal 2a that is the transfer destination of the navigation application A are set for the icons 20a to 24a in FIG. Similarly, the priority according to the priority of the communication terminal 2b that is the transfer destination of the navigation application B is set for each of the icons 20b to 23b, and the communication that is the transfer destination of the navigation application C is set for each of the icons 20c to 22c. Priorities according to the priority order of the terminal 2c are set. Thereby, the highest priority is set with respect to the icon 20a among the icons 20a, 20b, and 20c which overlap with each other on the map.

  Next, a method for setting the priority based on the input destination of the activation operation will be described. In this case, the priority of each icon is set based on the priority order set in advance for each operation part of the input device 18 on which the user has performed the start operation when starting each navigation application. That is, priorities are set in advance for the operation parts of the front seat switch 18a, the rear seat switch 18b, the touch panel switch 18c, and the remote controller 18d of the input device 18. For example, a high priority is set for the front seat switch 18a and the touch panel switch 18c that are mainly operated by the driver, and a low priority is set for the rear seat switch 18b and the remote control 18d that are mainly operated by a passenger other than the driver. Set the ranking. Then, when the navigation application is executed by the user performing an activation operation on any of the operation parts in the navigation device 1, a priority according to the priority order is set for each icon.

  For example, consider the case where the activation operation for the navigation application A is detected by the front seat switch 18a, the activation operation for the navigation application B is detected by the rear seat switch 18b, and the activation operation for the navigation application C is detected by the remote controller 18d. . At this time, in the navigation device 1, for example, the first priority is set for the front seat switch 18a, the second priority is set for the rear seat switch 18b, and the third priority is set for the remote controller 18d. To do. The setting of the priority order of the operation parts may be arbitrarily changed by the user.

  In such a case, priorities according to the priority order of the front seat switch 18a, which is the input destination of the start operation for the navigation application A, are set for the icons 20a to 24a in FIG. Similarly, priorities corresponding to the priority order of the rear seat switch 18b that is an input destination of the start operation for the navigation application B are set for the icons 20b to 23b, respectively, and the start for the navigation application C is set for the icons 20c to 22c. Priorities according to the priority order of the remote controller 18d as the operation input destination are set. Thereby, the highest priority is set with respect to the icon 20a among the icons 20a, 20b, and 20c which overlap with each other on the map.

  Note that the priority setting based on the navigation application transfer destination and the priority setting based on the input destination of the activation operation as described above may be simultaneously performed in the navigation device 1. For example, the navigation application can be activated from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c, and for the navigation application activated from these communication terminals, the priority is set based on the transfer destination of the navigation application, while the input is performed. For the navigation application activated by the user inputting the activation operation to each operation part of the device 18, the priority is set based on the input destination of the activation operation. Alternatively, the user may arbitrarily select a priority setting method.

  In step S50, the priority for each icon is set by the setting method as described above.

  In step S60, the control unit 10 selects one of the icons represented by the icon information acquired in step S40.

  In step S <b> 70, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the icon selected in step S <b> 60 overlaps with another navigation application icon on the map. This overlap determination can be performed by comparing the content of icon information representing the icon with icon information from another navigation application. For example, if the difference between the display position of the icon and the display position of any of the icons by other navigation applications is within a predetermined range, it can be determined that these icons overlap each other on the map. In addition, it is preferable to exclude the icon by the same navigation application as the selected icon from the object of the overlap determination of step S70.

  By performing the overlap determination as described above in step S70, if it is determined that the icon selected in step S60 and the icon of another navigation application overlap each other on the map, the process proceeds to step S80, and it is determined that they do not overlap. If so, the process proceeds to step S90.

  In step S80, the control unit 10 compares the priority set in step S50 for the icon selected in step S60 with the priority set in step S50 for the icon overlapping with the icon. As a result, if the priority of the icon selected in step S60 is higher, the process proceeds to step S90. If not, that is, if the priority of the icon overlapping the selected icon is higher, the process proceeds to step S100.

  In step S90, the control unit 10 sets the icon selected in step S60 as a display target icon. If step S90 is performed, the control part 10 will progress to step S110.

  In step S100, the control unit 10 sets the icon selected in step S60 as a non-display target icon. If step S100 is performed, the control part 10 will progress to step S110.

  In step S110, the control unit 10 determines whether all the icons represented by the icon information acquired in step S40 have been selected in step S60. If all the icons have been selected, the process proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if there is an unselected icon, the process returns to step S60, and one of the icons is selected in step S60 and the above-described processing is performed.

  In step S120, the control unit 10 displays each display target icon set in step S90 on the map on the display monitor 16 based on the icon information acquired in step S40. At this time, the non-display target icon set in step S100 is not displayed on the map. Thereby, based on the priority set at step S50, one of the plurality of icons determined to overlap each other at step S70 is displayed with priority. That is, when a plurality of icons from different applications overlap with each other, only the icon with the highest priority is displayed and the other icons are not displayed. As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 2 (a), only the icon 20a having the highest priority among the icons 20a, 20b and 20c overlapping each other on the map is shown in FIG. 2 (b). indicate.

  In step S130, the control unit 10 determines whether or not to update the display of each icon performed in step S120. Here, it is determined that the display of each icon is updated when the map range to be displayed is changed, for example, when the vehicle travels a predetermined distance or more or the map is scrolled. In addition, when a navigation application different from the navigation application that has been executed so far is activated by the control unit 10 in the navigation device 1 and an icon displayed by the navigation application is displayed, the display of each icon is updated in step S130. It is preferable to determine. Step S130 is repeated until it is determined that the display of each icon is updated in this manner, and when it is determined that the display of each icon is updated, the process returns to step S10 and the above-described processing is repeated.

  In addition, when the map range to be displayed is changed as described above, the priority is set only for the icon represented by the newly acquired icon information, and the display corresponding to the priority is performed, but the map is already displayed. It is preferable to maintain the display state of the icon. In this way, it is possible to efficiently operate by reducing useless processing. On the other hand, when the control unit 10 further activates a navigation application different from the currently running navigation application, the priority is reset for the icons that have already been displayed, and display according to the priority is performed. Is preferred. In this way, even immediately after starting another navigation application, the icons of the navigation applications being executed including that navigation application can be displayed on the map according to their priorities.

  According to the first embodiment described above, the following operational effects are obtained.

(1) The navigation device 1 acquires icon information representing icons to be displayed on the map from the plurality of applications by the processing of the control unit 10 (step S40), and for each icon represented by the icon information, Priorities corresponding to the acquisition destination applications are set (step S50). Then, it is determined whether or not a plurality of icons corresponding to different applications overlap with each other on the map (step S70), and the icons are displayed on the map based on the icon information acquired at step S40 (step S120). At this time, based on the priority set in step S50, one of the plurality of icons determined to overlap each other in step S70 is preferentially displayed. Thereby, it can prevent that the icon by a some application overlaps on a map, and can make it easy to see the map display.

(2) When the control unit 10 is simultaneously executing a plurality of applications, in step S50, the priority is assigned to each icon based on at least one of the transfer destination of each application and the input destination of the activation operation. Set each. That is, different priorities are set in advance for the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c connected by the wireless interface unit 19, and in step S50, based on the priorities for the respective communication terminals that are transfer destinations of the respective applications. , Set the priority for each icon. Also, different priority orders are set in advance for the operation parts of the front seat switch 18a, the rear seat switch 18b, the touch panel switch 18c, and the remote controller 18d of the input device 18, respectively. The priority is set for each icon based on the priority order for each operation part. Since it did in this way, the appropriate priority according to the application of an acquisition destination can be set reliably and easily with respect to each icon.

(3) When the control unit 10 further activates an application different from the application being executed, the priority can be reset for each icon in step S50. In this way, even immediately after starting another application, the icon display by that application is immediately reflected, and the icon of each running application is displayed on the map according to its priority. Can do.

-Second embodiment-
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment described above, the navigation application transferred from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c to the navigation device 1 is executed in the navigation device 1, whereby various icons are displayed on the map. An example was described. On the other hand, in the second embodiment described below, the navigation application is executed in the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c without transferring the navigation application from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c to the navigation device 1, respectively. Then, an example in which various icons are displayed on the map in the navigation device 1 will be described.

  The configuration of the navigation device 1 and the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c according to this embodiment is the same as that according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. Therefore, in the following description, the present embodiment will be described using the configuration of FIG.

  Each user of the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c can execute a previously downloaded navigation application on the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c, respectively. When instructed by the user to execute the navigation application, each of the communication terminals 2a, 2b and 2c executes the navigation application and transmits icon information generated by the navigation application to the navigation device 1. . The icon information transmitted from the communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c is received by the wireless interface unit 19 in the navigation device 1, and is output from the wireless interface unit 19 to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 can display the display screen illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 2B on the display monitor 16 based on the icon information thus obtained. As described above, FIG. 2A is an example of a display screen when priority display processing is not performed, and FIG. 2B is an example of a display screen when priority display processing is performed.

  FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the priority display process according to this embodiment. This flowchart is executed by the control unit 10 in the navigation device 1. In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the same step numbers are assigned to the processing steps having the same contents as those in the flowchart of the processing according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the following description, the description of the processing steps having the same step numbers as those in FIG. 3 is omitted unless particularly necessary.

  In step S <b> 31, the control unit 10 determines whether the navigation application is being executed in the communication terminal connected to the navigation device 1 by Bluetooth communication performed by the wireless interface unit 19. If at least one navigation application is being executed in at least one of the communication terminals connected via Bluetooth, the process proceeds to step S41, and one of the communication terminals executing the navigation application is also connected via Bluetooth. If not, stay in step S31.

  In step S41, the control unit 10 receives icon information representing icons to be displayed on the map from each communication terminal determined to be executing the navigation application in step S31. That is, icon information generated by a navigation application being executed by each communication terminal is received by Bluetooth communication via the wireless interface unit 19. Thereby, each communication terminal wirelessly connected using Bluetooth communication acquires icon information from each application being executed.

  In step S51, the control part 10 sets the priority according to the navigation application of an acquisition destination with respect to each icon which the icon information received by step S41 represents. Here, the priority of each icon is set based on the priority set in advance for each communication terminal that is executing the navigation application. That is, for each communication terminal that transmits icon information to the navigation device 1 by executing the navigation application, a priority order is set in advance for each communication terminal, and a priority corresponding to this is assigned to each icon. To set.

  For example, for the navigation applications A, B, and C described in the first embodiment, the navigation application A is executed in the communication terminal 2a, the navigation application B is executed in the communication terminal 2b, and the navigation application C is executed in the communication terminal 2c. Consider the case where it is executed. At this time, in the navigation device 1, for example, the first priority is set for the communication terminal 2a, the second priority is set for the communication terminal 2b, and the third priority is set for the communication terminal 2c. . The priority order of each communication terminal may be set, for example, in the wireless communication connection settings, or may be set when the navigation application is executed. The priority order once set may be arbitrarily changed later by the user.

  In the above case, the priorities according to the priority order of the communication terminal 2a that is executing the navigation application A are set for the icons 20a to 24a in FIG. Similarly, the priority according to the priority of the communication terminal 2b that is executing the navigation application B is set for each of the icons 20b to 23b, and the communication that is executing the navigation application C is set for each of the icons 20c to 22c. Priorities according to the priority order of the terminal 2c are set. Thereby, the highest priority is set with respect to the icon 20a among the icons 20a, 20b, and 20c which overlap with each other on the map.

  In step S51, the priority for each icon is set by the setting method as described above. Note that when only one navigation application is being executed on one communication terminal and only one type of icon corresponding to the navigation application is displayed, priority setting is not necessary, and therefore the process of step S51 is performed. You don't have to do it.

  In step S60 and subsequent steps, processing similar to that described in the first embodiment is performed in each step.

  In the determination in step S130, as described in the first embodiment, for example, when the map range to be displayed is changed when the vehicle travels more than a predetermined distance or the map is scrolled. It can be determined that the display of each icon is updated. In this case, it is preferable to set the priority only for the icon represented by the newly acquired icon information and perform display according to the priority while maintaining the display state of the icon that has already been displayed. . In this way, it is possible to efficiently operate by reducing useless processing.

  In addition, when the navigation application is executed by a communication terminal different from the communication terminal that has been executing the navigation application so far and icon information is further acquired from the navigation application, the display of each icon is updated. This can be determined in S130. In this case, it is preferable to reset the priorities of the icons that have already been displayed, and display according to the priorities. In this way, even immediately after starting the navigation application on another communication terminal, the icon of each navigation application being executed by each communication terminal including that navigation application is displayed on the map according to its priority. Each can be displayed.

  According to the second embodiment described above, the following operational effects are obtained.

(1) The navigation device 1 acquires icon information representing icons to be displayed on the map from each application being executed by each of the plurality of wirelessly connected communication terminals by the processing of the control unit 10 (step S41). The priority corresponding to the acquisition destination application is set for each icon represented by the icon information (step S51). Then, it is determined whether or not a plurality of icons corresponding to different applications overlap each other on the map (step S70), and the icon is displayed on the map based on the icon information acquired in step S41 (step S120). At this time, based on the priority set in step S51, one of the plurality of icons determined to overlap with each other in step S70 is preferentially displayed. Thereby, similarly to 1st embodiment, it can prevent that the icon by a some application overlaps on a map, and can make it easy-to-read map display.

(2) Different priorities are set in advance for the wirelessly connected communication terminals 2a, 2b, and 2c. In step S51, the priority is assigned to each icon based on the priority order for each communication terminal. Set. Since it did in this way, similarly to 1st embodiment, the suitable priority according to the application of an acquisition destination can be set reliably and easily with respect to each icon.

(3) When icon information is further acquired from an application being executed by another communication terminal, the priority can be reset for each icon in step S51. In this way, as in the first embodiment, even immediately after another communication terminal starts an application, the icon display by the application is immediately reflected, and the icon by each application being executed is displayed. Each can be displayed on the map according to its priority.

  In each of the embodiments described above, an example in which only the icon with the highest priority is displayed when a plurality of icons from different applications overlap each other has been described. However, the form of preferentially displaying high priority icons is not limited to this. For example, icons with higher priority may be displayed in overlapping order so that the overlapping order is higher, or icons with higher priority are displayed with a clearer color and lower priority. You may display so that it may become semi-transparent in a light hue gradually as it becomes. Further, a predetermined number of icons may be preferentially displayed from the highest priority, and other icons may not be displayed. That is, any icon display form may be used as long as at least one of a plurality of overlapping icons can be preferentially displayed.

  Further, in each of the embodiments described above, an example in which the present invention is applied to a navigation apparatus has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this and can be applied to various in-vehicle communication apparatuses. Further, although an example in which Bluetooth communication is used for wireless connection with a communication terminal has been described, wireless connection may be performed using another communication standard, or wired connection may be used. The above-described embodiments and various modifications are merely examples. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

  Each embodiment and various modifications described above are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these contents as long as the features of the invention are not impaired.

1: navigation device, 2a, 2b, 2c: communication terminal, 10: control unit,
11: Vibration gyro, 12: Vehicle speed sensor, 13: HDD, 14: GPS receiver,
15: VICS information receiving unit, 16: display monitor, 17: speaker, 18: input device,
19: Wireless interface section

Claims (7)

Icon information acquisition means for acquiring icon information representing icons to be displayed on a map from a plurality of applications,
Priority setting means for setting a priority according to the application of the acquisition destination for each icon represented by the icon information acquired by the icon information acquisition means;
Duplication determination means for determining whether or not a plurality of the icons corresponding to different applications overlap each other on the map;
Icon display control means for displaying the icon on the map based on the icon information,
The icon display control unit preferentially displays at least one of the plurality of icons determined to overlap each other by the duplication determination unit based on the priority set by the priority setting unit. An in-vehicle information terminal characterized by that. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1,
An application execution means for executing a pre-transferred application and simultaneously executing a plurality of applications;
Operation detecting means for detecting a starting operation for causing the application executing means to start the application, and
When the application execution unit is executing a plurality of applications at the same time, the priority setting unit assigns the priority to each icon based on at least one of a transfer destination of each application and an input destination of the activation operation. An in-vehicle information terminal characterized by being set for each. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 2,
A communication means for connecting to a plurality of communication terminals and receiving the application transferred from each communication terminal;
Each of the plurality of communication terminals has a different priority set in advance,
The in-vehicle information terminal characterized in that the priority setting means sets the priority for each icon based on the priority order for each communication terminal as a transfer destination of each application. In the in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 2 or 3,
The operation detection means has a plurality of operation parts,
Different priorities are set in advance for the plurality of operation parts,
The in-vehicle information terminal characterized in that the priority setting means sets the priority for each icon based on the priority for each operation part as an input destination of the activation operation. The in-vehicle information terminal according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
The in-vehicle information terminal characterized in that, when the application execution unit further activates an application different from the application being executed, the priority setting unit resets the priority for each icon. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 1,
The icon information acquisition unit acquires the icon information from each application being executed by each of a plurality of connected communication terminals,
Each of the plurality of communication terminals has a different priority set in advance,
The in-vehicle information terminal characterized in that the priority setting means sets the priority for each icon based on the priority for each communication terminal. The in-vehicle information terminal according to claim 6,
When the icon information acquisition unit further acquires the icon information from an application being executed by a communication terminal different from the plurality of communication terminals, the priority setting unit resets the priority for each icon. An in-vehicle information terminal characterized by:

Images