WO2008100010A1

WO2008100010A1 - System and method for guiding route using environment information

Info

Publication number: WO2008100010A1
Application number: PCT/KR2007/006497
Authority: WO
Inventors: Young Min Ji; Ju Han Jung
Original assignee: Thinkware Systems Corporation
Priority date: 2007-02-12
Filing date: 2007-12-13
Publication date: 2008-08-21
Also published as: KR20080075401A; KR100886328B1

Abstract

A route guidance method and system which receives, in real time, weather information or road condition information affecting driver's driving, retrieves and provides guidance about route information based on the received weather information or road condition information, and provides equipment sales information required for driving. The route guidance method, including: maintaining route information in a route retrieval database; receiving weather information from a weather service server; retrieving the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information; and providing guidance about the retrieved route information.

Description

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GUIDING ROUTE USING ENVIRONMENT

INFORMATION

Technical Field The present invention relates to a route guidance method and system which receives weather information or road condition information affecting driver's driving in real time, retrieves and provides guidance about route information based on the received weather information or road condition information, and provides equipment sales information required for driving.

Background Art

A navigation system provides route information using a satellite for driving a vehicle. A navigation system includes point of interest (POI) information based on map data. POI is data displaying a station, airport, terminal, hotel, and the like, on a map using coordinates. Accordingly, a navigation system may provide route data including road information and POI based on map data on a route by considering a location of a driving vehicle.

Generally, a navigation system retrieves route information from a current location to a destination based on a shortest distance or shortest time. However, when retrieving route data based on the shortest distance or shortest time even when road condition is not good due to a heavy snow, heavy rain, or car accident, a shortest time or shortest route search may not be guaranteed.

That is, a condition of a retrieved route may actually vary according to a road condition. However, in a conventional art, route data to a destination is uniformly provided, and thus a goal of enabling a driver to reaching a destination in a shortest time with a smallest amount of fuel may not be achieved.

Accordingly, a new technology which may ascertain weather information or road condition information affecting a driver's driving in real time, and reset route data based on a road condition to provide guidance about route information is required.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical Goals The present invention provides a route guidance method and system which receives weather information or road condition information affecting a driver's driving in real time and retrieves route information based on the received weather information or road condition information for a driver's safe driving. The present invention also provides a route guidance method and system which provides equipment sales information on a route to enable a driver to prepare equipment required for a sudden weather change.

The present invention also provides a route guidance method and system which generates weather information such as fog, snow, rain, and the like as a background image, and displays the background image including route information when providing guidance about the route information.

Technical solutions

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route guidance method, including: maintaining route information in a route retrieval database; receiving weather information from a weather service server; retrieving the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information; and providing guidance about the retrieved route information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a route guidance system, including: a route retrieval database maintaining route information; an information receiving unit receiving weather information from a weather service server; a route retrieval unit retrieving the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information; and a route guidance unit providing guidance about the retrieved route information.

Brief Description of Drawings

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a network connection of a route guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a route guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a route guidance service according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a route guidance service according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a route guidance method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail by referring to the figures.

FIG. l is a diagram illustrating a network connection of a route guidance system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the route guidance system may be operated in a terminal 101 or 104 or server. In FIG. 1, it is illustrated that the route guidance system is installed in each of the terminals 101 and 104 as an example. As illustrated in FIG. 1, each vehicle may be provided with a route guidance service through each of the terminals 101 and 104. The route guidance system is installed in each of the terminals 101 and 104. The terminal 101 maintains route information in a route retrieval database. The route information includes road information and Point Of Interest (POI) based on map data. The terminal 101 may receive weather information from a weather service server 102 at predetermined intervals or in real time.

The weather service server 102 provides the weather information such as being cloudy, being sunny, snow, overcast, rain, and the like. The weather service server 102 transmits the weather information to the terminals 101 and 104 in real time. The terminal 101 retrieves the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information. The route information based on the received weather information is retrieved to retrieve route information to avoid a congested area due to heavy snow, heavy rain, freezing conditions, and the like.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the terminal 101 maintains equipment sales information associated with the route information in an equipment sales database. The equipment sales information includes an address and telephone number of an equipment store, route to the equipment store, and the like. The equipment store refers to a place to sell vehicle equipment required for driving vehicles. The terminal 101 may identify equipment sales information existing in the retrieved route information and provide the equipment sales information when providing guidance about the route information. According to another embodiment of the present invention, the terminal 101 receives road condition information from a traffic service server 103. The road condition information is information about a condition of a congested area caused by a traffic accident, road construction, and the like. The terminal 101 may receive the road condition information from the traffic service server 103 at predetermined intervals or in real time. The terminal 101 retrieves route information from the route retrieval database based on the received road condition information and provides guidance about the retrieved route information.

Also, the terminal 101 receives the weather information or road condition information in real time when providing guidance about the route information. After resetting currently-provided route information based on the received weather information or road condition information, the terminal 101 provides guidance about the reset route information.

According to still another embodiment of the present invention, the terminal 101 retrieves route information about at least one route for each block from the route retrieval database. The terminal 101 receives, from a user, a selection on the route information for each block from among the retrieved route information. Also, the terminal 101 combines the selected route information, generates second route information, and thus provides guidance about the generated second route information. The second route information may be generated by combining the route information retrieved based on the weather information and route information retrieved not based on the weather information.

According to yet another embodiment of the present invention, the terminal 101 maintains a background image corresponding to weather information in a background database. The terminal 101 identifies the background image corresponding to the received weather information from the background database. Also, the terminal 101 displays the identified background image including the retrieved route information when providing guidance about the route information. Hereinafter, a route guidance system 200 is described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the route guidance system 200 includes a route retrieval database 201, an equipment sales database 202, a background database 203, an information receiving unit 204, a route retrieval unit 205, a route guidance unit 206, an information providing unit 207, a route reset unit 208, a route selection unit 209, a route generation unit 210, a background identification unit 211, and a display unit 212.

The route retrieval database 201 maintains route information including road information and Point Of Interest (POI) based on map data. The route information is data required when providing guidance about a route. For example, the route information may include image data, video data, audio data, and the like. The route retrieval database 201 divides the route information for each block and maintains the route information. Accordingly, a user may select a divided route section for each block, and new route information for each block may be easily generated. The information receiving unit 204 receives weather information from a weather service server 102 or road condition information from a traffic service server 103. The weather information is information about weather such as clouds, fog, heavy snow, heavy rain, and the like which may affect driving. Also, the road condition information is information about a condition of congested area caused by a traffic accident, road construction, and the like. The road condition information is information about a factor of road congestion like the weather information. The route retrieval unit 205 may retrieve the route information to avoid a congested area.

The weather service server 102 or traffic service server 103 may transmit current weather information or road condition information at predetermined intervals or in real time. In this instance, the information receiving unit 204 may receive the weather information or road condition information using an Intelligent Radio (IDIO), a Transport Protocol Experts Group (TPEG), cellphone network, wireless broadband Internet (WiBro), and the like.

The route retrieval unit 205 retrieves the route information in the route retrieval database 201 based on the received weather information or road condition information. The weather information or road condition information may be different for each area. That is, since a road condition is different, the route retrieval unit 205 retrieves route information which enables a driver to reach a destination in a shortest time and to avoid an area not good for driving. For example, the route retrieval unit 205 checks a road condition of each block and each road such as an express highway, national highway, local road, and the like. Also, the route retrieval unit 205 may retrieve the route information to avoid a congested area due to a heavy snow, heavy rain, freezing, and the like.

The route guidance unit 206 provides guidance about the retrieved route information. The route guidance unit 206 may provide the route information using an image or voice through an output device such as the display unit 212. As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the weather information or road condition information affecting a driver's driving is received in real time, and the route information is retrieved and provided based on the received weather information or road condition information. Thus, assisting the driver to drive safely. In this instance, according to an embodiment of the present invention, equipment sales information is provided together with the route information. The equipment sales information is information about equipment sales existing in the route information.

For this, the equipment sales database 202 maintains the equipment sales information associated with the route information. The equipment sales information includes an address and telephone number of an equipment store, route to the equipment store, and the like. The equipment store refers to a place to sell vehicle equipment required for driving vehicles.

Accordingly, the information providing unit 207 identifies the equipment sales information existing in the route information by referring to the equipment sales database 202. Also, the information providing unit 207 provides the identified equipment sales information. For example, when snow chains are required due to a frozen area included in the route information but snow chains are not prepared, the equipment sales information existing in the route information is provided, and thus a driver may drive safely.

Hereinafter, an example of a route guidance service provided by the route guidance system 200 is illustrated with reference to FIG. 3. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information receiving unit 204 may receive weather information or road condition information using IDIO, digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB), TPEG, cellphone network, WiBro, and the like through a base station. The received weather information or road condition information is used to retrieve route information. The route retrieval unit 206 provides the retrieved route information based on the weather information or road condition information. As illustrated, the information providing unit 207 may provide a guidance sentence, for example, "A car service center is located about 2 Km ahead.", to enable a driver to easily purchase vehicle equipment required for driving on a way to a destination. Also, the route retrieval unit 206 may provide a guidance sentence, for example, "Icy roads about 1 Km ahead. Please drive safely.", when a driver is required to drive safely.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, a route may be continuously reset according to current weather information or road condition information. For this, the route reset unit 208 resets currently-provided route information based on the weather information or road condition information in real time, while providing guidance about the route information. For example, when Highway No. 88 is expected to be congested or is congested while driving on Highway No. 88, the route information may be reset to National way No. 1. Accordingly, the route retrieval unit 206 provides guidance about the newly set route information. In this case, the route retrieval unit 206 may receive, from a user, a selection on route information about any one of the route "A" which is first guided and the route "B" which is newly set. Also, the route retrieval unit 206 may provide guidance about the selected route information.

Also, according to still another embodiment of the present invention, the route retrieval unit 205 may retrieve route information about at least one route for each block from the route retrieval database 201 according to a request from a user. For example, the route retrieval unit 205 may retrieve entire route information for each block. The entire route information includes the route information which is retrieved based on the weather information or road condition information and route information retrieved not based on the weather information or road condition information.

The route selection unit 209 receives, from the user, a selection on route information for each block from among the retrieved route information. For example, when the route selection unit 209 may provide information about a "route 1" and "route 2" from among route information about a route section A, route section B, and route section C. The "route 1" is from the route section A to the route section C via the route section B. The "route 2" is from the route section A to the route section C via a route section H. Then, the route selection unit 209 may receive, from the user, a selection on the "route 1" from the route section A to the route section C.

The route generation unit 210 combines the selected route information and generates second route information. For example, the second route information may be generated by receiving a selection on the "route 1" with respect to a route from the route section A to the route section C and a selection on the "route 2" with respect to a route from the route section C to a route section F. In this instance, the "route 2" passes the route section C, a route section X, a route section Z, and a route section F. The second route information passes includes the route section A, route section B, route section C, route section X, route section Z, and route section F. The second route information may be generated by combining route information, retrieved based on the weather information and road condition information, and route information retrieved not based on the weather information and road condition information.

Also, according to yet another embodiment of the present invention, a background image corresponding to weather information may be displayed. In this instance, the background image includes the route information.

For this, the background database 203 maintains the background image corresponding to the weather information. The background image is information to enable a snowy scene, rainy scene, and the like to be graphically displayed on a display screen depending on a weather condition such as being cloudy, being sunny, fog, overcast, rain, snow, and the like. The background image is overlapped with provided route information to be displayed transparently and thus, the route information may be shown.

The background identification unit 211 identifies the background image corresponding to the received weather information from the background database 203. Specifically, the background identification unit 211 may identify a background image of rain, when the weather information is "rain". Also, the background identification unit 211 may identify a background image of a cloud, when the weather information is "cloud".

The display unit 212 displays the identified background image including the retrieved route information, when providing guidance about the route information. For example, the display unit 212 overlaps the provided route information with the identified background image to display.

Hereinafter, another example of route guidance service provided by the route guidance system 200 is described with reference to FIG. 4.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a screen 401 displays route information including a background image which is rainy scene. A screen 402 displays route information including a background image which is snowy scene.

Accordingly, a driver may see the route information and the background image, and thereby may check a current weather condition.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a route guidance method according to an embodiment of the present invention. The route guidance method may be performed by a route guidance system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.

In operation 501, a route retrieval database 201 of the route guidance system

200 maintains route information. The route information is data required when providing guidance about a route, and may include image data, video data, audio data

(voice), and the like. For example, the route retrieval database 201 may divide the route information for each block and maintain the route information.

In operation 502, an information receiving unit 204 receives weather information from a weather service server 102 or receives road condition information from a road condition server 103. The weather information is information about weather such as clouds, fog, heavy snow, heavy rain, and the like which may affect driving. Also, the road condition information is information about a condition of congested area caused by a traffic accident, road construction, and the like. The information receiving unit 204 may receive the weather information or road condition information in real time or at predetermined intervals.

In operation 503, a route retrieval unit 205 retrieves the route information in the route retrieval database 201 based on the received weather information or road condition information. For example, the route retrieval unit 205 may retrieve the route information to avoid a congested area caused by heavy snow, freezing conditions, a car accident, road construction, and the like.

In operation 504, a route guidance unit 206 provides guidance about the retrieved route information. The route guidance unit 206 may provide the route information using an image or voice through an output device such as a display unit 212. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the route guidance system 200 provides equipment sales information existing in the provided route information by referring to an equipment sales database 202. Conversely, the route guidance system 200 may identify a background image corresponding to the received weather information from a background image database 203, and the route guidance system 200 may display the identified background image including the retrieved route information when providing guidance about the route information.

Also, the route guidance system 200 retrieves route information about at least one route for each block from the route retrieval database 201. The route guidance system 200 receives, from a user, a selection on the route information for each block from among the retrieved route information. Also, the route guidance system 200 combines the selected route information, generates second route information, and thus provides guidance about the generated second route information.

The above-described embodiment of the present invention may be recorded in computer-readable media including program instructions to implement various operations embodied by a computer. The media may also include, alone or in combination with the program instructions, data files, data structures, and the like. The media and program instructions may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD ROM disks and DVD; magneto-optical media such as optical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and perform program instructions, such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include both machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that may be executed by the computer using an interpreter. The described hardware devices may be configured to act as one or more software modules in order to perform the operations of the above-described embodiments of the present invention.

According to the present invention, a route guidance method and system receives weather information or road condition information affecting a driver's driving in real time and retrieves route information based on the received weather information or road condition information for a driver's safe driving.

Also, according to the present invention, a route guidance method and system provides equipment sales information on a route to enable a driver to prepare equipment required for a sudden weather change. Also, according to the present invention, a route guidance method and system generates weather information such as fog, snow, rain, and the like as a background image, and displays the background image including route information when providing guidance about the route information.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the described embodiments. Instead, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A route guidance method, comprising: maintaining route information in a route retrieval database; receiving weather information from a weather service server; retrieving the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information; and providing guidance about the retrieved route information.

2. The route guidance method of claim 1, wherein the providing comprises: extracting equipment sales information associated with the received weather information and retrieved route information from a predetermined equipment sales database, and providing the extracted equipment sales information.

3. The route guidance method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving road condition information from a traffic service server, wherein the providing comprises providing guidance about the retrieved route information considering the received road condition information.

4. The route guidance method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the weather information, or road condition information associated with the weather information at set intervals; and re-retrieving currently-provided route information based on the received weather information or road condition information.

5. The route guidance method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, from a user, a selection on route information for each block from among the retrieved route information; and combining the selected route information and generating second route information, wherein the providing comprises providing guidance about the generated second route information.

6. The route guidance method of claim 5, wherein the generating comprises: combining route information retrieved based on the weather information and route information retrieved not based on the weather information, and generating the second route information.

7. The route guidance method of claim 1, further comprising: maintaining a background image corresponding to weather information in a background database; identifying a background image corresponding to the received weather information from the background database; and displaying the identified background image including the retrieved route information when providing guidance about the route information.

8. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 through 7.

9. A route guidance system, comprising: a route retrieval database maintaining route information; an information receiving unit receiving weather information from a weather service server; a route retrieval unit retrieving the route information in the route retrieval database based on the received weather information; and a route guidance unit providing guidance about the retrieved route information.

10. The route guidance system of claim 9, further comprising: an equipment sales database maintaining equipment sales information; and an information providing unit extracting equipment sales information associated with the received weather information and retrieved route information from the equipment sales database, and providing the extracted equipment sales information.

11. The route guidance system of claim 9, wherein the information receiving unit receives road condition information from a traffic service server, and the route guidance unit provides guidance about the retrieved route information considering the received road condition information.

12. The route guidance system of claim 9, further comprising: a route reset unit re-retrieving currently-provided route information based on the received weather information or road condition information associated with the weather information, the weather information being received at set intervals.

13. The route guidance system of claim 9, further comprising: a route selection unit receiving, from a user, a selection on route information for each block from among the retrieved route information; and a route generation unit combining the selected route information and generating second route information, wherein the route guidance unit provides guidance about the generated second route information.

14. The route guidance system of claim 9, further comprising: a background database maintaining a background image corresponding to the weather information; a background identification unit identifying a background image corresponding to the received weather information from the background database; and a display unit displaying the identified background image including the retrieved route information when providing guidance about the route information.