Broadcast receiving device and setting method

Abstract

To provide a technique for presetting the frequency of a transmitting station suitable for a vehicle's traveling speed.SOLUTION: A first acquisition unit 20 acquires the duration of reception. A second acquisition unit 22 acquires its own vehicle's position and traveling speed. A first calculation unit 24 calculates a reception duration distance based on the traveling speed and the duration of reception. A second calculation unit 26 refers to a broadcast station database and calculates the electric field strength of a broadcast wave transmitted from each transmitting station at its own vehicle's position and the receivable distance of the broadcast wave transmitted from each transmitting station. A setting unit 28 preferentially presets the transmission frequency of a transmitting station with a high electric field strength among transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the reception duration distance.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a broadcast receiving technology, and more particularly to a broadcast receiving device and setting method for presetting frequencies. [Background technology]

[0002] An area presetting function is provided in an in-vehicle broadcast receiving device. In the area presetting function, information on the area where broadcasts can be received for each transmitting station (hereinafter referred to as a "broadcast station database") is stored, channel data of broadcast stations that can be received at the current vehicle position is searched for, and the data of the searched receivable broadcast stations is displayed. It is required to execute area presetting without accumulating a broadcast station database. For this purpose, a number of receiving points are set around a broadcast station, and the electric field strength at each receiving point is set based on elevation data relating to the ground level and the height of the broadcast station, and the electric field area is determined based on the electric field strength at the set receiving points (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-193501 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In Patent Document 1, a method is proposed for determining the reception conditions (field strength, etc.) of each transmitting station at the vehicle's position with high accuracy when determining the frequency of the broadcasting station to be displayed, and the probability of the optimal frequency being preset at the vehicle's position is high when the vehicle is stopped. However, for example, the frequency of a relay station with a narrow broadcasting area that is installed to address geographical and topographical hearing loss occurring within the reception area of ​​a large transmitting station is also a target for pre-setting. If the field strength of such a relay station with a narrow broadcasting area is determined to be maximum, there are areas where the frequency of this relay station is pre-set. When a tuning operation is performed in such an area, a relay station with a narrow broadcasting area is selected, so if the vehicle is moving at high speed and receiving, it will move out of the broadcasting area in a short time. As a result, in the case of a receiver that does not have a search function for continuous viewing, there is a high possibility that reception will be impossible.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to provide a technique for presetting a frequency of a transmitting station suitable for the traveling speed of a vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, a broadcast receiving device of one embodiment of the present invention is a broadcast receiving device mounted on a vehicle, and includes a first acquisition unit that acquires a reception duration time, which is the minimum time for which broadcast waves transmitted from one transmission station should be continuously received, a second acquisition unit that acquires the vehicle's own position and traveling speed, a first calculation unit that calculates a reception duration distance, which is the minimum distance for which broadcast waves transmitted from one transmission station should be continuously received, based on the traveling speed and the reception duration time, a second calculation unit that calculates the electric field strength of the broadcast waves transmitted from each transmission station at the vehicle position and the receivable distance of the broadcast waves transmitted from each transmission station by referring to a broadcast station database that indicates at least the transmission station installation position, transmission frequency, and transmission output for each of a plurality of transmission stations operated by a broadcasting company, and a setting unit that preferentially presets the transmission frequency of a transmission station with a greater electric field strength among transmission stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the reception duration distance.

[0007] Another aspect of the present invention is a setting method for a broadcast receiving device mounted on a vehicle, which includes the steps of acquiring a reception duration time, which is the minimum time for which broadcast waves transmitted from one transmitting station should be continuously received, acquiring the vehicle's own vehicle position and traveling speed, calculating a reception duration distance, which is the minimum distance for which broadcast waves transmitted from one transmitting station should be continuously received, based on the traveling speed and the reception duration time, calculating the electric field strength of the broadcast waves transmitted from each transmitting station at the vehicle position and the receivable distance of the broadcast waves transmitted from each transmitting station by referring to a broadcast station database indicating at least the transmitting station installation position, transmission frequency, and transmission output for each of a plurality of transmitting stations operated by a broadcaster, and preferentially presetting the transmission frequency of a transmitting station with a greater electric field strength among transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the reception duration distance.

[0008] Any combination of the above components, and any transformation of the present invention into a method, device, system, recording medium, computer program, etc., are also effective as aspects of the present invention. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the frequency of the transmitting station can be preset to suit the traveling speed of the vehicle. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a car navigation device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control device in FIG. [Diagram 3] 2 is a diagram showing a data structure of a broadcast station database stored in the nonvolatile memory of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] 3 is a diagram showing a data structure of a transmission station list for each broadcaster generated in the setting unit of FIG. 2. FIG. [Diagram 5] 4 is a flowchart showing a preset procedure performed by the car navigation device of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] Before describing the present invention in detail, an overview will be given first. An embodiment of the present invention relates to a car navigation device mounted on a vehicle. The car navigation device is also a broadcast receiving device capable of receiving broadcasts. As described above, the broadcast receiving device mounted on a vehicle is required to preset frequencies of transmitting stations suitable for the traveling speed of the vehicle. In this embodiment, frequencies of transmitting stations with narrow broadcast areas are excluded from the preset candidates as the traveling speed of the vehicle increases, regardless of the electric field strength (electric field strength ranking) at the vehicle's position. Also, in this embodiment, the conditions for transmitting stations (frequencies) to be excluded from the preset candidates change depending on the traveling speed of the vehicle.

[0012] 1 shows the configuration of a car navigation device 100 (broadcast receiving device), particularly the internal configuration of the car navigation device 100, mainly showing the parts related to this embodiment. The car navigation device 100 includes a control device 1, a non-volatile memory 2, a volatile memory 3, an audio I / F (Interface) 4, a SP (Speaker) 5, a MIC (Microphone) 6, an input device 7, a display device 8, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 9, a broadcast receiver 10, a communication transceiver 11, and an external I / F 12. The control device 1 is mounted on a mobile vehicle (not shown).

[0013] The control device 1 and the volatile memory 3 control the entire car navigation device 100 and are also used for receiving broadcasts. The non-volatile memory 2 stores the control program or various information of the car navigation device 100. One example of the various information is a broadcast station database. There may be multiple non-volatile memories 2, and they may be general SSDs (Solid State Drives) or HDDs (Hard Disk Drives), etc.

[0014] The MIC 6 collects ambient sounds or human voices and outputs the collected sounds as analog audio signals. The MIC 6 is used, for example, to operate the car navigation device 100 using voice recognition. The audio I / F 4 converts the analog audio signal from the MIC 6 into a digital signal and outputs the converted digital signal to the control device 1. The audio I / F 4 also converts the digital audio signal from the control device 1 into an analog audio signal, amplifies it, and outputs the analog audio signal to the SP 5. The SP 5 outputs various operation sounds, voice synthesis sounds for guidance, broadcast sounds, music playback sounds, etc. The SP 5 may be earphones or headphones.

[0015] The input device 7 and display device 8 are connected to the control device 1, and are, for example, a combination of a liquid crystal display device and a touch panel for various operations. The display device 8 displays maps for car navigation, video content such as television broadcasts, system status, guidance for making the touch panel function as an operation input device, icons, etc. When the terrestrial digital broadcasting or AM / FM broadcasting function is selected, the display device 8 displays text information or icons representing broadcasting companies that are determined to be receivable at the vehicle's position by the area preset function.

[0016] The GPS receiver 9 performs positioning based on signals received from GPS satellites (not shown), and outputs information such as location information (e.g., latitude, longitude, etc.) and date to the control device 1. The GPS receiver 9 also outputs to the control device 1 information such as the elevation angle, azimuth angle, time information, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) indicating the reception state of each GPS satellite used for positioning, etc.

[0017] The broadcast receiver 10 receives signals of terrestrial digital broadcasting, AM / FM broadcasting, etc. The broadcast receiver 10, in combination with the control device 1, receives a desired broadcast station and also acquires video, audio, and other data contained in the broadcast waves, the reception status, etc.

[0018] The communication transceiver 11 is a communication device for connecting to a voice and data communication network provided by a communication carrier with which a user who owns the car navigation device 100 has a contract. The communication transceiver 11 may be disposed outside the car navigation device 100. For example, the communication transceiver 11 obtains data in near real time from a broadcast station database established outside.

[0019] The external I / F 12 includes a highly versatile I / F (hereinafter referred to as a "general-purpose I / F") such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) (registered trademark) port, and a dedicated I / F for obtaining information from the vehicle. The general-purpose I / F is connected to a communication device such as a smartphone, a memory storing music signals or map data, etc. The dedicated I / F is connected to a vehicle speed pulse signal from the vehicle, for example.

[0020] 2 shows the configuration of the control device 1. The control device 1 includes a first acquisition unit 20, a second acquisition unit 22, a first calculation unit 24, a second calculation unit 26, and a setting unit .

[0021] The first acquisition unit 20 acquires the reception duration stored in the non-volatile memory 2. The reception duration is the minimum time that the broadcast receiver 10 should continue to receive broadcast waves transmitted from one transmission station while the vehicle is moving. This is the allowable time after receiving a transmission wave from one transmission station until reception becomes impossible due to moving outside the broadcast area of ​​the transmission station. The reception duration is, for example, "15 minutes." The reception duration is set in advance by the user. Here, the reception duration may be changeable by a user operation. Also, a plurality of reception durations may be stored in advance, and one of the reception durations may be selected by a user operation.

[0022] The second acquisition unit 22 acquires the vehicle's own position from the GPS receiver 9. The second acquisition unit 22 also acquires the average vehicle speed of the vehicle (hereinafter referred to as "traveling speed") by calculating the average vehicle speed based on a vehicle speed pulse signal from the vehicle connected to the external I / F 12. The average vehicle speed is, for example, a moving average speed for one minute with a sampling interval of one second.

[0023] The first calculation unit 24 calculates the continuous reception distance by multiplying the traveling speed and the continuous reception time. The continuous reception distance is the minimum distance that the broadcast receiver 10 should continue to receive broadcast waves transmitted from one transmission station while the vehicle is moving. When the traveling speed is "100km / h" and the continuous reception time is "15 minutes", the continuous reception distance is "25km". When the traveling speed is "0km / h" and the continuous reception time is "15 minutes", the continuous reception distance is "0km".

[0024] The second calculation unit 26 refers to the broadcast station database stored in the non-volatile memory 2. Fig. 3 shows the data structure of the broadcast station database stored in the non-volatile memory 2. The broadcast station database is a database that indicates at least the location, height, transmission frequency, and transmission output of each of a plurality of transmitting stations operated by a broadcaster. The location of the transmitting station is indicated by latitude and longitude. Fig. 3 shows information on a plurality of transmitting stations operated by a first broadcaster as an example, but similar databases are also prepared for broadcasters other than the first broadcaster, for example, a second broadcaster and a third broadcaster. Return to Fig. 2.

[0025] The second calculation unit 26 calculates the distance from the transmitter installation location to the vehicle location, i.e., the distance from the transmitter to the vehicle, for each transmitter, by calculating the difference between the transmitter installation location and the vehicle location. The second calculation unit 26 also calculates the field strength of the broadcast wave transmitted from the transmitter at the vehicle location for each transmitter, based on the calculated distance, height, transmission frequency, and transmission output. Since a known technique may be used to calculate the field strength, a description thereof will be omitted here. The non-volatile memory 2 stores a threshold value of the field strength at which the broadcast wave can be received (hereinafter, referred to as the "field strength threshold value"), and the second calculation unit 26 extracts a transmitter having a field strength equal to or greater than the field strength threshold value from among the multiple transmitters shown in the broadcast station database.

[0026] Furthermore, for each of the multiple transmitting stations shown in the broadcast station database or for each of the extracted one or more transmitting stations, the second calculation unit 26 calculates the distance at which the broadcast waves transmitted from the transmitting station can be received, based on the height, transmission frequency, transmission output, and field strength threshold. This distance is the distance from the transmitting station to the edge of the area preset range, so if the area preset range is a circle centered on the transmitting station, it corresponds to the radius of the circle. The second calculation unit 26 calculates the diameter at which the straight-line distance is maximum within the circle as the "receivable distance". The receivable distance is calculated by doubling the calculated distance. The calculated distance may be used as the "receivable distance".

[0027] The setting unit 28 creates a list (hereinafter referred to as the "transmission station list") in which information on the transmission stations, including the receivable distance, for all the transmission stations extracted by the second calculation unit 26 is arranged for each broadcaster in descending order of electric field strength at the vehicle's position. FIG. 4 shows the data structure of the transmission station list for each broadcaster generated by the setting unit 28. Information on four transmission stations for the first broadcaster is arranged in descending order of electric field strength at the vehicle's position. In addition, information on one transmission station is shown for the second broadcaster, and similarly for the third broadcaster. Information on the transmission stations includes the transmission frequency and the receivable distance. At this stage, the deletion flag is not indicated in the transmission station list.

[0028] When only one transmitting station is indicated in the transmitting station list, such as the second broadcasting company, the setting unit 28 selects that transmitting station. When multiple transmitting stations are indicated in the transmitting station list, such as the first broadcasting company, the setting unit 28 compares the receivable distance and the continuous reception distance for each transmitting station. When the receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance for all of the multiple transmitting stations, the setting unit 28 selects the transmitting station with the greatest electric field strength. When the receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance for all of the multiple transmitting stations, the setting unit 28 selects the transmitting station with the greatest electric field strength.

[0029] When a plurality of transmitting stations include transmitting stations whose receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance and transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance, the setting unit 28 assigns a deletion flag to the transmitting stations whose receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance. In the case where the continuous reception distance is "25 km" in FIG. 4, the setting unit 28 assigns a deletion flag to the transmitting station with the transmission frequency "XXX" and the transmitting station with the transmission frequency "OOO". The deletion flag indicates that the transmitting station is to be excluded from the preset selection targets. The setting unit 28 selects the transmitting station with the greatest field strength from among the transmitting stations to which the deletion flag has not been assigned.

[0030] The above process is performed for all broadcasters shown in the transmitting station list. The setting unit 28 presets the transmission frequency of the transmitting station selected for each broadcaster to the broadcast receiver 10. In other words, the setting unit 28 preferentially presets the transmission frequency of a transmitting station with a high field strength among transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance. When terrestrial digital broadcasting or AM / FM broadcasting is selected in the car navigation device 100, the display device 8 in FIG. 1 displays text information indicating the broadcaster, but may or may not display the preset transmission frequency.

[0031] The control device 1 updates the preset of the transmission frequency for each broadcasting company by executing the preset process described above at a predetermined interval. At that time, the control device 1 may change the execution interval of the processes of the first calculation unit 24, the second calculation unit 26, and the setting unit 28 according to the traveling speed acquired by the second acquisition unit 22. For example, the faster the traveling speed is, the shorter the update interval is made, and the slower the traveling speed is, the longer the update interval is made.

[0032] This configuration can be realized in hardware terms by the CPU, memory, and other LSIs of any computer, and in software terms by programs loaded into memory, but here we depict functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms by hardware alone, software alone, or a combination of both.

[0033] The operation of the car navigation device 100 configured as above will be described. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing the preset procedure by the car navigation device 100. The second acquisition unit 22 acquires the vehicle position and traveling speed (S10). The first calculation unit 24 calculates the continuous reception distance based on the traveling speed and the continuous reception time (S12). The second calculation unit 26 extracts transmitting stations capable of receiving broadcast waves from the broadcast station database (S14). The second calculation unit 26 calculates the receivable distance for the extracted transmitting stations (S16). The setting unit 28 arranges the transmitting stations in descending order of electric field strength (S18).

[0034] If there are multiple transmitting stations for one broadcasting company (Y in S20), and a transmitting station where the receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance is included (Y in S22), and a transmitting station where the receivable distance is greater than or equal to the continuous reception distance is included (Y in S24), the setting unit 28 assigns a deletion flag to the transmitting station where the receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance (S26). If there are not multiple transmitting stations for one broadcasting company (N in S20), or a transmitting station where the receivable distance is less than the continuous reception distance is included (N in S22), or a transmitting station where the receivable distance is greater than or equal to the continuous reception distance is included (N in S24), step 26 is skipped.

[0035] If processing for all broadcasters is not complete (N in S28), return to step 20. If processing for all broadcasters is complete (Y in S28), the setting unit 28 presets the transmission frequency of the transmitting station with the maximum field strength (S30), excluding the transmitting station with the deletion flag. If a certain period of time has not elapsed (N in S32), wait. If a certain period of time has elapsed (Y in S32), return to step 10.

[0036] According to this embodiment, among the transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance, the transmitting frequency of the transmitting station having the highest electric field strength is preferentially preset, so that the frequency of the transmitting station suitable for the traveling speed of the vehicle can be preset. Also, during mobile reception, the frequency of the broadcasting station to be displayed is determined after excluding the frequency of the small-scale relay station whose broadcasting area is narrow according to the moving speed, so that it is possible to prevent the user from being unable to receive the signal immediately after selecting the station. Also, during mobile reception, the frequency of the broadcasting station to be displayed is determined after excluding the frequency of the small-scale relay station whose broadcasting area is narrow according to the moving speed, so that it is possible to prevent the user from being unable to receive the signal immediately after selecting the station due to the continuous viewing search being operated.

[0037] In addition, when the vehicle is stopped, the frequency of the broadcast station displayed is determined based on the electric field strength, so that there is no effect on the technology that determines the optimum frequency at the vehicle's position with high accuracy. In addition, when the vehicle is traveling at high speed, if the reception conditions are poor despite the user having preset the frequency of a medium or large-scale transmitting station and selected (selected) this, the small-scale relay station with the highest electric field strength can be selected. In addition, since the reception duration is changeable, the reception duration can be set according to the user's preference. In addition, since the execution interval of the preset process is changed according to the traveling speed, the transmission frequency can be updated when the traveling speed is high, and the frequency of execution of the process can be reduced when the traveling speed is low.

[0038] The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments. These embodiments are merely illustrative, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of each component and each treatment process, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] 1 control device, 2 non-volatile memory, 3 volatile memory, 4 audio I / F, 5 SP, 6 MIC, 7 input device, 8 display device, 9 GPS receiver, 10 broadcast receiver, 11 communication transceiver, 12 external I / F, 20 first acquisition unit, 22 second acquisition unit, 24 first calculation unit, 26 second calculation unit, 28 setting unit, 100 car navigation device.

Claims

1. A broadcast receiving device mounted on a vehicle, a first acquisition unit that acquires a reception duration that is a minimum value of a time for which a broadcast wave transmitted from one transmitting station should be continuously received; A second acquisition unit that acquires a vehicle position and a traveling speed of the vehicle; a first calculation unit that calculates a continuous reception distance, which is a minimum distance for which a broadcast wave transmitted from one of the transmitting stations should be continuously received, based on the traveling speed and the continuous reception time; a second calculation unit that calculates the electric field strength of the broadcasting waves transmitted from each transmitting station at the vehicle position and the receivable distance of the broadcasting waves transmitted from each transmitting station by referring to a broadcasting station database that indicates at least the transmitting station installation location, the transmission frequency, and the transmission output for each of a plurality of transmitting stations operated by a broadcasting company; a setting unit that preferentially presets a transmission frequency of a transmitting station having a high electric field strength among transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance; A broadcast receiving device comprising:

2. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 1 , wherein the reception duration time acquired by the first acquisition unit is changeable.

3. The broadcast receiving device according to claim 1 , wherein an execution interval of the processes of the first calculation unit, the second calculation unit, and the setting unit is changed depending on the traveling speed acquired by the second acquisition unit.

4. A setting method for a broadcast receiving device mounted on a vehicle, comprising: acquiring a reception duration that is a minimum time for which a broadcast wave transmitted from one transmitting station should be continuously received; acquiring a vehicle position and a traveling speed of the vehicle; A step of calculating a continuous reception distance, which is a minimum distance for which a broadcast wave transmitted from one transmitting station should be continuously received, based on the traveling speed and the continuous reception time; A step of calculating the electric field strength of the broadcasting waves transmitted from each transmitting station at the vehicle position and the receivable distance of the broadcasting waves transmitted from each transmitting station by referring to a broadcasting station database in which at least the transmitting station installation location, the transmission frequency, and the transmission output for each of a plurality of transmitting stations operated by a broadcasting company are indicated; a step of preferentially presetting a transmission frequency of a transmitting station having a high electric field strength among transmitting stations whose receivable distance is equal to or greater than the continuous reception distance; A setting method comprising:

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