Driving assistance formulation device, driving assistance formulation system, and driving assistance formulation method

Abstract

A driving assistance formulation device according to the present disclosure comprises a normal-precision node information acquiring unit that acquires normal-precision node information relating to a travel route of a host vehicle, a version compatibility determining unit that determines whether or not the version of a normal-precision map and the version of a high-precision map are a combination of versions to which an association information table applies, an association determining unit that determines whether or not a normal-precision node is associated with a high-precision node or a high-precision link, and a driving assistance formulating unit that formulates driving assistance of the host vehicle using the high-precision map, wherein, if it is determined that the version of the normal-precision map and the version of the high-precision map are not a combination of versions to which the association information table applies, the association determining unit evaluates whether or not at least one piece of attribute information included in the normal-precision node information matches at least one piece of attribute information included in the association information, and scores the total number of matches as a degree of matching of the association information, to determine the association information that matches the normal-precision node information.

Description

Driving assistance formulation device, driving assistance formulation system, and driving assistance formulation method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a driving assistance formulation device, a driving assistance formulation system, and a driving assistance formulation method that formulate driving assistance for a driver.

[0002] For example, a driving assistance planning device has a normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit that acquires normal-accuracy node information for a driving route of the vehicle calculated using a normal-accuracy map; a high-accuracy map DB (database) that includes road shape information for each lane, high-accuracy nodes, and high-accuracy links; a linking information table that is a table that associates portions of the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map using the normal-accuracy node information as a key; a linking determination unit that determines whether a normal-accuracy position is linked to a high-accuracy node and a high-accuracy link based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit and the linking information table; a traveling determination unit that determines whether the vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map based on the determination of the linking determination unit; and a driving assistance planning unit that, when the traveling determination unit determines that the vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road, uses the high-accuracy map to formulate driving assistance for the driver of the vehicle. The driving assistance planning device determines whether the driving route of the vehicle can be converted into a route on a high-accuracy map road, and if conversion is possible, performs the conversion of the driving route (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] International Publication No. 2023 / 127003

[0004] Roads in the real world change daily, and in order for a driving assistance planning device to maintain operation that corresponds to real-world roads, it is necessary to regularly update the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map. However, the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map may be updated asynchronously, which may cause a combination of the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map to which the linking information table is applied to not match the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map held by the driving assistance planning device. In the past, this caused a problem in which the driving assistance planning device operated differently from expected, such as the linking determination unit adopting incorrect linking information or being unable to adopt any linking information, making it impossible to properly plan driving assistance.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide a driving assistance formulation device, a driving assistance formulation system, and a driving assistance formulation method that are capable of formulating driving assistance normally.

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a driving assistance planning device according to the present disclosure includes a normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit that acquires normal-accuracy node information including normal-accuracy position information indicating normal-accuracy positions of normal-accuracy nodes in a driving route of a vehicle calculated using a normal-accuracy map including road shape information on a road-by-road basis and normal-accuracy nodes; a version correspondence determination unit that determines whether a version of the normal-accuracy map and a version of a high-accuracy map including road shape information on a lane-by-lane basis, high-accuracy nodes, and high-accuracy links, are a combination of versions that are applicable in a linking information table that includes linking information indicating correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map; and a version correspondence determination unit that determines whether a version of the normal-accuracy map and a version of a high-accuracy map including road shape information on a lane-by-lane basis, a high-accuracy node, and a high-accuracy link are a combination of versions that are applicable in a linking information table that includes linking information indicating correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit and the linking information. and a driving assistance formulation unit that formulates driving assistance for the vehicle using the high precision map when the linking determination unit determines that the version of the normal precision map and the version of the high precision map are not a combination of versions that the linking information table applies to. When the version compatibility determination unit determines that the version of the normal precision map and the version of the high precision map are not a combination of versions that the linking information table applies to, the linking determination unit evaluates whether at least one piece of attribute information included in the normal precision node information matches at least one piece of attribute information included in the linking information, scores the total value of the matches as the degree of compatibility of the linking information, and determines the linking information that matches the normal precision node information based on the score.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to properly formulate driving assistance.

[0008] The objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.

[0009] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an on-board device equipped with a driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a normal-precision node according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an association information table according to embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an on-board device equipped with a driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 4. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 4. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an on-board device equipped with a driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 5. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance formulation device according to embodiment 5. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a driving assistance formulation device according to embodiments 1 to 5. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a driving assistance formulation device according to embodiments 1 to 5.

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or corresponding parts in each drawing are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations will be appropriately simplified or omitted.

[0011] First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle device 1 according to a first embodiment.

[0012] The in-vehicle device 1 includes an information processing device 2, a driving assistance planning device 3, a positioning device 12, and a driving assistance device 13. The in-vehicle device 1 is mounted on a vehicle (host vehicle).

[0013] 1 shows a case where the information processing device 2, the driving assistance planning device 3, the positioning device 12, and the driving assistance device 13 are provided separately, but these devices may be arbitrarily combined to form an integrated device. For example, the driving assistance planning device 3 and the driving assistance device 13 may be integrated.

[0014] The information processing device 2 corresponds to an IVI (In-Vehicle Infotainment) system, and is, for example, a navigation device. The information processing device 2 includes a normal-accuracy map DB 4 and an application execution unit 5. Note that the information processing device 2 may be provided outside the vehicle.

[0015] The normal-accuracy map DB 4 is a storage medium such as a memory or a hard disk drive (HDD). The normal-accuracy map DB 4 stores normal-accuracy maps. The normal-accuracy maps include at least road shape information for each road representing a road, normal-accuracy nodes, and normal-accuracy links.

[0016] The application execution unit 5 executes, for example, a navigation function. The application execution unit 5 outputs normal-accuracy node information along the driving route obtained as a result of the driving route search or driving route prediction to the driving assistance planning device 3. The normal-accuracy node information includes normal-accuracy position information indicating the position of the normal-accuracy node along the driving route (normal-accuracy position). The application execution unit 5 performs a driving route search or a driving route prediction using the vehicle position measured by a positioning unit (not shown) included in the information processing device 2 or the vehicle position measured by the positioning device 12.

[0017] The driving assistance planning device 3 includes a normal precision node information acquisition unit 9, a version correspondence determination unit 8, a linking determination unit 10, a driving assistance planning unit 11, a high precision map DB 6, and a linking information table storage unit 7.

[0018] The high precision map DB 6 is a storage medium such as a memory or a HDD. The high precision map DB 6 stores high precision maps. The high precision maps include at least road shape information representing roads in units of lanes, high precision nodes, and high precision links.

[0019] The high precision map DB 6 may be included in the in-vehicle device 1 separately from the driving assistance planning device 3, or may be provided outside the vehicle.

[0020] The linking information table storage unit 7 is a storage medium such as a memory or an HDD. The linking information table storage unit 7 stores a linking information table including linking information indicating the correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map. Details of the linking information table will be described later. The linking information table storage unit 7 may be provided outside the vehicle.

[0021] The version compatibility determination unit 8 determines whether the version of the normal-precision map acquired from the application execution unit 5 and the version of the high-precision map acquired from the high-precision map DB 6 match the version combination to which the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 is applicable.

[0022] The normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 acquires normal-accuracy node information from the information processing device 2 .

[0023] The linking determination unit 10 determines whether or not a normal-precision node included in the normal-precision node information is linked to a high-precision node or high-precision link stored in the high-precision map DB 6, based on the normal-precision node information acquired by the normal-precision node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7, and identifies the high-precision node or high-precision link linked to the normal-precision node.

[0024] When the linking determination unit 10 determines that the host vehicle will be traveling on a high-precision map road included in the high-precision map, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 formulates driving assistance for the driver of the host vehicle using the high-precision map stored in the high-precision map DB 6. The driving assistance formulation unit 11 outputs information related to the formulated driving assistance (driving assistance information) to the driving assistance device 13.

[0025] The positioning device 12 determines the current position of the vehicle using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). The positioning device 12 may also determine the current position of the vehicle by taking into consideration detection results acquired from a gyro sensor and a vehicle speed sensor (not shown) provided in the vehicle.

[0026] The driving assistance device 13 performs driving assistance for the driver of the vehicle based on the driving assistance information acquired from the driving assistance planning device 3. Examples of driving assistance include automated driving, an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS), and notification assistance.

[0027] The driving assistance planning device 3 can be applied not only to the in-vehicle device 1 but also to a device constructed as a system by appropriately combining a PND (Portable Navigation Device) that can be mounted on a vehicle and a server provided outside the vehicle, etc. In this case, each function or each component of the driving assistance planning device 3 is distributed and arranged among the functions that construct the above-mentioned system.

[0028] For example, a driving assistance formulation system may be constructed in which a server having each function of the driving assistance formulation device 3 and an in-vehicle device 1 having the driving assistance device 13 are connected via a communication network. In this case, the driving assistance device 13 acquires information on driving assistance formulated by the server from the server, and performs driving assistance for the driver of the vehicle based on the driving assistance information.

[0029] Next, the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 will be described in detail.

[0030] 2 is a diagram showing an example of a normal-accuracy node. FIG. 2 shows a model of a portion of a road on a normal-accuracy map. N1, N2, N3, and N4 are normal-accuracy nodes located at, for example, intersections. The application execution unit 5 executes a navigation function to perform a driving route search or a driving route prediction, and outputs normal-accuracy node information for at least one of N1, N2, N3, and N4 included in the resulting driving route to the driving assistance planning device 3.

[0031] In the example of FIG. 2 , the vehicle travels along a route N1, N2, and N3 in that order, and, for example, normal-accuracy node information for N2 is output from the application execution unit 5 to the driving assistance planning device 3. The application execution unit 5 outputs the normal-accuracy node information for N2 to the driving assistance planning device 3 before the vehicle actually passes N2. The normal-accuracy node N2 has a normal-accuracy link L1 on its incoming side and a normal-accuracy link L2 on its outgoing side, and the normal-accuracy node information includes coordinate information indicating the position of the node (the position of N2) as well as information on these links (L1, L2). The normal-accuracy link includes, for example, the shape of the link (road shape information), the direction of travel of the link at each of the starting and ending ends (θ1-O, θ2-I, θ2-O, θ3-I), the road type of the link, and information on some attribute of the link.

[0032] Here, examples of the "road type of the link" include "expressway," "ramp (a road connecting an expressway and a general road)," and "interchange." The road type of the link may also be a flag indicating whether the lanes of the road within the link are a "normal lane," "HOV lane (a lane that only vehicles with a certain number of occupants are permitted to use)," "two-way lane (which switches depending on the time of day)," "taxi lane," or "only right-left turn lane." The "attribute of the link" may be, for example, information that can be used to associate links on a normal-precision map with links on a high-precision map, such as the length of the link, the width of the link, and the number of lanes on the road within the link.

[0033] Next, the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 will be described in detail.

[0034] 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a linking information table. The linking information table includes multiple pieces of linking information, and these pieces of linking information are used to associate normal-precision nodes with high-precision links. In the example of FIG. 3, the linking information includes first linking information, second linking information, third linking information, fourth linking information, fifth linking information, and sixth linking information.

[0035] The linking information includes a plurality of compatibility conditions for determining whether the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 can be linked to a high-accuracy link, and a link-destination object that specifies the high-accuracy link to be linked when the compatibility conditions are met. In the example of FIG. 3, the compatibility conditions include four items: "node coordinates" indicating the coordinates of the normal-accuracy node, "link direction" indicating the direction of the normal-accuracy link, "road type," and "attribute." These four pieces of information are also collectively referred to as "attribute information." Note that "road type" corresponds to the "road type of the link" described above. Furthermore, "attribute" corresponds to "any attribute of the link" described above.

[0036] 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance planning device 3. As a premise of this operation, it is assumed that the application execution unit 5 of the information processing device 2 executes a route search or a route prediction using the normal-accuracy map stored in the normal-accuracy map DB 4, and generates normal-accuracy node information within a predetermined range on the driving route of the host vehicle. Note that after the application execution unit 5 executes the route search or the route prediction, the information processing device 2 may output the normal-accuracy node information only once, or may output the normal-accuracy node information multiple times.

[0037] In step S101 , the version compatibility determining unit 8 acquires from the application executing unit 5 version information (information about the version) of the normal-accuracy map stored in the normal-accuracy map DB 4 .

[0038] In step S102 , the version compatibility determining unit 8 acquires the version information of the high precision map stored in the high precision map DB 6 .

[0039] In step S103, the version correspondence determining unit 8 acquires information on the combination of versions to which the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 applies.

[0040] In step S104, the version correspondence determination unit 8 determines whether the version of the normal-accuracy map acquired in step S101 and the version of the high-accuracy map acquired in step S102 match the version combination to which the linking information table acquired in step S103 applies. If the versions match, the process proceeds to step S105. On the other hand, if the versions do not match, the process proceeds to step S107.

[0041] In step S105, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 acquires one or more pieces of normal-accuracy node information on the travel route of the host vehicle from the information processing device 2. Note that if the information processing device 2 outputs normal-accuracy node information only once, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 may acquire the normal-accuracy node information, or if the information processing device 2 outputs normal-accuracy node information multiple times, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 may acquire only the initial (first) piece of normal-accuracy node information.

[0042] In step S106, the linking determination unit 10 determines, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7, whether or not the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6. If the linking determination unit 10 determines that the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, it identifies the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node.

[0043] For example, first, the linking determination unit 10 determines whether each piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 matches all of the compatibility conditions in the linking information table. Then, if linking information that matches each piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information is found, the linking determination unit 10 determines that the normal-accuracy node is linked to the high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link corresponding to the linking information.

[0044] In step S107, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 acquires information on one or more normal-accuracy nodes on the travel route of the host vehicle from the information processing device 2 in the same manner as in step S105.

[0045] In step S108, the linking determination unit 10 determines whether the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6 based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7, and identifies the high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node. However, since the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map do not match the version combinations to which the linking information table applies, there is a high possibility that correct data correspondence will not be achieved. Therefore, matching is performed using a method that uses score calculation. Specifically, the linking determination unit 10 does not determine whether each piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information matches all of the matching conditions in the linking information table, but rather determines whether each piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information individually matches each matching condition in the linking information table, and tallying up the results as a score. For example, if there are four matching conditions (node ​​coordinates, link direction, road type, and attribute) as shown in Figure 3, and three matches and one mismatch for each matching condition are found, the score will be "3." The linking determination unit 10 calculates the score for all of the linking information in the linking information table, and determines the top-ranked linking information among the matched information sorted in descending order of score as a matching candidate. If the score of this matching candidate exceeds a predetermined threshold, the linking determination unit 10 determines that the normal-accuracy node information is linked to the high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link corresponding to the matching candidate (linking information).

[0046] In step S109, the link determination unit 10 determines whether there is normal-accuracy node information that matches the link information. If there is matching normal-accuracy node information, the process proceeds to step S110. On the other hand, if there is no matching normal-accuracy node information, the process ends.

[0047] In step S110, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 accesses the high precision map DB 6 based on the linked object included in the linking information corresponding to the matched normal-accuracy node information, and acquires the high precision node linked to the normal-accuracy node. At this time, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 acquires the linked object included in the linking information corresponding to the matched normal-accuracy node information from the linking determination unit 10. Then, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 formulates driving assistance using the acquired high precision node.

[0048] By performing the above process and using a linking information table with a single version combination, it becomes possible to handle multiple combinations of normal-accuracy map versions and high-accuracy map versions. Therefore, even if the linking information table storage unit 7 and map versions installed in the in-vehicle device 1 are old, the driving assistance function can be implemented.

[0049] <Variation 1> In the first embodiment, a method has been described in which the linking determination unit 10 performs alternative processing when the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map do not match the combination of versions that the linking information table applies to, but the present invention is not limited to this. Even when the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map match the combination of versions that the linking information table applies to, in order to determine the applicable linking information in the linking information table, the compatibility conditions for each piece of linking information may be individually determined to calculate a score, and the score may be used as information for determination.

[0050] <Embodiment 2> In embodiment 2, in step S108 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 in embodiment 1, relaxed matching conditions of the linking information are used as alternative matching conditions. Note that scoring is not performed here, and those that meet all of the new matching conditions are set as matching candidates. Relaxing the matching conditions of the linking information means, for example, allowing a wider error for the coordinates where the normal-accuracy node is located and the azimuth angle of the normal-accuracy link. Furthermore, for some attribute value, multiple attribute values ​​may be allowed, or the matching condition may be ignored (not used as a matching condition).

[0051] By performing the above process, the compatibility conditions for the linked information are relaxed. As a result, even if the normal-accuracy node information no longer complies with multiple compatibility conditions included in the linked information due to changes in the normal-accuracy node information caused by an update to the version of the normal-accuracy map, it is expected that appropriate linked information that complies with the normal-accuracy node information will be selected.

[0052] <Variation 1> The first and second embodiments may be combined. Specifically, in step S108 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 for the first embodiment, the association determination unit 10 determines whether certain attribute information (one of node information, link orientation, road type, and attribute) included in the normal-accuracy node information matches the matching conditions included in each piece of association information. If the original conditions match, the association determination unit 10 determines the matching condition. If the original conditions are not met but the relaxed conditions are met, the association determination unit 10 determines the matching condition. If the relaxed conditions are not met, the association determination unit 10 determines the matching condition. The association determination unit 10 assigns scores of 2 points, 1 point, and 0 points to the matching condition, respectively. The association determination unit 10 similarly assigns scores to other attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information and sums the scores of each attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information. The association determination unit 10 then assigns a score to each piece of association information according to the matching condition with the normal-accuracy node information, and determines the score.

[0053] <Modification 2> In scoring the linking information for determining matching candidates in matching between normal-accuracy node information and linking information in the first embodiment and modification 1 of the second embodiment, for continuous values ​​such as the coordinates of the normal-accuracy node information and the azimuth of the normal-accuracy link, the difference between the value in the acquired normal-accuracy node information and the value that is the matching condition of the linking information may be used directly as the score. Furthermore, the difference (value) between these two pieces of information may be used to determine a score obtained by dividing the range into specific values, or may be converted into a score obtained by performing some kind of numerical calculation.

[0054] <Third Embodiment> In the first embodiment, the linking determination unit 10 determines, in step S108 of the flowchart shown in Fig. 4, one piece of linking information that matches the normal-accuracy node information acquired in the previous stage (step S107). In the third embodiment, a case will be described in which the linking determination unit 10 directly passes the score calculated in step S108 indicating the degree of suitability of the normal-accuracy node information for each piece of linking information to the driving assistance planner 11 or the driving assistance device 13 in the subsequent stage.

[0055] For example, the linking determination unit 10 may directly pass score information indicating the degree of match between each piece of calculated linking information and the normal-accuracy node information to the driving assistance device 13. In this case, the driving assistance device 13 may include the function of formulating driving assistance that was previously performed by the driving assistance formulating unit 11. The driving assistance device 13 may also use information obtained from the positioning device 12 or other sensors such as a camera or Lidar (not shown in FIG. 1 ) to identify the high-accuracy map road on which the vehicle is traveling.

[0056] By performing the above processing, the driving assistance planner 11 or the driving assistance device 13 can use a score indicating the degree of compatibility of the linking information created by the linking determination unit 10. For example, the driving assistance planner 11 or the driving assistance device 13 can determine the traveling position of the vehicle by combining the score obtained from the linking determination unit 10 with the positioning information obtained from the positioning device 12 or the surrounding data obtained from a camera, which is expected to increase the accuracy of identifying the vehicle position.

[0057] Fourth Embodiment FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an in-vehicle device 14 according to a fourth embodiment.

[0058] The in-vehicle device 14 includes an information processing device 2, a driving assistance planning device 15, a positioning device 12, a driving assistance device 13, and an in-vehicle device side communication device 18. The in-vehicle device 14 is mounted on a vehicle (host vehicle).

[0059] In the fourth embodiment, the in-vehicle device 14 is characterized by including an in-vehicle device side communication device 18. The driving assistance planning device 15 is characterized by including a version acquisition unit 16 and a linking information update unit 17. The other configurations are the same as those in the first to third embodiments, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0060] 5 shows a case where the information processing device 2, the driving assistance planning device 15, the positioning device 12, and the driving assistance device 13 are provided separately, but the devices may be arbitrarily combined to form an integrated device. For example, the driving assistance planning device 15 and the driving assistance device 13 may be integrated.

[0061] The driving assistance planning device 15 can be applied not only to the in-vehicle device 14 but also to a device configured as a system by appropriately combining a PND that can be mounted in a vehicle and a server provided outside the vehicle, etc. In this case, each function or each component of the driving assistance planning device 15 is distributed and arranged among the functions that configure the above-mentioned system.

[0062] The linking information update unit 17 receives data in the same format as the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 from the in-vehicle communication device 18, and replaces the data (linking information) in the linking information table.

[0063] The version acquisition unit 16 passes the version information of the normal-accuracy map stored in the normal-accuracy map DB 4 acquired from the application execution unit 5 and the version information of the high-accuracy map acquired from the high-accuracy map DB 6 to the external server 19 via the in-vehicle device side communication device 18.

[0064] The in-vehicle communication device 18 communicates with the external server communication device 20 to transmit and receive data.

[0065] The external server 19 is a server installed outside the vehicle and is used by the in-vehicle device 14 to obtain necessary information. The external server 19 stores data that is too large to be stored in the in-vehicle device 14 or the vehicle. The in-vehicle device 14 can reduce the amount of storage space it occupies by downloading necessary information from the external server 19 as needed.

[0066] The external server-side communication device 20 communicates with the vehicle-mounted device-side communication device 18 to transmit and receive data.

[0067] The table selection unit 21 acquires the versions of the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map used by the in-vehicle device 14 from the version acquisition unit 16 via the in-vehicle device communication device 18 and the external server communication device 20. The table selection unit 21 acquires a linking information table that applies to a combination of these versions from the linking information table DB 22, and passes the linking information table to the in-vehicle device communication device 18 via the external server communication device 20. The in-vehicle device communication device 18 passes the linking information table acquired from the external server 19 to the linking information update unit 17. The linking information update unit 17 updates the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 to the linking information table acquired from the external server 19.

[0068] The linking information table DB 22 holds a plurality of linking information tables corresponding to a plurality of combinations of versions of normal-accuracy maps and versions of high-accuracy maps.

[0069] 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance planning device 15. As a premise of this operation, it is assumed that the application execution unit 5 of the information processing device 2 executes a route search or a route prediction using the normal-accuracy map stored in the normal-accuracy map DB 4, and generates normal-accuracy node information within a predetermined range on the driving route of the host vehicle. Note that after the application execution unit 5 executes the route search or the route prediction, the information processing device 2 may output the normal-accuracy node information only once, or may output the normal-accuracy node information multiple times.

[0070] In step S201, the version acquisition unit 16 acquires version information of the normal-accuracy map from the application execution unit 5.

[0071] In step S202 , the version acquisition unit 16 acquires version information of the high precision map from the high precision map DB 6 .

[0072] In step S203, the linking information update unit 17 acquires, from the external server 19, linking information tables corresponding to the versions of the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map acquired by the version acquisition unit 16. Specifically, the version acquisition unit 16 passes the version information of the normal-accuracy map and the version information of the high-accuracy map acquired by the version acquisition unit 16 to the external server 19. The table selection unit 21 of the external server 19 acquires, from the linking information table DB 22, a linking information table that applies to the combination of the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map acquired from the version acquisition unit 16. The table selection unit 21 then passes this linking information table to the in-vehicle device 14. As a result, the table selection unit 21 acquires, from the external server 19, linking information tables corresponding to the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map acquired by the version acquisition unit 16.

[0073] In step S204, the linking information update unit 17 uses the linking information table acquired in step S203 to update the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7. That is, the linking information update unit 17 updates the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7 to the linking information table acquired from the external server 19.

[0074] In step S205, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 acquires one or more pieces of normal-accuracy node information on the travel route of the host vehicle from the information processing device 2. Note that if the information processing device 2 outputs normal-accuracy node information only once, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 may acquire the normal-accuracy node information, or if the information processing device 2 outputs normal-accuracy node information multiple times, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 may acquire only the initial (first) piece of normal-accuracy node information.

[0075] In step S206, the linking determination unit 10, as in the first embodiment, determines whether or not a normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7. Then, as in the first embodiment, if a normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, the linking determination unit 10 identifies the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node.

[0076] In step S207, the link determination unit 10 determines whether there is normal-accuracy node information that matches the link information, as in embodiment 1. If there is matching normal-accuracy node information, the process proceeds to step S208. On the other hand, if there is no matching normal-accuracy node information, the process ends.

[0077] In step S208, the driving assistance formulation unit 11, as in embodiment 1, accesses the high precision map DB 6 based on the linked object included in the linking information corresponding to the matched normal-accuracy node information, and acquires the high precision node linked to the normal-accuracy node. At this time, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 acquires the linked object included in the linking information corresponding to the matched normal-accuracy node information from the linking determination unit 10. Then, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 formulates driving assistance using the acquired high precision node.

[0078] By performing the above processing, it becomes possible to support multiple combinations of normal-accuracy map versions and high-accuracy map versions by using a single linking information table with a single version combination. Therefore, it becomes possible to implement the driving assistance function even if the linking information table storage unit 7 and map versions installed in the in-vehicle device 1 are old. Furthermore, by storing some data such as the linking information table outside the in-vehicle device 1, it is possible to achieve effects such as reducing storage usage.

[0079] Fifth Embodiment FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the in-vehicle device 23. As shown in FIG.

[0080] The in-vehicle device 23 includes an information processing device 2, a driving assistance planning device 24, a positioning device 12, a driving assistance device 13, and an in-vehicle device side communication device 25. The in-vehicle device 23 is mounted on a vehicle (host vehicle).

[0081] In the fifth embodiment, the in-vehicle device 23 is characterized by including an in-vehicle device side communication device 25. The other configurations are the same as those in the first to third embodiments, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted here.

[0082] 7 shows a case where the information processing device 2, the driving assistance planning device 24, the positioning device 12, the driving assistance device 13, and the in-vehicle device communication device 25 are provided separately, but the devices may be arbitrarily combined to form an integrated device. For example, the driving assistance planning device 24 and the driving assistance device 13 may be integrated.

[0083] The driving assistance planning device 24 can be applied not only to the in-vehicle device 23 but also to a device configured as a system by appropriately combining a PND that can be mounted on a vehicle and a server provided outside the vehicle, etc. In this case, each function or each component of the driving assistance planning device 24 is distributed and arranged among the functions that configure the above-mentioned system.

[0084] The linking determination unit 10 determines whether a normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7. If a normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, the linking determination unit 10 identifies the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node. Note that if the on-board device 23 can access the external server 26 via a communication device, the linking determination unit 10 may acquire information on impassable periods due to construction in specific sections of high-accuracy map roads from the construction information DB 27 of the external server 26 via the on-board device communication device 25, and use the information when determining the linking information.

[0085] When the linking determination unit 10 determines that the host vehicle is traveling on a high-precision map road, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 formulates driving assistance for the driver of the host vehicle using the high-precision map stored in the high-precision map DB 6. The driving assistance formulation unit 11 outputs information related to the formulated driving assistance (driving assistance information) to the driving assistance device 13. Note that, when the in-vehicle device 23 can access the external server 26 via a communication device, the driving assistance formulation unit 11 may obtain information on periods when roads are closed due to construction on specific sections of the high-precision map road from a construction information DB 27 of the external server 26 via the in-vehicle device-side communication device 25, and use the information when formulating driving assistance.

[0086] The in-vehicle communication device 25 communicates with the external server communication device 28 to transmit and receive data.

[0087] The external server 26 is a server installed outside the vehicle, and is used by the in-vehicle device 23 to obtain necessary information.

[0088] The external server side communication device 28 communicates with the in-vehicle device side communication device 25 to send and receive data.

[0089] The construction information DB 27 stores information about road impassability periods due to construction work in specific sections of roads on high precision maps. The information about road impassability periods due to construction work is provided by, for example, a map production company or a government agency.

[0090] In addition to the construction information DB 27, the external server 26 may also include a road condition DB that collects and stores road conditions based on sensor information and the like from all vehicles equipped with the on-board device 23, and a driving history DB that records the correspondence between roads on normal-precision maps and roads on high-precision maps. The road conditions stored in the road condition DB include road conditions that should be avoided, such as "an accident has occurred at a certain point," "a traffic jam has occurred," or "bad weather." The on-board device 23 may download necessary data from the external server 26 as needed and use it for processing in the linking determination unit 10 or the driving assistance planning unit 11.

[0091] 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the driving assistance planning device 24. As a premise of this operation, it is assumed that the application execution unit 5 of the information processing device 2 executes a route search or a route prediction using a normal-accuracy map stored in the normal-accuracy map DB 4, and generates normal-accuracy node information within a predetermined range on the driving route of the host vehicle. Note that after the application execution unit 5 executes the route search or the route prediction, the information processing device 2 may output the normal-accuracy node information only once, or may output the normal-accuracy node information multiple times.

[0092] Steps S301 to S305, S307, S309, and S310 in Fig. 8 are similar to steps S101 to S105, S107, S109, and S110 in Fig. 4, and therefore will not be described here. Steps S306 and S308 will be described below.

[0093] In step S306, as in the first embodiment, the linking determination unit 10 determines whether or not the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7. If the linking determination unit 10 determines that the normal-accuracy node is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link, it identifies the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node.

[0094] When determining whether the normal-accuracy node information matches the linked information, the linking determination unit 10 may obtain information on periods of impassability due to construction work stored in the construction information DB 27 from the external server 26. When it is determined that a specific section of the high-accuracy map road linked to the linked information is impassable, the linking determination unit 10 may determine that "there is no matching linked information" and pass this result to the driving assistance formulation unit 11, even if it has determined that the normal-accuracy node information matches the linked information.

[0095] In step S308, the linking determination unit 10, as in the first embodiment, determines whether the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9 and the linking information stored in the linking information table storage unit 7. If the linking determination unit 10 determines that the normal-accuracy node is linked to a high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link, it identifies the high-accuracy node or high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node. However, since the versions of the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map do not match the version combinations to which the linking information table applies, there is a high possibility that correct data correspondence will not be achieved. Therefore, matching is performed using a method using score calculation. The matching method using score calculation is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0096] When determining whether the normal-accuracy node information matches the linked information, the linking determination unit 10 may obtain information on periods of road impassability due to construction work stored in the construction information DB 27 from the external server 26. When it is determined that a specific section of the high-accuracy map road linked to the linked information is impassable, the linking determination unit 10 may determine that the linked information is unusable and may treat the remaining linked information for which a score has been calculated as a matching candidate.

[0097] The driving assistance formulation unit 11 may identify impassable roads using information on periods of impassability due to construction work stored in the construction information DB 27 of the external server 26, and use the results of the identification as a reference for formulating driving assistance.

[0098] By performing the above processing, it is expected that the ability to formulate driving assistance will improve, for example by making it possible to obtain road information that changes frequently, such as construction information, from an external server, allowing routes to be created that appropriately take into account current traffic regulation information.

[0099] <Hardware Configuration> The functions of the version correspondence determination unit 8, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9, the linking determination unit 10, and the driving assistance formulation unit 11 in the driving assistance formulation device 3 described in the first embodiment are realized by processing circuits. That is, the driving assistance formulation device 3 includes a processing circuit that determines whether the version of the normal-accuracy map acquired from the application execution unit 5 and the version of the high-accuracy map acquired from the high-accuracy map DB 6 match a combination of versions to be applied in the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7, acquires normal-accuracy node information, determines whether the normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6, identifies the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node, and, when the linking determination unit 10 determines that the host vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map, formulates driving assistance for the driver of the host vehicle using the high-accuracy map stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6. The processing circuit may be dedicated hardware, or may be a processor (also called a CPU, central processing unit, processing unit, arithmetic unit, microprocessor, microcomputer, or DSP (Digital Signal Processor)) that executes a program stored in memory.

[0100] 9 , when the processing circuit is dedicated hardware, the processing circuit 30 may be, for example, a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. The functions of the version correspondence determination unit 8, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9, the linking determination unit 10, and the driving assistance planning unit 11 may be realized individually by the processing circuit 30, or these functions may be realized together by a single processing circuit 30.

[0101] 10 , the functions of the version correspondence determination unit 8, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9, the association determination unit 10, and the driving assistance planning unit 11 are realized by software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware. The software or firmware is written as a program and stored in the memory 41. The processor 40 realizes each function by reading and executing the program recorded in the memory 41. That is, the driving assistance planning device 3 includes a memory 41 for storing a program that ultimately executes the following steps: determining whether the version of the normal-accuracy map acquired from the application execution unit 5 and the version of the high-accuracy map acquired from the high-accuracy map DB 6 match a combination of versions to be applied in the linking information table stored in the linking information table storage unit 7; acquiring normal-accuracy node information; determining whether a normal-accuracy node included in the normal-accuracy node information is linked to a high-accuracy node or a high-accuracy link stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6 and identifying the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link linked to the normal-accuracy node; and, if the linking determination unit 10 determines that the host vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map, formulating driving assistance for the driver of the host vehicle using the high-accuracy map stored in the high-accuracy map DB 6. It can also be said that these programs cause a computer to execute the procedures or methods of the version correspondence determination unit 8, the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit 9, the linking determination unit 10, and the driving assistance planning unit 11. Here, the memory may be, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), or any storage medium that will be used in the future.

[0102] In addition, with regard to each function of the version compatibility judgment unit 8, the normal accuracy node information acquisition unit 9, the linking judgment unit 10, and the driving assistance planning unit 11, some functions may be realized by dedicated hardware, and other functions may be realized by software or firmware.

[0103] Thus, the processing circuitry can implement each of the above-described functions through hardware, software, firmware, or a combination thereof.

[0104] Note that, although the above describes the hardware configuration of the driving assistance formulation device 3 described in embodiment 1, the same applies to the hardware configuration of the driving assistance formulation device 15 described in embodiment 4 and the driving assistance formulation device 24 described in embodiment 5.

[0105] Within the scope of the present disclosure, the embodiments can be freely combined, modified, or omitted as appropriate.

[0106] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, the above description is illustrative in all respects and is not restrictive. It is understood that countless variations not illustrated can be envisioned.

[0107] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 In-vehicle device, 2 Information processing device, 3 Driving assistance formulation device, 4 Normal accuracy map DB, 5 Application execution unit, 6 High accuracy map DB, 7 Linking information table storage unit, 8 Version correspondence determination unit, 9 Normal accuracy node information acquisition unit, 10 Linking determination unit, 11 Driving assistance formulation unit, 12 Positioning device, 13 Driving assistance device, 14 In-vehicle device, 15 Driving assistance formulation device, 16 Version acquisition unit, 17 Linking information update unit, 18 In-vehicle device side communication device, 19 External server, 20 External server side communication device, 21 Table selection unit, 22 Linking information table DB, 23 In-vehicle device, 24 Driving assistance formulation device, 25 In-vehicle device side communication device, 26 External server, 27 Construction information DB, 28 External server side communication device, 30 Processing circuit, 40 Processor, 41 Memory.

Claims

1. A normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit that acquires normal-accuracy node information including normal-accuracy position information indicating normal-accuracy positions of normal-accuracy nodes on a travel route of the host vehicle calculated using a normal-accuracy map including road shape information on a road-by-road basis and normal-accuracy nodes; a version correspondence determination unit that determines whether a version of the normal-accuracy map and a version of a high-accuracy map including road shape information on a lane-by-lane basis, high-accuracy nodes, and high-accuracy links are a combination of versions that are applicable to a linking information table that includes linking information indicating a correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map; a linking determination unit that determines whether the normal-accuracy node is linked to the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit and the linking information; and a driving assistance formulation unit that formulates driving assistance for the host vehicle using the high-accuracy map when the linking determination unit determines that the host vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map, a driving assistance planning device that, when the version compatibility determination unit determines that the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map are not a combination of versions to which the linking information table is applicable, evaluates whether at least one piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information matches at least one piece of attribute information included in the linking information, scores the total value of the matches as a degree of compatibility of the linking information, and determines the linking information that matches the normal-accuracy node information based on the score.

2. The driving assistance planning device of claim 1, wherein the linking information includes the attribute information including at least one value or a range of values, and the attribute information including an acceptable range of the value or an expanded range of the value.

3. The driving assistance planning device according to claim 1, wherein the driving assistance planning unit uses the score calculated by the linking determination unit as a basis for decision-making when formulating the driving assistance.

4. The driving assistance planning device described in claim 1, wherein the driving assistance planning unit acquires information on periods when a specific section of the road on the high-precision map is impassable due to construction work from a server installed outside the vehicle, and uses the information on the impassable periods as a basis for making decisions when creating a guide route related to the driving assistance.

5. A driving assistance planning system in which a server including a driving assistance planning device and an in-vehicle device including a driving assistance device are connected via a communication network, wherein the driving assistance planning device comprises: a normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit that acquires normal-accuracy node information including normal-accuracy position information indicating normal-accuracy positions of normal-accuracy nodes on a driving route of the host vehicle calculated using a normal-accuracy map including road shape information on a road-by-road basis and normal-accuracy nodes; a version correspondence determination unit that determines whether a version of the normal-accuracy map and a version of a high-accuracy map including road shape information on a lane-by-lane basis, high-accuracy nodes, and high-accuracy links are a combination of versions that are applicable to a linking information table that includes linking information indicating a correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map; a linking determination unit that determines whether the normal-accuracy node is linked to the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link based on the normal-accuracy node information acquired by the normal-accuracy node information acquisition unit and the linking information; and a driving assistance planning unit that, when the linking determination unit determines that the host vehicle will travel on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map, uses the high-accuracy map to formulate driving assistance for the host vehicle. a driving assistance formulation system in which, when the version compatibility determination unit determines that the version of the normal accuracy map and the version of the high accuracy map are not a combination of versions to which the linking information table is applicable, the linking determination unit evaluates whether at least one piece of attribute information included in the normal accuracy node information matches at least one piece of attribute information included in the linking information, scores the total value of the matches as the degree of match of the linking information, and determines the linking information that matches the normal accuracy node information based on the score; and the driving assistance device obtains the driving assistance information formulated by the driving assistance formulation unit from the driving assistance formulation device, and performs driving assistance for the driver of the host vehicle based on the driving assistance information.

6. Acquire normal-accuracy node information including normal-accuracy position information indicating the normal-accuracy position of a normal-accuracy node on a travel route of the host vehicle calculated using road shape information on a road-by-road basis and a normal-accuracy map including normal-accuracy nodes; determine whether a version of the normal-accuracy map and a version of a high-accuracy map including road shape information on a lane-by-lane basis, high-accuracy nodes, and high-accuracy links are a combination of versions to which a linking information table including linking information indicating the correspondence between the normal-accuracy map and the high-accuracy map applies; determine whether the normal-accuracy node is linked to the high-accuracy node or the high-accuracy link based on the acquired normal-accuracy node information and the linking information; and when it is determined that the host vehicle will be traveling on a high-accuracy map road included in the high-accuracy map, formulate driving assistance for the host vehicle using the high-accuracy map; a driving assistance planning method for determining whether at least one piece of attribute information included in the normal-accuracy node information matches at least one piece of attribute information included in the linking information, if it is determined that the version of the normal-accuracy map and the version of the high-accuracy map are not a combination of versions to which the linking information table is applicable, and calculating a score for the total number of matches as a degree of match of the linking information, and determining the linking information that matches the normal-accuracy node information based on the score.

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