JP5582127B2 - Address search display device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an address search display device that, when a place name character string representing a place name is input, searches for an address including the place name character string and displays the searched address as a list.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a navigation device that displays searched facility names in descending order of possibility of being a user's search target. In this navigation apparatus, the recognition degree of each facility expressed in 10 stages is stored in a storage medium in advance, and the priority of each facility searched based on the recognition degree, the distance from the current position to the facility, and the like. Is calculated. The facility names are displayed in descending order of the calculated priority.

JP 2007-109015 A

  The navigation apparatus as described above is generally configured to be able to search for a search target point using various information such as an address and a telephone number in addition to using the facility name.

  Here, when performing a search using an address, in order to save the trouble of inputting complete address information, etc., a place name character string representing a place name that forms a part of the address is simply input, and the place name is changed. It is conceivable to search for and display an address that includes it. However, in this case, since the same place name is often used in various places, there is a concern that a large number of addresses are searched and the number of addresses displayed increases. Therefore, an operation for searching for a target address is required from among them, and there is a possibility that the labor of the user cannot be reduced so much.

  In the case of an address, unlike a facility, it is difficult to store a numerical value indicating the degree of recognition in advance for each address stored in the database.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and when a place name character string representing a place name that forms a part of an address is input, place name character strings are selected in descending order of the possibility of being selected by the user. An object of the present invention is to provide an address search / display device capable of displaying a list of addresses including the address.

なお、数式１において、ｄは、検索された各住所において、同じ行政区画名が現れる回数を示し、ｎは、地名文字列を含む住所が検索されたときに、検索された住所に含まれる地名文字列に対応する地名の数を示す。 In order to achieve the above object, an address search display device according to claim 1 is provided:
An input means for the user to enter a place name string;
An address database that stores local addresses to search for addresses that include the place name string entered,
Search means for searching an address including a place name character string from the address database;
Based on the number of hits when the address searched by the search means is divided into administrative divisions and a search is made on the Internet using the divided administrative division names and the place names represented by the place name character strings as search words A calculating means for calculating the strength of the address, which represents the likelihood of the address indicated by the character string;
Display control means for displaying a list of searched addresses in descending order of the probability of being the address indicated by the place name character string, based on the strength calculated by the calculating means ,
The calculation means calculates an intensity value for each administrative division name based on the number of hits when searching for all administrative division names obtained by dividing the address searched by the searching means together with the place names represented by the place name character strings. In addition, the strength of the address is calculated based on the sum of the strength values of the administrative district names, and the strength value for each administrative district name is calculated by the following formula 1. To do.

In Equation 1, d indicates the number of times the same administrative division name appears in each searched address, and n indicates a place name included in the searched address when an address including a place name character string is searched. Indicates the number of place names corresponding to the character string.

  As described above, in the address search display device according to claim 1, in order to quantify each address, it is likely that the input place name character string is generally used to indicate which address. The concept of “address strength” was introduced. In other words, the "address strength" is calculated based on the number of hits when searching on the Internet using the administrative division name that divided the address and the place name represented by the place name character string as a search word. The size is determined according to whether the divided administrative division names are used frequently or not together with the place name represented by the character string. Therefore, based on the strength of this address, it becomes possible to display a list of searched addresses in descending order of the probability that the place name character string points to the address.

In particular, the calculation means calculates the strength value for each administrative division name based on the number of hits when searching for all administrative division names obtained by dividing the address searched by the searching means together with the place names represented by the place name character strings. Is calculated, and the strength of the address is calculated based on the sum of the strength values of the administrative district names.

In Formula 1, when calculating the strength value for the administrative district name, weighting is given so that the calculated strength value becomes smaller as the number of times d that the same administrative district name appears in each searched address increases. . This is because as the number of times the same administrative division name appears in the searched address increases, the discriminating ability of the address by the administrative division name decreases. Also, in the above formula 1, when there are a plurality of place names corresponding to the inputted place name character string (for example, the place name character string is “Sakuragi”, and the corresponding place names are “Sakuragicho” and “Sakuragihonmachi”. The number of hits for each place name is multiplied by the total number of hits for each place name. As a result, the place value corresponding to the place name character string can be calculated in consideration of which place name the place name character string itself represents in the first place. Since the strength of the address is calculated based on the value obtained by adding the strength values of the administrative district names calculated in this way, the “address strength” that more accurately indicates the probability of the address indicated by the place name character string is calculated. can do.

As described in claim 2 , it is preferable that the calculating means calculates the strength of each address by the following mathematical formula 2.

  In Equation 2, m indicates the number of administrative district names included in the address.

  In this way, by summing up the intensity values for each administrative division name, and dividing by the number m of items of the administrative division name (or m + 1 including the number of place names), the administrative division name of the searched address Even if the number of items is different, the strengths can be compared with each other.

It is a schematic functional block diagram about the whole structure of a navigation apparatus or an information center in 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a general structural example of the facility information database which can be acquired from the map data acquisition part of the navigation apparatus in the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, an address search display device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail based on the drawings. In the embodiment described below, an example in which the address search display device is applied to a vehicle navigation device will be described. However, the application of the address search and display device according to the present invention is not limited to the vehicle navigation device, and may be applied to various personal computers or smartphones equipped with an application for performing address search.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a vehicle navigation apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 1, the vehicle navigation device 10 includes a position detector 11, a map data memory 15, an operation switch 16, a control circuit 17, a communication device 18, an external memory 19, a display device 20, and a voice input / output device 21. Yes.

  The control circuit 17 is configured as a normal computer, and includes a well-known CPU, ROM, RAM, I / O, and a bus line for connecting these configurations. And operation | movement of each part of the navigation apparatus 10 for vehicles is controlled by operate | moving according to the program stored in the memory which is not shown in figure.

  The position detector 11 includes an angle sensor 12 including a gyroscope, a geomagnetic sensor, and an acceleration sensor, a distance sensor 13 including a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver 14 for detecting the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from a satellite. Have. The control circuit 17 calculates the autonomous navigation position of the vehicle based on the detection results of the angle sensor 12 and the distance sensor 13. Then, using the radio wave navigation position based on the measurement result by the GPS receiver 14, the current position of the vehicle is calculated while correcting the error of the autonomous navigation position of the vehicle.

  The map data memory 15 stores map data for map display and route search, and necessary map data is read in response to a request from the control circuit 17. Map data includes road data indicating distance, road type, number of lanes, traffic signal position, etc. for each link that divides each road, so-called map matching data for improving position detection accuracy, rivers, lakes, seas, railways , Background data indicating the position, shape, and name of the facility, parking space, and the like, and facility data indicating the name, location, type, and the like of each facility. Further, the map data memory 15 stores address data indicating the address of each point in the area covered by the map data. As a storage medium for the map data memory 15, a hard disk or a DVD is generally used because of the amount of data, but another medium such as a flash memory may be used.

  The operation switch 16 includes, for example, a touch switch integrated with the display device 20 or a mechanical switch, and outputs various operation instructions to the control circuit 17 by the switch operation. For example, operation instructions such as map scale change, menu display selection, destination search and setting, route search, route guidance start, display screen change, voice guidance setting, and volume adjustment are performed. The operation switch 16 includes a switch for selecting a type of information for searching for a destination. By operating the selection switch, the user (vehicle occupant) searches and sets a destination using desired information such as a pre-registered location, facility name, telephone number, and address. Can do.

  The communication device 18 is connectable to the Internet via, for example, a mobile phone network, and searches for information (website, web page, net news, etc.) existing on the Internet via the communication device 18. Information can be sent and the search results can be received.

  The external memory 19 is a writable mass storage device. The external memory 19 is used for storing a large amount of data and data that should not be erased even when the power is turned off, or copying frequently used data from the map data memory 15 for use. Used. The external memory 19 may be a removable memory having a relatively small storage capacity.

  The display device 20 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device, and is read from the vehicle current position mark indicating the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detector 11 and the map data memory 15 on the screen of the display device 20. Map data around the current position of the vehicle and additional data such as a guide route and a set point mark displayed on the map can be displayed in an overlapping manner. In addition, a menu screen that displays a plurality of options, or a command input screen that displays a plurality of options below the menu screen when an option is selected can be displayed.

  The voice input / output device 21 inputs various operation commands and search keywords by voice to the control circuit 17 and outputs voice such as route guidance, railroad crossing and curve warning, and operation guidance. .

  Here, when searching for a desired destination by address information, for example, in order from large division (upper division) to fine division (lower division), such as prefecture name, municipality name, area name, address, etc. Generally, this is performed by selecting or inputting a place name corresponding to. However, in this way, inputting complete address information takes time and effort. In addition, when a desired address is read out and input by voice, the possibility that the read-out voice is erroneously recognized increases as the length of the read-out address increases. Therefore, it is conceivable to search for and display an address including the place name simply by inputting a place name character string representing a place name that forms a part of the address.

  However, in this case, since the same place name is often used in various places, there is a concern that a large number of addresses are searched and the number of addresses displayed increases. Therefore, for example, even if the searched addresses are displayed in the order of the Japanese syllabary, an operation for finding the target address is further required, and there is a possibility that the labor of the user cannot be reduced so much. .

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the concept of “address strength” is introduced in order to quantify for each address, which address is likely to be used to indicate which address is generally indicated. did. For this reason, based on the “address strength”, it is possible to display a list of searched addresses in descending order of the probability that the place name character string indicates.

  Hereinafter, a method of calculating the “address strength” will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S100, a place name character string input by operating the operation switch 16 or by voice to the voice input / output device 21 is fetched. This place name character string represents a place name that forms part of an address that the user wants to search.

  In the subsequent step S110, the address data stored in the map data memory 15 is referred to search for an address including the input place name character string. At this time, the place name represented by the inputted place name character string is set as the lowest category, and the addresses represented up to the lowest category are set as search targets.

For example, it is assumed that the user inputs “Sakuragi” as the place name character string. In this case, an address including a place name “Sakuragi” as a part of the address is searched in a range up to the place name “Sakuragi”. As a result of the search, the following three candidate addresses are searched (actually, more candidate addresses are searched, but for convenience of explanation, three candidate addresses are searched here). Suppose).
1. Japan, Kanagawa Prefecture, Yokohama City, Nishi Ward, Sakuragicho 2. Japan, Toyama Prefecture, Toyama City, Sakuragicho Japan, Ishikawa Prefecture, Komatsu City, Sakuragihoncho In the following step S120, a place name corresponding to the place name character string is extracted from the retrieved candidate address. This extracted place name is called a keyword place name. In the example described above, two place names “Sakuragicho” and “Sakuragihoncho” are extracted as keyword place names.

In step S130, each candidate address is divided in units of administrative districts, and an intensity value for each administrative district name is calculated for each of the divided administrative district names using Equation 3 below.

  In Equation 3, webhitcount (place name) indicates the number of hits when searching on the Internet using the keyword place name as a search word. Webhitcount (place name, administrative division name) Indicates the number of hits when searching on the Internet under AND conditions. Moreover, d shows the frequency | count that the same administrative division name appears in each searched candidate address. In the example described above, “Japan” appears in three candidate addresses, so the value of d for “Japan” is “3”. Furthermore, n represents the number of keyword place names.

  That is, in order to perform the calculation of Equation 3, the control circuit 17 uses the communication device 18 to perform a search using the number of hits, the keyword place name, and each administrative district name when searching by each keyword place name as an AND condition. Find the number of hits when you go.

  For example, in the above example, it is assumed that webhitcount (Sakuragicho) = 300, and webhitcount (Sakuragihonmachi) = 100. For candidate address 1, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Nishi-ku) = 20 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Yokohama) = 40 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Kanagawa Prefecture) = 30 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Japan) = 5 cases, candidate address 2, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Toyama City) = 20 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Toyama Prefecture) = 3 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragicho, Japan) = 5 cases, candidate address 3, webhitcount ( (Sakuragihonmachi, Komatsu City) = 5 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragihonmachi, Ishikawa Prefecture) = 3 cases, webhitcount (Sakuragihonmachi, Japan) = 2 cases.

  Then, for example, the intensity value for Nishi Ward of candidate address 1 is 0.05 as shown below, and the intensity value for Yokohama City is 0.1.

Strength value (Sakuragicho, Nishi-ku) = (20/300) x (1/1) x (300/400)
= 0.05
Strength value (Sakuragicho, Yokohama-shi) = (40/300) x (1/1) x (300/400)
= 0.1
In this way, in step S130, for each candidate address, the strength value for all administrative district names obtained by dividing each candidate address is calculated.

  According to Equation 3, when calculating the strength value for each administrative division name, the calculated strength value decreases as the number of times d that the same administrative division name appears in the searched candidate address increases. Weighting is given. This is because the discriminating ability of the address by the administrative division name decreases as the number of times the same administrative division name appears in the candidate address increases.

  In the above formula 3, when there are a plurality of keyword place names corresponding to the inputted place name character string, the number of hits of each keyword place name is multiplied by the total number of hits of each keyword place name. As a result, among the keyword place names corresponding to the place name character string, it is possible to calculate the strength value in consideration of which keyword place name is often represented by the place name character string itself.

In subsequent step S140, based on the strength value for each administrative district name calculated in step S130, the strength of the corresponding candidate address is calculated using Equation 4 below.

  In Equation 4, m represents the number of terms in the administrative district name included in the candidate address.

  Thus, by summing up the intensity values for each administrative division name, and dividing by the number m of the administrative division name (or m + 1 including the number of place names), the administrative division name of each candidate address Even if the items are different, it is possible to compare the magnitude of each other.

  The strength of the candidate address is calculated based on the number of hits when searching on the Internet using the administrative district name and the keyword place name into which the candidate address is divided. The size is determined depending on whether there are many or few opportunities to use the administrative division names. Therefore, the strength of the candidate address can be an index representing the probability that the address is indicated by the place name character string.

  In step S150, it is determined whether or not the strength has been calculated for all the searched candidate addresses. If there is a candidate address for which the strength has not yet been calculated, the process returns to step S130. On the other hand, if it is determined that the strength has been calculated for all candidate addresses, the process proceeds to step S160.

  For example, in the above-described example, when the strength of each candidate address is calculated by dividing by (m + 1), the strength of candidate address 1 is 0.0458 as shown below, and the strength of candidate address 2 is 0. .0173, and the strength of the candidate address 3 is 0.0054.

Strength of candidate address 1 = (0.0042 + 0.075 + 0.1 + 0.05) / 5
= 0.0458
Strength of candidate address 2 = (0.0042 + 0.015 + 0.05) / 4
= 0.0173
Strength of candidate address 3 = (0.0017 + 0.0075 + 0.0125) / 4
= 0.0054
Then, the greater the strength of each candidate address, the higher the probability of being the address indicated by the place name character string. Accordingly, in step S160, candidate addresses are displayed in a list in the order corresponding to the calculated intensity. As a result, the candidate addresses can be displayed in descending order of the probability that the place name character string points to the address. The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. Without departing from the spirit of the present invention, various modifications can be made.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the strength values for all administrative district names of the candidate address are calculated, but it is not always necessary to calculate the strength values for all administrative district names. For example, since “Japan” appears in common in all candidate addresses, the influence on the strength of each candidate address is small. Such calculation of the intensity value of the administrative division name may be omitted.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the vehicle navigation device has a configuration capable of accessing the Internet. However, for example, the searchable data on the Internet is limited by limiting the creation period of languages and information. Alternatively, the number of hits may be obtained by storing in advance in a storage medium of the vehicle navigation device and searching the data stored in the storage medium.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vehicle navigation apparatus 11 Position detector 15 Map data memory 16 Operation switch 17 Control circuit 18 Communication apparatus 19 External memory 20 Display apparatus 21 Voice input / output apparatus 21

Claims (2)

When a place name character string representing a place name is input, an address search display device that searches for an address including the place name character string and displays a list of the searched addresses,
An input means for a user to input the place name character string;
An address database that stores local addresses to search for addresses that include the place name string entered,
Search means for searching for an address including the place name character string from the address database;
Based on the number of hits when a search is made on the Internet by dividing the address searched by the search means in units of administrative divisions and using the divided administrative division names and the place names represented by the place name character strings as search words. Calculating means for calculating the strength of the address, which represents the certainty of the address indicated by the place name character string;
Display control means for displaying a list of searched addresses in descending order of probability that the place name character string indicates an address based on the strength calculated by the calculating means ;
The calculation means, for all administrative division names obtained by dividing the address searched by the searching means, based on the number of hits when searching together with the place name represented by the place name character string, the strength for each administrative division name While calculating the value, the strength of the address is calculated based on the sum of the strength values of the administrative district names, and the strength value for each administrative district name is calculated by the following formula 1. An address search and display device characterized by

In Equation 1, d indicates the number of times the same administrative division name appears in each searched address, and n indicates a place name included in the searched address when an address including a place name character string is searched. The number of place names corresponding to the character string is indicated. The address search / display apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the calculating means calculates the strength of each address according to the following formula 2.

In Equation 2, m indicates the number of administrative district names included in the address.

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