Vehicle travel control assistance system having map update function, map update server apparatus, and assistance server apparatus

A vehicle travel control assistance system having a map update function, the vehicle travel control assistance system comprising:

• assistance server apparatuses that include respective server storages holding map data, the assistance server apparatuses being configured to generate data that assists in a travel control of a vehicle, based on respective pieces of the map data and transmit the data to the vehicle;
• and
• a map update server apparatus that includes a server communication unit configured to be coupled to the assistance server apparatuses, the map update server apparatus being configured to update the respective pieces of the map data held in the assistance server apparatuses, wherein
• the respective pieces of the map data held in the assistance server apparatuses include narrow-area map data and wide-area map data regarding a wide area including an area for the narrow-area map data, the narrow-area map data being held in a low-order one of the assistance server apparatuses, and the wide-area map data being held in a high-order one of the assistance server apparatuses, and
• the map update server apparatus is configured to:
• acquire update data for map updating;
• update the wide-area map data held in the high-order one of the assistance server apparatuses by copying the wide-area map data held in the high-order one of the assistance server apparatuses, updating the copied wide-area map data based on the update data to generate the updated wide-area map data, and switching the updated wide-area map data to active in the high-order one of the assistance server apparatuses;
• and
• update the narrow-area map data held in the low-order one of the assistance server apparatuses by copying the narrow-area map data held in the low-order one of the assistance server apparatuses, updating the copied narrow-area map data based on at least a portion of the updated wide-area map data or corresponding data extracted from the updated wide-area map data to generate updated narrow-area map data, and switching the updated narrow-area map data to active in the low-order one of the assistance server apparatuses,
• the low-order one of the assistance server apparatuses comprises:
• a vehicle communication unit configured to communicate with the vehicle and receive actual detection data by a vehicle sensor of the vehicle;
• a recognition unit configured to generate recognition data including a travel route of the vehicle and surrounding objects of the vehicle corresponding to actual travel environment of the vehicle, based on the detection data by the vehicle received by the vehicle communication unit by direct communication;
• an interpolation controller configured to:
• generate interpolation data based on the recognition data of a surrounding object recognized as present in the actual travel environment, the interpolation data complementing a difference between the narrow-area map data and the actual travel environment;
• and
• generate and register unserviceability setting data based on a surrounding object included in the narrow-area map data but not recognized as present in the actual travel environment, the unserviceability setting data being data that identifies a portion of the narrow-area map data corresponding to the surrounding object and sets the identified portion as unserviceable;
• and
• a low-order assistance unit configured to assist in the travel control of the vehicle,
• the low-order assistance unit is configured to generate low-order assistance data that assists in the travel control of the vehicle, with preferential use of the interpolation data and the unserviceability setting data relative to the narrow-area map data,
• the preferential use of the interpolation data causes the low-order assistance unit to include, in the low-order assistance data, data corresponding to the surrounding object recognized as present in the actual travel environment when the narrow-area map data does not include the data corresponding to the surrounding object, and
• the preferential use of the unserviceable setting data causes the low-order assistance unit to exclude, from use in generating the low-order assistance data, data in the narrow-area map data that corresponds to the surrounding object that is included in the narrow-area map data but not recognized as present in the actual travel environment.