JP2000222690A - Vehicle allocation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To speedily allocate an optimum vehicle to a requestor without the aid of an operator by deciding the vehicle allocated based on position information sent from the plural vehicles and position information on the requestor. SOLUTION: A system is constituted by making an exchange 3 as a center. An optimum taxi is selected in accordance with a vehicle allocation request through a telephone line requestors 1 and 2 and the line between the requestors and a taxi driver is established. The system receives the vehicle allocation request by a telephone from the requestor and it acquires position information (1 or 4A) of the requestor. A radio station (4B) installed in a place nearest to the requestor is selected among plural radio stations which are previously registered in a data base 34 by position information of the specified requestor and a call signal for vehicle allocation is emitted to a radio arrival area. The taxi allocated based on position information sent from the taxi corresponding to the signal and position information on the requestor. A network 31 and a trunk 35 are controlled and the line of the taxi driver and the requestor is established.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dispatch system for determining a vehicle to be dispatched from a plurality of registered vehicles based on a request from an orderer by telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, taxi dispatch based on a request from an orderer by telephone has been performed in the following procedure. (1) The orderer who makes a reservation for a taxi contacts the taxi company and explains his / her current location to the taxi company. (2) The taxi company operator receiving the explanation calls the taxi driver wirelessly, explains the position of the orderer, and dispatches the taxi.

However, according to this dispatching method, an operator intervenes between the orderer and the taxi driver, making it impossible to quickly dispatch the vehicle, and the position information of the orderer is incorrectly transmitted to the taxi driver. There was a problem that there was a risk of

[0004] For this reason, there has conventionally been a demand for a vehicle dispatching system that requires as little operator intervention as possible. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 9-321882 and 4-332225 disclose techniques for responding to such demands.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-321882 discloses that a telephone call to a nationwide dispatch order number is transmitted to a local taxi company by a mobile phone, and at that time, a relay antenna of the mobile phone is used. From the position, the approximate position of the orderer is transmitted to the taxi company. As a result, the orderer exchanges a minimum conversation with the operator, and a smooth vehicle allocation can be received.

In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-332225, at the time of receiving a predetermined special number, at least three radio stations are connected to a mobile terminal mounted on a plurality of taxis by a person ordering from a fixed telephone. Send a call signal that looks for. Upon receiving distance information for each of the mobile terminals that have received a response from each of the at least three wireless stations, referring to a database storing the position information of each of the orderer and the wireless station, The position of each of the mobile terminals that have been located is calculated, and the path of the mobile terminal that is the shortest distance from the orderer is connected.

[0007]

However, in the former case, although the rough position of the orderer can be grasped, it is difficult for the taxi company to assign a taxi based on the position of the orderer. Can't judge if it is appropriate.

In the latter case, at least three radio stations are required in order to ascertain the position of the taxi, which increases the cost of the entire system and calls each taxi in the area. Are sequentially transmitted, so that if there are many taxis in the area, a large number of radio channels are required for this communication, and the efficiency of frequency utilization is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a dispatch system that can quickly dispatch an optimal vehicle to an orderer without the intervention of an operator. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a dispatch system which can specify the position of an orderer and a vehicle to be dispatched at low cost.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a dispatch system for determining a vehicle to be dispatched from a plurality of registered vehicles based on a request from an orderer by telephone. An orderer position obtaining means for obtaining position information of the orderer; a wireless station specifying means for selecting a wireless station closer to the orderer from the obtained position information of the orderer; and the selected wireless station Call signal transmitting means for transmitting a radio signal indicating a call for dispatching a vehicle within a predetermined range, and vehicle position obtaining means mounted on each of the vehicles and for obtaining position information of the vehicle from a GPS satellite And response means mounted on each of the vehicles, for returning a response signal and position information of the vehicle to the wireless station in response to a call signal from the wireless station, and transmitted from one or more of the vehicles. Each Based on the position information and the position information of the orderer both constituted by a vehicle determining means for determining a vehicle dispatch.

Here, the orderer position obtaining means includes: a telephone type determining means for determining whether the request from the orderer is from a fixed telephone or a mobile telephone; Request is from a landline,
First orderer position specifying means for specifying the position of the orderer based on the address registered with respect to the subscriber number; and, when the request from the orderer is from a mobile phone, It is preferable to include second orderer position specifying means for setting the position of the wireless base station on the network having received the orderer as the position of the orderer.

[0013] The present invention can further comprise line connection means for connecting the line between the driver of the vehicle and the orderer determined by the vehicle determination means.

[0014] The present invention can further comprise transmitting means for transmitting position information of the orderer to the vehicle determined by the vehicle determining means.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on one embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a vehicle dispatching system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the dispatch system according to the present embodiment is mainly configured with an exchange 3 and selects an optimal taxi in response to a dispatch request from the orderers 1 and 2 through a telephone line. Establish a line with the taxi driver.

The exchange 3 includes a network 31 and a trunk 35 for establishing a line between a taxi orderer and a taxi driver, an arithmetic unit 32 for selecting an optimal taxi based on a request from the orderer, and a central control unit. 33, and a database 34 that stores orderer location information, wireless station location information, and the like. In the present invention, the following functions are achieved by the arithmetic unit 32 and the central control unit 33.

(1) Orderer's Position Acquisition Function This is a function for acquiring position information of the orderer when the system receives a dispatch request by telephone from the orderer. This system supports dispatch requests from fixed phones and mobile phones. Depending on whether the dispatch request is from a fixed phone or a mobile phone, the position of the orderer can be determined in different ways. Get information. That is,
When the caller receives a call, the system will:
Determine if it is from a landline or mobile phone. Then, if the request is from a fixed telephone, the database 34 is searched and the position of the orderer is specified based on the address registered for the subscriber number. If the request from the orderer is from a mobile phone, the position of the wireless base station on the network that received the call (the position of the wireless station 4A in FIG. 1) is defined as the position of the orderer. I do.

(2) Radio station specifying function This is a function of selecting a radio station closer to the orderer from the position information of the orderer specified by the orderer position acquisition function. From the plurality of wireless stations 4 registered in the database 34 in advance, the wireless station (the wireless station 4B in the figure) installed closest to the position of the orderer is selected.

(3) Call signal transmission function This is a radio signal (hereinafter, referred to as a call) indicating a call for dispatching a vehicle from the selected radio station to its radio coverage area.
This function is for transmitting a call signal.
Therefore, only taxis within the wireless reach area can receive the call signal.

(4) Vehicle determination function This is based on the position information of the taxi sent from the taxi responding to the call signal and the position information of the orderer specified by the orderer position acquisition function. ,
This function determines the taxi to be dispatched. If there is a response from a plurality of taxis, the vehicle determination function determines the taxi closest to the orderer as the taxi to be dispatched. In this case, a configuration may be made in which a taxi to be dispatched is determined in consideration of other information, for example, traffic congestion information, taxi distribution in the area, and the like.

(5) Line connection function This is a function for controlling the network 31 and the trunk 35 to establish a line between the taxi driver and the orderer determined by the vehicle determination function. By establishing the line, the orderer can notify the taxi driver of the dispatch destination directly.

On the other hand, each taxi 5 to be dispatched,
A vehicle position acquisition device for acquiring position information of the vehicle from a GPS satellite 6 and a response signal to the wireless station 4 in response to a call signal from the wireless station; Is provided. The position information of the vehicle is transmitted together with the response signal when transmitting the response signal.

Next, the procedure of dispatch in the dispatch system will be described. For this explanation, along with FIG.
Please refer to FIG. 2 and FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of dispatch in the present dispatch system, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the specific procedure of step 202 in FIG. The orderers 1 and 2 requesting a taxi call a common taxi reservation number from a mobile phone or a landline phone. The exchange 3 that received the telephone from the orderer 1 or 2
Acquires the position information of the orderer in response to this (2
01, 202).

The specific position information of the orderer is obtained according to the procedure shown in FIG. That is, as shown in FIG.
It is first determined whether the orderer is calling from a landline telephone or a mobile phone (30).
1). The above determination can be made based on the caller telephone number. If the telephone used by the orderer is a fixed telephone, the database 34 is searched based on the telephone number (302). Thereby, the address of the corresponding orderer is obtained, and this is set as the position information of the orderer (3).
03). If the orderer uses a mobile phone,
The position of the wireless station (the wireless station 4A in FIG. 1) that has received the information is specified by searching the database 34 (304). Then, the position is set as position information of the orderer (305).

Next, the central controller 33 selects one radio station 4B located near the orderer by accessing a database 34 containing location information (2).
03). Then, the wireless station 4B is instructed to transmit a signal for searching for the taxis 5A, 5B to the wireless station 4B via the network 31, and the wireless station 4B transmits a call signal for calling the empty taxis 5A, 5B in response to the instruction. Yes (2
04). Then, it waits for a predetermined time (205). If there is no response for a predetermined time, a new wireless station is specified again, and a call signal is transmitted from the new wireless station.

Taxi 5 receiving this call signal
A and 5B, if able to respond, add their own mobile terminal number for identifying themselves and their own location information specified by GPS satellite 6 to the acknowledgment signal that the paging signal has been received. And sends it to the wireless station 4B.
The radio station 4B that has received the acknowledgment signal from the taxis 5A, 5B transfers the mobile terminal information and the location information of each taxi 5A, 5B to the exchange 3 that accommodates the orderers 1 and 2. Each taxi 5A, 5 sent from radio station 4B
The mobile terminal information and the location information of B are transferred to the arithmetic unit 32 via the network 31 and collected (206).

The arithmetic unit 32 calculates the distance of each taxi 5A, 5B with respect to the position of the orderer 1 or 2, and determines the shortest taxi as a taxi to be allocated (2).
07). The central controller 33 calls the taxi 5A via the radio station 4B based on the mobile terminal number transmitted from the taxi, and establishes a line with the orderer (20).
8). As a result, the orderer and the taxi driver can directly communicate with each other, and communication between the orderer and the driver including confirmation of the dispatching location is facilitated.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described with reference to the drawings. However, it is apparent that the present invention is not limited to the matters described in the above embodiments, and that changes, improvements, and the like can be made based on the description in the claims. In the above embodiment, the position information of the vacant taxi is transmitted to the exchange when the response signal from the taxi is received, but this is arbitrarily transmitted at predetermined time intervals when the vacant vehicle is empty, This can be held on the exchange 3 side. This makes it possible to determine an optimal taxi to be dispatched without waiting for a response from a taxi when a request for dispatch is received, thereby enabling more rapid dispatch. In the present invention, since the orderer can be specified from the telephone number of the orderer (an additional password may be required to specify the orderer), the fare may be collected later. Can also. Also,
Instead of establishing a line between the orderer and the taxi driver, the system can be configured to transmit the position information of the orderer obtained by recording or other method to the taxi side.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, a vehicle can be dispatched quickly without intervention of an operator. In this case, the position information of the vehicle can be acquired with a very inexpensive and simple system, the system cost can be reduced, and the efficiency of frequency use for radio calling can be improved.

Further, since the system can always grasp the position information of the empty vehicle, the vehicle can be dispatched more quickly.

Further, in the invention according to the second aspect, it is possible to perform appropriate dispatch regardless of whether the telephone used by the orderer for the request is a fixed telephone or a mobile telephone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of a vehicle dispatching system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a procedure of dispatch in the present dispatch system.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a specific procedure of step 202 in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2 Orderer 3 Switch 4 Radio station 5 Taxi 6 GPS satellite 31 Network 32 Processing unit 33 Central control unit 34 Database 35 Trunk

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claims: 1. Based on a request from an orderer by telephone,
A vehicle dispatching system for determining a vehicle to be dispatched from among a plurality of registered vehicles, comprising: an orderer position acquiring means for acquiring position information of the orderer; and Wireless station specifying means for selecting a wireless station close to this; call signal transmitting means for transmitting a radio signal indicating a call for dispatch to a predetermined range from the selected wireless station; A vehicle position acquiring means for acquiring position information of the vehicle from a GPS satellite; and a response signal in response to a call signal from the wireless station to the wireless station, the response signal being returned to the wireless station. Along with
Transmitting means for transmitting the position information of the vehicle; vehicle determining means for determining a vehicle to be dispatched based on the position information of each vehicle sent from one or more of the vehicles and the position information of the orderer; Vehicle dispatch system characterized by comprising: 2. The orderer position acquiring means, comprising: a telephone type determining means for determining whether the request from the orderer is from a fixed telephone or a mobile telephone; When the request is from a fixed telephone, first orderer position specifying means for specifying the position of the orderer based on the address registered for the subscriber number; And second orderer position specifying means for setting the position of the wireless base station on the network which has received the call to the position of the orderer when the call is from a mobile telephone. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 1. 3. The vehicle dispatching system according to claim 1, further comprising line connecting means for connecting a line between the driver and the orderer of the vehicle determined by the vehicle determining means. 4. The vehicle allocation system according to claim 1, further comprising transmission means for transmitting position information of the orderer to the vehicle determined by said vehicle determination means.