JP2006074424A - Vehicle-mounted terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease a loss of an incoming call chance from the outside when an incoming voice has arrived during data communication by using a vehicle-mounted communication device, and when the communication device is located outside a communication area. <P>SOLUTION: When an incoming voice has arrived at a communication device during data communication of the communication device installed in a vehicle-mounted terminal 103 placed on a vehicle, the communication device notifies a communication network 112 to transfer the incoming voice to a mobile communication terminal 102 such as a mobile phone brought to, e.g. a vehicle before the start of the data communication. After the data communication completion, the notification of a transfer ending is made to the communication network 112. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle terminal provided with an in-vehicle electronic device such as a car audio device, a car navigation device, and an in-vehicle communication device, and in particular, between a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone brought into the vehicle and the in-vehicle communication device. The present invention relates to an in-vehicle terminal having a transfer setting function.

  Along with the widespread use of car audio equipment, car navigation equipment, etc., an example in which a high-functional terminal device equipped with a communication device such as a server is mounted on a vehicle is increasing. In addition, with the widespread use of mobile phones, there are many opportunities for mobile phones to be brought into the car. And it is considered to use the function of the mobile phone effectively in cooperation with the in-vehicle terminal.

  For example, Patent Document 1 includes a server outside the vehicle and an in-vehicle device in the vehicle, and can perform voice or data communication between the in-vehicle communication terminal and the server to obtain necessary information during driving. In addition, an in-vehicle terminal that executes a higher level service using a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone brought into the vehicle has been proposed.

  Patent Document 2 also automatically sets the telephone network so that the in-vehicle device automatically recognizes the mobile phone brought into the vehicle and transfers the incoming call to the mobile phone to the communication terminal built in the in-vehicle device. A method of performing is proposed.

JP 2003-283421 A JP 2003-189370 A

  However, according to the above-described prior art, when there is an incoming voice call during data communication using the in-vehicle communication device, or when the in-vehicle communication device becomes unable to communicate, the opportunity of incoming call from the outside is lost. there is a possibility. For example, when downloading data including large-capacity content or the like, the in-vehicle communication device cannot communicate during that time. As an example, when downloading to a vehicle-mounted terminal via a network or a vehicle-mounted communication device in order to obtain map information for car navigation at a travel destination, the vehicle-mounted communication device cannot receive an incoming call from the outside during the download.

  On the other hand, the mobile communication terminal cannot make a call unless the user directly operates it while driving, and there is a problem in safety and convenience. Further, when the in-vehicle terminal is out of the communication range, the incoming call opportunity is lost, but the conventional technology does not give sufficient consideration to these.

An object of the present invention is to reduce a loss of an incoming call opportunity during data communication using an in-vehicle communication device.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle terminal that is capable of making a call without directly operating a mobile communication terminal even during driving, and has improved safety and convenience.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an in-vehicle terminal that minimizes the loss of an incoming call opportunity even when the in-vehicle terminal is out of the communication range.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, in the present invention, a vehicle-mounted terminal is provided in a vehicle, and the vehicle-mounted terminal can communicate a communication connection request to a communication terminal that communicates via a communication network to another communication terminal. An in-vehicle communication unit that is connected to a network and communicates with an external device via the communication network, a connection destination recording unit that records connection destination information for specifying a communication terminal connected to the communication network, and a control unit; The control unit reads out the connection destination information recorded in the recording unit before starting communication by the in-vehicle communication unit, and connects to the in-vehicle communication unit with respect to the communication network based on the connection destination information. A function of performing transfer setting for instructing the communication terminal specified by the connection destination information to transfer the request, and transfer of a connection request to the in-vehicle communication unit to the communication network after the communication by the in-vehicle communication unit is completed. And a function to release the setting. As a result, it is possible to receive an incoming voice call during data communication by another communication device such as a mobile phone, and it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity.

In the present invention, an in-vehicle terminal is provided in a vehicle, and the in-vehicle terminal is connected to a communication network capable of transferring a communication connection request to the communication terminal communicating via the communication network to the other communication terminal. Vehicle-mounted communication means that communicates with an external device via the network, connection destination recording means for recording connection destination information for specifying a communication terminal connected to the communication network, and position detection means for detecting the position of the vehicle The planned travel route information recording means for recording the planned travel route information to the destination obtained based on the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection means, and the in-vehicle communication means via the communication network Service area information recording means for recording service area information indicating a communicable area, the service area information recorded in the service area information recording means, and recorded in the planned travel route information recording means An out-of-service area determination unit that determines a point at which the vehicle communication unit becomes incapable of communication based on the planned travel route information, and a control unit, the control unit being out of communication range in which the in-vehicle communication unit is incapable of communication When it is determined whether or not it is located in the vicinity of the point, and it is determined that it is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point, a connection request for the in-vehicle communication means is specified from the connection destination information to the communication network. A function for performing transfer setting for instructing the communication terminal to transfer, and after the vehicle has passed through a communication out-of-service area determined by the out-of-service area determination unit and becomes incapable of communication, and can communicate again, the communication network A function of operating to cancel the transfer setting of the connection request for the in-vehicle communication means;
As a result, it is possible to receive an incoming call when the in-vehicle communication device is out of a communicable range, and it is possible to reduce a loss of an incoming call opportunity.

  In the present invention, the in-vehicle terminal includes a voice input / output unit and a connection unit that connects a communication terminal capable of voice communication via the communication network and performs voice communication using the voice input / output unit, and the control unit includes By recording connection destination information of the communication terminal connected to the connection means in the connection destination recording means, the communication connection request for the in-vehicle communication means is transferred to the communication terminal connected to the connection means. The communication terminal responds to the transferred connection request and has a function of performing voice communication using the voice input / output means. As a result, even if the call is transferred to another communication device such as a mobile phone, it is possible to make a call using the voice input / output device of the in-vehicle terminal. It becomes possible to prevent a power drop.

In the present invention, an in-vehicle terminal is provided in a vehicle, and the in-vehicle terminal is connected to a communication network capable of transferring a connection request for communication to the communication terminal communicating via the communication network to the other communication terminal. Vehicle-mounted communication means for communicating with an external device via a connection, connection means for connecting a communication terminal connected to the communication network and communicating with the external device via the communication network, and position detection means for detecting the position of the vehicle And a planned travel route information recording means for recording planned travel route information to the destination obtained based on the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection means, and the in-vehicle communication means via the communication network. Service area information recording means for recording service area information indicating a communicable area, the service area information recorded in the service area information recording means, and the scheduled travel route information recording means. An out-of-service area determination unit that determines a point at which the vehicle communication unit becomes incapable of communication based on the planned travel route information, and a control unit, the control unit being out of communication range in which the in-vehicle communication unit is incapable of communication If it is determined whether it is located in the vicinity of the point and is determined to be located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point, a connection request for the communication terminal connected to the connection means for the communication network, A connection request to the communication terminal is made to the communication network after the vehicle has passed through a communication out-of-service point determined to be incommunicable determined by the out-of-service area determination unit and becomes communicable again. Has a function of operating to cancel the transfer setting.
As a result, it is possible to receive an incoming call when the communication device brought into the vehicle is out of the communicable range with the in-vehicle communication terminal, and it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity.

Further, in the present invention, in the in-vehicle terminal, the service area information also holds information related to a service area of the other communication terminal, and includes a prediction unit that predicts a time at which an arbitrary point on the planned travel route is passed. When the result of determination by the out-of-service area determination unit is that there is a point that is outside the communication range on the planned travel route, the control unit is in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point and the other communication terminal is in the communication range. If so, the call to the in-vehicle communication means is set to be transferred to the other communication terminal. If the other communication terminal is in the vicinity of a point outside the communication area and the in-vehicle communication means is in the communication area, the other communication Set to transfer the call to the terminal to the in-vehicle communication means, and if the in-vehicle communication means and the other communication terminal are near a point outside the communication range, It has a function of transferring to the communication terminal specified beauty out from other connection destination information set in advance the call to the in-vehicle communication means.
Thereby, even when one or both of the in-vehicle communication terminal and the communication device brought into the vehicle is out of the communicable range, it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity.

According to the present invention, by setting transfer to a communication network before data communication using an in-vehicle communication device, an incoming call opportunity can be obtained by transferring an incoming call during data communication to a mobile communication terminal brought into the vehicle. Loss can be reduced.
In addition, when the in-vehicle terminal is predicted to be out of the communication range from the current position information of the vehicle, the travel route set in the car navigation, and the service area information of the communication terminal, the transfer destination is set to one communication terminal. As a result, it is possible to reduce loss of incoming call opportunities.

Furthermore, by predicting the time until the in-vehicle terminal is out of the communication range, it is possible to delay the transfer setting start until immediately before it is out of the communication range, and as a result, it is possible to shorten the transfer setting period.
Furthermore, when it is expected that the in-vehicle terminal and the mobile communication terminal will be out of the communication range, the loss of the incoming call opportunity is reduced by setting the forwarding destination to a third communication terminal that does not occur outside the communication range such as a service center. It becomes possible.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

1, 2, and 3 are explanatory diagrams of Embodiment 1 of the in-vehicle terminal of the present invention. 1 is a configuration diagram of the in-vehicle terminal, FIG. 2 is an operation diagram of the in-vehicle terminal and the communication system, and FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the in-vehicle terminal.
The first embodiment notifies the communication network to transfer the incoming call when the in-vehicle terminal mounted on the vehicle is performing data communication to the mobile phone in the vehicle, and cancels the transfer setting simultaneously with the end of the data communication. This is an example.

  In FIG. 1, 101 is a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle terminal, 102 is a mobile phone brought into the vehicle, and 103 is an in-vehicle terminal having a communication device and capable of communicating with the outside. 104 is a position detection unit that detects the position of the vehicle, 105 is a control unit that controls each unit of the in-vehicle terminal, 106 is a storage unit that stores an operation program of the control unit and transfer destination information at the time of transfer setting, and 107 is a storage unit Transfer destination information to be stored, 108 is an antenna for wireless communication, 109 is a communication unit for performing communication, and further has a function of detecting the electric field strength of a communication radio wave and notifying the control unit of whether or not communication is possible. Have. 110 is an input unit for accepting operations by passengers, 111 is an output unit for screen display and voice output, 112 is a communication network capable of wirelessly communicating voice and data, 113 is a microphone connected to the input unit, and 114 is an output A speaker 201 connected to the unit is an external terminal that calls the in-vehicle terminal via the communication network 112.

  The mobile phone 102 and the in-vehicle terminal 103 are connected in the vehicle by wired communication such as USB or wireless communication means such as Bluetooth. The mobile phone 102 may be a mobile phone or PHS serviced by each communication carrier, or an IP phone using a wireless LAN or the like. The in-vehicle terminal 103 may be configured integrally with a car navigation system having a communication device or an in-vehicle server so that various kinds of information can be shared. The position detection unit 104 may be a system that obtains a position from the distance between base stations used in GPS, PHS, wireless LAN, or the like. The control unit 105 is configured by a computer including an arithmetic device such as a CPU, and operates according to a program included in the storage unit 106. The storage unit 106 includes a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, a hard disk drive, and the like, and stores an operation program of the control unit, presence / absence of transfer settings, and transfer destination information at the time of transfer settings. The transfer destination information 107 is telephone number information for designating a transfer destination of incoming calls, and is stored in the storage unit and registered in advance. For example, it is the number of the mobile phone 102 possessed by the vehicle occupant. The transfer source and transfer destination, for example, the telephone numbers of the in-vehicle terminal 103 and the mobile phone 102, are previously applied to a communication company. When the communication apparatus uses an IP network such as a VoIP IP mobile phone, the transfer destination information 107 may be address information such as an IP address.

  The communication unit 109 is a communication device built in the in-vehicle terminal 103 and is a built-in mobile phone unit, a wireless LAN card, or a DSRC (narrow band wireless communication system) communication device, and may be configured by combining them. The input unit 110 includes a keyboard, a touch panel, a microphone that receives voice input, and the like, and receives user operations. The output unit 111 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, a head-mounted display, a speaker that transmits information audibly, a vibration generator that is a device that transmits information tactilely, and the like. There may be a combination of these. The communication network 112 is a telephone network or an IP network.

  In such a configuration, when the in-vehicle terminal 103 mounted on the vehicle performs data communication, the communication corresponding to the communication unit 109 is transferred to the mobile phone 102 using the transfer destination information 107 stored in the storage unit 106. Notify the network 112. The communication network 112 that has received the notification subsequently transfers the call to the communication unit 109 to the mobile phone 102 until the transfer is canceled.

  FIG. 2 is an operation explanatory diagram of the in-vehicle terminal 103, the mobile phone 102, the communication network 112 in FIG. The in-vehicle terminal 103 is instructed by the vehicle occupant of the vehicle 101 to start data communication from the input unit 110 (step S201), and the control unit 105 reads the transfer destination information 107 from the storage unit 106 and reads out the call to the communication unit 109. The communication network 112 is notified of the transfer by sending a special dial number or the like for instructing to transfer to the transfer destination or by sending an e-mail or SMS (short message service) (step S202). Upon receiving the transfer notification, the communication network 112 reads the transfer destination information 107 included in the transfer notification, and thereafter, the call to the in-vehicle terminal 103 is set to be transferred to the mobile phone 102 until there is a transfer cancellation notification (step S203). .

  In-vehicle terminal 103 starts data communication after successful transfer notification (step S204), and transmits and receives data through communication network 112 (step S205).

  When the external terminal 201 makes a call to the in-vehicle terminal 103 during this data communication (step S206), the communication network 112 transfers to the mobile phone 102 which is the transfer destination set previously (step S207). A call is made between the external terminal 201 and the mobile phone 102 by responding to the call of the external terminal 201 (step S208). When the data communication is completed in the in-vehicle terminal (step S209), the control unit 105 transmits a previous transfer cancellation notification (step S210). The communication network 112 determines the transfer setting from the transfer destination telephone number included in the transfer cancellation notification, and cancels the transfer (step S211). The in-vehicle terminal 103 confirms that the transfer setting release notification has arrived, and ends the data communication (step S212).

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the in-vehicle terminal 103 in FIG. The vehicle occupant sets in advance whether or not to perform transfer when receiving a call and designates information on the transfer destination, for example, a mobile phone, when performing transfer. When an instruction to start data communication is received from the input unit 110 by the operation of the vehicle occupant (step S301), the control unit 105 refers to the storage unit 106 (step S302), and starts data communication unless it is set to perform transfer. (Step S303) At the end of the data communication, the end of the data communication is displayed on the output unit 111 such as a display (Step S304), and the process ends.

On the other hand, when the setting is to perform transfer, the transfer destination information 107 is read from the storage unit 106 (step S305), it is determined whether the transfer destination information 107 is input (step S306), and the transfer destination information 107 is set. If the transfer destination is read, the read destination is displayed on the output unit 111, and the vehicle occupant selects the transfer destination from the input unit 110 (step S307). On the other hand, if the transfer destination information 107 is not input, the output unit Further, a display for prompting input of the transfer destination information 107 is performed, and the transfer destination information 107 is input by an operation of the vehicle occupant (step S308). Next, the transfer destination selected from the storage unit 106 or input from the input unit 110 is notified from the communication unit 109 to the communication network 112 (step S309), and data communication is executed (step S310). When the data communication is completed, a transfer cancellation notice is transmitted from the communication unit 109 to the communication network 112 (step S311), the completion of the data communication is displayed on the output unit, and the process is terminated (step S304).
(Here, a series of processing procedures from step S305 to step S309 are collectively referred to as step S101.)
With the above operation, transfer setting at the time of data transfer of the in-vehicle terminal is performed. According to the first embodiment, since transfer setting is performed for the communication network 112 during data communication, it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity during data communication. For example, since there is no map information of a travel destination in car navigation, even when local map information is downloaded to the in-vehicle terminal 103 via the network and the communication unit 109, it can be transferred to the mobile phone in advance, While downloading, you can receive communications from outside with your mobile phone.

  Next, FIG. 4 is an operation diagram of another embodiment of the in-vehicle terminal and the communication system. In this example, when the mobile phone 102 and the in-vehicle terminal 103 are connected to each other by wired communication such as USB or wireless communication means such as Bluetooth in the first embodiment, a hands-free call can be performed. That is, when a call addressed to the communication unit 109 is transferred and received by the mobile phone 102, a call can be made using the microphone 113 of the input unit 110 and the speaker 114 of the output unit 111 of the in-vehicle terminal 103. Note that the same step numbers will be used in the same case as the processing described in FIG.

  First, the data communication process is started by the operation of the vehicle occupant or the determination of the control unit 105 (step S201). The control unit 105 reads the transfer destination information 107 from the storage unit 106, and hands-on such as power ON, initialization, and signal input / output destination change so that the input unit 110 and the output unit 111 can be used in a hands-free call of the mobile phone 102. Free call setting is performed (step S601). Next, a special dial number for instructing to transfer the call to the communication unit 109 to the read transfer destination is transmitted, or an e-mail or SMS (Short Message Service) is transmitted to communicate the transfer notification. The network 112 is notified (step S202). When the communication network 112 receives the transfer notification, the communication network 112 reads the transfer destination information 107 included in the transfer notification. Thereafter, a call to the in-vehicle terminal 103 is sent to the mobile phone 102 until there is a transfer cancellation notification. It is set to be transferred (step S203).

  In-vehicle terminal 103 starts data communication after successful transfer notification (step S204), transmits and receives data through communication network 112 (step S205), and external terminal 201 calls in-vehicle terminal 103 during this data communication. (Step S206), the communication network 112 transfers to the other communication terminal that is the transfer destination set earlier, that is, the mobile phone 102 (Step S207), and the mobile phone 102 responds to the call of the external terminal 201. A call is made between the external terminal 201 and the mobile phone 102 (step S208). This call is performed hands-free using the microphone 113 of the input unit 110 and the speaker 114 of the output unit 111 of the in-vehicle terminal 103 (step S602). In the in-vehicle terminal, when the data communication is completed (step S209), the control unit 105 transmits a previous transfer cancellation notification (step S210). The communication network 112 determines the transfer setting from the transfer destination telephone number included in the transfer release notification, and cancels the transfer (step S211). The in-vehicle terminal 103 confirms that the transfer setting cancellation notification has arrived, cancels the hands-free call setting (step S603), and ends the data communication (step S212). With the above operation, the transfer setting at the time of data transfer of the in-vehicle terminal is performed.

  According to the second embodiment, since the transfer setting is performed for the communication network 112 during the data communication, it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity during the data communication.

  In addition, the mobile phone 102 can make a call using the hands-free function of the in-vehicle terminal 103. In this case, not only the microphone 113 and the speaker 114 attached to the in-vehicle terminal but also a vehicle occupant's handset by short-range radio may be used for the voice input / output. Thereby, even if the call is transferred to the mobile phone 102 or the like, the passenger can make a call without directly operating the mobile phone 102 by connecting with the in-vehicle terminal 103, and safety and convenience are improved.

Next, Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of the in-vehicle terminal. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of setting the transfer destination of the in-vehicle terminal at the time of determining the point where the communication device cannot communicate.
In the third embodiment, the vehicle position information is acquired by using the position detection means of the vehicle-mounted terminal, and the vehicle is mounted on the planned travel route using preset travel planned route information and communicable service area information. If the terminal is predicted to leave the communication area, it instructs the communication network to transfer the call from the communication network to the mobile phone, and the vehicle is predicted to remain within the communication area, or the vehicle is within the communication area. When entering, it is an example of canceling transfer of a call to the mobile phone to the communication network.

  In FIG. 5, the scheduled travel route information 401 is a travel schedule obtained from map information stored in advance in the storage unit 106, vehicle position information detected by the position detection unit 104, a destination set by the vehicle occupant, and the like. Route information. The service area information 402 is information on the communication service areas of each communication carrier acquired by instructions from both passengers or periodically acquired via the Internet and stored in the storage unit. The out-of-service area determination unit 403 is a unit that uses the vehicle position information, the planned travel route information 401, and the service area information 402 to determine a communication out-of-service point where the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal cannot communicate on the planned travel route. . The control unit 105 receives time information from the measurement unit 404, vehicle position information, vehicle travel information such as the travel speed and travel direction of the vehicle, and the like. This vehicle travel information may be provided from a car navigation system or a vehicle travel control system (not shown).

  The control unit 105 has a function of predicting the time of passing through any point on the planned travel route, and is based on the current position information of the vehicle, the information on the out-of-communication point where communication is disabled, and the vehicle travel information. The required arrival time to reach a point outside the communication range where the vehicle becomes unable to communicate is predicted. The control unit 105 further determines that the vehicle is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point when the predicted required arrival time reaches a predetermined value, for example, 3 minutes. It is assumed that the constituent elements 101 to 112 of the in-vehicle terminal have the same configuration as the embodiment shown in FIG.

  In FIG. 5, the out-of-service area determination unit 403 is described as a configuration different from that of the control unit 105, but this is for ease of understanding, and the function of the out-of-service area determination unit and the function of the control unit 105. Is realized by a single or a plurality of programs as a whole.

  In such a configuration, when the route is set by the operation of the vehicle occupant and the scheduled travel route information 401 is updated, the control unit 105 includes the information of the out-of-service area determination unit 403 and the current position information obtained from the position detection unit 106. Then, from the planned travel route information and service area information 402 in the storage unit 106, the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal on the planned travel route determines an out-of-communication point outside the communication range, and predicts the required arrival time to the vicinity of the point. . When the vehicle reaches the vicinity of the point outside the communication range, the transfer destination of the in-vehicle terminal 103 is set.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of setting the transfer destination of the in-vehicle terminal 103 in FIG. In describing the operation, in FIG. 6, step elements that perform the same operation as in FIG. 3 are given the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3.

  First, the position information of the destination is input from the vehicle occupant to the input unit 110, and the scheduled travel route 401 is created. The control unit 105 reads the planned travel route information 401 from the storage unit 106 (step S501), and then reads the service area information 402 (step S502). If the service area information 402 is not included in the storage unit 106 or is information older than a certain period, the service area information 402 is acquired by communication (step S504). When the service area information 402 is read or acquired, the current position information of the vehicle is read from the position detection unit 104 (step S505), and the out-of-service area determination unit 403 uses the above information to determine the out-of-communication area point of the in-vehicle terminal communication unit 109. And the distance from the current position of the vehicle to the non-communication area point along the planned travel route is obtained (step S506).

  The control unit 105 calculates and predicts the required arrival time until the vehicle reaches the out-of-communication point from the distance to the out-of-communication point and the vehicle travel information (route information, travel speed, travel direction, etc.). Further, when the required arrival time to the predicted out-of-communication point is within a predetermined time, for example, 2 minutes, it is determined that the vehicle is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point (step S507).

  For the prediction of the required arrival time to the point outside the communication area, more accurate prediction may be performed by using the information of the communication carrier or the information of the car navigation system. Further, the required arrival time to the point outside the communication range may be set as appropriate without delaying the communication opportunity and in accordance with the purpose of delaying the start of the transfer setting until immediately before going out of the communication range. In addition, in order to facilitate communication in the vicinity of a point outside the communication range, for example, “You will be outside the communication range in 3 minutes. Transfer settings will be done in 1 minute.” You may make it notify a vehicle occupant with a speaker etc. that it is approaching the vicinity of a point.

  When it is determined that the current position of the vehicle is not in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the destination has been reached (step S510), and ends if the destination has been reached. If not, it waits for a certain period (step S511), returns to reading the current position information (step S505), and repeats the processing.

  After reading the current position information, if it is predicted in step S507 that the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal has reached the vicinity of the point outside the communication range on the planned travel route, the same procedure as described in FIG. Then, transfer setting to the mobile phone in the car is performed (step S101). The control unit 105 determines from the electric field strength of the radio wave that the communication unit 109 acquires from the communication network whether it has passed outside the communication range and re-entered the communication range (step S508). The system waits for a predetermined period (step S509), and repeats step S508. When re-entering the communication area, the communication unit 109 transmits a transfer cancellation notification to the communication network 112 (step S311), determines whether or not the end point of the planned travel route has been reached (step S510), and reaches the end point. If not, the process ends. If not yet reached, the process waits for a certain period (step S511), returns to reading the current position information (step S505), and repeats the process.

  According to this embodiment, when it is predicted that the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal will reach a point outside the communication range on the planned route of the vehicle, before entering the outside of the communication range, By performing transfer settings and receiving with a mobile phone which is another communication terminal in the vehicle, loss of the incoming call opportunity can be reduced. In other words, if the in-vehicle terminal is predicted to be out of the communication range based on the current position information of the vehicle, the travel route set in the car navigation, the service area information of the communication terminal, etc., the transfer destination is By setting the telephone, it is possible to reduce the opportunity loss of incoming calls.

  Furthermore, by predicting the time until the communication area is out of service, the transfer setting start can be delayed until just before the communication area is out of service, and as a result, the transfer setting period can be shortened. Note that the predetermined time for starting the transfer setting in the vicinity of the out-of-service area includes not only the viewpoint of shortening the transfer setting period, but also the viewpoint of preventing troubles in the case of an incoming call immediately before the transfer setting. It is good to select.

  In the third embodiment, an example in which a call to the communication unit 109 is transferred to the mobile phone 102 has been described. However, when the mobile phone 102 is located near the outside of the communication range, the call can be transferred in the same manner. it can. That is, the service area information 402 holds not only the service area of the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal 103 but also the information about the service area of the mobile phone 102, and the mobile phone 102 and the in-vehicle terminal 103 are wired such as USB or Bluetooth or IrDA. A setting for transferring a call to the mobile phone 102 to the communication unit 104 when the mobile phone 102 is located near the outside of the communication range by controlling the connected mobile phone 102 from the in-vehicle terminal 103 by connecting wirelessly The communication network 112 may be instructed. Also in this case, if it is determined that the vehicle communication terminal (mobile phone 102) is located in the vicinity of the point where communication is disabled, the connection request for the communication terminal is transferred to the in-vehicle communication means to the communication network. After the vehicle passes through the point where communication is disabled determined by the out-of-service area determination means and communication becomes possible again, the connection request transfer setting for the communication terminal is canceled for the communication network.

  According to this embodiment, when it is predicted that the mobile phone 102 of the vehicle is located in the vicinity of a point that is out of the communication range, the transfer setting to the in-vehicle communication means is performed for the communication network 112, and Loss can be reduced.

7 and 8 are diagrams for explaining a fifth embodiment of the present invention. In the fifth embodiment, determination is made in the vicinity of a point where both the communication device of the in-vehicle terminal and the mobile phone cannot communicate, and transfer setting is performed.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of Embodiment 5 of the present invention and is a configuration example diagram of an in-vehicle terminal. FIG. 8 is a diagram corresponding to the operation explanatory diagram of the in-vehicle terminal 103 in FIG. 5 of the third embodiment. FIG. 8 shows a case where the service area information holds not only the service area of the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal 103 but also information related to the service area of the mobile phone 102. In describing the operation, in FIG. 8, step elements that perform the same operation as in FIG. 6 are used with the same reference numerals as in FIG.

  In FIG. 7, an in-vehicle terminal 101 and a mobile phone 102 are connected to a service center 601 via a communication network. The telephone number of the service center 601 is set in advance by the vehicle passenger contacting the communication carrier as a forwarding destination when both the mobile phone 102 and the communication unit 109 are out of the communication range. Instead of the service center 601, a transfer destination may be set to a fixed telephone that does not occur outside the communication range, for example, a telephone at a company or a home. Reference numeral 402A denotes service area information that can be communicated by the communication unit 109 of the in-vehicle terminal 101, which is provided from a communication carrier, periodically acquired through communication, and stored in the storage unit 106 in advance. Reference numeral 402B denotes service area information that can be communicated by the mobile phone 102 possessed by the vehicle occupant that is provided by the communication carrier and is periodically acquired by communication and stored in the storage unit 106 in advance. The other parts are assumed to have the same configuration as the embodiment shown in FIG.

  When the destination information of the destination is input from the vehicle occupant to the input unit 110 and the planned travel route 401 is created, the control unit reads the planned travel route information 401 from the storage unit 106 (step S501), and then the service area Information 402A and 402B are read (step S502). If at least one of the service area information 402A or 402B is not included in the storage unit 106 or is information older than a certain period, the latest service area information is acquired by communication (step S504). When the service area information is read or acquired, the current position information of the vehicle is read from the position detection unit 104 (step S505), and the out-of-service area determination unit 403 uses the above information from the current position of the vehicle along the planned travel route to the in-vehicle terminal. The distance to the out-of-communication point where either one or both of the communication device and the mobile phone is out of the incommunicable communication range is obtained. Then, the required arrival time until the vehicle reaches the out-of-communication point is predicted from the distance to the out-of-communication point and the vehicle travel information (route information, travel speed, and travel direction) (step S506). When the required arrival time to the out-of-communication point predicted in this way becomes a predetermined value, for example, 2 minutes, it is determined that the vehicle is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point (step S507).

  When either or both of the communication device of the in-vehicle terminal and the mobile phone are not located near the point that is out of the communication range, it is determined whether or not the destination has been reached (step S510), and the destination has been reached. If not, the process ends. If not, the process waits for a certain period (step S511), returns to reading the current position information (step S505), and repeats the process.

  After reading the current position information, if it is determined in step S507 that either the communication device of the in-vehicle terminal or the mobile phone is in the vicinity of a point outside the communication range on the planned travel route, the communication unit 109 is If the telephone 102 is within the communication range (step S701), a setting is made to transfer the call to the communication unit 109 to the mobile phone 102 (step S101). If the mobile phone 102 is outside the service area and the communication unit 109 is within the communication range, (Step S702) The setting is made to transfer the call to the mobile phone 102 to the communication unit 109 (Step S704). If the mobile phone 102 and the communication unit 109 are in the vicinity of the outside of the communication range (Step S703), the mobile phone 102 is reached. The call of the service center 601 that is set in advance by the vehicle occupant for both the call of the communication unit 109 and the call of the communication unit 109. Performing configured to forward to number (step S705).

  Thereafter, the control unit 105 determines whether or not the communication unit 109 and the mobile phone 102 have acquired from the communication network by passing the outside of the communication range and entering the communication range again (step S508). If not, it waits at a predetermined period (step S509) and repeats step S508. When re-entering the communication area, a notification of cancellation of the transfer or answering machine setting is transmitted (step S706), it is determined whether or not the end point of the planned travel route has been reached (step S510), and the end point is reached. If it has not been reached yet, the process waits for a certain period (step S511), returns to reading the current position information (step S505), and repeats the process.

If it is predicted by the above operation that the vehicle-mounted terminal is located in the vicinity of a point outside the communication range on the planned route of the in-vehicle terminal, transfer setting is performed.
According to the fifth embodiment, when it is predicted that there is a point that is out of the communication range on the planned route of the vehicle, the transfer setting is made in advance to the communication network 112 in the vicinity of the point, and the loss of the incoming opportunity is reduced. It is possible to reduce.

  Furthermore, in the process of determining a point that is in the vicinity of the outside of the communication range (step S507), if the point that is in the vicinity of the outside of the communication range exists on the planned travel route, the time from the current position to the point that is in the vicinity of the outside of the communication range After calculating from the measurement unit 404 and waiting for the calculated time, step S506 and step S507 may be executed. Thereby, the repetition of the process of the said flowchart can be reduced and the load to the control part 105 can be reduced.

  The in-vehicle terminal according to the present invention can be applied to a communication device mounted car navigation apparatus. In addition, a vehicle occupant using the in-vehicle terminal of the present invention uses a communication terminal mounted on the vehicle and a mobile communication terminal brought into the vehicle by the vehicle occupant. In this case, it is possible to reduce the loss of the incoming call opportunity by transferring the incoming call to the other communication terminal.

  In Examples 3 to 5, depending on the travel route and travel conditions of the vehicle, there may be a case where the outside of the communication range and the communication range repeatedly appear at short time intervals. Assuming such a case, even if it is determined in step 508 in FIG. 6 or 8 that the vehicle has passed the out-of-service area, the expected required time to the next out-of-service area is short, for example, 2 to 3 minutes. If it is within the range, it may be possible to ensure an environment in which continuous communication can be ensured by maintaining the standby state without performing the transfer cancellation notification immediately.

It is explanatory drawing of Example 1 of this invention, and is a structural example figure of a vehicle-mounted terminal. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the vehicle-mounted terminal and communication system of FIG. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted terminal of FIG. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of Example 2 of the vehicle-mounted terminal and communication system of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of Example 3 of this invention, and is a structural example figure of a vehicle-mounted terminal. It is a flowchart explaining operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted terminal of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of Example 5 of this invention, and is a structural example figure of a vehicle-mounted terminal. It is a flowchart of Example 5 explaining operation | movement of the vehicle-mounted terminal of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 103 ... Vehicle-mounted terminal, 104 ... Position detection part, 105 ... Control part, 106 ... Memory | storage part, 107 ... Transfer destination information, 108 ... Antenna, 109 ... Communication part, 110 ... Input part, 111 ... Output part, 112 ... Communication network 401 ... planned travel route information, 402 ... service area information, 403 ... out-of-service area determination means, 404 ... measurement unit.

Claims (6)

An in-vehicle terminal installed in a moving vehicle, which is connected to a communication network capable of transferring a communication connection request to a communication terminal communicating via a communication network to another communication terminal, and externally connected via the communication network An in-vehicle communication unit that communicates with the apparatus, a connection destination recording unit that records connection destination information for specifying a communication terminal connected to the communication network, and a control unit,
The control unit reads the connection destination information recorded in the recording unit before starting communication by the in-vehicle communication unit, and based on the connection destination information, sends a connection request to the in-vehicle communication unit to the communication network. A function for performing transfer setting for instructing transfer to a communication terminal specified from connection destination information, and a function for canceling the transfer setting of the connection request for the in-vehicle communication means to the communication network after the communication by the in-vehicle communication means is completed. The vehicle-mounted terminal characterized by having. An in-vehicle terminal installed in a moving vehicle,
An in-vehicle communication means connected to a communication network capable of transferring a communication connection request to a communication terminal communicating via a communication network and communicating with an external device via the communication network;
Connection destination recording means for recording connection destination information for identifying a communication terminal connected to the communication network;
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle;
A planned travel route information recording means for recording planned travel route information to the destination, obtained based on the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection means;
Service area information recording means for recording service area information indicating a region where the in-vehicle communication means can communicate via the communication network;
Out-of-service area determination for determining a point at which the vehicle communication means cannot communicate based on the service area information recorded in the service area information recording means and the planned travel route information recorded in the planned travel route information recording means Means,
A control unit,
The control unit determines whether or not the in-vehicle communication unit is located in the vicinity of an out-of-communication point where communication is disabled, and determines that the in-vehicle communication unit is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point. The vehicle has a function for performing transfer setting for instructing transfer to the communication terminal identified from the connection destination information, and a communication out-of-service point determined by the out-of-service area determination unit. A vehicle-mounted terminal having a function of operating so as to cancel transfer setting of a connection request for the vehicle-mounted communication means with respect to the communication network after passing through and being able to communicate again. The in-vehicle terminal according to claim 1 or 2,
Voice input / output means;
Connecting means for connecting a communication terminal capable of voice communication via the communication network and performing voice communication using the voice input / output means;
The control unit records a connection destination information of a communication terminal connected to the connection unit in the connection destination recording unit, so that a communication connection request to the in-vehicle communication unit is transmitted to the communication connected to the connection unit. A vehicle-mounted terminal that has a function of causing a terminal to transfer, responding to the transferred connection request at the communication terminal, and performing voice communication using the voice input / output means. An in-vehicle terminal installed in a moving vehicle,
An in-vehicle communication means connected to a communication network capable of transferring a communication connection request to a communication terminal communicating via a communication network and communicating with an external device via the communication network;
Connecting means for connecting a communication terminal connected to the communication network and communicating with an external device via the communication network;
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the vehicle;
A planned travel route information recording means for recording planned travel route information to the destination, obtained based on the position information of the vehicle detected by the position detection means;
Service area information recording means for recording service area information indicating a region where the in-vehicle communication means can communicate via the communication network;
Out-of-service area determination for determining a point at which the vehicle communication means cannot communicate based on the service area information recorded in the service area information recording means and the planned travel route information recorded in the planned travel route information recording means Means,
A control unit,
The control unit determines whether or not the in-vehicle communication unit is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point where communication is disabled, and determines that the in-vehicle communication unit is located in the vicinity of the out-of-communication point. The connection request to the communication terminal connected to the connection means is set to be transferred to the in-vehicle communication means, and the vehicle passes through the communication out-of-service point determined by the out-of-service area determination means and becomes incapable of communication again. After that, the vehicle-mounted terminal operates so as to cancel the transfer setting of the connection request for the communication terminal with respect to the communication network. In the in-vehicle terminal according to claim 2 or claim 4,
The service area information also holds information about the service area of the other communication terminal,
Predicting means for predicting the time of passing through any point on the planned travel route,
When the out-of-service area determination unit determines that the in-vehicle communication unit or the communication terminal passes through a point at which communication is disabled, the control unit determines the required distance to the point at which communication by the prediction unit is disabled based on vehicle travel information. Estimating the arrival time, if the required arrival time is within a predetermined time, it is determined that the vehicle is located near a point outside the communication area, the transfer setting is performed for the communication network, and the outside area determination unit determines A vehicle-mounted terminal having a function of operating to cancel the transfer setting of the connection request for the communication network after the vehicle passes through the point where communication is disabled and becomes re-communicatable. In the in-vehicle terminal according to claim 2 or claim 4,
The service area information also holds information about the service area of the other communication terminal,
Predicting means for predicting the time of passing through any point on the planned travel route,
If the result of determination by the out-of-service area determination means is that there is an out-of-communication point that is outside the communication area on the planned travel route, the in-vehicle communication means is near the out-of-communication point and the other communication terminal is in communication range If so, the call to the in-vehicle communication means is set to be transferred to the other communication terminal, and if the other communication terminal is in the vicinity of a point outside the communication area and the in-vehicle communication means is in the communication area, the other communication terminal If the in-vehicle communication unit and the other communication terminal are in the vicinity of the outside of the communication range, call the other communication terminal and call the in-vehicle communication unit in advance. A vehicle-mounted terminal having a function of transferring to another communication terminal specified from other set connection destination information.

Images