JP2006203330A - On-vehicle communication apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce power consumption of an on-vehicle communication apparatus if a driver does not need the information from the on-vehicle communication apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: The on-vehicle communication apparatus 205 determines whether or not a vehicle is in an optical beacon communication area 206. If determining that the vehicle is in the optical beacon communication area, the apparatus 205 determines whether or not a car navigation system is presently performing route guidance. If the route guidance is being performed, the on-vehicle communication apparatus performs uplink processing 204. The uplink is transmitted to an optical beacon on-road machine 202, thereby causing the machine 202 to switch a downlink 203 to information efficient for route guidance. The on-vehicle communication apparatus performs receiving processing of the switched downlink data, and performs transmission processing to the navigation for transmitting the received information to a car navigation control unit. If the car navigation system is not performing route guidance, the on-vehicle communication apparatus does not perform the uplink processing. Accordingly, the data is not switched by the optical beacon on-road machine. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an in-vehicle communication device used in a traffic information system that transmits traffic information to a vehicle.

  VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) is one method for solving traffic congestion, which has been one of the social problems. VICS is an information communication system that was put into practical use in April 1996. It uses a plurality of communication media such as radio beacon roadside equipment, optical beacon roadside equipment and FM multiplex broadcasts installed on the road to collect traffic information, emergency information, etc. It is transmitted to the in-vehicle communication device installed in the vehicle. This in-vehicle communication device is connected to a car navigation system, and conveys traffic information to the driver using characters, graphics, voice, and the like. The driver can drive safely and comfortably by referring to the information and knowing the optimum route to the destination.

  In recent years, car navigation systems have become highly functional, and connectable external devices such as the VICS and ETCS (Electric Toll Collection System) are increasing.

  On the other hand, in a car navigation system, the overall power consumption increases due to an increase in external devices, and the power consumption of a battery provided in the vehicle increases. Therefore, power saving of the car navigation system is desired.

  In VICS, considering that multiple media services are not always serviced at the same time, it is considered to save power by setting only the functions of some media at the service time and receivable area. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

JP-A-9-116447

  However, in the case of a method for controlling the operation state of a circuit of a specific medium according to a receivable area or a service time zone, a transmission / reception operation is performed if the driver is in a receivable area or a service time zone even when the driver does not need information. Therefore, there is a problem that extra power consumption occurs. In particular, due to the demand for product miniaturization, it has been necessary to reduce the amount of heat generation.

  An object of the present invention is to reduce power consumption of an in-vehicle communication device in a situation where a driver does not need information without knowing information such as a receivable area and a service time zone.

  The present invention is characterized in that the operating state of the in-vehicle communication device is transmitted to the in-vehicle communication device, and the power supply of the in-vehicle communication device is reduced by performing control related to the power supply of the circuit and software of the in-vehicle communication device based on the information.

The in-vehicle communication device of the present invention can stop transmission to the optical beacon roadside device when the driver does not operate the route guidance function of car navigation, and uses car navigation other than the map screen such as music display. The power to the in-vehicle communication device can be stopped when Thereby, even if the information such as the receivable area and the service time zone is not known, it is possible to reduce the extra power consumption of the in-vehicle communication device in a situation where the driver does not need the information.

  Hereinafter, an in-vehicle communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment achieves the purpose of saving the power consumption as much as possible by using the operation state of the car navigation reflecting the screen operation of the car navigation of the driver.

  First, an in-vehicle communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, an in-vehicle communication device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a system configuration example of the in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment includes a light receiving unit 1 that receives an optical signal, an optical signal receiving unit 2 that amplifies and shapes a signal input to the light receiving unit 1, and an optical signal. An optical beacon unit 100 having a light emitting unit 3 that emits light, an optical signal transmitting unit 4 that drives the light emitting unit 3, a radio wave antenna 5 that receives a radio beacon signal, and amplifies a signal received by the radio antenna 5 A radio wave beacon unit 101 having a radio signal reception unit 6 for detecting and demodulating, and receiving signals from the optical beacon unit 100 and the radio beacon unit 101 to restore (decode) traffic information or to transmit information as optical signal data Beacon signal processing unit 7 that converts (encodes) the data into the car navigation system and exchanges communication / control data with the car navigation, the car navigation control unit 11 that calculates the position of the vehicle and guides the route, and the driver Having an operation unit 10 for performing an operation instruction to the car navigation control unit 11, a display and audio unit 12 to transmit the map-position and traffic information such as the driver, the. Furthermore, the car navigation control unit 11 includes car navigation information notifying means 11a for informing car navigation information. The operation unit 10 may be connected to the car navigation control unit 11 by radio or infrared in a separate housing such as a remote controller, or the operation unit 10 such as a touch panel and the display / audio unit 12 may be integrated. Good.

  Next, an outline of an optical beacon communication method according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of an optical beacon communication method according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the optical beacon roadside machine 202 has a communication area 206. When the vehicle 201 travels on the road and enters the communication area 206, communication between the vehicle 201 and the optical beacon roadside device 202 is started. Whether or not the vehicle 201 has entered the communication area 206 can be determined and recognized based on whether or not the in-vehicle information device 205 receives downlink information 203 such as traffic information transmitted in the communication area 206. The in-vehicle information device 205 entering the communication area 206 uplinks 204 the unique information such as the vehicle type of the vehicle 201 to the optical beacon roadside device 202.

  The optical beacon roadside device 202 that has received the uplink 204 from the in-vehicle information device 205 switches a part of the information content. As a result, the downlink 203 is switched according to the information content of the uplink 204 from the in-vehicle information device 205 of the vehicle 201, and the information service can be changed.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data configuration example of an optical beacon according to the present embodiment. 1 and 2 are also referred to as appropriate. As shown in FIG. 3, the optical beacon information switching according to the present embodiment is performed by replacing transmission data 301 before receiving uplink 204 from in-vehicle information device 205 with transmission data 302 after receiving uplink 204. Although it is a part of information in the example of FIG. 3, all information may be replaced. More specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the congestion travel time including the travel time for using the traffic congestion link information 301 for performing the traffic congestion display on the map display in addition to the traffic congestion display for calculation of route guidance. Replace with link information 302. In such switching of the downlink 203, the car navigation control unit 11 (FIG. 1) does not perform route guidance, but when the traffic jam display is performed by the display / voice unit 12 (FIG. 1), the traffic jam link before receiving the uplink 204. Since the processing can be performed only by receiving the information 301, the uplink 204 from the in-vehicle communication device 205 is arbitrary.

  On the other hand, when the driver needs route guidance to the destination, the driver gives an instruction by setting the destination to the car navigation control unit 11 using the operation unit 10. Accordingly, the car navigation control unit 11 can know whether or not the driver needs route guidance, and the uplink 204 is controlled based on whether or not the route is being guided by transmitting the information to the beacon signal processing unit 7. I can do it.

  As described above, when the driver does not require route guidance, the operation of the uplink 204 from the vehicle 201 can be stopped, so that power consumption can be reduced by the operation of the uplink 204.

  Next, the details of the processing will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an uplink operation flow. The description will be made with reference to FIGS. As shown in FIG. 4, first, when the process is started (START), the in-vehicle communication device 205 determines whether or not it is in the communication area 206 of the optical beacon (step S11). This can be determined by whether or not the downlink 203 from the optical beacon is received. In addition, by making reception several times in a certain period of time as a condition for confirmation of reception, it is possible to further improve the reliability of determination regarding whether or not the communication area 206 is present. When it is determined in step S11 that the communication area 206 is in the optical beacon, it is determined in step S12 whether or not the car navigation is currently performing route guidance. Whether or not the driver has issued a route guidance instruction to the car navigation control unit 11 via the operation unit 10 is stored, and information based on the stored information is transmitted to the beacon signal processing unit 7 as data. be able to. When the car navigation is in a route guidance state, the in-vehicle communication device 205 performs an uplink process (step S13). By transmitting the uplink 204 to the optical beacon roadside machine 202, the optical beacon roadside machine 202 switches the downlink 203 to information effective for route guidance including traffic jam travel time link information as shown in FIG. The in-vehicle communication device 205 performs reception processing (step S14) of the switched downlink data 302, and performs transmission processing (step S15) to the navigation that transmits the received information to the car navigation control unit 11. When the car navigation is not performing route guidance (N in Step S12), the in-vehicle communication device 205 does not perform an uplink process (Step S13). Therefore, data switching is not performed in the optical beacon roadside machine 202. The in-vehicle communication device 205 performs reception processing (step S14) of the downlink data 301 before switching including information not used for route guidance (step S14), and transmits the received information to the car navigation control unit 11 to the navigation (step S15). I do.

  Thus, the process ends (END). The car navigation control unit 11 that has received the received information from the beacon signal processing unit 7 transmits the information to the driver through the display / voice unit 12.

  In this way, when the driver does not instruct route guidance, the power consumption of the in-vehicle communication device 205 can be reduced by performing the control not to perform the uplink 204 operation.

  In the above example, an example is described in which uplink processing is not performed when it is determined that information is not required but reception itself is performed. However, reception is performed when it is determined that information is not required. You may make it perform the process which stops itself. In this case, in step S12 of FIG.

  Next, an in-vehicle communication device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 5, the same components as those in FIG. The in-vehicle communication device shown in FIG. 5 includes a light receiving unit 1 that receives an optical signal, an optical signal receiving unit 2 that amplifies and shapes a signal input to the light receiving unit 1, a light emitting unit 3 that emits an optical signal, An optical beacon unit 100 having an optical signal transmission unit 4 for driving the light emitting unit 3, a radio wave antenna 5 for receiving a radio wave beacon signal, and a radio wave signal reception unit for amplifying, detecting, and demodulating a signal received by the radio wave antenna 5 6, receiving signals from the radio beacon unit 101, the optical beacon unit 100 and the radio beacon unit 101, restoring (decoding) traffic information, converting (encoding) information to be transmitted into optical signal data, The beacon signal processing unit 7 for exchanging communication / control data with the car navigation, the car navigation function for calculating the position of the vehicle 201 (FIG. 2) and guiding the route, music, TV, A car navigation / AV control unit 13 having an AV (audio visual) function for enjoying VD viewing, an operation unit 10 for a driver to give an operation instruction to the car navigation / AV control unit 13, and a map / position / traffic And a display / sound unit 12 for transmitting music information, TV information and the like to the driver in addition to the information.

  The in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment instructs the car navigation / AV control unit 13 to play music through the operation unit 10 when a driver or a passenger views music, and other than a navigation function such as a song name according to the instruction. Information is displayed on the display / audio unit 12. Furthermore, the car navigation / AV control unit 13 has car navigation / AV information notification means 13a for informing information on car navigation / AV.

  The car navigation / AV control unit 13 can determine that the driver is using a function other than the navigation function in the display / voice unit 12. Therefore, the information is transmitted to the beacon signal processing unit 7 by the car navigation / AV information notifying unit 13a, so that the light receiving unit 1, the optical signal receiving unit 2, the light emitting unit 3, the optical signal transmitting unit 4, and the radio wave antenna 5 are used. Then, part or all of the power supply to the radio signal receiver 6 can be stopped, and the power consumption of the in-vehicle communication device 205 can be greatly reduced.

  As described above, the in-vehicle communication device according to the present embodiment can stop transmission to the optical beacon roadside device when the driver does not operate the route guidance function of the car navigation, and can perform the car navigation other than the map screen such as music display. When in use, power to the in-vehicle communication device can be stopped. As a result, even if the information such as the receivable area and the service time zone is not known, it is possible to save energy by reducing the extra power consumption of the in-vehicle communication device in a situation where the driver does not need the information. There is an advantage.

  The present invention can be used for an in-vehicle communication device of a vehicle having a car navigation device. Control of power consumption reduction using the operation state of the car navigation can be widely applied not only to the in-vehicle communication device but also to various connection devices in the vehicle such as a display.

It is a functional block diagram which shows one structural example of the vehicle-mounted communication apparatus by embodiment of this invention (Example 1). It is a figure which shows the communication system of an optical beacon. It is a figure which shows the example of the data switching of an optical beacon. It is a flowchart figure which shows the flow of the operation | movement of the uplink of a vehicle-mounted communication apparatus. It is a functional block diagram which shows the example of 1 structure of the vehicle-mounted communication apparatus by embodiment of this invention (Example 2).

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Light reception part, 2 ... Optical signal light reception part, 3 ... Light emission part, 4 ... Optical signal transmission part, 5 ... Radio wave antenna, 6 ... Radio wave signal light reception part, 7 ... Beacon signal processing part, 10 ... Operation part,
11 ... Car navigation control unit,
12 ... Display / Audio part,
13. Car navigation / AV control unit,
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Optical beacon part, 101 ... Radio beacon part, 201 ... Vehicle, 202 ... Optical beacon roadside machine, 203 ... Downlink, 204 ... Uplink, 301 ... Transmission data before uplink reception, 302 ... After uplink reception Send data.

Claims (7)

A vehicle-mounted communication device comprising a receiving unit that receives information from outside the vehicle and a connection unit with a vehicle-mounted device,
Control that acquires the operating state of the in-vehicle device from the connection unit and restricts the power supply to the receiving unit when it is determined that the in-vehicle device does not need information from the in-vehicle communication device An in-vehicle communication device characterized by   The in-vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein the control includes control for intermittently stopping a reception operation in the reception unit.   An instruction from the in-vehicle device that is output when the in-vehicle device does not need information from the in-vehicle communication device is acquired from the connection unit, and control for limiting power supply to the reception unit operation in the reception unit is performed. The in-vehicle communication device according to claim 1, wherein the on-vehicle communication device is performed.   In addition, a transmission unit that transmits information to the outside of the vehicle is provided, and when it is determined that the in-vehicle device does not require information from the in-vehicle communication device, power supply to the transmission / reception unit in the transmission unit and the reception unit is limited. The in-vehicle communication device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein control is performed.   5. The control according to claim 4, wherein when it is determined that the in-vehicle device does not require information from the in-vehicle communication device, power supply to the transmission unit and the reception unit is intermittently stopped. In-vehicle communication device.   When the in-vehicle device does not need information from the in-vehicle communication device, it obtains an instruction from the in-vehicle device from the connection unit, and performs control to limit power supply to the transmission unit and the reception unit The vehicle-mounted communication device according to claim 4, wherein A car navigation device that operates based on communication with an in-vehicle communication device including a receiving unit that receives information from outside the vehicle and a connection unit with an in-vehicle device,
A car navigation device comprising information notifying means for transmitting its own operating state to the in-vehicle communication device via the connection portion.

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