JP2007219588A - Mobile terminal device, traffic information system, traffic information extracting method for mobile terminal device, and arrival time computing method and traffic information processing method for mobile terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable automatic operation control by allowing a vehicle 800 to specify its own vehicle position and to extract required traffic information. <P>SOLUTION: An on-road optical communication device 200 transmits light wave concerning a lane where it is installed. Since the light wave is high in directivity, the on-road optical communication device 200 can transmit information only to the vehicle 800 passing through the lane where the communication device 200 is installed. An on-vehicle unit of the vehicle 800 receives the light wave when passing below the on-road optical communication device 200 and specifies the lane where the on-road optical communication device 200 is installed, as the travel lane of the own vehicle. An on-road radio communication device 300 transmits, by radio, traffic information such as passing vehicles, traffic regulations and an accident which has occurred on the road. Since radio wave is low in directivity, the information can be transmitted to each vehicle 800 passing through each lane. The vehicle 800 extracts traffic information on the travel lane of the own vehicle from the traffic information. Each vehicle 800 automatically performs operation control of deceleration, a lane change, or the like based on the traffic information on the travel lane of the own vehicle. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a mobile terminal device, a traffic information system, a traffic information extraction method for a mobile terminal device, an arrival time calculation method for a mobile terminal device, and a traffic information processing method, for example, in ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems).

In order to prevent accidents such as encounter collisions at difficult intersections in line-of-sight communications,
A road-to-vehicle communication device at an intersection has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In the car navigation system, positioning by GPS (Global Positioning System) is performed and the position of the vehicle is displayed on the navigation map.
JP 2000-339591 A

However, GPS positioning used in the car navigation system has low positioning accuracy, and the positioning result is corrected by map matching processing with map data for navigation. In addition, it is desired to reduce the occurrence of a major accident at an intersection due to erroneous entry due to missed signals.
That is, conventionally, there is no means for accurately transmitting the vehicle position to the traveling vehicle, and there is no means for accurately determining whether the vehicle has entered the intersection. In addition, there has never been a method for directly transmitting a signal display (light color information) of the traveling lane of the own vehicle to the vehicle during traveling.

  The present invention, for example, provides a means for more accurately transmitting the vehicle position to the traveling vehicle so as to determine whether the vehicle has entered the intersection and to transmit the traveling lane signal display to the vehicle. The purpose is to. Accordingly, for example, an object is to support the collection and provision of traffic information for reducing an erroneous approach to an intersection due to an oversight of a driver's signal.

  The mobile terminal device of the present invention is a mobile terminal device that extracts individual traffic information related to a place where the terminal device is located from integrated traffic information having a plurality of individual traffic information at each location, from the road optical communication device to the road optical communication device. A terminal light receiving unit that receives light waves representing the installation location of the road using a receiver and stores information on the installation location of the road optical communication device in a storage device, and a plurality of individual traffic information regarding the installation location of each road optical communication device A terminal radio wave receiving unit that receives radio waves representing integrated traffic information from the road radio communication device using a receiver and stores the integrated traffic information in a storage device, and the installation location of the road optical communication device Information and integrated traffic information are obtained from the storage device, individual traffic information related to the installation location of the roadside optical communication device is extracted from the integrated traffic information using a central processing unit, and Characterized in that a traffic information extracting unit that outputs to the output device as an information.

  According to the present invention, the traffic information extraction unit can extract individual traffic information related to the position (travel lane) of the terminal device. Thereby, for example, the signal display of the driving lane is transmitted to the vehicle as traffic information, and it is possible to assist in reducing the erroneous approach to the intersection due to oversight of the driver's signal.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Example 1.
The traffic information system in the first embodiment will be described below by taking an electronic intersection as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a traffic information system according to the first embodiment.
A traffic information system (electronic intersection) according to the first embodiment having the road optical communication device 200, the road radio communication device 300, the traffic light 510, the ultrasonic vehicle sensor 600, and the vehicle 800 will be described below with reference to FIG.

  The vehicle 800 is equipped with a vehicle-mounted terminal such as a vehicle-mounted device or a mobile phone terminal, and the vehicle-mounted terminal communicates with light waves or radio waves.

For the roadside optical communication device 200, for example, an optical beacon is used. The roadside optical communication device 200 is installed for each lane (lane), transmits a light wave toward the vehicle 800 traveling in the lane where the communication device is installed, and communicates with an in-vehicle terminal mounted on each vehicle 800. For example, if there are two lanes on the road, one on each lane and two on-road optical communication devices 200 will be installed. If the road is four lanes, a total of four on-road optical communication devices 200 will be installed on the road. Become.
Since light waves are highly straight, spot communication can be performed by forming a communication area of about 3.5 m square by using an optical beacon. That is, in the optical beacon communication area, the position of the own vehicle can be transmitted to each vehicle 800 with an accurate accuracy of a positional accuracy of 3.5 m or less.
Further, if the roadside optical communication device 200 transmits the distance from the installation position of the communication device to the next intersection as the position information, the vehicle 800 that has received the data is based on the traveling speed (movement speed) of the vehicle. The approach time (arrival time) can be calculated. For example, when the distance from the roadside optical communication device 200 immediately after passing through the intersection B to the intersection A (specific point distance in FIG. 1) is 250 m (meters) and the vehicle 800 is traveling at a speed of 60 km (km), the vehicle 800 Can be determined to enter the intersection A after 15 seconds (= 0.25 minutes = 250 [m] ÷ 1000 [m / min]).
That is, the electronic intersection shown in the first embodiment enables the vehicle 800 to automatically recognize the approach to the intersection.
The approach time calculated by the vehicle 800 may be used to determine, for example, a start time for automatically applying a brake or a start time for turning on a winker, or a calculation of an estimated arrival time at a destination in a car navigation system. You may use for.
Further, if the roadside optical communication device 200 transmits lane information in which the communication device is installed as position information, the vehicle 800 that has received the data can specify the lane in which the vehicle is traveling.

For the road radio communication device 300, for example, a DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication) beacon is used. The on-road radio communication device 300 transmits radio waves and communicates with on-vehicle terminals mounted on each vehicle 800.
DSRC refers to dedicated narrowband communication, for example, communication using a frequency band of 5.8 GHz (gigahertz) as a carrier wave. DSRC is used in, for example, ETC (Electronic Toll Collection System).
After passing through the installation position of the roadside optical communication device 200, the vehicle 800 receives information that changes from time to time at each intersection from the roadside radio communication device 300. For example, the on-road radio communicator 300 transmits display information (red, yellow, blue, etc.) of each signal for each lane at the intersection A. Then, the vehicle 800 traveling from the intersection B toward the intersection A extracts information on signals for the traveling lane (for example, a signal for the straight lane or a signal for the right turn lane), and displays a red signal (red signal lighting). If there is a voice notification, etc. That is, the vehicle 800 and the driver can be provided with information for reducing intersection approach and encounter accidents due to missed red lights. Further, for example, the road radio communication device 300 transmits the lighting time of each signal (lighting color, remaining time until the lighting mark is changed) for each lane at the intersection A. As a result, the vehicle 800 traveling from the intersection B toward the intersection A extracts signal information for the traveling lane. Based on the distance information to the next intersection transmitted from the road optical communication device 200 and the approach time calculated based on the traveling speed of the vehicle, and the lighting time of the signal transmitted from the road radio communication device 300 Automatic operation control such as decelerating the speed.

  The ultrasonic vehicle sensor 600 detects the passage of the vehicle 800 on the road by measuring the time difference between transmitting the ultrasonic wave toward the road and receiving the reflected wave.

  The roadside optical communication device 200 and the roadside radio communication device 300 communicate with a roadside device (described later) that generates traffic information.

In the electronic intersection shown in the first embodiment, the road optical communication device 200 transmits information (position information) of the installation location of the own communication device by using a light wave, so that the vehicle 800 that passes through the installation location of the road optical communication device 200. One of the features is that the vehicle position can be specified based on the light wave from the roadside optical communication device 200. The vehicle position may be expressed as an absolute position or a relative position. The coordinates expressed by latitude and longitude are examples of absolute positions, and the distance to the driving lane and the next intersection is an example of relative positions. It is. It is also one of the features that the vehicle 800 can specify the arrival time to the next intersection.
Another feature is that the vehicle 800 that can accurately recognize that the vehicle has entered the intersection by using the above characteristics passes through the road optical communication device 200 and continues to communicate with the road radio communication device 300. In addition to the signal information, vehicle approach information from a follower road (a road intersecting with the traveling road [main road]) is transmitted by the on-road radio communication device 300, so that the vehicle 800 may have an accident based on the vehicle approach information. Can be recognized by the own vehicle. That is, the vehicle 800 can perform automatic driving control for performing an accident avoidance action and warning control for a driver that outputs a warning message by voice or displays the warning message.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of hardware resources of the in-vehicle terminal 100, the roadside optical communication device 200, the roadside radio communication device 300, and the roadside device 400 according to the first embodiment.
In FIG. 2, an in-vehicle terminal 100, a road optical communication device 200, a road radio communication device 300, and a roadside device 400 include a CPU 911 (Central Processing Unit, a central processing unit, a processing unit, an arithmetic unit, a microprocessor, and a microcomputer that execute a program. , Also referred to as a processor). The CPU 911 is connected to the ROM 913, the RAM 914, the communication board 915, and the magnetic disk device 920 via the bus 912, and controls these hardware devices. Instead of the magnetic disk device 920, a storage device such as an optical disk device or a memory card read / write device may be used.
The RAM 914 is an example of a volatile memory. The storage medium of the ROM 913 and the magnetic disk device 920 is an example of a nonvolatile memory. These are examples of a storage device, a storage device, or a storage unit.
The communication board 915 is an example of an input / output device, an input / output device, or an input / output unit.

The communication board 915 is wired or wireless (light wave or radio wave) and is connected to a communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network) such as ISDN, and a telephone line.
The magnetic disk device 920 stores an OS 921 (Operating System), a program group 923, and a file group 924. The programs in the program group 923 are executed by the CPU 911 and the OS 921.

The program group 923 stores programs for executing functions described as “˜unit” and “˜means” in the description of the embodiment. The program is read and executed by the CPU 911.
In the file group 924, in the description of the embodiment, “determination result”, “calculation result”, “processing result of”, etc. when the functions of “˜part” and “˜means” are executed, etc. Result data, data passed between programs that execute the functions of "~ part" and "~ means", other information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters are "~ file" and "~ database" It is stored as each item. For example, vehicle driving information and road traffic information are stored. The “˜file” and “˜database” are stored in a recording medium such as a disk or a memory. Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters stored in a storage medium such as a disk or memory are read out to the main memory or cache memory by the CPU 911 via a read / write circuit, and extracted, searched, referenced, compared, and calculated. Used for CPU operations such as calculation, processing, output, printing, and display. Information, data, signal values, variable values, and parameters are temporarily stored in the main memory, cache memory, and buffer memory during the CPU operations of extraction, search, reference, comparison, operation, calculation, processing, output, printing, and display. Is remembered.
In addition, the arrows in the flowcharts described in the description of the embodiments mainly indicate input / output of data and signals, and the data and signal values are the memory of the RAM 914, the magnetic disk of the magnetic disk device 920, other flexible disks, and compact disks. , An optical disc, a mini disc, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) and the like. Data and signal values are transmitted online via a bus 912, signal lines, cables, or other transmission media.

  In the description of the embodiments, what is described as “to part” and “to means” may be “to circuit”, “to device”, and “to device”, and “to step”, It may be “˜procedure” or “˜processing”. That is, what is described as “˜unit” and “˜means” may be realized by firmware stored in the ROM 913. Alternatively, it may be implemented only by software, or only by hardware such as elements, devices, substrates, and wirings, by a combination of software and hardware, or by a combination of firmware. Firmware and software are stored as programs in a recording medium such as a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a mini disk, and a DVD. The program is read by the CPU 911 and executed by the CPU 911. That is, the program causes the computer to function as “˜unit” and “˜means”. Alternatively, the procedures and methods of “˜unit” and “˜means” are executed by hardware such as a computer or a communication device.

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on vehicle 800 in the first embodiment.
A functional configuration of in-vehicle terminal 100 and vehicle 800 in which in-vehicle terminal 100 is mounted in the first embodiment will be described below based on FIG.
The in-vehicle terminal 100 (an example of a mobile terminal device) includes a terminal optical communication unit 110, a terminal radio wave communication unit 120, a terminal processing unit 130, and a terminal storage device 190. In addition to extracting individual traffic information related to the location where the device is located, the time required to arrive at a specific point is calculated.
The vehicle 800 includes the in-vehicle terminal 100 and includes an operation control device 810 and a car navigation system 820.

The terminal optical communication unit 110 (an example of a terminal light receiving unit and a terminal light transmitting unit) receives a light wave indicating an installation location of the road optical communication device 200 from the road optical communication device 200 and installs the road optical communication device. The location information is stored in the terminal storage device 190. Further, the terminal optical communication unit 110 receives a light wave representing the distance from the road optical communication device 200 to the specific point from the road optical communication device 200 and stores it in the terminal storage device 190. Further, the terminal optical communication unit 110 transmits driving information of the vehicle 800 to the roadside optical communication device 200 installed in the lane through which the vehicle 800 passes by light waves.
The terminal radio wave communication unit 120 (an example of the terminal radio wave reception unit) transmits radio waves representing integrated traffic information including individual traffic information about the installation locations of the road optical communication devices 200 for a plurality of road optical communication devices 200 on the road radio wave communication device. And the integrated traffic information is stored in the terminal storage device 190.
The terminal processing unit 130 (an example of a traffic information extraction unit, a speed acquisition unit, and an arrival time calculation unit) acquires information on the installation location of the road optical communication device 200 and integrated traffic information from the terminal storage device 190, and integrates the integrated traffic. The individual traffic information regarding the installation location of the roadside optical communication device 200 is extracted from the information using the CPU 911, and as the individual traffic information regarding the location where the terminal device is located, the terminal storage device 190, the operation control device 810, the car navigation system 820 (respectively Output to an example of output device. In addition, the terminal processing unit 130 acquires the moving speed of the terminal device from the operation control device 810 (an example of an input device) and stores it in the terminal storage device 190. Further, the terminal processing unit 130 acquires the distance to the specific point and the moving speed from the terminal storage device 190, and then uses the CPU 911 to divide the distance to the specific point by the moving speed, so that the terminal device identifies Time until arrival at the point is calculated and output to the terminal storage device 190, the operation control device 810, and the car navigation system 820.
The terminal storage device 190 (an example of a storage device) stores traffic information, driving information, an ID (IDentifier) that identifies the in-vehicle terminal 100, and the like.

The driving control device 810 performs driving control processing of the vehicle 800 and management processing of driving information of the vehicle 800.
The car navigation system 820 stores map data, and outputs traffic guidance information to a display or a speaker based on the map data and driving information of the vehicle 800.

The traffic information is, for example, traffic jam information, accident information, road construction information, signal information, right / left turn prohibition information, regulation speed information, parking prohibition information, and entry prohibition information.
The individual traffic information is, for example, traffic information related to one lane.
The integrated traffic information is, for example, individual traffic information for all lanes and is individual information associated with the lane information.
The signal information is, for example, a lighting color, a lighting mark, and a lighting time.
The specific points are, for example, intersections, traffic lights, road curve points, traffic congestion points, accident sites, and landmarks.
The position information is, for example, information on the lane where the roadside optical communication device 200 is installed, the distance from the installation position of the roadside optical communication device 200 to a specific point (specific point distance), the latitude of the installation position of the roadside optical communication device 200 Or longitude.
The driving information is, for example, moving speed, traveling direction (straight, left / right, back, etc.), brake control information, blinker blinking information, and wiper operation information.
The driving control is, for example, speed control, direction control, and brake control.
The warning control is, for example, voice output of traffic guidance information or display display.
The traffic guide information is, for example, signal information, traffic jam information, accident information, position and speed information of other vehicles passing through the main road and the secondary road, and nearby sign information.

FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of the roadside optical communication device 200, the roadside radio communication device 300, and the roadside device 400 in the first embodiment.
The functional configurations of the roadside optical communication device 200, the roadside radio communication device 300, the roadside device 400, the signal control device 500, the ultrasonic vehicle sensor 600, and the host device 700 in the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. .
The roadside optical communication device 200 includes an optical transmission / reception unit 210 and a roadside optical storage device 290. The roadside optical communication device 200 is installed in a vehicle 800 that is installed in each lane of the road and passes through the lane where the communication device is installed. Communicate with.
The road radio communication device 300 includes a radio wave transmission / reception unit 310 and a road radio wave storage device 390, and communicates with the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on each vehicle 800 passing through each lane by radio waves.
The roadside device 400 (an example of a traffic information communication device) includes a control unit 410, an I / F unit A420, an I / F unit B430, and a roadside storage device 490, and provides traffic information based on information communicated by the roadside optical communication device 200. Communicate with the on-road radio communication device 300.
The signal control device 500 is connected to each traffic light 510 and controls the lighting color (signal display), lighting time (signal seconds), and the like of the traffic light 510.
The ultrasonic vehicle detector 600 transmits ultrasonic waves toward the road, measures the arrival time of the reflected wave, and detects the presence of the vehicle passing through the installation point of the detector based on the difference in arrival time.
The host device 700 receives data from the roadside device 400, accumulates and processes the data, and estimates the traffic congestion, running, accident situation, etc. of the vehicle at the installation location of each roadside optical communication device 200 or roadside radio communication device 300. In addition, the host device 700 has a function of creating data (traffic information) for notifying the traveling vehicle of traffic jams, traveling, accident situations, etc. at the installation locations of the road optical communication devices 200 and the road radio communication devices 300. Have.

The optical transmission / reception unit 210 (an example of a road light reception unit, a road light transmission unit, and an operation information transmission unit) modulates near infrared light (an example of a light wave) and transmits communication data, and communication data transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 100 It has the function to receive. Then, the optical transmission / reception unit 210 transmits the lane information in which the communication device is installed to the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on the vehicle 800 passing through the lane by light waves, and the lane in which the vehicle 800 passes through the in-vehicle terminal 100. Make it specific. Moreover, the optical transmission / reception part 210 receives the driving information of the vehicle 800 by the light wave from the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 mounted in the vehicle 800 passing through the lane where the own communication device is installed. In addition, the optical transmission / reception unit 210 transmits the driving information received from the in-vehicle terminal 100 to the roadside device 400.
The road light storage device 290 stores driving information, traffic information, and the like.

Radio wave transmission / reception unit 310 (an example of a road radio wave transmission unit and a traffic information reception unit) has a function of modulating radio waves and transmitting communication data and receiving communication data transmitted from in-vehicle terminal 100. Then, the radio wave transmission / reception unit 310 transmits the traffic information of each lane to the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on each vehicle 800 passing through each lane by radio waves. And the traffic information of the lane specified by the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 is extracted by the vehicle-mounted terminal 100, and the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 is made to acquire as traffic information of the lane through which the said vehicle 800 passes. In addition, the radio transmission / reception unit 310 receives traffic information from the roadside device 400. The radio wave transmission / reception unit 310 transmits the received traffic information to the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on each vehicle 800 passing through each lane by radio waves.
The road radio wave storage device 390 stores traffic information and the like.

The I / F unit A 420 receives data received by the road optical communication device 200 by light from the in-vehicle terminal 100 and sends data to the control unit 410, and also receives data received by the road radio communication device 300 from the in-vehicle terminal 100 by radio waves. It has a function of sending data to the control unit 410. The I / F unit A 420 has a function of receiving data transmitted from the control unit 410 and transmitting the data to the roadside optical communication device 200 or the roadside radio communication device 300.
The control unit 410 receives data from the I / F unit A 420 and transmits it to the I / F unit B 430. The control unit 410 also receives vehicle detection information from the ultrasonic vehicle detector 600 and sends it to the I / F unit A 420 as presence information of the vehicle 800 by dedicated software (program). Further, the control unit 410 receives signal information (such as signal display and signal seconds received from the signal control device 500) at the intersection, and uses I / O as state information (an example of traffic information) at the intersection using dedicated software. Send to F section A420.
The I / F unit B 430 receives data from the control unit 410 and sends the data to the host device 700, and also receives data from the host device 700 and sends the data to the control unit 410.
The roadside storage device 490 stores traffic information, driving information, vehicle sensing information, signal information, and the like.

  By connecting the roadside optical communication device 200 and the roadside device 400 with an optical cable compatible with optical communication, the installation position of the roadside optical communication device 200 can be separated from the roadside device 400 by several kilometers. However, the roadside optical communication device 200 and the roadside device 400 may be connected by a signal line other than the optical cable, or may be wirelessly connected.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a traffic information processing method of the traffic information system in the first embodiment.
The traffic information processing method of the traffic information system in Embodiment 1 is demonstrated below based on FIG.

<S101: Terminal Light Transmission Processing>
When the vehicle 800 passes below the roadside optical communication device 200, the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on the vehicle 800 transmits driving information to the roadside optical communication device 200 by light waves.
At this time, the terminal processing unit 130 acquires driving information from the driving control device 810 of the vehicle 800. Then, the terminal processing unit 130 adds the ID for identifying the in-vehicle terminal 100 stored in the terminal storage device 190 to the terminal optical communication unit 110 in addition to the driving information, and the terminal optical communication unit 110 performs a modulation process to obtain the driving information. The light wave that represents is transmitted.

<S102: Road Light Reception Processing>
When the vehicle 800 equipped with the in-vehicle terminal 100 passes downward, the roadside optical communication device 200 receives the driving information transmitted from the in-vehicle terminal 100 by light waves.
At this time, the optical transmission / reception unit 210 demodulates the received light wave to obtain operation information and stores it in the roadside light storage device 290.

<S103: Driving information transmission process>
Next, the roadside optical communication device 200 acquires the driving information of the vehicle 800 that passes under the communication device and the position information of the communication device from the roadlight storage device 290 and transmits the information to the roadside device 400.

<S104: Driving information reception process>
Next, the roadside device 400 receives driving information and position information from the roadside optical communication device 200.
At this time, the I / F unit A 420 receives the driving information and the position information transmitted from the road optical communication device 200 and outputs them to the control unit 410, and the control unit 410 stores the driving information and the position information in the road-side storage device 490. .

<S105: Traffic information generation process>
Next, the roadside machine 400 generates traffic information based on the received driving information and position information.
At this time, the control unit 410 obtains traffic information from the host device 700, vehicle sensing information from the ultrasonic vehicle detector 600, and signal information from the signal control device 500, and the wide area traffic information representing the wide area traffic information and the narrow area traffic information. Narrow area traffic information representing the traffic information is generated and stored in the roadside storage device 490.
Details of the traffic information generation process (S105) will be described separately with reference to FIG.

<S106: Traffic information transmission process>
Next, the roadside device 400 transmits the generated traffic information to the road radio communication device 300 and the road optical communication device 200.
At this time, the control unit 410 acquires the wide area traffic information and the narrow area traffic information from the roadside storage device 490 and outputs the wide area traffic information and the narrow area traffic information to the I / F unit A420, and the I / F unit A420 transmits the wide area traffic information to the road radio communication device 300. At the same time, the narrow area traffic information is transmitted to the road optical communication device 200.

<S107: Traffic information reception process>
Next, the road radio communication device 300 and the road optical communication device 200 receive traffic information from the roadside device 400.
At this time, the radio transmission / reception unit 310 stores the received wide area traffic information in the road radio wave storage device 390, and the optical transmission / reception unit 210 stores the received narrow area traffic information in the road optical storage device 290.

<S108: Road radio wave transmission processing>
Next, the road radio communication device 300 transmits wide-area traffic information by radio waves and transmits the information to a vehicle-mounted terminal 100 mounted on each vehicle 800 located at various places by broadband transmission.
At this time, the radio wave transmission / reception unit 310 acquires the wide area traffic information from the road radio wave storage device 390, modulates it, and transmits the radio wave representing the wide area traffic information.

<S109: Terminal radio wave reception processing>
Next, the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on each vehicle 800 located at each location receives the wide area traffic information transmitted from the road radio communication device 300 by radio waves.
At this time, the terminal radio wave communication unit 120 acquires the wide area traffic information by demodulating the received radio wave and outputs it to the terminal processing unit 130. The terminal processing unit 130 stores wide area traffic information in the terminal storage device 190.

<S110: Road light transmission processing>
The roadside optical communication device 200 transmits the narrow area traffic information to the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on the vehicle 800 passing under the communication device by light waves.
At this time, the optical transmission / reception unit 210 acquires the narrow area traffic information from the road optical storage device 290 and also acquires the position information of the road optical communication device 200 stored in the road optical storage device 290. Then, the optical transmission / reception unit 210 modulates the narrow area traffic information to which the position information is added and transmits a light wave representing the narrow area traffic information.

<S111: Terminal Optical Reception Processing>
Next, the in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on the vehicle 800 that passes under the road optical communication device 200 receives the narrow area traffic information transmitted by the road optical communication device 200 using light waves.
At this time, the terminal optical communication unit 110 demodulates the received light wave, acquires narrow area traffic information, and outputs it to the terminal processing unit 130. The terminal processing unit 130 stores the narrow area traffic information in the terminal storage device 190.

<S112: Vehicle control processing (traffic information extraction processing, speed acquisition processing, arrival time calculation processing)>
The in-vehicle terminal 100 extracts the individual traffic information related to the lane in which the vehicle 800 passes from the wide area traffic information, and outputs it to the operation control device 810 and the car navigation system 820 of the vehicle 800. The operation control device 810 controls the vehicle 800. In addition, the car navigation system 820 issues a warning to the driver.
At this time, the terminal processing unit 130 acquires wide area traffic information and narrow area traffic information from the terminal storage device 190. Then, the terminal processing unit 130 extracts the individual traffic information associated with the lane (an example of the position information) indicated by the narrow area traffic information from the wide area traffic information, and converts the individual traffic information and the narrow area traffic information into the driving control device 810 or Output to the car navigation system 820. In addition, the terminal processing unit 130 acquires the moving speed of the vehicle 800 from the operation control device 810, divides the distance (an example of position information) to the intersection indicated by the narrow area traffic information by the moving speed, and the vehicle 800 becomes the intersection. The arrival time until arrival is calculated and output to the operation control device 810 and the car navigation system 820. The driving control device 810 performs automatic driving control based on the traffic information and arrival time output by the terminal processing unit 130. In addition, the car navigation system 820 issues a warning based on the traffic information output by the terminal processing unit 130.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the traffic information generation processing method of roadside machine 400 in the first embodiment.
The traffic information generation process (S105) of the control unit 410 in the first embodiment will be described below based on FIG.

The control unit 410 obtains driving information from the roadside storage device 490, traffic information from the host device 700, vehicle sensing information from the ultrasonic vehicle detector 600, and signal information from the signal control device 500, respectively. Wide area traffic information representing the traffic information of the vehicle and narrow area traffic information representing the traffic information of the narrow area are generated.
<S201: Special vehicle determination process>
First, the control unit 410 acquires the driving information and the position information of the roadside optical communication device 200 from the roadside storage device 490, and the driving information received by the roadside optical communication device 200 is based on the ID of the in-vehicle terminal 100 indicated by the driving information. It is determined whether the driving information is for a special vehicle.
<S202: Driving / Position Information Format Conversion Process>
When it is determined that the driving information is not the special vehicle driving information, the control unit 410 converts the data format of the driving information and the position information of the roadside optical communication device 200 into a data format to be transmitted to the host device 700.
<S203: Driving / Position Information Roadside Transmission Process>
Next, the control unit 410 transmits the format-converted driving information and position information to the host device 700.
<S204: Traffic upper information reception process>
Next, the control unit 410 receives the traffic information generated by the host device 700 and stores it in the roadside storage device 490.
Based on the driving information and the position information, the host device 700 generates traffic information representing information on the vehicle 800 that passes through each road and each lane. At this time, the host device 700 identifies the necessary information for each lane so as to transmit light, and identifies the information that needs to be provided in a wide range and the large-capacity information so that the information is transmitted by radio waves, and generates traffic information. .
The traffic information that is identified so as to perform optical communication includes traffic jam information, position information (lane information), a distance to the next intersection, map information of the surroundings, and the like. The traffic information identified so as to perform optical communication is defined as narrow area traffic information.
The traffic information that is identified so as to be transmitted by radio waves includes congestion information in a wider area than narrow area traffic information. Traffic information that is identified so as to be transmitted by radio waves is set as wide area traffic information.
<S205: Traffic upper information identification process>
Next, the control unit 410 acquires the traffic information generated by the host device 700 from the roadside storage device 490, identifies it, classifies it into wide area traffic information and narrow area traffic information, and stores it in the roadside storage device 490.
<S206: Vehicle Sensing Information Acquisition Processing>
Next, the control unit 410 acquires vehicle detection information from the ultrasonic vehicle detector 600 and stores it in the roadside storage device 490.
<S207: Signal Information Acquisition Processing>
Next, the control unit 410 acquires signal information from the signal control device 500 and stores it in the roadside storage device 490.
The processes of S205 to S206 may be performed simultaneously or at the same time.
<S208: Information addition processing>
Next, the control unit 410 acquires wide area traffic information, signal information, and vehicle sensing information from the roadside storage device 490, adds the signal information and the vehicle sensing information, generates wide area traffic information, and stores it in the roadside storage device 490.
<S209: Traffic information format conversion process>
And the control part 410 acquires wide area traffic information and narrow area traffic information from the roadside memory | storage device 490, converts a data format into the transmission format to the vehicle-mounted terminal 100, and produces | generates the produced wide area traffic information and narrow area traffic information. Store in the roadside storage device 490.
<S210: Special Vehicle Information Generation Processing>
When it is determined that the driving information is for the special vehicle (S201), the control unit 410 generates wide-area traffic information and narrow-area traffic information for notifying which lane the special vehicle is passing, and transmits it to the in-vehicle terminal 100. Store in the roadside storage device 490 in the format.

In the first embodiment, for example, the following features have been described.
Although the DSRC beacon, which is an example of the on-road radio communication device 300, has a modulation signal speed of 4 Mbps, it can be used for high-capacity communication. However, determining the travel position of the vehicle 800 from the reception position of the DSRC beacon Is difficult. Further, even in a GPS-equipped vehicle 800, an error of several tens of meters occurs in the own vehicle position due to the influence of multipath. Therefore, as shown in the first embodiment, a method using an optical beacon is effective for accurately identifying the vehicle position. The following points can be cited as merits of knowing the vehicle position accurately. It is necessary to accurately know the position of the vehicle in order to determine whether the vehicle has to be avoided based on the received traffic information. For example, when the host vehicle is in a right turn lane, it is recognized by spot communication from an optical beacon with very few multipaths that the host vehicle is in a right turn lane. Then, when information such as “approaching at xx km per hour” is received as approach information of a vehicle traveling straight on the opposite lane, only the vehicle in the right turn lane is provided with voice information such as “attention to approach straight vehicle” to the driver. Further, guidance is not necessary for the vehicle 800 that is not on the right turn lane. In addition, by accurately knowing the position of the vehicle, it is possible to accurately grasp the time until the vehicle enters the intersection, and it is possible to avoid danger by predicting a dangerous situation where the vehicle 800 is urgently approached and performing automatic driving control.
In addition, there has never been a method for directly transmitting the signal lamp color to the vehicle 800 as in the first embodiment, and by notifying the vehicle 800 of the intersection information directly, it is possible to prevent the vehicle 800 from erroneously entering or recklessly entering the intersection. can do. That is, at the electronic intersection of the first embodiment, it is possible to directly transmit the current signal light color to the driver, and the vehicle 800 can automatically control the driving by transmitting the remaining signal display time to the vehicle 800 without transmitting it to the driver. To further reduce the risk of accidental or reckless approach to the intersection.

  The optical beacon in the first embodiment is preferably one having a strong straightness (directivity) in the propagation direction in consideration of performing spot communication. Therefore, it is preferable to use an optical wave of an optical beacon having a high frequency, ie, a short wavelength. For example, an optical beacon having a wavelength of 850 nm (nanometer) may be used as the roadside optical communication device 200. Further, the wavelength of light may be selected according to the spot communication range (for example, lane width) and the height of the roadside optical communication device 200.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the first embodiment, the road optical communication device 200, the road radio communication device 300, and the roadside device 400 are separated.
In the second embodiment, the difference between the road optical communication device 200, the road radio communication device 300, and the roadside device 400 from the first embodiment will be described. Other parts are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  The optical beacon, which is an example of the roadside optical communication device 200, is excellent in straightness due to its short wavelength as described in the first embodiment, but depending on the weather conditions, from the roadside optical communication device 200 to the in-vehicle terminal 100. There is a possibility that communication quality cannot be improved due to propagation failure. Therefore, in the second embodiment, a radio wave beacon or DSRC beacon, which is an example of the roadside radio communication device 300, and an optical beacon, which is an example of the roadside optical communication device 200, are integrated to supplement the provision of important information.

FIG. 7 is a functional configuration diagram of the roadside machine 400 according to the second embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 7, the roadside device 400 according to the second embodiment includes an optical transmission / reception unit 210, a radio wave transmission / reception unit 310, and an I / F unit A420 as a transmission / reception unit 440. The transmission / reception unit 440 includes a transmission / reception unit storage device 449 corresponding to the road optical storage device 290 and the road radio wave storage device 390.

Example 2
For example, the integrated type of the roadside optical communication device 200 (optical transmission / reception unit 210) and the roadside radio communication device 300 (radiowave transmission / reception unit 310) is useful in providing information at specific locations such as curves.
FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram of the traffic information system in the second embodiment.
In FIG. 8, a roadside machine 400 having an optical transmission / reception unit 210 and a radio transmission / reception unit 310 as one unit uses an optical beacon and a radio beacon to transmit important traffic information such as a curve diameter R, tunnel and bridge position information. Each vehicle 800 is notified.

Example 3
Further, for example, the integrated type of the road optical communication device 200 and the road radio communication device 300 is also useful in providing information when a traffic accident occurs.
FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a traffic information system according to the third embodiment.
In FIG. 9, the roadside device 400 notifies each vehicle 800 of safety information such as an accident occurrence position, traffic regulation due to the accident, and an image of the accident site, using the optical beacon and the radio beacon.

In the second embodiment, in consideration of the fact that optical beacons are easily affected by weather, such as fine particles in the atmosphere such as fog and raindrops, the situation in which information transmitted from optical beacons does not reach in-vehicle terminal 100 is supplemented by radio waves. The form to do was demonstrated.
For example, a mode has been described in which road features in a blind spot and traffic conditions in a blind spot are provided to each vehicle 800 by securing a communication path using both light waves and radio waves.
In other words, in the second embodiment, as means for providing important information and safety information to the vehicle 800, a redundant structure is adopted, and the advantage of the optical beacon that the influence of the multipath is small and the influence of the radio wave that is hardly affected by the climate are obtained. The form that takes advantage of both merits was explained.

1 is a schematic diagram of a traffic information system in Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the hardware resource of the vehicle-mounted terminal 100 in Embodiment 1, the road optical communication apparatus 200, the road radio wave communication apparatus 300, and the roadside apparatus 400. FIG. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of in-vehicle terminal 100 mounted on vehicle 800 in the first embodiment. 2 is a functional configuration diagram of a roadside optical communication device 200, a roadside radio communication device 300, and a roadside device 400 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a traffic information processing method of the traffic information system in the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart showing a traffic information generation processing method for roadside machine 400 in the first embodiment. The function block diagram of the roadside machine 400 in Embodiment 2. FIG. The schematic diagram of the traffic information system in Example 2. FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a traffic information system in Embodiment 3.

Explanation of symbols

  100 in-vehicle terminal, 110 terminal optical communication unit, 120 terminal radio communication unit, 130 terminal processing unit, 190 terminal storage device, 200 road optical communication device, 210 optical transmission / reception unit, 290 road optical storage device, 300 road radio communication device, 310 Radio transmission / reception unit, 390 Road radio wave storage device, 400 Roadside unit, 410 control unit, 420 I / F unit A, 430 I / F unit B, 440 transmission / reception unit, 449 transmission / reception unit storage device, 490 roadside storage device, 500 signal control Device, 510 traffic light, 600 ultrasonic vehicle sensor, 700 host device, 800 vehicle, 810 operation control device, 820 car navigation system, 911 CPU, 912 bus, 913 ROM, 914 RAM, 915 communication board, 920 magnetic disk device, 921 OS, 923 program group, 924 Airu group.

Claims (7)

It is a mobile terminal device that extracts individual traffic information related to a place where the terminal device is located from integrated traffic information having a plurality of individual traffic information of each place,
A terminal optical receiving unit that receives a light wave representing an installation location of the road optical communication device from the road optical communication device using a receiver and stores information on the installation location of the road optical communication device in a storage device;
Radio waves representing integrated traffic information including individual traffic information related to the installation location of each roadside optical communication device for a plurality of roadside optical communication devices are received from the roadside radio communication device using a receiver, and the integrated traffic information is stored in a storage device. A terminal radio wave receiver,
Information on the installation location of the roadside optical communication device and integrated traffic information are acquired from the storage device, and individual traffic information on the installation location of the roadside optical communication device is extracted from the integrated traffic information using a central processing unit. A mobile terminal device comprising: a traffic information extracting unit that outputs to a device as individual traffic information relating to a location. A mobile terminal device that calculates the time to reach a specific point.
A terminal light receiving unit that receives a light wave representing a specific point distance from the road optical communication device to the specific point from the road optical communication device using a receiver and stores it in a storage device;
A speed acquisition unit that acquires the moving speed of the terminal device from the input device and stores it in the storage device;
The specific point distance and the moving speed are acquired from the storage device, the specific point distance is set as the distance from the own terminal device to the specific point, the specific point distance is divided by the moving speed using the central processing unit, and the own terminal device arrives at the specific point. A mobile terminal apparatus comprising: an arrival time calculation unit that calculates a time until the output and outputs the time to an output device. On the road that communicates by radio waves with the roadside optical communication device that is installed in the vehicle that is installed in each lane of the road and that is mounted on the vehicle that passes through the lane, and the mobile terminal device that is installed in each vehicle that passes through the lane. A traffic information system that has a radio communication device and causes a mobile terminal device to acquire traffic information of a lane through which the vehicle passes,
Road optical communication equipment
A road light transmitter that transmits lane information in which the communication device is installed to a mobile terminal device mounted on a vehicle passing through the lane in a light wave and causes the mobile terminal device to identify a lane through which the vehicle passes,
Road radio communication equipment
Traffic information of each lane is transmitted to a mobile terminal device mounted on each vehicle passing through each lane by radio waves, and traffic information of the lane specified by the mobile terminal device is extracted by the mobile terminal device. A traffic information system comprising a road radio wave transmission unit that acquires traffic information of traffic lanes on which traffic passes. Road information communication equipment that is installed in each road lane and communicates by light waves, road information communication equipment that communicates by radio waves, and traffic information communication that communicates traffic information based on information communicated by the road light communication equipment to the road radio communication equipment A traffic information system having a device and a mobile terminal device mounted on a vehicle, and causing the mobile terminal device to acquire traffic information of a lane through which the vehicle passes,
Road optical communication equipment
A road light receiving unit for receiving driving information of the vehicle by light waves from a mobile terminal device mounted on the vehicle passing through the lane;
A driving information transmitting unit that transmits the driving information received by the road light receiving unit to the traffic information communication device;
A road light transmitter that transmits the lane information in which the communication device is installed to a mobile terminal device mounted on a vehicle passing through the lane by a light wave;
Traffic information communication device
A driving information receiving unit for receiving driving information from each roadside optical communication device;
A traffic information transmitting unit that transmits traffic information of each lane based on each driving information received by the driving information receiving unit to a road radio communication device;
Road radio communication equipment
A traffic information receiver for receiving traffic information from each traffic information communication device;
A road radio wave transmission unit that transmits the traffic information received by the traffic information reception unit by radio waves to a mobile terminal device mounted on each vehicle passing through each lane,
The mobile terminal device
A terminal light transmitter that transmits the driving information of the vehicle to the roadside optical communication device installed in the lane through which the vehicle passes;
A terminal light receiving unit that receives lane information from the roadside optical communication device installed in the lane in which the vehicle passes;
A terminal radio wave receiver for receiving traffic information from radio waves on the road,
A traffic information extracting unit that extracts traffic information of the lane indicated by the lane information received by the terminal light receiving unit from the traffic information received by the terminal radio wave receiving unit and outputs the traffic information of the lane that the vehicle passes to an output device; A traffic information system characterized by comprising: It is a traffic information extraction method of a mobile terminal device that extracts individual traffic information about a place where the terminal device is located from integrated traffic information having a plurality of individual traffic information at each place,
The terminal optical receiving unit receives a light wave representing the installation location of the road optical communication device from the road optical communication device using the receiver, and stores the information on the installation location of the road optical communication device in the storage device. Done
The terminal radio wave receiving unit receives the radio waves representing the integrated traffic information including the individual traffic information related to the installation location of each road optical communication device for the plurality of road optical communication devices from the road radio communication device using the receiver, and receives the integrated traffic information. Performs terminal radio wave reception processing stored in the storage device,
The traffic information extraction unit acquires information on the installation location of the roadside optical communication device and integrated traffic information from the storage device, and extracts individual traffic information on the installation location of the roadside optical communication device from the integrated traffic information using a central processing unit. A traffic information extraction method for a mobile terminal device, comprising: performing a traffic information extraction process to output to an output device as individual traffic information relating to a location where the terminal device is located. It is an arrival time calculation method of a mobile terminal device that calculates the time until arrival at a specific point,
The terminal light receiving unit performs a terminal light reception process for receiving a light wave representing a specific point distance from the road optical communication device to the specific point from the road optical communication device using the receiver and storing it in the storage device,
The speed acquisition unit performs a speed acquisition process of acquiring the moving speed of the terminal device from the input device and storing it in the storage device,
The arrival time calculation unit acquires the specific point distance and the moving speed from the storage device, and uses the central processing unit to divide the specific point distance by the moving speed using the specific point distance as the distance from the terminal device to the specific point. An arrival time calculation method for a mobile terminal device, comprising: performing an arrival time calculation process of calculating a time until the terminal arrives at a specific point and outputting the time to an output device. Road information communication equipment that is installed in each road lane and communicates by light waves, road information communication equipment that communicates by radio waves, and traffic information communication that communicates traffic information based on information communicated by the road light communication equipment to the road radio communication equipment Device and a mobile terminal device mounted on the vehicle, the mobile terminal device is a traffic information processing method for acquiring traffic information of a lane in which the vehicle passes,
The road light receiving unit of the road optical communication device performs road light reception processing for receiving driving information of the vehicle by light waves from the mobile terminal device mounted on the vehicle passing through the lane,
The driving information transmission unit of the road optical communication device performs driving information transmission processing for transmitting the driving information received by the road light receiving unit to the traffic information communication device,
The road light transmitter of the road optical communication device performs road light transmission processing to transmit the lane information in which the communication device is installed to the mobile terminal device mounted on the vehicle passing through the lane by light waves,
The driving information receiving unit of the traffic information communication device performs driving information receiving processing for receiving driving information from each road optical communication device,
The traffic information transmission unit of the traffic information communication device performs traffic information transmission processing for transmitting traffic information of each lane based on each driving information received by the driving information receiving unit to a road radio communication device,
The traffic information reception unit of the street radio communication device performs traffic information reception processing for receiving traffic information from each traffic information communication device,
The road radio wave transmitter of the road radio communication device performs road radio wave transmission processing for transmitting the traffic information received by the traffic information receiver to the mobile terminal device installed in each vehicle passing through each lane by radio waves,
The terminal light transmission unit of the mobile terminal device performs terminal light transmission processing for transmitting the driving information of the vehicle to the roadside optical communication device installed in the lane through which the vehicle passes by light waves,
The terminal light receiving unit of the mobile terminal device performs terminal light receiving processing for receiving lane information by light waves from the roadside optical communication device installed in the lane through which the vehicle passes,
The terminal radio wave reception unit of the mobile terminal device performs terminal radio wave reception processing for receiving traffic information from the road radio communication device by radio waves,
The traffic information extracting unit of the mobile terminal device extracts traffic information of the lane indicated by the lane information received by the terminal light receiving unit from the traffic information received by the terminal radio wave receiving unit, and outputs the traffic information of the lane through which the vehicle passes A traffic information processing method, comprising: extracting traffic information to be output to a device.

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